[Birdland]

Kali interrupted his sad, beautiful song, lifting his head and cocking one ear. "Lee-van-to and Bird-ee return!" he cried. He ran to the railing, peering out to the horizon, where the sea seemed to roll and boil. Kali immediately dived from the ship to greet his friends, while Child and Rose ran to the side to see the arrival.

A black and silver dolphin form leapt from the water and, morphing in midair, landed light-footed on the deck. "I'm getting better at that stunt." Birdie commented admirably to herself. "Well, Child, the Mer-Folk have been generous to a fault. But there is one small problem."

"Oh, no! Now what?" Child moaned.

At that moment, the halflings heard a bright clear call from the water. Levanto appeared, breeching the waves like a porpoise, while a laughing Kali rode on his back. "Ahoy, Lonely Star. The hunters return!"

Following Levanto was a "flotilla", if such a word could be used for people, of Mer-Folk. They were singing and laughing as they surrounded the ship, waving to the poor "Land-Folk" watching from above, and laughingly inviting them to dive in and join the fun. The good sea people were towing behind them a staggering variety of woven cages and baskets, a-swarm with the bounty of the ocean. Fish darted and struggled in great traps, baskets and baskets of plant and animal forms were hauled by strong Mer-Lads, who were grabbing dangling lines and securing the baskets to the hull of the ship.

And mingled among the people, Child saw what she at first thought were wise, old faces staring up at her. But these faces were grey, not green. "What are those things?" Rose said aloud in wonder. Child saw that the faces were actually attached to some form of sea-beast, great grey forms with tails like two round dinner plates. The stubby flippers were tipped with blunt nails, which the creatures would use to thoughtfully scratch their bellies. Mer-Children were riding on the backs of some of these forms, patting their backs like a favorite pony, and calling encourgement or endearments to their barrel-shaped mounts.

The bewhiskered faces of the animals were finished off with great, round, mild, dark eyes. To Child, they reminded her of other dark, gentle eyes she had seen peering at her over fences in the Shire.

"Sea-Cows, Rose. Those are Sea-Cows. You asked for milk, and milk you shall have. The Mer-Folk have even sent herders to care for them while they are here, since I'm quite sure none of us on board have had experience milking a Sea-Cow."

"Generous indeed are the Mer-Folk!" Laughed Mithadan. "This is enough food to keep even an army of Halflings fit and fed. And we shall have more than strained food for dinner tonight."

"But Bird," Child whispered worriedly the the Skin-Changer, "there is so much food! How will we ever get it on board?"

"Well, that's the problem, Child. You can't. The Mer-Folk do not excel at preserving foodstuff. Hard to do when you're under water. Everything you see here is "on-the-hoof", so to speak. If you bring any of it on board, it will immediately start to rot. None of this can go with us to the Second Age, unless you brought salt and barrels back with you from your trip to the inn."

"Come, Child; Smile! Our friends are watching. You'll offend them. That's right. Wave and smile..."

[ September 05, 2002: Message edited by: Birdland ]