Splash's Secret Friend

by Catherine Hapka

  “Do you see Mullet anywhere?” Splash whispered as they swam toward the Music area. Bay was talking to Old Salty over near the kelp forest, so the friends had a moment to talk.

  Echo looked around. “He’s over there with Finny and Shelly and the rest of his school pod,” she whispered back. “I guess he didn’t tell the teachers what happened after all.”

  “Why not?” Flip wondered. “That’s kind of weird.”

  For a second Pearl was ready to agree. Then she thought about it and realized that maybe it wasn’t so weird after all.

  “Not really,” she said. “He was probably too embarrassed to tell anyone he was scared of such a small shark.”

  Echo nodded. “You’re probably right. Plus, blacktip sharks don’t usually eat dolphins. They’re too small.”

  “Yeah.” Flip grinned. “We should remind him of that next time he calls us scaredy-babies.”

  “No!” Splash warned. “You can’t say anything to him about Spinner. Not until we get him back to his family.”

  “Not after that, either,” Echo said. “If he knows we were helping a shark, he’d tell the teachers for sure. We’d be in big trouble.”

  “Oh, right.” Flip nodded. “Okay, I won’t say a word.”

  “Good.” Pearl shot another uneasy glance at Mullet. “We’ll just have to hope that Mullet doesn’t say a word about Spinner, either.”

  THE SCHOOL DAY SEEMED TO GO ON FOREVER, at least to Pearl. Finally it was time for Magic, the last class of the day.

  “All right, students,” Bay said. “Today we’re going to begin learning some of the basics of physical magic.”

  Pearl had been worrying about Spinner and Mullet all day. But Bay’s words made her forget about all that for a moment. So far, the young dolphins had been practicing only mental magic. That included skills like guiding and pushing, along with mental messaging. On the first day of school, Bay had promised that they’d be learning about physical magic, too.

  “Will we start with healing?” one of the other students, Harmony, asked eagerly. “I saw some dolphins from my pod heal an injured whale once.”

  “We’ll get to healing soon.” Bay nodded at Harmony. “But we’re going to start with something a bit easier.”

  “Good,” Splash said. “The easier the better!”

  That made everyone laugh, including Bay. They all knew that Splash did a lot better in Jumping and Swimming class than he did in Magic.

  “Don’t be down on yourself, Splash,” the teacher said with a smile. “Your magic is getting better all the time.”

  “That’s true,” Echo told him. “Just yesterday you guided that crab all the way around in a circle, remember?”

  Splash laughed again. “Only because Pearl was adding her magic to mine.”

  “That’s important for everyone,” Bay reminded him. “All dolphin magic works best when we work together. That will be especially important for today’s exercise. We’re going to learn how to use physical magic to make sounds louder or softer.”

  Pearl had seen her parents use that kind of magic many times. They often made their voices louder when they sang to the baby sea turtles in their lagoon.

  She listened as Bay talked about what to do. But after a moment, Pearl’s thoughts drifted back to Spinner. What was the shark doing right now? Was he scared out there all alone?

  She also couldn’t stop worrying about Mullet. What if he decided to tell someone he’d been chased by a shark? The teachers wouldn’t want a shark so close to the school. They’d probably go out there, find Spinner, and chase him far, far away …

  Pearl had to stop thinking about that when Bay told them it was time to practice what they’d just learned. Pearl and Flip were partners for the exercise. They were supposed to sing a few notes and try to make the sound louder.

  The first time they tried, Pearl sang a little bit of the song they’d learned in Music two days earlier. Flip touched her fin, and the two of them focused their magic just like Bay had told them. The notes rang out across the lagoon, much louder than Pearl was really singing.

  “Well done,” Bay said. “That was very good for your first try. Next?”

  She turned to Wiggle and his partner, Harmony. Pearl tried to pay attention, but it wasn’t easy. Soon she was back to thinking about Mullet and Spinner.

  She was still thinking about them when her team’s turn came around again. “I’ll sing this time,” Flip offered.

  He sang out a few notes and held out his fin toward Pearl. But she didn’t notice. She was too busy trying to figure out a way to help Spinner. They needed to hurry—the more time that passed, the harder it would be for him to catch up to his family.

  Meanwhile, Flip was sending out magic energy. The notes he was singing came out a tiny bit louder than normal. But the song wasn’t nearly as loud as their first try.

  “Hey,” Flip complained. “Pearl, you need to help!”

  “Oops.” Pearl finally noticed what was going on. She reached for Flip’s fin, but it was too late. He’d stopped singing.

  “Pearl, are you all right?” Bay asked. “I can tell you’re not as focused as usual today.”

  “Sorry.” Pearl felt embarrassed. “May we try it again?”

  “Of course.” Bay swam a little closer and peered at her. “But is anything wrong? It’s not like you to be so distracted.”

  “I know. I’m sorry.” Pearl smiled, hoping the teacher wouldn’t ask any more questions. There was something wrong: Pearl was worried about Spinner. But she couldn’t tell Bay about that. Not after the promise she’d made to Splash.

  Luckily, Bay just nodded and told Pearl and Flip to try again. This time, they did much better.

  Pearl was relieved when class finally ended. She started to swim off with her friends. But Bay called her name.

  “Could I talk to you for a moment?” the teacher asked.

  “Of course.” Pearl looked at her friends. “I’ll meet you guys by the exit.”

  When the others were gone, Bay looked serious. “I just want to make sure everything is all right,” she said. “You were very quiet in both of my classes today. Are you nervous about the shark migration?”

  “No,” Pearl said quickly. That much was true. She’d been so busy worrying about Spinner that she’d almost forgotten to worry about other sharks.

  Bay waited, as if expecting Pearl to say more. When she didn’t, the teacher blew out a bubbly sigh.

  “I don’t mean to pry, Pearl,” she said. “You’re one of my best students, and I worry when a good student seems to be having trouble.”

  “I know.” Pearl felt terrible. Bay looked so concerned! “The truth is, I am worried about something. But I promised someone I wouldn’t say anything about it. I … I don’t want to break my promise.”

  “I see.” Bay looked troubled, but she nodded. “In that case, I’ll stop asking questions. I’d never ask you to betray a friend’s secret. But I hope you know that you can come to me—or any of the other teachers—if you should ever need help.”

  “I know,” Pearl said. “Thanks.”

  When she joined her friends, they all looked worried. “What did Bay want?” Echo asked.

  “She could tell that something was upsetting me,” Pearl replied. “But don’t worry, I didn’t tell her about Spinner.”

  “Good.” Splash was already moving. “Let’s go.”

  They swam toward the exit. “Look out,” Echo whispered. “There’s Mullet.”

  The older student was drifting in the quiet water just inside the entryway. Pearl hoped he didn’t notice them going by and decide to tease them.

  When they passed, he swam forward. “Hey,” he said. “Have you guys seen Finny or Shelly?”

  “No,” Echo said. “Sorry.”

  “Oh.” Mullet frowned. Pearl waited for him to say something else. But he just turned and looked around.

  “That was weird,” Flip said once the four friends were outside. “I thought Mullet would say s
omething mean for sure.”

  “Me too,” Splash agreed. “Maybe getting chased by Spinner spooked him out of being such a bully.”

  “I doubt it,” Pearl said. “But maybe it scared him enough that he doesn’t want to swim out of school alone.”

  “Mullet? Scared?” Flip sounded surprised. “Wow.”

  Pearl knew how he felt. Mullet always acted as if nothing scared him.

  “Even if he’s nervous now, it probably won’t last,” Echo predicted. “We need to figure out a plan to help Spinner before Mullet decides to tell someone what happened.”

  “You’re right.” Splash flicked his tail and shot off. “Let’s go!”

  SPINNER CAME OUT OF HIS HIDING CAVE AS soon as the friends arrived. “I thought you’d never get here,” he complained. “Dolphins are so slow!”

  Pearl ignored that. “We need to come up with a plan right away,” she told the young shark. “Mullet hasn’t told anyone about you yet. But we’re worried that he might.”

  “So let’s start thinking of plans,” Splash said. “Who has an idea?”

  “I do!” Flip spurted some bubbles out of his blowhole. “We could disguise Spinner as a dolphin. Then we could swim him right past everyone.”

  Echo stared at him. “Disguise him as a dolphin? How are we supposed to do that—pull out all his teeth?”

  “No way!” Spinner said. “I like my teeth right where they are.” He bared them in a snarl.

  Pearl shuddered. She didn’t like looking at those sharp teeth!

  “Sorry, Flip,” she said. “I don’t think we can disguise him well enough to fool anyone. Any other ideas?”

  “We don’t even know where his family is right now,” Echo said. “Maybe we need to work on that first. Otherwise, sneaking him out of the cove won’t make any difference.”

  “Okay,” Splash said. “How can we find them?”

  “Maybe we could get a seagull to look,” Flip suggested.

  Echo looked dubious. “Seagulls don’t think about anything except food,” she said. “How could we convince one to help us?”

  “We could give it some food,” Flip said. “Then it would want to help.”

  Echo shook her head. “I don’t think that will work. Two seconds after the seagull eats the food and flies away, it’s sure to forget all about us.”

  “This is dumb,” Spinner said. “I’m always hearing about all the crazy magic you dolphins have. And how you’re always using it to help sea creatures. So why can’t you use magic to send me home?”

  “Our magic doesn’t work that way,” Echo told him.

  “Then what good is it?” Spinner glared at her.

  “Quit arguing,” Splash said. “We need to focus. Anyway, maybe we can use our magic somehow. We could try sending a mental message to Spinner’s family.”

  “They’re probably too far away,” Flip said. “We’re still learning—even Echo would never be able to send a message that far without help from an adult.”

  “He’s right,” Echo agreed. “Anyway, would a shark even listen to a dolphin message?”

  “Probably not,” Spinner put in. He swam in a circle. “Maybe I should just charge out of here and swim as fast as I can. Sharks are faster than dolphins.”

  “Says who?” Flip challenged. “Dolphins are way faster!”

  Splash looked frustrated. “You guys! Quit arguing!”

  “Anyway, getting past the other dolphins is only part of the problem,” Echo reminded the shark. “You’d still be alone out in the ocean with no idea where your family might be.”

  “Oh, right.” Spinner glared at Flip. “But sharks are still faster.”

  After that, Pearl mostly stopped listening. Her friends weren’t coming up with any plans that seemed as if they could work. Besides, she was focused on something else. For some reason, she couldn’t stop thinking about what Bay had just said to her. She also kept remembering her talk with her father on the way to school that morning. Could something they’d said be the key to a better plan?

  “This is never going to work!” Echo cried, breaking into Pearl’s thoughts. “We might as well give up.”

  “No!” Splash said. “We can’t give up. Not until Spinner is back with his family.”

  “Yeah.” Spinner bared his teeth. “You need to help me, or else!”

  “That’s not very nice,” Echo told him, not seeming scared of his teeth anymore. “We might want to help you more if you weren’t such a … a … a shark!”

  “I am a shark.” Spinner scowled at her. “What’s wrong with that?”

  “I don’t know.” Echo sighed. “But maybe dolphins and sharks aren’t meant to work together.”

  “I don’t think that’s true.” Pearl spoke up.

  The others all turned and looked at her. “What do you mean, Pearl?” Echo asked.

  Pearl swam to the surface for a breath before answering. “I mean, I don’t think it’s true that dolphins and sharks can’t work together,” she said when she returned. “I have an idea for a way to help Spinner.”

  “You do?” Splash did an eager flip in the water. “What is it, Pearl?”

  “This should be good,” Flip told Spinner. “Pearl’s really smart. She always has good plans.”

  “That’s right,” Echo agreed. “So tell us already, Pearl!”

  Pearl hesitated. “Okay,” she said. “But I’m afraid you might not like it.” She gulped. “Especially you, Spinner.”

  Spinner narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean …” Pearl blew out a nervous stream of bubbles. “I mean, I think we should tell the teachers that you’re here.”

  “What?” Spinner didn’t need magic to make his voice loud. He bared his teeth. “No way. You’re not telling anyone!”

  Echo and Flip looked surprised. “But Pearl,” Flip said. “You’re the one who convinced us to keep the secret!”

  “Yeah,” Splash added, sounding upset. “You promised, Pearl!”

  “I know.” Pearl tried not to look too closely at Spinner’s sharp teeth. “But I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and I think it’s the only way to help Spinner. Just let me explain …”

  * * *

  “Are you sure about this, Pearl?” Splash asked as he and Pearl swam toward the school a few minutes later. “I mean really, really sure?”

  “I think so.” Pearl glanced back. They’d left Spinner behind with Echo and Flip. “Anyway, we don’t have a better plan, do we?”

  “I guess not.” Splash sounded worried. But then he swam closer and bumped Pearl gently with his snout. “Anyway, I trust you. If you think this is the best idea, that’s good enough for me.”

  “Thanks.” Pearl hoped she wouldn’t let him down. “Let’s go in and see if Bay is still here.”

  There was no sign of the teacher inside the school cove. But after a moment, Pearl spotted the principal over by the kelp forest.

  “There’s Old Salty,” she told Splash. “Let’s talk to him.”

  “Okay. But I think I’m going to need more air for this,” Splash said, swimming toward the surface.

  Pearl did the same, gulping in a big lungful of air. Then she and Splash dove back down, heading for Old Salty. Pearl’s stomach was in knots. Would her plan help Spinner? Or was she just getting him into deeper trouble?

  THE NEXT MORNING, PEARL ANXIOUSLY watched the school entrance from a spot just inside. “When are they going to get here?” she wondered.

  “Soon, I hope.” Echo shivered. “Do you think Spinner is scared?”

  “If he is, he’ll never admit it,” Flip said. “Sharks are weird like that.”

  “Look,” Splash cried. “Here they come!”

  They all watched as Spinner swam into the cove with Old Salty swimming right next to him on one side and Riptide on the other. The rest of the students saw them, too.

  “Shark!” an older student cried. “Look out, everyone!”

  Wiggle darted behind a clump of coral. “Don�
��t let him bite me!”

  “Calm down, students,” Bay said. She was floating nearby. “Nobody is biting anyone.”

  “If he tries, Riptide will stop him!” Splash’s brother Finny called out. “Right, Riptide?”

  “You don’t have to worry,” Riptide replied. “This young shark isn’t here to cause trouble.”

  “That’s right.” Old Salty swam forward to address all the students. “Spinner is here so we can help him.”

  “Why would we do that?” Mullet called out. “Sharks are mean!”

  “Spinner is no threat to us or any other dolphin,” Old Salty said calmly. “He’s just a lost sea creature, and as the defenders of the ocean, it’s every dolphin’s job to help whenever we can.”

  Some of the students nodded. Others still looked uncertain.

  “But a shark tried to eat my grandpa once,” someone said.

  “I’d guess it wasn’t a blacktip shark, like Spinner here,” Old Salty said. “It is true that we need to be careful about some of the larger, more aggressive species. But really, most sharks aren’t so different from us.”

  “What do you mean?” The student who called out sounded surprised. “Sharks and dolphins are nothing alike!”

  Bay smiled, swimming over to join Old Salty. “Don’t be so sure,” she said. “Haven’t you noticed how similar we look to sharks? And of course, both our species make our homes right here in the Salty Sea.”

  “That’s right,” Pearl called out. “Sharks even go to school like us!”

  “What did she say?” a dolphin near the back called out.

  Echo reached over to touch Pearl’s fin. “I’ll help,” she whispered. “Say it again.”

  Pearl smiled at her friend, then turned toward the others. “I said, young sharks go to school—just like us.”

  As she spoke, she focused her energy on making the words loud enough for the entire cove to hear. Echo’s magic mingled with hers, projecting her voice successfully.

  “Young Pearl is correct,” Old Salty said. “We have much in common, really, as well as there being some key differences …”