Fup

Set in the coastal hills of northern California between 1880 and the present, the story centers on three characters: two humans, one duck. Granddaddy Jake Santee, 99 years old and convinced of his immortality, is an unreformed gambler, cranky reprobate, and fierce proponent of the still life. He religiously practices his belief that drinking Ol' Death Whisper -- a 97-percent-pure whiskey elixir he distills himself from a secret recipe -- will keep him alive forever. Tiny, orphaned at the age of four, is adopted by Granddaddy Jake. Tiny grows into a giant young man, as gentle as Jake is belligerent. His passion is building masterfully crafted fences around the ranch, and his nemesis a gigantic old boar named Lockjaw that delights in destroying Tiny's fences.

Fup is a hen mallard duckling that Tiny discovers in one of his postholes. She is quickly adopted and becomes a part of the Santee family. Possessed of an inordinate appetite and wilfullness, Fup grows to 20 pounds, using her bulk and uncompromising purpose to enforce her sense of order on the household.