While Rio was aware of Birch and Marina, and even his grandmother below deck barking instructions and coordinates to nearby boats, his focus was firmly fixed on White Beak.

This close, he could see all the barnacles down the right side of her face, the gray fleshy skin and the one visible eye that gazed unblinkingly at Rio. An eye full of sadness and disappointment and pain.

“I’m sorry. White Beak,” Rio whispered. “I’m so sorry for everything.”

Birch surfaced, gasping for air. “She’s caught so tight! Is there any sign of the other boats yet?”

Rio shook his head and then watched as Birch disappeared back under the surface. How long this went on, he wasn’t sure. Birch disappeared, resurfaced, disappeared, and resurfaced so many times, he lost count. But all the time, Rio kept the boat steady and looked into White Beak’s eye.

That’s how he noticed that the eye had changed. At first, he thought it was the clouds and the way they darkened the water making it appear gray and metallic. But it wasn’t the clouds.

“White Beak?” he whispered.

Even though the eye seemed to be looking at him, it was no longer alert, but opaque and distant and still.

“WHITE BEAK?” Rio cried. “WHITE BEAK!”

Something tight and hard coiled inside his chest, wrapping a cold, icy hand around his heart.

“We’re losing her!” he yelled desperately just as a boat finally appeared on the horizon. A small vessel about the same size as the Spyhopper with “Marine Rescue Team” on the hull.

“Thank God,” Fran said, appearing on deck. “Birch couldn’t have done any more by himself.”

The boat pulled up on the other side of White Beak. On deck were two divers, already in professional diving gear.

“I’ve done the best I can!” Birch shouted over. “But the tail is completely tangled!”

While the divers dropped into the water and joined Birch, Rio took another panicked look at White Beak. Her eye was closing. Slowly sliding shut against the world.

Closing. Closing. Closing.

“No!”

He couldn’t lose her! He just couldn’t!

Something coursed through his veins like thunder. In front of him, White Beak lay still, her breathing so slow that he wasn’t sure if she were in this world or the next.

And in that moment, Rio knew exactly what he had to do to save her life.

40

Saving White Beak

Rio didn’t care how deep the water was. He didn’t care about the danger. He let go of the steering wheel. He took three steps to the edge of the boat. And without stopping to think, he jumped into the water.

His whole body sank under the waves. It was deep and bottomless and dark. And for a horrible second, he thought he would never find his way to the surface again, but eventually, the life jacket brought him up to the air, spluttering and coughing.

He was dimly aware that Birch had climbed back onto the Spyhopper and instructed Marina to hold the wheel and steady the boat. In the background, his grandmother was shouting, although the words sounded blurry and indistinct. Birch snatched hold of the pole he’d used last time to yank Rio out of the water.