The Cradle

At long last, fans of "Assam & Darjeeling" can read the next chapter in the story of everyone's favorite little girl lost, Jee. (And if you haven't read "Assam & Darjeeling" yet, then be advised: Here there be spoilers.) At the close of "Assam & Darjeeling" readers were given a brief glimpse of Jee as she approached the Winter Palace. But the path that leads her there is long and twisted, with many other stories to tell along the way. "The Cradle" is the first of these. Jee is enjoying the new freedom that comes with being an exile from the land of the living. But she soon discovers that freedom has its share of discomforts and dangers. Caught in a torrential downpour, she is taken in by a kindly old couple who, it turns out, have story of their own to tell. And Jee discovers yet again that things in the Underworld are not always what they seem. "The Cradle" begins a new cycle of stories about a little girl looking for a place that she can, at last, call home.