"You'll never get anywhere if you carry on like that."
The voice was deep and clipped and slightly muffled, with a strange resonance as if it had bounced around the inside of a cup a few times before making it to her ears. She turned around, but she already knew who had spoken.
"Silas," she said, although that too seemed somewhat pointless. The Malphas inclined his head. Water poured out of the brim of his hat and trickled down his beak, though he did not appear to notice. "What are you doing out here?" she added, when he didn't seem about to say anything else.
"The same thing as you, I suspect." He shuffled his wings in apparent discomfort. "I was sorry to hear of your mother's passing. She was a remarkable woman, though you are likely tired of hearing it."
She laughed despite herself. "You might say that."
"I assure you, I was as surprised to be given the news as you are to see me here. I was not even aware your family knew where I was."
"I believe you." She looked back over at the boat, still jammed firmly into the mud. "Well, while you're here, I don't suppose you know anything about boats?"
Silas made the hoarse coughing sound that was as close as she'd ever heard him get to laughter. "Let me see what I can do."