“What now?” asked Antonia, wiping her tear-stained face. “We can’t just leave him here.”
“My mobile’s in the car. I’ll ring Jack and ask him to arrange for the dolphin to be taken away.”
Antonia looked at Claudia, grateful she was there. Suddenly, she noticed her clothes. They were bone dry, but her hair was damp and much curlier than usual.
“You used dolphin magic in the water,” she said, managing a small smile.
Claudia smiled back.
“Once a Silver Dolphin always a Silver Dolphin,” she replied.
Chapter Thirteen
Claudia left Antonia on the beach while she went to telephone Jack. “Tell Cai and Hannah I’ll drive you home in the car,” she said.
Antonia walked down to the beach to wait for them. She made a wide detour around the dead dolphin, keeping her eyes firmly fixed ahead of her.
I didn’t even know his name, she thought sadly.
Cai and Hannah were ages. Antonia grew fidgety and was wondering if she should go and look for them when she heard voices. Looking up, she saw them both wading down the middle of the creek. They waved and Antonia waved back.
“Sorry we took so long,” called Cai as he drew nearer. “We took Bella right out to sea to join her pod. Everyone wanted to thank us, they’d been frantic with worry.”
“Bella,” said Antonia. “That’s a pretty name.”
“The older one was called Comet,” said Cai, his eyes sliding past her to the covered form on the beach. Antonia nodded, unable to trust herself to speak.
By the time Cai and Hannah reached Antonia, their clothes were dry again. Hannah squeezed water out of her long red hair.
“Where’s Aunty Claudia?” asked Cai, ruffling his own with both hands.
“She’s in the car, phoning Jack. She’s going to drive us home,” Antonia told him.
“Great,” said Cai. “I could swim home if I had to, but I’d rather go by car. I’m shattered.”
“Me too.” Hannah’s face was red with exertion. “That was hard work.”
Antonia realised she was tired too. It had been a very long afternoon and it wasn’t over yet. As Hannah came towards her, Antonia knew there was one more thing left to sort out.
“Hannah?” she said uncertainly.
“You were brilliant, Antonia,” said Hannah, speaking first. “You kept Bella alive.”
Antonia was surprised. She didn’t feel brilliant and she certainly hadn’t saved Bella by herself.
“It was teamwork. Look, I’m sorry about before. You were right. Silver Dolphins work together. I…I should have realised that sooner.”
Hannah’s pale white skin flushed slightly and she gave Antonia a guilty grin.
“It was my fault too. It was kind of scary meeting you and Cai. Like I said, Kathleen hardly ever helps me. I mostly work on my own. Then suddenly, I find myself working with two Silver Dolphins. I wanted to prove that I was good enough to do the job.”
“But…” Antonia was amazed and suddenly very ashamed that she’d felt the need to compete with Hannah. It didn’t matter who was the best Silver Dolphin. Doing the job to the best of their ability was far more important.
“I’m sorry, Hannah. I never realised that’s how you felt.”
They looked at each other for a moment, then Antonia asked hesitantly, “Friends?”
Hannah beamed. “Definitely.”
They walked up the beach. Antonia meant to avoid Comet but, quickening their step, Cai and Hannah headed straight for him. At his head they knelt down and Hannah gently pulled back the sheet uncovering his face. She stroked his cheek, then Hannah quickly kissed his nose.
“From Bella,” she explained to Antonia, as Cai copied her.
Taking a deep breath, Antonia knelt down and kissed Comet on the nose. It was the least she could do.
They left the creek and drove along the cliff road. Hannah was sitting in the front, staring out of the passenger window at the sea, when suddenly she shouted for Claudia to stop.
“Dolphins,” she cried. “Look, down there.”
Claudia pulled the car over on to a grass verge and everyone jumped out. Moving along the coastline was a pod of dolphins, their leaping bodies sparkling in the late afternoon sun.
“My binoculars,” said Claudia, reaching inside the car and pulling them out of a pocket. She held them to her eyes.
“Bottlenose,” she confirmed, passing the binoculars round for everyone to see. They watched the dolphins and when they were out of sight, Cai broke the silence with a contented sigh.
“Wonderful,” agreed Claudia. “Without your help that whole pod would have been stranded and quite probably would have died. I’m so proud of you all. My wonderful Silver Dolphins.”
The ache in Antonia’s heart felt less sore as she climbed back into the car. They might not have been able to help Comet, but at least they had saved the rest of the pod.
Claudia drove on to Sandy Bay. The seafront was packed and there was nowhere to park. Claudia let Antonia out of the car, then drove round the block while she raced down on to the beach to collect her shoes. They weren’t where she remembered leaving them. Frantically she searched the rocks. Where were they? It was the first time her things had gone missing when she’d left them on the beach. Antonia was annoyed with herself for not hiding them more carefully. At last, she found one shoe upside down in a clump of dried seaweed and the other close by in a rock pool. Her socks were missing and she gave up looking for them. She was already much later than she’d meant to be and wasn’t sure how Mum would feel about her abandoning Abi, even if she had left her with Sophie.
Antonia kept very quiet on the way home in the car. When Claudia pulled up outside her house, her stomach dipped.
Here goes! she thought nervously.
Claudia switched off the car ignition.
“I’ll come in with you,” she said. “It’s been quite an afternoon. I’d like to explain some of it to your parents.”
Mrs Lee did look slightly annoyed when she opened the front door.
“There you are at last,” she said. “Abi’s gone round to Sophie’s for tea. You were invited, but it’s too late to go now.”
“That’s my fault,” said Claudia pleasantly. “Could I have a word?”
“Yes, of course, come in,” said Mrs Lee, opening the door wider for everyone to crowd into the tiny hall. “Antonia, take Cai and…”
“Hannah,” said Antonia.
“Take Cai and Hannah into the garden,” said Mum.
“Are you in trouble?” asked Hannah, as they filed outside.
“I’m not sure,” said Antonia, flopping down on the lawn. “I’ve broken a few promises since Abi’s been here. It’s hard trying to keep everyone happy.”
“I’m really lucky like that. It’s only me and mum, and she works such long hours she doesn’t mind if I stay out late.”
“Cool,” said Antonia.
“Sometimes,” said Hannah wistfully.
Antonia picked at the grass. How would she feel if she was Hannah, with no brothers or sisters and a mother who was always at work? It sounded lonely. At times Antonia’s family life made things very complicated for her, but she wouldn’t want it any other way. Cai started to talk about his mum and dad and soon he was comparing notes with Hannah about whose parents worked the longest hours.
“You know,” said Hannah hesitantly. “You could…if you wanted to, that is…you could come and stay with me when I get home. Both of you, of course,” she said, waving a hand at Antonia to include her.
“That’d be great,” said Cai. “Then we could help you set up your very own Sea Watch.”
“Antonia?” asked Hannah cautiously.
“I’d love to,” said Antonia. “We might even get to meet Vision.”
“Brilliant,” said Hannah, her eyes shining. “I’ll ask Mum to fix something up. Weekends are best. She usually gets them off.”
“Here’s Aunty Claudia,” said Cai.
“It can’t be that bad, Antonia, she’s smiling.”
They scrambled up as Mrs Lee and Claudia walked towards them. Antonia stared at her mother and cheered up immediately. Mum didn’t look annoyed any more. She looked proud.
“What an amazing thing you all did today,” she said. “Claudia told me about the rescue on the beach and how you also waded into the sea to stop a pod of dolphins from becoming stranded.”
Claudia winked so quickly at the Silver Dolphins that Antonia almost missed it. Then taking a deep breath Claudia said, “They were brilliant and I couldn’t have done it without them. However, your mum tells me that Abi and Ella have two more days before they go home, Antonia. So I’m banning you from Sea Watch until then. You’re not to come back until Wednesday morning.”
“Oh!”
How could Claudia do that?
Antonia was about to protest when she realised that Claudia was smiling right at her. Thinking about all the promises she’d broken, Antonia supposed the ban was only fair. Claudia was helping her not get into any more trouble.
“But what about…” she trailed off, remembering her mum was there.
Claudia raised her eyebrows.
“Today was a very unusual day,” she said carefully. “It’s not often dolphins get stranded on a beach. Your help was invaluable, but I’m sure that we can manage without you for the next couple of days. So please, promise me that you’ll stay away until Wednesday?”
“I promise,” said Antonia, and this time she knew it was a promise that she would keep.
“Well done,” said Claudia. “Right, you two, into the car. It’s time we took Hannah home.”
Antonia followed them through the side gate to the front of the house and waved until Claudia’s car was out of sight. As she let herself back into the garden, a ray of sunlight caught her silver dolphin charm, making it sparkle. Antonia brushed her fingers across its smooth body.
“Spirit,” she whispered. “I’m taking a short holiday. It’s only for two days, and then I’ll be able to answer your call again. I promise.”
The dolphin charm, so soft to touch, juddered slightly in her fingers. Antonia grinned to herself. This time Spirit had answered her call.
Copyright
First published in paperback by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2009
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Text copyright © Julie Sykes 2009
Cover illustrations copyright © Andrew Farley 2009
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Broken Promises Page 6