Tulips flower in spring, but these have developed erratic habits. They blossom any season they feel like blossoming, and they do it all at the same time, upstaging every other plant in the wild garden. And when they have decided to bloom, sometimes after hibernating for three years without a peep of colour from them, they are relentless. They spread all over the garden and are not deterred by the wild shrubs and grasses and the prickly pear and other cacti that otherwise reign supreme in the garden. But they never grow beyond what used to be the borders of the original ostrich baron’s garden.
The Whale Caller can hear shrieks of laughter from the garden. The voices have hollow reverberations like drops of water dripping from the roof of a cave into a rippling pool on the floor. He is overwhelmed by inexplicable elation. There is a strong scent of peace in the air despite the commotion that he can hear from around the corner. As he walks closer new odours assail him — the pungent smells of history coming in a whoosh from the broken windows of the mansion. The sweet and mouldy smell he knows so well comes floating gently to him, overpowering the variety of smells that permeate the air. And then he hears her voice: “I got it! Don’t let it get away!”
Saluni and the Bored Twins are having a wonderful time chasing goats. These animals occasionally invade the garden since they are partial to the cactus that grows on what used to be rockeries. Saluni has got a goat by the hind legs, letting its big udder dangle indecently. She lifts it up and one of the Bored Twins grabs a teat and squeezes the milk into her mouth. The goat is struggling and trying to escape and milk splatters all over her face. Saluni lets it go and runs to help the second twin, who is chasing another goat that has an even bigger udder. After a relentless chase they catch the goat, overpower it, and successfully milk it into the girl’s mouth.
The Whale Caller watches for a while. Saluni sees him leaning against the wall and shouts excitedly, “Come on, man. There is milk for you too.”
The Whale Caller hesitates a little. She beckons him once more and he joins the chase. He becomes the girls’ hero when he helps them catch and subdue the wildest of the animals. They cheer and applaud and go crazy over its teats. When they have had their fill they spray each other with the milk. He also has his turn suckling the warm milk. This is his first experience of goat milk and he finds the strange taste quite enjoyable. Then the girls spray him with the milk. Saluni watches all this with a big smile on her face.
“Let us not waste the milk,” the Whale Caller says, with streaks of milk mapping his face. “Remember that these goats have their kids to feed as well as providing the farmer with milk.”
“They are just wild goats,” says one of the twins. “They don’t belong to a farmer.”
“You don’t know that,” says Saluni.
“They belong to someone all right. That is why they don’t have their kids with them,” says the Whale Caller, letting the goat free and jumping out of its way. It kicks violently, throwing one of the twins to the ground. They all laugh at her. They help the fallen girl up and Saluni introduces them to the Whale Caller.
“A whale caller? What does a whale caller do?” asks the smaller twin.
“Is he your husband?” enquires the other one.
“Boyfriend! Remember Aunt Saluni told Mama that she was not married.”
“You ask silly questions,” says Saluni, brushing the dust from the Whale Caller with her hands.
“I came to fetch you, Saluni,” says the Whale Caller. “I waited for you for the whole night. I was worried about you, Saluni.”
“Why did you wait for her, Mr. Whale Caller?” asks the bigger twin. “Why were you worried about her when she was with us?”
“He is her boyfriend, silly!” says the smaller twin. “He is supposed to worry.”
The girls find the notion that Aunt Saluni may have a boyfriend quite funny, and they giggle, jumping about, clapping their sweet little hands and chanting: “Aunt Saluni has a boyfriend… a boyfriend. Aunt Saluni has a boyfriend… a boyfriend.”
Saluni stands there, arms akimbo, displaying a toothless grin. The Whale Caller’s body moves to the rhythm of the chants despite himself.
The girls clamber on him, and play with his silver-grey beard and marvel at his bushy chest, hunting for little fairies that they claim are hiding there. He in turn is spellbound by their beauty and their angelic voices. But what strikes him most is the wonderful fact that the girls smell like earthworms.
“Your face is glowing,” observes the smaller twin.
This only confirms what he has earlier observed when he was looking in the mirror trimming his beard. Ever since the cleansing rituals his face has acquired a smooth glow. Saluni is not the only one who has a propolis face.
When Saluni and the Whale Caller decide to go, the Bored Twins sing for them. They are transfixed. At the end of the song they try once more to go, but the twins break into another song that transfixes their visitors once more. This happens over and over again until late in the afternoon when the girls either get tired of singing or just get bored. Only then are the visitors able to go.
Saluni and the Whale Caller are euphoric as they walk back home. Euphoria tends to make one almost levitate in the air, but their gait is heavy because of the goat milk that still fills their stomachs almost to bursting point, even when so many hours have gone by since the early morning adventures with the goats. He sees their long shadows and cannot believe that he allowed the Bored Twins to hold him captive for such a long time. It would have been a wasted day if it were not for the reward of euphoria. Now he understands Saluni’s addiction to them. The girls are Euphoriants! This fills him with fear, for he is dead scared of happiness. He makes a deal with himself: he will stay away from the Bored Twins as much as possible. He will imbibe them only occasionally, but will not allow any dependence to develop.
Saluni is babbling effervescently beside him about her folly of having given up the Bored Twins for almost a month. After all, they are just sweet little girls who need her company only in the daytime when their parents are at work. There is no harm in resuming her regular visits to the mansion. There is no need for him to feel so insecure, she advises him, because the Bored Twins will never replace him. There is room in her big heart for him and them.
He is convinced that Saluni has relapsed.
Saluni. It is the final month of winter this year and once more she has become a junkie. She cannot have enough of the Bored Twins. She leaves the Wendy house in the morning and spends several hours with them almost every day. She used to sing only when she was drunk, but now she joins them in full sobriety, and together they belt out hymns that they have heard on the radio. The fact that they do not know most of the words never deters them. They make up their own words as they go along. Words about goats and beetles and tulips and rain and Mama and Papa finally coming home. Saluni has also taught them censored versions of the songs she used to sing in the taverns.