Marsh Gods

Начало книги

Voud had escaped the house before dawn, climbing up the ladder and onto the roof, across the neighbors' roofs and down to the edge of the water, where she had caught three decent-sized frogs. She had tried but failed to catch a fourth, the bullfrog she'd heard honking hoarsely away somewhere on the bank; her sister-in-law Ytine would be dismayed at her muddy tunic, but there was no help for it. Now, her prey struggling in her bag, she went to ask the gods a question.

It was late enough in summer that she could go on foot, over the causeway. The shore of the gods' island was muddy and cypress-shaded, but as she climbed, the trees cleared. At the edge of the trees, she stopped and dropped her bag on the ground. "I have questions," she called. "Frogs for answers!" Insects trilled; the frustratingly elusive bullfrog honked. Voud sat on her heels—it didn't pay to be impatient with gods—and watched the sky lighten.

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