Dolphin Dreams, page 10
“What art program?” Josie asked without much interest.
I gave her a quick rundown. “So she got in, even though it’s super competitive,” I finished. “Probably because the drawing she submitted is so amazing. It’s right here—see?”
I took the book back just long enough to open it to the page where Maria had stuck the copy she’d made of her Seurat sketch. Josie stared at it, then flipped back through the book, studying several of the other drawings.
“Wow,” she said at last. “These are really good. My sister did them?”
“Uh-huh.” I shrugged. “I don’t think she showed your parents, though. Maybe that’s why they said no to the program.”
“Maybe.” Josie gazed at a sketch of several birds perched on a power line. “Maybe if I show them they’ll change their minds.”
“Maybe.” I hid my smile until after I’d said good-bye and turned away. I couldn’t wait to see Maria’s face when she found out she might still have a chance at that program after all!
The weather cleared up a little after lunch, though it was still cloudy. I took my surfboard down to the cove, eager to see if Maria’s parents had changed their minds. She wasn’t there, so I sat down to watch for the dolphins. There was no sign of them, though I stayed entertained by some gulls squabbling over a floating wad of seaweed.
After a while I heard someone coming down the trail. I jumped to my feet and turned around. Seconds later Maria burst into the cove, her face bright red.
“You!” she cried as soon as she saw me. She flung her surfboard onto the sand so hard it bounced. “How dare you?”
“Huh?” I took a step back, a little frightened by the fury in her eyes.
She jabbed a finger in my direction. “You had no right to do that!” she yelled. “I can’t believe you gave my sketches to my sister, after I told you a million times I didn’t want my family to see them!”
“I’m sorry,” I blurted out. “I was trying to help. I thought—”
“You didn’t think about me.” Her voice was as sharp as a knife. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have done it.”
“No, really.” I needed to make her understand. “You’ve helped me so much, you know, with the surfing and everything? I just wanted to pay you back.”
“Well, you didn’t.” She glared at me. “Stay out of my life, okay? I mean it this time.”
“Maria, wait!” I cried.
But it was too late. She was already disappearing up the trail, not even bothering to grab her surfboard on the way.
I collapsed on the beach, hardly knowing what to think. I’d tried to help, but instead I’d made things worse. Now Maria never wanted to talk to me again, and that meant I’d lost the only real friend I’d found in this new place.
Burying my face in my hands, I let the tears come, not even caring that it was starting to sprinkle again.
I was still fuming when I shoved my way through the front door, stomping the rain off my clothes on the mat. Hearing voices from the living room, I glanced that way. Josie and my mom were in there, bent over my sketchpad.
I clenched my fists, mad at Avery all over again—and at myself. Why hadn’t I grabbed the sketchpad back from Josie when she’d told me about Avery’s visit, instead of tearing right back out of the house like my hair was on fire? For that matter, how could I have forgotten my sketchpad in Avery’s bike basket in the first place? Stupid, stupid …
But it was too late for that. Those sketches were public property now, or at least that was how my family would see it. I steeled myself for the teasing to begin as my mother looked up at my entrance.
“Maria!” she exclaimed. “I’m glad you’re here. Why didn’t you ever show us these drawings before? They’re beautiful!”
“Tell her what you said, Mom,” Josie urged. “Tell her you’ll reconsider that art thing she wants to do.”
“What?” I blurted out, my anger running flat-out into a solid stone wall of surprise that sent it reeling. “You—you will?”
“Maybe.” Mom still sounded cautious. “I’ll have to discuss it with your father, of course.”
“I’ll talk to him, too,” Josie assured me with the confidence of someone who always got what she wanted. “I know he’ll come around when he sees how talented you are. I mean, these could be in a museum!”
I wasn’t sure how she could possibly know that, since as far as I knew she hadn’t stepped foot in a museum since my grandfather had talked her into coming along with us once when I was little. But it still made me feel good to hear her say it. There was no time to study that feeling, though. I had to figure out if this was really happening, or if I was hallucinating it all. Could my mother really be saying what it sounded like she was saying? Was there still a chance … ?
“I don’t know about a museum,” I said. Then I turned to my mother. “But if you talk to Papa, tell him I should be able to pay most of the fees myself by fall. I can find other babysitting jobs after the twins’ grandmother gets back.”
“I’ll chip in, too,” Josie said. “If Papa doesn’t want to pay, I’ll pay whatever Maria can’t. I have money saved up.”
I couldn’t even respond to that except to stare at her in amazement. Was this really my sister, the one I’d thought barely knew I was alive? The one who thought my sketching was a waste of time that could be better spent socializing? The one so different from me in every way that we might as well be two different species?
“Thanks,” I managed at last.
“Sure.” She smiled at me. “I mean, I don’t really get the whole art thing, you know? I always figured it was more of a hobby. But I can tell from this” —she touched the sketchpad— “that you take it really seriously. I think that’s cool, and I want to help you if I can.”
Mom looked kind of impressed by Josie’s offer, too. “I doubt that will be necessary,” she told her. “But I’ll let your father know.”
“Okay.” I tried not to get my hopes up too much. Mom hadn’t said yes; she’d only said maybe.
But coming from my parents, that was a breakthrough. And with Josie on my side, maybe it really would turn into a yes!
Excitement and hope flared up inside me, so strong and sweet I felt a little sick. Mostly because mixed in with it was guilt when I remembered yelling at Avery just now. Maybe that hadn’t been exactly fair. I was starting to realize that spending so much time by myself meant I might not be the best judge of what people were really like. It was obvious I’d misjudged my sister. Could I have misjudged Avery, too? Yes, she’d gone against my wishes, doing something she knew I wouldn’t approve of. But she’d only been trying to help, in her pushy, clumsy, optimistic way. She’d only been trying to be a good friend …
A few minutes later I stepped out the front door, planning to see if Avery was still at the cove. But the rain was coming down more steadily, and I figured she’d probably long since headed home by now. I wished I could call her, but I didn’t know her number. So I ducked back inside just long enough to pull on a rain jacket, then started off for her house on my bike, the tires swishing along on the wet pavement. I had no idea what I was going to say to her, but I figured I could work that out when the time came.
I felt a little better after a long cry. Well, other than being soaking wet and a little chilly—the rain was falling harder by then, and the breeze off the ocean had picked up, too, tickling my bare arms and legs into gooseflesh.
Wishing I’d ridden my bike, I grabbed my surfboard and turned toward the trail, preparing myself for a long, wet walk home. But just then something out on the water caught my eye—a funny little flash of motion. Turning, I saw that the dolphins had finally arrived.
But what were they doing? Blinking the rain out of my eyes, I took a step down the beach, trying to get a better look. There had to be at least half a dozen dolphins out there, maybe more, all of them gathered in one spot, bobbing up and down and occasionally disappearing underwater.
When one ducked away out of sight, I gasped as a familiar black-and-white shape behind it came in to view.
“Seurat!” I blurted out, flooded with relief. He hadn’t disappeared after all!
But my relief turned quickly to worry. The other dolphins seemed to be gathered around Seurat in a circle. And he was barely moving …
My heart pounding with sudden panic, I gripped the edges of my surfboard tightly, wondering what to do. Was Seurat sick or injured? I wished I had my cell phone to call for help, but I didn’t usually bring it to the cove, since there was no reception down here, anyway. I thought about running up the trail to tell someone what was happening, but I was afraid that might take too long. What if Seurat disappeared again while I was gone?
No, there was only one thing to do. I gulped as I looked at the breaking waves, which suddenly seemed twenty feet tall. Closing my eyes, I tried not to imagine those waves pushing me under, holding me down …
“No,” I said aloud. “I’m over that.”
I steeled my nerves as best I could and raced out into the surf. The waves really were bigger and rougher than usual—that wasn’t just my imagination. When I tried to jump through one, it smacked against me so hard I let out a yelp of surprise. The next wave was right behind it and caught my surfboard, trying to yank it out of my grip.
I managed to hold on, my grip made more desperate when I realized I’d forgotten to attach the leash to my ankle. I almost turned back then. But I forced myself to be brave—for Seurat’s sake. He needed help, and there was no one else here. He needed me.
Finally I made it to the outside of the break line. I felt a little calmer once I was on my board paddling out toward the dolphins. The water was choppy, but I tried not to worry about that.
“I’m coming, Seurat!” I called, wiping rain out of my eyes.
I don’t know if the spotted dolphin heard me. But the others did. Several moved between me and Seurat, almost blocking him from view.
“Please.” I wiggled my feet, steering my board to one side. “I’m just trying to help … ”
I managed to paddle around the nearest dolphin. This was probably the closest I’d been to any of them since that day Seurat had helped save me. But this time I didn’t get a comforting feeling from being so close. I just got the feeling they didn’t want me to reach Seurat.
No matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to get near enough for a good look at the spotted dolphin. The others kept moving him away from me, keeping themselves between us. Finally I thought I had them trapped against a concave part of the cove wall. If I could just get a little closer …
“Oh!” I cried as a big gray dolphin suddenly darted in to block me, so close this time that he bumped into the end of my board.
Before I could react, I felt myself tipping sideways. I scrabbled for the board as I tumbled into the water, but my wet, cold fingers couldn’t seem to find a grip, and it splurted out and away from me, bumping into the rock wall before the wind-tossed waves carried it off, far out of reach.
Kady answered the door at Avery’s place. “What do you want?” she demanded.
“Is Avery here?” I asked.
“No.” She closed the door in my face.
I stared at it, fuming and ready to give up. Maybe Avery would come back to the cove tomorrow despite what I’d said. She was stubborn like that.
But I needed to tell someone my exciting news, and she was the only one I could think of who’d appreciate it. If she decided to forgive me, that was …
I knocked again. This time the door swung open almost immediately.
“I said she’s not here,” Kady snapped.
“Who is it?” another voice called from farther into the house. It sounded like Kady’s brother. I knew who he was from surfing on the main beach, though I didn’t really know him—but Avery had said he was nice.
“Excuse me!” I called as loudly as I could, ignoring Kady’s scowl. “I really need to talk to Avery.”
Seconds later Cam appeared behind his sister. I wasn’t sure he’d recognize me, since he was a few years ahead of me in school and I hardly ever surfed at the main beach anymore, but he nodded when he saw me. “Oh, it’s you,” he said. “What’s up? Been surfing lately?”
“Sort of,” I said. “I’m looking for Avery, actually.”
“And I already told you she isn’t home.” Kady sounded snottier than ever.
But Cam looked surprised as he glanced out at the rain. “Wait, she’s not here, and she’s not with you?” he said. “So where is she?”
He sounded worried. Suddenly I realized he was right—it was a little strange that none of us knew where Avery was. It wasn’t as if she’d decide to just go for a walk in this downpour. Could she possibly still be at the cove despite the rain?
“She probably rode off somewhere on my bike,” Kady put in. “She seems to think it’s hers all of a sudden, just because Mom said she could borrow it once.” She rolled her eyes. “Not that Mom has any right to give away my stuff … ”
I ignored her, and so did Cam. He was already slipping on a pair of beat-up Vans. “Let’s check for the bike,” he said.
I followed him to the garage, while Kady just stood there watching from the doorway. The pink bike Avery sometimes rode was standing there with its wicker basket flopped open and empty.
“Maybe she went out to the overlook,” Cam said, shutting the garage door again. “She goes there a lot. Or maybe she went to look for me at the beach—I invited her to come surfing today, but it was raining too hard, so I didn’t stay long. I’ll go check.”
“Okay.” I almost went with him. But I had a sudden, strong feeling that Avery wasn’t in either of those places. “I’ll check the cove.”
“The what?” He glanced at me. “Oh, that place she goes with you? She said something about that. But I doubt she’s there—Aves isn’t much into swimming alone.”
I didn’t bother to tell him I knew that as well as anyone. We rushed off in opposite directions.
Despite the rain, which was coming down harder than ever, I made it to the cove in record time. I skidded down the trail, which had never seemed so narrow and steep. I was moving so fast that I almost wiped out a couple of times, but somehow I managed to make it to the bottom in one piece. My eyes swept the beach, hoping I’d see Avery there, but it was empty except for my surfboard, which I’d forgotten earlier.
My gaze shifted to the water, and that was when I saw her.
“Avery!” I cried.
She was pretty far out, over near the high, craggy southern wall of the cove, thrashing around like a fish caught in a net. My heart thumped; I knew she had to be terrified. How had she ended up way out there?
It didn’t matter. I had to help her. I grabbed my board and raced into the surf. It wasn’t until I was past the break that I noticed the dolphins—lots of them. They were swimming around, seeming agitated.
And right in the middle was Seurat. At first I thought he was helping push Avery toward shore again; they were very close together, her arm reaching for his side.
“It’s okay, I’m coming!” I called, paddling faster.
She looked toward me. “Maria?” her voice drifted to me over the churn of the choppy waves.
When I neared them, the spotted dolphin disappeared beneath the water, just as he’d done last time. I reached for Avery, ready to pull her onto my board and drag her back to shore again. But she ducked out of reach.
“No, I’m okay,” she cried, her hair dark with moisture and plastered to her forehead, her blue eyes wide with worry. “I was trying to help Seurat. I think he’s sick or—or something.”
I blinked salty spray out of my eyes, confused. But sure enough, Avery didn’t seem to be drowning as I’d assumed, or even panicking the way I’d seen her do so many times. She was treading water steadily, turning herself around to scan the waves for the black-and-white dolphin.
“What do you mean, he’s sick?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”
She swam over and clung on to the edge of my surfboard, gulping in a few deep breaths of the humid air. “I’m not sure,” she said. “He was sort of groaning and thrashing around, and the others were acting funny … ”
I glanced at the dolphins surrounding us. They were acting kind of funny, zipping around and bumping into one another now and then. Could Avery be right? Was something really wrong with Seurat?
I clung to Maria’s surfboard, glad for the chance to catch my breath but more worried than ever about Seurat. Where had he gone?
“You must have scared him off,” I told Maria.
She scanned the cove. “The other dolphins are still hanging around—he’s probably still close.” She slid off her surfboard. “I’ll dive down and look for him.”
“Are you sure?” I said.
But she’d already ducked underwater. I stayed where I was, hanging on to her board and trying not to panic as she stayed under—longer, longer. Wasn’t this way too long?
Finally she popped back into view, gulping in a deep breath. “You won’t believe this,” she said breathlessly, grabbing the edge of the board with one hand. “There’s a tiny baby dolphin down there!”
“What?” I exclaimed.
She nodded, flipping her sopping wet braid off her shoulder. “Seurat’s there, too. I think the baby’s in trouble or something, maybe?”
“But … ” I began.
Then I stopped, since she’d just dived down again. I wished I was a stronger swimmer so I could go with her, because I was having trouble believing what she’d just told me. A baby dolphin? Where had that come from?
I gasped, suddenly realizing what the answer had to be. When Maria resurfaced, I exclaimed, “Seurat isn’t a he—she’s a she!”
“Yes.” Maria met my gaze. “And she just had a baby!” Then she dived back under the water again.
That explained the lump I’d felt on his—her—belly that time. It also explained Seurat’s erratic behavior, and also the agitation of the other dolphins. My mind spun with this huge news. Seurat was a mother!
