Part 12 (1/2)
”Will he be all right, Natua?”
She gave a little leap in an answer which he took to be affirmative. Both he and Persellan watched in silence until the dorsal fins of patient and nurses were no longer easily visible.
”Never done anything like that before in my life,' Persellan muttered as he strode out of the water. He took no more than a few steps up on the sand before he collapsed, to spread out his length on the warm sand. ”And I don't even know if it will be enough. But I tried.”
”You did indeed, Healer, and I'm very grateful you did,' T'lion said. Gaddie, you were great!
I know it. I've never done anything like that either. But the dolphin lives. We all did well. Tell the healer.
”Gadareth, too, says you did well, Persellan,' T'lion murmured, with a weary grin. A snore answered him. A nap seemed like a good idea but he had enough common sense remaining to collect two of the wide leaves they often used to s.h.i.+eld the harsh sun rays. He put one on Persellan's head and face, and draped the second over himself.
Gadareth, wings carefully tight against his back, rolled this way and that in the warm sands before he, too, settled his head on his front legs and relaxed in the sun.
Chapter Seven.
early the next morning Persellan joined T'lion and Gadareth on the strand when the young dragonrider rang the ”report' peal. He had spent an anxious night, worrying about Boojie, and rather pleased to see that Persellan was also concerned.
No sooner had the last note of the ring echoed across the waters than two dolphins leaped above the surface, a distant squeeing audible.
”Hope that's a happy sound,' T'lion murmured.
”Hmmmm,' was Persellan's reply as he s.h.i.+elded his eyes and peered across the dawn-lightened waters.
”They feed at dawn, you know,' T'lion informed him conversationally. ”Best time to get them.”
”Am I likely to be on call to dolphins, too, now?”
T'lion looked up to check the healer's mood. He didn't know the man well enough to judge whether or not his gruffness was genuine. Most people tended to be grumpy in the early hours of a day. Healers certainly had the right, called up at the most inconvenient of times.
”Would that bother you?” T'lion asked apprehensively.
”Hmmmm. Depends. I could see that the creature had to have that gash sutured. Are they often injured? How did that happen to it?”
”I don't know about injuries in general. Most of the dolphins have scars here and there. I haven't asked how they get them, though. We haven't reached that sort of thing. Most of our conversations have been pretty basic. Maybe Master Alemi knows. I can ask him.”
”Who's Master Alemi?” Persellan asked, his gaze still on the incoming dolphins' progress.
”Master Fishman at Paradise River Hold. He got me interested in the dolphins. Aivas asked me to continue.”
”Did he?” Persellan shot a glance down at his young companion.
”Yes, yesterday wasn't my first visit to report to Aivas,' T'lion said in a tone he hoped wasn't boastful.
”Indeed! Hmmmm, well.”
The squeeing was louder now and T'Iion thought it sounded happy. Maybe because he wanted it to. He let out a sigh. Then, as the two dolphins neared the sh.o.r.e, he couldn't wait any longer and ran out into the water until he was waist deep.
”Is Boojie OK?” he shouted through cupped hands.
”Squeeee yes. Squee yes!'
”Yes?”
”Yesssssss, squeee yessssss!” The two dolphins made it a chorus and seemed to speed up. Their final leap splashed T'lion thoroughly but he didn't care. Natua pushed his face right up into the dragonrider's, and his ever grinning smile was deeper than ever. He dropped his jaw and squeed again.
”Boojie best grateful. Ate well.”
”Swims little, is better.”
”Tell them,' Persellan called from where he stood at the water's edge, ”Boojie must have the sutures removed Are dolphins aware of time? I mean I don't want to leave those st.i.tches in forever. They could tear the flesh.”
”When d'you want Boojie back?” T'lion asked.
”In a sevenday. Would they understand that?”
T'lion nodded vigorously even as he repeated the instructions to the two dolphins. ”In seven and T'lion held up sufficient fingers, tapping them in turn on Natua's nose, ”dawns, Boojie is to come back to the Healer. Understand?”
”Squeeee! Understand. Seven dawns.”
”We tell!” Tana added, clicking affirmatively.
”Thanks for coming,' T'lion added.
”You ring. We come. We promise. Thank medic.” And Tana did her half-stand, nodding her head vigorously before she gave a final tail swish and leaped sideways, over and under the water and swam off, Natua squeeing after her.
”Did you hear, Persellan?” T'lion asked as he waded back out. ”Boojie's very grateful. He ate and they understood to bring him back in a sevenday.
”I must say, I'm gratified, since I hadn't a notion if I was doing the creature any good at all.”
”Oh, you did, Persellan, you did!'
Amazing incident, actually. I must report now who would I report to? Not the Master Farmer certainly for the sea is not his province.
”Master Alemi says that the Master Fishman, Idarolan, is interested in the dolphins.”
”Well, then, I shall report to him, and to T'gellan, as well as to Master Oldive. At least he will find this case interesting. Many wouldn't, but Oldive will.” That seemed to please Persellan even more as they made their way back to the Weyr.
T'lion hoped he'd have a chance to tell Master Alemi all about yesterday and dolphin sonar. Well, maybe he shouldn't talk about Mirrim's baby yet, but he could tell about Persellan's sewing up Boojie.
It was several days before T'Iion had a chance to stop off at Paradise Hold. He was on his way back from conveying Master Fandarel to Telgar Smith Craft Hall and saw no harm in stopping off that evening to see Alemi. The big yawl, the Fair Winds, was not at anchor, nor the other sloop or the ketch that fished from Paradise River. T'lion was about to tell Gadareth to go on to the Weyr when he saw a s.h.i.+p sailing into the next cove. The northern coast of the Southern Continent had many inlets. He thought it very odd that the s.h.i.+p didn't put into the Paradise River anchorage. Could they have mistaken their port of call?
That cove also had a river, but a small one, feeding into the sea.
Could the captain have mistaken this one for the true Hold?
Puzzled, he asked Gadareth to glide over that way. What he saw on the beach did nothing to rea.s.sure him. For people were hurriedly unloading small boats: quite a mound of crates and stuff already on the beach. Was Paradise River opening new holdings on its land? He'd heard remarks at dinner in the Weyr that more and more people were heading to the Southern Continent after what had been an extremely cold winter.