Broken Promises by Summer Waters

Antonia, knowing that it must be urgent for Spirit notto greet her with a friendly nose rub.
    â€œTwo dolphins are in trouble. They urgently need help.”
    â€œAre they from your pod?” asked Antonia.
    Spirit shook his head.
    â€œThey’re strangers. The tide is turning and soon the creek will be too shallow to swim in. It’s not safe for me to come with you, so I’ll wait here. Go quickly, Silver Dolphin.”
    Antonia headed up the creek. It was hard to imagine there was a drama ahead of her when it was so peaceful. Trees grew on either side, casting long shadows on the water. Hidden birds serenaded her as she swam. Gradually the creek twisted to the left. The current was stronger here as the water flowed away to the sea. Antonia was forced to swim in the middleof the creek where the water was deeper. As she swam, her senses told her that something bad was ahead. Her stomach churned uneasily. She heard a shout, it sounded like Cai. She sped up and, rounding the corner, she caught her breath. Nothing could have prepared her for this. Dismayed not to have answered the call quicker, Antonia rushed to help.

Chapter Eleven
    T he creek ended in a tiny beach surrounded by woods. The tide was turning quickly, leaving a large expanse of ribbed sand. It was incredibly pretty and very private, but the peace was spoilt by Cai and Hannah. They were charging up and down the beach, running between the water andtwo inert forms lying on the glistening sand.
    Antonia had never seen beached dolphins before. It was a shocking sight, almost paralysing her with fear. Her dolphin charm flicked impatiently against her neck, urging her to do something quickly. Antonia splashed out of the water and ran towards Hannah and Cai.
    â€œWe need to keep them wet,” panted Cai. His chest was bare and he carried a dripping wet T-shirt.
    Wordlessly, Antonia followed him as he ran to the smaller dolphin and squeezed water from the T-shirt on to its silver-blue body. It was a bottlenose one, its head and nose more rounded than Spirit’s, who was a common dolphin. Hannah had a cardigan and wasusing that to wet the larger dolphin. Antonia watched them for a minute. She wasn’t wearing any clothing that she could remove. But even if she had, she knew that it wouldn’t be enough. They had to get the dolphins back into the sea.
    When every last drop of water had been squeezed out of the T-shirt, Cai set off again. Antonia grabbed him by the arm.
    â€œWait, we have to get them back in the water.”
    â€œWe’ve tried,” said Cai. “We can’t shift them.”
    â€œBut there’s three of us now,” said Antonia.
    Cai eyed her doubtfully. “We need blankets,” he said. “I saw beached dolphins on the telly once. The rescuers used wetblankets to carry them back to the sea. It stops their skin from getting damaged.”
    He shook her arm off and ran back down the beach. Antonia squatted to examine the smaller dolphin. It stared back at her with dull eyes.
    â€œDon’t worry. We’re going to help you,” she clicked.
    Feebly, the dolphin flicked its flipper. Antonia slid both hands under the dolphin and tried lifting it. Its body felt like a solid weight in her hands and reluctantly she admitted that Cai was right. The dolphins would be too heavy to carry unless they used blankets to make a stretcher. The only thing they could do was to keep them wet until the tide came back in again and refloated them.But that would be hours. Antonia knew the dolphins wouldn’t survive that long out of water.
    â€œAntonia, help us,” shouted Cai, as he came back with a newly soaked T-shirt.
    Antonia jumped up and ran along the beach, hoping to find something to carry water in. She ran round twice, her eyes scanning every millimetre of sand, but there was nothing useful. In a panic, she ran to the sea and scooped up water in her hands. It trickled through her fingers. By the time