The Girl Who Dreamt of Dolphins (16 page)

‘
When do you think the storm will reach us?’ he asked Storm as
they swum along.

‘
Sooner than I’d like’ replied Storm, with a worried note in
his voice. Despite Storm’s preoccupied tone, Spirit decided to get
straight to the point.

‘
I’m really looking forward to my coming of age swim’ he
announced, changing the subject completely.

‘
What?’ Stormed seemed completely nonplussed and clearly had no
idea what Spirit was talking about.

‘
You know’, Spirit tried to remind him, ‘We talked all about it
that time just before the orcas attacked us. I’ve got my coming of
age swim; the swim that all young dolphins must take to pass into
adulthood. You said that I must find myself in the vastness of the
ocean. You said that when I return, I will be closer to all
dolphins and all living things. You know, like Dancer did last
year.

‘
Yes, oh that’ said Storm dismissively. ‘Look Spirit, I’ve got
other things on my mind right now.’

‘
But I want to fix it now, I want to swim alone as soon as I
can, as soon as the storm passes if possible.’

‘
Don’t be ridiculous’ exclaimed Storm. ‘You’re not ready.
That’s a long way off yet!’

‘
I have to do it now’ replied Spirit quietly. ‘My time is
now.’

‘
NO!’ cried Storm. ‘That’s not going to happen. You’re staying
with us where we can keep an eye on you. You’re still just a young
calf.’

‘
I am not Storm’ retorted Spirit just as strongly. ‘I have to
join the adults as an equal.’

‘
It’s a dangerous ocean out there’ said Storm, trying reason
instead of commands. ‘If I hadn’t been there when the orcas
attacked, they would have claimed your life!’

‘
But it was me that brought us to safety.’

‘
It’s too dangerous out there!’

‘
I have to prove myself.’

‘
No!’ exclaimed Storm again. ‘I need you here, with us, safe,
where I can keep an eye on you.’

Spirit broke away from Storm angrily and swum rapidly up past
the other dolphins until he was just ahead of Moonlight at the
front. Dancer tried to come up alongside him, but Spirit thrust
ahead of her again, angry and hurt, not wanting to speak to anyone
else at all.

Above them, the wind was picking up, turning bitterly cold. In
the distance a wall of blue-black cloud was approaching them, dark
and threatening. The waves became more ragged, getting bigger and
bigger as the storm approached. Spirit could feel that the storm
was almost upon them. Angry though he was, he knew that right now
it would be wiser for him to be closer to the others. He dropped
back until Dancer caught up with him.

‘
I thought I was never going to catch up with you’ said Dancer,
coming up from behind. Before Spirit could answer there was a flash
of lightning and then a crack of thunder rolled across the
sky.

‘
It’s almost upon us!’ cried Storm to the rest of the pod.
‘It’s going to be a bumpy ride.’

‘
He’s enjoying it!’ joked Dancer to Spirit. ‘He certainly does
live up to his name.’ Storm was arching over the waves, absorbed
with their motion, determined to ride out the storm.

Black-blue clouds were boiling over the sky now and with them
an ominous darkness. With the clouds came the rain; hard and
piercing, falling like arrows on to the troubled surface of the
sea. The wind grew stronger, catching the spray from the sea until
Spirit could hardly tell what was spray and what was
rain.

Spirit began to struggle. The storm was becoming stronger and
fiercer than any he had ever experienced before. The waves rolled
him to this side and that. He was a strong swimmer, but he could
feel the wind and the waves battering down upon him, knocking him
from where he wanted to swim. He glanced towards Dancer at his
side. She was still managing, though he could see the look of
strain upon her face. He panted, breathless. Swimming through these
stormy waters was exhausting. He tried to breathe through his
air-hole, but a wave crashed on his back at that very moment and
all he got instead was salt water. He blew strongly to clear the
passage and was able to get another lung full of clean air down
before the next wave crashed upon him.

A mile away, a great container ship was battling its way
through the storm. The ship, as long as five blue whales put end to
end, was so big that even a fierce storm such as this one had
little effect upon its stability. Though the sailors on board were
feeling green and sickly, there was no chance that the ship would
sink in waters such as these. Enormous containers were stacked up
on the deck, three stories high, bearing cargo from the Far East to
the shores of Britain. Though the ship was secure, the containers
were not. In particular one rusty blue container was not safely
fastened.

As the storm pelted the ship and made it roll, the container
came loose. First its front half came crashing down onto the deck
of the ship with an enormous metallic crash and then the rear half
of the container followed, smashing through the railings of the
deck and toppling head-long into the sea. The doors of the
container burst open and as it slid away into the dark waters. Its
contents, a cargo of timber from Indonesia, floated back up to the
surface. The great wooden planks were soon tossed here and there by
the crashing waves and their long dark shapes were lost to the eye
as they dispersed and spread out over the stormy waters.

Though Storm and his pod of dolphins could hear the roar of
the ships engines in the distance, they knew nothing of the cargo
of timber that had been shed from the container and which was now
floating towards them, as the crashing of the waves hid the noise
of the container smashing into the water.

The pod of dolphins had formed into a tight group now, staying
together so that they would not lose each other and to ensure that
they would be alert to any danger that befell any of the others.
Breeze, Chaser, Moonlight and Summer were all just behind Spirit
and Dancer, with Storm riding the waves behind them. The two
youngest dolphins set the pace as they were the weakest swimmers
and the others knew better than to leave them behind.

As they swam on, breaching the waves before they crashed over
their heads, the dolphins struggled to breathe clean air whenever
they could. Spirit put his head above the surface to catch a
lungful of air between two perilous waves. Suddenly, out of
nowhere, a distant voice came to him. Lucy! The voice in a low,
insistent tone said:

‘
Down, go down, dive down now!’ By now Spirit knew better than
to doubt what he heard.

‘
Dancer, dive down!’ he whistled urgently to his friend beside
him. Spirit dived and Dancer, without having a chance to think,
swam underneath the waves too. Summer did not have a chance to
follow them though. Just then a wave loomed above the pod of
dolphins and a dark shape came crashing over the wave’s crest; a
great heavy plank of wood from the container. The long plank caught
Summer a glancing blow to the side of her head as it smashed down,
knocking her unconscious and leaving a bloody gash on the side of
her head. They had only seconds if they wanted to save Summer’s
life.

Storm, from behind them had a clear sight of the great plank
striking Summer. Spirit and Dancer came up again, just as Summers
unconscious form started to roll over on to one side, blood seeping
into the water.

‘
Keep her upright, keep her upright, or she’ll drown!’ yelled
Storm desperately from behind. Instinctively and without speaking,
Spirit pressed himself up against one side of Summer, whilst Dancer
supported the unconscious dolphin from the other side. This way
Summer could not roll any further sideways and drown in the water.
It would have been hard enough though in a calm sea, but in the
middle of the storm, it was almost impossible. Summer kept sliding
on her left hand side and with every fresh wave, salt water washed
over Summer’s blow hole, which Spirit knew well he could not clear
himself. Spirit and Dancer struggled at either side of Summer,
determined to keep her alive, but desperately tired already. Spirit
knew his strength was ebbing fast, but what then?

‘
Wake up Summer!’ barked Storm loudly, swimming just to one
side of them. ‘Wake up!’ Just as Spirit began to think that he
would have to let go, Summer blinked and stirred into
consciousness.

‘
What? …. Where?’ she murmured blearily.

‘
You were knocked out, now clear your blow-hole’ commanded
Storm in a ringing voice. Summer did what she was told.

‘
Now swim! Swim Summer!’ Storm urged her. The stricken dolphin
began to swim again and Spirit was overcome with relief that he no
longer had to hold the older dolphin upright. Another minute and
Summer would have died. She came round again just in
time.

The storm continued to rage above them and the dolphins of the
pod gathered around Summer to protect her and come to her aid again
if she needed it. Summer, dazed and confused though she was, knew
that her survival depended on her continuing to swim and to be able
to keep her blow-hole clear. They swam on slowly. Soon, Spirit
sensed that the worst of the storm had passed over them and in the
distance he could see a glint of blue sky amidst the clouds. The
wind eased off and the waves died down. Summer, gaining her senses
again swam more assuredly. They kept going, swimming away from the
storm and towards calmer waters.

After the excitement of the morning, it had been a grim and
dangerous day. Eventually they slowed down and rested.

‘
I can’t believe that big plank thing just loomed up from
nowhere’ exclaimed Dancer as they hung in the water, gathering
their energy. ‘Why did you tell me to dive just then Spirit?’ she
asked. All eyes turned on Spirit.

‘
I, err, just had a feeling’ replied Spirit, worried about what
they might all think.

‘
You could have told me too!’ said Summer. Spirit looked at
her, worried, but he could see that the older dolphin was back to
her usual self and made a joke out of it instead. She wasn’t angry,
just relieved to be safe. The scar on the side of her head where
the plank had hit her had stopped bleeding now, but it was an ugly
gash and would not heal cleanly.

‘
Hey, do you remember the story of the cloud dolphin?’
continued Summer. ‘One stormy night the wind and the rain were so
fierce and the waves so high, that it was impossible to tell what
was sea and what was air. A lonesome dolphin lost her pod in the
storm and swum and swum until she noticed that the sea had turned
cloudy white. She looked down and realised that the sea was far,
far below her and that instead of swimming through the sea, she was
floating through the clouds. She could see her pod searching for
her and calling her name, so she called down and said ‘you’re
looking the wrong way!’ They couldn’t hear her though so she dived
from the cloud through the air and she fell for a full minute
before she hit the sea. She struck the sea with such a force that
the wave she created travelled a mile in all directions and her
belly ached for a week afterwards!’

‘
If it wasn’t for you two’ added Summer to Dancer and Spirit
more seriously, ‘I don’t know what would have happened to
me.’

‘
Yes, you two did well’ added Storm approvingly. Of course if
Dancer and Spirit had not been there just then, Storm and another
dolphin of the pod would have come to Summer’s rescue instead, if
they were close enough. Spirit saw his opportunity.

‘
I am old enough to help you and I am old enough to take my
coming of age swim’ he said defiantly.

Storm turned a critical eye upon Spirit.

‘
What happened today is the reason why you must stay close to
the pod. There will be no coming of age swim for you young dolphin,
not for the time being.

‘
But, but surely….’ murmured Breeze and Moonlight together.
‘Surely the time is right for young Spirit to swim alone?’
continued Moonlight.

‘
No!’ exclaimed Storm angrily. ‘He will stay with us. There are
other considerations, other reasons why he must remain with us. His
coming of age swim will have to wait.’

Spirit said nothing, but inside he seethed with resentment and
anger against Storm. He just couldn’t tell Spirit what to do any
more. He had to be able to prove himself and become an equal with
all the other dolphins in the pod.

The dolphins hunted for fish and, having caught enough to fill
their stomachs, they settled down to rest and to sleep as night
fell. As darkness crept over the waves and one by one the dolphins
fell into their waking sleep, Spirit knew what he had to do. He
wished he could say goodbye to Dancer, he wished he could say
goodbye to all of them apart from Storm, but he knew that he
couldn’t. He had to go quietly, through the black waters of the
sleeping sea, so that he could get as far away as possible from
them by morning light.

He whispered, so quietly that no one could hear;

‘
Goodbye Dancer.’

Far away, Lucy woke up in her bed, eyes wide and staring at
the ceiling, knowing that something important had
happened.

‘
Take care Spirit’, she whispered.