Two young dogs wrestled in the dirt by a sheep pen until they noticed her. They jumped to their feet and raced about, barking, "Cat! Cat!" She wasn't afraid of dogs any more—not happy dogs like these, with their heads high and their ears pricked. She hopped onto a railing where they couldn't accidentally bowl her over. They milled about, wagging their tails.
A woman stretching fabric started to say something to the dogs. When she saw Small Cat, her mouth made an O of surprise. "A cat!" She whirled and ran toward the temple. "A cat! Look, come see!"
The woman knew what a cat was, and so had the dogs! Ignoring the dogs, ignoring all the people who were suddenly seeing her, Small Cat pelted after the woman.
The woman burst through a circle of children gathered around a seated man. He was dressed in red and yellow, his shaved head shiny in the sun. A monk, but not her monk, she knew right away: this one was rounder, though his face was still open and kind. He stood up as the woman pointed at Small Cat. "Look, look! Another cat!"
The monk and the children all started talking at once. And in the middle of the noise, Small Cat heard a meow.
Another cat?
A little ginger- and white-striped tomcat stood on a stack of boxes nearby, looking down at her. His golden eyes were bright and huge with excitement, and his whiskers vibrated. He jumped down and ran to her.
"Who are you?" he said. His tail waved. "Where did you come from?"
When she had decided to make this her home, she hadn't thought she might be sharing it. He wasn't much bigger than she was, or any older, and right now, he was more like a kitten than anything, hopping from paw to paw. She took a step toward him.
"I am so glad to see another cat!" he said. He purred so hard that his breath wheezed in his throat. "The monk brought me here last year to catch mice, all the way from the capital in a basket! It was very exciting. There are so many things to do here! I have a really nice secret place to sleep, but I'll show it to you." He touched her nose with his own.
"There's no fudoki," he said, a little defensively. "There's just me."
"And me now," said The Cat Who Walked A Thousand Miles, and she rubbed her cheek against his. "And I have such a tale to tell!"
RECOMMENDED READING
The following stories would appear in this volume if space permitted. All of them are recommended, and would repay your attention.
Daniel Abraham, "Balfour and Meriwether in the Adventure Of The Emperor's
Vengeance", Postscripts 19
Daniel Abraham, "The Best Monkey", The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction:
Volume 3
Peter M. Ball, "Horn", Twelfth Planet Press
Peter M. Ball, "On the Destruction of Copenhagen by the War-Machines of the
Merfolk", Strange Horizons, July 2009
Peter S. Beagle, "Vanishing", Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show,
March 2009
Elizabeth Bear, "Cuckoo", Shadow Unit
James P. Blaylock, "The Dry Spell", Subterranean, Winter 2009
Leah Bobet, "Sugar", Shadow Unit
Damien Broderick, "The Qualia Engine", Asimov's Science Fiction, August 2009
Pat Cadigan, "Don't Mention Madagascar", Eclipse Three
Paul Cornell, "One of Our Bastards Is Missing", The Solaris Book of New Science
Fiction: Volume Three
Andy Duncan, "The Dragaman's Bride", The Dragon Book
Greg Egan, "Hot Rock", Oceanic
James Enge, "Fire and Sleet", Pyrsf.com
Sara Genge, "Shoes-to-Run", Asimov's Science Fiction, July, 2009
Theodora Goss, "Child-Empress of Mars", Interfictions 2
Steven Gould, "A Story, with Beans", Analog Science Fiction and Fact, December
2009
Paul Haines, "Wives", X6
Cecelia Holland, "Dragon's Deep", The Dragon Book
Gwyneth Jones, "Collision", When It Changed
John Kessel, "Events Preceding the Helvetican Renaissance", The New Space
Opera 2
Caitlin R. Kiernan, "Galapagos", Eclipse Three
Ellen Klages, "Singing on a Star", Firebirds Soaring
Ted Kosmatka & Michael Poore, "Blood Dauber", Asimov's Science Fiction,
October/November 2009
Nancy Kress, "Act One", Asimov's Science Fiction, March 2009
Ellen Kushner, "Dulce Domum", Eclipse Three
Margo Lanagan, "Sea-Hearts", X6
Jessica Lee, "Superhero Girl", Fantasy Magazine, June 2009
Paul McAuley, "Crimes and Glory", Subterranean, Spring 2009
Ian McDonald, "Vishnu at the Cat Circus", Cyberabad Days
Maureen F. McHugh, "Useless Things", Eclipse Three
James Morrow, Shambling Towards Hiroshima, Tachyon Publications
Kim Newman, "Moon Moon Moon", Subterranean, Summer 2009
Garth Nix, "The Heart of the City", Subterranean, Summer 2009
Holly Phillips, "The Long Cold Goodbye", Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine,
March 2009
Tim Pratt, "Unexpected Outcomes", Interzone 222
Chris Roberson, "Edison's Frankenstein", Postscripts 20/21
Tansy Rayner Roberts, "Siren Beat", Siren Beat/Roadkill
Rudy Rucker and Bruce Sterling, "Colliding Branes", Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, February 2009
Geoff Ryman, "You", When It Changed
Gord Sellar, "Of Melei, of Ulthar", Clarkesworld Magazine, October 2009
Lucius Shepard, "Sylgarmo's Proclamation", Songs of the Dying Earth
Robert Silverberg, "The True Vintage of Erzuine Thale", Songs of the Dying
Earth
William Browning Spencer, "Come Lurk with Me and Be My Love", Lovecraft
Unbound
Bruce Sterling, "Esoteric City", The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction,
August/September 2009
Harry Turtledove, "We Haven't Got There Yet", Tor.com
Steven Utley & Michael Bishop, "The City Quiet as Death", Tor.com
Catherynne M. Valente, "The Radiant Car Thy Sparrows Drew", Clarkesworld Magazine, August 2009
Jeff VanderMeer, "Errata", Tor.com
Jo Walton, "Escape to Other Worlds with Science Fiction", Tor.com
Robert Charles Wilson, "This Peaceable Land; or The Unbearable Vision of
Harriet Beecher Stowe", Other Earths
John C. Wright, "One Bright Star to Guide Them", The Magazine of Fantasy &
Science Fiction, April/May 2009
John C. Wright, "The Far End of History", The New Space Opera 2
THE END
For more great books visit
http://www.webscription.net
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year-Volume Four
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
Jonathan Strahan
IT TAKES TWO
Nicola Griffith
THREE TWILIGHT TALES
Jo Walton
Andy Duncan
THE ISLAND
Peter Watts
FERRYMAN
Margo Lanagan
"A WILD AND A WICKED YOUTH"
Ellen Kushner
THE PELICAN BAR
Karen Joy Fowler
SPAR
Kij Johnson
GOING DEEP
James Patrick Kelly
THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN
Holly Black
ZEPPELIN CITY
Michael Swanwick and Eileen Gunn
DRAGON'S TEETH
Alex Irvine
THIS WIND BLOWING, AND THIS TIDE
Damien Broderick
BY MOONLIGHT
Peter S. Beagle
BLACK SWAN
Bruce Sterling
AS WOMEN FIGHT
Sara Genge
THE CINDERELLA GAME
Kelly Link
FORMIDABLE CARESS: A TALE OF OLD EARTH
Stephen Baxt
er
BLOCKED
Geoff Ryman
TRUTH AND BONE
Pat Cadigan
EROS, PHILIA, AGAPE
Rachel Swirsky
THE MOTORMAN'S COAT
John Kessel
MONGOOSE
Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear
ECHOES OF AURORA
Ellen Klages
BEFORE MY LAST BREATH
Robert Reed
Diana Wynne Jones
UTRIUSQUE COSMI
Robert Charles Wilson
A DELICATE ARCHITECTURE
Catherynne M. Valente
THE CAT WHO WALKED A THOUSAND MILES
Kij Johnson
RECOMMENDED READING
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
IT TAKES TWO
THREE TWILIGHT TALES
THE NIGHT CACHE
THE ISLAND
FERRYMAN
"A WILD AND A WICKED YOUTH"
THE PELICAN BAR
SPAR
GOING DEEP
THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN
ZEPPELIN CITY
DRAGON'S TEETH
THIS WIND BLOWING, AND THIS TIDE
BY MOONLIGHT
BLACK SWAN
AS WOMEN FIGHT
THE CINDERELLA GAME
FORMIDABLE CARESS: A TALE OF OLD EARTH
BLOCKED
TRUTH AND BONE
EROS, PHILIA, AGAPE
THE MOTORMAN'S COAT
MONGOOSE
ECHOES OF AURORA
BEFORE MY LAST BREATH
JOBOY
UTRIUSQUE COSMI
A DELICATE ARCHITECTURE
THE CAT WHO WALKED A THOUSAND MILES
RECOMMENDED READING