Sea Magic Read Online Free Page B

and again he blew. Cramming a handful of sea-grapes into his mouth, Tim scanned the waves, being careful to keep out of sight of the Viperfish, who wasbusy strapping on some kind of heavy backpack. After a few minutes, Tim cried out in delight. A beautiful, sleek, grey dolphin was leaping and cavorting in the waves.

    The dolphin made a series of high-pitched squeaks and whistles and slapped her tail joyously on the water, sending up a white spray of foam. To Tim’s joy, he could understand every word. She was saying: ‘So you want a ride, landlubber?’
    â€˜Yes, please!’ Tim slid into the sea and tentatively gripped Delphina’s dorsal fin.
    â€˜Better hold on tight!’ the dolphin cried.
    Tim gasped as Delphina raced through the waves. White foam gushed against his face. The dolphin swerved and leapt, and Tim laughed out loud.

CHAPTER TEN
    Ben swam very slowly up to the dark belly of the submarine. Despite all his care, the robot shark sensed his motion and turned and swam ponderously towards him, its eyes glowing electric blue. Ben’s heart slammed hard against his ribs, but he forced himself to float motionless in the water, hidden in the shadow of the submarine. The robot shark paused, confused. It was so close Ben could have reached out and put his hand between its gleaming rows of teeth, but of course he didn’t. He tried to pretend he was just some sea wrack, floating in the water.
    Suddenly the Viperfish jumped backwards into the water, only metres away from where Ben was floating. The contraption he wore on his back shot out longbursts of flame, and the scuba diver shot forward at incredible speed. Ben was so startled he could not help jerking away. At once the shark surged towards him. Ben did a quick feint, left, right, left, then ducked under the submarine’s fin. He heard the clang as the shark’s head crashed into the submarine’s hull and grinned to himself, rather shakily. Once again he forced himself to stay still, though it was very hard not to thrash about in panic with the enormous robot shark swimming back and forth, back and forth, right underneath him.

    Just when Ben thought he could not bear the suspense any longer, the dolphin came plunging through the waves, Tim clinging to her back. At once the shark turned and roared towards them at high speed. Delphina swerved and raced away, the shark right on her tail. Ben swam quickly to the surface and dragged himself out onto the deck of the submarine. He wriggled out of the mer-boy’s tail, then looked anxiously after Tim. He could see Delphina racing through thewater, leaping and diving, with Tim crouched low on her back. The shark was right behind them, opening its steel jaws to seize the dolphin’s tail. The Viperfish, meanwhile, was shooting towards the shore at immense speed, propelled by what looked like rocket boosters strapped to his back. Ben anxiously waved at Thomas, crouched behind Lookout Rock.
    Thomas waved back, then switched on his remote control. A tiny speedboat raced across the water, bouncing on top of the waves. Strapped onto it was Meg’s mermaid doll. With the sparkly green tail waving up and down, and the red hair streaming out behind, the doll did look remarkably like a fast and frenzied mermaid. Every time the boat hit a wave, it jerked the belt about the dolly’s waist so that she said, ‘Mummy, Mummy,’ over and over in a high, squeaky voice.

    The shark turned at once and raced towards the remote-controlled mermaid, much to Tim’s relief. He brought Delphina around in a big swerve, and cut across the shark’s path just as it opened its jaws to swallow the little boat. Immediately the shark veered after Tim and the dolphin. Just as it seemed the shark would seize Delphina, the little mermaid-boat again scooted in front of its steel snout, bringing the robot shark around with a snap.
    Thomas wrenched at the controls. The remote-controlled mermaid