Ah, there’s my other slimey girl!” Feln cries joyfully when Thorne joins her honour-parents in the family garden.
Both Kora and Feln are wearing swimming singlets much like Thorne’s, and Kora’s skin also glistens greasily, but Feln’s does not.
“I don’t need that gunk,” Feln says, answering Thorne’s unspoken question about why he is not anointed, head to toe, with the sunburn preventative. “Lord Ennis developed that remedy especially for you delicate northern red-heads.”
He opens the gate, and the three of them walk down the dune to the beach, prancing like maniacs when the hot sand burns their bare feet.
Thorne leaves the adults to spread out the blanket and get settled, and she walks directly to the water. She wades in ankle deep and lets it wash over her: one moment there is no water, just her bare feet sinking into the wet sand, and then the next she is in water halfway to her knees and can feel the wave tugging at her, trying to pull her out to the deep along with it. It is not as cold as the dark still water she is used to swimming in, and it never stops moving. The wind, blowing straight off the ocean, bears with it a powerful salty tang, and the cry of the sea-gulls is constant. The lake at home where she used to swim had been very much part of the landscape, one with the trees and hills which surrounded it, but this ocean is very different: it dominates everything, intruding upon all lesser forms such as the sandy beach and the dunes and puny humans.
“Walk with me, honour-daughter,” Feln says.
“It is beautiful here, isn’t it?”
“Well, beautiful and dangerous,” Feln answers seriously. “Do you see that shimmer, there, in the tide pool? That is a jelly-fish: if it were to sting you, you would be in worse pain that you can possibly imagine. If two of them sting you on the same day, the poison might kill you. You must always be careful where you put your feet. And sometimes there are sharks out there, in those enticing waves. Kora tells me that she thinks you are not on your cycle, but you must never go into the water when you are, for even that little bit of blood could attract them.” He blushes; Thorne is sure that is not the sort of thing that an Izschadian man, even an honour-father, would normally talk about with a teenaged girl. “There is also the tide: did you feel it tugging at your feet when you stood in the shallows? The straits cannot really decide whether they want to flow west or east, and so there are terrific tidal forces out there, and sometimes close to shore as well. You must never swim unless Kora or I give you permission.” He stares at her then, intensely, willing her to understand how worried he is.
“Yes, sir,” Thorne replies. “Everyone has told me that: you and Annaren and even Annarith. The ocean is not the same as the lakes at home; I understand.”
“Good!” he says. “Well, then, if I have not frightened you too much, shall we see if we can find some crabs for our supper?”
They succeed in catching about ten of the little scuttlers, which Feln says are not enough for a meal, but will at least make for a good snack for the three of them at tea. When they return to Kora, she rises up off her blanket and declares that it is time for them to swim.
“Yes,” concurs Feln. “You two delicate ladies have been stewing in Lord Ennis’ remedy for over an hour now, so it won’t wash off in the salt water.”
“The buoys are perfectly lined up,” Kora says. “I’ve been watching them, and I think that they have not shifted all the time we have been out here.” She points over the water, where there are two bright yellow items bobbing. “Those two buoys should make a straight line with the peak of the house,” she tells Thorne. “If they do not, it means that the tide is too strong for swimming. If one buoy moves east while the other moves west, you must strike for the shore immediately.”
It is glorious swimming in the ocean with her honour-parents. The salt water is a little more buoyant than lake water, and so Thorne feels that she could stay afloat forever.
But the best part comes when they have been swimming for half an hour or so. They are stroking for shore after swimming almost to the first buoy. The water out here is somewhat cold, and Thorne, aware of the ocean as a massive, live presence around and below her, is actually a little relieved when Kora declares that it is time to go in.
Without warning, something bumps against Thorne’s leg. Thinking that it is one of her honour-parents, she turns and finds herself face to face with a large sleek silver creature which chitters at her and then surges forward until it is almost upon her. Thorne screams – they are being attacked by sharks! – and tries to swim away, but the creature easily catches her up. It dives below her then and bumps once more against her, partly lifting her out of the water. Then it surfaces beside her again. Its black eyes sparkling, it chitters merrily, a high-pitched chatty sound that almost seems intelligent. Finally, extraordinarily, it rises up on its powerful tail, more than half out of the water, and, still facing Thorne, moves away, making a different kind of noise that sounds suspiciously like giggling.
“It’s a dolphin,” Kora says calmly. “Don’t be alarmed, love; it likes you!”
“A dolphin? I thought that they were mythical creatures!”
“We all did,” replies Feln, treading water on the other side
of her. “There was no sign of them in these waters until the War
ended; Ennis says that they did not approve of Diaz’Duinn and just
stayed away. But they have been back for nearly two years now.”
The dolphin glides forward and pushes up under Thorne’s hand: its
hide is smooth and slippery and surprisingly warm.
“It wants to take you for a ride,” Kora says. “Go ahead. It’s perfectly safe.”
Hesitantly at first, Thorne reaches out and grabs the large dorsal fin. As soon as she has a firm hold – how does it know? – it takes off, towing her through the water. Thorne shrieks with laughter as the creature glides along, dragging her with it, in and out of the waves.
Feln and Kora are soon joined by two more dolphins, and the three humans
play for a while with the three creatures. Kora, in particular, likes
the dolphin to rise up below her and toss her into the air, from which
she falls with a giant splash into the waves again.
When they have played for a wonderful riotous hour, Thorne realizes
that they have been gradually moving further and further from shore:
they are now in between the two buoys.
“Look,” Kora says suddenly, one hand on the back of her dolphin and pointing with the other.
They are surrounded by perhaps twenty dolphins, who are swimming in a loose disorganized circle.
Feln and Kora do an odd thing then: they let go of their dolphins and swim away to the first buoy marker, the one closest to the shore. They cling there, apparently quite prepared to wait, and only wave happily when the dolphins begin to take Thorne further and further out in the course of their gamboling. After all the fuss about children not swimming alone, they are letting Thorne go out alone, out of sight!
Upon that thought, Thorne realizes that she is not at all alone: she
is surrounded by the dolphins, every one of whom seems to want to touch
her, to bump her, to offer her a ride.
A large female – how does Thorne know that this one is female?
– approaches and hovers directly in front of Thorne, her glassy
black eyes sparkling. She chitters what might be a greeting and then
waits, as if expecting Thorne to respond.
“I don’t speak Dolphin,” Thorne says with a little giggle, as if her words will make sense to the creature.
|You can speak to her| the voice instructs. |Just reach out with your mind, the way you did with the King’s wizard the other day. Go ahead: the dame is waiting for you.|
|Really?| squeaks Thorne excitedly.
Hands resting on the sides of the dolphin’s face, Thorne *reaches* toward the dame’s mind. At first there is nothing, although the dolphin continues to regard Thorne quite seriously – well, seriously for dolphins, who seem to be very giddy beasts! – as if she understands what Thorne is doing.
{not giddy} the dame replies. {joy. i am joy. that one –} Somehow, with her mind the dolphin named Joy indicates a calf who is never far from her. {– that one is giddy!}
Thorne’s error must be communicated to the rest of the pod, for there follows a great deal of splashing, diving and high-pitched chittering, all, apparently, at Thorne’s expense.
The little one named Giddy, too small to give Thorne a ride, swims close and bumps Thorne happily, the way a child would who has been singled out for special attention by an honoured guest. Then Silly, Giddy’s twin, and Curious, their older pod-mate, must also be acknowledged by Thorne, who begins to feel as if she is back in the orphanage, having to accord equal time to each child.
{peace comes} Joy announces solemnly, as Thorne is swimming happily with the dolphin calves.
Peace proves to be a big old female who joins the pod from the deeper water, moving slowly and elegantly. She has been injured at some point long ago, for there is a terrible scar down the length of her left flank.
{come} she commands Thorne and glides close so that Thorne can grab
her dorsal fin.
Peace pulls Thorne into the middle of the circle which is no longer
loose or disorganized: Thorne feels as though she is in a dance or,
more accurately, a religious ritual. Circling Thorne and Peace continuously,
the whole pod moves out even farther from shore, where the swells are
five or more feet high. Only at the top of each wave can Thorne see
the second buoy marker, and she realizes with a thrill of fear that
she cannot see the shore any more at all, nor even the first marker,
where her honour-parents presumably wait.
{where are we going?} Thorne asks nervously.
{we are here} Peace announces, although exactly where ‘here’ is, is not clear: they are simply out in very deep water, far from shore.
For perhaps ten minutes, the pod circles the two of them, and Thorne, clinging to Peace’s fin, rises and falls with the hypnotic waves.
Peace rolls suddenly so that she and Thorne are eye to eye. {it is not over} she says intently. {you must remember. you must prepare. the People are your friends. we will come. call us}
{the People?} Thorne confirms, treading water in front of the old dame. {you are the People?}
{the task is yours, spirit-shining-with-sun-of-great-spirit} Peace says solemnly. {it is not your pod-mate’s. he is an adult. you are still a calf. but great-spirit shines brightest within you. your pod-mate has done his part. you will be called upon to do yours. you must prepare. you must remember}
{what task?} Thorne asks, quite bewildered. {how will i prepare for it? have i forgotten something that i should remember?}
{you are a member of this pod. you are a member of every pod} Peace declares. {for now that protects you. you must follow each pod-leader. swim wherever your pod-leader bids you swim. strengthen your own pod. protect the calves. challenge injustice. remember}
{i don’t understand!} Thorne complains. {are those the tasks? or is that how i prepare for The Task? can’t you be more specific? what do I need to be protected from?}
{there is a new `^`~``) Peace announces ominously. {the evil is the same. it is more powerful than the old `^`~``. it is weaker than the old `^`~``. the wise ones do not know. at all costs, you must be protected from it. you must have time to grow strong. you will face the `^`~``}
{what? i don’t know that word!}
{it is NOT over, spirit-shining-with-sun-of-great-spirit} Peace asserts, her eyes glittering with sorrow or worry. {i cannot say more. remember}
{how did you get your scar?} Thorne asks, suddenly certain that it is very important for her to know. {who or what would do that to you?}
{the dark-one} Peace replies, her black eyes fixed on Thorne, her voice resonant with remembered pain. {long ago, before you were calved. the dark-one in whom great-spirit no longer shines. one of his `^`~`` did it}
{you keep saying that word, but i don’t know what it means! i don’t understand you!}
{return now} Joy interrupts abruptly. {this calf cannot stay in deep water so long. she is getting cold}
{remember} Peace commands and glides away, leaving Thorne alone in the centre of the pod’s circle.
As soon as Joy mentions being cold, Thorne realizes that it is true: she is chilled to her core. Without Peace to support her, Thorne is actually struggling to stay afloat. A wave slaps Thorne full in the face, and she takes a mouthful of salty water, goes under and then resurfaces, coughing and panicked. Joy is immediately there, under Thorne, holding her up.
{rest, spirit-shining} Joy says soothingly. {i will bear you back to the solid. hilarity! buoyant! swim ahead! take spirit-shining’s solid-parents to the solid. they will be tired and cold as well. they are waiting for their calf at the first toy}
At this command, two adults, possibly the ones who were swimming with Kora and Feln at the beginning of this adventure, launch themselves quickly away from the pod. Thorne straddles Joy – an unlikely horse! – and is taken directly to the shore. It is a long trip, perhaps an hour’s swim, and it crosses Thorne’s mind that she and Peace had their mysterious little discussion at the mid-point of the strait, half-way between Mabblen and Applion. Why?
Only after Joy has delivered Thorne to Kora, who is standing in knee-deep water waiting, does Thorne realize that she did not say farewell to Peace, who did not come within sight of the shore.
“They did thus with Banet, too,” Kora says, taking Thorne’s
arm and supporting her as they walk onto the dry sand. “The first
time we brought him swimming here, they made it very clear that Feln
and I were not wanted, that they would have a private moment with him.
He warned us that they would probably do so with you as well.”
Thorne sags against her honour-mother. Her body is convinced that she
continues to rise and fall with each wave, and her legs feel quite wobbly.
“You weren’t worried about me, out there so far?” she
asks as they walk away from the water.
“It seems to be impossible to drown when there is a dolphin about,” Feln says, draping a towel over Thorne’s shoulders. “Which, paradoxically, is why Kora and I must be so strict about children not going onto the beach alone. The dolphins often come, and it is just too tempting to take risks, counting on them definitely coming. But no, not worried. Banet wanted us to let them take you, if the whole pod came. They spent much longer with you than with him, though, and I think that they took you further away from shore as well.”
Thorne is staggering as they leave the beach and climb the dune up to the manor house. Tea is already laid out in the garden, and, still in their bathing singlets, the three eat outdoors in the late afternoon sun. Thorne is drooping by the time the meal is over and, in spite of the warm sunshine, shaking with cold.
“Take your mistress to her chamber,” Kora orders Annaren suddenly. “Shower her, and make sure all the salt and sand are out of her hair. Then give her a nice warm bath, for she got chilled out there in the deep water, I deem. I shall send your cousin in to give her a good long massage.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Annaren replies and, taking Thorne’s arm, leads her indoors.
Content © Gale Macaulay-Newcombe. All rights reserved.