Welcome to Stories from Among the Stars.

You're listening to Nettelin Bone by T. Kingfisher, narrated by Amara Jasper.

Chapter 11

It was easy to find the godmother once they got to Trexel.

Mara had visions of the dustwife using magic or asking the dead, but what she actually

did was lean over a fence and say to a woman with three children and a harried expression.

Is there a godmother who blesses children about?

The woman's face briefly turned cheerful.

Oh, yes.

Don't put that in your mouth.

The godmother, she's very kind.

I swear to the saints, Owen, I will take you to market and sell you for a three-legged

goat. Five miles down the road, turn where it crosses the stream, and go along the bank until,

Owen, I've had about enough. You'll find a little house with a garden and a signpost out front.

The sign's fallen down, but the post is still

there. There's usually trumpet flower up the post, and I don't think we've had a hard enough frost yet.

Owen, you leave that cat alone! These directions proved quite good, unlike Owen. They found the garden,

the house, and the post with a wooden crosspiece

and two rusted iron links that had probably held a sign at some point. The trumpet flower

had gone up the pole and flowered extravagantly scarlet. "'Hello?' said Mara's fairy godmother,

looking up from her work in the garden. Mara knew her at once,

though she had not seen her since she was in the cradle. Something inside her snapped toward the

...