The Magic Charm (8 page)

The net was extremely heavy, but with Antonia and Claudia working together and Bubbles swimming ahead, whistling words of encouragement, they managed to bring it to the sea’s surface. As they broke through the water Antonia gasped at the sun rising up from the horizon; it looked as if it too had just burst from the sea. The colours were
a spectacular blaze of pinks and reds that spread across the water and into the sky like flames.

Claudia scrambled into the boat to haul in the net, but Antonia stayed in the water, partly to stop Bubbles from getting tangled up, but mostly because she couldn’t bear to leave him again. Antonia shuddered as Claudia freed the dead creatures caught in the rope’s squares and returned their bodies to the sea. She watched in silence until something nudged her in the side, making her spin around in the water.

“Silver Dolphin,” clicked Bubbles. “Thank you for coming back. I couldn’t bear it if I lost you. You’re my best friend.”

Antonia swum closer to Bubbles and rubbed her nose against his silver one.

“I can’t believe I almost blew it. I’d do anything for you, Bubbles, and your family and all the other
sea creatures. I’m so happy. I’ll always be your Silver Dolphin.”

Bubbles leapt at her, nudging her in the chest and splashing water at her with his fins. Antonia laughed and splashed water back until Claudia called for them to stop, saying, “We really have to go.”

Bubbles nuzzled Antonia on the cheek. “I’ll follow you home.”

“I’d like that,” she answered, nuzzling him back.

With Claudia’s help, Antonia scrambled into the boat. Water poured off her and she shook herself like a dog.

“Thanks!” laughed Claudia, as she restarted the engine. “Antonia, wrap yourself in that blanket. I don’t want you catching a chill with that damp hair, even if your clothes are already dry.”

Claudia winked as Antonia wrapped herself in the blanket and Antonia grinned back.

Claudia turned the boat for home. Bubbles swam alongside, leaping in and out of the water until they reached the stretch of beach that bordered Claudia’s garden. Whistling his goodbyes he swam back out to sea. Claudia and Antonia paddled the boat ashore and then jumping out they dragged it higher up the beach. Claudia glanced at the lightening sky.

“There are a few things we need to sort out,” she said. “Then I’ll run you home in the car.”

C
laudia chivvied Antonia into her kitchen where she began to make hot chocolate. She poured some milk into the saucepan then pulled out a chair for Antonia to sit down.

“I have always loved the sea and felt some kind of special bond with its creatures. Many years ago when I first realised how badly people were polluting the sea I was desperate to put things
right. That’s when I discovered I was a Silver Dolphin. It has been hard and often dangerous, but the job is very rewarding. Regrettably it became too much for me: I’m not the swimmer I once was. I knew I must hand the role over to someone younger.

Silver Dolphins are very rare and I’d been searching for a new one for ages when I decided to set up Sea Watch. Conservation groups can work miracles, but I knew I still had to find a Silver Dolphin. Then I had a brainwave: the poster competition. It was a way of promoting Sea Watch and there was a small chance it might lead me to a Silver Dolphin. When the entries came in I was very excited. Unbelievably, I had found what I was looking for, Antonia Lee was a Silver Dolphin.”

Claudia smiled and Antonia felt as if a warm current had suddenly passed through her.

“So, Antonia, welcome to the Silver Dolphins. I’m very happy to be handing over to you. You are a very special girl.”

“Why me?” asked Antonia. “How could you tell from my poster that I was the one?”

Claudia stretched out her long fingers.

“Intuition,” she said. “Call it a sixth sense if you like. Your picture was full of facts and information that showed you knew about the marine environment. But I could also
feel
that you cared. When you write or draw on a page, you leave something of yourself behind. An essence. I also guessed that you have a special birthday. You were born on the twenty-first of June.”

“How did you know that?”

Claudia chuckled softly at Antonia’s puzzled face.

“Ah!” she said. “I knew because we are two of
a kind. We were both born on the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. It makes us even more special.”

“Your birthday is the twenty-first of June too?”

Antonia was about to ask how that made them both even more special, but Claudia smiled mysteriously, then said, “Is there anything else you need to know about being a Silver Dolphin?”

“Yes, heaps!” said Antonia. “How does it work? Is it magic, that lets me swim like a real dolphin? Do I have to wear my necklace for the magic to work?”

“The necklace is merely a receiver,” said Claudia. “Think of it like a mobile phone. It’s the way that Spirit communicates with you.”

“So it
is
magic,” said Antonia, wide-eyed with amazement.

“The world is a magical place. Science goes
some way to explain the mysteries of life, but we can’t know everything. All humans have the ability to tune in to things around them, but only those with a truly open mind can hear what is being said. You are willing to believe that magical things can happen to you. Believing is a powerful force.”

Antonia sipped her hot chocolate while she tried to make sense of what Claudia had said. At last she asked, “So by believing that I can swim and speak like a dolphin I make it happen?”

“Yes,” said Claudia. “But only a few very special people truly believe.”

Antonia sat in spellbound silence until Claudia glanced at her watch and said, “It’s time to take you home. Cai will be up soon.

You know he’ll always be a true friend to you, even when others aren’t.”

“How did you know…?” Antonia started to ask,
but Claudia was busy rummaging in a drawer for her car keys and didn’t answer.

“Here they are,” she said, holding them up. “I’ll run you to the end of your road. I won’t go any further in case the noise of the car wakes your parents. Come along.”

Stifling a yawn, Antonia followed Claudia outside. The sun shone brightly, promising another hot day. Claudia stopped the car at the top of Antonia’s road and Antonia whispered her goodbyes as she climbed out. She stood waving until Claudia’s car was out of sight, then turning round she began to walk towards her house. The birds were singing loudly and suddenly Antonia wanted to sing with them. She ran up her drive, but instead of going straight indoors she went through the side gate and into the back garden. She stood on the lawn looking out at the bay, her long blonde
hair lifting in the breeze. Suddenly four dolphins leapt into sight tumbling in and out of the water. The smallest turned a somersault then, leaping high, he stood on the sea’s surface and went full circle on his tail.

“The twister!” exclaimed Antonia, delighted that Bubbles was putting on a show. Her hand closed protectively around her silver dolphin charm.

Always answer the call
, said Spirit’s voice in her head.

“I will,” Antonia solemnly vowed.

She took one last look at her dolphins playing in the sea, then smiling to herself she crept indoors.