Midnight Dolphin by James Carmody Read Free Book Online Page A

then Megan
heard the bell above the door of the bookshop chime.
    ‘ Out you go Mr
Baggins’ she heard a voice say. ‘Go and get some fresh air.’ Megan
saw the cat run across the yard, jump onto a windowsill and
disappear through an open window into the pub opposite. Not much
fresh air there, Megan thought to herself. She looked back at the
source of the voice.
    ‘ Were you
waiting for me to open up?’ asked the lady standing at the door of
the bookshop. She’d just flipped the sign around from ‘closed’ to
‘open’. ‘Eager readers, that’s what I like to see!’
    Megan had
hoped to see the girl who’d been minding the shop the last time she
was there, but this must be her mother, Megan thought.
    ‘ Do come in’
beckoned the lady, and Megan duly obliged and entered the shop. ‘Is
there anything that you were particularly looking for?’ she
enquired brightly. Megan suddenly felt shy and shook her
head.
    ‘ I just wanted
to look around’ she said, and made her way up one of the narrow
aisles between the high bookcases. As Megan tried to appear
inconspicuous, picking out random books to look at, there was a
thudding sound at the back of the shop as though someone were
running downstairs and a small door opened abruptly.
    ‘ Mum! Have you
seen my trainers?’ It was the girl who Megan had spoken to the
other day and who she wanted to speak to now. The girl’s head
appeared round the door. ‘I can’t find them anywhere.’ Megan looked
up happily, but still nervous. She was less sure about what she
wanted to say to the girl now, especially since the girl’s mother
was in the shop as well.
    ‘ Oh hello, how
are you?’ the girl said in a friendly tone when she saw
Megan.
    ‘ You two know
each other?’ asked her mother.
    ‘ Yes, this is
my friend, err…’
    ‘ Megan’ cut in
Megan, finishing the girl’s sentence.
    ‘ Oh why didn’t
you say?’ called her mother. ‘You go right on up with Rachel.’
Megan was happy to oblige, but she felt awkward doing so. Rachel
was years older than she was, and had said that she was studying at
University.
    The staircase
at the back of the shop was very tight, uncarpeted and its wooden
walls were painted a pastel blue. They opened up on the first floor
into a living room, again with wooden panelled walls painted the
same delicate shade of blue. Several large flowers had been painted
directly onto the walls. The floor was scattered with large
Moroccan-looking cushions and a hookah water pipe sat in a corner
by the window.
    ‘ My Mum’s
still a bit of a hippy you know. Come on, take a seat and tell me
all about yourself.’ They sat down on the oversized cushions on the
floor and made themselves comfortable. Rachel soon coaxed out of
Megan the fact that she was on holiday with her Mum and Dad and
sister Bethany. Rachel said that she had just finished her first
year at University, but was going to switch from sociology to study
biology.
    ‘ So what is it
you really want to ask me about?’ Rachel laughed after they had
chatted inconsequentially for a while. Megan felt awkward
again.
    ‘ What do you
mean?’ she asked.
    ‘ It’s written
all over your face’ replied Rachel. ‘And besides, people normally
come to bookshops to find things out. It’s not unusual.’
    ‘ Well’ replied
Megan nervously. ‘I want to know about the dolphins and people, I
mean when they have a link between them.’
    ‘ I’m not sure
I follow you’ replied Rachel uncertainly.
    ‘ Some people
have special links with dolphins, and can use their minds to
communicate with them’ said Megan, trying to be clear. Rachel’s
face showed that she was beginning to understand what Megan was
talking about, and became quiet and serious.
    ‘ How do you
know all this?’ Rachel asked curiously.
    ‘ It’s because
I, well…’ stammered Megan.
    ‘ Because you
are one of them?’ guessed Rachel, finishing Megan’s sentence for
her. Megan looked down at the ground, feeling uncomfortable.