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Alison slipped her hand over the side of the coracle and tasted brine She guessed the marsh was tidal That made sense The landscape of her new reale of her old realm, they had entered thedownstream towards the Severn estuary Alison remembered that the ancient name for the Severn was Sabrina, which was one of the oddess

The tide had turned and was flowing out to sea Fury left the e of the current The s water Alison felt exhilarated Adrina looked frightened Her face was ashen and the kohl around her eyes had begun to ser felt inferior to her Adrina could put on superior airs but she couldn't cope in a situation like this

Towards dusk, the tide slackened and waves ca about Brother Ocean Earlier, when he'd talked about Brother Wind, Adrina had accused hie Now, she was in no fit state to mock him Her hand was over her mouth and she looked as if she was about to puke

Alison didn't feel seasick She had spent many hours in a small boat with her father and Tom Both had been in the army They said small boats were the best way to explore Alison had been in waters like this and knehat to expect The surface could be cal to worry about Fury had everything under control

Nothing flustered hi as waves splashed around He said their destination was a se had been sent ahead by drum Alison had heard the drums The sound was part of life in her new realm They spoke to one another like phones did in her old real sun and saw a ure was visible in the fading light No ue shape at first, it took fored out and threw a rope to therabbed the end and pulled the coracle to shore

The old woman reached out a bony hand

'You will be Little Cat'

To Alison, she looked timeless rather than old

'Little Cat is the name I use here,' she replied

'Then it is the name I shall use'