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than a child s ball. Some squeezed together until their mysterious transparent envelopes merged to form a
larger aqueous mass while others wrenched apart until they separated into two or more distinct hovering
bodies. He tried to let his gaze touch every one of them, but nowhere did he see anything out of the
ordinary.
 There s nothing out there, he declared conclusively.  Nothing but fish and frogs, newts and
waterbirds.
 No, you are wrong. One hand shielding his eyes from the mist-shrouded sun, Ehomba was standing at
the water s edge staring off to the east.  There is something else. Something greater.
 They re coming closer. Head back, nose in the air, Ahlitah was inhaling a scent still too subtle for
human nostrils to detect.
 Where, by Gheju! I don t see anything, and I don t smell anything! Except you two. Frustrated, Simna
stomped up and down the tiny beach, sending tide-zone insects and crustaceans scrambling for cover
from the footprints he left in the soft soil.
They came from beneath the rising sun, distant dots at first that soon matured into rising and falling arcs
of glistening pink, as if the morning had decided to hesitate in its brightening and mark the pause with a
series of rose-hued commas. With the precision of experienced acrobats they advanced by leaping lithely
from one hovering body of water to the next, sometimes entering those nearest the ground, then
ascending skyward from pond to pond as if climbing a watery ladder. This they did effortlessly, soaring
from floating lakes to drifting ponds in spite of the fact that a single missed leap would in all probability
result in the slow, unpleasant death of the jumper. Because while they could live out of water, they could
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not do so for very long.
 Dolphins! Simna exclaimed.  Here?
 Yes, here, Ehomba murmured.  They have sharp eyes, and even sharper hearing, and ways of seeing
the world at distances greater than either eyes or ears can match.
 But dolphins are creatures of the sea, Simna protested as he watched the school continue its
approach, leaping from one drifting body of water to the next.
 Not always, rumbled Ahlitah.  I have seen these very same, or their relations, playing in the rivers that
crisscross the veldt.
 There are sea dolphins and freshwater dolphins, Ehomba informed his friend.
 I guess there are, admitted Simna.  Strangely colored they are and  He broke off, frowning.  Wait
a minute. You ve been telling me that you come from a desert country. Now you re saying that you know
all about the different kinds of dolphins, even those that live in fresh water. Deserts aren t known for a
surplus of deep rivers. How do you know so much about this kind of water dweller?
The herdsman smiled gently down at his friend.  The dolphins of the sea know well their inland relatives.
Where river meets ocean they often meet and talk, and sometimes exchange matings. I know about the
river dolphins because the sea dolphins told me of them.
 Ah. So you don t talk to fish. You talk to dolphins.
 No. No man talks to dolphins. It is up to the dolphins to talk to men.
 And they just happened to settle on you? Simna eyed the tall southerner slyly.  Why would that be,
Etjole? Because you are making all of this up to keep from confessing what I ve known all along? That
you are a sorcerer?
 Not at all, Simna. They talk to me because I like to take long walks by myself along the beach, and the
shores of my country are desolate. The currents there are swift and cold. There are men who kill
dolphins, for food and to keep them from competing for the catch. I would never do such a thing. How
can one eat another who is known to be kind as well as intelligent?
Behind them, Ahlitah licked a paw.  I ve never had any trouble with that.
 Well, I could never do such a thing. I believe that they can sense a kind and kindred spirit. I have been
talking to dolphins since I was a child.
 So you called them to us? Simna wondered uncertainly.
 Nothing of the kind. Raising his gaze once more, Ehomba monitored the school s advance. They were
quite near now, slowing as they debated which floating globules to use to make their final approach.  I
doubt they have seen many humans in this place before, or perhaps none at all before us. Naturally
curious as they are, I believe they have simply grown too interested in our presence here to stay away
any longer. He began walking backward.  You should step away from the water.
 Why? Then Simna noted the enthusiastic splashes the oncoming dolphins were making and hastily
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gathered up his gear, moving it to higher ground among the trio of casuarinas.
The dolphins arrived singly and in pairs, leaping magnificently from a second pond into the one where the
travelers had spent the night. There were a dozen of them, including a quartet of youngsters. They took [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]