Amaya’s eyes followed the staff, and she saw that Rogar was walking into the water. Tani was not frightened. She was laughing and clapping her hands. To her it was just another of the games Rogar had taught her to love.
Rogar did not go out very far. The waves were rolling. It would not take a lot of water to drown a tiny girl.
He seemed to be playing with Tani, and Amaya remembered he had promised to keep her from being afraid. He held her close to his body, and he ducked under the water.
But when he arose, the baby was gone.
Rogar stood motionless, the waves beating over him. Then he walked back to the beach. When he reached the edge of the water, he turned and looked back. His father joined him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Together they looked down the beach, and Rogar’s father pointed.
Were they thinking where her tiny body would wash ashore? Amaya hoped so. To think of Tani not only dead, but lost in the sea-it was more than she could bear.
Then Rogar’s father called out. ‘‘There! There!’’ He and Rogar ran down the beach.
And Rogar knelt down and scooped up a tiny bundle. He held it above his head. Amaya saw dark hair, and legs. And the legs kicked!
‘‘She is not dead, Elosa! The sea has refused her!’’
Amaya jumped to her feet and watched in amazement as Rogar walked toward them. Tani was squirming and angry. But she was alive.
Elosa shook her staff furiously. ‘‘Put her in the water again! It is the law!’’
Rogar stood silently for a moment before he turned once more toward the water. Amaya again sank into despair. She watched Rogar walk through the surf, the waves breaking over him and Tani. Again he sank beneath the waves with the child in his arms. Again he rose without her and slowly walked back to the beach.
And again he and his father watched down the beach until a tiny bundle washed ashore. Once more they ran down to pick up Tani’s body.
And once more Rogar brought the child to Elosa alive.
Elosa pounded her staff on the beach and screamed. ‘‘She’s a demon! She must die! It is the law!’’
Tani was very angry now, but Elosa’s fury frightened her. She clutched Rogar around the neck and shrieked. Rogar patted and soothed her until she became quieter. And when the baby became quiet, Amaya heard other sounds. Looking behind her, she saw many people. They were buzzing with talk. And they were all looking at Rogar and Elosa, who stood facing each other. Neither of them looked around at the others.
Elosa spoke, and her voice was not loud, but it crackled angrily. ‘‘Put her back in the water, Rogar, and take her farther out.’’
‘‘Are you sure, Elosa? Are you sure this is what the law commands?’’
‘‘Do you think that I-your shaman-can mistake the meaning of the law, the law that has governed our people for generations?’’
‘‘Twice the sea has refused to take Tani. A third time-’’
Now Elosa’s eyes flickered right, left. Amaya knew she was considering the people gathered behind her. She took a deep breath and raised her staff. ‘‘Take her out, Rogar. Leave her for the water to take.’’
She swung the staff around, but Rogar did not flinch away from the stick.
‘‘Take her out!’’ Elosa’s final words were a shriek. ‘‘It is the law!’’
Rogar turned and walked back to the water. Amaya still knelt on the sand, with Rogar’s mother and sister beside her. Tears were running down her cheeks. Tani saw her there and waved, a baby wave. Then she turned to look at the approaching water-still unafraid and still trusting Rogar.
‘‘Trust me,’’ Rogar had said. ‘‘Trust me.’’
If Tani can trust him, Amaya thought, I must trust him, too. And she stood up proudly, staring after her husband.
Now the sun had moved over the horizon, and it was hard to see what was happening with her eyes dazzled by tears and by the sun.
Again Rogar walked through the surf. Again he ducked into the water, playing a game with Tani. Amaya even thought she heard the child’s laughter over the sound of the waves. Then Rogar ducked beneath the water, and when he arose, Tani was gone.
Amaya did not allow herself to hope that the child would survive. No, the small one could not be lucky enough to be washed ashore three times. This time, she knew, Tani was dead. And that was good. If the child had to go into the water one more time, Amaya’s heart could not continue to beat.
Rogar came through the surf, and Amaya went to meet him. She put her arms around him and laid her head against his chest.
‘‘You tried, Rogar. You faced Elosa, argued with her. You tried your best.’’ She looked into his eyes. ‘‘I love you.’’
Rogar smiled. ‘‘And I love you, Amaya. Now we had better go to Tani.’’
He gestured behind her, and Amaya turned to see the same brown bundle tumble from the waves.
Tani!
She and Rogar ran down the beach, and she scooped the little girl up.
Tani coughed. She sneezed. Then she screamed.
Suddenly Amaya and Rogar and Tani were surrounded by excited people.
Rogar’s mother was embracing Amaya and Tani. ‘‘The witch is beaten!’’ she said. ‘‘This little one and my son have taken her power away!’’
‘‘What?’’ Amaya was amazed.
‘‘Three times! Three times!’’ Rogar’s sister yelled it out.
Rogar was smiling, and Amaya turned to him. ‘‘What do they mean, Rogar?’’
‘‘If the sea rejects the child three times, then the interpretation of the law is wrong,’’ he said. ‘‘Elosa condemned the child wrongly. So Tani will live, and another will be selected as shaman.’’
An hour later Tani had been fed and was asleep. Other women had come to marvel at the strong little girl who had survived the sea three times. They brought gifts to the child the sea loved. Now Amaya stared in awe at the little girl.
The others were taking Tani’s survival as a miracle. Were the gods of the sea showing that they loved her niece? Oh, it was easy to say that Elosa had condemned her wrongly and that the sea had rejected her. But it was hard for Amaya to believe Elosa had not condemned others wrongly, and her other victims had died. Amaya did not understand.
Outside, she heard a deep voice greeting Rogar, and she heard Rogar’s respectful reply. The headman had come. Would even the headman want to behold the miracle child?
But the headman was talking to Rogar.
‘‘The elders are going to ask you to join their council,’’ he said.
Join their council? Amaya took a quick breath. But Rogar was young! Too young to be an elder!
Rogar sounded wary when he answered the headman. ‘‘That is too high an honor for me. The elders must command canoes. I do not have the years-’’
The headman chuckled. ‘‘But you have the head, Rogar. And you have the knowledge.’’
Rogar did not answer.
‘‘And you used that knowledge to benefit your people. We are rid of Elosa.’’
‘‘If she had admitted she was wrong after the second time the sea refused the child-’’
‘‘But she did not.’’ The headman’s voice was brisk. ‘‘You gave her the chance to back down, to save face. She did not take it. You handled her wisely. The little one will be lucky to have you as a father.’’
‘‘The little one is already lucky.’’
‘‘Yes. She was lucky to have a man taking care of her who taught her not to fear the water. That is one reason we wish you to join the elders.’’
‘‘But-’’
‘‘Do not say no, Rogar! The other reason is more practical.’’
He dropped his voice to a whisper, and Amaya barely heard his final words.
‘‘We need all the men who understand the currents and tides as you do to command canoes.’’
For the Common Good by Patricia Sprinkle
I first met Dr. Randall McQuirter in 1965 over a kosher TV dinner.