Broken Promises by Summer Waters Page B

Cai?”
    â€œHe’s outside feeding Tilly,” said Emily.
    Tilly, an abandoned seal pup rescued by Claudia, had been at Sea Watch for a few days and was already making good progress.
    â€œThis is Hannah,” Emily added. “Her mum’s working in the area so she’ll be here for a couple of weeks.”
    Hannah smiled at Antonia. She was pale and thin with long red hair. She would have seemed fragile, had it not been for her piercing grey eyes. Antonia was transfixed. She couldn’t stop staring at Hannah. A strong feeling swept over her. Hannah was no ordinary girl. Antonia sensed there was something special about her. It was as if…
    Hannah stared back with open curiosity and Antonia pulled herself together. What was wrong with her? Of course there wasn’t anything special about Hannah. Only last week, she’d suspected her own sister of being a Silver Dolphin and she’d been completely wrong about that! Quickly she headed outside to find Cai.
    The seal pup had just finished her bottle and was nosing at Cai’s hand for more. Antonia laughed as Cai held the empty bottle out of her reach, saying, “You’ll get wind if you suck on that.”
    â€œDo you want any help cleaning out her pen?” asked Antonia.
    â€œYes please,” said Cai. “Guess what? Aunty Claudia’s found a builder. He’s going to startwork on the deepwater pool in a couple of weeks.”
    â€œThat’s fantastic,” said Antonia. A deepwater pool was just what Sea Watch needed to rehabilitate seabirds and marine animals, like Tilly.
    The seal pup followed Antonia and Cai as they tidied up her pen, occasionally nudging their feet with her shiny nose. She reminded Antonia of a puppy, but she knew better than to treat her like one. It was important to handle wild animals as little as possible or they became too tame to release back into the wild. They were almost finished when a familiar sensation swept over Antonia. Spirit was about to call. She stood still, listening for his voice in her head.
    Silver Dolphin, come quickly.
    Spirit, I hear your call.
    Antonia didn’t speak, but thought the words. Cai was only able to communicate with Spirit through his silver dolphin charm and didn’t know about her telepathy. A few seconds later, both Antonia’s dolphin necklace and the dolphin badge pinned to Cai’s T-shirt began to vibrate. Both charms thrashed wildly then they broke into a high-pitched whistle.
    â€œSilver Dolphin, come quickly.”
    â€œSpirit, I hear your call,” said Cai.
    He sprinted out of the seal pen, pulling off his rubber gloves and quickly locking the door after Antonia followed him out.
    Together they ran for the beach, vaultingthe tiny gate and heading for the Sea Watch boat where they stopped to leave their shoes. Antonia touched her charm, concerned by how fast the dolphin’s tail was beating. Spirit needed them urgently. As she splashed into the sea she heard a whispering noise in her head. Puzzled, Antonia slowed, trying to work out what it was. Her silver dolphin charm beat more wildly. There was no time to solve the mystery. Ignoring the whispering noise, Antonia threw herself into the water.
    The moment her legs melded together like a tail she swam. She didn’t wait for Cai, and used her powerful Silver Dolphin magic to propel her through the water, her streamlined body arching in and out of the sea like a real dolphin, only much faster. She swam almostto the headland to the west of Sandy Bay beach before she felt vibrations in the water. Hoping they were caused by Spirit, Antonia swam on. At last she saw his silvery head bobbing in the sea near the cliffs. Antonia raced over.
    â€œHurry, Silver Dolphin,” Spirit clicked, his eyes concerned. “A bird’s in trouble on the cliffs.”
    Antonia scanned the cliffs, searching for the unfortunate bird. There it was—about two metres up, perched on a ledge, a