A Dolphin Wish

by Natalie Grant

  Mom looked thoughtfully at Dad, who nodded, and then said, “You said partly. What are the other reasons?”

  “The animals in the park are all injured or need help, or they can’t live on their own in the wild. If the wrong animals actually escape the park, they could die. And if the boy is the one letting them out, he can’t be doing it for money or anything like that. He’s just a kid. So, maybe he doesn’t understand. I think I can help—I want to help. I’m afraid we’ll go home and I’ll hear that he let an animal out and it got hurt or . . . died. I think I can stop that from happening. At least, I want to try.”

  “Now that,” Dad said, “is what I’d call a right reason.”

  “I’m proud of you,” Mom put her hand on Mia’s knee. “You could have been dishonest or claimed that your feelings about Maddie didn’t matter. But you told us the truth, when I know telling the truth wasn’t easy. And like Dad said, you do have a heartfelt, very right reason too.”

  Hope bloomed inside Mia, making it hard to sit still. “So does that mean we can go?”

  Mom checked the clock, and then asked Dad, “Can you finish this up? We can plan to meet at the airport at two. Maybe you could take the other girls for lunch and a treat?”

  “I think that can be arranged,” Dad said.

  “So yes?” Mia asked, eyes wide.

  Mom winked. “Yes.”

  Mia jumped off the bed, whooping. She hugged Mom and Dad and then Mom again. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  They arrived at the park just as the attendants opened the front gates. As soon as they were through, Mia paused, scanning the various paths. On the way to the park, she’d considered her options. How could she find the boy quickly? He’d already let out the penguins and flamingos in the last few days, so maybe he’d go for a different exhibit. Yesterday, she’d seen him watching the seals and the parrots. Since the seals were already free—at least the ones he’d been watching were free—she didn’t think she needed to worry about them. She’d been sure yesterday that no one could get away with letting the parrots out without anyone seeing. But sometimes kids got away with things that adults couldn’t. He wasn’t too much older than she was, and if someone saw him sneaking around the back of the aviary, they’d think he was just a kid messing around, not someone making real trouble. Maybe early in the morning he’d be able to cut a hole in the net without being caught.

  “I think we should go to the parrots,” she told Mom. “But let’s see what time they get fed over at the info desk.”

  Morning feeding time for the parrots was 9:45. Right now, it was 9:15, so it would be a bit of a wait. Mia led the way to the parrots. When they got there, she searched the aviary inside and out. No boy with a backpack. Also, there wasn’t much of a crowd. If they camped out, the boy might see and recognize her. If she scared him away, he might not show his face at all today, and then her last chance would really and truly be over.

  “I suppose we should make the rounds,” Mia said.

  “Sure,” Mom said. “Don’t see him?”

  “Nope,” Mia said.

  “Remember . . .” Mom began.

  “I know, we might not find him and I have to be okay with that.” Mom nudged Mia with her shoulder, smiling.

  “Love you, Mia.”

  “You too, Mom,” Mia said.

  Captain Swashbuckler’s Adventure Park felt bigger than ever today. Every single family seemed to want to go the opposite way that Mia wanted to go. It was like being a fish swimming upstream in a strong current. First, they made their way to the Chill Zone. No backpack boy, inside or outside the exhibit. Rather than heading across Buccaneer’s Island, they circled the park counterclockwise, past the flamingos—no boy—and on toward the sea otter exhibit. Mia walked around as far around the back of the building as the walkway allowed. Still, she didn’t see any entrance other than a chained and padlocked fence. The only backstage access to the otters had to be on the other side.

  “Can I help you?” a park employee asked. Clearly, they weren’t supposed to be poking around back here.

  “Excuse us,” Mom said. “We’re not in the right place, are we?”

  “If you’re looking for the entrance to the otters, it’s around this way,” the man said.

  He led them toward a well-traveled path in front of the building and watched until they went inside. The sea otters were playing, as usual, and no one was entering or exiting through the side doors. Not that Mia had expected anyone to be letting otters out into the public area. No backpack boy here either.

  Now that they weren’t stopping to ride rides, Mia realized how exhausting it was to walk and walk and walk around the giant park. But she could hardly give up now. The boy had to be somewhere, and she fully planned to find him.

  Around the top of the park, they crossed into the Arctic Sea area. Mia checked the walrus exhibit.

  “He had a severe infection when he beached,” Mom said, reading the plaque. “And it kept recurring, until they determined he’d have to remain on small amounts of medication for the rest of his life.”

  “He weighs 3,200 pounds,” Mia read. “Umm . . . Dr. Dolittle wouldn’t let him out, would he? Anyway, I don’t see the boy anywhere.” Mia scanned the crowd for red backpacks. “It’s strange now, calling the kid Dr. Dolittle, but I don’t know what else to call him.”

  “Ready to move on?” Mom asked.

  “Yes.” Mia tried to stay optimistic, but she was starting to worry. She’d been sure they’d have spotted the boy by now. They’d walked through more than half of the park.

  “The Northern Atlantic Sea area is ahead,” Mia said. “Dolphins and seals. Probably, he won’t be there either, but you should see the seals since you didn’t see them when you came. Did you know they were here before the park was built?”

  “And they stuck around?” Mom asked.

  “Their cove is pretty special,” Mia said. “The scientist we talked to said that they are safe there from predators, like sharks. And I think they like showing off for the people, at least that’s what it seemed like to me.”

  “Maybe so,” Mom said. “Lead the way!”

  TWENTY-NINE

  The seals barked just as loudly as they had yesterday. Mia and Mom leaned against the rail to watch them splash off their rocks into the water. The seals rolled around in the waves, and then climbed back out. While they watched, something made Mia turn and look at the dolphin and seal hospital.

  “Mom, that’s him!” Mia said, grabbing Mom’s arm.

  He wore his red backpack again, and like yesterday, he was alone.

  “Watch out!” Mia said, as the boy glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone was watching.

  Both she and Mom whipped their heads back toward the seals. After counting to twenty, Mia peeked again. He must not have seen them. Now, he had something white in his hand, something white and small, the size of a key card. He approached the door again.

  “See?” Mia said to Mom.

  Mom took out her phone and snapped a picture, but looked uncertain as she studied it. “I’m not sure.”

  Something must have spooked the boy, because just then, he bolted away from the door. He disappeared into the park.

  “Now what?” Mia asked.

  “He did have a key card,” Mom said. “Doesn’t it make sense that he’s maybe a son of one of the scientists?”

  “Then why would he run away?” Mia asked. “If he had a key card that worked, and that belonged to him, wouldn’t he simply unlock the door and go inside?”

  “I don’t know . . .” Mom said.

  “Mom, we have proof. We have to go tell someone. We have to.”

  “To be honest, Mia, I’m regretting coming to the park today. I’m afraid you’r
e going to be disappointed. What if we’re about to lead the park officials on a wild-goose chase?”

  “What if it isn’t a wild-goose chase?”

  Mom looked at the picture once more. “I suppose we should go find someone to talk to. You said you saw a scientist over by those doors yesterday?”

  “Yes, but no one is there now. Maybe we should go to the info desk?”

  “That’s probably the thing to do,” Mom agreed.

  Mia didn’t mind the ache in her feet, now that they were on their way to do something, to finally share her theory. Now that she’d seen him in front of the dolphin and seal hospital, she was even more determined. If he messed with the injured dolphins or seals, who knew what would happen. She had to stop him before he made a mistake that couldn’t be fixed.

  The info desk attendant wore a pirate costume, complete with an eye patch and a red bandana to cover her salt-and-pepper gray braids.

  “Ahoy there,” she called as they approached. “How might I help ye?”

  Mia waited until they’d closed the distance. Then, she said, “Someone’s letting the animals out of their habitats. We think we know who.”

  “Excuse me?” the woman asked, completely dropping her pirate persona.

  Mia repeated herself. The woman glanced at Mom, who said, “We should probably talk to a park official.”

  “Right,” said the woman, and thinking this through, repeated, “Right. Just a moment.”

  She picked up her phone, dialed a number, and explained that a girl had important information to share.

  “Right,” she said yet again as she hung up. “Please wait on this bench, and Gabrielle Yates, head of park security, will be with you shortly.”

  Gabrielle Yates looked like an Olympic athlete, maybe a runner. Mia had no idea how old she was; she could be thirty or fifty, Mia wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. Gabrielle’s face was mostly unlined, but had sharp angles, particularly at her cheekbones. She walked at a brisk pace, and once at the bench, she held out her hand to shake their hands. Mia liked Gabrielle immediately, noticing that she shook her hand first, and then Mom’s.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Mia. Gloria. Follow me to my office?” Gabrielle suggested.

  “Thank you,” Mom said.

  Gabrielle led them to an office building on the edge of the Antarctic Ocean area. Inside, accent walls were blue and green, and the decor was similar to the rest of the park. Large frames hung on the walls, featuring photos of various animals being released into the sea.

  “Success stories,” Gabrielle said, motioning to the photos. “We love being a destination for families—for fun and for education—but the mission closest to our hearts is saving the animals and releasing them back into the wild.”

  “Hey there, Sara,” she said, passing by a woman at a wide reception desk. Once inside the suite of offices, she held open the door for Mia and Mom. “Come on inside.”

  There was a sitting area across from the desk. Mia and Mom sat on the couch, and Gabrielle sat in a wing-backed chair next to them.

  “Tell me everything,” Gabrielle said to Mia.

  THIRTY

  It all started when we were backstage to see the dolphins,” Mia said. “I went to the restroom, and when I came back out into the hallway, I overheard a couple of teenagers talking. They said that someone was letting the animals out of their habitats.”

  Gabrielle nodded seriously. “It’s been happening off and on all summer, but in the past few weeks, we’ve had an incident almost every day. We’re baffled. For starters, how could anyone with poor intentions enter the park so often without catching the attention of our front gate staff?”

  “I told my sisters what I’d heard, and we started looking for clues,” Mia said.

  “We were recently in London, and my girls stumbled across a mystery that they ended up solving,” Mom explained. “I’m afraid they’ve caught the detective bug.”

  “We didn’t find any real clues on Thursday,” Mia said. “But then I begged Mom and Dad and they let us come back yesterday with our nanny, Miss Julia. That’s when we came up with the idea that maybe this person—” She just stopped herself from calling him Dr. Dolittle. She didn’t want to explain their thief’s code name to Gabrielle. “Maybe he was letting the animals out immediately after feeding times. On Thursday, in the Chill Zone, my sister found a scrap of paper with feeding times written on it. No one thought it was a clue. Not then. But after we thought about it, we realized maybe it was.”

  “Maybe Gabrielle doesn’t need quite so much of the story,” Mom suggested.

  “No, it’s all right,” Gabrielle said. “It’s an interesting theory. Why did you think he was letting animals out after feeding time?”

  “He could watch the biologists leave after their shifts were over. Then, he’d know the animals were on their own for a while.”

  Gabrielle went to her desk, pulled out a file folder, and flipped through pages before coming back to join them. “The timing actually checks out. That could be exactly what he—or she—is doing.”

  “He. It’s a boy,” Mia said. “See, we saw this kid making notes in a notebook, and he acted all . . . shifty when my sister talked to him. I didn’t notice then. Well, actually I just didn’t pay enough attention. But last night, my little sister had something in her hands, something secret. When I asked her about it, she got all secretive—just like he had—and then I knew.”

  “That’s why you think it’s this boy? Because he was acting secretive?” Gabrielle’s forehead creased.

  “I wasn’t sure what to think either,” Mom said. “Certainly, we needed more proof. So we came back today.”

  “And we saw him with a key card over by the dolphin and seal hospital. Maybe he was about to break in, I don’t know. But something spooked him and he ran off. Mom took his picture.”

  “Can I see?” Gabrielle asked. Mom handed over her phone.

  “But that’s . . .” Gabrielle said, her frown lines deepening. “He shouldn’t have a key card. What is he doing?”

  She rose from her chair again and went to her phone. “Tim, can you come in here?” Almost instantly, a man wearing a black suit and round glasses walked through the door.

  “What is it?”

  Gabrielle showed him the picture. “This girl seems to think Jackson is the one letting animals out of their habitats.”

  The man—Tim, she’d called him—blinked rapidly, reminding Mia of a surprised owl. “But Jackson, he’s completely nuts about the animals. I mean, he wouldn’t, he couldn’t . . .” The man’s voice trailed off.

  Mia got the impression that mental pieces were falling into place, fitting together in a brand-new way, a way he hadn’t considered until this moment.

  “Do you think it’s possible?” he asked Gabrielle.

  “If it’s Jackson,” Gabrielle said, “it’s not out of malice, that’s for sure.”

  “I’ve been trying to explain to him,” Tim said. “We’ve been talking about this for years, and he never seems to understand . . . Gaby, what should we do?”

  “Why don’t you let me talk to him first,” she said. “He trusts me, and maybe he’ll tell me the truth. First, we need to see if this is actually what has been happening. If it is, then we can decide what to do.”

  Tim blinked again, looking dazed. “Right. Of course. I’ll send Sara to round him up.”

  Gabrielle sat again. “I’d like you to stay, Mia. Jackson, as you may have guessed, is Tim’s son. Tim is the park director. Jackson, as you’ll probably see, is passionate about the animals. He’s a full-steam animal rights activist. He’s come with us for every animal release since he was three years old—that’s been about ten years now. We’ve been looking for someone who might mean the animals harm, so
meone who would want to steal and sell the animals or someone who wanted to play pranks on the park authorities. We hadn’t considered that someone who loved the animals would . . . In any case, we’ll see.”

  Soon, Jackson came through the door, his arms crossed over his chest. “What?” he asked, and then when he spotted Mia on the couch, “What’s she doing here?”

  “Jackson, this is Mia and her mom, Gloria. Have a seat.” Gabrielle motioned for the chair opposite.

  “I’d rather stand,” he said, glowering at Mia.

  “Something serious has been going on, Jackson,” Gabrielle said. “And Mia thinks you might be involved. And I think you may be involved too. I want you to understand, we’re just trying to get to the bottom of things, all right? We need for you to tell us the truth.”

  “Where’s my dad?” Jackson asked.

  “In his office. For now, this is between you and me,” Gabrielle said.

  “Hmph,” was all Jackson had to say in reply.

  THIRTY-ONE

  Gabrielle showed Jackson the picture on Mom’s phone. “Where did you get this key card, Jackson? And why were you using it in an area you’re not authorized to be?”

  “I didn’t go into that building.” Jackson shrugged. “I couldn’t get in.”

  “But you were trying to get in,” Gabrielle prodded. “Why?”

  Jackson shrugged again. “I found the key card and thought it might work. I wanted to see the seals. I heard that one of them is ready for release.”

  “Soon, yes,” Gabrielle said. “But we have to get approval first, of course.”

  Jackson shrugged a third time, but Mia got the impression that Jackson wasn’t really the shrugging sort of kid. His eyes sparked and fire lurked just under the nonchalant attitude.

  “You understand why we need approval, don’t you, Jackson?” Gabrielle asked, surprising Mia with this sideways question.

  Mia wanted to blurt out her accusation rather than dance around the issue. Mom put her hand on Mia’s knee, warning her to wait. Mia shifted uncomfortably, wondering how Mom so often seemed to know what she was about to do.