The Magic Charm Read Free Page B

“Why don’t you want to go to the shops? You’ll have a great time. Mum will buy you some sweets if you’re good.”
    “But I want to swim! And I want a necklace like yours. Can I try it on?”
    “Erm, not now, Jess,” Antonia scrambled to her feet. Was it her imagination or had the dolphin charm vibrated just then? Ignoring Jessica’s cries for her to stay she hurried into the house, dumped her plate and glass in the kitchen then ran upstairsto her room. It was very quiet. Her silver necklace lay still. Antonia stood in a beam of sunlight spilling through the slanted window and tried not to feel disappointed. She pulled her swimming costume out of her drawer and put it on under her clothes. She might as well get ready to meet Sophie.
    Antonia was bundling things into her bag when the dolphin charm juddered against her skin. She started, trembling with excitement as the dolphin charm started vibrating. The dolphins were calling. Antonia grabbed a towel, shoved it in her bag then raced downstairs.
    “Bye, Mum, bye, Dad,” she called.
    “Not so fast,” said Mum, blocking the front door. “Here, give this to Sophie’s dad for ice cream.” She thrust a note at Antonia. “And what time will you be back?”
    “Teatime,” said Antonia, hopping up and down. The dolphin necklace had started clicking. The noise grew louder as Antonia sidestepped her mother to pull open the front door.
    “Ring me if you’re going to be late,” said Mum.
    “I will.” Antonia was amazed that her mother hadn’t noticed the dolphin noises emitting from her necklace. The whistles and squeaks were ear-splitting. Antonia ran down her road towards the coastal path.
    “Silver Dolphin,” whistled her necklace. “Come to us.”
    “I’m on my way,” Antonia whistled back.
    As she reached the cove she wondered about getting into the sea: it was Saturday afternoon and even Gull Bay was busy. Would anyone try to stop her from swimming on her own? Antonia picked her way across the beach. Today there were nodolphins waiting for her, but the necklace was still clicking, urging her to get into the water. Antonia changed out of her clothes, put her bag on an empty patch of sand and took a deep breath. She was ready. She splashed into the sea, gasping at its coldness. The moment she was in deep enough to swim Antonia struck out in the water, breaststroke arms and dolphin legs. Her body moved like a real dolphin, her legs melding together like a tail. No one seemed to notice her as she swam towards the open sea, but in case anyone was watching Antonia dived down under the water just before she passed the orange safety buoy. Usually she could swim for fifteen strokes before needing to come up for air, but today her lungs felt stronger. Antonia stayed under the water as she swam further out to sea.

Chapter Four
    S he swam all the way to the mouth of the cove before surfacing. The sunlight was dazzling. Antonia screwed up her eyes and shook her head as droplets of water ran down her face and into her nose and mouth. Where were the dolphins? Were they in danger? She swam in a circle as her eyes searched for them. The swell was greater out here and Antonia had to kick hard to stop herself fromdrifting into the open water. When she swam out as the Silver Dolphin, her legs moved together as if they were joined like a tail. Antonia wished they would work like that when she was just swimming for fun.
    “Silver Dolphin.”
    The call was so close it made Antonia jump. She spun round expecting to see Spirit behind her, but the sea was empty.
    “Where are you?” she whistled back.
    “Over here. Come and find me, Silver Dolphin.”
    Antonia hesitated, unsure whether to carry on. The water would be even rougher once she was out in the open sea. She had already broken her parents’ rules by swimming alone and past the orange safety buoy. But what good was a Silver Dolphin who only stayed inshore? Convinced she was doing the right thing Antonia struck out