won by one rounder.
“Cheats!” bellowed Lauren as they made their way in from the field.
“Lauren!” Miss Brown frowned at the big girl. “Any more of that and you won’t play next time.”
Antonia had been looking forward to going to Sea Watch all day, but once she was finally there, she couldn’t settle. She kept wonderingwhere the old blue fishing boat was and whether it was causing any more damage. The incident with Topper had been too close for comfort. Antonia shuddered at what might have happened had she and Cai been unable to reach the baby dolphin in time.
Claudia let Antonia feed Stripes again. It was sad knowing that this was probably the last time she would see the cub.
“I hope you make friends with the other badgers. And just you be careful crossing roads when you’re finally released,” Antonia told Stripes.
She washed and sterilised Stripes’s bottle then went to help Cai with the last few tidying jobs of the day.
Antonia ran most of the way home, but shestill couldn’t get rid of her restlessness. Jessica was the same, but for a different reason. She was so excited about her birthday treat the following day that at bedtime she couldn’t sleep and begged her big sister to read her a story. Antonia collected together a heap of books, including one about a family of mice living in a rusty car. She was three chapters into the mouse story when Jessica grunted and Antonia realised her sister was fast asleep.
She tiptoed out of the room and climbed the stairs to her attic bedroom. For a while she stared out of the window at the bay. The Sandy Bay Rowing Club were out in their bright green canoes, hurtling from one side of the bay to the other. At last Antonia went andhad a shower, then pulling her blind to darken the summer evening, she climbed into bed.
She slept lightly and woke very early Saturday morning, with a funny feeling that something was about to happen. Knowing she couldn’t get back to sleep, she got up and pulled on some clothes. The feeling was growing stronger and was very unsettling.
Pulling open her blind, Antonia froze. A blue fishing boat was anchored near the headland cliffs. Her heart lurched sideways and she clutched at her chest with her hand. She knew this was the boat she’d been looking for. She could feel it. Hurriedly she crept downstairs to get dad’s binoculars from the utility room.
Antonia took the binoculars into thegarden. The lawn was wet with dew, soaking her sandals as she crossed it. With shaking hands, she held the binoculars to her eyes, focusing them quickly, then scanning the sea until she found the boat. It
was
the right one—and it also had a tiny speedboat attached to one side. On deck, a man and a woman dressed in wetsuits were hauling a net aboard. Antonia trained the binoculars on them. It was definitely the same lady that she’d seen before, and there was something about her that was very familiar. Antonia continued to watch her. With that funny loping gait she looked and moved just like Emily. And hadn’t Emily said that her parents loved scuba diving? Suddenly, there was no doubt left in Antonia’s mind. These peoplewere Mr and Mrs Jones! She watched as the net slid on to the boat. It was full of sea life. So, she’d been right. They were stealing from the ocean!
Quickly, Antonia trained the binoculars on the boat’s stern and read the boat’s name and registration number aloud, “
Georgie Girl
, SB 890.”
“Got you!” she cried, racing back indoors to write the details down. But as she scribbled them on the kitchen notepad a thought struck her. What exactly were Emily’s parents diving for this time? They weren’t far from the pink sea fan coral beds. What if they went back to collect the fragile corals? Antonia couldn’t let that happen. She tapped the pencil on the pad. She knew she ought to ring thecoastguard station and let the coastguard deal with it, but she didn’t know the telephone number. She could go there and
“Cheats!” bellowed Lauren as they made their way in from the field.
“Lauren!” Miss Brown frowned at the big girl. “Any more of that and you won’t play next time.”
Antonia had been looking forward to going to Sea Watch all day, but once she was finally there, she couldn’t settle. She kept wonderingwhere the old blue fishing boat was and whether it was causing any more damage. The incident with Topper had been too close for comfort. Antonia shuddered at what might have happened had she and Cai been unable to reach the baby dolphin in time.
Claudia let Antonia feed Stripes again. It was sad knowing that this was probably the last time she would see the cub.
“I hope you make friends with the other badgers. And just you be careful crossing roads when you’re finally released,” Antonia told Stripes.
She washed and sterilised Stripes’s bottle then went to help Cai with the last few tidying jobs of the day.
Antonia ran most of the way home, but shestill couldn’t get rid of her restlessness. Jessica was the same, but for a different reason. She was so excited about her birthday treat the following day that at bedtime she couldn’t sleep and begged her big sister to read her a story. Antonia collected together a heap of books, including one about a family of mice living in a rusty car. She was three chapters into the mouse story when Jessica grunted and Antonia realised her sister was fast asleep.
She tiptoed out of the room and climbed the stairs to her attic bedroom. For a while she stared out of the window at the bay. The Sandy Bay Rowing Club were out in their bright green canoes, hurtling from one side of the bay to the other. At last Antonia went andhad a shower, then pulling her blind to darken the summer evening, she climbed into bed.
She slept lightly and woke very early Saturday morning, with a funny feeling that something was about to happen. Knowing she couldn’t get back to sleep, she got up and pulled on some clothes. The feeling was growing stronger and was very unsettling.
Pulling open her blind, Antonia froze. A blue fishing boat was anchored near the headland cliffs. Her heart lurched sideways and she clutched at her chest with her hand. She knew this was the boat she’d been looking for. She could feel it. Hurriedly she crept downstairs to get dad’s binoculars from the utility room.
Antonia took the binoculars into thegarden. The lawn was wet with dew, soaking her sandals as she crossed it. With shaking hands, she held the binoculars to her eyes, focusing them quickly, then scanning the sea until she found the boat. It
was
the right one—and it also had a tiny speedboat attached to one side. On deck, a man and a woman dressed in wetsuits were hauling a net aboard. Antonia trained the binoculars on them. It was definitely the same lady that she’d seen before, and there was something about her that was very familiar. Antonia continued to watch her. With that funny loping gait she looked and moved just like Emily. And hadn’t Emily said that her parents loved scuba diving? Suddenly, there was no doubt left in Antonia’s mind. These peoplewere Mr and Mrs Jones! She watched as the net slid on to the boat. It was full of sea life. So, she’d been right. They were stealing from the ocean!
Quickly, Antonia trained the binoculars on the boat’s stern and read the boat’s name and registration number aloud, “
Georgie Girl
, SB 890.”
“Got you!” she cried, racing back indoors to write the details down. But as she scribbled them on the kitchen notepad a thought struck her. What exactly were Emily’s parents diving for this time? They weren’t far from the pink sea fan coral beds. What if they went back to collect the fragile corals? Antonia couldn’t let that happen. She tapped the pencil on the pad. She knew she ought to ring thecoastguard station and let the coastguard deal with it, but she didn’t know the telephone number. She could go there and
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