Broken Promises
by
To Alistair, William, Tim and Antonia for putting up with
late dinners and broken plates
T
he summer storm came from nowhere. Rain beat down and the squalling wind whipped up the waves until they were higher than houses. Out at sea, thirty dolphins followed their leader as he dived underwater. It was a struggle to swim in the churning ocean as they headed for the seabed. Fighting tired muscles, the dolphins battled on until gradually, the ocean's mighty force lessened. At last the pod reached the bottom where all was calm and dark. For a while they chatted excitedly in whistles and clicks. Then, one by one they began to rest, the youngest first, followed by the adults, swimming together in a slow lazy circle.
Soon only two dolphins were properly awake; Star, a pretty dolphin with dark friendly eyes and Spirit, the leader.
“That was unexpected,” whispered Star, nuzzling at Spirit affectionately.
Spirit nuzzled his wife back.
“There is more to come,” he clicked. “I sense stormy times ahead for our Silver Dolphins.”
“Surely not,” squeaked Star, alarmed.
“Hush,” soothed Spirit. “The Silver Dolphins will ride out the storm just as we do now.”
Star's eyes were anxious.
“It won't be easy for them,” she clicked.
“Being a Silver Dolphin is never easy,” Spirit replied. “But the struggle is worthwhile.”
“Can we help them?” asked Star.
“The Silver Dolphins must find their own way,” said Spirit calmly. “But yes, we will be with them on their journey.”
A
ntonia Lee trod water, staring around at the empty sea. Where was everyone hiding? Movement over by the rocks caught her eye. Antonia squinted into the sunlight. Was that Cai? She thought she could see his curly brown hair sticking over the top of the rock. Antonia turned her back, pretending she
hadn't noticed him. Casually she swam in the opposite direction, then diving down, she doubled back underwater. In one hand she trailed a long piece of crinkly brown seaweed. If she could sneak up on Cai and tag him then it would be his turn to be âit'. She had almost reached the rocks when Cai broke cover. Like a rocket he shot past her, a huge grin on his face.
“Not âit',” he called triumphantly.
Antonia grinned back as he disappeared. Cai hadn't been a Silver Dolphin for very long, but he was a quick learner. Already he was as at home in the water as their dolphin friends, Bubbles and Dream. Antonia swam on, her eyes searching for the dolphins. At last she saw them, hiding together in a kelp bed.
Antonia paddled through the kelp, parting it with her free hand. A school of tiny fish darted across her path, startling her. Taking advantage of her surprise, Dream and Bubbles made a dash for a new hiding place. The chase was on. Antonia pretended to follow Dream. Then, in a sudden change of direction, she lunged at Bubbles, tagging his tail with the seaweed.
“âIt'!” she cried.
“No, you are,” clicked Bubbles, flicking the seaweed back at her.
They played until the seaweed had almost disintegrated. Then, calling a truce, they floated on the sea's surface, enjoying the warmth of the sun on their faces.
“We'd better get back,” clicked Dream
eventually. “Dad's taking the pod fishing soon.”
“Spoilsport,” clicked Bubbles, flicking water at her.
Dream looked slightly cross until Cai flicked water back at Bubbles. That started a water fight with everyone splashing so hard they churned up the sea like a whirlpool.
“Enough,” panted Antonia. “We have to go now. It's nearly tea time.”
“Goodbye,” said Bubbles, solemnly swimming forward as if to rub noses with her.
“Goodbyeâ¦BUBBLES!” she shrieked as, catching her unawares, he doused her with water.
Bubbles clicked a laugh. “See you soon, Silver Dolphin,” he called, keeping a safe distance away.
“I'll get you for that,” Antonia laughed back.
She waited for Cai to finish saying goodbye to Dream, then rubbed noses with the older dolphin. The dolphins swam out to sea, leaping in and out of the water, their silver bodies curving like half-moons. Antonia and Cai headed in the opposite direction, swimming in companionable silence until Antonia suddenly exclaimed, “We've forgotten the rubbish.”
She flushed guiltily, but Cai just laughed.
“Well remembered,” he said placidly.
Somersaulting neatly they swam back to the rocks to collect their bundle: several crisp packets, an old shoe and two polystyrene cups all wrapped up in a split carrier bag.
“What would have happened if we'd left this behind?” Antonia idly wondered. “Do you think Spirit would have been cross?”
“No,” said Cai. “Spirit knows we're not perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. We might not have been allowed to play with Bubbles and Dream for a bit, though.”
“We shouldn't make mistakes,” said Antonia emphatically.
“Everyone does,” said Cai wisely. “Don't be too hard on us just because we're Silver Dolphins.”
Antonia lightly touched the silver dolphin charm hanging round her neck. As Silver Dolphins, Antonia and Cai were guardians of the sea. Whenever Spirit called for their help a special magic let them swim like dolphins so
they could sort the problem out. Silver Dolphin magic was very rare. Antonia and Cai only knew one other person who had it: Claudia, Cai's great-aunt. She had been a Silver Dolphin before deciding that she was too old to do the job properly. Now she ran a marine conservation charity called Sea Watch instead.
They parted company at Claudia's beach.
“I'll take the rubbish,” said Cai. “It can go in the Sea Watch bins. Where did you leave your shoes?”
“Gull Bay,” said Antonia. It was her favourite beach after Claudia's because not many tourists knew about it. “See you tomorrow then.”
“See you,” said Cai.
Antonia swam on. She was enjoying every minute of the school holidays. So far, she'd spent most of it at Sea Watch with Cai. Leaping in and out of the water Antonia relished her freedom. Gull Bay was quiet with only a handful of people left on the beach. Antonia swam until she could see the seabed then, standing up, she waded ashore. Water poured from her clothes, leaving them as dry as if she'd been playing in the sun. Only her hair was slightly damp. Her sandals were where she'd left them, at the far end of the beach. Ramming her feet into them, Antonia padded across the sand.
She was almost home when someone called her name. Turning, Antonia saw her other best friend, Sophie, running towards
her. As usual, Sophie was carrying her sketch book.
“Hi, I can't believe we haven't seen each other since the holidays started,” panted Sophie, catching Antonia up.
“Me neither,” said Antonia guiltily. “What have you been up to?”
“Helping Dad and drawing mostly. I'm getting really good at cats. A lady in one of Dad's classes has commissioned me to paint her cat for her. She's going to send me a photograph to copy from when she gets home.”
“Well done! That's brilliant news!” Antonia exclaimed.
Sophie's dad was an artist and in the summer he ran art classes for the tourists.
Sophie was very good at art too and her latest project was sketching and painting cats. And now someone was paying her for it!
They reached the end of the road.
“Let's do something together soon,” said Sophie.
“Definitely,” Antonia agreed. “I'll ring you.”
Antonia ran the rest of the way home. Pushing open the front door, she could hear lots of banging upstairs.
“Mum?” she called out.
“Up here, darling,” Mum shouted back. “Come and give me a hand.”
Antonia went upstairs and found her mother slowly backing out of the cupboard on the landing.
“Help me with this,” she panted.
Antonia reached out and took some of the weight of the large bin bag her mother was carrying.
“What is it?” she asked.
“The put-you-up and the airbed,” said Mum. “Aunty Sue phoned today and arranged for Abi and Ella to come and stay for a week.”
“Great,” said Antonia enthusiastically. She hadn't seen her cousins since Christmas and it would be fun to have them to stay. Abi was eleven, a whole year older than Antonia, but they got on really well. Jessica, Antonia's seven-year-old sister, and Ella, also seven, were good friends too.
“I can take Abi to Sea Watch. She'll love it. When are they coming?”
“Wednesday.”
“But that's the day after tomorrow,” Antonia squeaked.
“That's why I'm getting the beds out to air,” said Mum, laughing.
“It's going to be such fun,” said Antonia happily. “Which bed is Abi having? I'll put it straight in my room.”
T
he following morning, there was a new girl at Sea Watch. She seemed quite at home sitting at the large table next to Eleanor, Emily and Oliver, who were telling her about the Sea Watch litter-picking event scheduled for Saturday.
“Hi, everyone,” said Antonia, including the
new girl in her greeting. “Where's Cai?”
“He's outside feeding Tilly,” said Emily.
Tilly, an abandoned seal pup rescued by Claudia, had been at Sea Watch for a few days and was already making good progress.
“This is Hannah,” Emily added. “Her mum's working in the area so she'll be here for a couple of weeks.”
Hannah smiled at Antonia. She was pale and thin with long red hair. She would have seemed fragile, had it not been for her piercing grey eyes. Antonia was transfixed. She couldn't stop staring at Hannah. A strong feeling swept over her. Hannah was no ordinary girl. Antonia sensed there was something special about her. It was as ifâ¦
Hannah stared back with open curiosity and Antonia pulled herself together. What was wrong with her? Of course there wasn't anything special about Hannah. Only last week, she'd suspected her own sister of being a Silver Dolphin and she'd been completely wrong about that! Quickly she headed outside to find Cai.
The seal pup had just finished her bottle and was nosing at Cai's hand for more. Antonia laughed as Cai held the empty bottle out of her reach, saying, “You'll get wind if you suck on that.”
“Do you want any help cleaning out her pen?” asked Antonia.
“Yes please,” said Cai. “Guess what? Aunty Claudia's found a builder. He's going to start
work on the deepwater pool in a couple of weeks.”
“That's fantastic,” said Antonia. A deepwater pool was just what Sea Watch needed to rehabilitate seabirds and marine animals, like Tilly.
The seal pup followed Antonia and Cai as they tidied up her pen, occasionally nudging their feet with her shiny nose. She reminded Antonia of a puppy, but she knew better than to treat her like one. It was important to handle wild animals as little as possible or they became too tame to release back into the wild. They were almost finished when a familiar sensation swept over Antonia. Spirit was about to call. She stood still, listening for his voice in her head.
Silver Dolphin, come quickly.
Spirit, I hear your call.
Antonia didn't speak, but thought the words. Cai was only able to communicate with Spirit through his silver dolphin charm and didn't know about her telepathy. A few seconds later, both Antonia's dolphin necklace and the dolphin badge pinned to Cai's T-shirt began to vibrate. Both charms thrashed wildly then they broke into a high-pitched whistle.
“Silver Dolphin, come quickly.”
“Spirit, I hear your call,” said Cai.
He sprinted out of the seal pen, pulling off his rubber gloves and quickly locking the door after Antonia followed him out.
Together they ran for the beach, vaulting
the tiny gate and heading for the Sea Watch boat where they stopped to leave their shoes. Antonia touched her charm, concerned by how fast the dolphin's tail was beating. Spirit needed them urgently. As she splashed into the sea she heard a whispering noise in her head. Puzzled, Antonia slowed, trying to work out what it was. Her silver dolphin charm beat more wildly. There was no time to solve the mystery. Ignoring the whispering noise, Antonia threw herself into the water.
The moment her legs melded together like a tail she swam. She didn't wait for Cai, and used her powerful Silver Dolphin magic to propel her through the water, her streamlined body arching in and out of the sea like a real dolphin, only much faster. She swam almost
to the headland to the west of Sandy Bay beach before she felt vibrations in the water. Hoping they were caused by Spirit, Antonia swam on. At last she saw his silvery head bobbing in the sea near the cliffs. Antonia raced over.
“Hurry, Silver Dolphin,” Spirit clicked, his eyes concerned. “A bird's in trouble on the cliffs.”
Antonia scanned the cliffs, searching for the unfortunate bird. There it wasâabout two metres up, perched on a ledge, a large seagull with untidy feathers. Its head bobbed back and forth and its body heaved as if it was choking. What was that hanging from its beak? Antonia couldn't quite make it out. She swam towards the cliff face. She'd never been
rock climbing before, but luckily the cliff was craggy with plenty of hand and footholds. Antonia reached up and placed her hand on a jutting-out piece of rock. It was wet and slippery, but big enough for her to wrap both hands round it to pull herself out of the water. Her knees grazed against rock and she winced as her feet found their own footholds. She looked up, searching for the next hand hold and found one above her head and another one to the right. Reaching up, she pulled herself higher. The climb wasn't difficult and Antonia felt safe, knowing that if she fell it was only a short drop into the sea.
The bird was making a horrible noise. Antonia climbed faster. She called out in a soothing voice as she drew nearer, but the
bird was too distressed to notice. Hauling herself on to the ledge, Antonia saw it was choking on the plastic top of a yoghurt pot. Antonia shuffled her feet until she was balanced. There wasn't much room on the ledge and she didn't want to slip off. How best to help the bird? Tentatively she held out her hand. The bird hardly noticed as it carried on gagging. Antonia knew, from some basic first-aid training at school, that when someone was choking and couldn't breathe you had to act fast. A slap on the back was often enough to remove the thing they were choking on, or there was a more complicated manoeuvre that involved putting your arms round them and squeezing. The gull was definitely having problems breathing. Antonia leant forward.
Stroking its head with her left hand, she gently tried freeing the yoghurt pot lid from its beak with her right. The lid shifted a little, then wouldn't move any further.
“Steady,” crooned Antonia, as the bird began to stagger forward.
She tried pulling at the plastic again, but it wouldn't budge. The bird made a funny gurgling sound in its throat. Desperate to stop it from suffocating, Antonia gently tapped it on the back between the wings. The bird coughed, staggered forward, then fell on its side. Antonia stared at it in disbelief. It looked dead. Had she killed it?
“Please be alive.”
Carefully she lifted the gull up, as if by doing so everything would suddenly be all
right. Its head flopped to one side. The yoghurt pot lid hung from its open beak. Antonia's brain felt like rush hour. Thoughts zoomed back and forth, making her giddy.
You killed it. No I didn't. You did, it was your fault. But how? I was trying to save it.
Silver Dolphin.
Spirit's voice broke into the chaos in her head.
It's not your fault.
I killed it.
No. You answered the call. You did your best.
Antonia didn't feel like she'd done her best. She laid the bird back on the ledge, stroking its head and smoothing down its feathers.
“I'm sorry.”
The bird stared back at her with lifeless
eyes. Sadly, Antonia looked at the sea. Was it safe to dive from here or should she climb back down? From the water, three faces stared up at her. Antonia did a double take. There was Spirit and that was Cai, so who was treading water next to him? Antonia blinked as she stared at the pale skinny girl in the water. There was no mistaking that bright red hair. It was Hannah.