"Possession is nine-tenths of the law," he says archly. "You're holding them."

He shrugs then, and begins making his way up the beach, ushering the child along with him, because he's not sure yet whether he can be trusted not to hop back into the water. "I don't know anyone by that name. You're a long way from wherever you come from. There's a gateway in the ocean here that sometimes opens from one world to another."

"If I tell you it's magic, does that make more sense?"