Puna Mano'aumakua. He asked her so many earnest questions and listened to her with such flattering attention that the forbidding-looking woman started smiling a lot. Murel realized, with a mixture of amusement and horror, that the large grim shark lady was actually flirting with their da!
Clodagh, very sensibly, was far more intrigued with the Honu/land tortoises. She expressed surprise that the little Honu she had known previously as a water dweller now crawled along the ground on elephantine feet under a substantial armor of shell. "Practical," she said, nodding approval.
"What does Petaybee think of the sharks?" Murel asked Clodagh.
"Doesn't know them yet," she said. "When they are in the sea, the planet will sort out what to do with them." Meanwhile, fish both finned and shelled were delivered via boat and otter paw as Sky's relatives hastened to provide the newcomers with nonmammalian meals.
Sky dutifully stood near the tank and regaled the sharks with the generosity of the noble otters, both riverine and sea-as well as sky otters, of whom he was the only one-who were to be the shark's greatest guides and allies on Petaybee. And who, Sky pointed out repeatedly, tasted horrible and were known to be poisonous.
On the journey home, Marmie had ordered a second tank the same size as the one aboard the Piaf, and a barge to haul it down the river and out to sea.
The new tank was filled with water, and the sharks sedated again. Then one by one they were carried in the Honu's original tank to the new one on the barge already afloat on the river that ran from the Petaybee space port, through Kilcoole, all the way to the ocean.
The tortoises, in the interest of learning about their new home, said that they would walk the whole way.
"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Yana Maddock-Shongili, the twins' mother, said, as if the tortoises were her kids too, instead of old enough to be her grandparents. "Fall's just begun but there's snow in the air already."
The twins relayed this to Sky, who was anxious to get back into the river again. He had proposed to guide the tortoises to the sea. "Snow is fun!" he told the Honus. "If snow comes, we can all slide on it. Shells slide good!"
By then the twins' mother had hugged, kissed, and had someone else feed her children. The twins' mum was an excareer military officer, and very good she had been at it, they were sure. Much better at officering than at cooking. She almost had to be.
She had also seen the sharks and was far less enamored of them than her husband.
So when the twins asked to swim with Sky and guide the Honus to the sea, she agreed more readily than they'd expected.
"By all means go, swim and enjoy the sea before your ugly guests make it too perilous for me to let you go without an armed escort."
"Oh, Mum," Murel said, laughing. "The Manos are dangerous but they won't hurt us. They didn't even attack us when they were half starved, and that was before we saved their lives and all."
She felt it would only muddy the waters, so to speak, if she mentioned that during that first encounter she and Ronan had their teeth firmly embedded in the lead shark's tail.
Sis, she said we can. Let's quit while we're ahead, okay? Ronan said in thought talk.
"Nevertheless," Mum continued, "I want you to take Nanook and Coaxtl with you."
"Mum, they'll scare the otters," Murel said, winging it a little. The big cats, domestic and snow leopard, had been the twins' reluctant nannies when they were little kids. Though they still loved both of the large felines, they had long ago outgrown nursemaids of any species.
"Don't give me that nonsense," their mother replied in her briskest commanding officer voice, "I know you all communicate telepathically. The cats know the otters are off-limits for chasing or tormenting, much less as prey. Simply explain to the otters and other creatures on your mission-er, journey-that 'Nook and Co' are big pussycats who are there to protect all concerned. I'm sure you can make yourselves understood. Have I made myself understood?"
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am," Ronan said with a mock salute, to which Mum responded with a hug and a swat on the butt for them each as they ran toward the river.
CHAPTER 11
THE RIVER WAS almost more of a home to the twins than their parents' cabin.
Racing to their favorite entry spot, they stripped down and dived in, changing to seal form as they hit the water. Meanwhile Sky danced on the shore ahead of the Honu procession, which watched the foolishness tolerantly.
Before they could surface, they heard and felt a large splash. Fingers and opposable thumbs caught each of their tails. They flipped around to face a laughing Ke-ola.
"Trying to leave me to all the dull diplomat stuff, were you? Leilani can handle that. The Honu wants to go with his elders, and Keoki can't wait to see the sea."
The twins couldn't answer him directly but over his shoulder they saw Keoki leading two curly coats, their own horses, Chapter and Page. He seemed to be receiving a lot of unsolicited advice from Nanook and Coaxtl. Coaxtl walked in circles around the boy and horses, giving them a thorough inspection while the more domesticated lion-sized track cat, Nanook, rubbed against all ten legs involved in the horse-leading operation.
Ke-ola's Honu friend had been installed atop the shell of the foremost land-tortoise shaped Honu, where the younger, smaller creature could advise the entire column.
Wouldn't you rather be in the water with us? Murel asked.
I could not swim in this form, the Honu said, and it would be disrespectful to change before my elders.
Suit yourself, Ronan said, plunging back into the refreshing depths of the living river.
They frolicked in the currents and eddies, playing leap-seal and having races, snacking on the plentiful tasty fish, loving the freedom of the big wide deep river after the confines of the root-choked tunnels of Halau. It smelled so good, so full of growing plants suffusing it with oxygen, so full of colors and textures in the water's flow. It was as different from the tank and the tunnels as Halau was from Petaybee.
Sky jumped in and out of the water, splashing the ponderous Honus playfully, sprinting back to play peeking games with Keoki. Ke-ola's brother was surly to start with, but eventually seemed pleased to be included in the otter's games.
Chapter and Page pranced restlessly, eager to stretch their legs after too many weeks of receiving the minimum attention due them while their primary riders were away.
The smell of snow was in the air, a shimmer of frost sparkling on the ferns lining the banks.
The river was chilled by ice that formed at night and melted when the sun rose. It felt marvelous, but when the warm sulfurous current from the hot springs flowed into the river, that felt marvelous too.
We should show the Honus and Keoki the hot springs, Murel told her brother.
When he agreed, she passed the thought on to the Honu who told Ke-ola what she was thinking.
Then they turned up the little stream that flowed from the pool below the falls that concealed the communion cave.
Ke-ola floated in the current and called to his brother, "Hey, Keoki, you're gonna love this, man! This is the magic place I told you about when we were on the ship. You should come in now. The water is warm, feels great."
"Stinks a little," Keoki said, drawing near and peering into the water from which a light steam rose.
"Get used to it!" Ke-ola told him. "You think that's bad, man, wait till you smell what it's like out near our new place."
Keoki wrinkled his nose but stripped off the three layers of outer clothing he'd been wearing against the chill, held his nose, and jumped in.
When the twins reached the pool at the foot of the waterfall, they saw the Honus tagging far behind them, a line of upturned cauldrons in stately procession. Ke-ola, Sky, and Keoki climbed to the top of the waterfall and slid down it into the pool.