The Magic Charm

by Summer Waters

  “No!” she cried.

  What was it Cai had said about not leaving it too late? He didn’t know about the necklace, or Antonia being a Silver Dolphin, yet he had been so right. With trembling fingers she fastened the chain around her neck.

  “Please,” she whispered, cupping the dolphin in her hand as if by doing so she could give it life. “Please, give me one more chance.”

  Slowly she climbed into bed, but sleep eluded her. Antonia lay staring at the ceiling for what seemed like hours until finally she slept, the dolphin charm cradled in one hand.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Groggily Antonia rolled over. Her room was still in semi darkness. She blinked as her grey-green eyes struggled to focus on her alarm clock. “Four fifteen,” she groaned. She lay in the half-light wondering what had woken her. Then suddenly she realised the necklace was beating a rhythm against her chest. Immediately she was properly awake and, resisting the urge to cheer, she leapt out of bed and hurriedly pulled on her clothes. Round her neck the dolphin charm continued to vibrate, then suddenly it began to whistle. Antonia’s hand brushed against it as she pulled on her T-shirt. The charm felt soft and slippery, just like a real dolphin.

  “I’m coming,” she whispered. “Spirit, I hear your call.”

  As she crept downstairs she wondered if she should leave a note for her mum and dad. They wouldn’t be awake this time in the morning; even Dad, who was a mechanic and often left early to open up his garage, didn’t get up until six.

  “Better to be safe than sorry,” she whispered as she veered into the kitchen to leave a note on the table.

  The note written, Antonia pulled on her trainers, then carefully undid the locks on the front door. At last she was outside. The sharp morning air on her face was better than a cold shower to wake her up. The whistling from her necklace grew shriller, urging her to hurry. Stumbling down the coastal path, the first rays of sun barely penetrating the trees, Antonia wished she’d brought a torch to light her way. When the path forked Antonia went right, opting for Gull Bay, as it was nearer and more secluded than Sandy Bay beach. She ran on until at last she arrived, panting and with sweat running down her face. Up until now Antonia hadn’t thought about going into the water. She’d been so relieved that her charm was working and that she could still communicate with Spirit, it hadn’t seemed important. Now, as she stood on the beach pulling off her trainers and socks she began to have second thoughts. What if there were more jellyfish waiting to get her?

  “Don’t be silly,” Antonia scolded herself out loud. Jellyfish didn’t lie in wait for people. This time she would keep her wits about her and if she saw anything dangerous she would move away from it quickly.

  Antonia ran down to the water’s edge and stared out at the sea. At the mouth of the cove three dolphins were waiting for her. Antonia blinked and counted again, two large, one small. Who was missing?

  Antonia took a deep breath and ran into the water. The moment it reached her waist and her legs felt as if they were melding together, Antonia experienced a burst of panic. For a second she was tempted to turn and run back to the beach. But the dolphin charm urged her on. Forcing the panic to the very bottom of her stomach, Antonia moved forward. When the water reached her shoulders she swam; with breaststroke arms and dolphin legs she sliced through the water until she was within a tail’s length of the dolphins.

  Spirit swam up to her, his liquid eyes brimming with emotion.

  “Silver Dolphin, you came back,” he clicked.

  Antonia felt herself blush. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to let you down. I was scared. Bubbles saved me, but then I was afraid to go back in the water.”

  “I know,” said Spirit kindly. “But you have come back, and now it’s your turn to help Bubbles.”

  Antonia stared over Spirit’s head and saw that it was Star and Dream who’d come with him. Star was anxiously bobbing in the water and even Dream had lost her usually bored expression.

  “Bubbles,” she gasped. “Where is he? What’s happened to him?”

  “He was playing not far from where you came across the jellyfish swarm when he found an old fishing net,” said Spirit.

  Antonia’s insides turned to ice. Fishing nets were Bubbles’s worst nightmare. Immediately Antonia forgot her fears and struck out to save her dolphin friend.

  “Wait! Silver Dolphin, come back,” clicked Spirit.

  But Antonia barely heard him. There was no time to lose. She had to get to Bubbles and rescue him from the fishing net. Like a torpedo, Antonia sped through the water.

  “Let me save him. Please let me save him.”

  She chanted the words in time with her arms as they pulled her through the water. There was no sign of Bubbles above the sea’s surface so Antonia dived down and swam along the seabed. Ahead she could see a dark shadow. Was it jellyfish? Antonia’s stomach dipped with fear, but she just altered her course and swam around it. There were no jellyfish; it was a bed of seaweed fronds waving gently in the current. Suddenly Antonia’s skin began to tingle. It took her a second to recognise that the sensation was caused by vibrations in the water. As she swam on, the vibrations grew stronger. A vivid image flashed into her head: Bubbles bound by a fishing net, struggling for his life.

  “Bubbles, I’m coming,” she whistled shrilly.

  The vibrations were so strong that Antonia knew she must be nearly there. She swam on, thoughts forming in her mind. Dolphins could stay underwater for up to an hour, but they normally came up for air every ten minutes. Antonia had no idea how long Bubbles had before he needed to breathe, but if he was underwater too long he would drown. With a superhuman effort Antonia swam even faster. The sea swirled around her, bubbling and frothing like the contents of a witch’s cauldron. She hardly dared to look, not wanting to see her favourite dolphin trussed and thrashing around in distress, but Antonia forced her eyes open until, gasping with shock, she stopped dead.

  Chapter Fourteen

  It was a few seconds before Bubbles noticed Antonia was there. He was busy guiding something, splashing about in the water and churning up a storm with his flippers and tail. Antonia stared in disbelief as Claudia appeared, swimming behind Bubbles, kicking and writhing in the water too. As soon as Bubbles saw Antonia he stopped swimming and his mouth opened in a huge smile.

  “Silver Dolphin,” he clicked. “You came back.”

  “But…” Antonia was too relieved and bewildered to speak. She continued to look from Bubbles to Claudia as if she couldn’t remember where she knew them from.

  Claudia was clutching the edge of a fishing net, tugging it for all she was worth. She seemed startled to see Antonia, then her face broke into a wide smile.

  “You came,” she simply said.

  They stared at each other for a long moment and Antonia felt Claudia’s relief as clearly as if she had voiced her thoughts.

  “But what if I hadn’t?” asked Antonia, her fingers creeping to the silver dolphin charm around her neck. “What if I hadn’t been wearing my necklace?”

  Claudia looked concerned. “I didn’t know it had got that bad!” she exclaimed. “You should have come and talked to me about it. I’m always here for you.”

  Bubbles nodded in agreement and Antonia suddenly realised that she and Claudia had been speaking together in dolphin language. So Claudia was a Silver Dolphin too!

  “But…”

  There were so many questions, Antonia didn’t know where to start.

  Reaching out, Claudia put her finger on Antonia’s lips to silence her. “Later,” she said gently. “You came and that’s what matters. I can rely on you to answer the call, Silver Dolphin.”

  “I thought it was Bubbles.” Antonia’s voice cracked with emotion. “I thought he was tangled in a net.”

  “I found the net,” said Bubbles proudly. “I needed help to move it before any more animals got hurt.”

  He shuddered violently and Antonia reached out and stroked his nose. When Bubbles stopped shaking she t
urned her attention to the discarded fishing net. The sight of it made her recoil. The net was full of dead things–rotting crabs, fish and seabirds. Anger surged through her making her head sing.

  “How can people be so careless,” she cried.

  “Often it’s through ignorance,” said Claudia. “People don’t stop to realise the consequences of their actions. That’s where you come in. As a Silver Dolphin it’s your job to help put right the wrongs of our world. By taking this net back to shore and getting rid of it properly, many sea creatures’ lives will be saved.”

  “How will we get it back to the shore?” asked Antonia. “It’s too heavy to tow that far.”

  “I didn’t know if you would answer the dolphin’s call, so I answered it too,” said Claudia. I’m not as strong a swimmer as I used to be, so I sailed out here in the Sea Watch rescue boat. I’ve left Cai back at the house. He’s asleep, but I’ve left him a note just in case he wakes up.”

  “Does he know about us?”

  “No,” said Claudia. “I told him a boat had capsized and lost its net, and the coastguard had called to ask if I would retrieve it.”

  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.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Claudia 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 th
e 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.

  Copyright

  First published in paperback by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2009

  HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 8JB.

  Visit our website at: www.harpercollins.co.uk

  Text copyright © Julie Sykes 2009

  Cover illustrations copyright © Andrew Farley 2009

  The author and illustrator assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of the work.

  A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

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  EPub Edition © 2009 ISBN: 9780007340712

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