Broken Promises (5 page)

T
he Sandy Bay cinema was ancient with only one screen and no air-conditioning. It was hot and stuffy and, although the film was funny, Antonia wasn't in the mood for being indoors. At least Abi was enjoying herself. She sat in between Sophie and Antonia holding the huge bucket of popcorn
the girls had bought between them. She laughed so much during the film she reminded Antonia of the old Abi. Furtively Antonia checked her watch. Surely the film was nearly over? Sophie's mum had said to ring them when they got out and she would come and pick them up. Antonia wished they'd asked to walk home. She couldn't bear being cooped up and wanted to be out in the fresh air and sunshine.

A funny feeling swept over her. At first Antonia thought she felt odd because it was so stuffy in the cinema. The feeling persisted. Suddenly, Antonia sat bolt upright in her chair. Of course! Spirit was about to call. Her hand flew to her silver dolphin charm. Its soft body quivered against her fingers. Antonia
groaned. Why now? How could she answer Spirit's call when she was at the cinema with Abi and Sophie?

Claudia's words came back to her in a rush. She had said that Antonia could take a holiday from the Silver Dolphins. Reluctantly, Antonia let go of her dolphin charm. She wanted to answer the call, but she also wanted to keep her promise to Mum. Antonia decided that this time she had to let Cai and Hannah deal with it on their own.

A few minutes later, the dolphin charm began to vibrate and an ear-splitting whistle sounded in the cinema. Antonia jumped, guiltily looking around, even though she knew no one else could hear it. The whistling was followed by whispers inside her head. First
Cai's voice and then Hannah's, answering Spirit's call. Antonia longed to join them. But Cai and Hannah were perfectly able to manage on their own. They'd proved that already. Protectively she cupped her hand round the silver dolphin charm. After a long while the whistling ended, but the dolphin charm continued to judder. Antonia felt uneasy. Her sixth sense was telling her that this call was urgent. Should she answer it after all? Whatever she did, it would be wrong. Answering the call meant breaking her promise to Mum. Not answering it meant breaking her promise to Spirit.

The lady next to Antonia began to shuffle. Around the cinema came the noise of seats flipping up and people talking. The lights
went on. Antonia wanted to cheer with relief. The film had finished. Abi crushed the empty carton of popcorn with her hands.

“We're going to ring Mrs Hastings and ask if she can pick us up later. Sophie wants to show me a shop that sells handmade jewellery. Is that all right?” she asked.

Sophie looked sheepishly at Antonia. “You don't have to come if you want to do something else,” she said.

Antonia shot her a grateful look. Trust Sophie to know she wouldn't want to go to the shops. “Well, I'd really like to go to Sea Watch and check on Tilly the seal. If you're sure you don't mind?”

Sophie grinned. “Of course we don't mind. You and your animals!”

Antonia waited with Sophie and Abi until they'd rung Mrs Hastings and got permission to stay out later. At last she was free to go and she ran all the way to Sandy Bay beach. As she'd expected it was packed with holiday-makers. Antonia threaded her way through them until she reached the rocks. Her dolphin charm was frantically vibrating and every now and then gave out shrill whistles. Anxiously discarding her shoes, Antonia hopped over the rocks to the sea. The cool water lapped at her legs and when it reached her thighs, she swam. Antonia was in too much of a hurry to get her normal thrill of pleasure as her legs melded together. Diving underwater so no one would notice her, she headed out to sea.

The call was coming from the west. Using her dolphin magic to swim even faster than a real dolphin, Antonia struck out towards it. She passed Claudia's beach, and still there was no sign of Spirit. She swam faster, worried that she might not get there in time. She swam for ages. A very long while later, her skin began to tingle with vibrations in the water. Relieved, Antonia altered her course, swimming towards a gap in the coastline where the vibrations were coming from. It was the entrance to a creek. Nearby a silver head bobbed in the water.

“Silver Dolphin,” clicked Spirit. “Thank goodness you're here.”

“What's happened?” clicked Antonia, knowing that it must be urgent for Spirit not
to greet her with a friendly nose rub.

“Two dolphins are in trouble. They urgently need help.”

“Are they from your pod?” asked Antonia.

Spirit shook his head.

“They're strangers. The tide is turning and soon the creek will be too shallow to swim in. It's not safe for me to come with you, so I'll wait here. Go quickly, Silver Dolphin.”

Antonia headed up the creek. It was hard to imagine there was a drama ahead of her when it was so peaceful. Trees grew on either side, casting long shadows on the water. Hidden birds serenaded her as she swam. Gradually the creek twisted to the left. The current was stronger here as the water flowed away to the sea. Antonia was forced to swim in the middle
of the creek where the water was deeper. As she swam, her senses told her that something bad was ahead. Her stomach churned uneasily. She heard a shout, it sounded like Cai. She sped up and, rounding the corner, she caught her breath. Nothing could have prepared her for this. Dismayed not to have answered the call quicker, Antonia rushed to help.

T
he creek ended in a tiny beach surrounded by woods. The tide was turning quickly, leaving a large expanse of ribbed sand. It was incredibly pretty and very private, but the peace was spoilt by Cai and Hannah. They were charging up and down the beach, running between the water and
two inert forms lying on the glistening sand.

Antonia had never seen beached dolphins before. It was a shocking sight, almost paralysing her with fear. Her dolphin charm flicked impatiently against her neck, urging her to do something quickly. Antonia splashed out of the water and ran towards Hannah and Cai.

“We need to keep them wet,” panted Cai. His chest was bare and he carried a dripping wet T-shirt.

Wordlessly, Antonia followed him as he ran to the smaller dolphin and squeezed water from the T-shirt on to its silver-blue body. It was a bottlenose one, its head and nose more rounded than Spirit's, who was a common dolphin. Hannah had a cardigan and was
using that to wet the larger dolphin. Antonia watched them for a minute. She wasn't wearing any clothing that she could remove. But even if she had, she knew that it wouldn't be enough. They had to get the dolphins back into the sea.

When every last drop of water had been squeezed out of the T-shirt, Cai set off again. Antonia grabbed him by the arm.

“Wait, we have to get them back in the water.”

“We've tried,” said Cai. “We can't shift them.”

“But there's three of us now,” said Antonia.

Cai eyed her doubtfully. “We need blankets,” he said. “I saw beached dolphins on the telly once. The rescuers used wet
blankets to carry them back to the sea. It stops their skin from getting damaged.”

He shook her arm off and ran back down the beach. Antonia squatted to examine the smaller dolphin. It stared back at her with dull eyes.

“Don't worry. We're going to help you,” she clicked.

Feebly, the dolphin flicked its flipper. Antonia slid both hands under the dolphin and tried lifting it. Its body felt like a solid weight in her hands and reluctantly she admitted that Cai was right. The dolphins would be too heavy to carry unless they used blankets to make a stretcher. The only thing they could do was to keep them wet until the tide came back in again and refloated them.
But that would be hours. Antonia knew the dolphins wouldn't survive that long out of water.

“Antonia, help us,” shouted Cai, as he came back with a newly soaked T-shirt.

Antonia jumped up and ran along the beach, hoping to find something to carry water in. She ran round twice, her eyes scanning every millimetre of sand, but there was nothing useful. In a panic, she ran to the sea and scooped up water in her hands. It trickled through her fingers. By the time she reached the dolphins, the water was all gone.

The two dolphins lay very still, their dorsal fins pointing upwards like flags. Antonia crouched between them with one hand on each dolphin. Could she use her special healing powers to save them? Was it possible
to keep them alive until the tide turned again? Pressing her hands more firmly against each dolphin, Antonia imagined their skin staying cool and moist.

Be strong
, she thought. A warm feeling spread down Antonia's hands and her fingers began to prickle. Excitedly, Antonia continued to press on the dolphins' soft skin.

Be strong.

There was barely any response from the large dolphin, but a muscle began to twitch in the smaller one's side. Encouraged, Antonia continued to press on both dolphins until the prickling sensation calmed and a warm glow spread through her hands. The smaller dolphin opened its mouth and let out a high-pitched whistle.

“Help!”

She was calling to her friends.

Suddenly, Antonia had a brilliant idea. She would call a friend to help too. Clearing part of her mind, she concentrated on Claudia, imagining her smiling sea-green eyes staring out from under her unruly mop of hair.

Claudia, we need you.

At first there was nothing. Disappointed, Antonia tried again.

Claudia?

She willed Claudia to hear her and almost cheered out loud when she did.

Silver Dolphin? What's wrong?

Two dolphins are stranded in a creek. We need help to get them back in the water.

I'll be there.

Antonia breathed a heartfelt sigh of relief. It was going to be all right. Claudia was on her way. She started to relax, then an alarming thought crossed her mind. How would Claudia know where to come?

Silver Dolphin?

Antonia jumped. Claudia was still listening to her thoughts!

Keep thinking of me, so I can find you.

I will.

Cai and Hannah pounded up the beach and dripped water over the two dolphins. The smaller was still whistling for help. Cai shot Antonia an excited look.

“Did you do that? Did you make her better?”

“I'm helping them to stay strong while
they're out of the water. I just hope I can keep them alive until Claudia gets here.”

“Aunty Claudia's coming? But how…” Cai was puzzled. Then suddenly working it out, his face lit up.

“I
knew
there was something special between you two. I've suspected it for ages. Thank goodness for that.”

He pounded back to the sea with renewed energy. Antonia kept her hands on both dolphins, willing them to stay alive. It was exhausting. She was concentrating so hard she almost didn't realise that her dolphin charm had started to thrash again. A lump formed in Antonia's throat and she swallowed it down. She was doing her best. Why was Spirit calling her? Didn't he realise how hard
she was trying to keep the dolphins alive? What more could she do?

Hannah and Cai ran up. Side by side, they dripped water on to the dolphins. Cai turned to go back to the sea then stopped.

“Oh no!” he cried. “Spirit's calling us again.”

“What now?” groaned Hannah, her hand flying to her own silver dolphin charm. “Surely it can wait?”

“Yes,” Cai nodded. “It'll just have to wait. We can't leave these dolphins here on the beach.”

Ignoring their whistling charms, they continued wetting the stranded dolphins until suddenly there was a huge commotion in the creek. Surprised, everyone stopped for a moment to look.

“No!” gasped Antonia. “Please, let me be dreaming.”

But it wasn't a dream. A pod of bottlenose dolphins suddenly swam into view. They were heading for the beach, drawn by the calls of the stranded dolphin. Spirit swam amongst the dolphins, trying to turn them back with desperate whistles and squeaks.

“We have to stop them,” Antonia cried.

She noticed one or two of the dolphins trying to turn back, but there wasn't enough room to swim a different way to the pod. It caused the dolphins to panic, adding to the confusion and noise. Antonia had no idea what to do. Should she stay with the beached dolphins? Or should she try and save the others before they beached themselves too?

It was Hannah who took control.

“You stay here,” she said to Antonia. “You're needed to keep these two alive. Cai, you stay too. Help to keep them wet. I'll turn the dolphins back.”

She ran down the beach, her red hair flying out behind her. Suddenly, Antonia felt very grateful to Hannah. How would they have managed without her?

“That's a huge task,” said Cai, watching her go. “I'll have to help if she can't manage on her own.”

“Of course,” said Antonia. She remembered what Hannah had said before about working together. “We work as a team.”

Cai continued to run up and down the beach using his T-shirt and Hannah's
cardigan to wet the dolphins. Antonia sat between them with her hands pressed firmly against their sides. She was desperate to know how Hannah was doing, but needed to concentrate on her own job. Antonia was concerned about the larger dolphin; he didn't seem to be responding to her magical skills. She hoped Claudia would get there soon. They were running out of time.

H
annah did her best, but she was no match for all the dolphins trying to swim up the creek. Eventually, Cai was forced to abandon his own job and wade into the sea to help her. With outstretched arms, he herded the dolphins back the way they had come. For ages the water was alive with thrashing tails
and fins as the dolphins suddenly realised the danger they were in. Their distressed clicks and shrieks made Antonia's skin prickle with goosebumps.

“Please,” she clicked to the dolphin on the beach. “Please, stop calling your friends. The Silver Dolphins are here to help you. Tell your friends to go back to the sea.”

The little dolphin fell silent, but it was far too late. Miserably, Antonia wondered why she hadn't thought to ask her to stop calling earlier. And where was Claudia? The Silver Dolphins needed her right now.

Claudia, where are you?

Here.

Antonia looked up and her heart leapt. Claudia was running down the beach towards
her, carrying an armful of sheets and a huge watering can. She ran straight past Antonia and dumped the sheets in the sea. Antonia went to help. Together they soaked the sheets in water then draped them over the beached dolphins.

Claudia filled up the watering can.

“Go help the others. I can manage here for a bit.”

Antonia's hands were still tingling from using her special dolphin magic. She felt like she'd been for a marathon run. But the drama wasn't over. She couldn't give in to tiredness yet. With a burst of energy, she splashed into the sea to help Hannah and Cai. It was an easier task with three of them. Using outstretched arms they formed a human
barricade. Gradually the dolphins began to turn back the way they'd come. The more that turned, the easier it was to persuade the others to go back too. One dolphin got stuck on a sandbank near the edge of the creek. Working together, the Silver Dolphins managed to free him and guide him towards the deeper water.

When the last dolphin was heading the right way down the creek, Antonia remembered Spirit. He was a large animal. Had he made it safely back to sea? She was wondering whether to swim up the creek to check, when his voice sounded in her head.

Silver Dolphin.

Spirit? Thank goodness. Is everyone safe?

The pod has just reached the sea.

And you?

Yes, me too.

Antonia couldn't help it. She grinned with relief.

“What are you smiling about?” asked Cai.

Antonia blushed.

“We did it,” she stuttered.

“Not quite,” said Cai. “There're still the two on the beach.”

Antonia's relief evaporated. Knowing Claudia was looking after the dolphins had lulled her into a false sense of security. The dolphins on the beach were still in danger. They'd been out of water too long already. Time was running out. At once she headed for the shore. Cai and Hannah swam next to her. It was a good feeling; so many Silver Dolphins
together. They waded ashore.

Claudia was watering the dolphins with her can. Her sea-green eyes lit up as they approached. Antonia dropped on to her knees in the sand between the two dolphins. Claudia had been busy. She'd completely wrapped each dolphin in a wet sheet. The smaller dolphin looked more alert than before. Antonia was worried about the larger one, though. He didn't seem to be responding at all. His eyes were dull and he didn't move when she rested a hand on him.

Be strong
, she thought, pressing her hands against each dolphin. Warmth rushed through her and her fingers prickled with magic.

Be strong.

The smaller dolphin's side quivered, but
the larger one was ominously still.

“Antonia…” Claudia's voice broke through her thoughts. “It's time to get her back into the sea.”

Antonia looked up and saw Cai and Hannah positioned at the little dolphin's head, ready to carry her on the sheet stretcher. They were whispering together. Hannah shot her a look of sympathy. As she took her place at the dolphin's tail, Antonia wondered what they were whispering about. Then Claudia came and stood opposite her.

“On the count of three,” said Claudia. “One, two, three, lift.”

Gently they lifted the dolphin off the sand and walked her down to the sea. It was a slow process. Antonia shuffled along, willing
everyone to go faster, even though she knew they were doing their best. The tide was even further out now. They squelched across the wet sand until finally they reached the water. Tiny waves ran away from them, the tide sucking them back to the ocean.

“Don't stop,” called Claudia. “Go deeper.”

They kept on walking, step by agonising step, until finally the water in the middle of the creek came up to their waists. Antonia looked around, wondering if they should have moved the larger dolphin first. The tide was going out so quickly. He would need more water than this to swim in.

“Gently now,” said Claudia. “Turn her round so she's facing the right way.”

Everyone moved round until the dolphin's
head was facing out to sea.

“Right then. Let her go.”

Slowly they lowered the dolphin into the water.

“Drop the sheet,” called Claudia.

Antonia released her corner and the sheet sank away from the dolphin. At first the dolphin didn't move. Then she lifted her head as if trying to work out where she was.

“You're safe now,” clicked Antonia. “The ocean's that way. Your pod is waiting for you. Off you go.”

The dolphin nuzzled Antonia's hand with her nose.

“Thank you, Silver Dolphins,” she squeaked.

“Be safe,” clicked Antonia.

“Cai, Hannah,” said Claudia. “Swim with the dolphin back out to sea. She's still weak. She may need help.”

As Cai and Hannah swam away, Antonia turned to Claudia with puzzled eyes.

“What about the other dolphin?” she asked. “Surely we need help with him?”

Claudia shook her head. “I'm sorry, Antonia.”

“What?” Antonia was stunned. “You don't mean…he's not dead, is he?”

Tears stinging her eyes, Antonia struck out for the beach. She could barely see where she was going. Angrily she rubbed the tears away, not stopping until she reached the large dolphin lying motionless on the sand. Antonia fell on him, wrapping her arms round his neck, willing him to be alive.

“Antonia,” Claudia panted up the beach and gently pulled her away.

“It's my fault,” Antonia sobbed. “It's my fault he died.”

“No! It's not.”

Claudia put an arm round her. “You did everything you could. We all did.”

“But my healing magic worked on the smaller one. Why didn't it work on this one too?”

“This dolphin is very old,” said Claudia simply. “The shock of becoming beached was too much for him. I expect his heart gave out. You can save animals when their problems have been caused by people, but not nature.”

“Was the beaching caused by humans then?” asked Antonia.

“It must have been,” said Claudia. “Otherwise Spirit wouldn't have called for you.”

“But how? How could someone cause this?”

“They probably didn't realise they had,” said Claudia sadly. “I suspect the two bottlenose dolphins were affected by sonar. Boats use it sometimes. The noise is terrible to a dolphin's sensitive ears. It disorientates them. They don't know where they are going and often beach themselves by mistake.”

“What now?” asked Antonia, wiping her tear-stained face. “We can't just leave him here.”

“My mobile's in the car. I'll ring Jack and ask him to arrange for the dolphin to be taken away.”

Antonia looked at Claudia, grateful she was there. Suddenly, she noticed her clothes. They were bone dry, but her hair was damp and much curlier than usual.

“You used dolphin magic in the water,” she said, managing a small smile.

Claudia smiled back.

“Once a Silver Dolphin always a Silver Dolphin,” she replied.