The Girl Who Dreamt of Dolphins

by James Carmody

  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.

  ‘But what are you doing up so early? Do your Mum and Dad know you’re out here hitching a lift? You want to give someone a call and let them know you’re here?’ he asked, indicating towards his mobile phone on the dashboard.

  ‘It’s ok’ replied Lucy hurriedly, ‘I’m meeting my, err, Aunt at the surf school. We’re going to do some bird-watching.’ The young man frowned to himself, as he put the car in gear and drove off. What the young girl said didn’t quite seem to add up.

  ‘You’re not from round here are you? What’s your name?’

  ‘My name’s Lucy Parr’ she replied. ‘I’m staying with my Aunt for a few days’ she added. The more she said, the more she realised that her cover story didn’t quite make sense. Why would she be meeting her Aunt at the lighthouse if she was already staying with her?

  ‘My name’s Dan Merryweather’ the young man said. ‘I’m a teacher at the surf school. The rest of the time I work at the Jet Ski Centre. So it’s no trouble for me to take you there.’

  ‘Are you going surfing this morning?’ asked Lucy, trying to make conversation.

  ‘Yeah, I’ve got a class to take in about forty minutes, so I’ve got to get the wet suits and boards out and ready before everyone arrives. I’m running a bit late today’ he added, glancing at his watch. ‘These early mornings are a bit of a killer after a Saturday night out.’

  They sped along the empty road. Soon they took a turning off to the right. Lucy saw a sign for the lighthouse and surf school. The lane veered down a small hill and Lucy could see the lighthouse clearly now. The sun was catching the top and the light glinted in the glass of the light. The landscape was more open here and Lucy could make out two buildings of the surf school and the wildlife centre in the small bay.

  Lucy glanced back over her shoulder nervously, half expecting Bethany’s Land Rover to come round the corner after them. There was no one else on the road now and Dan soon pulled up in the grassy parking area just behind the surf school. They climbed out of the car.

  ‘Where’s your Aunt then?’ asked Dan with a concerned look on his face. Lucy tried to smile nonchalantly.

  ‘Oh she’ll be here in a minute’ Lucy tried to reassure him.

  There was a big roll-down shutter on the front of the surf school, a bit like a shop might have when it was closed and Dan busied himself with unlocking it and pulling up the shutters. Lucy watched him shyly as he worked. She felt a little awkward and wasn’t sure what to do now. Inside the school she could see racks of surf-boards and neatly hung wet suits, organised according to size. There were changing rooms at the back and a little glass fronted office at the side. Dan glanced at his watch.

  ‘I’m just going into the office for a moment. You be sure to tell me when your Aunt gets here’ he said.

  Lucy turned and looked out towards the bay. The surf school was right next to the beach. The tide was in and she could see the rolling foamy waves crashing into the shore. The waves weren’t
particularly high and Lucy wondered how good the surfing would be this morning. She scanned the sea for any sign of Storm or Dancer. Try as she might, she couldn’t see a single dolphin in the water.

  In the little office, out of earshot, Dan was on the phone.

  ‘Hello Aunt Thelma. I’m so sorry to wake you up so early. It’s about that young girl you told me about, Lucy Parr. I just found her wandering along the main road. Said she was meeting her Aunt at the lighthouse, but it doesn’t make sense though. I’ve given her a lift to the surf school. Thought I’d keep an eye on her till her Aunt got here.’

  Dan frowned again, listening to his Aunt Thelma’s reply.

  ‘I will, of course Aunt Thelma’ he replied. ‘See you soon.’

  Dan turned to look outside as a mini-bus pulled up next to his own car and a group of twelve or so people stumbled out, all clearly as sleepy as he felt. Dan went out to meet his surf students. They were full of questions and soon Dan was busy getting them the right-sized wet suits and choosing the right boards. Lucy hung around at the edge of the group, looking out at the sea. She made out something in the distance, a hundred metres or so from the shore. Could it be the dorsal fin of a dolphin? Her heart quickened. ‘I’m here, I’m here’ she thought, trying to project her message out to the waiting dolphins. She glanced back at the surf school and had an idea.

  ‘Can I try on a wet suit?’ she asked Dan, while he pulled out a surf board for one of his students. Dan glanced up distractedly. He just wanted to keep her out of mischief until Thelma got there.

  ‘Sure thing’ he replied. He nodded over at a rack of smaller suits. ‘Those ones there should fit you.’

  Lucy took a wet suit that looked about her size and slipped into a spare changing cubicle before anyone got in there before her. She’d never put on a wet suit before and it was quite tricky, but soon she was in. There was a long pull on the back, so that she could zip herself up. She soon emerged, ready for the water. She started walking to the beach. Dan caught sight of her and called to her.

  ‘You just wait there on the beach Lucy. We’ll all be up there in a minute. I’m showing the group some surfing theory on the beach before they get in the water.’

  Lucy turned back for a moment and half nodded. That was enough for Dan, who turned back to the group and the man who was asking him something about the board he was holding. With Dan distracted, she turned and jogged across the beach, scanning the sea again for the dorsal fins that she had seen earlier.

  Yes, there were two fins in the water. Lucy felt a surge of excitement. She splashed out into the sea. ‘Wow, its cold’ she thought as the water engulfed her feet and legs. ‘Thank goodness for the wet suit.’

  The shelf of beach quickly dropped away and she soon found herself wading in water up to her chest. Lucy started swimming out. ‘I must be mad doing this’ she thought to herself, but she knew she could not turn back now. ‘I’m here, I’m here!’ she called out. She could not take the time to compose herself, or to focus to stretch out with her mind to the dolphins. She just had to hope that Dancer and Storm would realise that she was there. It was completely different swimming in the sea to swimming in a pool and she strained her muscles to keep going through the incoming waves. Lucy could well imagine how easy it was to drown at sea and was well aware of the serious risk that she was taking. This was another thing her Dad would have told her not to do. The third dangerous thing she’d done this morning and it still wasn’t even six thirty.

  Lucy braced herself for another wave and managed to ride over the top just before it broke behind her. Suddenly, she saw a dorsal fin in the water and then briefly, the smiling face of a dolphin. It was amazing to see the two dolphins coming towards her and, although she felt that she knew them well, seeing them there in front of her in real life felt completely different to the experience of dreaming of them, or even transporting herself to their world with her thoughts. Now she was just busy with keeping herself afloat.

  Lucy stretched out with her hand and felt the firm flank of a dolphin with her fingertips. Was it Storm or Dancer? The dolphin’s head broke the surface of the water again. It was Dancer! Storm came up next to them on the right. Lucy took hold of Dancer’s dorsal fin and the two dolphins turned to leave the bay, pulling Lucy along with them. Lucy glanced back. Over the top of the waves she could see a figure on the beach. She thought that he was shouting, but she couldn’t make out what over the crashing of the waves. She turned back to look out to sea, hanging onto Dancer’s dorsal fin. They were on their way.

  Nate Merryweather and Bob were just about to set off on the Lady Thelma, bound for their lobster pots, when the real Thelma came running down the dock towards them, calling out something indistinct as she came. Bob was just about to cast of the second mooring rope, but stopped, his mouth half open with surprise. Nate was at the wheel of the boat, standing in the small cabin. He cut off the engine and leant out.

  ‘Whatever is the matter Thelma?’ called Nate from the open door of the cabin. Thelma stood there, panting, completely out of breathe, unable to speak for a few moments. She gestured ineffectually with her hand while she caught her breath.

  ‘I’m getting on’ she gasped eventually. Just then, a Land Rover drove up onto the edge of the dock. Bethany slammed the door and ran up to join them, a look of anxiety and worry on her face.

  ‘She’s getting on too’ panted Thelma.

  It was both exhilarating and scary to be on the back of a dolphin, being carried out to sea. Even beyond the breakers, the sea was choppy and the salt spray caught in Lucy’s mouth and eyes. She clung to the back of Dancer with all her might. She felt Dancer’s skin warm and smooth, firm and ever-so-slightly rubbery beneath her touch. She pulled herself up so that she was almost astride Dancer’s back. The young dolphin swum with powerful strokes of her tail. Occasionally Lucy caught Storm’s eye. He was swimming beside them and regarded Lucy with thoughtful, intelligent eyes. She glanced behind her again. The lighthouse was far away now and they were fully clear of the bay. The cliffs were banking up to their right. Despite the danger of the strong currents and the open sea, Lucy knew that as long as she was with Dancer and Storm, she would be safe. She wondered how far along the coast they would go before they found Spirit and what state he’d be in when they did. She hoped it wasn’t too late.

  ‘So let me get this right. This young girl Lucy is a Dolphin Child?’ Nate asked his wife incredulously, standing on the deck with Bethany, Thelma and Bob. Thelma nodded.

  ‘You know there have been Dolphin Children in these parts for generation upon generation’ replied Thelma.

  ‘But she’s not from round here is she?’ Nate asked.

  ‘But she’s got strong family links here’ broke in Bethany. ‘Listen Nate. We don’t have any time. We need your help.’

  ‘That’s right Nate’ continued Thelma. ‘Dan called me not half an hour ago. First of all he told me that he’d found young Lucy walking along the road, thumbing a lift to Lighthouse Bay. I said to keep her there and I’d be along there as soon as I could. Fifteen minutes later he called me again in a blind panic. She’d only gone and got herself carried away on the back of a bloomin’ dolphin!’

  ‘Blimey O’Reilly!’ exclaimed Bob.

  ‘She said that this special dolphin, Spirit, is trapped by a steel cord at the foot of the cliff somewhere along there’ added Bethany hurriedly, gesturing with her arm. ‘She told me that his two friends would come and take her to him. I wouldn’t let her though and now she’s gone anyway. I’m desperately worried about her.’ Nate looked from the face of Bethany to the face of his wife. This was no joke.

  ‘Tell me where you want me to take you’ he said seriously.

  The two dolphins pulled in close to the cliff now. Low waves broke rhythmically at the foot of the sheer wall of rock, which had been worn smooth by the wave’s endless pounding. Seaweed and limpets hung onto the rock at the water line. Higher up the rocks were craggy and rough and in places the stone was stai
ned white by the guano of the seagulls that nested there and which glided in the swirling up-currents of air. Lucy glanced up and the sheer face of the cliff, wondering how anybody could climb up if they needed to. She hoped that she wouldn’t have to try. Dancer came to a stop and Lucy glanced down at the water in front of them. There was another dorsal fin in the water!

  The thought that she was so close to Spirit took her breath away. Everything else seemed to melt into the background and all she was aware of was Spirit, hanging there on the surface of the choppy water.

  Lucy slipped down from Dancer’s back into the water and swum over to Spirit. This was the moment that she imagined for such a long time. Spirit regarded Lucy with his deep liquid-dark eyes. They seemed to have a world of meaning within them. Lucy had just assumed that she would be able to communicate with Spirit as she had done when she was sitting in her bedroom projecting her mind out to him. Instead she realised with a shock that she couldn’t. Lucy’s mind spilled over with things that she wanted to say to him, but instead she couldn’t tell him anything at all. She could hear Spirit’s clicks and whistles through the water, but she had no idea at all what it meant. It was so strange.

  Lucy stretched out her hand and placed it gently on the side of Spirit’s face. It felt as though electricity were passing between them. It energised her and her whole body tingled with it. It was hard to keep her hand there, she was having to tread water with her feet and use her other arm to balance and soon she had to let go again.

  Lucy dipped her head underwater to look at the loop of steel around Spirit’s tail. She was not wearing goggles and the water was much harder to see through than it had been in her visions and dreams. She could just about make out the steel through the murk and swirl of the water and she felt tentatively down Spirit’s flank until her fingers curled around the metal cord. She could feel that it cut tight into Spirit’s skin. Spirit flinched slightly as she touched the wound and she felt a shooting of pain in her own ankles in sympathy to Spirit’s own pain.