by Debbie Dadey
“Thank you,” the three merfriends said in unison.
At the same time, Pearl and Rocky snapped, “That’s not fair!”
Mrs. Karp smoothed down her green hair. “As I mentioned, some things are more important than a contest. I consider honesty one of them. Now, let’s learn about codes.”
Pearl glared at Kiki. Kiki was happy that Mrs. Karp had given her a second chance, but was it fair?
The Contest!
THE NEXT MORNING KIKI could barely eat her lugworm cereal. Would she be able to solve the puzzle and be the narwhal’s buddy? If she did, would it be fair? After all, she had worked on a cipher when she shouldn’t have.
Kiki arrived ten minutes early for class and every merkid was already there! Judging from the excited chatter, they were thrilled that the contest day had finally arrived.
Mrs. Karp floated in and started their lesson. “Good morning, class. I thought we could discuss narwhals a bit more before we have our code contest. Who can tell me how narwhals sleep?”
“With their eyes closed?” Rocky called out.
“Actually, I’m not sure if they do close their eyes,” Mrs. Karp said. “That is a good question for research or to ask the narwhal.”
Pearl raised one hand and twisted her pearl necklace with the other. “Since narwhals need their brains to breathe, only half their brain can sleep at a time.”
That didn’t sound very restful to Kiki. Were narwhals always tired?
“Very good,” Mrs. Karp told her, peering over her glasses. “Now, who can—”
“May I come in?” Dr. Reef said from the doorway. Lots of merstudents clapped to see her. Wanda Slug squealed and Rocky did a little dance on his brown tail. Kiki’s class loved visitors. Had Dr. Reef brought the young narwhal with her? Kiki didn’t see a porpoise anywhere. Maybe it was shy and hiding in the hall.
“Class, please greet Dr. Reef correctly,” Mrs. Karp instructed.
The merstudents hovered beside their desks and said, “Good morning, Dr. Reef.”
“Greetings to you,” Dr. Reef said. “I’m glad to be here. As you may know, I work at the Conservatory for the Preservation of Sea Horses and Swordfish, but we are eager to help all ocean creatures. This week we have been working to aid narwhals.”
“What’s wrong with narwhals?” Shelly asked.
“Where they live is endangered,” Dr. Reef explained. Kiki didn’t think that sounded very good.
Dr. Reef continued, “Mrs. Karp told me about your contest, and I will take the winner to meet their narwhal buddy.”
“Then let’s have our contest,” Mrs. Karp exclaimed.
Kiki’s heart pounded as her teacher unraveled a large piece of kelp. It was filled with a jumble of letters, and at the bottom it said KEY WORD: UNICORNS.
NMBHS GOMRMBOHCP
“How can a word be the key?” Rocky said, scratching his head.
“Shhh,” Mrs. Karp instructed. “Now is the time to quietly put your brains to work. But don’t forget what we learned in our lesson with Dr. Bottom.”
Kiki sat at her rock desk with her arms folded across her tummy. Hadn’t Dr. Bottom said something about a word starting a code? Then it came to her. He’d said, Put the key word first and don’t repeat any letters.
After making a chart, Kiki worked quickly to figure out the code. The first one was pretty easy: N stood for B. She worked letter by letter until she had BRING MERFRIENDS on her kelp. As soon as she was finished, she put down her orange sea pen and waved her hand. Mrs. Karp glided over and looked at her answer.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
U
N
I
C
O
R
S
A
B
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
D
E
F
G
H
J
K
L
M
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
P
Q
T
V
W
X
Y
Z
Kiki’s stomach felt funny. Had she gotten it all wrong? But when Mrs. Karp smiled, Kiki couldn’t believe it. “Congratulations! We have a winner!”
“I barely got started,” Rocky complained.
“No fair!” Pearl snapped. “She wasn’t even supposed to be in the contest.”
“Pearl, we discussed this,” Mrs. Karp said. Pearl didn’t say anything else, but she frowned at Kiki.
“The answer is ‘Bring merfriends,’ ” Dr. Reef told the class.
“What does that mean?” Kiki asked.
“It means that you get to be our narwhal visitor’s buddy,” Dr. Reef told them. “But you also get to meet the famous science authors with some merfriends.”
Kiki’s stomach did a flip!
“Oh my Neptune!” Pearl squealed. “I want to meet the famous authors.” All around the classroom, merstudents muttered the same thing. As far as Kiki knew, an author had never visited Trident City before.
“I thought they were too busy,” Echo said.
Dr. Reef nodded at her daughter. “They are only able to take a short break to meet the winner and a few merfriends.”
Kiki couldn’t believe it! She’d won the contest! And she was going to meet the authors of her favorite science books! “You mean I can really bring merfriends to meet the Calypsos?” she asked.
Dr. Reef nodded. “My friend Ethel was gracious enough to allow a few buddies to join you.”
Kiki swallowed and got ready to ask a really hard question.
Merfriends?
BEFORE KIKI COULD SAY A word, Rocky whooshed up and threw an arm around her shoulder. “I’m your pal,” he said with a grin.
“Me too!” Wanda called out.
Nearly every merstudent began chanting, “Pick me!”
“Let’s give Kiki a chance to think,” Mrs. Karp told the class.
Shelly touched Kiki’s arm. “Don’t worry, just choose a few merkids. I won’t get mad.”
Echo nodded. “It’s all right.”
Kiki could feel her face turning red. She hoped Dr. Reef would grant her request. If not, what would she do? After all, everyone wanted to meet the famous science authors. She swam beside Echo’s mom and whispered, “Dr. Reef, may I take the entire class?”
“What did she say?” Pearl asked. The merkids quickly quieted down.
“This is quite a surprise,” Dr. Reef said. “But if everyone agrees to be very calm, I believe it can be arranged for the whole group to go. Remember, narwhals do not like loud noises.”
Everyone looked at Rocky. He shrugged. “I can be calm.”
“Well then, congratulations. Let’s go to the conservatory!” Dr. Reef drifted out of the classroom with twenty very excited merstudents and one teacher following behind.
Echo tapped Kiki’s arm. “Thank you for taking the class,” she whispered.
Kiki smiled. “It was only fair.”
“I’m so excited, I think I might throw up,” Wanda cried as they floated through MerPark. “We’re going to meet the most famous scientists in the ocean!”
“Do you think they’ll autograph my book?” Rocky asked. He held up a book on codes written by the Calypsos.
Kiki nodded, wishing she’d thought to bring her book for them to sign. She was so excited, she could hardly think!
Mrs. Karp paused at the entrance to Trident City Plaza Hotel. “Let’s remember to be calm and on our best behavior.”
Rocky didn’t cheer or yel
l out a joke. Kiki was proud of him for remaining calm. She hoped she could! After all, what if the young narwhal didn’t like her?
The class silently glided over the marble floor of the Trident City Plaza Hotel. The conservatory was housed inside the hotel. Dr. Reef waited for the merclass to gather at the shark statue outside the conservatory door.
Pearl giggled nervously. “I used to think that shark was real.”
“Shhh,” Mrs. Karp said. “Remember that narwhals are shy.”
The merstudents nodded and swam into the conservatory. They couldn’t believe what they saw.
Nadine, Roscoe, and Ethel
TWO ENORMOUS NARWHALS and a smaller one nearly filled the large main conservatory room. Behind her Echo squeaked, but the rest of the class was surprisingly quiet.
“Trident Academy third graders, I’d like to introduce you to our guests,” Echo’s mom said. “First, this is Nadine. Kiki is to be her classroom buddy for a few days.”
“Good morning, Nadine,” the class said softly. Pearl did a lovely curtsy and Rocky bowed. Kiki waved at Nadine and tried not to worry.
A slender gray-and-white narwhal floated beside Dr. Reef. Her tooth was almost as long as her body. Nadine spoke in perfect mer-talk, “I can’t wait to visit your school.”
“Class,” Dr. Reef continued, “this is Dr. Ethel and Dr. Roscoe Calypso, Nadine’s parents.”
Mrs. Karp nodded and the merstudents said, “Good morning, Dr. Ethel and Dr. Roscoe.”
Ethel smiled. “It is nice to meet you. We’re surprised that there are so many of you.”
Dr. Reef’s face turned red. “I apologize. Our contest winner’s request was to bring her entire class.”
Kiki held her breath. Would the Calypso family be mad? Instead Dr. Roscoe laughed. “Kiki must be a very nice person.”
Kiki grinned. A famous scientist actually said she was nice!
“Let’s float over to the auditorium, where we’ll have a short question-and-answer session,” Dr. Reef told them.
Kiki couldn’t believe she was so close to three narwhals, and two of them were famous! They were each so different. Dr. Roscoe was almost solid white with a long spiral tooth, while Dr. Ethel was a very pale gray without a tooth in sight.
Rocky drifted over to Nadine. “I thought only boy narwhals had long teeth.”
Nadine giggled. “A few girls have them too. Does that surprise you?”
Rocky nodded. “I read in a library book that girls don’t have them.”
“It is important to read more than one book or article,” Dr. Ethel said. “And to think of who wrote it and when. Do they know what they are talking about?”
Rocky stuck out his chest. “Maybe I should write a new book about narwhals.”
“That would be great!” Dr. Roscoe agreed. “Perhaps it could help us with our big problem.”
“What problem?” Kiki asked.
But Mrs. Karp clapped her hands for them to move into the auditorium before Roscoe could answer. The narwhals’ problem was a mystery!
Problem
AS SOON AS ALL THE merstudents were seated in the auditorium, Pearl asked, “Do baby narwhals have big teeth?”
Dr. Ethel smiled. “I can answer that one. Calves are born without their long tooth, but it starts growing during their first year. Not all calves get a long tooth, though.”
Kiki raised her hand to ask about the problem, but Mrs. Karp called on Shelly instead. “What is your long tooth used for?” Shelly asked.
“Ha-ha.” Dr. Roscoe laughed. “I knew someone would ask that.”
“Is it for breaking ice?” Wanda asked.
Rocky waved his right arm like a sword. “I bet it’s for fighting.”
“Perhaps I should leave it as a mystery,” Dr. Roscoe teased.
Nadine smiled at her father. “It’s hard to explain, but it has to do with showing who is in charge.”
“Could you tell us what problem brought you to Trident City?” Kiki asked. She hoped it wasn’t something serious. But from the look on Dr. Reef’s face, it was.
Nadine stopped smiling. “We came for help with ways to keep humans from using their land machines so much. My parents found that they are causing the ice in our home to melt.”
“We hope to discover how to keep their ships away as well,” Dr. Ethel added. “So many are in our waters that we’ve nearly run out of space to live.”
Dr. Roscoe frowned. “The fishy thing is that some of the ships bring people to look at us!”
“So the very ships that want to see you are actually hurting you?” Echo shook her head.
Dr. Roscoe nodded. “That’s right.”
Kiki felt guilty. She had wanted to see the narwhals just like the humans. Was there anything she could do to help?
No More Codes
ALL RIGHT, MERSTUDENTS,” Mrs. Karp announced. “It’s time to swim back to school. Kiki, you’ll be escorting Nadine.”
Kiki smiled at the young narwhal, who tilted her long tooth in a little salute. As they floated, Kiki tried to think of something to say to Nadine.
“I’m from the Eastern Oceans,” she told Nadine.
“That’s a long way from here,” Nadine said. “Don’t you miss your parents?”
Kiki nodded. “I do, but I have a lot of good merfriends at Trident Academy.”
“You’re lucky,” Nadine said. “My parents are so busy trying to save our species, I don’t get a chance to have many buddies. We travel a lot, except for winter.”
Kiki wished she knew a way to help the narwhals. But what could a tiny mermaid do?
“I’m glad all that code stuff is done.” Pearl sniffed the water in front of Kiki and twisted her pearl necklace. “It was making my brain hurt.”
“I thought it was totally wavy,” Shelly said as she splashed along beside Kiki.
“It would have been fun if I’d won,” Pearl snapped. Kiki was a bit embarrassed. What would Nadine think of Pearl’s grouchiness?
Nadine giggled. “I’ve never been a prize before.”
Echo swam up beside Nadine as they moved through MerPark. “I hope you don’t mind that we had a contest. Everyone wanted to be your buddy.”
Nadine shook her head, and her long tooth waved through the water. “No, I think it’s kind of cool.”
Mrs. Karp watched as her merstudents entered Trident Academy’s front hallway. “Kiki, you may show Nadine around the school now.”
Pearl rolled her eyes. “Not fair.”
When they were alone in the hallway, Nadine peered at Kiki. “I was afraid to meet you by myself.”
“Afraid of me?” Kiki gasped. “I was scared you wouldn’t like me!”
Kiki and Nadine giggled as they went into the school library. “See that wall of books?” Kiki said. “All those were written by your parents. It must be amazing to have such a famous family.”
Nadine shrugged. “I guess. Although sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be able to stay in one place all the time and make good buddies.”
Kiki tapped Nadine on her shoulder. “But you have one good merfriend.”
“I do?” Nadine asked. “Who?”
Kiki smiled. “Me!” At least, she hoped they could be pals.
Nadine giggled again. “Thanks. Maybe we can write each other.”
“I’d like that,” Kiki agreed.
“Did you say that you are learning codes?” Nadine asked.
“Yes, that’s how I won the contest to be your buddy.”
Nadine’s eyes twinkled. “Maybe I’ll even write you a letter in a secret code.”
Kiki grinned. That sounded so exciting. She just hoped she’d be able to figure out the message!
The Plan
AFTER SHOWING NADINE the mergirls’ dorms, the art room, the auditorium, and the lunchroom, Kiki took Nadine to the third-grade classroom. “Welcome, Nadine. You may sit by Kiki.” Mrs. Karp pointed to a barrel sponge beside Kiki’s desk.
“I’m nervous,” Nadine whispered
as she settled on the small seat. “I’ve never been in a classroom before.”
“Don’t narwhals have to go to school?” Kiki whispered back.
“Some do, but my parents teach me.”
“Merkids are taught at home until third grade,” Kiki explained. “This is my first year in a real school.”
Before Kiki could say anything else, Mrs. Karp called on Nadine. “Would you care to tell us a bit about your home?”
Nadine’s gray cheeks turned red, but she floated off her stool and spoke. “I live in the Arctic Ocean in the winter. Because of my parents’ jobs, we travel during the summer. That’s unusual for narwhals. I feel funny when I’m not surrounded by ice.”
“I hope your parents find a way to help all narwhals,” Shelly told her.
“Is there anything we can do?” Kiki wondered.
Nadine tapped her long tooth on Kiki’s desk. “There are some things I wish humans would do.”
“Maybe we could do them too,” Echo said. She loved anything to do with humans.
Nadine bit her lip, and Kiki nodded to keep her talking. “Well,” Nadine said softly. “You can start by cleaning up trash.”
Rocky leaped out of his seat. “I can do that!”
Nadine smiled at Rocky. “You can fix things if they are broken, instead of throwing them away.”
“I love that idea,” Kiki said. “Is there anything else?”
“Not unless you can stop humans from using their land-and-water-polluting machines,” Nadine said sadly.
“I know something we can do to help here in the ocean,” Mrs. Karp added. “It won’t stop human machines, but it will help in other ways. We can grow more kelp and algae.”
Pearl waved her hand. “I read in MerStyle magazine that oxygen comes from algae. We need that to breathe underwater.”
“And humans breathe it on land,” Echo announced.
“Me too,” Nadine told them. “I breathe air, not water. In fact, I’ll need to go to the surface soon.”
“Algae also makes a great face cream,” Pearl said with a giggle.