Why a Booktrail?
1970s, 1986: Ruby can see dead people..
The Doll Funeral
What you need to know before your trail
My name is Ruby. I live with Barbara and Mick. They’re not my real parents, but they tell me what to do, and what to say. I’m supposed to say that the bruises on my arms and the black eye came from falling down the stairs.
But there are things I won’t say. I won’t tell them I’m going to hunt for my real parents. I don’t say a word about Shadow, who sits on the stairs, or the Wasp Lady I saw on the way to bed.
I did tell Mick that I saw the woman in the buttercup dress, hanging upside down from her seat belt deep in the forest at the back of our house. I told him I saw death crawl out of her. He said he’d give me a medal for lying.
I wasn’t lying. I’m a hunter for lost souls and I’m going to be with my real family. And I’m not going to let Mick stop me.
Travel Guide
The Forest of Dean
The Forest of Dean is as much a character in this book as Ruby. It’s a dark place, littered with shadows and trees which take on human forms:
I walked deeper then stopped by a tree whose outline had something human about it – its slender trunk – and I put both hands there. I caressed the sand-papery bark; it felt like an ash, us foresters know how to tell tress so well I could do it even in this light.
The forest, so often a dark mysterious place full of the worst in the dark fairytale world – all sorts of creatures lurk here – the landscape is bleak, dark and foreboding. There are shadows in front and behind – and the forest has an energy that is palpable:
“The forest was a strong body pushing out life wherever it could”
The landscape is eerie and a mystery in itself:
“The moon had rise so high and bright above the trees I could see everything clearly, better than day even, the moon was an x-ray that could show right through to the forest’s bones”
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Doll Funeral
Author/Guide: Kate Hamer Destination: Gloucestershire, Forest Of Dean Departure Time: 1970s, 1986
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