“If you want, you can hold on to my tail and we’ll go look for them,” said the young whale. “But you should know that my uncle would never harm anyone. You can ask any of the whales in our pod.”

Kiki wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t want to touch or go near this whale, but she had to save Shelly and Echo. Slowly she put her fingers around his left fluke. He didn’t feel icky at all. Kiki was surprised to find that his fin was pretty smooth.

“My name is Orman. Hold tightly—I won’t swim too fast,” he assured her.

“I-I’m K-Kiki,” she stammered as Orman dove deep into the water. At first, Kiki was so nervous she squeezed her eyes shut. She felt the water rushing past her cheeks. After a few minutes, she dared to open one eye.

The undersea world swirled by in a colorful blur. It wasn’t scary at all. It was really very pretty. Kiki was having so much fun, she almost forgot she was searching for her friends. Suddenly a mass of bubbles swirled around her and Orman.

“Kiki!” Shelly and Echo yelled.

“Shelly! Echo!” Kiki shouted back. “Where have you been?” She shook a finger at them. “You could have been injured! You could have lost a fin! You are both so lucky Orman and I were able to find you.”

Mortimer let out a hearty laughing sound. Shelly and Echo joined in.

“What are you all laughing at?” Kiki asked. “This is serious!”

“Save us from what?” Echo asked.

“From… from that huge whale,” Kiki said. “He—he might eat you.”

Shelly smiled. “Oh, Kiki, thank you for being so brave and trying to help us. But we don’t need saving.”

“You don’t?” Kiki said.

“No,” Shelly said. “We were having fun.”

“Then why were you screaming when Mortimer took off with you?” Kiki asked.

“Screaming? We were squealing because we were so excited,” Echo told her. “But I’m sorry we left you alone. I forgot that you weren’t feeling well.”

“And that you were scared,” Shelly said. “But, Kiki, if you’re so terrified of humpbacks, why are you with one now?”

Kiki looked from Orman to her friends and explained, “His name is Orman, and he’s only a young whale. I would never ride on his back. I only held on to his fluke, and he wasn’t swimming all that fast….”

Shelly laughed. Then Echo. And then Mortimer and Orman. Kiki was mad for a second, but then she laughed too.

“Well, at least we don’t have to ride the whales anymore,” she said. “I’m not as frightened as I was at first, and Orman is really nice, but now we can all go home.”

Shelly and Echo smiled and shook their heads.

“There’s one more adventure today,” Echo said. “Mortimer is going to breach with us on his back.”