Read Online Midnight Dolphin by James Carmody - Free Book Online

Dad’s arm, but there was something about what he said, or the
way that he said it, that did not feel right. She just couldn’t say
what made her think that though.
    ‘ Why were
there so few people at the funeral?’ Lucy asked. ‘Mum knew lots of
people.’
    ‘ Oh I know
Luce, Mum was very well-liked, but I just wanted to keep it an
intimate affair, just family you see?’ Lucy nodded.
    ‘ Do they
report car crashes on the news?’ she asked.
    ‘ Oh sometimes
they do, but there are so many car accidents that mostly they don’t
bother. It might have been on the local news I suppose, but like I
said, it was miles away where the accident happened.
    They continued
to sip their cocoa quietly in the dark for a few minutes, until
Lucy’s mug was empty.
    ‘ Come on then’
said Dad eventually. ‘Let’s get you back to bed.’ They went
upstairs and Dad straightened out her duvet and sheets for her
before Lucy got back into bed. Dad bent over to give her a soft
kiss on the forehead.
    ‘ Sleep tight
then Lucy’ he said softly. He plugged in the night light that Lucy
used to have on when she was younger and pulled the door quietly
closed behind him.
    Lucy stared up
at the ceiling, an uneasy feeling nagging at her mind. Then she
realised. Just now Dad had said that Mum had been driving home from a business
trip. Last time he’d told her that Mum had been going to a business
meeting.
     
    Lucy felt
tired the next morning after her broken nights’ sleep. Her
nightmare about Mum had disturbed her and she felt almost guilty
that she harboured doubts about what Dad had told her about how Mum
had died. Why would he lie to her about something so important? No,
she must be mistaken, she thought. Yet despite that, something
still didn’t feel right. At some point in the night she dreamt
about a girl in a bonnet and old fashioned dress whose face was
just out of view. Try as she might she could not seem to see her
properly.
    ‘ Are you
feeling better this morning Lucy?’ Dad asked sympathetically over a
hurried bowl of cereals. He shot her a shy, almost vulnerable
smile. She’d have liked to tell him that everything felt fine now,
but in fact she felt desolate and empty inside. Lucy just nodded
and glanced back down at her cornflakes.
    ‘ You’ll be
alright Luce’ said Dad, patting her arm companionably, ‘you’ll see.
Mum would be proud of you if she could see you now.’
    Did Dad know
that she hadn’t been able to stretch out to Spirit for over a week
now? Lucy certainly hadn’t told him but maybe he’d guessed. Maybe
Thelma had told him that this was the age at which the gift left
Dolphin-Children. Maybe he knew that her life was just about to
change for the worse. Maybe…maybe. Lucy frowned to herself as she
walked up the road to school.
    ‘ What’s up
Lucy?’ asked Amy, appearing by her side.
    ‘ Oh hi Amy’
she replied, ‘I didn’t see you there’.
    ‘ My dad would
say you were in a world of your own’ Amy replied. ‘You seem so sad.
I wish there was something I could do to help.’ Lucy tried to
smile.
    ‘ I think I’ve
lost Spirit’ replied Lucy simply. ‘And the others.’
    ‘ Oh no that’s
terrible’ replied Amy, sounding shocked.
    ‘ So what are
you going to do then?’ Amy asked her. Lucy shrugged.
    ‘ I don’t know.
I don’t know what I can do’ Lucy replied. ‘The only thing is…, well
you know that book, the ‘ Flora and Fauna
of the Cornish Coast ’ that someone sent me
in the post. I just can’t help thinking that it’s a clue somehow,
and if only I could figure it out, it’d help me with
Spirit.’
    ‘ Well you’ve
got to tell Mrs Penhaligon’ said Amy firmly. ‘She’s from Cornwall,
and she knows that you’re a Dolphin-Child doesn’t she?’ Lucy
nodded. ‘If anyone can help you figure out the clues, she
can.’
    ‘ I’ve got the
book in my bag’ said Lucy. ‘I’ll try and speak to her after English
at the first break.’
     
    When Lucy and
Amy had both