The Graveyard Book

Silas has been busy. He often leaves the graveyard for days or weeks at a time. Bod enjoys Miss Lupescu’s visit over Christmas, but she leaves for “The Old Country” after three weeks—leaving Bod without a guardian who can leave the graveyard. Mr. Owens, Mrs. Owens, and Josiah Worthington are upset about this. Mrs. Owens believes that Silas is hurt. She throws up her hands when Josiah Worthington mentions that Silas left Bod grocery money and goes to find her son. She finds Bod, who’s now 14, at the top of the hill. Bod asks how they know that the man who wants to kill him is still out there. Mrs. Owens says that Silas told them, which doesn’t impress Bod.

Bod begs Mrs. Owens to tell him what his prospective killer looks like and asks why Silas didn’t kill the man when he had the chance. Mrs. Owens insists that Silas isn’t a monster. Bod wants to know what the man’s name is. He insists it matters—he can dedicate himself to learning everything he possibly can. Mrs. Owens reaches out to her son. She knows that one day, he’ll leave the graveyard and she won’t be able to touch him. She says the man’s name is Jack.

Scarlett Amber Perkins is 15 years old and hates everything. She’s hates her parents for divorcing, she hates her mother for moving back to this town, and she hates this town for being simultaneously familiar and foreign. After taking the wrong bus, Scarlett accidentally finds herself in Old Town. The driver lets her off in front of imposing iron gates to get another bus back into the city. As Scarlett heads down the hill on foot, she thinks that this is why she needs a cellphone—her mother will be livid that Scarlett is late tonight.

Scarlett passes the gates and feels a sudden sense of deja vu. She enters the graveyard and reacquaints herself with the old church and the little bench in front of it. As she sits, she hears a voice behind her nervously ask for her help. A man is trying to take a grave rubbing, but his paper is curling. Scarlett helps him hold the paper flat and after he takes the rubbing, the man stands up. He looks like “a friendly owl.” It starts to rain, so Scarlett helps the man gather his things. The man says he knows what Scarlett is thinking and tells her about the church’s history. Scarlett, however, says that her mother will kill her for being late. At this, the man tosses Scarlett his things and runs to fetch his car.

Scarlett approaches the car but tells the man she doesn’t accept rides from strangers. He offers Scarlett his phone to call her mother. When Scarlett realizes she’s more afraid of her mother than the man, she tells him her address. The man walks Scarlett to the door and explains the situation to Scarlett’s mother, who shocks Scarlett by offering the man tea. He introduces himself as Mr. Frost as Scarlett tells her mother what happened. But when Scarlett mentions the graveyard, her mother drops her teacup and becomes suddenly icy. She explains that Scarlett used to play in the graveyard with an imaginary friend named Nobody. Scarlett doesn’t remember this. When Scarlett’s mother hears that Mr. Frost is unmarried, she invites him for dinner on Saturday.

That night, Scarlett remembers being in the graveyard as a child. When she falls asleep, she dreams she’s walking in the graveyard. When she comes across a boy her age, she calls to him. He introduces himself as Bod and recognizes Scarlett from earlier that afternoon. Then, when Scarlett remembers that Bod was her imaginary friend from childhood, Bod mentions that they went into the barrow grave, saw the Indigo Man, and met the Sleer. At this, Scarlett remembers everything and wakes up.

Now that Silas is gone, Bod doesn’t leave the graveyard. He loves the graveyard, but things are also changing for him. This is because no one else in the graveyard is changing. These days, Fortinbras is too young to connect with, while Thackeray Porringer now tells Bod stories about his former friends. And though Liza and Bod have been close for five or six years, she seldom shows herself to him and is rude when she does appear. According to Mr. Owens, this is just something women do. He says that he was friends with a girl as a child, but she hated him when they got to be teenagers and even threw an apple at his head. Mrs. Owens sniffs that it was a pear, not an apple.

Bod has no living friends, though he still remembers Scarlett. He’s disturbed that he didn’t recognize Scarlett right away when he saw her in the graveyard. Bod wanders through the graveyard’s abandoned and dangerous corner in search of the Poet, Nehemiah Trot. When Nehemiah shows himself, Bod asks if he should go find a girl he wants to talk to. Nehemiah is thrilled. He tells Bod to write poems to win the lady’s heart and brushes away Bod’s safety concerns—revealing himself to living people is dangerous. Nehemiah insists that if a person doesn’t take chances, they won’t get anywhere. This answer pleases Bod, so he asks about revenge.

Nehemiah proceeds to tell Bod how he bested his literary critics by asking to be buried with his poems. This means that when people realize he’s a genius, they’ll dig up his grave and publish his poems. Bod isn’t convinced this is the best way to get revenge and heads back to the chapel for food. When Bod reemerges from the chapel, wondering how to find Scarlett, he sees a young woman on the bench. Bod Fades, but the girl—Scarlett—sees Bod and calls to him. She explains that she helped Mr. Frost with his grave rubbings. Later, she’ll have tea with him before he takes her home. She asks if she can hug Bod and hugs Bod so hard it hurts. Bod is glad for the touch. Scarlett is thrilled that Bod is real and promises to come back over the weekend.

At Mr. Frost’s house, Scarlett refuses tea and cookies. As they leave Mr. Frost’s tall, narrow house, she offers to help him with his grave rubbings. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away in Krakow, Poland, Silas, Miss Lupescu, and the Abyssinian mummy Kandar enter deep underground caves. The group lost its fourth member, Haroun, to an enchanted mirror in an upper cave. Silas saved the others, since he’s impervious to mirrors. Now, they discuss that there are three of them, in addition to Kandar’s lucky pig. Miss Lupescu is annoyed by the pig and insists it’s not lucky. Silas silences his companions and says “they” are coming, and there are a lot of them.

In the graveyard that weekend, Scarlett and Bod discuss the murder of Bod’s family. Bod mentions that his guardian is going to tell him more when he thinks Bod is ready. When Scarlett asks if Bod’s guardian thinks Bod is going to go on a murderous rampage, Bod very seriously says yes. Scarlett asks if Bod’s guardian is dead too. Bod, however, refuses to talk about Silas. Offended, Scarlett excuses herself and heads down the path. Bod hears Liza call Scarlett “Miss high and mighty.”

Scarlett helps Mr. Frost make grave rubbings until midday, and Scarlett asks where she’d research a local murder. Mr. Frost goes pale and says he doesn’t like to think about it. When Scarlett says it’s for a friend, Mr. Frost suggests she try the library. Scarlett asks for a ride, but Mr. Frost seems not to hear or notice her. He then explains he’s just trying to plan his afternoon and asks if Scarlett’s mother would prefer wine or chocolate. At the library, an elderly librarian shows Scarlett how to look at old newspapers using a projector. Scarlett figures that the murder of three people would be on the front page. However, she finds it hidden on page five. The small article just says the family died and says nothing about a missing baby boy. There was no follow-up article, either.

Scarlett does learn the murdered family’s address, however. She knows the house. After she gets home, Scarlett calls Mr. Frost and informs him that 13 years ago, the Dorian family was murdered in his home. He’s shocked. Mr. Frost offers to look into the mystery. When Scarlett tries to reach out to Bod in her dreams again that night, she can’t make it work right. She dreams instead of wandering Glasgow. Meanwhile, in Krakow’s caves, Miss Lupescu falls. Silas cradles her bloody head and says he won’t leave her. She tells him that “they” will come back and raises herself to a standing position. Though she’s covered in blood, she snarls that they’ll “end this.”

On Sunday afternoon, the phone rings in Scarlett’s kitchen. Scarlett’s mother picks up; it’s Mr. Frost. After a minute, she hands the phone to Scarlett. Mr. Frost says he’s found some things out for Scarlett’s friend: the family that was killed had a fourth member, a baby who survived. He invites Scarlett to bring her friend to learn the rest. A bit later, Bod walks down into the barrow grave for the first time in six years. The Sleer doesn’t speak until Bod touches the knife. It seems perplexed that Bod wants advice. Bod says he doesn’t know what to do. He can learn things about his family’s killer, but to do so, he has to leave the graveyard and all the ghosts who want to keep him safe. The Sleer says nothing except “yes” when Bod says he has to do this alone.

Then, the Sleer whispers that it’s supposed to guard the treasure until its master returns. It asks Bod if he’s its master. Bod says he isn’t and turns down the Sleer’s advances—in a whiny voice, it says that they’d protect Bod in their coils forever if Bod would be their master. Angry, the Sleer tells Bod to find his name and goes silent. Bod hurries up the stairs and finds Scarlett waiting outside the barrow. He tells her that he’ll come with her, so she leads him to a tall house in the middle of a row. Bod is shocked that the house doesn’t seem familiar. He knocks on the door until Mr. Frost lets them in and shakes Bod’s hand. Mr. Frost seems impatient and excited.

Scarlett finally asks Mr. Frost what he found out. Mr. Frost says that oddly, no one investigated the murder and no one searched for the missing toddler. “They” squashed it. Frustrated, Scarlett asks who Mr. Frost is talking about. At this, Mr. Frost apologizes for being secretive. After he confirms that Bod has a “personal” interest in the murders, he says he found something under a floorboard and tells Bod to follow him upstairs. Bod shoots Scarlett a concerned look, but Scarlett smiles and thinks it’s Bod’s right to learn first. Mr. Frost leads Bod to the top of the house and asks if Bod is the boy in question.

They reach the attic bedroom and Mr. Frost pulls aside the carpet. He says they don’t know who did it, but Bod says he knows: the man’s name is Jack, and he has black hair. Mr. Frost says that hair fades, but his name is Jack. He turns around, holding a big knife. From downstairs, Scarlett calls that there’s someone at the door. In the moment that Jack glances away, Bod Fades. Jack growls that he can still smell Bod as Bod exits the room and locks the door behind him. Bod reaches the bottom of the stairs and tells Scarlett that Mr. Frost is Jack—and Jack tried to kill him. Scarlett is flabbergasted, but she opens the front door to follow Bod out.

There are four men on the porch. They ask for Mr. Frost and say they’re friends. Scarlett tells the men that Mr. Frost went to buy a newspaper and excuses herself. She can barely see Bod as they walk up the hill. Bod says that the men didn’t feel like real people. Back on Mr. Frost’s porch, the big man, Mr. Tar, says he doesn’t like this. The men discuss that after Krakow, Melbourne, and Vancouver, they’re the last four left. Mr. Ketch fingers his moustache as Mr. Tar says they should go after Scarlett. Mr. Dandy, the white-haired man, asks for silence. He sends Mr. Nimble and Mr. Ketch after Scarlett and tells Mr. Tar to come inside with him. The door is magically reinforced, but Mr. Dandy says it’s not something a Jack can’t fix. He whispers words “older than English” and Mr. Tar pushes the door open.

Mr. Dandy and Mr. Tar hear a crash above them, and Jack Frost comes racing down the stairs. Jack explains that Bod got away and will be in the graveyard. When Bod and Scarlett get to the graveyard, the gates are locked. Bod tells Scarlett to put her arms around him, hoping his Freedom of the Graveyard might help Scarlett. He passes through the bars with her and explains that since the graveyard is his home, he “can do things here.” Mr. Ketch and Mr. Nimble reach the far side of the fence and call to Scarlett. Mr. Ketch pulls a silk cord into his hand and runs his fingers along it. He promises not to hurt Scarlett while Mr. Nimble says they need to ask her questions. Bod tells Scarlett to run.

The men see a boy with Scarlett. Mr. Nimble boosts Mr. Ketch over the fence and into the graveyard. Ahead of him, Bod leads Scarlett through the graveyard. They discuss that the men want to kill them. Bod says they need to hide Scarlett; then, he’ll deal with the men. Caius Pompeius rises from his grave and suggests that Scarlett hide in the barrow grave. Bod leads Scarlett to the barrow, talking to ghosts along the way. Once Scarlett is inside the hill, Bod turns to his friends and family. Mr. Owens tells Bod where the men are and assures Bod he can do this without Silas or Miss Lupescu, who are still abroad. Bod asks that Mrs. Owens keep an eye on Scarlett and then heads to where he knows Mr. Ketch is waiting. He tells himself that he’s a part of the graveyard.

Bod finds Mr. Ketch first. Bod Fades, slips past Mr. Ketch, and then makes himself visible. Mr. Ketch begins to trail him as Bod walks into the overgrown section of the graveyard. When Nehemiah Trot appears, Bod asks the Poet to say something when Mr. Ketch gets close. Bod stops on the far side of a grave. Nehemiah tells Bod when Mr. Ketch is a few yards behind. As Mr. Ketch leaps for Bod, he tumbles into the old grave. The grave is 20 feet deep and the fall shatters his ankle. Miss Euphemia and Tom appear and say that there are three men heading up the hill, and Jack is at the chapel.

As Bod passes the apple tree, Liza’s voice points out that there are four killers on the loose. Bod asks her to confuse the men, but Liza tells him to Fade, hide in Mrs. Owens’s tomb, and wait for Silas. Bod cuts her off and asks Liza to meet him at the lightning tree, a tree that lightning struck 20 years ago. As Bod hurries there, he tries to remember Miss Lupescu’s old lessons. He finds an ugly, water-stained grave and knows it’s the ghoul-gate when it’s cold to the touch. Bod settles himself on it, ignores Liza’s taunts, and makes himself visible. Soon, three men run toward him. When they’re close, Bod asks why they want to kill him.

Mr. Dandy explains that he’s a member of the Jacks of All Trades, and they know a specific type of magic that one harnesses through killing. Bod thinks this is ridiculous, but Mr. Dandy says they killed Bod’s family for protection. Back in ancient Egypt, one of the Jacks foresaw a child who would live in between the living and the dead. If this boy were allowed to live, it’d be the end of the Jacks. They sent “the most dangerous of all the Jacks” to kill Bod. Now, Jack is tracking down Scarlett. Bod utters three ancient words and opens the ghoul-gate. Mr. Tar and Mr. Nimble fall through, but Mr. Dandy stands on the edge and points a gun at Bod. Bod gives Mr. Dandy advice for navigating Hell and when Mr. Dandy glances away, Bod Fades.

Mr. Dandy hears a voice say that it’s impossible to leave ghoul-gates open for too long. The earth shakes and Mr. Dandy falls. He catches hold of the headstone. Bod reveals himself and says that he’s going to let the gate close. Angrily, Mr. Dandy says that Bod can’t escape the Jacks of All Trades, but Bod says it’s over—Silas is seeing to that. Mr. Dandy lets go and Bod closes the ghoul-gate. Fortinbras tugs at Bod’s sleeve—Jack is heading up the hill, toward Scarlett.

In the graveyard, Jack can’t follow Bod’s scent. He can, however, follow Scarlett’s scent, and he knows that Bod will come for her. As Jack climbs the hill, he realizes that the Jacks who accompanied him here are gone. He’s not sad; now, he can resume his rise to the top of the Order. When Jack loses Scarlett’s scent, he follows it back to a mausoleum. He pulls coffins off of shelves, scatters the contents, and finds a hole in the wall. Scarlett hears the crashes and carefully descends the stairs. She’s terrified of Mr. Frost and of Bod. Bod doesn’t seem quite human. Scarlett vows to force her mother to buy her a phone as Jack clamps a hand over her mouth.

Bod makes his way down the stairs. He can see Jack holding Scarlett and Fades, but Jack threatens to hurt Bod. Jack asks if Bod knows who he is. Bod says that Jack killed Bod’s family—and he should’ve killed Bod too. Bod says that Jack messed up, since Bod made it to adulthood and there are no more Jacks. Jack insists that this is all the more reason to kill Bod and Scarlett. The Sleer begins to wind around the room and says that it guards the treasure for its master. Scarlett only hears a hiss, but Jack and Bod can hear the words. The Sleer hisses that this is a place of treasure and power. It’s waiting for its master.

Bod asks what his name used to be, before Jack murdered his parents. Jack refuses to say, but he notices the altar stone with the cup, the knife, and the brooch on it. He smiles and says that even if the Jacks are over, there can be a new Brotherhood. The Sleer says, “power” and Bod feels it grow more excited. Jack asks Bod to bring him the cup, the brooch, and the knife. With the items in hand, Jack tells Scarlett to lie down. She’s certain she’s going to die. Jack tells Bod to kneel on the altar stone and asks if Bod wants to know his name. Suddenly, Bod understands everything. He says that his name is Nobody Owens and asks the Sleer if it still wants a master.

At this, the Sleer reveals itself: it has the body of an enormous snake and three heads with long-dead, purple faces. Bod tells Jack that the Sleer needs a master to serve. Jack says that he’ll be the Sleer’s master. As Jack moves to slit Bod’s throat, Bod asks the Sleer what it’s going to do with its new master. The Sleer says that it’s going to protect the master and hold him in its coils. Then, it starts to loop its coils around Jack. Jack begins to flail and slash with the knives in his hands. Terrified, Scarlett turns on her flashlight keychain. She can’t see the Sleer, but she does see Jack’s terrified face as the Sleer pulls him through the wall.

When Jack is gone, Bod puts the knife, the goblet, and the brooch back on the altar stone. Aboveground again, Scarlett says that Bod told her the Sleer couldn’t hurt them. When she realizes that Bod knew the Sleer would take Jack, she accuses Bod of using her as bait. She asks where the other men are and calls Bod a monster, even though Bod assures her the other men aren’t dead. She doesn’t seem to care that they got through this ordeal alive. Scarlett turns to run, but she comes face to face with Silas. Calmly, Silas suggests they go for a walk and talk about what Scarlett should remember. Silas tells Bod that it’ll be safest for everyone if Scarlett forgets this. Bod watches as Silas leads Scarlett away. He hopes that Scarlett will turn around, but she doesn’t.

Silas takes Scarlett home. After the fact, Scarlett’s mother learns that Mr. Frost had to leave town. Scarlett’s mother decides that she and Scarlett should move back to Glasgow. When Silas returns to the graveyard, he finds Bod sitting in the amphitheater. He tells Bod that he took Scarlett’s memories and apologizes. Bod tries to smile, but he can’t. He asks if Silas is the “trouble” the Jacks referred to in Krakow, Melbourne, and Vancouver. When Silas says he wasn’t alone, Bod asks if Miss Lupescu helped—but the look on Silas’s face is concerning. Silas says that Miss Lupescu fell while fighting for Bod.

Bod shares that the Sleer has Jack, and he tells Silas the fate of the other four Jacks. After a moment of silence, Bod says that Scarlett was scared of him. He doesn’t understand why, since he saved Scarlett’s life and they’re both alive. Bod pauses for a moment and asks how Miss Lupescu fell. Silas says simply that Miss Lupescu died in battle, protecting others. He then suggests that they have a meal in town—Bod can leave the graveyard now, since no one is trying to kill him. They walk down to a pizza parlor and Silas teaches Bod how to use a menu. Silas orders a salad but doesn’t eat it while Bod eats his pizza.

Eventually, Silas talks. He says that “we” had known about the Jacks for a while, but it wasn’t until the Jacks murdered Bod’s family that Silas was able to figure it all out. Bod asks if “we” refers to Silas, Miss Lupescu, and the Honour Guard, a question that shocks Silas. But Silas tells himself that children listen and pretends to sip his water. (The narrator interjects that an attentive observer might notice that Silas has no reflection in the shiny tabletop.) Bod asks if Silas is going to stay in the graveyard now that Bod is grown, but Silas says that Bod isn’t grown up. Finally, Bod asks again why Scarlett was afraid of him. Silas doesn’t answer and leads Bod out of the pizza parlor.