Secret Friends

Silver Dolphins

SECRET FRIENDS

Summer Waters

For Lee—a magical friend

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Copyright

About the Publisher

Prologue

Out sea, two dolphins swam side by side in a comfortable silence. The larger dolphin, a handsome male with a striking yellow blaze stretched along his flank, had a far away look in his eyes. But his peace was short lived. Suddenly two smaller dolphins swam up, their voices ringing out in angry squeaks.

“Bubbles, Dream, what’s all the noise about?” asked Spirit.

“It’s her fault,” clicked Bubbles. “I told her a secret and now she’s going to tell it to the rest of the pod.”

Dream flushed as Spirit regarded her with solemn eyes.

“Is this true?” he asked.

“It was a joke,” clicked Dream, quietly. “I wasn’t really going to tell.”

“I should hope not,” said Spirit. “Sharing a secret with a friend is a very special thing. You should never betray their trust.”

“I know, Dad.” Dream bowed her head. “I promise I wouldn’t have told.”

“Good,” said Spirit, tapping her affectionately with his fin. “Play nicely now, my children. You can when you try.”

As Bubbles and Dream swam away, Spirit turned to his wife.

“They could be really good friends if they didn’t argue so much.”

Smiling wistfully, Star answered, “It’s all part of growing up.”

“Yes,” clicked Spirit, thoughtfully. “They have lots to learn, just like our new Silver Dolphin.”

“The Silver Dolphin learns quickly,” clicked Star. “We are lucky to have found her.” Spirit nodded his magnificent silver head.

“The Silver Dolphin grows more powerful every day. With her power comes great responsibility. She still has much to learn…”

Chapter One

The wind was getting up. It ruffled the surface of the sea, whipping it into tiny white crested waves. Antonia Lee pushed her long blonde hair out of her eyes, wishing she’d thought to tie it up.

“Hurry up, Flipper Feet,” called Bubbles. “We’re nearly there.”

He took off, leaping in and out of the water, flying over the waves with an easy grace. Antonia went after him, marvelling at the way she too could swim like a dolphin.

“I can’t believe I’ve only been a Silver Dolphin for two weeks,” she whistled.

“Me neither,” Bubbles clicked back. “Your swimming’s even better now. You’re using your hands like flippers instead of that funny thing you did with them at first.”

Antonia laughed, her voice coming out as a series of whistles.

“That was breaststroke. It’s a popular swimming stroke.”

“It can’t be that good or dolphins would use it,” Bubbles teased.

Antonia Lee was a Silver Dolphin. Silver Dolphins were guardians of the sea. They used magic to care for the oceans and all the creatures living there. Whenever help was needed the tiny silver dolphin charm that Antonia wore round her neck called to her. Then she would take on dolphin-like characteristics enabling her to swim to the problem and sort it out. Silver Dolphins were rare. You had to be in tune with nature and willing to believe that magical things could happen to become one.

Antonia had just come out of school when Spirit called her. Spirit was the leader of a pod of thirty dolphins and he was also Bubbles’s dad. Antonia answered his call quickly, but this time it wasn’t an emergency. Spirit had asked Antonia to go litter-picking on the rocks. It was Antonia’s least favourite task, but a very important one. Litter could cause all sorts of injuries to sea life. When the litter-picking was finished Antonia was allowed to play with Bubbles, her best dolphin friend.

“We’re here,” said Bubbles, swimming round the headland.

Antonia slowed, gasping with delight at the tiny cove nestling between the rocks.

“I never knew that this was here,” she clicked.

“That’s because you can’t reach it by land,” said Bubbles. “Come on, I’ll race you.”

Bubbles took off, slicing through the water like a silver arrow. Antonia chased after him, determined to catch him up, but not quite making it.

“Cheat!” she clicked as Bubbles reached the mouth of the cove a tail length ahead of her. “You had a head start.”

Playfully she splashed water at him. Bubbles smacked the sea with his tail, soaking Antonia back.

“Water fight,” he whistled in delight.

Antonia churned up the sea with her hands while Bubbles retaliated with his tail and flippers. Soon they could hardly see each other for the spray.

“Truce,” clicked Antonia, gasping for breath.

Bubbles stopped splashing and dived under water. Antonia lay on her back staring up at the grey sky. It was a chilly start to the week following on from a scorching hot weekend. Antonia tensed as her body started to tingle. Something was approaching. She could feel the vibrations in the water. She rolled over and scanned the horizon. A dolphin was swimming towards them. As it drew closer Antonia saw it was larger than Bubbles and the blaze of yellow along its flank was much paler.

“Dream!” she exclaimed, immediately recognising Bubbles’s older sister. “Look, Bubbles, your sister is—”

She didn’t get to finish as something butted her in the back then ducked her under the water.

“Got you!” whistled Bubbles cheekily as Antonia spluttered to the surface. Then splashing her with a flipper, he launched straight into another water fight.

“Whoah!” cried Antonia, pointing at Dream, but Bubbles hadn’t seen his sister arriving and was enjoying himself far too much to stop.

“Bubbles!” clicked Dream angrily as she got caught up in the spray. “Stop that now or I’m telling Mum.”

Bubbles jumped in surprise, then, quickly recovering, he splashed Dream with his tail.

“Spoilsport,” he retorted.

“Stop it!” said Dream crossly. “Mum and Dad have been looking everywhere for you. You’ve got to come back to the pod. Dad says a storm’s brewing so we’re all moving out to sea where it’ll be safer.”

“Is it a bad storm?” asked Antonia, trying to ignore Bubbles, who had stopped splashing and was mimicking the serious expression on his sister’s face. She wished the two dolphins got on better. Antonia was longing to make friends with Dream but the older dolphin never wanted to play if Bubbles was there.

“Bad enough,” said Dream. “Can’t you feel how the wind’s getting up?”

Antonia had noticed the wind and now she thought about it she had a vague feeling that something wasn’t right. She concentrated on the feeling and her sense of unease grew stronger. Antonia shivered, hoping that nothing bad was going to happen.

“I’d better go home too,” she said. “It’s nearly my tea time.”

“I wish you could come out to sea with us,” said Bubbles.

“So do I.” Antonia rubbed her nose against Bubbles’s nose. “Be safe.”

“You too, Silver Dolphin,” said Bubbles, rubbing her back.

Antonia swam with Bubbles and Dream as far as the headland then, using her legs like a tail, she trod water, watching the dolphins as they continued out to sea. After a while they turned. Bubbles leapt a somersault and Dream half bowed then together they dived out of sight. Forlornly Antonia stared at the empty sea until remembering her own family, she cheered up. It would have been nice to go with the dolphins, but she had her own home. Her parents and little sister Jessica would miss her terribly if she didn’t return and she would miss her family too. Antonia swam into Gull Bay and when the water was shallow enough she stopped swimming and paddled through the breakers. Her legs no longer felt melded together and the salty water poured off her like a fountain. By the time she reached the spot on the beach where she’d left her shoes, socks and school bag the only thing to show that she’d been swimming with the dolphins was her slightly damp hair. Antonia stuffed her socks into her school bag, slid her feet into the sandals and shouldering her bag, made for the tiny track that led home.

Jessica pounced on her the moment she walked through the door.

“You’ve been ages. Was it really busy at Sea Watch? I wish I was big enough to help too.”

Sea Watch was a local charity involved in marine conservation. It was run by an old lady called Claudia Neal. Claudia had been a Silver Dolphin once, but it was too much for her now so she’d handed the role over to Antonia. Most days Antonia went to Sea Watch after school to help out, but today she’d gone to answer Spirit’s call instead.

“Sea Watch is always busy,” said Antonia, answering Jessica’s question as truthfully as she could. Claudia hadn’t told her that being a Silver Dolphin had to be kept secret, but Antonia knew it did. The best magic always was.

After an enormous tea of macaroni cheese, crispy bacon and broccoli followed by a dish of ice cream Antonia allowed Jessica to drag her off to her bedroom to play at being vets. Jessica got all her cuddly toys out of the wardrobe and the two girls spent the evening bandaging paws and tails. At last Mrs Lee rescued Antonia by chivvying Jessica off to have her bath.

Relieved to finally have some time alone Antonia made her way to her cosy attic bedroom. Someone, probably Mum, had opened the sloping window that looked out across Gull Bay. The salty wind rushed in, its chilly fingers lifting the pages of the wildlife magazine lying on her desk. Antonia pulled the window shut and stood for a moment staring into the light summer evening. The bay was empty. Where were the dolphins? Had Spirit taken them a very long way out to sea? Antonia could sense the impending storm more keenly now. She could smell it: a sharp tangy smell that lingered in her nose and made her muscles tingle with anticipation. Fingering the silver dolphin charm hanging round her neck, Antonia hoped that her dolphins were safe.

Chapter Two

Antonia woke with a start. She couldn’t see a thing, her room was blacker than a witch’s hat, but she had no difficulty hearing the storm raging outside. The wind shrieked and rain drummed on her window, sounding like pebbles being thrown against the glass. Sleepily Antonia touched her silver dolphin charm, loving the way it felt as soft as a real dolphin. She wondered what the dolphins were doing now. She hoped they were safely out at sea, dozing. Dolphins didn’t fall asleep like other animals—they had to keep half awake or they would drown. Antonia closed her eyes and was almost asleep when a loud crack woke her. Having lived all her life in their little house overlooking the sea, Antonia was very familiar with that sound. It was a distress flare. Immediately she was out of bed and pulling up the blind to peer through the slanting window. Another crack rent the night air and this time Antonia saw a spiralling plume of red smoke away to her left over Sandy Bay. Hoping that the lifeboat crew would rescue whoever was in danger Antonia crawled back to bed. She slept soundly until Jessica roared in and shook her awake.

“Get up,” she cried excitedly. “We’re on the news. Sandy Bay’s on television!”

“Whaa…” mumbled Antonia, pulling the duvet over her head to blot out Jessica’s shrill voice.

Jessica gripped the duvet and tugged it back. “There’s this boat. The Princess Romana. It got grounded in the storm and lost its cargo. Millions of boxes. And it’s all washing up on Sandy Bay beach. Hurry or you’ll miss it.”

Antonia followed Jessica downstairs and into the kitchen where Mum and Dad were watching the local news on television. A picture of Sandy Bay filled the screen and Antonia gasped at the sight of so many crates littering the shore line.

“The Italian cargo ship, Princess Romana, suffered some damage when it grounded and there’s been a slight oil spill,” said the news reporter, sounding grave. “It’s not serious and marine experts say the oil should disperse on its own; however, they are keeping an eye on the situation. Several oiled birds have already been found on the beach and are being dealt with by Sea Watch, a local charity for marine conservation.”

“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.”

Chapter Three

When 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.”

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