Mansfield; serial killer (and the real Jack the Ripper) Frederick Bailey Deeming; author Ayn Rand; big-eyed child painters Margaret and Walter Keane.
The small Petit Mort roster includes most of the major prophets, plus a few artists, such as the painter Marcel Duchamp; singer Robert Johnson; inventor Nikolai Tesla, and Lilith, the first wild wife of Eden. Also in this category is a peculiar class of being, not quite human and not quite divine. These are the Tricksters. They slip between life and death for the simple reason that they refuse to take either state seriously. The Tricksters-Loki, Legba, the Painted Man, Coyote, Kubera and others-are pure chaos. Some cultures are certain that the Tricksters created the universe as a colossal practical joke, while others believe that as a joke is how they will end it.
Twenty Four
Amazing Grace
Spyder awoke sometime around dawn. Lulu was curled up next to him under a -blanket on a big love seat. Spyder looked around for Shrike, but she wasnt anywhere in sight. Water was boiling on the little stove.
He got up carefully, trying not to wake Lulu, and went -outside. The steady wind was wet and frigid. Spyder wrapped his arms around himself and went to the bow where Primo and Shrike, in her heavy coat, were talking. As he rounded the corner of the cabin, Spyder saw what the two were talking about. Another airship was hanging twenty or so yards off the port bow. It was shaped like an immense black scorpion. A metal cable was slowly extending from the scorpion ships gondola, which hung from the end of the stinger.
"Whats going on?" asked Spyder.
"According to Primo, theyve been shadowing us all morning," said Shrike.
"Wh
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