Some of them were animals, like the deer-stone, but even the animals were messed up. It wasn’t the most pleasant thing I’ve ever seen.Īll the carvings were like that. Its lower lip was pulled down to reveal broad, flat teeth that went most of the way to the ears. It had bulging eyes and an almost nonexistent nose. It is here that Mouse finds an array of large stones carved into weird images: Then, while exploring the surrounding countryside, she reaches a bizarre place that seems to have no geographic connection with the rest of the area. One of the strangest objects that Mouse comes across is a journal kept by Cotgrave, filled with arcane statements, one of which is repeated over and over again: “I made faces like the faces on the rocks, and I twisted myself about like the twisted ones, and I lay down flat on the ground like the dead ones.” From here, Mouse learns that her kindly old step-grandfather had problems that went beyond his choice of wife. Mouse’s grandmother was a dedicated hoarder, and so the house is filled with oddities and curiosities that range from dolls resembling dead babies to enigmatic old books. Once Mouse temporarily moves into the woodland cottage, her main companions are her dog Bongo and her memories of her grandparents: warm recollections of Cotgrave, and altogether more bitter memories of her grandmother. Melissa (Mouse to her friends) is tasked with clearing out the North Carolina cottage that once belonged to her grandmother, a woman known for her cruelty to all those around her – including her husband Cotgrave, Mouse’s “step-grandfather”.

Arthur machen's the white people