Sarah Through the Picture

By Pat Clark

Sarah's had lots of tragedy in her young life. Orphaned and left in a wheelchair, she isn't sure what she can accomplish. When a picture in her grandparents' house calls to her, she's invited to new and unknown adventures in a strange land. The Kraken, monsters who belong in the sea, have taken over the throne of Akrum, and the inhabitants have lost the peace they once knew. The signs say Sarah's help is required to remove The One, the greedy, powerful lead Kraken, and restore the land.
She won't be alone. A team of questers, led by Fin O'Finegal the Leprechaun, will oppose The One and his horrible cohorts. But wait! There's a warning that comes with the invitation. If Sarah dies in Akrum while fighting the Kraken, she'll be just as dead in her own world. Should she travel through the picture and face danger to help those who need her? A girl longing to find a reason to keep going forward knows the only answer to that question is "Of course!"

• Language: English
• Publisher: Snoopbooks
• Release date: Jul 19, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386367635

Book preview

Sarah Through the Picture

Pat Clark

Published by Snoopbooks, 2017.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

SARAH THROUGH THE PICTURE

First edition. July 19, 2017.

Copyright © 2017 Pat Clark.

Written by Pat Clark.

SARAH

THROUGH THE

PICTURE

By Pat Clark

Sarah through the Picture © Pat Clark

Sarah through the Picture is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Copyright 2017 by Pat Clark. All rights reserved. Federal copyright law prohibits unauthorized reproduction by any means.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter One

The big old house was quiet. The day staff had gone, and the owners were away on a mission of love. As the clock struck midnight, the silence was interrupted by a sort of bumping, at first gentle but rising to a louder, more insistent thump-thump-THUMP! Someone nearby might have traced the sound to the stairway, but there she’d have gazed around in confusion, because the stairs were empty. Though the noise was real, its source was difficult to pinpoint.

Since there was no one to hear, it didn’t matter where the sound came from. But if someone wanted to know, she’d have had to peer into a picture on the stairway wall, a mountain forest with a large, craggy rock sticking up from an otherwise soft hillside.

Rather amazingly for a painting, a tiny figure had climbed down from the rock, waded the stream, and advanced to the frame. Grasping the wooden lower section in small but strong hands, he’d begun to shake it fiercely, causing the frame to bump against the wall. Gradually he increased his efforts until the picture might have fallen had it not been securely attached. The figure’s desperation was revealed in his determination, but his efforts went unrewarded. After fifteen minutes exactly, the little man released his grip and turned dejectedly away, disappearing into the scenery. Silence fell again, and the house waited.

Chapter Two

As they set her on the spacious back seat of Grand-dad’s car everyone fussed, asking if Sarah was comfortable and acting as if she were made of crystal. Nurses and aides hugged her and wished her well. Even Mrs. Dunbar, the dour administrator of the facility, came out to see her off, which she guessed was unusual.

Being outside was odd after so long indoors, and she felt a little overcome by the openness. You’ll be home soon, sweetie. Gram patted her hand, closed the car door, and got into the front with Grand-dad. Her tone hinted that would be the end of all Sarah’s troubles, but of course that wasn’t true.

When they reached home, a row house in Richmond, Virginia, Grand-dad carried Sarah from the ground floor to the second, claiming she was light as a feather and they’d have to fatten her up now that she was home. Halfway up he stopped at the pictures that had always fascinated her. You haven’t seen these for a while, he said, turning his shoulders so she could see them better.

But the pictures didn’t work their magic today. Instead of gazing into the familiar scenes, Sarah looked at the stairs above and below them. She’d never again walk them by herself. Everything was different now.

Noticing one picture was crooked, Grand-dad frowned. He liked things in their place, but with Sarah in his arms, he couldn’t fix it. Coming along behind them, Gram reached out and did the job. The silly thing won’t stay straight lately, she commented. I must have done this four times in the last week. Waving a hand she urged, Go on, Harry. I want our girl to see her room.

As they continued, Sarah ordered herself to at least seem cheerful. Whatever her grandparents had arranged would be better than the rehab facility, where her window had overlooked a parking lot with a blue security light that buzzed all night long like an angry insect.

Grand-dad put Sarah down gently on the hospital bed that took up almost half the space of the small room. He and Gram stood back, eager to see what she thought of their efforts. Her nose told her the walls had recently been painted their pale lavender. The lilac-flowered comforter matched the curtains, and the lamp beside the bed was white with a mauve shade. Gram had remembered her love for all kinds of purple.

Do you see who’s here, Sarah? Grand-dad said brightly, and she looked to where he pointed. On a shelf in a corner sat John Henry, her favorite stuffed toy. Gram picked him up and brought him over. John Henry was a bird that didn’t look like any real bird Sarah had ever seen, even in books. A wild patchwork of colors with a huge, unlikely blue beak, tiny, useless-looking wings, and hardly any tail at all, he’d been a gift from her father. Even if she was almost twelve, Sarah still loved that toy.

Grand-dad couldn’t resist asking. What do you think?

It’s very nice, Sarah replied in a small voice.

They looked faintly disappointed, and she felt a pang of guilt. Looking at these two dear, dear, people, Sarah felt their concern and love for her.   She tried again. It’s a beautiful room. I’ll be very comfortable here.

It would be a lie to say she’d be happy. This would be her prison for months, years—forever.

Later, when Gram and Grand-dad had gone upstairs to their room, Sarah lay awake, staring at a spot on the wall directly opposite her bed. Night had fallen quickly, as it does in winter, and shadows penciled the walls where the lamplight ended. The room was unfamiliar, new-smelling, and oddly shaped for a bedroom. Neither she nor the room seemed able to find their place in this new scheme of things.

Falling into an old habit, Sarah talked to the stuffed bird nestled beside her. I don’t suppose you’ve been here before, John Henry, she said, stroking a spot where he was slightly ruffled, but I have. This was Grand-dad’s office, and he used to let me sit and color in my books while he worked. They put me on this floor so Grand-dad only has to carry me up one flight...

She stopped as tears choked her. This was how it was going to be from now on. Carried around like a baby; pitied because she was both crippled and orphaned. Sarah recalled the cold October night in a place called St. Paul, the car that came from nowhere, straight into their path; her mother’s scream as her father wrenched the wheel to the side, and the nightmare bumping as their car rolled over and over. Sarah’s screams had melded with her mother’s. Then she heard nothing for a while.

She’d regained consciousness in a hospital, with hushed but hurried motions around her. She listened as voices talked about her as if she weren’t there. Spinal damage and too soon to tell were phrases she remembered. Later she floated into consciousness again and opened her eyes to find herself in a bed with all sorts of alien-looking gadgets hung around it. She was tied down, and when she cried out and tried to free her hands, a nurse came and spoke soothingly.

Stay still, darlin’, she’d crooned. You’ve had a bad time. The woman’s