Stolen Treasures

Silver Dolphins

STOLEN TREASURES

Summer Waters

For Mum and Dad—who are always there for me

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Copyright

About the Publisher

Prologue

On the bottom of the seabed near a cluster of rocks, two dolphins were arguing.

“It’s mine.”

“No, it’s not. I saw it first. It’s mine.”

They didn’t notice Spirit, their leader, a large dolphin with a magnificent yellow blaze along his side, swimming towards them.

“Girls,” he clicked, his voice low and calm. “What seems to be the problem?”

Immediately the dolphins fell silent, staring at Spirit in awe.

“I found a shell,” whispered Dazzle, the older dolphin. “But my sister Tiny says she found it first, so it’s hers.”

“Why do you both want the shell?” asked Spirit, curiously.

Dazzle hesitated. “It’s pretty,” she said, squirming with embarrassment.

“I want it for Mum,” butted in Tiny. “She’d love it. Please let me have it.”

Spirit shook his silvery head. “Let me show you something,” he said.

He swam to the shell that the sisters were arguing over. Gently Spirit nudged it with his nose. The shell rolled over, revealing a tiny mollusc hidden inside.

“Oh!” exclaimed Dazzle. “I didn’t realise it belonged to someone else already.”

“Me neither!” squeaked Tiny.

Spirit nudged the shell back to where he’d found it.

“It’s best not to jump to conclusions,” he said. “Always check things first.”

Tiny let out a sad sigh. “Mum would have really liked that shell,” she clicked.

“Then bring her to see it,” clicked Spirit.

“Oh!” squeaked Tiny. “I never thought of that. Come on Dazzle, let’s go and get her.”

As the dolphins happily swam away, Spirit wished that all his problems were so easily solved. These were bad times for the oceans. If only humans thought more about the consequences of their actions.

Then Spirit remembered the Silver Dolphins. Not all humans were thoughtless. The Silver Dolphins had already made a big difference. They gave him hope.

Chapter One

It was almost the end of another school day. Antonia Lee pushed her long blonde hair back over her shoulder as she put her book in her tray. Then, hovering by the door, she watched the hands on the classroom clock move round to three fifteen.

Hurry up, she thought impatiently, hoping the teacher would dismiss the class on time.

Miss Brown folded her arms and glared at the noisy children.

“No one is going home until there is silence,” she said. “Lauren, that includes you.”

Antonia willed the class to be quiet. She had a strong feeling that her dolphin charm was about to call her. Antonia was a Silver Dolphin, a guardian of the sea. Silver Dolphins were specially chosen to care for the oceans and the creatures living there. Antonia wore a magic silver dolphin charm around her neck and it called to her whenever help was needed. Then, using magical dolphin skills, she would swim to the problem and sort it out.

Silver Dolphins were rare. Only people who were in tune with nature and believed in magic could become one. Antonia knew of two other Silver Dolphins. They were her friend, Cai, and his great-aunt, Claudia, who ran a conservation charity called Sea Watch. Claudia had just recently decided she was too old to do the work of a Silver Dolphin properly.

The class fell silent at last and Miss Brown smiled.

“Well done, 5B. Off you go, then.” Antonia was first out of the classroom, running for her peg, where she stuffed her pencil case into her bag. It was no surprise when her dolphin charm began vibrating. This wasn’t the first time she’d sensed it would call before it actually had. Cupping her hand around it so that no one would notice the movement, Antonia called to Cai, “Ready?”

Cai’s brown eyes widened in surprise as his own silver dolphin badge, pinned to his polo shirt, vibrated. He lifted his school bag to his chest to hide it.

“Yes,” he answered.

“See you tomorrow, Sophie.” Antonia waved at her other best friend, who waved a sketch book back. Sophie was mad about art and her latest project was painting pictures of the cats that roamed around Sandy Bay.

“Ooh, look at the lovebirds,” called Lauren nastily, as Antonia and Cai ran from the building together.

Antonia ignored the comment, knowing that it was the best way to deal with Lauren.

“Spirit, I hear your call,” she murmured as her dolphin charm thrashed its tail and then began to whistle. Spirit was the leader of a dolphin pod and he was responsible for calling the Silver Dolphins.

Cai’s badge was whistling too and the combined noise was ear-splitting. Nervously, Antonia glanced up at the parents waiting at the school gates, but only a Silver Dolphin could hear the dolphin’s call and no one looked their way as they weaved between them.

“Which beach?” panted Cai.

“Sandy Bay’s nearest,” said Antonia, her fingers still curled round her dolphin charm. Its tiny tail flicked against her palm, urging her into the sea. She and Cai ran neck and neck down the street, only stopping at the promenade to pull off their shoes and socks. Antonia was first to jump down on to the beach. Her feet sunk into the soft white sand and it trickled through her toes as she ran to the rocks.

“This’ll do,” she said, dumping her things against a large boulder before stepping across the rocks to the sea. Cai hobbled slowly behind. It was only the second time he’d answered the dolphin’s call and his feet weren’t used to walking across slippery rocks encrusted with knobbly barnacles. Antonia hesitated. Normally, she would answer Spirit’s call as fast as possible. But she had a strong sense that this time it wasn’t urgent and wondered if she should wait for Cai.

“You go on,” called Cai.

Antonia was grateful to him for letting her go ahead. What if her feeling was wrong and Spirit’s call for help was life or death? Splashing into the water, Antonia concentrated on believing she could swim like a dolphin. The moment the sea reached her waist, she lunged forward. Instantly her legs felt as if they had joined together. Antonia whistled delightedly as she swam out to sea; legs flicking like a tail and arms paddling the water like flippers. She swam clear of the bay and into the open sea before she felt vibrations in the water. Something was coming towards her.

“Spirit?” she whistled.

“Silver Dolphin,” he answered. “You came quickly.”

Moments later, Spirit appeared and swam straight up to Antonia to rub his nose against hers. Spirit was a magnificent dolphin with a yellow blaze stretching along his silver flank and dark stripes running from eyes to mouth and chin to flippers. Shyly, Antonia rubbed his nose back.

“What’s my task today?” she asked.

Spirit sighed.

“This afternoon a boat anchored up near the cliffs. Two people were diving from it. They seemed to be bringing up things from the seabed. I couldn’t see what. When they’d finished they had a clear out and threw their rubbish overboard. It’s made a terrible mess.”

“Lucky you saw them,” said Antonia. Rubbish was a serious problem for sea life and could cause animals to choke or drown.

Cai arrived, panting slightly and with a determined look on his face. “I made it,” he said.

“Silver Dolphin,” clicked Spirit, swimming forward to rub Cai’s nose with his own. “Thank you for answering my call.”

Cai blushed in awe.

“It’s litter-picking today,” clicked Spirit. “Follow me and I’ll show you where.”

Spirit set off at a cracking pace, until he noticed Cai lagging behind and slowed down.

“You’ll have to teach me how to do the arms,” Cai whispered to Antonia. Cai hadn’t learned how to use his arms like flippers and was still doing breaststroke with them.

“It’s easy once you get the hang of it,” Antonia clicked back. Becoming a Silver Dolphin had felt natural for her, but there was a lot to learn. Antonia also knew there were still things that she hadn’t discovered.

Spirit was heading for the cliffs between Sandy Bay and Gull Bay. Antonia gasped when she saw the mess the boat trippers had left behind. It looked like they’d emptied a wheelie bin straight into the sea. There were empty tins, cardboard cartons and an enormous amount of plastic waste; all things that could injure sea life.

“It’s disgusting!” Cai exclaimed. “Why do people think it’s OK to dump stuff like this?”

“Often it’s because they’re just lazy,” said Antonia.

“And ignorant,” clicked Spirit. “Many people don’t realise the harm their actions cause.”

Spirit had to get back to his pod, so he left Antonia and Cai hard at work. Cai was lucky enough to find an enormous clear plastic bag that they used to collect the litter in.

“Lucky on two counts,” said Antonia. “A dolphin could suffocate in that.” She shuddered, thinking of her dolphin friend Bubbles, Spirit’s inquisitive son. What if Bubbles had got his head stuck in the bag?

“I wonder what the people were diving for?” asked Cai. “This isn’t just picnic waste—look.” He held up a soggy sheet of plastic with a label stuck to one side. “The Stretchy Strap, secures your torch to your arm for hands-free diving. And there’s this,” Cai reached out and pulled another plastic bag towards him. “Dive Bag, made from heavy-duty poly…” Cai squinted at the label. “I can’t read that bit, but it goes on to say that the bag is perfect for bringing diving finds to the surface.”

“Weird,” Antonia agreed. “It’s not like there are any wrecked boats around here. I wonder what they were collecting.”

A light breeze came from nowhere, ruffling the sea’s surface and sweeping Antonia’s hair across her face. She pushed it away, shivering as a bad feeling suddenly came over her.

“What’s up?” asked Cai. “You’re whiter than a ghost.”

“Nothing.” Antonia shook the feeling away.

“Oh!” she exclaimed.

“What?” asked Cai.

“Vibrations.” Antonia grinned, suddenly feeling much happier. “Someone’s swimming this way and I bet I know who.”

Chapter Two

A few seconds later, two dolphins arrived. “Bubbles!” laughed Antonia, as her favourite dolphin surfaced beside her.

“Flipper Feet!” squeaked Bubbles. Then, whipping up the sea with his flippers, he clicked, “Water fight!”

Antonia, Bubbles and Cai splashed water at each other until Antonia remembered the second dolphin hovering a short distance away. Diving underwater, she swam over to greet her.

“Hello, Dream.”

“Hi.” Dream hesitated, then gently rubbed Antonia’s nose with her own. “Dad said we could play, if you’ve finished your work.”

“We’ve nearly finished,” said Antonia, pointing to the clear sack of rubbish Cai was holding. “We’ve just got to get rid of that.”

“Leave the bag on the rocks for now and come and play Sprat. Race you. Last one there is ‘it’.”

Bubbles sped off, leaping in and out of the water, his body a flash of silver. Antonia helped Cai with the bag of rubbish and Dream swam alongside so the three of them reached the rocks together.

“I’ll be ‘it’,” said Antonia once the rubbish was safely out of the water. “I’ll give you a three waves’ head start.”

Everyone scattered as Antonia counted three waves.

“Coming,” she called.

The sea was empty. Cai and the dolphins had dived under the water to hide from her. Antonia dived too and was just in time to see Bubbles dart behind a rock. Slowly, she crept towards him but Bubbles had seen her and swam away. Antonia grinned, knowing she’d have to be much faster to catch the little dolphin. Something was moving to her left. Turning quickly, Antonia saw it was Cai. She chased after him, catching him easily and tagging him as he surfaced.

“Phew,” puffed Cai.

It took ages for Cai to tag someone. Finally he caught Dream. Then Bubbles started a water fight by leaping out of the sea, twisting and smacking down on his back. Soon you could hardly see anything for all the splashing. It was Dream who calmed things down.

“Listen,” she clicked. “I can hear Dad whistling. It’s time for us to go.”

“We should go too,” said Antonia, “Claudia’s expecting us at Sea Watch.”

“One more game,” Bubbles begged but sensible Dream shook her head. “If we don’t go now, Dad might ground us,” she clicked.

Bubbles swam towards Antonia as if to rub her nose goodbye, but at the last moment he somersaulted and smacked the surface of the water with his tail, splashing both her and Cai.

“Bubbles,” said Dream warningly.

“Spoilsport,” clicked Bubbles. “Isn’t she?”

Dream looked offended and Antonia held her breath. It had taken ages to make friends with Dream and she felt torn between the two dolphins. Then Cai whispered something, making Dream smile and Antonia relaxed. It was good to see Cai and Dream getting on.

“Bye, Bubbles,” she said, rubbing her nose against his. “Bye, Dream. Thanks for coming. It’s even more fun when you’re here.”

Dream flushed. “I enjoyed it too,” she said shyly.

Antonia and Cai watched the dolphins swim away, laughing as Bubbles suddenly leapt up and, balancing on his tail on the surface of the sea, turned a full circle.

“The twister,” said Antonia wistfully. “I wish I could do it.”

“You can do everything else,” said Cai.

“Not everything,” Antonia protested.

When Bubbles and Dream were out of sight Antonia and Cai collected their bag of rubbish and swam it ashore. As they waded through the breakers on Sandy Bay beach, the water poured from them, leaving their clothes as dry as if they’d been sitting in the sunshine. The only clue that they’d been in the sea was their damp hair. It was a short walk from the beach to Sea Watch, but the rubbish seemed to grow heavier with every step and Antonia was glad when they arrived. They sorted the recyclable things into a separate dustbin before going inside the Sea Watch building, a large wooden shed at the end of Claudia’s garden.

Eleanor Jacobs and Karen Holmes, two girls from school, were getting dressed in large plastic aprons and gloves. Next to them was a tall, skinny girl with short curly hair, glasses and freckles on her nose.

“This is Emily Jones,” said Eleanor, pointing at the new girl. “She started in Year Six at Sandy Bay Primary today.”

“Hi,” said Emily, stepping forward and accidentally treading on Antonia’s foot. “Whoops, sorry.” Emily grinned, showing her metal braces. “We’ve been asked to clean out the guillemot cages. It’s the first time I’ve seen guillemots. They’re so sweet. I’m going to bring my camera tomorrow and take some photos.”

“Hi,” said Antonia, wriggling her squashed toes.

“Poor you, having to come to a new school for the last week and a half of term,” said Cai sympathetically.

“Why have you?” asked Antonia curiously. “It doesn’t seem worth it for one and a half weeks. You’ll have to leave again at the end of term to go to secondary school.”

“Mum and Dad have bought a shop to sell souvenirs to the tourists, so they’re going to be really busy over the summer holidays. We don’t know anyone in Sandy Bay. I came to school to make some new friends, so I won’t be bored while Mum and Dad are working.” Emily smiled hopefully at Antonia as if she wanted to be friends.

“Emily’s parents have named the shop after her,” said Karen. “It’s called Emily’s Treasure Chest.”

“Cool,” said Cai.

“It’s going to be great,” Emily enthused. “Mum and Dad have got all sorts of ideas for original souvenirs. Mum’s going to make them herself. She’s been taking art and craft courses at night school and she’s really good at it.”

Antonia gazed round the room and saw Claudia at her desk. She was on the phone but waved Antonia over.

“Come on,” she said to Cai. “Claudia wants us.”

They walked over, hovering a short distance away until Claudia put the phone down.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she said, her sea-green eyes crinkling as she smiled. “That was the Sandy Bay Badger Sanctuary. Someone’s brought in an injured badger cub but the sanctuary is completely full, so they rang to ask if Sea Watch could nurse it for a few days until they have a free pen. A lady called Jackie is driving the cub over this evening. Could you two prepare the run in the garden we used when we had the seal? There’s straw in the garden shed.”

“A badger cub,” said Antonia, excitedly.

The next hour flew past, as Antonia and Cai prepared for the cub. Antonia desperately wanted to wait for it to arrive, but when she rang home Mum said tea was nearly ready so she wasn’t allowed to stay.

“But…” argued Antonia.

“No buts,” said Mum firmly.

Disappointed, Antonia set off along the seafront, the quickest route back. The shops stayed open later at this time of year to catch the tourist trade. Antonia wove her way through the crowded pavement until a sign in a shop window caught her eye.

“Opening tomorrow, Emily’s Treasure Chest—original souvenirs that won’t leave you broke,”she read.

Curiously, Antonia stared at the small display in the window. The gifts were certainly original. Who’d think of buying a toilet-roll holder as a souvenir! It was pretty though. Antonia stepped forward for a better look, then gasped. Was that…no, it couldn’t be. She had to be mistaken. Antonia pressed her nose against the window, staring at the shop display in disbelief.

Chapter Three

After tea, Antonia played in the garden with her little sister, Jessica. They made a camp with blankets, pegs, sun loungers and an old washing line. Jessica had just gone indoors to get her dolls when Sophie arrived.

“Hi,” said Antonia. “How are the cat pictures coming along?”

“Great,” said Sophie. “I found a huge old tabby asleep under a tub of geraniums. The plants made him look like he was wearing a flowery hat. It was so funny. I made loads of sketches. I wanted to start painting the picture tomorrow but now I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re not going to be here! That’s what I came round to tell you. Mum and Dad are pulling me out of school to go on holiday. It’s a last-minute thing. Dad realised if we don’t go now we won’t get one. Once the school holidays start he’ll be too busy running art classes for the tourists.”

Sophie’s dad was an artist and he also taught people how to paint.

“Oh,” said Antonia. She smiled wanly and tried to sound pleased for Sophie, but she was going to miss her friend. “Well, have a good time. Where are you going?”

“Jersey,” said Sophie. “Don’t look like that! It’s only for a week. I’ll be back before the end of term and I’ll bring you a souvenir.”

Antonia shuddered, remembering the souvenirs in Emily’s Treasure Chest.

“You don’t have to buy me anything,” she protested. “Just send me a postcard. And I’m pleased for you. Really I am. I hope you have a brilliant time.”

“Thanks.” Sophie hugged Antonia. “I wish you could come with us. I asked Mum if you could but she didn’t think your mum would let you have the time off school.”

“She wouldn’t,” agreed Antonia.

“Sophie!” cried Jessica, staggering across the lawn, her arms full of dolls. “Have you come to play with us?”

“Sorry, Jess, not today. I’ve got to go and pack,” said Sophie hurriedly. “See you soon, Antonia, and remember not to call for me tomorrow.”

That night, Antonia lay in bed thinking about Emily’s Treasure Chest. The more she thought about it, the more uncertain she became. Could she have been mistaken about the souvenirs? Maybe they weren’t what she’d thought they were. Antonia tossed in her bed, wishing her racing brain would switch off and let her get some rest. It was gone midnight before she got to sleep and she woke early with her brain still whirring.

“This can’t go on,” she thought, groggily pulling on her yellow checked school dress.

Determined to find out for sure, Antonia left for school earlier than usual, to go and have another look in the window of Emily’s Treasure Chest. She hoped that she’d been wrong about the souvenirs on sale. However, standing outside the shop’s window, Antonia’s hopes were dashed.

Emily’s parents had been busy. The window display was finished and the shelves were crammed with souvenirs. There was the toilet-roll holder with starfish ends, light pulls made from seahorses, small dishes made from scallop shells and a strange-looking object fashioned from a sea urchin. A sign hanging from one of the shelves left Antonia in no doubt as to where the gifts came from:

Our marine souvenirs are handmade from the genuine items.

“It should say, animals have died to make these gifts,” said Antonia in disgust. It wasn’t right that Emily was allowed to come to Sea Watch, pretending to care. Claudia should ban her.

Antonia hurried to school, anxious to share her news with Cai. She found him in the playground talking to Toby. His brown eyes shone with excitement as Antonia hurried towards him.

“I can’t wait for you to see the badger cub,” he called as she approached. “Her name’s Stripes. She’s so cute and not a bit shy. I gave her a bottle of milk last night and when she’d finished, she kept nudging my hand for more.”

Antonia had completely forgotten about the badger cub and was pleased to hear some good news. She listened to Cai until he’d run out of things to say, before finally telling him about Emily’s Treasure Chest.

“It’s awful,” she finished. “Claudia mustn’t let Emily help out at Sea Watch any more. She doesn’t care about sea life at all.”

“If you’re right, then yes, it is awful,” said Cai. “But banning Emily from Sea Watch won’t help. Far better that she comes along and finds out what we do. Helping at Sea Watch might show Emily that it’s wrong to take things from the sea.”

“But her parents are killing sea creatures!” said Antonia, her fingers straying to her dolphin charm.

“Are you sure?” Cai persisted. “Lots of shells and things are collected after the animals have died.”

“There’s too much stuff in the shop for that,” Antonia argued.

“Let’s see what Aunty Claudia says,” said Cai, placidly. “After all, it’s not Emily’s fault. It’s her parent’s shop.”

Antonia didn’t want to fall out with Cai, so she let the matter drop. The thought that Claudia would sort things out tonight made Antonia feel slightly happier. Eleanor and Karen couldn’t come to Sea Watch after school and to Antonia’s annoyance, Emily asked if she could walk there with her and Cai. It was impossible to say no. On the way, Emily talked nonstop and asked tons of questions.

“I joined Sea Watch mostly to make friends but also because I love dolphins. Eleanor and Karen have seen them in the bay. Have you?”