by Unknown
‘It’s Rose,’ she said. ‘She must have waited for us.’ Uneasily she looked at Jack. ‘What am I going to say to her?’
Jack thought for a moment, then smiled. ‘I think you can tell her everything.’
‘Really?’ Lizzy’s eyes lit eagerly.
‘Yes. If you say we can trust her, that’s good enough for me. She’s your sister, after all.’
Lizzy gave him an adoring look. ‘Thank you! I so much want to tell her. She’s been really brilliant, and I did promise that I’d explain as soon as I could.’
‘Then you go ahead. Just make sure that she promises not to say a word to anyone else at all. Not even Paul.’
‘She won’t. Not if I ask her to promise. She’ll help us too, if she can.’
‘I’m sure she will. Look, she’s seen us.’
Rose had started to walk along the pontoon. Lizzy waved, and Rose lifted one hand, uncertainly, in reply. Silvie nosed into her berth, and Rose reached them as Jack was tying up to the mooring ring. ‘Hi,’ she said hesitantly. ‘Is everything… OK?’
‘Everything’s fine.’ Jack smiled a reassurance and helped Lizzy on to shore. ‘And Lizzy’s got a lot to tell you.’ He winked at Lizzy. ‘Go on, off you go, you two. I’ll just make sure the boat’s secure, then I’m going back to the Treleavens’ for a well-deserved rest!’
The girls said goodbye and walked away. As they reached the lifeboat station, Rose said, ‘I’ve been thinking a lot while I waited for you. Everything that happened today… It’s all so weird, I can still hardly believe it.’ She glanced at Lizzy. ‘But it is true, isn’t it? I didn’t dream it?’
‘No, you didn’t dream it.’ Lizzy laughed selfconsciously. ‘I felt the same as you when I first found out. It’s real, though. All of it. And like Jack said, there’s loads more to tell you.’
Rose looked back to where Jack was furling Silvie’s sail. ‘He’s really nice,’ she said wistfully.
‘I know.’ Lizzy hesitated, then decided to be brave. ‘He’s my real dad, and that’s wonderful. But it isn’t going to make any difference to you and me, Rose. After all, we’ve both got another dad, haven’t we? And a mum too. They’re my parents, just as much as Jack and Morvyr. We’re all a family.’
Rose stared at the ground for a moment, then looked up. There was a tell-tale glitter in her eyes, and her make-up had started to smudge. ‘Yeah,’ she said, then abruptly her face broke into a grin. ‘And now, little sister, you’re going to tell me the rest! Come on, I want to know everything that’s happened!’ She linked Lizzy’s arm firmly in hers. ‘Seriously, are things OK now? Is it all over?’
‘All over?’ Suddenly Lizzy wanted to burst out laughing. She knew it was just a reaction, and she squashed it with an effort and returned Rose’s smile instead. ‘No way,’ she said. ‘In fact… things are probably only just beginning!’
Epilogue
Tullor lay in a crevice of artificial rock, glaring with hate-filled eyes at the faces peering into the tank in the Sealife Centre. Every day, for hour after hour, crowds of humans gathered to gawp at him, goggling and pointing and chattering – he hated them! He wanted to lunge at them, bite them, tear them to pieces with his savage teeth! But the tank’s glass wall was too strong, and when he had tried to batter through it he’d only hurt himself. So he hid as best he could in his cranny, while the hatred seethed in his mind.
The long day ended at last. The last of the humans shuffled away, the lights were turned off and he was left in peace. There were no other creatures in the tank with him, for he would have quickly caught and eaten anything smaller than himself. But Tullor didn’t care about that. He had been waiting for the quiet and darkness. For he had work to do.
He concentrated his thoughts, drawing on his fury to give him extra power.
Majesty… It is Tullor… It is Tullor… He sent out the silent call from his mind, and listened for an echo in the silence. Could the Queen hear him? Would she answer? Perhaps she was angry with him for failing her. But she had ordered him to attack the fishing boat, and that was why he had been caught in the trawl net. Surely she would answer him, if she could!
Majesty… I need your help, Majesty… I am your faithful servant; if you will help me, I can still be useful to you! It is Tullor, Majesty… Tullor… Tullor…
Then, very faintly, he felt something stirring in the depths of his mind. It seemed to come from far, far away, but it was a sound, a whispering, like a distant, dreamlike voice.
Tullor’s long body tensed, and his eyes lit fervently. Then he opened his mouth and hissed with triumph.
I am your servant, Majesty! Command me, and I will obey!
The whispering was clearer now, and he strained to hear and understand. The sound in his head went on for a long time before at last it faded. When it had finally gone, Tullor lay in the darkness, staring at the world outside. It was beyond his reach, but that didn’t matter now. Because she had heard him, and she had work for him to do. He must just be patient for a little while longer.