Stolen Treasures (7 page)

Antonia took the binoculars into the
garden. The lawn was wet with dew, soaking her sandals as she crossed it. With shaking hands, she held the binoculars to her eyes, focusing them quickly, then scanning the sea until she found the boat. It
was
the right one—and it also had a tiny speedboat attached to one side. On deck, a man and a woman dressed in wetsuits were hauling a net aboard. Antonia trained the binoculars on them. It was definitely the same lady that she’d seen before, and there was something about her that was very familiar. Antonia continued to watch her. With that funny loping gait she looked and moved just like Emily. And hadn’t Emily said that her parents loved scuba diving? Suddenly, there was no doubt left in Antonia’s mind. These people
were Mr and Mrs Jones! She watched as the net slid on to the boat. It was full of sea life. So, she’d been right. They were stealing from the ocean!

Quickly, Antonia trained the binoculars on the boat’s stern and read the boat’s name and registration number aloud, “
Georgie Girl
, SB 890.”

“Got you!” she cried, racing back indoors to write the details down. But as she scribbled them on the kitchen notepad a thought struck her. What exactly were Emily’s parents diving for this time? They weren’t far from the pink sea fan coral beds. What if they went back to collect the fragile corals? Antonia couldn’t let that happen. She tapped the pencil on the pad. She knew she ought to ring the
coastguard station and let the coastguard deal with it, but she didn’t know the telephone number. She could go there and tell him in person, but it was a twenty-minute walk away and she felt certain there wasn’t time. That left only one option. To stop Mr and Mrs Jones herself.

Antonia knew that as a special Silver Dolphin she could use her magical powers at any time, if the need arose. Surely there was a need now, before more damage was done to the coral beds? Flicking the notepad over a page, Antonia wrote a message to her parents, saying that she’d gone for an early morning walk. Then she quietly let herself out of the back door and headed for Sandy Bay.

T
he air felt fresh and clean as Antonia ran along the (deserted roads. She reached Sandy Bay beach in record time and, pulling her sandals off, jogged across the empty sand. It was a wonderful feeling, being alone on the beach. Antonia dumped her sandals on the rocks then hopped down to the sea. Tiny
waves lapped the shore, licking at her feet as she splashed into the water.

“I am a Silver Dolphin,” she whispered as the water curled over her knees. The sea was so cold it almost took her breath away. When it was waist high, Antonia gritted her teeth and swam. At first nothing seemed to be happening. Her T-shirt and shorts dragged in the water as she struggled on.

“I am a Silver Dolphin,” she repeated, ignoring the sea’s numbing coldness.

Suddenly a warm feeling tingled through her. At last, the magic was working! Antonia whooped in delight as her legs melded together and her body became streamlined. Seconds later she leapt from the water, whistling like a real dolphin as her body
arched above the flat sea.

At first, Antonia concentrated on swimming. Her tail-like legs propelled her forward and her hands flicked at the water like fins. Soon she was swimming as fast as she had on the day she’d rescued Topper; even faster than a real dolphin. As Antonia neared the
Georgie Girl
she could see it was deserted. Mr and Mrs Jones must be off looking for more treasures in the speedboat. She was about to alter her course to go after them when she realised she needed a plan.

She couldn’t confront Mr and Mrs Jones in the middle of the sea. Antonia knew she risked them discovering the secret of the Silver Dolphins if they saw her swimming alone and without diving equipment. But she
had to do something to stop them or they would cause terrible damage, especially if they were plundering the coral beds. Antonia continued to swim towards the
Georgie Girl
while she thought about her dilemma. The answer came to her suddenly.

Spirit
.

Most people loved watching dolphins. If Mr and Mrs Jones saw Spirit, they’d be so excited they’d probably follow him. Spirit could lead them away from the coral beds while Antonia swam back to tell the coastguard. Excited with this simple solution, Antonia stopped swimming and trod water.

“Spirit,” she whistled. “I need your help.”

There was a gentle swell in the sea. Muscles tensed, Antonia bobbed up and
down with the waves as she listened for a reply. It came more quickly than she’d hoped.

“Silver Dolphin, is that you?”

“Yes. Come now. I need your help.”

“I’m coming, Silver Dolphin.”

The sea sparkled like sapphires as the sun rose higher, but Antonia hardly noticed. She was too anxious to relax. Soon she felt the vibrations. Something was heading towards the
Georgie Girl
, travelling fast and close to the sea’s surface. But the vibrations were too big to be Spirit, so Antonia dived under the water to hide. A speedboat roared up, slowing as it approached the
Georgie Girl
until the noise of the engine turned to idle. Antonia heard voices, but they were muffled, like the underwater sounds at a swimming pool.

Cautiously she swam closer, staying on the opposite side of the
Georgie Girl
to the speedboat. The closer Antonia got to the boat, the stronger her sense of unease grew. Bad things were happening and it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up like miniature soldiers. Shivering, Antonia decided to wait where she was for Spirit. Thankfully he came quickly and, feeling his vibrations in the water, Antonia clicked his name.

“Spirit?”

“Nearly there, Silver Dolphin.”

“Take care, the boat owners have returned.”

“I can see them,” Spirit clicked. “They’re loading dive bags on to the bigger boat.”

A heavy feeling lodged in Antonia’s stomach. They were too late! Mr and Mrs Jones had already completed their raid. When Spirit reached her and greeted her by rubbing noses, Antonia sadly rubbed back.

“Well done, Silver Dolphin,” Spirit clicked. “You did well to call me.”

“But we’re too late,” said Antonia.

Just then the speedboat engine roared to life. Antonia and Spirit froze, but the boat raced off in the opposite direction.

“They’re going back for more!”

Antonia was outraged. “Can you swim and distract them? I’ll go and find out what they’ve been collecting, then I’ll swim back to shore and tell the coastguard.”

“Careful, Silver Dolphin, warned Spirit.

“Remember, we work in secret. Don’t get caught.”

“I won’t,” said Antonia. “And you take care too. Mr and Mrs Jones might net you next.”

Spirit clicked a laugh. “They would have a hard job.”

He started to swim away, then quickly circled back. “I’ll call for the other Silver Dolphin too. You might need help.”

Spirit opened his mouth and began to whistle. A shiver of excitement tingled down Antonia’s spine. Her fingers strayed to her own silver dolphin charm and she clasped hold of it. The charm felt alive, its tiny body throbbing in her hand. Inside her head, Antonia heard a faint sound. Was it Cai answering Spirit’s call? She closed her eyes
and listened, but the noise slipped away like soft sand in an hourglass. Spirit nudged her gently in the side. Antonia’s eyes flew open in surprise. For a moment, she’d forgotten where she was.

“The Silver Dolphin is on his way. Wait for him. I’m going after the boat,” said Spirit.

Antonia didn’t want to wait. She wanted to go aboard the
Georgie Girl
and see what Emily’s parents had been collecting, but she didn’t dare argue with Spirit. Impatiently, she trod water while she waited for Cai.

C
ai arrived faster than Antonia thought he would and wasn’t even out of breath. His face fell when he saw Antonia, but he recovered quickly, exclaiming, “You beat me! I was sure I’d be first this time. Where’s Spirit?”

Quickly, Antonia explained everything and
when she’d finished Cai said, “So you were right about Emily’s parents. I’m sorry I laughed at you.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

It wasn’t Cai’s fault that he didn’t have Antonia’s sixth sense, but she was glad that he knew now that she hadn’t imagined it all.

Quickly they swam to the
Georgie Girl
and climbed up the ladder. Antonia went first and when she reached the top she gasped in disbelief at the horror on board. The deck was covered with shallow trays, each filled to the brim with sea creatures. Writhing starfish, baby crabs frantically waving little claws, sea horses, sea urchins, there were even a few small fish with their mouths open, gasping for breath as they fried in the early morning sun.

“Quick. Help me get them back to the sea before they die,” cried Antonia.

She picked up the tray nearest to her and staggering under the weight of it, tipped it over the side of the boat. Animals spun through the air, tangled together like jewellery, then slowly sunk in the bright blue water. Antonia picked up a second tray and Cai grabbed one too.

“I never thought Emily’s parents would be bad enough to kill animals. It’s so cruel leaving them in the sun to dry out,” cried Cai.

“I knew they were bad,” muttered Antonia, emptying the tray overboard and going back for another. “These are stolen treasures. The animals belong to the sea.”

She stooped for another tray, then jumped
back as a small fish flipped itself on to the deck. Both she and Cai tried to pick it up, but it was thrashing wildly and was too slippery. Then suddenly, the fish stopped moving and its eyes clouded over. Swiftly, Antonia lifted it with cupped hands.

“Heal,” she whispered. “Please heal.”

A warm sensation shot down her arms and into her fingers. Antonia prepared herself for the prickling to start. But the warm feeling was disappearing. It was as if the magic had suddenly stopped working.

Heal
. Antonia willed the fish to live, but its eyes were unfocused, its mouth wide open.

Antonia swallowed, knowing it was too late. The magic wasn’t working because the fish was dead. She felt a hand on her arm.

Cai gave her a comforting squeeze then ran his hand through his springy dark hair.

“Bad luck,” he said. “But there are others left to save.”

Antonia snapped out of her trance. Cai was right. There were still more creatures to help and they couldn’t hang around. Hurriedly, she helped Cai return the remaining animals to the sea. As the last tray of creatures slid overboard, Antonia sensed danger.

“Quickly,” she said, pulling Cai to the ladder of the
Georgie Girl
. “We’ve got to go.”

Antonia went first, diving from the ladder into the sea. Cai followed and together they swam away from the boat. Feeling lots of vibrations in the water, Antonia slowed to
listen. The shorter ones were coming from Spirit.

“Silver Dolphins, get away from the boat,” he clicked. “It’s not safe.”

The longer vibrations soon turned into the distinct hum of the speedboat. Antonia wished she could turn back to see the look on Mr and Mrs Jones’s faces when they discovered their catch had mysteriously disappeared. She could tell from Cai’s grin that he was obviously thinking the same thing. They swam underwater to meet Spirit and found him sheltering round the other side of the headland. To Antonia and Cai’s delight, Bubbles, Dream, Star, Cracker and Arrow were with him.

“Well done, Silver Dolphins,” Spirit clicked.

“Between us we have temporarily saved the coral beds. When those people saw me, they stopped collecting the pink sea fans and I was able to lead them back to their speedboat. I called for more dolphin help and we put on a show to give you time to search the bigger boat. When we finally gave the people the slip, I left some of the dolphins to watch the coral beds and alert me if they return.”

“We’ll go to see the coastguard now. He’ll make sure they don’t come back,’ said Antonia grimly. “It was horrible on board the
Georgie Girl
. There were hundreds of animals all dying in the sun.”

Bubbles swam alongside Antonia and nuzzled her with his nose. Gratefully, Antonia rubbed him back.

“Come back to mine and we’ll ask Aunty Claudia to ring the coastguard,” said Cai.

“That’s a good idea,” said Antonia. “They’re friends, aren’t they? He’ll listen to Claudia and act straightaway.”

Hurriedly, Antonia and Cai said goodbye to the dolphins. Antonia saved her goodbye to Bubbles until last.

“Seaweed tag next time, Silver Dolphin,” he whispered.

“Definitely,” said Antonia, managing a smile.

Cai had swum out from Claudia’s beach, so they arranged to meet back at Sea Watch after Antonia had collected her shoes from Sandy Bay.

“Can you ask Claudia to ring my parents?”
said Antonia. “I left a note saying I’d gone for a walk, but that was ages ago and they might be worried.”

Swimming to Sandy Bay beach, Antonia’s stomach began to growl and she realised she was starving hungry. Water poured from her like rain from a drainpipe as she waded ashore and then sat on the rocks to put on her sandals. The sun was climbing in the sky and there were two other people on the beach; a man with a metal detector and a tall skinny girl collecting shells in a large bucket. As Antonia jogged across the sand, the girl stood up and waved. With a start, Antonia realised it was Emily. A low whooshing noise rushed through her head. She felt dizzy and full of white-hot anger.

Antonia marched across to the smiling Emily, intent on telling her exactly what she thought of her parents.

“H
ello,” called Emily, tripping and spilling her shells. “Oh bother, I’ve been ages collecting those.” She dropped on to her hands and knees to pick them up.

Antonia faltered. It was difficult to say what she wanted when she didn’t have Emily’s full attention.

“You’re up early,” she commented, wishing Emily would hurry up.

“Yeah. Mum and Dad went out on the boat, scuba diving. I can’t wait to learn. Then I can go and have fun with them.”