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Contents ( 45)
  1. ALSO BY AUDREY SCHULMAN
  2. THE DOLPHIN HOUSE
  3. ONE Tampa, Florida Feb. 1965
  4. TWO Aug. 1957 Ogunquit, Maine
  5. THREE May 1965
  6. FOUR March 1958 Orlando, Florida
  7. ARRIVAL
  8. FIVE June 4, 1965
  9. SIX June 4, 1965
  10. SEVEN June 5, 1965
  11. EIGHT June 6–10, 1965
  12. NINE June 11–16, 1965
  13. TEN June 17–26, 1965
  14. ELEVEN June 27–30, 1965
  15. TWELVE July 1–8, 1965
  16. THIRTEEN July 9–13, 1965
  17. FOURTEEN July 14, 1965
  18. LANGUAGE LESSONS
  19. FIFTEEN July 15–17, 1965
  20. SIXTEEN
  21. SEVENTEEN July 18–25, 1965
  22. EIGHTEEN July 26–Aug. 1, 1965
  23. NINETEEN Aug. 2–7, 1965
  24. TWENTY Aug. 8–15, 1965
  25. TWENTY-ONE Aug. 16, 1965
  26. TWENTY-TWO Aug. 17–30, 1965
  27. HOMEARIUM
  28. TWENTY-THREE Homearium, Day 1
  29. TWENTY-FOUR Homearium, Day 3
  30. TWENTY-FIVE Homearium, Days 4–7
  31. TWENTY-SIX Homearium, Week 2
  32. TWENTY-SEVEN Homearium, Week 3
  33. TWENTY-EIGHT Homearium, Week 4
  34. TWENTY-NINE Homearium, Week 5
  35. THIRTY Homearium, Weeks 6–8
  36. THIRTY-ONE Homearium, Weeks 9–11
  37. THIRTY-TWO Homearium, Week 12
  38. THIRTY-THREE Homearium, Week 13
  39. THIRTY-FOUR Homearium, Week 14
  40. THIRTY-FIVE Homearium, Week 15
  41. THIRTY-SIX Homearium, Week 16
  42. THIRTY-SEVEN Homearium, Week 18
  43. THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  45. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Worried that she’d get hit unintentionally by the wild screaming dolphins chasing each other, she crept out of the lagoon. Within another few minutes Mother gave up and turned her belly to Bernie. After that, they settled down.

Cora didn’t take notes on this part. She didn’t want Blum or the other men to know she’d seen this and to think about her watching it. She noticed the way they watched her, especially Blum and Eh.

7 A.M.: Roughhousing, Bernie chased Mother.

* * *

One morning she pulled herself out of the pool and Blum was reading her notebook. Skinny man, legs spread, bright bird eyes. As soon as she saw the notebook in his hands, she realized even with the drawings and the tallies, there weren’t more than fifteen pages of notes.

He looked up at her and ground his cigarette out on the dock. He asked her, his face puzzled.—Bernie?

Since she’d told Blum about being partially deaf, he always turned his face to her when talking so she could read her lips. He put his cigarette down and used fewer words. Most people would forget to do this at times. He didn’t. She could see no condescension or irritation in his action, nor empathy. He just did it every time, a little like a machine. She missed fewer words with him than with the others and was grateful.

She said—He’s the biggest dolphin.

He jerked his chin at the notebook.—Tibbet told you to tally things?

—Yes.

He said—Ignore him.

He turned to the page where she’d tallied the fish they ate.—Bernie isn’t eating a lot?

—Yes.

He turned toward the lagoon, looking at the dolphin who happened to surface at that moment. She wondered if he knew this was Mother, not Bernie.

He returned to reading the notes. Flipping to a different page, he asked—They lie under the dock?

She saw which page he was reading.—Yes. They rest under the dock every day, when the sun is most direct.

—Why is that important?

She said—I’m not sure. They are at the bottom in the shade, where the water is coolest. They don’t move much. It’s possible the lagoon is too hot for them.

He looked at the dolphins, considering that thought.—Write more.

* * *

Around noon that same day, she saw Blum step out onto the balcony to watch the dolphins. The sun was high overhead. Standing on the balcony, he touched the metal railing, then jerked his fingers back from its heat.

Below, all the dolphins were under the dock, in that small patch of shade. Blum strode down the steps to where he could see them through the slats in the dock, watch them floating in the shade listlessly.

He went into the house and came out with a thermometer, a small skillet and some string. He tied the skillet and thermometer to one end of the string and threw the skillet into the lagoon. It hit the water with a splash and sank, dragging the thermometer down to the bottom of the lagoon. He tied the other end of the string onto a dock piling, and after half an hour came back to pull it and the skillet out and look at the temperature. Then he threw the skillet back in, tying the rope off so only a few feet of it was in the water, the thermometer closer to the surface. Half an hour later, he came back to see that temperature.