THE TWILIGHT DANCER
Page 14
Birrip settled back comfortably into the puddle of water in the bottom of the bowl. "Protect from danger. Some place men stick frog with spear. Some place heron catch frog. Not here. We tame heron, make carry word to cousins down te brook."
"You look a bit like my dear Lollipop," Maxim said. "Is she one of your grandmothers?"
Birrip said, "No. Our family come from Pillilip. Cousin come from Lollipop. I te only one study Man."
"You study us? How do you manage that?" Maxim asked. "The pond is far from the castle, and you are sitting low on the water. I should think it would be very hard."
"Make lens. Use drop of water to make all look bigger. Make notes on leaf with stick." Birrip pulled a bit of leaf from beneath his armor and showed the scratches that were his notes. "Make signs tat mean words. You do tat?"
Maxim gave a great boom of laughter. He rose and took from one wall a square of color that Birrip recognized. "This is a book," he said. "Those signs inside ... see?" he opened the book and Birrip understood at once why such things held the interest of those who read them ... "are words. Oh, what pleasure to find my offspring so intelligent. I must find ways to help you."
He put the book back on a shelf and opened a drawer in the table. "This is a glass lens. It stays the same, all the time. You won't have to worry with drops of water, if you use this. Just make sure you don't drop it into the water and lose it in the mud. I do recall how thick it is at the bottom of the pond."
Birrip held out his delicate hand and took the slender handle of the glass. It was almost too heavy for him, but not quite. When he held it before his face and lined up one eye, he found that it was very strong. With this he could almost make out the titles on the many books around the room.
He gave a contented croak. With this he could observe the castle and its people as closely as he wanted. He might even learn to recognize words as men wrote them.
He looked up and saw the same thought reflected in the eyes of the Ancestor. "I shall make a dictionary for those in the pond," Maxim said. "Baked onto tiles, I think, so the letters will never wash out and the pieces can easily be found, if dropped. Oh, wonderful!"
He turned and left the room. Birrip was so interested in the things around him that he didn't mind at all. Before his Ancestor could return, however, the other door opened and the Tadpole Malcolm bounced into the room. Behind him came two more, just smaller than he.
"Oh, goody," he whispered. "Grandsir is out. Now we can play with the frog." He snatched Birrip out of the bowl and held him high, spinning fast on one foot so the others couldn't reach his treasure.
"Bullalup!" shouted Birrip, which was frog for, "Help! I am in big trouble!"
Now the child dashed out of the room, chased by the other two, and whirled Birrip so quickly he was dizzy and sick again. "You can't have him. I caught him, and he's mine! You go get your own frogs! Grandsir said he used to be a frog, but that's nonsense! Get nets, and you can catch all you want for yourselves."
"Cousin!" Birrip managed to croak. "Stop!"
The smallest child began to cry. "Malcolm," he blubbered, "That frog said something."
Malcolm stopped spinning and held Birrip close to his face. "Frogs can't ..." he began, but Birrip interrupted with another frantic croak. "Cousin! Grandsir be angry! He my Grandsir, too!"
Malcolm's cheeks went crimson, and his hand opened, dropping Birrip as if he were red-hot. Landing with his usual springiness, Birrip hopped back toward the castle, refusing to leave without his glass. The three children followed him, looking stunned.
"I get word-signs," the frog said aloud. With a long, strong hop, he cleared the window-sill and landed in the library again. There Maxim was looking under the table for his disappearing kin.
"There you are! I have arranged for your dictionary to be made. My secretary has too little to do, anyway. Here is your lens. Now it's time for you to go back to the pond. I fear my grandchildren may injure you, if you stay here too long."
Birrip could hear the children outside, and he knew they listened through the window. He, too, had been young and ignorant, once. He would not tattle on them now, for he had made mistakes of his own, in his youth.
"Tank you, Grandsir," he said, as Maxim caught him up in one big hand. "We talk more, maybe, yes?"
"You may bet on it," the Prince replied. "Now I'll call Malcolm and the other youngsters, and we'll all escort you back to the pond, along with your lens. The dictionary should be ready by the end of the week."
Birrip didn't know what a week was, but it sounded good. He gave another agreeable croak, settled into Malcolm's grubby hands, and looked toward the pond. A line of his family members sat on lily pads, their throats pulsing with croaks of all sizes, calling him to come back.
He flapped a hand to reassure them, as Malcolm carefully eased him into the water. Once he got settled with all his new equipment, he would be able to learn more than anyone had ever learned before. He would educate his own tadpoles. This would become the finest pond in all the river system.
Life was going to be very interesting now, he thought. Malcolm still bent over, watching as he dived beneath the water. Rising to the surface, Birrip waved briskly to the Ancestor and his grandchildren.
He felt a bit sad as the Ancestor smiled down at him and the human tadpoles called, "Goodbye!" Then he set off for his own family, leaving behind a new set of kindred that he would soon be able to study to his heart's content, without any worry about being caught in a net or eaten by a heron.
THE END
SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY, HORROR IN PAGETURNER EDITIONS
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People of the Darkness–Ross Rocklynne (Nebulas nominee author)
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What Thin Partitions–Mark Clifton (Hugo winning author)
Eight Keys to Eden–Mark Clifton (Hugo winning author)
The Toymaker & Other SF Stories–Raymond F. Jones
The Alien–Raymond F. Jones
This Island Earth–Raymond F. Jones (Hugo nominee author)
Renaissance–Raymond F. Jones
Rat Race &Other SF Novelettes and Short Novels–Raymond F. Jones (Hugo nominee author)
The Secret People – Raymond F. Jones
Rat in the Skull & Other Off-Trail Science Fiction–Rog Phillips (Hugo nominee author)
The Involuntary Immortals–Rog Phillips (Hugo nominee author)
Inside Man & Other Science Fictions–H. L. Gold (Hugo winner, Nebula nominee)
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Women of the Wood and Other Stories–A. Merritt (Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame award)
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Scout–Octavio Ramos, Jr. (Best Original Fiction)
Smoke Signals–Octavio Ramos, Jr. (Best Original Fiction winning author)
The City at World's End–Edmond Hamilton
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A Yank at Valhalla–Edmond Hamilton (Sense of Wonder Award winning author)
STEFAN VUCAK'S EPPIE NOMINEE SPACE OPERA "THE SHADOW GODS SAGA"
In the Shadow of Death
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Chaka: Zulu King–Book I. The Curse of Baleka–H. R. Haggard
Chaka: Zulu King–Book II. Umpslopogass' Revenge–H. R. Haggard
Claimed!–Francis Stevens
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Dracula's Daughters–Ed. Jean Marie Stine
Dwellers in the Mirage–A. Merritt
From Beyond & 16 Other Macabre Masterpieces–H. P. Lovecraft
Future Eves: Classic Science Fiction about Women by Women–(ed) Jean Marie Stine
Ghost Hunters and Psychic Detectives: 8 Classic Tales of Sleuthing and the Supernatural–(ed.) J. M. Stine
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Possessed!–Francis Stevens
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The Ghost Pirates–W. H. Hodgson
The Girl in the Golden Atom – Ray Cummings
The House on the Borderland–William Hope Hodgson
The Insidious Fu Manchu–Sax Rohmer
The Interplanetary Huntress–Arthur K. Barnes
The Interplanetary Huntress Returns–Arthur K. Barnes
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Women of the Wood and Other Stories–A. Merritt
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