“No!” Her heart rose to her throat at the sight.
Delphine was in shallow water, close to the dock, struggling like she was caught in something. The dolphin saw Carson on the dock and began flapping her tail and screaming louder in a panic. Squinting, Carson could see that the dolphin was ensnared in loops of fishing line, barely able to move. There was so much of it! Like a spider’s web, and Delphine was caught in its center. Two fishing rods were floating in the water beside her. Stepping back, she saw a third was wedged in the railing of the pier.
“Delphine!” she screamed as a thousand thoughts ran through her mind. She brought her hands to her cheeks. Calm down. Focus, she told herself. What should she do first?
Carson raced back into the house to the kitchen phone. On the bulletin board, Mamaw had a list of emergency numbers. Then she remembered. Blake. Where was her phone?
“Mamaw!” she cried as she raced down the hall to her room to grab her purse. “Dora! Harper! Someone help!”
She found her phone and her hand shook as she punched in Blake’s number. She heard the phone ring, her heart pounding, and prayed he’d answer. The line picked up.
“Blake?”
“Carson?”
“Come quick. Delphine is caught in the fishing wire. You’ve got to help her!”
“Delphine?”
“The dolphin!”
“Let me get this straight.” His voice was more alert now, focused. “You have a dolphin entangled with fishing line at your dock?”
“Yes. Hurry.”
“How bad is it?”
“Bad. It’s cutting into her flesh.”
“Right. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Carson, listen to me. No heroics. Stay away from it.” He hung up.
Carson could hear Delphine’s screaming. “Forget that,” she muttered, and pulled out the desk drawer as Harper ran into the kitchen.
“What’s going on? God, what’s that god-awful noise?”
“It’s Delphine,” Carson said, grabbing a pair of scissors. She raced back to the water with Harper at her heels. There were sharp pebbles on the shore but she plowed through the cold sand and chilly water without pause.
Harper stopped at the water’s edge. “Carson, don’t go near her.”
Carson ignored her. She was fueled with adrenaline. Delphine, seeing Carson approach, began to squirm.
“I’m here. Shhhh . . . settle down,” Carson called out, slowing down as she drew near Delphine. The dolphin’s watery eyes looked into hers. Carson wanted to cry when she saw the devastating damage. The fine line entangled Delphine from pectoral to dorsal fin to fluke. Every time the dolphin had to come up for air, she’d strained against the line, forcing the wire to slice deeper into her flesh like a razor. Carson reached out to lift Delphine’s head and hold her blowhole above the water. All around Delphine’s once-pristine, gleaming body she saw lacerations crisscrossing the flesh, so deep the lines were invisible.
Worst of all, though, was her mouth. The crazy-looking hook that Mamaw had given Nate as a joke, the one that looked like a small fish with a freakish eye and two multipronged claw hooks, was deeply embedded in Delphine’s mouth. Carson wanted to scream in fury at seeing the tender flesh ripped to shreds. Blood dripped into the water and Carson knew she had to worry about sharks, as well. She studied the wire and began to cut as many of the lines as she could, but some of them were so knotted and close to the wounds, she thought she’d better leave them for Blake.
“I’m here,” she told Delphine, close to her face. It felt to Carson that the wires were slicing her own heart as well. “Don’t worry. I’m here for you. No matter what, I won’t leave you.”
“Carson!” Harper called with uncertainty from the shore.
“Go keep an eye out for Blake,” Carson called back.
Harper turned on her heel and hurried back toward the house.
Delphine began to calm when the clouds opened up and dumped a pounding deluge of rain. Carson bent over Delphine to shield her blowhole. The pelting rain stung her back like tiny balls of ice. Carson coughed and spat out salt water as the wind swept waves into her face. She wouldn’t leave Delphine. She had to keep the blowhole above the water.
Mercifully, the cloud was typically fast-moving, on its way from the mainland to the ocean. The driving rain slowed, then dwindled to a faint drizzle. Her thick hair streamed down her face, the salt water stinging her eyes, and her T-shirt clung to her like a second skin, but she didn’t let go. Looking up, she sighed with relief to see the soft light of dawn rising in a pale pink and blue clear sky. She held on to Delphine and prayed it was an omen.
The government-issued jeep skidded to a stop alongside Sea Breeze. Carson looked up from the water and in the distance she saw a door slam and a man leap from the car. Harper was pointing toward the dock. Blake swung a backpack over his shoulder as he trotted down the sandy incline toward the dock.
Mamaw, dressed in a flowing robe, also came running from the house, followed by Dora, still in pajamas. They stepped out of the way as Blake ran past them to the dock. Carson heard the dock reverberating with the weight of the footfalls, echoing below where she stood. Startled, Delphine struggled anew to free herself, causing the monofilament to cut deeper into her skin.
“Down here! Hurry!” Carson called out. At her shouting Delphine squirmed again. “Shhh . . . stop, Delphine,” Carson cried, desperately holding the dolphin’s massive head out of the water. Her arms felt numb and screamed with pain. But it was nothing compared to the pain she knew Delphine felt. “Please, stop moving. It’s okay. Someone’s here to help. Hang on a little longer.” Her back ached from bending over in the awkward position and her arms were clamped like vises around the rubbery dolphin.
She almost wept with relief when she saw Blake rushing around the dock. He was in his blue NOAA T-shirt. Blake tossed his backpack on the ground and plowed into the water. As he drew near, his dark eyes flashed in fury at seeing her in the water, then swiftly shifted to the dolphin. He cursed when he saw the monofilament line cutting into the dolphin’s flesh.
“What happened?” His voice was rough with worry.
“I heard the dolphin screaming when I woke up,” Carson told him, speaking rapidly. “I came running. I found her all tangled up in the fishing line. That’s when I called you. I cut away as much as I could.”