“When you fell in the sea, you should have heard them cheer. I made them rope the yard and fish you up. I said a ducking in water washes the witch-skill out of a woman until next full moon, and it would be bad luck to let you drown. How about that for a clever story? They’d believe anything if you make it sound silly enough.”

Source: Short fiction, The Winter Players (1976), Chapter 3, “Red Ship” (p. 136)

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Tanith Lee124

British writer 1947–2015

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