The Girl Who Dreamt of Dolphins

by James Carmody

  The otters, not to be out-done, set about capturing all the fish and setting them on the stones at high water for the break of day, but were surprised when the dogs devoured all the fish and laughed at them.

  Dolphins swam amongst the otters and warned them of the danger of what they did. If they took all the fish, otter and dolphin alike would go hungry and the dogs would grow lazy, indolent and fat. So the next morning, just before the sun rose, the otters laid stones from the shallows on the high water rocks. The dogs, eager to be fed, fell greedily upon them before the sun had risen, but bit on the rocks instead and howled and barked in pain. They have howled and barked ever since.’

  Spirit smiled, he knew the story well. ‘Tell me how dolphins came to be’ he asked.

  ‘The North Star laid down a challenge to the South Star that he could shine down through the oceans and bring day to all the creatures of the depths. The South star declared to the North Star that she could shine through the very earth itself. But they both forgot about water and how it reflects and shatters their beams into a million points of light. The North Star shone with all his might, but instead of illuminating the depths, his light merely played on the surface and out of that light was created a male dolphin. The South Star shone with all her might, but her light too was split into thousands of points and out of her starlight was created the first female dolphin. And so dolphins are made of star light are destined to swim the seas like the million shattered beams of light that made us.’

  ‘And so’, said Storm turning to Spirit again, a note of seriousness creeping back into his voice, ‘When a shooting-star falls and a dolphin is born, we know that something special has occurred.’

  As Storm and Spirit idled along, the killer whales loomed closer. Three bulky shapes approached them in the water. Though over six metres long and weighing as many tonnes, the orcas were surprisingly quiet as they swam closer and closer. They came up on the two dolphins from behind so Spirit and Storm did not see their distinctive white chests and sides, which contrasted so markedly with their black backs.

  The orcas were moving in on the dolphins slowly, cautiously, but were more than capable of out-swimming the dolphins over longer distances, swimming as fast as thirty knots. With their exceptional eye-sight the orcas could see the two dolphins well. They had no need of their echo-location skills that day and at the moment they swam silently, for fear of giving themselves away before they began their attack.

  They knew by Storm’s size and markings that he would be able to easily resist them, but they focused instead on the younger, smaller dolphin, who to them seemed easier prey. All of a sudden, they began their attack.

  The three orcas appeared out of the grey green gloom of the sea, looming up on Storm and Spirit from behind. They had been silent in their approach, but now that they neared they started calling to each other as they swam. The two dolphins turned with a start. Before he knew what was happening, Spirit felt a great bang against his flank as one of the killer whales lunged in and battered him to one side. The shock of the blow half stunned Spirit and he spun in the water, not knowing which way up he was facing or what to do.

  ‘Swim Spirit, swim!’ shouted Storm desperately. Storm had turned just in time and had missed the blow from the second orca, but now he was separated from Spirit and knew that while they were apart, they were both in danger. Spirit regained his senses sufficient to start swimming out of the way, but as he did so, the big, dull faced orca turned ready to strike him once again.

  Before the orca had time to launch a second wave of attack Storm swam at him with all his might and landed a glancing blow on the side of the orcas head. Storm was much smaller than the whale, but he succeeded in hitting the orca in the eye, temporarily blinding him and buying enough time for Spirit to swim up to the surface and fill his lungs through his blow hole.

  ‘That’s right Spirit, now swim!’ commanded Storm, who swum up and joined him again. The two dolphins set off in flight away from the orcas, but suddenly saw one up ahead of them, ready to cut them off. They turned sharply, but the two orcas chasing them closed in on them from behind.

  This time the largest orca opened its massive jaws ready to bite at Storm, but the older dolphin turned again just in time and then leapt out of the water in a diversionary manoeuvre, as the Killer whale lunged on passed him. The two dolphins were separated again and Spirit was on his own.

  ‘Faster, faster, faster!’ Spirit urged himself on through the water in full flight, but he felt impotent against the might of the orcas, two of which were still gaining on him from behind.

  Storm turned in a wider arc, slicing through the water with all the speed and agility he could muster, in a desperate bid to outrun the whales and to rejoin Spirit. But the whales were gaining on Spirit and Storm knew all too well that the smaller, weaker dolphin was their target.

  In her bed, Lucy thrashed about in her sheets, anxiety a knot in the core of her stomach and every muscle in her body tense as she witnessed the attack on Spirit and Storm in dreams so vividly it felt as though she really was there with them.

  ‘Swim little one, swim!’ she implored Spirit, in her troubled dreams. ‘You can do it!’ But she could see that Spirit was flagging and that fear and tiredness were already catching up with the young dolphin. She could see the massive bulk of the orca gaining on him and, within seconds, the whale was close enough to open its mouth and take a swipe at Spirits tail fin with its row of hard teeth.

  ‘Turn left now!’ Lucy called out sharply.

  Spirit felt tired and did not know what to do. He was slowing, but then he heard a strange, unfamiliar voice, so close that he felt as though someone were right next to him. He turned left decisively in obedience to the voice and the orca’s mouth just closed on cold water, millimetres behind him. Suddenly Storm was at his side again.

  ‘I heard a voice!’ he exclaimed.

  ‘Just keep swimming’, the older dolphin commanded him ‘and keep close to the surface. They want to cut you off from your source of air and then drown you in the depths. Don’t give them the chance!’ They burst through the waves and into the daylight again as the orcas bore down relentlessly upon them.

  With a thump, Lucy found herself in a tangled heap of sheets and duvet on the floor of her room. She had slid out of bed in the struggle of the dreams and suddenly found herself awake. But a strange thing happened. The vision of dolphins in her head did not disappear as her mind jerked into wakefulness. She could see them still. She knelt on the floor looking onwards, as though staring through an open window.

  As they leapt through the white froth of the waves, Spirit looked ahead and saw a small, grey-white trawler in the distance, battling resolutely through the churning waters of the sea on its way back to port.

  ‘Turn towards the boat’ came the voice at Spirit’s side. But it wasn’t Storm and Spirit didn’t know where it came from.

  ‘Over there’ said Spirit to Storm. ‘We must go that way.’ They were too far from the islands to get to them quickly and Storm knew that with every passing minute Spirit’s strength would ebb to the point that he would fall easy prey to the orcas. He was getting short of ideas and he knew it.

  ‘Why?’ he gasped, as they swam on.

  ‘There’s a boat over there’ said Spirit. ‘If we get to it, then I think we’ll be safe.’

  ‘Let’s give it a go’ agreed Storm.

  The great bulk of the orcas seemed to move effortlessly through the water in pursuit, but Storm sensed that they were saving their strength for a final push when Spirit was sufficiently weakened. They hung back behind the two dolphins, knowing that their time would soon come.

  ‘Just keep going’ urged Lucy, ‘almost there!’ Spirit heard her words, without knowing where they came from or how, but they gave him strength and he surged onwards with Storm at his side.

  In the cabin of the trawler, the captain and his mate were making their way home. They had taken up their lobster pots and transferred their catch to
cages on the deck. The blue grey lobsters waved their huge pincers menacingly from behind the bars of their cages. The fisherman’s catch had been meagre and they were tired and weary. Suddenly, something caught the mate’s eye.

  ‘Look Nate’, he exclaimed suddenly ‘there in the East, there’re two dolphins coming towards us. Looks like the devil’s behind them!’

  The skipper, Nathaniel or Nate to his friends, had been standing over the small wheel of the vessel, his eyes on the horizon. He glanced to his right and saw that indeed yes, two dolphins were closing in on them and with a curious directness and speed. Then he looked beyond them and saw a hint of black and white bulk break the waters a short distance behind the dolphins.

  ‘By God, look Bob’ he exclaimed. ‘They’re being chased by orcas. They’re racing for their life!’

  The two dolphins persevered. They broke through the waves again and saw the small trawler was by now only two minutes away from them.

  ‘I don’t trust humans’ warned Storm. So we get to the boat. What then?’

  ‘You’ll see’ said Lucy, kneeling on the floor of her room, staring somehow at the scene in front of her. ‘Trust me little one.’

  ‘Trust me Storm,’ echoed Spirit. ‘you’ll see when we get there.’

  Nate the Captain, cut off the engine and he and his mate Bob burst out from the small cabin onto the deck. They could count one, two, three orcas gaining on the two dolphins, which were dwarfed by the bulky whales behind them. Bob grabbed a boat hook, but Nate bent through the open door and quietly unhooked the emergency flare, ready to fire it at the whales if he had to, a steely look upon his face.

  ‘We’re there!’ exclaimed Spirit, his body wracked with tiredness. ‘Swim around the boat.’ The older dolphin had seen a lot, but he was struck by the certainty in the young dolphins voice and though he distrusted man, right now he feared the orcas more and was glad to hug close to the sides of the vessel and seek sanctuary in its shadow.

  The three orcas slowed, some two hundred metres off, suddenly aware of the presence of the boat in front of them.

  ‘Be off with you!’ cried Bob, banging his boat-hook noisily against the side of the vessel. ‘Get away you great nasty lummocks!’ The two dolphins put their heads out of the water, caught Bob’s eye and whistled their thanks. Nate stood, his flare held ready in his hand for firing, looking out towards the orcas in the distance. The stand-off seemed to last an eternity, but a minute or so later, the whales turned in the water and peeled off in the direction of the distant horizon.

  ‘Are they gone?’ asked Bob.

  ‘I’m not sure’ answered Nate cautiously. Bob glanced down at Spirit and Storm.

  ‘I think you two might have had a lucky escape’ he said. The two dolphins circled the boat slowly, thankful to rest and breath easily again.

  ‘Come on’ said Nate. ‘Let’s start the engine again and make for port. I reckon those dolphins will keep with us for a while yet.’ He was right. As the little trawler resumed its course back home, chugging out smelly diesel fumes behind it, Spirit and Storm stayed close. Storm knew that Spirit needed a chance to recover and that things could have turned out much more badly for them than it actually had.

  ‘It was a good idea of yours young Spirit, to come to this boat. What made you think it?’

  ‘I heard a voice’ answered Spirit simply. ‘A voice told me to turn hard to the left just before the orca could bite me. A voice told me to come to this boat.’ Storm didn’t say anything, but his mind was full of worrying, conflicting thoughts. They stayed with the trawler for an hour or so, until they were sure they were absolutely safe and then they both took a great leap at the bows, in thanks to the two fishermen, before heading off to the east and the rest of their pod.

  ‘Good luck’ said Bob quietly to himself. He turned to Nate, ‘Have you ever seen the like before?’ he asked. Nate knew well that killer whales could target young or weak dolphins and might chase them for hours until, tired out, the calf or young would allow itself to be surrounded and the whales would stop it from surfacing until it drowned. He’d never seen such a hunt himself though, in all his years of fishing. He shook his head.

  As the two dolphins swam on safely back to their pod, Lucy slowly let go of her vision and the image of them faded away. She became conscious once more of her bedroom around her. She looked around and shivered. She heaved the great mass of duvet back onto her bed. She felt exhausted before the day had even begun. She glanced at her clock. It was much later than she thought and she realised with a start that she must rush if she wasn’t going to be late for school. But as she dressed, her mind still lingered on the image of the small dolphin, safe again and her heart was full of relief at the thought.

  Chapter Five:

  By the end of school that day Lucy felt exhausted. She’d have loved to have gone right home to curl up on the sofa and relax, but instead she had to go to the after-school club until Dad was ready to fetch her after work. The other kids raced around her, throwing paper airplanes across the room and generally trying the patience of the club supervisors, whilst Lucy sat disconsolately in the midst of the chaos, staring into space now that she had finished her homework. None of her other friends were in the club that afternoon and she felt as bored as she was tired. Minutes seemed to slow down into hours and the more she willed the minutes to pass, the less they seemed to.

  Lucy’s mind kept returning to her dreams that morning just before she had woken up. It hadn’t felt like it was just a dream, or even a vivid dream. It felt as though Lucy was actually there. More than that, she hadn’t just observed the scene as it unfolded, she felt as though she’d been able to reach out in some way and actually speak to the little dolphin. When she came to she’d felt okay, but by half past nine she’d felt more drained than she had ever felt in her life, as though she hadn’t slept at all. Mrs Penhaligon had had to speak to her sharply to get her attention. She’d missed swimming that lunchtime and had been embarrassed when Ms Baldwin had caught up with her at the end of the day and asked her if she was unwell.

  The minutes ticked on slowly and the other kids started to get picked up by their parents. ‘Come on Dad, come on Dad’ muttered Lucy under her breath. Soon they were down to three children and the carers started looking at their watches and eyeing the main door. By ten past six, Lucy was the only child left. She felt tired, hungry and fed up.

  ‘Have you got a mobile phone Lucy?’ Ben asked. ‘Maybe your Dad’s sent you a text or left you a message.’

  ‘No sorry’ Lucy replied. ‘I had a mobile phone but it fell out of my bag a couple of weeks ago and smashed on the ground. Dad said he’d get me a new one but he hasn’t got round to it yet.’

  ‘Ok Lucy, I’m going to call your Dad now’ said Ben. He went to the office and dialled Dad’s mobile number. There was no answer. Ben came back in.

  ‘It just rings and rings Lucy’ said Ben. ‘Doesn’t your father have voicemail?’

  ‘He should do’ she replied. ‘Maybe it’s not working’ she added, concerned and worried. ‘I expect he’ll turn up in a few minutes.’

  By half past six Dad still hadn’t arrived. Everyone else had gone. It was just her and Ben sitting there in their coats, half the lights switched off, with Ben jangling the buildings keys impatiently in his pocket.

  ‘I can’t very well just leave you here Lucy’ he said. ‘I’ve tried your Dad ten times in the last fifteen minutes and it just rings and rings. No one picks up at your home and there’s no one else on your contact sheet to call. Surely there’s someone else I can get to collect you?’

  ‘Nope,’ said Lucy. ‘there’s no one else in a hundred and fifty miles of here.’ She thought wistfully of Bethany, far off in Cornwall.

  ‘What about one of your friends?’ asked Ben. ‘Do you have a number for one of them?’

  ‘I do at home’ replied Lucy, ‘but not here.’ The minutes ground on slowly. Before long, it was nearly seven o’clock.

  ‘Well I’m r
eally at my wits end Lucy’ said Ben. ‘I can’t reach your father on the phone and I’ve got no other numbers to call. Surely there must be someone else?’ All Lucy could do was to shake her head slowly. She was practically sliding off the chair with tiredness and she didn’t know what else to say.

  ‘I’ve got a family to get home to myself’ added Ben, getting increasingly fidgety. ‘Unless you can think of someone else, I’m going to have to take you to the local police station soon.’ When Ben said that, a feeling of empty desolation came over her. The room seemed very cold and empty, but then when Lucy thought of the house, her home seemed cold and empty too. Suddenly Lucy felt as bad as she had when Mum had gone. She didn’t cry; she couldn’t, but she wanted to.

  ‘I suppose you could drop me off at Amy’s house’ she said hesitantly. ‘Her Mum might not mind.’

  ‘Right!’ said Ben, seizing on the idea. ‘Does your Dad know where Amy lives?’

  ‘I’m not sure’ said Lucy. ‘He should do but he might have forgotten.’ Lucy did know the address though, it was just round the corner from her street. Ben left a note on the door, telling her Dad to call his mobile number. He scribbled the address on the note, made sure it was securely fixed and they set off. Lucy slumped wearily in the passenger seat. Normally she’d be delighted to go round to Amy’s house, but not tonight. All she wanted tonight was her own bed.

  Ben stood on the doorstep of Amy’s house, with Lucy a small huddled figure just behind him. By now it was quarter to eight. Amy’s Mum opened the door. Ben explained the situation and gratefully ushered Amy into Mrs Hodge’s care. Mrs Hodge closed the door.