Nation

“He killed a man in a canoe because he was not a trouserman? ”

She was ready for this. “No. The man I kill — the dead man would have done that, but I think Cox just killed the old man because he couldn’t see anything else to shoot at. ”

“Er… my English is no so good — ” Pilu began.

“I am sorry to say you heard me correctly. ”

“He kills for Locaha and adds glory, like the Raiders? ”

“No. Just because he wants to. ”

Pilu looked at her as if this was going to be a hard one to get across. It was. From the sound of it, no one thought he was making sense.

He went on doggedly for a few more sentences and turned to Daphne. “Not dolphins, ” he said. “No sailor would kill a dolphin. You must be wrong. ”

“No. He really did. ”

“But that is killing a soul, ” said Pilu. “When we die, we become dolphins until it is time to be born again. Who would kill a dolphin? ” Tears of puzzlement and anger raced down his face.

“I’m sorry. Cox would. And Foxlip shot at it, too. ”

“Why? ”

“To be like Cox, I think. To seem like a big man. ”

“Big man? ”

“Like the remora fish. Er, you call them suckfish. They swim with the sharks. Perhaps they like to think they are sharks. ”

“Not even the Raiders would do this, and they worship Locaha! It is beyond belief! ”

“I saw them. And poor Captain Roberts wrote it down in the ship’s log. I can show you. ” Too late, she remembered that Pilu didn’t so much read as recognize writing when it was pointed out to him. His look now was a plea for help, so she stood close to him and found the right place: “Once again Cox and his cronies have been discharging their pistols at the dolphins, against all decency and the common laws of the sea. May God forgive him, because no righteous sailor will. Indeed, I suspect that in this case even the Almighty will find his mercy overly strained! !! ”

She read it aloud. In the circle, people were getting restless. There was a lot of loud whispering that she couldn’t understand, and it looked as if some sort of agreement was being arrived at. The nods and whispers ran around the circle of people in opposite directions until they met at Mau, who cracked a thin smile.

“These were men who would shoot a brown man for no reason, ” he said. “And they would shoot dolphins, which even trousermen respect. You could see inside their heads, ghost girl. Isn’t that right? You could see how they thought? ”

Daphne couldn’t look at his face. “Yes, ” she said.

“Savages, we are to them. Some sort of animal. Darkies. ”

“Yes. ” She still did not dare to look up, in case she met his gaze. She’d pulled the trigger, she remembered, on that first day. And he had thanked her for the gift of fire.

“When the ghost girl first met me — ” Mau began.

Oh, no, he’s not going to tell them, is he? she thought. Surely he won’t. But that little smile of his, that’s the smile he smiles when he’s really angry!

“ — she gave me food, ” Mau went on, “and later she gave me a gun to help me light a fire, even though she was far from home and frightened. She was thoughtful enough, too, to take out the little ball that flies and kills, so that I would come to no harm. And she invited me into the Sweet Judy and gave me wonderful lobster-flavored cakes. You all know the ghost girl. ”

She looked up. Everyone was staring at her. Now Mau stood up and walked into the center of the circle.

“These men were different, ” he said, “and the ghost girl knew how their minds worked. They would not sing the beer song because they thought we were a sort of animal, and they were too proud and great to sing an animal’s song. She knew this. ” He looked around the circle. “The ghost girl thinks she killed a man. Did she? You must decide. ”

Daphne tried to make out what was said next, but people all started talking at once, and because everyone was talking at once, everyone started talking louder. But something was happening. Little conversations got bigger, and then were picked up and rolled from tongue to tongue around the circle. Whatever the result was going to be, she thought, it probably was not going to be one simple word. Then Pilu wandered around the circle, hunkering down here and there, joining in for a little while, and then strolling on to another point and doing the same thing again.

No one stuck up their hands and there was no voting, but she thought, I wonder if it was like this in ancient Athens? This is pure democracy. People don’t just get a vote; they have a say.

And now it was settling down. Pilu got up from his last conversation and walked back to the center of the ring. He nodded to Mau and started to speak: “A man who will kill a priest, or kill a man for the pleasure of seeing him die, or kill a dolphin” — this one got a big groan from the circle — “could not be a man at all. It must have been an evil demon haunting the shell of a man, they say. The ghost girl could not have killed him, because he was already dead. ”

Mau cupped his hands over his mouth. “Is this what you think? ” There was a roar of agreement.

“Good. ” He clapped his hands together and raised his voice. “We’ve still got to finish the pig fence, everyone, and we still need timber from the Judy, and the fish trap is not going to build itself! ”

The circle rose and became a crisscrossing of hurrying people. No one had banged a table with a wooden hammer, or worn a robe. They had just done a thing that needed doing, without much fuss, and now, well, there was the pig fence to repair.

“Is this what you wanted? ” asked Mau, suddenly beside her.

“Sorry? What? ” She hadn’t even seen him approaching. “Oh, yes. Er, yes. Thank you. That was a very good, er, judgment, ” she said. “And you? ”

“I think they have decided and I think it is settled, ” said Mau briskly. “The man brought Locaha here and his pistols serve him. But Locaha is no one’s servant. ”