Of course you can!
Claudia’s voice sounded so clearly in her head it was as if she was standing beside her.
I’m always here for you, Silver Dolphin.
Claudia! Antonia felt tears of relief welling at the corners of her eyes and she swallowed them back.
I’m at Gull Bay.
I’ll be with you shortly, Claudia answered.
While Antonia waited she wondered where Cai was. She was hopeful that he would have rescued the kittiwake and be on his way home by now. Would he be cross with her for getting caught? Antonia felt hot then cold with shame. Maybe it was a good thing she’d almost been discovered. It would certainly remind her to be more careful in future. Reaching inside her school polo shirt, she lifted the dolphin charm out and held it in her hand. The dolphin’s body was warm and silky-soft to touch. Did she deserve the trust of the Silver Dolphins?
Spirit, I’m sorry.
The dolphin’s tail flicked lightly against her skin. Antonia smiled. She might feel bad about what had happened, but Spirit had already forgiven her. Hearing a car in the lane, she tucked the charm back inside her clothes and smoothed down her hair. Seconds later the car appeared with Claudia in the driver’s seat, looking uncharacteristically smart in her suit, and Cai next to her, smiling and waving. The remaining guilt lodged inside Antonia evaporated. Cai had forgiven her too. Everything was going to be fine.
Chapter Six
“I rescued the bird,” said Cai proudly, twisting round in his seat. “He was a bit dazed, but he wasn’t injured.”
“Well done. I can’t believe I was stupid enough to get caught,” said Antonia. “I didn’t even hear the boat.”
She quickly explained what had happened to her after she’d been plucked from the cliffs, ending her story with an apology.
“Don’t worry about it,” said Claudia. “We all make mistakes. You didn’t give away any secrets and you’re safe, and that’s the main thing.”
“It won’t happen again,” Antonia vowed. “I’m going to have eyes everywhere.”
“I rescued these too,” said Cai, passing Antonia’s shoes back to her. “It was a tough job. The pong nearly knocked me out.”
“Ha ha! Thanks, Cai.” Gratefully, Antonia shoved her feet into them.
“And guess what?” Cai paused dramatically. “The bag the bird got stuck in must have been dropped by the film crew. It had ‘short microphone’ printed on the side.”
“That’s terrible!” Antonia exclaimed.
“I’m going to have a word with the film crew tomorrow,” said Claudia. “They probably don’t realise how dangerous litter can be.”
She turned the car into Antonia’s road and stopped outside her house.
“Your bag is at Sea Watch, but Cai can give it to you at school. It’s Friday tomorrow, so would you like to stay the night, Antonia? I’m releasing Tilly this weekend. We could do it early Saturday morning before anyone’s about.”
Antonia’s stomach turned a somersault. It was exciting that Tilly was finally going back to the sea, but she was still only a little seal.
“Yes, please, I’d love to stay,” Antonia said. “And thanks again for the lift.”
“You’re welcome,” said Claudia.
Antonia didn’t feel like going indoors straight away. She went through the side gate and stood in the back garden, staring out at the sea. It was like looking up into space. The ocean stretched away from her – an enormous expanse of blue, full of hidden mysteries and dangers. Soon Tilly would be out there and they’d probably never see her again. Antonia shivered apprehensively then quickly scolded herself. She was being silly. The sea was where Tilly belonged.
“Antonia, you’re home!”
Jessica hurtled into the garden and threw herself at her big sister. “You’ve been ages. Was the Litter Fishing party good? It was so exciting seeing you and Cai up on that stage. Were you nervous?”
“Slow down, Jess,” said Antonia, laughing. “Let’s go inside and I’ll tell you all about it.”
When Antonia walked into the classroom the following day, Lauren leapt up and clapped loudly.
“Here she is, let’s hear it for the crazy girl!” she jeered.
“Yay! Crazy girl!” shouted Becky, enthusiastically clapping along.
“What are you like?” Lauren sounded friendly, but her eyes were spiteful. “Mr Brewer, our director, said he’s had all sorts of problems with fans, but he’s never met anyone quite as crazy as you. What did you think you were doing?”
“I was rescuing a bird,” said Antonia coldly. “It had a plastic bag wrapped round its head.” She nearly added that the bag had been dropped by one of the film crew, but changed her mind. Lauren would probably accuse her of making that up.
“Loser,” said Lauren.
“No, you’re the loser,” said Sophie, jabbing her finger at Lauren. “Leave her alone.”
Antonia’s tongue was jumping with retorts, but she held them back, knowing it would only encourage Lauren. Touching Sophie on the arm she said quietly, “Thanks, but let’s just ignore her. She’s not worth it.”
Sophie glared at Lauren, then deliberately turning her back on her said, “Antonia Lee, you are too nice. And you’re definitely not a loser.”
It was one of the longest Fridays ever. At every opportunity Lauren kept whispering, “Crazy girl,” and “Loser,” at Antonia.
“She doesn’t frighten me. If she did then I’d say something to Mrs Howard,” Antonia said sensibly to her friends.
When the bell went at 3.15pm, Antonia and Cai were some of the first out of school. They hurried to Sea Watch, stopping off at the house to put Antonia’s overnight bag indoors. As they came down the garden towards the Sea Watch building they could hear Claudia and Sally, an adult helper, calling out loudly to each other.
“What’s going on?” asked Cai, breaking into a run.
“It’s Tilly,” said Antonia.
Tilly the seal wriggled round the Sea Watch building and, catching sight of Antonia and Cai, honked excitedly at them. She was being pursued by Claudia and Sally, both puffing hard even though Tilly wasn’t moving very fast. Antonia and Cai ran towards them so that Tilly was surrounded. Realising she couldn’t go anywhere, Tilly uttered a playful grunt and smacked her tail on the ground.
“She’s like a puppy,” said Cai, “I keep thinking she’s going to roll over and beg for her tummy to be scratched.”
“She would if we encouraged her,” said Antonia. “She’s too friendly for her own good.”
“And nosy,” said Claudia. “Sally accidentally left the gate open and Tilly was through it in a flash. The sooner she gets back to the sea the better. She’s bored here.”
Together they herded Tilly back to the deepwater pool. It was a slow job as Tilly awkwardly wiggled her way across the grass, but once she was back in the pool she moved like an arrow, swiftly speeding through the water.
Claudia closed the gate to the deepwater pool and then locked it. “Right,” she said. “I’m going along to Gull Bay to have a word with the film crew.”
Antonia froze, hoping Claudia wasn’t going to ask them to go with her. She could just imagine what Lauren would have to say about that on Monday.
“Sally, are you all right to stay and keep an eye on things for me while I’m gone? Great, thanks. And you two,” Claudia nodded at Antonia and Cai, “please could you dig out the large cage so we can transport Tilly to the beach? We’ll need to drive her to a spot further down the coast tomorrow. If we let her out on our beach she might decide to stay.”
Antonia huffed out a sigh of relief. “No problem. Shall we clean out the gulls too?”
“Emily, Eleanor and Karen asked if they could do the gulls today. But you could clean out the razorbill. He’s looking much better now that he’s had a second bath.”
While Antonia and Cai cleaned out the razorbill’s cage they argued about what to call him.
“Billy,” said Cai firmly. “Billy the
razorbill.”
“Billy’s too similar to Tilly,” said Antonia.
“Tilly won’t be here after tomorrow,” said Cai. “What? Don’t look at me like that. I’m going to miss her too, but this bird definitely looks like a Billy.”
“Urr,” said the razorbill, as if he was agreeing with him. “Urr, arrc, arrc.”
Antonia and Cai fell about laughing.
“You win,” said Antonia, giggling. “Billy he is.”
Once the razorbill was in a clean cage with fresh water and some fish for tea, Antonia and Cai went to look in the shed for the large cage. It didn’t take long to find. When the shed was erected, shortly after the deepwater pool had been built, Claudia decided that keeping it tidy could be one of the volunteers’ chores.
“There’s no point in storing things in a shed if it’s too messy to find them again,” she’d said.
They left the cage by the deepwater pool, said goodbye to Sally who had a couple of little jobs left to do, then walked up to the house.
“That’s good timing,” said Cai. “Here’s Aunty Claudia.”
“She doesn’t look happy,” said Antonia, quickening her step. “I hope everything’s OK.”
Claudia parked the car in the driveway and climbed out, raising her eyebrows at Antonia and Cai.
“That did not go well,” she said crisply. “Mr Brewer was most unhelpful. He said he had more important things to worry about than litter. When I pointed out that not only could it kill the local wildlife, but it also ruined the scenery, he said that he paid people to work for him and if I wanted the countryside cleaned then perhaps I should do the same!”
“He really said that?” Cai was aghast.
“He did,” said Claudia, forcefully shutting the car door. “The assistant director looked pretty shocked too. It’s a shame she’s not in charge. The only thing we can do now is to have a litter pick every evening once the film crew has packed up.”
“We’ll help,” said Antonia and Cai at once.
“Thanks,” said Claudia. “We’ll start today after tea. They’ll have finished filming by then. If you two could get some disposable gloves and bags ready, then I’ll start cooking.”
“I don’t like Mr Brewer,” said Antonia, heading towards the Sea Watch building. “He’s rude and inconsiderate.”
“At least he doesn’t live here,” said Cai thankfully. “I wonder what’s for tea. I’m starving.”
Chapter Seven
The following morning Antonia, Cai and Claudia put Tilly in the cage, loaded it into the back of Claudia’s car and drove her to a secluded beach several miles west of Sandy Bay. The tide was out and it was a long walk down to the sea. Tilly was heavy and halfway there they stopped for a rest, gently placing the cage on the sand. Antonia shoved her hands in her pockets to warm them up. There was a cold sting to the March air and she was glad it was Tilly and not her who was about to go into the water.
“Ready?” asked Claudia.
Antonia and Cai nodded, then took up their positions on opposite sides of the cage.
“Not far now,” Claudia reassured them as they lifted Tilly again.
The sand became darker and more compact, glistening with water and strands of seaweed that squelched under Antonia’s feet.
“Here,” said Claudia, stopping about a metre from a line of surf licking at the sand.
Carefully, they lowered the cage down with its door pointing seawards. Tilly’s whiskers twitched excitedly and she rattled the cage door with her nose.
“Impatient!” said Antonia, chuckling.
“It’s probably best if one of us opens the door and everyone else waits further up the beach so Tilly isn’t distracted,” said Claudia. “Who wants to let her out?”
“You do it,” said Cai to Antonia.
Antonia smiled gratefully. Cai knew she had a huge soft spot for Tilly.
“Bye, Tilly. Have fun and be good,” he said.
Claudia walked round the cage studying Tilly as if she’d never seen her before.
“She’s fine,” she said at last. “Definitely ready to go home. We’ll wait up there for you Antonia, by the boulders.”
Claudia set off with Cai scurrying alongside her. Antonia waited until she and Tilly were alone. To her surprise, her heart was hammering like a drum. She took a deep breath to calm herself before unlocking the cage door.
“Bye, Tilly. Be safe.”
The impatient seal nudged the door open and, grunting happily, wriggled on to the sand. She lifted her dappled-grey head and sniffed the air then, without so much as a backwards glance, headed into the surf. Antonia bit the inside of her cheek, determined that she wasn’t going to cry. This was the best result ever. They’d nursed Tilly to good health without making her tame or dependent on people.
She kept her eyes on the seal as she splashed happily into the water and swam away. Picking up the cage, Antonia hurried up the beach to Claudia and Cai.
“Another Sea Watch success,” she said, forcing a smile.
They stood and watched Tilly’s shiny head bobbing in the sea until the seal dived underwater and was gone for good.
Antonia didn’t say much on the way home, but once she was back at Sea Watch there was so much to do she stopped worrying and immersed herself in the chores. The rest of the weekend flew past. On Sunday morning she caught up with Sophie, who had tons of new sketches and gossip about the film set to share.
“The actors are really nice,” said Sophie excitedly. “Danny Appleton signed my sketch book and Kate Mellor, who plays Ellie, gave me a jar of body glitter. Kate’s sister is an artist and she uses body glitter like paint. Kate said I should try it too.”
On Sunday afternoon Antonia reluctantly did her homework. She had twice as much now she was in Year Six and it seemed twice as difficult too! Then it was all the usual Sunday evening chores – washing her hair, checking her school bag and helping Mum make up the lunchboxes ready for the following day.
By Monday afternoon the weekend was a distant memory and Antonia felt like she’d been back at school for days.
“I can’t wait for home time,” she moaned to Sophie as they worked together on a model of a glacier for their geography project.
“There’s only an hour to go,” soothed Sophie. “Are you going to Sea Watch or do you want to come to Gull Bay with me to watch the filming?”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m going to Sea Watch,” said Antonia.
However, when Mrs Howard asked the class to clear up at home time, Antonia knew that Sea Watch would have to wait. Sensing that Spirit was about to call, she cleared up in record time, stuffing her pencil case and empty lunchbox into her bag just as her silver dolphin charm leapt to life. At the first flick of its tail, Antonia glanced over at Cai. He nodded, showing he’d felt it too, and rapidly piled his possessions into his bag. The bell sounded, but Antonia hardly heard it. Her attention was on the shrill whistle that only she and Cai could hear.
Silver Dolphin, we need you.
Spirit, I hear your call, she silently answered.
Antonia stood by her chair, anxious that Mrs Howard would notice she was ready and let her go. Every second of delay in the classroom could make a difference if Spirit’s call was urgent. Gradually the class quietened. Mrs Howard scanned the room.
“Well, that makes a nice change,” she said, smiling straight at Lauren Hampton. “Lauren, Becky, Antonia and Cai, you were ready first so you can all go.”
Faster than athletes starting a sprint race, Lauren and Becky grabbed their bags and made for the door. Spurred on by the dolphin charm thrumming against her neck, Antonia beat them to it.
“Out of the way!” shrieked Lauren. She barged past, knocking Antonia against the door frame and almost pushing her flat on her face.
Gulping back the pain, Antonia regained her balance only to be shoved again by Becky.
“Lauren, Becky, come back here at once,” thundered Mrs Howard. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing. I didn
’t let you go first to attack other members of the class. Apologise to Antonia at once.”
“I’m fine, really,” said Antonia, keen to be on her way.
“This is not fine. I will not tolerate such loutish behaviour. Lauren, Becky, I’m waiting for you to apologise.”
The look Lauren gave Antonia was pure poison and made her toes curl. It was all very well Mrs Howard insisting on an apology, but Antonia knew she would pay for it later and also it was holding her up. Luckily Cai knew better than to wait. After checking that Antonia wasn’t hurt, he slipped past her to answer Spirit’s call.
“Sorry.” Lauren and Becky finally spat an apology at Antonia.
Tossing her head, Lauren turned to Mrs Howard, “We have to go, Miss, or we’re going to be late. Becky and I have parts in Stage Struck.”
Mrs Howard sighed. “Go on then. And no running in the corridor,” she shouted after them.
Antonia’s dolphin charm was beating urgently against her neck. Slinging her bag back over her shoulder, she hurried along the corridor at a fast walk. Thank goodness the call had come now, not later when she would already be home. It would be easy to slip into the water unseen at Sandy Bay, whereas it would have been impossible nearer her house at Gull Bay with the film crew there. Once outside, Antonia broke into a run, weaving her way round the parents, grandparents and children congregating on the playground. There was no sign of Cai. Glad that he was already on his way, Antonia raced through the school gates and headed for the sea.
High Tide Page 3