Free Dog Whisperer by Nicholas Edwards

outcropping, and then saw a large sea turtle swimming by the boat. The cruise out to the island, with nothing but the occasional passing seagull, had made them extremely nervous, as far as Emily could tell. Her father had told her that the people who ran the tours had special sonar machines on the boat, to try and figure out where whales might be, but they had certainly come up empty during the first part of the trip.
    Once they were back in Portland, they waited until all of her friends had been picked up by their parents, before they headed home themselves.
    Her grandfather smiled at her. “That was fun, wasn’t it?”
    Emily nodded. “It was great! Just right for a birthday.” She glanced at her parents since, obviously, they had paid for everything. “Thank you. I really enjoyed it.”
    â€œAnd I liked most of your friends,” her grandmother said.
    Emily laughed. “Do I want to know which ones you didn’t like?”
    Her grandmother blushed, since she probably hadn’t meant to be quite that direct. “I don’t think so, no.”
    â€œIt was a nice way to spend a day,” her father said. “We probably should have gone on one of those cruises years ago.”
    Emily nodded, since she completely agreed—and she hoped that they would go on another cruise sometime.
    The only thing that would have made the day absolutely perfect would have been if Zachary and Josephine could have come along, too!
    *   *   *
    The next day was the Bailey’s Cove Annual Kayak Races, and her mother was participating in the Women’s Open category. She was a very serious kayaker, and belonged to two different local kayak clubs. She always got pretty keyed up before races, and she had been practicing even more than usual, lately. Most mornings, she got up long before Emily or her father did, and returned from her dawn workout around the time Emily was wandering sleepily downstairs to let Zack out and have some breakfast.
    So, after a late lunch, they drove down to the big bridge—there were three different bridges in town, each of which connected a small island to the mainland—to watch the races. Emily cheered loudly when they saw her vet, Dr. K., win his age group, and come streaking under the bridge to the finish line, just about a foot ahead of the person behind him.
    The races were fun and all, but after a while, staring down at the stream of kayaks started to get boring. Her mother’s category wasn’t likely to show up for at least another half hour, or maybe even longer.
    â€œDad, is it okay if Zack and I walk around a little?” she asked.
    He nodded, fooling around with his tripod, since he had brought his big DSLR and his best lens to photograph the races. He was mostly just using a walking boot now, instead of his crutches, so he was having a much easier time getting around. “Sure. But, be careful, and don’t go too far, all right?”
    â€œWe’ll be right over there,” Emily said, and pointed off to the side.
    Her grandfather was busily playing around with the Flip camera, and her grandmother was having a long conversation with Bobby’s Aunt Martha—who was a lobster boat captain, and always had great stories to tell. So, Emily figured they were both having a good time, and wouldn’t mind if she wandered away for a while.
    Zack was looking down at the rocks below the bridge and wagging his tail in a very friendly way. Emily assumed that someone they knew was standing over there, possibly doing some fishing, or trying to get a closer look at the races. But, when she looked over, she saw an unfamiliar elderly man.
    He was tall, with stooped shoulders and grey hair, and his face looked as though he spent a lot of time outdoors. He had a gentle expression, although there was something very lonely about the way he was standing by himself on the rocks, staring out at nothing.
    She didn’t think it