One White Dolphin by Gill Lewis

Author:Gill Lewis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

20

Daisy spreads a white bun thick with jam. “Are we going to see the dolphin?”

I put my fingers to my lips. Aunt Bev is making a pot of tea. “We’ll have to go now,” I whisper, “before school.”

Daisy nods and bolts down her roll.

Last night she sat wide-eyed while I told her all about the dolphin. She’d scowled when I told her Felix had been there to help too. I told her that he was all right really, that he’d been angry the day we’d met him in the café. But it didn’t seem to matter what I said about Felix. Daisy’s made her mind up about him already.

I sling my schoolbag over my shoulder and wait for Daisy by the door.

Aunt Bev narrows her eyes at me. “You’re off early.”

“Got some homework to hand in,” I say.

She stares hard at me and Daisy. “You’re not planning on seeing that dolphin, are you?”

I shrug my shoulders. “What dolphin?” I glance at Daisy, but she’s turned bright red and is staring at the floor.

Aunt Bev folds her arms. “The one Jim was talking about on the phone after you two had gone to bed.”

“What did he say?”

“I don’t know,” says Aunt Bev. “I didn’t hear all of it.”

“I just want to know if it’s all right,” I say.

“You’re both going straight to school. You’ve been in enough trouble as it is, and I don’t want Daisy in trouble too.” She grabs her handbag and the door keys. “In fact, I’ll walk you there myself.”

There’s no point arguing with her. Dad’s on an early shift at work, so I can’t ask him.

All the way to school I try to catch glimpses of the headland, but the tidal pool is tucked away below the cliffs and out of sight. Greg’s pickup truck is parked in the headland parking lot, so all I can do is hope that means Greg and Carl are there and that the dolphin is still alive.

• • •

I can’t concentrate on anything all day. Felix has been moved to the top group in math and English, so I only get a chance to meet up with him at break.

He’s talking to two girls from our year at the tuckshop, but he breaks away from them when he sees me. I sit down next to him on one of the wooden benches in the playground. “How’s the dolphin?”

Felix fumbles with a chocolate wrapper and tears the corner with his teeth. “Carl rang to say she’s still alive,” he says. “They need volunteers to support her on a raft until she can balance on her own in the water. Dad’s doing a two-hour shift before he picks me up at lunch.”

“I could meet you there later, when I get out of school,” I say. “Maybe Carl will let us help too.”

“Yeah, that’d be cool,” says Felix. He snaps the chocolate and offers me some. “At my last school you could get expelled for eating chocolate.”

I stuff two chunks of chocolate in my mouth.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.