Newford Stories: Crow Girls

Newford Stories: Crow Girls (2015) Charles de Lint

Ah, the Crow Girls.

Crow Girls
Twa Corbies
The Buffalo Man
A Crow Girls’ Christmas
Make a Joyful Noise

“Crow Girls” first appeared as a limited edition chapbook (1995). This is the introduction to the Crow Girls, who are some of my favorite characters. But it’s not really about the Crow Girls–it’s about Jilly’s friend Heather, and how the Crow Girls change you, just by their being.

“Twa Corbies” first appeared in Twenty 3: A Miscellany (1998). This is a story of Jilly and the Crow Girls and an old woman. This is a lovely, brief, tale.

The Buffalo Man (1999) is a Meran and Cerin story with Lucius and the Crow girls and Jilly.

“You wouldn’t have any crow blood in you, would you?”

“Nary a drop.”

Lucius harrumphed and muttered, “I’d still like to see the results of a DNA test.”

“What was that?”

“I said, I wonder where they keep their nest.”

How can a smile, a laugh, a good deed, stand up against the weight of such a history?”

“I… I guess it can’t,” Jilly said. “But you still have to try.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s all you can do. If you don’t try to stand up against the darkness, it swallows you up.”

A Crow Girls’ Christmas. The Crow Girls are a delight. I’m not sure I could take them long term, but in small doses they are lovely.

“Do they have lots of candy canes in stock?” Jilly asked.

“Mountains,” Zia assured her.

“Besides,” Maida added. “It’s all magic, isn’t it? Santa never runs out of candy or toys.”

That was before you were put in charge of the candy canes, Jilly thought, but she kept her worry to herself.

Make a Joyful Noise (2005). This story is told from Maida’s point of view, which is almost strange, since I’m so used to seeing them from the outside, and as a unit rather than as individuals.

For all their silliness, Maida can be quite thoughtful.

We all carry around other people’s expectations of who we are, and sometimes we end up growing into those expectations.

“And now I feel like I’m forgetting what it’s like to be happy,” I said, finishing up. “It’s like that stupid ghost boy stole all my happiness away, and now, ever since I talked to him, all I meet are unhappy people with very good reasons to be unhappy, and that makes me wonder, how could I ever have been happy? And what is being happy, anyway?”

Zia gave a glum nod. “I think it might be catching, because now I’m feeling the same way.”

“You see? That’s just what I mean. Why is it so easy to spread sadness and so hard to spread happiness?”

It’s a lovely story.

Published by Triskell Press

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