Ivory and the Horn
Read Ivory and the Horn Online
Authors: Charles de Lint
From “Bird Bones and Wood Ash”
At first, Jaime knows them only as women with the faces of animals: mare and deer, wild boar and bear, raven and toad. And others. So many others. Following her.
They smell like forest loam and open field, like wild apple blossoms and nuts crushed underfoot. Their arms are soft, but their hands are callused and hard, the palms like leather. Where they have been, they leave behind a curious residue of dried blood and rose petals, tiny bird bones and wood ashes.
In those animal faces, their eyes are disconcertingly human, but not mortal. They are eyes that have seen decades pass as we see years, that have looked upon Eden and Hades. And their voices, at times a brew of dry African veldt whispers and sweet-toned crystal bells, looping through the clutter of city sound, echoing and ringing in her mind, heard only from a distance.
They hold Jaime in their soft arms, touch her hands with their callused palms. Fairy godmothers in animal guises, bestowing their dangerous gifts.
By Charles de Lint
from Tom Doherty Associates
Dreams Underfoot
The Fair at Emain Macha
Into the Green
The Ivory and the Horn
Jack of Kinrowan
The Little Country
Memory and Dream
Moonheart
Spiritwalk
Svaha
NOTE: If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
THE IVORY AND THE HORN
Copyright © 1995 by Charles de Lint
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
Cover art by Terri Windling Edited by Terri Windling
Grateful acknowledgments are made to:
Happy Rhodes for the use of the lines from “Words Weren’t Made for Cowards” from her album
Warpaint.
Copyright © 1991 by Happy Rhodes; lyrics reprinted by permission. For more information about Rhodes’s music, contact Aural Gratification, P.O. Box 86458, Academy Station, Albany, NY 12208.
Kiya
Heartwood for the use of a verse of “Wishing Well” from her album
True Frontiers.
Copyright © 1993 by Kiya Heartwood; lyrics reprinted by permission. For more information about Heartwood’s music, contact Pame Kingfisher at Roaddog Booking & Management, (800) 382-5895.
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, Inc. 175 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10010
Tor Books on the World Wide Web:
http://www.tor.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, Inc. ISBN: 0-812-53408-5
Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 94-45340
First edition: April 1995
First mass market edition: March 1996
Printed in the United States of America
09876543
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OPYRIGHT
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CKNOWLEDGMENTS
“Waifs and Strays” first appeared in
Journeys to the Twilight Zone,
edited by Carol Serling; DAW Books, 1993. Copyright © 1993 by Charles de Lint.
“Mr. Truepenny’s Book Emporium and Gallery” was first published by Cheap Street, 1992. Copyright © 1992 by Charles de Lint.
“The Forest Is Crying” first appeared in
The Earth Strikes Back,
edited by Richard Chizmar; Mark Zeising Books, 1994. Copyright © 1994 by Charles de Lint.
“The Wishing Well” was first published by Axolotl Press, 1993. Copyright © 1993 by Charles de Lint.
“Dead Man’s Shoes” first appeared in
Touch Wood: Narrow Houses, Volume Two,
edited by Peter Crowther; Little, Brown and Company, 1993. Copyright © 1993 by Charles de Lint.
“Bird Bones and Wood Ash” is original to this collection.
“A Tempest in Her Eyes” first appeared in
Weird Tales from Shakespeare,
edited by Katharine Kerr and Martin H. Greenberg; DAW Books, 1994. Copyright © 1994 by Charles de Lint.
“Saxophone Joe and the Woman in Black” first appeared in
Catfantastic
III,
edited by Andre Norton and Martin H. Greenberg; DAW Books, 1994. Copyright © 1994 by Charles de Lint.
“The Bone Woman” was first published by Triskell Press, 1992. Copyright © 1992 by Charles de Lint.
“Pal o’ Mine” first appeared in
Christmas Forever,
edited by David G. Hartwell; Tor Books, 1993. Copyright © 1993 by Charles de Lint.
“Where Desert Spirits Crowd the Night” first appeared in
Worlds of Fantasy and Horror
#2, Fall 1994. Copyright © 1994 by Charles de Lint.
“Dream Harder, Dream True” first appeared in
Temporary Walls,
edited by Greg Ketter and Robert T. Garcia; Dream-Haven Books, 1993. Copyright © 1993 by Charles de Lint.
“The Pochade Box” first appeared in
Thunders Shadow,
Vol. V, No. 1, 1994. Copyright © 1994 by Charles de Lint.
“Coyote Stories” was first published by Triskell Press, 1993. Copyright © 1993 by Charles de Lint.
“The Forever Trees” first appeared in
Worlds of Fantasy and Horror
#2, Fall 1994. Copyright © 1994 by Charles de Lint.
for
Jane Yolen,
who showed me how to touch magic
and pass it on
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CKNOWLEDGMENTS
As anyone involved knows, contrary to the belief that artists create in the isolation of their workspaces, the act of creation is not a solitary endeavor. Without the inspiration and support I’ve received over the years, these stories wouldn’t exist, so this time out I’d like to thank:
My wife, MaryAnn, for her help in the genesis of many of these stories and in their fine-tuning, always knowing when and where to say the right thing;
My editors at Tor, Terri Windling, Patrick Nielsen Hay-den, Donald G. Keller and Greg Cox, for having enough faith in these stories to request a second volume sight unseen, and for making the publishing process so painless;
My agent, Richard Curtis, for finding me the spaces between novels when I could write these stories;
Altan, Tori Amos, Sarah Bauhan, Lisa Germano, Kiya Heartwood, Maria Kalaniemi, Peter Kater, Jon Mark, R. Carlos Nakai, Johnette Napolitano, Happy Rhodes and Ian Tamblyn, whose music keeps me sane;
All those editors who first asked for the stories collected herein: Kurt Busiak, Richard Chizmar, Pete Crowther, Bob
Garcia, Marty Greenberg, David Hartwell, Kit Kerr, Greg Ketter, Andre Norton, Jan and George O’Nale, Kris Rusch, Darrell Schweitzer, Erik Seeker, Carol Serling and Dean Smith.
A few notes concerning individual stories:
In “The Bone Woman,” the idea of
La Huesera
comes from the folklore of the American Southwest. My thanks to Clarissa Pinkola Estes for making me aware of the tale.
In “Where Desert Spirits Crowd the Night” the story of Coyote and the Buzzard is based upon traditional Kick-apoo folklore.
“The Wishing Well” was written for MaryAnn, who wanted to know what was in the well, and for Jane Siberry, for her own “strange well” of songs. Special thanks to Dr. Sean Costello (a fine author in his own right) for technical advice.
—Charles de Lint
Ottawa, Canada
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ONTENTS