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at the icy coldness of it on her hot feet. As soon as the sea reached her waist, Antonia lunged forward, her legs melding together like a tail as she swam. Becoming a Silver Dolphin was something she could never tire of. Antonia arched her body, leaping in and out of the water as she raced to answer Spirit’s call. She swam for ages until Gull Bay was a tiny dot in the distance, but still the only sign of Spirit was his frantic whistling. Antonia concentrated on swimming like a dolphin and to her delight, she swam faster than ever before. Then suddenly she felt vibrations inthe water, tapping like raindrops against her skin. Altering her course slightly, Antonia swam in the direction of the vibrations. They were rapidly growing much stronger and made her uneasy. Something must be very wrong to disturb the sea in such a violent manner.
    “Spirit, where are you?” she whistled.
    “Not far,” Spirit clicked. “I can feel you approaching.”
    A short while later, Antonia sensed the source of the vibrations was deeper underwater and dived down. She passed a dolphin, then another, then a large group who parted for her.
    “Silver Dolphin,” they clicked, nodding in relief as she swam between them. Up aheadthe water was swirling manically. Antonia swam on, passing Bubbles, Dream and their mother, Star, then a small group of dolphins who were keeping another dolphin back, gently butting her with their noses each time she tried to swim past.
    “My baby!” cried the dolphin with such anguish, Antonia went ice-cold and her swimming faltered.
    “Hurry, Silver Dolphin,” called Spirit and Antonia forced herself to swim on.
    At last, she saw Spirit’s magnificent silver body twisting in the water as he and another large dolphin struggled with something. With a final burst of energy, Antonia sped up and reached the large dolphins. She saw they were wrestling with a net.
    “Topper’s stuck,” said Spirit, tugging on a frayed piece of rope.
    For a second, Antonia’s brain froze and it felt as if she was watching the scene from far away. Topper, a baby dolphin, flailed around, screaming in panic as the net bit into his soft skin. His mother screamed back, her high-pitched whistle so piercing, Antonia found it impossible to think. Then suddenly another voice sounded in her head.
    Claudia.
    Her voice, low and soothing, helped Antonia to blot out the panicked sounds around her.
    Stay calm, Silver Dolphin. You can do this
.
    At once, Antonia’s brain began working again. How long had Topper been trapped?
    Dolphins could stay underwater for an hour but they usually surfaced every ten minutes for air. The biggest danger to Topper right now was that he might suffocate and drown. Immediately Antonia knew what she must do. She swam to Spirit and tapped him lightly on the side to get his attention.

Chapter Nine
    S pirit didn’t look round. “Help us, Silver Dolphin,” he said, still tugging on the net.
    Antonia pointed upwards. “Let’s take him to the surface where he can breathe,” she said. “Then we can concentrate on freeing him.”
    “Good idea.” Spirit butted the other dolphin, still frantically pulling at the net.
    “Cracker, help us get your son to the surface.”
    The other dolphin was so intent on freeing his baby, he didn’t respond until Antonia caught hold of his fin.
    “Topper needs air,” she said firmly. “Help us.”
    It was hard and dangerous work trying to get Topper to the surface. The baby dolphin was thrashing so violently, Antonia was scared that Spirit, Cracker, or even she might get caught up in the net. She was also worried about the harm the dolphin would inflict on himself. She’d seen small beads of blood in the water coming from a cut on Topper’s tail.
    “Topper,” she clicked. “Listen to me. You’re safe now. We’re going to help you, but youmust stop wriggling. Lie still.”
    Topper was too scared to listen to Antonia’s soothing clicks and continued to throw himself about. The