The Girl Who Dreamt of Dolphins (33 page)

Lucy tried to get her fingers under the wire and find a way of
loosening off the loop of steel, but it was much harder than she
had imagined when she lay on Bethany’s fold-down bed the night
before. She was having to kick hard just to keep herself afloat and
the surge of the water around her made it difficult to stay in the
same spot. She let go for a moment to rest and breath and Dancer
came close so that she could hold onto her if she
wanted.

After a brief respite Lucy resumed her task, feeling with her
fingers again and again to find where the steel cord was caught and
to discover a way of prising it free. Spirit stayed as still as he
could to enable her to do so and lifted up his tail as close as
possible to the surface of the water to help Lucy to work and
breath. Dancer and Storm looked on with concern in the eyes,
willing Lucy on to succeed.

Eventually, after what seemed a long time, Lucy realised that
the knot was so tight that it could not be dislodged with the
strength of her fingers alone. She was getting tired and knew that
she couldn’t keep it up for much longer. She gestured to Dancer
that she wanted to follow the steel cord up the line to where it
was attached to the buoy.

It was easy enough to pull herself along the cable, up towards
the rock. Dancer followed protectively at her side just in case she
needed the dolphin’s help. The wire soon came up out of the water
towards to the rock face. She could make out the red and white buoy
lodged in the rocks at the foot of the cliff above them. She tugged
hard on the wire, hoping that at least the buoy would just come
free. It wouldn’t budge though. She would have to climb up out of
the water to the buoy and try to move the rocks that kept it in
place. It was harder than it looked though. The rock was covered in
slippery weed and every time she tried to gain purchase with her
feet, they slipped out from under her and she fell back into the
water.

Lucy had arms made strong from all the swimming practice she
had done, but even so, they were not strong enough to pull herself
out the water. The buoy and the steel cord were firmly wedged in
the rocks and there seemed no way that she could get up close
enough to it to do anything to free it.

A sense of terrible desolation seized Lucy and, despite
herself, her body started to shake with sobs. She was so desperate
to save Spirit and the idea had seemed so easy when she had planned
it all in her mind the night before. Now that she was here, she
realised how difficult and dangerous it was to put her plan into
practice. She didn’t have a single tool with her to use, not even a
pen-knife, not even a pair of nail clippers. Her nimble fingers
were not enough to set Spirit free and what was more, her hands and
feet were becoming numb with cold. The colder they got, the less
she could do with them. She had failed, she thought, and Spirit
would die. Then her life would not be worth living. She may as well
die here with him she thought.

She swam back to Spirit and clung onto his back, crying bitter
tears into his smooth flank. Although she could not communicate
with Spirit, she could feel the electric tingle through his skin.
It was much less than before though. It was almost as though Spirit
had been filled with energy and hope when she had arrived. Now he
realised that she could not set him free, the hope and the energy
were ebbing out of him. It was as though she could feel his very
life force leaving him. ‘I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry’ she sobbed
into his flank.

‘
Lucy! Lucy!’ From the empty waves, Lucy heard her name being
called. She glanced up, confused and disorientated. There, not
twenty meters away, amazingly, she could see a small, dirty,
grey-white trawler bobbing on the waves. More amazing yet, there
was Bethany standing at the helm calling out to her, the wind
blowing through her wild curly hair. Behind her she could make out
Mrs Merryweather clutching tenaciously to the side of the small
cabin. What on earth were they doing here?

As she looked, a dinghy emerged from behind the small trawler,
a man rowing hard, pulling towards her. When he got close enough,
Nate turned and called to her.

‘
Ahoy there Lucy. You hang on girl. I’ll have you back on deck
with your Aunt in just a jiffy!’ Lucy, Spirit, Dancer and Storm all
looked towards Nate and his dinghy. It took Lucy a moment to
realise what he was suggesting. But she couldn’t just leave Spirit
here to die. Not now.

‘
No, I’ve got to save Spirit!’ she called back desperately,
gesturing with her hands. ‘He’s caught. I’ve got to set him free!’
Nate had pulled up close now and shipped his oars to get closer
still. Spirit seemed nervous, but Lucy could feel the tingling
energy from Spirit’s skin increase again. The rubber dinghy bumped
up against Spirit’s back and Nate bent over to touch the dolphin
gently.

‘
There there my beauty’ Nate murmured to Spirit quietly.
‘What’s the matter with you then?’ Lucy watched his rough hands
glide lightly down Spirit’s flank. Nate was so close that he could
pull Lucy into the dinghy easily if he wanted, but for some reason,
he didn’t.

‘
There’s a sort of wire thing caught round his tail cutting
into his skin’ she told him. I tried to pull it free, but I just
couldn’t manage it’ Nate continued to lean from the dinghy, his
hand under the water, tracing the wire gently where it cut into
Spirit’s raw skin.

‘
I see what you mean Lucy’ he said quietly. ‘That’s a nasty
one.’ He turned back towards the Lady Thelma.

‘
Bob! Bob!!’ he called. Bob put his head out of the small
cabin.

‘
What’s up skipper?’ Bob called back.

‘
Dig out those wire cutters will you?’ Nate yelled hoarsely. He
turned back to Lucy.

‘
Thing about my boat’ he told her ‘She’s breaking down all the
time. Got to carry around a heap of tools just to keep the poor
thing going.’ He cast Lucy a thoughtful glance. ‘I’m going to have
to pop back to my boat to get the wire cutters. Your Aunt wants me
to get you back on board double quick pronto. But I reckon you’re
safe with your friends for a little bit, aren’t you?’ Lucy nodded
and smiled.

‘
Thanks yes’ she said gratefully. She couldn’t bear the idea of
leaving Spirit until he was free again. Nate paddled back to the
Lady Thelma and Lucy, resting on Spirit’s back, stroked his flank
happily.

‘
You’re going to be free. It’s going to be ok!’ She could hear
the three dolphins clicking and whistling between them, but more
than that, she could feel through her finger tips that Spirit’s
energy was returning to him. After a few minutes, Nate had paddled
to the Lady Thelma and came back with the wire cutters. He shipped
his oars again and picked up the cutters.

‘
Lucy. I’m going to be careful, but I might nip your dolphin a
little bit. I need you to reassure the old thing’ he said. Lucy
pressed her palms to Spirit’s flank in a way that she hoped was
reassuring and whispered anything that came into her head to calm
him. Nate plunged his arms into the water and traced down. Suddenly
Spirit jerked in pain and Lucy felt the same sharp sensation
herself in sympathy. Then, miraculously, Spirit swam forward. He
was free!

Spirit carried Lucy carefully, gently, back to the Lady
Thelma. Dancer and Storm followed alongside. There was a steel
ladder welded to the side of the vessel and Bethany climbed down in
order to be able to pull Lucy up to safety. Lucy didn’t know what
to feel. She wanted to stay with Spirit forever, but she knew that
she couldn’t. She hugged Spirit with all her might before she
reached up and took Bethany’s hand.

‘
Goodbye Spirit’ she whispered. Then she stretched out her hand
and Bethany pulled her up until she was standing on the bottom
rung. Spirit was looking up at her from the water, his big deep
eyes full of unexpressed emotion. Their eyes locked for a long,
long moment. Then the Lady Thelma rocked in the swell and Bethany
tugged at her to come up the ladder onto the deck. Spirit turned
away. Nate had rowed back to the trawler and he too clambered back
on board.

On deck, Lucy seized the rail and looked back longingly
towards the three dolphins. Whatever Bethany and Thelma were saying
to her, she had no idea. All she could think of was Spirit, Dancer
and the deep feeling of completeness she had felt when the surge of
tingling electricity had crept up through Spirit’s skin and into
her own body.

Bob pulled out the throttle and the Lady Thelma chugged
forward. He turned the boat around and set her on course back to
port. Lucy was overwhelmed with the bitter-sweet feeling of
happiness and loss. As the Lady Thelma chugged along, the three
dolphins appeared at the bow and swum alongside for a few minutes
before peeling away. Lucy thought they had gone, but then suddenly
all three dolphins; Spirit, Dancer and Storm took an enormous leap
from the water, all at the same time. It was as if they were
saluting her. As if they were saying goodbye. Lucy waved, tears in
her eyes. Then they were gone.

Chapter Nineteen. Epilogue
:

As the Lady Thelma chugged into the small harbour of Merwater,
Lucy could see a figure standing on the harbour wall. It was Dad.
Lucy was filled with dread and shivered inside the big sweater and
coat that Bob had pulled over her wet-suit. She could only imagine
what Dad would say to her, but whatever it was, it was sure to be
truly, excruciatingly horrible. She shrank back inside her skin.
Bethany was standing next to her with her arms around Lucy’s
shoulders and she could feel her Aunt tense up as well at the
thought of Dad confronting them. There was nothing for it but to
face up to whatever he might say. Bob eased off the throttle and
they slowed down. As they got closer, she could see Dad’s face
clouded and dark with emotion.

As soon as the Lady Thelma touched the harbour wall, Bob leapt
out with the heavy mooring rope to tie up and Dad jumped on board.
But instead of letting rip at her, Dad took her in his arms and
hugged her tight to his body, so tight that she could hardly
breathe. She could feel the wool of his pullover pressing into her
face and the vague smell of mothballs from his coat. Then a hot wet
drop splashed down onto her cheek. To her surprise she realised
that Dad was crying.

‘
Oh Lucy, Lucy, Lucy’ he mumbled into her hair. ‘I thought I’d
lost you. I really thought I’d lost you.’ He rocked her slowly from
side to side as he hugged her close.

Eventually, Lucy and Bethany were able to tell Dad the gist of
what had happened. He was just so ridiculously happy to see his
daughter alive that he forgot to be angry, though Lucy had a nasty
feeling that he would remember about the anger thing a bit later.
The small party climbed off the Lady Thelma onto dry land and
started to walk slowly along the harbour wall towards the car
park.

As they walked, Thelma touched Dad lightly on the arm and
inclined her head to show that she wanted him to drop back so that
she could have a word. Lucy walked on with Bethany and Nate and Bob
went on ahead carrying a couple of broken lobster pots
each.

‘
I know what you’re thinking John Parr’ she said. ‘You’re
thinking you want to protect your Lucy from all this Dolphin-Child
nonsense. You’re thinking that it’s already brought her to the edge
of death and you want to get her as far away as you can, as soon as
you can.’ Dad nodded.

‘
John Parr’ she continued. ‘If you deny Lucy her true self now,
she will never be complete. There will always be a ghost of what
might have been. She will be restless and unhappy for all her days.
But a Dolphin-Child doesn’t stay a child for long. I know. I’ve met
one or two before. She’s twelve now isn’t she, going on thirteen?
Within a year or so her gift will leave her, like a swift on the
wind and she’ll be just a regular girl again into pop music and
whatnot. You mark my words John Parr. Just one year.’

They turned and followed the others in their slow walk towards
the car park, talking quietly.

****************************************

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The Dolphin Child Trilogy
: