Nita waded out of the breakers. At the water line Kit met her and handed Nita her windbreaker. He was smaller than she was, a year younger, dark-haired and brown-eyed and sharp of face and mind; definitely sharper, Nita thought with approval, than the usual twelve-year-old. "He was hollering about whales," Kit said, nodding at Ponch. "Dolphins," Nita said. "At least, a dolphin. I said hi to it and it said 'A wizard!' and ran away.""Great." Kit looked southward, across the ocean. "Something's going on out there, Neets. I was up on the jetty. The rocks are upset."Nita shook her head. Her specialty as a wizard was living things; animals and plants talked to her and did the things she asked, at least if she asked properly. It still startled her sometimes when Kit got the same kind of result from "unalive" things like cars and doors and telephone poles, but that was where his talent lay. "What can a rock get upset about?" she said."I'm not sure. They wouldn't say. The stones piled up there remembered something. And they didn't want to think about it any more. They were shook." Kit looked up sharply at Nita. "That was it The earth shook once. . . .""Oh, come off it. This isn't California. Long Island doesn't have earth-quakes." "Once it did. The rocks remember. … I wonder what that dolphin wanted?" Nita was wondering too. She zipped up her windbreaker. "C'mon, we have to get back before Mom busts a gut." "But the dolphin—"Nita started down the beach, then turned and kept walking backward when she noticed that Kit wasn't following her. "The ball game was almost over," she said, raising her voice
