5 Floorp!

Chapter 5 FLOORP! "Holy moly!" said Andrew. "More sharks!" "Noop! Noop! Noop!" said Thudd. "Sharks not like to swim with other sharks. Dolphins here!" "Wowzers!" said Andrew. "It's a whole herd of them!" meep… "Called pod of dolphins," said Thudd. Andrew and Judy turned to get a better look. Most of the dolphins were as big as grown-up humans. But there was one very small dolphin swimming with them. "It's a dolphin baby!" said Judy. meep… "Dolphin calf," said Thudd.

The shark twisted away from the windshield and started swimming toward the dolphins—right toward the calf! The Water Bug's outside microphone was picking up strange sounds—clicks and whistles and squawks. meep… "Dolphins talking!" said Thudd. The big dolphins surrounded the little one. Two of the biggest dolphins broke away from the pod. They charged at the shark! They rammed its belly with their long, beaklike noses. In a flash, the shark circled behind the two dolphins. The dolphins sped toward the Water Bug. They dove under it. The shark was closing in! Judy clapped her hand over her mouth. "The shark will get the dolphins," she said. "We've got to do something!" meep… "Press Bug-a-Boo button!" said Thudd, pointing to a red button on the dashboard. Andrew pressed it.

Floorp! came a sound from outside the Water Bug. Something that looked like a clown's collar popped out from behind the Water Bug's doors. It had red-and-orange stripes and big black spots. The Bug-a-Boo waggled back and forth furiously in front of the shark's face. It reminded Andrew of a lizard he had seen on a nature show. "Awesome!" said Andrew. meep… "Bug-a-Boo make Water Bug look big, big, big!" said Thudd. "Make Water Bug look scary!" The shark stopped and shook its head from side to side. It flipped its tail back and forth like an

angry cat. Then it dove deep and disappeared. Andrew pressed the Bug-a-Boo button again. Floorp! The Bug-a-Boo rolled itself back into a groove behind the doors of the Water Bug. "Whew!" said Andrew, shaking his head. "At least something on the Water Bug is working," said Judy. The two dolphins swam toward the Water Bug. The bigger one came right up to Judy's window. Its beaky mouth was open. meep… "Dolphin is mammal," said Thudd. "Like Drewd and Oody!" "It looks like he's laughing!" said Judy. She patted her hand on the glass. "I love dolphins. They're really smart. Maybe he understands that I'm saying hi."

"Look at his tail," said Andrew. "It looks like something took a bite out of it." Thudd waved at the dolphin. meep… "Hiya, Nahu!" Thudd squeaked. "Why did you call him Nahu?" asked Judy. meep… "Nahu is Hawaiian word for 'bite,'" said Thudd. The dolphins were making whistling sounds. meep… "See hole at top of dolphin head?" said Thudd. "Called blowhole. Dolphin use blowhole to breathe. Dolphin use blowhole to make sounds. To talk. Dolphin talk got lotsa clicks and whistles.

Every dolphin got own special whistle. Like name for human." The dolphins followed the Water Bug as it went deeper. The dial on the dashboard said they were fifty feet deep now. Suddenly Andrew glimpsed something strange through the Water Bug's glass floor. "Wowzers!" said Andrew, pointing below them. "It looks like a stony gray castle surrounded by a field of blue moose antlers!" Judy's eyes got wide. "Maybe it's Atlantis!" she said. Andrew's mouth dropped open. "I see a giant brain!"