The Girl Who Dreamt of Dolphins (22 page)

‘
Your machine’s not working. I put in notes and all I got back
were these.’ The lady counted the coins silently and then issued
her with a ticket.

‘
You have to change at Swindon. You know that don’t you?’ the
lady asked. ‘And the Swindon train leaves in fifteen minutes from
platform three.’

‘
Yes thanks’ Lucy replied, pocketing her ticket as she did so.
She was just relieved to get away from the ticket window. As she
did so unseen by Lucy, the piece of paper with Bethany’s address
and telephone number fluttered down the ground and was promptly
scrunched underfoot by the man behind her. Lucy walked out of the
ticket hall onto the platform, catching Amy’s eye and getting her
friend to follow her.

‘
How did it go?’ asked Amy when they were safely round the
corner.

‘
That was an absolute nightmare’ exclaimed Lucy, leaning
against the station wall in relief. ‘I thought she was going to
call the police or something.’

Despite her anxiety, in a strange way Lucy was more sure than
ever that she was doing the right thing. When she thought of
Bethany, she thought of Spirit too. She had no reason to believe
that she’d get to see Spirit when she got to Cornwall, but somehow
she felt that she would be nearer and that had to be a good
thing.

Before they knew it, the nine twenty one train pulled into
platform three and the carriage doors hissed open.

‘
Well goodbye then’ she said to Amy shyly, giving her friend’s
hand a little squeeze. Lucy climbed onto the train.

‘
Call me when you get there!’ said Amy, waving. Lucy smiled and
waved her hand. The doors hissed closed and as they did so, Lucy
realised that she hadn’t written Amy’s number down. She tried to
gesture through the glass, but the train was already pulling away
and Amy was lost in the crowd swilling on the platform.

Lucy started to walk along the carriage to find a seat to sit
down. She and Amy had already discussed this. Amy thought that the
safest place to sit was with a woman who wasn’t too old and who
hopefully wouldn’t ask too many questions. Lucy soon found a seat
next to a business woman who was studying a sheaf of papers
intently. The woman kept reading and didn’t even glance up as Lucy
sat down. Lucy breathed another sigh of relief and stowed her
back-pack under the seat in front, pulling out her reading book and
settling down for the journey. Instead of reading though, she
stared distractedly out of the window at the countryside as they
rattled along. It started to rain.

Half an hour later Lucy became aware that the ticket inspector
was making his way along the carriage, checking tickets. Lucy’s
heart began to race again. She didn’t want any more awkward
questions like she’d had at the ticket counter. The business woman
next to her delved into her jacket pocket and pulled out her
ticket, holding it up for the inspector as she continued to read.
Lucy did the same, leaning in towards the woman in the hope that
the inspector would think she was the woman’s daughter and suddenly
taking an intent interest in her book. It worked! The inspector
clipped her ticket while she was still reading her novel and all
Lucy had to do was glance up with a small smile of thanks. Either
the ticket inspector thought she was the business woman’s daughter,
or he just wasn’t interested, as he walked on down the carriage
calling ‘tickets’ every few yards before disappearing through the
sliding doors. ‘It’s going to be a cinch’, thought Lucy.

An hour and twenty minutes later the announcement for Swindon
came over the loudspeaker and the train began to slow. Lucy pulled
out her bag and got ready to get up. The business woman next to her
caught her eye for a second.

‘
You take care now’ she said as Lucy got up.

‘
I will’ said Lucy uncertainly. ‘Bye!’

Lucy walked down the carriage and was soon on the platform.
She looked around. There must be a notice board somewhere. She
walked up the platform and found a monitor showing departures. The
Truro train left in twenty five minutes or so and she sat down on a
bench and waited. She looked around cautiously. She’d promised Amy
to be extra careful about anyone suspicious looking and when a man
sat down next to her who smelled of stale beer, she got up and
walked away briskly down the platform.

It was only then that she decided to fish out the piece of
paper which she had written Bethany’s number and address down on.
She checked one pocket and then another and then with increasing
agitation she went through all her pockets and everywhere in her
back pack that she could possibly have stuffed it. It was gone.
Lucy felt a wave of anxiety come over her again. She could get to
Merwater, but she had no idea of her Aunt’s address. There was a
payphone just next to her. She could still call her Dad. He’d made
her memorise his mobile number ages ago. Otherwise she could just
go back home again and he’d never know what she’d been up to. Just
then the Truro train pulled slowly into the station, its breaks
squeaking as it came to a halt. If she didn’t get on it right now,
she may as well go home. Amy would be glad to see her back she
knew, but she wouldn’t feel happy if she did. The doors of the
train opened in front of her. She glanced at the payphone, then she
swung her bag up onto one shoulder and stepped onto the train. The
doors slid shut behind her and the train juddered as it started to
move off. She’d get to Bethany’s house somehow or other she
thought, but quite how, she wasn’t sure.

Lucy couldn’t find a youngish woman to sit down next to, so
she sat down next to an older lady instead.

‘
You travelling alone dear?’ asked the lady with a friendly
look on her face.

‘
Yes I’m going to stay with my aunt for the school holidays’
said Lucy brightly. She’d been running the conversation round in
her head in case anybody asked her.

‘
She meeting you off the train is she?’ the lady replied,
obviously concerned for the safety of a young girl travelling on
her own.

‘
That’s right’ Lucy replied. ‘She’ll be waiting for me there
when I arrive’ she added unconvincingly.

‘
Well I’m getting off there too’ said the lady. ‘I’ll wait with
you till your aunt finds you.’

‘
Oh there’s no need’ replied Lucy nervously. That was the last
thing she needed.

‘
No trouble!’ replied the lady. She then started telling Lucy a
long story about her grandchildren and about the snow the previous
Christmas and how they’d been cut off for two days because of it.
Lucy half listened and half wondered about what to say to the lady
when the train reached Truro.

The ticket inspector came round to check the
tickets.

‘
Is this young woman with you?’ she asked the lady as they
handed over their tickets.

‘
Not exactly, but I’m going to make sure she’s safely in the
hands of her aunt before I leave her’ the lady replied firmly. The
ticket inspector smiled and Lucy blushed slightly as she put her
ticket away. The woman asked her about her family and Lucy told her
all about her Aunt and how she was an artist living near Merwater.
She thought at this point the lady might let her be if her story
sounded credible. Eventually, with several stops along the way, the
announcement came over the loudspeaker that Truro was the next
stop. Lucy rose and the woman stood up arthritically. She
smiled.

‘
Now, let’s find that Aunt of yours shall we!’ she said, as
they stepped down onto the platform.

Chapter Thirteen
:

The figure ahead of Spirit in the water swam slowly towards
him.

‘
Who are you?’ he asked cautiously.

‘
You know me young dolphin’ the voice replied. Spirit peered
towards the silhouette that was slowly approaching. He was too wary
to swim forward himself. The voice did sound familiar
though.

‘
Is that you Shimmer?’ he asked finally remembering where he
had heard the voice before. It belonged to the old dolphin who had
spoken to him after the dolphin council. She had seen him with Lucy
and warned him not to turn his back on his own pod. Now here she
was, alone and far from home.

‘
It certainly is young man.’ She swam up close and Spirit could
make out her ancient and battle scarred face. ‘What brings you to
this part of the sea, alone?’ she asked, fixing him with a critical
eye.

‘
I am on my coming of age swim’ replied Spirit
nervously.

‘
Something tells me that’s without Storm or your pod’s
permission’ replied Shimmer.

‘
But all young dolphins take their coming of age swim alone’
said Spirit defensively.

‘
Indeed.’ The old dolphin looked thoughtful, swimming slowly
around him, studying him from all sides. ‘If he is ready to be an
equal of all those in the pod that is.’

‘
Well I am ready to be an equal of all the others.’ Spirit felt
irritated that she might not consider him to be so.

‘
But what if that dolphin is special and needs special
protection? What then?’ Shimmer continued to swim slowly around
him.

‘
Well I don’t need special protection!’

‘
But you are special’ continued Shimmer, as though she were
thinking out loud. ‘You are a Child-Seer and your gift is barely
known to you, let alone Storm and the rest of your pod.’

‘
I am safer with my gift than without’ replied Spirit, uneasy
at the way the old dolphin continued to study him. She was silent
for a long time, pondering over what he had said.

‘
I believe you’ she said at last. ‘Trust in yourself and your
ability, but do not turn your back on your pod’ she continued,
almost dreamily. ‘Always return to them.’

‘
I will, I will’ Spirit assured her hurriedly. ‘I could never
lose them.’ Shimmer brought her attention back to him
again.

‘
Then I am glad’ she said. ‘But remember what I told you when
we met before. Keep your thoughts on this world and your family and
you will not go too far wrong. Learn from my sister’s
mistake.’

‘
Of course’ he said simply, ‘But why are you alone and away
from your own pod Shimmer?’ he asked.

‘
Ah!’ exclaimed Shimmer thoughtfully. ‘You are just coming of
age, but I am an old dolphin and I am taking my last swim and that
is one that I must take alone. I will not see you again young
dolphin, but I wish you well.’

Shimmer continued to swim slowly around him and she floated
behind him out of view for a moment as he digested her words.
Suddenly Spirit realised that he could no longer see her and he
glanced round to see where she had gone. But she was nowhere to be
seen. It was as though she had simply dissolved into the water. He
was alone again.

Spirit swum on, wondering about Shimmer and what had become of
her. He thought of his pod, of Dancer, Storm and the others and
what they might be doing or saying now. He thought about Lucy and
the strange and inexplicable way that she had of coming to him.
Would he end up like Shimmer’s sister, neglecting his pod and
losing his own life as a result? He thought not. He wondered what
the next week might hold in store for him and how he would feel
when once again he returned to his pod. Would they be angry or
happy to see him once again?

Spirit sensed a change in the current, in its smell and
temperature and adjusted his course slightly as he headed onwards
towards the mainland which he knew to be far off in the distance.
He felt as though he had been swimming for ever. He was becoming
tired and knew that he needed to eat again soon.

With Shimmer’s disappearance, Spirit started to feel lonely
again and a distant, hollow ache of emptiness came upon him,
reminding him of the time just after his mother had disappeared. It
had been a horrible feeling, as though his world had been torn in
two. Of course it wasn’t so bad now, ‘I’m on an adventure!’ he told
himself resolutely. But still, he wished that Dancer was with him
right now to share his adventure, or Lucy, or Summer or even
Storm.

Spirit remembered what his mother had told him when he was
still just a young calf. He would swim close to her in the water,
just by her left flank, where he felt safe and protected. When they
stopped he would rest his side against hers to drop off to
sleep.