But Whale Man was very selfish. He did not want anyone to use his canoe.
“Let us just take the canoe,” suggested Starfish Man. “Otherwise all we animals will perish in the water.”
“Whale Man is very big and strong,” said Koala Man. “Who do you think among us here would dare take his canoe without his permission?”
“Leave everything to me,” said Starfish Man.
And there was Whale Man pulling his canoe with a rope!
“Hey, Brother Whale Man,” said Starfish Man. “I see on your callosities that you are being bothered by lice. I can help you. Come over here, Brother Whale Man, and put your beautiful head on my lap. I’ll scratch it and you’ll feel very good. I’ll get rid of all the lice on your head.”
“You are a good neighbour, Brother Starfish Man,” said Whale Man, tying the rope of his canoe to his leg and settling his head on Starfish Man’s lap. Starfish Man scratched his head and massaged it until Whale Man was drowsy. He felt very good. In the meantime Koala Man had cut the rope, tied it to a boulder and dragged the canoe away. All the animals climbed into it and rowed away, with the muscular Koala Man doing most of the paddling.
“Is my canoe still fine, Brother Starfish Man?” asked Whale Man.
Starfish Man hesitated a bit and then said, “Oh, yes, it is still there. Don’t you feel the weight when you try to move your leg?”
Whale Man moved his leg and the rope snapped where it was tied to the rock. He jumped to his feet only to see his canoe moving away into the distance. He realised that he had been tricked by Starfish Man. He lunged at him, but Starfish Man ducked, picked up a rock on the ground and hit Whale Man on the head twice, making two holes close together. Blood gushed out, which made Whale Man raving mad. He grabbed Starfish Man and beat him with his fists and with stones and with sticks and with everything else he could lay his hands on, until Starfish Man lay flattened on the rock. Then he took Starfish Man and threw him into the water, where, to this day, he lies on the sand.
Whale Man dived into the sea and swam as fast as he could, trying to chase his stolen canoe. But it had already reached the other side, and all the animals had disappeared into the woods. Before Koala Man joined the other animals where they were hiding he pushed the canoe into the water and it floated away. It is still floating somewhere out there in the seas of the world.
Whale Man has not given up his search. That is why, to this day, he can be seen searching the oceans for his stolen canoe, blowing water from the head wounds inflicted by Starfish Man, way way back in Dream time.
The idea of Dreamtime has Saluni laughing delightedly. This is the husky but girlish laughter that the Whale Caller has missed all these days. She is now sitting on his lap. For some time they are silent, watching Sharisha and her child spouting rhythmically through their blowholes. The rays of the sun splash rainbow colours on the spray
“You have many wonderful stories from that part of the world… about shark callers… and now about Whale Man and Dream-time… and how whales got their blows,” she says in childlike awe.
“Oh, I have many Dreamings, told to me by travellers from those big islands during the days when I used to walk the coast.”
“Perhaps in another life you lived in the Dreamtime,” she says, burying her fingers in his bushy chest and allowing them to explore the sinewy contours. Despite the weather being so cool, he breaks into a sweat.
“Let’s go to the Wendy house… now… please!” he pleads.
“It is daytime, man,” she says teasingly “You know how you feel about things that should happen only at night.”
He is almost out of breath: “It does not matter. Daytime can be Dreamtime too. We can make it Dreamtime. We must go now.”
“Go ahead,” she says. “I’m coming. Get ready. It will be an earthquake.”
He hesitates because he does not know why she wants to remain behind alone.
“Go, man, go,” she says. “I’ll be with you in no time. I just want a bit of time to… make my body ready to receive you. You won’t understand, man; it’s a woman thing. Just go and before you know it I’ll be there.”
He walks back to the Wendy house. First she makes certain that he is truly out of sight, and then she gets into the water and takes a few steps towards the whales. She stops to confront Sharisha, who is about fifty metres off in the blue depths.
“I say leave him alone, you foolish fish,” she shouts. “He is mine!”
She turns her back to the whales. The level of the water is just below her knees. She lifts up her wet dress and lowers her underpants to the knees. She moons Sharisha, slapping her bottom and screaming: “Take that, you lousy fish!” And then she pulls up her underpants and walks away, leaving the poor whale looking scandalised. The calf is oblivious of what is happening and is breaching away.
Sharisha looks at Saluni as she walks away from the peninsula and then she leaps out of the water in one massive breach to land next to the young one. They sail away, back to the sheltered bay near the estuary.
At the Wendy house the Whale Caller sits on the bed waiting impatiently. He is naked and his manhood is staring at him with its single eye, enquiring why it is being subjected to this punishment. A wet Saluni glides into the room with pomp and ceremony.
Her prophesy is fulfilled. There is an earthquake.
Hoy, Mr. Yodd! You are a clever one, aren’t you? Your strategy paid off. Now the sickness has returned in our lives. We inflict wonderful ailments on each other again. Yes, I did dismiss it at first. It is difficult sometimes to know whether one should trust you or not. You are the past master of shaming. How does one know when your advice should be taken seriously, or if it is just a trick to mortify somebody? This time it paid off. Obviously there is a heart somewhere there, Mr. Yodd, otherwise why would you go out of your way to help me? Oh, I see! It is for your own selfish reasons. You enjoy my oblations, but you hate the fact that your laughter has no effect on me. You want him back here for a dose of flagellation. You long for him. You think that if I bring happiness into his life he will feel guilty enough to want to confess. He will have the urge to dilute it with mortification. He will come for your laughter. You are merely using me for your own ends, Mr. Yodd, Guess what? I am using you too. He has given you up, Mr. Yodd. You will never see him again. You have tried to draw blood from me with your laughter. You have failed so many times but you continue to laugh at me whenever I come here. I can hear you laughing, Mr. Yodd. Don’t deny it now. And, oh, I have brought you more oblations! Tulips? There are no tulips at this time. I know there should be, but they are not there. They bloom when they feel like it, irrespective of what season it is. I have spread out fruit at the mouth of your grotto — peaches and litchis, apricots and pears. Rock rabbits are already taking them inside. Some can’t wait before they take a bite. You need to discipline your rock rabbits, Mr. Yodd. They must never partake of oblations before they present them to the master. Breathless times have returned, Mr. Yodd. Breathless times have returned.
Saluni. She is determined to record with the Bored Twins despite the Whale Caller’s reservations. He feels that the mother’s wishes should be respected. Her main concern is that soon the Kalfiefees will be over and the temporary recording studio of the radio station will pack and leave town. Once more fame and fortune will escape her. It mustn’t happen again, not this time.