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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

Bernie, however, was eating even less. He lay on the bottom of the lagoon, only rising to the surface to breathe. Cora dove down to try to feed him, holding the freshest fish out to him. He’d look at her, but not open his mouth. The other dolphins dove down frequently to rub against him.

NINETEEN
Aug. 2–7, 1965

By now, in the morning when she began to snorkel around the lagoon, each of the dolphins came to greet her. Mother, floating by the chute, tasting the sea, would turn to Cora, scanning her insides with sound. Kat would nose by, full of mischief, a squid in her mouth. Junior would dash over to have her run her fingers over his sides. As soon as she touched him, he’d freeze in the water, his gaze introverted, mesmerized by the sensation. Bernie would rise in the water to her, gliding close solemn and gentle, before surfacing for a big breath and then descending.

Then the dolphins would return to their normal activities, circling the tiny lagoon, playing and fighting.

The one thing that would get their attention was if one of the men opened the shed beside the lagoon. Then all action in the water would stop. The dolphins would surface to look at the shed, watching the open doorway to see, when the man stepped out, if he held the net that could stretch across the lagoon.

Since Cora’s deal with Blum about teaching the dolphins, each time one of the men stepped out, he held something else: the sprinkler or a hammer or a trestle.

Afterward the dolphins would watch for another moment, thinking whatever they were thinking, a small break in time before they returned to whatever they had been doing.

* * *

When Cora had worked at the Tampa club, the cop had stood out. Although he wasn’t much taller than her, he somehow created the appearance of mass and power. It was the slow solid way he moved, like a force that could not be deterred. And he had the blank stare of someone who had seen horrors and could respond accordingly.

At the research center, she tried to keep her face blank like the cop had, her eyes still and cold. She imagined, with her haircut, she might resemble him a tiny bit. When she acted this way, it was easier for her to speak, to say what she thought.

Eh considered her, his eyebrows knit, taking in this change.

* * *

Each time one of the wives dropped by the research center, they appeared a little surprised to see Cora still there. After Cora’s hair was shaved off, their surprise was increased.

The first time Blum’s wife, Babs, spotted Cora and her buzzcut, her eyes blinked. Then her perky smile went up like a wall. She would not, however, let her children walk down from the veranda to the lagoon anymore without her.

When Tibbet’s wife, Terry or Carrie (Cora was still not sure) saw her buzzcut, her head rocked back in surprise and she laughed and said—My God, girl, what happened to you?