She had expected buildings with fantastic shapes, but everything was simple and unadorned. Small houses with timber walls lined the streets. Beyond them the sea gleamed. Half a dozen wooden boats, big enough for two or three people, were drawn up on a white-sand beach between low headlands. Their shipped oars poked out like insect legs.‘It’s tiny,’ she complained.‘It’s as big as it needs to be,’ Tealeaf answered.‘You could fit this place in People’s Square,’ Hari said. But he had little interest. He wanted to eat, and then he wanted to know where Deep Salt was. ‘Do they know we’re coming?’‘We’re expected. We’ll go to my brother’s house. Tomorrow you can meet our council and ask your questions. You too, Pearl. All your questions.’‘Do we speak out loud?’‘Whatever you’re comfortable with.’They walked along cobbled streets until they reached a footway above the foreshore. Tealeaf turned past houses facing the sea, where lamps were being lit as the sun went down.
