Stolen Treasures. Summer Waters
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Determined to find out for sure, Antonia left for school earlier than usual, to go and have another look in the window of Emily’s Treasure Chest. She hoped that she’d been wrong about the souvenirs on sale. However, standing outside the shop’s window, Antonia’s hopes were dashed.
Emily’s parents had been busy. The window display was finished and the shelves were crammed with souvenirs. There was the toilet-roll holder with starfish ends, light pulls made from seahorses, small dishes made from scallop shells and a strange-looking object fashioned from a sea urchin. A sign hanging from one of the shelves left Antonia in no doubt as to where the gifts came from:
Our marine souvenirs are handmade from the genuine items.
“It should say, animals have died to make these gifts,” said Antonia in disgust. It wasn’t right that Emily was allowed to come to Sea Watch, pretending to care. Claudia should ban her.
Antonia hurried to school, anxious to share her news with Cai. She found him in the playground talking to Toby. His brown eyes shone with excitement as Antonia hurried towards him.
“I can’t wait for you to see the badger cub,” he called as she approached. “Her name’s Stripes. She’s so cute and not a bit shy. I gave her a bottle of milk last night and when she’d finished, she kept nudging my hand for more.”
Antonia had completely forgotten about the badger cub and was pleased to hear some good news. She listened to Cai until he’d run out of things to say, before finally telling him about Emily’s Treasure Chest.
“It’s awful,” she finished. “Claudia mustn’t let Emily help out at Sea Watch any more. She doesn’t care about sea life at all.”
“If you’re right, then yes, it is awful,” said Cai. “But banning Emily from Sea Watch won’t help. Far better that she comes along and finds out what we do. Helping at Sea Watch might show Emily that it’s wrong to take things from the sea.”
“But her parents are killing sea creatures!” said Antonia, her fingers straying to her dolphin charm.
“Are you sure?” Cai persisted. “Lots of shells and things are collected after the animals have died.”
“There’s too much stuff in the shop for that,” Antonia argued.
“Let’s see what Aunty Claudia says,” said Cai, placidly. “After all, it’s not Emily’s fault. It’s her parent’s shop.”
Antonia didn’t want to fall out with Cai, so she let the matter drop. The thought that Claudia would sort things out tonight made Antonia feel slightly happier. Eleanor and Karen couldn’t come to Sea Watch after school and to Antonia’s annoyance, Emily asked if she could walk there with her and Cai. It was impossible to say no. On the way, Emily talked nonstop and asked tons of questions.
“I joined Sea Watch mostly to make friends but also because I love dolphins. Eleanor and Karen have seen them in the bay. Have you?”
Cai grinned at Antonia.
“Occasionally,” he said.
“I’d love to see a dolphin. I’m saving up so that one day I can go to Florida and swim with them.” Emily chattered on hardly pausing for breath.
Gritting her teeth, Antonia nodded and smiled. Not long now, she thought. Antonia was confident that when Claudia found out about Emily’s parents’ shop she would stop her from coming to Sea Watch.
But Antonia was disappointed. Claudia listened carefully to Antonia’s news and then said, “This is exactly the type of person Sea Watch needs. By sharing our work with Emily, we can show her the damage her parents are causing and hopefully she will persuade them to change their ways. Sea Watch isn’t just about caring for the sea. It’s about educating others to care for it, too.”
“But…” Antonia felt awkward about wanting to mention the uneasy feeling she had about Emily.
Antonia was a very powerful Silver Dolphin with extra magical skills because her birthday was on midsummer’s day. She had something that Claudia called a sixth sense. It meant knowing certain things without being told them, and Claudia had it too. Antonia was conscious that her sixth sense was getting stronger. She was convinced it was telling her that there was something bad about the girl.
You’re wrong about Emily.
Antonia jumped as she heard Claudia’s voice inside her head.
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