 
The Girl Who Dreamt Of Dolphins

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By James Carmody

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2011 James Carmody

Illustrations by James Carmody

The right of James Carmody to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

For Seren

Chapter One

Lucy woke up and stretched, lying sprawled across her bed. Her duvet had half slipped off and she shivered in her pyjamas. Her mind though was still full of dreams of dolphins in the deep, emerald-blue water, swimming all around her. It was the same dream that she had so often before. In her dream she always stretched out her arm towards the dolphins, but never could quite touch them. Then one dolphin, smaller than the rest but with sparkling eyes and a look in its eyes that made her heart feel warm would turn briefly towards her clicking encouragement, almost as if to say 'follow me', before swimming off into the deep blue void.

Lucy stretched again. It was a beautiful dream and so vivid, she felt as though she was almost there. Some dreams you just don't want to wake up from, they're so nice.

'Lucy' called Dad from downstairs, 'It's time to get up.'

'Coming' replied Lucy sleepily, as she crawled out of bed, knocking a teddy or two to the floor as she did so. She yawned before pulling on her school clothes and stumbling downstairs to breakfast.

Dad was busy, rushing around, dressed in his suit, keen to get Lucy out of the house before heading off to work. He looked stressed and preoccupied.

'Breakfast is on the table Lucy' he said. 'Eat up. You know we don't have all day.'

'Yeah yeah', she mumbled through a mouthful of cornflakes, still half asleep.

'And remember' he continued, 'its homework club again today, so I won't be picking you up from there until five thirty.'

'Great!' she thought with a grimace. Packed off to the after-school club again. It was just not the same since Mum....

Dad crammed toast into his mouth with a spray of crumbs as he raced around the house in his rush to get out.

'And another thing' he added, 'I've got a work-do again this evening, so I'm leaving the house again at six thirty and Maureen's coming over at six to baby sit. You're okay with that aren't you Luce?' he continued. 'And I don't want to hear Maureen complaining about you again like she did last time.'

'You know I'm not a baby any more don't you' replied Lucy. I don't need a baby sitter.'

'Well you're only just twelve years old and not quite grown up yet young lady' he replied. 'I can't just very well leave you alone all evening can I?'

'I could sleep over at Amy's house like I did before' Lucy replied.

'I'm sorry Lucy, I just can't keeping asking Amy's Mum for favours like that all the time, it's just not fair on her.'

'She doesn't mind' complained Lucy, frowning into her cornflakes.

'Look' I've arranged for Maureen to baby sit and that's the end of it' he said definitively.

Dad was always like this, rushed, preoccupied, or just not there. It wasn't fair. He hadn't always been like this. They used to have a great time together. Now it just seemed so much duty and drudgery. Lucy sighed to herself as she finished her cereals.

Dad looked at his watch. 'Better get going Luce' he said 'You don't want to be late again.' Lucy gave him a thin smile.

'Me, late??!' she said. Dad grinned.

'Make sure you're not then.'

Lucy slipped on her shoes, grabbed her satchel and snatched one last gulp of her juice as Dad chivvied her out of the house.

'You want a lift or are you good to walk?' he asked as he played with his car keys.

'It's okay Dad, I'll walk' said Lucy. She knew he didn't want to get delayed in the school traffic. He gave her a peck on the cheek.

'See you this evening then' he said.

'Yeah, sometime' replied Lucy cynically.

Lucy was the kind of girl who never really stood out in the class photo. She was middling height and generally got stuck standing in the third row. Her Dad always said she was skinny and her Gran always told her she looked lovely, though Lucy thought that Gran was just saying that to be nice. She had a freshly scrubbed complexion and kept her shoulder length hair in a tidy pony tail when she was at school. Pretty much all her class-mates seemed to get on with her though she was never the class favourite and in her school reports her teachers always commented on how nice she was to have in class. Everyone had been very kind to her this last year. Lucy had fine features and a slightly olive complexion, which meant that she tanned easily. She got that from Mum. She dressed tidily and was generally well turned-out for school. She hated to be the centre of attention because it made her feel self-conscious. She could stand up for herself against bullies in the playground if she had to, but fortunately it hadn't been necessary for quite a while.

School wasn't so bad, though she didn't relish the prospect of another day of study this chilly Monday morning and wished it was already half term. As she trudged determinedly to school, her best friend Amy popped her head out of her bedroom window as Lucy passed her house and then quickly ran out of her door, with a noisy 'Bye Mum', slamming the door behind her before racing to catch up with Lucy. Amy was the same height as Lucy, but with jet-black hair and Lucy always thought her the prettier one, though Amy wouldn't agree.

'Hi Luce' said Amy, just a little out of breath, 'done your homework?'

'Just about' grinned Lucy. 'You know me, I do it, but only at the last minute.'

'Well it doesn't seem to harm your marks anyway' said Amy ruefully, 'So, what did you do this weekend?'

'Oh you know, the usual' said Lucy with an expression that said 'don't get too excited now.' 'Dad was pretty much working from home all weekend' she continued. 'All he does is work, either that or do the shopping and then we just watch TV in the evening. He never does fun stuff anymore. I asked him if he wanted to kick the ball about a bit in the garden, but he just said he was too busy.'

'That's no good' said Amy. 'We had Gran and Grandad around for lunch on Sunday and Gran fell asleep on the sofa and snored.' Lucy snorted a laugh as they crossed the road and joined the other children streaming towards school.

'So are you doing swimming practice this lunchtime, or do you want to hang out with me?' Lucy's school was right next door to the local swimming pool and, though the paint was peeling round the windows and an ant's nest seemed to have taken up residence in the changing rooms, it was Lucy's favourite place to be.

'I'm in the pool of course' smiled Lucy. She just loved swimming and her classmates called her 'the fish.' Lucy was a natural in the swimming pool and could stay under water longer than anyone else in the school. Miss Baldwin, their sports teacher, said that Lucy should train seriously and that she could go far. But Dad was dead-set against it and said he wouldn't support all that time training out of hours when she should be doing her homework. Lucy was trying to think of a way to talk Dad round to it, but hadn't done anything about it yet. Ms Baldwin said she would talk to him, but Lucy was worried it would have the opposite effect. She just had to content herself with time swims twice a week during the lunch break. It was only for twenty five minutes or so, but it was better than nothing and what Dad didn't know he couldn't complain about.

'I figured you wouldn't want to hang around with the cool crowd like me' joked Amy.

'Like you?' exclaimed Lucy, giving her a playful nudge in the ribs. They walked in through the school entrance.

That lunchtime, Lucy stood poised on the side of the pool and then dived gracefully and easily into the water. She sliced into it like a knife, leaving barely a ripple. She surfaced again almost half way across the length and before finishing it with the front-crawl. She did three more lengths the same way before pausing a moment at the edge. She took a deep breath, then plunged underwater and swum the next length without breaking the surface for air.

Unluckily for Lucy, she wasn't the only girl in the pool and she often felt that the other children just got in the way. It looked like Miss Baldwin agreed, as she told Todd Simmons to get into the next lane and let her through. Lucy did the butterfly for the next half a length, powering herself through the water with power and style. It was very tiring though and Lucy only did a short distance before turning over and floating for a few moments on her back, staring up at the ceiling. Miss Baldwin loomed into view.

'So have you talked to your Dad yet about getting serious with your training schedule?' she quizzed her.

'No, not yet' admitted Lucy reluctantly. 'It's complicated.'

'So you keep telling me Lucy' said Miss Baldwin, 'but you don't know until you try.'

'I'm working on it' bluffed Lucy, before plunging under the water again. Ms Baldwin sighed and then looked at her watch. She blew the whistle.

'Everyone out!' she called. 'Break ends in ten minutes. You'd better get showered and changed ASAP.'

Lucy changed quickly, rubbing her hair briskly before pulling on her clothes onto her still-damp body. She had to sprint back to class and got there only just in time.

At the end of the last lesson, Lucy remembered what Dad had said about being in the after-school club. It wasn't so bad there, but it'd be nicer just to walk home with Amy, Anya and her other friends. Instead, in the after-school club the boys just tore around all the time making noise, throwing balls around and generally getting in the way. Lucy needed a chance to unwind at the end of a long day.

Mr Baines told the class to pack away their things and opened the door to the playground, out to where a few parents were congregating at the school gates ready to take their children home. Lucy glanced up and then uttered a small gasp of surprise.

'Bethany!' she exclaimed. Her aunt had appeared at the door. She rushed to get her things together.

'Hey Kiddo' Bethany said with a smile. 'I thought I'd just drop by and pick you up from school today.'

'Sounds good to me' said Lucy eagerly, 'Dad didn't tell me you were coming.'

'Oh you know, I just thought why not?' said her aunt vaguely as they left the classroom, having asked Mr Baines to tell Ben the after-school club supervisor that she wasn't coming today.

'Well you don't just drop by when you live in Cornwall' Lucy pointed out, 'that's over two hundred miles away!'

'Well I guess you haven't seen the way I drive when I've a mind to' joked Bethany. 'It's just round the corner really.'

'It's so nice to see you' said Lucy warmly, giving Bethany a big hug, 'I've missed you.'

'I've missed you too Kiddo' said Bethany hugging her back, 'it's been too long.' She tousled Lucy's hair as they walked along.

Lucy's aunt Bethany was a good head or so taller than Lucy and had an unruly mass of curly blond hair. She wore no make up, but she didn't need to, Lucy always thought as she was pretty in an overgrown tom-boy kind of a way. Bethany always wore colourful, but practical clothes in a casual style that Lucy liked. Lucy liked most things about Aunt Bethany and thought that she was pretty cool. She was one of a kind, though Dad said Bethany was a bit of a hippy.

Bethany was her Mum's sister, younger than her by some six years. She'd lived down by the coast in Cornwall since before Lucy was born and Lucy was dying to go down there on holiday again, though Dad, as ever, seemed dead-set against it. 'Dad's such a kill-joy' thought Lucy as she walked happily home with her aunt. Bethany was an artist and painted pictures of the sea; of stormy waves crashing on rocks, or seals basking on sandbanks in the wet afternoon sunshine. Bethany had said many a time that she couldn't live anywhere but near the sea and that it was the drama of life on the coast's edge that gave her inspiration for her work. If she didn't see the sea everyday she said, she'd die. Down in Cornwall, it was all rocks and cliffs, caves and small sandy beaches. Bethany liked it best in the winter and spring when there were fewer tourists about and nature felt more immediate and raw. Life wasn't always easy for Bethany as an artist and sometimes she'd have to take a second job to keep things together, but she always said she wouldn't swap her life there for the world.

Bethany told Lucy that she'd called ahead and spoken to Dad on his mobile and so everything was okay and they had the rest of the afternoon to themselves. Bethany would be staying over, just for the night and Dad had called and cancelled Maureen, the dreaded baby-sitter. Lucy wondered why Dad had been so cooperative, but didn't say anything. She didn't want to put a dampener on any fun.

'So what do you fancy doing then Kiddo?' asked Bethany as they strolled along with Bethany's arm draped casually across Lucy's shoulders.

'It's just not the same' Lucy told Bethany later over the remains of her pizza, 'Dad's always so miserable now and he never seems to be around anymore' she continued.

'Well it's hard for your Dad you know, after everything that's happened. And of course he's got to work Lucy' Bethany replied with a sympathetic look on her face.

'But even at the weekends he's really distant' protested Lucy. 'We used to do lots of fun stuff together before, well before you-know. He could do that now with me if he wanted, but he's always got some excuse. I wanted him to take me to the seaside over the summer, but now he's got this thing about the sea. I asked him to take me to Sea-World, but he's got something against that too. It's hard enough getting him to come out and kick a ball around with me' she went on. 'And when he does, it's like he's not really quite there. It's more like his mind is on other things and then he doesn't even notice the ball when I kick it to him.'

Bethany pressed Lucy's hand sympathetically. 'I know it's been hard on you, but it's been hard on your Dad too over the last year. You know he just wants to look after you, but maybe he has difficulty showing you how much he cares sometimes.' Lucy took another sip of lemonade.

'Look at that face of yours' Bethany laughed. 'That's not the expression I was hoping to see on a fun night out.' 'Look, let me talk to your Dad. Maybe I can persuade him to let you come down and stay with me in Cornwall in the half term. I'll get you on a surfboard again. You were pretty good a couple of years ago if I recall. I bet you'll really be a surf dude next time.' Lucy smiled.

'Yeah, next time I won't fall off quite as quickly' she joked, remembering how she'd spent more time under the surfboard and in the sea than on top of it. But she had been getting the hang of it and she was sure she'd master it next time she'd give it a go.

'Yes, I've got a photo of you in a wet-suit and covered in seaweed' laughed Bethany. 'And do you remember the time you buried your Mum in so much sand she couldn't get up? I had to dig her out in the end.'

'That's right' Lucy went on, 'and Mum said she'd buy me a surfboard next time, if I promised not to bury her again ........' She broke off mid-sentence.

'Don't worry Kiddo, you and your Dad will get through. It'll be ok, you'll see.' Lucy smiled bravely.

'I guess he's not too bad, sometimes. I just wish things were like they were before.' She sniffed and a tear pricked the corner of her eye.

'I know Kiddo' Bethany said 'but we can't turn the clock back, no matter how much we wish we could. We've got to go forward and you know what? Things always get better.' She squeezed Lucy's hand again.

One of the good things about Bethany was that she wasn't worried if Lucy stayed up a bit later than normal on a school night. But even she was startled when she suddenly realised the time.

'Hey we'd better get you back or your Dad'll have my guts for garters.' They paid and left the pizza restaurant, strolling back home in the dark, giggling and telling each other silly jokes as they went. It was late when they got home. Lucy was soon washed and in her pyjamas, and Bethany perched on the corner of her bed to kiss her goodnight.

'Tell me about when Mum was a little girl' Lucy asked with a smile.

'Oh that sister of mine was a real tear-away, so full of life. In our summer holidays when we went to the seaside, she would scamper over the rocks like a little mountain goat and she was more at home in the water than on land. Once she brought an injured crab home and put it in the bath while she made a splint for its damaged claw. I can tell you that Gran was not pleased when she found it. That crab wasn't where your Mum had left it and it almost bit Gran in a very painful place!' Lucy giggled. 'Gran was furious and grounded your Mum for a week. But she shinnied out of the window and down a drainpipe and came back two hours later drenched in rain.'

'Dad would kill me if I did that' said Lucy suppressing a smile.

'And you'd better not try' added Bethany only half seriously. 'Goodness knows what he'd say if he realised I'd been putting ideas into that head of yours.'

Bethany planted a kiss firmly on Lucy's forehead. 'Goodnight Kiddo. Sweet dreams.'

Lucy was so full of the day that she had trouble drifting off. Twenty minutes or so later she heard the door click shut as Dad came in and the murmur of conversation between him and Bethany downstairs. She heard him pad up the stairs and he shyly peeked around the door in case he woke her.

'Hi Dad' she said.

'Hey Luce' he replied. 'I thought you were asleep. Did you have fun with Bethany?'

'It was great Dad. I didn't know she was coming over.'

'Neither did I' he said, pulling a bit of a face. 'You get to sleep now. I'll see you in the morning.'

'Night night Dad' she said. But even though she was tired, she couldn't help but wonder what he and Bethany were saying downstairs. Eventually her curiosity got the better of her. She tiptoed to her door, eased it open slowly so that it wouldn't creak and crept to the top of the stairs so she could hear what was going on down below.

Lucy heard the sound of chairs scraping, the tap running in the kitchen and the clatter of plates. Dad coughed and she heard the murmur of voices, both Bethany's and his, though she could not hear exactly what they were saying. Then the voices moved into the living room directly below.

'So Bethany' she heard Dad saying, 'I know you said you were just passing by and wanted to drop in, but I just don't buy it. It looks to me as though we were the object of a special visit.'

Lucy could imagine Bethany putting on a thin, brave smile before replying.

'You know John, I shouldn't need an excuse to come and see you both...It's just that you don't always exactly make me feel welcome when I do.'

'I don't think that's fair' her Dad responded guardedly.

'Well, I don't get the impression that you want me here this evening.'

'I can't pretend I wasn't surprised when you called this afternoon and told me that you wanted to pick Lucy up from school' said her Dad. 'And sometimes I wonder just what you're filling Lucy's head with.'

'You know I love Lucy.' Lucy felt a surge of emotion to hear Bethany say so. 'Why wouldn't I want to spend time with my niece? She's the only one I've got.'

'It's not that which I'm worried about' said her Dad. 'It's what you tell her, what you say to her that worries me.'

'Ok, so I know what you think about me, that I'm some sort of hippy and I know what you think about my opinions, but I have said nothing to Lucy, nothing at all. I have done exactly what you have asked me to do. I've been the model of discretion. I may talk to Lucy about Cornwall, I may tell her about how I love painting the sea, but that's as far as it goes John. I don't say one word more.'

'Well I'm glad to hear it Bethany, I really am, but I can't say it puts my mind at rest.' Lucy could hear the strain in her Dad's voice. She imagined him frowning as he spoke, pacing the room. 'What worries me is that Lucy is bound to get drawn towards you and to get pulled into your world. Now you tell me she wants to come and stay with you in the half term. What am I supposed to say to that?'

'You could say yes John. I'd love Lucy to come down and stay and I think it'd be good for her. She needs a break. Lucy's not had much fun over the last year or so.' There was a pause.

'Oh, I'm sorry John, that was stupid of me to say. It's been pretty hellish for the both of you. Maybe you could come down too. Why not?'

'No, I can't' her Dad replied quickly. 'I just can't get away. There's just too much going on at work.'

'So what do you say? Can Lucy come down in half term? You put her on the train. I'll collect her at the other end.' Again Dad paused.

'No, no I don't think so' Dad answered eventually. 'Especially not down there in Cornwall.' Dad hesitated a moment. 'I just can't take that risk.'

Lucy winced at the news, as she sat in the darkness at the top of the stairs. But what on earth was Dad talking about?

'Look' her Aunt said with an edge in her voice. 'I've got to say this, now that Lucy's in bed and that it's just you and me talking. You know what I'm going to say. Lucy's not just another kid ....and I'm not just saying that because I'm her aunt. She's got the gift. She's a ...'

'I don't want to hear that!' broke in her father sharply. Lucy's heart pounded in her chest as she sat huddled at the top of the stairs in the darkness. 'I don't want to hear that nonsense.'

'It's not nonsense John' pleaded Bethany. It's....'

'Not in my house Bethany, not under my roof. She's my daughter and I'm going to bring her up to be a normal happy child. She doesn't need to know about all.... all that.' Lucy felt a sudden note of suppressed anger in his voice.

'Oh John' exclaimed Bethany. 'We both want her to be happy, but you can't hide things away from her forever' she implored him.

'It's like sending your child out to play in the middle of the road' retorted her Dad forcefully. 'That's just something no sane parent would do.'

Lucy was huddled in a tense ball at the top of the stairs. She lent forwards as she tried to absorb all that was being said. As she did so, the stair on which her feet were resting creaked. The conversation paused and she could imagine both Dad and Bethany looking up, wondering if Lucy was up there, wondering what she had heard.

'Look, its late' her Dad continued. 'This conversation is getting us nowhere. I'm tired and I'm going to bed. You'll be okay on the sofa bed won't you? You know where everything is?'

'Sure thing' said Bethany. 'I've got it sorted. I'll make up the bed in a jiffy.'

'Well goodnight then' said her Dad gruffly, making towards the stairs. 'We'll speak in the morning.'

'Goodnight John' said Bethany.

Lucy scrambled back to her bedroom as quickly and as silently as she could and eased her door shut carefully so it wouldn't click. She lay back in her bed, her heart still thudding in her chest, her mind a tangle of unanswered questions. Most of all she felt sick in the pit of her stomach at the idea she wasn't going to get to go down to Cornwall and see Bethany there. She wondered just exactly what they'd been talking about.

'I'm never going to fall asleep' she thought to herself 'after all that...'

Chapter Two:

Spirit was asleep. The waves were gentle and to a dolphin like him, warm. The sea was his lullaby and the familiar sounds of the waves enveloped him. He rolled languidly on the surface of the water, his blow-hole free to the air. Though asleep, as with all dolphins, half his brain was still alert to what was going on around him. He could swim, surface, breath and stay close to his pod, even though the other half of his brain was dreaming. Spirit dreamt of things he did not understand, far, far away.

Light came slowly in the early dawn. It was a clear day and the grey clouds had rolled away in the night. The water sparkled and the dolphins in the pod stirred slowly. Spirit was allowed to sleep in a little longer because he was a youngster in the pod and he needed extra rest. Restless, Dancer whistled Spirit's name.

'Hey, Spirit. Wake up lazy bones!'

All dolphin's names were given by the pod, carefully chosen to reflect their true nature once three springs had passed since their birth. As his name suggested, Spirit was a dreamy, thoughtful young dolphin, but with a strong sense of justice and a will of his own. He was also a nimble and a deft swimmer. He could lift his body out of the water by the force of his tail and look around. He loved to dive deep and swim long and elegant shapes in the water. He could leap high and then slice back into the water leaving barely a ripple. He swam for the joy of it and was almost as fast as any other dolphin in the pod.

Dancer was Spirit's special friend and she was two years older than Spirit. They often played together, exploring the seas around them. Dancer loved to day-dream and could tell mesmerising stories to the rest of the pod as they lazed around after hunting fish.

Spirit woke up slowly. Although to humans, all dolphins look like they are smiling, Spirit and Dancer and the others in the pod showed how they felt with sound. Their clicks, whistles and the way they moved were how they expressed themselves. Spirit smiled with a whistle. He rolled over lazily, exposing his smooth belly to the surface of the water.

'Oh, it's too early!' he yawned. He turned and swam back to where the rest of the pod were circling slowly, with Dancer at his tail. Summer, Moonlight and Storm whistled their greeting. Chaser and Breeze had already slipped away in search of breakfast.

'The sea is calm today' said Storm 'and I sense a current from the east. We will eat well from mackerel today. There are shoals on their way.' Storm always had a feeling for these things and, though the pod had no official leader, the other dolphins knew that as the oldest one among them his words were often wise.

'And I hear no engines' he continued, 'that is good.'

'But men have sailing boats as well Storm' said Summer. 'It is harder to hear them coming.'

'It is true that the slapping of sails in the wind is quieter than the clangour of engines in the water' replied Storm, 'but we have little to fear from sailing boats and the men upon them.'

'I have been close to many boats with engines' said Moonlight, 'and I have never felt fear near them.'

'But I say beware.' Storm clicked his warning. The men that come in powered boats are not always good and they can harm us. Their propellers can cut us, their nets can trap us. Their rubbish can poison us. Keep your distance.'

Spirit looked warily on. He knew well that Moonlight liked the men on boats and people in general. But Moonlight was younger than Storm and was less experienced in the ways of man. Storm's words may be wise, but they were not welcome. Moonlight said that men were safe now, that they were harmless. Spirit had never got close to man, but he was intensely curious. They could not swim he'd heard, but found their way across the waves on boats. He felt as though he already knew them, though how that might be he could not say.

'Well I am hungry' said Dancer. 'Come!' she said to Spirit, 'let us eat flounder this morning.' The two younger dolphins sped off. Spirit took a great leap through the air and then the two dived down several metres to the sea bed. After seven or eight minutes or so they had eaten, though not as much as they would like and they rose to the surface again to breathe.

Spirit and Dancer looked at each other across the surface of the water. It always seemed so strange to do so, so different from the glorious hues of the water.

Let's explore again today' said Spirit with a sense of mischief in his voice. 'I saw some very strange shapes on the other side of the island. Big things they were, on the sea bed. I want to find out what they are. I bet there's good fishing to be had there too.'

'Maybe they are the sunken vessels of man' Dancer clicked. 'And maybe men float down there still, living off the mussels at the bottom.' Her eyes glowed with imagination.

'Don't be silly' retorted Spirit, blowing his air-hole free of water.

'Is it safe?' asked Dancer, a note of worry in her clicks. 'You know what Storm always says.'

'Well I think that Storm's too careful and Moonlight's too careless. But if we take care of ourselves we'll be just fine' said Spirit emphatically. 'After all, these are our islands, it's about time we got to know them.'

After they found a reason to get away from the others, Spirit and Dancer slipped away, breaking the water in graceful arcs as they sped over the light frothy waves on the surface. The sun was still bright and the water unusually clear. It was going to be a good day thought Spirit as they raced along, clicking to each other as they went. They passed close to a basking shark, its mouth open wide, feeding on tiny krill.

'That thing's big enough to eat us both' joked Spirit as they sped along.

'Lucky they're not interested' replied Dancer.

They came close to the rocky coast of the island. The sea grew shallower here and the waves rougher, beating the rocks and shoreline rhythmically. A dozen or so metres away from the shore, there was a rock shelf as deep as a blue whale, with caves and chasms and dark, intriguing corners.

Spirit and Dancer dipped down from the surface excitedly and soon found themselves in a kelp weed forest. The long strands of the seaweed waved slowly in the eddies and currents of the water. They slowed down and pushed cautiously through the long, undulating strands, growing so thickly that, before they knew it, they were surrounded by kelp on all sides.

'I hope you know where you're going' commented Dancer cautiously, but really she was full of excitement for the day ahead. Small fry, their fish scales trembling, darted away quickly in the gloomy depths as the two dolphins moved slowly forward.

Eventually, they broke through into clear water again. They took a gulp of clean air before diving again and doing so spied the strange shapes ahead of them in the gloom of the water. Somehow, the sea seemed to become quiet as they focused on the dark shapes, silhouetted against the larger expanse of water. They slowly approached, feeling nervous now at the strangeness of what they were looking at.

'It's an old ship' whispered Dancer, 'just like I said'. She turned and gave Spirit a companionable nudge with her nose. They could make out a huge hull, rusting and covered in limpets, with two funnels drooping perilously above. In between were what once must have been the decks, with gaping holes where doors had been and a row of neat circles where brass portholes once glistened. A moray eel slithered in through one of them and disappeared into the murk. A shoal of small fish skittered away at their approach. The two dolphins approached with a sense of excited anticipation between them.

A big hole in the rusting hulk loomed in front of them. Dancer and Spirit hesitated outside.

'Lets go in' Dancer dared Spirit. They swam cautiously forward. The dark engulfed them as they swam through the rusty, barnacle encrusted hole. The space inside was tight. Knowing no better, they could not make out what they were looking at and what humans did when they were not in water. They looked at the scattered metal tables and chairs and broken crockery with incomprehension. Something sparkled in the murk and Spirit swam up curiously to it, prodding it with his nose. The wine glass he had nosed rolled slowly in a half circle. Dancer seemed fascinated by the hulk they had swum into, but Spirit began to feel claustrophobic and longed to be back outside in the wide unrestrained sea again. He turned towards the entrance where they had swum in from.

Just as he did so, a shape loomed into the gap, partly blocking the light from the outside. Spirit let out an involuntary gasp, and panicking, whistled to Dancer to look.

'What's that strange thing Dancer? It's moving in towards us!'

The shape had four limbs, was clad in black and had a mask over its face. Bubbles chased up from the mask towards the surface. Trapped and anxious, Spirit contemplated dashing for the hole, past the figure and up to the surface for a fresh lung-full of air. The black clad figure though did not seem aggressive.

'It's not going to do us any harm. I think it's a human' Dancer whispered.

'I thought they were mostly pink all over' replied Spirit anxiously.

'That's not true, they're not always pink. Breeze told me that humans can change colour too or put on different things.'

'But why would they do that?' asked Spirit, backing away in the confined space from the human shape in the entrance.

'Well, they're not really supposed to be so deep down in the water are they?' responded Dancer. 'Maybe they have to do that to come down here.'

The human figure, apparently realising that he was blocking the dolphins exit, swam back a metre or two so that the hole was clear for them to leave through. Spirit shot through in a flash, leaving a trail of bubbles in his wake. Dancer was not far behind. They raced to the surface and another lung full of air. After the initial panic passed, Spirit was overcome with a sense of curiosity.

'I'm going back' he said. 'I want to take a better look at that human.' He swam back down. The human was moving slowly, at least slowly compared to them and seemed to being doing something with a tool at the rusting hole they had just swum through. The human looked up. Spirit swum forward again, this time very slowly, his eyes alive with interest. He could just make out the humans eyes behind the mask.

'I think the human's friendly' he said. Dancer, hanging back, was not so sure.

'Come away' she said. But Spirit did not move.

The human turned slightly in the water and Spirit saw that he had a sort of metal cylinder on his back, with thin black tubes running to the mask. Bubbles continued to escape up to the surface as the human breathed.

'So that's how they do it!' Spirit thought to himself.

He looked at the human and the human looked back at him. The man stretched out a limb.

'That must be what they call a hand' thought Spirit.

Spirit sidled forward, with a mixture of tension and shy friendliness in his thudding heart. As he approached he could see the human's eyes more clearly. There was something warm and inviting about them. Something about the human made him think back to his dreams. Yes, he had dreamt of a human before, although he'd never seen one till today. It wasn't the same as the human that he had dreamed of, but now the memory of his dream made it come back vividly into his mind's eye. It was a younger human he'd dreamt of, with long dark stuff (hair?) on its head and warm open eyes.

Spirit swam a little further forward and the diver's outstretched hand gently brushed Spirit's smooth flank. A tingle went through Spirit's body, unlike anything he had ever felt before. They had made a connection.

Spirit saw the diver breathing heavily inside his mask. Dolphins can go for a long time without breathing compared to humans and the cumbersome divers suit seemed so awkward in comparison. They regarded each other for a minute or so, but Dancer was whistling at his back.

'Come away, come away' he called. 'They're dangerous!'

Reluctantly, Spirit turned away from the diver and swum slowly away. He turned back to look one more time. The diver seemed to be making a gesture with his hand.

'I think he's saying goodbye to me' Spirit said. The diver went back inside the rusting hulk on the seabed.

Spirit sped up to the surface in a rush of excitement and leaped high out of the sea before slicing back through the water to where Dancer was.

'That was amazing!' he said. 'You haven't lived till you've swum with a human!'

'I don't know' said Dancer hesitantly. 'I just don't know. What if it tried to grab you or something?'

'Don't be silly' laughed Spirit in reply. 'They're not water creatures. They don't know what they're doing. There's no way they could outsmart us.'

They sped back home to the pod. All the way, Spirit was aware of this strange sense of elation, of recognition, as though he'd known humans all his life, but had only just remembered them.

In the sea, although they may be a long way from each other, dolphins are able to call between one another and come together as a group. Within half an hour or so, they found Summer, Moonlight, Storm, Chaser and Breeze. The dolphins rolled on the waves and relaxed, warmed by the sunshine. Dancer soon told them all they had seen at the wreck.

Spirit thought that Storm might be angry at him for what he had done, but the older dolphin's reaction was not what he expected.

'Remember Spirit' said Storm sternly, 'humans might seem cute and friendly and sometimes you can play with them, but they are not dolphins and they can be unpredictable animals. You may think that you know a human, you may think they are smiling at you, but they are just wild animals really. You always need to take care.'

Moonlight, though, had no such qualms and gushed excitedly about the humans she had encountered in her life. She said that they were always so friendly and that once they had thrown her fish to eat. She said it was fun to ride at the bow of a ship and, if you did so, all the humans would come out to look at you. She said that they were mostly pink in the face, but sometimes brown and that they had furry stuff on their head, like the tentacles of sea anemones which would blow in the wind. She said they always seemed to have a casing of stuff on their bodies when they were on boats, but that sometimes when they went into the water they were all pink or brown, except for something dark around their middle. She said that they screeched and splashed a lot in the water and that they were so clumsy that they were very funny to look at.

'What could be more harmless than a human?' asked Moonlight, echoing Spirit's words to Dancer earlier.

Just then, a plastic bag floated past Spirit on the current. Spirit was old enough now to know that plastic bags were not good to eat. When he was younger though, he'd taken a bite and almost choked on it.

Storm had been listening to Moonlight's excited talk of humans, preferring to say nothing. Now he spoke up.

'You see that white thing, floating in the water. Humans put that there.' Spirit looked at the plastic bag.

'But those things are dangerous' said Spirit, remembering his own close escape two summers before. 'Why would they do that?'

'Humans are careless' replied Storm. 'They don't think. They're just like children really. They put lots of other stuff into the water too, especially near the coast. If you're near humans, you never know what you might swim into.'

Dancer lost interest and spying a turtle ploughing slowly through the current, decided to play with it. Dancer nudged it, but the turtle, a very old creature if its look was anything to go by, was unperturbed and continued with its steady progress eastwards.

'Leave the poor creature alone' called Breeze to Dancer, 'and show a little more respect to your elders and betters' he added, laughing. 'Have a go at catching some fish instead.'

The pod moved off. They needed to eat. When on the search for food, the dolphins worked as a group and were careful to follow the lead of the more senior dolphin. Often that was Storm, but Storm knew that Chaser had a real gift for second guessing the moves of fish.

Using sonar detection by rapid clicking, Chaser had spotted a group of squid swimming about a quarter of a mile away and quickly whistled the pod into order. If there was one thing that Spirit hated eating, it was squid. The tough, rubbery taste made him gag, but Chaser and the others absolutely loved them and were delighted at the prospect of such a tasty treat. Spirit hung back. He'd rather go hungry than eat squid. Chaser led the charge and plunged in amongst the shoal.

'Come on Spirit, you don't know what you're missing!' Chaser called out between gulps.

'Oh you go on, I'm not hungry. Really!' replied Spirit. Chaser glanced back.

'Oh come on Spirit, squid are really very tasty' joked Chaser. Spirit gave him a withering look. The other dolphins continued to eat.

The sun was going down and soon it would be night. The day had passed so quickly he thought, thinking back to the encounter with the diver. Eating squid seemed hardly worth bothering about when there had been so many other impressions to take in that day.

Later, once the sun had gone down and the sea had turned to inky blackness, the dolphins swam closer together. Storm swam slowly next to Moonlight. With a worried look he spoke quietly to his companions.

'I have a bad feeling about young Spirit. You know that sometimes I have the gift of knowing things that have not yet happened. I cannot say I know, but I have a feeling ....yes I have a feeling.'

One by one, the dolphins slipped into their waking sleep.

Chapter Three:

Through the swirling mass of images that dominated Lucy's troubled sleep that night, she had a recurring vision of a small, lone dolphin, a long way off in the deep blue void, calling out for help. She swam towards the dolphin, furiously striking out with arms and legs, but for all her effort the dolphin seemed ever further away. The dolphin was distressed, but as she tried to get closer it was gradually swallowed up into the depths of the ocean blues. She knew she must come to the little dolphin's aid, but she simply did not know how to do so.

Lucy woke from her fretful sleep with a start. She lay there, staring up at the ceiling, her heart skipping with anxiety. The words of Bethany and Dad flooded back into her mind from the night before.

Lucy wasn't only curious to find out exactly what they had been speaking about; she felt a kind of fear; as though she were looking over the edge of a cliff, knowing that if she did so she would have an irresistible urge to fall. She thought of her dolphin dream again. Normally they were so comforting and just so nice, but this morning her dreams merely added to her vague sense of unease. In school, her English Teacher Mrs Penhaligon said that sometimes emotions were like the tumble cycle of a washing machine; churning feelings around, tossing them this way and that, while all you could do was look in helplessly from the outside. That was how Lucy felt this morning.

Lucy dragged herself out of bed and washed and dressed quickly. She went downstairs to face the day. Bethany had slept on the sofa-bed that night, but was already dressed, the sofa-bed folded up again and the sheets and duvet stacked haphazardly on a nearby chair.

'Hey Kiddo' she said, 'how did you sleep? You look half dead to the world this morning.'

'I could have slept better' Lucy admitted, yawning. 'How about you?'

'Well I have to tell you the springs in that sofa-bed have seen better days' joked Bethany. 'Your Dad should take a look at it when he can. In the middle of the night it started folding up with me in it!' Lucy smiled, but she could not put her whole heart into it as she had the evening before. Bethany seemed to sense how she felt and pulled her niece to her for a brief hug.

'When do you leave for school Kiddo?' she asked. 'I thought maybe I could walk you in.'

'But I thought you said you had to be off early' Dad broke in, appearing from the kitchen. 'You said you needed to get on the road as soon as you could to miss the heavy traffic.'

Bethany half smiled and half shrugged in Lucy's direction.

'Are you leaving so soon Bethany?' she asked. 'You've only just got here.'

'I know, I know' said Bethany, 'but I've got roads to travel, people to see. You're right John' she continued, addressing Dad, 'I suppose I had better get going soon.'

'Lucy always walks in with Amy anyway' added Dad, 'don't you Luce.'

Lucy sighed inwardly. It felt like she'd had barely any time at all with Bethany. She was half scared and half eager to find out what they'd been talking about the night before, but now she wouldn't be able to at all. She felt awkward and deflated.

Lucy poured out her cereals and took a grim crunch. Bethany was already racing around the room, pulling together a few scattered garments and thrusting them hurriedly into her hold-all. Bethany tried throwing Lucy a winning smile, but Lucy wasn't impressed and glanced away.

'Please don't go. Stay here another night' she pleaded. She almost thought that Bethany would waiver, but Dad quickly answered.

'You know Bethany has to go Luce' he said firmly. 'You'll see her again soon enough.'

'Will I?' asked Lucy, despondently. It seemed like Dad just wanted Bethany out of the door and somehow she got the impression that she wouldn't be seeing her aunt again anytime too soon. She glanced across at the photo of Lucy, Mum and Dad on the window sill. Already she couldn't quite remember what Mum's voice sounded like. She felt a pang of loneliness and looked back at Bethany imploringly.

Bethany was already standing, bag in hand, coat in the other, ready to go.

'Come here' she said. Lucy stood, feeling sad and small. Bethany gave her a great hug, bag and coat and all.

'Au revoir, auf wiedersehen and arrivederci' she mumbled into Lucy's ear as they hugged. 'I'll see you before you know it Kiddo.' Bethany always said she felt that it was easier to say goodbye in another language.

She pulled away and nodded to Lucy's Dad.

'Bye then John, see you soon.' She turned and headed towards the door. It seemed to Lucy that Bethany might be hiding a tear as she did so, but maybe she was just imagining it. Lucy ran to the door and waved as Bethany pulled away from the curb in her rusting Land-rover.

'Bye bye Bethany' she called, 'Auf Wiedersehen!' The old car turned the corner. Lucy closed the door and returned to her breakfast, sullenly determined not to look Dad in the eye. She crunched her cereals moodily.

Dad was off to work a few minutes later and so was Lucy, walking wearily to school with the weight of the world on her shoulders.

'Cheer up Lucy' called Amy, crossing the road to join her. 'You look miserable this morning.' Lucy told Amy all about the night before.

'Well that's pretty weird' said Amy sympathetically. 'What do you think that was all about then?'

'I wish I knew, but really I have no idea' said Lucy 'It was like Dad couldn't wait to get Bethany out of the house this morning.' They turned the corner to walk through the school gate and into the crush of children in the playground. The bell sounded and they streamed into class for another school day.

Lucy had swimming practice again that lunchtime and ploughed up and down the pool, slicing decisively through the water, turning quickly with a practiced elegance at each end, oblivious to the other children splashing around in the other lanes. She swam longer than she meant to and rushed to Mrs Penhaligon's class breathlessly, coming in through the door two minutes after the bell, just as the other children were opening their books.

'I hope you're not going to make a habit of this' said Mrs Penhaligon to her, not unkindly. Lucy slipped into her seat, her exercise book in front of her. Mrs Penhaligon was in her late fifties, grey-haired with a kindly smile but a sharp tongue to anyone who made trouble in her class. Anyone over the age of forty seemed impossibly old to Lucy and Mrs Penhaligon was one of the oldest teachers in the school. Mrs Penhaligon said more than once that she was counting the days until she retired, though on other days she said that she would miss the children when she did.

Lucy liked Mrs Penhaligon's class and always felt inspired whenever they did creative writing.

'Now I want you all to write about a dream you have had' Mrs Penhaligon was telling the class, 'and write as much as you can in thirty minutes' she continued. Worried looks crossed the faces of several children and hands shot up with questions.

'Of course you may not remember your dreams' she went on 'and if that's the case I want you to make one up, using some of the words I have written up on the board.' She pointed at a list of words to get the children's imaginations started.

'Cool!' said Lucy under her breath to Amy next to her, 'this is the kind of lesson I like.' Amy didn't look so sure and was chewing the top of her pencil with a scrunched up face as she studied the words on the board.

'And remember' said Mrs Penhaligon, 'I want you to use similes, metaphors and lots of adjectives and adverbs to tell me what things looked and felt like. If it's a frightening dream, tell me how you feel when you wake up. If it's a nice dream, tell me how that feels. I'll be coming round the class to see how you're getting on.'

Lucy had an open, flowing style of handwriting and now only made the occasional spelling mistake. She had recently experimented with little circles instead of dots over her i's but now she'd decided not to do them anymore. She set to her task enthusiastically. Lucy knew exactly which sort of dream she wanted to write about.

'I have had the same dream, almost every night, since when I was a very little girl. I am suddenly in a blue, underwater world. The sea is dappled with light from the surface above. The blue goes on forever and becomes darker and darker in the distance. The water is clear but there are bubbles and things floating about so it is not easy to see very far.

I can hear the slosh of waves above me. Then in the distance I can hear clicking and whistling. I turn in the water and I can see my friends the dolphins coming towards me. They are always friendly and swim right up to me with their smiling faces and nuzzle into me. They swim around me, above me and under me. I feel their smooth, skin as they brush past me. It is like wet silk. In my dreams I am sort of swimming and sort of just there. I can follow the dolphins wherever they go. Sometimes the dolphins all race along the surface of the water. It's like flying. There is one dolphin that can jump really high into the air. Sometimes in my dream there is a boat and the dolphins speed along next to its bow. Mostly they are happy to play, or hunt for fish.

I love all the dolphins, but there is one in my dream which is particularly my friend. I think he's a boy, though it's hard to tell. He is smaller than the others. He swims right up close to me and sort of looks into my eyes in a special way. It's like he is staring deep into my soul. Sometimes I think he is like my twin, but that's silly because he's a dolphin and I'm a human. In my dreams I can understand the dolphin's clicks and whistles, though I can't speak to them. But when the small dolphin looks into my eyes, I think he can understand everything that I am thinking.'

Lucy looked up from her writing. One or two of the children in the class were finished and Matthew and Simon on the next table were whispering and giggling to each other. Mrs Penhaligon gave them a stern look and they went quiet. A shadow passed over Lucy's face, as she remembered her dream that morning and turned back to her writing.

'Mostly I wake up from my dolphin dreams all happy', she went on. 'This morning though, the small dolphin was all on his own and he looked worried. I wanted to help him but I didn't know how to. I tried to swim towards him, but whatever I did, he just seemed to get further away. Then I woke up and I felt all worried. I hope I don't have that dream again tonight.'

Mrs Penhaligon had been working her way around the class and arrived at Lucy and Amy's desk. She looked at Amy's exercise book, gave an appreciative chuckle at the funny dream she'd made up and suggested a few words to make the story more descriptive. Then she leaned over Lucy's shoulder to read what she had written. She read silently for a minute, then glanced at Lucy's face with a searching look.

'That's a good description of your dream' she said. I like the way you've brought the scene alive and written about how you feel.' She hesitated and seemed about to say something more, but all she added was 'Good work Lucy' before moving on to the next table.

Lucy was pleased. She was so used to her dolphin dreams that she didn't even bother to tell anyone anymore. Besides, she didn't want to get called 'Flipper' in the playground. The boys already made fun of her sometimes for swimming like a fish. Lucy didn't care though. They were just jealous because they couldn't. Somehow it was good to share her dream with Mrs Penhaligon. She used to tell Mum sometimes, but she couldn't do that any more. Amy glanced over, but Lucy had curled her left arm around so no one could see what she had written.

Soon the lesson finished and the children turned out for their mid-afternoon break, chair legs scraping noisily as they all crowded to the door to get outside.

'Err Lucy' called Mrs Penhaligon with a smile, as Lucy was half way to the door. 'Could you stay a moment?' Amy went off outside to play and Lucy went up to Mrs Penhaligon's desk. Mrs Penhaligon paused again, not quite sure how to begin.

'Have you really had the same dream since you were a little girl?' she asked.

'Since I was a baby I think' replied Lucy. 'I can't remember not having dolphin dreams' she added, 'not really.' Mrs Penhaligon smiled again.

'And the special dolphin you wrote about. Has he always been in your dreams as well?'

'I think so', answered Lucy. 'All the dolphins are always there, but the small dolphin has become more special to me, well, in the last few months I suppose.' Mrs Penhaligon nodded.

'And can you easily tell them apart?'

'Oh yes' exclaimed Lucy enthusiastically. 'They are all completely different. They may look the same to us, but they have quite different personalities. I can tell them apart easily.'

'And when they click and whistle, you know what they're saying? Do you hear their clicks and whistles, or do you hear them as though they're speaking like you or me?

'Oh I hear them clicking and whistling' replied Lucy. I just sort of....know what they mean instinctively.' Mrs Penhaligon smiled and nodded again.

'It's lovely to be at the seaside isn't it. Have you ever seen a dolphin in real life?'

'Dad told me that when I was small he took me to a dolphinarium once when Mum was away. He said that I started to cry and make a fuss because I wanted them set free. I don't really remember, but I do think that they should be out in the open sea, don't you?'

'Yes I certainly agree with you there' replied Mrs Penhaligon emphatically. 'An over-sized swimming pool is no place for a dolphin. Have you seen any in the sea?'

'No' said Lucy, 'I'd love to, but Dad hasn't taken me to the sea for ages and ages. I don't think he likes it.' Mrs Penhaligon paused.

'Do you think it was seeing the dolphinarium that made you start dreaming about dolphins?'

'I don't know really' replied Lucy. My dolphin dreams are always, well almost always happy dreams and the dolphins are always in the open sea.'

'Yes I can imagine' nodded Mrs Penhaligon. She hesitated again. She leant in slightly and spoke with a softer less teacherly, but more urgent voice.

'Listen Lucy' she said. 'Where I come from, it's very special to have dolphin dreams like the ones you have described. It's a gift. It means that....well, it's silly really I suppose, just folklore really. Maybe it doesn't mean anything at all, but it's lovely that you have those dreams. I'm so glad that I know.'

'Goodness' she added, glancing up at the clock. 'It's almost the end of break and I haven't even marked these exercises yet. You'd better run out and catch some fresh air whilst you can.' Lucy turned to leave, but then glanced back.

'Mrs Penhaligon, where is it that you come from?'

'Oh I come from Cornwall Lucy. Right down near Lands End.' Lucy ran out into the playground.

After school that afternoon Lucy and Amy both went to choir practice and then Amy's Mum picked the two of them up and Lucy had dinner at their house before Dad collected her at half past six. Lucy wasn't very good at singing, but she liked being in the choir and all the voices joined together so she didn't stand out. Amy was better than her, so Lucy tried to copy her as much as she could.

Dad looked tired and obviously wasn't in the mood for talking. Lucy wasn't prepared to let that put her off though.

'Dad, I want to go and see Bethany in Cornwall in the half term' she announced to him as they drove home. Dad sighed.

'Look, I'm sorry Lucy, but I just don't think that's such a good idea.'

'But why?' Lucy complained.

'It's just....for the best' Dad replied, turning into the parking space outside their house. 'It's not that I don't want you to see Bethany' he added, 'You'll see her soon enough, I expect' he continued. 'I'm not ready for you to go off gallivanting around on your own here and there, you're just not old enough and I don't have the time to take off work.'

'You just don't want me to be happy do you!?' exclaimed Lucy, getting upset. They'd got out of the car and Dad had his key half way into the key hole. He turned round slowly and gave Lucy a measured look.

'Sometimes Lucy your parents know what's best for you. Sometimes parents can't explain and you just have to accept that.'

'Mum would've let me go' Lucy responded angrily, as they walked into the house.

'Look, I've just about had enough of this' replied Dad, his voice rising in response to hers. 'You're not going to Cornwall this half term and that's that.'

Lucy stomped upstairs angrily and went to her room. She thought about banging her door, but decided against it. She threw her school bag down and collapsed onto her bed. She didn't see what right Dad had to be such a misery. He could easily put her on the train at this end and, just like Bethany had said last night, she could collect Lucy off the train at the other end. Kids her age travelled like that all the time.

It would be so perfect to go down to Cornwall and spend time with Bethany. She could swim in the sea, explore the coast, see Bethany's studio, look at her pictures and meet her friends. It'd be a lot more fun than being stuck at home for a week. It would be great and Dad knew full well that Bethany would take care of her. In fact, Lucy thought, Bethany would take better care of her than Dad would. He'd only dump her with one baby sitter or another all week. It was just like him to come over all mysterious when she tried to put him on the spot about why he didn't want her to go. He certainly wasn't telling her everything.

Then Lucy thought that since she had started asking him about going to Cornwall the day after he and Bethany had argued about that very thing, Dad must be wondering how much Lucy did hear of their conversation the night before. She'd not let on that she'd heard most of it, but Dad would soon put two and two together. Would he say anything and would he explain what Bethany had been talking about? Lucy doubted it.

Lucy looked out of the window. High in the sky she saw the full moon, shining brightly. The moon made her think of its reflection in the water and water made her think of dolphins. She thought of the little dolphin of her dreams and the anxious, far away look in his eyes. In her dream she had tried to swim to him, but he had just seemed to get further and further away.

Lucy took up a pencil and idly drew a dolphin swimming on a spare piece of paper. She was quite good at drawing dolphins. She could draw dolphins leaping, dolphins playing, dolphins riding the waves. Mrs Pancaldi, her art teacher, said she had a 'distinctive way of bringing them alive.' Lucy was very pleased when she told her this. Well, she thought to herself, I do dream dolphins pretty much every night. It's not surprising that I should be able to draw them as well. Dad really never asked much about all her dolphin drawings even though they were everywhere in her room.

Lucy had a CD of whale song that Bethany had given her for her birthday. It wasn't dolphin song, but to be honest whale song sounded more beautiful. She put it on her CD player and turned the volume up loud. She knew Dad didn't like it, but really, she didn't care that much tonight. He just said he didn't have any time for that hippy dippy stuff. The whale song CD was full of the whale's eerie, melancholy calls and made her feel as if she actually was in the ocean, floating in the currents, gently buoyed along in the salt water.

She imagined a great, enormous blue whale the size of a double-decker bus slowly beating its great tail fin as it swum from one side of the world to the other in search of feeding grounds. She thought about Giapetto, the wood-carver who'd made Pinocchio, trapped on his little raft in a great whale's stomach and wondered if that could actually happen in real life.

Then her thoughts turned to orcas, otherwise known as killer whales and she knew that they could be dangerous to dolphins. She wondered if the dolphins of her dreams could be in danger from orcas. But then she thought, her dolphins existed only in her dreams. Surely, she reasoned, if they were her dreams, she could influence what would happen in them. Maybe tonight she could dream her little dolphin somewhere nicer, she thought. And so Lucy day-dreamed on.

'Lucy, do your homework.' Dad had put his head round the door interrupting her thoughts, half a sandwich in his mouth. Lucy emerged reluctantly from her reveries.

'Okay Dad' she said, picking up her pen and pulling her school bag towards her. Maths didn't exactly fill her with joy, but she didn't mind it either. Sometimes when you got into it, it could be quite satisfying. Soon it was time for bed. Showered and clean, she sunk in between the sheets and quickly fell asleep.

Chapter Four:

The wind played on the surface of the sea the next morning as Spirit stirred from his sleep. It whipped up into little whirlwinds and pulled the sea up into plumes. It licked the tips of the waves that peaked, white and frothy, in this direction and that. Stone grey clouds scudded above and coloured the water below. Spirit slowly realised that the day had broken. He had slept later than the others, as usual and became aware of their restless circling in the water.

'Wake up Spirit!' Summer nudged him with her muzzle. 'Let's chase sardines.' The fish, in the depths, were as disturbed by the strange weather conditions as the dolphins, but the mammals weren't about to let the opportunity to catch fish flash past them. Summer, Dancer and Spirit slipped down into the deeper waters where Moonlight, Storm, Chaser and Breeze had already been corralling the fish. Fish swim together, instinctively knowing that there is safety in numbers. However this is not always right. The dolphins worked together to surround the shoal of sardines and get them tighter and tighter until the sardines became a silver, flashing ball of life. The dolphins were experts and soon Storm clicked the signal. He dove into the centre of the ball of sardines, taking a mouthful of fish as he did so. Quickly, in turn the other dolphins followed suit, plunging in and through the sardines. Breeze, Chaser, Moonlight, then Summer, Dancer and finally Spirit, each in turn took a mouthful of fish as they passed through.

Then they let the shoal disperse into the waters around them and flash away into the gloom below. Dancer and Spirit had asked Chaser once why they let the rest of the shoal get away. 'Take only what you need' Chaser had told him. 'We must live in balance with the fish around us.' 'If we eat too hungrily today, we will go hungry tomorrow. Once there was a great famine. The men in their boats came with their nets and fished and fished. They raked up the sea bed. They took all the shoals. There was nothing left. We were hungry for days and weeks. We had to swim many leagues with hollow stomachs before we came to good fishing grounds again.'

'But the men' Spirit and Dancer had asked, 'did they not know that if they took and took, there would be nothing left?'

'They may seem clever in some ways' replied Chaser sagely 'but they are not really intelligent. They are like children. They have never truly learned the ways of the sea. They need to be taught, but there is no one to teach them.'

The dolphins lazed after their meal, watching the weather and the squall playing across the surface of the water. Summer leapt high to see what was happening above. Grey mists swirled and the islands beyond were barely visible. No boats were evident. Rain broke above them and drummed the water with thousands of tiny blows.

Storm came up to Spirit's side. Spirit was the youngster of the pod and Storm the most senior. Storm did not generally spend time with him. Spirit was surprised and a little bit in awe of the older dolphin.

'Swim with me' said Storm in a tone which invited no disagreement. 'The squall will soon pass and we can join the others later.' The young dolphin swam off with the elder, curious as what he wanted to say. Storm was silent and for a while they swum without words passing between them. They passed into a current of colder water. Spirit knew that the seabed tumbled down deep, deep below them to where strange creatures lived in the dark zones, where the water pressure was so great that no dolphin could swim there.

Spirit worried about what Storm might say to him. Yet when Storm broke his silence, his tone was warm.

'You are a young dolphin' he said 'but you will soon come of age.' Spirit whistled his agreement. 'As with every dolphin in the pod and every dolphin in the wide seas, there will come a time soon when you must swim alone. You must find yourself out here, in the vastness of the ocean. You will experience fear, but you should not feel hunger. You will be alone, but that will bring you closer to all dolphins and to every living thing. And when you come back after your journeying, you will swim into brighter waters with all of us.'

Spirit knew of this rite of passage and was eager to undertake it himself. He wanted to catch up with Dancer who had passed through hers the year before. Only then, Spirit felt, would he be an equal among the rest of the pod.

'You have a special destiny' said Storm quietly, 'your test will come sooner than for others.' Spirit swam on, disturbed and wondering at Storm's words.

'But how?' he asked simply.

'Your destiny is not yet told' replied Storm calmly. 'I do not know your story.'

'Then how can you know that I have a special destiny?'

'You were born on a moonless night, under a windless, starry sky on the longest night of the summer. You have a small white star under your chin. You cannot see it, but we can. Stars fall from the sky you know' he added, 'and we dolphins believe that a new-born with a star on his body is born of his mother, but born of the stars as well. These are all signs that we look for in every dolphin that is born, anywhere.'

'Well, no one's ever treated me in a special way before. I'm always the last to eat and no one listens to what I have to say,' Spirit complained. 'I don't feel special at all.'

'Well we wouldn't want you to treat yourself too seriously, would we?' Storm smiled.

He gave Spirit a playful nudge and the two chased each other through the water, twisting, turning and then leaping high over the spray tipped crests of the waves. The dark clouds had been swept away and blue sky and sunshine illuminated the water. The wind had calmed down and the waves were lapping more gently than before.

The two dolphins slowed and lolled under the rays of the sunshine. After their playing, Storm became serious again.

'Not all dolphins pass their test. They are not all ready to meet their destiny. Neither will you be if you lose your playfulness, your sense of curiosity, your sense of adventure. You must learn. That is what makes you. We will not treat you too differently either; not till you have learned our ways and earned our respect. You are still a young dolphin and that is the way of things. You are the baby of the pod. Come!' Storm swam on and Spirit followed. The greyness of the early morning had by now almost entirely lifted. It was going to be a beautiful day.

A mile away, shapes moved through the water. First one, then two, then three hulking forms moved silently, their bulk held lightly in the water, their great fins propelling them quietly onward. They could hear the clicking, the whistling of the two dolphins north of them and they turned and swam towards the sound.

In her bed, far away, Lucy moved restlessly, her bed-clothes crumpled up around and on top of her. She was dreaming of dolphins again, of two dolphins ploughing through the seas and of the warmth of feeling between the two animals at that moment. Yet at the same time she felt uneasy, though her sleep shrouded brain could not tell why. One leg kicked out in her sleep and she turned, bringing a slew of bedding with her.

As they swum on, Storm told Spirit again some of the stories that all dolphins tell each other. He started off with a silly story he used to tell Spirit when he was very young indeed.

'Sometimes, if you are close to the shore, you may see a hairy thing, with four legs, kicking about in the water. They are called dogs and they are often seen with man. We dolphins of course, should never venture into too shallow water, as you know very well, for the tides might turn and you will be stranded. Do not be led there by your curiosity. Most creatures on the land, so it is said, propel themselves with four legs. They breathe as we do and cannot dive about in the water for long without surfacing for air. They are not like the fish and sharks of the seas, but neither are we.' He paused briefly.

'Of course those animals known as dogs are land animals and know little of the seas. Four legs are not good for swimming and they have four claws, which are little help in the strong currents away from the shore. Even sea otters, which are found in the north and which can frolic and play in the water, must stay close to the land's edge if they are to feel safe. Dogs are the cousins of otters, so it is said and they live together on the land. Long ago, dogs wished to conquer the seas and looked down from their cliffs, dreaming of eating the fish, which leapt and boiled the water in the shallows.

The dogs were not brave, so they said to their cousins the otters "Swim out and catch us some fish and bring them back to the rocks for us to eat". But the otters just lay on their backs in the water and ate fish and laughed at the dogs on the shoreline. So the dogs came up with a clever plan. "Cousin otters" they said "We have discovered that in the shoals of fish there is a fish of gold, that can only be found by laying the fish on the dry stones at high water. On the break of day, the light from the fish of gold will spill forth, hitting the creature that caught it and who will be declared king. We dogs have divined a plan to capture the fish of gold and soon a dog will be king of all creatures of the land."

The otters, not to be out-done, set about capturing all the fish and setting them on the stones at high water for the break of day, but were surprised when the dogs devoured all the fish and laughed at them.

Dolphins swam amongst the otters and warned them of the danger of what they did. If they took all the fish, otter and dolphin alike would go hungry and the dogs would grow lazy, indolent and fat. So the next morning, just before the sun rose, the otters laid stones from the shallows on the high water rocks. The dogs, eager to be fed, fell greedily upon them before the sun had risen, but bit on the rocks instead and howled and barked in pain. They have howled and barked ever since.'

Spirit smiled, he knew the story well. 'Tell me how dolphins came to be' he asked.

'The North Star laid down a challenge to the South Star that he could shine down through the oceans and bring day to all the creatures of the depths. The South star declared to the North Star that she could shine through the very earth itself. But they both forgot about water and how it reflects and shatters their beams into a million points of light. The North Star shone with all his might, but instead of illuminating the depths, his light merely played on the surface and out of that light was created a male dolphin. The South Star shone with all her might, but her light too was split into thousands of points and out of her starlight was created the first female dolphin. And so dolphins are made of star light are destined to swim the seas like the million shattered beams of light that made us.'

'And so', said Storm turning to Spirit again, a note of seriousness creeping back into his voice, 'When a shooting-star falls and a dolphin is born, we know that something special has occurred.'

As Storm and Spirit idled along, the killer whales loomed closer. Three bulky shapes approached them in the water. Though over six metres long and weighing as many tonnes, the orcas were surprisingly quiet as they swam closer and closer. They came up on the two dolphins from behind so Spirit and Storm did not see their distinctive white chests and sides, which contrasted so markedly with their black backs.

The orcas were moving in on the dolphins slowly, cautiously, but were more than capable of out-swimming the dolphins over longer distances, swimming as fast as thirty knots. With their exceptional eye-sight the orcas could see the two dolphins well. They had no need of their echo-location skills that day and at the moment they swam silently, for fear of giving themselves away before they began their attack.

They knew by Storm's size and markings that he would be able to easily resist them, but they focused instead on the younger, smaller dolphin, who to them seemed easier prey. All of a sudden, they began their attack.

The three orcas appeared out of the grey green gloom of the sea, looming up on Storm and Spirit from behind. They had been silent in their approach, but now that they neared they started calling to each other as they swam. The two dolphins turned with a start. Before he knew what was happening, Spirit felt a great bang against his flank as one of the killer whales lunged in and battered him to one side. The shock of the blow half stunned Spirit and he spun in the water, not knowing which way up he was facing or what to do.

'Swim Spirit, swim!' shouted Storm desperately. Storm had turned just in time and had missed the blow from the second orca, but now he was separated from Spirit and knew that while they were apart, they were both in danger. Spirit regained his senses sufficient to start swimming out of the way, but as he did so, the big, dull faced orca turned ready to strike him once again.

Before the orca had time to launch a second wave of attack Storm swam at him with all his might and landed a glancing blow on the side of the orcas head. Storm was much smaller than the whale, but he succeeded in hitting the orca in the eye, temporarily blinding him and buying enough time for Spirit to swim up to the surface and fill his lungs through his blow hole.

'That's right Spirit, now swim!' commanded Storm, who swum up and joined him again. The two dolphins set off in flight away from the orcas, but suddenly saw one up ahead of them, ready to cut them off. They turned sharply, but the two orcas chasing them closed in on them from behind.

This time the largest orca opened its massive jaws ready to bite at Storm, but the older dolphin turned again just in time and then leapt out of the water in a diversionary manoeuvre, as the Killer whale lunged on passed him. The two dolphins were separated again and Spirit was on his own.

'Faster, faster, faster!' Spirit urged himself on through the water in full flight, but he felt impotent against the might of the orcas, two of which were still gaining on him from behind.

Storm turned in a wider arc, slicing through the water with all the speed and agility he could muster, in a desperate bid to outrun the whales and to rejoin Spirit. But the whales were gaining on Spirit and Storm knew all too well that the smaller, weaker dolphin was their target.

In her bed, Lucy thrashed about in her sheets, anxiety a knot in the core of her stomach and every muscle in her body tense as she witnessed the attack on Spirit and Storm in dreams so vividly it felt as though she really was there with them.

'Swim little one, swim!' she implored Spirit, in her troubled dreams. 'You can do it!' But she could see that Spirit was flagging and that fear and tiredness were already catching up with the young dolphin. She could see the massive bulk of the orca gaining on him and, within seconds, the whale was close enough to open its mouth and take a swipe at Spirits tail fin with its row of hard teeth.

'Turn left now!' Lucy called out sharply.

Spirit felt tired and did not know what to do. He was slowing, but then he heard a strange, unfamiliar voice, so close that he felt as though someone were right next to him. He turned left decisively in obedience to the voice and the orca's mouth just closed on cold water, millimetres behind him. Suddenly Storm was at his side again.

'I heard a voice!' he exclaimed.

'Just keep swimming', the older dolphin commanded him 'and keep close to the surface. They want to cut you off from your source of air and then drown you in the depths. Don't give them the chance!' They burst through the waves and into the daylight again as the orcas bore down relentlessly upon them.

With a thump, Lucy found herself in a tangled heap of sheets and duvet on the floor of her room. She had slid out of bed in the struggle of the dreams and suddenly found herself awake. But a strange thing happened. The vision of dolphins in her head did not disappear as her mind jerked into wakefulness. She could see them still. She knelt on the floor looking onwards, as though staring through an open window.

As they leapt through the white froth of the waves, Spirit looked ahead and saw a small, grey-white trawler in the distance, battling resolutely through the churning waters of the sea on its way back to port.

'Turn towards the boat' came the voice at Spirit's side. But it wasn't Storm and Spirit didn't know where it came from.

'Over there' said Spirit to Storm. 'We must go that way.' They were too far from the islands to get to them quickly and Storm knew that with every passing minute Spirit's strength would ebb to the point that he would fall easy prey to the orcas. He was getting short of ideas and he knew it.

'Why?' he gasped, as they swam on.

'There's a boat over there' said Spirit. 'If we get to it, then I think we'll be safe.'

'Let's give it a go' agreed Storm.

The great bulk of the orcas seemed to move effortlessly through the water in pursuit, but Storm sensed that they were saving their strength for a final push when Spirit was sufficiently weakened. They hung back behind the two dolphins, knowing that their time would soon come.

'Just keep going' urged Lucy, 'almost there!' Spirit heard her words, without knowing where they came from or how, but they gave him strength and he surged onwards with Storm at his side.

In the cabin of the trawler, the captain and his mate were making their way home. They had taken up their lobster pots and transferred their catch to cages on the deck. The blue grey lobsters waved their huge pincers menacingly from behind the bars of their cages. The fisherman's catch had been meagre and they were tired and weary. Suddenly, something caught the mate's eye.

'Look Nate', he exclaimed suddenly 'there in the East, there're two dolphins coming towards us. Looks like the devil's behind them!'

The skipper, Nathaniel or Nate to his friends, had been standing over the small wheel of the vessel, his eyes on the horizon. He glanced to his right and saw that indeed yes, two dolphins were closing in on them and with a curious directness and speed. Then he looked beyond them and saw a hint of black and white bulk break the waters a short distance behind the dolphins.

'By God, look Bob' he exclaimed. 'They're being chased by orcas. They're racing for their life!'

The two dolphins persevered. They broke through the waves again and saw the small trawler was by now only two minutes away from them.

'I don't trust humans' warned Storm. So we get to the boat. What then?'

'You'll see' said Lucy, kneeling on the floor of her room, staring somehow at the scene in front of her. 'Trust me little one.'

'Trust me Storm,' echoed Spirit. 'you'll see when we get there.'

Nate the Captain, cut off the engine and he and his mate Bob burst out from the small cabin onto the deck. They could count one, two, three orcas gaining on the two dolphins, which were dwarfed by the bulky whales behind them. Bob grabbed a boat hook, but Nate bent through the open door and quietly unhooked the emergency flare, ready to fire it at the whales if he had to, a steely look upon his face.

'We're there!' exclaimed Spirit, his body wracked with tiredness. 'Swim around the boat.' The older dolphin had seen a lot, but he was struck by the certainty in the young dolphins voice and though he distrusted man, right now he feared the orcas more and was glad to hug close to the sides of the vessel and seek sanctuary in its shadow.

The three orcas slowed, some two hundred metres off, suddenly aware of the presence of the boat in front of them.

'Be off with you!' cried Bob, banging his boat-hook noisily against the side of the vessel. 'Get away you great nasty lummocks!' The two dolphins put their heads out of the water, caught Bob's eye and whistled their thanks. Nate stood, his flare held ready in his hand for firing, looking out towards the orcas in the distance. The stand-off seemed to last an eternity, but a minute or so later, the whales turned in the water and peeled off in the direction of the distant horizon.

'Are they gone?' asked Bob.

'I'm not sure' answered Nate cautiously. Bob glanced down at Spirit and Storm.

'I think you two might have had a lucky escape' he said. The two dolphins circled the boat slowly, thankful to rest and breath easily again.

'Come on' said Nate. 'Let's start the engine again and make for port. I reckon those dolphins will keep with us for a while yet.' He was right. As the little trawler resumed its course back home, chugging out smelly diesel fumes behind it, Spirit and Storm stayed close. Storm knew that Spirit needed a chance to recover and that things could have turned out much more badly for them than it actually had.

'It was a good idea of yours young Spirit, to come to this boat. What made you think it?'

'I heard a voice' answered Spirit simply. 'A voice told me to turn hard to the left just before the orca could bite me. A voice told me to come to this boat.' Storm didn't say anything, but his mind was full of worrying, conflicting thoughts. They stayed with the trawler for an hour or so, until they were sure they were absolutely safe and then they both took a great leap at the bows, in thanks to the two fishermen, before heading off to the east and the rest of their pod.

'Good luck' said Bob quietly to himself. He turned to Nate, 'Have you ever seen the like before?' he asked. Nate knew well that killer whales could target young or weak dolphins and might chase them for hours until, tired out, the calf or young would allow itself to be surrounded and the whales would stop it from surfacing until it drowned. He'd never seen such a hunt himself though, in all his years of fishing. He shook his head.

As the two dolphins swam on safely back to their pod, Lucy slowly let go of her vision and the image of them faded away. She became conscious once more of her bedroom around her. She looked around and shivered. She heaved the great mass of duvet back onto her bed. She felt exhausted before the day had even begun. She glanced at her clock. It was much later than she thought and she realised with a start that she must rush if she wasn't going to be late for school. But as she dressed, her mind still lingered on the image of the small dolphin, safe again and her heart was full of relief at the thought.

Chapter Five:

By the end of school that day Lucy felt exhausted. She'd have loved to have gone right home to curl up on the sofa and relax, but instead she had to go to the after-school club until Dad was ready to fetch her after work. The other kids raced around her, throwing paper airplanes across the room and generally trying the patience of the club supervisors, whilst Lucy sat disconsolately in the midst of the chaos, staring into space now that she had finished her homework. None of her other friends were in the club that afternoon and she felt as bored as she was tired. Minutes seemed to slow down into hours and the more she willed the minutes to pass, the less they seemed to.

Lucy's mind kept returning to her dreams that morning just before she had woken up. It hadn't felt like it was just a dream, or even a vivid dream. It felt as though Lucy was actually there. More than that, she hadn't just observed the scene as it unfolded, she felt as though she'd been able to reach out in some way and actually speak to the little dolphin. When she came to she'd felt okay, but by half past nine she'd felt more drained than she had ever felt in her life, as though she hadn't slept at all. Mrs Penhaligon had had to speak to her sharply to get her attention. She'd missed swimming that lunchtime and had been embarrassed when Ms Baldwin had caught up with her at the end of the day and asked her if she was unwell.

The minutes ticked on slowly and the other kids started to get picked up by their parents. 'Come on Dad, come on Dad' muttered Lucy under her breath. Soon they were down to three children and the carers started looking at their watches and eyeing the main door. By ten past six, Lucy was the only child left. She felt tired, hungry and fed up.

'Have you got a mobile phone Lucy?' Ben asked. 'Maybe your Dad's sent you a text or left you a message.'

'No sorry' Lucy replied. 'I had a mobile phone but it fell out of my bag a couple of weeks ago and smashed on the ground. Dad said he'd get me a new one but he hasn't got round to it yet.'

'Ok Lucy, I'm going to call your Dad now' said Ben. He went to the office and dialled Dad's mobile number. There was no answer. Ben came back in.

'It just rings and rings Lucy' said Ben. 'Doesn't your father have voicemail?'

'He should do' she replied. 'Maybe it's not working' she added, concerned and worried. 'I expect he'll turn up in a few minutes.'

By half past six Dad still hadn't arrived. Everyone else had gone. It was just her and Ben sitting there in their coats, half the lights switched off, with Ben jangling the buildings keys impatiently in his pocket.

'I can't very well just leave you here Lucy' he said. 'I've tried your Dad ten times in the last fifteen minutes and it just rings and rings. No one picks up at your home and there's no one else on your contact sheet to call. Surely there's someone else I can get to collect you?'

'Nope,' said Lucy. 'there's no one else in a hundred and fifty miles of here.' She thought wistfully of Bethany, far off in Cornwall.

'What about one of your friends?' asked Ben. 'Do you have a number for one of them?'

'I do at home' replied Lucy, 'but not here.' The minutes ground on slowly. Before long, it was nearly seven o'clock.

'Well I'm really at my wits end Lucy' said Ben. 'I can't reach your father on the phone and I've got no other numbers to call. Surely there must be someone else?' All Lucy could do was to shake her head slowly. She was practically sliding off the chair with tiredness and she didn't know what else to say.

'I've got a family to get home to myself' added Ben, getting increasingly fidgety. 'Unless you can think of someone else, I'm going to have to take you to the local police station soon.' When Ben said that, a feeling of empty desolation came over her. The room seemed very cold and empty, but then when Lucy thought of the house, her home seemed cold and empty too. Suddenly Lucy felt as bad as she had when Mum had gone. She didn't cry; she couldn't, but she wanted to.

'I suppose you could drop me off at Amy's house' she said hesitantly. 'Her Mum might not mind.'

'Right!' said Ben, seizing on the idea. 'Does your Dad know where Amy lives?'

'I'm not sure' said Lucy. 'He should do but he might have forgotten.' Lucy did know the address though, it was just round the corner from her street. Ben left a note on the door, telling her Dad to call his mobile number. He scribbled the address on the note, made sure it was securely fixed and they set off. Lucy slumped wearily in the passenger seat. Normally she'd be delighted to go round to Amy's house, but not tonight. All she wanted tonight was her own bed.

Ben stood on the doorstep of Amy's house, with Lucy a small huddled figure just behind him. By now it was quarter to eight. Amy's Mum opened the door. Ben explained the situation and gratefully ushered Amy into Mrs Hodge's care. Mrs Hodge closed the door.

'Goodness Lucy, it's time for bed. Amy's upstairs cleaning her teeth!' Mrs Hodges hurried through the lounge to call her Dad, but there was still no answer.

'Hi Lucy' said Amy, toothbrush in mouth, looking down through the banisters of the stairs. 'What's up?'

'Guess who's forgotten about me again' responded Lucy, mournfully.

'Well Amy, you can come downstairs again and keep Lucy company for a while until her Dad turns up' said Mrs Hodges. 'Aren't you hungry Lucy?' she asked.

'Yes, no, well I was' said Lucy.

'Well I'm going to the kitchen to rustle something up for you' said Mrs Hodges. The two girls sat on the sofa, watching a sit-com on TV. Lucy was so tired she slumped into Amy, head lolling onto her friend's shoulder, fighting to keep awake. She could just about make out Mrs Hodges speaking in a low voice to Amy's Dad in the kitchen.

'I don't know what could have happened to him' she was saying to Mr Hodges. 'Do you think we should call the police? Or should we ring round the hospitals?'

'Not yet' replied Mr Hodges. 'I'm sure he's just been held up. There's probably some innocent explanation.'

Mrs Hodges brought Lucy some beans on toast from the kitchen. Lucy picked at them, but she didn't really have the energy to eat.

'Eat up Love' said Mrs Hodges. 'You've got to get some food down you!' Lucy smiled wanly. She could just see Mr Hodges trying her Dad's number yet again through the doorway. No answer. He shook his head slowly, brow furrowed and put the receiver down.

By nine pm both girls were dozing on the sofa and Mrs Hodges sent them upstairs to Amy's bed.

'You'll just have to sleep in your underwear' she commented, pulling Lucy's sweater up over her head and tugging off her socks and trousers, before inserting her under the duvet next to Amy. 'Don't worry Love, your Dad's going to be just fine.' Lucy was worried, but she was just too tired to care right now. Mrs Hodges kissed them both lightly on their foreheads, before switching the light off and heading downstairs.

Despite her tiredness, once she got into Amy's bed Lucy couldn't sleep. She lay there, a knot of anxiety in her stomach, not knowing what to think about anything. Eventually she dozed off again, then suddenly she was aware of Mrs Hodges gently shaking her shoulder.

'Hey Love' she whispered, so as not to wake Amy up. 'Your Dad's here.' Lucy pulled herself out of bed and Mrs Hodges scooped up her clothes, which Lucy pulled on blearily. She stumbled sleepily down the stairs. Her Dad stood there in the hallway, in his suit and greatcoat, a stricken look on his face.

'I'm so sorry Luce,' he said, half making to step forward and hug her. Lucy shrank back away from him. 'I thought Mrs Johnson was baby-sitting tonight' he continued. 'I thought she'd picked you up from after-school club and taken you home.' Lucy glanced up at the clock behind him. It was half past eleven. Mr and Mrs Hodges stood by, disapproving looks up their faces.

'Mrs Johnson's been on holiday for the past fortnight' answered Lucy shortly. 'You've known she'd be away for months. There's no way you ever thought she'd baby-sit.'

'I don't know what to say Lucy' said her Dad. 'I just.....' He tailed off, uncertain what to say. He looked embarrassed and small under the gaze of Amy's parents. Soon she and her Dad were outside and in the car to drive round the corner back home. The dark house did not seem inviting to Lucy and she'd rather have stayed at Amy's.

'Listen' Dad said. 'You sit there on the sofa. I'll get you some hot chocolate before I put you back to bed.' She sat there dazed and tired. Dad came back with a warm mug and she sat there sipping it slowly. Dad perched next to her uncertainly on the edge of the sofa, but Lucy felt as though he'd never been further away from her.

'Look' he said. 'I've let you down. I know I have. It's work you see. I....' Lucy said nothing. She looked down at her mug. 'I'll get you to bed' he said.

That night Lucy dreamt of waves, but could not see the dolphins under them. Even the little dolphin seemed far away from her.

The next morning was a Thursday. Lucy woke up stiffly. It was bright in her room. She glanced at her clock. It was a quarter to ten. She started from her bed and stumbled onto the landing. Dad was coming upstairs.

'It's okay Lucy' he said. 'I've called the school and told them you're not coming in today.'

'What about you?' she squinted at him while her eyes adjusted.

'Well I was going to call in sick' said her Dad, 'but in the end I phoned my manager and got him to agree to me working from home today. I won't be working all day though' he added. 'Maybe we can do something together this afternoon.' Lucy looked unenthusiastic.

Once he made her breakfast, Dad went upstairs to tap away at his laptop in the spare bedroom. Lucy sat on the sofa, reading her book, wondering what her class was doing at school and whether she should still go in and join them. She wouldn't speak to Dad, or say anything more than she had to and every time he came close, she shrunk away from him again. She just couldn't believe he'd forgotten about her the previous night. She kept thinking of Ben's keys, clanking on their chain, as she sat there in that draughty half-dark room in the after-school club while she waited in vain for her Dad to turn up. She thought about Dad standing in the hall of Amy's parent's house, in his suit and overcoat, looking sad and crumpled. She thought of Mr and Mrs Hodges' disapproving faces. She just wished she could get away from him. She wished that Bethany was there to look after her.

The phone rang and she could hear her Dad upstairs talking to some manager or other about the figures on a spreadsheet. Out in the garden, she could see that it was raining and the sky was grey and uninviting. It felt grey indoors as well. Even when Dad was at home with her, he wasn't really there. He was never really there.

Lucy thought about the little dolphin and what had happened only the night before last. It seemed so long ago now and she started to doubt her own memories. She'd love to tell Dad all about it, but she knew that she couldn't. He'd just stand there looking disapproving. He wouldn't understand. He didn't even want to let her go and see Bethany in Cornwall over the half term. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair.

Dad appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He rubbed his hands together and put a carefully prepared smile on his face that indicated to Lucy that he intended to be jolly.

'Right Lucy,' he said 'let's have lunch and then do something nice this afternoon.'

'Like what?' asked Lucy unenthusiastically.

'Well, we could go for an ice-cream or go to the cinema or take a walk or......' Lucy shrugged. She'd been engrossed in her book and didn't really want to do any of those things.

'I was thinking about seeing Amy after school today.'

'Do you have to see her today?' asked Dad uneasily. 'It's, well...a bit embarrassing you know... after last night. How about the ice-cream or cinema idea?' he asked, forcing breezy optimism into his voice. Lucy wasn't really feeling too keen on spending time with her Dad after the night before.

'Maybe...' she said non-committaly. Dad didn't look that enthusiastic either. It seemed like he was just saying it because he had to. Lucy wouldn't mind going swimming with him, but she knew he wouldn't want to.

'Anyway,' she added 'it feels sort of funny to be going out and doing stuff when all the other kids are at school. It's not like I'm sick or anything. Maybe someone will spot me and wonder what I'm doing out during school hours....'

'Hm, yes,' Dad agreed as he moved towards the kitchen, 'I see what you mean.' Lucy had the feeling it didn't take him much persuading. 'I'll just rustle up some food and we can think about it some more.' Lucy knew that was the sign that he would let the subject just slip quietly away unnoticed. She was glad to stay in and remind herself that home actually was home, not just a cold empty house with no lights on.

Whilst Dad clattered away in the kitchen, tidying up and making lunch, she half closed her eyes and imagined the little dolphin swimming through the endless waters of the salty ocean. Sometimes the waters were a brilliant blue. More often the sea where her dolphins swam was a soupy green colour and, when the rain lashed down, sky and sea seemed to merge into one grey sheet of water. She tried to will the dolphin into existence, to speak to him, but really she knew that all she was doing was imagining him. It wasn't the same as it had been the morning before last. Then, it felt more than a dream. It had been as though she were almost there, swimming next to the dolphin as he swam away from the orcas. She tried to stretch out with her mind and imagination, in the hope that her own world would slip away and the watery world of the sea would replace it.

It wasn't working and she couldn't do it, but as she sat there on the sofa, her eyes half closed, imagining, she began to slip into a light doze. As she did so, she became aware that there was a gap between her conscious mind and sleep that she hadn't noticed before. She could sense the conscious world around her and felt the urge to sleep. But there was something else, almost like a secret door, leading to a hidden path that she could follow if she wished. Behind that secret door within her mind, she could feel with a vivid rush the sea around her and she was swimming, swimming towards the pod of dolphins that cruised slowly through the greeny-blue of the sea, just metres in front of her.

'Wake up sleepy head' said Dad, gently shaking her by the shoulder. 'You were dozing off. I've made you fried egg on toast and here's a glass of juice to drink with it. You really are wiped out today aren't you?' Lucy felt the rush of the real world returning as the vision of the sea and dolphins faded away around her. It took a few seconds to adjust. She gave him a half smile and got up stiffly. He put the plate and glass down on the table and she sat down to eat.

'It's a good thing I did keep you off school today' he added. 'You'd never have made it through the day.' Lucy didn't reply, but her mind was full of thoughts. Was this the way to get back to her little dolphin? Lucy ate slowly. She wasn't hungry, but knew that she should eat. Dad had pulled her out of her trance right at the worst moment. He stood at the counter quickly munching a sandwich, unaware of what was going on in her mind.

'I'm just off upstairs to finish an email' he said. 'I won't be long. Then maybe we can play a game or something together.' Lucy knew that he wouldn't surface for the rest of the afternoon and that when he did, all he'd want to do would be to watch TV.

'Oh sure' she said. Off he went again, back upstairs to his laptop and phone. Lucy was aware that he worked in an office for a company and that he was on the road a lot. She was never sure exactly what he did though. The company was in difficulties and things weren't easy for Dad at work. He was reluctant to talk about it, but Lucy knew his boss was putting him under a lot of pressure. Still though, even when he was actually there with her, he wasn't really. He was always thinking of some report or sales statistics, or Lucy didn't know what. She didn't care anyway. He hadn't been there for her last night. She finished her egg and took her plate through to the kitchen. She threw the crusts of her toast out for the pigeons in the garden. She sighed, closed the back door and came back to the sitting room. Could she find the secret door in her mind again? Could she train her mind to get back to her dolphins when she wanted?

Lucy went upstairs to her room and sat down on the rug on the floor. There was a picture of her, Mum and Dad on her window sill. They were all smiling. She wished that she could speak to Mum about the dolphins. She knew that Mum would understand. She could never tell Mum now though and the thought made her feel wretched. It was Mum who loved the sea and all the creatures within it, particularly dolphins. Mum had always told her stories about dolphins and mermaids from as early as Lucy could remember. Mum even had a machine that made sounds of the ocean and used it to lull her to sleep when she was a baby. Dad had got rid of it now. She wished she still had it. It might help her focus her mind. Dad seldom talked about Mum now and she didn't really understand why. It would be nice to look through old photographs together. Bethany said that Dad didn't want to because it would be too painful for him, but Lucy thought it would be really nice to do.

Lucy remembered one time that they'd all gone to the seaside together. She'd been about seven years old at the time. The first three days it had rained non-stop, but after that it was sunny every day. Lucy and Dad had played badminton on the beach and afterwards Dad had settled down to read his book. Mum and Lucy would wander off to the rock pools at the edge of the beach under the granite cliffs. Lucy loved to peer into the perfect little pools. She'd see tiny fish darting from one frond of seaweed to the next, or hermit crabs ambling over the rock haphazardly until they realised they were being watched, when they'd retreat into their adopted shell, pincers hunched up in a defensive gesture. Sometime there were little orange sea anemones, their tendrils waving dreamily, searching blindly but patiently for morsels of food to float past. Mum knew all about the life in the pools, even naming the different types of seaweed, though Lucy couldn't quite remember them now. Lucy would creep up quietly on the limpet shells and then try to take them by surprise with a quick kick to dislodge them. She was seldom successful.

Sometimes she'd glance up and see Mum staring, far far out to sea, searching the horizon for something. Lucy always had the feeling then that someday Mum would tell her what she was looking for, but it never quite happened and now she never would.

Mum was an excellent swimmer too. Dad would never let Lucy go too far out, even with both armbands on and they'd play in the shallows while Mum swam out away from the shore. She knew all about the currents and the tides and even though she was a confident and powerful swimmer, she never forgot to take notice of the wind, the weather and the waves. To Lucy, it seemed that Mum knew the sea better than the sea knew itself. She would dive off a rock into the water with barely a ripple and would swim down deep amongst the rocks before appearing again at the surface somewhere quite unexpected. Often Mum would bring her strange shellfish to show her, before carefully putting them back in the water where she found them. Mum was quicker in the water than anyone else she knew and never seemed to tire.

Lucy sat on the rug in her bedroom. She was desperate to reach out to the little dolphin, as though somehow he could tell her something she didn't know. When she'd slipped off the bed the night before last, she'd ended up kneeling on the floor, amidst all her bed clothes, staring up in the direction of the window. She decided to adopt the same position again, as if that might in some way help her to focus.

She decided not to close her eyes this time, but to look into the distance as though she was not seeing what she was looking towards, but looking through it instead. Somewhere between her conscious mind and sleep, she knew, there was a crack, a chink, a door into another way of thinking, another state of mind that could take her to the little dolphin and his pod in the deep sea far away.

Lucy concentrated hard for several minutes, trying to will herself into a trance, but to no effect. All she heard was Dad droning away on the phone in the next room. All she could see were the clouds in the sky through her window, grey and sluggish and wet.

Lucy tried twice more, but it became no easier and she made no progress at all. For all her imagining and force of will, she could not do it. In defeat Lucy gave upconcentrating and let her mind drift. Suddenly, she felt that she was entering a different state and became aware of the doorway between consciousness and sleep opening up before her. Her mind impelled her through the doorway and as she did so, she realised that she was passing from the world of air, to the world of water and she felt herself flowing through salty cold sea again, floating effortlessly while the light dappled and danced upon the gentle waves above her head.

In the distance she could make out the silhouette of five or so dolphins, riding in a care-free way just below the waves, lazing away the afternoon after feeding. They broke the waves and breathed, the sun warming their backs momentarily as they did so. Lucy glanced down. The seabed, sandy and flat, was two or three metres below her and as she looked she saw the little dolphin cruising slowly past below her, unaware of her presence.

Lucy gave a kick and dove down in a fluid movement that brought her to the side of the small dolphin. In a way that she did not understand, without speaking as a human would or clicking as a dolphin might, Lucy said one word.

'Hello.' The dolphin startled and glanced her way.

'Hello' he said.

Chapter Six:

The next morning, the sea was calm and placid. The sky was clear apart from a few wisps of cloud high up in the atmosphere. In the distance, a sailing boat sat becalmed in the water, its sails empty, barely moving. Spirit lay at the surface of the water, eyeing the world of air above him. What would it be like to be up there, out of the water, in world of people? He could not dive into the world of people as they could plunge into the sea where he lived. He would never know what it was truly like to be up there. Yet for Spirit, those two worlds had just moved closer. He thought back over the last few days. He could not quite believe what had happened.

Dancer swam up to Spirit's side.

'Hey Spirit, follow me, I've got something to show you.' Spirit followed Dancer as she led them down to the seabed. They were in a shallow part of the sea and the seabed was only a few metres below. The bottom was an expanse of sand, along which small fish darted and the occasional crab scuttled along from crevice to crevice. Brightly coloured shells were scattered here and there and then they came to a big, red coloured sheet of metal lying on the sand. On it were strange markings, which neither of them could read.

'It wasn't here yesterday' said Dancer. 'It's just appeared overnight' she said.

'Is it from the humans?' asked Spirit.

'I suppose it must be' replied Dancer, but I cannot imagine where it might have come from. No boats have been past here in the last day or so.'

'Maybe it fell from the sky' said Spirit, marvelling at the shiny redness of the metal in the water. 'You've seen those droning things, high above the clouds?' he asked Dancer. 'Well they're not birds and they're not insects. I think they're something to do with humans. Maybe it fell from a flying machine that the humans have made.'

'I think you're becoming a bit obsessed by humans' laughed Dancer, only half in jest. Spirit started awkwardly because Dancer was not entirely wrong. Storm, he knew, had a very low opinion of humans, but Spirit was beginning to think differently.

'So what is it that has come over you Spirit in the last couple of days?' asked his friend casually. 'It seems like you're in a world of your own now' she added, glancing at him quizzically. Spirit turned his friendly gaze towards her.

'I've seen one, a human....up close I mean' he started.

'You mean the diver we saw at the wreck the other day?' asked Dancer.

'No, yes of course we've seen one then, but I mean another human, more recently.' He went on hesitantly, 'I've seen a human swimming by my side, as close as you are to me now.'

'Is that when you and Storm hid from the orcas by the side of the fishing boat?' asked Dancer thoughtfully. 'Did one of those humans swim in the water with you?'

'No, although it's true I felt as though one were with me then as well' Spirit went on. 'I...., oh it's so difficult to say. Never mind.' He turned and started to swim slowly away from Dancer. Dancer followed.

'You know you can tell me Spirit. I'm your friend.'

'You'll just think I'm silly' replied Spirit. 'You won't believe me.' Spirit swam up to the surface and took a long breath through his air hole. 'Never mind.'

'Maybe later then' said Dancer. 'I'll never think you're silly, no matter what you tell me.'

Just then Moonlight swam up to them.

'When the sun is highest, Storm is calling the council together. You two must come along.'

'But we've never been allowed to come to the council before' protested Dancer. 'Aren't we too young still to do so?'

'I should say so' said Moonlight with a smile, 'but Storm thinks otherwise. He says that it's important that you be there, now that you are a little older.'

'I can't think why' responded Dancer. 'I don't know anything.' Spirit said nothing. He knew that he did have something to say, but he didn't know where to begin. If he couldn't bring himself to tell Dancer about it, how could he tell the whole council?

'Maybe it's just my imagination' he thought to himself. 'Or perhaps I was just tired. I need a rest.' It was true that after his and Storm's experience with the orcas, he had felt scared and exhausted. When they'd got back, the rest of the pod had gathered around, touching Spirit gently with their noses to comfort him.

'He's such a young calf still' said Breeze sympathetically. 'He's lucky to be alive.'

'He wasn't lucky, he was smart' had been Storm's reply. 'If Spirit hadn't taken us to shelter behind the boat, I don't know what would have happened.' Storm was an old dolphin. He'd lived through many experiences and many dangers himself. He didn't like to admit it, but he'd been truly scared when the orcas had attacked, not for himself, but for Spirit. He knew what orcas might do to a young dolphin calf and he'd known that Spirit still wasn't strong enough to withstand the chase. Storm had been immensely relieved when the orcas had turned and left the scene. He didn't like humans, but he'd been truly grateful of the boat and the two sailors on board it.

Spirit had been grateful for the comfort that the pod had given him when they'd got back. He'd been practically shaking with shock and exhaustion when they'd returned, but his friends soothing song and gentle nuzzling had calmed him down and after an hour or so he'd been almost his usual self again. Only Dancer, it seemed, had noticed a subtle change. Something that was not explained by his experience with the whales. Or had Storm noticed something too? Several times Spirit caught Storm glancing at him with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

Spirit thought over recent events and what they meant to him.

'Do you think that if we swim back to the wreck, we will see that human there again?' he asked.

'We might do' replied Dancer. 'Do you want to?' They told the pod what they were doing, promising to be back in time for council and set off at an energetic pace, round the headland, towards the cove where the wreck was to be found. Spirit felt that the brisk swim made him feel better and helped put energy back in his sinews and muscles. Dancer did not ask Spirit why he wanted to see a human again, but sometimes she felt that patience brought answers when questions did not.

They approached the rocky shelf where the island jutted out underwater and swam slowly through the kelp forest until they broke through the seaweed and into clear waters again. Then they saw the old, decaying ship, sagging against the rocks where it lay. Spirit was in luck. The wreck was frequently visited by divers and a small boat bobbed above them. A line of rope trailed down to the wreck and the shapes of three divers swam slowly around it with flashlights so they could peer inside, with trails of bubbles tracing up to the surface every time they breathed.

Spirit hesitated and he and Dancer took refuge amongst the strands of kelp to observe the divers unseen. The humans were clad in black and had things over their faces that were connected by pipes to a long tube-like thing on their backs. Their feet were black as well and it looked as though they had fins extending from the end of each foot. Spirit had not really had a chance to look at the humans on the fishing boat when he and Storm had taken refuge from the orcas. He had never seen other humans except .....

'Is that what humans look like then?' he asked Dancer in a whisper.

'The only ones I've seen look like that' Dancer replied, 'but Moonlight told me that they have special skins they can change depending on what they're doing. This is their skin for swimming underwater.'

'So they have different skins to wear? They must have skin underneath all of that.'

'Moonlight says that she saw them once with only a small outer-skin round their middle near the beach one summer. She says that underneath, some are sort of pinkish-pale and others are brown.'

'That makes sense' said Spirit, thinking of his vision.....A small human, pale but with a trace of pink on its arms and legs and face. The human had long black fur like very fine seaweed on its head. Over the main part of the human's body he remembered there had been a sort of shroud, floating in the water. The human he had seen had no flippers at all on its feet and there was no black second skin like the divers they were looking at now. The human had floated near to him in the water and seemed able to keep up with him without really trying to swim; like a gull wheeling in the sky, he thought. When he had looked at the human, the corners of its mouth had turned up, a bit like a dolphin's. He could see small regular teeth in the human's mouth. Because the human had upturned corners of its mouth, it had looked friendly and, although he'd been shocked, he was not scared. Somehow it had felt natural that the human was so close to him. Then, in a way that he did not understand, without any dolphin clicking, a word had passed from the human to him and that word had been 'hello.' Then in the same way, speaking to the human with his mind and without any whistles or clicking, he had replied 'hello' as well. It was the same human he knew from his dreams.

'Come on' said Dancer, 'let's get closer to the humans.' They sidled through the water, from the safety of the kelp, keeping close to the rocks and shadows as they approached. They could see the humans better now. The thing over their faces was clear and occasionally they could catch sight of their eyes behind it. The tube passed into their mouth and air bubbled out of it regularly. Spirit could see now that even though these humans were clad in black, there were patches of pink skin showing in places. They did not have fins like dolphins, but their front limbs ended in small paddles or hands and Spirit could see with surprise that each hand could hold things. He saw one diver pass an object from the ship to its companion, who turned it over, carefully looking at it, before putting it in a sack attached to its middle. The two divers swam slowly round to the other side of the ship without having spotted Spirit and Dancer.

As the two dolphins swam closer, the third diver rounded a corner and they found themselves looking at each other. Although all three humans looked the same to Spirit, he could see that this one appeared to be older because its face was lined and not smooth. The diver had shorter, patchy hair. Dancer and Spirit stopped uneasily in the water.

'Is that the one we saw before?' whispered Dancer nervously.

'I think so' replied Spirit just as cautiously. Then, overcome with a sense of curiosity, he swam forward again slowly, until the diver was within a metre of him. The diver floated still in the water, looking towards him, a hand extended in a friendly open gesture. Spirit desperately wanted to see the divers face better, but it was mostly obscured by the clear mask and breathing pipe. He wanted to look into the diver's eyes more deeply and to know what kind of creature it really was. He stared intently at the human.

The diver kept his hand extended and slowly Spirit let himself float closer and closer, until the diver's hand almost touched him. He kept staring at the diver's mask and could see his eyes clearly now. They looked like a dolphin's eyes. He knew that the eyes of a fish or a shark were empty and did not show the nature of the creature behind them. This human's eyes though, did seem to give off a kind of warmth and it reminded Spirit of the look in his own mother's eyes before she had disappeared.

Just then, the other two divers appeared suddenly from the other side of the wreck. Spirit and Dancer instinctively shied away and retreated back to the safety of the kelp. They glanced back. All three divers had stopped and were looking towards the two dolphins now. The diver he had got close to had raised his arm now and he waved it slowly through the water.

'Goodbye!' thought Spirit, as he turned and swum away with Dancer at his side. The two were silent for a while.

'Do you think they can talk?' asked Spirit.

'Not down here' replied Dancer, 'and not with that thing in their mouths. Moonlight says that above the surface they can make noises, but that it's not talking like dolphins can.'

'Surely they must be able to talk?' said Spirit again.

'Well I don't know' answered Dancer. 'If they can talk, it's certainly not proper talking.'

Spirit thought back to his vision. 'My name's Lucy' it had said, or at least those words had passed somehow from the human's mind into his. The voice was soft and light. 'I'm Spirit' he had replied. They had stopped to look at each other and Spirit had wanted to touch this small pale human, but had a feeling that somehow he would pass through her if he tried, as though she wasn't entirely there.

They surfaced to take in air through their blow holes and Dancer looked up at the sun above them. The wind had got up now and the sea had turned choppy. There were clouds on the horizon.

'We'd better get back to the pod' said Dancer. They sped along.

'So before the council starts Spirit, can you tell me what's going on?' asked Dancer as they swam. Spirit stopped and turned to look at his friend.

'I....I've seen a human' he said simply.

'Haven't we both?' asked Dancer in reply.

'Yes...., but something more than that. I've seen a small human in the water, without a diver's skin, swimming with me, talking to me. It was far from the coast' he added. 'It was....extraordinary!' Dancer smiled.

'Surely that was just a dream' she said.

'I don't think so. It... it was something more than that.' Dancer did not understand, but whatever was troubling her friend, she knew that she wanted to help him.

'Let's tell the council when we get back. They'll be able to tell you what you saw.'

'Yes,... no' answered Spirit hesitantly. 'I don't know if I'm ready to tell them yet.'

'But Storm is as old as the sea itself' replied Dancer. 'If anyone knows, he will.'

'I don't think he's so keen on humans though' said Spirit anxiously. 'And I don't even really know what I've seen. I don't think I'm ready to tell the council yet. Promise you won't tell them.'

'I promise' said Dancer in a definite way. Spirit immediately knew he could trust her.

As they approached the pod, they could hear dolphin chatter spreading out through the water. There was not just their own pod, but many other dolphins as well. As they came closer, Breeze swum up close to them.

'Where have you two been? You've been missing all the fun.' He explained that this was a council of all eight pods who lived in this region of the sea. Though Spirit and Dancer had never experienced it in their own lifetimes, the pods would sometimes come together into a great group and stay together for hours or even days at a time. Sometimes this was to fish. Other times it was for council to take place. There must have been forty or so dolphins altogether, though it was nearly impossible for Spirit to count them all as they swam around below and past him, all talking and playing together.

The older dolphins all seemed to know each other and talked happily. Some younger dolphins, like Spirit and Dancer, had never met the young of the other pods before, but before long they were all chasing each other in a mad headlong rush, challenging one another to who could take the highest leap out of the water or turn most quickly from one direction to another. They dove deep and leapt high. They soon got to know each other and revelled in the chance to show off and tell stories. They chased fish and looked for crustaceans on the rocks below.

Though Storm had wanted to call council together when the sun was highest, the dolphins were so engrossed in the fun of catching up and playing that it was half way between noon and dusk before Storm was able to exert his influence and call council together. The elder dolphins floated just under the surface of the water, as they were the most senior. The young grown-ups could participate if they wished, but the youngsters like Spirit had been told clearly that they could watch but not take part. Gradually sufficient calmness fell in anticipation of council that Storm was able to start.

'It is a long time since we came together in council' Storm begun. 'Too long. Our ways are many and our lives take us far apart from each other. Yet we are all connected and it is that that makes us stronger. We are an ancient race, the wise ones of the seas. Through millennia we have guarded the seas and sought to live in harmony with all living creatures. Our lives depend on theirs and theirs on ours and it is that knowledge which sets us apart from the fish and sharks and creatures of the deep. Our cousins, the whales. know this too. Even the orcas, dangerous though they are, know it is for us to pass the ancient knowledge forwards. Since before the time of my Great Great Grandfather now, man has plundered our seas and poisoned our waters. They are to be feared. While some are good, too many are bad. We cannot protect the seas from man as we once did.'

There were murmurs of approval for this traditional introduction. Storm continued.

'We have many things to speak of. The migrations of fish, the stories our cousins the whales carry to us across the oceans, the way the currents seem to be changing, the new dangers that man creates. We must remember the dead and celebrate the new born. Not only that, but we must look to the future and which of those young amongst us will have the wisdom to lead us in the years to come. We have much to talk about my friends.'

The dolphins gathered then settled down to several happy hours of discussion. Spirit, at the outer rim of the group, listened intermittently, his attention wavering at times as the conversation ebbed and flowed. Some of the other youngsters slipped away to play and were called back sharply to listen and to learn. Voices were raised occasionally in disagreement and Storm would try to lead them back to more tempered and calm discussion.

Spirit listened in awe at the stories that the whales had carried across the oceans and passed on to the dolphins. They spoke of the great frozen hunting grounds of the south which they would travel for weeks to get to and where fish abounded. They spoke of the polar bears and seals that lived there and how you could swim for hours under the ice, with only the occasional break where you could come up for air.

They spoke with concern about the rubbish that man tipped into the sea and the multitude of man-made things that floated, discarded upon the water. There were white flimsy sacks that turtles bit into, thinking they were jellyfish, which they could choke on. Spirit heard about the great steel structures that man built in the sea. He heard that in the warm seas towards the Americas, a great ship, as long as ten blue whales had foundered and black oil had burst out in an ever-widening slick and poisoned all life about it. The dolphins there had had to flee, but not all had made it to safety. Storm was harsh in his condemnation of man at this point.

The dolphins talked intently about the currents of the seas, of the gulf stream carrying warmer waters across the ocean from the Americas, and the migrations and shoals of fish that the currents brought in their wake. This was of keen interest to the mature dolphins, who always needed to fill their stomachs and those of their young. The passage of fish across their hunting grounds had changed in the past few years and no one knew quite why.

Much later they came to speak of those that had died and those that had been born since last council had met. Dolphins that Spirit had never heard of were spoken about and stories shared about those that had gone. Painful memories flooded back into Spirit's mind. Then Breeze spoke of the losses within their own pod.

'Eight full moons ago we suffered a loss, when Star-Gazer was taken from us. She had swum out to feed with Summer and myself, when we were separated by a squall that blew up. A ship crossed our path and the noise of its engines disorientated all three of us. When the ship had passed, Summer and I found each other and then we went searching for Star-Gazer. We found traces of blood in the water but Star-Gazer had disappeared. No one has heard or seen her since and her calf, Spirit was left alone and without a mother.'

Spirit winced at the memory. Though the rest of the pod had comforted and nourished and cared for him, the pain of this loss was still sharp. If only he knew what had happened, or been able to say goodbye to her. Now the many dolphins around him spoke warmly of her. She had been endlessly fascinated by the heavens above them at night and this had given her name. She was famous for it. Their talk about her buoyed Spirit up. His mother had not been forgotten.

The dolphins talked on about the happier news of new couples and new calves within the pods. Each new calf was led into the centre of the council and introduced. Though Spirit and Dancer were not the youngest, they too were led in to the centre and formally introduced. Spirit felt awkward and bashful, but he was proud as Breeze told the gathered dolphins that he was the fine young son of Star-Gazer. The long talk wound on. Dancer sidled up to him.

'It goes on a bit doesn't it!' she whispered.

Eventually Spirit sensed that the council was drawing to a close. The sun was low now and soon it would be dark. Storm spoke again.

'As you know, in every generation there is one that is born amongst us who will be the natural leader of the next. We all look for the traditional signs to show us which young dolphin that might be. That young dolphin should be wise beyond his or her years, but more importantly, must have the gift of special knowledge; the gift of knowing what cannot be known. Few of us have it and fewer still can use it well. All of us must search for it amongst our young. Who amongst us has seen the signs?'

Several dolphins spoke of this or that youngster, how they were very smart or very good at locating shoals of fish, but no one said that they had seen the special signs. As the comments died away, Storm spoke again.

'I believe that there is one amongst us who has shown the signs of the gift of special knowledge. I believe that this young dolphin is unique.'

The dolphins stirred, their curiosity aroused and cries of 'Who?' came from all sides. Storm chuckled and sighed.

'I am old and I have seen much and so until I have seen all the signs, I will not jump to conclusions. I cannot be sure yet and, because I am not sure, it is better that I do not say. However, I urge you all to look within your own pods for the signs. I may be mistaken and we need to be sure. Let us meet again under the next full moon. We will know more then.'

There were murmurs of assent and, as the sun went down, the council meeting broke up. It was too late for the other pods to swim back to their own waters and so the dolphins settled down into groups, talking quietly, until one by one they slipped into their waking sleep.

Chapter Seven:

Lucy was relieved to have a calm and peaceful sleep that night. She dreamt of the little dolphin again, but in her dreams he was safe and happy, moving confidently through the water and so she woke up feeling better. The slow crash of the surf on distant rocks in her dreams had also calmed her. She woke up well rested and was relieved to be able to go back to school again.

As normal, Dad was in a rush, cramming toast in his mouth while he stuffed files into his bag.

'Get ready Lucy!' he called upstairs while she was dressing. 'I've got to get you out of the house and off to school in ten minutes or I'll be late for my first meeting.' Lucy appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed and ready.

'I need some breakfast though' she called back.

'Of course' Dad replied, 'help yourself, but be quick about it.' Lucy hardly had time to scoff her cereal and drink her juice, standing at the counter in the kitchen, before he was shooing her unceremoniously out of the house.

'But I'll be way too early for school!' she complained, but to no effect.

'You'll be fine in the playground' he replied. 'It's not raining and your friends will soon be there.'

Lucy trudged off disconsolately down the road toward school. At least it was Friday, she said to herself. One day and then the weekend. Lucy was lost in her own thoughts when she heard a familiar voice.

'Hey Lucy' cried Amy, coming up behind her as she approached the school gate, 'how are you feeling today? Were you ill yesterday?' It was good to see a friendly face. At least she wasn't the only person early to school.

'Well, Dad kept me off school yesterday' replied Lucy, turning to let her friend catch up. 'He thought I was too tired to come in. It felt a bit funny though, being stuck at home with all of you at school as normal, sort of like I was skiving off. How about you, did you come in yesterday?'

'Sure I did' replied Lucy, 'but Mum really had to drag me out of bed. We did have a bit of a late night!' Lucy gave her a sad half-smile. She felt guilty.

'But it wasn't your fault though' continued Amy, guessing how she was feeling. 'Mum and Dad were happy to have you. They said you can stay any time.' Lucy felt awkward. She still felt angry at Dad for having forgotten about her like that, but she'd feel bad if other people starting saying things about him.

'You didn't tell anyone did you?' she asked Amy nervously.

'Well, you know, I kind of did tell one....or two people' Amy replied, glancing at her friend uneasily. Lucy could hardly blame Amy, but now everyone in the class would know.

'Oh well' she sighed resignedly. She knew that some of the boys in the class would make pointed comments at her expense, but there was nothing to be done. The two girls hung around in the school playground. Slowly, a trickle became a stream of children passing through the school gates. Then the bell rang and the children piled in to class. Their form teacher, Mr Baines was calling register.

'Ah Lucy' he said, eyeing her over the top of his glasses. 'How are you today?'

'Fine thank you Mr Baines' replied Lucy. She could see one or two of the boys turn their heads her way and break into knowing smiles.

'I need to update your emergency contact details' he continued after he'd done the register. 'The school office tell me it's out of date. I understand you and Ben from the after school club had some problems the other night.' The snide looks of Brian Jenkins and Dan Smith turned into knowing sniggers.

'Quiet there.' Mr Baines cast a critical eye across the classroom. Lucy wondered whose details she could give.

'It's okay Luce' whispered Amy. 'You can give him my number' she added, slipping across a piece of paper with her number and address neatly written down.

'Thanks' she whispered back with a smile. It made her feel a bit less alone.

After assembly they went into their maths lesson. More than the fact her Dad had forgotten about her, though, were the thoughts that kept passing through her mind about everything else that had happened in the past few days. She thought about Bethany and Dad's half overheard conversation a few nights ago. She just couldn't figure out what Bethany had meant when she said that Lucy was special in some way. She thought about the orca attack on the little dolphin. It had been so vivid that it hadn't felt like a dream at all, but something more than that, as though she were actually there. Her mind buzzed with the realisation that somehow, somehow, she had been able to pass through into the dolphin's world, if only for a minute or two. It was as real as her maths teacher Mrs Evans standing there in front of her now, as real as the pencil in her hand. Someone coughed and she remembered that she should be answering the questions they'd been set. Then her mind drifted back to the little dolphin.

'Hello' she'd said.

'Hello' he'd replied, surprised by her sudden appearance. With a look of realisation he added 'You helped me with the orcas didn't you?'

'I think so' she answered uncertainly. 'Were you scared?'

'Yes, even with Storm there, I was scared.' Spirit paused. 'And then your voice came to me and it made me feel better and I knew that we'd find a way out.'

'I so wanted to help you' said Lucy, 'I wasn't even aware I was talking to you really. It just sort of happened.' She faltered, not knowing how to put her thoughts into words. 'I guess that somehow I was able to get through to you.' The little dolphin turned and regarded her, this strange, slight figure floating next to him in water, passing thoughts to him without words.

'So you are a human? The only one I've seen before was covered in black and had a mask on his face.'

'Oh, err, you mean a diver?' asked Lucy, thinking quickly.

'Yes, a human that goes under water and breathes. Not like you though. You're underwater and you don't need to breath.' Lucy hadn't thought of how she came to be there, talking with her mind but without moving her lips, or how she was floating effortlessly under the cold surface of the sea. She looked around her. 'The little dolphin's right', she thought to herself, 'I shouldn't be able to do this, I should be drowning.'

'I don't really understand what's happening' she said. 'Do you?'

The little dolphin seemed to give a slight shake of its head. 'All I know is that I'm glad that you're here' he replied simply.

'So am I' smiled Lucy. Suddenly Lucy felt that the effort of it all was too much for her, like the pressure of the water itself. It felt as though she were being drawn away from the little dolphin, as though her own world were pulling her back.

'I'll come back to you again soon!' she cried. Then she had found herself in her bedroom again, drained by the effort it had taken.

She became aware that Mrs Evans was suddenly in front of her desk. Lucy had been lost in her reveries.

'Come on Lucy' said Mrs Evans. 'I know you can answer these questions. Keep focused and you'll soon finish them.'

'Yes Mrs Evans' she replied obediently. It was hard to concentrate on school work though. It would be good if she could tell Amy or another friend, but would they believe her? They'd just say she was dreaming. Why wouldn't they? At least at lunchtime she'd have swimming. She could plough up and down the pool for half an hour and clear her head. The morning dragged on. Eventually lunch break came and she headed off to swimming practice. Miss Baldwin was there as usual and gave her a friendly smile. She dived into the pool and the water closed above her head and with it the sounds around her turned to muffled echoes. Her hands folded through the water quickly and easily, pulling her along with confident strokes.

Lucy turned at the pool edge and pushed back into the water for another length. She was wearing her goggles and looked out in front of her. Under the broken surface of the water in the distance she could see legs kicking and hands splashing. The tiles of the pool extended onwards. As she looked she imagined she could see a small bottlenose dolphin swimming towards her, with a friendly look in its face and an intelligent glint in its eye. She imagined the dolphin stopping to face her, just close enough to touch. If only it were true, if only she could reach out and touch her little dolphin. She wished she could transport herself to the open seas right now, to feel the cold salty currents upon her skin, to swim by the dolphin's side. The image of the dolphin slipped away though and the sounds of the swimming pool crowded back around her.

'Lucy, are you alright?' She had stopped swimming and was half floating in a star fish position. Someone was swimming up behind her. She brought her head up and took in a lung full of air.

'Quite alright thank you Ms Baldwin' she said politely and swum on to the other side. After that though her heart wasn't quite in it. Ms Baldwin shook her head quietly to herself. There was going to be a swimming competition among the local schools in a few weeks time. She hoped that Lucy would be able to make it and that she would work hard and do herself justice. However, it was far from certain whether she'd got permission from her father. He seemed an odd fellow, she thought to herself.

Lucy did a few more lengths, but more slowly than usual. Swimming hadn't cleared her head at all. She got out a little earlier than usual and hurried to change back into her uniform in order have her lunch before the bell went for the afternoon lessons to begin.

The next lesson was English with Mrs Penhaligon. The bell rang and the children filed in. Chairs scraped as the class took their seats. Today they were talking about legends and folk stories. Mrs Penhaligon asked the class to tell the legends they knew about. John Jeffries started speaking about Star Wars and Jack G spoke about Batman. Lucy wasn't in the mood to put her hand up and speak in front of the whole class. She was content just to listen.

After fifteen minutes of lesson, Mrs Penhaligon came round handing out work sheets. The class had different legends they had to read about and then they had to write their own, using the themes in the example they'd been given. Mrs Penhaligon came to Lucy's desk.

'I thought perhaps you might like a folk story about the sea' she said, almost shyly, as she handed a work sheet to her. Lucy looked down.

The Girl and the Sea.

There was once a girl who lived on a rocky island surrounded by the salt water of the sea. She lived with her old grandmother, who said that her mother and father had sailed away in a boat when she was but a baby and had never returned. They lived on seaweed, cockles, whelks and the small fish that the girl could find. It was a simple lonely life and they whiled away the long winter evenings by telling each other wild and fantastical stories of dragons and princes, as they huddled from the cold in their low cottage with its turf roof.

Every day the girl searched the horizon for boats and although she saw many, they never came to her island. Her grandmother grew old and the girl became a young woman. Though she dressed in rags and her hair was wild, the girl was beautiful.

In the summer, she would dive from the rocks and search for fish or for the ship wrecks and lost treasure that her imagination had conjured up. In the winter, she would wrap herself up in an old cloak which her grandma said had been her father's, against the stinging wind and bitter rain.

One summer day the girl stood singing to herself on a rocky outcrop at the edge of the sea. She was lost in her thoughts until suddenly she heard the creak of timbers below her and, looking down, she saw a fine fishing vessel and a young sailor staring up at her. He came ashore and stayed with her and her grandmother in their low cottage for two nights. Soon the girl and the sailor had fallen in love. The young sailor asked the old lady for the girl's hand in marriage and she gave the couple her blessing. The girl begged to leave straight away with the young sailor. Instead he said that he had to visit an island two days sailing away and that he would soon return. He urged the girl and her grandmother to pack their things and be ready to escape the barren rock where they had lived alone for so many years. He said that he would carry them to the mainland where they would marry in a fine church overlooking the sea and that she would have a garland of flowers in her hair and a gold ring upon her finger.

He left and the girl waited. But days passed and ne'er was his boat spied upon the horizon. The girl despaired, believing her young sailor to be lost to the depths. Heart-broken, she swum out into the deep waters, knowing not where and the currents carried her out, far far from the island. Her grandmother, sensing the girl was gone, hurried out from their low cottage to the cliff edge and spied the girl far off in the sea. The old woman cried out but the girl could not hear her over the cry of the seagulls and the beating of waves against the rocks below her. As the old lady wrung her hands and cried, she saw the dolphins come to the girl lost to the sea and carry her away, until she could see the girl and the dolphins no more.

The next day the young sailor returned and the girl's grandmother, sad and alone, told him her unhappy tale. The old lady refused to leave the island and, wracked with guilt, the young sailor returned to his boat and set forth to find the girl that the dolphins had borne away.

The young sailor searched and searched for many days and nights. Then a beautiful young dolphin came to his boat and he knew that he had found his love. He stepped from his boat and he too was borne away by the dolphins, leaving his boat adrift and empty. It is said that the two young lovers still swim together as dolphins to this very day, forever united as they had never been as human mortals.

Lucy felt as though she had heard this story before, but she could not think where. Then she remembered. Her mother had told Lucy the story, sitting on the edge of her bed as Lucy snuggled under the covers. It must have been years ago and Lucy had forgotten the tale until now. She looked around and saw the others in the class starting to write their own folk-lore tales. She picked up her pen.

There was once a girl who dreamt of dolphins. She lived far from the sea and never saw them for real. But her dreams were so real that she knew that they must be out there. She longed for the day that she could actually swim with dolphins and touch their warm skin. The more she dreamt of the dolphins, the more that she knew that she had to be with them.

One day the girl found a magic doorway that led her through to the dolphins' world. She loved it there and never wanted to come back, so she didn't. Her father searched for her for a little bit, but then he got busy with something else and forgot. He never found out where she had disappeared to. The End.

Lucy knew that she should write more, Mrs Penhaligon expected at least two pages, but somehow she found it hard to put the words down on paper. She wondered whether she could just escape to the world beneath the waves and never come back. It would be a dream come true if she could. Would Dad notice she wasn't there anymore? Would he search for her? She hoped he would, but just at that minute, she wasn't sure.

Mrs Penhaligon came up and looked at her work over her shoulder.

'Did you like the story Lucy?' she asked.

'Yes, I knew it. My mum told it to me when I was little.'

'And what about your own folk-lore tale? Was it hard to think of one?'

'Yes,... no' Lucy stumbled over her words, not knowing quite what to say. Mrs Penhaligon quickly read what Lucy had written.

'A magic door to the dolphin world...how would that work?'

'Well' said Lucy, 'it's a matter of thinking really hard and then relaxing and finding a gap between being awake and asleep. It's sort of there in the middle, but most people aren't aware it is there and never look for it' Lucy said before she knew it. She felt that maybe she had said too much and stopped. Mrs Penhaligon pondered on her words for a moment.

'I think Lucy' she said quietly 'that not everyone has that gift. I think it is a rare thing and should be used carefully.' Mrs Penhaligon looked Lucy directly in the eye.

'But always leave the door open to this world Lucy' she said, her voice serious and thoughtful, 'never let it close, there are too many people here who would miss you.' She patted Lucy's arm gently. She straightened up and her tone changed back to normal. 'It's a good start you've made here Lucy, but you need to expand on it a little. Try to add detail to your story. Describe the characters. What happens after the girl goes through the magic door?' She smiled. 'I hope its going to have a happy ending.' She passed on to speak to Amy next to her.

'What was all that about?' asked Amy as they came out of the lesson. 'Old Mrs Penhaligon was a bit weird with you wasn't she? You were a bit weird as well for that matter!'

'I kind of have a feeling that Mrs Penhaligon was trying to tell me something' replied Lucy cautiously. By this time she was dying to tell her friend everything that had been going on, but the time never seemed right.

'I'm even more confused now' said Amy. 'You're not allowed to have secrets from me you know, that's the rule.'

'I know, I know' said Lucy. They walked towards the sports hall for P.E. 'Listen, I'll come round to your place on Saturday. I can tell you stuff then.'

'It's a deal' said Amy emphatically 'I'm really curious now' she added, 'I want to know everything!'

Soon, the afternoon was over and all the children piled out of the school for the weekend. Lucy had French club and for a change Dad was actually there to pick her up when it finished.

'Hey Luce' he said as they walked to the car after he picked her up. 'I've got some pizzas from the supermarket. I thought perhaps we could hang on the sofa and eat them while we watch a DVD.'

'I suppose' she said uncertainly. Pizza did sound good though.

'How was French club?'

'Comme ci comme ça' she replied. She always said that when she didn't want to talk. Dad sighed.

'Come on then, let's get home' he said. They climbed in the car and set off for the short drive back to the house.

Despite herself, it was nice to hang out on the sofa and watch a DVD. As soon as she could though, she made her excuses and got ready for bed. Dad was surprised. Normally Lucy liked to stay up late on a Friday night. Of course she could not tell him, but Lucy wanted to try and reach out to the little dolphin again. She still felt as though it was just all in her imagination. She needed to be sure.

As before, Lucy sat on the rug in her bedroom, looking into the distance, trying to see beyond the confines of the four walls of her room. She concentrated hard and then let go, relying on some deeper force to guide her through that door, towards the dolphin world. It wasn't easy and she was on the verge of giving up. Then suddenly before she knew it, Lucy had passed through and felt herself engulfed in the water. But it was dark, inky dark. 'Of course!' It was night for her little dolphin as it was for her.

Slowly, her eyes adjusted. Lucy realised that the little dolphin was floating just to one side of her. He was asleep. Lucy stretched out her hand and placed it gently on his flank. It was as though her hand were there and not there at the same time. Although she could not quite touch him, she could sense his smoothness and warmth. She could just make out the pulsing of his heart from somewhere inside. It was amazing to be able to stretch out and touch such a beautiful, wild creature. She could barely believe it. It felt as though if she pressed with her hand, it would pass through him altogether.

Lucy turned to look at the dolphin's face. He seemed to be smiling at her. 'Don't be silly' she thought to herself, 'dolphins always seem to be smiling, it's just the shape of their mouths.' Slowly, his eyes flickered into consciousness.

'What's your name?' he asked quietly. He did not seem surprised to see her there again.

'Lucy' she replied simply.

'What does that mean?

'It means light I think.'

'Then that is a good name. My name is Spirit. Light and Spirit. The two names seem to fit somehow, don't you think?'

'Yes, yes I do.' She smiled.

'And are you a male or a female human' he asked. Lucy was startled for a moment but then realised, there was no reason for him to know.

'I am a girl,..I mean a female. And you, are you a male?' she asked in response. He seemed to smile again.

'Yes I am.'

'Is your world very different from our world?' he asked. Lucy looked around, it couldn't be more different.

'I wish I could describe it to you' she said.

'Maybe you will.'

Lucy could sense that the tiredness of being there was sweeping over her as it had done before. It was like trying to use a muscle she'd never known she had. It tired quickly.

'I must go' she said. 'I'm sorry.' Already Spirit seemed far away from her.

'Come again soon' he whispered.

The pods of dolphins slept on, obscured by the darkness and the shadows of the sea. Spirit was just one amongst many. But one other dolphin was awake and was watching Spirit being lulled by the gentle sea above him. Storm always kept a watch at night, but tonight he was watching over Spirit in particular. He looked over to another sleeping shadow and then back to Spirit. There seemed to be an apparition next to the young dolphin; a girl with hair floating freely about her and wearing a simple nightdress, arms and legs bear. Storm gasped. He had never seen such a vision before. He said nothing, not wishing to alarm the young dolphin. The girl seemed to fade back into the water again like a ghost and then was gone. Storm continued to watch the young dolphin for another half hour or so before, slowly, he too slipped into a waking sleep.

Lucy found herself back in her bedroom again, more tired than she thought. She climbed into bed and soon fell asleep. A short while later Dad put his head round the door of Lucy's bedroom to say good night. He could hear though from her gentle rhythmic breathing that she was already asleep. He turned to leave the room. As he did so, he saw something on the rug in the middle of the room. Out of habit, he stooped to pick it up and tidy it out of the way, thinking it was litter. It smelt pungent and he held it briefly to his nose. 'Goodness', he thought, 'if I didn't know any better, I'd say that was seaweed.' He dropped it in Lucy's bin and quietly closed the door to her room.

Chapter Eight:

The Lady Thelma turned slowly in the water. Her paint was rusting in places and one or two barnacles clung fast on the water-line. She was a boat which had seen better days, but Nate was proud of her. He'd named her after his wife, Thelma, twenty one years before and she'd given faithful service ever since. 'Thelma may not be as young as she used to be', Nate thought, 'but neither am I.' She's a good girl, he'd say to anyone who would listen and they were never quite sure if he was talking about his trawler or his wife.

The Lady Thelma was not a big boat and the cabin, with its cracked glass and ill-fitting door, was only just big enough for Nate and Bob to squeeze into. When the rain lashed down on the deck and the spray of the waves blew across in squalls, the cold water would slosh under the door and Nate would peer through the cabin window, it's small windscreen wipers struggling under the strain, as he set course back to port. 'Get us home Thelma' Nate would mutter as he clasped the small wheel. Bob always smiled when he heard Nate talking to his boat, but he had a lot of respect for the old girl and would pat her affectionately as he walked around the deck. Atta girl! was what Bob would say when Nate wasn't listening. Bob didn't want Nate to think that he was getting too familiar with the skipper's girl.

Nate steered the Lady Thelma back to port, chugging quietly, her diesel smoke drifting in the breeze. There was no rain that morning and the watery sun shone across the sky. They'd been out since first light checking their lobster pots. Bob busied himself on the deck, repairing damaged pots while the lobsters regarded him bad-temperedly from their cage just behind the cabin.

They'd not had such a good morning. Half the pots they'd checked had been empty and of the rest, a good number contained lobster too young to be harvested. They threw the smaller ones back into the sea to live another day. Nate knew the waters had been over-fished and their catch wasn't as big as it used to be. The area where they put their lobster pots was some three miles from the port, on a submerged shelf of rock that jutted out from the mainland and which was only two or three metres deep. The pots were widely spread out and it took quite a while to check them all. Each pot had to be checked individually in the season. If a lobster was trapped, it should not be left longer than was necessary and it was always possible that the pot with the lobster inside could itself be attacked by a predator. Rights to put down lobster pots were hard-won and Nate had inherited his fishing rights from his father. They sold their lobsters to the local restaurants, but some had started to get the cheaper lobsters that were flown in from abroad.

Nate's family had lived in this area for generations and, ever since he was a boy, he'd been out on his Dad's boat in all weathers. He knew every rock, cove and sandbank for miles around.

When Nate had been younger he'd been a volunteer for the local lifeboat. This meant that he had to be ready to dash from his house at a moment's notice and run, drive or bicycle down to the life boat station before setting out through stormy seas to some stricken vessel or other. Nate was too old to do that anymore and his 'old bones' as he would say, wouldn't move as they used to.

Nate nosed the Lady Thelma back into Merwater's harbour. Cliffs rose up one either side of the small town, which had grown down the steep hill between the coast line to the sea's edge. A natural spit of land had been used to build a harbour, deep enough for the smaller fishing and sailing boats that used it now, but not for the larger commercial vessels, which used other ports along the coast.

Nowadays there were more sailing boats than fishing vessels and Nate eased past the jostling boats to where the few other fishing boats were moored. Young Mick, son of old Michael, was sitting astride a barrel on the deck of the Seaspray next to where the Lady Thelma moored. The Seaspray was a larger vessel, only a couple of years old and was equipped with modern sonar and radar equipment. Mick fished with nets and provided much of the wet fish that was sold at the fishmongers on the harbours edge.

'How are the lobsters this morning?' he called over to Nate and Bob in a friendly manner. Bob pulled a face.

'I thought as much' Mick continued, peering over at Nate's lobster cage. He saw that only a few pincers protruded through the bars and quickly concluded that the catch had not been good.

'And the Seaspray?' Bob called back.

'We've had a good haul of sole and squid' replied Mick with a confident smile on his face. 'These new nets are really the business' he said, gesturing to where the nets were stored. We can really rake the seabed good and proper now.' Nate was tying up aft. He looked up.

'What's that?' he enquired casually.

'That old net I had was no good to anyone' Mick replied. 'Half the fish swam right through. In the end it got snagged up on some buoy a couples of miles out. It was such a mess that we had to cut both the net and the buoy free. Its fathoms down now Nate' he continued. Nate glanced up at him, worried now.

'Tell me you didn't chuck your net and a buoy away?' he asked. 'Old Michael would never do that. He knows they're a danger to the sea. You never know what might swim into a net that's been left at the bottom.'

'Don't you worry your grey old head about that' Mick laughed, shrugging off Nate's concern. 'Dad's long since hung up his water-proofs and he knows I run a tight vessel. They'll not cause harm to anything now.'

'I hope you're right' replied Nate, still with a concerned look on his face. He didn't like lecturing young Mick or anyone else, but Nate thought he was careless with his boat. He should have brought the old net back in to dispose of properly. You can't just go around cutting other people's buoys adrift either. 'You've got to leave the sea a better place than you find it', Nate would say over his pint in the Three Bells Pub, but the younger men like Mick didn't want to hear what Nate thought.

Nate and Bob tidied the deck and heaved the lobster cage onto the harbours edge, before carrying it over to Bob's old pick-up truck. Bob would do the rounds of the local fish restaurants where they hoped to get the best price. The remainder they'd bring back to be sold in the fishmongers next to the harbour. Lobster was an expensive item on anyone's menu and not everyone knew how to cook it well. It wasn't the business it used to be, Nate sighed.

'See you later!' Bob called to Nate out of the open window of his ancient pick-up as he drove off. Nate and Bob couldn't make ends meet from fishing alone so in the afternoons when it was fine, they'd take the tourists out from the harbour and show them some of the local coves and rocky inlets, looking for seals and even the occasional dolphin or whale if they were lucky. Not on the Lady Thelma though, as she wasn't safe for tourists to go on. They crewed a tourist vessel and were paid a wage for taking it out. It wasn't a bad trade thought Nate and there were more tourists on the harbour wall than there were lobsters in pots he would say ruefully.

Merwater had changed a lot since Nate was a boy. The houses and cottages were all still more or less the same, but now the town thronged with tourist traffic during the summer months. They weren't in high season yet, but already most of the faces he passed on the street were strangers. The shops, which in his day had sold fishing gear and all the things that local people needed had been replaced by quaint souvenir shops or cafes with watercolours of the sea on their walls. The locals mostly drove to the supermarket to do their food shopping or the next big town inland with its shopping centre.

There were fishermen's cottages along the side of the harbour and up the hill, but no fishermen lived in them now. They'd mostly been bought up by the out-of-towners; people with money from London who stayed for a few weeks of the year and then either let their cottages out to visitors, or left them locked and shuttered for weeks or months on end. This gave the small town a rather desolate air in the winter months when it was cold and wet and empty. Most of the local people had to live at the edge of town now or further out where houses weren't so expensive. A lot of younger people had upped and left, looking for better jobs elsewhere. Both Nate's children lived miles and miles away now and he and his wife, Thelma, didn't see them as often as they would like to.

Nate got in his pick-up, even older and rustier than Bob's and set off up the hill back home for lunch. He passed the cottage where he had been born, looking down on the harbour and the sea beyond. It was done up very nicely inside now and he couldn't believe how much it had been sold for last time it was on the market.

Legend had it that the people of Merwater were as happy in the water as they were on the land and that no local could move more than a few miles from the coast and the sound of the sea without falling ill and pining. Nate's own children didn't see the sea for months on end or smell the salt spray on the breeze.

Nate was hungry and looking forward to getting some food inside him. Work on a boat was cold, even in good weather and physically draining. He needed a hearty meal in the middle of the day to keep him going. Thelma had a job in the afternoons at the doctor's surgery up the road, but still managed to cook him lunch most days before she went. Nate knew he was a lucky man.

Nate's home was a suburban brick-built semi on the edge of town, on a road that narrowed into a lane which went on between the fields just beyond his front gate. It wasn't picturesque like the cottages in the village were, but it was practical and kept warm in the winter when the winds could be cruel.

Nate was slowing down, before turning into his drive. A beaten-up Land Rover emerged from the lane beyond him, coming his way. The Land Rover was just getting close when suddenly there was a bang and the whole vehicle lurched dangerously across the road into Nate's path. He slammed on his brakes and he could see the driver of the Land Rover struggling to control the vehicle. It skidded back over to the other side of the road narrowly missing Nate's car, bumping up onto the curb and almost hitting the small red post box fixed to the telegraph pole.

Nate jumped out of his pick up and ran over to the old Land Rover. The woman behind the wheel was evidently shocked and hung over the steering wheel, taking great gulps of air to calm herself. She was unhurt though.

'You all right?' asked Nate anxiously. 'You had a blow out' he continued, glancing down to her right front tyre. 'This one here's flat as a pancake' he added, giving it a small kick. The woman gave him a weak smile.

'Yeah, I'm ok, no bones broken I think' she said, composing herself. 'More a shock than anything else. I thought I was going to slam into your pick-up truck for a second.'

'Me too' Nate agreed. 'But you kept your hands on the wheel and your wits about you.' She opened the door and climbed out, a little shaky and unsteady.

'Come on, I only live in this house here' he said pointing, 'My wife Thelma makes a mean cup of tea and that's what you need I reckon.' He turned his pick-up onto the drive and made sure her Land Rover was out of the way of oncoming traffic while she waited. They walked up the side of the house and in through Nate's back door into the kitchen. Thelma looked up from the stove.

'Bethany love! What are you doing here?' she exclaimed.

'This young lady almost had a nasty accident' said Nate, walking in behind her.

'Hello Mrs Merryweather' replied Bethany.

'Sit down my love, you look white as a sheet!' said Thelma, pulling up a kitchen chair.

'You two know each other?' asked Nate brightly.

Thelma soon told Nate that she knew Bethany from the doctor's surgery and Bethany told Thelma about the blow-out on her car. Thelma poured her a welcome cup of tea from the pot.

'Oh and call me Thelma' she said reassuringly, 'None of this Mrs Merryweather now.' She turned to Nate.

'Bethany's a well-known artist you know Nate. She's been in the paper and gets commissions from all over the country!' Bethany looked bashful.

'Well that's not exactly true' she said shyly, her hands around her mug of tea. 'I could do with one or two more commissions if truth be known.' She sipped her tea gratefully. Nate stood up.

'You two enjoy your tea. I'll just pop out and change your wheel' he announced, borrowing Bethany's car keys from the kitchen table as he did so.

'Oh but you don't have to!' exclaimed Bethany.

'No, no. It'll be done in a jiffy' Nate replied, as he slipped out.

Nate was soon back, wiping his hands on a greasy cloth. The tea had steadied Bethany's nerves and she stood up to leave, conscious that Nate's lunch was getting cold and that she was keeping him from it.

'Are you sure you want to drive on your own?' asked Thelma with a concerned look on her face.

'Of course' replied Bethany, 'it's like falling off a horse, the sooner you get back on the better you feel' she joked. She waved them goodbye and walked out to her old Land Rover. She sat behind the steering wheel and sighed, gripping it nervously. She really didn't want to start the engine and drive off, but she knew that she had to. She turned the key in the ignition, moved off cautiously and headed back up the country lane she'd just come down an hour before. Banks and hedges steeped up on either side of the lane which led back to the farm.

Bethany parked the car and climbed out. Two years before she'd managed to persuade a farmer to rent an outbuilding to her, that until then he'd used as a repair workshop. It was basic, but it was brick-built and its roof was sound. It was a big space inside and had iron-framed windows, letting in plenty of south-facing light, ideal for an artist. There was a decent sized platform on the left hand side and this was where she'd set up her bed and living space. Down below was her studio. She loved the space to work, but in the winter it got pretty cold. She had a stove to take the chill off the air, though sometimes it was so cold that she could barely hold a paint brush. When it froze Bethany would generally decamp to a friend's house in town where she'd hole up and enjoy a bit of warmth and comfort till the thaw set in.

She'd set her easel up in the middle of the studio where the light stayed the longest during the day and round the edges various canvasses were propped up against the wall. Some of her sketches were taped up on the brick-work. It might have looked messy to an outsider, but to Bethany it was the model of organisation.

Thelma had been right, Bethany was working on a commission. A well-known naturalist had set up a local sanctuary some thirty years before. Bethany's painting gave prominent space to several animals as well as the naturalist himself. The painting was almost finished, though she was still working on the fine detail, unwilling to lay down her brush and say it was done.

Bethany would have liked a studio overlooking the sea, but that kind of space was way too expensive for an up and coming artist like her. She loved the sea with a passion though and would often spend time on the cliff or down by the shoreline with her sketch pad in hand, trying to capture the different moods of the sea. She would look out, half hoping to see a familiar sight amidst the waves, though she could never quite glimpse it.

Bethany tidied her paints, examining the tubes to see how much she had left. She'd been off to run some errands and pick up supplies when her tyre had blown. It didn't matter though. She could get the supplies in another day.

She had a photo of Megan, Lucy's mum, holding Lucy round her middle. Lucy had been only three or so at the time. They were both smiling at the camera and it looked like Megan had been tickling Lucy's tummy and making her giggle. Bethany paused as she looked at the photo. Lucy sure had grown up a lot in the last few years, but she was Megan's girl all right.

Bethany worried about Lucy. It hadn't been easy for her or her Dad and she wasn't sure that either of them were coping so well. It wasn't easy to lose your Mum like that. Or your sister, she might have added. Lucy was growing up and she needed to know more about who she was, where she came from, what was in store for her. Her Dad didn't know that much and what he did know, he wished he didn't. He certainly didn't want Lucy to know. It wasn't easy for Bethany, because John shut her out and made it increasingly difficult for Bethany to visit them and spend time with Lucy. She'd recently made an impromptu visit, taking John by surprise so he didn't have an excuse to say no. But he'd made her feel unwelcome and got rid of her as soon as he could then next day.

Looking at Lucy in the photograph just made her think of Megan at the same age. Lucy was a lot like her mum Megan. Bethany was six years younger than Megan and, when they were young, it seemed like an immense age gap between them. When Bethany was six, Megan had already turned twelve. Bethany had idolised her elder sister, always trying to imitate her, but she could never catch up no matter how hard she tried.

Megan was fascinated by the sea and was a natural in the water, swimming with an easy grace without even seeming to try. Bethany on the other hand had hated getting water in her eyes, especially salt water and it took her years of swimming lessons before she developed a decent front crawl.

They used to come down to Cornwall for their summer holidays; Megan, Bethany and their parents. Megan had quickly made a couple of local friends and was allowed to go off and play with them, while Bethany had been stuck with their parents, jealous of Megan's freedom. Yet Bethany had loved those bucket and spade holidays, decorating her sandcastles with shells and seaweed that she found on the water's edge or in the rock pools.

One summer afternoon, Megan had gone out to play with her friends as usual, away from the cottage where they were staying half a mile or so in from the sea. The afternoon had worn on and the shadows started to lengthen across the garden where Bethany had been playing with her toys and her parents were sunbathing. Megan still didn't come home and their parents started to get worried. She was always told that she had to be back in time for tea at five o'clock, but six o'clock came and went and Megan still wasn't home.

Their father went off down the hill to knock on the doors of the parents of the children that Megan generally played with to see if she was with them. He came back half an hour later with a distraught look on his face. Neither child had seen Megan all day. She was out on her own. Time had crept on and their Mum and Dad kept reassuring each other that Megan would be back soon. The days were long and there was plenty of daylight left. Megan had just forgotten the time, they said to each other. Yet still she did not return home.

Their Mother got the young Bethany ready for bed, but was too distracted to send her off upstairs. Bethany could feel the tension between her parents. Eventually her mum said 'That's it, were calling the police.' Twenty minutes later two police constables were in their kitchen, taking notes, asking where Megan usually played. Their father had been to every place he could think of that Megan might have gone to play and each time had drawn a blank. He was happy to believe he might have missed somewhere obvious though and carefully went through it all again with the two constables.

The policemen asked her parents if Megan liked being up on the cliff or playing down by the water's edge. Of course, said her parents, doesn't every child? The older policeman pulled a face and got on his radio to the coastguard. The tide had turned and it was common knowledge, he said, that it was easy to get cut off at the bottom of a cliff when the tide came in. He told her mum and dad that they should never have let Megan go off unaccompanied like that. 'It's irresponsible', he said. Bethany's dad got angry and defensive, but her mum started to cry and that had set Bethany off too.

The coastguard got the lifeboat out and off it went to check whether anything unusual could be seen at the foot of the cliffs. An hour later the reports came back in. Nothing at all had been found. It was as if Megan had disappeared without a trace.

By ten pm, the long summer day had given way to darkness. The two constables had gone and a woman police constable had taken their place. Patrol cars were checking the local roads and there was talk of organising a search of the nearby woods and fields at first light. Her mother sat, hunched in quiet anguish. Her Dad went out, flashlight in hand, calling Megan's name loudly, feeling he had to do something, anything rather than just sit there and wait.

Eventually sleep overcame the young Bethany and her mother covered her with a blanket on the sofa where she had lain down. No one was in the mood to go to bed that night. Night gave way to bleak morning.

Suddenly the police-woman's radio crackled into life. Megan had been found alive and well. Twenty minutes later Megan was bustled into the cottage, a blanket round her shoulders. Bethany blinked wearily but happy that her sister was safe and sound. Her parents were as angry as they were relieved and demanded that Megan tell them immediately where she had been all night, what she had been playing at, worrying them half to death.

But Megan hadn't answered and had had a small smile and a far away look upon her face. She didn't seem able to say. It was up to a young policeman to tell them how she'd been found. He'd been in his patrol car driving along the sea road going west out of town. He'd seen Megan just sitting there, on a rock a few metres off, staring out to sea. He called to her and clambered over the rocks to get to her, but the girl didn't seem to hear. When he got close he could see that she was wet through, as though she'd been in the sea, but she wasn't shivering and didn't seem cold. He said that he was cold though and he was wearing a dry uniform. He scooped her up off the rock where she was sitting and brought her home to the cottage.

Megan and Bethany's parents talked about cutting their holiday short and driving home that same day, but a tearful Bethany had persuaded them not to. They didn't let Megan out of their sight though for the rest of the holiday and she wasn't allowed to go out and play with her local friends in any circumstances. 'We're going to watch you like a hawk', their mum had said decisively. Megan had played with her kid sister instead and Bethany had had a great time; the two of them had made the biggest sandcastle ever.

Bethany came out of her reverie and put back the photo back on the windowsill. She glanced around the studio. It was later than she'd thought. Just then, her mobile phone beeped from where she'd left it on her workbench in one corner. She didn't always get good reception and they weren't so close to a transmitter so she was glad that the text message had got through for once.

'It's me, Lucy' the text message read. 'I really want to get away from Dad and come and see you. Can I?'

Chapter Nine:

It had been a cold, still night when the first light crept across the cloudless sky. The sun's rays were tinged with red and infected the lapping waves with a ruby hue. The pods of dolphins slowly stirred into lazy consciousness. They started swimming in wide, relaxed circles and talk broke out amongst them. The older dolphins still had a lot of catching up to do and the younger ones still had new friends to make. They may all have been hungry, but fishing could wait. There was still a lot of socialising to do.

Spirit and Dancer had slept peacefully overnight. Dancer woke first and swum up to Spirit, giving him a playful pat with her fin.

'Hey Spirit, you were snoring!' she joked.

'I do not snore!' Spirit replied emphatically, picking up on the joke, though he was still half asleep.

'That's what you think!' retorted Dancer, swimming around him.

'Well you talk in your sleep' replied Spirit stifling a laugh.

'Oh and what do I say?'

'Give me mackerel, give me herring, pollock and plaice' mimicked Spirit.

'Hey you!' exclaimed Dancer, chasing his tail.

Spirit sped off, laughing and before they knew it, ten other youngsters were chasing him too, speeding in, around, under and over the older dolphins, turning heads as they went. Spirit raced down to the bottom and turned sharply. Dancer and two other youngsters collided with each other as they too tried to turn and then made off again in a mad dash. Spirit leapt clear of the water, turning a somersault in the air, splashing back noisily into the water. Dolphin after dolphin followed him into the air in a crazy, spontaneous, headlong chase. Spirit turned again in the water, but this time he could not escape and before he knew it, five dolphins had piled into him. They collapsed, laughing back into the water, elated and happy. The youngsters chatted contentedly between themselves. Yesterday half of them didn't even know each other at all. Now they felt as if they'd know each other half their lives. It felt good, it felt natural. The older dolphins looked on approvingly; it was good to see the young dolphins getting to know each other.

Eventually the youngsters broke up into smaller groups and some joined their own pods again.

Spirit and Dancer had joined Summer and Moonlight and were relaxing when a figure swam up to them. She was evidently old and had half a dozen scars on her back, though whether from propellers or from shark attacks, it was not clear. She approached them in a slow, awkward motion, as though the exertion caused her bones to ache.

'You, young dolphin' she called in an uncertain voice. Dancer and Spirit both turned to look at her, not knowing which of them that she was referring to. The old dolphin nodded impatiently in Spirit's direction.

'Yes?' he asked.

'Young man. A word' she said, indicating with her head that she wanted him to swim along with her. Spirit threw a glance at Dancer, as if to say I don't know what she wants, but I'd better find out. He swam along with her a short distance from the group.

'My name's Shimmer' she introduced herself matter-of-factly. 'I may be old now' she continued, 'but once I really did shimmer. And you young man, what is your name?'

'I'm Spirit' he replied.

'And why did the elders give you that name?'

'I'm not sure' he answered. 'I think maybe they saw something unusual in me' Spirit said uncertainly. 'My mother, when I was young, said I had a far off look in my eyes that seemed to show spirit. Why?'

'I saw' Shimmer replied simply.

'Saw what?' asked Spirit, confused.

'I saw your vision. You are a Child See-er.

'A Child See-er?'

'Don't be coy with me' continued Shimmer tartly. 'You know exactly what I mean. The child that came to you last night. The human child! She is what they call a Dolphin-Child, and you, young dolphin, are a Child See-er' Spirit didn't know what to say so he didn't say anything. He swum on. Eventually he turned and eyed Shimmer with a worried look on his face.

'Are you one too?' he asked.

'No. Beware!' She was a very blunt-speaking old dolphin.

'Beware of what?' Shimmer sighed and her stern look softened. 'Let me tell you a story. I had a sister once and she was a Child See-er too. A small male human, a boy, would come to her. They would talk for a long, long time, away from the pod. Then the boy would fade away into the depths. My sister was very happy. She said it made her feel complete. The boy obsessed her and even when he was not there, you could tell that she wished that he was. It was almost like love. I told her that she was silly and that it was the dolphins around her, her own kith and kin, who she should care for. I said I would tell the elders, but she implored me not to. I promised my sister that I would not and in fact I always kept my word. I have kept my word until this very day, because I have never met a Child See-er before or since, until you.'

Spirit said nothing, but the old dolphin's words had a powerful effect upon him. Shimmer continued.

'My sister became distant from the pod. She would not swim with the rest of us to fish and often she preferred to go off on her own. First of all she would swim away from us all for only an hour or two. Then she would swim off alone for hours on end. Eventually she would stay away for a night and then two. And then one day she didn't come back.

'What happened to her, your sister I mean?' Spirit asked.

'Nobody knows' continued the old dolphin, a sad note in her voice. 'But it is my belief that she let herself become weak through not eating properly. It is dangerous to swim alone, but more so if you are not vibrant and healthy. I believe that she was taken by the orcas. If she had been strong, she could have out-swum them. She was not.' Shimmer stopped and looked directly at Spirit. 'I still miss my sister. I feel her loss to this very day. I often think of her and that young male human, floating in the water beside her. He ruined her. And so I say to you young Spirit; Beware. Do not turn your back on your pod and all that should be important to you.'

'I won't!' exclaimed Spirit defensively. 'I would never turn my back on Dancer and Summer, Moonlight, Chaser and Breeze and of course Storm. And I've had such a great time meeting all these other young dolphins' said Spirit, looking back on the pods behind him.

'That's as maybe' replied Shimmer disapprovingly. 'But you must choose. You must choose between the girl and your pod. Before it is too late!'

'No, no. I couldn't' murmured Spirit, confused again. 'I've only just found her. I barely know her.'

'Then all the more reason to stop it before you do get to know her.'

'But, but....' stuttered Spirit uncertainly. He paused, thinking hard. 'I can't' he decided, turning defiantly to the old dolphin. 'I won't. I am not your sister. I will not make the same mistakes.'

'That's what you think young dolphin' said Shimmer, with an edge to her voice, 'but we will see. We will see.'

In the distance they could see that all the dolphins of the various pods seemed to be gathering together again, as they had for the council yesterday. Curious, Spirit and Shimmer turned and swum back to the larger group.

As they drew close again, Dancer joined Spirit and whispered in his ear 'What was that all about then? It all looked a bit intense.'

'You don't want to know' replied Spirit, trying to put Dancer off.

'Oh but I do, I do' replied Dancer, brimming over with curiosity. Spirit thought about lying and cast about in his mind for something to tell her. But no, he would not. Dancer was his friend. If he could not tell Dancer everything, then who could he tell.

'She says I am a Child See-er.' Dancer looked at him directly. A look of incomprehension was on her face, but then a flash of understanding passed across her features. She had a thousand questions she wanted to ask Spirit, but she thought perhaps she had an idea what Spirit meant. Before she could speak though, Storm and another elder addressed the assembled dolphins.

'I smell a storm on the way' said Storm to the group. 'We should swim to deeper, safer waters.' Storm was so named because from a very early age he had had an ability to sense the subtle shifts and changes in the weather and could tell when a storm was on its way, hours before anyone else could. Many were surprised by Storm's announcement; the wind was still calm and only wispy light clouds appeared high in the sky above them. Storm's ability was well known though and Spirit and Dancer had witnessed his uncanny predictions time and again. He was never wrong.

Another elder dolphin that Spirit did not know also addressed the grouped dolphins. 'We all know that when there is a storm we cannot stay as a larger group' she said. 'It is safer to be with our own small pods. That way we will notice if one of our number is missing. Too many dolphins all around us in a storm can be confusing.'

Chatter soon broke out amongst the assembled dolphins. They started to form into pods and one by one they broke away and swum off until they were lost to sight, with only the odd whistle and click echoing back, to let them know where they were.

Both Spirit and Dancer felt particularly sad that the council had broken up. They had met so many young dolphins of their own age and just started to get to know them. Now they were dispersing again. At least they would see them all at the next full moon. What was it that Storm had said? They were to look for a special dolphin in their midst. That gave Spirit an uneasy feeling. He had enough to cope with at the moment and certainly didn't want any more attention than he'd already received. He looked around to see if Shimmer was still there, but it looked like she had already left with her own pod. Spirit was glad. It'd be no fun with Shimmer around.

With Moonlight leading the way, the dolphins of Spirit's pod moved away too, heading for deeper waters, where they could ride out the storm more easily. They moved with sinuous, muscular strokes of their tails. They were fully focused on the journey ahead of them. Storm followed, behind the others, putting his head up periodically to sense the weather above him. Already the wind had picked up and the waves were growing rough. In the distance Storm could see a great wall of blue-black cloud rolling in from the west. He was right, but the storm would be upon them sooner than he feared.

Spirit was lost deep in thought as they swam along. He could see the storm clouds on the horizon too. The more he thought about what Shimmer had said, the more he was convinced that the old dolphin had been wrong. He had his coming of age swim ahead of him. He had to swim alone at that time and was determined to be counted as an adult like the others. More than that, he knew that Shimmer was wrong about Lucy. Whatever might happen between him and Lucy and whatever Storm might say about humans, he knew that she was different. He could tell that she had a real warmth and empathy. Nothing bad could possibly come from the contact that he and Lucy shared. He just wished that she would come to him again soon, tonight maybe. Spirit decided to drop back and speak to Storm straight away about his coming of age swim. He wanted to get Shimmer's words out of his head once and for all. He wanted, no, he needed to prove himself.

'When do you think the storm will reach us?' he asked Storm as they swum along.

'Sooner than I'd like' replied Storm, with a worried note in his voice. Despite Storm's preoccupied tone, Spirit decided to get straight to the point.

'I'm really looking forward to my coming of age swim' he announced, changing the subject completely.

'What?' Stormed seemed completely nonplussed and clearly had no idea what Spirit was talking about.

'You know', Spirit tried to remind him, 'We talked all about it that time just before the orcas attacked us. I've got my coming of age swim; the swim that all young dolphins must take to pass into adulthood. You said that I must find myself in the vastness of the ocean. You said that when I return, I will be closer to all dolphins and all living things. You know, like Dancer did last year.

'Yes, oh that' said Storm dismissively. 'Look Spirit, I've got other things on my mind right now.'

'But I want to fix it now, I want to swim alone as soon as I can, as soon as the storm passes if possible.'

'Don't be ridiculous' exclaimed Storm. 'You're not ready. That's a long way off yet!'

'I have to do it now' replied Spirit quietly. 'My time is now.'

'NO!' cried Storm. 'That's not going to happen. You're staying with us where we can keep an eye on you. You're still just a young calf.'

'I am not Storm' retorted Spirit just as strongly. 'I have to join the adults as an equal.'

'It's a dangerous ocean out there' said Storm, trying reason instead of commands. 'If I hadn't been there when the orcas attacked, they would have claimed your life!'

'But it was me that brought us to safety.'

'It's too dangerous out there!'

'I have to prove myself.'

'No!' exclaimed Storm again. 'I need you here, with us, safe, where I can keep an eye on you.'

Spirit broke away from Storm angrily and swum rapidly up past the other dolphins until he was just ahead of Moonlight at the front. Dancer tried to come up alongside him, but Spirit thrust ahead of her again, angry and hurt, not wanting to speak to anyone else at all.

Above them, the wind was picking up, turning bitterly cold. In the distance a wall of blue-black cloud was approaching them, dark and threatening. The waves became more ragged, getting bigger and bigger as the storm approached. Spirit could feel that the storm was almost upon them. Angry though he was, he knew that right now it would be wiser for him to be closer to the others. He dropped back until Dancer caught up with him.

'I thought I was never going to catch up with you' said Dancer, coming up from behind. Before Spirit could answer there was a flash of lightning and then a crack of thunder rolled across the sky.

'It's almost upon us!' cried Storm to the rest of the pod. 'It's going to be a bumpy ride.'

'He's enjoying it!' joked Dancer to Spirit. 'He certainly does live up to his name.' Storm was arching over the waves, absorbed with their motion, determined to ride out the storm.

Black-blue clouds were boiling over the sky now and with them an ominous darkness. With the clouds came the rain; hard and piercing, falling like arrows on to the troubled surface of the sea. The wind grew stronger, catching the spray from the sea until Spirit could hardly tell what was spray and what was rain.

Spirit began to struggle. The storm was becoming stronger and fiercer than any he had ever experienced before. The waves rolled him to this side and that. He was a strong swimmer, but he could feel the wind and the waves battering down upon him, knocking him from where he wanted to swim. He glanced towards Dancer at his side. She was still managing, though he could see the look of strain upon her face. He panted, breathless. Swimming through these stormy waters was exhausting. He tried to breathe through his air-hole, but a wave crashed on his back at that very moment and all he got instead was salt water. He blew strongly to clear the passage and was able to get another lung full of clean air down before the next wave crashed upon him.

A mile away, a great container ship was battling its way through the storm. The ship, as long as five blue whales put end to end, was so big that even a fierce storm such as this one had little effect upon its stability. Though the sailors on board were feeling green and sickly, there was no chance that the ship would sink in waters such as these. Enormous containers were stacked up on the deck, three stories high, bearing cargo from the Far East to the shores of Britain. Though the ship was secure, the containers were not. In particular one rusty blue container was not safely fastened.

As the storm pelted the ship and made it roll, the container came loose. First its front half came crashing down onto the deck of the ship with an enormous metallic crash and then the rear half of the container followed, smashing through the railings of the deck and toppling head-long into the sea. The doors of the container burst open and as it slid away into the dark waters. Its contents, a cargo of timber from Indonesia, floated back up to the surface. The great wooden planks were soon tossed here and there by the crashing waves and their long dark shapes were lost to the eye as they dispersed and spread out over the stormy waters.

Though Storm and his pod of dolphins could hear the roar of the ships engines in the distance, they knew nothing of the cargo of timber that had been shed from the container and which was now floating towards them, as the crashing of the waves hid the noise of the container smashing into the water.

The pod of dolphins had formed into a tight group now, staying together so that they would not lose each other and to ensure that they would be alert to any danger that befell any of the others. Breeze, Chaser, Moonlight and Summer were all just behind Spirit and Dancer, with Storm riding the waves behind them. The two youngest dolphins set the pace as they were the weakest swimmers and the others knew better than to leave them behind.

As they swam on, breaching the waves before they crashed over their heads, the dolphins struggled to breathe clean air whenever they could. Spirit put his head above the surface to catch a lungful of air between two perilous waves. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a distant voice came to him. Lucy! The voice in a low, insistent tone said:

'Down, go down, dive down now!' By now Spirit knew better than to doubt what he heard.

'Dancer, dive down!' he whistled urgently to his friend beside him. Spirit dived and Dancer, without having a chance to think, swam underneath the waves too. Summer did not have a chance to follow them though. Just then a wave loomed above the pod of dolphins and a dark shape came crashing over the wave's crest; a great heavy plank of wood from the container. The long plank caught Summer a glancing blow to the side of her head as it smashed down, knocking her unconscious and leaving a bloody gash on the side of her head. They had only seconds if they wanted to save Summer's life.

Storm, from behind them had a clear sight of the great plank striking Summer. Spirit and Dancer came up again, just as Summers unconscious form started to roll over on to one side, blood seeping into the water.

'Keep her upright, keep her upright, or she'll drown!' yelled Storm desperately from behind. Instinctively and without speaking, Spirit pressed himself up against one side of Summer, whilst Dancer supported the unconscious dolphin from the other side. This way Summer could not roll any further sideways and drown in the water. It would have been hard enough though in a calm sea, but in the middle of the storm, it was almost impossible. Summer kept sliding on her left hand side and with every fresh wave, salt water washed over Summer's blow hole, which Spirit knew well he could not clear himself. Spirit and Dancer struggled at either side of Summer, determined to keep her alive, but desperately tired already. Spirit knew his strength was ebbing fast, but what then?

'Wake up Summer!' barked Storm loudly, swimming just to one side of them. 'Wake up!' Just as Spirit began to think that he would have to let go, Summer blinked and stirred into consciousness.

'What? .... Where?' she murmured blearily.

'You were knocked out, now clear your blow-hole' commanded Storm in a ringing voice. Summer did what she was told.

'Now swim! Swim Summer!' Storm urged her. The stricken dolphin began to swim again and Spirit was overcome with relief that he no longer had to hold the older dolphin upright. Another minute and Summer would have died. She came round again just in time.

The storm continued to rage above them and the dolphins of the pod gathered around Summer to protect her and come to her aid again if she needed it. Summer, dazed and confused though she was, knew that her survival depended on her continuing to swim and to be able to keep her blow-hole clear. They swam on slowly. Soon, Spirit sensed that the worst of the storm had passed over them and in the distance he could see a glint of blue sky amidst the clouds. The wind eased off and the waves died down. Summer, gaining her senses again swam more assuredly. They kept going, swimming away from the storm and towards calmer waters.

After the excitement of the morning, it had been a grim and dangerous day. Eventually they slowed down and rested.

'I can't believe that big plank thing just loomed up from nowhere' exclaimed Dancer as they hung in the water, gathering their energy. 'Why did you tell me to dive just then Spirit?' she asked. All eyes turned on Spirit.

'I, err, just had a feeling' replied Spirit, worried about what they might all think.

'You could have told me too!' said Summer. Spirit looked at her, worried, but he could see that the older dolphin was back to her usual self and made a joke out of it instead. She wasn't angry, just relieved to be safe. The scar on the side of her head where the plank had hit her had stopped bleeding now, but it was an ugly gash and would not heal cleanly.

'Hey, do you remember the story of the cloud dolphin?' continued Summer. 'One stormy night the wind and the rain were so fierce and the waves so high, that it was impossible to tell what was sea and what was air. A lonesome dolphin lost her pod in the storm and swum and swum until she noticed that the sea had turned cloudy white. She looked down and realised that the sea was far, far below her and that instead of swimming through the sea, she was floating through the clouds. She could see her pod searching for her and calling her name, so she called down and said 'you're looking the wrong way!' They couldn't hear her though so she dived from the cloud through the air and she fell for a full minute before she hit the sea. She struck the sea with such a force that the wave she created travelled a mile in all directions and her belly ached for a week afterwards!'

'If it wasn't for you two' added Summer to Dancer and Spirit more seriously, 'I don't know what would have happened to me.'

'Yes, you two did well' added Storm approvingly. Of course if Dancer and Spirit had not been there just then, Storm and another dolphin of the pod would have come to Summer's rescue instead, if they were close enough. Spirit saw his opportunity.

'I am old enough to help you and I am old enough to take my coming of age swim' he said defiantly.

Storm turned a critical eye upon Spirit.

'What happened today is the reason why you must stay close to the pod. There will be no coming of age swim for you young dolphin, not for the time being.

'But, but surely....' murmured Breeze and Moonlight together. 'Surely the time is right for young Spirit to swim alone?' continued Moonlight.

'No!' exclaimed Storm angrily. 'He will stay with us. There are other considerations, other reasons why he must remain with us. His coming of age swim will have to wait.'

Spirit said nothing, but inside he seethed with resentment and anger against Storm. He just couldn't tell Spirit what to do any more. He had to be able to prove himself and become an equal with all the other dolphins in the pod.

The dolphins hunted for fish and, having caught enough to fill their stomachs, they settled down to rest and to sleep as night fell. As darkness crept over the waves and one by one the dolphins fell into their waking sleep, Spirit knew what he had to do. He wished he could say goodbye to Dancer, he wished he could say goodbye to all of them apart from Storm, but he knew that he couldn't. He had to go quietly, through the black waters of the sleeping sea, so that he could get as far away as possible from them by morning light.

He whispered, so quietly that no one could hear;

'Goodbye Dancer.'

Far away, Lucy woke up in her bed, eyes wide and staring at the ceiling, knowing that something important had happened.

'Take care Spirit', she whispered.

Chapter Ten:

It had been an ordinary Monday at school. Lucy had got up late and had had to rush to get ready, before Dad shovelled her out of the house, locking the door behind her, cup of coffee in one hand and attaché case in the other, sending her off up the road to school whilst he sunk behind the wheel of his car. Lucy had knocked on Amy's door just as it started to rain. She'd forgotten her coat and so they waited, hoping the rain would stop. It didn't. In the end Amy's mum lent Lucy an umbrella and they'd trailed into school, huddling together under it, only just getting there before the bell went for the start of the school day.

The morning passed in a dull blur and then the bell rang for lunchtime. It was swimming practice day and while the other children piled into the school dining room, Lucy crossed the road to the swimming pool, trying not to get too wet as she did so, before quickly changing into her swim suit. Because Dad was so reluctant for her to do any serious swimming practice, Lucy had become a little furtive with him about her swimming sessions. He wasn't terribly observant at the best of times and it was easy for her to make sure he didn't notice the swimsuit and towel, goggles and swim cap that she stuck into her school bag. She rinsed out and dried her swimsuit herself at home and Dad didn't seem to notice the extra towels she dropped into the laundry basket. He just dumped everything into the washing machine and occasionally complained that Lucy ran through towels far too quickly. He knew that the whole class had swimming once a week, but had no idea that Lucy did more swimming two or three lunchtimes as well. Lucy was happy enough to keep things that way.

Miss Baldwin was waiting for her at the pools edge.

'Right Lucy, we're going to practice your diving and turns at the end of the pool. Let's see what we can do to slice some valuable seconds off your time doing lengths.'

'Sound's good' said Lucy brightly. They spent the next twenty minutes practicing diving, with Lucy trying to dive into the water more cleanly and efficiently than before.

'With a good dive' said Miss Baldwin, 'you hardly leave a ripple. Lucy didn't seem to be able to do it quite as Miss Baldwin wanted.

'It's good' she reassured Lucy the eleventh time they tried 'but I know you can do it just a little bit better.' Miss Baldwin didn't always have the time to focus on Lucy's technique, but when she did it was a bit like being under the un-blinking eye of a perfectionist. Whatever Lucy did was never quite right. She'd improved a lot though since Miss Baldwin had been teaching her, but her teacher was never satisfied with that either.

'You've got raw, natural talent' she'd told Lucy more than once, 'but that's not good enough on its own. Unless you work at your technique, you're never going to get anywhere.' Lucy knew that Miss Baldwin wanted her to compete at the County level, or higher. She also knew that she couldn't, not without a major show-down with Dad and she just couldn't face that right now. But Miss Baldwin had a row of shining cups and medals in a glass cabinet in the main entrance to the school and she wanted to add to her collection.

After practicing diving, Miss Baldwin had Lucy doing widths, flipping in the water at each end and pushing off again with as much force and speed as she could muster. Another twenty minutes later and Lucy was beginning to grow tired.

'Ok Lucy' said Miss Baldwin, releasing her at last, 'I want you to do some front crawl now and think carefully about the rhythm of your strokes and the timing of your breathing as you swim.' Miss Baldwin turned her attention on Jerry Smith and Lucy had time to do a few more lengths on her own before changing quickly, grabbing a sandwich and then going to afternoon classes.

She was just coming out of the changing room when Miss Baldwin called out to her to wait a moment.

'Lucy, have you spoken to your Dad yet?' she asked.

'Err, no' replied Lucy awkwardly.

'Then speak to him tonight' Miss Baldwin told Lucy. 'There's a competition coming up after half term and I want you in it. Of course it's going to mean more focused training, but if you're ready to put time into training before school for a few weeks, I think you might do really well. What do you say?' Lucy frowned.

'I don't know' she said uncertainly. 'Dad's not going to agree to me doing training before school.'

'What about if I speak to him?' replied Miss Baldwin, 'I'm sure we can sort something out well enough.'

'No! No I don't think that's a good idea!' exclaimed Lucy. It was all very well doing extra swimming in the lunch breaks, but not if Miss Baldwin then put her in these impossible situations. 'I'll tell you what Dad says.'

'I'm really keen on you winning some silverware for the school you know Lucy. I know you can do it.' At that moment the bell rang. Lessons would start again in five minutes.

'I've got to go' said Lucy, relieved. She turned and ran up the corridor. She might just get to the canteen and get a sandwich before they closed the hatch.

Dad picked Lucy up from the after-school club as normal. He didn't look happy.

'I've got a bone to pick with you young lady' he announced as Lucy climbed into the car.

'What is it?' Lucy answered.

'I had a call today from school.' Lucy was mystified.

'Really? I wasn't sick or anything today Dad and I didn't get into trouble either.'

'I had a call from your Miss Baldwin' he continued, with a disapproving pause.

'Oh, I see' said Lucy, beginning to realise what the matter was.

She says you've been doing swimming practice, two, no, three times a week at lunchtimes and I knew nothing about it! What's going on?'

'Well, you know', replied Lucy hesitantly, 'I've just been doing my swimming practice.'

'No, what you've been doing is secretly sneaking off to do swimming behind my back, hiding your swimming things and carrying on like you don't need to ask my permission!'

'It's only swimming' Lucy replied defensively, but that just made Dad angrier than before.

'And now I hear your sports teacher wants you to do training before school as well and wants you to gallivant off and do competitions and goodness knows what else' he continued, his voice rising. 'And she wants me to ferry you around to do this nonsense.'

'Well, Miss Baldwin says I'm good, that I've got potential, but I just need some more focused training.'

'And you know I don't approve of all this, that I don't approve of it at all.' They drew up at home. They clambered out of the car and Dad slammed the door.

'What about your school work, what about spending times with your friends, what about just being a normal school girl?' he asked as they walked up to the front door.

'There's nothing weird about swimming' Lucy replied. 'Everyone goes swimming!'

'Yes of course, everyone goes for a splash in the local swimming pool occasionally. But not everyone gives up their life, their education and everything else to plough up and down doing pointless lengths.' The house was cold as they walked into the dark hall.

'Most parents would be proud that their children can do something well.'

'And I am proud of you Lucy, I'm proud of you for your work at school, I'm proud of you for how you've coped with everything in the last year, I'm proud of you for just being you. But you've got enough to worry about, I've got enough to worry about, without all this swimming nonsense.

'I like swimming!' exclaimed Lucy, worried that she knew what Dad was going to say next.

'So I told Miss Baldwin that you certainly weren't doing extra swimming and you weren't going to do any lunchtime swimming anymore either.

'What?' said Lucy with rising alarm in her voice.

'And do you know what she said?' Dad's voice was rising again. 'She said that she didn't understand why as she had a letter of authorisation from me. A letter of authorisation?'

Lucy shifted uncomfortably. She knew she was in trouble now.

'It must have been from a long time ago' she replied.

'No, your Miss Baldwin says she gets one every term. She says the last one she got was from January.' Lucy blushed guiltily.

'You've been forging my signature Lucy, for that and goodness knows what else!'

'Oh please Dad. It's not fair!'

'You've been lying to me Lucy. Lying to me! That's not the daughter I know.'

'Well you know, I thought....' Lucy trailed off, reluctant to go on.

'You faked my signature because you knew I'd say no!'

'It's not fair! Just because Mum ....' she cried out, anguish in her voice.

'It's nothing to do with Mum' replied Dad angrily. 'I'm worried about you, your well-being, your future, your life!'

Lucy just couldn't take it anymore. She ran upstairs, bitter tears in the corner of her eyes and slammed her bedroom door closed behind her. She threw herself face-down on her bed, sobs convulsing her body. She loved swimming, she loved being in the water. It felt so natural, as though she belonged there. What's the point of hanging around in the playground every lunch time when she could be in the swimming pool, with only her thoughts to keep her company and the echoing noise of the pool muffled under water. She had plenty of time to hang out with her friends and there's no way her teachers thought she was losing out in class because she spent too much time swimming. She was doing well at school, she knew she was. The thought of not being able to swim left her feeling empty inside, in a way that she didn't quite understand. She felt as though a hook was caught in her heart. She felt trapped and suddenly desperately alone.

Dad called up for her to come down for dinner, but Lucy refused and just stayed up there, defiant and angry. Eventually she heard him come upstairs. He knocked on her door but she wouldn't answer. He thought better than to come in; just as well because Lucy thought that she might throw something at him. Instead he left her dinner on a tray outside her door. She didn't care though. She wasn't hungry and wasn't going to come out for it. Presently, she heard the television downstairs.

She crept out of her room, stepping carefully over the dinner tray in front of her door and across to the spare bedroom, where Dad had his home office. She switched the light on and pushed the door closed, so that Dad could not hear what she was doing from downstairs. His mobile phone was up here and Lucy picked it up quietly. She looked in Dad's phone book and quickly found Bethany's number. She tapped in the numbers and then laboriously started a text message. She wasn't very good at texting and it took her longer than she'd have liked. Eventually it was finished and she pressed 'Send.'

'It's me, Lucy' the text message read. 'I really want to get away from Dad and come and see you. Can I?'

Second's later the mobile phone started to vibrate and Lucy knew it would start ringing in a just moment. She seized the handset and pressed the green button to receive the call before it might ring and Dad would hear it.

'Hey Kiddo' came Bethany's familiar voice through the receiver. 'What's up?'

'Hi Bethany' whispered Lucy. She paused awkwardly and Bethany didn't say anything either. 'I want to come and see you. Its half term on Friday and I want to see you.'

'I'd love to see you too Kiddo, you know that, but what does your Dad say?' Lucy paused again.

'You know what he'd say.' It was Bethany's turn to be quiet for a moment.

'So what's up between you and your Dad?' asked Bethany. Lucy crumpled and started to cry down the phone.

'I just can't stay here any longer, I feel so alone. I....' She just couldn't speak, her throat hurt with emotion. Her eyes stung with tears. She curled up on the office chair and hugged the mobile to her face. 'I need to see you.'

'I know things aren't so good between you and your Dad at the moment' said Bethany, 'but you know, they'll get better. Things always do, no matter how bad they seem at the time.'

'Can I come and see you though?' implored Lucy through her tears. 'Please?'

'Would you like me to speak to your Dad again?' replied Bethany. The line was bad and Lucy had trouble catching all her words. 'I'm sure I can talk him round.' Lucy shook her head to herself, though of course Bethany couldn't see.

'No, no, don't speak to him. I just want to come and be with you.' Lucy knew what Bethany was thinking before she even said it.

'We've got to ask your Dad, Kiddo.' The line was clearer now. 'You can't just swan off down here without telling him. He is your father after all. What's the matter between you and him anyway?'

'You know, we've had an ... argument.' Lucy was aware that if she'd say it was an argument about swimming, it would just sound silly to Bethany, but it was so much more than that. It was just the end of a hideous year for her. She'd tried so hard to hold things together after Mum had gone. Now she felt like everything was falling apart. It wasn't just the swimming, it was like she'd lost two parents, not just one. Everything that had once felt familiar was now alien to her and strange, everything and everyone except Bethany and she was so far away.

'I know it's a terrible old cliché' said Bethany, desperate to convey the warmth and compassion that she really felt, 'but things will feel better in the morning. Really they will.'

'Oh yes, said Lucy emptily. She suddenly felt tired and defeated. 'Of course they will.'

'Or I could come and see you. How about that Lucy?' Bethany asked positively, trying to make her niece feel better.

'Oh it's ok' said Lucy. 'Don't worry. I'll be alright.' She didn't know what to say now. She suddenly felt so flat. All she wanted to do was to hang up and go to bed.

'What if I ring you up tomorrow and see how you are?'

'Oh yeah' said Lucy non-committaly. 'I'd like that.'

'Ok, let's talk tomorrow.'

'Bye' said Lucy.

'Bye Kiddo. I love you!'

Lucy hung up. She got herself ready for bed and climbed in between the covers. She shivered and huddled under the bedding for warmth. Shortly afterwards Dad put his head round her door. Lucy pretended to be asleep and he closed her door quietly. She heard him sigh and then the rattle of crockery as he picked up the tray with her un-eaten dinner. He padded back downstairs.

That night Lucy had troubled dreams about Dad and swimming pools, in which she was underwater and he was on the side of the pool shouting down at her. Towards morning, she started to dream of Spirit. She could feel the upset and hurt that he also felt, in his world, so far away. The storm buffeted her little dolphin and Lucy, in turn, thrashed about in her sleep under her duvet, as though she too was being hurled this way and that by giant waves. Lucy could not follow all that was happening and her dreams were broken and confusing, but she became aware that Spirit had slipped away from the rest of the pod and swum off into the inky darkness, all alone. Lucy felt desolate and lonely, but she knew that Spirit was determined to strike out alone and prove himself. Somehow, that thought gave her courage and made her feel less bad. She could come through the storm inside her, as Spirit had come through a real one. When she awoke, Lucy still felt unhappy, but not as bad as she had before.

Lucy awoke in the first morning light, her thoughts still full of Spirit swimming away from the pod. She knew she had to speak to him. Carefully, she knelt on her bedroom floor and focused her eyes into the middle distance in the way that she had taught herself. She strained to connect, but then let her mind drift sideways a little, so that she could feel carefully for the door which would allow her to slip out of her world, into that other world of water, salt and dolphins.

It was like plunging into an icy cold swimming pool. The shock took her breath away and, engulfed in the cold waters, she looked around her, trying to orientate herself. She could tell that dawn was filtering through the surface of the water and could make out the shape of a lone dolphin, just ahead of her, ploughing on through the water with a steady, regular rhythm. Without trying, she found herself by Spirit's side.

'Spirit, stop' she whispered without words. The young dolphin turned to look at her, surprise and happiness showing in his face.

'I'm so glad to see you Lucy' he exclaimed. Lucy felt his words without hearing them and she smiled to herself in turn, as she hung suspended in the cold waters of the sea, her hair floating out in front of her.

'Where are you going?' she asked shyly. 'Are you all right?' The young dolphin frowned for a moment, but then a look of defiance broke over his features.

'I am going on a journey' he said proudly. 'It is something that all young dolphins do to come of age. When I return, I shall be equal with all the other dolphins in the pod. I will have proved myself to all and then I can take my rightful place.'

'Aren't you afraid?' asked Lucy hesitantly. 'I would be' she thought to herself, all alone in these cold waters, far away from everyone familiar. She didn't like to say that though. She didn't think that Spirit would like to hear those words and she admired his resolve and determination.

'No I am not afraid' he claimed, but then he paused a moment. 'Well perhaps a little.' He gave a small smile. 'But it's better to feel afraid and do it anyway, than to feel no fear at all. In my pod we say that there is no victory unless you first overcome fear.' They swam on for a while, in silent companionship.

'I wish I was as brave as you' said Lucy quietly. 'I wish I could strike out alone like you are.'

Spirit paused again and looked at her with soulful eyes.

'If I was Storm, I might have wise words for you' he said, 'but I don't. I think that you will find a way though. I believe that you are braver than you think you are.' They smiled at each other. 'Will you come to me sometimes while I am swimming alone?' asked Spirit uncertainly.

'Of course I will' Lucy assured him.

'Then I think that I will feel safer too!' With that Spirit took a great leap out of the water, high into the air before slicing back elegantly through the waves. Lucy followed him and felt the exhilaration as she did so. He touched her momentarily with a fin and Lucy felt warmth flow through his skin into hers. She felt a glimmer of happiness again. They swum on together for a while, but then Lucy felt the world of water slipping away again.

'I have to go now, goodbye' she called to Spirit. Before she knew it, he became a blurred spot in the distance and then she was in her room again, sitting on the floor, staring towards the window in front of her.

There was a knock on the door. Dad put his head around the opening.

'How are you feeling this morning Luce?' he asked tentatively. Though Lucy felt a little better inside now, she didn't want to tell him that.

'I'm ok' she said in a flat voice, not giving anything away. She looked down at the floor. It seemed like Dad wanted to say something more, but then he glanced at his watch.

'Look at the time Luce. You'd better get ready. I'd better get ready' he exclaimed. 'I...., you...., we'll ......' He trailed off. Lucy shrugged.

'I'll be down in a minute' she said.

Lucy dressed and went downstairs. She got her bowl of cereal and a glass of chocolate milk and sat eating, trying to avoid Dad who was leaning against the kitchen counter, attempting to eat a slice of toast whilst simultaneously sending a text on his mobile phone. He looked up.

'I suppose we'd better think what we're going to do with you during half term next week' he announced. 'Maybe you can spend a day with Amy and there's the stables where I can book you onto another Own Your Own Pony Day and there's always the activities the after-school club lay on in the school holidays .....' he trailed off.

'You know what I want to do' said Lucy quietly and defiantly.

'No, what's that?' replied her Dad.

'I want to go to Cornwall and see Bethany.'

'What? No. I told you that's just not possible.' Lucy could tell that Dad was trying to moderate his tone and avoid another confrontation like the one they'd had last night. He quickly thought up some excuses. 'You can't travel down there by yourself, you're too young and I certainly can't take the time off to come down with you, you know that. Besides, Bethany's really busy down there. She's got all sorts of commissions and exhibitions and things she has to do. She can't have you trailing around after her all week, getting under her heels.' Lucy knew it would be impossible talking to him, but she answered back anyway.

'She said she'd like me to come down' replied Lucy.

'Oh I'm sure she'd like you to come down some time' said Dad, warming to his theme, 'but you can't just organise these things on the spur of the moment, they take planning.'

Lucy thought of all the things she could say to Dad, of how angry she could become with him when she knew perfectly well that Bethany would love her to come down and that it could easily be sorted out if only he wanted to.

'You don't ever want me to go and see Bethany' she said simply. Dad put his mug down slowly.

'You're right Lucy, I don't' was all he said.

'But why?' exclaimed Lucy, her voice full of anguish. Dad took a deep breath.

'There are some things I just can't explain to you. Not yet, not till you're older. There are dangers; dangers I need to protect you from. You're all I've got left.' Lucy could hear the emotion creeping into his voice. 'I've got to look after you Luce.'

'Well you're not doing it very well!' she shouted back angrily, her voice full of hurt. She stood up abruptly, pushing back her chair and making for the door. She grabbed her bag and coat and banged angrily out of the house before Dad had a chance to reply. She walked up the street towards school quickly, tears smarting in the corners of her eyes. The sky was as grey and flat as she felt and there was a light drizzle in the air. But as she walked she started thinking and as she thought a plan came into Lucy's mind and then things didn't seem quite so grey after all.

Chapter Eleven:

After his first burst of enthusiasm, Spirit felt nervous, swimming alone on his own across the dark ocean at night. Away from the comforting presence of the pod, the sea was as black as ink and seemed unfriendly and unwelcoming. It was a cloudy night and so not even the moon lit the way. Spirit swam on, knowing that he had to put as much distance between him and the pod as he could before first light. He could only just make out the tips of the low waves above him. His main fear was that instead of going in a straight line, he would go round and round in circles all night without a means of navigating and find himself hardly any distance from the pod again in the morning.

His other worry was the larger predators, such as sharks and orcas. At night though they would be resting too and so he would not be at risk under the cover of darkness. It was instead in daylight that he would be open to attack; a lone young dolphin, far from the safety of the pod. He knew that last time, when the orcas had attacked, if he had not been with Storm and if he had not taken safety close to the fishing boat, he would not have got away. Next time, he may not be so lucky.

The safest thing would be to seek the seas close to the coast where the rocks and kelp beds would give him cover and places to hide. If he remained in the open sea alone, he could not out-swim the big hunters. For this reason, Spirit had to head for the coast, but not towards the islands which he and Dancer had explored together. They were too near to the waters where the pod normally stayed. He would have to go further and head on towards the mainland. That was a day's swimming at least. He thought back to Storm's portentous warnings about humans. He would keep his distance from them too, but he already knew, far better than Storm would ever understand, that humans could be good creatures too.

Spirit swam on, thinking that the best thing was to act decisively and hope that things would turn out alright. Luck was with him and before long the sky cleared of cloud. He still could not see the moon, but instead above him there were a sprinkling of stars and that was better. They might not light up the sea like the moon would have, but the stars could show him his way. He could see the clam shell constellation, the starfish cluster and the octopus formation high above him as he skimmed the surface of the shallow waves. He wondered what humans called them. As long as he could keep the star-fish constellation to his right, with the north star behind him, he knew he would not go far wrong.

As the bell rang and children streamed out of school, Lucy headed off across the wet playground to the after-school club. At best it was a dreary couple of hours, with raucous boys throwing things and yelling at each other while she tried to do her homework. None of her friends generally went there anymore, but Dad insisted that she shouldn't go home on her own and be a latch-key kid, as he called it. Today though, she had things she needed to research. She walked through the door, hoping that the computer desk would be free. It wasn't. Toby Nugent had already claimed it for himself. She peered over his shoulder with irritation. He was playing some game and she was worried he'd be on it for the next two hours if he had the chance. She sighed. She sat herself down as close as she could and got out her homework book.

'Toby, how long are you going to be on that game?' she asked. Toby ignored her. 'Hey Toby!' she said, louder this time.

'What?' he replied as he carried on gaming.

'I need fifteen minutes on the computer' she announced. Toby ignored her again. 'I said I need fifteen minutes on the computer!' she repeated.

'What?' he asked again. She gave him an exasperated prod and thrust a piece of paper in front of his nose on which she'd written 'I need the pc for 15 min.' He glanced down.

'No way!' he exclaimed. 'I'm half way through the level.'

Lucy decided to give him an extra few minutes. If she wanted, she could reach our with her foot under their desk and flick the switch at the power socket which would shut down the machine. It was a very tempting thought. She slipped her shoe off and let her foot hover close to the switch. Guiltily, Lucy cast a sly look over her shoulder to see if the coast was clear. Fortunately she caught the supervisor Ben's eye. He was well used to fights over computer use. Lucy seldom asked to use the computer so it was only fair that she have a turn just this once. He came up behind Toby.

'Toby Nugent, if you're not off that thing in five minutes I'm dragging you off it myself. Lucy needs a turn.' Lucy shot Ben a grateful smile. Toby, distracted, glanced up a moment too long.

'What!? Oh no I've lost my last life line' Toby exclaimed clearly annoyed, looking back at the screen again. He crashed back down to the previous level.

'Well you may as well finish and come with me' continued Ben. 'I've got something for you to do.' Toby stomped off after Ben and Lucy quickly slid into Ben's vacant chair in front of the screen.

Lucy went online and started searching. It wasn't the kind of thing that she was used to looking for. On the other hand there were so many choices of sites to look at that she knew she could easily spend ten minutes just finding the right one. Not only that, but she needed to find one that offered good prices. After five minutes she found a promising looking site, but to get a good price she had to book for a certain time on a particular date with a specific return. Then she realised. Of course! She had no means of paying. Instead she had to jot down the times and prices into the back of her exercise book.

'Wotcha doing?' Toby appeared at her shoulder, standing uncomfortably close, hoping she might quit the computer and let him back on it.

'Nothing!' replied Lucy smartly, clicking off the web browser with the mouse. 'It's all yours' she said with a smile, getting up. If she could not book online, she would have to pay a visit, but when would be a good time? She decided she'd have to confide in Amy. Well it wasn't a hard decision. Really she was itching to tell her friend her plans. They'd figure it out together.

The rest of the after-school club was as boring as ever. Lucy almost hoped that Dad wouldn't turn up to pick her up as normal, after their argument and the way she had stormed out that morning. She suddenly began to feel hollow inside and anxious.

'Hey, why the long face?' asked Ben sympathetically as he walked past.

'It's a long story' Lucy replied. She knew he didn't have time to hear it.

'Give me five minutes and I'm all ears' answered Ben brightly. Soon parents started picking their children up and the club got quieter.

'So what's up with you then' Ben asked, appearing again at Lucy's side while she read a book. Lucy looked up, wondering what she could say to him.

'It's sort of like me and Dad have had an argument' she started uncertainly. 'I slammed the door in my Dad's face this morning and now, well....' Before she could continue a familiar voice called out across the room.

'Hey Lucy, time to go home' called Dad. She turned her head and saw Dad standing there in the doorway, with his rain coat over his suit, hands thrust deep into his coat pockets.

'Well you can tell me more next time if you want Lucy' said Ben quietly getting up. 'Any time you want a chat.'

Reluctantly, Lucy got her things and her coat and left with Dad. Both of them opted not to say anything at all, rather than risk their argument flaring up again. The drive home wasn't long and they were both lost in their own thoughts.

'Let's watch a bit of telly' said Dad as they walked into the cold house. 'We can eat dinner on our laps. I'll just go and rustle something up.

'Just four more days to go', Lucy thought to herself as she sat there. 'That's all.' They ate their dinner in companionable silence as they watched TV. Lucy washed up. She knew that Dad hoped that things had blown over and that everything was back to normal. 'No chance' she thought to herself as she put the plates away. Before she knew it, it was bedtime.

Lucy gladly went to get ready for bed. Dad came in and gave her a peck on the forehead as she lay in bed in her pyjamas reading a book.

'I love you, you know' he said. Lucy gave him a wan smile.

'Night Dad' she said.

'Lights out in ten' he said, quietly closing her bedroom door. She heard a step creak as he went downstairs.

Lucy got out of bed and went over to her bookshelf. She'd had her birthday a few weeks before. It had been a miserable affair without Mum, but she'd been given money by several aunts and assorted relatives and she still hadn't got round to putting it into her savings account. She'd hidden the bank notes in the back of her old copy of Alice in Wonderland and the loose change was in her purse. She quickly counted it up. She had forty seven pounds.

Lucy jumped into bed and was soon asleep.

The sun was red in the sky as dawn broke across the sea. The storm winds had completely passed now and the sea was quiet, almost still. Spirit had swum all night and was tired, but he had to keep going. He was pleased with himself though. He'd put a good distance between himself and the pod and hopefully they would only just be waking and hadn't realised that he'd gone. The thought made him feel guilty though. What would Dancer think when she realised that he'd gone without saying goodbye?

'Don't think about it', he said to himself, 'just keep swimming.' He mustn't let himself forget what he was aiming to achieve. He would swim solo, as all young dolphins had to do to pass into adulthood and then when he returned he'd earn the respect of the pod. They would listen to him then, even Storm and he'd be the equal of any dolphin in the seas. Still though, he couldn't help remembering that normally when a dolphin embarked on a coming-of-age swim, all the pod would see the adventurer off, singing the old songs as he swam away. It wasn't like that for Spirit though. No one had sung to him as he left, not even Dancer. It didn't feel right, but it was too late to turn back now. He'd feel terrible if he turned and went back to the pod after barely a day. He had to prove himself.

As he swum, Spirit tried to imagine Lucy there next to him, moving without effort in the water by his side. He knew she wasn't there, but the thought comforted him and made him feel less alone. He hoped that she would come to him soon. He spied a small shoal of fish and dived upon them hungrily, snatching two from the rest before the shoal disappeared down into the depths.

To a human the seas are vast and featureless. To a dolphin though, it was like moving through a constantly changing landscape. Even though he was still quite young, Spirit had learned to sense the subtlest changes in the water and everything about it helped tell him where he was; the saltiness, the current, the warmth of the water, the particles on its surface, the smell of the water itself. It was as natural to Spirit as breathing.

Last night's storm had churned up a lot of debris from the depths but he could also sense the waters washing out from the land's edge, even though he could not see it. He would soon be safe in the shadow of the coast. In the meantime, even if he knew it was too soon to relax, his worries suddenly seemed less serious. The sea was calm and the sun was high in the sky. It was going to be a good day.

'You're doing what?!' Amy exclaimed, her eyes wide and her mouth open. Lucy felt shy, almost self-conscious, even though Amy was her best friend. They were sitting on Amy's bed round at her house a day later after school.

'You can't just go to Cornwall on your own' her friend continued. 'What will your Dad say?' she asked incredulously.

'He won't know' Lucy replied quietly.

'Won't the police arrest you or something if you get on a train without a grown up?'

'Don't be daft' Lucy laughed, 'I'll not be doing anything wrong!'

'But you'll be running away from home' said Amy.

'Course not' replied Lucy, I'm just going to go and see my Aunt for a few days.

'She won't let you do that will she, not without your Dad's permission?' Amy still could not believe her ears.

'She won't know either, not till I get there.' They both heard Mrs Hodges coming up stairs and Lucy continued in a whisper. 'Once I'm there there'll be nothing my Dad can do about it. He won't be worried coz he won't even know I'll be gone till he gets the call from Bethany when I get there. He'll be too busy to come down and drag me back home. I've got it all figured out.'

'If it was my Dad he'd hit the roof if I tried something like that' exclaimed Amy. Lucy thought about how her Dad would react. She knew that he'd be pretty angry too, but she didn't care. She had to do something.

'What if some weirdo gets you' Amy asked. 'There's all sorts of strange people out there Lucy, you know that. Some creepy guy could try to grab you or something.' They'd all been taught at school about not talking to strangers, not accepting lifts from people they didn't know, not accepting sweets or anything else and not having anything at all to do with strangers, especially strangers that might approach them. Dad was always drumming the same message into her and he said that suspicious people sometimes hung around train stations. He said that occasionally people seemed nice, but really they were weird and dangerous and you should stay away from them, just in case.

'I'll be ok' said Lucy, though she didn't feel it. 'I'll just use my common sense. I'll tell anyone that asks me that I'm going to visit my Aunt and that she's meeting me at the other end. It's true, well, sort of.'

You're mad!' said Amy, marvelling at her friend's audacity. 'Wotcha want to do it for anyway?' Lucy winced inwardly. She didn't know how to explain to Amy. She could tell her about the fight that she and Dad had had about swimming practice and she could tell her friend about Dad not wanting her to visit Bethany at all. But that wasn't the only reason. She couldn't even really explain it to herself, but deep down, she had a sort of deep need, a yearning to go there and to be near not only Bethany, but to be near the sea. She just had this feeling that she had to go. She felt almost as if there was something bigger going on that she was caught up in.

That morning Lucy had woken early with the dawn light. She'd been dreaming about her little dolphin Spirit, swimming and swimming through the endless seas. She knew that he wasn't happy and that something was wrong, but also that he was determined to press on. Lucy had put herself in the mental state she needed to reach out to Spirit. She was getting better at it now. She focused her thoughts and then relaxed and by this method found the door in her mind that let her slip from her own world into Spirit's.

'I'm so glad you could come Lucy' Spirit exclaimed, as she appeared suddenly by his side. 'It makes me feel much better knowing that you're watching over me!' Lucy smiled, happy to see him again, but curious about what he was doing.

'You're all on your own. Where's the rest of the pod Spirit?' she asked.

'I'm going on a journey' replied Spirit. 'It's something that all young dolphins do to come of age. I have to do it now. There are, well, reasons....' He trailed off.

'Where will you go?' asked Lucy, full of curiosity and admiration for her friend.

'I'm heading for the coast. It's safer than the open sea when you're a dolphin on your own. You have to take care you see.'

'Aren't you scared?' asked Lucy, floating beside him in the water. Lucy stretched out to touch his smooth flank, but although she could reach out with her fingertips to touch him, it felt as though she would pass right through him instead.

'A little' he replied. It was very dark when I set out and I couldn't say goodbye to my friend Dancer.' Spirit seemed to frown a little. It still felt strange to Lucy that they didn't talk normally with words, or even clicks and whistles, but somehow directly from his mind to hers.

'But I am less alone with you by my side, my friend Lucy. The morning just got better when you came' he added. They chatted a little longer. Spirit wanted to know what it was like in her world on dry land. He wanted to know where she lived. Lucy didn't even begin to know how to describe a house to him, a mammal that had always lived in the sea. Instead with all the brain power she could muster, she used her mind to send him an image of her house and then of her school. It was like sending him a mental snapshot from her brain to his. It tired her out though and she felt her energy levels plunging down. Spirit had drifted away from her and then she lost sight of him.

'Goodbye Spirit' she had called out as she drifted off. A moment later she had been sitting on the floor of her bedroom again, conscious all of a sudden that she was cold and hungry and needed the bathroom.

Lucy didn't know how to explain all that to Amy. Amy would never understand, even if she wanted to. Maybe she'd tell Amy some other time, but not now. The important thing, Lucy thought, was that both she and Spirit were going on a journey. He was brave and that made Lucy feel braver too. His determination strengthened her own resolve.

Lucy looked back over at Amy.

'It's just something I've got to do' she whispered. 'I can't explain really. I've just got to go there and see my Aunt. You won't tell will you?' Her friend paused a moment.

'Don't be silly, of course I won't' Amy reassured her. 'But I'm just not sure it's a good idea. What if something happened to you, how do you think I'd feel then?'

'Don't worry' Lucy smiled 'Nothing bad's going to happen to me, especially not if you help me!'

It always mystified Spirit how, just when he was getting used to her being there again, Lucy seemed to dissolve in front of him and then disappear. First she was there, then only a small shadow of her outline remained and then she was gone altogether. He felt sad when she left him and a little lonely too. He never quite knew when she would reappear and when she would go again. It made him feel better to think that she would return before long. 'Come back soon', he had whispered after she left him again.

Spirit stopped swimming for a while and let himself float just under the surface of the water. He could feel the rays of the sun warming his back and fin. What most amazed him from Lucy's last visit to him was the vision that she was able to send to him of the place where she lived. It looked like a discarded box he had found on the seabed once. And it looked so small! Spirit could have swum from one end to the other with a flick of his tail if it was under water. How could humans possibly bear to be confined in such small spaces? When he had swum into the wreck, Spirit had instantly felt overcome with a sense of claustrophobia. The thought of not being free in the open sea, to glide and float, leap and dive sent a shiver down his spine. He made a convulsive flick of his tail fin and started swimming again. He did not understand the image of the school that Lucy had sent him; it was of a series of larger boxes, with many small humans just like Lucy streaming into it. There were some larger humans in the image she had transmitted to him and he assumed that they were fully grown humans. He knew that Lucy was young like he was and had not yet come of age. The 'school' was somewhere that the humans sent their young he knew, but he could not think why. He learned everything he needed to learn from the pod that he swum with and from his mother, at least he had before she disappeared that day. Both images perplexed Spirit and he thought that he would never learn the mysteries of the human beings and their world without water on dry land.

Spirit was getting hungry and knew he needed to eat soon. He set his mind to that urgent task. Luckily, before long he came across a shoal of a hundred or so sprats swimming just below the surface of the water. If he was with the pod, he knew they could surround the sprats in order that they pressed close in on one another, so the dolphins could dive through them and eat more in less time. On his own Spirit could only plunge in the centre of the shoal and hope to snatch one or maybe two sprats before they dispersed. He could then pursue two or three stragglers but the rest would escape unharmed. That would keep him going for now, but he'd have to feed again before long. He launched himself upon them with a keen appetite.

After breakfasting, Spirit continued on his way. As he swum he though about some of the stories that Moonlight used to tell him when he was younger. He could almost hear Moonlight's voice as he recalled the story.

There was once a young dolphin alone in the seas when a great storm fell upon her in a crash of waves and a rumble of clouds above. The sea was so rough that the young dolphin did not know which way was up and which way was down. She came upon a great blue whale and said 'Please help me great blue whale.' The whale turned and saw the young dolphin being tossed this way and that by the waves. He rumbled 'Swim into my mouth little cousin.' The young dolphin gasped. Would he not just eat her? But she had learned that blue whales eat only krill and plankton and had no interest in eating a mammal such as her. She would only give him indigestion. The great whale slowly opened his mouth and though the currents were mighty strong and the storm thrashed furiously above her, she struggled through the turbulent water until she was able to enter the whale's gaping mouth. Inside it was calm and the little dolphin immediately felt safe. Instead of being in the dark as she had expected, there was a flickering light. The young dolphin swum slowly towards the light, not knowing what to expect. As she grew close she could make out the shape of a small fishing boat and the face of a human child staring forlornly into the water, with only a torch to help him see. She greeted the human with her clicks and whistles and, although he could not understand her questions, he was delighted to see her. He could not speak to the whale as the young dolphin was able to do and believed himself to be lost for ever. He did not know that the whale was merely sheltering him against the storm. When the storm had abated, the great whale rumbled 'Little dolphin, you and the boy are free to leave now. It is safe outside.' The young dolphin made to leave but looked back and saw the boy, confused and anxious in his creaking fishing boat. She clicked and whistled at him again but he still did not understand, so she seized a rope that was dangling from the front of the boat into the water and started to tug with all her might. The boy finally understood and took up his oars and started to row furiously as he could while the young dolphin tugged. The boy and dolphin found themselves back in the open sea. With a low sigh the great whale dived until the tip of his tail disappeared slowly under the water. The young dolphin stayed with the human child until a great wooden sailing ship came by and the child was saved.'

At that moment in the story Moonlight would pause and the young dolphins listening would all clamour 'And who was the young dolphin Moonlight?' Laughing, Moonlight would always reply 'Why it was me of course!' and all the youngsters would laugh delightedly as well. Spirit never did know whether to believe her or not. Now he though maybe Moonlight was not just pulling their fins in fun. Perhaps she really had been saved by a great blue whale. Strange things could happen in the deep, as Spirit was beginning to find out. He swum on.

After another hour or so of swimming, guided by the slow progression of the sun in the sky, Spirit paused awhile to rest just under the surface of the water. When he turned again he saw a silhouette in the distance.

'Greetings young dolphin' came a voice from the distant apparition.

Chapter Twelve:

When Lucy was younger, she and Mum used to walk down to the stream a mile or so from their house. There was an old stone bridge that wasn't strong enough for cars to drive across and only pedestrians and horse-riders used it now. Water weeds swayed as the current rippled through the plants that hung onto the gravel at the bottom of the stream. Lucy would lean out over the edge of the bridge, peering down into the smooth surface of the water below, searching for the fish that would hang motionless in the current and wondering where all that water might end up. Mum showed her how to fold a small boat out of a piece of paper and Lucy would drop it into the stream below. The current would catch the boat and it would disappear under the bridge. Lucy would race to the other side in time to see it emerge, borne along by the current. Sometimes her boats would quickly get caught on the reeds, but other times they would flow along, missing the submerged rocks, whirlpools and over-hanging twigs and branches, until they disappeared round the bend in the stream.

Mum said that the stream flowed into a bigger river and that the river went all the way down to the sea. Lucy would imagine her little paper boat bobbing along the mighty river passing ships and seagulls until the fresh waters merged with the salty sea and the tiny paper boat was caught by the waves and carried to a far off and fantastical land on the other side of the sky.

'All rivers flow to the sea', Lucy thought to herself as she walked to school on Thursday morning, 'and so will I.' Although the next day was Friday, the last day before half term, she would not be going in. She'd never skipped school before and the thought of bunking off made her feel immediately guilty, however it was the only way she could put her plans into effect. Lucy felt nervous, but excited.

That lunchtime, Lucy would normally have done her swimming practice, but since her Dad had banned her from going, she had been avoiding Miss Baldwin, partly because she was annoyed at her sports teacher for having called her Dad and partly through her own embarrassment at trying to explain why on earth had he stopped her from swimming. She really missed it though; the sheer physical release she felt as she sliced cleanly through the water and the pleasant feeling of tiredness she felt when eventually she pulled herself up onto the side of the pool. She itched to be back in the water again, lost in a watery world once more.

Lucy and Amy walked around the playground slowly, deep in discussion, talking through their plans and what they were going to do the next day. They were so engrossed that when the bell went for the end of lunchtime, they barely noticed and had to run to catch up with the other children going into class.

As Lucy lay in bed that night, she wondered what the next day might bring. Eventually, she drifted off into a sleep in which she dreamt of trains full of water, with dolphins floating in their compartments, staring out in rapt fascination at the strange and inexplicable world of land and dryness on the other side of the thin glass window.

Lucy awoke with a start. She glanced at her alarm clock; it was six forty five exactly. Normally she wouldn't get up for another half hour, but she was wide awake and too alert to doze off again. She dressed quickly and quietly in her school uniform, taking particular care to look as neat and well-presented as she could. It was important that she looked smart for her journey ahead. Lucy padded down the hall to the bathroom.

'You're up early' said Dad, emerging from his bedroom already dressed in his suit.

'Yeah' replied Lucy, trying not to get drawn into conversation.

'Half term next week' he continued, 'Are you looking forward to it?' he asked.

'Oh yes', she assured him.

'I suppose you'll be sleeping in and hanging out with your friends. I spoke to Amy's Mum and she says you can spend Monday and Tuesday with Amy at their house, then you've got two days at the Stables riding and looking after the ponies and then, well, maybe I'll be able to take the day off on Friday. I'm not promising anything though.'

Lucy knew all this already. Normally hanging out with Amy and going to the stables would have been great, but she had other plans.

Lucy washed her face and cleaned her teeth before coming down to breakfast. She got her cereals and sat down at the kitchen table. Dad joined her, coffee in hand.

'So what time do you come out of school today then Luce?' Dad asked. Lucy knew that he was hoping that it wouldn't be three pm like the last time end of term and she didn't disappoint him.

'Oh, you know I've got French club after school and so I won't be out till four thirty.' Lucy was banking on already having got to Bethany's house at Merwater by that time so that Bethany could call him on his mobile and break the news. The longer it took before Dad realised what she was up to the better. She was still worried that Dad would simply get in his car and drive down the same night to drag her back home again. 'No way josé' Lucy muttered to herself. She'd fight every step of the way if he tried that.

'I'll get a DVD for tonight, what do you fancy seeing?' Dad asked.

'Oh I don't know, you choose' said Lucy noncommittally, digging into her cereals with her spoon and knowing that she wouldn't be there to watch it anyway.

Lucy looked at her father curiously as she ate. He seemed tired and crumpled, even though he'd just got up, with bags under his eyes and grey round the temples that hadn't been there before they'd lost Mum. Half of her felt sorry for him. The other half felt defiant and angry. He just made ridiculous and incomprehensible rules to stop her doing this, that and the other, but didn't seem to want to be there for her when he could. The last time he'd suggested watching a DVD together, he'd started sending text messages half way through and then he'd disappeared upstairs to send an urgent email. Sometimes she missed Mum with a yearning that gnawed away at her heart. Tonight though, she thought, she'd be at Bethany's house and she'd be happy there.

Dad switched the radio on and they listened absently to the morning news whilst Dad busied himself for work. Because Lucy had got up early she had a little more time before she was supposed to leave, as Dad believed, for school. Although she knew that she would only be away a week or so, she looked around the familiar kitchen with new eyes. Everything looked the same, but ever so slightly different from normal, as though the light had been turned up too bright and had bleached out some colour. She drained her glass of orange juice.

'Better get going Luce' said Dad, standing in front of her, coat on, ready to set off. 'Don't forget your raincoat, the weather forecast said it's going to chuck it down later. Something about a storm coming in from the West.' Lucy pulled on her raincoat, took her school bag and went outside. Dad banged the door closed behind her. He opened the car door.

'See you later Luce' called Dad. Lucy turned to look at him.

'Dad?' she said uncertainly, but he had already clunked the car door closed behind him. The engine burst into life and he backed down the drive. He gave her a brief wave, before turning the car and driving off. Lucy took a deep breath and walked up the road to Amy's house.

Amy was looking out of her bedroom window in expectation and ran down quickly appearing at the front door a moment later, yelling her goodbyes to her Mum as she ran down the front path to her friend.

'Hey Lucy, you ready?' Lucy smiled.

'Sure am' she replied.

'Come round to the back' Amy beckoned her and, glancing back to the front door to make sure Amy's Mum wasn't watching, they slipped round the side of the house to the garage. Amy lifted up the garage door. Inside, propped against the garage wall, was Amy's backpack. Lucy had been smuggling her clothes for the week ahead to Amy in her school bag during the last few days. She had her toothbrush, toothpaste and lip salve in her school bag now and quickly transferred them into her backpack.

'You sure you still want to do this?' Amy asked. 'It's not too late to change your mind you know.'

'Course I'm sure' replied Lucy, though she didn't feel it inside.

'How about you? You won't get into trouble?'

'No, it's ok' Amy assured her. 'I've faked my Mum's note about my dentist appointment. I'll get back in to school for mid-morning break. No one will ever know. I'll be fine.'

Lucy shouldered the backpack and Amy pulled the garage door back down. They took the long way round to avoid walking in front of Amy's house and any of their friends who they might bump into on their way into school. It was a fair walk into the centre of town. They were soon on the main road with the trucks and rush hour traffic streaming passed them as they walked.

'So you've got all the money you need?

'Check.'

'You know the train times?'

'Check.'

'You've got your Aunt's address?'

'Absolutely.'

'You've got my number in case of any problems?'

'Err, no, I forgot. You can write it down for me before I go, can't you?

'Sure thing' said Amy.

The sky was grey. It started drizzling. Suddenly it seemed like a really long walk into town. The two girls became aware that they were the only school children amongst the throng of people in business clothes making their way to work. They felt small and out of their depth.

They turned into Station Road, with its offices on each side and made their way to the end where the train station was. The last time she had been there, she realised, was years ago when she and Mum had met Granny and Granddad off the train. She'd been much smaller then and the station had seemed enormous to her then, with a high arched roof like a concrete barn and with the immense noise and bustle of people coming and going all the time. Lucy had imagined a big, echoing and intimidating building, but as they drew near, she realised that it wasn't half as large as she remembered it. The old building looked a little shabby and depressed pigeons perched in the portico above the entrance.

'Whatever else we do' Lucy said under her breath to Amy as they approached, 'we've just got to look confident, like we do this every day and know exactly what we're doing.'

'Let's hope no one realises that we don't then' replied Amy under her breath. They walked in through the entrance to the station. There was a small news kiosk in the foyer, the ticket window and the automated ticket machines in the corner. It was moderately busy, but not as much as Lucy had thought. They went and stood in the queue for the ticket machine.

'Why not just buy your ticket from the lady at the ticket window?' asked Amy.

'She might ask awkward questions' Lucy whispered back as they waited for the machine. The man in front stuffed coins into the slot and Lucy peered anxiously over his shoulder, trying to figure out how it worked.

'I think it can take bank notes can't it?' she asked Amy, nervously fingering the twenty pound note and two tens in her pocket. Amy furrowed her brow.

'Not sure really' she replied. 'It can't be that hard. I'm sure you'll figure it out.' The man banged the machine and something dropped out of the slot at the bottom. He scooped up the change and walked off, muttering to himself under his breath.

'Do you think it's working at all?' Lucy asked as they walked up to the machine. She selected Single ticket, standard class and then scrolled down through the destinations starting with 't' until she got to Truro. Merwater didn't have a train station and she'd have to take a bus or something when she got to Truro. She'd figure that out later. At the moment she was just worried about buying a ticket. The price came up. It was forty three pounds for a one-way ticket. That didn't leave her with much afterwards, but Amy was lending her nine pounds in coins from her own savings and that would help her for the next leg of her journey.

She fed in the bank notes and they went into the machine swiftly with a little whirring noise. Then she started to put in three pound coins, but all they did was rattle down into the change return tray at the bottom. The screen blinked at her and said that she still had three pounds to pay. Try as she might, the machine would not take the change and she became increasingly aware of a small queue of people building up behind her. Desperately she turned and caught the eye of the lady waiting next in line.

'It won't take my coins' she said. 'You don't know how to make it work do you?'

'No idea dear' replied the lady sympathetically. 'I always use a credit card personally.'

'I don't have one those' replied Lucy, embarrassed. She turned back to the machine and gave it a little bang on the side.

'You better press cancel' said Amy, studying the machine next to her. 'It's obviously not going to work.' Lucy was worried the machine wasn't going to give her bank notes back. Instead forty pound coins rattled noisily into the tray below. Lucy scooped them up guiltily and stuffed them into her pockets.

'That's just great!' she exclaimed. 'Now what?'

'You'll just have to buy your ticket from the lady at the window' replied Amy.

'Ok then, here goes.' Amy retreated to a safe distance, keeping an eye on Lucy at the window. If Lucy fluttered her hand at her side, Amy knew that would be an emergency signal to come over. She'd pretend she was Lucy's sister and that their Mum was outside and that Lucy had to come with her.

Lucy went up to the ticket window. She had to queue again and it was almost five minutes before she was able to go up. She glanced at her window nervously. Her train would be pulling in at nine twenty one and time was getting short. It was already five past nine according to the station clock. She gave the lady on the other side of the window what she hoped was a winning smile.

'Ticket to Truro please.'

'Coming back?' asked the lady pleasantly.

'Err, no' stuttered Lucy, feeling suddenly guilty. 'I'm going to visit my Aunt in Cornwall' she continued, truthfully enough and she'll be buying my return ticket.' The lady eyed her suspiciously through the glass. They had training on dealing with runaways, though runaways didn't usually look smart as Lucy did and they normally wanted to go to big towns like London or Manchester.

'Isn't it a school day?' the lady asked, looking at her school uniform.

'Yes, but I've got permission from the school. Would you like to see the letter?' she lied, making to open her bag. She had no idea if the school gave out letters like that, but it sounded plausible. The lady thought so too. She still didn't look happy though.

'You'll be an unaccompanied minor then. Minors are not allowed to travel that distance unaccompanied under the age of fourteen.' Lucy had an idea that wasn't true, but was in no position to argue.

'Well I turned fourteen last Tuesday' Lucy replied quickly, with another big fib.

'And I don't suppose you can prove that can you?' asked the lady with a raised eye-brow. Lucy started to feel panicky. Of course she couldn't prove it. She'd only just turned twelve. She started to flutter her hand at her side, so that Amy could come and rescue her. But there was a crowd of people passing just then and Amy couldn't see from the position where she was standing by the entrance. All she could see was Lucy's head and shoulders. With no rescue coming, Lucy thought desperately. She pulled out a folded piece of paper with Bethany's number from her pocket.

'I've got my Aunt's number on this piece of paper. Call her if you don't believe me.' The lady eyed the piece of paper.

'Why aren't your Mum or Dad in here with you to see you off?'

'My Dad's outside trying to park the car. He says it's a nightmare finding a parking space round here.' Her Dad had said that often enough when they went into the town centre. 'He'll be in in a minute I expect. He told me I have to learn to do things by myself.' Lucy was amazed at how easily she managed to lie.

'Go on then' the lady said resignedly. 'That'll be forty three pounds then.' Lucy started ladling pound coins out of her pocket. She gave an apologetic smile.

'Your machine's not working. I put in notes and all I got back were these.' The lady counted the coins silently and then issued her with a ticket.

'You have to change at Swindon. You know that don't you?' the lady asked. 'And the Swindon train leaves in fifteen minutes from platform three.'

'Yes thanks' Lucy replied, pocketing her ticket as she did so. She was just relieved to get away from the ticket window. As she did so unseen by Lucy, the piece of paper with Bethany's address and telephone number fluttered down the ground and was promptly scrunched underfoot by the man behind her. Lucy walked out of the ticket hall onto the platform, catching Amy's eye and getting her friend to follow her.

'How did it go?' asked Amy when they were safely round the corner.

'That was an absolute nightmare' exclaimed Lucy, leaning against the station wall in relief. 'I thought she was going to call the police or something.'

Despite her anxiety, in a strange way Lucy was more sure than ever that she was doing the right thing. When she thought of Bethany, she thought of Spirit too. She had no reason to believe that she'd get to see Spirit when she got to Cornwall, but somehow she felt that she would be nearer and that had to be a good thing.

Before they knew it, the nine twenty one train pulled into platform three and the carriage doors hissed open.

'Well goodbye then' she said to Amy shyly, giving her friend's hand a little squeeze. Lucy climbed onto the train.

'Call me when you get there!' said Amy, waving. Lucy smiled and waved her hand. The doors hissed closed and as they did so, Lucy realised that she hadn't written Amy's number down. She tried to gesture through the glass, but the train was already pulling away and Amy was lost in the crowd swilling on the platform.

Lucy started to walk along the carriage to find a seat to sit down. She and Amy had already discussed this. Amy thought that the safest place to sit was with a woman who wasn't too old and who hopefully wouldn't ask too many questions. Lucy soon found a seat next to a business woman who was studying a sheaf of papers intently. The woman kept reading and didn't even glance up as Lucy sat down. Lucy breathed another sigh of relief and stowed her back-pack under the seat in front, pulling out her reading book and settling down for the journey. Instead of reading though, she stared distractedly out of the window at the countryside as they rattled along. It started to rain.

Half an hour later Lucy became aware that the ticket inspector was making his way along the carriage, checking tickets. Lucy's heart began to race again. She didn't want any more awkward questions like she'd had at the ticket counter. The business woman next to her delved into her jacket pocket and pulled out her ticket, holding it up for the inspector as she continued to read. Lucy did the same, leaning in towards the woman in the hope that the inspector would think she was the woman's daughter and suddenly taking an intent interest in her book. It worked! The inspector clipped her ticket while she was still reading her novel and all Lucy had to do was glance up with a small smile of thanks. Either the ticket inspector thought she was the business woman's daughter, or he just wasn't interested, as he walked on down the carriage calling 'tickets' every few yards before disappearing through the sliding doors. 'It's going to be a cinch', thought Lucy.

An hour and twenty minutes later the announcement for Swindon came over the loudspeaker and the train began to slow. Lucy pulled out her bag and got ready to get up. The business woman next to her caught her eye for a second.

'You take care now' she said as Lucy got up.

'I will' said Lucy uncertainly. 'Bye!'

Lucy walked down the carriage and was soon on the platform. She looked around. There must be a notice board somewhere. She walked up the platform and found a monitor showing departures. The Truro train left in twenty five minutes or so and she sat down on a bench and waited. She looked around cautiously. She'd promised Amy to be extra careful about anyone suspicious looking and when a man sat down next to her who smelled of stale beer, she got up and walked away briskly down the platform.

It was only then that she decided to fish out the piece of paper which she had written Bethany's number and address down on. She checked one pocket and then another and then with increasing agitation she went through all her pockets and everywhere in her back pack that she could possibly have stuffed it. It was gone. Lucy felt a wave of anxiety come over her again. She could get to Merwater, but she had no idea of her Aunt's address. There was a payphone just next to her. She could still call her Dad. He'd made her memorise his mobile number ages ago. Otherwise she could just go back home again and he'd never know what she'd been up to. Just then the Truro train pulled slowly into the station, its breaks squeaking as it came to a halt. If she didn't get on it right now, she may as well go home. Amy would be glad to see her back she knew, but she wouldn't feel happy if she did. The doors of the train opened in front of her. She glanced at the payphone, then she swung her bag up onto one shoulder and stepped onto the train. The doors slid shut behind her and the train juddered as it started to move off. She'd get to Bethany's house somehow or other she thought, but quite how, she wasn't sure.

Lucy couldn't find a youngish woman to sit down next to, so she sat down next to an older lady instead.

'You travelling alone dear?' asked the lady with a friendly look on her face.

'Yes I'm going to stay with my aunt for the school holidays' said Lucy brightly. She'd been running the conversation round in her head in case anybody asked her.

'She meeting you off the train is she?' the lady replied, obviously concerned for the safety of a young girl travelling on her own.

'That's right' Lucy replied. 'She'll be waiting for me there when I arrive' she added unconvincingly.

'Well I'm getting off there too' said the lady. 'I'll wait with you till your aunt finds you.'

'Oh there's no need' replied Lucy nervously. That was the last thing she needed.

'No trouble!' replied the lady. She then started telling Lucy a long story about her grandchildren and about the snow the previous Christmas and how they'd been cut off for two days because of it. Lucy half listened and half wondered about what to say to the lady when the train reached Truro.

The ticket inspector came round to check the tickets.

'Is this young woman with you?' she asked the lady as they handed over their tickets.

'Not exactly, but I'm going to make sure she's safely in the hands of her aunt before I leave her' the lady replied firmly. The ticket inspector smiled and Lucy blushed slightly as she put her ticket away. The woman asked her about her family and Lucy told her all about her Aunt and how she was an artist living near Merwater. She thought at this point the lady might let her be if her story sounded credible. Eventually, with several stops along the way, the announcement came over the loudspeaker that Truro was the next stop. Lucy rose and the woman stood up arthritically. She smiled.

'Now, let's find that Aunt of yours shall we!' she said, as they stepped down onto the platform.

Chapter Thirteen:

The figure ahead of Spirit in the water swam slowly towards him.

'Who are you?' he asked cautiously.

'You know me young dolphin' the voice replied. Spirit peered towards the silhouette that was slowly approaching. He was too wary to swim forward himself. The voice did sound familiar though.

'Is that you Shimmer?' he asked finally remembering where he had heard the voice before. It belonged to the old dolphin who had spoken to him after the dolphin council. She had seen him with Lucy and warned him not to turn his back on his own pod. Now here she was, alone and far from home.

'It certainly is young man.' She swam up close and Spirit could make out her ancient and battle scarred face. 'What brings you to this part of the sea, alone?' she asked, fixing him with a critical eye.

'I am on my coming of age swim' replied Spirit nervously.

'Something tells me that's without Storm or your pod's permission' replied Shimmer.

'But all young dolphins take their coming of age swim alone' said Spirit defensively.

'Indeed.' The old dolphin looked thoughtful, swimming slowly around him, studying him from all sides. 'If he is ready to be an equal of all those in the pod that is.'

'Well I am ready to be an equal of all the others.' Spirit felt irritated that she might not consider him to be so.

'But what if that dolphin is special and needs special protection? What then?' Shimmer continued to swim slowly around him.

'Well I don't need special protection!'

'But you are special' continued Shimmer, as though she were thinking out loud. 'You are a Child-Seer and your gift is barely known to you, let alone Storm and the rest of your pod.'

'I am safer with my gift than without' replied Spirit, uneasy at the way the old dolphin continued to study him. She was silent for a long time, pondering over what he had said.

'I believe you' she said at last. 'Trust in yourself and your ability, but do not turn your back on your pod' she continued, almost dreamily. 'Always return to them.'

'I will, I will' Spirit assured her hurriedly. 'I could never lose them.' Shimmer brought her attention back to him again.

'Then I am glad' she said. 'But remember what I told you when we met before. Keep your thoughts on this world and your family and you will not go too far wrong. Learn from my sister's mistake.'

'Of course' he said simply, 'But why are you alone and away from your own pod Shimmer?' he asked.

'Ah!' exclaimed Shimmer thoughtfully. 'You are just coming of age, but I am an old dolphin and I am taking my last swim and that is one that I must take alone. I will not see you again young dolphin, but I wish you well.'

Shimmer continued to swim slowly around him and she floated behind him out of view for a moment as he digested her words. Suddenly Spirit realised that he could no longer see her and he glanced round to see where she had gone. But she was nowhere to be seen. It was as though she had simply dissolved into the water. He was alone again.

Spirit swum on, wondering about Shimmer and what had become of her. He thought of his pod, of Dancer, Storm and the others and what they might be doing or saying now. He thought about Lucy and the strange and inexplicable way that she had of coming to him. Would he end up like Shimmer's sister, neglecting his pod and losing his own life as a result? He thought not. He wondered what the next week might hold in store for him and how he would feel when once again he returned to his pod. Would they be angry or happy to see him once again?

Spirit sensed a change in the current, in its smell and temperature and adjusted his course slightly as he headed onwards towards the mainland which he knew to be far off in the distance. He felt as though he had been swimming for ever. He was becoming tired and knew that he needed to eat again soon.

With Shimmer's disappearance, Spirit started to feel lonely again and a distant, hollow ache of emptiness came upon him, reminding him of the time just after his mother had disappeared. It had been a horrible feeling, as though his world had been torn in two. Of course it wasn't so bad now, 'I'm on an adventure!' he told himself resolutely. But still, he wished that Dancer was with him right now to share his adventure, or Lucy, or Summer or even Storm.

Spirit remembered what his mother had told him when he was still just a young calf. He would swim close to her in the water, just by her left flank, where he felt safe and protected. When they stopped he would rest his side against hers to drop off to sleep.

'Remember', she would say to him, 'that we are all connected. All life in the ocean. Not only you and me and the other dolphins in our pod, but we are connected, each and every one of us, to all living things that dwell here. You may think that krill and plankton are too small and inconspicuous to notice, but without them, we could not survive. They are the stuff of life and are eaten by the small fry and the great whales alike. Octopus, hermit crabs, shell fish, dolphins and whales. We all rely on each other, even when it is not obvious how.'

'Even sharks?' the young Spirit had asked his mother.

'Yes, sharks too' his mother had assured him. 'Even though sometimes they may attack us, they have a place in the oceans too and we would be poorer without them.'

'And humans?' Spirit had heard of humans, but had never seen them at that point. He knew that they were creatures of the land, but that sometimes they swum in the sea too. His mother paused and turned to look at him, smiling gently.

'Humans are the most dangerous creatures of all, because they are not of the sea and they do not understand how to behave here. But yes, even they are connected to us, more than you might think. Come now, let's catch up with the others' she had said and they swam off to join the rest of the pod. Spirit wondered now whether she had known it was possible to have links with humans as he now had with Lucy, but he would never know. She was gone and lost to him forever. Whatever she might have been able to teach him, he could only guess at.

Slowly Spirit became aware of sounds in the distance. There was a high, metallic, clanging noise, quite alien to the types of sounds he normally heard in the sea and which caused a jarring, discordant feeling in his head. Even though the strange sounds were far off, he didn't like them at all. They gave him a sharp headache with a dull throbbing behind his eyes as if he'd swum headlong into a submerged rock. He'd have swum away from the noise if he could, but he couldn't tell which direction it was coming from.

Spirit was determined to persevere though and before long he put his head up above the waves and was rewarded with the view of cliffs in the distance. Soon he would be in waters where he would be safe from all predators and it would be great to explore along the coast. When he returned to the pod he'd be able to regale them with his adventures. He'd know as much as Storm and Summer and all of the rest of them he thought. He'd be an equal to them all at last. With these thoughts, he swam on with a firmer stroke of his tail, in the knowledge that soon he'd be able to rest and then feed. Even though the distant metallic noise was still causing him a headache, he felt happy and eager to have almost arrived.

Two miles away, at the edge of a small sandy beach snuck away between the granite stone cliffs, a man stood on a wooden landing stage talking into his mobile phone. The man, in his early thirties, wore black sunglasses, although it was hardly sunny enough to justify them and his hair was slicked back with hair cream. He wore brightly coloured Bermuda shorts and his tee shirt was obscured by the life jacket that was half zipped up. He idly tapped the toe of his flip-flop against the wooden decking as he talked away into his mobile phone.

'Yeah darling' he was saying 'I'll come over in the convertible once I'm done here. We'll burn some rubber and scare some yokels on the way.' He grinned at what the woman on the other end of the phone was saying and extricated some chewing gum from his mouth which he stuck to the wooden pole on which he was leaning.

'See ya doll' he said before ending the call and slipping the mobile phone into his pocket. He looked around expectantly and saw the young guy getting his jet ski ready.

'You ready with that thing yet mate?' he called. 'I haven't got all day!'

'Almost done' the young man called back. 'Bloomin grockles' he muttered under his breath to himself. These city-types could be so brash and ignorant and this one in particular was really getting on Dan's nerves. The man was so impatient and had more money than sense. Dan had already told him carefully how to ride the Jet Ski, but he was sure the guy was not going to take any notice at all.

'Ok, she's ready to go' said Dan.

'About time too. Let's rev her up and get on out there.'

'Now remember what I said....'

'Yeah, yeah yeah' said the man, kicking off his flip-flops and getting down into the shallow water where the jet ski was waiting. 'I've taken some pretty powerful motorbikes through their paces and I've driven cars that'd make you say sweet mother. This thing's not going to be any problem for me.' He started the engine and the jet ski spat out water from the back. He revved it up and the Jet Ski jerked forward before the engine cut out again.

'Don't you worry, I'll soon have this baby going.' This time the engine roared into life and the jet ski pulled off into open water. He gave Dan a dismissive wave.

'Slowly at first' called Dan, 'and stay where I can keep an eye on you from here!' He might as well have been talking to himself. The guy probably hadn't heard a word he'd said. He watched as the man put the machine through its paces. Though Dan hated to say it, the guy seemed to get the hang of it pretty quickly. The Jet Ski scudded over the low waves and turned easily enough, left and right without getting into trouble. Most beginners would have come a-cropper by now thought Dan. 'The jammy so and so!' It wasn't a warm day and no one was swimming in the sea nearby. 'Just as well' Dan said to himself.

Suddenly with a roar, the man on the Jet Ski put on an extra spurt of speed and shot off in the direction of the open sea to the right of the looming cliff face.

'Hey come back!' shouted Dan, vainly waving his arms to attract the man's attention. The man didn't look back though and soon he'd disappeared out of site round a screen of rock at the edge of the sandy cove.

'Right' thought Dan angrily, 'I'm charging you double, no triple, for that!' He glanced towards his walkie-talkie back in the hut. If he couldn't see what the guy was doing, he didn't know if he was safe. 'If that fool's not back in ten minutes' he said to himself, 'I'm going to have to alert the coastguard. There's no knowing what trouble that grockle is going to get himself into.'

Spirit's headache was getting progressively worse now. The metallic noise seemed to be all around him in the sea and nowhere at the same time. His head pulsed and the blinding pain behind his eyes made him feel woozy and sick.

'You're ok, it'll pass' Spirit tried to reassure himself. Spirit knew that his normally reliable sense of direction wasn't holding up, so he decided to stop and ride the waves a while to rest and to try to get his bearings. He glanced up as he took a lung full of air through his blow-hole. The cliffs were quite close to him now, in fact much closer than he had thought. He'd never seen anything so high and imposing. The rocks he and Dancer had explored under the waves seemed much more alive than the grey, sheer rock-face he could see above the water. Seagulls wheeled above him and he could hear the gulls call to each other. That metallic noise was so bad now that he could hardly see. There was a real danger that he might either ground himself or find himself smashed on to the rocks by the swell and currents of the sea. 'Pull yourself together' thought Spirit. 'Is the coast such a safe place after all?' he thought to himself.

Suddenly there was a great clanging roar and this metal thing almost raced over his head. The rush of metal and noise so close to him all of a sudden shocked him and Spirit felt more disorientated than ever. The pain in his head now was so severe that he did not dare dive. He could sense the nauseating smell of petrol and smoke that the Jet Ski left in its wake as it had passed almost over the top of his head.

The man whooped to himself. This was fun! He was getting the hang of it now as the Jet Ski scudded from wave to wave. He liked the feeling of power the machine gave him as he revved its engine. He'd quickly given that yokel, Dan, the slip and now he was free to do whatever he wanted. 'This is the life' he thought. This'd be something to tell the lads back home about! As he powered on the man suddenly realised that he'd almost ridden over the head of a dolphin.

'Hey, dolphin!' cried the man to himself. 'Let's take another look at you!' He turned the Jet Ski in a tight circle and roared back in the direction of Spirit again. Spirit, disorientated, in pain and barely able to see, turned and started swimming away, hardly able to tell which way he was headed, but not daring to fully submerge himself for fear of drowning, he felt so bad.

'Yo dolphin!' the man shouted over the roar of engine and the sound of the waves. 'You want to race? I'll give you a race!' The man turned his jet ski in the water and bore down on Spirit again, throttle out, knuckles white as he gripped the handles of his machine. Spirit fled in front of him, dazed and confused and the man practically ran him down, with Spirit diving under water just as the Jet Ski passed over where his head had been a moment before. Spirit swam on underwater, even though he didn't want to, he knew that it was the only way to escape the man and machine above.

'Help me Lucy, help me!' Spirit implored, but he had no sense that Lucy was able to hear him or realise the danger he was in, or that she would come to his rescue at all. He still felt so sick in his head and, at that moment, could see no way out. The day which had started so promisingly, he feared, might well turn out to be his last.

Several hours after she'd sat down next to the older lady on the Truro train and after everything that had happened that day, Lucy felt physically and mentally exhausted. She slumped where she sat, resting her head in her arms, looking absently at the table beneath her elbows. Lucy was about ready to drop. Her eyelids flickered. 'I'll just close my eyes and rest them for a few seconds' she thought. As soon as she did so though, sleep engulfed her. But it was not a peaceful dream. No sooner had her eyes closed, than Spirit was there in front of her, swimming for his life, while a terrible metallic engine noise droned above him, its dark shadow passing across the surface of the water. What Lucy saw so shocked her, that she jerked into consciousness, immediately finding herself back in the room, with her elbows on the table, alarmingly awake.

'What's going on?' she thought to herself, 'What's happening to Spirit?' What was certain was that Spirit was in trouble, serious trouble and if she didn't do something right now, he might be badly hurt, or worse. Lucy couldn't will herself back to sleep, not after the shock she'd just had and instead she had to try to find the way back there by focusing the conscious part of her mind and find that secret portal into the world of water. The trouble was though, that the only times she had done so before was in the comfort of her own bedroom at home, sitting in a position that she knew worked, while she looked out of the window and then sort of let her mind go out of focus, so she could become aware of that alternate reality just hidden out of the view of her normal conscious mind. There was no chance of doing so here though and her brain was so agitated that she didn't know if she could slip into that relaxed state that she needed to attain.

'You've got to, you've got to' she told herself determinedly. She took her head in her hands again and focused instead on the table in front of her, studying every detail of the wood, before then letting her mind drift backwards. It wouldn't work and so she started again, trying to maintain that delicate balance between focus and relaxation. Without quite knowing how, she suddenly found it again and felt herself plunging into the cold salty waters, floating effortlessly along to where Spirit was swimming desperately away from the menacing machine above him.

'Spirit, what's going on?' she called to her friend. Spirit turned and smiled at her, relief breaking over his face. Lucy could tell though that he felt terrible. The engine noise above was bad enough for her, but it was much, much worse for him.

'Lucy, help me, that machine...' He trailed off, barely able to speak. Lucy glanced up. She could see the outline of the Jet Ski circling in the water above them and heard the noise of the revving engine.

'It's no good' mumbled Spirit, barely coherent, I've got to breath again.' He swam up to the surface and took another lungful of sweet air through his blowhole, but no sooner did he do so, than the Jet Ski was bearing down on him again, engine roaring.

'Come on you stupid dolphin' the man yelled into the air. 'Show yourself, come to Daddy!' 'This is great sport' the man thought to himself as he churned round in tight circles, before rushing at the sickening dolphin again. 'The lads back home won't believe what I'm getting an eyeful of.'

Spirit dived back under water for safety, but Lucy knew instinctively that he couldn't last much longer. If he was by a beach he'd have beached himself by now she thought, just to escape that terrible noise. At this rate he'll dash himself against the rocks. The water was getting shallower here and the rocks weren't far below. He tried to run and hide, but Lucy knew he was in no state to out-swim that terrible machine and he would soon need to surface for air again. She went up close to him again and got as near as she could to his ear.

'Spirit, listen to me. You can't outrun that thing, you can't escape it, so you've got to confront it. You've got to fight back!'

'What, how?' Spirit answered, hardly able to concentrate on what she was trying to tell him. 'I can't, I've got to get away from it...'

'That's what I'm trying to say' replied Lucy. 'To escape it, you've got to confront it. You've got to take a great big running jump at it!' They both looked up at the outline of the Jet Ski in the water above them. 'Look, it's just about to turn' Lucy continued. They could hear revving above them, just before the man let the throttle out for another surge of speed. 'When it comes at you next, you have to swim at it as hard as you can and when you're close, you must jump clean out of the water, as high as you can, right towards it.'

'You think so?' asked Spirit.

'I know so' replied Lucy with certainty. 'He's a coward, I'm sure of it, just like some bullies in the playground I know!'

As the Jet Ski finished turning and began its next run, Spirit summoned up all his remaining energy. He surged forward, going headlong straight at the approaching machine. 'Like two knights jousting' thought Lucy to herself. He burst from the water, in a great jump, as high as he could, aiming straight at the man and machine.

'What the blue blazes?!' yelled the man as the dolphin broke through the water towards him. He had barely a moment to think and tried turning the Jet Ski as sharply as he could to avoid being struck by the dolphin flying through the air towards him. Instead he sent the machine crashing into the water and flung himself off it forcefully. The dolphin sailed elegantly over his head and sliced back into the water again. This time it was the man's turn to feel dazed and confused as he tumbled over in the waves, the water boiling up into his eyes, mouth and ears, not knowing which way was up and which way was down.

The engine of the Jet Ski cut out and instantly Spirit felt the terrible pain in his head subside.

'You've done it, you've done it!' cried Lucy delightedly by his side. 'You beat him.'

'We beat him' replied Spirit with relief, 'I couldn't have done it without you.'

'Swim away with me' said Lucy urging him to swim away from the rocks. They swam clear and then surfacing, they turned to glance back at the man and his machine.

'Do you think he's okay?' asked Spirit, worried now for the man that only a minute before had brought him near to death. They could see his yellow life jacket. He'd swum back to Jet Ski, floating listlessly on its side in the water. He was trying to turn the throttle, but there was no way he could get it started again. Lucy glanced away. In the distance she could see the yellow shape of the local lifeboat making its way towards them.

'He'll be ok' she assured her friend. 'Help is on it's way. Let's go!' Spirit swam away, with Lucy gliding along by his side, but after the initial burst of adrenalin and excitement, Lucy could feel an enormous weight of tiredness pulling her back inexorably to the chair and the table where her physical self was sitting, in the dry world above.

'I've got to go' Lucy said to her friend. I can't hang on any longer, it's just too tiring. Take care of yourself!' she called, as she began to fade away. Spirit turned.

'Goodbye Lucy!' he said. And then she was gone.

Spirit rested awhile and watched as the lifeboat approached and quickly pulled the man to safety and up onboard, before moving off, towing the Jet Ski on its side behind it. The lifeboat made noise as well, but the sound wasn't as bad and Spirit quickly felt the great pain in his head lifting. He felt his mind grow clear and with it the energy came flooding back into his body. They'd done it! Between him and Lucy, they could achieve anything!

Spirit felt the urge to swim, so great was his relief and exhilaration and he darted off through the water, leaping and turning this way and that. He dived and turned effortlessly now through a chicane of rocks at the base of the cliff. It felt so good again to be a dolphin exploring the world around him. The rocks seemed to curve around to his left and Spirit plunged into a forest of kelp, hanging suspended in the water, undulating gently in the waves.

Suddenly, he felt a searing pain over his back and on his underside too. He thrashed instinctively to escape it, but that only made the pain worse. He had swum into a great tangle of thick steel wire that hung suspended from a discarded buoy, that was in turn lodged in the rocks at the base of the cliff. The steel cord had been completely hidden by the curtains of kelp, but now Spirit was ensnared in its coils. He struggled again, certain that one last thrash of his tail would set him free, but instead the steel noose tightened around him, cutting into his skin just above his tail. He was trapped!

Chapter Fourteen:

Lucy and the lady stood on the platform at Truro station, Lucy with her back pack slung up onto her shoulders and the lady with a small suitcase on wheels parked next to her. A voice echoed over their heads with some announcement or other and people walked along the platform towards the exit.

'Can you see you aunt from here?' asked the lady brightly, 'or shall we walk up the platform to the exit?'

'Well, I'm not sure really' said Lucy uncertainly. They advanced slowly up the platform and went through the ticket barrier.

'Can you see her now?' the lady asked again.

'No, I'd better just go to the bus station and get a bus' replied Lucy, hoping the lady would let her go.

'But I thought that you said your aunt would be meeting you here at the train station?'

'Or that I'd get the bus' added Lucy defensively.

'But what if your aunt gets here just after you've left?'

'Oh she won't mind' said Lucy. This lady just asked too many questions and was catching her out. What was she going to do?

'Maybe we should just wait here together until your Aunt arrives' pondered the lady speculatively.

'Oh I can just wait here alone.' Lucy hoped that this might be her chance to escape the lady at last.

'Stations are not safe places dear' replied the lady firmly. I think I should just wait here with you, just to make sure. Lucy looked around. It was still only early afternoon and it looked perfectly safe to her. Everyone had left the train now and if anything it looked a little quiet to her. The lady seemed to read her mind.

'You get odd types hanging around stations sometimes when it's quiet.' The lady cast her a quizzical glance. 'Are you sure your Aunt was going to meet you here?'

'No, I think actually she said I should get the bus.' Lucy's fibs were taking her around in circles.

'Do you know where the bus station is?' The lady was obviously getting increasingly sceptical about her story. Lucy desperately guessed which way she should go.

'Err, it's that way' she said, gesturing down the street to the left.

'And then where?' asked the lady.

'Just, err, down there, and, err, turn left' mumbled Lucy. She looked up at the lady. She could tell she'd got the direction of the bus station completely wrong. 'I can always ask anyway' she added hopefully.

'Listen dear' said the lady with a concerned look on her face. 'You do really have an Aunt do you?

'Oh yes' answered Lucy emphatically.

'And you're really on your way to Merwater to visit her?' the lady added.

'Yes of course.' Lucy smiled. Telling the truth was much easier.

'And she knows that you're coming does she?' the lady continued.

'Err, well, no, not exactly.' The lady pulled a face as if to say she thought as much.

'Maybe we should call your Aunt to tell her you're on your way' the lady suggested, her face concerned. Normally Lucy would have been glad to oblige, but she'd lost Bethany's address and telephone number on the train. She couldn't agree even if she wanted to. She considered her options. Honesty was probably the best policy if she wanted to avoid getting into anymore trouble.

'I've lost my piece of paper with the phone number on' she admitted. 'It must have fallen out when I pulled my money out to buy the ticket' she added. 'I'd call her if I could. Really I would.'

'What's her address then?'

'Err, that was on the same piece of paper' answered Lucy, a worried look upon her face.

'Then how will you find her house?'

'Oh err, you know, I'll know once I get there.' The lady looked disapproving.

'Maybe I should just drive you there.'

'Oh no, Dad told me never to take lifts from strangers!' replied Lucy. The lady paused and smiled. It was obvious that Lucy was a sensible girl and although she hadn't exactly been truthful with her, she seemed to have common sense, the lady thought. The girl was smartly dressed and who ever heard of anyone running away to Merwater. She decided to give Lucy the benefit of the doubt.

'I tell you what we're going to do' she said firmly. You and I are going to walk to the bus depot. I'm going to put you on the bus to Merwater. You're going to call me when you get there. If I don't get a call from you and your Aunt within an hour of your getting there, I shall be calling the police. Is that clear?'

'Yes' said Lucy simply. She had no idea really where the bus station was and it was a relief to have someone to help her. The lady seemed nice enough really, but Dad had always drummed into her that she should never take lifts from strangers, no matter how friendly they looked and it was much better for her to take the bus really. She'd figure out how to find Bethany once she got there. She knew that Merwater was a small place. Someone must know Bethany she reckoned.

She and the lady turned right up Station Road and then Richmond Hill. It got confusing then, but after a while she noticed they were on Kenwyn Street and kept an eye on the way they were going in case she needed to retrace her steps later. The lady quizzed her as they walked companionably along, checking her Dad's name and town, the name of Lucy's school and finding out all about Bethany, her art and how long she'd lived there. Lucy had given up all attempts at lying by this time and answered the lady's questions as truthfully as she could.

They found the right bus stand for Merwater and checked the bus times. The bus didn't arrive for another forty five minutes and so the lady insisted that Lucy join her in a nearby café for a soft drink and a sandwich. Lucy was feeling hungry by that point and gladly wolfed down the sandwich and drink. Lucy carefully wrote down the lady's name and phone number; Agnes Trescothick. She saw Lucy onto the bus.

'Thank you for helping me Mrs Trescothick' said Lucy, turning to look back at the kindly lady, from the step of the bus.

'You remember what I said' replied Mrs Trescothick firmly. 'If I don't receive your call within an hour of arriving, you know who I shall call?'

'Yes Mrs Trescothick' replied Lucy obediently. She felt awkward enough already. She certainly didn't want the police appearing from nowhere. Mrs Trescothick waited while she bought a ticket and sat down.

'Bye!' she called through the window.

'Bye now dear' called Mrs Trescothick. She watched as the bus pulled away and turned the corner. Then she looked in her handbag and fished out her mobile phone. She spent several minutes talking on the phone with an intent look on her face, before dropping her phone back into her bag and turning to walk back up the road, pulling her little suitcase on wheels behind.

Lucy settled back into the seat on the bus. It wasn't very comfortable, but she was glad to feel that she was drawing closer to her destination. She was still worried about finding Bethany once she got there, but there must be someone she could ask, she thought. It didn't stop her feeling anxious though. She still wasn't sure what Bethany might say when she arrived and she knew that Dad would absolutely hit the roof when he found out. He might just turn up and drag her back home that night. The bus bumped along the road. She saw Merwater on the road signs, as the bus slowed and turned right into a smaller road.

When Lucy was younger and they drove to the seaside, she would expect to see the sea sparkling on the other side of every hill they went over and she would imagine the smell of salt spray in her nostrils tens of miles before they got there. She imagined that now as she sat on the bus. As the bus turned, her sense of expectation heightened and she craned her neck to see over the hedgerow in the hope of seeing the sea. She could just about make something out through the thicket of green and then the hedge dipped and yes, oh yes, there was the sea, glittering below them. A moment later she had lost sight of it again, but it filled her heart with excitement to glimpse the sea down there, full of promise. She felt as though somehow she were coming home.

The bus began to make its slow descent down towards Merwater. Fields gave way to houses and then the bus turned down the steep road into the centre of the small town, past the terraced cottages, fashionable cafes and tourist shops. The bus pulled up, its brakes squealing and Lucy stood up, stiff from sitting and joined the five or so other people disembarking from the bus. She stood by the bus stop, looking around, trying to acclimatise herself and to get her bearings. There was the harbour in front of her, the fishing boats and pleasure boats vying for position and beyond it, the sea! The sun had just come out and Lucy wished she could run and dive into the salty waters there and then, although it was still too early in the year to be warm enough to do so. A gull sat on a bollard and regarded her disdainfully. Lucy glanced behind her. There was a small car park and she saw a sign for a tourist information office. The other people on the bus walked off into the town and she wondered whether she should follow them. She glanced at her watch. It was ten past two. She had made good time. She looked around her again, half expecting Bethany to appear out of nowhere in front of her.

As Lucy watched, she spotted the figure of a middle aged, comfortably built lady who appeared to be coming towards her. The lady took quick steps, as though she were late for something and clasped her cardigan around her in an effort to keep out the breeze from the sea. The woman got closer.

'Is your name Lucy?' she called. Lucy was amazed.

'Err, yes it is. Who are you?' she replied cautiously.

'My name's Thelma Merryweather dear' replied the lady, evidently out of breath. 'A friend of yours asked me to come and meet you, but I got stuck on the phone and was worried you'd be gone by the time I got here.'

'What, who?' was all Lucy could say, still confused.

'Agnes Trescothick dear.' Thelma looked at the young girl in her smart school uniform, rucksack on her back. She hadn't been hard to spot. None of the local schools had that kind of uniform. 'Agnes gave me a call after she put you on the bus. Don't look so surprised, everyone knows everyone else round here!' She smiled at the young girl reassuringly. 'She wasn't just going to let you gallivant off all on your own now was she? It was either call me or call the police you know.' Lucy opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again. She thought for a moment.

'Do you know my Aunt, Bethany Ames?' Lucy asked.

'Oh goodness me yes, I know Bethany!' replied Thelma. 'Why she was in my kitchen just the other day.'

'Do you know where she lives then' asked Lucy excitedly.

'Well, sort of, but not exactly' replied Thelma. 'But we can find out easily enough though' she added. Thelma turned and pointed to a shop-front a hundred or so metres away. 'You see that shop window over there? That's one of them fancy galleries run by some man down from London. They've got a couple of your Aunt's pictures in the window. They'll know your Aunt Bethany's address, I'm sure of it.'

They walked across to the small gallery.

'Just you wait here a minute' said Thelma, 'I'll be back in a jiffy!' She disappeared into the shop, the bell on the door tinging as she went in. Lucy was glad really. She wanted to stay outside, after having been sat in a stuffy train and then a bus all day and she lingered by the window, looking at the pictures on display. Although she knew that Bethany was an artist, she had never actually seen any of Bethany's work. Now, staring at the pictures in the window, she realised that two of them were on prominent display. A small sign was next to each of them, 'Bethany Ames. Award winning local artist.' She looked with a mixture of pride and curiosity at the two pictures.

The first was a picture of a storm at sea. There was a great swirl of blue, black, grey and green, all in different hues. The wind picked up the sea and had thrown angry waves this way and that. The clouds were low and the way Bethany had painted the picture, it was hard to tell where the sea ended and the waves began. The waves and clouds all seemed to swirl around in the middle and there was a distant glimmer of light which seemed to illuminate the windswept scene below. As Lucy looked, she suddenly realised that there was a tiny figure in the water, almost lost amidst the drama of the scene; a small figure of a child, clinging to drift wood, slung this way and that by the violence of the storm. Lucy peered at the figure and realised that it was a young girl, of a similar age to herself. The thought gave her a shiver down her spine. She imagined herself in the eye of the storm and wondered how she would feel. Would she be scared for her life, or would her friend Spirit come and save her? She searched intently for the outline of a dolphin approaching the girl, battling through the waves to get to her. She half thought that she could see one, but was not quite sure. Maybe her eyes were deceiving her.

Then she looked at the other picture by Bethany in the window. It was much smaller than the first. This too was of a girl, looking solemnly out of the picture into the distance, as though the girl were looking far, far away. For a moment Lucy thought that it was a picture of her, then with a shock she realised it was a painting of her mother Megan, Bethany's sister. Lucy felt weak and slumped against the window of the shop to support herself, she thought she would faint. The girl, her mother, looked pale, almost like a ghost. Tears pricked in Lucy's eyes and a lump caught painfully in her throat.

Just then Thelma bustled out of the door of the gallery again, the bell of the door clanging behind her. Lucy stood up again and quickly wiped the corner of each eye.

'Well I've got it' she announced, holding a piece of paper in her hand. Do you want to give your Bethany a call?' Thelma produced an elderly looking mobile phone from her pocket and tapped in the number before handing it to Lucy. Lucy held it to her ear but all she heard was a flat tone. She pulled a face.

'There's terrible reception up there behind the town' she said, 'and I don't think Bethany has a landline. It's the luck of the draw whether you get through at all sometimes' she continued. 'There's only one thing for it, we'd better take a drive up there and see if she's in.'

'I'm not supposed to get in cars with strangers' said Lucy uncertainly.

'Well I can't very well post you there can I and we've got to do something with you haven't we?' replied Thelma with an understanding smile.

'I suppose I could leave a message in the gallery.' Dad always told her she should make sure at least someone knew where she was. She couldn't imagine someone like Thelma doing anything strange and she had to get to Bethany's somehow. She knew her aunt lived out of town and she didn't have enough money left to get a taxi. Lucy went into the gallery and left a message. The gallery owner was very understanding and Lucy quickly scribbled a note, just in case. She soon emerged, feeling happier. They walked back over the road to the small car park by the harbour.

'I've got my Nate's old pick-up today' said Thelma conversationally, as they crossed the road. 'He's a fisherman you know and the bloomin' thing stinks of fish!' She unlocked the battered car and Thelma cleared papers off the passenger seat so that Lucy could sit down. Thelma was right; it certainly did smell of fish. Lucy wrinkled her nose in distaste, but fortunately Thelma wound down the window and the breeze blew away the worst of the smell. 'Right, let's get going then.'

The car engine growled into life and they set off back up the hill Lucy had come down forty minutes before on the bus. Before she knew it, they were in the countryside again, but this time on a narrow country lane, with banks steeped up on either side of them. Eventually they turned through a farm gate and into an open farm yard.

'There it is' said Thelma nodding her head towards an old farm building tucked away in the corner. 'That's where your Bethany lives.' They got out of the car. Lucy felt a mixture of anxiety and anticipation as she stepped out onto the mud of the farm yard, slinging her bag up on her back. A cow mooed from a corrugated shed on one side of the yard and the rich smell of well-rotted manure wafted over in the breeze from the fields down the hill.

'Go on then' said Thelma smiling. 'Go and knock on the door.' The weather-worn door was not on the latch and so when Lucy knocked it, it swung back. She pushed it open and looked inside.

'Bethany?' she called. Lucy heard a noise from the interior and then Bethany appeared, paintbrush in hand, wearing old torn jeans and a sweater with splodges of paint on it.

'Lucy!' she cried, amazed to see her niece shyly looking round the door into her home. 'What on earth are you doing here?!'

After Bethany got over the initial shock of Lucy suddenly turning up unannounced and Thelma had told her how she had come to collect Lucy from the bus stop, Thelma explained that she had to get back to cover reception at the surgery and left. Lucy and Bethany found themselves alone.

'Oh, it's so good to see you Kiddo' said Bethany affectionately, giving Lucy a big hug. 'I've been thinking a lot about you since your text and our chat on the phone a few days ago. I really felt torn about what to do for the best. But here you are now anyway!'

Lucy smiled shyly and hugged Bethany in reply. It was a relief to be there at last, but she still didn't feel safe, not till she knew how Dad would react. It was three o'clock now and Dad was expecting to pick her up from French club at four thirty. She or Bethany would have to give him a call soon and that was the moment that Lucy was dreading.

'Look at you, in your uniform, coming all this way on your own!' Bethany exclaimed. 'I almost jumped out of my skin when I saw you, you gave me such a surprise. A good one though!' she added hastily. Bethany could tell that Lucy was feeling very vulnerable just at that moment and wasn't ready to speak, so she went to the kitchen area to make a drink whilst Lucy stared out of the window.

'It's beautiful here' Lucy said absently. She wandered over to the easel where Bethany had been working. She recognised the face of the ornithologist that Bethany was painting as a commission. She'd seen him on a wildlife programme on the TV. The painting was almost finished. It looked really good.

Lucy glanced down. Propped up against the wall was another picture half finished, of a young girl, standing with her back to the sea, the wind blowing her hair across her face, half obscuring it. It was another picture of Mum, Bethany's sister. But it wasn't a picture of Mum as an adult, the painting showed her as a child, of about Bethany's own age, like the one in the gallery window in town. Lucy felt her legs go weak again.

Just at that moment Bethany came up behind her with the drink she had prepared. Lucy turned and looked at her with anguish in her eyes.

'Do you keep painting pictures of Mum because she's dead?' she asked simply. Bethany's face crumpled up in tears. She slowly put the two mugs down.

'I guess so' she whispered quietly, trying to hold back the emotion. 'I guess I do.' She hugged Lucy again tightly and Lucy could feel Bethany's salty tears dripping down onto her face. Lucy wished she could cry too, but just at that moment she just felt numb. They stood there together for a minute or so and then Bethany stood back, wiping her red eyes with a handkerchief.

'I'd have put it away if I'd known you were coming' she said. 'I suppose you saw the one in the gallery in Merwater. It's not for sale you know. Just for show because the owner Lionel there asked me specially to show it.'

'But why do you paint her the same age as me?' Lucy asked, emotion clutching at her throat.

'That's just how I always think of Megan, your Mum I mean. I always think back to the time when we were girls together, down here over the summer.' She smiled and sniffed, wiping her eyes again. 'It's funny how the mind works.'

A few minutes later Lucy glanced at her watch. 'Oh no' she thought, it was already a quarter to four.

'We've got to phone Dad' she said to Bethany with a heavy heart. 'He'll be picking me up at four thirty from school.' Right now Bethany wasn't going to ask any difficult questions. She could find out more later.

'Yes of course' she said. 'But the reception's terrible here. We'll have to walk up to the top of the hill to get a better signal.' She glanced out of the window. It was beginning to rain. 'Second thoughts, I'll ask Mary in the farmhouse if we can use their landline. She'll understand. This is no weather to be traipsing up the hill. Come on then' she said, guessing Lucy's emotions from her face, 'we'd better get it over and done with.'

They went out together and crossed the muddy yard to the farmhouse. Just at the farmhouse door, Lucy stopped and looked up at her Aunt imploringly.

'Do you think you could speak to him first, while I wait outside? I just...' She trailed off uncertainly.

'Yeah, I know' said Bethany. 'I'll speak to him first, but then you need to come in and talk to him too, ok?' Lucy nodded.

Bethany disappeared into the farmhouse. She was in there a long time. Eventually Bethany came to the door.

'Come on in' she said. 'It's ok, he won't bite your head off.' They walked into the hall together to the phone on a small table at the foot of the stairs. Bethany handed Lucy the receiver with a sympathetic smile.

'Hey Dad' she said nervously, holding the handset to her mouth.

'Hello Lucy' he replied. Lucy could tell immediately that he wasn't angry, at least not anymore. Instead there was a sort of broken, cracked sound to his voice.

'So I've spoken to Bethany and you're going to stay with her for a few days. Then I'm going to drive down and pick you up. I just want you to remember two things though Luce.'

'What's that Dad?' asked Lucy shyly.

'The first thing is that I love you. The second thing is that you must keep yourself safe. No crazy acts of heroism you hear? No swims in the sea. Nothing silly or dangerous. Do exactly as Bethany tells you.'

'Of course Dad.' Lucy could hardly believe it. She had no idea what Bethany had said to him, but it had evidently worked.

'Promise me now!' he said.

'I promise' replied Lucy. They spoke for a minute or two more and then he asked to be handed back to Bethany. They spoke about practicalities, like toothbrushes and changes of underwear and then they rang off.

Bethany thanked Mary for the emergency use of the phone and they walked back hand in hand to Bethany's studio. The drink that she had made Lucy earlier had gone cold and so she made her a mug of chocolate milk and Lucy sat at the kitchen table to sip at the hot frothy drink, while Bethany went up to the raised platform to get out the linen and make up the spare bed. The tension and excitement of the day had been too much for Lucy. Physically and mentally exhausted, her eyes dipped closed as she sat, resting her head in her hands, elbows propped on the kitchen table.  
She slipped off into a light sleep.

Chapter Fifteen:

After his initial struggle to free himself, Spirit realised that nothing that he could do was helping him to break free. The length of thick steel cord was tightly fastened, like a lasso around his tail and try as he might, he could not rid himself of it. If he started to struggle again, it would cut into his skin and hurt him more than it hurt him already. He felt panicked at the thought of being restricted and unable to swim freely wherever he wanted. He had never been trapped before and the thought of it now horrified him. His heart beat fast as the gravity of the situation became clear to him. Unless he could escape, or some dolphin or person was able to free him, he would remain there until he died.

The threat was not immediate, because the rope was sufficiently long to enable him to surface and breathe through his blowhole. The tide was at its highest and so he knew that he would not be drowned when the tide turned. However he was trapped and could not escape. He would soon die of hunger and even if he found some means of feeding himself, he risked being dashed against the rocks in a storm, or if there was a heavy swell of the sea. The granite cliffs loomed above him. The sun had gone behind the cliff, leaving the rock face in shadow; dark and menacing. With all his thrashing when he had first ensnared himself in the steel wire, he had pulled himself clear of the kelp, swaying under the water and at least he had a clear view of his surroundings. Other than his beating heart, everything seemed calm around him. The swell of the sea was rhythmic and peaceful. He looked at the limpets moving infinitesimally slowly across the rocks. A crab scuttled by sideways across another rock, whilst a sea anemone swayed its tentacles in the current, hoping to catch morsels of food floating past. This was a familiar scene for Spirit, one he had seen a thousand times before. Ordinarily he would not give such creatures a second glance, but now he was forced to. This was their home and they could live their entire lives on barely a metre of submerged rock. Spirit though, could not.

Spirit was hungry again. He had not eaten as much as he would like that day and the few fish that he had grabbed had been barely more than a snack and certainly not a meal. The urge to eat was an insistent feeling in the pit of his stomach. He eyed the rocks again hungrily. Anything he could see was too small to eat. He would not be able to knock the limpet free, let alone prise the creature from its shell and the crabs were too adept at scuttling into cracks in the rock when danger came close. The anemones he knew tasted bitter. He saw a shoal of small fry darting round the rocks and he lunged hungrily, snatching one, but with the rest escaping.

An octopus regarded him balefully from a crevice, before emerging tentatively, its tentacles feeling its way cautiously across the rock. Octopuses were good to eat and Spirit struck out towards it, but the octopus squirted out a stream of water, propelling itself away. Spirit was pulled up short by a pain in his tail from where the thick steel wire cut into his flesh. The octopus slipped away in an easy, fluid movement, out of reach. Spirit turned disconsolately away and instead put his head up to the surface of the water. He could not leap out of course, but Spirit glanced over the surface of the water, between the lapping waves to see if, by any chance, there was any sign of salvation on the horizon. Of course there was none.The sea was perfectly clear. There were no boats or anything that might come to his rescue.

He was quite alone. Dancer, Storm, Moonlight and the other dolphins of his pod had absolutely no idea where he might be. He called and called in the hope that some dolphin swimming nearby might hear him and come to his assistance, but there was no answering call and he did not seriously think that there would be a dolphin for miles around. Even if another dolphin could come to him, there was nothing they could do. The steel wire was too strong to bite through; he had already tried and hurt his mouth in the process.

It was only the night before that he had struck out bravely on his own to take his coming of age swim, without Storm's agreement or the blessing of the rest of the pod. It seemed like a lifetime ago that he and Dancer had swum together so happy and free. For a while he had felt special, different, with a destiny that no other dolphin that he knew shared. Now he felt so small and foolish. His impetuous actions would be his last, he thought. He would end up eaten by the crabs that he himself eyed so hungrily.

As he fretted over his fate, Spirit could see the shadows drawing over the water. The sun was getting low and soon it would be night. Normally the darkness was a familiar and comforting place, where he would float happily, in his waking sleep, lulled by the lapping waves. Tonight, in this strange and unfamiliar corner of the coast, trapped by the steel wire cutting into his flesh, he could not imagine being able to sleep at all. Yet he had swum through the dark hours the night before. He was exhausted and, despite himself, as the sun went down he felt the urge to rest his fevered mind.

'Lucy!' he thought, 'Lucy will help me!' But how could she? His tired mind struggled to think. The girl seemed like a dream to him now and maybe he had only ever imagined her. Perhaps she did not really exist outside his own head. Although it had felt at the time that she had come to him when he was threatened by the Jet Ski, maybe it was just a corner of his own mind that had given him the inspiration to jump at just the right moment. Certainly she had not come to him now, even though he was in more danger than he had been just a couple of hours before. Feeling sad, lonely and afraid, Spirit slipped into an uneasy sleep as the night engulfed the coast and plunged the sea into darkness.

Lucy had been startled to find herself thrust into Spirit's world so quickly when she closed her eyes briefly at Bethany's table; she normally only dreamt of her little dolphin towards morning time. It had been scary to see Spirit so distressed by the hideous metallic noise of the Jet Ski's engine and she was filled with relief when she had been able to help him escape from the terrible machine. She'd woken up from her reverie as quickly as she had fallen into it and it took her a few moments to realise that she was with Bethany in her studio, miles away from Dad and all the pressures of home.

'You certainly are tired!' said Bethany, 'but I'd better feed you before getting you off to bed.' Bethany chatted about her work and about her studio while she cooked up some pasta in the kitchen area. Lucy thought about Spirit as Bethany talked away. It'd be good to tell Bethany about Spirit and maybe she would understand, but not tonight. Tonight she was just glad that Spirit was safe again and that she was safe and warm in Bethany's home in the hills behind Merwater. Lucy imagined trailing her fingers in the sea as she leant over the edge of a boat and touching the smooth skin of Spirits head. She wondered where he might be, but she had no real way of knowing. He was probably many miles from here. At least she was close to the sea and just by being near the sea, in a way she felt closer to Spirit.

The pasta that Bethany cooked up was simple, but filling and Lucy felt happy in her aunt's company.

'Right, let's get you to bed Kiddo' said Bethany after they had finished eating. 'I've dug you out a pair of pyjamas and got the spare bed ready, so let's get you into both of them.'

After she brushed her teeth, Lucy stumbled into bed and quickly fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. Her mind was too tired to stretch out to Spirit and he too was sleeping and unable to reach out to her. Before she knew it, she woke up to the noise of Bethany boiling a kettle and getting the breakfast things together. Lucy yawned and stretched happily, got out of bed and padded down the creaking wooden steps from the sleeping platform to the ground floor.

'Hey Kiddo. How are you feeling?'

'Much, much better thanks Bethany' replied Lucy smiling and yawning at the same time. She looked out of the window. It was a bright clear day.

Fancy some breakfast?' asked Bethany. Lucy certainly was hungry. 'It's toast, toast, or toast. Basically toast is all I've got. I wasn't expecting visitors you see.'

'I guess I'll have toast then' laughed Lucy, sitting down at the kitchen table. Bethany passed Lucy a mug of chocolate milk and a plate with a couple of pieces of buttered toast.

'No jam I'm afraid' continued Bethany. She grinned. 'We live simply in the country. Well it's a Saturday and by chance I have absolutely nothing planned. What do you fancy doing Kiddo?'

'I want to swim in the sea' answered Lucy immediately. 'And then I want to explore the rock pools like I did with Mum when I was younger.' Bethany smiled again thoughtfully.

'Didn't I hear you tell your Dad last night that you weren't going to be throwing yourself into the sea?'

'Oh I'll be ok' answered Lucy airily. 'You'll be there with me!'

'Oh will I!' exclaimed Bethany laughing. 'It's still pretty cold you know. Maybe a spot of gentle paddling. I'm not so sure about anything more adventurous than that.'

'Okay' replied Lucy between mouthfuls of toast. She was determined to swim in the sea, but was willing to bide her time for a day or so.

Bethany busied herself with tidying away the breakfast things. Lucy looked around her idly. It felt so easy with Bethany and so comfortable. It was like it used to be with Mum and Dad in the old days.

As Lucy sat there peacefully, gazing out of the window, Bethany cast an occasional glance in her niece's direction. She was worried about Lucy. She was delighted to see her of course, but had been really taken aback when Lucy had turned up there unannounced the day before. The conversation that she'd had to have with Lucy's dad that evening had been difficult, really difficult. She was glad Lucy had not heard.

As an artist, Bethany was trained at looking at not only the surface appearance of things, but what lay underneath. It didn't feel right. Lucy hadn't come all this way without her Dad's permission just to see her, escape her Dad or even to see the sea. Bethany felt as though there was a more fundamental force working deep inside Lucy and it worried her. It reminded her of her sister Megan and she thought of all those pictures she had painted of Megan as a girl of roughly the same age, trying to discover what it was that lay underneath.

'Listen, I'll just pop into town and buy a few provisions' announced Bethany, 'and then we can head on down to Old Man's Cove. It's really atmospheric down there, with craggy cliffs, a thin crescent of beach and rock pools in the south corner. I think you'll like it. You'll be okay here for half an hour while I pop to the shops won't you? Any problems and you can just ask Mary in the farmhouse. I'll get some things for a picnic. What do you say?'

'Ok!' said Lucy. She was happy just to sit at the kitchen table in idleness for a while. Bethany didn't even have a television, but Lucy didn't want to watch TV anyway. It wasn't that kind of a day. Bethany got her things.

'See you then Kiddo!' called Bethany, banging the door after her. Lucy waved through the window as she saw Bethany climb into her old Land Rover and then drive off.

Now that Lucy was alone and well rested, her thoughts flew irresistibly back to Spirit. She wondered how he was and what he was doing. She stretched out to him with her mind. The skill came to her more easily now, though it was still hard to achieve and she had several false starts. She knew now that it was when her mind was relaxed that she could find the doorway through to the world of water and Spirit himself. She strained her mind and then relaxed it again and as she did so, she found the doorway, just out of sight, tucked away in the corner between her conscious mind and the unknown. She pushed at it gently and then found herself plunging down, through the veil that divided the two worlds and was suddenly enveloped in salty water, tumbling head over tail in a confusion of bubbles.

It took Lucy a moment or two to orientate herself. As she righted herself, she looked around. A curtain of kelp floated to her left and beyond that she could see rocks curving up behind. She glanced to her right.

'Hey Spirit' she cried happily, gliding towards him. He too, moved towards her, but she could see immediately that something was wrong. He looked grey and unhappy and he wasn't moving naturally.

'What's the matter?' she asked, a look of worry replacing the look of happiness of a moment before.

'I am trapped' he replied in a quiet voice. 'This thing made by man is caught round my tail. I cannot escape.'He glanced back and Lucy followed his gaze. Only now did she see the thick steel wire snaking through the water in great loops and then curling round Spirit's tail. She glided forward. It was looped in a noose around Spirit's tail and his struggling had pulled it tight. She could see that it had cut into his skin, leaving a great horrible red wound. Every time he moved, Lucy could see Spirit wince, the pain searing through his face.

'Let me have a go' she exclaimed, eager to help her friend. 'I'll soon get you free of this!' She stretched out her hands to grasp the thick steel wire, but although she could sense Spirit's firm flank through her finger tips, her hands passed through the wire as though it was not there. She tried again, but the same thing happened. She looked closely at her hands. For the first time she realised that they were not quite solid. She had projected her mind into Spirit's world, but not her physical body. It was as though she were an apparition here. She could not physically touch things. The realisation caused her heart to beat anxiously. She looked at Spirit.

'I, I can't' she stammered in confusion, 'I can't touch things.' She paused. 'I can't help you.'

'You've already got me out of trouble twice' replied Spirit, still hopeful. 'You made suggestions that helped me escape real danger. You can do that again!'

Lucy looked around her, hoping that a sudden flash of inspiration would somehow help her set her friend free. She followed the steel wire with her eyes as it snaked around and then glided along to see where it came from. She could see that the wire was fixed to a buoy that in turn was stuck firmly under the rocks at the base of the cliff. There seemed to be no way that it could be dislodged. She moved back to Spirits tail and looked at the loop, as if she might have missed some easy solution to the problem or a way to pull the knot so that it would fall away. She hadn't. Lucy shook her head anxiously.

'I don't know, I don't know what to do.' She trailed off, in too much distress to say anything more. She shook her head again. Spirit swum up to the surface again to draw in a fresh lungful of air through his blowhole. Lucy followed, seeing him strain painfully to gain the surface. It was almost as though she could see the life seeping from him as she looked on. She knew that at this rate he could not last that much longer. Desperate, she glanced as well as she could over the surface of the water. There was the great craggy granite cliff looming up behind them and to the right, the empty, featureless sea. There was no boat, nothing that could come and save Spirit. It was no good.

'You can do it, you can think of something' said Spirit. But even as he said the words, Lucy could tell that he did not really believe them. She could feel the tiredness enveloping her that came over her immediately before she was drawn back to the world of land and her own physical body. She struggled against it.

'Don't worry Spirit, I'll think of something. I'll come back sooner than you think. You'll see!' The words were barely out of her mouth before Lucy was pulled away from him, back, back until she became aware of standing in Bethany's studio once more, staring absently beyond the nearly finished portrait and out through the window into the bright morning sunlight and the field of cows beyond. She immediately collapsed into tears.

When Bethany returned a few minutes later with two brimming shopping bags, she found her niece distraught, her body wracked with sobs, curled up in a ball on the floor of the studio.

'Lucy, whatever is the matter?' said Bethany, dropping her bags and hastening to Lucy's side. 'What's happened?' Lucy's body shook uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face.

'I can't, I can't help him' she said between sobs. 'I don't know what to do!' Her face was contorted with anguish.

'Help who?' asked Bethany, 'your dad?'

'No!' cried Lucy in reply. 'Spirit! Spirit my dolphin!' Bethany, who had gathered Lucy up in her arms, took a long deep breath.

'Oh, I see' she said quietly, with a sense of deadening recognition.

'You do?' asked Lucy, surprised.

'I think I might' replied Bethany.

Eventually Lucy's sobs subsided and she got up to go to wash her face in the bathroom. She came back, red-eyed and miserable. Finally she managed to tell Bethany what had happened.

'You know Bethany, you can help me. You've lived here for ever and you know the sea better than anyone. Tell me what I need to do to help my dolphin' she implored.

Bethany sat on a kitchen chair and shook her head to herself. How could she start telling Lucy everything she knew? Lucy was so young! It was all too soon. Barely two weeks ago she had told Lucy's Dad that she was special, that she had a gift. She never thought her words would come back to haunt her so soon. But it wasn't a gift she thought, it was a curse. It was she who had put the idea of coming to Cornwall in Lucy's mind. It was she who only last night had promised John that she would look after Lucy and that no harm would come to her. Yet she knew that Lucy's fate was inextricably linked with the life of that dolphin. At this moment she only cared about Lucy and nothing else. But could she ignore the danger the dolphin was in? She knew she could not.

'Look, I want to help you, I really do, but I just don't know how' she said to Lucy. 'I think he'll be alright' she said, trying to comfort herself as well as Lucy. Lucy glanced up at her eyes, shaking her head.

'No, no we can't wait. We've got to do something.'

'Well, what about the other dolphins, can't they help your one?' Bethany asked.

'He sort of ran away from them. They, they don't know where to find him. But...' Bethany could see Lucy thinking. 'Maybe they could search for him. At least they knew where he started from.' The thought, once planted in Lucy's mind, seemed to seize her. Bethany could see her niece emerge from the worst of her black cloud, as she started thinking again.

'Maybe I could reach them, maybe I could...' She looked around. The rug was as good a spot as any. She sat down cross-legged and tried to focus her mind.

Bethany had seen this sight before, many years ago and knew better than to say anything. Lucy tried for ten long minutes, but even before she began, she realised that it was no good, not now at least. She had just expended all her energy in reaching out to Spirit. It was too much to expect of herself to stretch out to the rest of the pod, wherever they were. She broke off in frustration.

Yet from her dreams she knew Spirit's special friend, though she did not know that dolphin's name. It was a girl, a little older than Spirit and in her mind's eye she pictured the two of them, almost dancing among the waves. That was the dolphin she had to reach out to! But she had to wait until she had replenished enough energy to try again. Suddenly Lucy felt really hungry.

'I've got to eat something.' she announced. Bethany quickly produced a peanut-butter sandwich and Lucy wolfed it down. She still didn't feel right. She needed more time, more energy.

'You know what Kiddo?' said Bethany. 'Granddad used to say that when you don't know what to do next, the best thing to do is to just do something, anything at all and then it'll be easier to take the next step and the step after that. Get your coat. We're going to the cove. It's not going to do you any harm to look at the sea for half an hour.'

Bethany bundled Lucy into her Land Rover, started the engine on the third attempt, ground into gear and shot off up the narrow country lane. They climbed up the hill and once they reached the crest and started to go down the other side, Lucy was able to glimpse patches of blue water through the hedgerow. The sea was not far away now. The thought of the ocean gave her a thrill and a strange sense of hope. It was as if the sea had a magnetic force, pulling her nearer to it.

'Old Man's Cove is not far' Bethany informed her, 'It's less than a mile now. We'll soon be there.' Bethany parked the truck at the side of the road by a farm gate, with a stile and a sign for a footpath down to the sea. Bethany had thrown a few things to eat into a bag before they left and she slung it over her shoulder now as they set off, climbing over the stile and heading off across the field, Lucy eagerly walking ahead.

'Be careful now' Bethany warned her, 'the path gets steep pretty soon. The rocks are loose and I don't want you stumbling!' She was right. Before long the path was so steep that she had to cling on to clumps of grass to steady herself. The hillside fell away to her left as they descended and below her she could see a small cove, with a crescent of sandy beach and beyond it the brilliant sea, glinting in the sunlight.

'Not many people are brave enough to clamber down that path' Bethany continued, 'and so more often than not I have the place entirely to myself.'

Lucy took one final leap from the rocky path at the bottom and her feet crunched into pebbles. She ran down to the sand and kicked off her shoes and socks before splashing into the shallow water. The sea was colder than she thought, but if felt good to be in the water, if only up to her ankles.

She looked around her. The place seemed familiar, although she knew that she had never been there before. Bethany came up behind her.

'It's nice here isn't it? It's good for the soul.' She breathed in deeply. 'How are you feeling now Kiddo?'

'Yeah, a bit better' she said, but then she thought of Spirit again, trapped and that made her feel guilty and worried again. Lucy felt the urge to plunge into the sea to swim out and look for Spirit, but she knew that it was as pointless as it was dangerous and what was more, Bethany would never let her.

Perhaps she could go up onto the cliffs and scour the sea below for any sign of a small dolphin trapped in the water. But that too would be next to impossible. She had no idea where Spirit might be, not really. She looked out intently at the sea beyond the mouth of the cove, but other than a sailing dinghy in the far distance, there was nothing to be seen. She thought about how much energy she needed to stretch out with her mind and contact the other dolphins to help her find Spirit. She knew that she needed a lot more if that was going to work. She turned to Bethany, who had sat down on a nearby rock, her bag of food resting by her feet on the sand.

'I've got to eat' she said.

Chapter Sixteen:

Dancer slowly awoke as the pale morning light broke over the horizon. It was the second day-break since Spirit had disappeared and she really felt his absence. It made her feel sad and lonely. If Spirit had left on his coming of age journey as she had left a year or so before, with the blessing of the pod and the good wishes of everyone, then she would still have missed him, but it would have seemed the right and natural thing to do. But Spirit had stolen away in the night. That felt very wrong. What was more, she had been tutored closely by all of the pod on how to survive alone before she had set off. Spirit had not been given the special knowledge and, swimming alone, she knew that although he was a strong and resourceful dolphin, his lack of that training made him vulnerable.

There had been much anguish when the pod had woken the night after he left. At first Dancer had raced around searching for him, convinced that he was playing a trick on her and that he would re-appear at any moment, laughing and happy as he often did. But when she realised that he was nowhere to be found, she told Chaser, who quickly told Storm and Moonlight and all the rest of the pod.

Storm called out angrily in a whistle that could be heard for miles across the sea, calling for Spirit to turn and come back immediately, but there was no reply. Either Spirit was too far away to hear or he did not want to reply. The whole pod swum in the direction they thought he might have gone in, hoping to pick up some sign or scent, or to hear his call across the empty seas. But they heard and found nothing and turned back towards evening, thinking that maybe Spirit would return to the same part of the sea that he had left them in. They were all worried about Spirit and all of them had an uneasy feeling about why Spirit had left in the manner that he had. No one said anything openly, but Storm knew that they were all thinking that he had driven the young dolphin away and Storm became moody and taciturn as a result. It was the right time for Spirit to take his coming of age swim and when Storm had told him that he could not, it was no surprise that the young dolphin should feel upset and frustrated. He wanted to prove himself of course and that was why he had left under the cover of night.

So when Dancer woke up that second morning after Spirit's disappearance, she immediately turned a circle in the water, hoping to see her friend returning through the dappled sea towards them. All she saw though was Moonlight swimming lazily around whilst the others slowly roused themselves from their waking-sleep. Dancer made a small leap to glance over the surface of the sea. It looked like it was going to be a bleak morning.

When Lucy had come to him that morning, Spirit had been filled with hope that somehow she would be able to set him free. Yet at the same time he had wanted to be able to free himself and to show that he could look after himself without even the help of Lucy. That, after all, was the reason he had left for his coming of age swim. But he knew that escape was now a forlorn hope. The wire was tight around his tail. It had cut through his skin and blood was leaching slowly into the water. No amount of struggling would help him break free. Instead it would bring him closer to death.

He looked around him. Anything that he might be able to eat had by now taken cover and the small shoals of fish that darted from rock to rock would not come anywhere close to his shadow. He could still rise and breathe through his blowhole of course, but it hurt his tail when he did so. He was weakening and he knew it. Spirit glanced up at the weather. If high winds battered the shoreline, they would smash him against the rocks along with the waves.

Lucy had said that she would come back to him, that she would have a plan, but he could not think what. He had spent hours now sending out his whistling call with all his might in the hope that a passing dolphin would hear him and come to his aid. There had been no answer though. Any other dolphins must have been miles away. The seas seemed empty of intelligent life. There weren't even any humans or boats on the horizon. He was completely alone.

When Spirit was younger, his mother had always told him that you were never alone in the ocean, no matter where you were or what the circumstance. There was life everywhere and all you had to do was seek it out. That, of course, was before she had disappeared. He looked around him again in the water. Apart from a hermit crab, creeping along a crack between two rocks and a couple of anemones, there was nothing alive to be seen. Try as he might, the presence of the crab did not really comfort him. Then he thought again, somewhere out there in the sea, Dancer must be swimming, maybe wondering where he was now. With Dancer would be Breeze, Chaser, Storm, Moonlight and Summer. They were his pod, his family. In a strange way he realised, his links to them felt stronger now that he was a long way away from them, in danger. It was easy to take them for granted, or even be irritated by them, when you lived with them all the time.

A few moons ago, Chaser had teased him mercilessly because he had hated eating the small squid that they would occasionally catch. Chaser had poked fun at him, saying that all real dolphins ate squid without a second thought and that Spirit could never count himself amongst the adults until he did too. Spirit had seethed inside, but could not bring himself to eat those horrid rubbery, slimy squid. Right then he would gladly have been rid of the teasing Chaser and the rest of the pod for good. Now he was so hungry that even he would eat some squid and having Chaser around to make fun of him was better than trying to get friendly with a hermit crab.

After another five sandwiches and forty minutes or so at Old Man's Cove, Lucy began to feel her strength returning to her. She and Bethany leapt from rock to rock at the edge of the cove, looking in rock pools, peering through the fronds of green to see if they could see any fish hiding at the bottom, stranded where the tide had gone out. Bethany seemed to sense that Lucy was summoning up all her energy and gave her time to do so. After a while, Bethany produced a small drawing pad and a pencil from a pocket and announced that she was going to sit and sketch a seagull that was sitting on a rock nearby and eyeing them suspiciously. Bethany started drawing with swift, confident strokes of her pencil.

Lucy wandered across the sand and sat down on a shelf of rock on the other side of the small cove. She stared out to sea, but instead of looking at the view, she started to try and focus and to stretch out with her mind across the waves to the place where, somewhere, Dancer and the rest of the pod must be. She had got used being able to make contact with Spirit, but she had never done so with Dancer and it was much, much harder.

At first she could not do it and all her efforts to find a door in the corner of her mind that would take her to Dancer failed. What was Dancer really like? Lucy realised that she found it easier to stretch out to Spirit because she knew him so well and had dreamt about him for years and years. But she had also dreamt about the other dolphins in the pod too and in that way knew all the dolphins almost as well as Spirit. Dancer, she knew, was an agile and fast swimmer with a great sense of fun and a ready sense of humour. If she could think the way Dancer thought, maybe she could find a way to stretch out with her mind and contact the dolphin.

Lucy tried again, imagining Dancer playing, leaping, swimming alongside Spirit. She focused and then relaxed, letting go so that her mind wandered to its corners. Something seemed to click this time and before she knew it, she seemed to tumble headlong into the salty water, right next to the unsuspecting Dancer, swimming morosely alone a few minutes away from the others.

'Hello' said Lucy tentatively. Dancer glanced around.

'Aaahh, what are you!' she exclaimed in surprise and horror, turning and swimming off away from the apparition of Lucy that had appeared so unexpectedly next to her.

'Stop!' cried out Lucy, gliding behind her, trying hard to keep up. 'I'm Spirit's friend!'

'What?' said Dancer, stopping and turning to look at the girl following behind her.

'I don't have much time' continued Lucy. 'Spirit is in danger. He's trapped by a loop of thick metal wire under a high grey cliff, but I don't know where. The wire is linked to a red and white buoy, which is stuck in rocks at the base of the cliff. You have to help me find him before it's too late!'

'But there are no cliffs like that round the islands' replied Dancer, puzzled.

'It's craggy and seems to go on a long way' Lucy continued hurriedly. She did not know how long her energy would last.

'The mainland?' asked Dancer. 'I've never been there.'

'I don't know' replied Lucy. 'Maybe. If you can find him, you can help me find out exactly where he is and then somehow, we'll be able to save him.' Lucy began to feel her energy ebbing again. She knew she only had a few seconds left. 'But you must hurry, he's getting weak and I don't think he can hold out for much longer!' Dancer stared in wonder at the strange human girl, floating there next to her in the water. Then she seemed to fade into the rippling current and disappear in front of Dancer's very eyes.

Lucy found herself on the beach again, sitting on the ledge of rock, but this time her legs were as weak as jelly. With all her willpower she tried to send out a message, 'Don't worry Spirit, help is on its way!'

Dancer hung there in the water for a few moments, still in a state of shock at what she had just seen and heard, but then it suddenly dawned on her that she had to do something quickly to save her friend. She raced back to the rest of the pod where they were lazing on the surface of the sea, having just fed.

'Spirit's in trouble!' she cried approaching them. 'We have to go and find him, now!' She started to babble out her story in a confused and disjointed fashion.

'I think that one's been stung by a jellyfish' said Chaser. 'Her brain's addled.'

'No. Let her speak' said Storm sternly, remembering seeing the young girl floating next to Spirit that night at the council of dolphins. What Dancer told them now confirmed his worst fears. Spirit was a special dolphin, but he could be lost before they ever got to learn the extent of his gifts. 'This was precisely why I didn't want Spirit to leave' Storm thought to himself. Eventually Dancer was able to tell them the full story.

'I know those cliffs' said Storm. 'They are in the West. If we are fast, they are maybe half a day's swim from here. If we leave now, we can get there while it is still light.' The whole pod clamoured to set off immediately, but they all knew that Summer was now heavy with her calf. It would be born soon and she could not swim at that speed for long at the moment. It was not safe. He turned to regard Dancer.

'You are fast and the young girl came to you. I will lead you there. We will be fast just the two of us. Moonlight? You know the cliff in that area as well, I think. Follow us with Summer and the others and we can all meet again at Black Rock Basin.'

The rest of the pod were surprised that Storm took what Dancer said so seriously, but they were all concerned for Spirit and quickly agreed.

'Let's be off then' he said, turning to Dancer.

They set out, with Dancer speeding ahead, cutting through the waves, anxious to get to her friend as soon as possible.

'Whoa down a little' called Storm from behind. 'We need to go fast, but if you swim that fast you will soon be exhausted and we will never get there. Be patient, young Dancer and match my pace. We will make better progress that way.'

Dancer slowed down and the two dolphins swam side by side, both consumed by their own thoughts, both united by the desire to get to Spirit as quickly as they could. They followed the currents that Spirit must have followed and, though they were still a long way off, Dancer knew that unlike yesterday when they had searched vainly for Spirit, that they were now heading in the right direction.

As they swam, Dancer thought about the apparition of the human child that had appeared in the water next to her. She had not spoken as dolphins do, with whistles and clicks. In fact she had not seemed to open her mouth at all. Yet despite that, Dancer had clearly understood her. The top half of her body had been encased in a sort of orange fabric, though her fore-limbs were exposed and coloured the same pinky-white colour as her face. Her lower limbs, what were they called? Legs. Her legs were covered in a sort of blue material. Hair had floated around her face like the tentacles of a sea anemone. She had not kicked her legs or swum at all, but had seemed to float along behind Dancer almost effortlessly. It had all been very strange indeed. The human child had said that she was Spirit's friend, yet he'd never told her about the girl. What was going on?

Glancing at the younger dolphin swimming beside him, Storm's mind was full of all the old stories; stories he had heard as a young calf and never quite believed. Now he wished he knew more about them. If only he could talk over everything with some of the old and wise dolphins from the other pods at the council of all the dolphins. Yet he would have to wait to do that. From what he knew though, a human child would only come to one dolphin, the Child-Seer. It was incredibly unlikely that the same human would appear to another dolphin. These visions might only happen in the most exceptional and the gravest of circumstances.

Bethany wandered up to Lucy, her sketchbook and pencil in hand. She had quickly drawn the angry-looking sea gull and then dashed down several sketches of Lucy sitting on the ledge of rock ten or so metres away from her, resting her elbows on her knees, staring dreamily out to see. As she got closer, she could see that Lucy was not looking at all well.

'Hey Kiddo, you look as white as a sheet!' she exclaimed. Lucy smiled at her wanly.

'Oh I'm ok' she lied.

'And your other half?' asked Bethany. Lucy glanced up at her. What a strange turn of phrase. Lucy knew exactly what Bethany meant though. She didn't answer directly but frowned and shook her head. She didn't want to say just how worried she was about Spirit.

'I'm feeling a bit faint actually' she admitted. 'I could do with another sandwich if there's any left.'

'I think maybe you picked up a bug yesterday on that train' said Bethany. 'Perhaps I should get you home. You look completely wiped out.' Yet despite Bethany's words, Lucy knew that Bethany was fully aware of why she was so weak again and that Lucy had been reaching out with her mind to speak to dolphins. It was as if Bethany didn't quite want her to tell her everything, or at least not quite yet.

'But can we come back later?' Lucy asked urgently. 'I've got to come back later'

'Yes of course' replied Bethany.

The path up the cliff was really tough going for Lucy, as her legs still felt like jelly and Bethany had to half drag her up. Eventually they reached the top and walked across the field before climbing the stile to where Bethany's old Land-rover was parked. They got in and Bethany drove them back home to the farm and her studio.

When they got back, Lucy lay down on Bethany's battered sofa and quickly fell into a light doze. But it wasn't a restful sleep. All Lucy could see when she closed her eyes was Spirit, alone and trapped under the ominous grey cliff, the heavy steel wire snagged in his flesh and a deathly pallor on his flank and face. He was hanging in the water and barely moving. 'You'll be ok. Help is on it's way' she kept repeating in her sleep, but she had no idea if Spirit could hear her, or if even what she hoped would happen was actually true.

Lucy woke up with a start, stiff and as tired as she had been when she dropped off. She was vaguely aware that someone had knocked at the studio door and Bethany was just opening it. It was Thelma Merryweather, the lady who'd come to her rescue from the bus stop when Lucy had arrived in Merwater the day before.

'I was just driving through this way and wondered how your Lucy was feeling today' Thelma said.

'She's pretty exhausted to be honest' confided Bethany, glancing quickly in Lucy's direction. 'I hope she'll be feeling better tomorrow though.'

'Oh I do hope so' replied Thelma sympathetically. My Nate was wondering if you'd both like to come out with him on his fishing boat if you fancy it. You never know, you might be lucky and see a seal, or even a dolphin.' Lucy sat bolt upright on the sofa.

I'd like that very much!' she exclaimed decisively. Thelma smiled in her direction.

'Well that's a date then!' she said before Bethany had a chance to reply. She looked back at Bethany. 'You've got my number haven't you dear' she said. 'Just give me a call when you want to go out in the boat. Nate goes out most mornings.'

'That would be lovely Thelma' replied Bethany. 'I'll give you a call later if I think Lucy's up to it tomorrow morning.'

'Grand' said Thelma. 'I won't stop, I've got errands to run. Speak to you later!' She waved and headed off.

Miles away, back home, Dad sat on the sofa in the late afternoon. The house seemed smaller and emptier without Lucy in it. He felt anxious and worried about her. It had been against his better judgement that he'd allowed himself to be persuaded by Bethany to let Lucy stay down there for a few days. He had half a mind to get in the car and drive down to Cornwall right now and bring her back. He'd been furious when he'd learned that Lucy had taken herself off down there on her own. At first he thought that Bethany had put her up to it and it had taken all Bethany's powers of tact and diplomacy to explain to him that she hadn't and that she was as surprised as he was when Lucy had turned up unannounced. More than anger at Lucy's disobedience, he'd felt a clutch of fear at his heart when he realised where she was. He was scared for her, scared at what might happen with her close to the sea and the open expanse of the ocean beyond. Yet what he couldn't deny was that there was some primal urge in Lucy to get close to water and to the sea.

Dad could see now that he had been foolish to ban her from the swimming club, or even extra training before school. At least that had been controlled and supervised. Lucy had been able to swim and fulfil that need to be in water, but in an artificial environment. Dad sighed to himself and looked around the quiet sitting room. That at least was better than her being down there by the sea, where anything might happen. But the reason that he had not demanded that Lucy return immediately, or go there to drag her back himself, was that he had realised speaking to Bethany that he could not go on denying Lucy this basic need. Water, the sea and everything that lived within it, was a basic constituent of what Lucy was as a person. You could see that by just looking at Lucy's drawings. Ever since she had been able to hold a pencil, Lucy had drawn pictures of the sea and the creatures within it obsessively, compulsively and with a passion. She needed what he could not, would not provide her.

That was why, despite himself, he'd grudgingly agreed to allow her to stay down there for a few days. Maybe she'd be more settled and less discontent when she came back. He hoped it would help her find some peace and get whatever it was out of her system. It was a difficult decision to take, to allow his only child that level of freedom, especially when he feared the danger it might bring. His mind turned to Megan. The loss of Lucy's mother had been so painful that he could hardly bear it. Lucy was so like Megan in so many ways. He could not allow Lucy's destiny to be the same as Megan's. He just could not.

Lucy's Dad got up and pulled a box of photographs down from the book shelf. He smiled to himself as he slowly flicked through the photos. The pictures were all jumbled up and there were snaps of him as a child, Megan as a child, pictures from throughout their marriage and of Lucy growing up. There were baby pictures of Lucy splashing in the bath. She looked so adorable. Then he came across a picture of himself as a toddler with ice-cream all over his face. What a sight! Megan had been a lean-limbed and athletic looking child, a born swimmer he realised, looking at the pictures of her.

Then he found pictures of them on their wedding day. Megan looked so beautiful he thought. He realised how uncomfortable he'd been in that ill-fitting suit, with everyone looking at him. He hated being the centre of attention. For their honeymoon Megan had wanted to go sailing around the islands of Greece and Turkey and to dive off the edge of the boat into the emerald-blue sea. But he suffered from terrible sea-sickness and even the smallest tremor of a wave could make him feel green and queasy. Even Megan had realised that dragging him round on a boat for two weeks was not a good idea. They'd gone to Tunisia instead for their honeymoon and he'd stayed safely on the beach whilst Megan had swum out to sea with her confident, powerful strokes.

Lucy's Dad turned to the next photograph. There was a young girl of about eight in shorts and a tee shirt with a baseball cap on her head, standing in front of a huge plate of glass. Behind it, he could see that there were thousands of gallons of water and in that water a dolphin was poised, it's smiling face and nose just touching the glass of the tank, while in front the girl stretched out her open palm on the other side as if trying to touch the dolphin. The girl's face was completely ecstatic, suffused with joy at being so close to such an amazing creature. The thing was though, that the more that he looked, the more trouble he had telling whether the girl in the photograph was his wife Megan, or his daughter Lucy.

Chapter Seventeen:

It had been a very long day. The muscles of Dancer's flank and tail were aching with tiredness. Dancer felt leaden, but she knew that they had to keep going. They'd been swimming for hours and now the sun was drawing low on the horizon and within an hour it would be sinking into the sea. Normally Dancer was used to swimming and resting, playing and then resting again. She had never before swum so constantly without a break. Even when she had taken her own coming of age swim alone, she had not needed to swim this way. Storm, she noticed, seemed to have an unending supply of energy. He had settled into a steady, rhythmic pace, his tail undulating up and down and just kept going. He didn't say much and Dancer was desperate to ask him to stop and let them rest their tired muscles for a few minutes, but she didn't dare. She knew that Spirit was in danger and that every minute of the day counted. She was afraid to think of the state that he would be in when they found him. She hadn't realised what a long distance it was to the mainland, but even if she had known, she still would not have thought twice before volunteering to swim ahead with Storm in order to help her friend. Both of them were too tired to say much while they swum, but the next time they broke the surface of the water to take a fresh lung full of air through their blow holes, she spoke again.

'How much further do you think now Storm?'

'It has been a long way' replied Storm, 'but we will soon see the coast of the mainland. Then you will be able to rest a little young Dancer.' Dancer glanced at the older dolphin. Even though his swimming did not betray tiredness, his voice did. In a way it was good for her to know that it wasn't easy for Storm either.

'And do you really think that we will be able to find Spirit once we get there?' she asked.

'I believe that we will. We know that he is at the foot of the high grey cliffs. We have been following the same currents as Spirit must have. I doubt that he went any great distance in that direction along the cliffs before he got into difficulty. The cliffs drop away to a town and then the colour of the rock changes. The cliffs are lower there too. If you go the other way, the rocky coast gives way to beaches and then there is a river estuary. I'm sure that once we get close to the cliffs, he will be able to hear our call and that he will answer it. We will soon find him then.'

'I hope so' replied Dancer. They swam on. Twenty minutes or so later, Storm broke the silence again.

'Look. There are the cliffs.' He was right. Dancer took a low leap, just high above the waves enough to see the cliffs snaking away along the horizon. They were almost there. 'Call out to him' said Storm. Dancer wondered why he didn't do so himself, but Dancer was glad to oblige. A dolphin call can carry a long way, sometimes for miles across the expanse of the sea and Spirit's sensitive hearing would be able to pick up even the faintest sound of a dolphin. For some minutes, they heard nothing.

'Hush, listen!' said Storm eventually. Dancer stopped her call mid-flow and listened keenly. Above the dull crash of the waves and the drone of a ship in the distance, Dancer could hear a higher, sharper call carrying through the water.

'Yes, I hear it' whispered Dancer, listening intently. 'Do you think it's...?'

It's coming from over there' Storm whispered back, nodding with his nose in a slightly leftwards direction. 'Let's keep going.' The cliffs were getting bigger now and when she broke the waves Dancer could just make out white flecks at their base, where the waves crashed against the granite rocks. Dancer's muscles were still aching and she was tired and hungry, but she did not care. They were almost there. She called out again and heard the distinct reply of a dolphin. It must be Spirit. Although it was hard to hear clearly, it seemed to her that the dolphin's reply was distressed. Certainly, they could tell that the dolphin's position did not seem to move and that was unusual in itself. Normally they would expect another dolphin to be constantly swimming, constantly moving.

They drew close to the cliff and knew that when they came around the rocky outcrop in front of them, they would be there.

'You go on. I'll stay here' said Storm quietly. 'You go to him.' Dancer turned to look at Storm in surprise.

'I don't think he will want to see me right now. I was young once too and eager to prove my independence. Spirit struck out on his own to prove himself. I don't think he needs me to tell him he was wrong. He needs a true friend like you now, not an old dolphin like me.'

'But...' exclaimed Dancer.

'No' replied Storm firmly. 'Go on now young Dancer.' He nodded her on. She nodded back and with a firm flick of her tail, she propelled herself onwards. She came to the rocky outcrop and pushed on past and around it. She wondered what she might find. She moved through a curtain of kelp and there she saw a silhouette of a dolphin, hanging in the water, scanning the sea anxiously, looking out for the dolphin that had been calling to him.

'Spirit!' she cried swimming up to him.

'Dancer!' he replied in surprise. 'You came to me.' Approaching him, she could see that his eyes had lost their lively sparkle and instead looked drawn and pained. His skin had lost its natural colour and looked more grey than blue. She gently rubbed her beak against his in greeting. She could not help but glance behind to his tail. She could see the steel wire snaking round and the red bloody mark where it cut into Spirit's skin. It looked horribly raw and Dancer could see Spirit's blood leaching into the water where the metal chafed through his skin. She looked back at her friends face.

'I bet it doesn't look good' said Spirit, guessing her thoughts. Dancer tried not to answer.

'Does it hurt?' she replied, but she knew the answer before the question was even out of her mouth. It was a silly question and Spirit did not reply directly.

'The line goes up there' he said instead, indicating with his head. It's linked to a buoy and the buoy is lodged in those rocks.' Dancer could make out the red and white stripes of a buoy. She swum up close to it. She took the cable in her mouth and gave it a firm tug. She pulled again and again. It was no good, she could not make it budge. She swam back to Spirit.

'You didn't come alone did you Dancer?' asked Spirit. 'Where are Storm and the rest of the pod?'

'The pod are following on behind. I came on ahead with....' She trailed off uncertainly.

'Is Storm with you?' he asked.

'He didn't want to shame you by coming to you during your coming-of-age swim. He's waiting just around the rocks over there.' She paused and Spirit too was quiet for a few moments.

'I don't care' he replied eventually. 'I'm just glad that both of you are here. At least he knows stuff. Maybe he can get me free.' Dancer turned to call him.

'Before you get him,' Spirit spoke quietly, almost shyly, 'how did you know to come and find me?'

'I had a vision. Your child. She came to me, she... It was she who told me. She told me you were in danger. But it was Storm who knew how to find you. I would never have known how to find you if it wasn't for him.'

'And what then?'

'I don't know. Let's not worry about that now' said Dancer. 'We'll figure something out' she said, though she really wasn't sure how. She eyed her friend. He really looked bad and she wondered how long he could last. She called out to Storm. A minute or so later he emerged through the fronds of kelp to where the two friends hung in the water. He carried a fish in his mouth and approached Spirit quietly, with a concerned look in his eyes. He presented Spirit with the fish, who gulped it down hungrily. He was famished and thirsty too. Dolphins do not drink but get their moisture from their food. Dancer wondered why she hadn't thought to catch one for him herself. At least if nothing else she could find him more fish. Storm regarded Spirit with warm eyes.

'I'm glad to see you Spirit' he said.

Lucy paced around Bethany's studio, full of nervous energy. Now that she was rested, all that she wanted to do was to get out there again and look for Spirit. She dared not stretch out to him with her mind, not yet at least. To do so would deplete her energy again too quickly. Yet doing something, anything, seemed better than just sitting there. Bethany regarded her, chewing her pencil as she worked on her seagull sketch.

'You're like a cat in a cage' she observed. 'Come on. Let's get our coats and head back up to the cliffs. It can't do any harm.'

They drove back up through the country lanes. Lucy was beginning to recognise the local landmarks. There was the corner with the clump of ferns just before the gate. There, just where the road forked, was an old rusting milk churn. They soon joined the bigger road just below the cliffs and pulled into the lay-by.

They jumped down from the Land Rover and headed off up another path this time which traced the edge of the cliffs. Lucy felt nervous near the edge but was keen to look down in case anything from above reminded her of the scene below where she knew that Spirit was still trapped. Bethany warned her that it was dangerous and a sign warned them of the risk of falling rocks. Lucy got down on all fours and inched her way forward until she was just peering over the edge. Bethany was just a short way behind in case anything happened. There was no chance of her falling, but still Lucy felt nervous.

It certainly was a long way down and she could see the waves crashing futilely on the great hunks of raw granite below. She scanned the water for signs of a dolphin; for a dorsal fin, or a friendly face peering up out of the water, but it was quite impossible. Even if Spirit had been down there, it was pretty unlikely that she would be able to see him. She could spend all day walking along the cliff and she would be none the wiser. She inched back from the edge of the cliff and got up.

'Come on, let's walk' said Bethany smiling. 'You can look again soon.' They continued on along the cliff path and Lucy strained her eyes to study the sea, still half expecting to find something, though what, she was not sure.

A seagull hung almost motionless in the air above them, borne aloft by the stiff breeze that came off the sea. Right now Lucy wished that she could fly and swoop down along the foot of the cliffs to search for her friend. Bethany kept up a semi-monologue, talking about this and that, trying to take her niece's mind off things, but Lucy was only half listening. She was much more alert to the sea.

Suddenly Lucy was struck by a sharp shooting feeling that seemed to radiate up from her feet and ripple through her body. She cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Bethany thought that Lucy had tripped and fallen. Maybe the girl was still too tired to come back up here, she wondered to herself. But Lucy had not tripped and the pain that seized her came from nothing physical that was around them. Though she could not tell Bethany, she was convinced it was something to do with the pain that Spirit was experiencing. Somehow, she thought, she could feel what he was feeling. What was happening to him, she wondered anxiously. Bethany gently picked her niece up and told her in a kindly but firm way that they had better turn and go back to the car. Her face was clouded with concern. Lucy protested, but then reluctantly agreed.

Lucy winced as they walked back. It was as though her ankles had been caught in a snare. It felt like a ring of fire. She did not know it, but Spirit, Dancer and Storm had all three of them been straining at the steel cord; Spirit pulling with his tail and his two rescuers pulling at the cable with their teeth, hoping that their combined strength would enable them to pull the buoy free from the rocks. It was no good and metal rope had cut painfully into Spirit's flesh in the attempt.

'Stop, stop' he cried despondently. It was too much for him. The sun was just about to set and they were in deep shade. There was little to be done now but rest until first light and hope for the best.

Ordinarily Lucy would have been so happy to be in Cornwall walking companionably along the cliff tops with Bethany, looking out towards the sunset. Instead, she felt anything but happy. As the sun slowly descended, Bethany put her arm around her niece's shoulders.

'You know when I was young I had a little dog called Toby. One morning he burrowed under the fence in the back garden and disappeared. I was beside myself with worry and spent hours after school searching for him, riding round the neighbourhood on my bike. Eventually it got dark and my Mum insisted that I came home. I couldn't bear the thought of him trapped out there somewhere on his own in the dark and I hardly slept all night.' Lucy looked up at her Aunt curiously.

'What happened to him?' she asked. Bethany smiled.

'Oh the next morning when I came downstairs he was curled up outside the backdoor. Goodness knows where he'd been, but he got back somehow and behaved like he'd never been away. My Mum thought he'd been away wooing some lady dog somewhere.'

Lucy gave a little smile. She knew that Bethany was trying to cheer her up, but the story of Toby was hardly the same. She was only too painfully aware that Spirit was trapped by a steel cable around his tail. If something didn't happen soon, he would die. What she couldn't tell was exactly where he was, or how to set him free. That uncertainty was agonising to her. She hoped that Dancer might have found Spirit by now, but even that seemed an impossible dream. She decided that when the got back to the studio, she would reach out to Spirit again. She didn't know what she could do when she did, but she had to find out what was happening to him.

They got back to Bethany's Land Rover and clambered in. Her ankles were hurting less now. They drove back down the hill on the now familiar lanes and pulled up outside the studio. Back inside Bethany made her a drink and then Lucy made an excuse to go and lie down for a while.

Immediately Lucy started to focus her thoughts to stretch out to Spirit. She strained her mind and then relaxed, hoping that she would be able to find that door in the corner of her consciousness and tumble through into the world of water. Try as she might though, she could not seem to do it. Perhaps because she had done so earlier and was still very tired, it just felt too difficult. Instead Lucy's eyes drooped and then closed. Normally, when she slept, she would only dream of dolphins towards the morning. Now though, her sleeping mind brought the vision of Spirit to her straight away.

Though darkness was falling, she could see his silhouette at rest just underneath the surface of the water. But then, what was that? There was a second dolphin. And a third! Lucy's excitement at seeing two other dolphins next to Spirit half woke her up, but that was just what she needed to find the door in her mind that sent her plunging through. Suddenly she was engulfed in the cold salty water. It felt strange to be there after sun-down.

'Spirit!' she cried. 'Dancer! You found each other.'

'Lucy!' Spirit exclaimed warmly, smiling with his eyes at her. Lucy was going to ask him how he was, when the other two found him and whether he had eaten. She tried to focus her mind on what to say first, but she was so tired and her mind had been sleeping just a moment ago. Instead the third dolphin moved closer to her and started whistling and clicking at her. She could hear the sounds coming through the water, but they meant nothing to her.

'Tell her what I'm telling you' barked out Storm to Spirit in frustration. He had tried to speak to her, but he could tell immediately that he did not have the gift of communication with the human that Spirit and even Dancer had. He knew that they had to be quick.

'Storm says listen to what he has to say. I will tell you' said Spirit quickly.

'Alright' replied Lucy. Spirit paused a moment to listen to Storm and then inclined his head towards Lucy.

'He says that five minutes swim north up the coast there is a striped white and red tower with a light that flashes at night. He says that next to it is a beach with two houses on it. If you can find the beach and come there at first light we will be waiting for you.' Lucy thought. She had no idea where the lighthouse might be. Then she thought again. When they were walking along the cliff that afternoon, she had just seen the tip of a building in the distance. Bethany had said that there was a lighthouse with an ecology centre and a surfing school just next to it. Maybe that was it!

'I think maybe I can find that. If I can find Storm, then I can find you. If I can find you, I can bring help I'm sure' Lucy said excitedly. Spirit translated back to Storm. This time Dancer spoke.

'Then it is agreed. Can you get there though?' she asked cautiously.

'I'm sure...I just will' said Lucy defiantly. She looked back at Spirit with concerned eyes. 'Are you okay Spirit. Will you be able to hang on?' He smiled.

'Now that you're here I will' he replied. As they spoke Lucy could feel her energy seeping away.

'I've got to go now. But I will see you tomorrow!' The dark silhouettes of Spirit, Dancer and Storm seemed to fade away from her, then Lucy found herself back on the bed in Bethany's studio. Lucy felt drained and tired again with the effort of projecting her mind out to the dolphins, but at the same time she was filled with hope at the thought that now there was definitely something she could do to help. She leapt off the bed and bounded down the steps from the sleeping platform to where Bethany was standing by her easel, studying her painting with a critical eye.

'Hey Kiddo, it looks like your snooze did you some good' said Bethany affably.

'Bethany, you know you told me about that lighthouse down the coast, the one with the ecology centre and surf school. Is it white with red stripes?'

'Why yes it is' replied Bethany. 'Why?'

'If I go there at first light tomorrow' said Lucy excitedly, 'we can find him! We can find my dolphin and we can save him!'

'Wow' said Bethany with a hint of caution in her voice. 'Are you sure?'

'Absolutely' replied Lucy. 'I can't wait.'

'Well I suppose we could go down there early tomorrow, if you get a good night's sleep tonight. There are beautiful waders and other seabirds down there. If we take my binoculars with us, we might get a good view of the wildlife.' Bethany didn't seem to know quite what to make of Lucy's sudden enthusiasm or where it had come from, but she didn't want to undermine it either.

'Hey Kiddo, dinner's ready in a few minutes. Pull up a chair.' She ruffled Lucy's hair affectionately. 'Gotta eat!'

After they had eaten, Lucy cleared away the dinner things and washed up the plates, while Bethany put them away after she dried them. Bethany hung up the tea-towel. She glanced at her watch.

'Well, its getting on for half past seven. Time to call your Dad I think.' Yesterday Lucy had promised to call Dad every day at half past seven from the landline in the farmhouse. She had mixed feelings about calling him. It was good to hear his voice and speak to him, but she had only just practically run away from him. Still, it had to be done. They put on their shoes and went over to the farmhouse. Bethany chatted for a few minutes to Mary, then they went to the hall and Lucy dialled the number for home. It felt strange not to be there.

'Hello?' Dad's voice came on the line. 'How's your day been Luce?' She didn't want to tell Dad about Spirit and the dolphins. In fact she had never even told Dad about her dolphin dreams or anything else about them. She started off telling him all about Bethany's studio, what it looked like and where she slept. Dad seemed to enjoy hearing all about that. She told him about their trip down to Old Man's Cove and looking in the rock pools and the seagull that Bethany had drawn. He chuckled appreciatively at the description of the angry looking seagull. She told him about their walk along the cliff later that afternoon and she could sense that, even though he didn't say that much, he was beginning to think that it wasn't so bad that she was down there in Cornwall after all. Then, without thinking, she let her excited description get the better of her.

'And I was so happy when they found Spirit. We're going down to the beach by the lighthouse first thing tomorrow morning and Storm's going to show me where Spirit is trapped.' Almost as soon as the words had left her mouth, Lucy knew that she had made a huge mistake.

'What?' asked Dad. She could hear the note of anger in his voice. 'WHO are Spirit and Storm?' Desperately and entirely unconvincingly, Lucy tried to claim that they were nicknames for a couple of Bethany's artist friends. Dad was having none of it though and his voice became louder and more strident in his agitation.

'Put Bethany on the line, NOW' he commanded. Lucy had little option but to comply. Bethany was standing nearby and could already tell that something was amiss. Bethany took the receiver from Lucy and put it to her ear. Lucy could plainly see that what Dad was saying upset her and she flushed red with anger, but said little in reply. Then, to Lucy's surprise, Bethany said:

'Yes John. It's happened already. It's the dolphins....I know, yes, yes, I know.' What did Dad know about the dolphins Lucy wondered? Even though she was standing a meter or so away, she could hear Dad's raised voice from the receiver pressed to Bethany's ear, although she couldn't make out exactly what he was saying. Bethany began to wilt physically as he berated her. When eventually she returned the receiver to its hook, she turned to look at Lucy with an expression that seemed to say, 'don't blame me.'

'He's driving down first thing tomorrow morning' she said. 'He's going to take you home. He says I can't be trusted to keep you out of trouble.'

'Oh no!' gasped Lucy, shocked at the news. 'But we've got to go to the lighthouse tomorrow morning. I simply have to be there!' Bethany shook her head slowly and sadly.

'I'm sorry Kiddo. No can do. Your Dad would have my guts for garters if I let you go after what he just said to me. You're to stay at the studio until he arrives.' Lucy put her hands to her mouth in shock.

'No!' she exclaimed.

Chapter Eighteen:

It was still dark when Lucy crept out of bed. She'd had a sleepless night. Lucy had argued bitterly with Bethany after the telephone call, pleading with her with all the powers of persuasion that she could muster, but her Aunt was adamant. She could not go against Dad. She dared not help Lucy anymore. She was in enough trouble as it was, she said.

As with the night before, Lucy slept on the fold-down bed on the sleeping platform just a meter or so away from Bethany's own bed. The studio was hardly luxurious and there was no spare room for her to sleep in.

Lucy crept out of bed as stealthily as she could and gathered up her shoes and clothes. She was worried that the steps down from the sleeping platform would creak and wake Bethany up. She planned to whisper back that she was just going to the toilet, but had no idea whether that would work. Fortunately, even though the steps did creak a little, Bethany was deeply asleep and did not stir at all. In fact Bethany was so quiet on her bed, that Lucy was half convinced that she was lying there awake, listening to her. The thought gave Lucy the shivers.

Lucy got to the bottom and then crept through the dark studio. In a corner where she hoped that Bethany would not hear, she pulled on her clothes and shoes. She was as ready as she would ever be. Lucy opened the latch to the door, carefully pulled it ajar and slipped through into the cold air outside. She dared not pull it to, as the click of the latch might wake Bethany. Instead she pulled the door as far closed as she could. Then she looked around her at the dark farmyard.

Lucy wasn't used to being awake so early and felt a strange mixture of anxiety and anticipation. It was so early that not even the birds were singing. The farmyard was eerily quiet and she could only just make out the outlines of the buildings in the darkness.

Lucy set off at a brisk pace, out of the farmyard, through the open gate and up the lane that they had driven up and down just yesterday. In daylight she had studied the lane as they drove and it had seemed so easy to her to find her way if she wanted. Now, in the darkness, she could not make out a single feature. Yet the lane was leading up the hill and she knew that she had to go up the road and not down and that eventually after the leftwards fork, she would reach the larger road that traced its way along the coast. She would have to turn left at the top and then it would be a long, long walk before she got to the lighthouse beach. It must be five miles at least she reckoned, but really she had very little idea.

Time was against her. As soon as Bethany woke up, she'd realise exactly where Lucy had escaped to. She'd jump in her Land Rover and cut her off before she got anywhere near the lighthouse. Her only hope was that Bethany would sleep in and wouldn't notice that she'd disappeared. When Bethany had stayed at their house in the past, she'd noticed that she was quite a heavy sleeper and Dad had had to wake her up with the smell of freshly brewed coffee before Bethany had dragged herself out of bed, bleary eyed. Dad had said once that Bethany was a night owl, not an early bird. Lucy sincerely hoped that Bethany would live up to that reputation this morning. It was Sunday after all.

Dawn was creeping over the horizon and with it the darkness was lifting from the country landscape around her. She heard a sheep 'baa' from the field next to the lane. The wet dew hung to the grass in the verges either side of the road and, as it got lighter, Lucy could make out spiders' webs heavy with dew drops. It had been a cold night and Lucy shivered inside the fleece jacket that Bethany had lent her. She'd only just run away from home, Lucy thought to herself and now barely a day later she was running away from Bethany too. There was no one left to run away from now. She felt an overwhelming sense of longing and loneliness in her chest. Only the thought of Spirit out there in the sea, not so very far from where she was walking right now, spurred her on. It was light enough to see now and Lucy recognised a clump of ferns that she'd seen the day before. She came to the fork in the road and confidently took the left fork up to the main road which ran along the coast.

Lucy started to worry again that Storm would be waiting for her already at first light and that Bethany would soon realise that she had gone and come in pursuit of her. The only way to get there quickly was to hitch a lift. The words of her Dad rang through her mind, 'Never never never take a lift with a stranger' he had said. Lucy knew he was right, but there was nothing for it. The first car that came round the bend, she put her arm and thumb out for a lift. The small Mini pulled over. Lucy was standing by a gate and resolved to just jump over if the person in the car looked at all weird. Instead when the man wound down his window and peered up at her, she saw the friendly, straightforward face of a young man of about twenty five. His hair was all over the place, as though he'd only just got out of bed and hadn't had a chance to pull a comb across his head.

'You okay there?' he asked, glancing at his wrist-watch. It looked like he was in a hurry to get somewhere.

'I need to get to the lighthouse bay along the coast.'

'You're in luck. I'm going that way myself. Hop in.' he replied. Lucy climbed into the small car.

'But what are you doing up so early? Do your Mum and Dad know you're out here hitching a lift? You want to give someone a call and let them know you're here?' he asked, indicating towards his mobile phone on the dashboard.

'It's ok' replied Lucy hurriedly, 'I'm meeting my, err, Aunt at the surf school. We're going to do some bird-watching.' The young man frowned to himself, as he put the car in gear and drove off. What the young girl said didn't quite seem to add up.

'You're not from round here are you? What's your name?'

'My name's Lucy Parr' she replied. 'I'm staying with my Aunt for a few days' she added. The more she said, the more she realised that her cover story didn't quite make sense. Why would she be meeting her Aunt at the lighthouse if she was already staying with her?

'My name's Dan Merryweather' the young man said. 'I'm a teacher at the surf school. The rest of the time I work at the Jet Ski Centre. So it's no trouble for me to take you there.'

'Are you going surfing this morning?' asked Lucy, trying to make conversation.

'Yeah, I've got a class to take in about forty minutes, so I've got to get the wet suits and boards out and ready before everyone arrives. I'm running a bit late today' he added, glancing at his watch. 'These early mornings are a bit of a killer after a Saturday night out.'

They sped along the empty road. Soon they took a turning off to the right. Lucy saw a sign for the lighthouse and surf school. The lane veered down a small hill and Lucy could see the lighthouse clearly now. The sun was catching the top and the light glinted in the glass of the light. The landscape was more open here and Lucy could make out two buildings of the surf school and the wildlife centre in the small bay.

Lucy glanced back over her shoulder nervously, half expecting Bethany's Land Rover to come round the corner after them. There was no one else on the road now and Dan soon pulled up in the grassy parking area just behind the surf school. They climbed out of the car.

'Where's your Aunt then?' asked Dan with a concerned look on his face. Lucy tried to smile nonchalantly.

'Oh she'll be here in a minute' Lucy tried to reassure him.

There was a big roll-down shutter on the front of the surf school, a bit like a shop might have when it was closed and Dan busied himself with unlocking it and pulling up the shutters. Lucy watched him shyly as he worked. She felt a little awkward and wasn't sure what to do now. Inside the school she could see racks of surf-boards and neatly hung wet suits, organised according to size. There were changing rooms at the back and a little glass fronted office at the side. Dan glanced at his watch.

'I'm just going into the office for a moment. You be sure to tell me when your Aunt gets here' he said.

Lucy turned and looked out towards the bay. The surf school was right next to the beach. The tide was in and she could see the rolling foamy waves crashing into the shore. The waves weren't particularly high and Lucy wondered how good the surfing would be this morning. She scanned the sea for any sign of Storm or Dancer. Try as she might, she couldn't see a single dolphin in the water.

In the little office, out of earshot, Dan was on the phone.

'Hello Aunt Thelma. I'm so sorry to wake you up so early. It's about that young girl you told me about, Lucy Parr. I just found her wandering along the main road. Said she was meeting her Aunt at the lighthouse, but it doesn't make sense though. I've given her a lift to the surf school. Thought I'd keep an eye on her till her Aunt got here.'

Dan frowned again, listening to his Aunt Thelma's reply.

'I will, of course Aunt Thelma' he replied. 'See you soon.'

Dan turned to look outside as a mini-bus pulled up next to his own car and a group of twelve or so people stumbled out, all clearly as sleepy as he felt. Dan went out to meet his surf students. They were full of questions and soon Dan was busy getting them the right-sized wet suits and choosing the right boards. Lucy hung around at the edge of the group, looking out at the sea. She made out something in the distance, a hundred metres or so from the shore. Could it be the dorsal fin of a dolphin? Her heart quickened. 'I'm here, I'm here' she thought, trying to project her message out to the waiting dolphins. She glanced back at the surf school and had an idea.

'Can I try on a wet suit?' she asked Dan, while he pulled out a surf board for one of his students. Dan glanced up distractedly. He just wanted to keep her out of mischief until Thelma got there.

'Sure thing' he replied. He nodded over at a rack of smaller suits. 'Those ones there should fit you.'

Lucy took a wet suit that looked about her size and slipped into a spare changing cubicle before anyone got in there before her. She'd never put on a wet suit before and it was quite tricky, but soon she was in. There was a long pull on the back, so that she could zip herself up. She soon emerged, ready for the water. She started walking to the beach. Dan caught sight of her and called to her.

'You just wait there on the beach Lucy. We'll all be up there in a minute. I'm showing the group some surfing theory on the beach before they get in the water.'

Lucy turned back for a moment and half nodded. That was enough for Dan, who turned back to the group and the man who was asking him something about the board he was holding. With Dan distracted, she turned and jogged across the beach, scanning the sea again for the dorsal fins that she had seen earlier.

Yes, there were two fins in the water. Lucy felt a surge of excitement. She splashed out into the sea. 'Wow, its cold' she thought as the water engulfed her feet and legs. 'Thank goodness for the wet suit.'

The shelf of beach quickly dropped away and she soon found herself wading in water up to her chest. Lucy started swimming out. 'I must be mad doing this' she thought to herself, but she knew she could not turn back now. 'I'm here, I'm here!' she called out. She could not take the time to compose herself, or to focus to stretch out with her mind to the dolphins. She just had to hope that Dancer and Storm would realise that she was there. It was completely different swimming in the sea to swimming in a pool and she strained her muscles to keep going through the incoming waves. Lucy could well imagine how easy it was to drown at sea and was well aware of the serious risk that she was taking. This was another thing her Dad would have told her not to do. The third dangerous thing she'd done this morning and it still wasn't even six thirty.

Lucy braced herself for another wave and managed to ride over the top just before it broke behind her. Suddenly, she saw a dorsal fin in the water and then briefly, the smiling face of a dolphin. It was amazing to see the two dolphins coming towards her and, although she felt that she knew them well, seeing them there in front of her in real life felt completely different to the experience of dreaming of them, or even transporting herself to their world with her thoughts. Now she was just busy with keeping herself afloat.

Lucy stretched out with her hand and felt the firm flank of a dolphin with her fingertips. Was it Storm or Dancer? The dolphin's head broke the surface of the water again. It was Dancer! Storm came up next to them on the right. Lucy took hold of Dancer's dorsal fin and the two dolphins turned to leave the bay, pulling Lucy along with them. Lucy glanced back. Over the top of the waves she could see a figure on the beach. She thought that he was shouting, but she couldn't make out what over the crashing of the waves. She turned back to look out to sea, hanging onto Dancer's dorsal fin. They were on their way.

Nate Merryweather and Bob were just about to set off on the Lady Thelma, bound for their lobster pots, when the real Thelma came running down the dock towards them, calling out something indistinct as she came. Bob was just about to cast of the second mooring rope, but stopped, his mouth half open with surprise. Nate was at the wheel of the boat, standing in the small cabin. He cut off the engine and leant out.

'Whatever is the matter Thelma?' called Nate from the open door of the cabin. Thelma stood there, panting, completely out of breathe, unable to speak for a few moments. She gestured ineffectually with her hand while she caught her breath.

'I'm getting on' she gasped eventually. Just then, a Land Rover drove up onto the edge of the dock. Bethany slammed the door and ran up to join them, a look of anxiety and worry on her face.

'She's getting on too' panted Thelma.

It was both exhilarating and scary to be on the back of a dolphin, being carried out to sea. Even beyond the breakers, the sea was choppy and the salt spray caught in Lucy's mouth and eyes. She clung to the back of Dancer with all her might. She felt Dancer's skin warm and smooth, firm and ever-so-slightly rubbery beneath her touch. She pulled herself up so that she was almost astride Dancer's back. The young dolphin swum with powerful strokes of her tail. Occasionally Lucy caught Storm's eye. He was swimming beside them and regarded Lucy with thoughtful, intelligent eyes. She glanced behind her again. The lighthouse was far away now and they were fully clear of the bay. The cliffs were banking up to their right. Despite the danger of the strong currents and the open sea, Lucy knew that as long as she was with Dancer and Storm, she would be safe. She wondered how far along the coast they would go before they found Spirit and what state he'd be in when they did. She hoped it wasn't too late.

'So let me get this right. This young girl Lucy is a Dolphin Child?' Nate asked his wife incredulously, standing on the deck with Bethany, Thelma and Bob. Thelma nodded.

'You know there have been Dolphin Children in these parts for generation upon generation' replied Thelma.

'But she's not from round here is she?' Nate asked.

'But she's got strong family links here' broke in Bethany. 'Listen Nate. We don't have any time. We need your help.'

'That's right Nate' continued Thelma. 'Dan called me not half an hour ago. First of all he told me that he'd found young Lucy walking along the road, thumbing a lift to Lighthouse Bay. I said to keep her there and I'd be along there as soon as I could. Fifteen minutes later he called me again in a blind panic. She'd only gone and got herself carried away on the back of a bloomin' dolphin!'

'Blimey O'Reilly!' exclaimed Bob.

'She said that this special dolphin, Spirit, is trapped by a steel cord at the foot of the cliff somewhere along there' added Bethany hurriedly, gesturing with her arm. 'She told me that his two friends would come and take her to him. I wouldn't let her though and now she's gone anyway. I'm desperately worried about her.' Nate looked from the face of Bethany to the face of his wife. This was no joke.

'Tell me where you want me to take you' he said seriously.

The two dolphins pulled in close to the cliff now. Low waves broke rhythmically at the foot of the sheer wall of rock, which had been worn smooth by the wave's endless pounding. Seaweed and limpets hung onto the rock at the water line. Higher up the rocks were craggy and rough and in places the stone was stained white by the guano of the seagulls that nested there and which glided in the swirling up-currents of air. Lucy glanced up and the sheer face of the cliff, wondering how anybody could climb up if they needed to. She hoped that she wouldn't have to try. Dancer came to a stop and Lucy glanced down at the water in front of them. There was another dorsal fin in the water!

The thought that she was so close to Spirit took her breath away. Everything else seemed to melt into the background and all she was aware of was Spirit, hanging there on the surface of the choppy water.

Lucy slipped down from Dancer's back into the water and swum over to Spirit. This was the moment that she imagined for such a long time. Spirit regarded Lucy with his deep liquid-dark eyes. They seemed to have a world of meaning within them. Lucy had just assumed that she would be able to communicate with Spirit as she had done when she was sitting in her bedroom projecting her mind out to him. Instead she realised with a shock that she couldn't. Lucy's mind spilled over with things that she wanted to say to him, but instead she couldn't tell him anything at all. She could hear Spirit's clicks and whistles through the water, but she had no idea at all what it meant. It was so strange.

Lucy stretched out her hand and placed it gently on the side of Spirit's face. It felt as though electricity were passing between them. It energised her and her whole body tingled with it. It was hard to keep her hand there, she was having to tread water with her feet and use her other arm to balance and soon she had to let go again.

Lucy dipped her head underwater to look at the loop of steel around Spirit's tail. She was not wearing goggles and the water was much harder to see through than it had been in her visions and dreams. She could just about make out the steel through the murk and swirl of the water and she felt tentatively down Spirit's flank until her fingers curled around the metal cord. She could feel that it cut tight into Spirit's skin. Spirit flinched slightly as she touched the wound and she felt a shooting of pain in her own ankles in sympathy to Spirit's own pain.

Lucy tried to get her fingers under the wire and find a way of loosening off the loop of steel, but it was much harder than she had imagined when she lay on Bethany's fold-down bed the night before. She was having to kick hard just to keep herself afloat and the surge of the water around her made it difficult to stay in the same spot. She let go for a moment to rest and breath and Dancer came close so that she could hold onto her if she wanted.

After a brief respite Lucy resumed her task, feeling with her fingers again and again to find where the steel cord was caught and to discover a way of prising it free. Spirit stayed as still as he could to enable her to do so and lifted up his tail as close as possible to the surface of the water to help Lucy to work and breath. Dancer and Storm looked on with concern in the eyes, willing Lucy on to succeed.

Eventually, after what seemed a long time, Lucy realised that the knot was so tight that it could not be dislodged with the strength of her fingers alone. She was getting tired and knew that she couldn't keep it up for much longer. She gestured to Dancer that she wanted to follow the steel cord up the line to where it was attached to the buoy.

It was easy enough to pull herself along the cable, up towards the rock. Dancer followed protectively at her side just in case she needed the dolphin's help. The wire soon came up out of the water towards to the rock face. She could make out the red and white buoy lodged in the rocks at the foot of the cliff above them. She tugged hard on the wire, hoping that at least the buoy would just come free. It wouldn't budge though. She would have to climb up out of the water to the buoy and try to move the rocks that kept it in place. It was harder than it looked though. The rock was covered in slippery weed and every time she tried to gain purchase with her feet, they slipped out from under her and she fell back into the water.

Lucy had arms made strong from all the swimming practice she had done, but even so, they were not strong enough to pull herself out the water. The buoy and the steel cord were firmly wedged in the rocks and there seemed no way that she could get up close enough to it to do anything to free it.

A sense of terrible desolation seized Lucy and, despite herself, her body started to shake with sobs. She was so desperate to save Spirit and the idea had seemed so easy when she had planned it all in her mind the night before. Now that she was here, she realised how difficult and dangerous it was to put her plan into practice. She didn't have a single tool with her to use, not even a pen-knife, not even a pair of nail clippers. Her nimble fingers were not enough to set Spirit free and what was more, her hands and feet were becoming numb with cold. The colder they got, the less she could do with them. She had failed, she thought, and Spirit would die. Then her life would not be worth living. She may as well die here with him she thought.

She swam back to Spirit and clung onto his back, crying bitter tears into his smooth flank. Although she could not communicate with Spirit, she could feel the electric tingle through his skin. It was much less than before though. It was almost as though Spirit had been filled with energy and hope when she had arrived. Now he realised that she could not set him free, the hope and the energy were ebbing out of him. It was as though she could feel his very life force leaving him. 'I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry' she sobbed into his flank.

'Lucy! Lucy!' From the empty waves, Lucy heard her name being called. She glanced up, confused and disorientated. There, not twenty meters away, amazingly, she could see a small, dirty, grey-white trawler bobbing on the waves. More amazing yet, there was Bethany standing at the helm calling out to her, the wind blowing through her wild curly hair. Behind her she could make out Mrs Merryweather clutching tenaciously to the side of the small cabin. What on earth were they doing here?

As she looked, a dinghy emerged from behind the small trawler, a man rowing hard, pulling towards her. When he got close enough, Nate turned and called to her.

'Ahoy there Lucy. You hang on girl. I'll have you back on deck with your Aunt in just a jiffy!' Lucy, Spirit, Dancer and Storm all looked towards Nate and his dinghy. It took Lucy a moment to realise what he was suggesting. But she couldn't just leave Spirit here to die. Not now.

'No, I've got to save Spirit!' she called back desperately, gesturing with her hands. 'He's caught. I've got to set him free!' Nate had pulled up close now and shipped his oars to get closer still. Spirit seemed nervous, but Lucy could feel the tingling energy from Spirit's skin increase again. The rubber dinghy bumped up against Spirit's back and Nate bent over to touch the dolphin gently.

'There there my beauty' Nate murmured to Spirit quietly. 'What's the matter with you then?' Lucy watched his rough hands glide lightly down Spirit's flank. Nate was so close that he could pull Lucy into the dinghy easily if he wanted, but for some reason, he didn't.

'There's a sort of wire thing caught round his tail cutting into his skin' she told him. I tried to pull it free, but I just couldn't manage it' Nate continued to lean from the dinghy, his hand under the water, tracing the wire gently where it cut into Spirit's raw skin.

'I see what you mean Lucy' he said quietly. 'That's a nasty one.' He turned back towards the Lady Thelma.

'Bob! Bob!!' he called. Bob put his head out of the small cabin.

'What's up skipper?' Bob called back.

'Dig out those wire cutters will you?' Nate yelled hoarsely. He turned back to Lucy.

'Thing about my boat' he told her 'She's breaking down all the time. Got to carry around a heap of tools just to keep the poor thing going.' He cast Lucy a thoughtful glance. 'I'm going to have to pop back to my boat to get the wire cutters. Your Aunt wants me to get you back on board double quick pronto. But I reckon you're safe with your friends for a little bit, aren't you?' Lucy nodded and smiled.

'Thanks yes' she said gratefully. She couldn't bear the idea of leaving Spirit until he was free again. Nate paddled back to the Lady Thelma and Lucy, resting on Spirit's back, stroked his flank happily.

'You're going to be free. It's going to be ok!' She could hear the three dolphins clicking and whistling between them, but more than that, she could feel through her finger tips that Spirit's energy was returning to him. After a few minutes, Nate had paddled to the Lady Thelma and came back with the wire cutters. He shipped his oars again and picked up the cutters.

'Lucy. I'm going to be careful, but I might nip your dolphin a little bit. I need you to reassure the old thing' he said. Lucy pressed her palms to Spirit's flank in a way that she hoped was reassuring and whispered anything that came into her head to calm him. Nate plunged his arms into the water and traced down. Suddenly Spirit jerked in pain and Lucy felt the same sharp sensation herself in sympathy. Then, miraculously, Spirit swam forward. He was free!

Spirit carried Lucy carefully, gently, back to the Lady Thelma. Dancer and Storm followed alongside. There was a steel ladder welded to the side of the vessel and Bethany climbed down in order to be able to pull Lucy up to safety. Lucy didn't know what to feel. She wanted to stay with Spirit forever, but she knew that she couldn't. She hugged Spirit with all her might before she reached up and took Bethany's hand.

'Goodbye Spirit' she whispered. Then she stretched out her hand and Bethany pulled her up until she was standing on the bottom rung. Spirit was looking up at her from the water, his big deep eyes full of unexpressed emotion. Their eyes locked for a long, long moment. Then the Lady Thelma rocked in the swell and Bethany tugged at her to come up the ladder onto the deck. Spirit turned away. Nate had rowed back to the trawler and he too clambered back on board.

On deck, Lucy seized the rail and looked back longingly towards the three dolphins. Whatever Bethany and Thelma were saying to her, she had no idea. All she could think of was Spirit, Dancer and the deep feeling of completeness she had felt when the surge of tingling electricity had crept up through Spirit's skin and into her own body.

Bob pulled out the throttle and the Lady Thelma chugged forward. He turned the boat around and set her on course back to port. Lucy was overwhelmed with the bitter-sweet feeling of happiness and loss. As the Lady Thelma chugged along, the three dolphins appeared at the bow and swum alongside for a few minutes before peeling away. Lucy thought they had gone, but then suddenly all three dolphins; Spirit, Dancer and Storm took an enormous leap from the water, all at the same time. It was as if they were saluting her. As if they were saying goodbye. Lucy waved, tears in her eyes. Then they were gone.

Chapter Nineteen. Epilogue:

As the Lady Thelma chugged into the small harbour of Merwater, Lucy could see a figure standing on the harbour wall. It was Dad. Lucy was filled with dread and shivered inside the big sweater and coat that Bob had pulled over her wet-suit. She could only imagine what Dad would say to her, but whatever it was, it was sure to be truly, excruciatingly horrible. She shrank back inside her skin. Bethany was standing next to her with her arms around Lucy's shoulders and she could feel her Aunt tense up as well at the thought of Dad confronting them. There was nothing for it but to face up to whatever he might say. Bob eased off the throttle and they slowed down. As they got closer, she could see Dad's face clouded and dark with emotion.

As soon as the Lady Thelma touched the harbour wall, Bob leapt out with the heavy mooring rope to tie up and Dad jumped on board. But instead of letting rip at her, Dad took her in his arms and hugged her tight to his body, so tight that she could hardly breathe. She could feel the wool of his pullover pressing into her face and the vague smell of mothballs from his coat. Then a hot wet drop splashed down onto her cheek. To her surprise she realised that Dad was crying.

'Oh Lucy, Lucy, Lucy' he mumbled into her hair. 'I thought I'd lost you. I really thought I'd lost you.' He rocked her slowly from side to side as he hugged her close.

Eventually, Lucy and Bethany were able to tell Dad the gist of what had happened. He was just so ridiculously happy to see his daughter alive that he forgot to be angry, though Lucy had a nasty feeling that he would remember about the anger thing a bit later. The small party climbed off the Lady Thelma onto dry land and started to walk slowly along the harbour wall towards the car park.

As they walked, Thelma touched Dad lightly on the arm and inclined her head to show that she wanted him to drop back so that she could have a word. Lucy walked on with Bethany and Nate and Bob went on ahead carrying a couple of broken lobster pots each.

'I know what you're thinking John Parr' she said. 'You're thinking you want to protect your Lucy from all this Dolphin-Child nonsense. You're thinking that it's already brought her to the edge of death and you want to get her as far away as you can, as soon as you can.' Dad nodded.

'John Parr' she continued. 'If you deny Lucy her true self now, she will never be complete. There will always be a ghost of what might have been. She will be restless and unhappy for all her days. But a Dolphin-Child doesn't stay a child for long. I know. I've met one or two before. She's twelve now isn't she, going on thirteen? Within a year or so her gift will leave her, like a swift on the wind and she'll be just a regular girl again into pop music and whatnot. You mark my words John Parr. Just one year.'

They turned and followed the others in their slow walk towards the car park, talking quietly.

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The Dolphin Child Trilogy:

'The Girl Who Dreamt Of Dolphins' is the first book in the Dolphin Child trilogy about Lucy Parr and Spirit. 'Dolphin Child' is the second. A few days later Lucy is surprised but grateful that her father allows her to stay with her aunt Bethany down in Cornwall during the summer holidays. She is able to spend real time with Spirit who, like her, is learning to overcome the loss of his own mother.

Observed one morning by a strange boy while Lucy swims with dolphins, she spots him later the same day being bullied by a group of local kids. When Paul tells Lucy he knows about a dolphin trapped in a secret lagoon, she doesn't know whether to believe him, but her recurring dream of lonely dolphin trapped in murky waters troubles her.

When Lucy discovers the disturbing story of an eighteen-century Dolphin Child called Susan Penhaligon, Lucy begins to understand why Paul's mother is so unfriendly to her. At the same time Spirit's discovery of a pod with human names makes him wonder what really happened to the children that Susan Penhaligon led out to sea that day.

Lucy and Paul become joined in their quest to discover the truth about the lone dolphin. Will Paul's desire to escape the local bullies and to become a dolphin child too lead to a tragic repetition of Susan Penhaligon's fate? What is the link between the trapped dolphin and Spirit?

