“Marina,” said his mom. “What a lovely name.”

The sun was slipping fast in the sky, now so low it was touching the surface of the water. Rio hurried on. “Didn’t you hear me, Mum? I saw White Beak! I saw your whale!”

“My whale?” For the first time her tone brightened. “White Beak? You mean my White Beak?”

“That’s right. Your White Beak,” Rio said just as the sun sunk below the horizon in a dazzling flash of gold. “I saw her today.”

There was a long silence. So long, he thought his heart would burst. But eventually, he heard the tiniest of sounds. The sound of his mother’s smile.

20

Photos Home

Before going to sleep, Rio lay facedown on the bed with his grandmother’s laptop. He had asked to borrow it the other day so he could do some of his school homework. Which wasn’t altogether a lie, as his school was sending him assignments. But this was studying of a different kind. It was the study of White Beak. His own phone now lay at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. But luckily the couple from Philadelphia had said they were going to email him some of the photos they took.

Rio was so impatient his fingers clicked and clacked the wrong key before finally he managed to get into his inbox. Please be there.

And yes! There they were!

He gasped. They were the most magnificent photos he had ever seen. Far better than anything he could have taken on his own phone. So vivid and alive, it was as if he were in the water again, and face-to-face with a wild gray whale.

Not just any whale either. White Beak.

She was lying next to the boat, so close to the surface, you could almost see the outline of her entire body, and it filled the picture completely. The sheer size of her was breathtaking. She was the most gigantic creature he had ever seen. Far bigger than the Spyhopper and yet, as Rio zoomed in on her face, there was a gentleness about her too. A gentleness that didn’t come from size—but from the inside.

“You’re not just an animal, are you?” he whispered, touching the screen. “You’re like us.”

He felt a bit silly saying that because whales weren’t humans. But still. There was something special about White Beak. Not just how she had gazed at him in that peculiarly human way, but also, the way she had nudged him safely back to the boat, as if she were taking care of him. As if somehow, she was looking out for him. Without even knowing why, Rio felt his throat thicken. He’d been in Ocean Bay just over a week. And up until today, it had been the loneliest week of his life.

However, suddenly, Rio didn’t feel quite so alone.

“I found you,” he said softly. “Or maybe you found me.”