The Girl Who Dreamt of Dolphins (31 page)

‘
Tell her what I’m telling you’ barked out Storm to Spirit in
frustration. He had tried to speak to her, but he could tell
immediately that he did not have the gift of communication with the
human that Spirit and even Dancer had. He knew that they had to be
quick.

‘
Storm says listen to what he has to say. I will tell you’ said
Spirit quickly.

‘
Alright’ replied Lucy. Spirit paused a moment to listen to
Storm and then inclined his head towards Lucy.

‘
He says that five minutes swim north up the coast there is a
striped white and red tower with a light that flashes at night. He
says that next to it is a beach with two houses on it. If you can
find the beach and come there at first light we will be waiting for
you.’ Lucy thought. She had no idea where the lighthouse might be.
Then she thought again. When they were walking along the cliff that
afternoon, she had just seen the tip of a building in the distance.
Bethany had said that there was a lighthouse with an ecology centre
and a surfing school just next to it. Maybe that was it!

‘
I think maybe I can find that. If I can find Storm, then I can
find you. If I can find you, I can bring help I’m sure’ Lucy said
excitedly. Spirit translated back to Storm. This time Dancer
spoke.

‘
Then it is agreed. Can you get there though?’ she asked
cautiously.

‘
I’m sure…I just will’ said Lucy defiantly. She looked back at
Spirit with concerned eyes. ‘Are you okay Spirit. Will you be able
to hang on?’ He smiled.

‘
Now that you’re here I will’ he replied. As they spoke Lucy
could feel her energy seeping away.

‘
I’ve got to go now. But I will see you tomorrow!’ The dark
silhouettes of Spirit, Dancer and Storm seemed to fade away from
her, then Lucy found herself back on the bed in Bethany’s studio.
Lucy felt drained and tired again with the effort of projecting her
mind out to the dolphins, but at the same time she was filled with
hope at the thought that now there was definitely something she
could do to help. She leapt off the bed and bounded down the steps
from the sleeping platform to where Bethany was standing by her
easel, studying her painting with a critical eye.

‘
Hey Kiddo, it looks like your snooze did you some good’ said
Bethany affably.

‘
Bethany, you know you told me about that lighthouse down the
coast, the one with the ecology centre and surf school. Is it white
with red stripes?’

‘
Why yes it is’ replied Bethany. ‘Why?’

‘
If I go there at first light tomorrow’ said Lucy excitedly,
‘we can find him! We can find my dolphin and we can save
him!’

‘
Wow’ said Bethany with a hint of caution in her voice. ‘Are
you sure?’

‘
Absolutely’ replied Lucy. ‘I can’t wait.’

‘
Well I suppose we could go down there early tomorrow, if you
get a good night’s sleep tonight. There are beautiful waders and
other seabirds down there. If we take my binoculars with us, we
might get a good view of the wildlife.’ Bethany didn’t seem to know
quite what to make of Lucy’s sudden enthusiasm or where it had come
from, but she didn’t want to undermine it either.

‘
Hey Kiddo, dinner’s ready in a few minutes. Pull up a chair.’
She ruffled Lucy’s hair affectionately. ‘Gotta eat!’

After they had eaten, Lucy cleared away the dinner things and
washed up the plates, while Bethany put them away after she dried
them. Bethany hung up the tea-towel. She glanced at her
watch.

‘
Well, its getting on for half past seven. Time to call your
Dad I think.’ Yesterday Lucy had promised to call Dad every day at
half past seven from the landline in the farmhouse. She had mixed
feelings about calling him. It was good to hear his voice and speak
to him, but she had only just practically run away from him. Still,
it had to be done. They put on their shoes and went over to the
farmhouse. Bethany chatted for a few minutes to Mary, then they
went to the hall and Lucy dialled the number for home. It felt
strange not to be there.

‘
Hello?’ Dad’s voice came on the line. ‘How’s your day been
Luce?’ She didn’t want to tell Dad about Spirit and the dolphins.
In fact she had never even told Dad about her dolphin dreams or
anything else about them. She started off telling him all about
Bethany’s studio, what it looked like and where she slept. Dad
seemed to enjoy hearing all about that. She told him about their
trip down to Old Man’s Cove and looking in the rock pools and the
seagull that Bethany had drawn. He chuckled appreciatively at the
description of the angry looking seagull. She told him about their
walk along the cliff later that afternoon and she could sense that,
even though he didn’t say that much, he was beginning to think that
it wasn’t so bad that she was down there in Cornwall after all.
Then, without thinking, she let her excited description get the
better of her.

‘
And I was so happy when they found Spirit. We’re going down to
the beach by the lighthouse first thing tomorrow morning and
Storm’s going to show me where Spirit is trapped.’ Almost as soon
as the words had left her mouth, Lucy knew that she had made a huge
mistake.

‘
What?’ asked Dad. She could hear the note of anger in his
voice. ‘WHO are Spirit and Storm?’ Desperately and entirely
unconvincingly, Lucy tried to claim that they were nicknames for a
couple of Bethany’s artist friends. Dad was having none of it
though and his voice became louder and more strident in his
agitation.

‘
Put Bethany on the line, NOW’ he commanded. Lucy had little
option but to comply. Bethany was standing nearby and could already
tell that something was amiss. Bethany took the receiver from Lucy
and put it to her ear. Lucy could plainly see that what Dad was
saying upset her and she flushed red with anger, but said little in
reply. Then, to Lucy’s surprise, Bethany said:

‘
Yes John. It’s happened already. It’s the dolphins….I know,
yes, yes, I know.’ What did Dad know about the dolphins Lucy
wondered? Even though she was standing a meter or so away, she
could hear Dad’s raised voice from the receiver pressed to
Bethany’s ear, although she couldn’t make out exactly what he was
saying. Bethany began to wilt physically as he berated her. When
eventually she returned the receiver to its hook, she turned to
look at Lucy with an expression that seemed to say, ‘don’t blame
me.’

‘
He’s driving down first thing tomorrow morning’ she said.
‘He’s going to take you home. He says I can’t be trusted to keep
you out of trouble.’

‘
Oh no!’ gasped Lucy, shocked at the news. ‘But we’ve got to go
to the lighthouse tomorrow morning. I simply have to be there!’
Bethany shook her head slowly and sadly.

‘
I’m sorry Kiddo. No can do. Your Dad would have my guts for
garters if I let you go after what he just said to me. You’re to
stay at the studio until he arrives.’ Lucy put her hands to her
mouth in shock.

‘
No!’ she exclaimed.

Chapter Eighteen
:

It was still dark when Lucy crept out of bed. She’d had a
sleepless night. Lucy had argued bitterly with Bethany after the
telephone call, pleading with her with all the powers of persuasion
that she could muster, but her Aunt was adamant. She could not go
against Dad. She dared not help Lucy anymore. She was in enough
trouble as it was, she said.

As with the night before, Lucy slept on the fold-down bed on
the sleeping platform just a meter or so away from Bethany’s own
bed. The studio was hardly luxurious and there was no spare room
for her to sleep in.

Lucy crept out of bed as stealthily as she could and gathered
up her shoes and clothes. She was worried that the steps down from
the sleeping platform would creak and wake Bethany up. She planned
to whisper back that she was just going to the toilet, but had no
idea whether that would work. Fortunately, even though the steps
did creak a little, Bethany was deeply asleep and did not stir at
all. In fact Bethany was so quiet on her bed, that Lucy was half
convinced that she was lying there awake, listening to her. The
thought gave Lucy the shivers.

Lucy got to the bottom and then crept through the dark studio.
In a corner where she hoped that Bethany would not hear, she pulled
on her clothes and shoes. She was as ready as she would ever be.
Lucy opened the latch to the door, carefully pulled it ajar and
slipped through into the cold air outside. She dared not pull it
to, as the click of the latch might wake Bethany. Instead she
pulled the door as far closed as she could. Then she looked around
her at the dark farmyard.

Lucy wasn’t used to being awake so early and felt a strange
mixture of anxiety and anticipation. It was so early that not even
the birds were singing. The farmyard was eerily quiet and she could
only just make out the outlines of the buildings in the
darkness.

Lucy set off at a brisk pace, out of the farmyard, through the
open gate and up the lane that they had driven up and down just
yesterday. In daylight she had studied the lane as they drove and
it had seemed so easy to her to find her way if she wanted. Now, in
the darkness, she could not make out a single feature. Yet the lane
was leading up the hill and she knew that she had to go up the road
and not down and that eventually after the leftwards fork, she
would reach the larger road that traced its way along the coast.
She would have to turn left at the top and then it would be a long,
long walk before she got to the lighthouse beach. It must be five
miles at least she reckoned, but really she had very little
idea.

Time was against her. As soon as Bethany woke up, she’d
realise exactly where Lucy had escaped to. She’d jump in her Land
Rover and cut her off before she got anywhere near the lighthouse.
Her only hope was that Bethany would sleep in and wouldn’t notice
that she’d disappeared. When Bethany had stayed at their house in
the past, she’d noticed that she was quite a heavy sleeper and Dad
had had to wake her up with the smell of freshly brewed coffee
before Bethany had dragged herself out of bed, bleary eyed. Dad had
said once that Bethany was a night owl, not an early bird. Lucy
sincerely hoped that Bethany would live up to that reputation this
morning. It was Sunday after all.

Dawn was creeping over the horizon and with it the darkness
was lifting from the country landscape around her. She heard a
sheep ‘baa’ from the field next to the lane. The wet dew hung to
the grass in the verges either side of the road and, as it got
lighter, Lucy could make out spiders’ webs heavy with dew drops. It
had been a cold night and Lucy shivered inside the fleece jacket
that Bethany had lent her. She’d only just run away from home, Lucy
thought to herself and now barely a day later she was running away
from Bethany too. There was no one left to run away from now. She
felt an overwhelming sense of longing and loneliness in her chest.
Only the thought of Spirit out there in the sea, not so very far
from where she was walking right now, spurred her on. It was light
enough to see now and Lucy recognised a clump of ferns that she’d
seen the day before. She came to the fork in the road and
confidently took the left fork up to the main road which ran along
the coast.

Lucy started to worry again that Storm would be waiting for
her already at first light and that Bethany would soon realise that
she had gone and come in pursuit of her. The only way to get there
quickly was to hitch a lift. The words of her Dad rang through her
mind, ‘Never never never take a lift with a stranger’ he had said.
Lucy knew he was right, but there was nothing for it. The first car
that came round the bend, she put her arm and thumb out for a lift.
The small Mini pulled over. Lucy was standing by a gate and
resolved to just jump over if the person in the car looked at all
weird. Instead when the man wound down his window and peered up at
her, she saw the friendly, straightforward face of a young man of
about twenty five. His hair was all over the place, as though he’d
only just got out of bed and hadn’t had a chance to pull a comb
across his head.

‘
You okay there?’ he asked, glancing at his wrist-watch. It
looked like he was in a hurry to get somewhere.

‘
I need to get to the lighthouse bay along the
coast.’

‘
You’re in luck. I’m going that way myself. Hop in.’ he
replied. Lucy climbed into the small car.