Thirteen Ways to Water by Bruce Holland Rogers

Author:Bruce Holland Rogers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-01-08T16:00:00+00:00

Introduction to “Ever So Much”

Dogs sometimes appear in fantasy stories, mysteries, or fairy tales, but cats dominate. Of course. It’s not hard to imagine a cat who has a secret, or a secret power. But a mysterious dog? A magical dog? No, if you want clever plots, intrigue, and dead wildlife hidden in your shoes for discovery at a later date, you want a cat.

Ever So Much

I

Once upon a time in a fishing village along the windy shore there lived a boy with neither mother nor father. His name was Duncan, but the villagers called him Small Catch, which described his usual haul. When he might have been mending his nets in his tiny hut, he was as likely to be gazing into the fire while thinking of the grand palaces of kings. When he was out upon the sea, he watched the horizon and dreamed of distant shores and other countries, forgetting to lower his nets until half the day was gone. Even on his best days, he caught hardly enough to feed himself.

Duncan’s boat leaked. One day, as he was pounding bits of old rope into the very worst gaps, he looked up to see one of the village men striding over the rocks toward the sea with a burlap sack in his hand. Something inside the sack squirmed and mewled. Duncan put down his mallet and followed the man. “What do you have there?”

The man stopped and looked at Duncan. Then he held up the sack. “A wee eat,” he said. “Runt of the litter, and bound to die anyway.”

“Ah,” Duncan said, for he understood that the man mean to throw sack and all into the sea. “Will you let me have it, then?”

The man considered a moment, then laughed. “Aye, by rights the runt should belong to Small Catch.” And that is how Duncan came to own a cat.

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