by leigh@waffle.by leigh@waffle.whiffer.* "Doctor Roberts, it was good of you to come." I nodded to the man who had greeted me, and held out my hand to him. He shook it the perfunctory three times, medium grip, no particular emphasis on touching my palm, more of a simple meeting of personal spaces. We were all professionals here, his handshake told me. I was slightly amused. "Father Dubrowski." I seated myself in the chair he held for me, and put my attache on the floor by my foot. I was careful to not cross my legs, but to rest them together at a slight angle, leaning on the arm of the chair. Perhaps the spoken language was my life's work, but the language of symbol was just as important to a career. "May I get you something, Doctor? A cup of tea, perhaps?" Father Dubrowski smiled at me as I shook my head. "I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your monograph on the Feral Child of Casamance." I nodded to emphasize my words, and I saw a flush of pleasure on his face. "Quite well documented." "Well, there were films, you know." The Father pushed around a pencil on his desk, rolling it around on his leather desk pad. "It's always so much easier when there are films when you can't actually view the child. That is why I was so impressed with _your_ work, Doctor. You must have spent quite a time researching those older cases, when children raised by animals were considered - slightly less than human." "In the instances of the children found in Hesse and Wetteravia, all I had to go on was old tales, legends, that sort of thing." I frowned slightly. "Considering the fact they were both described as 'wolf-children', both found in the German states and both first recorded in the year 1344 makes me wonder if there were indeed two children at all, or simply one poor idiot who was shipped from town to town as some sort of example to the irreligious - begging your pardon, Father. |