WHEN EVERYONE HAD GATHERED together in the Seahorse Auditorium, Leonard stood up at the microphone and introduced the morning’s special guest.
Her name was Myrtle Shelly, which was just right for someone who wore a sweater with a large turtle-shell insignia on the front, turtle-shaped earrings, a charm bracelet decorated with miniature turtles, and shoes with bright green, clip-on turtles. Madison guessed that Myrtle must have been at least seventy years old. She’d been watching turtle nesting habits along the coastline for decades. But alongside all the turtle trinkets, there was something about Myrtle that seemed … familiar. Madison couldn’t put her finger on it.
Before the presentation, Logan and Teeny started whispering. Madison wanted in on the joke, but she could barely hear them. Ann was in the way. She sat between Madison and the other members of the group like a roadblock.
“When I woke up this morning, I was so glad to see it was not raining hard again, weren’t you?” Ann asked.
“I guess,” Madison said, trying to avoid any kind of real conversation. She couldn’t believe that the second she arrived at camp for the day she had ended up paired up with Ann again. How had that happened?
“I talked to Will on the phone last night,” Ann said in a low voice.
“Oh,” Madison turned to her, eyes wide. “That’s nice.”
“He called me to find out what was going on at camp today. He thought we were supposed to bring show-and-tell things. I guess he figured I would know what we were doing.”
“I guess,” Madison said. “Um … We should really try to pay attention now, right?” Madison pointed in the direction of the lectern.
“Oh, yeah, yeah, sure,” Ann said.
Myrtle stood up at the lectern.
“Hello, my dears,” she said, her voice deep and strong. She didn’t need a microphone. She walked around the stage as she spoke. “Before I start to tell you all my turtle tales, I want to clarify one thing that I’ve been clarifying for years: my name, Myrtle Shelly, does indeed sound like turtle shells. You didn’t hear wrong. And I didn’t plan it that way, but it’s been good fun all these years, so enjoy it. Now that we’ve gotten that settled …”
The crowd of campers applauded; some giggled. Myrtle showed the first slide. It was a picture of a beach overrun with turtles.
Madison felt Ann lean in.
“So, did you have a good night last night?” Ann whispered.
“Huh?” Madison couldn’t disguise the annoyance in her voice.
“Did. You. Have. A. Good. Night?” Ann repeated, emphasizing every single word.
“Shouldn’t we be paying attention?” Madison asked curtly. She leaned on her opposite elbow and sighed.
“Okay, I get it,” Ann said. “You don’t want to talk.”
“No, I just want to listen,” Madison said, quietly indicating the stage. “Don’t you?”
Ann turned the opposite way. She was pouting a little bit; Madison could tell.
Up on stage, Myrtle wasn’t saying much to start. She let the photos do the talking.
Thankfully, Ann finally focused on the presentation, too.
Clicking through a sequence of slides, Myrtle rattled off each turtle fact with a dramatic flourish. She started every sentence with a flamboyant, “And did you know …?” and ended every sentence with a joke. Madison laughed at most of them. Her dad would have loved them all.
“Did you know that Ridley, the smallest sea turtle, weighs about a hundred pounds, but the leatherback weighs almost thirteen hundred pounds? Now, that’s a lot of turtle soup!”
The campers laughed, too, happy to learn as much as possible about the turtles before the following week. That was when all six groups would head for the beach to see actual hatchlings appear from the turtle nests dotting the coast. It would be the payoff camp experience, after two weeks of hard work.
“Now,” Myrtle explained in her croaky voice, “the Indian River coast is home to many different breeds of nesting turtles. We try to be as welcoming and protecting as possible.”
Madison took it all in. One day, she hoped to be able to be as smart as Myrtle was, standing up in front of other people, able to share her knowledge of animals and the environment and … to make a difference. She thought back to her plane ride down to Florida, about sitting next to Walton, who called himself Wally. She remembered one of the many important things Wally had said: If you just stop and listen, you can change the world, you know.
Up on the screen behind Myrtle and the lectern, a slide flashed showing a large turtle with a dark, rubbery-looking shell.
“This is the leatherback turtle,” Myrtle explained. “It’s the most active of all sea turtles. It dives thousands of feet into the water …”
“Remember that scene from Finding Nemo?” Madison heard Teeny whisper to Logan. He went on to recall the scene in the animated movie in which a large group of turtles traveled through the ocean.
“Dude,” Logan grunted back, imitating one of the turtles from the movie.
Both boys laughed. Madison laughed to herself, too. Logan was funny; almost as funny as Egg. Madison wondered what Egg was doing just then. Was he swimming at the pool with—sigh—Hart? Madison still pined for her BFFs a little, but she realized that the Egrets were good friends to have around, too.
Even Ann.
“The turtle you are looking at now,” Myrtle continued, pointing to the screen and trying to get everyone’s attention, “is the green turtle. There have been sightings of up to fifteen hundred nests each year, although most nest on islands in the Caribbean Ocean. Many years ago, I had the good fortune to witness one of the green turtles’ nests with my husband, Walton, a researcher and writer …”
All at once, the sound of ten dozen pinball machines went off inside Madison’s head. How could she have been so dumb? This was Myrtle, the same Myrtle that Walton, the man from the plane, had told her about. Duh! This was the Myrtle. Madison had always believed that coincidences were very good luck, but this was a doozy. How could it have taken her so long to see the connection?
Madison glanced over in the half-darkness of the Seahorse Auditorium and saw Ann scribbling notes. She was always taking notes on something. Just beyond Ann, Madison’s eyes caught Will’s eye. He was staring at her.
And then he smiled.
Madison froze.
It was just a smile—an ordinary smile. But everything about it made Madison’s stomach flip-flop.
She quickly turned to face forward.
How long had he been staring at her?
Without thinking much about what had happened, but needing to confirm that it had indeed happened, Madison shifted her body slightly and looked one more time.
Will was still staring.
Madison froze again, but this time she was looking right at him. After a moment, she looked away again.
Flip. Flop.
The last reptile Myrtle put up on screen was the most important turtle of all—at least for Camp Sunshine’s purposes. This was the turtle Madison and her fellow campers would be searching for along the coast.
“Ah, the mighty loggerhead,” Myrtle said as she pointed to the screen. “It’s named for its rather large head and jaws. It crushes heavy-shelled clams, crabs, and other animals for food.”
Although she didn’t turn to look (she wasn’t sure she could ever turn to look that way again), Madison heard Will and Teeny laugh about something. Madison hoped it was the turtle they were laughing at—and not her. There was no particular reason to think that that was true, but she was feeling just a wee bit paranoid. Was it Ann’s influence? For some reason, Madison felt self-conscious about everything just then.
The lights went up and Myrtle continued her talk. Now she asked campers to tell her what they knew about loggerhead turtles.
A kid down in front raised his hand.
“I know that they have heads shaped like logs,” the kid said.
Everyone laughed out loud.
“Well,” Myrtle’s voice was deep, but gentle. “I suppose you might say that,” she said. “Anyone else?”
“I know that the loggerhead is on the endangered-species list,” another kid grunted.
“Yes, yes, very good,” Myrtle said. “Did you know that there used to be millions of sea turtles in our oceans? But because of the demand for sea turtle meat, eggs, shells, leather, and oil, their numbers have been greatly reduced. It’s sad, but we can help change all that.”
A few other kids raised their hands, and added their own points. Naturally, Madison wanted to raise her hand and say something, too. She’d surfed the Internet for more than an hour the night before just to learn a few cool turtle facts of her own. But the whole eye-contact thing with Will had turned Madison’s brain off, not on. Sitting there, she couldn’t recall a single fact.
Madison didn’t even utter a peep when Ann aggressively nudged her and said, “Madison, say something; I know you want to; you know a lot about turtles,” in that squeaky voice that had—in only three days—driven Madison crazier than crazy.
But it was too late to participate. Myrtle was no longer looking for contributions from the kids. The presentation had ended. Leonard was back up at the microphone, leading a round of applause for Myrtle—and the turtles.
“Brilliant,” Leonard said, clapping his hands together. “And campers?”
He looked out at everyone, urging them to clap louder. Madison leaned backward ever so slightly so that she could look behind Ann’s head and spy on Teeny, Will, and the others during the round of applause. Madison caught a glimpse of Will’s shaggy hair. He had on a T-shirt with a license-plate design on the front and sleeve. She’d noticed it when they sat down. Now she could just barely see it. The letters ILUVDOGZ were pictured on the license plate.
Madison smiled to herself. Will would probably like Phinnie, wouldn’t he?
“Now, campers, if you would like to introduce yourselves to Mrs. Shelly,” Leonard said as everyone was dismissed, “you will have an opportunity to do so at our lunch. Please follow the other groups into the dining area.”
Madison shuffled into the dining room with the rest of the Egrets. Thankfully, she didn’t have to deal with Ann. She must have gotten the hint, Madison mused. Logan was standing there talking to her. Suchita and Teeny were joking around together, too. That left Madison and Will next to each other in the lunch line.
It was hard not to giggle, standing there. Madison felt awkward and more self-conscious than ever. She couldn’t stop thinking about—or seeing inside her mind—Will’s green eyes staring back at her in the auditorium. Her stomach still had not recovered. What with the nervous flip-flops caused by Will’s staring and the pangs brought on by missing her BFFs, Madison had a total case of indigestion.
As they stood there, not speaking, Myrtle Shelly breezed past. Madison turned to look just as Myrtle walked by. And she nearly collided with Myrtle’s shoulder. But the near miss gave Madison a chance to say a proper hello.
“Oh, n—n—no,” Madison stuttered, “Mrs. Shelly, I’m so sorry.”
“No blood,” Myrtle joked as she smoothed her sweater with a free hand. “Any injuries?”
“No,” Madison replied.
“Well, then, no doctors needed.”
“Thank you so much for your speech,” Madison gushed, tripping over her words. “I feel like I already know you. Of course, I do. Well, sort of …”
“Come again?” Myrtle stuttered. “I’m not sure I understand you, dear.”
“Well, the truth is, I do know some things about you from before today. I know that your granddaughter and you have the same name.”
“Oh?” Myrtle’s eyebrows went up.
“You see, when I came here from New York, I sat next to your husband, Wally, on the plane.”
“Aha!” Myrtle cried. “So you’re the fine, funny young girl he was telling me about!”
Myrtle took Madison’s hand in her own. Her skin was softer than soft. She held on tight as she continued speaking. “Walton told me he hasn’t had such an enjoyable flight home in a dog’s age. And he flies at least once a month, so that’s really saying something.”
“Well, he was totally nice to me,” Madison said. She was still wondering why Myrtle described her as a fine and funny young girl. What was so funny about Madison?
“Yes, you are a real sweetheart, aren’t you? I would love to chat, my dear, but I’m starved. Toodle-ooooo!”
Madison nodded. “Yes. Toodle? Oooo? Um … thanks!”
And just like that, Myrtle dashed off.
“You know her?” Will asked Madison as soon as Myrtle walked away.
Madison nodded proudly. “Sorta.”
The server presented Myrtle with a lunch tray, and she sidled up to the counter for a helping of macaroni and fruit salad. Will wandered over to the tables where everyone sat.
Of course, Ann grabbed the seat right next to Will. It was a key body block. Madison ended up in the chair next to Suchita and some other kid from the Crabs.
But Madison didn’t mind.
She had a better view of Will from where she was anyway. It was a good time to get a little distance, to let her stomach flips and flops subside. It was one of those sweet moments she’d have to write about in her files.
And to make things even sweeter, Madison even caught Will staring a few more times during lunch.