Pearl's Ocean Magic

by Catherine Hapka

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1 First Day of School

  2 Echo, Splash, and Flip

  3 Music Class

  4 Riptide

  5 Mullet’s Tour

  6 Dolphin Magic

  7 Mullet’s Scary Dare

  8 A Mysterious Message

  9 To the Rescue

  10 A Close Call

  Sneak Peek

  About the Author

  Don’t miss any adventures at Dolphin School

  Copyright

  “DO YOU THINK THE OTHER DOLPHINS AT school will like me?” Pearl asked.

  She was swimming through the blue waters of the Salty Sea with her pod. A pod is a dolphin family. Pearl’s pod was made up of herself, her parents, and her little sister, Squeak.

  “Of course they’ll like you!” Pearl’s father told her.

  Pearl’s mother slowed down to let a school of fish swim by. The sun made the silvery little fish sparkle in the clear water. The sea was shallow here among the beautiful coral reefs that grew all over the area.

  “Just be yourself, Pearl,” Pearl’s mother said. “You’ll make lots of friends.”

  Pearl hoped her parents were right. Her pod was much smaller than most and lived in a quiet lagoon far away from other pods.

  That meant Pearl hardly ever saw other young dolphins. Well, except for Squeak, of course. But she was too young to count.

  “I’m sure you’ll love school, Pearl,” her father said. “You want to learn how to use your magic, right?”

  “That’s true.” Pearl blew a stream of bubbles out of her blowhole as she thought about that. Dolphins were the protectors of the ocean. They helped other sea creatures whenever they could. The reason Pearl and her pod lived in their lagoon was because sea turtles laid their eggs on the beach nearby. Pearl’s pod helped the baby turtles swim safely out to sea after they hatched.

  Most of the time that was an easy job. All the dolphins had to do was steer the tiny creatures into deeper waters or show them where to find food. Pearl’s parents used a special magical skill called guiding to do that. It made the turtles want to do whatever the dolphins were thinking. Magical guiding could also help the hatchlings swim faster to escape from hungry crabs and fish.

  But that wasn’t the only type of dolphin magic Pearl’s parents used. For instance, the dolphins could sing magical songs, or create sparkly light displays in the water to distract the gulls that liked to swoop down and snatch the baby turtles out of the shallows.

  Pearl wanted to be able to do all of those things someday, just like her parents. She was already good at using mental magic to communicate with the baby turtles and other sea creatures. Dolphins were the only ones who could send mental messages to one another using words and ideas, though all fish and animals understood the simple pictures and emotions that the dolphins sent. Pearl and Squeak practiced that kind of mental magic all the time. They could use their skills to talk an octopus into playing with them, or to convince a pair of cranky crabs to stop fighting. The dolphin sisters were pretty good at sending more complicated messages to each other, too, even when they were half a lagoon apart. And now, finally, Pearl was old enough to go to school and learn the rest of her dolphin skills.

  “I can’t wait until I’m old enough to go to school!” Squeak flapped her fins. “What classes will you take, Pearlie?”

  “Magic class, of course,” Pearl told her sister. “I can’t wait to start that one! I’ll also be taking Music, Ocean Lore, and Jumping and Swimming.”

  “I’m going to be great at Jumping and Swimming!” Squeak demonstrated by zipping to the surface and leaping into the air. Then she swam back down, dodging around a prickly bit of fire coral. “Wait, but what’s Ocean Lore?” she asked.

  “That’s where you’ll learn all about our world here in the Salty Sea,” Pearl’s father explained, wiggling his flukes—his tail fins— to move forward. “You’ll also learn more about the other creatures who live here with us, like fish and lobsters and jellyfish and—”

  “Oh!” Pearl’s mother broke in suddenly. “Someone is in trouble!”

  Pearl had seen it, too. An image had just popped into her mind. It was shadowy and dark and filled with fear.

  “Here!” Pearl’s father led the way past another coral formation.

  A spotted eel was thrashing around near the reef. His long, slender body was all tangled up in something white and crinkly. He shook and jerked his whole body trying to get loose from it. He was so frantic that he kept slamming into the spiky coral.

  “Stop!” Pearl’s father cried. “Hold still, friend. We want to help you.”

  Pearl could feel magic energy flowing out toward the eel from both her parents. But the eel only thrashed harder.

  “He’s panicking,” Pearl’s father said. “He doesn’t even hear us.”

  “Come,” Pearl’s mother told her children. “Join in. We need to get through to him before he hurts himself.”

  Pearl and Squeak swam forward. Pearl focused her mind on the eel and sent a mental message. Peace, friend, she thought. Be still so we can help you.

  She knew the eel wouldn’t understand the words of her message. But she hoped he would feel that the dolphins were trying to help.

  “It’s still not working,” Pearl’s father said after a moment.

  Pearl’s mother swam forward, letting the eel’s body slam against her sleek gray side instead of the sharp coral. Once again, Pearl felt strong magic flowing out from her mother.

  “Is she guiding the eel?” Squeak whispered.

  “I think so,” Pearl replied. “She might even be pushing him.”

  Pushing was a stronger form of magical guiding. Usually dolphins tried not to use it, since it forced other creatures to do what the dolphins wanted rather than allowing them a choice. But sometimes, in an emergency, pushing was necessary. Pearl kept focusing on the eel, adding her tiny bit of magic to the stronger magic coming from her parents.

  This time, it worked. The eel’s frantic motions slowed, and then stopped. He hung in the water, still and dull-eyed.

  “Hurry,” Pearl’s mother said. “I can’t push him to stay still for long. Get him untangled.”

  Pearl zipped forward to help her father and sister. They pulled at the white substance with their snouts.

  “Yuck,” Squeak said, spitting out a piece that had come loose in her mouth. “What is this junk, anyway?”

  “It must be something the Land Leggers dropped in the water,” her father replied.

  Land Leggers were a species of two-legged creature that lived on the islands and shore above the surface of the Salty Sea. Pearl had never seen one, since there were none on the turtles’ island. But she’d seen lots of things that had washed into the sea from the Land Leggers’ world.

  “There—I think the eel is loose,” her father said. “Back away in case he panics when your mother releases him.”

  Pearl and her family backed off. Her mother stopped her flow of magic energy. The eel hung there in the water for a moment. Then, with a single flip of his whiplike body, he disappeared into a hole in the coral. A grateful feeling floated into Pearl’s mind, and she smiled in the direction of the eel.

  “How far are we from dolphin school?” Squeak wondered.

  Her father nodded his sleek gray head toward a coral wall nearby. “We’re here.”

  Pearl realized he was right. Coral Cove Dolphin School was located in a shallow lagoon protected by a colorful ring of coral reef.

  “Thanks for swimming me to school,” she told her parents and sister when they reached the entrance.

  “You’re welcome,” her mother said. “Will you be okay swimming home by y
ourself after school?”

  “I think so.” Pearl wiggled her fins nervously.

  “Just remember to stay away from Bigsky Basin,” Pearl’s father said. “The water is very deep there.”

  “Yeah,” Squeak said. “There could be sharks!”

  Pearl shivered as she glanced up at her father’s dorsal fin. There was a scar there. Long ago, a shark had bitten him while his pod was rescuing an octopus from becoming the shark’s dinner. Pearl had heard the story many times. But it seemed even scarier here, so close to Bigsky Basin.

  “Maybe your new school friends will swim you home,” Squeak told Pearl.

  “Maybe.” Pearl forgot about sharks as she looked into the school lagoon. Inside, she could see lots of dolphins of all ages swimming around. “But what if nobody likes me? What if they think I’m weird?”

  “Don’t worry, little one.” Her father rubbed his fin against hers. “If you want to have friends, you just have to act like a friend.”

  “How do I do that?” Pearl wondered.

  “Always choose kindness,” her father replied.

  Squeak laughed and did a flip in the water. “You always say that, Daddy!” she exclaimed.

  Her father smiled. “That’s because it’s always true.”

  Pearl’s mother rubbed her fin against Pearl’s, too. Then she gave her a gentle shove toward the entrance. “You’d better go in, Pearl,” she said. “It’s almost time for school to start.”

  PEARL SWAM INTO THE SCHOOL. AT FIRST ALL she could focus on were the amazing coral formations. A tall wall of coral ringed the entire lagoon, while shorter formations divided it into smaller rooms. Tiny fish darted in and out of the spiky and spongy shapes. A pink sea anemone clung to the coral wall, its tentacles waving gracefully in the current. Nearby was a red-and-orange starfish. The reef was beautiful!

  But before long, Pearl’s attention shifted to the other dolphins. She’d never seen so many in one place before! Several adults were there, but most of the dolphins were Pearl’s age or a little older. Youngsters came from all over this part of the Salty Sea to attend Coral Cove Dolphin School. Pearl didn’t recognize a single face or voice.

  Then a dolphin her age swam toward her. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Echo. Are you new, too?”

  “Yes. My name is Pearl,” Pearl replied. She noticed that Echo had a pretty pink-striped tulip shell strung around her neck with a piece of seaweed. “I like your necklace.”

  “Thanks. My mom gave it to me.” Echo waved over another young dolphin. “Hey, Pearl, this is Splash. He’s new, too.”

  “Hi, Pearl!” Splash zoomed up to the surface and leaped out. He landed with a splash and zipped back down to the girls. “I’m Splash!”

  “Hi,” Pearl said. “You’re a good swimmer.”

  “Thanks.” Splash sounded happy. “I can’t wait until Jumping and Swimming class! What’s your favorite class going to be?”

  “How can we know which class will be our favorite?” Echo asked with a laugh. “We haven’t started any of them yet!”

  Just then, another young dolphin swam over. He was a little smaller than Pearl and the others.

  “I know what your favorite class will be,” he said, flicking his fin toward Echo. “Magic, right?”

  “How do you know that?” Pearl asked him.

  “Because her mom has extra strong magic,” the other dolphin told her. “She once saved a whole bunch of Land Leggers from drowning.”

  “Is that true?” Pearl asked Echo, impressed.

  “Yes.” Echo sounded proud. “Their boat sank in a storm, and my mom guided them back to shore. Everyone says she was the only dolphin in the Salty Sea who could have saved them all by herself.”

  “I heard about that,” Splash said. “Wow, your mom is famous!”

  Pearl was more impressed than ever. “You must have strong magic, too, huh?” she asked Echo.

  “I hope so,” Echo replied. “I want to be just like my mom one day. By the way, this is Flip. He’s in my pod.” She wiggled a fin at the smaller dolphin.

  “Hi,” Splash said to Flip. “How many dolphins are in your pod?”

  “Lots,” Echo said. “The exact number is always changing.”

  “Right now there are fifty-three,” Flip put in.

  “Wow! Fifty-three, really?” Pearl exclaimed. “That’s a lot! There are only four dolphins in my pod.”

  “Did you say four, or fourteen?” Splash asked in surprise.

  “Four,” Pearl said again. “It’s just me, my mom and dad, and my little sister.”

  “Really? That’s weird.” Flip stared at Pearl.

  Pearl looked at Echo and Splash. Would they think she was weird, too?

  “Don’t call her weird,” Echo told Flip. “That’s mean.”

  “Sorry,” Flip said. But he didn’t sound very sorry.

  Just then, a bright blue angelfish swam past. Splash let out an excited chirp and chased after her, circling around her and then zooming back toward Pearl and the others.

  “I win!” he exclaimed with a laugh.

  “That’s nothing,” Flip said. “Angelfish are slow. I can swim faster than a bonefish! Watch—I’ll show you.”

  He flicked his tail, swimming halfway across the lagoon and then back again. Pearl didn’t think he looked as fast as Splash. She almost said so. But then she remembered her father’s words: Always choose kindness. Maybe it would be kinder to keep her thoughts to herself.

  “How was that?” Flip asked as he reached them. “Pretty good, huh? I’ll probably be the best swimmer in our class. The best jumper, too.”

  “Don’t listen to Flip,” Echo told Pearl and Splash. “He’s always bragging.”

  “I am not!” Flip sounded insulted. “I am good at jumping. Watch!”

  This time he zoomed up and out of the water. When he came back down, he crashed into Pearl.

  “Ouch!” she cried as she bumped into a piece of sharp elkhorn coral.

  “Pearl! Are you okay?” Echo swam over, sounding worried.

  “You should be more careful,” Splash told Flip.

  “Whatever.” Flip swam closer and looked at Pearl. “She didn’t even get a cut.”

  “I’m okay,” Pearl told Echo and Splash. “It’s just a tiny scratch.”

  Echo looked relieved. Splash did a backflip to celebrate. Pearl smiled, happy that she’d met both of them. They were exactly the kind of friends she’d hoped to make at school.

  She wasn’t so sure about Flip. He bragged a lot and didn’t seem as nice as the others. But that was okay. There were lots of dolphins at school. Pearl was sure she could just stay out of Flip’s way from now on.

  “ATTENTION, STUDENTS!” A VOICE RANG OUT.

  Pearl turned to look toward the middle of the lagoon. Several adult dolphins were gathered there.

  “Those are the teachers,” Splash said, doing another backflip.

  Pearl had already guessed that. But she smiled at Splash. “I hope they’re nice,” she said.

  The largest male dolphin was the one who’d called for attention. But now he hung back as a much older male swam forward.

  “Hello, all. I’m your principal,” the old dolphin said. He had a deep, slow, scratchy voice that made it sound as if his insides were covered in barnacles. “You can call me Old Salty—everyone does. Now let’s get started, shall we? Returning students, please go to your assigned classes. New students, come over here.”

  Pearl shivered with excitement. She was really here! Dolphin school was about to start!

  “What class do you think we’ll have first?” she asked Echo and Splash as the three of them swam toward the adults.

  “I don’t know, but I hope we’re in the same group,” Splash said. “My older brother says they’ll divide us into different pods for our classes.”

  “Really?” Suddenly Pearl was worried. What if she ended up in a different school pod from her new friends?

  She looked around at the other new students gathering
in front of the teachers. There had to be at least three dozen of them! Pearl wondered if she’d ever be able to learn all their names.

  “Hello, youngsters,” a female teacher said. Her voice was rich and wise. “I’m Bay. Some of you will be joining me right now for Music class. You, you, you …”

  She waved her flipper at the students who were closest to her. Pearl was relieved when she, Echo, and Splash were all picked. Flip was in their pod, too. So were two females who kept giggling together, and two other males.

  “I’m glad we’re together,” Echo said, rubbing her fin against Pearl’s.

  “Me too,” Pearl said.

  Bay led the class over to a quiet cove at one end of the lagoon. It was sheltered by a large reef of brain coral.

  “This is the quietest area of the school,” the teacher explained. “And we need peace and quiet so we can focus on our music. As all of you know, music is a very important part of dolphin life. It’s a way to communicate with others. It’s a way to concentrate our magic. And of course, it’s a way to create something beautiful.”

  She stopped talking and whistled a cheerful tune. Pearl smiled, waving her fins in time with the song. She loved music—her pod sang together all the time. A passing lionfish paused and swayed, rippling his fins in time with Bay’s song.

  “That was my dolphin song,” Bay said when she finished. “Every dolphin has his or her own special song. It helps make each of you unique and helps you focus your magical abilities.”

  “Wow, cool!” Splash said.

  Bay smiled. “Yes, it is cool. During this class, you will all start to develop your own special songs.”

  Pearl knew a little about dolphin songs. Her mother had one of the most beautiful songs Pearl could imagine. But Bay’s song was amazing, too! Pearl couldn’t wait to figure out her own special song.

  “I already have my song worked out,” Flip spoke up. “Want to hear it?”

  “Yes, go ahead,” Bay said.

  Flip darted up to the surface to suck in some air through his blowhole. Then he came back and started to sing.

  “His song isn’t that good, is it?” Echo whispered to Pearl. “I think he just made it up right now. I’ve never heard him singing it before.”