When Henry stopped, Tom took a deep breath. A loud cheer erupted from the throng on the beach. The noise grew in intensity, like the roar from the crowd at an NFL game.
The sun was setting in the west. As the daylight dimmed, camera flashes burst in from all directions. Tom had intended to remove his sunglasses after the sun went down, but now he decided against that. His eyes had been wind whipped and sun damaged on the open ocean for weeks, so he was not anxious to look directly at a bunch of flashing lights.
“Okay, Mr. Campbell. You’re a hundred and fifty yards offshore and Henry is in thirty five feet of water,” the Coast Guard Officer said over the radio.
“Roger that. Hey guys don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m switching the mic off. I want a moment or two with Henry alone.”
“Roger that. Are you going into the water sir?”
“Yes, right now. I’ll give you the high sign when I’m ready for you to pick me up.”
“Understood, sir. Standing by.”
Tom slid off the whale and into the water. They were just beyond the surf line and the ocean was dead calm. For a few seconds, Tom took in Henry from this angle. Until now he had always been on top of the whale. Being by Henry’s side gave Tom a different perspective; he felt smaller swimming by the side of the enormous creature.
Moving close to Henry’s eye, Tom reached out and embraced his friend, as much as it was possible to embrace a fifty ton behemoth. When he did a million cameras all went off at once and another cheer rose from the boats floating nearby and the people on the shore. Henry clearly did not like the lights and the noise; he closed his eyes and flapped his tail a bit.
Tom raised his hand and showed his palm to the crowd, clearly asking them to stop shouting and cheering and to refrain from taking pictures. The television commentators caught on to Tom’s signal and asked people to remain quiet and to turn off their cameras. After a minute or so, most of the onlookers complied with Tom’s request. When the sound diminished and the lights stopped flashing, Henry opened up his eyes again.
“Henry, I know you can’t understand my words. Maybe I shouldn’t say that. We’ve had a lot of long talks, you and me. I’ve opened up to you more than I have to anyone else in my life. You don’t speak English, but you do understand me on a level that goes beyond language. Somehow my intent, the heart of what I’m trying to say, gets through to you.
“I want to tell you how grateful I am, my friend. Before all this happened to me, I’d hear people say things like ‘life is a precious gift’ and ‘live every day like it’s you last’. I understood the meaning, but those words never resonated in me; I truly didn’t get it. You’ve helped me to get it, my friend.
“Thank you for lifting me up on your back. Thank you for feeding me. Thank you for saving me from the sharks… but most of all, thank you for your friendship. You’ve given me something so precious, the chance to get to know you. You’re a beautiful, kind, caring creature. All of those idiots who think whales don’t have emotions or higher intelligence… just thinking about those fools now makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time.
“Hey, could we work something out? Like you meet me every Tuesday right here and take me for a ride for a couple of hours? I’d like to talk with you once a week! Pretty silly, huh. God I’ll miss you!
“But you need to get the heck outta here. Go get something to eat. Take it easy and swim to Hawaii, if that’s where you were going. Live a long and happy whale life. More than anything else I’d like to see you again, but I know that’ll probably never happen.”
Tom raised his hand and motioned for the Coast Guard raft to move in and pick him up.
“Goodbye my friend. May you always be healthy, happy and free. I love you, Henry.”
Henry heard something new in the land creature’s voice. He heard the tone of “I am one with you, I am one with you”, a tone that Henry had only heard before from his close whale relatives. So Henry clicked back, “I am one with you, I am one with you.”
Until Tom was safely in the rescue raft, Henry didn’t move. Once he saw that the land creature he trusted was inside the object that floated on the water he clicked “I am one with you” one last time and slowly swam away.
“Okay, fellas,” Tom said to his Coast Guard handlers, “it’s time that I got some value out of my expensive medical insurance.”
Chapter Thirty Four
Henry was famished. He had eaten less than half the food he needed to over the past ten days. After he was sure that the land creatures on the floating objects had helped the land creature he trusted, he swam away and went down deep to feed.
Although he did not normally feed here this time of year, Henry knew these waters well. There was still squid and fish to be had in the usual places and after a couple of hours of eating Henry was full.
He sent out codas searching for other sperm whales in the area, but he didn’t get an immediate response. For the past year or so Henry had been swimming with two other young bulls. At twenty years old it was almost time for Henry to think about mating, but that biological alarm clock had not yet rang.
For the next few cycles of light and darkness Henry planned to remain in the area and feed. Once he built his strength back up he would swim west to the middle of the ocean where small areas of land stuck up through the waves. This time of year the food was abundant near these small areas of land. He was confident that his bull whale cousins were already there and feeding.
Henry rose to the surface and began logging. When he did he experienced the sensation that something was wrong, something was missing. This feeling disturbed Henry so much that he swam for a bit and then began logging again. The feeling of incompleteness returned. It was unpleasant and Henry did not know what was missing or what he should do next, but then he recalled that for the first time in many light and dark cycles the land creature he trusted was not riding on his back. That’s what was missing…
When he found the land creature he trusted in the middle of the water and put him on his back, Henry knew that he had to move, and not move, in certain ways in order to help the land creature survive. Land creatures did not survive long in the water if they are not on top of the objects that float. All sperm whales knew that, but Henry had no base of knowledge passed down to him by other whales that taught him what to do to help a land creature that was floating alone in the water far from land.
Henry learned what to do by paying attention to the land creature’s sounds. The land creature he trusted did not click, so Henry could not understand what his sounds meant, but he could understand from the tone of the sounds whether or not the land creature was happy and safe, or worried and full of fear.
Long ago, so far back that Henry had to think hard to recall a memory that was now incomplete, the land creature he trusted helped him get safe. Henry, like all sperm whales, always helped his fellow whales. He was born and bred with an ethos – take care of all whales and they will take care of you. Work together for survival. If a whale is sick or injured, make sure that they are fed and protected until they are no longer sick or injured, until they are safe.
When Henry saw the land creature he trusted floating on top of the small object in the middle of the water, he knew that the land creature was in distress. He transferred his instinctual and learned predisposition to help other whales on to the land creature he trusted.
But now the land creature he trusted was gone. Henry had done what he was supposed to do, he helped an injured whale as best as he could. Henry knew that the land creature he trusted was not another whale, but he believed that he deserved to be cared for like another whale.
This was not as much of a conscious choice for Henry as it was a response to the circumstances put in front of him. The land creature he trusted, the land creature he had relied on when he was stuck on the sand, the land creature who comforted him in the dark time after his mother was killed, this land creature deserved to be treated like a sperm whale.
Understan
ding why he felt incomplete kept Henry from worrying that something else was wrong, but it did not lessen his desire to be complete. Despite having to survive on less food while he carried him, Henry liked taking the land creature he trusted back to the place on the sand where the land creature lived. Helping the land creature he trusted reminded Henry of his days as a calf and how his mother had fed and protected him. Doing the same for the land creature he trusted made Henry feel like he was doing for the land creature what his mother had done for him.
Many sperm whales did not consider the small creatures that lived on the land to be of any value. Codas had been passed down through generations of sperm whales warning that these small land creatures were very dangerous and that they killed sperm whales. Neither Henry nor his mother had ever seen a small land creature use one of the floating objects to hurt whales, expect for when Henry’s mother was killed.
But Henry’s experience with small land creatures had taught him a different lesson - land creatures had value. They were worthy of life. They were not predators like the big fish with the sharp teeth or the creatures that made sounds like sperm whales but acted like big fish with sharp teeth.
As Henry was at ease in the moonlight enjoying the pleasant sensation of a full belly, he had the thought that he missed the sounds the land creature he trusted made. At night the land creature would make sounds for long periods. Henry learned to listen to these sounds and to enjoy hearing them. They were not as beautiful to his ears as were the codas of his fellow whales, but they were pleasant in their own way.
Henry wanted to see the land creature he trusted again. He did not know when or where this meeting might occur, or whether it would be a few light or dark cycles away or much longer.
When Henry returned to his bull male cousins he would tell them about the land creature he trusted and the journey they had taken together. Henry knew that they would probably not understand, but they would listen and believe him because sperm whales always listened to and believed what other sperm whales had to say.
Chapter Thirty Five
“How long has he been in there?” Sydney asked.
“Going on four hours now,” Gabriel answered. “Coffee?”
“Any more coffee and I’ll be bouncing off the walls. How are the kids?” Syd wanted to know.
Gabriel Campbell walked from the general surgery waiting area of the UCSD Medical Center down the hall to another lounge that had vending machines and televisions. Jonas and Jessica were busy talking with a small group of kids, no doubt fielding questions about their suddenly world famous father. Gabriel left them alone and returned to his sister-in-law’s side.
“They’re just fine, hanging out with some new pals. Have you talked with Harold in the last couple of hours?” Gabriel asked as he sat down in the same chair where he’d been parked since six a.m.
“He’s in Portland. I asked him to come down and be with us, but he thought it was way too awkward. He’s right, I guess. I love him, Gabe. Harold and I are good for each other.”
“I know. Things in that department should get a little easier in the -.”
Gabriel quit talking because a team of doctors emerged from the surgery suites. The lead surgeon on the team, Dr. Kamin, spoke first. “Tom is out of danger. I guess he was never really in danger, but his leg sure was. I have to tell you when I looked at that leg… Let’s just say I was skeptical. I can only imagine the types of bacteria that the wound was exposed to… Anyway, his infection is under control and his leg, while I’m not yet willing to give you a completely green light yet, right now I’m confident that his leg does not need to be amputated. He’s a lucky man. Even an hour or two more of exposure and, well… there is no sense speculating further.”
“What about his ribs?” Gabriel asked.
“Severely bruised, none broke. All of his other burns were treated too. A couple were second degree, but the only infected burn was on his leg. His general health has also suffered, he’s lost a lot of weight, but he’ll recover,” Kamin explained.
“How soon can we see him?” Syd asked.
“Let him wake up and eat, get his bearings. Later on today, this afternoon I suppose. As soon as he wakes up and we see that he’s not in distress, we’ll wheel him up to his room.”
“Thanks, Doctor. Thank you so much,” Sydney said.
“You’re coming with me, right?” Dr. Kamin said.
“With you where?” Syd asked.
“To the conference room. They’re all set up. In ten minutes, I’m holding a medical news conference.”
“No, not me. Gabriel?” Syd asked.
“Okay, sure. Why not,” Gabriel said. “I might as well volunteer.”
“Thanks,” Kamin said. “It would be better if a family member were present. I just have to say that…”
“Have to say what, Doctor?” Syd said.
“Tom is an extraordinary man… I wouldn’t have made it half as long. And that whale thing… it’s unreal.”
“Ready, Doc?” Gabriel intervened because he knew that Syd did not like talking about Tom with strangers.
“Let’s go,” Kamin said.
^^^^^^
“Hi Dad,” Jonas said as he walked in his father’s hospital room.
“Come over here, but stay away from the leg,” Tom said. Tom’s right leg was suspended in a sling a foot off the bed.
After they had hugged for a minute, Jessica took her turn with her father.
“You’re just about the most famous person in the whole world, Daddy,” Jessica said. “It’s amazing.”
“Yes you are, honey,” Tom said, smiling at his little girl.
Before the kids were allowed in, Sydney and Gabriel spent half an hour alone with Tom. They were sitting off to the side of his bed now.
“You’re gonna be super rich, huh,” Jonas said.
“Why do you think that?” Tom asked.
“Kids were offering me fifty bucks if I could get them your autograph, that’s why,” Jonas bragged.
“Yea, me too, Daddy. A couple of girls gave me these pictures and said if you’d sign them they would give me a hundred dollars,” Jessica added.
“Ah well, every blessing comes with its own set of curses,” Tom moaned.
Sydney laughed and said, “At least you know who to go to for the book deal.”
“Yea, like we talked about Harold can take care of all that. Okay kids, gotta cut it short. We’re going to have dinner in here just the five of us, but I promised to talk to some reporters first. If I give them forty five minutes, they will leave me alone for a couple of days. Sound like a good deal?” Tom asked.
“Yea, were outta here,” Gabriel said. “They’ve got an empty room down the hall where we can hang out while you do your thing.”
After his family left four reporters, who had been selected by a random drawing, were allowed into Tom’s hospital room. They knew that from the moment they walked in the clock was ticking, so they didn’t waste any time.
“Mack Reynolds, LA Times. Tom, what happened out there? Your boat exploded? That’s what we were told by the Coast Guard, just want to confirm that.”
“The propane gas lines onboard were leaking, or at least one of them was leaking. When I lit my oven, propane in the bilge exploded and turned Sydney into splinters in an instant.”
“Shirley Downs, MSNBC. How long were you on the raft, the piece of fiberglass?” The reporters had been given a briefing sheet from the Coast Guard which related the basic facts about what happened to Tom.
“My best guess is three weeks, give or take a day or two either way.”
“John Kirkwood, CBS News. Tell us what it was like when the whale rescued you.”
Tom took a deep breath and said, “I was sure that I was dying. When I slipped into the water, I had basically given up all hope of survival. I had no food or water and I had not drank or eaten a thing for several days. Rather than slide into oblivion, Henry lifted me out of the water and took me to where the two emer
gency packs were floating.”
“The whale took you where?” Kirkwood followed up.
“Some distance away, half a mile or more I’d guess. Two of Sydney’s emergency packs were floating there. Henry took me to get ‘em. They had enough water and food in them to revive and sustain me for a while.”
“What did the whale -.”
“Excuse me. John is it?” Tom asked.
“John Kirkwood, yes.”
“John, my friend has a name. It’s Henry. Yes, he’s a sperm whale but he’s also my friend. Please call him by his name. I’d appreciate it.”
“Amy Dinkler, New Yorker Magazine. “Tom, why did you name your friend Henry?”
“Next question,” Tom said.
“Excuse me. You insist that we call him Henry. Why is asking you why you named him Henry off limits?” Amy asked, clearly annoyed.
“Because it is. Next question, and it better not be about why I named him Henry or this interview is over,” Tom answered tersely.
“There is some reference made in the Coast Guard report to Henry feeding you,” Mack Reynolds picked up, clearly interested in diverting attention away from the sensitive topic. “Exactly how did he do that?”
And so it went for exactly forty more minutes when Tom said, “Time’s up” and the reporters left. None of them dared asked anything more about why Tom named the whale Henry, although the answer to that question now became the one everyone in the world most wanted to know.
Chapter Thirty Six
“Aren’t you getting tired of telling the story?” James Banks asked. “I mean it’s the greatest story ever told in cetacean research, but still… I’d completely understand if you’d like a break from the endless chain of speeches and events.”
Henry and Tom: Ocean Adventure Series Book 1: Rescue (Ocean Adventures Series) Page 15
