Patrice slept between her and Antoine that night: the police psychologist who had examined him said that just because he was showing no sign of trauma didn’t mean that he might not be affected in some fashion that wouldn’t manifest itself for years. For his part, Patrice had talked about the incident in the surprisingly matter-of-fact way of a four-year-old for the rest of the day; but after dinner he spent the evening playing one of Zelime’s mysterious games that seemed, as far as adults could tell, to have no rules whatsoever. It was only when he scrambled into bed beside his mother that he asked seriously, “That man? Not coming back?”
Noelle hugged him. “No, sweetheart. Not coming back. Not ever. You scared him away.”
“Gam’pair come back.” It was not a question.
You’re not supposed to lie to children about anything. Bad, bad, bad. Noelle said, “He had to go away, Patrice. He had to make sure that man wouldn’t come here again.”
Patrice nodded solemnly. He wrapped his arms around himself and said, “I hold Gam’pair right here. Gam’pair not going anywhere,” and went to sleep.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
PETER S. BEAGLE was born in New York City in 1939 and raised in the borough of that city known as the Bronx. He originally proclaimed he would be a writer when he was ten years old; subsequent events have proven him either prescient or even more stubborn than hitherto suspected. Today, thanks to classic works such as A Fine and Private Place, The Last Unicorn, Tamsin, and The Inkeeper’s Song, he is acknowledged as America’s greatest living fantasy author; and his dazzling abilities with language, characters, and magical storytelling have earned him many millions of fans around the world. In addition to stories and novels, Peter has written numerous teleplays and screenplays, including the animated versions of The Lord of the Rings and The Last Unicorn, plus the fan-favorite “Sarek” episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. His nonfiction book I See by My Outfit, which recounts a 1963 journey across America on motor scooter, is considered a classic of American travel writing. He is also a gifted poet, lyricist, and singer/songwriter. For more information on Peter and his works, see [http://www.peterbeagle.com] www.peterbeagle.com or [http://www.conlanpress.com] www.conlanpress.com.
HOLLY BLACK writes contemporary fantasy for teens and younger readers, including the Modern Faerie Tale series, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and her graphic novel series, The Good Neighbors. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with her husband, Theo.
The winner of both a Bram Stoker and World Fantasy Award, P. D. CACEK has written more than two hundred short stories, appearing in such anthologies as 999, Joe R. Lansdale’s Lords of the Razor, Night Visions 12, Inferno, and the inaugural YA anthology of horror fiction from Scholastic, 666: the Number of the Beast. Although Cacek will probably always consider herself a short story writer, she has written four novels to date and is currently finishing up a fifth, Visitation Rites, a good old-fashioned ghost story. A native Westerner, Cacek now lives in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania… in a haunted house across from a haunted mill. When not writing, she can often be found either with a group of costumed storytellers called the Patient Creatures ([http://www.creatureseast.com] www.creatureseast.com) or haunting local cemeteries looking for inspiration. You can visit her website at [http://www.pdcacek.com] www.pdcacek.com
ESTHER M. FRIESNER is a Nebula Award winner and the author of thirty-four novels and more than one hundred fifty short stories, in addition to being the editor of seven popular anthologies. Her works have been published in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Russia, France, Poland, and Italy. She is also a published poet and a produced playwright. Her articles on fiction writing have appeared in Writer’s Market and Writer’s Digest Books. Her latest publications include Nobody’s Princess and Nobody’s Prize, from Random House; and Temping Fate, from Dutton/Penguin. She is currently working on Sphinx’s Princess and Sphinx’s Queen-two books about young Nefertiti, for Random House-and Burning Roses, for Penguin. Educated at Vassar College, receiving a BA degree in both Spanish and Drama, she went on to receive her MA and PhD in Spanish from Yale University, where she taught for a number of years. She is married, the mother of two, and lives in Connecticut.
GREGORY FROST is a writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction who has been publishing steadily for more than two decades. His latest work is the fantasy duology Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet, published by Del Rey Books. His other works include Fitcher’s Brides, Tain and Remscela (another duology comprising a retelling of the Irish epic Tain Bo Cuailnge), the fantasy novel Lyrec, and a Nebula-nominated science fiction work The Pure Cold Light. Much of his best short fiction is collected in Attack of the Jazz Giants and Other Stories. This collection includes his acclaimed novelette, “Madonna of the Maquiladora,” a finalist for the James Tiptree, Jr., Award, Nebula Award, Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and Hugo Award.
Frost’s short work has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Weird Tales, Realms of Fantasy, and numerous anthologies. For two years he served as principal researcher for Grinning Dog Pictures, a Philadelphia film and television production company, on two productions for the Discovery Global Network series Science Frontiers, one of which, “Wolf Man: The Myth and the Science,” examined the folklore of werewolves, the psychological illness known as lycanthropy, and the history of Inquisitional trials of accused werewolves, establishing that most were afflicted with ergot poisoning. It was the highest-rated show of the year on Discovery Europe Network. Frost has also acted in two very, very, very “B” horror films, including S. P. Somtow’s The Laughing Dead. His website is [http://www.gregoryfrost.com] www.gregoryfrost.com. Blog: “Frostbites,” is at [http://frostokovich.livejournal.com] http://frostokovich.livejournal.com.
RON GOULART, in addition to being a mystery writer (twice nominated for an MWA Edgar) and a science fiction writer (once nominated for an SFWA Nebula), is also the author of more than a dozen nonfiction books in the popular fiction field. These include Comic Book Culture (2000, trade paper 2007), which was nominated for an Eisner Award, The Comic Book Encyclopedia (2004), and Good Girl Art (2008), an illustrated history of women characters in comic books from the 1930s to the present. His next book will be Good Girl Art Around the World (2009). He’s sold more than six hundred stories and articles in his long and colorful career. He and his wife, also a writer, live in ramshackle splendor in a rustic patch of Connecticut.
TANITH LEE was born in 1947. She became a full-time professional writer in 1974 and made a tremendous splash with her first fantasy novel for adults, The Birthgrave, in 1975. She has so far written nearly 100 books and more than 265 short stories, plus radio plays and TV scripts. She lives on the Sussex weald with her husband and coconspirator artist/writer, John Kaiine, and two tuxedo cats. She reports that she has numerous short stories and novellas out or due in anthologies from Ellen Datlow, Marvin Kaye, Gardner Dozois, and Leah Wilson. Others are forthcoming in Weird Tales, Realms of Fantasy, and the UK ’s Nature. Her most recently published adult fantasies were the LionWolf trilogy: Cast a Bright Shadow, Here in Cold Hell, and No Flame but Mine (Tor MacMillan). Three Piratica novels for young adults have appeared from Hodder Headline. Norilana Books (USA) will be reissuing all the existing Flat Earth novels, plus two new Flat Earth books through 2009 and 2010. She has won numerous awards, including the World Fantasy Award and the British Fantasy Award.