Isabeau blinked hard and wiped the back of her hand over her nose. Robby, sensing that something was wrong with his mistress, jumped up and licked her face, his paws leaving gobs of sand all down her front.
“Oh, Robby!” Isabeau pushed him away. “You know I hate it when you do that!”
“Issy!” the shout came from down by the sea.
Isabeau shaded her eyes. “It’s Ndlela. And Noor. I better go—” She started down the path, then turned to Elke. “You coming?”
Elke shook her head.
“Oh.” Isabeau looked uncertainly back.
“Isabeau!” Noor’s voice came faintly on the breeze.
“Go on.” Elke waved at Noor and Ndlela. “They’re waiting for you.”
“You’ll be okay?” Isabeau shaded her face and squinted up at Elke, who nodded. “Okay. See you!” Isabeau gave a last wave, then turned and hobbled down to the beach to where Noor and Ndlela were waiting for her.
Elke watched the three small figures as they walked along the beach with their dog running big circles around them. Long after they were out of sight Elke stood there with Meisje sitting patiently at her side.
The sounds of the Muara surrounded her—the whisper of the breeze in the undergrowth, the sizzle of the cicadas, the faint chirping of the frogs from the boggy patches down by the river mouth, and behind it all the rumble and rush of the breakers.
“Well then.”
Meisje looked up at her, ears alert as Elke drew a deep breath and let it out again.
“Let’s go home.”
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The Real Page 26
