Ficum trudged up the riverbank to the Water Fairy’s house, his young face glowing with health and exercise. He was returning from his long hike in the woods, and his eyes sparkled with excitement and happiness. When he was halfway up the bank, he suddenly remembered that he was supposed to have cleaned his bedroom, and that his mother would probably have discovered the mess by now. Stooping down, he hastily picked some violets with which the grass was thick. He decided to offer them to his mother as a “peace offering”. Perhaps then she won’t be so angry with me, he thought.

Anomien could not tell what Ficum did. From where she was mounted on her dolphin, it seemed to her that Ficum and the two panthers just stared at one another, looking each other in the eye. They stayed in that manner for quite a while, and then to Anomien’s utter amazement, the panthers bowed their heads slightly, as if in acquiesce, and padded slowly up to the boy’s feet. Once there, they proceeded to gently lick his wounded arm, washing it as only they knew how. Ficum, meanwhile, stroked their sleek fur as a mother caresses her babe.