“Let"s pay him then,” said Cait.
“No. We have to let him sing his song first,” said her mum.
“But there isn"t time!”
“It"s what we have to do. Reward him for his work. We can"t give him payment if he hasn"t earned it. That"s the way it works.”
They stood in a circle around the man for anxious minutes, listening to the music. Cait glanced up and down the street, expecting to see people running after them. The man, meanwhile, seemed oblivious. He knew they were there but paid them no attention. His song continued, sometimes striking off into new melodies, sometimes returning to familiar themes. Cait couldn"t decide if he sang a single melody or several, or whether he improvised music without end. His words were still hard to understand, but the theme was clear. They were all lost upon th
