by Sue Bentley
Splash seemed to cheer up a bit. ‘My family will be looking for me and sending magical silver fishing lines through the sky. They are harmless and invisible to most humans. But you will be able to see them if you are close to me. When I grab hold of a fishing line with my beak, it will guide me home to Silver Dream Cliffs.’
‘That’s really clever. We’ll keep a lookout for the fishing lines together,’ Martina said, getting to her feet. ‘Wait until I tell Uncle Andrew and Gary about all this! They’re never going to believe it.’
‘No, Martina! I am sorry, but you can tell no one about me or what I have told you,’ Splash warned her seriously. ‘Our important dreamwork must remain a secret from humans. You must promise me.’
Martina thought this over. She was disappointed that she couldn’t tell Gary about Splash. Perhaps he’d think twice about saying mean things to her if he knew a magic puffin had chosen her to be his friend. But then she decided that if she had to be trapped on the island, it might be nice to have a special secret friend all of her own who needed her help.
‘OK then. I promise. No one’s going to hear about you from me.’
Splash clicked his beak gratefully. ‘Thank you, Martina. Where can I stay that is safe?’
‘You can stay with me,’ Martina said at once. ‘Oh … but I might have a problem hiding you. I think we’ll be sleeping on camp beds in the same room as Ga–’
Suddenly, the porch door crashed open and Gary stepped outside. Martina’s heart missed a beat. Oh no! He was going to see Splash at any moment!
Chapter Three
Gary scowled at Martina. ‘Dad was worried that you’d run off, but I knew you wouldn’t have gone far. Have you finished sulking yet?’
‘I’m not sulking!’ Martina said, nettled. ‘I just wanted to … erm … be by myself for a few minutes.’ She glanced at Splash’s tiny figure in the corner of the porch. Luckily, Gary didn’t seem to have noticed him.
‘Whatever!’ Gary rolled his eyes. ‘Come on. Dad says you can sleep in the old lamp room by yourself. We’ll be making do with the storeroom.’
Martina was surprised to learn that she wouldn’t have to share after all. From the look on Gary’s face, she guessed that he wasn’t too pleased about it. Maybe he’d hoped to set himself up in the lamp room. She hesitated to follow him, not wanting to leave her secret new friend all by himself.
Splash seemed to know what she was thinking. ‘Do not worry about me, Martina. I will come and find you later.’
Martina froze. What was going on? Splash had just given himself away in front of her cousin! How come Gary hadn’t heard him?
Gary shuffled his feet impatiently. ‘Come on then, you muppet, or Dad will think I’ve upset you or something. I don’t want another earbashing about having to be nice to you because you’re a soppy spoilt kid,’ he drawled in a silly baby voice.
Martina could quite cheerfully have pushed him into the nearest muddy puddle. Instead, she gave Splash a tiny nod to show she’d heard him. Still feeling puzzled as to why Gary couldn’t seem to see Splash, she followed her cousin back into the lighthouse.
Her uncle was busy with some equipment. He looked up as she passed him on her way to the staircase in the corner of the room. ‘Feeling a bit better?’ he asked kindly.
Martina shrugged. ‘I suppose I’ll just have to have my birthday a bit late. It’s no big deal,’ she said with a wry grin. She wondered what he’d have said if she told him about finding a magic puffin!
Uncle Andrew nodded. ‘That’s the spirit! Hope you like your room.’
Martina trudged up what felt like hundreds of winding stone steps. She expected to find a gloomy, dusty old room at the top. But the sight that met her eyes was a pleasant surprise.
The big circular room was built round the huge lamp that had once warned sailors about the treacherous rocks. But due to modern technology, it was no longer needed. The walls were lined with huge windows. Daylight flooded in, making everything bright and cheerful. There was an amazing view all over the island and the vast open sea. Overhead, the grey storm clouds seemed close enough to touch.
Despite herself, Martina felt cheered. It wasn’t plush and comfy like her hotel room and there was no TV or en-suite bathroom. But there were sweet little window seats, a small table and chair and a cosy bunk, covered with lots of woolly blankets.
‘This isn’t too bad!’ she said, bouncing up and down on the bunk.
A tapping noise behind her made her jump. She turned to see that Splash had flown up and landed on the wide sill. She opened the window so he could flutter inside.
‘I like it here. It is a good place to stay!’ he announced, after a quick exploration. Perching on one of the old lamp’s huge ridged-glass lenses, he shook himself to dry his feathers.
Martina smiled. He looked so cute with his little domed head, bright eyes and friendly expression. ‘Now you can stay with me without anyone knowing. Oh, and how come Gary couldn’t see you in the porch?’
Splash clicked his beak mischievously. ‘I used my magic so that only you can see and hear me.’
‘You can make yourself invisible? I get it now. Cool! That’s going to make things a lot easier,’ Martina grinned delightedly. Being stuck here on the boring old island with her bossy cousin might not be quite so bad. Who could ever have dreamt that she’d have a magic puffin for company?
‘Thanks, Uncle Andrew, that was delicious,’ Martina said that evening, rinsing her plate in the sink. She’d just polished off sausages, beans and bread and butter.
Splash watched from where he was perched on the back of her chair. At first, Martina couldn’t get used to the fact that only she knew he was there. But when her uncle and Gary paid Splash no attention, she felt herself starting to relax.
Once the plates were cleared away, Uncle Andrew spread out a map of the island. He pointed to the puffin colony, which he’d ringed in red felt-tip. ‘Tomorrow, we’ll start counting occupied burrows and plotting their positions.’
‘Why do you have to do that?’ Martina asked, hoping that she wouldn’t have to help. Counting holes in the ground sounded too dull for words.
‘Well, there’s been a gradual decline in the numbers of puffins breeding on Bird Island,’ he explained. ‘My job is to check this year’s burrows for eggs, so we get an idea of how many chicks we can expect. Each pair of puffins only rears one a year.’
‘Only one chick?’ Martina was surprised. She’d assumed they would have nests full of eggs, like the mallard ducks in the park that always had about ten cute fluffy ducklings swimming after them. ‘So every single egg is really important?’ she guessed.
‘That’s right,’ her uncle agreed.
Splash cocked his head on one side, listening closely. ‘Sometimes young wild puffins lose their way and visit Silver Dream Cliffs. We welcome them and share tales of our seaward wandering.’
Martina imagined the magic puffins and their wild cousins having a good chat. She grinned fondly at her little magical friend. ‘I never realized that puffins were so interesting.’
Gary thought she was talking to him. He blinked at her in surprise. ‘Well, I think they’re amazing and so does Dad. But I would have thought frilly pink fairy dolls and stuff would be more your style,’ he teased.
‘That’s all you know then, isn’t it!’ Martina said spiritedly. ‘I hate pink!’
‘OK, keep your wig on!’ Gary joked, grinning. ‘If you really want to know more, puffins are sometimes called sea parrots. They can live for as much as forty years. And once they choose a nesting site, they come back every year.’
Martina nodded slowly, deciding that she wanted to find out all she could about Splash, his magical friends and their wild puffin cousins.
‘Unfortunately, there’s been trouble with illegal egg-collecting on some islands in the far north,’ Uncle Andrew told her seriously. ‘You can imagine the effect on a dwindling colony.’
Splash twitched his short tail angrily. ‘That is d
readful news!’
‘Why would anyone steal eggs?’ Martina exclaimed.
‘Beats me,’ her uncle said. ‘Some people will collect anything. There are heavy penalties for stealing eggs. The police take swift action to arrest anyone caught doing it. Luckily, we haven’t had that problem on Bird Island.’
Martina listened for a while, but as the conversation turned to lists of figures, she bit back a yawn. She stood up, ready to go upstairs.
Uncle Andrew handed her a torch. ‘Are you sure you’ll be OK in the lamp room, all by yourself?’
‘Oh yes. I’ll be fine now that I’ve got –’ She stopped suddenly, realizing that she’d been about to say that she had Splash as a friend. She would have to try a lot harder to keep his secret. ‘Erm … now I’ve got used to staying here,’ she corrected hastily. ‘Goodnight!’ Pointing the torch beam at the steps, she hurried up them with Splash flying ahead of her.
In the lamp room, Splash fluttered on to her shoulder. They stood looking out at the night sky, which was lit up by millions of stars. The young puffin’s head moved from side to side as his keen eyes searched for glowing silver fishing lines. Martina searched too, but they had no luck.
‘Perhaps I will never get home again,’ Splash croaked sadly.
Martina reached up to stroke his smooth white chest. She felt a stir of affection for her little lost friend. ‘Your family will keep looking until they find you. I know they will.’
Splash rubbed his soft head gently against her neck. ‘Thank you, Martina.’
Suddenly, Martina spotted a plume of smoke. It looked pale against the dark sky. ‘Look! Is that a campfire? I didn’t think people were supposed to come here without special permission like Uncle Andrew.’
‘Perhaps they are egg collectors!’ Splash squeaked, hopping up and down in alarm.
‘Oh gosh! Do you think so?’ Martina gasped. ‘But I thought they didn’t have any problem with them around here.’
Splash nodded, his eyes gleaming. ‘We should go and make sure!’
‘I agree. But we can’t go tramping across the cliff tops in the dark. It’s too dangerous,’ Martina said worriedly. ‘Why don’t we wait until the morning? Uncle Andrew will know what to do.’
But Splash had other ideas. Martina felt a weird tingling sensation in her fingers as he fluttered down on to the window seat and his feathers ignited with glowing sea-blue sparkles.
Something very strange was about to happen!
Chapter Four
Martina gasped as a mini whirlwind of greeny-blue glitter spun around her. She felt tense with excitement. A warm tickly feeling ran up her arms and legs.
‘Oh!’ She felt an odd collapsing sensation. Her eyesight blurred for a second and then every detail of her surroundings became crystal clear. On the window seat, Splash seemed to grow in size.
Martina opened her mouth to ask what was happening, but all that came out was a startled little squawk. She looked down and went almost cross-eyed as she saw a bright orange beak.
She had become a puffin!
With a whoosh, Martina fluttered across to land next to Splash. Her webbed feet skidded on the cushion.
‘This way! You’ll be safe with me,’ Splash called, already streaking out of the open window.
Martina zoomed after him. ‘Oo-er!’ she yelled, flapping madly as she exploded into the sky like a cork popping out of a bottle. After a jerky start, she soon got the hang of things and flew alongside Splash. ‘This is so cool!’
He glanced across at her with approval. ‘Follow me!’ He swept downwards, trailing green-blue sparkles as together they skimmed across the waves.
Suddenly, Splash dived underwater. Martina paused for just a second before deciding to follow her friend. She whizzed along after his bubble trail, amazed to find that swimming was just like flying. The two of them burst out of the water together and headed for the cliff tops. Martina’s tiny heart leapt in her white chest.
This was the best fun ever!
The cool night air rushed past them, ruffling their feathers. With her new keen bird senses, Martina could see every detail of the cliff tops. Clouds of insects were milling about. She’d usually be running for cover or grabbing the insect spray. But creepy-crawlies were no problem to her now that she was a puffin.
A number of wild puffins flew towards her and Splash.
‘Greetings, friends,’ Splash chirruped. ‘Have you seen any humans stealing eggs from your burrows?’
The puffins shook their heads, glancing at each other in alarm. They led Splash and Martina to the colony on the cliff top. She could hear the strange groaning bird calls coming from nesting puffins deep inside the many burrows. Martina wished she could tell what they were saying, but maybe she’d have to be a real puffin to do that. Others were flying in with beakfuls of sand eels.
Dozens of puffins waddled about: some were rubbing beaks together and some sat with their heads poking out of burrow entrances. To Martina’s delight, one breeding pair invited her and Splash to visit their burrow, proudly showing them a fat grey chick with a fuzzy head and big dark eyes.
‘Oh,’ she cooed in a birdie squeak. It was the sweetest thing she had ever seen. After admiring the chick, Splash thanked the puffins politely and the two of them left the burrow.
‘We must look around for egg stealers,’ Splash told her, taking to the air again.
Spreading her tiny wings, Martina shot after him. She couldn’t get over the wonderful experience of visiting the colony and the breeding puffins. If there were horrible criminals collecting eggs on the island, they had better watch out!
She and Splash flew back and forth, searching for signs of a campfire. But the thin thread of smoke had disappeared and after an hour or so, they still hadn’t found anything.
Martina’s wings had begun to droop with tiredness, when Splash gave a cry of triumph and landed beside a stamped-out fire.
Martina swooped down and landed next to him. ‘Those ashes are still warm!’ she exclaimed. And look at that.’ She pointed to a few tiny fragments of eggshell. ‘Oh, I suppose it doesn’t prove anything. They could have cooked hens’ eggs for their tea, couldn’t they?’
Splash nudged at the piece of shell with his beak. ‘I am afraid not. See the small lilac-brown markings on this piece of white shell? This is a puffin’s egg,’ he said sadly.
Martina’s chest tightened with fury. ‘I knew it! Those mean people are stealing them! We have to find them before they escape!’
The magic puffin shook his head. ‘No, Martina, we have done enough by finding this evidence. It could be dangerous to challenge the thieves and you are tired and need to sleep now.’
Martina opened her beak to protest that she was fine, but Splash was firm.
‘Those bad humans are trapped on the island because of the storm. We can search again in the daylight.’ Flying upwards, he led the way back.
In no time at all Martina was fluttering through the open lamp-room window. She crash-landed on her bed and warm tickly feelings ran up her arms and legs again as she felt herself expanding. The blankets were soft against her cheek as she lay on them.
‘I’m a girl again!’ Martina cried, pushing herself up on to her elbows. Her flying adventure had been amazing. She still felt all tingly and excited and was sure that she’d be wide awake for ages.
But when Splash snuggled up close against her neck and tucked his head under his wing, Martina had already fallen asleep.
She woke up with a start the following morning to find Splash sitting on her chest, nibbling her hair affectionately.
‘Phew! Fish breath,’ she giggled, fanning the air with one hand before gently stroking the top of his fuzzy little head. ‘Sorry. Nothing personal.’
Martina gently moved Splash aside, leapt out of bed and threw her clothes on. ‘Let’s go and tell Uncle Andrew and Gary what we saw last night.’
The delicious smell of frying bacon met her as they came downstairs. Gary was sitting at the tabl
e eating toast.
Her uncle looked up, smiling. ‘Did you sleep well? Sorry we couldn’t provide you with a proper bed and a big soft duvet.’
‘The bunk’s great. I love it,’ Martina said cheerfully, surprising herself. It was true. She’d barely given the posh hotel room a thought since Splash arrived. She adored her new friend. ‘Listen, I’ve got something really important to tell you. There are egg collectors here. You have to report them…’
Uncle Andrew was all attention as she told him about the smoke they had seen from the lamp room, but she didn’t mention Splash or their moonlight visit to the puffin colony. When she’d finished he stroked his chin thoughtfully. ‘Hmm. Thanks for mentioning it, Martina. We’ll check it out today, but my guess is that they’re tourists with permits to look at the wild flowers and insect life. We get them here from time to time. Let’s have breakfast, then we’ll make a start. OK?’
‘But they weren’t just tourists. I saw their –’ Martina broke off. She couldn’t explain how she’d actually seen the campsite with her own eyes, after flying there as a puffin. He wouldn’t have believed her anyway.
‘I bet you were dreaming about that smoke,’ Gary commented.
‘I was not!’ Martina bit her lip in exasperation. ‘I’m right about those mean egg thieves. Just you wait and see.’
Gary rolled his eyes. ‘You always have to be the centre of attention, don’t you? What’s it like, being a spoilt brat?’
‘Gary!’ Her uncle looked very stern. ‘That’s enough.’
Martina felt herself going red. ‘Well, Gary, it’s better than being a … a … pompous know-it-all!’ she fumed.
Gary looked surprised to see Martina standing up for herself. Martina even thought she caught a flicker of respect on his face. But she was too worried about the egg collectors to think any more of it.
Tossing her head, she stormed over to the kettle to make some hot chocolate. An image of the cute fluffy puffin chick came into her head. She wasn’t going to let those mean thieves do this to Splash’s wild cousins.