Jas, Charlie and Amir were so busy fending off their parents that none of them had the chance to watch Finn. He managed to untie the rope as Charlie beached the dinghy, then he waded out of the sea after the others.
‘Poor boy. Fell in, did you?’ said Mrs Faridah. ‘And you’ve lost your shoes, too. You need Amir to teach you how to go about in the water. He’s a champion swimmer. Got a medal.’
Amir and Jas exchanged grins. Charlie turned and winked at Finn.
‘Finn doesn’t need swimming lessons,’ he said. ‘He’s really amaz—Ow!’
A sharp kick in the shin from Amir warned Charlie to stop talking.
‘I’ll give you a hand getting the oars and stuff back to the harbour,’ said Amir, changing the subject.
‘OK. Finn’ll help, won’t you, Finn?’ said Charlie, respect in his voice and friendship in his smile.
For a moment, Finn stared at him suspiciously. He’d been on the sharp end of Charlie’s tongue and the business end of Charlie’s fists all his life. But as he watched, Charlie’s smile faded, to be replaced by a look of anxiety.
‘Thanks for bringing the boat in,’ he said in a quiet voice, keeping an eye on his father. ‘You won’t tell my dad it was you who did it, will you? And Finn, you are . . . you really are the most amazing swimmer I’ve ever seen in my life. World class. Olympic.’
He means it, thought Finn.
‘Don’t worry,’ he said, trying to suppress a grin of triumph. ‘I won’t say a word.’
He grabbed a pile of life jackets out of the dinghy while Charlie started unscrewing the rowlocks.
‘Watch out,’ muttered Jas. ‘Here comes trouble.’
Mrs Lamb was running down from the road above the beach towards them, waving her arms furiously.
‘Where is she?’ she was shouting. ‘Where’s my Kyla? What have you done to her?’
Jas started guiltily. It was obvious that she’d completely forgotten about Kyla.
‘She didn’t want to come out with us, Mrs Lamb,’ she said. ‘She wanted to stay up there, in the lantern room.’
Everyone turned to follow her pointing finger. Kyla could be seen standing up in the little glass room at the top of the lighthouse, her hands pressed against the glass, looking down at them. Behind her mother’s back, Jas beckoned urgently to her.
‘What’s she doing up there all on her own?’ asked Mrs Lamb furiously. Have you children been mean to her?’
‘No, honestly, Mrs Lamb,’ said Amir soothingly. ‘She was drawing a picture. She said she wanted to finish it.’
‘Look. She’s seen us. She’s coming down,’ said Jas.
Charlie had lost interest in Kyla. He’d started hauling the Peggy Sue further up the beach, out of reach of the waves, which were building up in the wind and crashing noisily on to the pebbles.
‘I’ll give you a hand,’ said Finn.
It was strange to be talking to Charlie in a normal way. He half expected to be ignored, but Charlie said, ‘Great, thanks, Finn.’
Together, they pulled the Peggy Sue a few metres up the beach. Jas and Amir ran up to them, leaving the adults clustered in a group, watching Kyla who was running over the dunes towards them.
‘What’s really going on?’ Jas asked Finn quietly, when no one else was nearby. ‘What happened to you in the sea? How come you can swim like that? How did you know about the dolphins and the balloons in the first place? All that stuff about the selkie – you were joking, weren’t you? How did—’
‘You’ve been having secret lessons, haven’t you?’ butted in Amir, who had come up behind them. ‘I wish you’d tell me who your teacher is.’
Finn stopped their questions with a quick shake of his head.
‘I wasn’t joking. It’s like I told you. My mother was a dolphin person. It’s in the poem. Just read it again, and think about it. Look, I’ll come round and tell you everything tomorrow if you like.’
‘OK,’ said Jas. ‘In the lantern room, everyone. Straight after breakfast. Can you all do it?’
Charlie frowned. ‘I have to help my dad on Saturdays on the Janine.’
‘And I’m supposed to be clearing out my bedroom,’ said Amir.
‘Let’s tell them we’re doing a project,’ said Jas. ‘On – I don’t know – on rock pools or something. We want to make a start.’
‘On dolphins,’ said Finn with a grin. ‘Only I’m the only one who can research it.’
He saw the surprise on the others’ faces, and then he laughed to himself inside as they smiled back at him.
‘Here comes Kyla,’ said Jas. ‘I’ll tell her. And I suppose we’d better let her bring Dougie. See you in the morning, everyone!’