The Girl Who Dreamt of Dolphins

by James Carmody

  ‘No, it’s ok’ Amy assured her. ‘I’ve faked my Mum’s note about my dentist appointment. I’ll get back in to school for mid-morning break. No one will ever know. I’ll be fine.’

  Lucy shouldered the backpack and Amy pulled the garage door back down. They took the long way round to avoid walking in front of Amy’s house and any of their friends who they might bump into on their way into school. It was a fair walk into the centre of town. They were soon on the main road with the trucks and rush hour traffic streaming passed them as they walked.

  ‘So you’ve got all the money you need?

  ‘Check.’

  ‘You know the train times?’

  ‘Check.’

  ‘You’ve got your Aunt’s address?’

  ‘Absolutely.’

  ‘You’ve got my number in case of any problems?’

  ‘Err, no, I forgot. You can write it down for me before I go, can’t you?

  ‘Sure thing’ said Amy.

  The sky was grey. It started drizzling. Suddenly it seemed like a really long walk into town. The two girls became aware that they were the only school children amongst the throng of people in business clothes making their way to work. They felt small and out of their depth.

  They turned into Station Road, with its offices on each side and made their way to the end where the train station was. The last time she had been there, she realised, was years ago when she and Mum had met Granny and Granddad off the train. She’d been much smaller then and the station had seemed enormous to her then, with a high arched roof like a concrete barn and with the immense noise and bustle of people coming and going all the time. Lucy had imagined a big, echoing and intimidating building, but as they drew near, she realised that it wasn’t half as large as she remembered it. The old building looked a little shabby and depressed pigeons perched in the portico above the entrance.

  ‘Whatever else we do’ Lucy said under her breath to Amy as they approached, ‘we’ve just got to look confident, like we do this every day and know exactly what we’re doing.’

  ‘Let’s hope no one realises that we don’t then’ replied Amy under her breath. They walked in through the entrance to the station. There was a small news kiosk in the foyer, the ticket window and the automated ticket machines in the corner. It was moderately busy, but not as much as Lucy had thought. They went and stood in the queue for the ticket machine.

  ‘Why not just buy your ticket from the lady at the ticket window?’ asked Amy.

  ‘She might ask awkward questions’ Lucy whispered back as they waited for the machine. The man in front stuffed coins into the slot and Lucy peered anxiously over his shoulder, trying to figure out how it worked.

  ‘I think it can take bank notes can’t it?’ she asked Amy, nervously fingering the twenty pound note and two tens in her pocket. Amy furrowed her brow.

  ‘Not sure really’ she replied. ‘It can’t be that hard. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.’ The man banged the machine and something dropped out of the slot at the bottom. He scooped up the change and walked off, muttering to himself under his breath.

  ‘Do you think it’s working at all?’ Lucy asked as they walked up to the machine. She selected Single ticket, standard class and then scrolled down through the destinations starting with ‘t’ until she got to Truro. Merwater didn’t have a train station and she’d have to take a bus or something when she got to Truro. She’d figure that out later. At the moment she was just worried about buying a ticket. The price came up. It was forty three pounds for a one-way ticket. That didn’t leave her with much afterwards, but Amy was lending her nine pounds in coins from her own savings and that would help her for the next leg of her journey.

  She fed in the bank notes and they went into the machine swiftly with a little whirring noise. Then she started to put in three pound coins, but all they did was rattle down into the change return tray at the bottom. The screen blinked at her and said that she still had three pounds to pay. Try as she might, the machine would not take the change and she became increasingly aware of a small queue of people building up behind her. Desperately she turned and caught the eye of the lady waiting next in line.

  ‘It won’t take my coins’ she said. ‘You don’t know how to make it work do you?’

  ‘No idea dear’ replied the lady sympathetically. ‘I always use a credit card personally.’

  ‘I don’t have one those’ replied Lucy, embarrassed. She turned back to the machine and gave it a little bang on the side.

  ‘You better press cancel’ said Amy, studying the machine next to her. ‘It’s obviously not going to work.’ Lucy was worried the machine wasn’t going to give her bank notes back. Instead forty pound coins rattled noisily into the tray below. Lucy scooped them up guiltily and stuffed them into her pockets.

  ‘That’s just great!’ she exclaimed. ‘Now what?’

  ‘You’ll just have to buy your ticket from the lady at the window’ replied Amy.

  ‘Ok then, here goes.’ Amy retreated to a safe distance, keeping an eye on Lucy at the window. If Lucy fluttered her hand at her side, Amy knew that would be an emergency signal to come over. She’d pretend she was Lucy’s sister and that their Mum was outside and that Lucy had to come with her.

  Lucy went up to the ticket window. She had to queue again and it was almost five minutes before she was able to go up. She glanced at her window nervously. Her train would be pulling in at nine twenty one and time was getting short. It was already five past nine according to the station clock. She gave the lady on the other side of the window what she hoped was a winning smile.

  ‘Ticket to Truro please.’

  ‘Coming back?’ asked the lady pleasantly.

  ‘Err, no’ stuttered Lucy, feeling suddenly guilty. ‘I’m going to visit my Aunt in Cornwall’ she continued, truthfully enough and she’ll be buying my return ticket.’ The lady eyed her suspiciously through the glass. They had training on dealing with runaways, though runaways didn’t usually look smart as Lucy did and they normally wanted to go to big towns like London or Manchester.

  ‘Isn’t it a school day?’ the lady asked, looking at her school uniform.

  ‘Yes, but I’ve got permission from the school. Would you like to see the letter?’ she lied, making to open her bag. She had no idea if the school gave out letters like that, but it sounded plausible. The lady thought so too. She still didn’t look happy though.

  ‘You’ll be an unaccompanied minor then. Minors are not allowed to travel that distance unaccompanied under the age of fourteen.’ Lucy had an idea that wasn’t true, but was in no position to argue.

  ‘Well I turned fourteen last Tuesday’ Lucy replied quickly, with another big fib.

  ‘And I don’t suppose you can prove that can you?’ asked the lady with a raised eye-brow. Lucy started to feel panicky. Of course she couldn’t prove it. She’d only just turned twelve. She started to flutter her hand at her side, so that Amy could come and rescue her. But there was a crowd of people passing just then and Amy couldn’t see from the position where she was standing by the entrance. All she could see was Lucy’s head and shoulders. With no rescue coming, Lucy thought desperately. She pulled out a folded piece of paper with Bethany’s number from her pocket.

  ‘I’ve got my Aunt’s number on this piece of paper. Call her if you don’t believe me.’ The lady eyed the piece of paper.

  ‘Why aren’t your Mum or Dad in here with you to see you off?’

  ‘My Dad’s outside trying to park the car. He says it’s a nightmare finding a parking space round here.’ Her Dad had said that often enough when they went into the town centre. ‘He’ll be in in a minute I expect. He told me I have to learn to do things by myself.’ Lucy was amazed at how easily she managed to lie.

  ‘Go on then’ the lady said resignedly. ‘That’ll be forty three pounds then.’ Lucy started ladling pound coins out of her pocket. She gave an apologetic smile.

  ‘Your machine’s not working. I put in notes and al
l I got back were these.’ The lady counted the coins silently and then issued her with a ticket.

  ‘You have to change at Swindon. You know that don’t you?’ the lady asked. ‘And the Swindon train leaves in fifteen minutes from platform three.’

  ‘Yes thanks’ Lucy replied, pocketing her ticket as she did so. She was just relieved to get away from the ticket window. As she did so unseen by Lucy, the piece of paper with Bethany’s address and telephone number fluttered down the ground and was promptly scrunched underfoot by the man behind her. Lucy walked out of the ticket hall onto the platform, catching Amy’s eye and getting her friend to follow her.

  ‘How did it go?’ asked Amy when they were safely round the corner.

  ‘That was an absolute nightmare’ exclaimed Lucy, leaning against the station wall in relief. ‘I thought she was going to call the police or something.’

  Despite her anxiety, in a strange way Lucy was more sure than ever that she was doing the right thing. When she thought of Bethany, she thought of Spirit too. She had no reason to believe that she’d get to see Spirit when she got to Cornwall, but somehow she felt that she would be nearer and that had to be a good thing.

  Before they knew it, the nine twenty one train pulled into platform three and the carriage doors hissed open.

  ‘Well goodbye then’ she said to Amy shyly, giving her friend’s hand a little squeeze. Lucy climbed onto the train.

  ‘Call me when you get there!’ said Amy, waving. Lucy smiled and waved her hand. The doors hissed closed and as they did so, Lucy realised that she hadn’t written Amy’s number down. She tried to gesture through the glass, but the train was already pulling away and Amy was lost in the crowd swilling on the platform.

  Lucy started to walk along the carriage to find a seat to sit down. She and Amy had already discussed this. Amy thought that the safest place to sit was with a woman who wasn’t too old and who hopefully wouldn’t ask too many questions. Lucy soon found a seat next to a business woman who was studying a sheaf of papers intently. The woman kept reading and didn’t even glance up as Lucy sat down. Lucy breathed another sigh of relief and stowed her back-pack under the seat in front, pulling out her reading book and settling down for the journey. Instead of reading though, she stared distractedly out of the window at the countryside as they rattled along. It started to rain.

  Half an hour later Lucy became aware that the ticket inspector was making his way along the carriage, checking tickets. Lucy’s heart began to race again. She didn’t want any more awkward questions like she’d had at the ticket counter. The business woman next to her delved into her jacket pocket and pulled out her ticket, holding it up for the inspector as she continued to read. Lucy did the same, leaning in towards the woman in the hope that the inspector would think she was the woman’s daughter and suddenly taking an intent interest in her book. It worked! The inspector clipped her ticket while she was still reading her novel and all Lucy had to do was glance up with a small smile of thanks. Either the ticket inspector thought she was the business woman’s daughter, or he just wasn’t interested, as he walked on down the carriage calling ‘tickets’ every few yards before disappearing through the sliding doors. ‘It’s going to be a cinch’, thought Lucy.

  An hour and twenty minutes later the announcement for Swindon came over the loudspeaker and the train began to slow. Lucy pulled out her bag and got ready to get up. The business woman next to her caught her eye for a second.

  ‘You take care now’ she said as Lucy got up.

  ‘I will’ said Lucy uncertainly. ‘Bye!’

  Lucy walked down the carriage and was soon on the platform. She looked around. There must be a notice board somewhere. She walked up the platform and found a monitor showing departures. The Truro train left in twenty five minutes or so and she sat down on a bench and waited. She looked around cautiously. She’d promised Amy to be extra careful about anyone suspicious looking and when a man sat down next to her who smelled of stale beer, she got up and walked away briskly down the platform.

  It was only then that she decided to fish out the piece of paper which she had written Bethany’s number and address down on. She checked one pocket and then another and then with increasing agitation she went through all her pockets and everywhere in her back pack that she could possibly have stuffed it. It was gone. Lucy felt a wave of anxiety come over her again. She could get to Merwater, but she had no idea of her Aunt’s address. There was a payphone just next to her. She could still call her Dad. He’d made her memorise his mobile number ages ago. Otherwise she could just go back home again and he’d never know what she’d been up to. Just then the Truro train pulled slowly into the station, its breaks squeaking as it came to a halt. If she didn’t get on it right now, she may as well go home. Amy would be glad to see her back she knew, but she wouldn’t feel happy if she did. The doors of the train opened in front of her. She glanced at the payphone, then she swung her bag up onto one shoulder and stepped onto the train. The doors slid shut behind her and the train juddered as it started to move off. She’d get to Bethany’s house somehow or other she thought, but quite how, she wasn’t sure.

  Lucy couldn’t find a youngish woman to sit down next to, so she sat down next to an older lady instead.

  ‘You travelling alone dear?’ asked the lady with a friendly look on her face.

  ‘Yes I’m going to stay with my aunt for the school holidays’ said Lucy brightly. She’d been running the conversation round in her head in case anybody asked her.

  ‘She meeting you off the train is she?’ the lady replied, obviously concerned for the safety of a young girl travelling on her own.

  ‘That’s right’ Lucy replied. ‘She’ll be waiting for me there when I arrive’ she added unconvincingly.

  ‘Well I’m getting off there too’ said the lady. ‘I’ll wait with you till your aunt finds you.’

  ‘Oh there’s no need’ replied Lucy nervously. That was the last thing she needed.

  ‘No trouble!’ replied the lady. She then started telling Lucy a long story about her grandchildren and about the snow the previous Christmas and how they’d been cut off for two days because of it. Lucy half listened and half wondered about what to say to the lady when the train reached Truro.

  The ticket inspector came round to check the tickets.

  ‘Is this young woman with you?’ she asked the lady as they handed over their tickets.

  ‘Not exactly, but I’m going to make sure she’s safely in the hands of her aunt before I leave her’ the lady replied firmly. The ticket inspector smiled and Lucy blushed slightly as she put her ticket away. The woman asked her about her family and Lucy told her all about her Aunt and how she was an artist living near Merwater. She thought at this point the lady might let her be if her story sounded credible. Eventually, with several stops along the way, the announcement came over the loudspeaker that Truro was the next stop. Lucy rose and the woman stood up arthritically. She smiled.

  ‘Now, let’s find that Aunt of yours shall we!’ she said, as they stepped down onto the platform.

  Chapter Thirteen:

  The figure ahead of Spirit in the water swam slowly towards him.

  ‘Who are you?’ he asked cautiously.

  ‘You know me young dolphin’ the voice replied. Spirit peered towards the silhouette that was slowly approaching. He was too wary to swim forward himself. The voice did sound familiar though.

  ‘Is that you Shimmer?’ he asked finally remembering where he had heard the voice before. It belonged to the old dolphin who had spoken to him after the dolphin council. She had seen him with Lucy and warned him not to turn his back on his own pod. Now here she was, alone and far from home.

  ‘It certainly is young man.’ She swam up close and Spirit could make out her ancient and battle scarred face. ‘What brings you to this part of the sea, alone?’ she asked, fixing him with a critical eye.

  ‘I am on my coming of age swim’ replied Spirit nervously.

  �
��Something tells me that’s without Storm or your pod’s permission’ replied Shimmer.

  ‘But all young dolphins take their coming of age swim alone’ said Spirit defensively.

  ‘Indeed.’ The old dolphin looked thoughtful, swimming slowly around him, studying him from all sides. ‘If he is ready to be an equal of all those in the pod that is.’

  ‘Well I am ready to be an equal of all the others.’ Spirit felt irritated that she might not consider him to be so.

  ‘But what if that dolphin is special and needs special protection? What then?’ Shimmer continued to swim slowly around him.

  ‘Well I don’t need special protection!’

  ‘But you are special’ continued Shimmer, as though she were thinking out loud. ‘You are a Child-Seer and your gift is barely known to you, let alone Storm and the rest of your pod.’

  ‘I am safer with my gift than without’ replied Spirit, uneasy at the way the old dolphin continued to study him. She was silent for a long time, pondering over what he had said.

  ‘I believe you’ she said at last. ‘Trust in yourself and your ability, but do not turn your back on your pod’ she continued, almost dreamily. ‘Always return to them.’

  ‘I will, I will’ Spirit assured her hurriedly. ‘I could never lose them.’ Shimmer brought her attention back to him again.

  ‘Then I am glad’ she said. ‘But remember what I told you when we met before. Keep your thoughts on this world and your family and you will not go too far wrong. Learn from my sister’s mistake.’

  ‘Of course’ he said simply, ‘But why are you alone and away from your own pod Shimmer?’ he asked.

  ‘Ah!’ exclaimed Shimmer thoughtfully. ‘You are just coming of age, but I am an old dolphin and I am taking my last swim and that is one that I must take alone. I will not see you again young dolphin, but I wish you well.’

  Shimmer continued to swim slowly around him and she floated behind him out of view for a moment as he digested her words. Suddenly Spirit realised that he could no longer see her and he glanced round to see where she had gone. But she was nowhere to be seen. It was as though she had simply dissolved into the water. He was alone again.