Secret Friends (3 page)

Antonia was shocked. She hadn’t expected this. She thought the
Princess Romana
would have been fixed by now and sailed away, leaving behind only the damage caused by the
oil spill. But the boat was slumped against the horizon looking like one of the bedraggled birds that had come into Sea Watch.

With a frustrated sigh, Antonia dropped down on to the beach and weaving her way through the crowds made for the rocky arm where the bay ended. There were people on the rocks too and Antonia had to scramble further round than she wanted to before she left everyone behind. She kicked off her sandals, peeled off her ankle socks and wedged them under her school bag. Gingerly she made her way across the slippery barnacle-encrusted rocks to the sea. The water was cool and it made her hot feet tingle. Antonia stood for a moment trying to quell the nervous butterflies dancing in her stomach.
What would happen when she waded further into the sea? Would her legs meld together so she could swim like a dolphin or would she just end up with a soaking wet dress? There was only one way to find out. Antonia took a step forward and then another. Nothing happened and Antonia felt a rush of disappointment. Now what? She was a good swimmer, but there was no way she could swim out and find Spirit unless she became a Silver Dolphin.

“But I am the Silver Dolphin,” she said aloud.

Antonia fingered the dolphin charm hanging round her neck. When Claudia had explained Silver Dolphins to her she’d said that for the magic to happen she had to believe in it.

“So believe it,” she told herself.

“I am a Silver Dolphin. I am a Silver Dolphin.”

Antonia whispered the words, knowing they were true.

She continued to wade out into the sea until the water reached her chest, then plunging forward, she swam. Immediately her legs melded together, flicking at the water like a dolphin’s tail. Antonia’s cheer came out as a whistle. The magic had worked! Antonia was so excited she began to porpoise, leaping in and out of the water as she swam. A long while later she slowed down, then stopped to tread water using her legs like a tail to keep her afloat. She’d swum a long way. She couldn’t see Sandy Bay beach and even the
Princess Romana
was a tiny dot in the distance. Antonia was bursting with happiness. Discovering she could be a Silver Dolphin when she wanted to was amazing. She couldn’t wait to share her news with Bubbles. But how was she going to find her dolphin friend?

The sea stretched away from her in a vast expanse of blue that went on for ever. If she wasn’t careful she could get so lost that she might never find her way home. Squashing her rising panic Antonia realised there was a way to find her dolphin friends. Opening her mouth wide she called out to them in dolphin clicks and squeaks.

A
t first there was no reply. Treading water, Antonia listened to the sound of the sea filling her ears like the breath of an enormous sleeping beast. Occasionally a wave smacked against her, but apart from the sea sounds there was nothing else to hear. Antonia scanned the horizon, unsure whether to swim
on or to give up and go home. Then suddenly her body began to tingle. At once Antonia recognised the sensation. It was caused by vibrations in the water. Was something coming her way? The vibrations grew stronger and then turned into a welcome clicking sound.

“Spirit,” she called.

“Silver Dolphin?” Spirit sounded incredulous. “Is that you?”

“Yes,” clicked Antonia, excitement making her squeak. “Where are you?”

“Not far. Stay where you are. I’ll come to you.”

Spirit’s voice was serious and Antonia felt a pang of uncertainty. Was he annoyed because she had come without being called? As she waited Antonia’s stomach churned uncomfortably.

A while later Antonia felt more vibrations in the sea. These were stronger, pinging against her skin like hailstones. She scanned the sea’s surface and at last she saw two dolphins, their bodies making silver arches as they leapt in and out of the water. As they drew closer Antonia recognised the bigger dolphin as Spirit. The smaller one was almost identical except that the blaze across his flank was more amber than yellow.

“Bubbles!”

Antonia hadn’t realised she’d been holding her breath until it came out in a sudden rush of air. Spirit couldn’t be angry with her if he’d brought Bubbles along. Antonia longed to swim to meet Bubbles, but held back, remembering why she was here. Bubbles also
recognised the importance of the occasion and slowed, letting Spirit greet Antonia first. Spirit swam right up to Antonia, his liquid eyes holding hers as he gently rubbed her, nose to nose.

“Silver Dolphin!” he exclaimed. “What brings you here? Did another dolphin call you?”

“There’s been an oil leak from a ship that ran aground in the storm. I came to warn you to stay out at sea. It’s not safe for you to come inshore until the oil has broken up.”

“You mean you came on your own to warn us of the danger? No other dolphin called you?”

Antonia nodded.

A strange expression crossed Spirit’s face, then he lightly touched the top of Antonia’s head with his flipper.

“I knew it,” he whispered. “Yours is a very powerful gift, Silver Dolphin. Use it wisely.”

Antonia flushed. What did Spirit mean by that? She was going to ask, but Spirit moved back to include Bubbles in the conversation and the moment passed.

“Thank you, Silver Dolphin. That was a brave thing to do. We’ll definitely stay out at sea until the oil has broken up.”

Bubbles made a sad face, then nudged his father in the side.

“Dad, it might be ages before I see the Silver Dolphin again. Please can we play for a bit?”

Spirit clicked a laugh.

“Swim along, my little dolphin. Go have fun with your friend.”

“Bubbly!” whistled Bubbles. “Let’s play
seaweed tag. The first one to find some seaweed’s
not
it.”

He dived down towards the seabed, but Spirit blocked Antonia from following with his tail.

“You’ve come a long way. Can you find your way back?” he asked.

Antonia looked towards the
Princess Romana
, a small black dot on the flat blue sea.

“Yes, home is that way.”

“Call me if you get lost,” said Spirit.

“Thank you,” said Antonia.

A fountain of water spouted up behind them as Bubbles surfaced.

“You’re it,” he whistled, tossing a strand of seaweed at Antonia, but missing. “Whoops, sorry, Dad.”

Spirit shook the seaweed off his head and threw it back at Bubbles.

“I should ground you for that,” he said.

“Aw, Dad! You wouldn’t!”

“Hmmm,” said Spirit, a twinkle in his eye. “Better swim along before I do.”

“Come on, Flipper Feet.” Bubbles flicked the seaweed at Antonia. “Catch me if you can.”

Antonia hesitated, then Spirit reached out and gently rubbed his nose against hers. Self-consciously Antonia rubbed Spirit’s nose back.

“Be safe, Silver Dolphin,” he clicked, then he sped off, dipping and diving through the water.

Immediately Antonia went after Bubbles with the seaweed trailing from her fingers in a long green ribbon. The water was clear and
Antonia had no trouble finding her friend. She raced after him, but just as she was almost close enough to tag him, Bubbles dived deeper.

“Missed,” he chuckled.

Antonia swam faster, her legs furiously kicking the water. This wasn’t like playing tag inshore. There was no shallow seabed with rocks to hide behind, just acres of blue-green water with the occasional strand of seaweed floating by. With a neat somersault Bubbles changed direction, but guessing he would do something like that, Antonia was ready and somersaulted too. The gap closed and stretching out her hand Antonia looped the seaweed over Bubbles’s tail.

“Got you,” she called. “You’re it now.”

They played for ages, leaping out of the sea
then diving deep, draping the seaweed over each other until it was battered and torn into a tissue-thin strip. Finally Antonia speared the seaweed on Bubbles’s fin.

“Game over,” she panted. “I really must
go
home.”

“I’ll swim some of the way with you,” said Bubbles.

“No way,” said Antonia. “There’s oil, remember.”

Bubbles made a sad face.

“I might not see you for ages.”

“But I’ll be thinking of you,” said Antonia.

“And I’ll think of you back,” Bubbles clicked.

They rubbed noses several times before Antonia pulled away.

“See you soon,” she whistled.

“You too, Silver Dolphin,” clicked Bubbles.

It was a long swim back, but Antonia was too happy to notice. Spirit had been amazed to see her so far out at sea. He’d said she was very powerful. She swam faster, conscious that she mustn’t be late home. Mum was very strict about knowing where Antonia was and what time she would be back; she would be grounded for being late. As Antonia neared the shore her heart sank. If anything, the beach was more crowded than before. The man in the wetsuit had been joined by someone else and two speedboats were circling at the mouth of the bay. Quickly Antonia dived underwater, hoping that everyone would be too busy scavenging to notice her swimming ashore. She kept going until her knees bumped on the
seabed and then she surfaced. A wave splashed in her face. It tasted bad and made her cough. Antonia waded through the surf, her legs working separately where seconds before they had felt joined together. The water poured off, leaving her school dress as dry as if she’d been basking in the sun. Antonia scrambled over the rocks to claim her things. Her bag was where she’d left it; luckily no scavengers had found it. Smoothing down her yellow-checked school dress Antonia noticed several dark streaks on her front. She rubbed one with her finger. It smelt like the bad taste in her mouth as she came ashore. It was oil! Shocked, Antonia picked at it with her fingernail, but it didn’t make any difference. The stains were there to stay. Pulling on her
shoes and socks Antonia knew she should be upset about spoiling her dress, but all she could feel was relief. Thank goodness she’d found Spirit and warned him to stay away from the shore. Messing up her dress was a small price to pay for protecting her friends.

A
ntonia arrived home at the same time as Dad came back from working at the garage he owned. She waited while he parked his car and they went indoors together. Mum was preparing the evening meal while Jessica sat at the kitchen table, glued to the television. Antonia wasn’t surprised to see Sandy Bay on
the news again. There had to be something special on for her mother to allow television at tea time. She was surprised, however, to find that Sandy Bay had made it on to the national news.

“People have been arriving in Sandy Bay all day,” the newsreader gushed. “The police are urging scavengers to hand in property recovered from the beach so that it can be returned to its rightful owners.”

“Vultures, the lot of them!” said Dad, squeezing past his wife to wash his hands at the sink. “It’s nothing more than common theft. I had a girl come in today with her older brother. Lauren something; she claimed she was a friend of yours, Antonia. She had a huge sack of car bits she’d found on the beach. Her
brother asked me to buy them and turned nasty when I told him I wouldn’t.”

“Lauren Hampton,” said Antonia, suddenly realising why Lauren had been particularly mean to her at school. “She’s no friend of mine.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” said Dad as he turned round to reach for the towel. “I won’t have any of my family behaving like that. I don’t know what’s got into people. It’s—” Dad broke off as he noticed Antonia’s dress. “Whatever have you done to yourself?”

Antonia blushed so fiercely even her scalp turned red. She’d completely forgotten about her dress. “It’s oil,” she said.

“Antonia!” Mum stopped arranging cucumber slices around a dish of salad to study her
daughter’s clothes. “Were you on the beach today?”

For a split second Antonia considered telling her parents she’d got oil on her clothes helping out at Sea Watch, but she couldn’t do it. She felt guilty enough about all the fibs she’d had to tell to cover up for being a Silver Dolphin.

She nodded. “Yes, I was.”

“And you didn’t take me. That’s so mean,” wailed Jessica.

Dad’s eyes narrowed to slits. “What were you doing on the beach?”

Antonia shrugged. “I only wanted to have a look. Nothing like this has happened before. Everyone’s talking about it at school.”

“So long as looking is all you were doing. If I find you’ve been taking things from the
beach, young lady, you’ll be grounded for ever. Do you hear me?”

“Mark,” Antonia’s mum put a hand on her husband’s arm. “She knows not to take other people’s things, don’t you, darling?”

“Of course I do,” said Antonia.

“Good. Promise me you’ll stay away from the beach. I don’t want you anywhere near it until this circus is over.” Dad looked at Antonia sternly.

“I promise.” Antonia wasn’t quite able to meet her dad’s eye as, under her breath, she added, “Unless Spirit calls me.”

After tea, to ease her conscience, Antonia stacked the dishwasher, took the recycling out and emptied the vegetable waste into the composter. Composting was her least favourite
job. She hated the writhing knot of worms that clung to the underside of the lid each time the composting bin was opened.

“Yuk!” she exclaimed as several blood-red worms fell and almost landed on her bare feet.

Replacing the lid Antonia stood in the garden staring out at the bay. She hoped the oil would disperse quickly. She also hoped that the growing number of speedboats would go away and leave the bay in peace. Antonia longed to return to the sea and swim with Bubbles.

At bedtime she was sure she wouldn’t sleep, but to her surprise she dropped off immediately, sleeping soundly until the alarm woke her.
It was Sophie who looked like she’d hardly slept. When Antonia called for her friend on the way to school Sophie’s eyes were ringed with shadows and she couldn’t stop yawning. She didn’t talk much, but Antonia was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to wonder about it. Her stomach bubbled with excitement each time she remembered how she’d become a Silver Dolphin on her own. She wished she could share her secret with someone apart from Claudia, but she knew she mustn’t. What if the magic stopped working because she’d talked about it? Turning her thoughts to Sea Watch, Antonia wondered how the injured seabirds were this morning. She would ask Cai as soon as she got to school. Halfway down Sandy Bay Road
Sophie suddenly asked, “Can we go to the beach?”