Willow said, ‘The teachers couldn’t bring themselves to punish you, because you told such good stories about ants and fossils and all the rest. The big coilshell you found in the old quarry is still on display in the pups’ classroom.’

‘That’s good to know.’

‘Perhaps you could tell Amity and the other pups about how you found it and what it means, the next time you visit.’

‘Why not? It looks like I’ll be here for a while.’

Pilgrim had already explained how things had fallen out with Thorn. She had told him that his project had nothing to do with the aunties and the Hearth, said that if he wanted to try to win support from the tribe he was wasting his time with her, and must petition the men’s council instead. It was not an outright rejection, but it was a major setback.

Willow said now that she had been thinking about how he could best make his case: that he should present his work as a commercial proposition. Tell the council what kind of profit he hoped to make from publishing his book, and so on.

‘The tribe has never been rich, and we are struggling more than ever. The world is changing more quickly than we reckoned, we still rely too much on export of food and cloth, and the price of both has dropped considerably in the past two years. If you want the council to invest in your work, you will have to show how the tribe can profit from it.’

‘Is that how you convinced them to sell new kinds of tea?’

‘After spending a great deal of time working up a detailed budget. And selling tea is something they can understand,’ Willow said. ‘A book about mysterious visitors, not so much.’

‘I hope that it will prove my master was right to take the visitors seriously, and that it will convince others to take them seriously too.’

‘If you want to convince the men’s council you will need something more than that,’ Willow said. ‘Think about how the old stories are structured. The way their heroes overcome difficulties, grow in skill and stature, and win what was thought to be an impossible prize. It isn’t too different from your situation. You could tell the council how your master’s kin refused to support his work and tried to stop you carrying out his dying wish. Explain that everyone else thinks his ideas are crazy, that only you think that he could be right. Give them a story that excites them. Tell them how your work could change the world, and that when it is done you will write a book that will sell so many copies that it will make back far more than your expenses, and embellish the tribe’s reputation.’

‘It doesn’t sound much like the monograph I hope to finish.’