The Girl Who Dreamt of Dolphins (11 page)

There were murmurs of approval for this traditional
introduction. Storm continued.

‘
We have many things to speak of. The migrations of fish, the
stories our cousins the whales carry to us across the oceans, the
way the currents seem to be changing, the new dangers that man
creates. We must remember the dead and celebrate the new born. Not
only that, but we must look to the future and which of those young
amongst us will have the wisdom to lead us in the years to come. We
have much to talk about my friends.’

The dolphins gathered then settled down to several happy hours
of discussion. Spirit, at the outer rim of the group, listened
intermittently, his attention wavering at times as the conversation
ebbed and flowed. Some of the other youngsters slipped away to play
and were called back sharply to listen and to learn. Voices were
raised occasionally in disagreement and Storm would try to lead
them back to more tempered and calm discussion.

Spirit listened in awe at the stories that the whales had
carried across the oceans and passed on to the dolphins. They spoke
of the great frozen hunting grounds of the south which they would
travel for weeks to get to and where fish abounded. They spoke of
the polar bears and seals that lived there and how you could swim
for hours under the ice, with only the occasional break where you
could come up for air.

They spoke with concern about the rubbish that man tipped into
the sea and the multitude of man-made things that floated,
discarded upon the water. There were white flimsy sacks that
turtles bit into, thinking they were jellyfish, which they could
choke on. Spirit heard about the great steel structures that man
built in the sea. He heard that in the warm seas towards the
Americas, a great ship, as long as ten blue whales had foundered
and black oil had burst out in an ever-widening slick and poisoned
all life about it. The dolphins there had had to flee, but not all
had made it to safety. Storm was harsh in his condemnation of man
at this point.

The dolphins talked intently about the currents of the seas,
of the gulf stream carrying warmer waters across the ocean from the
Americas, and the migrations and shoals of fish that the currents
brought in their wake. This was of keen interest to the mature
dolphins, who always needed to fill their stomachs and those of
their young. The passage of fish across their hunting grounds had
changed in the past few years and no one knew quite why.

Much later they came to speak of those that had died and those
that had been born since last council had met. Dolphins that Spirit
had never heard of were spoken about and stories shared about those
that had gone. Painful memories flooded back into Spirit’s mind.
Then Breeze spoke of the losses within their own pod.

‘
Eight full moons ago we suffered a loss, when Star-Gazer was
taken from us. She had swum out to feed with Summer and myself,
when we were separated by a squall that blew up. A ship crossed our
path and the noise of its engines disorientated all three of us.
When the ship had passed, Summer and I found each other and then we
went searching for Star-Gazer. We found traces of blood in the
water but Star-Gazer had disappeared. No one has heard or seen her
since and her calf, Spirit was left alone and without a
mother.’

Spirit winced at the memory. Though the rest of the pod had
comforted and nourished and cared for him, the pain of this loss
was still sharp. If only he knew what had happened, or been able to
say goodbye to her. Now the many dolphins around him spoke warmly
of her. She had been endlessly fascinated by the heavens above them
at night and this had given her name. She was famous for it. Their
talk about her buoyed Spirit up. His mother had not been
forgotten.

The dolphins talked on about the happier news of new couples
and new calves within the pods. Each new calf was led into the
centre of the council and introduced. Though Spirit and Dancer were
not the youngest, they too were led in to the centre and formally
introduced. Spirit felt awkward and bashful, but he was proud as
Breeze told the gathered dolphins that he was the fine young son of
Star-Gazer. The long talk wound on. Dancer sidled up to
him.

‘
It goes on a bit doesn’t it!’ she whispered.

Eventually Spirit sensed that the council was drawing to a
close. The sun was low now and soon it would be dark. Storm spoke
again.

‘
As you know, in every generation there is one that is born
amongst us who will be the natural leader of the next. We all look
for the traditional signs to show us which young dolphin that might
be. That young dolphin should be wise beyond his or her years, but
more importantly, must have the gift of special knowledge; the gift
of knowing what cannot be known. Few of us have it and fewer still
can use it well. All of us must search for it amongst our young.
Who amongst us has seen the signs?’

Several dolphins spoke of this or that youngster, how they
were very smart or very good at locating shoals of fish, but no one
said that they had seen the special signs. As the comments died
away, Storm spoke again.

‘
I believe that there is one amongst us who has shown the signs
of the gift of special knowledge. I believe that this young dolphin
is unique.’

The dolphins stirred, their curiosity aroused and cries of
‘Who?’ came from all sides. Storm chuckled and sighed.

‘
I am old and I have seen much and so until I have seen all the
signs, I will not jump to conclusions. I cannot be sure yet and,
because I am not sure, it is better that I do not say. However, I
urge you all to look within your own pods for the signs. I may be
mistaken and we need to be sure. Let us meet again under the next
full moon. We will know more then.’

There were murmurs of assent and, as the sun went down, the
council meeting broke up. It was too late for the other pods to
swim back to their own waters and so the dolphins settled down into
groups, talking quietly, until one by one they slipped into their
waking sleep.

Chapter Seven
:

Lucy was relieved to have a calm and peaceful sleep that
night. She dreamt of the little dolphin again, but in her dreams he
was safe and happy, moving confidently through the water and so she
woke up feeling better. The slow crash of the surf on distant rocks
in her dreams had also calmed her. She woke up well rested and was
relieved to be able to go back to school again.

As normal, Dad was in a rush, cramming toast in his mouth
while he stuffed files into his bag.

‘
Get ready Lucy!’ he called upstairs while she was dressing.
‘I’ve got to get you out of the house and off to school in ten
minutes or I’ll be late for my first meeting.’ Lucy appeared at the
top of the stairs, dressed and ready.

‘
I need some breakfast though’ she called back.

‘
Of course’ Dad replied, ‘help yourself, but be quick about
it.’ Lucy hardly had time to scoff her cereal and drink her juice,
standing at the counter in the kitchen, before he was shooing her
unceremoniously out of the house.

‘
But I’ll be way too early for school!’ she complained, but to
no effect.

‘
You’ll be fine in the playground’ he replied. ‘It’s not
raining and your friends will soon be there.’

Lucy trudged off disconsolately down the road toward school.
At least it was Friday, she said to herself. One day and then the
weekend. Lucy was lost in her own thoughts when she heard a
familiar voice.

‘
Hey Lucy’ cried Amy, coming up behind her as she approached
the school gate, ‘how are you feeling today? Were you ill
yesterday?’ It was good to see a friendly face. At least she wasn’t
the only person early to school.

‘
Well, Dad kept me off school yesterday’ replied Lucy, turning
to let her friend catch up. ‘He thought I was too tired to come in.
It felt a bit funny though, being stuck at home with all of you at
school as normal, sort of like I was skiving off. How about you,
did you come in yesterday?’

‘
Sure I did’ replied Lucy, ‘but Mum really had to drag me out
of bed. We did have a bit of a late night!’ Lucy gave her a sad
half-smile. She felt guilty.

‘
But it wasn’t your fault though’ continued Amy, guessing how
she was feeling. ‘Mum and Dad were happy to have you. They said you
can stay any time.’ Lucy felt awkward. She still felt angry at Dad
for having forgotten about her like that, but she’d feel bad if
other people starting saying things about him.

‘
You didn’t tell anyone did you?’ she asked Amy
nervously.

‘
Well, you know, I kind of did tell one….or two people’ Amy
replied, glancing at her friend uneasily. Lucy could hardly blame
Amy, but now everyone in the class would know.

‘
Oh well’ she sighed resignedly. She knew that some of the boys
in the class would make pointed comments at her expense, but there
was nothing to be done. The two girls hung around in the school
playground. Slowly, a trickle became a stream of children passing
through the school gates. Then the bell rang and the children piled
in to class. Their form teacher, Mr Baines was calling
register.

‘
Ah Lucy’ he said, eyeing her over the top of his glasses. ‘How
are you today?’

‘
Fine thank you Mr Baines’ replied Lucy. She could see one or
two of the boys turn their heads her way and break into knowing
smiles.

‘
I need to update your emergency contact details’ he continued
after he’d done the register. ‘The school office tell me it’s out
of date. I understand you and Ben from the after school club had
some problems the other night.’ The snide looks of Brian Jenkins
and Dan Smith turned into knowing sniggers.

‘
Quiet there.’ Mr Baines cast a critical eye across the
classroom. Lucy wondered whose details she could give.

‘
It’s okay Luce’ whispered Amy. ‘You can give him my number’
she added, slipping across a piece of paper with her number and
address neatly written down.

‘
Thanks’ she whispered back with a smile. It made her feel a
bit less alone.

After assembly they went into their maths lesson. More than
the fact her Dad had forgotten about her, though, were the thoughts
that kept passing through her mind about everything else that had
happened in the past few days. She thought about Bethany and Dad’s
half overheard conversation a few nights ago. She just couldn’t
figure out what Bethany had meant when she said that Lucy was
special in some way. She thought about the orca attack on the
little dolphin. It had been so vivid that it hadn’t felt like a
dream at all, but something more than that, as though she were
actually there. Her mind buzzed with the realisation that somehow,
somehow, she had been able to pass through into the dolphin’s
world, if only for a minute or two. It was as real as her maths
teacher Mrs Evans standing there in front of her now, as real as
the pencil in her hand. Someone coughed and she remembered that she
should be answering the questions they’d been set. Then her mind
drifted back to the little dolphin.

‘
Hello’ she’d said.

‘
Hello’ he’d replied, surprised by her sudden appearance. With
a look of realisation he added ‘You helped me with the orcas didn’t
you?’

‘
I think so’ she answered uncertainly. ‘Were you
scared?’

‘
Yes, even with Storm there, I was scared.’ Spirit paused. ‘And
then your voice came to me and it made me feel better and I knew
that we’d find a way out.’

‘
I so wanted to help you’ said Lucy, ‘I wasn’t even aware I was
talking to you really. It just sort of happened.’ She faltered, not
knowing how to put her thoughts into words. ‘I guess that somehow I
was able to get through to you.’ The little dolphin turned and
regarded her, this strange, slight figure floating next to him in
water, passing thoughts to him without words.

‘
So you are a human? The only one I’ve seen before was covered
in black and had a mask on his face.’

‘
Oh, err, you mean a diver?’ asked Lucy, thinking
quickly.

‘
Yes, a human that goes under water and breathes. Not like you
though. You’re underwater and you don’t need to breath.’ Lucy
hadn’t thought of how she came to be there, talking with her mind
but without moving her lips, or how she was floating effortlessly
under the cold surface of the sea. She looked around her. ‘The
little dolphin’s right’, she thought to herself, ‘I shouldn’t be
able to do this, I should be drowning.’