Part 1

“The Dark Star returns! The Dark Star!”

The spinner dolphins carried the message and I heard my sisters take it up, too, but I knew Council
business would occupy her for some time until the Dark Star returned to me.

It was February and late in the monsoon season, but the elements had a way of reminding us that
late did not mean the end. A cyclone approached and my watch had become more challenging, for
there were accounts of a crocodile which had become caught up in the storm. The poor reptile was
hungry, angry and far from home, posing a danger to the children that they paid no heed to. I
redoubled my vigilance as I ached to see my Dark Star.

I flicked my tail at a tickling touch, swimming faster to vent my frustration. She was mine, of course,
but she had so many other demands on her time. I heard an unfamiliar sound and saw a tail the like
of which I had not seen since I was last on land.

I sang to the swimming lizard, who was smaller than accounts had said. It didn’t do to believe
dolphin tales - the crocodile was no longer than my body and far thinner, for he was half-starved. I
took him by the tail and pulled him ashore to the lagoon island.

He took a snap at me but I sang louder, calming the angry little crocodile. I grasped him around the
middle and carried him to the middle of the island. He wiggled off among the palm trees, birds flying
up in alarm to mark his passage. The noise was an ear-splitting screeching chorus that made me glad
to sink beneath the surface once more. I headed back to the reefs where the children would soon
sleep.

Part 2
“Mother, she summons you to the shallows by Pulu Pilau,” Joy said quietly.

She did not need to say who. Only the Dark Star would summon me and I was happy to answer her
summons.

“I will go,” I replied. “Can you spread the word that the little crocodile has found a home on North
Keeling?”

She spun through the water, true to her name. “You caught him, Mother? No other watcher has
even seen him!”

I smiled. “Of course I did. Now the smaller children will be safe, but you and your sisters should not
bait him. He was starved and he may not survive long, even on land.”

She giggled. “Blythe will take us all to find him tomorrow, Mother. On your return, he will be our
pet.”
I kissed my daughter, my heart lifting at the thought that I might be gone long enough for the girls to
tame another pet. “Give him a kind name. Cuddles the shark did not like being squeezed half to
death.”

She giggled and waved as I turned my tail, leaping high across the water to speed my way to my Star.

Part 3
The moon was full, so the water was surprisingly light in the shallows. I flew higher than the flying
fish and my heart flew higher still.

I heard her approach, for I am not a watcher for nothing, but the thrill of her hands on me wasn’t
lessened by the lack of surprise.

I flicked my tail flukes so she let go of them, twisting to face her as I hoped for a kiss. I’d missed her
so much in the months she’d been on land. My sweet Star did not disappoint me.

“Thank you,” I told her. “I’ve missed you so much!”

She giggled, sounding no older than Joy. “I have missed you, too, but we’ve both been busy. You
with your crocodile and me with the humans on land. Have you saved us from the beast yet?”

“He was only little and he’s on North Keeling. Our girls are determined to turn him into their pet,” I
replied dismissively. I looked at her with longing. “Do the Council need you immediately, or do you
have time to tell me about your adventures while you’ve been away?”

She smiled. “The Council has been briefed, but I am not needed further until Sirena calls the Council
together in two weeks. We have both earned the time off and I have a gift for you. Two, in fact.” Her
smile grew broader.

Part 4
“Please, tell me what kept you so long!” I begged, drinking in the sight of her in the moonlight.
Prettier than the stars in the sky, she’d grown plumper in her time on land. Her fondness for human
foods made me uneasy, for I did not want her to leave me for so long again.

“Your gifts, of course,” she replied.

Mystified, I waited for her to elaborate.

Her laughter tinkled like coral shingle beneath feet. “You remember that engineering student I liked
on land, when we first visited my grandmother…”

I nodded once. I did not like the human she spoke of.

“I found him again, in that Little Creatures pub. We fell to drinking, then talking, before…”

“He kept you from me?” I interrupted, angry. I thought of some horrible things I would like to do
with the human. How dare he…
Her hand on my shoulder was soothing. “No, dearest, he did not. But I remembered how sad you
were to discover that our girls are growing up, that one will leave us soon to take up her role in the
Atlantic.”

I said nothing. Above the water, my eyes would have held tears, but beneath the surface they were
dry.

“I thought how much you would like another child, so…”

“You brought the human here?” I broke in, aghast. I did not like the human, nor his brother, no
matter how much they had done for me. I could not bring myself to touch another human, even for
the prize of another darling child. I would drown the man first.

She laughed so hard she threw her head back, her breast shaking with mirth. “No, dearest. I spent
my time with him on land in his home, drinking beer, eating pizza and the like.”

“He made you so round?” I fumed, laying another crime at the feet of the man I hated. The bastard
gave her a beer belly while he kept us apart!

Her voice was soft as she took my hand. “Eventually, dearest. I wanted to be sure.” She placed my
hand on her round belly. “Twin girls. I waited for Apalala and the dolphins to check, before I told
you.”

My heart flew once more. “A child? Two! They will call you the fertile star, not the dark one.”

“Not yet,” she said quietly. “First, I must give you my other gift.” She pulled me through the water to
land, where she shifted her tail to free her feet. She walked up the sand to a small foam box. She
lifted it and held it out to me. “I managed to get some frozen raspberries from the store on Home
Island and I’ve packed them in ice. Happy Valentine’s Day, dearest.”

I smiled. My sweet Star knew me well.