“The only thing I can add to any and all of this is wheels up at three sharp. We’re going home, chums,” Dennis shouted.

From somewhere behind them, a whistle blew, then came another sound, like a foghorn. Kids of all shapes and sizes appeared from nowhere to take their places in different lines. Girls to the right, boys to the left.

Jack looked around, surprised to see how few parents had come to see their children swim. Then he let his gaze search for LJ, who wasn’t hard to find, since he was the tallest kid in any line. He wished he knew the kid’s game plan, since they hadn’t had a chance to talk since the tearful ex-lax debacle.

LJ’s event was listed as the fourth on the program. Jack let his gaze roam to the ten-year-old girls’ line opposite LJ’s, wondering which girl was Emily, but his main focus was in keeping his eyes on LJ, thinking he’d at least look her way at some point. But the kid never did. He was focused. That was a good thing.

The pool area suddenly went quiet at some unseen, unheard signal. Whatever it was, Cyrus understood and got up from his sleeping position under the bench Jack was sitting on. Jack poured water into his special bowl, and Cyrus lapped it up before he hopped up on the bench to wedge himself between his master and Harry Wong.

The first three races went off as scheduled to a lot of shouting, arm waving, and foot stomping by all the kids and the spectators.

And then it was time for LJ’s race. The boys lined up, followed by the girls. No one looked at anyone else. The boys’ swim coach walked down the line, whispering in each swimmer’s ear. The girls’ coach did the same thing. Cyrus leaned forward to see Little Jack better. He knew all about races and how they worked. If you won, Dr. Pappas handed out a special treat. He made sure he always won. He waited for the pop of the air gun for the start of the race. The minute he heard it, he was off the bench and streaking toward the pool, where he waited at the finish line of lane 4, where LJ would climb from the pool.

“What the hell!” Harry muttered.

“Oh crap, I should have remembered, but hey, this is on me. Cyrus likes to participate. He knows how to win. He was trained to do stuff like that. Damn, I hope they don’t disqualify LJ for this.”

“Look at that kid go,” Dennis yelled as he stood up on the bench to see better. “That kid can really swim!”