Book Read Free

A Place so Foreign

Page 2

by Cory Doctorow

a copy of, or the Uniform ResourceIdentifier for, this License with every copy or phonorecord ofthe Work You distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, orpublicly digitally perform. You may not offer or impose any termson the Work that alter or restrict the terms of this License orthe recipients' exercise of the rights granted hereunder. You maynot sublicense the Work. You must keep intact all notices thatrefer to this License and to the disclaimer of warranties. Youmay not distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, orpublicly digitally perform the Work with any technologicalmeasures that control access or use of the Work in a mannerinconsistent with the terms of this License Agreement. The aboveapplies to the Work as incorporated in a Collective Work, butthis does not require the Collective Work apart from the Workitself to be made subject to the terms of this License. If Youcreate a Collective Work, upon notice from any Licensor You must,to the extent practicable, remove from the Collective Work anyreference to such Licensor or the Original Author, as requested.b. You may not exercise any of the rights granted to You inSection 3 above in any manner that is primarily intended for ordirected toward commercial advantage or private monetarycompensation. The exchange of the Work for other copyrightedworks by means of digital file-sharing or otherwise shall not beconsidered to be intended for or directed toward commercialadvantage or private monetary compensation, provided there is nopayment of any monetary compensation in connection with theexchange of copyrighted works.c. If you distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, orpublicly digitally perform the Work or any Collective Works, Youmust keep intact all copyright notices for the Work and give theOriginal Author credit reasonable to the medium or means You areutilizing by conveying the name (or pseudonym if applicable) ofthe Original Author if supplied; the title of the Work ifsupplied. Such credit may be implemented in any reasonablemanner; provided, however, that in the case of a Collective Work,at a minimum such credit will appear where any other comparableauthorship credit appears and in a manner at least as prominentas such other comparable authorship credit.5. Representations, Warranties and Disclaimera. By offering the Work for public release under this License,Licensor represents and warrants that, to the best of Licensor'sknowledge after reasonable inquiry:i. Licensor has secured all rights in the Work necessary to grantthe license rights hereunder and to permit the lawful exercise ofthe rights granted hereunder without You having any obligation topay any royalties, compulsory license fees, residuals or anyother payments;ii. The Work does not infringe the copyright, trademark,publicity rights, common law rights or any other right of anythird party or constitute defamation, invasion of privacy orother tortious injury to any third party.b. EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY STATED IN THIS LICENSE OR OTHERWISE AGREEDIN WRITING OR REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE WORK IS LICENSED ONAN "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSOR IMPLIED INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTIESREGARDING THE CONTENTS OR ACCURACY OF THE WORK.6. Limitation on Liability. EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT REQUIRED BYAPPLICABLE LAW, AND EXCEPT FOR DAMAGES ARISING FROM LIABILITY TOA THIRD PARTY RESULTING FROM BREACH OF THE WARRANTIES IN SECTION5, IN NO EVENT WILL LICENSOR BE LIABLE TO YOU ON ANY LEGAL THEORYFOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR EXEMPLARYDAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THIS LICENSE OR THE USE OF THE WORK, EVENIF LICENSOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.7. Terminationa. This License and the rights granted hereunder will terminateautomatically upon any breach by You of the terms of thisLicense. Individuals or entities who have received CollectiveWorks from You under this License, however, will not have theirlicenses terminated provided such individuals or entities remainin full compliance with those licenses. Sections 1, 2, 5, 6, 7,and 8 will survive any termination of this License.b. Subject to the above terms and conditions, the license grantedhere is perpetual (for the duration of the applicable copyrightin the Work). Notwithstanding the above, Licensor reserves theright to release the Work under different license terms or tostop distributing the Work at any time; provided, however thatany such election will not serve to withdraw this License (or anyother license that has been, or is required to be, granted underthe terms of this License), and this License will continue infull force and effect unless terminated as stated above.8. Miscellaneousa. Each time You distribute or publicly digitally perform theWork or a Collective Work, the Licensor offers to the recipient alicense to the Work on the same terms and conditions as thelicense granted to You under this License.b. If any provision of this License is invalid or unenforceableunder applicable law, it shall not affect the validity orenforceability of the remainder of the terms of this License, andwithout further action by the parties to this agreement, suchprovision shall be reformed to the minimum extent necessary tomake such provision valid and enforceable.c. No term or provision of this License shall be deemed waivedand no breach consented to unless such waiver or consent shall bein writing and signed by the party to be charged with such waiveror consent.d. This License constitutes the entire agreement between theparties with respect to the Work licensed here. There are nounderstandings, agreements or representations with respect to theWork not specified here. Licensor shall not be bound by anyadditional provisions that may appear in any communication fromYou. This License may not be modified without the mutual writtenagreement of the Licensor and You.

  ###

  A Place So Foreign==================

  My Pa disappeared somewhere in the wilds of 1975, when I was just fourteen yearsold. He was the Ambassador to 1975, but back home in 1898, in New Jerusalem,Utah, they all thought he was Ambassador to France. When he disappeared, Mamaand I came back through the triple-bolted door that led from our apt in 1975 toour horsebarn in 1898. We returned to the dusty streets of New Jerusalem, and Ihad to keep on reminding myself that I was supposed to have been in France, and"polly-voo" for my chums, and tell whoppers about the Eiffel Tower and the fancybread and the snails and frogs we'd eaten.

  I was born in New Jerusalem, and raised there till I was ten. Then, one summer'sday, my Pa sat me on his knee and told me we'd be going away for a while, thathe had a new job.

  "But what about the store?" I said, scandalised. My Pa's wonderful store, theonly General Store in town not run by the Saints, was my second home. I'd spentmy whole life crawling and then walking on the dusty wooden floors, checkingstock and unpacking crates with waybills from exotic places like Salt Lake Cityand even San Francisco.

  Pa looked uncomfortable. "Mr Johnstone is buying it."

  My mouth dropped. James H Johnstone was as dandified a city-slicker as you'dever hope to meet. He'd blown into town on the weekly Zephyr Speedball, and skinnyTommy Benson had hauled his three huge steamer trunks to the cowboy hotel. He'dtipped Tommy two dollars, in Wells-Fargo notes, and later, in the empty lotbehind the smithy, all the kids in New Jerusalem had gathered 'round Tommy togoggle at the small fortune in queer, never-seen bills.

  "Pa, no!" I said, without thinking. I knew that if my chums ordered theirfathers around like that, they'd get a whipping, but my Pa almost never whippedme.

  He smiled, and stretched his thick moustache across his face. "James, I know youlove the store, but it's already been decided. Once you've been to France,you'll see that it has wonders that beat anything that store can deliver."

  "Nothing's better than the store," I said.

  He laughed and rumpled my hair. "Don't be so sure, son. There are more things inheaven and earth then are dreamed of in your philosophy." It was one of hissayings, from Shakespeare, who he'd studied back east, before I was born. Itmeant that the discussion was closed.

  I decided to withhold judgement until I saw France, but still couldn't shake thefeeling that my Pa was going soft in the head. Mr Johnstone wasn't fit to run anapple-cart. He was short and skinny and soft, not like my Pa, who, as far as Iwas concerned, was the biggest, strongest man in the whole world
. I loved my Pa.

  #

  Well, when we packed our bags and Pa went into the horsebarn to hitch up ourteam, I figured we'd be taking a short trip out to the train station. All mychums were waiting there to see us off, and I'd promised my best pal OlySweynsdatter that I'd give him my coonskin cap to wear until we came back. Butinstead, Pa rode us to the edge of town, where the road went to rutted trail andsalt flats, and there was Mr James H Johnstone, in his own fancy-pants trap. Paand me moved our luggage into Johnstone's trap and got inside with Mama andhunkered down so, you couldn't see us from outside. Mama said, "You just hush upnow, James. There's parts of this trip that we couldn't tell you about before weleft, but you're going to have to stay quiet and hold onto your questions untilwe get to where we're

‹ Prev