The Magic Charm (2 page)

Quickly, before she could change her mind, Antonia turned away from her own road and walked down the alley that led to the coastal path.

B
reaking into a jog Antonia followed the coastal path until it forked. Then turning right she scrambled down the tiny lane that led to Gull Bay, a secluded cove away from the main beach. The cove was empty. Antonia dumped her bag by a rock, pulled off her shoes and socks and ran across the powder-white sand to the sea.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, squinting into the afternoon sun. “Dolphins.”

Four common dolphins, two large and two small, were swimming at the mouth of the cove. Excitedly Antonia waded into the water. She’d never seen them so close to the beach before. The largest dolphin had a distinctive yellow blaze that stretched from his face all the way to his dorsal fin. Awestruck, Antonia stared until a soft clicking noise caught her attention. It sounded like a dolphin, but it was too close to be coming from the dolphins in the sea. Something was tickling Antonia’s neck. Her hand moved to her dolphin charm, soft and slippery against her skin. It was vibrating.

“What’s happening?” whispered Antonia.

With a shaking hand she covered the dolphin necklace and the clicking noises softened. Thinking
she was imagining things Antonia uncovered the charm then quickly covered it again. The clicking grew loud then quiet like a radio being turned up and down. It can’t be! Suddenly Antonia felt as if the dolphins were calling to her. They were telling her to swim out to them. But she wasn’t allowed in the water alone. Mum and Dad had drummed that into her as soon as she was able to walk. The urge to swim to the dolphins was overwhelming. Antonia hitched her yellow checked school dress around her waist and splashed further into the sea.
This is wrong
, said her brain.
It’s dangerous. You’ll be grounded for ever if you get caught
. The water reached her chest. Antonia took a deep breath, stretched out her arms and swam.

Dangerous, dangerous
, thrummed her brain.

It didn’t feel dangerous. It felt like the most natural thing in the world. Antonia’s legs seemed
to meld together as they kicked out, dolphin-style. She was hardly aware of her clothes. Her body felt streamlined as it sliced through the waves of the incoming tide. It was exhilarating. As Antonia neared the dolphins she saw they were watching her and she hoped they wouldn’t take fright and swim away. On impulse she called out, “Please stay.”

Her voice, a shrill whistle, startled her. She cleared her throat and tried again but all that came out was a series of dolphin-like clicks. Antonia’s brain whirled. What was happening to her? She cleared her throat.

“Hello,” she spluttered, swallowing a mouthful of sea. “My name’s Antonia.”

There. She was speaking properly now. Maybe, for a second, the sea water had made her voice go funny. Then a strange clicking voice called out, “Silver Dolphin.”

And with a whistle-like cry Antonia heard herself reply, “I’m coming.”

She swam all the way up to the four dolphins and stopped in front of the largest. He stared at her, his eyes sparkling like sun on raindrops.

“Silver Dolphin,” he clicked. “You answered the dolphin’s call.”

Antonia’s head was dizzy with excitement. For ages she’d dreamt of swimming with the dolphins and now here she was, not just in the water with them, but talking to them too. How could that be? Was she turning into a dolphin? She glanced down at her legs and saw with relief that they were both still there.

The dolphin opened his mouth as if he were laughing at her.

“Believe it,” he whistled kindly. “It’s true. You are our new Silver Dolphin.”

“Me? A Silver Dolphin? What does that mean?” she whistled back.

“It means that you will care for the sea and all the dolphins and creatures living here. It means that you will answer our call when we need help.”

“That’s what Claudia said I had to do when she gave me the necklace.” Antonia stared at the dolphin. “Do you know Claudia?”

“Yes,” the dolphin nodded. “And my name is Spirit. I’m the leader of a dolphin pod that lives out at sea. Pollution has been causing us terrible problems, but the Silver Dolphin makes things better for us. Sadly our Silver Dolphin can’t swim with us now so you have been chosen for the role. Whenever pollution is causing harm we will call on you. If you don’t want to help then you must say so now and we will search for a new Silver Dolphin.”

Questions raced around Antonia’s brain. Why had she been chosen to take the Silver Dolphin’s place? Who had chosen her? And how did Claudia fit into all of this? There was so much she didn’t understand. She wasn’t even sure if this was really happening. Perhaps she’d fallen asleep and was having the most amazing dream. The four dolphins watched her expectantly.

“Please say yes,” squeaked the littlest one.

Antonia stared at him. His eyes sparkled mischievously and he bobbed in the water as if he could hardly bear to keep still. He looked like Spirit, his silver body lined with a narrow stripe that ran from his eyes to his mouth and chin to flipper.

“Please?”

How could she refuse?

“Yes, I’d love to be your Silver Dolphin,” she answered.

The dolphins stared blankly at her and Antonia realised she was speaking in her human voice. She tried again, concentrating hard on behaving like a dolphin and was overjoyed when her voice clicked out her reply. “Yes, I’ll be your new Silver Dolphin.”

“Bubbly!” The littlest dolphin squealed with excitement and swam in circles around Antonia.

“Bubbles, calm down,” said Spirit sternly. “Bubbles is my youngest,” he added. “Then there’s Star, my wife, and Dream, my daughter.”

Dream was only a bit larger than Bubbles, but seemed much more grown-up.

“Hello,” she said indifferently.

Star was very pretty, with similar markings to Spirit only she was lighter in colour. She swam up to Antonia and gently rubbed her nose against Antonia’s. “Thank you,” she said. “It’s not easy
being a Silver Dolphin, but we will help you as much as we can.”

“How will I know when I’m needed?” Antonia stuttered.

“You will hear our call,” said Spirit.

Antonia touched her silver dolphin necklace.

“That’s right,” said Spirit. “The necklace is our link with you. I will call you again over the next few days so you can practise answering. Star is right. It’s not easy being a Silver Dolphin. The work can be hard and dangerous.”

Antonia’s stomach fluttered. She desperately wanted to be a good Silver Dolphin, but would she be good enough?

“Can I teach her some swimming moves?” asked Bubbles. He leapt out of the water, his body making a perfect arch.

“Show off!” said Dream.

Spirit clicked a laugh.

“Not yet, Bubbles. Antonia needs time to take all this in. Let her go home now and we will call her again soon. Always wear your charm, Silver Dolphin. It is the only way we can call you.”

Antonia didn’t want to go back home. She wanted to swim with the dolphins, especially Bubbles, and learn all they could teach her. But she didn’t dare disobey Spirit so she whistled a goodbye and headed back to the beach.

As she stepped out of the sea the water poured off her. By the time she’d padded back to her bag and shoes only her hair was slightly damp. Antonia clasped her hand over her dolphin charm. It was silent now, but its body still felt soft and slippery. Just like Star when she’d rubbed Antonia on the nose. Antonia grinned, then catching sight of her watch the grin immediately vanished.

“Oh, no!” she gasped.

It was nearly four o’clock. Her mum would be home any minute and if Antonia wasn’t there she’d be in huge trouble. Shoving her feet in her shoes she snatched up her bag and raced up the beach.

W
hen Antonia arrived home she was surprised to find the house empty. For a guilty moment she wondered if Mum had gone out to look for her, but then the front door banged open and Mum and Jessica crowded into the tiny hall.

“Sorry, darling,” Mum said, slipping out of her shoes and giving Antonia a hug. “We were late leaving school. Someone fell over in the
playground and needed a plaster.”

Antonia wriggled free.

“That’s OK. Can I have something to eat?”

She was starving.
It must be all that swimming
, she thought, touching her dolphin charm.

“Yes, sure. What’s that you’re wearing?” replied Mum.

“It’s a necklace. I won the Sea Watch competition.”

“Did you? That’s fantastic. Let’s have a proper look.”

Antonia swept back her long blonde hair so Mum could look at the necklace.

“It’s beautiful.”

“I know.”

Antonia longed to say more. She wanted to tell her mother how the necklace had called her into the sea to swim with real dolphins. She was dying
to say that she was the new Silver Dolphin. But she kept her mouth tightly shut. Mum would probably think she was mad. Besides, she had a feeling that the necklace might not work if she told people about it.

“Clever girl,” said Mum proudly. “What did Sophie say? I bet she was pleased for you.”

“I think so,” said Antonia, remembering Sophie’s comments and feeling slightly uncomfortable.

“No doubt she was surprised. It was a poster competition for the Sea Watch charity, wasn’t it? It must be the first art competition she hasn’t won.”

“Yes, it was…I’m going to volunteer for Sea Watch as well,” Antonia added. Mum was right. Sophie must have acted strangely because she’d been surprised. “Can I go to the beach with Sophie tomorrow afternoon? She said her dad will take us.”

“Of course you can,” said Mum. “Dad and I are going into town tomorrow afternoon so it’ll save dragging you around with us. Now what would you like to eat?”

That evening Antonia found it hard to stop fidgeting. Her fingers kept straying to the dolphin necklace. What if the dolphins called her now? How would she get out of the house without Mum and Dad finding out? They’d never agree to her going down to the beach on her own. By bedtime Antonia was so jumpy she didn’t think she could possibly sleep. Looking out of her bedroom window before drawing the curtains on the summer night Antonia saw the dolphins swimming in the bay. Bubbles, easily identifiable as the littlest, kept leaping out of the water. Antonia grinned, sure he was putting on a show
just for her. The sight of the dolphins,
her
dolphins, reassured her. She didn’t think Spirit would call her in the night, but if he did then she would find a way to answer his call. Antonia stopped worrying, climbed into bed and drifted off to sleep, to dream of dolphins.

Early the next morning Antonia’s dad took her to Sandy Bay beach for her surfing lesson. Jessica insisted on going too.

“When can I learn to surf?” she asked as she watched Antonia pull on her wetsuit.

“When you can swim as well as Antonia,” said Dad, ruffling Jessica’s hair.

“You’ll love learning to surf, it’s great,” said Antonia enthusiastically.

Jessica frowned.

“But that won’t be for ages. Antonia’s brilliant
at swimming. She swims like a dolphin.”

Antonia jumped. What did Jessica mean?

“Naomi’s sister says you’re an ace swimmer,” said Jessica wistfully.

Antonia laughed with relief. Naomi was Jessica’s best friend and her sister was in Antonia’s class.

“You’ll soon be able to swim like me if you keep practising,” she said as she fastened her wetsuit and picked up her board.

“Enjoy your lesson. See you later,” said Dad.

“See you,” said Antonia.

Under her wetsuit Antonia could feel the dolphin necklace pressing against her skin. What would her teacher say if the dolphins called her during her surfing lesson and she had to take off? The thought made her stomach flip. She wished she would get a call soon. All this waiting and
wondering was making her head spin.

The surf was good. Antonia soon lost herself in the thrill of riding the waves. After her lesson she let Jessica sit on her board while she towed her along in the shallows. Jessica’s eyes shone with excitement.

“I’m going to learn how to swim better quickly,” she said.

“You do that,” Antonia agreed. She loved surfing and wanted everyone else to love it too.

There were tuna sandwiches for lunch with cherry tomatoes, crisps and a glass of iced lemon. Antonia ate in the garden with Jessica.

“Can I come to the beach with you?” asked Jessica, through a mouthful of sandwich.

“Not today,” said Antonia.

“Please? I don’t want to go to the shops with Mum and Dad.”

“Sorry, Jess,” said Antonia. “But I’m going with Sophie and her dad.”

“You’re mean,” said Jessica.

“No I’m not. You don’t take me with you when you go round to Naomi’s house.”

“That’s different,” said Jessica. “Naomi’s too small for you.”

“And my friends are too big for you,” chuckled Antonia. “Why don’t you want to go to the shops? You’ll have a great time. Mum will buy you some sweets if you’re good.”

“But I want to swim! And I want a necklace like yours. Can I try it on?”

“Erm, not now, Jess,” Antonia scrambled to her feet. Was it her imagination or had the dolphin charm vibrated just then? Ignoring Jessica’s cries for her to stay she hurried into the house, dumped her plate and glass in the kitchen then ran upstairs
to her room. It was very quiet. Her silver necklace lay still. Antonia stood in a beam of sunlight spilling through the slanted window and tried not to feel disappointed. She pulled her swimming costume out of her drawer and put it on under her clothes. She might as well get ready to meet Sophie.

Antonia was bundling things into her bag when the dolphin charm juddered against her skin. She started, trembling with excitement as the dolphin charm started vibrating. The dolphins were calling. Antonia grabbed a towel, shoved it in her bag then raced downstairs.

“Bye, Mum, bye, Dad,” she called.

“Not so fast,” said Mum, blocking the front door. “Here, give this to Sophie’s dad for ice cream.” She thrust a note at Antonia. “And what time will you be back?”