The Promised One (4 page)

At the company meeting in the afternoon Chopper positioned himself at the head of the table and surveyed the assembled board of the Ecocidal Timber Company. He was inordinately proud of the company name which he had composed himself. He had seen the word ‘ecocide’ in a government pamphlet circulated to the timber industry and had thought, spelling not being his best subject, that it meant being on the side of ecology.

Chopper now called the meeting to order and informed the board of three proposals. The first concerned a major drug-smuggling operation which required the setting up of a secret logging site, with an airstrip, in very remote territory. The second was that the company would employ a scientist to search for new trees that might help medical science. This would look good to the government. He said the third development was particularly exciting, and he explained about the proposed jaguar camp. At the end of his talk the board voted unanimously to approve his recommendations and Chopper closed the meeting.

The next day the twins left for the remote jungle camp to start preparations for their onslaught on the jaguar population of the Amazon, a venture that was to bring them into bitter conflict with a young girl who at that moment had no inkling of her future destiny.

An advertisement was placed for a company scientist and just one month later Chopper interviewed a certain
Richard Bonaventure and appointed him as botanical adviser to the Ecocidal Timber Company.

O
n the Monday morning after Lucy had gone down to the seaside she and Grandpa went off to the new building on the seafront and reported to the director’s office. After Grandpa had introduced himself and handed him Lucy’s teacher’s letter, the director, Mr Finnegan, said that the teacher had already spoken to him on the phone and that they would love to have Lucy there. He took her down and introduced her to Catherine, the woman who looked after the dolphins, and she said that Lucy could sit and watch them whenever she liked, and help to feed them. Lucy was thrilled and settled down beside the pool. Catherine called the dolphins over by slapping the surface of the water and introduced them to Lucy.

‘There are eight altogether,’ she said, pointing them out in turn. ‘That’s the eldest, Jonathan, and those are his brothers Tom, Alastair and Harry. Over there are Cordelia, Camilla and Imogen, and that one swimming past us now is Clara – she’s just come from a badly run zoo that got closed down and as you can see she’s got a skin problem. Fortunately the vet says it’s not serious and she’s on some medicine but she hates taking it.’ Lucy could see that Clara
had some dull white patches on her skin.

Grandpa said he would come back at lunchtime with Grandma and take Lucy out for a burger, thanked Catherine and left. After Grandpa had gone, Catherine and her assistant Steve showed Lucy round the dolphinarium of which they were very proud. It wasn’t open to the public until late morning, so they had the place to themselves. As well as having large pools inside the building, the dolphins could now, as a result of the recent rebuilding, swim for part of the day in an area of real sea that was fenced off from the rest of the ocean and which connected at high tide with a tunnel underneath the building. As it got nearer to opening time Catherine and Steve had to go and check on things before the public were admitted, and they left Lucy sitting on a little balcony overlooking the dolphins. As soon as they had gone Lucy spoke.

‘Greetings, O Master Swimmers, I have come to speak to you.’
The dolphins raced towards her in excitement, left the water with effortless power, performed some impressive aerobatics and returned smoothly to the water. Lucy was enthralled.

‘Greetings, O Promised One,’
said Jonathan, the largest dolphin, resurfacing as he spoke.
‘We knew that She Who was Expected had come at last and we are greatly honoured that you should come to this place. What is it that you desire of us?’

‘Greetings, O wise one!’
replied Lucy.
‘I have much to ask of you for there are many things I do not understand.’

‘I know not all that there is to know,’
said the dolphin
gravely,
‘but I will tell you what I can.’

‘First I must know who the Promised One is, and why you were expecting her. And, how did you know that I had arrived – did the other animals tell you?’
She had only partly understood what Tibbles had tried to explain to her about animal language, and was anxious to hear what the dolphin could tell her.

‘Slowly, slowly, O Special One! My kin are among the cleverest of animals, but even our minds cannot run at the speed of yours. Your thoughts seem to me to flash like lightning in the sky. It is true that separate animal species have their own language. I can speak within this pool to my own kin in words that none other can understand. But there is also a common language among all proper creatures – I count not the crawlipods and such like – and this tongue is used when there is common cause or common danger such as a fire in the forest, or a flood of the river, or a massive tide in the Great Salt. It also means that there are links between all
animals across the world just like – like –’
he paused to find a suitable description for what he wished to say,
‘– like the silken homes that the arachnopods weave.’

‘A web!’
exclaimed Lucy in excitement.
‘A web of information – like the internet! I shall call your web the animanet.’

‘We know not of the internet about which you speak but we know that the Tailless Ones can speak in mysterious ways over great distances and if you speak of the
animanet
we shall henceforth use this name for our web,’
the dolphin replied.
‘This animanet is used only in matters of importance to all creatures. Your long-awaited arrival is a great matter – possibly the greatest of all to us – and so we all know of your existence.’

‘But why were you expecting me?’
asked Lucy.

‘In the Common Tongue there is a legend known to all animals which is that one day a Promised One would come. My mother’s mother told me that her mother’s mother knew of this and that,
back into time unimaginable, the same story has been told.’

‘But who made the promise, and what is the Promised One to do?’
Lucy burst in.

‘No one knows who made the promise. One day, with your mind of quicksilver, you may know the answer to that yourself, but the
destiny
of the Promised One is to restore the ancient harmony that once existed among all creatures, including the Tailless Ones.’

‘But there is no harmony. How can there be when animals chase and kill and eat one another? How can that be changed?’

‘All animals recognize the reality of life,’
the dolphin continued.
‘In the Great Salt the large gillifin eats the small gillifin, and the small gillifin eats the tiny crustakin. On land, the furripelt eats the scurripod and the scurripod eats the crawlipod.
This
is harmony: it is the true harmony of nature and creation. The Tailless Ones have destroyed this ancient balance, however, because they kill when they do not need to eat, and they destroy the places where animals live so that none can live there any more. It was not always thus and our legend says that one day a Promised One will come who will understand these things and speak to us. Yet she will also be powerful among her own kin, the Tailless Ones, and be held by them in high regard. She will change things to help us: to preserve our forests, to keep our rivers pure and to protect those who live in the Great Salt. She will restore the ancient order of things in nature and will be esteemed among both animals and the Tailless Ones. All creation has waited through countless ages for the day of your coming and I am privileged to be the first of all in the Great Salt to speak to you.’

‘But how can I do all the things you have described while I’m just a schoolgirl?’
Lucy asked in amazement.

‘I admit that I am perplexed by your youth,’
replied the dolphin.
‘It was told that She would be a female but not that She might be a child. There have been four before you who we thought would be the Promised One and they lived long, long, ago. They were all bearded ones and one of them told our ancestors that the true Promised One would be beardless and fair to look upon, with eyes that reflected the Brilliant One. We never knew what this could mean, but now I understand.’
Lucy realized that the dolphin was referring to her glasses. She took them off absentmindedly and rubbed some tiny splashes of water off them with a tissue.

‘They also said that sometimes she would have eyes in her hands,’
said the dolphin with some excitement,
‘and now I see that you are indeed the one about whom untold generations have spoken.’

‘Who were the bearded ones?’
asked Lucy, fascinated.

‘Alas, I know not the names by which they were addressed among their own kin,’
replied the dolphin,
‘but the oldest and greatest of them lived countless generations ago through a time when the waters consumed the earth and my own kin from the Middle Salt could even swim above the great mountains in the lands of sand. Then, much later, another came: he also lived in those lands of sand from which the Brilliant One rises from his sleep to warm the Middle Salt. He lived in the City of the Great River in the Sand, when it had trees and flowers such as had never before been seen in those desolate places. All these things my kin were told by the dromedkin who roam those lands. There were yet two more that we thought would be The One for whom all animals waited. They both lived in the land of olives and the great
fire mountain. The first of these lived in the City of the Seven Hills where many animals were cruelly used for untold moons. The second, the last of such kind, before you, O Promised One, loved animals of every kin and many thought he was truly the Promised One; but it was he who said that the true One would be of womankind. This bearded one had a ring of brilliant fire about his head, a ring which never faded until his days were over.’

Lucy was puzzled by this description but pursued it no further; she could come back to it later. In the meantime she had plenty of other questions to ask. After some further discussions the dolphin asked:

‘Do other Tailless Ones know you are the Promised One?’

‘Only my sister,’
said Lucy,
‘and she will tell no one.’

‘That is good,’
the dolphin went on.
‘Because you are but a child there are many who will wish to use you for their own ends and this would end in evil for you and many animals. Is there one who is trustworthy and wise that can help you in your task, for it may yet be the case that The Promise will not be achieved until you reach full womanhood?’

‘The mother and father of my mother are those to whom I can speak,’
Lucy said.

‘Speak then to them,’
said her companion,
‘and return to me when you are able. Fare thee well.’

For Lucy the morning had passed in a flash and she couldn’t believe it was already lunchtime when her grandparents appeared.

‘Well,’ said Grandpa, smiling as he looked at the blank sheets of her notepad, ‘you don’t seem to have written much yet!’

Lucy grinned.

‘I’ve been making some observations, Gramps, and I’ll write it all up later.’

‘You sound just like one of my old students,’ said Grandpa, who was a retired medical professor, ‘full of convincing-sounding excuses. Never mind, you’re here to relax and get better. I don’t care if you don’t write a single word all week – but you may have to produce something for your teacher at some point.’

For the rest of the day Lucy was very thoughtful and after tea Grandma looked across at her.

‘Are you homesick, Lucy? You’ve been very quiet all day. Or aren’t you feeling well?’

‘No, I’m not homesick or ill,’ said Lucy. ‘It’s just that I’ve got something very special to tell you about, but you must promise not to tell Mummy.’ Her grandparents looked at each other.

‘I’m not sure we can do that before we’ve heard your problem,’ said Grandma, ‘but we’ll listen to you and help you as we’ve always done.’ She looked across at Grandpa who nodded in agreement.

Her grandparents sat and listened intently while she told them the whole story. They did not interrupt at any point but Lucy saw them glance at each other once or twice when she was describing something particularly extraordinary. She ended by describing the events of that very day, and the strange things the dolphin had told her.

When she had finished there was a long silence. It was eventually broken by Grandma.

‘This is an amazing story you’ve told us, Lucy, and we need to think very carefully about all you’ve said. Let’s sleep on it now and have another chat in the morning. Don’t worry; we’ll sort it all out one way or another.’

Lucy kissed them good night and went to bed, the conversation with the dolphin running round her head until eventually she fell asleep.

Grandma and Grandpa sat up late into the night discussing what they had heard. They were extremely worried, for there only seemed to be a few possible explanations for what Lucy had described. The first, which they couldn’t bring themselves to believe, was that it was all true. The second was that she was teasing, but they knew her too well to think she would tease them over something so important. The only other possibility was that the accident had damaged Lucy’s brain in such a way that she now really thought she could talk to animals. If this was the case they didn’t know if there was any way she could be cured. They eventually went to bed but neither of them slept well that night.

The next morning at breakfast Lucy suggested that Grandpa came with her to see the dolphins if Catherine had no objections. As they neared the pool Lucy turned to him.

‘I know,’ she said, ‘it must be almost impossible for you to believe that what I told you last night is really true and not something I just
think
is true, so I’m going to ask the dolphins to help convince you.’ She was just about to call to the dolphin she had spoken to the day before when
Catherine and Steve came in. They were carrying a bucket of fish.

‘Before you start your studies, Lucy,’ said Steve, ‘we wondered if you’d like to help us feed the dolphins.’

Lucy of course was delighted and started to help throw the fish to the hungry animals who snapped them up eagerly. Lucy noticed Steve poking a hole into one of the fish and slipping a tablet into it. Catherine saw her looking and explained.

‘This one’s for Clara,’ she said. ‘It’s her skin medicine.’ Steve threw the fish in the air to Clara who snapped it up but then spat it out immediately.

‘Gosh, she’s clever,’ said Steve admiringly. ‘Fancy being able to smell a pill in a couple of seconds when it’s buried deep inside a fish.’

‘It’s all very well giving her a pat on the back for outsmarting us,’ laughed Catherine, ‘but we’ve still got to give her some medicine.’

Lucy saw a wonderful opportunity to help the dolphin, and Catherine and Steve, and at the same time to start to convince her grandfather that everything she had told him was true.

‘Can I try?’ she said to Steve. Steve looked enquiringly at Catherine and she shrugged her shoulders.

‘Why not? Can’t do any harm, I suppose – we’re not doing too well so far ourselves.’

Steve gave Lucy a tablet and started to make a hole in another fish.