Lucy and Grace sat on the seafront at Littleporkton with Grandma and Grandpa. They had come down for a few days before returning for the new term at school. Their grandparents had been thrilled to meet Grace and had been fascinated by the account of their African adventures. Lucy had taken Grace to the dolphinarium and introduced her to Jonathan, the dolphin with which she had first discussed her powers and which had told her what the animals expected of the Promised One. They had both had further long discussions with the dolphin and now that Lucy had experienced at first hand the devotion of countless animals in different situations and their expectations of help from her, she was in a much better position to appreciate the dolphin’s views. When they finally left the dolphins they met Grandma and Grandpa on the seafront as arranged and sat eating a picnic in the brilliant late summer sunshine.
‘I asked you once,’ said Lucy, ‘when I first learned I was the Promised One, what I should be doing to improve the world for the animals and you told me not to expect to be able to do much before I was grown-up. Now I have seen so much more of the world and spoken to so many animals – and to Grace – we can both see that there is so much to be done. The forests are being cut down, the seas are polluted, the ice caps are melting, the earth’s atmosphere is changing and everywhere humans and animals are competing for space and resources. We can see now that we do have to wait until we’re older to really change anything, but what jobs do you think we should be trying to get so that we can make the greatest difference to things? We’ve obviously discussed it with Mum and Dad, but I told Grace that you were the first people I ever talked to about it, and we’re both interested in what you think!’ Grace nodded in agreement. Their grandparents thought long and hard before answering.
‘It’s often best,’ said Grandpa, ‘to become good at something before you start trying to influence others. If you achieve knowledge and respect in a particular field, people know that you can compete and succeed in open competition and know that you have some experience of real life.’ Grandma nodded in agreement and added:
‘Then, if you still want to, you can move into those areas of life or institutions in which you wish to bring about changes.’
‘So what you’re saying,’ said Grace, ‘is that we should just get back to school and try to pass all our exams and get a job or profession, same as anyone else.’
‘Exactly!’ said Grandpa. They all laughed.