Little Dolphin Rescue Read online

  For Grace, who can’t choose a favourite animal

  but thinks it might be a dolphin

  – Rachel

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  About the Author

  Copyright

  “Look! There’s a sea monster in the swimming pool,” said Ella.

  “Nice try,” laughed Fliss. “But I don’t believe you.”

  “You never fall for my pranks any more,” moaned Ella.

  Fliss and Ella were sitting on the edge of the pool, waiting for their swimming lesson. They dangled their legs in the water, swishing them backwards and forwards.

  “Do you see that bug?” Ella said suddenly. “Over there. It’s drowning!”

  “There’s no bug.” Fliss shook her head.

  “This time I mean it, Fliss! There is, honestly.”

  Fliss sighed. Ella knew her so well – she knew that Fliss would have to look, just in case it was true. Because if there was a bug and she let it drown, she would be upset. Fliss loved all animals and wanted to be a vet when she grew up.

  “Where is it, then?” Fliss leaned forwards. “Show me.”

  Ella put her hand in the pool but instead of pointing out the beetle, she cupped up some water and threw it in Fliss’s face.

  “Got you!” she shouted happily.

  Fliss shrieked. She was about to splash Ella back when their teacher blew his whistle. It was time for their lesson to begin. “I’ll get you later!” she said with a giggle.

  The girls lined up by the pool with the rest of the swimming class – including their friends Maya, Karl, Huey and Kevin – and Mr Luck clapped his hands for attention. “Hello, everyone,” he said.

  “Hello, Mr Luck!” The greeting echoed around the poolroom.

  “I’m sorry you haven’t had a lesson for three weeks. It took longer than we thought to redecorate! But what do you think of the newly painted leisure centre?”

  “That’s awesome!” said Maya, pointing to a beach scene painted on the walls.

  “Just wait until you see what’s underwater at the deep end,” Mr Luck said with a wink. “Now, I have an announcement. We are starting an under-twelves swimming team and we need a name. Give me your best ideas at the end of the lesson and I’ll choose a winner.”

  “What do we win?” asked Maya.

  “Is it a tropical island holiday?” Ella squeezed Fliss’s arm and jumped up and down.

  Mr Luck laughed. “You’ll have to wait and see!”

  “Definitely a tropical holiday,” Ella whispered in Fliss’s ear.

  “As a special treat, it’s a free-play lesson today. Help yourselves to inflatables but don’t forget to go for a swim in the deep end. I think you’re going to like what you see!”

  The children jumped into the pool. By the time Fliss had adjusted the straps on her goggles, the whole of the shallow end was churned up with splashing. Ella had found a giant donut and was floating in the middle of the pool, as Karl and his friends tried to flip her over.

  “Help me, Fliss!” Ella called, kicking water in their faces.

  Fliss was tempted to join in with Karl to pay Ella back for her trick, but she wanted to check out Mr Luck’s underwater surprise while the deep end was quiet.

  Fliss was nervous about being out of her depth, so she stayed close to the side of the pool where she could grip the edge if she needed to. When her feet could no longer touch the bottom, she put her face in the water…

  Wow!

  The walls of the deep end were painted to look like a tropical reef. There was coral, seaweed and marine life like fish, octopuses, starfish and sharks. And it wasn’t cartoony, like a lot of murals. In fact, with all the detail, it was easy to imagine that a real-life reef shark might suddenly appear…

  Just then, a dark shape passed beneath her. Fliss caught her breath and grabbed the edge of the pool. But when she looked down, she saw it wasn’t a sea monster – it was Huey! What was he doing?

  Huey was gliding along the bottom of the pool with his arms by his side and his legs together. He kicked them at the same time, as if he were flipping a tail! He looked very much at home against the backdrop of the reef. Fliss kept holding the edge of the pool and waited for him to come up for air.

  “Hey, Huey, can you teach me how to do that swimming stroke?”

  “The dolphin-kick? Sure, it’s easy! Just keep your arms by your sides and your legs together. Roll your body from head to toe, and kick your feet together last. Oh, and don’t forget to hold your breath!”

  Huey disappeared back down to the bottom of the pool and Fliss took a moment to demist her goggles and think. The water was deep and that scared her, but if she stayed close to the side of the pool she’d be OK. She let herself sink a little below the surface and tried Huey’s dolphin-kick. But although she thought she had followed Huey’s instructions, it was more of a going-nowhere thrash than an elegant dolphin swim!

  “What am I doing wrong?” she asked when Huey came up again.

  “It works better if you go deeper.” Fliss look worried so Huey added, “Follow me and you’ll be fine. One, two, three…”

  They both took a deep breath and swam down, using their arms to go lower and lower. Once they were at the bottom of the pool, Huey began to roll his body, propelling himself through the water with a final kick. Fliss soon got the hang of it too. Roll and kick, roll and kick! She even started to feel at home in the water, as if she was a sea creature herself.

  Fliss reached the back wall of the pool and came up for air, grinning. She had swum underwater for at least five metres without panicking!

  Huey popped up next to her. “You’re a natural,” he said.

  “I am?” said Fliss, unable to hide her pride.

  “Yep. A pod of dolphins would be happy to hang out with you!”

  “Fliss!” shrieked Ella as Karl spun the donut round and round. “Come and get dizzy! It’s fuuuuuun!”

  Not as fun as swimming like a dolphin, Fliss thought. She laughed at Ella then ducked back underwater. With her feet flat against the wall she pushed herself back down into the deep and Huey followed.

  Rays from the ceiling lights pierced the water and sent reflections rippling across the mural. Fliss imagined that it was all real – the eel in the coral, the starfish on the rock, the shoal of blue and yellow fish. The more she thought, the clearer the pictures seemed and the brighter they became. And then Fliss stopped kicking. Was that shoal of fish actually moving? Of course not, she thought. It was just a trick of the light.

  Then something swam alongside her. Huey? It glided by her with a flap of its enormous wings.

  No, it wasn’t Huey.

  There was a manta ray in the swimming pool! Fliss had to tell someone immediately. Surely, that wasn’t part of Mr Luck’s underwater surprise?

  She put her feet on the bottom and realized she could stand up – she was no longer out of her depth. Had she swum all the way to the shallow end? Why was there sand beneath her feet? Fliss was confused, especially as her goggles had misted up and she couldn’t see a thing.

  “Mr Luck?” she called, taking off her goggles and rubbing her eyes. As she said his name, she noticed something strange. Just a minute ago, the pool had sounded like a baboon party, and now it was silent. Had everyone gone?

  When she could finally see, Fliss couldn’t believe her
eyes. Yes, everyone had gone. Huey, Ella, Karl, Mr Luck – the whole class! Even the pool had gone. Fliss was now standing up to her waist in turquoise seawater, by a white sandy beach.

  “A tropical island?” Fliss laughed. It was like a picture postcard, a place you only saw in expensive holiday brochures… But what was she doing here? And how was she going to get back? Mr Luck always did a head count at the end of the lesson and he would be worried if she was missing.

  Fliss knelt down so she was completely underwater. There was nothing but crystal-clear water and shoals of fish in all different shapes and colours and patterns! Maybe she could spend a little more time here before trying to find her way back home…

  The sun sparkles danced on the water and Fliss shielded her eyes so she could look around. There was no one on the beach but there was a small building not far along. The owner would be able to tell her where she was.

  Fliss watched the pretty fish dart away for safety as she waded through the water. But they weren’t the only pretty things at her feet. Scattered across the seabed were shells. They were so shiny and beautiful they looked like jewels. Fliss wanted to run her hands through them, like a pirate enjoying her treasure! As she reached down, her hand brushed against a large brown disc. It floated upwards and then sank back down, landing on its other side.

  The shell was as big as her hand and looked like mother-of-pearl – silvery, with dashes of purple, green and blue. The colours swirled together like a liquid rainbow. It was mesmerizing. As she walked towards the beach, she gazed at the seashell in her hand.

  OUCH!

  Fliss’s foot began to sting and throb. She must have cut it on something! Clutching her beautiful shell, she hobbled along the beach to the building she had seen, hoping there would be someone there who could help.

  Izad’s Fruit Shack was a tiny juice bar. It had a couple of tables and chairs on the sand and a hatch in the wall. Fliss hopped forwards and peered through the hatch.

  “Hello? Is anyone there?”

  A tall man rose from behind the counter with a sleepy smile. He wore a little straw hat and round his neck hung lots and lots of necklaces, some plain, some with painted beads.

  “Izad at your service. Mango juice, coconut water, what do you fancy?”

  “Hello, Izad, my name’s Fliss. I cut my foot in the sea and I was hoping you could help me?”

  Izad looked concerned. “Take a seat and I’ll be right there.”

  Fliss sat and Izad appeared with a medical bag and a bottle of water, which he poured over the cut to clean out the sand.

  “Looks like a shell cut,” he tutted. “Broken shells can be very nasty. But this isn’t too deep.” Fliss winced as Izad dabbed on some antiseptic. Then he took out a plaster and popped it on top. “You’ll be fine in no time,” he said with a huge smile.

  “Thank you!” said Fliss, and then she remembered the beautiful shell. “Oh, and could you tell me what sort of shell this is?” she asked, showing him her find.

  “That’s an abalone.”

  “Ah-bah-lone-ee.” Fliss sounded it out.

  “You’re not going to keep it, are you?” Izad asked. Fliss’s face must have fallen because he wagged his finger. “What belongs to the sea must be returned to the sea. But you can look after it while you’re here. Have this.”

  Izad took off one of his plain string necklaces. He threaded it through a hole in the shell and then tied it around Fliss’s neck.

  “You look like a proper tropical island girl now.”

  “Thank you, Izad,” said Fliss. “I promise I’ll give it back to the sea when I leave.”

  “Thank you, Fliss.” Izad smiled. “Here on Payocos we look after our environment. We live as part of the island. We don’t own it.”

  “I think your island is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen!”

  “You haven’t seen half of it yet!” said Izad. He pointed out to sea. “Payocos is surrounded by a ring of shallow coral reef. It goes all the way from here to Coral Point, over in the distance. We call it the Blue Halo. Explore it and you’ll see why we are so keen to protect it. Now, wait here.”

  Izad disappeared and returned a minute later with a yellow drink, a snorkelling mask and two small socks.

  “Coconut and pineapple,” he said as he handed her the drink. “A taste of Payocos just for you.”

  Fliss took a sip and sighed. It was totally yummy!

  “And here is a mask so you can see the reef better.”

  “Thank you! Those are funny flippers,” said Fliss, pointing at the socks.

  “Not flippers. Flippers damage coral. These are reef slippers,” Izad replied.

  “Do they protect the coral from human germs?” asked Fliss.

  Izad tipped back his head and let out a deep laugh that made Fliss want to laugh too. “No. They’re to stop your plaster from falling off!”

  Fliss waded into the water with her new slippers and mask and looked back at Izad. He was standing on the beach with his hands on his hips and a big friendly smile.

  “You’re going to love it!” he said, full of pride. “Payocos is very special. You’ll see.”

  “Is it safe to swim?” asked Fliss. She was worried that if she got out of her depth there would be nothing to hang on to. She wasn’t in a pool now.

  “Inside the ring of coral the water never gets too deep, so it’s safe to swim there. On the other side of the reef – outside the Blue Halo where the water gets dark – that’s deep. It’s not dangerous, but if you’re nervous you should stay inside the reef.”

  Fliss stepped further into the crystal waters, feeling reassured by Izad’s answer.

  “Watch out for lions, zebras and parrots!” Izad shouted.

  What? Fliss spun round.

  Izad took one look at her face and burst out laughing. “They’re types of fish!” he hooted, slapping his thigh. Then he wandered back to his juice bar and Fliss could still hear him laughing as she swam out into the Blue Halo.

  Wearing Izad’s mask, Fliss put her head underwater. Wow! She could see everything so clearly – even groups of playful fish much further out. Below her, hermit crabs scuttled across the sandy seabed, dragging their brightly coloured houses behind them.

  The further Fliss went out, the more the underwater landscape changed. There were rocks and different types of coral – some spread out like fans and others clustered together like cauliflowers. Bigger fish appeared with pouty lips and large eyes. Some had funny markings and Fliss laughed when she saw a group that looked as if they had angry eyebrows.

  It was an underwater paradise, and this was only a small piece of it. The Blue Halo reef was vast. Fliss continued swimming away from the island, spotting eels snooping in the rocks and starfish the size of dinner plates. She even saw a puffer fish that had blown up like a balloon and was bobbing about like a spiky melon.

  Just as Izad said – the reef was shallow and safe. Even if Fliss had a reason to be nervous, she was too distracted to worry. The colours and the creatures were breathtaking. Even the sounds were amazing – the gentle lapping of the water, the crackling as fish sucked up and spat out stones, the popping of air bubbles coming from holes in the rocks. And the clicking.

  What was the clicking?

  The water was getting a little deeper now and the walls of coral were thicker, brighter and teeming with life. The funny clicking noise was getting louder. Fliss swam down a channel between the coral, just as something large was swimming up it. The thing was heading right towards her…

  A shark? Fliss’s breath caught in her throat. There was nowhere to go, nothing to do except keep her face in the water so she could see what was coming. But then she recognized the swimming stroke… Roll and kick, roll and kick. A dolphin!

  It was only a little one – no bigger than a dog – with pretty stripes of black, grey and white along the length of its body. When the dolphin got closer, Fliss reached out to touch it but it dodged her hand, shot past her and vanished into the coral.
It emerged from another clump of coral and made its way towards her again. Then it rushed past her, vanished and reappeared, over and over, clicking and squealing all the time. It reminded Fliss of an excited child and, judging by the size of it, it had to be a baby.

  When the dolphin swam past her on its side, revealing the smile-shaped curve of its mouth, Fliss clapped. At the sound, the dolphin slowed down. It swam up to her. It looked curious. Fliss clapped her hands again and the dolphin bobbed its head.

  You like that, do you? Fliss thought. Well, how about if I sing?

  Fliss hummed a tune. It sounded funny underwater but the dolphin seemed to like it. Now it came so close that Fliss could have touched it if she wanted to, but she didn’t. Instead she made more sounds and the dolphin began to inspect her – it looked right into her mask! Then a sudden noise caused it to back away. Fliss heard it too. A chorus of whistles, so high-pitched they almost hurt her ears. The dolphin nodded. Then it was gone, ‘dolphin-kicking’ back down the watery channel and out of sight.

  Fliss raised her head above the water. She was close to the outside edge of the Blue Halo. Over the next boundary of pale coral was the dark blue sea. And bursting out of it, spinning once, twice, three times before crashing back down, was the little dolphin. It did it again – spinning as if it was in a gymnastics show, falling with a splash back into the water.

  It was putting on a display for her! As it leaped high once again, Fliss spotted a single groove on the dolphin’s underside. She knew, from her World of Dolphins book, that females had two slits, side by side. This was definitely a boy.

  “Well done, Spinner!” she called. The name came to her instantly. Yes, Spinner was the perfect name for the little dolphin.

  Spinner then performed a single jump, a perfect arc. The sea spray caught the sun and a colourful rainbow curved above her head.