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  “You like dolphins, don’t you?” she asked, noticing the present from Sophie on the dressing table.

  “They’re my favourite animal,” Antonia agreed as she pulled her swimming bag out of the cupboard. It was squad night. Luckily Mum hadn’t grounded her for that too! Antonia packed her bag with the things she needed.

  “Is it because you swim like a dolphin?”

  Antonia’s heart missed a beat as she spun round to face her sister. What did Jessica mean?

  “Naomi’s sister is in your class at school. She calls you the dolphin girl because you’re brilliant at swimming.”

  “Oh!” Antonia smiled. For a wild moment, she thought Jessica had discovered the secret of the Silver Dolphins.

  “Can I try your necklace on?” asked Jessica, reaching out to touch it.

  Antonia drew back. “No, Jess, you know my necklace is special.”

  “Please,” begged Jessica, making her green eyes go wide. “I want to see if the magic works for me too.”

  There was a funny rushing sound in Antonia’s head. She tried to speak, but her mouth was so dry that her voice came out in a croak.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I know your dolphin charm is magic. Ages ago, you said it made you swim better,” said Jessica innocently.

  Antonia met Jessica’s eyes, choosing her words carefully as she spoke. “My charm isn’t magic. It’s lucky. It gives me confidence, so I swim better when I’m wearing it.”

  “Can I touch it then,” said Jessica, “for luck?”

  “No.” Antonia quickly hid the dolphin charm inside the collar of her school dress.

  “You’re mean!” Jessica’s eyes welled up with tears.

  Antonia was suddenly ashamed of herself.

  “Don’t cry,” she said, hugging Jessica’s stiff little body. “I’m not being mean. This is my lucky charm. The luck only works for me. You’ll have to find your own thing. Why do you need luck anyway?”

  Jessica sniffed. “I want to be brilliant at swimming, just like you. And I want to learn to surf too.”

  “Then you need to practise,” said Antonia. “Practising is much more important than luck. Look, I’ll tell you what. Once school’s broken up we’ll ask Mum to take us to the swimming pool and I’ll help you practise.”

  “Will you?” Jessica wiped a hand across her eyes. “Thanks, Antonia. You’re the best sister in the world.”

  Jessica skipped off. Antonia stared out of her attic window, hardly registering the wonderful view of Sandy Bay. A small seed of worry nagged at her like an aching tooth.

  By tea time, Antonia could hardly eat the spaghetti bolognaise Mum had cooked. Twirling a strand of pasta round her fork, she let it drop back on to the plate. Had she totally convinced Jessica that her charm wasn’t magic? To most people the dolphin charm looked like an ordinary necklace. Only a Silver Dolphin knew it was more than that. But what if Jessica was a Silver Dolphin? Antonia hoped not. Her sister was far too little. Sometimes the work was dangerous and often it required making difficult decisions. How would Jessica answer the dolphins’ call, when she wasn’t allowed to go anywhere on her own?

  There was another reason why Antonia didn’t want Jessica to be a Silver Dolphin too. Being a Silver Dolphin made Antonia feel special. She didn’t want to share the secret with her little sister. Poor Jess; she’d called Antonia the best sister in the world, but Antonia knew she wasn’t. She was selfish and mean. She pushed her half-eaten tea away from her.

  “Are you feeling all right?” asked Mum.

  “I’ve got a headache,” said Antonia truthfully, because her head was spinning.

  “Better go and sit quietly for a bit,” said Mum.

  “Thanks.” Gratefully, Antonia fled up to her room.

  She sat on her bed, gently stroking her silver dolphin charm. She loved the way it felt like a real dolphin.

  After a while, her head cleared and she felt calmer. Talk about overreacting. Of course Jess wasn’t a Silver Dolphin. What a mad idea! With a lighter heart, Antonia ran downstairs to see if Mum had saved her any pudding.

  Chapter Four

  Walking to school with Sophie the next morning, Antonia’s feet felt like they were floating on air. Finally, it was the last day of term. Straight after lunch—an end-of-term picnic on the school field—the holidays started. Six whole weeks of freedom! Antonia couldn’t wait.

  Miss Brown’s desk was a mountain of gifts and Antonia added her own to the pile—a pretty notebook made from recycled paper and a pen with a clay starfish on the end. The morning was a blur of last-minute tidying, followed by a final assembly. Lunch was a noisy, cheerful affair. The Year Sixes, who were leaving for secondary school, came round collecting signatures on their school sweatshirts and cardigans. Antonia drew a dolphin on her friend Emily’s and the big girl squeaked in delight.

  “Are you going to Sea Watch after school? Wait for me then,” she said.

  Emily talked non-stop on the way to Sea Watch. She’d brought her camera with her to take some photos of the guillemots before they were released.

  “Aunty Claudia thinks we can let them go next week,” said Cai. “They should be properly acclimatised by then.”

  “A clima-whattie?” asked Emily.

  “Acclimatised; it means getting them used to being outside again.”

  Claudia was pleased to see everyone. As they tidied their school bags into a cupboard, she drew Antonia to one side.

  “Bad luck about yesterday. I hope you weren’t in too much trouble?”

  “I was a bit,” Antonia admitted. “I’m just glad school’s finished. Now I can stop worrying about what to do if Spirit calls in the middle of a lesson.”

  “That would be awkward,” agreed Claudia. “But you’d find a way round it.”

  “How? What if it happens next term?”

  Claudia smiled and immediately Antonia knew what her answer would be. Staring into Claudia’s sea-green eyes she thought, I have to work it out for myself.

  Without speaking, Claudia answered, You are the Silver Dolphin.

  Antonia wondered if she should mention her suspicion about Jessica, but decided against it. Of course Jessica wasn’t a Silver Dolphin. It was just a silly thought.

  Claudia put Antonia and Cai to work, moving the guillemots from their indoor pens to an outdoor aviary. To transport the birds, she gave them a special cardboard box with handles and air holes, and a thick pair of gloves each.

  “If the birds are frightened, they might try and bite you, so remember to talk to them in a low calm voice and don’t make any sudden movements,” said Claudia.

  Antonia was very fond of the guillemots. There were nine survivors, each with their own cheeky personality. Antonia’s favourite was a bright-eyed bird who always had a lot to say.

  “You sound just like my neighbour’s cat,” Antonia told her, as she gently transferred the bird to the cardboard box. “Stop complaining until you see where I’m taking you. I think you’re going to like it.”

  The guillemots did like being outside. They hopped around, exploring their new surroundings, before settling down to preen themselves.

  “Let’s go and tidy up the indoor pens, so they’re ready for the birds when they come back inside this evening,” suggested Cai.

  Antonia agreed, but as they headed back to the Sea Watch building, she knew they weren’t going to be able to do the job right then. A tingling sensation was sweeping through her and Antonia sensed that Spirit was about to call. Cai was reaching for the door handle when the silver dolphin badge pinned to his school polo shirt began to vibrate. Surprised, he stood for a second, before flashing a look at Antonia.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  Antonia nodded and side by side they ran for Claudia’s private beach. Antonia’s own charm was also vibrating, its silver tail thrumming against her neck.

  Not life-threatening, she decided as the charm beat in a steady rhythm.

  They ditched their shoes in the
Sea Watch boat and ran into the sea. Antonia’s charm broke into a high-pitched whistle and she whistled back. “Spirit, I hear your call.”

  Cai whistled too, but stopped as the water reached his waist. Thrusting himself forward, he began to swim. Antonia swam alongside him, enjoying the moment her legs melded together and began kicking like a tail. She could never tire of becoming a Silver Dolphin. Joyfully she leapt in and out of the sea, arching her body as she skimmed the water. After a bit, Antonia realised she’d drawn ahead of Cai and her old dilemma of whether to wait for him or not played in her mind.

  “You go on,” Cai panted.

  Antonia shook her head. “It’s not urgent. Anyway, I’ve got a feeling I’m going to need your help.”

  Cai slid an admiring look her way.

  “Wish I could do that,” he said. “I can’t tell how urgent a call is.”

  Antonia blushed, cross with herself for voicing her thoughts. She loved being such a powerful Silver Dolphin, but she didn’t want Cai to think she was boastful. They swam in silence until, rounding the headland, Cai said, “I can feel vibrations. Do you think it’s Spirit?”

  Antonia nodded. She’d felt the vibrations too. They seemed to be coming from the same direction as the cove where Spirit had shown them the seahorse colony. She hoped the seahorses were all right. Anxiously, Antonia swam faster. Cai increased his pace too and they reached Spirit together. He was waiting in the same place as the day before. As soon as they’d rubbed noses in greeting, Antonia asked, “Is it the seahorses?”

  “Yes,” clicked Spirit. “There’s more rubbish in the eelgrass.” He dived underwater, and Antonia and Cai followed him.

  On the edge of the eelgrass beds lay an abandoned plastic bin. “Oh, no!” Antonia exclaimed. “Look at the damage it’s done!”

  Chapter Five

  The bin was the sort the coastguards put on the beach during the summer months, with a moulded top and holes in the side to post litter through. Antonia and Cai slowly swam round it, assessing how best to remove it from the eelgrass without causing further damage. A seahorse drifted past and Antonia stopped to stare as, with a curl of its tail, it gracefully anchored itself to a stalk of eelgrass.

  “Did you know it’s the boys that have babies?” said Cai. “The female lays over a hundred eggs in a pouch on the male’s tail, but hardly any of the baby seahorses survive after they hatch.”

  “I’m not surprised when people do idiotic things like this,” said Antonia. “I’d love to know how the bin got here. It had to be deliberate.”

  Cai nodded his dark curly head. “Let’s find out who’s doing this. We’ve got heaps of time now we’re on holiday.”

  The bin was empty and easy to move, and the damage it had caused wasn’t as bad as they’d first thought. It had completely flattened a patch of eelgrass, but luckily the roots were still intact. Antonia and Cai swam with the bin to the surface.

  “Are we taking it back to Aunty Claudia’s beach?” Cai asked.

  Antonia nodded.

  “Would you like Bubbles and Dream to help you?” asked Spirit. “The bin doesn’t seem to have any sharp bits.”

  Antonia and Cai grinned. “Yes, please,” they said.

  Spirit opened his mouth and called for his children in a series of short clicks. A few minutes later, Antonia spotted two dolphins swimming towards them, their bodies flashing in silver arcs.

  “That was quick!” she exclaimed, when Bubbles and Dream reached them. Bubbles clicked a laugh. “We’ve been here all along, hiding. Dad told us not to get in the way.”

  They all rubbed noses in greeting.

  “Seaweed tag, when the Silver Dolphins are finished?” asked Bubbles hopefully.

  Spirit shook his head. “Not today. I’m taking the whole pod fishing, out at sea.”

  Bubbles was disappointed. But once Spirit had left, he invented a game of swimming under the bin while it was being pushed. That proved easy so Bubbles livened things up by walking on the water on his tail, alongside the bin. Soon there was lots of splashing and squealing, as whoever’s turn it was struggled to stay on the sea’s surface. Bubbles took particular delight in suddenly crashing back down into the sea, splashing everyone with salty water.

  “No more!” panted Antonia eventually. “I’m completely out of breath.”

  “Flipper Feet,” teased Bubbles. “You need to practise.”

  That’s what I told Jessica, thought Antonia, guiltily touching her dolphin charm. She made a mental note to take her little sister swimming soon. The bin was less awkward to swim with than the supermarket trolley and, with Bubbles and Dream helping, it wasn’t long before they reached Claudia’s beach. The dolphins said goodbye, Bubbles high-fiving Antonia and Cai with his fin, while Dream rubbed her nose against theirs.

  “See you soon, Silver Dolphins,” clicked Bubbles, as he and Dream swam back out to sea.

  Salty water poured from Antonia and Cai as they emerged from the sea, but soon they were damp again with spray from the bin as they rolled it ashore.

  They left the bin by the gate that led from the beach and went to look for Claudia. She was in the garden, talking to a builder who’d come round to quote on building a deep-water pool, to rehabilitate creatures like the guillemots and injured seals. When the builder had gone, Claudia helped them put the bin by the garage, ready to take back to the beach.

  The rest of the afternoon was spent doing routine jobs. At the end of the day, Antonia, Cai and Emily brought the guillemots back inside for the night. Emily was often one of the last volunteers to leave Sea Watch and Antonia walked some of the way home with her.

  “What time are you coming tomorrow?” Emily asked when they parted.

  “Early,” said Antonia. “I thought I’d get up at the same time as I do for school.”

  “You’re keen!” said Emily. “I’m going to have a lie-in for a change.”

  Antonia hated staying in bed in the morning. There was more fun to be had than sleeping. She wasn’t the only early bird in her family. Jessica was an early riser too and the following morning, she stormed into Antonia’s room demanding to be taken swimming.

  “Not today, Jess,” said Antonia, jumping out of bed and searching for her clothes.

  “But you promised,” wailed Jessica.

  “I will take you, but I didn’t promise to take you today. It’s the first day of the holidays and I’m going to Sea Watch.”

  “Pleeeeaase,” begged Jessica. “You went to Sea Watch yesterday. Please take me swimming.”

  Mum came in to see what the noise was about and settle the argument. “I don’t have time to take you to the pool today. Why don’t you go to Sea Watch with Antonia and I’ll take you swimming on Monday?”

  “Mum!” exclaimed Antonia. “She can’t come to Sea Watch. She’s too young.”

  “I’m seven now. That’s not too young,” said Jessica, scratching her head.

  Antonia felt a jumble of emotions. She loved her sister dearly, but she could also be a big pain. Antonia didn’t feel ready to share Sea Watch with Jessica. Her hand strayed to her dolphin charm. She stroked it gently, comforted by the feel of its life-like body.

  “I’m sure Jessica could manage half a day,” said Mum firmly. “I’ll ring Claudia and ask. No, not now, Jessica. It’s far too early. Stop pulling your hair like that and go and brush it. And clean your teeth while you’re at it.”

  Excitedly, Jessica skipped from the room.

  “Your little sister isn’t so little any more,” said Mum, smiling. “Cheer up. There’s plenty of room for everyone at Sea Watch.”

  Antonia smiled bravely. “I don’t mind her coming, really.”

  “Good girl,” said Mum. “Breakfast in ten minutes.”

  Alone in her room, Antonia felt awful. She wished she could honestly say she didn’t mind about Jessica going to Sea Watch, but she did. Picking up a hairbrush, Antonia combed her long blonde hair. She brushed hard, refusing to think about another more worrying thought th
at buzzed in her head like an irritating fly. It was bad enough Jessica helping out at Sea Watch. But what if she became a Silver Dolphin too?

  Chapter Six

  To Antonia’s relief, Claudia didn’t make her look after Jessica. Instead she paired her little sister with Emily, getting them to prepare a cage for an injured seagull. Antonia and Cai were asked to research seahorses on the Internet. Claudia was keen to learn more about the new colony they had found.

  “Seahorses are quite rare these days. They’re shy creatures and not enough is known about their behaviour. By studying them in the wild, we can help to protect them and their environment,” Claudia explained.

  In no time at all, Antonia and Cai found the website for a charity dedicated to conserving seahorses.

  “That one,” said Antonia, pointing excitedly to an image onscreen. “That’s the same as ours.”

  “Then they’re Spiny Seahorses,” said Cai, reading the caption beneath the picture.

  Claudia was pleased with the information and said she would ring the seahorse charity when she had a spare moment. “They might want to send a diver to check out the colony for themselves,” she added.

  “How will you say we discovered them?” asked Cai.

  Claudia grinned. “I shall tell them a local person found the seahorse colony when out diving. It’s not that far from the truth.”

  The volunteers stopped halfway through the morning for a break. Antonia was handing out plastic cups of squash and tea from a tray when she noticed Jessica was missing.

  “Where’s Jessica?” she asked Emily. She was sharper than she meant to be, annoyed that she was worrying about her little sister.