collection of sick and injured pets and wildlife. She cares for them in her house, even though it’s only tiny.”
“Do you know Spirit?”
Hannah shook her head. “But Vision does. He’s the leader of our dolphin pod.”
“I know Vision well,” Spirit agreed. “I must remember to thank him for letting us borrow his Silver Dolphin.”
Antonia felt a sharp pang of jealousy and, even though she quickly squashed it, she couldn’t quite meet Hannah’s eye when she said, “It’s great to have you here.”
“Definitely,” clicked Cai enthusiastically. “There’s always room for another Silver Dolphin.”
Antonia could feel vibrations in the water. She turned and saw two small dolphins swimming towards them in graceful arcs.
“Bubbles and Dream,” she whispered. Was there to be no end to her shame?
“Silver Dolphin,” squeaked Bubbles, swimming straight to Antonia and greeting her with a gentle rub on the nose. His dark eyes held hers for a minute, then he rubbed her nose again before turning to Hannah and Cai.
“A new Silver Dolphin. How bubbly!”
Hannah laughed.
“Don’t get too excited,” she squeaked back. “I’m only here for a couple of weeks.”
While Bubbles greeted Hannah and Cai properly, Dream swam alongside Antonia and touched her face with a flipper.
“You did your best,” she clicked softly.
“Thanks.” Antonia was grateful for Dream’s kindness.
Bubbles was thrilled to meet a new Silver Dolphin and couldn’t keep still. “Seaweed tag,” he shouted, bobbing up and down in the water. “It’ll be even more fun now.”
Antonia wasn’t in the mood to play. She didn’t feel she deserved to have fun after the seagull had died.
“Not today,” she clicked.
Cai hesitated, then said, “Next time. We’ve got to get back now.”
Hannah nodded in agreement.
“Too bad,” clicked Bubbles, flicking the sea with his tail. His disappointment made Antonia feel worse.
Don’t be too hard on yourself.
Spirit’s voice broke into her thoughts. Antonia looked up. His dark eyes held hers. Sadly she shook her head. If only it was that simple!
The dolphins swam with them to Claudia’s beach before Spirit shepherded Bubbles and Dream out to sea. The Silver Dolphins watched them go. When they were tiny dots on the horizon, they swam ashore.
“Kathleen would love Sea Watch,” said Hannah suddenly. “Maybe she could set up something similar.”
“Great idea,” said Cai. “I bet Aunty Claudia would help her to get started. The more Sea Watches the better.”
“You can’t call it Sea Watch!” Antonia exclaimed. Her face reddened as Cai and Hannah stared at her. “I mean…you’d have to call it something else or people might get confused.”
“I don’t think they would,” said Cai thoughtfully. “It would be a bit like the RSPCA. They have branches all over the country.”
“I agree with Antonia,” said Hannah surprisingly. “It would be better to call it something different, like, erm…I don’t know, Beach Watch maybe.”
Antonia gave Hannah a suspicious look, unsure if she was genuinely being nice or if she was making fun of her.
“How about Seaweed Watch,” chuckled Cai, untangling a piece of seaweed from his leg as he waded towards the beach.
“Or Shell Watch,” giggled Hannah, plucking an empty mussel shell from the seabed.
Antonia followed in silence, water cascading from her clothes as she made her way up the beach. Part of her wanted to join in, saying something silly like ‘Waterfall Watch’ but her voice refused to make the words happen.
Claudia met them in the garden. Her eyes skipped over the giggling Hannah and Cai and rested on Antonia.
I failed.
Antonia thought the words before Claudia had time to ask.
It happens. Failure isn’t a crime. Not trying is and before you ask, yes, I’ve failed lots of times. On one occasion it was very bad.
Claudia’s sea-green eyes held a faraway look. Suddenly, Antonia remembered Bubbles telling her how one of their pod had got tangled in a fishing net and died because the Silver Dolphin was too far away to save her. Had that Silver Dolphin been Claudia? She reached out for Claudia’s hand and squeezed it. Claudia gave her hand a little squeeze back.
“Guess what?” said Cai, breathless with excitement.
“Antonia’s lost her shoes?” asked Claudia, a twinkle in her eye.
Antonia grinned. It was becoming a bit of a joke that she kept leaving her shoes on the beach.
“No,” said Cai. “Hannah’s a Silver Dolphin.”
“Oh, that!” said Claudia mischievously. “I had a suspicion she might be.”
“She wants to set up a Sea Watch where she lives. Will you help her?” Cai rushed on.
Claudia laughed. “Of course I will. We’ll talk about it later when I’ve got time to sit down with Hannah and discuss it properly. Right now I was hoping you three might clear out the shed for me. The builder needs to move it before he starts work on the deepwater pool.”
Claudia suggested they lay everything housed in the shed on the lawn while she cleared a temporary space for it all in her garage.
“The car can stay outside,” she said decisively.
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