a shrill whistle.
Spirit, I hear your call. I’m on my way.
Antonia thought the words, not daring to say them aloud.
“See you in a bit, then,” said Sophie sadly.
Antonia waved and the girls walked in opposite directions. When Sophie was out of sight, Antonia turned down the alley that led to the coastal path. School bag bumping against her back, she jogged all the way to Gull Bay. The beach was deserted. Slipping out of her sandals and socks, and leaving them hidden behind a rock with her bag, Antonia ran across the soft white sand to the sea. The water was cold and she winced as she splashed further out. When the water reached her waist she took a deep breath, then swam. At once her legs melded together, kicking like a dolphin’s tail. Using her hands as flippers, Antonia powered along, her streamlined body arching as she leapt and dived in and out of the sea, just like a real dolphin. The silver dolphin charm was still whistling, but now she could hear something else. A soft whisper, that was gone before Antonia could make out what it was.
“Spirit?” she clicked.
“Silver Dolphin,” he replied.
“I’m on my way.”
“Be quick, Silver Dolphin.”
Antonia swam faster out of Gull Bay, across Sandy Bay and round the headland. She kept going until she reached a tiny cove that she remembered visiting once with Spirit’s son, Bubbles. Spirit was waiting for her near the cliffs, a short distance from the cove’s entrance. He bowed his magnificent silver head. Cai, Antonia’s Silver Dolphin friend, trod water close by and shot Antonia a triumphant grin. Antonia hesitated. She wasn’t nearly as in awe of Spirit as she used to be, but sometimes she still felt shy in his presence. Spirit came forward and rubbed her nose in greeting, and immediately Antonia relaxed.
“Thank you for coming, Silver Dolphins,” said Spirit. “Follow me and I’ll show you why I called.”
Spirit dived under the water.
“I got here first,” said Cai cheekily, as he and Antonia dived after the dolphin.
“Well done,” clicked Antonia good-naturedly. She didn’t remind Cai that she’d had further to swim. Antonia was a very powerful Silver Dolphin; there were lots of things that she could do that Cai never would.
They swam down through the blue-green water until they reached a bed of eelgrass, its long green stems swaying gently with the swell of the ocean.
“Oh!” Antonia gasped.
A supermarket trolley lay on its side, crushing a large area of the eelgrass.
“How did that get here?”
“Someone probably pushed it off the cliff,” said Cai.
“It’s causing a lot of damage,” clicked Spirit. “Come closer and you’ll see what I mean.”
Antonia and Cai skimmed slowly over the trolley, noticing the snapped and damaged eelgrass poking through its metal bars. Movement caught Antonia’s eye. She stared at the trolley, then pointed excitedly.
“A seahorse!”
Antonia stayed very still as she watched the tiny yellow seahorse. Its elegant neck and bowed head looked so like a real horse in miniature, that she half expected the creature to have legs and hooves instead of a long curled tail, anchoring it to a blade of eelgrass.
“There’s more,” said Cai suddenly. “Look, they’re dancing.”
Two seahorses were swimming in an elaborate circle, their spiny bodies dipping and swaying in the water.
“Aunty Claudia says seahorses are becoming rarer,” said Cai, who was living with his aunt while his parents worked in Australia. Claudia ran a marine conservation charity called Sea Watch and until recently, she had been a Silver Dolphin too.
“That’s why I called you,” said Spirit gravely. “This is a new breeding ground for the seahorses, but they won’t survive without the eelgrass.”
Antonia’s grey-green eyes flashed angrily.
“That one’s dead already,” she said, pointing to a seahorse just visible under the trolley’s bright red handle. The seahorse’s eyes were dull and half of its tail was missing.
“It looks like it was crushed.”
She grasped hold of the trolley and began to lift it.
“Help me,” she panted.
“Wait!” said Cai. “You’ll cause more damage if you’re not careful. Let’s think about how we’re going to do this.”
Antonia let go of the trolley.
“Sorry,” she said ruefully. “I got carried away. If I take this end and you take the other, we can lift it straight up without causing any more damage.”
“But what will we do with it then?” asked Cai. “The beach in that cove nearby is surrounded by cliffs. There’s no path.”
Antonia pushed her long blonde hair away from her face.
“I know,” she said. “We’ll swim it to Claudia’s beach. Thank goodness it’s private. Mum will ground me forever if I’m seen out when I should be at school.”
Raising the abandoned trolley from the eelgrass beds was more difficult than it looked. Even though it was small, it was heavy and awkward to manoeuvre in the water. The eelgrass snagged in the trolley’s metal sides and snaked round its wheels, holding it back. “Careful,” said Antonia, concerned for the two dancing seahorses, which suddenly changed colour, then dashed away as the trolley shifted position.
Cai held it steady while Antonia swam round, freeing as much of the eelgrass as she could. With Spirit’s help, they slowly swam the trolley to the surface.
“We could do with some help,” said Cai. “It’s going to be tricky swimming with this.”
The water began to vibrate, then like a mini tornado, a column of water spun from the surface, as Bubbles leapt out of the sea. He was followed more sedately by his sister, Dream, and their mother, Star.
“Bubbles,” clicked Antonia happily. She was so pleased to see him again, she wanted to turn a somersault. But that would mean letting go of the trolley, so she splashed the water with her tail-like legs instead.
“Hi Dream, hello Star; it’s good to see you too.”
“Hi,” said Dream, swimming up and gently rubbing noses with Antonia, then Cai. Turning to Star, she asked, “Can we help the Silver Dolphins, Mum?”
“Hello,” clicked Star, greeting Antonia and Cai with a friendly nose rub.
“Can we help?” asked Bubbles impatiently.
Star hesitated. “I don’t think it would be a good idea,” she clicked. “That thing is hard and scratchy. It could easily damage your soft skin. Let the Silver Dolphins deal with it. Their hands are more useful than fins on this occasion.”
“Aw, Mum!” clicked Bubbles. “Please let us help. We’ll be really careful.”
But Star wouldn’t allow it. “It’s too dangerous. You can play with the Silver Dolphins when they’ve finished their task,” she said firmly.
Bubbles cheered up immediately. “Sprat or seaweed tag?” he clicked.
“Neither,” panted Antonia. “Sorry Bubbles, but we’ve got to go to school when we’re done. We’re late as it is.”
“What’s school?” asked Bubbles.
“It’s a place where children