The Bone Forest

RESOUNDING PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF ROBERT HOLDSTOCK:

Winner of the 1985 World Fantasy Award

"BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND CONCEIVED…

Some books are hard to put down.

I found MYTHAGO WOOD hard to shake off."

The New York Times Book Review

"A SPLENDID PIECE OF WORK.

Intelligent, passionate, filled with magic"

Harlan Ellison

"ENDURING… FRIGHTENING…

Strong and satisfying…

Anybody hunting for a superb new fantasy novel need look no further."

Washington Times

"TERRIFYING…

BREATHTAKING… DELIGHTFUL"

Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine

"A VISION-QUEST WALKABOUT

through time and archetime"

Roger Zelazny

"PULSATES WITH FRESH IMAGINATIVE ENERGIES

that lift it well beyond the realm of the ordinary."

Toronto Sun

Other Avon Books by
Robert Holdstock

Lavondyss

Mythago Wood

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"Magic Man" first appeared in
Frighteners 2
, 1976; "The Time Beyond Age" first appeared in
Supernova
, 1976; "The Boy Who Jumped the Rapids" first appeared in
Beyond the Lands of Never
, 1984; "Thorn" first appeared in
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
, 1986; "Scarrowfell" first appeared in
Other Edens
, 1987; "The Shapechanger" first appeared in
GM Magazine
, 1989; "Time of the Tree" first appeared in
Zenith
, 1989.

AVON BOOKS

A division of

The Hearst Corporation

1350 Avenue of the Americas

New York, New York 10019

Copyright e 1976, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991 by Robert Holdstock

Cover illustration by Tom Canty

Published by arrangement with the author

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 92-93060

ISBN: 0-380-76781-3

All rights reserved, which includes the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever except as provided by the U. S. Copyright Law. For information address Ellen Levine Literary Agency, 15 East 26th Street, #1801, New York, New York 10010.

First AvoNova Printing: September 1992

AVONOVA TRADEMARK REG. U.S. PAT OFF. AND IN OTHER COUNTRIES, MARCA REGISTRADA, HECHO EN U.S.A.

Printed in the U.S.A.

RA 10 987654321

Contents

The Bone Forest

Thorn

The Shapechanger

The Boy who Jumped the Rapids

Time of the Tree

Magic Man

Scarrowfell

The Time Beyond Age

The Bone Forest

Time past and time future

Allow but a little consciousness.

—T. S. Eliot

The sound of his sons' excited shouting woke Huxley abruptly at three in the morning. His breath frosting in the freezing room, he shivered his way into his dressing gown, tugged on slippers, and walked darkly and swiftly to the boys' room.

"What the devil—?"

They were standing at the window, two small, excited shapes, their breath misting the glass. Steven turned and said excitedly, "A snow woman. In the garden. We saw a snow woman!"

Rubbing the glass for clarity, Huxley peered down at the thick snow that covered the lawn and gardens, and extended, without break, into the field and to the nearby wood. He could just see the fence, a thin dark line in the moongray landscape. The night was still, heavy with the muffling silence of the snow. He could see clearly enough that a set of deep tracks led from the gate, toward the house, then around to the side.

"What do you mean? A snow woman?"

"All white," Christian breathed. "She stopped and looked at us. She had a sack on her shoulder, like Father Christmas."

Huxley smiled and ruffled the boy's hair. "You think she's bringing presents?"

"Hope so," said Steven. In the dark room his eyes glittered. He had just turned eight years old, a precocious and energetic child, and Huxley was conscious of the extent to which he neglected the lad. Steven was forever soliciting instruction, or games, or walks, but there was so much to do, and Huxley rarely had time for frivolity.