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Then Jack saw something out of the corner of his eye.

All was calm.

He began to swim faster -- then faster. Annie went faster, too.

A dark fin was zigzagging through the water. It was heading toward them.

Jack and Annie swam and swam and swam.

They both swam as fast, and as calmly, as they could.

Jack wanted to splash. He wanted to yell. But he remembered: calm.

He didn't look back to see if the shark was still there. He didn't want to know.

It took forever for the tree house to get just a little closer.

Jack was so scared that he wasn't tired at all. He was swimming for his life -- and for Annie's life, too.

Sometimes Annie went even faster than Jack, which made him swim faster. And faster.

He just kept his eye on the tree house in the distance. And he kept swimming.

Calm, calm, he told himself.

I better not tell Annie, he thought. She'll stay calmer if she doesn't know.

Jack moved his arms slowly. He moved his legs slowly. He gently pushed the water out of his way as he did the breast stroke.

Annie swam beside him. They headed for the reef.

Jack and Annie turned onto their backs. They floated the way they had learned in swimming class.

Annie was struggling, too.

We'll just rest for a minute, Jack thought. Then we'll keep going.

Jack shut his eyes and waited for the worst. He waited and waited. Finally, he opened his eyes.

"Float!" she said. "Float!"

Jack realized the reef was farther away than he had thought.

But the more Jack floated, the more tired he felt. Soon he was too tired even to float. He started to sink.

Then the two dolphins swam smoothly through the water, pulling Jack and Annie toward the reef.

Jack looked over at her. She was clinging to the fin of another dolphin! Her dolphin was moving through the water.

In front of him was a shiny gray head -- a dolphin's head!

It was slippery and alive.

Had the hammerhead caught up with them?

The dolphin pushed Jack with its nose. It made happy clicking sounds.

Jack grabbed the fin of his dolphin.

He kept swimming, but his arms and legs felt heavy.

His heart stopped. Something pushed at him in the water.

"Hooray!" cried Annie.

Then he felt something.