by Alex Bledsoe
“The Fairy Feller’s Master Stroke,” the librarian said. “It’s one of our most prized pieces. And it’s not the watercolor copy, either. That’s in the Tate Gallery in London. This,” she said with pride, “is the original.”
Don noted its location. “You don’t exactly show it off.”
“We’ve left it exactly where the charter residents of Cricket placed it,” the librarian said. “Would you like to see something especially impressive about it?”
She took out her keychain and switched on a tiny flashlight. “Watch this.” She slowly moved the circle of light across the surface.
It was astounding. The painting was almost done in three dimensions, with layer upon layer of paint creating a depth hidden by flat illumination. The librarian continued, “The artist worked on this one canvas for eight years, from 1855 to 1864, while confined in an asylum after he killed his father.”
Craig barely heard her words. To the left of center the figure of a woman, looking away as if distracted by her friend behind her, bore an uncanny resemblance to Bronwyn despite the artist’s stylization. The similarity was so strong, he couldn’t believe it was mere coincidence, yet how could it be otherwise?
“They all look like Tufas,” Don said softly.
Craig slowly nodded. “Wow. Who told you to come see this?”
“A little Tufa girl I met. You?” But before Craig could answer, Don looked at his watch and exclaimed, “Oh, hell, I’ve got to go, I’m going to be late. Good to see you again, Reverend.”
“Where are you off to?” Craig asked.
“I’ve got my exclusive interview this afternoon with Bronwyn Hyatt. What about you?”
He smiled. “I have to finish some work early to get ready for a date tonight.” He deliberately didn’t mention Bronwyn’s name.
“A date?” Don teased. “Are preachers allowed to date?”
“Yes,” Craig deadpanned. “We’re not priests.”
Don laughed. “I reckon not. Well, hope my interview and your date both work out.”
“Same here.”
The two men thanked the librarian and went outside. Don stopped as he opened his car door. “Oh, and if you’re looking for something to do on your date, I’m playing at a local barn dance. Bronwyn knows where it is. I’ve got a new song about all the recent trouble, you know with Dwayne Gitterman and that patrolman.”
“You wrote a song about it?”
He shrugged. “Seemed like the thing to do. Even the Tufa need a reporter of some kind, don’t they?” He climbed into his car and started the engine.
“Hey, wait!” Craig called. “How did you know I had a date with Bronwyn?”
Don rolled down the driver’s side window, shook his head, and shrugged. “A good reporter never reveals his sources.” As he drove away, he waved and called out, “See you tonight, maybe!”
Craig stared after him. He finally laughed and shook his head, got into his own car, and headed back into Cloud County.
SONG CREDITS
All song lyrics are original except the following, which are all public domain:
CHAPTER SEVEN
“When Love Gets You Fast in Her Clutches” (composed 1795; words by Thomas Morton, music by Dr. Samuel Arnold [1742–1802])
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“On My Journey Home” by Isaac Watts (July 17, 1674– November 25, 1748)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“John Barleycorn” (traditional English folk song)
A version of the song is included in the Bannatyne Manuscript of 1568.
http://www.pdmusic.org/folk/John_Barleycorn.txt
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Wildwood Flower,” aka “I’ll Twine ’Mid the Ringlets” (composed approximately 1860; words by Maud Irving, music by Joseph Philbrick Webster)
http://www.pdmusic.org/webster/jpw60itmtr.txt
Final verse modified from the traditional by the author
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Shady Grove” (traditional; eighteenth-century American variation of the seventeenth-century English ballad “Matty Groves”)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shady_Grove_(song)
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Cripple Creek” (melody, lyrics, and chords from p. 232 [#118] from The Folk Songs of North America: In the English Language by Alan Lomax)
http://www.pdmusic.org/folk/Cripple_Creek.txt
Modified from the traditional by the author
“Rye Whisky” (traditional folksong)
Mentioned in American Ballads and Folk Songs by John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax (Dover, 1994; originally Macmillan, 1934)
http://www.pdmusic.org/folk/Rye_Whisky.txt
Modified from the traditional by the author
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“The White Cockade” by Robert Burns (1759–1796)
http://www2.bc.edu/~hafner/lmm/music-articles/white_cockade_ryan.html
http://www.contemplator.com/scotland/whitcock.html
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“The Bird Song” by Carrie Jacobs Bond (composed 1899)
http://www.pdmusic.org/bond/cjb99tbs.txt
Modified from the original by the author
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
“The Grave of Gentle Annie” written by William Shakespeare Hays (1837–1907) (composed 1858)
http://www.pdmusic.org/hays/wsh58tgoga.txt
Modified from the original by the author
“Mercy’s Dream” by Septimus Winner (1827–1902) (composed 1854)
http://www.pdmusic.org/winner/sw54md.txt
Modified from the original by the author
BOOKS BY ALEX BLEDSOE
Blood Groove
The Girls with Games of Blood
The Sword-Edged Blonde
Burn Me Deadly
Dark Jenny
The Hum and the Shiver
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE HUM AND THE SHIVER
Copyright © 2011 by Alex Bledsoe
All rights reserved.
A Tor® eBook
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
ISBN 978-0-7653-2744-4
First Edition: October 2011
eISBN 978-1-4299-8502-4