Chapter Eight

Minute by minute, inch by inch, the tide kept coming in. The rising water was just below Oreo and Dylan now, and the waves crashed up and over them. They were both soaked. Those waves were doing the work that Dylan had been doing with the bucket and the hose.

“It’s time to take off the sheets,” his grandpa yelled down. He was back at the top of the outcrop.

With the sun behind the rocks now and the waves spraying up, the sheets weren’t needed anymore. And they had to be removed in case somehow they got tangled around Oreo’s tail or fins and kept him trapped him on the rocks even when the water got high enough for him to swim away.

Dylan pulled away the sheet at Oreo’s tail. It was streaked with blood. He didn’t think his parents would ever use it on their bed again. For a split second he thought they might be mad at him for ruining it, but he knew they’d understand. In response to the sheet being removed, Oreo lifted his tail high into the air.

Gently Dylan ran his hand over the skin near Oreo’s tail. It was cool and smooth and rubbery to the touch. The cuts weren’t bleeding anymore. Dylan bundled up the sheet and dropped it into the blue bucket. He removed the second sheet and felt Oreo’s back. The skin was smooth and cool here as well. He dropped the second sheet into the bucket. That left just the one covering the orca’s upper back and head.

“It’s almost over,” he said to Oreo as he pulled the sheet away. The whale followed him with one dark eye.

Dylan put the sheet in the bucket and signaled for his grandpa to pull it up. The blue bucket bounced up the side of the rocky outcrop.

Dylan knew there was really nothing left for him to do now, but he didn’t want to leave. He got the feeling that Oreo didn’t want him to leave either.

At least Oreo wasn’t as alone as he had been. With the rising water, the rest of the pod had moved closer. They kept calling out to Oreo. He answered back, but his voice was quiet. Was he too exhausted to respond?

A big wave broke directly over them, and as it washed away Dylan felt himself being pulled outward. The wave was so strong that it even rocked Oreo slightly. It was definitely time to leave.

Dylan worked his way up to Oreo’s head and bent down so he could look directly into the whale’s one big black eye.

“I’ve got to go now,” he said. “You’re going soon too. I’m going back to my grandpa, and you’re going back to your family.”

Of course, Oreo didn’t answer, but Dylan was sure he understood.

“I’ve done everything I could. I hope you know that.” Dylan straightened. “I’m coming up!” he called to his grandpa.

Grandpa gave him a little wave and then gathered in the slack on the rope. He’d help Dylan climb by pulling in the rope and keeping it taut.

Dylan reached up and found a hold on the rock. His hands were stiff and numb, and the soaking-wet gloves weren’t helping. He felt so tired. He’d been down here with Oreo for almost ten hours. Would he be able to climb up the rocks? He had no choice.

Carefully he moved upward. With each foot he climbed, his grandpa reeled in the rope, helping him. Dylan focused on each step, making sure his feet were in a solid place and his hands had a good grip. Just a few more feet and he’d be at the top, and—his foot slipped and he fell against the rock, smacking his knees. He was more scared than hurt as he scrambled to regain his footing. Thank goodness the rope was there to hold me in place, he thought.

“You’re almost here,” Grandpa said. He offered Dylan a hand and pulled him to the top.

Dylan turned to look back down at where he’d spent the last ten hours beside Oreo. Even bigger waves were splashing up and over the rocks, showering down on the orca’s back. The ocean was now doing what Dylan had been doing for hours. And it still had to do what he and his grandpa couldn’t—free Oreo from the rocks.

The water was rising quickly as the tide rushed in. High tide was less than thirty minutes away. The water seemed to be rising faster by the second. It wouldn’t be too much longer before it would free Oreo.

“He’s going to be able to go soon, right?” Dylan asked.

“I hope that’s what happens.”

“But…but why wouldn’t it?”

“I just want you to be prepared.”

“Prepared for what?”

Grandpa didn’t answer at first. Just like he could tell when Oreo was thinking, Dylan could tell that his grandpa was thinking now too.

“Oreo has been out of the water for a long time,” Grandpa began.

“But we kept him wet and cool and covered so he wouldn’t get sunburned. We did everything you said we needed to do.”

“We did—you did—everything that could be done. But we couldn’t keep his own weight off him.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Whales are meant to float, not lie down. His weight has been pressing down on those rocks, and this could have damaged his heart or lungs.”

“He was breathing okay. I could hear him breathing the whole time I was down there.”

“There could still be damage. And I worry about the cuts. He might be more hurt than we can see,” Grandpa said.

“I didn’t see any blood coming from underneath,” Dylan said.

“That doesn’t mean he wasn’t scraped up when he got on the rocks or that he won’t be cut trying to get off the rocks too soon. He has to wait for the water to get high enough for him to float and to swim free.”

Dylan hadn’t thought of that. If only he could tell Oreo to wait.

At that moment the pod members started talking. It sounded like it was all of them. They were loud, and Oreo started to answer back. Were they telling him to wait or asking him to come back? If only Dylan knew. If only he could speak to Oreo and tell him to wait. But he was helpless.

“Not yet,” his grandpa said quietly. “Just stay there a little bit longer.”

Oreo started to move more. He wiggled around. He lifted and lowered his tail, and water splashed up into the air.

“Just a little bit longer,” Dylan said. “Hang in there and—”

A giant wave crashed up onto the rocks, throwing spray so high that it hit Dylan and his grandpa. Below, it hit Oreo hard, rocking him sideways. He was close to floating! Then another wave hit, and a third and a fourth, and then Oreo popped forward! He was off the rocks and in the water!

“Look at him go!” Grandpa yelled.

Oreo raced out into open water.

“He’s all right!” Dylan exclaimed.

“Judging by how fast he’s moving, he’s better than all right!”

Oreo was soon surrounded by the rest of the pod. They swam all around him for a minute and then started to head out, away from the shore and the rocks. Dylan and his grandpa watched as different dorsal fins surfaced and disappeared. Oreo’s appeared among those of the bigger whales—his family. Dylan and Grandpa stood atop the rocks and watched until the pod disappeared.

“We did it,” Dylan said.

“Mostly you did it. Funny, we came down to the beach to try to find some treasure, and I think we did.”

“But it was only treasure when we set it free.”