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She tried to wrench her arm free, but Jack held on tight. There was no way he could let his sister go into such deadly waters. If anyone was going to help Bridger, it ought to be Jack, but if he joined the watery battle, he knew Ashley would be right behind him. No, he had to stay and keep his sister safe. There was a line between bravery and stupidity.
    Bellowing, “Get outa here, you ol’ shark,” Bridger smacked the water, again and again, hollering cowboy-sounding cries that rose up into the mangrove forest, where screeching, cawing birds joined the racket. It was no wonder Jack missed the sound of the motor. Frankie’s boat was rounding the bend.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    â€œS o all the way back in the boat,” Ashley went on, rubbing a hotel towel through her freshly washed hair, “Frankie kept saying, ‘What are your parents going to think of me, letting you kids get into so much trouble?’ And we told her it wasn’t her fault. ’Cause, honest, Mom and Dad, Frankie told us we were supposed to stay put at the Watson Place. Which we did, sort of, except we went into the water right in front of the Watson Place—and for sure, Frankie would never expect that we’d do that—”
    â€œThat’s right,” Jack added. “She just wanted us to be able to fish instead of going all the way back to the ranger station with the pelican—”
    â€œStop!” Steven raised his hand, palm forward. “We’re not blaming Frankie, not in the least. And we understand what you kids were trying to do with that manatee. You were trying to be helpful. Brave.”
    â€œAbsolutely,” Olivia agreed, looking around at Jack, Ashley, and Bridger. The five of them were clustered in Steven and Olivia’s worn motel room, which had been scrubbed clean for so many years the linoleum seemed almost transparent. A round table, topped with fake wood, had been plunked into one end of the room where Steven and Bridger sat. Olivia and Ashley were perched on one of the queen-size beds, while Jack sat cross-legged on the other.
    â€œReally brave,” Olivia went on. “You saw the manatee injured, and its baby, and you did everything in your power to try to save them. What you need to understand is that the three of you did everything exactly—”
    Jack was nodding, pleased that his parents understood and approved.
    â€œâ€”wrong,” Olivia finished.
    Ashley dropped the towel, her dark, wet hair as tangled as the mangrove roots. Bridger, who’d been sprawled in one of the green vinyl chairs, suddenly pulled himself up, as stiff and straight as if his back had been glued to a board.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYou three did everything exactly wrong,” Olivia repeated.
    â€œI don’t get it. Do you mean,” Jack asked slowly, “the part about going in the water with the shark?” He hoped that was all his mother was talking about. But Olivia shook her head no.
    â€œI mean all of it. I know you were trying to help, but you need to learn a few things about the manatees. For one thing, there’s a law, called the Marine Mammal Protection Act, that prohibits anyone from even touching a manatee. You tried to lift that mother manatee to the surface. Even though your intentions were good, you were breaking the law.”
    â€œAre they going to arrest us?” Ashley asked, wide-eyed.
    â€œNo, no, no,” Olivia answered quickly. “No one’s coming after you. I just want you to understand the reason that law was passed. Human contact stresses the animals really badly.”
    â€œYou may not think so, but that manatee would have managed OK without you,” Steven told them. “Instead, you three must have almost given that poor thing a heart attack.”
    For a moment it was quiet enough to hear the straining of the air conditioner, which clicked and whirred as it tried to cool the small room. Stone-faced, Bridger studied