Chapter Eight

It only took Lizzy a minute to put on her wetsuit, then she left her bag by the lifeboat station and returned to the pontoons. No one noticed her as she slipped into the sea and dived beneath the surface with hardly a splash. As always, she held her breath for the first few moments underwater, still hardly able to believe in what she could do. Then confidence came back and she opened her mouth, seeing the familiar stream of silver bubbles rush past her face.

When she swam out of the harbour and into the bay, the strength of the current surprised her. It took much more effort than usual to make headway against it. No wonder the lifeguards on the beach were being so careful. The storm tides had churned up the seabed too, and her surroundings were murky. But she could see well enough – just – and she forged towards the headland and the deeper water beyond.

The tide was going out, and once she was clear of the headland swimming became easier. Now the current was working with her rather than against her, and she was able to relax a little. But the undersea world looked very eerie. Even out in the bay the water wasn’t its usual clear blue-green. Instead it was full of swirling sand particles, like a weird shifting fog. Mysterious shapes loomed strangely, and tricky shadows lurked in the gloom. Once, Lizzy recoiled in fright when she thought she saw a giant eel writhing towards her, but it was only a long strand of oar-weed drifting in the current.

She surfaced after a while to get her bearings. She had already come quite a long way. St Michael’s Mount looked smaller than before, and beyond it she could see the golden crescent of the beach that curved along the bay’s edge. Treading water, she turned and looked out to sea. Several small boats were out there, but they all had white sails. Where was Silvie? She had disappeared! Anxiously Lizzy turned further, until she could see the high cliffs stretching away down the coast to the south-west. They were dark and forbidding even in the sunlight, and darker still were the caves, gaping like ragged black mouths. Which was the cave where she had met Morvyr? Lizzy couldn’t even begin to guess.

Suddenly she felt frightened. She was alone in the sea, without Kes or the dolphins to guide her, searching for a boat that she might or might not find. It was a crazy, hopeless thing to do. She should turn back, go home and find another safer way to make contact with Jack Carrick.

A wave slapped against her face and for a moment everything blurred. Lizzy blinked the water from her eyes – and as her vision cleared she saw something moving against the darkness of the cliffs. A red sail… her heart jumped and a tingle went through her from her head to her toes. Silvie – it must be! She was sailing slowly, keeping close to the coast, as though whoever was on board were looking for something.

Lizzy’s courage came surging back. Surely she could catch up? She had to try, she just had to! Kicking out with her legs, she turned until she was directly facing the distant boat, then dived and started to swim towards it with all the energy she could muster.

It wasn’t long before she began to tire, and she knew she couldn’t keep this pace up for much longer. At last she swam to the surface again, to check how far she had come. She hoped she might see Silvie just a short way ahead, but to her dismay she saw that, far from catching up, she was being left behind. A wind had freshened, filling the red sail, and Silvie was moving faster, drawing away from her at a speed she couldn’t hope to match.

Gasping with exertion and nearly in tears, Lizzy dived again and forged on. If only she could swim faster! Kes could change from human to merboy – she had seen him do it, willing his legs to merge together and become a shining tail. He said that she had the power too, but she had never learned to use it, and it was locked away out of reach in the depths of her mind. Now she tried again with all her strength to unlock it, telling herself desperately that she was a mermaid, she was a mermaid. But she couldn’t turn the key. She just couldn’t make it happen!

Then through the water she heard a strange sound; a deep, rhythmic throbbing that came from further out to sea. The current began to swirl, and in alarm Lizzy headed for the surface again. As her head emerged into the sunlight she saw the cause of the disturbance. A big boat was coming up behind her; it was the passenger ferry, setting out on its daily voyage from Penzance to the Isles of Scilly. It would not pass close enough to be a danger, but its propeller was churning the water and creating a powerful wake. The gleaming white hull towered against the sky, crowned by the orange funnel with its distinctive black-and-white flag emblem… then Lizzy noticed that the passengers on deck were pointing at something.

Behind the ship and escorting it with joyful leaps were five dolphins.

‘Arhans!’ Lizzy screamed with excitement. She knew that the dolphins wouldn’t hear her above the noise of the boat’s powerful engines, but her despair had turned to hope.

With renewed energy, she started to swim towards her friends. She couldn’t hope to catch up with them or the ferry, of course. But it was said that dolphins were telepathic. If it were true, then perhaps they would sense her.

Arhans! Arhans! She concentrated fiercely on repeating the name over and over in her mind. Arbans, it’s me – it’s Lizzy! Oh, Arhans!

Arhans appeared so suddenly out of the churning water ahead that Lizzy whirled backwards in shock. The dolphin streaked towards her, and even above the throbbing of the boat’s engines Lizzy could hear her whistling call. She reached Lizzy and swam round her in fast, tight circles, scolding with shrill cries.

‘I’m sorry!’ Lizzy gasped, dizzy as she tried to follow Arhans’s swirling rush. ‘I know you told me not to come to the sea, but – Ow! Arhans, that hurt!’

The dolphin had butted her, quite hard, with her snout, and the others arrived and joined in. They all nudged and chivvied Lizzy, their whistles now turning to squeals, and Lizzy realized that they were trying to drive her back towards the shore.

‘Stop it, all of you!’ she shouted. ‘Listen to me, please!’ Wildly she waved towards the cliffs, though she could no longer see Silvie. ‘It’s my father – he’s out there in a boat, and I’ve got to find him!’

Somehow she managed to make herself heard above the dolphins’ agitated rebukes, and, as they realized what she was telling them, their noise died down until at last she was able to explain.

‘He’s borrowed Mr Treleaven’s sailing boat, and he’s gone to look at the caves down the coast,’ she finished. ‘I think he’s looking for Morvyr. Oh, Arhans, I’ve got to see him and talk to him! Help me, please! Don’t make me go back to the shore!’

The dolphins chittered together as if they were conferring about what they should do. Then Arhans swam in close to Lizzy, and one of the others pushed at her hands with its snout, moving them towards Arhans’s back. Lizzy understood. They were going to help her reach Jack Carrick. And the fastest way to do it was to take her to him themselves.

Eagerly Lizzy grasped Arhans’s dorsal fin with both hands, taking a firm grip. Arhans whistled as though to say, ‘Hold tight!’ Then with a rush and a plunge they were diving down and away.

Lizzy had ridden on Arhans’s back once before when she and Kes had been followed by an unknown enemy and the dolphins had taken her safely to shore. This journey wasn’t as wild and exhilarating as that first one had been, but it was still a huge thrill to be towed through the water with the graceful sea creatures swimming beside her. Two dolphins had gone on ahead; after a while, though, Lizzy heard them calling, and moments later their sleek shapes appeared again. They were excited; whistling shrilly, they dived over and under Lizzy and her escort, then they turned again and swam on. Arhans followed, pulling Lizzy with her – then suddenly they all stopped.

Water streamed from Lizzy’s hair over her face, and she had to wipe it away before she could see anything. When her eyes cleared, she gasped. The cliffs rose sheer in front of them. And no more than fifty metres away was Silvie, her mainsail furled and just her foresail bellying in the wind. Lizzy could see her name painted on her stern. And she could see the man who sat at the tiller. A man with tanned skin, jet-black hair and a beard, dressed in jeans and a salt-bleached denim fisherman’s guernsey.

Jack Carrick had his back to the dolphins and had not yet seen them, and suddenly Lizzy was hit by a wave of uncertainty. How could she approach him? What could she say? She didn’t remember him at all, and the last time he had seen her, she was a tiny baby. Tears sprang to her eyes. She bit her lip hard, trying to stop them, but they spilled down her cheeks and mingled with the sea. She didn’t know what to do! In distress she pressed her face against Arhans’s smooth side. The dolphins seemed to understand. They grouped closely round Arhans and Lizzy – then, catching Lizzy unawares, Arhans slipped away and headed towards the bobbing boat. Confused, Lizzy tried to follow, but the others would not let her. They surrounded her as though they were trying to protect and comfort her, and she could only watch as Arhans swam alongside Silvie and reared out of the water. Jack started with surprise, and his voice carried over the rush and hiss of the tide.

‘Ahh!’ Then his astonishment turned to eagerness and he reached out towards the dolphin. ‘That silver stripe – Arhans, it’s you, it’s you!’

Arhans chittered to him, wagging her head. Jack tensed, then his head whipped round and he looked behind him. His eyes widened – and Lizzy saw that they were the same vivid blue as hers and Kes’s.

‘What –?’ He stood up in the boat, staring, his mouth a round O of shock as he saw Lizzy floating between the other four dolphins. The colour drained from his face and he said, ‘Morvyr?’

Lizzy stared back, feeling that her entire world was turning upside down in her head. For a moment she was paralysed. Then, like a taut string breaking, the paralysis snapped.

‘N-no…’ She hardly recognized her own voice. ‘I’m Tegenn. Oh, Father – I’m Tegenn!’