Splash's Secret Friend
Page 4
He kept talking, describing all the ways that dolphins and sharks were similar and different. Meanwhile, Pearl looked at Spinner. He was hanging back a little behind Old Salty and the other teachers. His tail was flicking slowly from side to side, and Pearl guessed he was nervous.
I would be nervous, too, she thought. He must feel lonely and afraid being so far away from his family and friends. He probably never even met a dolphin up close before Splash found him. And now he has to trust us to help him.
She was glad she’d been right about the teachers. As soon as she and Splash had explained to Old Salty what had happened, the principal had offered to help Spinner get home.
“But why didn’t you come to me right away?” he’d exclaimed.
“I don’t know.” Splash had sounded sheepish. “I guess since you’re always warning us to stay away from sharks, I thought you’d be mad that we were trying to help one.”
Old Salty had shaken his head. “I could never be angry with a young dolphin wanting to help another creature. That’s what this school is all about, after all. I’m sorry if I didn’t make that clear enough.” He’d paused then, looking thoughtful. “In fact, if your new friend Spinner agrees, I’d like to use his predicament to help remind all the students of that, hmm?”
Spinner had agreed, but only after Pearl had told him she thought he should do it. “Okay,” he’d said. “You seem pretty smart for a dolphin. If you think it’s all right, I guess I’ll come to your school.” He’d shrugged. “I kind of want to see what it’s like, anyway. Even though it’s probably not as good as Shark Academy.”
Now here he was, right in the middle of Coral Cove Dolphin School. And the more Old Salty talked, the friendlier the other students looked toward Spinner.
“This is great,” Splash whispered, nudging Pearl with his fin. “After this, I bet everyone will think about sharks differently.”
Flip heard him and floated closer. “Yeah, blacktips maybe,” he said. “But I’m still going to swim away if I see a tiger shark coming at me in Bigsky Basin!”
Several minutes later, Old Salty was still talking. Somehow, he’d gotten distracted from the topic of sharks and had moved on to one of his favorite subjects: algae. Most of the other dolphins looked bored, and Spinner looked confused.
Luckily, just then several adult dolphins swam into the school. Pearl spotted her father among them. Echo’s mother was there, too.
“Good news,” Echo’s mother said, swimming forward to talk to the teachers. “I was able to locate Spinner’s family.”
“Excellent!” Old Salty beamed at her, not seeming to mind being interrupted.
“Yay, Echo’s mom!” Flip cheered.
Pearl smiled. Echo’s mother had even stronger magic than most dolphins. Old Salty had asked her to use mental messaging to try to locate Spinner’s family.
“You found them?” Spinner exclaimed, swimming over to Echo’s mother.
“Yes, young one.” She smiled at him. “We can take you home now.”
“Hooray!” Splash yelled, doing three quick flips underwater, then dashing toward the shark. “We did it, Spinner!”
“Yeah!” Spinner yelled. He crashed into Splash with his snout.
Then both of them zipped up, leaping up and out of the water and doing that unusual spin in the air before splashing down again.
Pearl laughed. “Come on,” she told Echo and Flip. “Let’s see if they’ll let us swim along.”
“They’d better.” Echo led the way toward the adults. “Mom promised I could come. She says it will be good for me to see a new part of the Salty Sea.”
Sure enough, the friends were welcomed by the adults. Old Salty and a few other teachers were staying behind with the other students, though Bay and Riptide were going with Spinner.
“Ready to go, Pearl?” her father asked, stroking her head with his fin.
“I’m ready.” Pearl smiled at the young shark. “Are you ready, Spinner?”
“What do you think?” Spinner said, baring his teeth at her. But this time, Pearl could tell right away that he was smiling.
As the group swam toward the exit, Pearl noticed Mullet racing to catch up. “Hey, wait,” he called.
Pearl gulped. In all the excitement, she’d almost forgotten about Mullet. Was he about to tell everyone how Spinner had chased him? If so, would that change the other dolphins’ minds about helping Spinner get home?
“Yes? What is it, Mullet?” Bay asked.
Mullet stopped in front of her, shooting a sidelong look toward Spinner. “It’s just—um, can I come, too?” Mullet blurted out. “I mean, you’re letting these first years swim along, right? I could help keep an eye on them. You know, stay with them so they don’t get scared when they see the sharks.”
“What?” Flip exclaimed. “Are you—”
But Pearl nudged him. “Shh,” she whispered. “Don’t say it.”
Splash snorted. Pearl thought he might laugh, so she nudged him, too.
“My dad says to Always Choose Kindness,” she reminded him quietly.
Splash seemed to understand. Ignoring Mullet as he joined the group, Splash swam to Spinner’s side.
“Come on, friend,” he said, touching the shark’s fin with his own. “Let’s get you home.”
“Show Off Day?” Flip exclaimed. “Wow, that’s awesome!”
“Yeah!” Splash did three flips in a row. “I can’t believe it’s here already—I can’t wait!”
Echo laughed. “This is the best day ever!”
Pearl looked around. Everyone else seemed just as excited as her friends. They were chattering and doing flips and blowing bubbles. Old Salty just watched and smiled.
“Show Off Day?” Pearl said to her friends. “What’s that?”
“Are you joking?” Flip said. “Everyone knows what Show Off Day is.”
“I don’t,” Pearl said.
“It’s when all the students at Coral Cove Dolphin School get to show off what they’ve learned so far that year,” Echo explained. “The whole dolphin community comes to watch.”
Splash nodded. “I thought everyone went. Didn’t you ever go with your pod?”
One of the teachers swam over. Her name was Bay, and she taught Pearl’s two favorite classes, Magic and Music.
“I heard what you were saying,” she told the young dolphins. “There’s a good reason why Pearl hasn’t been to Show Off Day before. As you all know, her pod has a very important job protecting baby sea turtles.”
Pearl nodded. Lots of turtles laid their eggs on the island by her pod’s lagoon. The dolphins helped guide the hatchlings out to sea where they would be safe from hungry gulls and other land predators.
“Yeah, we know all about that,” Flip said. “What do a bunch of baby turtles have to do with Show Off Day?”
“Normally Show Off Day happens around the same time of year that the turtles hatch,” Bay explained. “That’s why Pearl’s pod never came before. They didn’t want to leave their lagoon during that very important time.”
“Oh.” Pearl was worried. “Does that mean I’ll have to miss Show Off Day this year, too?”
Bay smiled. “No, you’ll be there, and so will your pod,” she assured Pearl. “We made it earlier this year so you won’t have to miss it.”
“Really?” Echo bumped Pearl’s side with her snout. “That’s super, Pearl!”
“Yeah,” Splash said. “Show Off Day wouldn’t be the same without you.”
Flip nodded. “It’s great! Everyone talks about the best performances all year afterward. This year, one of those best performances is going to be me!”
Bay chuckled. “All we ask is that you do your best, Flip. And have fun, of course.”
Pearl smiled at Bay. “Thanks for telling me about Show Off Day,” she said. “Now I can’t wait to be a part of it.”
Just then Old Salty called for attention again. “I’m glad you’re all so excited,” he told all the students with a chuckle. “We’ll
have our regular classes today as usual. But tomorrow you’ll have the whole day to figure out your routines and get started on practicing. Show Off Day will be two days after that.”
“That’s right.” Bay swam forward to join him. “As always, group performances are encouraged. Remember that dolphins are at their best when they work together.”
Pearl looked at her friends. “Group performances?”
“Yeah!” Splash did a flip. “Let’s work together, okay?”
“Sure,” Echo said. “We make a good group.”
Flip zipped up to get a breath of air, then swam back down. “So what kind of performance should we do?” he asked. “Whatever it is, it has to be great—I want our group to be the best!”
“We will be,” Pearl said with a smile. “Because we’re compatible. That’s what Shelly said, remember?”
Echo didn’t seem to be listening. She was staring off into the distance with a thoughtful expression.
“Echo?” Pearl said. “What are you thinking about?”
Echo smiled and sent out a burst of sparkly magic lights. “I was just thinking about how we could do a super amazing magic display,” she said eagerly. “I already have some ideas for really fancy stuff we could do.”
“A magic display?” Splash sounded dubious. “Everyone will be doing that kind of thing. I think we should do a cool jumping and swimming routine instead.”
Pearl didn’t like the sound of that. She wasn’t very good at jumping and swimming. This would be her first Show Off Day ever, and she wanted their performance to be something she could do well. Something like magic, or …
“What about singing a song?” she blurted out, realizing it was the perfect idea. “We’ve been learning some neat things in Music class.”
Flip looked over as Old Salty called out for everyone to swim to their first classes. “Like I said, I don’t care what we do,” he said. “I’m great at everything. And I can’t wait to show it off!”
CATHERINE HAPKA has written many books for children and young adults. She lives in Pennsylvania and enjoys reading, horseback riding, music, gardening, and travel. She also likes going to the beach and looking for dolphins, magical or otherwise.
#1: Pearl’s Ocean Magic
#2: Echo’s Lucky Charm
#3: Splash’s Secret Friend
#4: Flip’s Surprise Talent
Text copyright © 2015 by Catherine Hapka
Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Scholastic Inc.
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First printing, September 2015
Cover art © Hollie Hibbert
Cover design by Jennifer Rinaldi Windau
e-ISBN 978-0-545-94085-6
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