Free Deluge by Anne McCaffrey Page A

something to her in a musical language Murel recognized, hearing her name and Ronan’s in what the child said. The bully’s fist uncurled, but she advanced again on Chesney, who was on the ground and bleeding. Kneeling, she reached her hand out and grumbled, “Sorry, kid.” Then she turned to Dewey. “Sorry about your food too. You can have mine tomorrow.”
    She looked up at Ronan and Murel. “Okay? No hard feelings?”
    Before they could answer, she rose, jumped over Chesney’s legs, and disappeared into one of the huts.
    The girl who had touched the bully’s hand said, “Kai’s just mad. She’s been like that all her life, I guess. I’m Pele, by the way. Kai’s my big sistah. I get scared, Maia gets her feelings hurt, Ke-ola wants to understand what’s going on, and Keoki wants to argue. Kai gets mad.” She shrugged.
    “You know Ke-ola and Keoki?” Ronan asked.
    “They are my bruthas. Kai’s too. And we all know you two. You’re the se—” She stopped at Ronan’s shushing motion. “—the twins,” she finished quickly. Dropping her voice, she asked, “Have you come to save us again? Please save Kai too, even though she’s a pain. She’s not always like this, just when she gets upset.”
    “She should learn to yell or hit a rock or something,” Murel said resentfully. “Not pick on people who are littler than she is.”
    “When we got here, some of the big kids took our food,” a round-faced little boy said belligerently. “Kai’s just doing it back.”
    “It’s brave—if stupid—to do it back to the people that pick on you,” Ronan told him. “It’s mean and not very logical to treat other people the way you hated to be treated yourself.”
    Spoken like a true Petaybean shepherd seal,
Murel told him. Maybe it sounded bossy to other people, but really, it was basic stuff. Other kids ought to
know
it already, she thought, but evidently it hadn’t registered with some of them. She looked up and saw that the captain had come to the door of his hut and was watching them. He’d probably heard everything they said. It was a good thing Ronan had kept Pele from talking about their seal-selves.
    As long as nobody knew they were selkies, they could use it to escape. Actually, the problem was that several people here already knew about them. Rory, for one, and all of the Kanaka kids had either seen them change or heard about it from the others, she was sure. If the powers that be here found out about them, she and Ro were likely to be in a bad way.
    So far nobody had taken names or anything like that, though she supposed if the soldiers did want to use certain kids to make certain parents confess or follow orders or whatever it was they were supposed to do, they’d find out who was who. They had to know where they’d collected the different groups of kids, and in that, she and Ro were lucky because so far the soldiers hadn’t bothered to find out who they belonged to. She supposed they’d been too busy with the adults.
    The captain was joined by Lieutenant Bunyon, who brought a whistle to her mouth and blew a short, piercing blast. All of the kids turned to look at her. “For you newcomers, indoctrination will take place in a half hour in back of the admin hut, followed by a special treat for everyone,” she announced. “We’ll be showing a special film. I’m making popcorn for everyone who attends.”
    The reaction was mixed. Those within sight of the officers made what Murel felt were exaggerated expressions of excitement and enthusiasm. Some were going for the popcorn, which was apparently some sort of treat, and extra rations whether you actually thought it was yummy or not.
    The lieutenant added, “For you newcomers, the film is mandatory. For the rest, curfew is extended until after it is over. Reassemble behind the admin hut at the sound of my whistle.”
    Ke-ola’s little sister grabbed Murel’s hand and tugged her toward a hut. Huy gave her a dirty look. Nobody was