The Reef Rescue

by Adele K. Thomas

  ‘WOW,’ sighed Willow.

  ‘MAGICAL,’ exclaimed Frida.

  ‘So where are we going to find the little Dumbo?’ asked Sophia.

  ‘If we follow the nature trail Alan took us on yesterday, we’re bound to spot him,’ said Bruce confidently.

  Smedley snorted and shook his head. ‘That’s your plan?’

  Olivia glared at the snooty seahorse, but deep down she knew he was right. It was a silly plan and she didn’t have a clue where to start looking. If she wanted to be a famous explorer, she needed to start thinking like one. An idea POPPED into her head. ‘We could always ask,’ she said. ‘After all, the reef is home to THOUSANDS of creatures. Someone must have spotted the little Dumbo floating around.’

  ‘That’s a FISHTASTIC idea,’ cheered Chloe.

  ‘And we’ll get to meet some MERMAZING creatures too!’ added Willow.

  The mermaids DIPPED and DIVED across the reef in search of a FRIENDLY FISH to help them with their mission.

  ‘I think the Dumbo octopus is close by,’ said Bruce. ‘I can FEEL it in my FINS.’

  ‘I just want to ask him what he’s doing here,’ said Chloe.

  ‘Me too,’ agreed Willow. ‘They usually live in the DEEP, DARK DEPTHS of the ocean.’

  ‘What if he’s lost?’ exclaimed Pam.

  ‘If he’s lost,’ said Olivia, ‘it’s our duty as explorers to find him and help him get home.’

  ‘T-t-talking of lost,’ stammered Sophia, ‘WHERE’S SMEDLEY?!’

  A LOUD SCREECH rang out across the reef.

  With a FLICK and a SWISH of their tails, the mermaids found Smedley curled up under the coral and he wasn’t alone . . .

  ‘Smedley, what happened?’ exclaimed Sophia.

  ‘This PRICKLY PUFFERFISH bumped into me!’ he cried.

  ‘I think you’ll find YOU bumped into ME,’ snapped the pufferfish. ‘If you didn’t have your nose stuck in that book, you would have seen me.’

  ‘Oh dear,’ said Chloe. ‘We’re so sorry we disturbed you.’

  ‘Smedley, say sorry to . . .’ Sophia paused as she smiled at the pufferfish. ‘What’s your name?’

  The pretty pufferfish glared at Smedley. ‘The name’s Peggy.’

  ‘Sorry for not looking where I was going, Peggy,’ muttered Smedley.

  ‘Apology accepted,’ said Peggy cheerily. ‘So, tell me, what are you lot doing out on the reef this early in the morning?’

  ‘Actually, Peggy, we could use your help,’ said Olivia. ‘We’re on an EXPLORING MISSION and we’re looking for a little Dumbo octopus. I don’t suppose you’ve seen him, have you?’

  ‘PIPPING PIPIS,’ gasped Peggy. ‘You’re in luck! He floated off down there only ten minutes ago.’

  ‘Thanks, Peggy!’ exclaimed Bruce. ‘If you weren’t so PRICKLY, I’d hug you.’

  ‘Before we go, can we get a selfie with you, Peggy?’ asked Olivia. ‘So when we become famous explorers, everyone will know who helped us on our first mission.’

  ‘You bet your TAIL SCALES you can!’ said Peggy.

  ‘Say MERMATES FOREVER!’

  With Peggy’s help, the mermaids were now HOT ON THE TENTACLES of the little Dumbo. They WHIZZED through the reef, keeping their eyes PEELED, when suddenly a strange sound stopped them in their tracks . . .

  CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

  ‘What in FLAPPING FLOUNDERS is that noise?’ cried Chloe.

  ‘I don’t know,’ shrieked Willow. ‘But I think we’re about to find out!’

  Emerging from the shadows of the reef was a fish with the BIGGEST TEETH they had EVER seen.

  ‘OH. MY. POSEIDON!’ yelled Bruce. ‘Are we about to become FISH FOOD?!’

  With a TREMBLING TAIL, Smedley flicked through his book. But before he could answer, the fish had spotted them . . .

  ‘Hello, hello! What do we have here then?’ said the big fish.

  ‘Found it! I knew I’d seen those GNASHERS before,’ Smedley blurted out. ‘This is a BUMPHEAD PARROTFISH, and no, he WON’T eat us. He would rather munch on coral.’

  ‘So all that CRUNCHING was you MUNCHING coral?’ asked Bruce.

  ‘Ten out of ten, buddy!’ chortled the big bumphead. ‘My name’s Bert.’

  ‘Nice to meet you, Bert,’ said Olivia.

  ‘Don’t often see mermaids around these parts,’ said Bert before taking a big bite of coral. ‘What are you lot up to?’

  Olivia explained all about their mission to find the Dumbo octopus.

  ‘Oh yes, I’ve seen the little fella a few times,’ said Bert in between crunches.

  ‘Really?’ exclaimed Chloe. ‘WHEN? WHERE?’

  ‘Over there,’ said Bert. ‘I saw him bob along the riptide through the reef caves just before I bumped into you lot.’

  ‘MERMAZING!’ cheered the mermaids.

  ‘One more thing before we go,’ said Olivia. ‘Can we have a selfie with you, Bert?’

  ‘ABSOLUTELY!’

  Bert’s BIG grin got even BIGGER as they huddled together in front of the camera.

  The mermaids waved goodbye to Bert and set off through the reef caves.

  The caves were DARK and GLOOMY. Luckily, Olivia and Bruce had their head torches at the ready.

  When Olivia turned on her torch, lighting up the cave, the mermaids couldn’t believe their eyes!

  ‘The little DUMBO!’ gasped Olivia.

  But in a split second he was gone.

  ‘Where did he go?’ whispered Chloe.

  ‘Up there,’ cried Bruce.

  The little octopus bobbed above their heads and out of the cave.

  ‘I knew we’d find him,’ squealed Olivia.

  ‘Come on,’ said Bruce as the mermaids followed him out of the cave. ‘We’ve nearly caught up to him.’

  The mermaids were so excited they didn’t realise they were heading straight for the OUT OF BOUNDS area of the reef!

  ‘Hurry,’ called Olivia. ‘I think he went this way.’

  As her mermates rushed to catch up, Olivia suddenly stopped. Something wasn’t right. She looked around, searching for the little Dumbo and noticed there was something different about the reef. It didn’t SPARKLE and SHIMMER like before – it was now MURKY and COLD.

  Olivia gulped. ‘Uh-oh.’

  Olivia knew exactly where they were. They were on THE WRONG SIDE OF THE REEF!

  ‘Remember when Alan told us not to swim in the OUT OF BOUNDS area?’ whispered Bruce. ‘Well, I think we might be IN it!’

  Olivia nodded slowly.

  ‘Did you just say OUT OF BOUNDS AREA?’ shrieked Smedley.

  The mermaids stared at Olivia and Bruce like WORRIED WOBBEGONGS.

  ‘Don’t be such SCAREDY-CATFISH.’ Olivia giggled nervously. ‘Alan was just being SILLY. Come on, we’re on a MERMAZING ADVENTURE!’

  But this was no place for little mermaids. Olivia knew she should tell her mermates and go back to camp, but they were SO LOSE to finding the Dumbo octopus. It couldn’t be that DANGEROUS . . . Could it?

  ‘I’m not happy about this, not one little bit,’ grumbled Smedley.

  ‘Maybe we should go back to camp,’ whimpered Sophia.

  Olivia didn’t want to give up, but she also didn’t want to put her mermates in danger. ‘I’m sorry I dragged you all out here,’ she said. ‘I made you break the rules just so I could play at being an explorer. A real explorer knows when to quit.’

  ‘At least we saw the little Dumbo,’ said Willow. ‘Even if it was only a glimpse.’

  Olivia sighed. ‘Let’s head back to –’

  ‘Oi!’ barked an angry voice. ‘Do you think you MOANING MERMAIDS could keep it down? Some of us are trying to SLEEP.’

  ‘Who said that?!’ yelped Chloe.

  ‘Over here!’ huffed the voice.

  There, STUCK to the coral, was the STRANGEST STARFISH they had EVER seen.

  ‘What in TRITON’S TRUMPET are you?!’ gasped Bruce.

  ‘Don’t touch it!’ yelled Smedley. ‘That is a
CROWN OF THORNS STARFISH and, according to my book, it’s A ROYAL PAIN IN THE REEF.’

  ‘CHARMING,’ sneered the SPIKEY STARFISH. ‘Seeing as you’ve woken me up AND insulted me, can you lot BUZZ OFF!’

  ‘PIPPING PIPIS!’ puffed Frida. ‘Sea creatures on the wrong side of the reef are RUDE.’

  ‘Let’s go,’ said Olivia. She snapped a quick photo of the scary starfish and the mermaids went on their way.

  By the light of their head torches, Olivia and Bruce led the mermaids back through the MURKY caves. They SWISHED and SWOOSHED through the darkness for what seemed like FOREVER.

  ‘Miss Olivia,’ said Smedley, ‘I think we might be going round in circles.’

  ‘Don’t be silly, Smedley. Olivia knows exactly where we are, don’t you, Olivia?’ asked Bruce.

  ‘Of course,’ said Olivia nervously.

  But as one dead end turned into another, Olivia and her mermates began to realise that they were well and truly LOST.

  Not only were the mermaids LOST on the wrong side of the reef, it was COLD, it was DARK and things were about to get even worse . . .

  ‘Erm, can anyone hear that rumbling noise?’ said Chloe.

  ‘Oh no! RIPTIDE!’ exclaimed Olivia. ‘Grab anything you can.’

  ‘Alan did warn us about these riptides,’ cried Bruce.

  ‘NOW IS NOT THE TIME, BRUCEY,’ shouted Olivia. ‘HOLD ON TIGHT!’

  But as the RAGING RIPTIDE ROARED through the REEF, Olivia and Bruce were SWIRLED UP in the SWELL and SWEPT AWAY.

  With their eyes shut tight, Olivia and Bruce screamed as the SAVAGE SURF dragged them DEEPER and DEEPER into the wrong side of the reef.

  ‘AAARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!’

  Finally, they were DUMPED on the seabed with a heavy THUMP.

  Olivia and Bruce opened their eyes. It was PITCH BLACK.

  ‘I can’t see a thing,’ cried Olivia.

  ‘Where in FLAPPING FLOUNDERS are we?’ whimpered Bruce. ‘My torch isn’t working!’

  Olivia tapped her torch and the light began to flicker. When she finally got it working, she took a look around. They were trapped in a cave and they were NOT alone.

  ‘OH. MY. POSEIDON,’ they both gasped. ‘THE LITTLE DUMBO!’

  ‘Hey! You’re BLINDING me with that thing!’ snapped the Dumbo octopus.

  Olivia and Bruce couldn’t believe they were finally FIN TO FIN with the rare octopus they had been searching for all over the reef.

  ‘Can you two stop staring at me like a pair of STUNNED MULLETS and help me get out of this cave?’ it said in exasperation.

  ‘S-s-sorry,’ stuttered Olivia. ’It’s just that one minute we’re trying to find you and then – WHOOSH – we get swept up in a riptide and here you are!’

  The little Dumbo paused. ‘You’ve been looking for me? But why?’

  ‘Well, a Dumbo octopus has never been spotted on the reef before and –’

  ‘And we’re EXPLORERS,’ interrupted Bruce. ‘So we made it our MISSION to find you and discover what you’re doing here.’

  ‘I’m Olivia Ocean and this is my pal, Bruce,’ said Olivia. ‘It’s MERMAZING to meet you.’

  A big grin filled the little Dumbo’s face. ‘The name’s Oscar and I’m an EXPLORER TOO! I’ve spent my whole life in the DEEP, DARK DEPTHS of the ocean, so I decided to expand my horizons and see more of the seven seas.’

  ‘FISHTASTIC!’ squealed Olivia.

  ‘But now . . .’ Oscar sighed and began to cry. ‘I’m stuck in this cave and stuck in the dark AGAIN.’

  ‘Don’t worry, Oscar,’ said Olivia. ‘We got in here somehow, so there must be a way out.’

  ‘Of course there is,’ said Bruce. ‘We just need a MERMAZING PLAN OF ACTION!’

  ‘Good thinking, Brucey,’ said Olivia. ‘If only our mermates were here to help us.’

  ‘Mermates,’ repeated Oscar. ‘What’s a mer–’

  ‘Shhhhhhhh,’ said Bruce. ‘Can you hear that?’

  The three explorers listened closely.

  ‘What is that?’ whispered Oscar. ‘Sounds like . . .’

  ‘OOOLLLLIIIIIVVVVIIIIIIAAAAAAA!’ a voice called from outside the cave.

  ‘OUR MERMATES!’ cheered Bruce.

  ‘Sophia? Chloe? Willow?’ yelled Olivia. ‘We’re down here.’

  ‘Olivia!’ came Willow’s voice from above. ‘Are you and Bruce okay?’

  ‘Apart from being STUCK in this cave, we’re fine,’ yelled Olivia. ‘Can you see a way out up there?’

  ‘Miss Olivia, it’s Smedley,’ shouted the seahorse. ‘When the riptide dragged you into the cave, it also dragged lots of ROCKS and RUBBLE with it, blocking the entrance.’

  ‘But we have a plan,’ came Chloe’s voice. ‘We’re going to remove the rocks from our side and, if you dig them out from your side, we’ll clear the entrance in a JELLYFISH JIFFY!’

  ‘FISHTASTIC!’ Bruce called out.

  ‘Okay, Brucey,’ said Olivia. ‘Get the spare head torches from the ADVENTURE SURVIVAL KIT and let’s dig our way out of this cave.’

  ‘Let’s do this!’ exclaimed Oscar.

  And so the mermates and Oscar set to work. They DUG and DUG and DUG until FINALLY . . .

  ‘Thank POSEIDON you’re okay!’ puffed Sophia.

  The mermaids SQUISHED and SQUASHED Olivia and Bruce with hugs.

  ‘We were worried SEASICK,’ cried Chloe.

  ‘We thought we’d lost you!’ wailed Willow.

  ‘Ahem.’ Oscar had popped his head out of the cave.

  Olivia smiled at the little Dumbo octopus. ‘Mermates, there is someone very important I want you to meet . . .’

  The mermaids LOVED Oscar and enjoyed his many tales about his life in the DEEPEST, DARKEST DEPTHS of the ocean.

  But after the roller-coaster morning out on Sea Star Reef, it was time for the mermaids to say goodbye and get back to camp before they found themselves in SERIOUS TROUBLE.

  The only problem was, they were still well and truly LOST.

  ‘What are we going to do?’ said Smedley. ‘We’ll never get back in time for breakfast.’

  Olivia was beginning to feel very worried again. She got her mermates into this mess so it was up to her to get them out of it. But she had NO IDEA how to get back to camp.

  ‘I can show you the way. I know this reef like the BACK OF MY TENTACLE,’ said Oscar proudly.

  ‘Do you?’ exclaimed Olivia.

  ‘Of course.’ Oscar giggled. ‘I’ve been BOBBING around EXPLORING the reef for days.’

  ‘MERMAZING!’ cheered the mermaids.

  With a FLICK and a SWISH of their tails, the mermaids followed the little Dumbo octopus all the way back to camp.

  ‘The Camp is just over that coral,’ said Oscar. ‘So I guess this is goodbye then?’

  Olivia suddenly felt very sad. They’d only just found Oscar; she didn’t want to say goodbye just yet. And then the most MERMAZING PLAN popped into her head. ‘Oscar, why don’t you stay with us for the rest of camp?’ she asked.

  ‘Oh yes! Please say you’ll stay,’ exclaimed Bruce.

  Oscar smiled the BIGGEST smile. ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes, really.’ Olivia chuckled. ‘It will be FISHTASTIC!’

  As the mermates swam over the coral and back to camp, their excitement quickly disappeared . . . Waiting at the gates was A VERY ANGRY ALAN.

  ‘And where have you naughty mermaids been?’ growled Alan. ‘Come with me. You’ve got some explaining to do.’

  Olivia and her mermates were in BIG TROUBLE. Everyone at camp had been worried SEASICK when the mermaids hadn’t shown up for breakfast.

  ‘Breaking the rules and sneaking out on the reef,’ said Rod, shaking his head. ‘I’m very disappointed in you. I think you better tell me exactly what you were thinking.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Rod. It’s all my fault,’ said Olivia.

  She went on to explain everything that had happened that morning on the reef. The plan to find the little Dumbo, meeting Peggy the pufferf
ish and Bert the bumphead, getting lost on the wrong side of the reef, getting caught in the raging riptide and, finally, meeting Oscar.

  ‘We know it was wrong,’ admitted Olivia, ‘and we promise we will NEVER sneak out again.’

  Rod was stunned.

  ‘Well, it sounds like you’ve learned your lesson,’ said Rod. ‘But when you break the rules, you’ve got to face the music too. You will all be on kitchen duty for the rest of the week . . . you too, Oscar,’ Rod said with a wink.

  ‘Does that mean Oscar can stay?!’ exclaimed Olivia.

  Rod nodded. ‘But you mermaids better be on your best behaviour.’

  ‘We promise,’ said Bruce.

  ‘Don’t worry, Rod. I’ll make sure these mermaids don’t FLICK A FIN out of line,’ added Smedley.

  Rod chuckled. ‘Righto. You better get Oscar settled in.’

  Olivia and her mermates were over the MOONFISH that Oscar was staying with them. They couldn’t wait to show him around camp.

  The rest of the week WHIZZED by and each day was CLAM-PACKED with activities.

  They had the most MERMAZING fun making and flying kites.

  They had an absolute BALL playing bowls on the seabed.

  They had FISHTASTIC FUN playing HIDE AND SEEK among the coral.

  And they even had a BLAST on STINKY kitchen duty.

  When the last day of camp finally arrived, the mermaids didn’t want it to end.

  ‘I wish we could stay a few days longer,’ sobbed Olivia.

  ‘Me too,’ snivelled Willow.

  ‘Me three,’ sniffled Sophia.

  ‘It’s b-b-been F-FISHTASTIC,’ spluttered Chloe.

  ‘I’ve had the most MERMAZING time,’ said Oscar. ‘I thought I was just going on an adventure to explore the reef, but I ended up with the BESTEST MERMATES a little Dumbo could ever wish for.’