holiday in Jersey. Sophie also had her sketch book with her and showed Antonia some of the sketches she’d done for her latest art project: painting pictures of the cats that roamed around Sandy Bay. Then Jessica came barging in, demanding that the girls played with her too. She wanted to play hide-and-seek, so everyone went outside to hide in the garden. Sophie played four games before deciding she’d better go home. Antonia went to the side gate with her to wave goodbye and Jessica trailed after them. When Sophie had gone, she followed Antonia indoors and upstairs to her bedroom.
“You like dolphins, don’t you?” she asked, noticing the present from Sophie on the dressing table.
“They’re my favourite animal,” Antonia agreed as she pulled her swimming bag out of the cupboard. It was squad night. Luckily Mum hadn’t grounded her for that too! Antonia packed her bag with the things she needed.
“Is it because you swim like a dolphin?”
Antonia’s heart missed a beat as she spun round to face her sister. What did Jessica mean?
“Naomi’s sister is in your class at school. She calls you the dolphin girl because you’re brilliant at swimming.”
“Oh!” Antonia smiled. For a wild moment, she thought Jessica had discovered the secret of the Silver Dolphins.
“Can I try your necklace on?” asked Jessica, reaching out to touch it.
Antonia drew back. “No, Jess, you know my necklace is special.”
“Please,” begged Jessica, making her green eyes go wide. “I want to see if the magic works for me too.”
There was a funny rushing sound in Antonia’s head. She tried to speak, but her mouth was so dry that her voice came out in a croak.
“What do you mean?”
“I know your dolphin charm is magic. Ages ago, you said it made you swim better,” said Jessica innocently.
Antonia met Jessica’s eyes, choosing her words carefully as she spoke. “My charm isn’t magic. It’s lucky. It gives me confidence, so I swim better when I’m wearing it.”
“Can I touch it then,” said Jessica, “for luck?”
“No.” Antonia quickly hid the dolphin charm inside the collar of her school dress.
“You’re mean!” Jessica’s eyes welled up with tears.
Antonia was suddenly ashamed of herself.
“Don’t cry,” she said, hugging Jessica’s stiff little body. “I’m not being mean. This is my lucky charm. The luck only works for me. You’ll have to find your own thing. Why do you need luck anyway?”
Jessica sniffed. “I want to be brilliant at swimming, just like you. And I want to learn to surf too.”
“Then you need to practise,” said Antonia. “Practising is much more important than luck. Look, I’ll tell you what. Once school’s broken up we’ll ask Mum to take us to the swimming pool and I’ll help you practise.”
“Will you?” Jessica wiped a hand across her eyes. “Thanks, Antonia. You’re the best sister in the world.”
Jessica skipped off. Antonia stared out of her attic window, hardly registering the wonderful view of Sandy Bay. A small seed of worry nagged at her like an aching tooth.
By tea time, Antonia could hardly eat the spaghetti bolognaise Mum had cooked. Twirling a strand of pasta round her fork, she let it drop back on to the plate. Had she totally convinced Jessica that her charm wasn’t magic? To most people the dolphin charm looked like an ordinary necklace. Only a Silver Dolphin knew it was more than that. But what if Jessica was a Silver Dolphin? Antonia hoped not. Her sister was far too little. Sometimes the work was dangerous and often it required making difficult decisions. How would Jessica answer the dolphins’ call, when she wasn’t allowed to go anywhere on her own?
There was another reason why Antonia didn’t want Jessica to be a Silver Dolphin too. Being a Silver Dolphin made Antonia feel special. She didn’t want to share the secret with her little sister. Poor Jess; she’d called Antonia the best sister in the world, but Antonia knew she wasn’t. She was selfish and mean. She pushed her half-eaten tea away from her.
“Are you feeling all right?” asked Mum.
“I’ve got a headache,” said Antonia truthfully, because her head was spinning.
“Better go and sit quietly for a bit,” said Mum.
“Thanks.” Gratefully, Antonia fled up to her room.
She sat on her bed, gently stroking her silver dolphin charm. She loved the way it felt like a real dolphin.
After a while, her head cleared and she felt calmer. Talk about overreacting. Of course Jess wasn’t a Silver Dolphin. What a mad idea! With a lighter heart, Antonia ran downstairs to see if Mum had saved her any pudding.
Walking to school with Sophie the next morning, Antonia’s feet felt like they were floating on air. Finally, it was the last day of term. Straight after lunch—an end-of-term picnic on the school field—the holidays started. Six whole weeks of freedom! Antonia couldn’t wait.
Miss Brown’s desk was a mountain of gifts and Antonia added her own to the pile—a pretty notebook made from recycled paper and a pen with a clay starfish on the end. The morning was a blur of last-minute tidying, followed by a final assembly. Lunch was a noisy, cheerful affair. The Year Sixes, who were leaving for secondary school, came round collecting signatures on their school sweatshirts and cardigans. Antonia drew a dolphin on her friend Emily’s and the big girl squeaked in delight.
“Are you going to Sea Watch after school? Wait for me then,” she said.
Emily talked non-stop on the way to Sea Watch. She’d brought her camera with her to take some photos of the guillemots before they were released.
“Aunty Claudia thinks we can let them go next week,” said Cai. “They should be properly acclimatised by then.”
“A clima-whattie?” asked Emily.
“Acclimatised; it means getting them used to being outside again.”
Claudia was pleased to see everyone. As they tidied their school bags into a cupboard, she drew Antonia to one side.
“Bad luck about yesterday. I hope you weren’t in too much trouble?”
“I was a bit,” Antonia admitted. “I’m just glad school’s finished. Now I can stop worrying about what to do if Spirit calls in the middle of a lesson.”
“That would be awkward,” agreed Claudia. “But you’d find a way round it.”
“How? What if it happens next term?”
Claudia smiled and immediately Antonia knew what her answer would be. Staring into
