blankets pegged to various objects in the room. There was a string of pink and blue flower-shaped lights hanging around the entrance. The bedroom curtains were drawn and the lights glowed prettily in the darkened room. Antonia crawled inside and found that the den was comfortably furnished with cushions and pillows. The bathroom radio was playing softly in the background and Jessica had put a framed photo of Mum, Dad and Antonia on a table made from an upside-down box.
“I love it,” said Antonia, settling on a cushion.
They only had a short time to play before tea, so after they’d eaten, Jessica asked Antonia if she’d come back to the den to play some more.
“Not tonight,” said Mum, stacking the dirty plates. “It’s time to take the den down and get in the bath.”
“Can I leave it up?” asked Jess. “I want to play in it again tomorrow. Antonia does too, don’t you?”
“I’d love to, but I’m going to Sea Watch,” said Antonia. “I’ll play with you when I get home, though.”
“Is that a good idea when you’re going windsurfing with Cai?” asked Mum. “I thought you might give Sea Watch a break for a day or two. Cai’s not seen his parents for ages and he might like some time alone with them.”
“Then Cai won’t come to Sea Watch, he’ll stay up at the house,” said Antonia reasonably.
Dad sighed wistfully. “Lucky you! Before I started my garage business I used to go windsurfing. Those were the days…when I had time for hobbies!”
Antonia groaned loudly. It was a family joke that Dad never had time for anything because he was always working.
“Just don’t overstay your welcome,” said Mum. “Cai’s a good friend. He might not tell you that he doesn’t want you around all the time in case he hurts your feelings.”
“Cai knows me better than that!” said Antonia indignantly. “We don’t have secrets from each other.”
“What about my den?” Jessica interrupted. “Can I keep it up or not?”
Mum hesitated. “All right, but no more playing in it tonight. Go and get in the bath.” Mum followed Jessica upstairs to get her a towel from the airing cupboard.
Antonia went outside and stared at the bay. The blue sea shimmered invitingly and she longed to be swimming in it. She screwed up her eyes against the slanting evening sunshine, hoping she might see her dolphins. But the only things in the water were the bright-green canoes of the Sandy Bay rowing club. Disappointed, Antonia went indoors.
The next morning, Antonia was the first volunteer to arrive at Sea Watch. Claudia was pleased to see her and handed her a warm bottle of milk, saying, “Can you feed Rusty for me?”
“I’d love to,” said Antonia.
“Great,” said Claudia. “I need to put in an order for supplies and if I don’t do it now we’re going to run out of things. Please can you make a note of how much milk he drinks? He took a little more last night, but it’s still not as much as he should be having. His record sheet is by the pen.”
“I’ll do that. Where’s Cai?” asked Antonia as she pulled on a pair of disposable gloves.
“Cai’s having breakfast with his mum and dad. He’ll be down later.” There was a catch in Claudia’s voice, and Antonia looked at her in surprise.
“Is everything all right?”
“Yes.” Claudia abruptly began rummaging in the cupboard, giving Antonia the strong impression she was hiding something. Remembering the conversation she had with her mum, Antonia suddenly felt uncomfortable. What if Mum was right? What if Cai didn’t want her around now that his parents were back?
“There you go.” Claudia backed out of the cupboard and handed a towel to Antonia.
“You know the drill,” she said, smiling warmly. “Sit Rusty on this when you feed him so you don’t spoil your clothes.”
Claudia sounded normal again so Antonia decided she must have been imagining things.
“Thanks.” Taking the towel in one hand and the milk in the other, Antonia went to the back room to feed Rusty.
The cub was a little livelier today, but he took a while to latch on to the bottle and he didn’t finish the milk. Antonia sat patiently, wiggling the bottle to encourage the cub to drink more. It was peaceful in the back room. Sun streamed through the window, warming Antonia’s face and making Rusty’s coat gleam like molten chocolate. Her thoughts wandered to Cai. She was surprised that he was still having breakfast. Cai was an early riser. He must have waited to eat with his mum and dad.
When it was obvious that Rusty wasn’t going to take any more milk, Antonia put him back in his pen. The cub clung to her, but Antonia was firm.
“I’m not allowed to cuddle you,” she said, pushing his paws away. “Sorry, but it’s for your own good.”
Antonia wrote down the amount of milk Rusty had drunk on his record sheet, then emptied the remainder down the sink. She washed the empty bottle and soaked it in sterilising solution. There was still no sign of Cai and none of the other volunteers had arrived either. As Antonia collected the things she needed to clean out Billy and the gull’s aviaries, she wondered whether she should have stayed away too.
“Thank goodness you’re here,” said Claudia, suddenly looking up from her computer. “I would never have managed on my own.”
Antonia smiled gratefully. She knew Claudia meant it. They were good at reading each other’s minds. Feeling much more cheerful, Antonia went outside to the birds. As she reached the aviary she heard footsteps behind her.
“Antonia!”
Antonia was pleased to see Cai and waited for him to catch her up.
“Hi, sorry I’m late. Mum and Dad took ages to get up this morning.” Cai’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes as he opened Billy’s aviary door for her. Arms full of mop, bucket and cleaning things, Antonia went inside. Cai squeezed in after her and when he’d shut the outer door, Antonia opened the inner one.
“I thought you might not come today,” she said.
“Why? Cos my parents are here? It’s brilliant having them around, but we don’t have to do everything together.”
“I wouldn’t mind if you did.”
“Well, I don’t,” said Cai forcefully.
Surprised at Cai’s snappy tone, Antonia started cleaning Billy’s cage. She and Cai worked in silence until the razorbill cocked his head and said cheekily, “Urrr!”
Antonia and Cai burst out laughing.
“You cheeky thing!” said Cai.
With the silence broken, Cai began telling Antonia a funny story about his dad falling asleep at dinner and getting strawberry cheesecake in his hair. Antonia giggled appreciatively. But deep down she was convinced that Cai wasn’t as cheerful as he sounded. There was a worry line on his forehead and
