‘To come at the same time every day, so that the fox’s heart is ready to greet him. You’ll see, my princess, dolphins are like foxes – they get their hearts ready too, and they always come at the same time each day. Hang on …’

And gently, he points his finger to his left.

I can’t see anything. It’s just charm. He’s trying to charm me again when he takes my hand and guides it in the right direction.

‘There … Don’t move …’

And then there they are, my God … I’ve seen them!

Yes, as I’ve told you, just as I can see this pen and this page right now, I’ve SEEEEEN them!

Four dolphins, two large ones and two smaller ones. I didn’t just see their fins, I saw them swimming and leaping, diving, coming back up, diving again.

And I wept.

I swear, I burst into tears like an idiot, while Natale talked to them, throwing them fish. I rubbed my eyes, trying to hide the tears, and noticed the charcoal smears from my wet mascara on my fingertips.

‘Are you hungry, my Orophin? Leave some for your sweetheart! For your little ones! Go on, Idril, catch it. Galdor and Tatië, move over a little.’

I swear to you, the four dolphins were less than three metres away, making those little noises they make. We weren’t in Marineland or some dumb theme park, we were in their home, just the two of us, and they were there, demanding another bucket of frozen fish.

‘Do you want to join them?’

I looked at him with my wet-charcoal eyes, dumber than ever.

‘Can I?’

‘Of course, if you can swim.’

Can I swim?!

I slipped out of the black jeans I was boiling in, the T-shirt with the big teeth, and Natale couldn’t help smiling at the sight of me in a bikini. Not a lascivious smile, more that of a father discovering that his little daughter still has her princess costume on under her pyjamas.

I didn’t give him time to study the indigo tones of my costume, the sapphire sequins and the little flowers decorated with pearls.

I dived straight in.

I even touched them. Especially the babies, Galdor and Tatië.

You don’t believe me? I don’t care, I was there! I put my hand on their fins, my palm on their sleek skin, trying to feel its slight flakiness, I looked under the water when, with a flick of the tail, they slipped ten metres below the surface, I saw them come up again with two waves of their bodies, I brushed against them when they jumped and splashed. It isn’t even a dream, my future reader, it’s beyond that … It’s beyond anything you can experience.

I have swum with dolphins!

‘Come on,’ Natale said to me, starting the engine again. ‘There’s something I’ve got to show you.’

* * *