Dolphin Child (31 page)

The woman brought the steaming mugs of chocolate milk to them
and Lucy and Paul sipped them gratefully. The woman sat
down.

‘
My name is Annabel Penrose’ she said. ‘And you are…?’ The
children mumbled their names in reply. ‘Well Lucy Parr and Paul
Treddinick. Let me tell you my story. My husband Norman and I came
down here to retire some twenty years ago. We were both passionate
sailors and our yacht, the Lady Jane, was moored down near the
entrance to the estuary. We have sailed all around the coast of
Cornwall and the Scilly Isles from here and a more beautiful place
I have never known’. She glanced down at her hands for a moment
before continuing.

‘
Right from the beginning, the dolphins were our friends. They
have always sought out our yacht and swum alongside us at the bow,
or greeted us with a jump out of the water. Other sailors that we
spoke to said that they hardly ever saw dolphins, but we never
missed them when we went out sailing. We even learned to recognise
several of them by sight, from the scars and wounds on their dorsal
fins and we studied them closely. I’ve got books and books about
dolphins in the living room. We loved the dolphins and our life
here felt complete.’

Lucy frowned into her chocolate milk. That didn’t give her the
right to trap one of them, she thought. She should know better than
to take one of them from the wild. Lucy remained silent though and
let the lady continue.

‘
About a year ago we had just put out from the mouth of the
estuary in the Lady Jane. A scientific vessel was sailing down the
coast and conducting some sort of survey of the underwater
landscape. We raised it on the radio and had a brief chat with its
skipper. It was using an experimental type of sonar. We hoped the
dolphins wouldn’t be affected by it but we couldn’t see them so we
thought it would be okay and expected them to be too far out to be
affected. Then a squall blew up unexpectedly and we decided not to
sail out into the open sea after all.’ Lucy could see the woman’s
expression change as she remembered the events.

‘
The squall died down almost as quickly as it had blown up.
Then we saw a dolphin lying listlessly on his side on the surface
of the water, his blow hole nearly submerged. We guessed that the
sonar had disorientated him and that he must have banged his head
on a rock or something. There was blood coming from a gash on his
head. If he rolled in the water anymore he would drown. From the
markings on his dorsal fin we recognised him as the one we called
Flipper.’

‘
It’s Star-Gazer’ Lucy thought to herself, but she still didn’t
say anything. She wondered what would happen next in the story and
let the lady continue instead.

‘
My husband Norman was well over seventy at this point. He
jumped into the rubber dinghy that we always had behind the Lady
Jane and with a lot of effort, he was able to lash Flipper with
some spare rope into an upright position between the yacht and the
dinghy, so that we could head back into the estuary using the
out-board motor. Flipper was badly injured and we were really
worried that he would bleed to death before we got there. We didn’t
know what to do with him once we got back, but then Norman hit upon
the idea of keeping him in the lagoon at the front of our house
while he recovered.’ Lucy couldn’t contain herself any
more.

‘
But why is Star-Gazer still trapped here?’ she asked. Mrs
Penrose’s expression clouded.

‘
We had to cordon off the lagoon until Flipper had recovered’
she continued as though Lucy had not said anything. ‘We used the
closed link fence to block off the exit to the rest of the
estuary.’ She paused. ‘Norman was exhausted by the effort of saving
Flipper’ she continued in a quieter voice. ‘I think the strain of
it all was too much for him. About a week later my poor Norman
suffered a massive stroke.’ She remained silent for a few moments
and pain from the memory showed in her face. ‘Do you know what a
stroke is?’ Paul shook his head and Lucy wasn’t sure, so she didn’t
say anything.

‘
It’s when there is a blood clot in one of your veins and it
blocks the blood flowing to your brain. It happens in older people
sometimes. Your brain is starved of oxygen and it gets damaged.
That’s what happened to Norman. He’s paralysed now on one side and
he cannot speak. But …’

‘
But what?’ asked Lucy. Mrs Penrose took an intake of
breath.

‘
But he can still write on a pad and communicate with me even
if he cannot talk. He tells me that he feels, no he knows that he
and Flipper are connected somehow. I believe him. Flipper will help
Norman get better. I’m sure of it.’

‘
That’s not true!’ Lucy blurted out impulsively. ‘They’re not
connected in the way that you say. Star-Gazer would have told me if
they were.’

‘
And he has been making progress, just as Flipper has been
getting better’ Mrs Penrose continued. ‘Norman’s regained some
movement in his paralysed arm. The Doctor says its almost a
miracle.’ Mrs Penrose’s face lit up in hope again. ‘And its all
down to Flipper. It’s taken time for both of them but we’re getting
there. I’m sure we are’. Mrs Penrose paused and sniffed.

‘
The nurse that you saw helps me care for Norman and I’ve been
caring for Flipper too, feeding him fish every day and seeing that
he gets strong again. Of course Flipper is able to move around well
enough, but he still swims lopsidedly sometimes. It makes me think
of Norman being lopsided because he’s paralysed. I don’t think that
Flipper’s ready to go back to the sea, not yet. In any case, Norman
needs him. Sometimes Norman comes out in his wheelchair to see
Flipper and it always makes him feel better. I can see it in his
face.’

‘
No no’ exclaimed Lucy with rising anxiety. ‘You’re wrong!’ Mrs
Penrose fixed Lucy with a stare.

‘
Just because you hitched a ride on Flippers back a short while
ago, doesn’t mean that you know all there is to know about
dolphins. Norman and I have been studying them for years. I think
we know a little more than you young lady.’

‘
You may have helped Star-Gazer originally’ replied Lucy
passionately, ‘but now you’re killing her. Dolphins are meant to
swim in the sea with their own kind. They are intelligent and
sociable. Just imagine if you were locked up on your own for a year
without anyone to keep you company. You’d go mad. That’s what it’s
like for Star-Gazer. You may be feeding her fish, but the
loneliness is killing her’.

Lucy hoped that her words were having their effect on Mrs
Penrose and that the old lady had accepted that imprisoning a
dolphin was wrong. She could see a cloud pass across Mrs Penrose’s
face as she absorbed Lucy’s words. Then she shook her head, as if
to dispel the negative thoughts.

‘
I still don’t know why you keep calling him Star-Gazer’ Mrs
Penrose replied with a hint of irritation in her voice, ‘but you
are clearly a girl whose head is full of quite fanciful ideas.
Flipper is not lonely, he sees Norman or myself every day and he
gets more fish than he could dream of. He has plenty of water to
swim in too. He comes to us when we walk down to the landing stage
and he allows us to pet him. We look after him well and when he and
Norman are well enough, we will let him choose whether to remain
with us or to return to the sea. Not before. Only when the time is
right.’

Lucy was so astounded by the idea that anyone could think it
was right to keep a dolphin prisoner like this, that for a few
moments she was lost for words. Then she had a flash of
inspiration.

‘
You can’t just keep a dolphin. It’s not allowed. You need a
licence or something.’ Lucy could tell immediately that she had hit
a nerve and that the woman didn’t have permission to keep a
dolphin. A look of fear seemed to pass across her features, but
then she seemed to harden again.

‘
Norman and I saved Flipper’s life. Norman would be distraught
if Flipper left us. It’s the only thing that keeps him going. It’d
be the death of him if Flipper goes. I can’t do that to Norman. You
can’t do that to him either. Not if you’ve any heart.’

‘
What if Star-Gazer dies of loneliness. How will you and your
husband feel then?’ Lucy asked. She almost felt like
crying.

‘
It’s not going to happen. I won’t let it happen’ Mrs Penrose
replied quietly but defiantly. Just then the washing machine
juddered to the end of its drying cycle. Mrs Penrose glanced at her
watch. She stood up. ‘I must be going. I have errands to attend to.
I’ll get Mathew our handyman to run you into Merwater once you’re
back in your dry clothes. I’m not having you traipsing through the
woods and clambering over walls.’

She left and a few seconds later the nurse appeared and pulled
out their clothes which were now crumpled but at least dry and
ready to put back on. Lucy realised that she’d been out-manoeuvred.
She could report Mrs Penrose to the authorities, but if she did and
if her husband got sicker, then how would she feel then? Besides,
it might take weeks for the authorities to do anything about it. By
then it might be too late for Star-Gazer.

As she and Paul sat in the back of Mathew’s car and rattled up
the pot-holed drive from Mrs Penrose’s house a few minutes later,
Lucy stretched out with her mind to reach Star-Gazer. All that the
sad and lonely dolphin was able to say was ‘Don’t leave me, don’t
leave me. You’ve got to get me out of this horrible place.’ Lucy
was quickly jolted out of her trance when they bumped through a
particularly bad pot-hole before she had barely had a chance to say
anything comforting to Star-Gazer. She had to speak to Spirit as
soon as possible. Maybe he had some idea about what to do
next.

They persuaded Mathew to drop them off by the railway
embankment close to where they had hidden their bikes.

‘
What now then?’ Paul asked gloomily as soon as they were
alone. Lucy had so hoped that Mrs Penrose would relinquish and
simply agree to let Star-Gazer go, that now she felt drained and
empty. Paul seemed disappointed too. They had achieved
nothing.

‘
I, I don’t know’ she replied flatly. ‘But I’ll think of
something’ she added with more resolve. She looked at her watch.
‘I’d better get going or my Dad is going to kill me. But I’ll get
away again and come back and see you. Look outside at six o’clock.
If there’s a pebble on your gate post, it means I’m waiting for you
in the recreation ground. I don’t want to knock on your door again.
Your mum still doesn’t trust me.’

They cycled along some way together, but then they parted at a
fork in the road.

‘
See you later’ said Paul doubtfully. He didn’t see what Lucy
could do now. He really wondered if Lucy would be there at six pm
as she said she would be. As he pedalled along, Paul imagined
swimming with a whole pod of dolphins, free and happy at last. When
he got near home though, he saw two familiar figures on the
pavement.

‘
Where’s your girlfriend Paulie?!’ shouted Baz.

‘
What, isn’t she with you to wipe your nose and keep you out of
trouble?’ jeered Mike. Paul kept going, trying not to take any
notice of them.

‘
Go on back home, you mummies boy!’ sneered Baz. ‘We’ll catch
up with you soon enough’ he added menacingly. Paul shuddered
inside. He couldn’t take much more of this. He just couldn’t. He
got home and wheeled his bike through to the back yard. He glanced
up at the sky as he put it in the shed. It was dark and brooding
and it looked like rain.

Lucy got back to the cottage. Dad was in the
pocket-handkerchief sized garden at the back, which looked onto the
fields beyond. He was sitting on a garden chair in his shorts and
t-shirt reading a book, but the sun had gone in and he was
beginning to feel cold. He glanced up as she approached
him.

‘
Hey Luce’ he smiled. ‘I was beginning to wonder if you were
going to come back. You’re only twenty minutes late though’ he
added, glancing at his watch.

‘
You want to tell me what you’ve been up to this morning?’ he
asked. Lucy shrugged shyly. She didn’t really.

‘
Oh you know, just dolphin stuff with my friend Paul’ she
replied noncommittally. She wanted to reach out to Spirit straight
away and tell him what had happened, but Dad insisted on spending
time with her and she didn’t have the chance.

‘
I’ve spoken to Mary and she’s agreed that we can help her out
on the farm this afternoon’ he said. It should be fun. We can
pretend to be farmers. What do you say?’ Lucy smiled
weakly.

‘
Sounds good Dad’ she replied.

By the end of the afternoon they had shifted hay about, filled
water-troughs and mended holes in the hedges with bail wire.
Normally it was fun to help out on the farm with Mary, but she was
eaten up with worry about what to do to help Star-Gazer, her
thoughts gnawing her inside.

As soon as they finished and went back to the cottage to
freshen up, Lucy went up to her room. She settled down cross-legged
on the floor and the strained her thoughts before relaxing them
again in the way that she had learnt to help her slip from the
world above water and into the watery world below. Before long she
found the gap between the two states of consciousness and tumbled
through.

The dolphins were all gathered in a loose circle, engrossed in
conversation. It was Dancer who first noticed Lucy and called to
Spirit. Lucy told Spirit and Dancer as quickly and concisely as she
could what had happened that morning at the Penrose place. She was
tired and knew she could not sustain the energy she needed to stay
with Spirit for very long.