A Dolphin Wish

by Natalie Grant

  “You know, like shifty eyes,” Lulu explained, demonstrating.

  “How can you even see his eyes?” Mia asked.

  Maddie’s head whipped back and forth between her sisters as she watched this whole exchange. Mia knew Maddie was uncomfortable and was looking for a way to make the peace.

  Miss Julia put a hand on Mia’s shoulder. “So, these are Emperor Penguins, the tallest of all the penguins. They live in Antarctica—not surprising, given that we’re in the Antarctic Ocean area.” She scrolled down on her phone, and then her eyes lit up. “Wow. They can stay submerged under the water for eighteen minutes while hunting.”

  “Hunting for what?” Maddie wanted to know.

  “Most of the time, for fish,” Miss Julia said. “And krill and squid.”

  “He’s leaving the exhibit,” Lulu said, her voice flat with disappointment. “And he’s leaving the penguins behind. I guess he’s not the criminal.”

  “He wouldn’t kidnap a penguin in front of everyone,” Mia said.

  “I guess not,” Lulu said. “But how are we supposed to even start solving the mystery? We have no clues. At least at the museum in London, we saw Mr. Hughes take the painting.”

  “He didn’t actually take it,” Maddie pointed out. “I mean, not the way we thought.”

  “Yeah, but looking for Mr. Hughes led us to the real thief in the end. Whoa, look at this!” Lulu fished a soggy piece of paper out from under the snow. “Now this might just be a clue. A real one, Mia.”

  “Lulu, this is serious.” Mia almost rolled her eyes, but caught herself just in time.

  Eye rolling was a major offense in the Glimmer family. Most of the time, the eye-rolling rule was no problem for Mia. There was something humiliating about someone rolling her eyes at you. Mia would rather a person speak her mind, instead of acting as though there weren’t words to describe how dumb something was that you’d said or done. And it wasn’t that Lulu was being dumb, just that she was making the mystery seem like it wasn’t a real mystery at all. It wasn’t a game. They’d all seen the penguins on the loose with their own eyes. Maybe penguins were easy enough to round up, but some of the other animals would be more of a problem. Like parrots, who could actually fly away. Or seals, who might waddle right into the ocean and never come back.

  “Isn’t anyone going to look at my clue?” Lulu insisted.

  Mia sighed and held out her hand. “Let’s see it, then.”

  The scrap of paper was more interesting than Mia had expected. Rather than being a random receipt, the paper looked like it had been torn from a small spiral notebook. Only part of the words at the top of the page were visible, the rest having smeared in the melting snow. “Pe” and then near the end of the line, “sche,” with the rest blurred. Underneath, someone had made a list, only one line of which was still visible: 11:45 am.

  “Sche . . .” Maddie read over Mia’s shoulder. “Schedule?”

  “I think so,” Mia said.

  “Told you it was a clue!” Lulu leapt into the air and skidded in the snow as she landed.

  “All right,” Dad said, catching her. “That’s enough sleuthing for now. What do you say we try another ride? I’ve had my eyes on that log ride.”

  “I want to ride with Daddy!” Lulu said.

  “It’s a deal,” he said.

  Mia slipped the paper into her pocket. Honestly, she didn’t think it was a clue, but there was the slightest, itsy-bitsiest chance that it was. She didn’t have any better place to start. And what Lulu had said was true. Last time they’d solved a mystery, their first theory had been completely wrong. But by following all the wrong clues, they’d found the right ones. Maybe that would happen again. She might as well keep her eyes open for other scraps of paper to match, just in case.

  TWELVE

  Rather than crossing back through Buccaneer’s Island, they took the side path into the Southern Pacific Sea area. Before heading to the log ride, they took their passports to the captain.

  “Does anyone have a coin?” the captain asked. Her name tag read, Captain Coin.

  Miss Julia had a few. She handed them over, and Captain Coin showed the girls how to use her machine to stamp a starfish into the coin’s surface.

  “Is this why they call you Captain Coin?” Lulu asked.

  “It’s one reason,” Captain Coin said, her eyes twinkling. “Also, here in the Southern Pacific Seas, we have a wishing well. If you toss in a coin and make a wish, they say the winds will grant you your heart’s desire.”

  “We’re headed off to the log ride,” Dad said. “The girls are wondering if they’ll get wet.”

  “Not soaked,” Captain Coin said, “but definitely splashed.”

  “Maybe we should let the girls warm up a little more first, then,” Mom said, and then explained to Captain Coin. “We just visited the Chill Zone.”

  “Gotcha,” Captain Coin said. “Well, if you need something to do in the meantime, you can see live starfish and many other fascinating creatures in our tide pools. They’re just past the well, over in that direction.”

  “Tide pools it is,” Dad said. “And then the log ride.”

  As they passed by the wishing well, Mia asked, “Is it bad to make wishes? I mean, obviously the wind doesn’t grant them . . .”

  She considered today’s list of wishes. First of all—of course—swimming with the dolphins. Since that hadn’t worked out, the top of her current list was to find clues and eventually solve the mystery of why the animals were being let out of their habitats. Could she wish, I wish to know what sche . . . means, and whether it matters?

  “I think wishes are okay, as long as you know them for what they are,” Mom said. “What do you think, Jack?”

  Dad hoisted Lulu up onto his back for a piggyback ride. “I’ve made my share of wishes. Like wishing for Mom to fall in love with me, back when we first started dating.”

  Mom laughed. “Here’s what I think, Mia. Wishes are much like prayers. Only, sometimes people get confused about who they’re wishing to. For instance, they wish to the winds—rather than to the one who can actually give miraculous gifts. When you pray about your dreams, you’re putting your heart’s desires into words. Even though God already knows our desires, he still wants us to whisper them into his ear. Think about how it feels to tell a friend—or a sister—something you truly, truly want. Sharing makes you closer, doesn’t it? And sharing our hearts with God works that same way.”

  Dad chimed in, “There’s a verse that says, ‘Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.’ ”

  “Always?” Lulu asked.

  “No, not always,” Dad answered. “That’s the other thing about wishes. God isn’t a genie who must grant our wishes. Sometimes we wish for things that wouldn’t be good for us in the long run. And other times, granting a wish might take away someone’s free will, which God doesn’t do either. He couldn’t force Mom to fall in love with me, for instance. She had to decide that on her own.”

  He set Lulu down and scooped Mom into his arms, giving her a kiss.

  “Maybe I’ll make a wish, then,” Mia said, but when everyone turned to look at her, she added, “Later.” She definitely didn’t want to make a wish with an audience watching.

  Like the sea pens, the tide pools made the most of the park’s location, right on the ocean. Now that they’d seen most of the park, Mia realized that it had been built on land that jutted out into the ocean. Water, in various small coves and inlets, surrounded about two-thirds of the park. Here, natural tide pools lay scattered among craggy rocks. High tide had swept a variety of sea creatures into the pools of salt water. A marine biologist roamed the rocks, identifying the various creatures for visitors. Maddie’s favorites were an orange starfish and several purple sea anemones
. Lulu wanted to watch the crab that scrambled around one pool.

  “Poor crab,” Miss Julia said. “He can’t wait to find his way back to the sea.”

  In another pool, they found a live sand dollar. In some ways, though, it was hard to get excited about tide pools with tiny, ordinary creatures. Just an hour or so ago, they’d been feeding real, live dolphins.

  Mia kept her eyes open for clues, but didn’t see anything. No random notes, no biologists talking in whispers, or even people with shifty eyes. The thief had no reason to bother with the tide pools, anyway. These animals weren’t officially property of the park.

  “Ready for the Log Plunge?” Dad asked, after they came to the last pool, this one empty.

  “Let’s go!” Lulu shouted, and raced ahead.

  “Wait for us!” Miss Julia called after her.

  There was a short line, but soon they loaded up into three logs. Dad and Lulu in one, Maddie and Mom in the second, and Miss Julia and Mia in the third.

  “You ready for this?” Miss Julia asked as they started up a steep incline.

  Mia’s stomach flipped over, but this time in a good way. It felt different being in a log with Miss Julia than it had being in the boat on her own with Maddie. That morning, Mia had felt responsible for both of them.

  Now, she could just relax into the experience. Nothing bad would happen—nothing more than a little splashing, that was. Up and down and around wild corners, Mia laughed all the way through, even when they hit the water at the end and water splashed up over both sides of the log. She and Miss Julia got a little wet, but, as Captain Coin had promised, not soaked.

  “Again!” Lulu said the minute they’d climbed off.

  The line wasn’t too long, so they rode again, switching up so that Mia rode with Mom, Maddie with Dad, and Lulu with Miss Julia. Afterward, they examined the map.

  “We haven’t been to the Northern Pacific Sea area,” Maddie said. “And they have sea otters there.”

  “What does a sea otter look like?” Lulu asked.

  “Like a seal, but furry,” Miss Julia said.

  Now, here was a chance for clues. “Yes, let’s go see the sea otters!” Mia said.

  “We don’t have to go across the island to get there,” Mom said. “We can meander the path and then go see the captain for your passports. Sound good?”

  “Good!” all three girls agreed.

  Mia rolled her coin in her hand, and as they passed by the well, she tossed it in. Please, God, help me solve this mystery. She had no idea if God answered prayers like this one, but she had to at least try. It’s for me, kind of, because I want to solve a mystery of my own, like Maddie. But it’s also for the animals. I don’t want them to be in danger.

  THIRTEEN

  Maddie held back in order to walk with Mia. “Was your wish about the mystery—whether you can figure out who is letting the animals loose?”

  “Kind of.”

  If the non-answer bothered her, Maddie didn’t show it. “Did you see anything in the tide pools?”

  “No. I’m not surprised we didn’t, though. No one is going to take starfish or sea urchins out of there, right? I mean, it’s not like they’re valuable enough to steal and sell, and what would they do with them? Put them in buckets and dump them in the sea?”

  “Why do you think someone would be letting the animals out in the first place?” Maddie asked. “You think it’s for money?”

  “I don’t know. If someone were trying to steal animals, you’d think they’d take them right away. Why would they go to all that trouble and then just let them wander around the park?”

  “Ugh,” Maddie shuddered. “What a horrible idea . . . Someone stealing the animals and selling them. But, do you think maybe it’s someone playing a practical joke?”

  “It’s a lot of effort for a joke,” Mia said. “And it sounds like the problem has been going on for a while now, so that makes it seem more serious to me.”

  “Sleuthing, girls?” Miss Julia asked, dropping back to join their conversation.

  “Just thinking.” Mia scanned the faces of kids, moms, dads, grandparents, random park workers—all headed one place or another.

  Was one of them an animal thief? A group of teens passed by, jostling one another and laughing. Practical jokesters?

  “How many people do you think come to the park every day?” Maddie asked.

  “I’d guess thousands,” Miss Julia said.

  Maddie frowned. “But whoever is letting the animals out must be coming day after day.”

  “Or they work here,” Mia said.

  “Stamps, ladies?” the captain at the entrance to the Northern Pacific Sea area asked. His tag read, Captain Swashbuckler.

  “You’re Captain Swashbuckler?” Mia asked.

  He took off his hat and bowed low. “At your service. Have you been enjoying my park?”

  “Absolutely,” Maddie said. “We’re going to see the sea otters right now.”

  “Ah, some of my favorites,” said Captain Swashbuckler. “Shake a leg, then, and enjoy!”

  The way to the sea otter exhibit was through a darkened building, its walls housing giant aquariums with various kinds of fish. They even walked through a glass arch filled with water, and spotted jellies that glowed in the dim light. The jellies contracted and then stretched long and thin, floating through the water. Mia stopped to watch, mesmerized.

  “Come on, come on!” Lulu said. “The sea otters are up here.”

  They arrived at the viewing area just as a biologist stood up to give a talk. There were four otters in the large enclosure, a giant pool ringed with rocks.

  “Sea otters are endangered animals,” the biologist explained. “And these have been deemed non-releasable, so they will live here for the rest of their lives. While they’re here, they do important work, such as help teach the public about their species. They also mentor young pups that may one day be reintroduced to the wild.”

  “What does that mean—non-releasable?” Lulu wanted to know, stumbling a bit as she repeated back the marine biologist’s word. She did raise her hand, but didn’t wait to shout out her question. The biologist smiled, not seeming to mind.

  “Good question. All our otters were rescued as young pups. Some pups can be mentored by our older otters and then released. But even though these had mentors, in the end, they didn’t learn the necessary skills to survive in the wild. We tried to release Lola, for instance—she’s the biggest of our otters, weighing about fifty pounds. Unfortunately, she kept climbing onto surfers’ boards out in the ocean. She was too comfortable with humans, and living in the wild was dangerous for her, and for people too. So, now she’s here with us.”

  The otters kept in constant motion. They scratched their backs on the rocks, rolled around, and flopped onto their bellies to slide into the water. In and out they went, often floating on their backs when they were in the water.

  “They have so many whiskers!” Lulu said, pointing to an otter that had bobbed back up to the surface with a sea urchin in its paws.

  The exhibit had a set of double doors, but no one lingered near them. Maybe the thief wasn’t cruel enough to set animals like these free, since scientists had deemed them unable to survive on their own. At least, Mia hoped that was true.

  “They act like puppies,” Maddie said, laughing as she continued to watch. “Are they related to dogs?”

  “Actually, they’re in the same family as skunks and weasels,” Miss Julia said.

  “But not as stinky!” Lulu said.

  “You don’t know that,” Mia pointed out. “They’re pretty far away, and behind glass.”

  “They’re too cute to be stinky,” Lulu said.

  “Skunks are pretty cute too,” Miss Julia sa
id. “But you’re right, sea otters don’t use stink as a defense the way skunks do.”

  Maddie touched Mia’s arm and nodded toward a man with a white jacket, winding his way through the gathered crowd. He made a few notes in a file and then went through the exhibit door into the backstage area.

  “What do you think?” Maddie asked.

  “I don’t know . . .” Mia said.

  “Let’s remember what he looked like, anyway,” Maddie said. “Tall, salt-and-pepper hair, beady eyes.”

  “Beady?” Mia couldn’t help smiling at this.

  “Who has beady eyes?” Lulu asked.

  “No one, never mind,” Mia said.

  “Hmph,” Lulu said. “No one ever tells me anything.”

  “So, the Whitewater Canyon ride is here in the Northern Pacific,” Mom said. “Or we can try out High Jinks on the High Seas in the Northern Atlantic.”

  “Anyone ready to show off their sword-fighting skills?” Dad asked.

  “Let’s go to High Jinks!” Lulu pulled out her imaginary sword and demonstrated some of her moves. “En garde!”

  “Whoa, there!” Dad caught Lulu before she slammed her arm into a passing stroller.

  “I’m glad she’s on our side.” Miss Julia laughed. “Okay, Glimmers, this way!”

  FOURTEEN

  Lulu pretended to sword fight half the way to High Jinks, and then ran out of steam. “You’re dragging your heels, Lulu,” Miss Julia said. “Hungry?”

  “Starved,” she said. “For cotton candy!”

  Thank goodness Mia wasn’t the only hungry one. They stopped for cotton candy for Lulu, and soft-serve ice cream for Mia and Maddie. Mom, Dad, and Miss Julia had a few bites of everyone’s treats.

  They tossed their napkins and headed off for High Jinks again.

  “Excuse me,” a woman said, causing everyone to turn. “I’m sorry, but are you Gloria Glimmer? My daughter and I saw your daughters and then you and your husband, and we thought, could that be . . .? We’re coming to the concert later this week, so we knew you were in town.”