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the deck. Both she and Cai tried to pick it up, but it was thrashing wildly and was too slippery. Then suddenly, the fish stopped moving and its eyes clouded over. Swiftly, Antonia lifted it with cupped hands.
    “Heal,” she whispered. “Please heal.”
    A warm sensation shot down her arms and into her fingers. Antonia prepared herself for the prickling to start. But the warm feeling was disappearing. It was as if the magic had suddenly stopped working.
    Heal
. Antonia willed the fish to live, but its eyes were unfocused, its mouth wide open.
    Antonia swallowed, knowing it was too late. The magic wasn’t working because the fish was dead. She felt a hand on her arm.
    Cai gave her a comforting squeeze then ran his hand through his springy dark hair.
    “Bad luck,” he said. “But there are others left to save.”
    Antonia snapped out of her trance. Cai was right. There were still more creatures to help and they couldn’t hang around. Hurriedly, she helped Cai return the remaining animals to the sea. As the last tray of creatures slid overboard, Antonia sensed danger.
    “Quickly,” she said, pulling Cai to the ladder of the
Georgie Girl
. “We’ve got to go.”
    Antonia went first, diving from the ladder into the sea. Cai followed and together they swam away from the boat. Feeling lots of vibrations in the water, Antonia slowed tolisten. The shorter ones were coming from Spirit.
    “Silver Dolphins, get away from the boat,” he clicked. “It’s not safe.”
    The longer vibrations soon turned into the distinct hum of the speedboat. Antonia wished she could turn back to see the look on Mr and Mrs Jones’s faces when they discovered their catch had mysteriously disappeared. She could tell from Cai’s grin that he was obviously thinking the same thing. They swam underwater to meet Spirit and found him sheltering round the other side of the headland. To Antonia and Cai’s delight, Bubbles, Dream, Star, Cracker and Arrow were with him.
    “Well done, Silver Dolphins,” Spirit clicked.
    “Between us we have temporarily saved the coral beds. When those people saw me, they stopped collecting the pink sea fans and I was able to lead them back to their speedboat. I called for more dolphin help and we put on a show to give you time to search the bigger boat. When we finally gave the people the slip, I left some of the dolphins to watch the coral beds and alert me if they return.”
    “We’ll go to see the coastguard now. He’ll make sure they don’t come back,’ said Antonia grimly. “It was horrible on board the
Georgie Girl
. There were hundreds of animals all dying in the sun.”
    Bubbles swam alongside Antonia and nuzzled her with his nose. Gratefully, Antonia rubbed him back.
    “Come back to mine and we’ll ask Aunty Claudia to ring the coastguard,” said Cai.
    “That’s a good idea,” said Antonia. “They’re friends, aren’t they? He’ll listen to Claudia and act straightaway.”
    Hurriedly, Antonia and Cai said goodbye to the dolphins. Antonia saved her goodbye to Bubbles until last.
    “Seaweed tag next time, Silver Dolphin,” he whispered.
    “Definitely,” said Antonia, managing a smile.
    Cai had swum out from Claudia’s beach, so they arranged to meet back at Sea Watch after Antonia had collected her shoes from Sandy Bay.
    “Can you ask Claudia to ring my parents?”said Antonia. “I left a note saying I’d gone for a walk, but that was ages ago and they might be worried.”
    Swimming to Sandy Bay beach, Antonia’s stomach began to growl and she realised she was starving hungry. Water poured from her like rain from a drainpipe as she waded ashore and then sat on the rocks to put on her sandals. The sun was climbing in the sky and there were two other people on the beach; a man with a metal detector and a tall skinny girl collecting shells in a large bucket. As Antonia jogged across the sand, the girl stood up and waved. With a start, Antonia realised it was Emily. A low whooshing noise