Secret Friends. Summer Waters

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      Silver Dolphins

      SECRET FRIENDS

       Summer Waters

       For Lee—a magical friend

      Contents

       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

       Copyright

       About the Publisher

       Prologue

      Out sea, two dolphins swam side by side in a comfortable silence. The larger dolphin, a handsome male with a striking yellow blaze stretched along his flank, had a far away look in his eyes. But his peace was short lived. Suddenly two smaller dolphins swam up, their voices ringing out in angry squeaks.

      “Bubbles, Dream, what’s all the noise about?” asked Spirit.

      “It’s her fault,” clicked Bubbles. “I told her a secret and now she’s going to tell it to the rest of the pod.”

      Dream flushed as Spirit regarded her with solemn eyes.

      “Is this true?” he asked.

      “It was a joke,” clicked Dream, quietly. “I wasn’t really going to tell.”

      “I should hope not,” said Spirit. “Sharing a secret with a friend is a very special thing. You should never betray their trust.”

      “I know, Dad.” Dream bowed her head. “I promise I wouldn’t have told.”

      “Good,” said Spirit, tapping her affectionately with his fin. “Play nicely now, my children. You can when you try.”

      As Bubbles and Dream swam away, Spirit turned to his wife.

      “They could be really good friends if they didn’t argue so much.”

      Smiling wistfully, Star answered, “It’s all part of growing up.”

      “Yes,” clicked Spirit, thoughtfully. “They have lots to learn, just like our new Silver Dolphin.”

      “The Silver Dolphin learns quickly,” clicked Star. “We are lucky to have found her.” Spirit nodded his magnificent silver head.

      “The Silver Dolphin grows more powerful every day. With her power comes great responsibility. She still has much to learn…”

       Chapter One

      The wind was getting up. It ruffled the surface of the sea, whipping it into tiny white crested waves. Antonia Lee pushed her long blonde hair out of her eyes, wishing she’d thought to tie it up.

      “Hurry up, Flipper Feet,” called Bubbles. “We’re nearly there.”

      He took off, leaping in and out of the water, flying over the waves with an easy grace. Antonia went after him, marvelling at the way she too could swim like a dolphin.

      “I can’t believe I’ve only been a Silver Dolphin for two weeks,” she whistled.

      “Me neither,” Bubbles clicked back. “Your swimming’s even better now. You’re using your hands like flippers instead of that funny thing you did with them at first.”

      Antonia laughed, her voice coming out as a series of whistles.

      “That was breaststroke. It’s a popular swimming stroke.”

      “It can’t be that good or dolphins would use it,” Bubbles teased.

      Antonia Lee was a Silver Dolphin. Silver Dolphins were guardians of the sea. They used magic to care for the oceans and all the creatures living there. Whenever help was needed the tiny silver dolphin charm that Antonia wore round her neck called to her. Then she would take on dolphin-like characteristics enabling her to swim to the problem and sort it out. Silver Dolphins were rare. You had to be in tune with nature and willing to believe that magical things could happen to become one.

      Antonia had just come out of school when Spirit called her. Spirit was the leader of a pod of thirty dolphins and he was also Bubbles’s dad. Antonia answered his call quickly, but this time it wasn’t an emergency. Spirit had asked Antonia to go litter-picking on the rocks. It was Antonia’s least favourite task, but a very important one. Litter could cause all sorts of injuries to sea life. When the litter-picking was finished Antonia was allowed to play with Bubbles, her best dolphin friend.

      “We’re here,” said Bubbles, swimming round the headland.

      Antonia slowed, gasping with delight at the tiny cove nestling between the rocks.

      “I never knew that this was here,” she clicked.

      “That’s because you can’t reach it by land,” said Bubbles. “Come on, I’ll race you.”

      Bubbles took off, slicing through the water like a silver arrow. Antonia chased after him, determined to catch him up, but not quite making it.

      “Cheat!” she clicked as Bubbles reached the mouth of the cove a tail length ahead of her. “You had a head start.”

      Playfully she splashed water at him. Bubbles smacked the sea with his tail, soaking Antonia back.

      “Water fight,” he whistled in delight.

      Antonia churned up the sea with her hands while Bubbles retaliated with his tail and flippers. Soon they could hardly see each other for the spray.

      “Truce,” clicked Antonia, gasping for breath.

      Bubbles stopped splashing and dived under water. Antonia lay on her back staring up at the grey sky. It was a chilly start to the week following on from a scorching hot weekend. Antonia tensed as her body started to tingle. Something was approaching. She could feel the vibrations in the water. She rolled over and scanned the horizon. A dolphin was swimming towards