Dolphin Child (5 page)

They drove back home to the studio. It was about lunchtime and
they grabbed a quick sandwich and drink of squash. Lucy wondered
what Spirit was doing. In fact her thoughts turned to what Spirit
was up to several times a day. She’d reach out to him with her mind
later on and see what he was up to.

Bethany had to work on her painting that afternoon and told
Lucy that she also had an important visitor. If all went well it
might lead to another commission. She told Lucy that she was
welcome to stay when the visitor showed up, but that she needed to
be on her best behaviour.

Lucy mooched out into the farmyard and wondered if she could
hang out with Mary, but she could see that Mary was in her cramped
office with the phone clamped firmly to the side of her head, so
she guessed not.

Lucy strolled over into one of the fields next to the farm.
There was no livestock there at the moment and Lucy sat down on the
grass and chewed a long stalk. The sun was warm and she lay back
with her hands behind her head. She could hear the drone of insects
in the distance and watched absent mindedly as a bumble bee made
its erratic way from one buttercup to the next. Lucy thought she’d
rest her eyes for a moment. After all she’d got up very early that
morning.

Lucy soon dozed off and dreamt of Spirit and the pod cruising
lazily along through the waters off the coast. What seemed like
freezing cold sea to her was warm to the dolphins and especially
with the sun on their backs they were enjoying the summer
temperatures too. They’d eaten earlier and were contented enough to
play and talk without overly exerting themselves. Lucy had dreamt
of dolphins for as long as she could remember but it was only
earlier this year that she’d realised that they were more than
simple dreams and that she was able to actually stretch out with
her mind and communicate with the dolphins and Spirit in
particular.

Lucy woke up again forty minutes later with a stiff neck but a
happy feeling in her heart. Dreaming about dolphins almost always
made her feel contented inside. The sun had passed behind the hedge
and it was that which had saved her from getting sunburnt. The air
was cooler out of the sunshine. The insects still buzzed in the
grass and she heard the plaintiff baa of a sheep in a field
nearby.

She rolled over onto her tummy and stared at the tuft of grass
in front of her. A small beetle with a brilliant iridescent green
wing casing was crawling laboriously through the stems of grass.
She wondered if it realised that a giant was watching its every
movement, just centimetres away. What if people in turn were being
observed by aliens from a far-away galaxy, as oblivious to the fact
as the beetle was? The thought made her mind reel.

She plucked a blade of grass from the tussock and held it out
so that the beetle crawled up it and then down onto her hand. The
beetle paused, sensing a change in the air, opened its wing casing
and flew away on the breeze.

Lucy got up and stretched, before ambling slowly back to the
farmyard. A car had pulled up outside Bethany’s studio and she
guessed that it must be the special visitor that Bethany had talked
about. Lucy decided against barging in on their conversation and
opted to stay outside instead. Just then she noticed Mary’s husband
Darren sitting on the stone steps at the front door of the
farmhouse drinking a mug of coffee in the sunshine. She walked over
to him. He’d taken off his jacket and had loosened his
tie.

‘
You’re back home early’ she commented. Darren patted the stone
slab next to him for her to sit down too.

‘
I escaped from a meeting. There wasn’t time to go back to the
office so I thought I’d just come on home. How are you Lucy? Having
fun?’

‘
Yeah, it’s great here. I wish I could stay
forever.’

‘
Oh it’s not quite so lovely when you’re milking cows at six
o’clock on a cold winter’s morning. I do my fair share of that too
you know.’ They sat in companionable silence for a minute or two,
both lost in their own thoughts.

‘
Darren,’ Lucy asked eventually ‘are there folk stories about
dolphins round here?’

‘
Oh yes, there are plenty of them. Haven’t you been to the
Merwater town museum yet? There’s a whole display about them.
Dolphins are famous round these parts. They’ve been part of the
town for centuries. Before engines and radar came along, dolphins
used to lead our fisherman out to find shoals of herring, or so
they say. Doesn’t happen now of course, we’re all too modern and
have forgotten the old ways. Look at me, I spend all day tapping at
a computer.’ He chuckled and took another sip of coffee.

‘
Darren, what’s a Dolphin-Child? Lucy asked. Darren sucked in
his breath.

‘
Oh those poor souls’ he said. ‘Sometimes a youngster would
become enchanted by dolphins and have some sort of special thing
with them you know? They’d slip away at night to be with them and
then never come back. Or so I’ve heard tell. Not that it’s happened
for a very long time as far as I know. There was some story or
other about one when I was a kid I think. I forget what happened as
a matter of fact. Nothing too dramatic I don’t suppose or I’d
remember.’ He glanced at Lucy. ‘Where did you hear about
Dolphin-Children anyway?’

‘
Oh, you know, from some kid in town’ replied Lucy
warily.

‘
Don’t you go believing everything that the kids in town tell
you now will you. Sometimes they like to tell tall tales to
gullible tourists. There’s generally a simple explanation for most
things that happen. I like a good folk tale myself, but they’re
best taken with a pinch of salt, you know?

Just then Bethany’s visitor got in his car and rattled over
the cattle grid and up the lane. Darren looked at the bottom of his
empty coffee mug.

‘
I think I might get my overalls on and go and help Mary for a
bit’ he said. ‘I expect she’s got some job or other for me to do if
I ask.’

‘
See you then Darren’ said Lucy, getting up. She walked back
over to the studio. Inside Bethany was in an expansive
mood.

‘
Hey Kiddo!’ she exclaimed when Lucy walked in. ‘What do you
say to going out for some celebratory fish and chips tonight? I’ve
just got myself another commission!’ She seized Lucy’s hands
spontaneously and danced her round the room.

‘
Sound’s good’ replied Lucy. ‘I’d better phone Dad before we go
though.’

Lucy missed Dad, but was glad to have a bit of freedom from
all his rules during the summer holidays. Things seemed less heavy
when he wasn’t there. She realised that it had been pretty
difficult for him too when they’d lost Mum, but sometimes he was
hard to be around. He was coming down for a week in a few days and
they were going to do some day trips to see the local sites and go
walking on the coastal paths. When he came she wasn’t sure how much
she’d be able to see Spirit and so she was determined to see him as
much as possible before Dad came down to join them.

Lucy went over to the farmhouse to use the phone there.
Bethany didn’t have a landline and the mobile phone reception was
very erratic. Bethany had an understanding with Mary that Lucy
could use their phone to call Dad whenever she wanted. She called
his mobile number, but after a few rings, it went straight through
to voicemail, so Lucy left a message instead.

‘
Hey Dad’ she said after the beep, ‘Just phoning to say hello.
We went into town today and I met some local kids. Bethany’s got a
new commission to paint a portrait so we’re going out to celebrate
with fish and chips tonight. We might not be around if you call
later. Missing you!’ Lucy hung up the phone. She always felt
awkward leaving a message. Dad was probably in a meeting or
something when she called.

When Lucy walked back over to the studio, she sat down at the
kitchen table whilst Bethany had a quick shower before they went
out. She took the chance to reach out with her mind to Spirit,
swimming not so far away in the cold waters of the sea. She had to
focus her thoughts and then relax them, so that somewhere between
consciousness and sleep, she could find the hidden gateway that led
through to Spirit’s watery world. It was still hard to do, but she
was getting better at it and after one or two attempts, she
suddenly felt herself falling and the next thing she knew, she was
gliding along effortlessly through the cold salty water at Spirit’s
side.

‘
Hello Spirit’ she said.

‘
Hello Lucy’ replied Spirit. ‘It was great to be with you this
morning. We had so much fun, especially Dancer. She’s been talking
to everyone about it all afternoon.’

‘
Me too’ replied Lucy. I want to see you everyday if I can,
before my Dad drives down here.’ Spirit wondered what driving was,
but didn’t ask. Lucy could tell from the way that he moved and
spoke that Spirit wasn’t quite his normal self.

‘
What’s the matter Spirit?’ she asked.

‘
Oh something Dancer said reminded me of my mother before she
disappeared’ Spirit answered.

‘
I know what you mean’ replied Lucy sympathetically.

Lucy chatted away to Spirit for a few more minutes and then
she felt her strength fading. Before she knew it, she found herself
back sitting at the kitchen table in Bethany’s studio. Bethany came
down the steps from the sleeping and living area.

‘
You ready?’ she asked.

The next morning was stormy and wet. Huge foaming white waves
crashed in against the shore at the foot of the cliffs and the rain
beat down rhythmically on the roof above them. Lucy got up at dawn
with the idea of setting out to see Spirit again, but even she
realised that it just was not possible on a stormy day such as
this. Spirit, Dancer and the rest of the pod would be riding the
waves out at sea, away from the danger of submerged rocks and cliff
faces. Lucy sat disconsolately and watched the rain drumming
against the windows of the studio. It was disappointing but there
was nothing she could do about it, so she decided to make breakfast
for Bethany instead.

That morning Lucy mooched around the studio whilst Bethany
worked on her commission. She was too restless to read her book but
paced the floor before idly working on a drawing of her own while
she waited for it to stop raining. She was looking forward to going
round to Thelma’s house that afternoon, not only to get out of the
studio but because it felt really comfortable and cosy in Thelma’s
kitchen. What’s more, Thelma was really good at baking things.
Bethany wasn’t bad, but certainly wasn’t in the same
league.

Eventually it was time to set off. The rain had eased, but it
was still wet and they ran to the Land Rover quickly and clambered
in. Bethany started the engine but no sooner had they set off up
the lane towards the main road, than the windscreen fogged over and
Bethany had to pull over to wipe it clear again.

Thelma and Nate Merryweather lived on the edge of town in a
relatively modern semi-detached house. Nate had been born in a
fisherman’s cottage, but they were too expensive for the local
people to live in now and the one that Nate had been brought up in
was now owned by some out of towner from London who only came down
three or four times a year.

Nate and his first mate Bob went out in their trawler, ‘the
Lady Thelma’ each morning to check their lobster pots and then Bob
would take any that they caught round to the local restaurants to
sell them. In the afternoon they both worked on one of the boats
that took tourists round the harbour and out along the coast to try
and spot seals and maybe if they were lucky even a dolphin or a
basking shark. As Nate was still at work, it would be just them and
Thelma. Her children had long since grown up and left
home.

Bethany pulled up off the road and parked the car. Thelma came
out to welcome them.

‘
Hello there Bethany. Hello there young Lucy. Get yourselves
inside and out of the rain why don’t you?’ Lucy gladly ran up the
drive with her coat over her head and in through the side door into
the kitchen. When Lucy had read the Famous Five books when she was
younger, this was how she imagined tea in a country kitchen to be.
A big home-made cake was positioned in the middle of the kitchen
table and a couple of plates of sandwiches sat alongside it. Thelma
brewed up the tea in an old brown teapot kept warm with a tea cosy.
Lucy was hungry and couldn’t wait to tuck into all the food that
Thelma had made.

They sat down, chatting away as Thelma got even more food out.
They talked about Lucy’s holiday down in Cornwall, Thelma’s work in
the surgery and Bethany’s latest commission. Lucy could tell that
Thelma was curious to know more about her mother. Every so often
she would slip a question into the conversation to elicit more
information about her.

Bethany would tell her what she could about her sister Megan,
but Lucy got the feeling that Thelma wanted to know more about what
Mum had taught Lucy when she was younger. Lucy was very fond of
Thelma, but wasn’t ready to open up to her about Mum. What memories
she had were very precious to her and she didn’t want to cheapen
them by telling them to everyone, or even someone like Thelma. She
was already worried that she could not remember exactly what Mum’s
voice sounded like and details about what Mum did and said and
laughed at were not as clear as they used to be. She felt that the
more she talked about Mum, the less personal her memories would
become.