Double Danger

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“We could do with some help,” said Cai. “It’s going to be tricky swimming with this.”

The water began to vibrate, then like a mini tornado, a column of water spun from the surface, as Bubbles leapt out of the sea. He was followed more sedately by his sister, Dream, and their mother, Star.

“Bubbles,” clicked Antonia happily. She was so pleased to see him again, she wanted to turn a somersault. But that would mean letting go of the trolley, so she splashed the water with her tail-like legs instead.

“Hi Dream, hello Star; it’s good to see you too.”

“Hi,” said Dream, swimming up and gently rubbing noses with Antonia, then Cai. Turning to Star, she asked, “Can we help the Silver Dolphins, Mum?”

“Hello,” clicked Star, greeting Antonia and Cai with a friendly nose rub.

“Can we help?” asked Bubbles impatiently.

Star hesitated. “I don’t think it would be a good idea,” she clicked. “That thing is hard and scratchy. It could easily damage your soft skin. Let the Silver Dolphins deal with it. Their hands are more useful than fins on this occasion.”

“Aw, Mum!” clicked Bubbles. “Please let us help. We’ll be really careful.”

But Star wouldn’t allow it. “It’s too dangerous. You can play with the Silver Dolphins when they’ve finished their task,” she said firmly.

Bubbles cheered up immediately. “Sprat or seaweed tag?” he clicked.

“Neither,” panted Antonia. “Sorry Bubbles, but we’ve got to go to school when we’re done. We’re late as it is.”

“What’s school?” asked Bubbles.

“It’s a place where children go to learn things,” Antonia explained.

Bubbles looked puzzled. “Can’t your parents teach you what you need to know?” he asked.

“Our parents are too busy working,” said Cai. “I don’t even live with mine right now. They’re in Australia.”

Bubbles stared at Cai with his mouth open. “Humans,” he clicked, slowly shaking his head. “You make things so complicated.”

Antonia and Cai laughed loudly.

“Too right,” said Cai.

Spirit helped the Silver Dolphins swim the shopping trolley towards Claudia’s beach. Bubbles swam alongside, occasionally turning somersaults or suddenly diving underneath the trolley.

“Bubbles!” said Star in a warning tone. “I’ll take you out to sea if you don’t behave.”

Bubbles rolled his eyes when his mother wasn’t looking and Antonia stifled a giggle. Star was as strict as her own mother, but she loved them both dearly. Thinking about Mum made Antonia uneasy. How long had they been gone? It was difficult to gauge time when she was a Silver Dolphin. And, although it seemed to go more slowly, Antonia was worried that she might be so late for school she’d need a better excuse than forgetting her lunchbox.

At last, Claudia’s beach came into view. There was lots of nose-rubbing and ruffling hair with flippers as the dolphins said goodbye. Bubbles high-fived Antonia and Cai with his tail.

The Silver Dolphins dragged the trolley ashore. It was even more awkward to move on land than it had been in the sea. The sand jammed the trolley’s wheels until eventually they gave up trying to push it and carried it over to the Sea Watch boat. Antonia pulled a hair-tie out of the pocket in her dress and swept her damp hair into a ponytail. It was the only thing to show she’d been swimming in the sea. The Silver Dolphin magic had left her clothes as dry as if she’d been sunbathing.

“Hopefully no one will notice my wet hair,” she said.

“I’m sure they won’t,” agreed Cai, pulling on his shoes. “Where did you leave your shoes? We’ll ask Aunty Claudia to take us there in the car before she drops us at school.”

Antonia brightened. “Thanks,” she said. “It’ll be quicker than walking.”

Chapter Three (#u97bfb468-72c5-5753-a466-5a222ed164d7)

Claudia drove Antonia to Gull Bay and then on to school. She left Cai at home, promising to take him in later.

“It’ll look suspicious if you both arrive late together,” she said, her sea-green eyes twinkling.

School had not long started, but Antonia had missed the register and Miss Brown sent her to the office to see Mrs Lee, who was in charge of signing in latecomers. Antonia smiled cheerfully at her mother, but Mrs Lee gave her a stern telling-off.

“Don’t ever do that again,” she ranted. “You are supposed to walk straight to school. If I can’t trust you to go where we’ve agreed, then you won’t be allowed out alone.”

“I only went home to get my lunchbox. I asked Sophie to tell you where I was going,” Antonia protested.

“That’s not the point!” said Mrs Lee. “You’ve been gone ages. What took you so long?”

“I got a stitch from running,” mumbled Antonia. She hated telling lies, but being a Silver Dolphin meant making difficult choices.

“I’m grounding you this afternoon,” said Mum, when she eventually ran out of things to say. “Meet me here after school. I’ll walk you home with Jessica.”

“Mum!” exclaimed Antonia. “You can’t ground me. I promised I’d go to Sea Watch. We’re getting the guillemots ready for their release back into the wild.”

The guillemots had been at Sea Watch for several weeks, since a minor oil spill in Sandy Bay damaged their feathers.

“Sea Watch will survive without you for one afternoon,” said Mum firmly. “Now go back to class. You’ve wasted enough lesson time already.”

Cai was disappointed that Antonia wasn’t allowed to go to Sea Watch, but Sophie was pleased.

“Can I come home with you?” she asked. “We haven’t been round to each other’s houses after school for ages.”

Antonia’s face reddened. “I’d love you to. I don’t want you to think that you can only come round when I’m not allowed to go to Sea Watch, though.”

“Don’t be silly,” said Sophie. “We’re better friends than that!”

Jessica, Antonia’s little sister, was ecstatic to have both Antonia and Sophie walking home with her.

“Can I play with you?” she asked. “I’m seven now. It was my birthday when you were away, Sophie.”

“I know,” said Sophie. “I can’t believe you’ll soon be in Year Three.”

“So can I play with you?”

“For a little bit,” said Sophie kindly.

At home, Antonia took Sophie straight up to her bedroom. Sophie’s gift from the Jersey pottery was a beautiful dolphin figurine with a blue and gold glaze. Antonia put it in pride of place on her dressing table. They talked for ages, mostly about Sophie’s holiday in Jersey. Sophie also had her sketch book with her and showed Antonia some of the sketches she’d done for her latest art project: painting pictures of the cats that roamed around Sandy Bay. Then Jessica came barging in, demanding that the girls played with her too. She wanted to play hide-and-seek, so everyone went outside to hide in the garden. Sophie played four games before deciding she’d better go home. Antonia went to the side gate with her to wave goodbye and Jessica trailed after them. When Sophie had gone, she followed Antonia indoors and upstairs to her bedroom.

“You like dolphins, don’t you?” she asked, noticing the present from Sophie on the dressing table.

“They’re my favourite animal,” Antonia agreed as she pulled her swimming bag out of the cupboard. It was squad night. Luckily Mum hadn’t grounded her for that too! Antonia packed her bag with the things she needed.

“Is it because you swim like a dolphin?”

Antonia’s heart missed a beat as she spun round to face her sister. What did Jessica mean?

“Naomi’s sister is in your class at school. She calls you the dolphin girl because you’re brilliant at swimming.”

“Oh!” Antonia smiled. For a wild moment, she thought Jessica had discovered the secret of the Silver Dolphins.

“Can I try your necklace on?” asked Jessica, reaching out to touch it.

Antonia drew back. “No, Jess, you know my necklace is special.”

“Please,” begged Jessica, making her green eyes go wide. “I want to see if the magic works for me too.”

There was a funny rushing sound in Antonia’s head. She tried to speak, but her mouth was so dry that her voice came out in a croak.

“What do you mean?”

“I know your dolphin charm is magic. Ages ago, you said it made you swim better,” said Jessica innocently.

Antonia met Jessica’s eyes, choosing her words carefully as she spoke. “My charm isn’t magic. It’s lucky. It gives me confidence, so I swim better when I’m wearing it.”

“Can I touch it then,” said Jessica, “for luck?”

“No.” Antonia quickly hid the dolphin charm inside the collar of her school dress.

“You’re mean!” Jessica’s eyes welled up with tears.

Antonia was suddenly ashamed of herself.

“Don’t cry,” she said, hugging Jessica’s stiff little body. “I’m not being mean. This is my lucky charm. The luck only works for me. You’ll have to find your own thing. Why do you need luck anyway?”

Jessica sniffed. “I want to be brilliant at swimming, just like you. And I want to learn to surf too.”

“Then you need to practise,” said Antonia. “Practising is much more important than luck. Look, I’ll tell you what. Once school’s broken up we’ll ask Mum to take us to the swimming pool and I’ll help you practise.”

“Will you?” Jessica wiped a hand across her eyes. “Thanks, Antonia. You’re the best sister in the world.”

Jessica skipped off. Antonia stared out of her attic window, hardly registering the wonderful view of Sandy Bay. A small seed of worry nagged at her like an aching tooth.

By tea time, Antonia could hardly eat the spaghetti bolognaise Mum had cooked. Twirling a strand of pasta round her fork, she let it drop back on to the plate. Had she totally convinced Jessica that her charm wasn’t magic? To most people the dolphin charm looked like an ordinary necklace. Only a Silver Dolphin knew it was more than that. But what if Jessica was a Silver Dolphin? Antonia hoped not. Her sister was far too little. Sometimes the work was dangerous and often it required making difficult decisions. How would Jessica answer the dolphins’ call, when she wasn’t allowed to go anywhere on her own?

There was another reason why Antonia didn’t want Jessica to be a Silver Dolphin too. Being a Silver Dolphin made Antonia feel special. She didn’t want to share the secret with her little sister. Poor Jess; she’d called Antonia the best sister in the world, but Antonia knew she wasn’t. She was selfish and mean. She pushed her half-eaten tea away from her.

“Are you feeling all right?” asked Mum.

“I’ve got a headache,” said Antonia truthfully, because her head was spinning.

“Better go and sit quietly for a bit,” said Mum.

“Thanks.” Gratefully, Antonia fled up to her room.

She sat on her bed, gently stroking her silver dolphin charm. She loved the way it felt like a real dolphin.

After a while, her head cleared and she felt calmer. Talk about overreacting. Of course Jess wasn’t a Silver Dolphin. What a mad idea! With a lighter heart, Antonia ran downstairs to see if Mum had saved her any pudding.

Chapter Four (#u97bfb468-72c5-5753-a466-5a222ed164d7)

Walking to school with Sophie the next morning, Antonia’s feet felt like they were floating on air. Finally, it was the last day of term. Straight after lunch—an end-of-term picnic on the school field—the holidays started. Six whole weeks of freedom! Antonia couldn’t wait.

Miss Brown’s desk was a mountain of gifts and Antonia added her own to the pile—a pretty notebook made from recycled paper and a pen with a clay starfish on the end. The morning was a blur of last-minute tidying, followed by a final assembly. Lunch was a noisy, cheerful affair. The Year Sixes, who were leaving for secondary school, came round collecting signatures on their school sweatshirts and cardigans. Antonia drew a dolphin on her friend Emily’s and the big girl squeaked in delight.

“Are you going to Sea Watch after school? Wait for me then,” she said.

Emily talked non-stop on the way to Sea Watch. She’d brought her camera with her to take some photos of the guillemots before they were released.

“Aunty Claudia thinks we can let them go next week,” said Cai. “They should be properly acclimatised by then.”

“A clima-whattie?” asked Emily.

“Acclimatised; it means getting them used to being outside again.”

Claudia was pleased to see everyone. As they tidied their school bags into a cupboard, she drew Antonia to one side.

“Bad luck about yesterday. I hope you weren’t in too much trouble?”

“I was a bit,” Antonia admitted. “I’m just glad school’s finished. Now I can stop worrying about what to do if Spirit calls in the middle of a lesson.”

“That would be awkward,” agreed Claudia. “But you’d find a way round it.”

“How? What if it happens next term?”

Claudia smiled and immediately Antonia knew what her answer would be. Staring into Claudia’s sea-green eyes she thought, I have to work it out for myself.

Without speaking, Claudia answered, You are the Silver Dolphin.

Antonia wondered if she should mention her suspicion about Jessica, but decided against it. Of course Jessica wasn’t a Silver Dolphin. It was just a silly thought.

Claudia put Antonia and Cai to work, moving the guillemots from their indoor pens to an outdoor aviary. To transport the birds, she gave them a special cardboard box with handles and air holes, and a thick pair of gloves each.

“If the birds are frightened, they might try and bite you, so remember to talk to them in a low calm voice and don’t make any sudden movements,” said Claudia.

Antonia was very fond of the guillemots. There were nine survivors, each with their own cheeky personality. Antonia’s favourite was a bright-eyed bird who always had a lot to say.