Read Midnight Dolphin for Free Online

could ask what it had
been like for her.
     
    Megan held her
younger sister’s hand as they walked along the tops of the cliffs.
They’d all been to see one of the old tin mines that had been
turned into a museum and visitors centre. Megan had looked down the
central shaft. She shuddered to think of the men and even children
like her who’d toiled down there years and years ago, trapped in
the darkness underground. She’d been glad to get outside into the
sunlight and she and Bethany had opted to explore the cliff tops
whilst Mum and Dad went to the café for a cup of tea.
    Bethany wanted
to find daisies to make a daisy chain, but the grass along the tops
of the cliffs was grazed close by sheep and rabbits and there were
no daisies to be found. Besides, the summer was unusually hot and
the grass had been burnt brown by the sun.
    ‘ Megan?’ asked
Bethany as the strolled along. ‘What’s it like to swim with
dolphins?’ The question slipped out of the six-year-old’s mouth
without her really thinking. Megan stopped walking and looked down
into the face of her younger sister.
    ‘ I didn’t know
you knew about that’ she replied quietly. ‘I don’t like to talk
about it and I’d like to keep it that way.’
    ‘ I won’t tell’
piped Bethany excitedly. She loved secrets.
    ‘ You’ve got to
promise not to tell Mum or Dad or anyone. Cross your
heart…’
    ‘ And hope to
die!’ said Bethany. ‘But don’t Mummy and Daddy know
already?’
    ‘ Well, they’ve
got an idea I suppose after what happened last year…’ answered
Megan uncertainly.
    ‘ So what’s it
like to swim with dolphins then?’ Bethany asked again insistently.
Megan sighed and looked at her sister.
    ‘ Well it’s
kind of cool. It’s hard to describe. They give off a sort of
energy… Hang on, how do you know anyway?’
    ‘ I followed
you yesterday morning’ replied Bethany, suddenly realising she
might get into trouble now. ‘They looked lovely. Can I meet
them?’
    ‘ No you
certainly can’t’ answered Megan quickly. ‘You’re way too little and
anyway you can’t swim properly.’
    ‘ I can too!’
answered Bethany defiantly.
    ‘ Don’t be
silly’ replied Megan. ‘You’re still in armbands. Besides Mum and
Dad would find out.’
    ‘ How do they
come to you Megan?’ asked Bethany curiously. ‘Do you whistle for
them like a dog.’ Megan smiled.
    ‘ They’re not
like dogs. They’re much smarter than dogs are and no I don’t
whistle for them. It’s difficult to explain. I’ve got a special way
of communicating with them.’
    ‘ What
does communicate mean?’ asked Bethany.
    ‘ It
means talk . I’ve
got a special way of talking to them.’
    ‘ You talk to
them then?’ asked Bethany, looking up at her sister and shielding
her eyes from the sun with her hand.
    ‘ Sort of, only
not with words or sounds. I talk to them in another way.’ Megan
looked over her shoulder as though Mum and Dad might be hovering
there listening to what she said. ‘Come on, let’s go look at the
view.’ There was an observation point nearby with railings and a
telescope on a pole that you paid two pence to look through. ‘Race
you!’
    They ran over
to the observation point. Megan could easily outrun her sister, but
she let her win anyway. She hoped that Bethany would forget all
about their conversation now.
    ‘ Do you think
we’ll see dolphins if we look through the telescope?’ Bethany
asked. Megan sighed. Bethany was always full of
questions.
    ‘ I shouldn’t
think so’ Megan replied. ‘It’s quite rare to see them you know.’ As
it happened Megan had two pence in her pocket and she put the coin
in the slot so that Bethany could take a look. The six-year-old was
far too short to look through the eyepiece though and Megan had to
lift her up so she could put her eye up to the lens.
    ‘ All I can see
is blue!’ exclaimed Bethany indignantly; she could hardly tell if
she was looking at the sea or the sky. Megan chuckled.