“Yes.”
“Where’s your house?”
I couldn’t imagine that children like myself could live without a house.
Valek smiled in his habitual sad way and did not answer.
We avoided the steep landslides, for Valek knew a better path. Pushing through the reeds of a dry marsh and crossing a couple of little streams on narrow planks, we found ourselves on a flat at the foot of the hill.
Here we were forced to take leave of one another. I pressed my new friend’s hand and then held out mine to the little girl. She gave me her tiny paw affectionately and, looking up at me with her blue eyes, asked:
“Will you come again?”
“Oh, yes,” I answered. “I’ll surely come!”
“All right,” said Valek thoughtfully. “You might as well come, but only when our people are in town.”
“Who are your people?”