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"Bye, Sukie! Bye, Sam!" Annie shouted.

"Thanks!" Jack shouted.

Sukie tossed her head and clicked at Annie.

The dolphins slowed down as they neared the reef.

Then she threw her arms around her dolphin and gave her a big hug.

"Kiss Sam now!" Annie said to Jack.

Annie stood, too.

But Sam nuzzled Jack's head. Then he put his flippers around Jack's neck.

Jack couldn't resist. He threw his arms around the dolphin and gave him a quick kiss.

"You're nuts," said Jack.

The dolphins leapt high into the air. Then they dove back into the water with a SPLASH!

Jack felt safe now. His dolphin was taking good care of him.

Jack lowered his feet. He felt the bumpy coral. He let go of the dolphin's fin and stood up in the water.

The two dolphins chattered to each other for a moment. They nodded at Jack and Annie and swam gracefully away.

"Thank you, Sukie!" she cried. And she kissed the dolphin's nose.

Sam nodded and made clicking sounds like laughter. Then he turned to Sukie.

The sun shone on the ocean. It sparkled like a diamond.

The warm water lapped around their shorts and T-shirts.

"And I swam faster so you would swim faster," said Annie.

"Guess what," said Annie.

He sat down in the shallow water. "I'm really tired," he said.

Jack stared at her. "I saw it, too. I just swam faster so you would swim faster."

Annie sat beside him. "Me too," she said.

"I miss them already," Annie said softly.

Jack and Annie watched the dolphins until they disappeared.

"But we haven't solved Morgan's riddle yet," said Annie.

He pulled out the ocean book. It was soaked, too.

"What now?" said Annie.

Jack and Annie laughed. "I wish we could swim like that," said Jack.

"What?" said Jack.

"I guess we swam double-fast then," Jack said. He shook his head with wonder.

"We go home," said Jack.

Jack pulled off his pack. He took out his glasses and put them on. They were blurry with water.

"Me too," said Jack.

He pulled his notebook out of his pack. It was soaked.

Jack sighed.

"I saw the shark when we were swimming," Annie said. "But I didn't tell you. I wanted you to stay calm."

He stood up. Then he started across the pink reef toward the tree house. Annie followed him.

"Wait -- research," said Jack. He opened the soaked ocean book.

"Yeah, this…" She picked up a large gray shell. "Boy, is it rough. Rough and gray as a rock --"

The pages were stuck together. But he was able to turn a few.

The shell looked like a clamshell -- only bigger and with more ridges.

"And plain as plain can be!" whispered Jack. They had found the answer.

He found a picture of the gray shell. He read: Divers search for oysters in deep water. But sometimes oysters wash up on reefs or beaches. Inside some oysters you can find a pearl. The pearl's natural beauty makes it a treasure.

"I stepped on something." Annie bent down to rub her foot.

"How could this ugly shell be the answer to the riddle?" said Annie. "What about the part that says, 'There's great beauty in me'?"

Jack put everything away. "Let's go," he said sadly.

"What?" said Jack. "A shell?"

"We've failed," he said. "My research is all wet. We'll never be Master Librarians now."

"What's wrong?" Jack looked back.

"Ouch!" Annie said.

"Maybe we should bang it against a rock," said Jack.

"Morgan said we'll know," said Annie. "Come on."

Jack pushed his glasses into place. Then he and Annie picked up their shoes and socks.

"It must have a pearl inside it!" said Jack.

"But how will we know if oyster is the right answer to the riddle?" said Jack.

"Yeah."

"I can't tell if there's a pearl in there or not," said Annie.

"Maybe we should just leave it alone," said Annie.

They climbed through the window of the tree house.

"Now that would really irritate the oyster," said Annie.

She gently put the oyster back in the water.

Annie peered into the crack between the two halves of the shell. "I can't see anything," she said. "How does a pearl get in there, anyway?"

Jack read aloud from the wet page: Sometimes a grain of sand will get between the oyster's shell and its skin. This irritates the oyster. So it makes a pearly material to surround the grain of sand. In this way, over a few years, a pearl is formed.

Absolutely still.

The wind blew harder and harder.

Then everything was still.

Jack let out a huge sigh. "We got it right," he said.

In its place was one shimmering silver word: OYSTER

"And here's the Pennsylvania book," said Annie. "Let's go home."

The wind started to blow.

It was open.

She opened the book. She pointed to a picture of the Frog Creek woods. "I wish we could go there!" she said.

The tree house started to spin.

"Morgan's magic," whispered Annie.

She and Jack stared at the scroll. The riddle had faded away.

"Look!" said Annie.

Morgan's scroll was lying on the floor.