A Daring Rescue Read online

  “Oh!” she cried. “I touched him!”

  The dolphins were all back out in deeper water by now. Rascal and a couple of the others surfaced again, watching the girls.

  But Abby hardly saw them. She stared at her hand in amazement. She’d just touched a real live dolphin. This had to be one of the best moments of her entire life!

  Abby and Bella spent another hour with the dolphins, watching them play and occasionally reaching out to touch them as they swam by. The longer they stayed, the less nervous Rascal and Echo seemed about coming close, though the rest of the pod still kept their distance.

  Then, as if on cue, all the dolphins turned and swam off toward the mouth of the cove. Soon they’d disappeared from sight. The girls waited a few minutes, but the pod seemed to have left for the deeper waters of the ocean.

  “They probably went to find something to eat,” Abby guessed. “Maybe they’ll be back later.”

  Bella glanced up at the sky. It was brighter and warmer in the clearing than when they’d first arrived. “How long have we been here?”

  “I’m not sure.” Abby waded back to dry ground to check her phone. As soon as she picked it up, she realized something. “Oh! I should have taken pictures.” Then she gulped as she saw the time on the screen. “Oops. We’ve been gone a while. I hope nobody missed us and started to worry.”

  “Me too,” Bella said.

  “I’ll text my dad and tell him we’re okay.” Abby quickly opened a text message:

  Hi! Bella and I went for a walk. Be back soon to help with breakfast.

  He texted back almost right away:

  Glad u texted! Leave a note next time ok? We figured u two were together but were starting to worry.

  Abby felt guilty. “I guess they did miss us,” she told Bella. “I’ll explain about the dolphins—then he’ll understand why we lost track of time.”

  “No!” Bella grabbed Abby’s arm before she could hit another letter on her phone. “Don’t tell him about the dolphins, okay?”

  “What?” Abby blinked at her in surprise. “Why not?”

  Bella shrugged. “I just thought it could be, you know, our secret.”

  Abby didn’t understand. “A secret?” she echoed. “But why? I want to share the beautiful dolphins with my family—with everyone!”

  Bella bit her lip, looking anxious. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” she said. “I mean, if too many people visit the cove, the dolphins might stop coming here so much. And your parents would probably want to clear a bigger path, and then even more people would come …”

  Abby frowned, still not quite getting it. “But the dolphins are so friendly! They probably wouldn’t mind.”

  “What if they do, though? Should we take that chance?” Bella glanced out toward the still water of the cove. “I’m pretty sure I can convince my parents to come back here to Barnaby Key a lot. We have tons of family visiting from up north, and I’m sure they’d all love the resort. The two of us can still come to the cove together whenever I’m here. It’ll be our special secret.”

  Abby still didn’t understand why Bella was so anxious to keep the dolphins a secret. But she did like the thought of her family coming to the resort a lot. Maybe that would help Daddy and Rachel feel less worried about the business.

  Besides, she didn’t want to upset her new friend. “Okay, I guess,” she said. “It’s our secret. But we’d better go back now.”

  The two girls parted ways once they reached the edge of the woods. It was so warm that their shorts were already dry, but Bella said she wanted to change her shoes before breakfast. With a quick wave, she hurried across the lawn toward her bungalow. Abby watched her go, thinking over everything that had just happened.

  Suddenly, there was a flash of bright blue in the trees off to her right. Abby spun around, trying to see if it was the big parrot she’d spotted earlier. But whatever it was had already disappeared.

  “Oh well,” Abby said aloud, startling a lizard that had been drowsing on a branch nearby. “I guess I’d better get inside and help with breakfast. Maybe Bella can help me look for that bird later—when we go back to see the dolphins.”

  She smiled and shivered, still hardly believing what she’d just seen in the secret cove. Then she headed toward the house.

  The kitchen was bustling with breakfast preparations. Rachel headed out toward the pavilion with a pot of coffee, while Sofia stirred a big pan of eggs on the stove. Abby’s dad and the other kitchen employees were busy, too.

  Then Abby noticed someone new. A boy around her age perched on a stool next to the stove. He had dark hair and wide-set brown eyes.

  Just then Sofia looked up and spotted Abby. “Darling!” she called. “Come meet Carlos. I told you about him the other day.”

  Abby hurried over. Carlos slid down from the stool and stared at her curiously. “Hi,” he said. “How old are you? Tía Sofia wasn’t sure.”

  “I just turned eight,” she said. “I’m Abby.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Carlos shrugged and stuck his hands in the pockets of his shorts. “Your family just moved here from the mainland.”

  “That’s right. I guess Sofia told you that, huh?” Abby glanced at the cook, but Sofia had returned to her work. “And you live in Key West, right?”

  “Uh-huh. I’m a conch—that means born and raised in the Keys.” Carlos stood up a little straighter, looking proud. “My parents run a tourist fishing business. It’s super successful.”

  “That’s nice.” He seemed a little stuck-up, but Abby didn’t say so. “I hope our resort will be successful, too.”

  “Maybe it will.” Carlos sounded dubious. He stepped over and grabbed a muffin off a platter on the counter, stuffing it into his mouth. “I mean, people will probably come from all around for Tía Sofia’s cooking,” he mumbled while chewing the muffin. “At least you’ve got her and a few other conchs to help, since y’all aren’t from around here.”

  Abby frowned, wondering if that was supposed to be an insult. But Carlos was smiling, so she shrugged it off.

  “Hey, since you’re from the Keys, I have a question,” she said. “I saw this huge blue bird flying into the woods—like a big parrot, you know? Some smaller birds were chasing it.”

  “A big blue parrot?” Carlos looked surprised. Then he nodded. “Oh, wait—maybe it’s Bogart!”

  “What’s a Bogart?” Abby asked, ducking aside as one of the waiters rushed past with a pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice.

  “Not what—who,” Carlos said. “This tourist named Mr. Robinson came down to fish with us for a whole month earlier this summer. He’s from, like, Atlanta or somewhere, I think? Anyway, he brought his pet macaw with him—that’s Bogart.”

  “And the macaw escaped?” Abby said. “That’s terrible!”

  Carlos shook his head. “Bogart didn’t escape,” he said. “Mr. Robinson decided he was too much trouble to take care of, so he let him go wild.”

  Abby gasped. “But that’s so mean!”

  “Yeah, Mr. Robinson was kind of a jerk,” Carlos agreed, licking the last crumbs of the muffin from his fingers. “He was rude to everyone, and he never left a tip. Anyway, one day he rented a boat and said he was taking Bogart out to see some of the smaller islands. I guess that’s when he let him go. By the time anyone heard about it, the bird was gone.” He glanced at Sofia, who was too far away to hear their conversation. “Tía Sofia and some of her friends went out searching a couple of times, but they weren’t even sure which way Mr. Robinson had gone. So we all figured Bogart was …” He drew his finger across his throat. Abby knew what that meant: They’d thought the macaw was dead.

  “Wow,” she said. “I guess he survived after all.”

  “Are you sure you really saw a bird like that?” Carlos seemed interested. “It wasn’t just a heron or something?”

  “No!” Abby felt a little insulted. “I might be new to the islands, but I’m a lifelong Florida girl. I know what a heron looks
like. This bird was brighter blue, with yellow on his belly.”

  Carlos nodded. “Okay. Maybe we should go look for him.”

  Just then Abby’s father rushed past. “Hurry up, kids,” he sang out. “The food’s going fast this morning—guess all the fresh sea air is making our guests hungry! You’d better get out there if you don’t want to miss out.”

  “Coming,” Abby called after him. She glanced at Carlos. “Right after breakfast I can show you where I saw the bird, okay?”

  Half an hour later, the two of them were in the woods. Abby stopped on the deer path, glancing around.

  “The last time I saw him, he was over there.” She pointed in the direction where she’d seen the flash of blue.

  “Okay.” Carlos leaned down to examine the trail. “Hey, I bet you have Key deer here. Let’s follow the trail and see if we can spot any. They’re really rare, you know.”

  “I know,” Abby said quickly. “But like I said, Bogart flew that way.”

  Carlos took a few steps along the trail. “We can look for him later.”

  “No!” Abby gulped, remembering her promise to Bella. She couldn’t let Carlos follow the trail, or he’d find the secret cove! “Look, if you don’t want to search for Bogart, I should go back and help clean up the breakfast stuff.”

  Carlos snorted. “Whatever,” he said. “If you’re afraid of running into an iguana out here, just say so!”

  “I’m not afraid,” Abby snapped. “I just didn’t come out here to look for deer right now.”

  “Sure, if you say so.” Carlos smirked. “Call me if you see that bird again, okay? Or a heron.”

  For a second, Abby thought he was going to keep walking along the trail. Instead, he turned and headed out of the woods. With a silent sigh of relief, she followed.

  Right after lunch, Abby and Bella waited until nobody was looking, then ducked into the woods. This time they brought along life jackets and kickboards. That was Bella’s idea.

  “I still don’t think we should go out very far,” she warned as the two of them hurried along the trail toward the cove. “But maybe we can float out a tiny bit closer to the pod.”

  “Sounds good,” Abby said. “Look, we’re almost to Dolphin Cove.”

  “Dolphin Cove?” Bella smiled. “That’s what I was calling it in my head, too.”

  Abby giggled. “When something like that happens, Daddy always says, ‘Great minds think alike!’ ”

  The dolphins were playing in the water when the girls emerged into the clearing. “Look, there’s Domino!” Bella cried as the spotted dolphin did a graceful leap.

  Abby was already pulling on her life jacket. “Let’s go in,” she said. She raced toward the water’s edge, then stopped. “Oh, wait—first I want to take some video.”

  She pulled out her phone and switched to the camera app. The dolphins looked pretty small through the viewfinder, so she carefully stepped onto a line of rocks jutting out into the deeper water. Then she started filming the dolphins. Right away, Rascal did a dramatic spinning jump. He landed with a huge splash, almost bumping into Neptune. Water splashed up over the rocky spit, getting Abby’s legs wet.

  “I think he’s showing off for the camera,” she said with a laugh. “Come on, let’s go in.”

  Soon the two girls were floating on their kickboards. The dolphins didn’t move away at all. “I think they recognize us,” Abby said as she watched Graygirl glide past just beneath the surface.

  “I think so, too,” Bella said. “Look—Echo is almost close enough to touch!” She stretched out her hand. But the dolphin dodged away at the last second.

  “Aw, don’t be shy,” Abby called to him.

  Bella laughed. “It’s okay,” she said. “I’m happy just being close to them.”

  At that moment, Rascal’s head popped out of the water. He let out a chirpy little whistle.

  “I wonder what he’s saying.” Abby moved her legs underwater to turn and face the playful dolphin. “Sorry, Rascal. We don’t speak Dolphin.”

  “We could try.” Bella took a breath, then let out a whistle.

  Domino surfaced, staring at her curiously. Then Rascal whistled again.

  “Hey, I think you’re talking to them!” Abby exclaimed. “Let me try …”

  For the next few minutes, they experimented with making different whistles and chirps. Sometimes the dolphins ignored them. Other times they seemed to listen and respond. Eventually they settled on a certain whistle that made Rascal and Domino swim closer almost every time.

  “I’m still not sure what we’re saying to them,” Abby said with a laugh. “But I think they like it!”

  After almost two hours, the girls reluctantly decided to go back. “We shouldn’t stay out here for very long at a time,” Bella said as she led the way onto the rocky shore. “Otherwise our parents might start to wonder what we’re doing.”

  Abby picked up her phone and slipped on her flip-flops. “Are you sure we shouldn’t just tell them?” she said, glancing out at the dolphins. “I’m sure the dolphins wouldn’t leave if more people started coming. They’re super friendly.”

  “No! You promised,” Bella said quickly. “It’s our secret, remember?”

  “I remember.” Abby swallowed back a sigh. She still didn’t understand why Bella didn’t want to share the dolphins with everyone.

  * * *

  When they were back at the resort, Bella went to change out of her swimsuit. Abby wandered off to find her parents. They weren’t in the office or on the beach with the rest of the guests. She decided to check upstairs. When she was almost to the third floor, she heard voices coming from her parents’ bedroom.

  “… and I was thinking maybe adding more activities would help us compete with the other resorts,” Rachel was saying. “Sofia suggested cooking classes.”

  Abby froze where she was. Oh no! Were her parents still worrying about going out of business?

  “That’s a good idea,” Daddy told Rachel. “I could build some trails to attract mountain bikers. And maybe plant more flowers?”

  “That would be nice.” Rachel sighed. “I don’t know if it’s enough, though. We need something special—something to make us stand out.”

  “Okay, but what?” Daddy said.

  Suddenly, Abby knew the answer. She raced up the last few steps. “I know what would make everyone want to come here!” she cried. “Dolphin Cove!”

  At first Daddy and Rachel were confused. But when Abby explained about Dolphin Cove, they got excited.

  “A pod of dolphins, right here on our island?” Rachel exclaimed.

  “Can you take us there?” Daddy added.

  “Sure.” Abby was thrilled to see them so happy. “It’s only a short walk through the forest. We can go right now if you want.”

  “Great,” Daddy said.

  Rachel checked her watch. “Wait—not great,” she said. “It’s almost dinnertime, and then we’ve scheduled a movie on the beach afterward, remember? We’ll have to check out the dolphins in the morning. Okay, Abs?”

  “Okay,” Abby agreed.

  But this time her smile felt forced. She’d just realized something—she’d spilled the secret! What would Bella say when she found out?

  I have to tell her right away, Abby thought. It’s only fair.

  But in the rush to get ready for dinner, she didn’t have a moment alone with Bella until after the meal had ended. Then she managed to drag her off behind the pavilion.

  “What is it?” Bella was staring over toward the beach, where some of the resort employees were setting up a big movie screen. “I don’t want to miss the start of the movie.”

  “I know. But this is important.” Abby took a deep breath. “I, um, sort of told my parents about Dolphin Cove.”

  “What?” Bella spun to face her. “You’re joking, right?”

  “No. I’m sorry.” Abby started to tell her about the conversation she’d overheard. But she’d only managed a few words before Bella cut
her off.

  “You promised!” she cried, her brown eyes flashing with fury. “I can’t believe it—I thought we were friends!”

  “We are!” Abby exclaimed. “Bella, wait, just let me explain …”

  But Bella was already stomping off toward the beach. Abby’s shoulders slumped. Had she ruined their friendship for good this time?

  * * *

  Abby barely paid attention to the movie. She sat on the warm sand beside Rachel, trying not to stare at Bella, who was sitting between her mother and her uncle.

  Maybe I shouldn’t have told, Abby thought. Maybe I should have kept my promise to Bella and kept the cove a secret.

  Then she shook her head. That was silly. Her parents would have found the cove eventually. And by telling them now, maybe she could help the resort attract more guests.

  Still, maybe I could have waited a little longer to tell them, she thought with a sigh, sneaking another peek at Bella. I probably could have convinced Bella to let me tell eventually. And that way we’d still be friends …

  She was still worrying about what had happened when the movie ended. Most of the guests headed to the dining pavilion for a late-night snack. But Abby wasn’t hungry. She stayed on the beach to help Daddy dismantle the movie projector.

  “Thanks, Abby,” he said. “I’ll take the equipment back to the house. Why don’t you go see if Rachel needs any help in the dining room.”

  “Okay.” Abby felt nervous about seeing Bella. But when she entered the dining pavilion, Bella was nowhere in sight.

  Rachel spotted Abby and rushed over. “We’re out of mint for the iced tea,” she said. “Would you mind picking some? There’s a patch in the herb garden.”

  “Sure.” Abby headed outside again. The herb garden was behind the house near the volleyball and croquet courts.

  She walked slowly in that direction. The sun had set, but there was still plenty of moonlight to see by. A cool breeze tickled Abby’s face. It felt good after the heat of the summer day.