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    Tortoise and Feathers
    Tortoise and Feathers
    Tortoise and Feathers
    Ebook37 pages30 minutes

    Tortoise and Feathers

    By A.R. Henle

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    About this ebook

    Yera lives alone in a dusty, crumbling temple, the only priestess remaining to carry out her family's pledge to care for a giant tortoise.

    In a drought-stricken land, she prays for rain to satisfy the tortoise's ever-growing thirst.

    She'll trade anything--goods, services, morals--for water.

    In fine fairy-tale tradition, a down-and-out girl must venture into the wilderness.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherA.R. Henle
    Release dateMar 17, 2019
    ISBN9781386492160
    Tortoise and Feathers
    Author

    A.R. Henle

    A.R. Henle writes non-fiction by day and fiction—alternate history, magical realism, and fantasy—by night. She’s currently working on a series of short stories set the Twisting world, an alternate (magical) mid-19th century United States, as a group of scientists, artists, and guides begin a journey toward heroism—or infamy. She has lived in most of the United States, and held driver's licenses from nine different states in turn (so far). Given her interest in historical fantasy and alternate history, she enjoys visiting historical sites and parks for inspiration and for fun.

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      Book preview

      Tortoise and Feathers - A.R. Henle

      Tortoise and Feathers

      Tortoise and Feathers

      A.R. Henle

      Copyright (c) 2019 Alea Henle

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

      Editing by Rare Bird Editing.

      First edition 2019

      www.arhenle.com

      Created with Vellum Created with Vellum

      Contents

      Tortoise and Feathers

      About the Author

      Backcopy

      Yera lives alone in a dusty, crumbling temple, the only priestess remaining to carry out her family's pledge to care for a giant tortoise.

      In a drought-stricken land, she prays for rain to satisfy the tortoise's ever-growing thirst.

      She'll trade anything--goods, services, morals--for water.

      In fine fairy-tale tradition, a down-and-out girl must venture into the wilderness.

      Tortoise and Feathers

      R ain. Rain! Yera lifted fisted hands to the sky.

      On the longest day of the year, Yera's foremothers had dressed in their finest attire and led services before a crowded temple to welcome the sun. Yera made do with the only unblemished linen sheath in her possession and root sandals. She hadn't used precious water to wash, not even her lank, ash-colored hair, and didn't bother to hold services in the empty, decaying temple. Instead, she stood on the broken mosaic of birds and tortoises covering the temple yard.

      Plants withered on the parched land, suffering yet another year of drought. The mountains surrounding the valley held no hint of white. The meagre winter snows had melted before the start of summer proper, though they should have provided snowmelt for weeks after.

      The big, stinky lake nearby, boasting water undrinkable and unusable for washing, smelled even more rank than usual. The immense clay jar in the yard held only enough drinking water for a few days. Foraging trips in the marshes left a whitish residue of the salty lake water on mottled gray skin, worst on her legs and arms. She spread redsweet honey to keep her skin from splitting and to counter the stench of the lake.

      Overhead, bits of blue peeped through a growing wealth of gray across the sky. The gods played games, teasing and raising hopes as the clouds darkened here and there only to brighten, part, and let the hot summer sun shine through.

      Yera had never seen any of the gods, but she believed in them. Cruel and capricious, they

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