48  "That's what I mean!" The Voice told him.   "I can see The Light in her."
    49  "Father," the girl cried, "how long has our village dreamed of having a Speaker, of building a Temple, but no Speaker has ever wanted to come to our lonely little islands?  If he can train me, I can return, and we won't have to travel day's journeys to fulfill our needs.  Can I, father, please?"
    50  The old man smiled.  "So I get your cousin to work the boat," he agreed. "he's wanted to for years, anyway!  Go get your things."
    51  The girl hurried to the back of the boat.  The old man came up on the dock, took The Voice's staff, and read it. "The Voice Of The Lords,"  he commented. "Even in our isolated community we have heard of you!  When you are done training her will she come back to us?"
    52  "That she will," promised The Voice, "and bring a couple of young men with her."
    53  "A couple?" questioned the old man.
    54  "A woman cannot always make up her mind!" The Voice answered.  "And some suitors will not be discouraged.  If a man can have three mates, why cannot a woman?  Are we not equal before The Lords?"
    55  The old man laughed.  "Maybe before The Lords," he said, "but you can be sure that'll start a row in our village, but I love a good row!"
    56  The two men touched each-other's shoulder, as the girl jumped on the dock. "I'm Diving Turtle," the old man explained.  "That chubby one there, is Big Turtle, and the thin one is Sneaky Turtle, my youngest, and also, the worry of my old bones. Never was there a boy born that gets into as much mischief!"
    57  "Don't let him fool you, Lord," the young man continued, "he loves every minute of it.  I keep him from getting bored in his old age.  You be good, sister from the water, cause this good man none of your mischief." 
    The young man reached in his pocket and threw her a coin.  "There's the five coppers I owe you," he laughed.  "Don't spend it on a man!"
    58  "And don't you spend all your share on a pretty whore, either!  I want to mate YOU to that pretty little mud jumper you're always chasing!"
    59  "We must get our catch unloaded," ordered the old man. "I want to be clear of the coastal rocks by nightfall, and home by daybreak. As your brother said, our joy from the water, do not bring us shame.  Study well with this good man, and come home to us with honor."
    60  "I will, father," the girl promised, and that she did.  She studied with Great Bear after The Voice left, became a Speaker, and returned to her people, where she trained other Speakers, and went from island to island teaching The Lords.
    61  She became so famous among the ship people, that they always kept her symbol on their boats to guard them against danger, and to bring them safely home.
    62  But for now she was just a frightened young girl walking into a big city with a famous Speaker at her side.  "What did your father and brother mean," The Voice asked, "when they called you 'their child from the water?'"
    63  "I am not, Lord," Yellow Thorn Blossom told him, "a child of his flesh.  They found me, a tiny baby, strapped to the center boards of a boat and drifting in the open waters after a great storm.
    64  It is their belief a great ship went down, and its crew must've managed to get the boat with me on it, away, but then disaster overtook them, and they went down before any others could make the boat.  It is sometimes known to happen to get a boat in the water, and have it carried away before you can reach it.
     65  Anyway, they took me in, raised me like their own.  The only thing I ever had that belonged to my old family, was this carving of a thorn blossom in yellow stone.  Hence, the name that was given to me, and such is the tale of how my life began."
    66  "It is an interesting tale, indeed!"  said The Voice, "Surely The Lords did watch over you during your lonesome journey."
    67  As they walked along, the noise of a loud discussion came to them, and The Voice turned in its direction.  On the steps of a house, a group of young people were gathered: three children of The One, and some Children of Spirit.  "Our god knows everything!" cried one of the children of The One. "He even numbers the scales on your head so that no one shall be lost."
    68  "Now, what need would there be for that?" argued one of The Children of Spirit. "A scale that is old and has fallen off is no good to us anymore.  Why should it be numbered so it can be kept?  Let it become part of the ground and nourish some living thing."

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