Rags & Bones

by Melissa Marr

  When I said nothing in reply to that, Dr. Radner stepped back from the rail, touched his hat, and added, “Good night, sir. It is late, I’ve had my say, and I wish you pleasant dreams.”

  He left, and a few minutes later I heard a slight disturbance, a few confused noises followed by utter silence.

  For an hour or more, I leaned against the rail, staring out to sea. It was not really cold, but a cold south wind had sprung up, and I had on only a lightweight tropical suit. I would have given a good deal for a drink then, but the ship’s bar had been closed for hours. Eventually the colonel appeared, in search of a spot in which he could enjoy the last cigar of the day in peace. I welcomed him, he offered me a cigar, which I declined, and I chanced to lament the too-early closing of the bar. At that, he produced a silver flask, which he offered to me.

  I accepted gladly and took it, limiting myself to two sips, though it tasted wonderful. It was gin, and I believe Bombay Gin; at the second sip I found myself visualizing the self-consciously old-fashioned label, with its portrait of Queen Victoria. I thanked him and returned his flask. We chatted for a few minutes, and I left.

  I was perhaps halfway to the stateroom I shared with Kay when I found what I had expected to find rather nearer: the body of Dr. Miles Radner. For a minute or two I squatted beside it, examining the bite to the neck that had killed him. (Though he had been clawed as well.) From what I saw, it seemed obvious that the animal had shadowed him for a time, then sprung upon him from behind. Its claws would have held him for the necessary moment, and its bite had been fatal.

  I rose and went on to our stateroom. Perhaps it was the gin, but I felt tired and very sleepy. Our cabin was dark; Kay was already back in bed and sound asleep. I undressed as quietly as I could and joined her without waking her.

  Such is my story. There was some trouble about Kay’s entering the country without a passport, but we explained that hers had been lost in Africa, and they soon let us in. She has applied for a new one, an American passport, since she is now the wife of an American citizen. Rather to my surprise she has asked that it carry her maiden name, which she gave as Kay Gaibou.

  I see I have not mentioned that we are comfortably lodged now at my parents’ place in upstate New York. To the best of my recollection it has been six years since I was last here. They are in Europe. I cabled them soon after we came ashore, telling them I was married and asking their permission to open the old place up and await them there. They agreed at once, as I expected.

  Perhaps I ought to add that I have since received a letter from my mother; I must write to her as soon as I finish this. She says Germany is in chaos, with communists and National Socialists fighting quite openly in the streets. They will cut their stay there short and go on to Austria before returning home.

  There was a piece in the paper this morning about the death of a fifteen-year-old girl (page A2). She was, the paper said, apparently killed by an animal. The article did not say whether parts of her body had been eaten. It was found lodged in a tree, about ten feet above the ground.

  I showed the piece to Kay, who said she had already seen it. “Is it not terrible?”

  Afterward I read the whole piece again. It is, of course—terrible and horrible, but what can I do?

  What in hell can I do?

  AUTHOR’S NOTE …………………………………

  This story had two godmothers, if you will. The first was, obviously, that I love “The Caged White Werewolf of the Saraban” by William B. Seabrook, one of those wonderful short stories we have utterly forgotten; I wanted to draw attention to it. There are sins and there are sins. When I am gone, I do not want my prosecutor saying: “My Lord, Gene found this lovely story starving in a subcellar, climbed up, and forgot all about it.”

  Second, because it is a story that makes the reader say, “What happens next? Can one civilized man, alone at a plantation in Africa, imprison a woman for life and get away with it? Of course not! If he doesn’t kill her, she’s going to get out sooner or later—and probably sooner rather than later.”

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  Contributor Biographies

  SALADIN AHMED was born in Detroit. His short stories have been nominated for the Nebula and Campbell awards, reprinted in The Year’s Best Fantasy and other anthologies, recorded for numerous podcasts, and translated into several foreign languages. His first novel, Throne of the Crescent Moon, which Kirkus Reviews called “an arresting, sumptuous and thoroughly satisfying debut,” was recently published to wide acclaim. Saladin lives near Detroit with his wife and children.

  KELLEY ARMSTRONG has been telling stories since before she could write. Her earliest written efforts were disastrous. If asked for a story about girls and dolls, hers would invariably feature undead girls and evil dolls, much to her teachers’ dismay. Today, she continues to spin tales of ghosts and demons and werewolves, while safely locked away in her basement writing dungeon. She’s the author of the #1 New York Times–bestselling Darkest Powers young adult trilogy as well as the Otherworld and Nadia Stafford adult series. Armstrong lives in Ontario with her family. You can find her online at www.kelleyarmstrong.com.

  HOLLY BLACK is the author of bestselling contemporary fantasy books for kids and teens. Some of her titles include The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), the Modern Faerie Tale series, the Good Neighbors graphic novel trilogy (with Ted Naifeh), the Curse Workers series, her middle-grade novel, Doll Bones, and her vampire novel, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. She has been a finalist for the Mythopoeic Award, a finalist for an Eisner Award, and the recipient of the Andre Norton Award. She currently lives in New England with her husband, Theo, in a house with a secret door. You can find her online at www.blackholly.com.

  NEIL GAIMAN writes books for readers of all ages, including the Greenaway-shortlisted Crazy Hair, illustrated by Dave McKean; Instructions, illustrated by Charles Vess; Coraline, which won the British Science Fiction Association Award, the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the Elizabeth Burr/Worzalla Award; the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning American Gods; Anansi Boys; and Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett); as well as the short story collections Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things. Most recently, Gaiman was both a contributor to and co-editor with Al Sarrantonio of Stories, and his own story in the volume, “The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains,” has been nominated for a number of awards. You can find him online at www.neilgaiman.com.

  KAMI GARCIA is the New York Times–and internationally bestselling co-author of the Beautiful Creatures novels. Beautiful Creatures is being published in forty-eight countries and translated into thirty-seven languages. Academy Award nominee Richard LaGravenese directed the film adaptation of Beautiful Creatures. Kami is also the author of Unbreakable, the first book in her upcoming solo series, the Legion, which is currently being developed as a motion picture. When she is not writing, Kami can usually be found watching disaster movies or drinking Diet Coke. She lives in LA with her family and their dogs, Spike and Oz (named after characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). You can find her online at www.kamigarcia.com and @kamigarcia.

  MELISSA MARR is the New York Times–and internationally bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series, Graveminder, and Carnival of Souls. With Kelley Armstrong, she has edited two anthologies (Enthralled and Shards & Ashes) and co-authored the upcoming children’s series the Blackwell Pages. Prior to writing, she taught university literature, including courses on the short story and in gender studies. You can find her online at www.melissa-marr.com.

  GARTH NIX has worked as a literary agent, marketing consultant, book editor, book publicist, book sales representative, bookseller, and as a part-time soldier in the Australian Army Reserve. Garth’s books include the award-winning fantasy novel
s Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen; and the young adult science fiction novels Shade’s Children and A Confusion of Princes. His fantasy novels for children include The Ragwitch, the six books of the Seventh Tower sequence, and the Keys to the Kingdom series. More than five million copies of his books have been sold around the world, his books have appeared on the bestseller lists of the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, the Guardian, and the Australian, and his work has been translated into forty languages. He lives in a Sydney beach suburb with his wife and two children.

  TIM PRATT is a Hugo Award–winning science fiction and fantasy author whose works have been nominated for most of the major genre awards (including the Nebula Award, World Fantasy Award, Campbell Award for Best New Author, and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, among others). His stories have been reprinted in numerous Year’s Best anthologies, including The Best American Short Stories. He is a senior editor at Locus, the magazine of the science fiction and fantasy field, and edited the anthology Sympathy for the Devil.

  CARRIE RYAN is the New York Times–bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Forest of Hands and Teeth series, which has been translated into more than eighteen languages and is in development as a major motion picture. She is also the editor of the anthology Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction, as well as author of Infinity Ring: Divide and Conquer, the second book in Scholastic’s new multi-author/multi-platform series for middle-grade readers. A former litigator, Carrie now writes full-time and lives with her husband, two fat cats, and one large dog in Charlotte, North Carolina. You can find her online at www.carrieryan.com or @carrieryan.

  MARGARET STOHL is the New York Times–and internationally bestselling co-author (with Kami Garcia) of the Beautiful Creatures novels, as well as the forthcoming Icons novels, both from Little, Brown. Beautiful Creatures, which has sold more than one million copies, has been published in forty-eight countries and thirty-seven languages, and was released as a major motion picture from Alcon Entertainment and Warner Brothers in 2013. Alcon Entertainment is also developing Icons as a feature film. A graduate of Amherst College, with an MA from Stanford University, Margaret made video games for sixteen years before turning to writing full-time. Margaret now spends most of her free time traveling to faraway places with her husband and three daughters, who are internationally ranked fencers. You can find her online at www.margaret-stohl.com or @mstohl.

  CHARLES VESS has been drawing ever since he could hold a crayon and crawl to the nearest wall. Charles graduated with a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, and worked in commercial animation for Candy Apple Productions in Richmond, Virginia, before moving to New York City in 1976. It was there that he became a freelance illustrator, working for many companies and publications, including Heavy Metal, Klutz Press, Epic Comics, and National Lampoon. His award-winning work has graced the covers and interior pages of many comic book publishers including Marvel (Spider-Man, The Raven Banner) and DC (Books of Magic, Swamp Thing, Sandman). His work now is found more in book illustration, such as The Ladies of Grace Adieu (Bloomsbury), The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales (Viking), and Peter Pan (Starscape). Charles’s art has been featured in several gallery and museum exhibitions across the nation, and in Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Charles’s awards include the Inkpot, three World Fantasies, the Mythopoeic, two Spectrum Annuals—a Gold and a Silver—two Chesleys, Locus (Best Artist), and two Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. He has resided on a small farm in the southwest corner of Virginia since 1991 and works diligently from his studio, Green Man Press.

  GENE WOLFE is one of the most highly respected living authors of science fiction, best known for his ambitious and groundbreaking Book of the New Sun series. He is a Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductee, a winner of the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement, and a SFWA Grand Master, as well as the winner of two Nebula Awards and four World Fantasy Awards.

  RICK YANCEY is the author of several novels and the memoir Confessions of a Tax Collector. His first young adult novel, The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp, was a finalist for the Carnegie Medal and has been translated into seventeen languages. His novel The Monstrumologist received the Michael L. Printz Honor and was named a YALSA Best Book for Young Adults and a Booklist Editors’ Choice for Youth. The sequel, The Curse of the Wendigo, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. The 5th Wave, the first novel in an epic science fiction trilogy, will be published in the summer of 2013.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Welcome

  Dedication

  Introduction by Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt

  That the Machine May Progress Eternally by Carrie Ryan

  Inspired by E. M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops”

  The King of Elfland’s Daughter by Charles Vess

  Losing Her Divinity by Garth Nix

  Inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s “The Man Who Would Be King”

  The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

  Inspired by “Sleeping Beauty”

  Kai Lung’s Golden Hours by Charles Vess

  The Cold Corner by Tim Pratt Inspired by Henry James’s “The Jolly Corner”

  Millcara by Holly Black

  Inspired by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla

  Figures of Earth by Charles Vess

  When First We Were Gods by Rick Yancey

  Inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birth-Mark”

  Sirocco by Margaret Stohl

  Inspired by Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto

  The Shaving of Shagpat by Charles Vess

  Awakened by Melissa Marr

  Inspired by Kate Chopin’s The Awakening

  New Chicago by Kelley Armstrong

  Inspired by W. W. Jacobs’s “The Monkey’s Paw”

  The Wood Beyond the World by Charles Vess

  The Soul Collector by Kami Garcia

  Inspired by the Brothers Grimm’s “Rumpelstiltskin”

  Without Faith, Without Law, Without Joy by Saladin Ahmed

  Inspired by Sir Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene

  Goblin Market by Charles Vess

  Uncaged by Gene Wolfe

  Inspired by William B. Seabrook’s “The Caged White Werewolf of the Saraban”

  Contributor Biographies

  Copyright

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Compilation copyright © 2013 by Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt

  “That the Machine May Progress Eternally” copyright © 2013 by Carrie Ryan. “Losing Her Divinity” copyright © 2013 by Garth Nix. “The Sleeper and the Spindle” copyright © 2013 by Neil Gaiman. “The Cold Corner” copyright © 2013 by Tim Pratt. “Millcara” copyright © 2013 by Holly Black. “When First We Were Gods” copyright © 2013 by Rick Yancey. “Sirocco” copyright © 2013 by Margaret Stohl. “Awakened” copyright © 2013 by Melissa Marr. “New Chicago” copyright © 2013 by Kelley Armstrong. “The Soul Collector” copyright © 2013 by Kami Garcia. “Without Faith, Without Law, Without Joy” copyright © 2013 by Saladin Ahmed. “Uncaged” copyright © 2013 by Gene Wolfe. Illustrations © 2013 by Charles Vess

  Cover art © 2103 by Grady McFerrin

  Cover design by Neil Swaab

  Cover © 2013 Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  Little, Brown and Company


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  First ebook edition: October 2013

  ISBN 978-0-316-21292-2

  For more about this book and author, visit Bookish.com.