The cops came through sometimes, collecting the eyes of gas-station attendants and diner waitresses, and the best way to get your eye back, Jack told me later, was to empty it straight out into the dirt...“The law says they can only take one, but it don’t say how good your eye needs to work when they give it back.” [p.11]
Two bank robbers, known to the press as Chinese Jack and Tonkin Jill, travel American small towns during the Great Depression: they acquire a stowaway, who's keen to retrieve the deeds to her parents' store. She's also Chinese-American, and travels with Jack and 'Jill' (whose name is actually Lai) for a while, learning about the fox roads (which can take you anywhere: 'all you need is a reason to get out', says Lai) and about who she really is.
This was super-short but wistful and evocative, with three intriguing characters (we don't get much background on any of them) and some elements from Chinese mythology. I enjoyed it, but the 'novelette' length (up to 17,500 words) is frustrating: I'd have liked more.
Shortlisted for the Hugo Award for Best Novelette, 2024: read as part of the Hugo Voters' Pack.
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