Zoe looked out the guest house window at the clear blue sky. She pulled on her shirt and shorts over her wetsuit. “It’s a lovely day,” she said. “Light breeze, good sailing weather — perfect for our mission.”

They had arrived with Erika at the Casa Blanca guest house in San Miguel late the night before. The hotel’s owner, Señor Rodriguez, had greeted them and given them hot drinks and a big plate of cookies.

“Come on, Zoe,” said Ben impatiently. “Let’s get going.”

“Don’t be so hasty,” Zoe said. She sat on her bed and lifted her backpack up beside her. “We’ve gotta do a final check of our equipment first.” She rummaged through her bag. “First-aid kit, binoculars, GILs . . .”

“. . . flippers, diving belt with knife, treats for Fingal,” muttered Ben, carefully repacking each one. “How’s your Spanish?”

“I can say please and thank you,” said Zoe.

“Can you say, ‘do you know where the missing dolphin is because we’ve come to rescue him and get him to a rehabilitation center?’” Ben said with a smirk.

Zoe rolled her eyes. “I’ll leave that to you!” she said.

Ben picked up his BUG and peeled off a small plastic earpiece from the side. “At least with our translators we can make sure that we understand everything we hear,” he said, stuffing it in his ear.

Zoe did the same and they turned on their BUGs’ translation mode.

Just then, Ben’s BUG vibrated. “Message from Erika,” he said. “Sailing dinghy rented. It’s down on the pier.”

“I wonder how her meeting with the fishermen is going,” said Zoe, tucking her flippers, mask, and snorkel into her bag. “Good thing she’s fluent in Spanish, since she has to explain how Uncle Stephen’s complicated nets work!”

Erika had wasted no time. Immediately after breakfast, she had departed for a large fishing village along the coast.

Erika planned to start her campaign of persuading the fishermen to use the new nets right away, so Ben and Zoe were on their own already.

Ben hoisted his backpack on to his shoulders. “Let’s see what we can find out about Fingal from the local people,” he said.

“Good idea,” said Zoe, as they made their way down to the lobby. “Make sure to be subtle about it. They can’t know we’re from WILD.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “Duh,” he said. “Anyway, while we’re in the village we should buy some food.”

“You just had breakfast!” said Zoe. “You can’t still be hungry. The hot chocolate and spicy tortillas were delicious — and very filling.”

“Yep,” Ben said. “And that’s why I’m already looking forward to lunch!”

Señor Rodriguez came out. He glanced at the children’s bulging backpacks. “Are you going on a long trip?”

“We’re going sailing,” said Zoe. “Our aunt’s renting us a boat. The sea looks very clear here — not like back home — and we want to see the underwater life.”

“My sister has always dreamed of seeing wild dolphins,” Ben added, taking up the cover story. “If we don’t see any, I’ll never hear the end of it!”

“You’re in luck,” said Señor Rodriguez. “The fishermen often see dolphins from their boats. But listen, your aunt might not have to take you that far out. You might even see the dolphin from the old marine park.”

“What do you mean?” asked Zoe, pretending to be clueless. Ben admired how good she’d become at acting since they started working for WILD.

Señor Rodriguez told them all about the closing of the marine park.

“The dolphin’s been popping up ever since,” Señor Rodriguez said. “Only yesterday, Filiberto told me it had been pestering him when he was fishing. It was a real nuisance. It kept calling to him and banging against the side of the boat. Then it did a funny sort of backward walk on its tail.”

“That does sound like a tame dolphin,” said Zoe, giving Ben a knowning glance.

“You be careful now,” Señor Rodriguez added. “Dolphins are pretty friendly, but there are also sharks further out in the bay. So no swimming out there, okay?”

“We’ll look out for sharks,” Ben said, nodding.

Ben and Zoe headed toward the sea. They walked along a rough, dusty road toward the center of San Miguel.

In this area, houses were scattered around an old church. The morning sun warmed the red-tiled roofs.

Ben and Zoe turned a corner and gasped in delight. Ahead of them lay the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, sparkling in the sunshine. A few guest houses and tourist shops overlooked the ocean, but there were no tourists around. The bay was wide, with a wooden pier. Nearby, boats tethered to red buoys bobbed in the gentle swell. Several fishing vessels were heading toward shore to haul in their catches of the day. Ben and Zoe could hear the distant drone of their engines as they puttered in. Far out to sea, the twins could barely make out a small island that was scattered with palm trees.

“That’s a coral island,” Ben said. “I read about them on the plane.”

Zoe aimed her binoculars at the far end of the bay, where a battered fence surrounded some shabby buildings. A tattered sign hung loosely on its hinges.

“That’s Mundo Marino,” Zoe said in disgust. “So that’s where poor Fingal was living.”

“Soon we’ll get him to a much better place than that,” said Ben.

They made their way down the main street. They passed gift shops, a bar, and several grocery stores. Nearly all of the shop owners were placing wooden shutters over the windows. “Everyone’s closing their stores,” Zoe said, surprised.

One small store still had the door open. “At least we can buy our food here,” said Ben. He pushed open the door and breathed in the delicious smell of freshly baked bread and smoked meats.

“Hello,” Zoe said to the woman behind the counter. “Do you speak English?”

“A little,” the woman said.

“Why is everything closing?” Zoe asked, pointing to the shutters.

“Hurricane,” the woman said with an apologetic smile.

Zoe turned to Ben. “This is really bad news,” she whispered in alarm. “Fingal isn’t used to being in the ocean, let alone in hurricane conditions.”

“We’ve got to get Fingal to the center before the hurricane arrives,” Ben whispered. “If he stays near the shoreline, he’ll find it hard to swim in the strong waves. He could get hurt, or killed.”

“Let’s hope there’s enough time,” whispered Zoe.