Secret Friends (2 page)

“Oh, those poor birds!”

As the picture switched back to the television studio Antonia turned to her mum and dad.

“Claudia’s going to need help. Can I have
the day off school and go to Sea Watch instead?”

“No,” said Mum and Dad together.

“But Claudia needs me,” said Antonia, lightly touching her silver dolphin charm.

“There’ll be plenty of time to help at Sea Watch after school,” said Mum firmly. “Claudia wouldn’t want you to skip lessons.”

“
Pleeeease
,” wheedled Antonia. “Just for today.”

“No,” said Mum, sounding cross. “You spend quite enough time at Sea Watch as it is. We hardly see you these days. Now go and get dressed. Breakfast is ready.”

Antonia was desperate to help at Sea Watch, but when Mum said no in that tone of voice she meant it. Disappointed, she went upstairs to dress.

It was a beautiful morning and Antonia could hardly believe that a few hours ago everything was being battered by the wind and rain. The air smelt clean and fresh and the early morning sun warmed Antonia’s face and legs as she walked round to Sophie’s house. Sophie was Antonia’s oldest friend and they always walked to school together. Recently they’d fallen out, but it hadn’t taken long for them to make up again. Antonia was glad; she was so close to Sophie that sometimes it felt like they were sisters. Sophie was waiting at the end of her drive, her blue eyes shining with excitement. She’d seen Sandy Bay on television too and was dying to
go
and look at the stricken ship.

“Let’s
go
down to the beach before school,”
she suggested. “It’s almost on our way and we’ve heaps of time.”

Antonia wanted to see the
Princess Romana
and couldn’t see the harm in having a quick look. As she approached the beach she found half her school were there too; their blue and yellow Sandy Bay Primary uniforms standing out amongst the throng of sightseers. Antonia stood on the promenade gaping at the sight before her. It looked as if someone had organised a massive jumble sale on the beach. The white-gold sand was littered with all sorts of items: packets of nappies, tins of food, barrels of wine and crockery. There was even a motorbike being wheeled away by two sturdy men. People were rummaging through crates, tossing items on to the sand and stuffing others
into large plastic sacks. An argument broke out between a boy and girl. Recognising the girl’s voice Antonia looked closer and saw it was Lauren Hampton, the class bully. There was a mean look on Lauren’s face as she wrestled a steering wheel from the hands of the boy.

“Whatever does she want with that?” giggled Sophie, following Antonia’s gaze.

“I have no idea.” Antonia giggled too. “It’s stealing, though. There’s an old law that says lost cargo has to be returned to its owner.”

“Are you sure?” Sophie sounded disbelieving. “Only there’s a brand-new set of paintbrushes down there I kind of had my eye on. Look, I’m going to take them anyway. I can always give them back if you’re right.”

She jumped down on to the sand, grabbed
the paintbrushes and stuffed them into her school bag. Antonia was surprised by her friend’s behaviour. Sophie was mad about art and her dad was a professional artist. Surely she had enough paintbrushes at home? Then Antonia noticed a bucket abandoned on the sand. It was full of sea water that glistened with an oily sheen. Remembering the news report on television Antonia squeaked in alarm. What about her dolphins? Did Spirit know about the shipwreck? Had he taken his pod far enough out to sea to avoid the oil? The thought of her beautiful friends struggling to breathe, their soft skin covered in sticky black tar, was too much. Protectively she clasped her silver dolphin necklace. “Please keep my dolphins safe,” she whispered. The dolphin
charm quivered slightly in her hand. Antonia stared at it. Was Spirit about to call her? She waited, her fingers lightly clasping the charm’s soft body, but it didn’t move again. Disappointment, like sour milk, stuck in her throat and suddenly Antonia wanted to get away from the madness on the beach.

“Hurry up, Sophie,” she called. “We’re going to be late for school.”

W
hen she arrived at school Antonia sought out Cai, her newest friend. Cai started at Sandy Bay Primary two weeks ago. He was staying with his great-aunt Claudia for six months while his parents worked abroad.

“What’s happening at Sea Watch?” she asked. “Is Claudia very busy?”

“Aunty Claudia took in ten oiled birds, all guillemots,” said Cai. “I asked if I could stay home to help her clean them, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She said there’d still be plenty to do after school. She’s hoping you’ll come and help too.”

“Try keeping me away,” said Antonia.

Sophie raised her eyebrows. “Sea Watch-mad, both of you,” she groaned, but she was smiling.

Morning lessons went on for ever. Antonia was more concerned about the oil spill in Sandy Bay than how to multiply fractions and she got told off by Miss Brown for not paying attention. It didn’t help that lots of her class arrived late because they’d been down to the beach with their parents to see the
Princess
Romana
. Lauren turned up just before lunch and shot Antonia a poisonous look as she took her seat.

“What’s with her?” whispered Sophie, who’d been allowed to sit next to Antonia for paired reading.

Antonia shrugged. It was no secret that the two girls disliked each other. When everyone lined up for lunch Lauren shoved Antonia, making her fall against Cai and Toby.

“Slow down, Antonia,” Miss Brown sighed. “If you weren’t always in such a hurry you wouldn’t keep bumping into people.”

“It wasn’t my fault!” said Antonia indignantly, but Miss Brown had moved on.

“Loser,” hissed Lauren.

Taking a deep breath Antonia ignored the
comment. Even though it was difficult, she’d found that not reacting was the best way to deal with Lauren. Afternoon lessons went a little quicker and finally the bell rang for home time.

“Sure you don’t want to come to Sea Watch?” Antonia asked Sophie as they stacked their chairs in the corner of the classroom.

Sophie shook her head. “What, to get pecked and pooped on by frightened birds covered in oil? No, thanks. You
go
enjoy yourself. I’m going to paint a picture of the beach.”

In the cloakroom Lauren tried to barge Antonia again, but she smartly sidestepped so the bigger girl fell against the coat pegs and scraped her arm.

“I’ll get you for that,” Lauren bellowed as Antonia made for the door.

“Just let her try,” muttered Cai. “I’ll sort her out if she does.”

“Thanks, but I can handle her. She doesn’t scare me,” said Antonia lightly.

“I don’t like Lauren. She’s a bully.” Cai ran a hand through his dark curls. “Aunty Claudia doesn’t like bullies either. She’s says deep down they’re all cowards.”

“Your aunt’s so cool.”

“I know. She’s not like a normal aunty, is she? I swear she talks to animals. You should have seen her with this guillemot this morning. They were practically having a conversation.”

Antonia laughed. “There is something very special about Claudia,” she admitted. “I can’t
wait to help her with the birds. I hope they’re not too badly oiled.”

Claudia was looking slightly frazzled when they arrived at Sea Watch. Her clothes were smeared with oil and her curly brown hair was wilder than usual.

“We’ve been working flat out,” she said, pointing to the sink where two ladies wearing thick rubber gloves and disposable plastic aprons were bathing a guillemot. “We’ve cleaned nineteen birds and the coastguard just brought four more in.”

“Tell us what to do and we’ll help,” said Antonia.

“Well, the oil doesn’t just mess up the birds’ feathers, it’s also poisonous when swallowed. First the birds need their stomachs cleansed
with a special solution. I’ll do that, you and Cai can take over from Sally and Tess who are on the second stage, cleaning feathers. They’re using a special type of washing-up liquid. It’s not perfumed. Squeeze a blob on to your hands, then rub it on the bird. Talk to it as you bathe it. Remember a soothing voice can work wonders when an animal is frightened. Rinse the washing-up liquid away with clean water, then put the bird in one of the pens in the back room to dry. The gloves and aprons are in that cupboard.”

Antonia and Cai went to the cupboard.

“There’s room for both of us in this,” laughed Antonia, holding up a plastic apron.

“Tie it round you twice,” said Claudia. “You’ll have to manage with the gloves.
Everything came in one-size only.”

“Jumbo,” chuckled Cai, pulling on gloves.

Sea Watch was beginning to fill up with regular volunteers. Antonia waved at Karen and Eleanor, two Year Six girls, also from Sandy Bay Primary.

“Isn’t it awful?” called Eleanor. “The coastguard told my dad it was only a minor oil spill. I dread to think of the damage a major one would cause.”

The girls disappeared into the back room to clean out the bird pens.

Claudia came over carrying a bedraggled guillemot, its feathers glued together with tarry black oil. “Be careful with this one. He’s a wriggler,” she said.

Antonia and Cai took their place at the sink.

“Good luck,” said Sally, snapping off her rubber gloves. “It’s hard messy work. We’re exhausted, aren’t we, Tess?”

Cai held the bird still while Antonia squeezed a gooey blob of washing-up liquid on to her hands.

“Steady, boy,” she murmured.

At first the bird struggled ferociously, snapping his mouth open as he tried to fight everyone off. Cai held him firmly while Antonia worked the washing-up liquid into his sticky black feathers, talking to him in a low soothing voice.

“Poor thing! You’re in a bad way. You might need a second wash.”

The bird cocked his head and fixed his beady eyes on Antonia. Gradually he stopped
wriggling. His breathing slowed as he relaxed until finally he was so still it looked like he’d fallen asleep.

Cai stared at Antonia, his brown eyes astonished.

“What?” Antonia pushed her hair over her shoulder with the back of a gloved hand.

Cai shook his head. “You,” he said with a note of wonder. “Look how you calmed the bird. You’re so like Aunty Claudia with animals. It’s weird.”

Antonia blushed. “You are too,” she said defensively. “Animals listen when you talk to them.”

Cai shrugged, but he looked pleased.

The sink of water was black by the time Antonia had finished washing the guillemot. It
made her wonder how badly polluted the sea was. She hoped Spirit had taken Bubbles, Dream, Star and the rest of his pod far away from the ship. A sudden burst of panic gripped her. Did Spirit know about the wreck and the oil leak? What if he brought the pod back too soon? In her mind she saw Bubbles fighting for breath, his blowhole and beautiful silver skin coated in tar. She closed her eyes, forcing the picture to disappear. Panicking wasn’t going to help the dolphins. She had to do something practical, like swim out and warn Spirit that it wasn’t safe to come back yet. But could she do that? Antonia didn’t know whether she could become a Silver Dolphin just because she wanted to. She’d always become one after hearing Spirit’s call. Once she’d finished
rinsing the soap from the guillemot’s feathers she’d go and talk to Claudia. She’d been a Silver Dolphin once so she’d know.

Pulling the plug on the dirty water she waited impatiently for it to drain away.

I
t was always hard to get Claudia alone at Sea Watch and today was no exception. A small group of volunteers stuck closely to her, watching how she dealt with the newly admitted birds and asking hundreds of questions. It was late afternoon by the time all the birds had been bathed and left to dry in the
small back room. Most of the volunteers went home after that, leaving Claudia to make notes on the treatments given. Antonia helped Cai to clear up the mess in the sink, then, as he went outside to hang the aprons out to dry, she hot-footed it over to Claudia’s desk.

“Is everything all right?” asked Claudia.

Before Antonia had a chance to reply, Cai came back.

“Yes, I just came to say…” Antonia hesitated. She desperately wanted to ask Claudia if she could become a Silver Dolphin without waiting for the dolphin’s call, so she could warn Spirit about the oil spill. But she couldn’t ask when Cai was hovering.

“Is there anything else that needs doing?” she finished lamely.

Antonia wasn’t surprised at the look Cai gave her. It was a silly question. There was always something to do at Sea Watch. Claudia must have thought the same, but she didn’t laugh. She took Antonia’s hand and stared deeply into her grey-green eyes. Antonia caught her breath. She wanted to blink, but her eyes stayed firmly open as if she was caught in a spotlight. She felt slightly dizzy, as though Claudia was tapping directly into her thoughts.

“You know what needs doing,” Claudia whispered.

“But can I…” Antonia hesitated, aware of the open curiosity on Cai’s face.

You’ll have to work that out for yourself
.

Antonia jumped. Claudia had remained silent yet she could hear her voice in her head
as clearly as if she’d spoken aloud. Had she imagined it?

Go work it out
.

Claudia smiled knowingly, then dropped Antonia’s hand.

Silver Dolphin
.

Claudia kept smiling and suddenly Antonia realised she had her answer. She was the Silver Dolphin. It was up to her to work this problem out for herself.

“Home time,” said Claudia. “See you tomorrow?”

“Yes,” said Antonia, feeling happier. “Definitely.”

Hurriedly she said goodbye to Cai. As she ran down Claudia’s road Antonia calculated she had an hour before Mum would expect her home for tea. She headed towards the beach.
Minutes later she was there and Sandy Bay was in full view. Eyes widening in surprise, Antonia stopped to stare. The beach was heaving with people. Not tourists building sandcastles or lying in the sun, these people were scavenging. Armed with bags the size of sacks they were raiding the beach like hungry ants in a larder. Several people had waded out to sea where wooden crates were still floating ashore. One man wore a wetsuit. Two police officers stood on the stone pier watching the events as if they could hardly believe what was happening.