7 Race against the Tide

Chapter 7 Race Against the Tide Max heard the buzz of a motorboat and studied the waves. "Are those your friends?" he asked Gunnar. "Yes," said Gunnar. "At last!" The small blue boat was just rounding the rocky bend into the inlet. Max heard gasps and saw the kids in the boat pointing into the waves. "Belugas!" The cry drifted across the water to the shore. "The pod must still be out there," said Max. Sofia strained her eyes to see who was in the boat.

"Did your friends bring the vet?" she asked. Agnes shook her head. "It doesn't look like it. The vet must be busy with another emergency. But our friends will help us with the whale until she gets here." When the boat slid ashore, three kids spilled out, carrying buckets and towels. Gunnar introduced them. "This is Benny," he said, pointing toward a boy in a black jacket. "And Lana." A girl with a long side braid dipped her head. "And Gefn." Gefn zipped up her pink puffer jacket and grinned. "This is Max and Sofia," Gunnar told them. "They love animals as much as we do!" Lana waved her phone in the air as she crossed the beach. "We have the aquatic vet on speakerphone. She'll talk us through what to do until she gets here." "Hello, kids!" A friendly woman's voice rose from the phone above the sound of the surf. "I'm going to have you do a quick exam, okay? First check the whale for any injuries to its tail, fins, or skin. Look for gashes or bites." Max followed Benny toward the whale's head. The boy pointed toward a dark scar just above the blowhole. "Is that an injury?" asked Max. "An old one, I think," said Benny. "It looks like it healed." As friendly Gefn followed Sofia from fin to fin, the whale swiveled its head to watch them. "Do you see

anything?" Gefn asked. Sofia blew out her breath. "No, thank goodness." "Are the whale's eyes open and bright?" the vet asked. "Yes!" said Sofia. "It's been watching us." She gazed back into the whale's wise eyes and smiled. "Good, good. And how long is it?" asked the vet. Max, Gunnar, and Benny paced alongside the whale, trying to guess its length. Gunnar and Benny walked toe-to-heel, but since Max knew his shoe was shorter than a foot, he took slightly larger steps. Max counted off ten footsteps out loud. "So about ten feet," said the vet. "And it sounds like it's healthy. I think that plastic bag over the blowhole must be what caused the whale to beach. Have you finished digging the trench?" Benny rounded the whale's tail. "I think it should be deeper," he said. "Hand me a shovel."

"I'll help, too," said Lana, setting down her phone on an overturned bucket. Sofia watched them dig, wishing there were more than two shovels. Then she heard Gunnar shout. "Tide's coming in!" "Quick, everybody dig!" cried Max. He dropped to his knees and began scooping up sand with his hands. Sofia and the others joined him, digging furiously as the foamy surf crept farther up the beach. When the waves reached the trench and began to fill it with water, the whale thumped its tail, as if it were excited, too. "Keep digging!" cried Benny as he pitched a shovelful of sand over his shoulder. Sofia was digging so fast, she could barely catch her breath. Her hands were freezing numb, but she ignored the cold. "Make it wider!" she cried. "So there's enough

water for the whale to swim free!" Beside her, Gefn scrabbled at the sand, too—like a dog digging up a bone. When the trench was full of water, Sofia sat back on her heels. "Now what?" she said, her heart pounding in her ears. "Now the whale needs a little help," said the vet on speakerphone. "Roll it into the channel. Get on one side of the whale and gently push." Max locked eyes with Sofia. This wasn't the biggest whale he'd ever seen, but it looked heavy. Would they be strong enough? We'll have to be, he decided. As they all lined up alongside the whale, Max took a deep breath. "On the count of three!" he cried. "One, two..." He set his hands on the whale's smooth, wet skin. "Three!"