Maddy's Dolphin

by Imogen Tovey

  ‘Has CJ been good?

  ‘What was Atlantis like?

  ‘How did your teacher like the story?’

  They were both talking so fast, neither got a chance to answer, or even hear what the other was saying. And on top of all of that CJ kept interrupting. ‘What, what’s happened, did Indigo see a whale?’ Suddenly, they all stopped and laughed.

  Indigo had been away for about a month and had swum a lot of miles. Atlantis had been a thriving city many many years ago, in the times when men and dolphins had lived together, helping each other with fishing and with many other things. Back then, all dolphins could talk to all humans on Atlantis, not by actually talking, but in the same way Indigo was communicating with Maddy now; they could hear each other’s thoughts. But a disaster had happened and the whole island of Atlantis had fallen into the sea.

  Indigo was tired, and although he was overjoyed to see Maddy and CJ, he wasn’t himself; it was as if there were a big black cloud hanging over him. He told Maddy of his long swim, of meeting a pod of dolphins and an old sperm whale who had left his migration to the polar ice quite late. He told them that Atlantis still looked as beautiful as ever. He then came on to his meeting with the Keeper.

  Maddy had been relaying the story to CJ as they went. As Indigo got to the Keeper, CJ piped in, ‘Who is the Keeper again, and why does he stay there on his own?’ Indigo said that he would go over it all again with CJ another time, but that he was too tired now.

  ‘It is a bad time for whales and dolphins at the moment; there is this sound in the seas and oceans, which comes and goes, but few of us who hear it live to tell the story. The Keeper is at a loss as to what we can do, but we must find the answer. It is thought that it has something to do with the submarines that travel through the seas,’ Indigo explained. He was clearly worried and Maddy was too. They both knew that lots of things that humans do can affect the whales and dolphins, like fishing and pollution, but this was a new a problem which apparently was happening more and more frequently.

  They discussed the problem a bit more, until CJ piped in, ‘We should ask Imogen, she knows all about dolphins.’

  Since they were born, their Aunty Imogen had told them all about dolphins and seemed to know most things about them. Yes, they must phone and ask her. They had a plan, something to do, and that made them all feel a bit better. They started chatting about the waterskiing that afternoon, laughing about the falls they had had and laughing and joking away together, until they heard their dad shouting for them and revving his little putt-putt of a step-through scooter.

  ‘Got to go, Indigo, see you in the morning,’ they both shouted as they jumped up, running up the stairs and trying to race their dad back to the flat.

  Indigo stayed where he was, close into the edge, taking in the distant chatter and sounds of the people enjoying Loutraki. He was glad to be back. He had lived in the bay for over twelve years now. It was a solitary life, but he was one of the Chosen Ones. He was a descendant of the Atlantis dolphins. This was the life he had been destined for and he loved Maddy and her brother. He was happy, but worried about his kind, and all the perils of the seas. With a loud puff of breath he dove down and powered off through the sea to find some food.

  Letter to the President

  The sun reached across Maddy’s face and as it hit her eyes she opened them wide, suddenly wide awake. Instead of jumping out of bed immediately, she stretched herself out and gave a great big sigh. No school for weeks; it was a great feeling. She was going to spend the hot summer days waterskiing, swimming, playing with Indigo and just having fun. But no, suddenly she remembered, the dolphins were in trouble. There was a noise out there in the water and Indigo was worried, so it must be bad.

  Up she jumped, throwing on her swimsuit and tugging at CJ’s sheet. ‘Come on, quick. We’ve got to get out before they wake up.’ CJ jumped up, already wearing his swimming trunks. ‘What are you wearing those for?’ demanded Maddy.

  ‘For a quick getaway,’ replied CJ with a huge grin on his face.

  Shaking her head at him, Maddy just said, ‘Come on, you idiot.’ They sneaked out of the door, closing it so as not to wake their parents, and ran off to the lift, giggling.

  As they ran out of the block, across the road and onto the pebbled beach, they saw Indigo jump up into the sky, coming down with a great splash, then swim at great speed towards the beach. Both children ran into the sea and, on getting to waist depth, dived in under the water, swimming out to join Indigo. They were both great swimmers. They had such confidence and could swim on and under the water like fish, said their grandfather. Their reply to that was always, ‘Not like the fish, like a dolphin.’ And, thinking about it, that was much more accurate; fish move their tails from side to side to propel themselves along, whereas dolphins use their tails, or rather their flukes, in an up and down motion. When they had explained this to their grandfather a couple of years ago, he had to agree with them and, ever since, when he saw them swimming, he had said that they swam like dolphins. He was very proud of them and would say it to anyone who stopped and watched them as they played in the sea.

  They had a fantastic swim this particular morning, diving down, pushing off, chasing each other and playing tag. But all good things come to an end, and it was all too soon that they heard their mum shouting at them from the beach and they had to go off home for breakfast.

  After a quick shower they were both dressed in no time and were sitting down at the table on the large balcony with the spectacular view. They could see the whole of the bay, with the mouth of the Corinth canal over to the left and the hills spreading out to the right and, on top of that, every now and again Indigo could be seen swimming and jumping around in the harbour.

  There was no time for looking out at the views now, though. They were hungry, and on the table was some of their favourite food. They had recently received a food parcel from their grandmother in England. Nana would send them chocolate buttons and Marmite every now and again in the post – things that you just couldn’t buy in Greece anywhere – and they loved chocolate buttons and Marmite, although not together, of course. There was Weetabix first, then lots of toast and Marmite which went down so quickly that Ishbel didn’t have time to eat any herself until they were finished. As Maddy was about to pick up her last piece, Jorgos walked in and picked it up, taking a bite before he walked off, saying they should be ready on the beach at 2 p.m. for waterskiing.

  Now it was time to phone Imogen. Jorgos was out and their mum was on the hammock on the balcony reading a magazine. When Ishbel was reading a magazine she noticed absolutely nothing. They knew that they could phone Australia for an hour and she wouldn’t notice. It was quite good when they wanted to do anything that they knew their parents wouldn’t agree to. They only had to wait for her to get engrossed in a book or magazine and then they could do whatever it was they wanted to, right under her nose if they felt like it. She just wouldn’t notice. It was a big joke within the English side of the family.

  ‘Hello?’ Imogen answered. That was great. They were hoping that she was in.

  After the initial greetings, with both Maddy and CJ talking at once and pushing to listen to the receiver, Imogen asked if Ishbel knew they were on the phone. ‘Yes, of course, Imogen,’ they quickly replied. The conversation turned to Indigo. Even before Maddy was born, Imogen had been interested in dolphins. She had swum with them in the Bahamas, Israel, Ireland and England. Although she didn’t know it, Chisel, a dolphin who she had swum with in England, had been one of the Chosen Ones.

  Maddy explained that Indigo had returned to the bay and they were having fun together. CJ then started to say that Indigo had said… Maddy quickly kicked him and pulled a face for him to shut up. Although Imogen knew all about dolphins, she was an adult and wouldn’t believe that Maddy could talk to one. Both Maddy and CJ had to keep it a secret.

  Maddy, pushing CJ from the phone, said, ‘I heard at school that dolphins are being hurt with a noise in the
oceans. Do you know anything about it?’

  Well, that was all it needed; Maddy knew when Imogen answered, ‘Well, yes,’ that they would soon know all about the problem.

  Imogen explained that the military used sonar throughout the oceans and seas of the world to identify any potential threats or enemies to their respective countries. Since the terrorist attacks on America, the Americans put more and more money into protecting their country. As well as operating the mid-frequency active sonar, a low-frequency active sonar started to be introduced. And when the Americans start using something, the other countries do as well.

  Unfortunately, the sound that is emitted seems to affect whales and dolphins, causing them to strand themselves on beaches, and even giving them symptoms like divers who get the bends. Imogen said that whales and dolphins have died because of the sonar in the seas.

  Both Maddy and CJ were silent. It was bad, it was really bad. Imogen said that people were trying to highlight the problem to governments and stop it, but that governments, especially the American government, thought it was more important to protect their country.

  At least they knew they always heard the truth from Imogen, even if it wasn’t nice to hear. Maddy asked, ‘What can we do? We have to do something.’

  ‘Yes, what can we do, Imogen?’ said CJ.

  There was silence on the line for a bit, then Imogen said, ‘I know! You can write to the President.’

  America

  ‘Sir, General MacDee is on the phone.’ The President nodded that he would be right through, then turned back to his daughter.

  ‘Lucy, you know I’m busy, the country doesn’t run itself you know, honey.’

  ‘But Dad, I don’t want to go to Greece, let me stay, please Dad, I’m tired of going on all these trips with you.’

  There was a cough from the doorway. Michael was trying to hurry him up and the look on her dad’s face changed, clouded over, and she knew he wouldn’t listen any more. That was it. There was no point. He had turned off to her and she would be going.

  ‘Honey, you will have fun, it’s a lovely country. The weather will be great, and it’s the only way we can spend a bit of time together.’ He then turned around and headed off to the other room to take his really important phone call. Whoever said it would be fun being the President’s daughter? Well whoever it was, they couldn’t have been more wrong.

  Lucy was bored of traipsing around the world in the tow of her dad, the President of the United States of America. She had to have a bodyguard with her everywhere she went, and had to behave and look tidy all the time. It was not fun at all, and Lucy was totally fed up.

  She threw herself down on the chair, then pushed herself backwards out from the desk, letting the chair wheels slide her back along the marble floor until the chair collided with a little table full of papers. She hadn’t pushed hard, but it was hard enough for the chair to hit the table and cause it to wobble slightly. The wobble was just enough to make the pile of papers fall off, down to the floor.

  Oh no, that was all she needed. Her dad’s secretary Michael would say, ‘What have you done now?’ She jumped out of the chair and started picking the papers up. Boring, boring letters! Why did all these people write to her dad anyway? What was the point? He never listened to her, why should he listen to anyone else?

  Dear President,

  Me and my brother CJ (I am Maddy) are writing to you because we think you might be able to help us. Well, not us, but the dolphins and whales in all the seas of the world.

  We have a dolphin that lives in Loutraki, so we know what lovely animals they are. We swim with him every day and have found out so much about them. They have been in the seas for so long and contribute to life on our planet. Humans should not hurt them just to protect humans. We don’t own the planet. We share it with all the animals and fish and every other living thing on the planet.

  My aunty says that the sonar used by your submarines to stop attacks by terrorists or anyone else who wants to attack Americans is hurting the whales and dolphins and Indigo (the dolphin we play with) agrees. I know you are not the only country to use sonar but you are the biggest.

  You can come to Greece to see Indigo, if that will help you see what we mean, but please don’t just throw this letter away, it is very important.

  Maddy and CJ

  Lucy held the letter and read it through again. Well, OK, not all the letters were boring. They swim with a dolphin! How lucky are they! She would love to do that. What was it with the sonar, though; did it really hurt the dolphins? Dad said it was important to protect America, and she had heard them all talking about sonar from time to time. Wasn’t there another way of doing it so that no dolphin would be hurt?

  ‘Oh Lucy, what have you done? You are so clumsy.’ Here he was then – Michael, true to form. ‘What have you done now; come on, out now.’ Lucy grabbed hold of the letter, putting it behind her back as she backed out of the room, apologising to Michael as she went. On getting to the door, she turned and ran off to her bedroom, thinking about what she would do in Greece and how she would get to see the dolphin.

  The Whale

  Nearly two weeks had gone by since Maddy and CJ had sent the letter off to the President and they hadn’t heard anything back at all. They checked the post every day, and every day they were disappointed. They had had lots of fun, of course, and had settled into quite a routine – a morning swim with Indigo, then a nice breakfast, some shopping, doing something with their mum or cycling, then a light lunch before Jorgos picked them up from the beach in his boat and they went out waterskiing. Indigo would join them, and he would swim and jump around them, enjoying the feel of the wake on his skin.

  After a sociable meal at the taverna they both would go and play football with the other Loutraki children. Maddy would always be first to leave, though, leaving CJ laughing and joking around with the others while she went off to join Indigo for a quiet chat. Anyone standing on the waterfront, away from the crowd, would see a young girl sitting on the step down at sea level with a dolphin bobbing about in the water next to her. It would almost appear that they were chatting together like best friends.

  CJ would race up to them, when he had dragged himself away from the other boys, and loudly crash down beside them. He was never quiet, but both Maddy and Indigo liked him joining them. Conversations would usually get quite interesting when he turned up. Of course, all good things come to an end, and their days would end by the sound of Jorgos coming along the waterfront on his little motorbike, having been sent to find them by Ishbel. Then they would run along beside him as they followed him home.

  But today they had gone down for their early morning swim and Indigo was nowhere to be seen. Maddy was worried, because although they had been having fun, Indigo always had his thoughts on the problem of the noise which was hurting the whales and dolphins.

  They were on the balcony now eating their breakfast. Ishbel was talking to CJ about wearing his swimming trunks to bed every night. ‘You have some perfectly good pyjamas to wear; you can’t wear your trunks to bed.’

  ‘Why not, Mum? It makes it easier in the morning if I do. It saves me changing.’

  ‘But they will be dirty, wearing them all night.’

  ‘Oh no, Mum, I go straight out for a swim in them. That cleans them up.’

  Ishbel looked exasperated. Why was he always in such a rush? But before she could come up with another argument, CJ knocked his chair back as he jumped out of it shouting, ‘Indigo!’

  Indigo had powered into the bay and now needed to get Maddy’s attention, so he jumped and jumped, causing the water to splash loudly as he crashed back into the sea. That had done it; he could feel Maddy shouting out, ‘Indigo, what’s wrong?’ The dolphin’s eyesight out of the water wasn’t good enough for him to see Maddy and CJ up on their balcony waving down at him. Sight wasn’t the most important sense for dolphins. He had found that if he was within shouting distance of Maddy they could still talk to each other, and the
distance they could do this at had grown as Maddy had got older. Indigo didn’t know if this distance would grow further still. The Keeper had told him that in the past a special human and dolphin had been able to communicate however far apart they were, but that had only happened once that he was aware of.

  ‘Maddy, I need you to come to the lake as soon as you can. You need to see this.’

  ‘See what, Indigo?’

  ‘It’s too difficult to explain, but bring some fish with you.’

  And with that, Indigo turned and shot off up the bay and was lost to sight in no time. Well, he’s in hurry today,’ said Ishbel, returning to the breakfast table.

  ‘We need to go the lake,’ Maddy whispered to CJ.

  He knew there wasn’t any time for explanations, so when Ishbel asked him what the two of them had planned for the day CJ said, ‘We thought we could cycle to Lake Vonliagmeni with a picnic.’ And that’s what was then quickly arranged. Ishbel made them up a picnic and agreed that Jorgos would meet them there at 3 p.m. with the boat. They would go waterskiing there for a change and then he would give them a lift back. Well, that was as good as it would get; Maddy hoped that whatever it was Indigo was going to show them was going to be OK for her dad to go waterskiing with.

  ‘Hey, kids, grab hold, I’ll help you up the hill.’ It was Costas. He worked at one of the outlying farms and was on his way out there in his truck. Jorgos had taught them a year ago the easy way of getting their bikes up the hill that led out of Loutraki towards the lake. Lots of people did it, but he had sworn them to secrecy. They must not let Ishbel know or she would go mad. They both took hold of the truck with one hand and let the truck do the rest. It pulled them up the long winding hill until they hit the level, then they let go and waved thanks to Costas as they started peddling for themselves again.

  It was still a long way, but they were fit and used to cycling, so got to the lake within about an hour of setting off. Maddy heard Indigo say, ‘Come to the far side.’ So they took the left fork and cycled on and around. They soon ran out of road and went onto the grass, heading towards the hole in the cliffs that led out into the sea. It was a saltwater lake and was fed directly from the sea through a small channel in the huge cliffs.