Maddy's Dolphin

by Imogen Tovey

  Copyright © 2014 Imogen Tovey

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

  Matador®

  9 Priory Business Park

  Kibworth Beauchamp

  Leicestershire LE8 0RX, UK

  Tel: (+44) 116 279 2299

  Fax: (+44) 116 279 2277

  Email: books@troubador.co.uk

  Web: www.troubador.co.uk/matador

  ISBN 978 1783065 615

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Matador® is an imprint of Troubador Publishing Ltd

  Contents

  The Meeting

  Waiting for Indigo

  Bad News

  Letter to the President

  America

  The Whale

  Lunar and the Noise

  The President’s Daughter

  Explanations

  Swimming with a Dolphin

  The Pod

  The Castle at Corinth

  The Keeper

  Deep Water

  Disaster

  The Search

  News

  The Press

  The Cave

  Finding Lucy

  Barefoot

  In Trouble

  The Rescue

  Maddy

  Goodbyes

  The Old Man

  The Meeting

  The sun was glinting off the ripples of the very slight swell. He lay floating in the sea, hanging suspended, allowing the water to take him wherever it wanted. It wouldn’t be far. The sea was practically a millpond on this lovely March evening and he was taking the opportunity of the stillness to have a little rest. His mind wandered and he started to dream of his family – of the time when he was young, surrounded by his mother, his aunts and his whole extended family. He and his little friends would race around getting up to so much trouble.

  In his imagination, he was swimming alongside Melon, who was his best mate. They were racing, and one would follow the other then swap over, doing the tightest of manoeuvres, just managing to avoid the others as they lolled around lazily. Turning for the fifth time, they headed back to the pod. He had just got ahead of Melon and was going faster than he ever had, when, all of a sudden, his mum raced up towards him from underneath in an intercept position. He had never seen his mum look quite so angry. He practically stopped dead on seeing her, but there was no way of avoiding her. He had done it now! With one flick of her powerful fluke she was there beside him. She then went below him and kept him up by the surface. No matter what manoeuvre he tried, he wouldn’t be allowed to get away until she was satisfied that he had learnt his lesson. This is the way that dolphins discipline their young. Dolphins are free sprits that need to be able to feel the huge expanse of water below, around and above them. They need to know that they can dart off in any direction should they wish, for any reason they should want. With their mothers below, holding them up at the surface, they lose all their freedom: a very effective punishment!

  There was a throbbing noise, signalling a boat coming in his direction. He left his dream as his mother was scolding him, ‘Indigo! How many times do I have to tell you…?’ Yes, it was the boat he had been waiting for and it was coming over this way. The left side of his brain had been monitoring its progress while he was dreaming with his right. Dolphins can’t just go to sleep; if they did they would forget to breathe and they would drown. Indigo had to consciously open his blowhole to take a breath. This is why dolphins never sleep. Instead they rest one side of their brain at a time, and this is what Indigo had been doing as he lay there bobbing around in the sea.

  With one powerful flick of his tail he propelled himself off, turning towards the boat. There was something about this boat that he was drawn to, but he couldn’t understand why. The humans would waterski from it, and he found it great fun to swim alongside. Allowing the wake to flow over him, he would jump up out of the water before splashing back down again repeatedly. He could do this with lots of boats around here, and did so when the mood took him, but there was more to it with this boat. He just hadn’t worked out what it was yet.

  Maddy was two years old and was out on the boat with her mum and dad. Her dad, Jorgos, loved to waterski and spent most of his time doing so. Maddy had been dividing her time between Greece and England throughout her short life, and had just returned with her mum to Greece. Her dad had promised to take her out on the boat as she had been given a new life jacket and wanted to wear it. Jorgos was out on the water, and Maddy was having a great time too, with the sun shining down making the water glisten, and the spray off the water coming up and hitting her in the face. She was laughing away to herself when, all of a sudden, she saw the dolphin jump out of the water right in front of Jorgos.

  Maddy had seen the dolphin before. When she was younger, she had been on the beach when he swam close to the shore. Her mum had gone in and swum with him. Being so young at the time, Maddy had been left on the beach and had just watched, staring in awe at the beautiful, gentle animal. This had happened a number of times and each time Maddy had been transfixed, amazed at what was going on as her mum played with the dolphin in the sea.

  Maddy pointed and screamed in excitement as Indigo swam along with Jorgos, feeling the wake from the ski on his back, powering off out of the sea and coming back down still alongside the skier. The sea had been so still; it was nice to feel the movement of the water, it exhilarated Indigo. But then, on making another leap out of the water, this time with his belly up to the sky, he caught sight of a little girl on the boat.

  He experienced a flash of recognition; well, not quite recognition, of realisation. This was the one, the one he had been looking for, the one he had left his pod to meet. Now he knew why he had been drawn to this boat for the past year or so. His search was over, but his mission had only just begun.

  He splashed back into the sea, but this time with no finesse at all. This time it was more like a bellyflop a human would have been proud of. He came to a complete standstill, not knowing quite what to do now. The boat kept going, but Indigo wasn’t worried about losing it. It would have to go a long way before he lost it to his senses.

  Where had the dolphin gone? Maddy was really enjoying watching the dolphin swim and jump and play as her dad skied behind the boat, then all of a sudden it had gone. It didn’t come back, even though she kept watch for the next five minutes. At two years old, it was amazing that she managed to keep her concentration for that long.

  Jorgos eventually had had enough; Ishbel slowed and then stopped the boat. First the skis, then Jorgos returned to the boat. Maddy giggled with glee as he gave her a big wet kiss and cuddle. She then returned to the back of the boat, climbed up onto the bench and helped Jorgos to pull in the rope. He then turned, going to the front and talking to Ishbel as he started the boat up and pulled away.

  Unfortunately, just at this moment, Maddy was leaning over the back of the boat. She was trying to find the dolphin again. The next thing she knew, she was flying through the air and she landed in the sea.

  Her head was right under the water. The shock of the flight made her take a gulp, but instead of air it was water that came into her mouth. She was so scared. Luc
kily she had her new life jacket on and she had floated to the surface before she took another breath, but then a wave came along and went over her face again. She was coughing, spluttering and crying all at the same time.

  Maddy opened her eyes for the second time since falling in the water, but this time, instead of being so frightened that she had to close them again, she saw the friendliest caring eye she had ever seen in her short life. She heard a voice saying, ‘You are in my world, you are safe, wrap your arms around my fin.’ The dolphin then turned away from Maddy, presenting his back to her, and she took hold of his dorsal fin and felt very safe.

  She leant her head on his back and felt the softness of his skin against her cheek; he was warm and it felt so good. The voice she had heard before said, ‘I am Indigo; I have been waiting for you. When you are older you will learn more, but for now go back to your parents. You must visit me often and we will become the best of friends.’ She heard these same words over and over again until she heard other voices.

  ‘There she is! Maddy, Maddy, there on the dolphin.’ From her perch on top of Indigo, she saw her mum and dad in their boat. Ishbel jumped into the sea and grabbed hold of her, crying, hugging and kissing her, holding her so tightly it started to hurt. She then handed her up to Jorgos, who did the same.

  Ishbel then turned to Indigo and, still crying, stroked his side gently, saying thank you over and over again. She didn’t hear as Indigo said, ‘She was safe; she was in my world’, but Maddy did.

  That’s how Indigo and Maddy met.

  Waiting for Indigo

  Maddy was sitting on the balcony looking out to sea. She could see the whole of Loutraki bay. It promised to be another hot, sunny day. Maddy was now twelve and it was the first day of the summer holidays. She and the family had driven down from Athens to their flat in Loutraki late the night before.

  This was Maddy’s favourite place. It was where Indigo was, and she was happy at the prospect of spending the whole of the holidays playing with him. Their flat was the best in Loutraki, according to her dad, and Maddy had to agree with him on that. It was a very small, two-storey hut-type building on top of a seven-storey block of flats on the seafront. The living accommodation was very tight for all of them, but around the hut was a massive balcony, and the views that you had from there were fantastic.

  Apparently, Indigo hadn’t been around for a few weeks. He did that, coming and going all the time, but Maddy knew he would be back soon and hoped it would be today. She sat on the balcony in the sun with a very happy heart. Aren’t the first days of holidays the best!

  Ever since that day when the dolphin had saved her from drowning, she and Indigo had been friends; he had helped to teach her to swim, and as she got older she spent more and more time with him. Her parents trusted him completely; in fact, he had become a part of the family, or as much a part of the family as a dolphin can become. He would swim along as they went waterskiing, and boy had he laughed and played as she had been learning, as she had spent more time falling in the water than on it! But she had mastered it and now he swam along in the wake, dashing across her path and coming up behind her. They had great fun together and her dad would laugh at them from the boat.

  In the evenings they would meet by the small pier and would talk for hours, yes talk; well, not exactly talk, but they could hear each other’s voices in their heads. That’s how it had been since their first meeting. Indigo had explained that Maddy was one of the few people in the world who could speak with the dolphins. He explained this to her many times before it sunk in and started to make sense.

  ‘Maddy, what are we doing today?’ asked CJ, Maddy’s little brother, who was ten. They got on quite well for brother and sister. CJ couldn’t talk to Indigo, but had come to realise that Maddy really did. They had both worked out that no one else believed them and they had to keep it quiet. Even though he couldn’t talk to Indigo, they had become very good friends and he enjoyed the dolphin’s company as much as Maddy.

  ‘Where’s Indigo?’ he asked, looking out to sea.

  ‘He went off to see the Keeper. He should be back any time now,’ replied Maddy.

  ‘Didn’t you tell him when we were coming?’ he asked.

  Maddy said that she had, and then went on to explain that the Keeper lived a long way away and it was a long distance for Indigo to swim.

  ‘Who is the Keeper, anyway, and why is a dolphin called the Keeper?’

  ‘CJ, it’s a long story, and I told you before, the Keeper is the dolphin who lives in the ruins of the lost world of Atlantis; he is the central point for all the special dolphins like Indigo to go back to and report on events and everything else. One day Indigo might take on the role of the Keeper. It is a very important position.’ They both looked out to sea, but there was no sign of Indigo; no spray from his blowhole; no dorsal fin sticking out of the water; no dolphin jumping up out of the water and splashing back down – the way he liked to say good morning.

  That afternoon they were on the beach outside their flat with their mum, waiting for their dad to pick them up in Barefoot, his little red speedboat. They were going water-skiing. It was the perfect weather for it; there was no wind and the sea in the bay was as flat as a pancake. Jorgos had been skiing already and now it was their turn; Jorgos was determined to make them both into championship skiers and they were already pretty good for their age.

  Barefoot pulled up to the shore and they all hopped in. Jorgos manoeuvred the boat out. ‘Who’s first in, then?’

  ‘Me, me,’ shouted CJ, and as soon as the boat stopped he jumped straight in.

  ‘I guess it’s him first, then!’ said Ishbel, laughing. Jorgos dropped the ski in, and within a minute CJ was up and skiing.

  Maddy moved up to the driver’s seat and took over the controls. Jorgos was teaching her to drive; Ishbel wouldn’t drive the boat when he was skiing, since she had nearly driven over him years ago. This meant that Jorgos had to find a friend to drive the boat before he could ski, so the sooner he got Maddy driving the sooner he got to ski more. Ishbel said that Maddy would have to be a lot older; Jorgos didn’t listen to her on this point though.

  ‘Is it my turn now?’ Maddy was getting impatient. It was hot and she wanted to get in the water. The sea was perfect. CJ jumped and, on landing, overbalanced and fell. The boat slowed and turned and went back to CJ, who, after a bit of persuasion, finally got out and allowed Maddy her turn.

  She put the ski on and took hold of the rope, getting herself into position, with her knees bent up to her chest, arms out straight in front of her. She shouted that she was ready. The boat started moving off; the rope pulled her up out of the water and she straightened herself up. It felt great; the dip in the sea had cooled her down and the spray felt wonderful as the sun beat down on her. She swung to the left, then the right, then put in a jump. When she skied she just forgot everything else and enjoyed herself. Her dad was always shouting back at her to try this, do that, jump now, but she just did what she wanted to do. She knew that if she went into competitions she would have to start doing what he told her to do and get a routine together, but at the moment she just liked doing what she felt like, and that is what she did.

  Whoosh, the dolphin jumped up alongside her, past her right ear, and down into the water just in front of her. Indigo was back. They skied together for the next ten minutes before Maddy let go of the rope and, slowing, sank down into the water, coming to a halt. Indigo swam up, and no sooner than she had given him a great big hug, they were interrupted by CJ jumping in next to them, followed by Ishbel. They all had a swim with the dolphin, chasing each other around, splashing each other and having great fun together.

  Bad News

  Indigo was back, Maddy had the whole summer in front of her and she was so happy.

  ‘I’m going to see Indigo, Mum,’ she shouted as she ran to the door.

  ‘Maddy, no; not yet; you’ve only just left him and we need to eat.’

  Oh great, she hadn’t been qu
ick enough; sometimes, if Ishbel was reading, she could slip away without her mum knowing. When her mum read a book or magazine she would go off into another world and Maddy and CJ could practically get away with anything. Oh well, she had been caught this time, but she was a bit hungry anyway.

  CJ put his trainers on and they headed off to the Kalanisa Taverna. That’s where they ate most of the time when in Loutraki. The kitchen in the flat – sorry, the best flat in Loutraki – was practically non-existent and they had an agreement with Vangelis, the owner of the taverna. Vangelis rented the building for the taverna from Jorgos. For a reduced rent, he allowed Jorgos’ family to always eat for free.

  ‘Hello, my little ones, you’re back from the hot city then?’ Vangelis had known the children all their lives and was always pleased to see them. He liked to practise his English on them – and boy did he need the practice! They would have great fun laughing at his problems with the pronunciation of words. They ordered their favourite dish – moussaka, followed by freshly sliced apple with a sprinkling of cinnamon.

  By then they had wasted enough time and couldn’t wait to get going to meet up with Indigo. Finally Ishbel said they could go, and they were off, running along the waterfront.

  They ran past all the busy restaurants which looked on to the sea, around to the small jetty by the park. It was past the hustle and bustle of the busiest part of the town, and having gone down the stone steps to the water level, they were out of view. They didn’t have long to wait; Indigo was as anxious to see them as they were to see him. As Maddy sat down, hanging her legs into the sea, they heard a soft puff. It was Indigo releasing some air from his blowhole. It was a sound that Maddy thought was one of the best sounds there could be.

  Maddy and Indigo talked all at once, saying they had missed each other and asking what they had been doing:

  ‘Did you see the Keeper?

  ‘How was school?

  ‘Did you meet any other dolphins?’