It was late when Finn woke that morning. He lay staring up at the familiar pattern of peeling paint on the ceiling above his bed wondering why he was feeling so different. Then the memory of everything that had happened the day before flooded back into his mind.
It can’t have been true! he thought. I must have dreamed it all! Me, swimming? Far out at sea – making friends with a dolphin? I must be going crazy!
He leaped out of bed, dragged on his clothes, and jumped two at a time down the narrow stairs into the sitting room below. Where was his father? The chair by the window, where he usually sat for most of the day, was empty, and outside Finn could hear the sound of chopping.
He wrenched open the cottage door and ran outside.
Mr McFee, an axe in his hand, was hacking away at a dead tree, which had fallen over in last winter’s gale and had been left to lie at the end of the jungle that had once been a garden. He looked up when he heard the door open.
‘So you’ve woken up at last!’ he called out. ‘I thought you’d sleep all day. Get yourself some breakfast and—’
‘Did it really happen, Dad?’ Finn interrupted. ‘Did I dream it all? Am I really . . . ?’
‘Oh aye,’ replied his father ‘It happened all right. You’re a magical boy, and I’m trying to get my head round it too.’
‘And can I go down there, into the sea, Dad? You said I could. You said—’
‘I can’t stop you, can I?’ his father answered. ‘But get some food inside you first, Finn. You’ll be needing all the energy you can get.’
Half an hour later, Finn had bolted his breakfast and was making his way carefully down the steep path that led from the cliff top to the narrow beach below. He looked round wonderingly. He’d lived right on top of this little cove all his life, but that morning it looked to him as strange and wonderful as a foreign country.
The tiny bay was a perfect, private place. The strip of golden sand, hemmed in on both sides by steep rocks, was quite hidden. Only a boat passing close along the shore could see into it, and judging by the overgrown state of the footpath that scored a deep scar up the face of the cliff, few people ever bothered to clamber down to it.
But when Finn crossed the beach and was standing at last at the edge of the water, he felt a kick of nerves in his stomach, and his heart started to beat uncomfortably fast.
What if I imagined everything after all? he thought. Or even if I didn’t, maybe the magic only works once!
He looked doubtfully down into the water. The little waves, soft and shining under the bright morning light, rolled and lapped innocently on the sand, seeming to invite him in. Finn took a deep breath, kicked off his shoes, and took a first tentative step into the water. He stopped, waiting for the change, waiting for that powerful, joyous feeling to surge back and welcome him into the sea.
Nothing happened. The water felt cold, and his arms and legs sprouted goose bumps. He almost wanted to run out of the water and race back up to the safety of the cottage, but then, turning to look back, he caught sight of a figure standing at the edge of the cliff above, watching him. It was his father.
He’ll think I was making everything up. He’ll think I was just telling a story, he told himself. He’ll think I’m a coward.
He breathed in deeply, took a few more steps, then flopped forward, letting his feet leave the safety of the sand beneath the water.
And there it was! That warmth and certainty again! The water seemed to welcome him, as it had done before. He swam slowly forward, letting his ears tune into the sounds of the ocean, and feasting his eyes on the shifting patterns of light that the rising sun was striking through the water. He came up for air at last, and rolled on to his back. He could see his father, still there, standing at the top of the cliff.
Finn raised his hand and waved and watched his father turn away, then, his confidence soaring, he dived again and shot out to sea, away from the shrill squawks of the nesting seabirds and the beat of the waves breaking against the rocks that fringed the beach. He couldn’t wait to get into the quietness of the deep water, where he might pick up the whistles of the dolphins, his brothers and sisters, his friends.
He didn’t know how long it was before he heard them, but there at last was the beautiful, piercing sound – the best kind of music that Finn had ever heard.
But what was that? The whistling sound was confused, and now that he was coming closer he could tell that there wasn’t one tune in the dolphin music, but many of them. They sounded frantic, too; excited but frightened at the same time. Finn had been swimming fast, but now he slowed, feeling suddenly shy. He hadn’t expected to meet a whole group of dolphins. He had only wanted to find his friend. What if the others didn’t like him? What if they were angry and unfriendly, like Charlie was on land? They might turn on him.
It was too late to go back. A long grey shape was already streaking towards him, whistling in a familiar way. Finn knew who it was at once. It was his friend! And now he was being nudged and encouraged forward towards the group that he could see ahead, a boiling mass of grey bodies, cavorting and twisting in the water. A few minutes later, he had reached them, and then he was right among them, treading water in the middle of the pod. To his relief, none of them seemed to notice him. They were too busy and excited, though one touched him gently with her nose as if in welcome before plunging away towards the others. He tried to count them. Were there five? Six? Seven? They were moving about so fast, it was impossible to tell.
Perhaps they’re my family! he thought, with a sudden flash of excitement. They might be my cousins, or my aunties and uncles!
The thought gave him confidence and he began to move from one dolphin to another, touching them to introduce himself. He could feel their welcome and their friendliness. But he could see that they were distracted too. They kept shooting up to the surface of the sea, where bright things were bobbing about on the surface of the water.
Something floated just above Finn’s head. It was round and a dazzling orange colour.
A jellyfish! thought Finn. I hope it doesn’t sting. No – it’s a balloon!
A string was hanging down from the balloon, with a soggy scrap of paper tied to the end.
It’s the balloons from Dougie’s party, thought Finn. They’ve blown right out to sea.
A dolphin was nudging him aside, trying to grab the balloon. It bobbed away from her first attempt. The dolphin flipped over on to her back and grasped the balloon in her mouth.
She thinks it’s a jellyfish too! She’s eaten it!
For a moment he thought it was funny, and then he saw that the balloon’s string was caught in the dolphin’s teeth. She was twisting herself round to get rid of it, but only succeeded in tangling it over one of her flippers.
She began to whistle in distress. The more she tried to free herself, the tighter the string bit into her. It was cutting her flipper where it joined her body. Finn swam up to her. He seemed to know instinctively how to soothe her, nudging and stroking her. He tried to slip the string off her flipper, but the dolphin wouldn’t keep still. She kept straining against him while the string knotted itself round her tighter and tighter. Working furiously, Finn managed to release her at last, but she swam straight back towards the next balloon, a big yellow one, and began to plunge up through the water to catch it. All around Finn, the other dolphins were snatching at the balloons too, trying to eat them and getting tangled in the strings.
How can I stop them? Finn thought desperately.
He began to swim about frantically, grabbing the strings of as many balloons as he could see, but the dolphins were splashing around so busily, nudging and shoving as they tried to eat the balloons, that he couldn’t get hold of more than a couple.
I’ve got to save them! he told himself. But I can’t do it on my own. I need help!
He lifted his head high out of the water and looked around. There, in the distance, was land. He could see the harbour, with the boats bobbing about on the swell, the cluster of houses behind it, and the lighthouse higher up. Further along, where the cliffs rose from the town, was the little cove below his home.
Dad! I’ll go and fetch Dad! he thought. No – he won’t know what to do. He hasn’t got a boat or anything.
He was treading water in an agony of indecision when the answer suddenly came to him. Before he had even thought it through, he took off and began to power through the water towards the harbour and the beach that lay beyond it. He would fetch Jas’s dad. Professor Jamieson was a marine biologist. He knew everything about the sea and the animals in it. He would know what to do.
In an incredibly short time, he was standing on the beach. He shook the wet hair out of his eyes and ran across the sand in his bare feet as fast he could, wishing with all his heart that the power he felt in the water worked on land too. But he was just awkward, clumsy Finn again.
He scrambled over the sand dunes at the head of the beach and set off up the steep, narrow road that led to the lighthouse. He was nearly there when a movement in the lantern room, high above, caught his eye.
Jas is up there! he thought. And that looks like Amir. And Charlie and . . . they’re all there together.
Before the familiar sense of loneliness could sap his confidence, he was at the lighthouse door. He had lifted his hand to ring the doorbell when he saw a note that was stuck to the door with a drawing pin:
Back at 11. Please leave the delivery by the back door.
D. Jamieson.
‘No!’ he shouted out loud. ‘You’ve got to be at home! You have to help! You must!’
The thought of the dolphins tangling themselves in string, risking maiming and drowning to eat those horrible balloons, made him throw all caution aside.
‘I’ll have to go up there and tell Jas,’ he said. ‘Maybe she’ll know what to do.’
And before he could give himself time to dread seeing them all, especially Charlie, who might still be in a murderous rage, he pushed open the door, letting it bang shut behind him, and began to climb the steep wrought-iron stairs to the lantern room, ignoring the clang of the metal treads under his pounding feet.
He reached the top at last, thrust the trapdoor up, and burst into the tiny glass room with the force of a cork shooting out of a champagne bottle.
‘Help! You’ve got to come and help!’ he said.
He stopped, surprised at himself. He’d never spoken like that to the others before. He’d never dared. By the looks on their faces, he could see that he’d astonished them too. He took a deep breath. He couldn’t begin to explain to them the strange power that had transformed him in the sea. He only knew that somehow he had to persuade them to help him free the dolphins.
They were all staring at him, mouths hanging open.
Finn frowned. It almost looked as if they were afraid of him. What was wrong with them all? Did he look different from the old Finn? Did he actually look scary? Would they hate him even more?
Jas was the first to recover.
‘Finn!’ she whispered. ‘Is it really you? We thought . . .’
‘We thought you might be dead,’ groaned Charlie. ‘We thought I’d killed you.’
‘Are you dead?’ asked Dougie. ‘Are you a ghost?’
The image of the dolphin tied up in string came rushing back to Finn, and a bolt of urgent impatience shot through him.
‘Of course I’m not dead,’ he said indignantly. Then he hesitated. His mind seemed to be working at top speed, and he’d suddenly realized how to go on. ‘I’m not dead,’ he went on more calmly, ‘but it’s no thanks to you. My head missed one of those wee launches by inches. If it had knocked me out . . .’
‘I did try to find you, Finn,’ said Amir anxiously. ‘I jumped into the water and looked everywhere. You’d . . . disappeared. We knew you couldn’t have drowned, because the water was so shallow. We thought you’d gone round to the beach.’
‘Are you sure you’re not a ghost?’ asked Dougie, sounding almost disappointed.
Finn ignored him. ‘The point is,’ he went on, ‘you owe me one – especially you, Charlie.’
Charlie made a sort of gurgling noise and nodded guiltily.
‘We looked for you everywhere,’ he said gruffly. ‘All over the rocks. I wanted to say sorry, Finn. I really did.’
‘And you, Dougie.’ Finn turned to glare at the little boy. ‘You didn’t invite me to your party. You tore up my invitation.’
‘How did you kn—?’ began Dougie, then stopped as a blush spread up his face.
‘So now,’ Finn swept on, ‘it’s payback time. You’ve got to help me. There’s something I really, really need you to do.’
The five children had been staring at him, fascinated, almost unable to recognize in this new, confident, powerful boy the old Finn that they’d shunned all their lives.
Jas cleared her throat.
‘As a matter of fact,’ she said, ‘it’s really nice to . . . I’m glad you’ve come here, actually. I should have invited you up to the lantern room ages ago. We all feel bad about the way we’ve treated you, and we came up here to think about how we could . . . could do something to show we’re sorry. We – well – we’re the Lighthouse Crew, you see, and we want you to be in it too.’
Finn stared at her for a moment. What was she talking about? A crew? He couldn’t take it in. He latched on to the bit about them being sorry. What she was saying was so surprising that he could hardly believe it. But she had given him his chance, and he took it.
‘I’ll tell you exactly how to show you’re sorry,’ he said. ‘There’s something you’ve got to do for me now. Only it’s not really for me; it’s for the dolphins.’
‘The what?’ said Kyla.
‘Dolphins?’ said Amir.
‘Why dolphins?’ said Dougie. ‘Wouldn’t you rather have a ride on my new bike?’
‘Are you talking about the pod that’s been out in the bay for the past few weeks?’ said Charlie. ‘My dad’s been telling me about them. Great jumpers they are, leaping about as if—’
‘Those dolphins, yes,’ said Finn. ‘They’re fantastic, beautiful, there’s one who . . .’ He stopped himself. There was no time to explain anything, and he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to. ‘They’re in trouble, the dolphins are, I mean. You’ve got to help me get out there and sort it out. They’re going to die if—’
‘What sort of trouble, Finn?’ said Jas, frowning at him. ‘And how do you know?’
‘Never mind how I know,’ snapped Finn. ‘It’s the balloons, the ones from Dougie’s party. They’ve landed out at sea and the dolphins think they’re jellyfish. They keep trying to eat them. The strings have got tangled in their flippers and are hurting them. It’s horrible! Please, don’t just sit there! You’ve got to come and help!’
No one said anything. They were looking at him, stunned. Amir cleared his throat.
‘I’ve read about plastic bags and bottles and stuff in the sea choking animals, but this thing with balloons sounds kind of crazy. I mean, they’re not made of plastic, are they? I thought they were made of rubber or something.’
‘It’s not crazy! It’s happening now! Please, you’ve got to help me!’ Finn balled his fists and shook them in frustration.
‘How do you know about it anyway? About what the dolphins are doing?’ asked Jas. ‘Did someone tell you? You couldn’t have gone out into the bay without a boat.’
‘You’ve sort of changed,’ said Dougie. ‘You don’t look the same any more.’
‘You’ve grown or something,’ said Charlie. ‘You look taller.’
‘How did you hide from us all?’ asked Kyla. ‘We looked for you everywhere.’
‘There’s no time to explain!’ snapped Finn. ‘I’ll tell you everything later, but we’ve got to get out there now, and fetch those stupid balloons back in.’
‘They’re not stupid balloons. They’re from my . . .’ Dougie stopped as it occurred to him that it might be tactless to mention his party in front of Finn.
‘I don’t see what we can do, anyway,’ said Charlie. ‘The whole thing’s daft. I’m not saying you’re wrong about the dolphins eating them, mind, but even if we went out to sea, we’d never find a bunch of balloons. The sea’s an awful big place.’
‘We’d need a boat, anyway,’ said Jas.
‘That shouldn’t be a problem.’ Amir’s eyes behind his glasses were gleaming with fascination as he stared at Finn, like he was an interesting form of wildlife. ‘Charlie’s got a boat.’
Charlie’s chest swelled. His father had bought a new dinghy for the Janine and he’d given Charlie his old one. The Peggy Sue was Charlie’s pride and joy. Mr Munro had taught him how to row and sail, and Charlie was allowed to go out in her on calm days, as long as he wore a life jacket and took Amir with him to crew.
‘Where is it?’ said Finn urgently. He’d forgotten that Charlie had a boat.
‘What?’
‘Your boat!’
‘She’s pulled up on the beach. Oh, you mean . . .’
‘Yes, I do mean.’ Finn nodded vigorously. ‘I’ll help you launch her.’
‘Well, I don’t know,’ said Charlie. ‘You don’t have a clue about boats. I’m not being mean, but you’re hopeless at doing stuff, Finn. You know you are. Anyway, it’s like I told you. You’d never find a few balloons out there in the bay. It’s just too big.’
Finn took a step forward. The space in the lantern room was so tiny that Kyla had to pull back her knees. He pointed a finger into Charlie’s face.
‘Payback time, remember? You could have killed me. I was terrified.’
He couldn’t believe what he was doing. He’d never before dared stand up to Charlie. Charlie reared backwards, away from Finn’s finger, looking scared, a flush of shame creeping up his neck.
‘I know. I told you I’m sorry. I was out of order. I’m not saying I believe in all that stuff about the balloons or anything, but I don’t mind taking you out in the boat if that’s what you want. Like you say, I owe you one. You’ll love the Peggy Sue, Finn. She’s a grand wee—’
‘Well, come on then,’ said Finn, turning towards the stairwell. ‘Let’s go.’
‘Hold on a minute!’ Charlie was getting up with maddening slowness. ‘You can’t just jump in a boat and go. We have to fetch the oars and the sail and the life jackets and everything.’
‘Where are they?’ demanded Finn.
‘In the shed on the harbour. By the Janine’s berth.’ His grin suddenly faded. ‘I’m not supposed to take her out on my own, though, without permission from a . . .’ He stopped, hunting for the word. ‘A responsible adult.’
‘Your dad’s out lobstering,’ said Finn. ‘We can’t wait for him to come back. He could be hours.’
‘I’ll come,’ said Jas. ‘I love sailing. There you are, Finn. You and I will go out in the boat with Charlie. We’ll be the crew.’
‘You’re not leaving me out,’ said Amir indignantly. ‘I’ve sailed with Charlie loads of times. And I can do life-saving.’
‘We don’t need to worry about the “responsible adult” bit either,’ said Jas. ‘My dad’s an adult. He doesn’t know a thing about boats and sailing. If I ask him casually, he’ll think it’s all quite normal. He probably won’t even hear me. He’ll be too busy writing his paper on limpets.’
‘He’s not in,’ said Finn. ‘He left a note on the door. It’s why I came up here.’
‘Oh, he’s in all right,’ said Jas. ‘He always does that when he doesn’t want people to disturb him.’
Dougie had been wriggling uncomfortably on his cushion.
‘I wish I could come, Finn, but I can’t,’ he said unhappily. ‘I’d be late for my dinner, and Mum would go crazy. It’s so unfair. Kyla stays out all the time, but Mum won’t let me.’
Kyla was shaking her head.
‘You’re nuts, all of you,’ she said. ‘Go out to sea with Charlie in a little boat? What if a storm comes up? What if there’s killer whales out there? They come in close to shore sometimes. My dad’s seen them. You could all be knocked into the sea and . . .’ She realized that no one was taking any notice. ‘Well I’m not coming, anyway. It’s far too risky,’ she finished lamely.
‘That’s just as well,’ Jas said crisply. ‘We need you to stay here at HQ for back-up. Got your mobile with you?’
Kyla nodded.
‘Good. You wait up here. We’ll send you an SOS call if anything goes wrong. You can alert my father, or—’
‘Or any responsible adult,’ said Amir.
Charlie had pressed his face up against the glass wall and was looking out to sea.
‘What do you mean, If anything goes wrong? I’m a good sailor, so I am. You can trust me. And like I said, it’s great weather for a sail,’ he said. ‘We won’t be seeing any dolphins, though. You never do when you’re looking for them.’
‘I told you. You can leave that bit to me,’ said Finn, who had been dancing with impatience. ‘Now come on! And, Jas, bring some scissors with you. We’ll need them to cut the strings.’
‘What strings?’ said Jas.
‘The strings tying up the dolphins! I told you!’ Finn almost yelled.
‘Oh yes, of course – the strings,’ she said soothingly, and Finn could tell she was humouring him.
I don’t care if they believe me or not, he thought. As long as Charlie gets me out to sea. I’ll show them!
It seemed like an age to Finn before the Peggy Sue was ready to be launched off the beach. He ran off to the harbour with Charlie and Amir to fetch the kit for the boat, while Dougie headed off unhappily for home, and Jas went to find her father, leaving Kyla alone in the lantern room, sitting on a pile of cushions, finishing off her drawing.
‘Dad,’ said Jas, putting her head round the door of her father’s study. ‘I’m going out for a little sail with Charlie and Amir.’
She’d expected her father to say, ‘Hmm? What was that, darling? Now come and look at this! I’ve just made an extraordinary discovery.’
But instead, Professor Jamieson gave her a sharp look over the rims of his glasses, which he was wearing, as usual, on the end of his nose.
‘Sailing? With Charlie Munro? What’s the wind like? Is his father going out with you?’
Jas put her hand in her pocket so that he wouldn’t see her crossing her fingers.
‘No, but Charlie’s passed loads of proficiency tests, and Mr Munro lets him go out alone, and I’ve got my mobile, and Amir’s coming, and we’ll be wearing life jackets, and—’
‘Well, don’t go far,’ said Professor Jamieson. ‘I’ll come down to the beach in a little while and watch out for you.’
Jas gently closed his study door, letting her breath out with relief, and dashed off to join the others at the harbour.
Finn had been watching out for her. He was afraid that someone would come and tell them not to go, or that Charlie would change his mind.
‘Here, take these,’ said Charlie, dumping a bundle of life jackets into his arms. ‘Jas, you bring the oars. Amir and I will take the mast and sails.’
A few minutes later, they were on the beach, watching as Charlie methodically prepared the Peggy Sue, setting up the mast, and sorting out the ropes. Finn almost had to bite his tongue to stop himself begging Charlie to hurry. He didn’t want to annoy him now.
But as he helped the others to shove the boat down the beach and launch her into the water, Finn felt anxious for a different reason. He would have to tell them what had happened when he’d fallen into the sea, and he didn’t know how to begin.
He waited until the wind had caught the sail, and they were a good distance out from the beach. The little town of Stromhead, with its old stone harbour walls, its white painted cottages with their grey slate roofs, and the lighthouse pointing its white finger up to the sky, was rapidly shrinking as they scudded away across the rippling water.
‘Happy now, Finn?’ said Charlie. Then, speaking more gruffly, in the voice of a skipper, he barked out, ‘Jas, move over here or she’ll list to starboard. Amir, ease the sail to pick up the wind. Go on, Finn – where are we supposed to be going?’
Finn gulped.
‘Listen,’ he said desperately. ‘There’s no easy way to say this, so here goes. You know that poem we’ve got to learn for homework? The one about the selkie?’
Charlie groaned.
‘Haven’t even read it yet. I hate poems.’
‘I’ve read it. I love it,’ said Jas. A fisherman sat on the lonely shore . . . It’s beautiful.’
Finn looked at her gratefully.
‘Well, the thing is, the poem’s true. It’s about my – my mother, and – and me. She was a selkie. My mum, I mean. Only a dolphin one, not a seal. And I’m the . . . Well, I know it sounds stupid . . . but I’m the magical boy. When I fell into the sea, a sort of power came over me. I could swim, really fast, and hear everything through the water, and – well – understand the dolphins. I felt like I was one of them.’
Charlie let out a disbelieving grunt.
Amir laughed incredulously.
‘It’s a scientific impossibility, Finn. You’re not telling us you’re serious? We’re not idiots, you know.’
‘I know you’re not idiots,’ said Finn. ‘And I know how weird it sounds. But it’s true. Didn’t you wonder where I’d disappeared to when I fell into the harbour?’
‘Yes,’ said Jas slowly. She was frowning at him, trying to understand. ‘The tide was out, and we thought you’d waded round the harbour wall and run out up the beach.’
‘No. I – When the – the change came over me, I swam out to sea. I met this dolphin and he led me to the group.’
‘Amir! Loosen the boom! I’m going to tack port!’ snapped Charlie. ‘Finn, stop telling us a silly fairy story. Where are we supposed to be going?’
‘I’ll show you. I’ll hear them whistling, and I’ll lead you to them. Just follow me.’
And under the horrified and astonished eyes of the others, he threw himself over the edge of the boat.
‘Finn! No!’ shrieked Jas. ‘Amir, go in after him! He’ll drown!’
‘I don’t think so,’ said Amir, in a strange voice. ‘Look.’
The three children peered over the side of the boat into the green water. All they could see of Finn was a pale shape shooting through the water away from them as fast as a fish.
‘What’s happened to him?’ breathed Jas.
‘He looks like . . . an Olympic athlete or something,’ said Amir.
Charlie was busy with the rudder.
‘What are you idiots talking about?’ he grunted.
‘Just look, Charlie,’ said Jas.
Charlie looked over the side of the boat.
‘Can’t see anything. He’s disappeared. Thought he said he could swim?’
‘He can. He’s just gone so far, he’s out of sight,’ said Amir. ‘Hey, look – he’s coming back!’
Finn’s head emerged from the water.
‘What are you waiting for?’ he said angrily. ‘Why aren’t you following me?’ He slapped a hand down on to the surface of the water in frustration. ‘There’s no time to lose! We’ve got to get further out. Follow me!’
He plunged under the surface of the water and began to surge through it, his body a silver streak tinged with the green of the sea.
For a moment, no one in the boat moved. Then Charlie said, ‘That’s odd. The wind’s changed. It’s right behind us now. I suppose we’d better follow him.’