Stolen Treasures Read Online Free

hurried down the garden and through the gate to the beach. Leaving her sandals under the Sea Watch boat, Antonia ran into the sea. Her dolphin charm was vibrating strongly and suddenly it gave a shrill whistle.
    “Spirit, I hear your call,” clicked Antonia, as she splashed into the water.
    There was no question of waiting for Cai today. Spirit’s call was urgent. The dolphin charm thrashed against her skin, urging her on. The moment Antonia’s legs melded together she started swimming, effortlessly flying in and out of the sea, causing a spray of water that sparkled like diamonds. Antonia followed the coastline heading west. She swam fast, anxious to find Spirit.
    After a very long time Antonia slowed, sensing two different types of vibration in the water. Looking up, she saw a boat in the distance. That could be causing the bigger vibration. The smaller one she hoped was being made by Spirit. The boat, a small bluefishing vessel with an ancient-looking cabin, came closer. Nets, hung with fluorescent pink buoys, were draped over one side. A tall lady was moving around on deck. She looked vaguely familiar. Diving under the water so as not to be seen, Antonia tried to work out how she might know her. She kept underwater, swimming on a parallel path with the boat to avoid a collision. The vibrations became stronger and the sea more choppy as finally, the boat passed her by.
    “Silver Dolphin?”
    “Yes,” clicked Antonia, answering Spirit’s sudden urgent whistle.
    “Get the name of the boat.”
    Immediately Antonia somersaulted and surfaced so she was facing the boat’s stern asit sped away from her. The boat was travelling fast and the boat’s name was already too small for her to read. She screwed up her eyes trying to make out its registration number painted in much larger characters.
    “SB…is that a 6 or an 8?”
    It was no good. Antonia couldn’t read the registration number either.
    “Did you get its name?” Spirit surfaced alongside her.
    Antonia shook her head. “Sorry, it was going too fast. The first two letters were SB so it’s a Sandy Bay boat, if that’s any help?”
    Spirit looked disappointed.
    “You’ll need more than that to report it.”
    “Who am I reporting it to and why?” asked Antonia, puzzled.
    “I’ll show you when the second Silver Dolphin arrives,” said Spirit.
    Suddenly Antonia was aware of vibrations in the water, pinging against her skin like tiny stones.
    “Cai,” she remembered guiltily.

Chapter Five
    C ai swam up. “I came as fast as I could,” he puffed. “Thank you, Silver Dolphin.” Spirit swam forward and greeted Cai by rubbing noses. “And thank you, too,” he added, ruffling Antonia’s hair with a flipper.
    “But I failed,” said Antonia miserably.
    “You answered the call and that’s whatmatters,” Spirit answered her.
    “What happened?” asked Cai.
    “The boat that dumped the rubbish came back. This time it put down nets in a protected area. It’s damaged a bed of pink sea fan coral. Come with me and I’ll show you,” said Spirit.
    He dived down, followed by Antonia and Cai. At first the water was murky but gradually it cleared enough for Antonia to see that they were swimming over rocks. Spirit swum deeper and then stopped.
    “We’re here,” he said. “It’s beautiful,” said Antonia, venturing forward to stare at the miniature forest stretching away from her.
    “The coral looks exactly like fan-shapedtrees!” exclaimed Cai.
    “Each pink sea fan coral is made from thousands of tiny organisms, so they’re actually animals not plants. Look again and you’ll see the damage the net caused.”
    “Oh!” cried Antonia. “Some of them are broken.”
    She swam closer, pointing in dismay at the pieces of coral scattered like broken china around the stems of the pink sea fans.
    “Pink sea fans are very fragile,” Spirit continued. “They also take ages to grow. This area is protected, but not everyone is aware of that. If you give