The Shark Whisperer (31 page)

For Tristan it could not have been a better summer. His friendship with Hugh and Sam grew stronger, he became more skilled in the water, and his confidence increased. He even found that on land he was tripping and stumbling just a little bit less than before.

When the last weekend of camp arrived, Tristan was both nervous and sad. His parents would be arriving any minute. They would learn the truth about Sea Camp and him. He wasn't sure how they'd react or if they'd allow him to return next summer to continue training and eventually go on real missions. The end of camp also meant that he'd have to say goodbye to the other Seasquirts, including Hugh and Sam.

Tristan's parents arrived alone at the Florida Keys Sea Park. They'd left his sister at home. The family had about thirty minutes to kill before they were due in Director Davis's office for their “talk.” Tristan's palms were sweating, his heart was racing, and the first thing he did when he saw his folks was trip over his own feet and fall. He decided to pass the time by showing them one of his favorite spots in the park.

Tristan led the way into the dark cool building. A few other campers were already there with their parents. The Sea Park was officially closed to outside visitors for the weekend—due to “unexpected maintenance issues.”

“So what's this talk with Mr. Davis about, Tristan?” his father asked as they were walking. “Did you do something we should know about?”

“Oh, I guess you could say that. But it's good . . .
really
good,” he replied smiling.

His father did not look reassured.

“Honey, oh, it's so good to see you,” his mother purred. “You seem a little different though. Maybe you've just gotten taller over the summer. That must be it. So, why don't you just tell us what you've done? Don't worry we won't be mad.”

“This way. I want to show you something,” Tristan told them walking a little faster so that he could stay out of his mother's head-patting, hair-rubbing reach.

They entered a dimly lit corridor with fake dark rock walls and blue flame-like lights. The walkway angled to the right and slightly up. A few minutes later they stepped out into the bright blue light of a giant aquarium. But they weren't looking at the aquarium they were actually inside of it.

“This is Shark Alley!” Tristan announced happily.

His parents spun around, taking it all in. They moved forward hesitantly. They were walking in a transparent tube that ran through the middle of an enormous aquarium. Even the walkway was see-through. They were surrounded by millions of gallons of seawater and hundreds of fish, some of them rather large. Tristan thought his parents looked extremely uncomfortable, especially his mother. He grabbed her hand and pulled her further along into the viewing tube. He led them halfway in and then stopped, turning to look around.

“See over there, that's a nurse shark,” Tristan said, pointing to a four-foot brown shark with a squarish head, light-colored eyes, and two fleshy whiskers dangling from its snout. “Look over there under the rocks, there's another one resting on the bottom.”

“That's nice dear,” his mother said awkwardly. She kept looking nervously at her feet like she was about to fall into a dunk tank—with sharks in it.

“Here comes a hammerhead shark, see its weird bar-shaped head with its eyes on the ends. It's like a rearview mirror. They can see what's behind them,” Tristan told them.

Tristan pointed to two big rays swimming gracefully over the top of the transparent tube. “Those are spotted eagle rays.”

The rays dove, spiraling down and under the transparent walkway. While their bellies were creamy white, their backs were purple with white dots. Tristan noticed that the spots on one of the rays were lined up in nearly perfect rows, except in one place where he could swear they formed a smiley face. It must have been the ray from the Rehab Center. He chuckled at the campers' artwork.

“They're awesome, aren't they? They're really nice too.”

“Ah son, what do you mean by nice? They're just fish,” his father said.

Tristan ignored his father's question, pointing out some of the other fish in the gigantic aquarium. Several giant goliath groupers hovered in one corner. They were mottled yellow and gray, at least five feet long, and fat—very fat with huge mouths. Tristan had always thought if they opened their mouths wide enough, the enormous groupers could suck in half the other fish in the tank. There were also schools of sleek fast-swimming foot-long silvery jacks. Each had a forked tail and twin racing stripes of blue and black along its back. A couple of sea turtles swam lazily around the tank as well. But the main attraction was the sharks. In addition to the nurse sharks and a few hammerheads, there were four large sand tiger sharks cruising slowly through the water. Three of the sand tiger sharks had
spiky stiletto teeth that jutted raggedly out of their mouths. The other sand tiger shark looked similar except its mouth was closed over its teeth. It swam up to the wall of the observation tube, right in front of Tristan and his parents. The shark hovered there staring at the boy. It then opened its mouth wide, grinning to show off a set of pearly white, perfectly aligned pointy teeth.

Tristan's parents leapt back startled, while Tristan laughed hysterically, thinking:
very fierce, Snaggle-Tooth, very fierce
. His parents looked at him like he'd gone mad. The shark nodded to Tristan and then swam off.

“Did . . . did that shark just nod at you?” his father asked dubiously.

“Oh, he was just saying hello and showing off his new teeth,” Tristan answered. “C'mon let's walk all the way around.”

They walked through the viewing tube into a dimly lit room with a bench that sat in front of a huge window into the tank. They went through the room and came to another viewing tube going back to the building's entrance. As Tristan and his parents walked through the tube all the sharks and rays in the tank swam toward them. They seemed drawn to the smiling teen. Tristan's parents looked around, appearing confused—if not terrified. The creatures swam in concert around the walkway looking at Tristan. His parents backed up toward the exit.

“Did that same shark just wink at us?” his mother
asked. “This is the strangest aquarium I've ever seen. It's almost like they know you, Tristan. Have you been spending a lot of time here?”

“Something like that,” he said.

Before his mother could ask any more questions, Tristan picked up his pace. He led them out of Shark Alley to the director's office. It was time for their meeting.

When they arrived, Hugh was just walking out with his mother. She was wearing a bright pink sundress with a matching wide-brimmed hat, purse, and high-heeled shoes. Her lipstick was a similar shade of cotton candy pink. Her hair, the same dark color as Hugh's, was pulled back in a ponytail under the hat. Hugh had her by the hand and was leading her along. She appeared to be in shock.

“Everything okay?” Tristan asked.

“Yeah, she's just a little surprised by everything, if you know what I mean,” Hugh told him.

As Tristan led his parents into Director Davis's office, the three of them turned to see Hugh help his mother into a chair and get her a glass of water. Tristan's parents turned to him with a questioning look on their faces.

“Mr. and Mrs. Hunt, so nice to finally meet you!” Director Davis said, getting up from the chair behind his desk to shake their hands.

“What's this all about? I hope Tristan didn't cause too much trouble or break something expensive,” his father said.

Director Davis looked at Tristan and then to his parents. “Why don't we all have a seat over there at the couch. Can I get you some coffee or water?”

“No, thank you,” his mother said. “So, how did the summer go? Did Tristan behave? How'd he do in classes? What's this meeting about anyways? Did something bad happen? What . . .”

Director Davis smiled and held up his hand. “Hold on. Tristan is a terrific camper, has amazing skills, and shows wonderful leadership potential.”

Tristan's parents looked at one another questioningly.

“Did you say
skills
and
leadership
?” his father asked.

Director Davis proceeded to explain to Tristan's parents all about the camp and what really went on there. He told them about the nature of the classes they taught, about the lagoon and Wave Pool training, and Sea Camp's special water. Finally, he told them that the camp brochure didn't end up at their house by accident and why Tristan was invited to come. The expression on their faces was similar to Hugh's mother's—complete shock.

The director continued, telling them that Tristan had the potential to be one of the fastest swimmers they'd ever seen. He still had a little issue with control, but even that was improving. And then he told them that Tristan also had the ability to communicate with sharks and rays. At that, Tristan's father shook his head like he must have misheard what was being said. Director Davis went on to explain how senior campers
went on missions when marine organisms needed help or if there was a problem in the ocean that needed investigating.

“I know this is a lot to take in and I'm sure you are going to have a lot of questions,” Director Davis said. “I will be happy to answer them now or any time. But let me assure you that the safety and health of our campers is always—
always
—our top priority.”

He looked to Tristan. “Rarely are the campers in danger and if they do not want to participate in an investigation, that's fine as well.”

Tristan looked expectantly to his parents, waiting for the flood of questions and concerns that were sure to come. At any moment the words would gush from his mother's mouth. But both his parents just sat there in stunned silence. After a long while, his father finally spoke.

“I . . . I don't know what to say. I guess we are proud of you, son. Just a bit stunned as I am sure you can understand.”

Tristan wasn't sure what he'd expected them to say. That wasn't too bad, but not too great either. Tristan turned to his mother. She looked the same way she did the day he fell into the shark pool. “Dad, Mom, I love it here and definitely want to come back next summer. I'm good at this. For once I'm good at something. And I want to go on missions to save sea creatures and help the ocean.” He looked at the director, adding, “When I'm ready, of course.”

“This is a lot for us to take in son,” his father said.
“We'll have to think about it. Does this mean he'll have these, uh, skills for the rest of his life?”

“No, probably not,” Director Davis said. “These abilities seem to weaken or go away when teens reach about eighteen. We think it has something to do with changing hormones. Just remember, I'm available anytime to talk and answer your questions.”

The director eventually showed them to the door and told them he looked forward to seeing them later that afternoon at the Poseidon Theater.

“Hold on,” Tristan said to his parents. “I'll be back in a minute.”

He ran back to the director's office and knocked.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me, director. I was just wondering. Anything more from Mr. M about the shipwreck? Can I show my parents the coin?”

“Let's hold on to the coin just a little longer. As you know, over the last few weeks they've found scattered coins and a few other artifacts. Just this morning they discovered some large heavily-encrusted wooden beams and something that could be a bronze cannon. I think they're very close to finding the wreck.”

“That's great.”

“Yes, it is. And I cannot thank you enough, Tristan. Once it's found, we will never again have to rely on some of our more, shall we say,
difficult
partners for support.”

“Does that mean that the camp is going to stay open and that lady won't shut it down?”

“That's exactly what it means—
hopefully
. Now get back to your parents, I'm sure they have a lot of questions for you.”

“Thanks for everything director. This has been the best summer ever!”

“No, thank you, Tristan.”

Tristan spent the next few hours with his parents. He showed them the rest of the Sea Park and explained how his webbed feet and hands worked. The only thing he neglected to say much about was what had really happened in the Bahamas. Tristan managed to trip only one more time the entire day. When he laughed at his stumble, his parents shook their heads as usual, but this time with smiles on their faces.