by Tim Susman
Kip scooped her up. “Oof!” he said. “You’re getting big! I’m going to have to use magic to pick you up soon.”
“Da!” she said, and pushed her little nose against his.
Alice brushed her dress free of dirt and came to kiss Kip’s cheek. “Morning,” she said. “Or, afternoon, or whatever it is for you. How are the new Calatians?”
Kira turned toward Alice and reached a paw out to her whiskers. “Ma!” she said, and then touched Kip’s muzzle with her other little paw. “Da!”
“Yes,” Alice said, “Ma and Da are both here, and Ba will be back tonight.”
“They’re the same as here,” Kip said. “A little better than last time, still a way from being…you know. But they’re getting better, and last year’s definitely helped. How has your day been?”
Alice stretched. “Chakrabarti had some interesting thoughts about bringing Calatians to India, but using native Indian animals. We talked about it well into the night. Then I got up a few hours ago to go to the Dieuleveults’ farm to help with the planting. Kira came along but slept through most of it. Now I’m tired and she’s full of energy.”
“You can take a nap if you like. I’m here for a bit and I haven’t seen her in a day.” He bounced her up and down and she laughed, wagging her tail. “Playing with blocks today, are you?” Kip asked the little cub, still trying to grab his whiskers.
“She cried until I brought them out.” Alice smiled. “She won’t play with anything else. Maybe she’ll be an architect or a builder when she grows up.”
Kip looked into his cub’s blue eyes, their pupils almost vertical lines in the sun, and he shifted his grip to hold her more securely. “We’ll teach her all we know,” he said, rubbing his nose against hers. “And after that, she can do anything she wants.”
Acknowledgments
This book was supported in part through Patreon. My page at patreon.com/timsusman features sneak previews of upcoming work, often early drafts that will never be released otherwise. Many thanks to my Patreon supporters for this volume: Brandon Nedrow, Furlia, John Hawley, Marcwolf, Shader, and tav fox.
Thanks to Renee van Amerongen for help with the Dutch language, including linguistic history that I had to restrain myself from delving more into. Thanks also to Ned, who helped with some little aspects of the Christian faith, and to foozzzball, who helped with some of the more troublesome plot knots.
Thanks to the Happy Little Comets writing group, specifically Alisa Alering, M. Milks, Dayna Smith, Brooke Wonders, and Becky Wright, who broke out this story with me and provided extremely useful critiques on an early draft.
Thanks to the Unreliable Narrators, Ryan Campbell, David Cowan, and Watts Martin, for their invaluable feedback on early drafts.
Thanks to Fuzz and Teiran for believing in this series and giving it a wonderful home at Argyll. Their support has been crucial to the development and release of the books.
My deepest thanks to Laura Garabedian, whose art has graced all four books. She made them look exactly as I’d hoped, and then made everything better. I love the extra dimension her art has brought to the series.
And of course, as always, my love and gratitude to Mark, Jack, and Kobalt, at least two of whom did not actively resent me spending so much time at the computer and not throwing a ball in the back yard. They have been and continue to be the best family a fox could ask for.
About the Author
Tim Susman started a novel in college and didn’t finish one until almost twenty years later. In that time, he earned a degree in Zoology, worked with Jane Goodall, co-founded Sofawolf Press, and moved to California. He has attended Clarion in 2011 (arooo Narwolves!) and published short stories in Apex, Lightspeed, and ROAR, among others. He has also published many more novels and short stories under the name Kyell Gold and has won several awards for his fiction under both names. You can find out more about his stories at timsusman.wordpress.com and www. kyellgold.com, and follow him on Twitter at @WriterFox.
About the Artist
My childhood was spent moving, changing locations and school environments. My constant companions became a dragon’s horde of fantasy novels and my animals. This connection to creatures through the lens of fantasy has always been a touchstone for my work.
Through the years, I’ve experimented with many different media, wandering many paths. Now I’ve settled into the twin focuses of watercolor and oils. I find the dichotomy of their approach refreshing, and each time my hands move from one to the other I approach my work with new ideas and a cleaner view of where I should go.
Art is a way for my to communicate my love of the natural world and the fantasy I see within it. I think that the creation of a narrative around wildlife and fantastical animals can lead people to see the world and the many lives encompassed within it with more compassion and joy, returning the wonder of childlike curiosity to their lives.
I enjoy employing abstract backgrounds with minutely detailed subjects. The duality of the abstract work with small areas of focus lets the viewer fill in parts of strange color fields with their own story. My inspiration from nature and the narratives I like to weave around the strange beasts in my paintings lets me tell soundless stories to those who wish to explore them. In my paintings, bears covered in moss and trailing mushrooms emerge from the mist, gryphons dive from heights unknown with jewelry trailing them, and sphinxes ask questions unheard from behind blank masks. Where they come from, and what they want to say is left for those who watch them to determine. I hope through my work people can find a bit of mystery, of that wonder you have as a child making shapes in clouds, imagining what monster is in the closet, and making each walk in the woods a journey that may take them to Narnia, to Middle Earth, or a world of their own making
http://www.fairytaleswithtails.com
Also by Tim Susman
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Breaking The Ice: Stories from New Tibet (editor) - On a hostile ice planet, survival is guaranteed to nobody.
Shadows in Snow (editor) - More stories from the unforgiving ice world of New Tibet.
Common and Precious - A kidnapped heiress comes to sympathize with her desperate captors, while her father discovers the limits of his power in trying to rescue her.
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The Calatians
Book 1: The Tower and the Fox - Kip and his friends encounter prejudice and mysteries in their first few months at Prince George’s College of Sorcery.
Book 2: The Demon and the Fox - The forces of revolution grow in Massachusetts as Kip and his friends rush to solve the mystery of the attack on the College of Sorcery.
Book 3: The War and the Fox - Kip and his friends are drafted into the fight for independence from Britain, but there is more at stake.
Writing as Kyell Gold:
Love Match
Love Match (vol. 1, 2008-2010) — Rocky arrives in the States from Africa and navigates the treacherous worlds of professional tennis and high school.
Love Match (vol. 2, 2010-2012) — Rocky begins his professional career, at the cost of his family and romantic relationships.
Love Match (vol. 3, 2013-2015) — As his career trends upward, Rocky’s romantic life becomes less stable.
* * *
Out of Position (Dev and Lee)
Out of Position – Dev the football player and Lee the gay activist discover how to navigate their relationship. (mature readers)
Isolation Play – The continuing story of Dev and Lee, as they contend with family and friends in their search for acceptance. (mature readers)
Divisions – As Dev’s team fights to make the playoffs, Lee fights to keep his sense of self. (mature readers)
Uncovered – The playoffs are here, and Dev needs his focus more than ever. So when Lee becomes too distracting,
something has to give. (mature readers)
Over Time – Dev and Lee try to plan their future while dealing with crises all around them. (mature readers)
Ty Game — Dev’s teammate Ty navigates an arranged marriage while also falling in love. (mature readers)
Tales of the Firebirds — A collection of stories exploring the lives of some of the other characters from the Out of Position series. (mature readers)
Titles – In the two weeks leading up to Dev’s third try at a championship, Dev and Lee face new challenges and changes in their lives. (mature readers)
* * *
Dangerous Spirits
Green Fairy – A gay high school senior struggling through his final year finds a strange old book that changes his dreams and his life.
Red Devil – A gay fox who fled his abusive family in Siberia seeks help from a ghost who demands he give up his gay lifestyle.
Black Angel – A young otter struggles to understand her sexuality as her friends prepare for post-high school life and dreams of women in other times plague her.
* * *
Argaea
Volle – The story of how Volle came to Tephos, a spy masquerading as a noble, and the first adventure he had there. (mature readers)
The Prisoner’s Release and Other Stories – The story of how Volle escaped from prison, and the story of what happened after, plus two other stories following characters from “Volle.” (mature readers)
Pendant of Fortune – Volle returns to Tephos to defend his honor, but soon finds himself fighting for much more. (mature readers)
Shadow of the Father – Volle’s son, Yilon, must travel to the far-off land he is meant to rule, but he will have to fight treachery to take the lordship. (mature readers)
Weasel Presents – Five short stories from the land of Argaea, including “Helfer’s Busy Day” and “Yilon’s Journal.” (mature readers)
Return From Divalia — Years after a night of adventure ruined his life, a young wolf gets a chance at redemption. (mature readers, coming 2022)
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Forester Universe
Waterways – The full story of Kory’s journey to understand himself and what it means to be gay. (mature readers)
Bridges – Hayward seems content to set up pairs of his friends. But what does he really need for himself? (mature readers)
Science Friction – Vaxy never took sex seriously, until he found out the professor he was sleeping with was married… (mature readers)
Winter Games – Sierra Snowpaw was an unsure high school student when someone he thought was a friend changed his life. Now he's fifteen years older and still looking for answers. (mature readers)
The Mysterious Affair of Giles – A servant in a British manor house tries to solve a murder.
Dude, Where’s My Fox? – Lonnie chases down a fox he hooked up with at a party as a way to get over his breakup. (mature readers)
Dude, Where’s My Pack? — Lonnie tries to navigate relationships old and new. (mature readers, coming 2020)
Losing My Religion – On tour with his R.E.M. cover band, Jackson mentors the new guy in the band as his own life falls apart. (mature readers)
The Time He Desires — A Muslim immigrant struggles with the betrayal of his son and the dissolution of his marriage, as well as his own long-past trauma.
Camouflage — When Danilo is sent 500 years into the past, he must choose between safety in an unfamiliar world and his own sense of what is right. (mature readers)
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Other Books
The Silver Circle – Valerie thought the old hunter was crazy when he warned her about werewolves—until she met one.
In the Doghouse of Justice – Seven stories of superheroes and their not-so-super relationships. (mature readers)
Twelve Sides — Twelve short stories about side characters from the above books. (mature readers)
Do You Need Help? — Writing advice for furry (and non-furry) writers.
Unfinished Business — A detective uncovers a plot against him and must turn to his werewolf ex-boyfriend for help. (coming 2021)