Author's Notes: Hi, readers. Here's chapter thirty-six of "Ride the Wind." I didn't mean to take more than a week to get it out. I had a case of writer's block. This chapter features appearances by more J-Pod orcas. Stay tuned for chapter thirty-seven.

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Chapter 36: So Much Joy

The Nastelane was heading back to port at a steady speed. Tommy steered the boat and kept his eye on the water. Randolph, Jason, and Billy stood next to him. Jason peered through binoculars. Kim, Kat, and Trini sat together in a semi-circle near the stern. Heather, Olivia, and Benny were seated in front of them. They were coloring in their coloring books.

Jason spotted three Dall's porpoises and two Pacific white-sided dolphins leaping out of the water not far from the boat. The porpoises and dolphins dove deep. They turned upward. They jumped and performed front flips. They landed on their backs, creating big splashes. He was unable to keep himself from laughing.

"Talk about playful dolphins and porpoises," Jason commented.

"Let me see, Jase," Billy said, waving toward himself. He received the binoculars from his friend. He looked through them to see the dolphins and porpoises swimming upside down and flicking their tails. He chuckled. "You weren't kidding, Jase."

"Wait until Andros, Ashley, Zhane, and Karone hear about our day. We had just as much fun as they did yesterday," Jason said with much pride.

Billy smiled widely as he took the binoculars off his eyes. "Yeah. We got to meet Willy's brother and mother. Both of them proved to be just as mischievous as he is."

Jason grabbed a handful of his hair. "No shit, Sherlock. Everyone knows most intelligent animals inherit their personalities from their parents."

"Yep. Of course, Catspaw shouldn't be so playful at her age. Most intelligent animals lose their playfulness as they get older," Billy pointed out.

"That's true, but I don't think she'll be losing her playfulness anytime soon," Jason said in seriousness.

"Maybe we'll see her steer this boat someday," Billy quipped, snickering under his breath.

"That'd be funny," Jason said and gestured toward Tommy. "At least Tommy is doing a good job steering it."

"It was nice of him to volunteer. It gives Randolph a break," Billy said and gave the binoculars back to Jason.

"It does, but that doesn't mean I'm not the captain of this boat," Randolph said, smiling smugly.

Tommy gave Randolph a warning look. "Don't get smug, Captain. It'll bite you on the ass."

Randolph mock-glared his friend. "Shut up, Tommy, and keep steering. Argh!"

Tommy laughed raucously as he and Randolph shifted their attention back to the water. They, Jason, and Billy watched three gulls fly in the distance. The gulls let out a series of squawks.

"I have a feeling David will be very jealous of me when I tell him I got up close and personal with wild orcas," Tommy said, chuckling to himself.

"What sibling wouldn't be jealous, bro?" Jason asked, putting his hand at his side. "Then again, the bright side is you and David get along very well." He smiled lightly. "Who would've thought you had a Native American heritage?"

"Moreover, who would've thought a guy who has grown up on a reservation all his life would go on to become a successful racecar driver?" Billy added as he and Jason looked toward Tommy and Randolph.

"Crazy things happen in this world every day. By the way, have you guys seen videos of people surfing those huge waves on YouTube?" Randolph wondered.

"Yes, we have, Randolph," Jason said in delight.

"You have to be very brave to surf huge waves," Billy added, holding up a finger. "It's also rather stupid."

"On top of that, it's crazy that some people want to get so close to wild animals," Jason grumbled, looking a bit nervous. "That can get them in big trouble."

"They believe wild animals are as cute and cuddly as the ones are at the zoo," Tommy suggested.

"I saw a video of a man who got very close to a buffalo in Yellowstone on YouTube. The buffalo turned around and charged at him. It threw him into the air. He landed very hard on the ground and broke his pelvis," Randolph explained, cringing quite a bit.

"What an idiot," Billy scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Someone should've slapped him silly once he recovered from his injury."

"The reason why we were able to get so close to Willy, Littlespot, and Catspaw is because they trust us. Moreover, Willy is very well-trained and has taught his podmates behaviors he learned from his captivity," Randolph said, licking his lips.

"What a smart orca Willy is," Jason commented, a big smile showing on his face.

"Oh, yeah," Tommy agreed.

The men decided to chat about surfing. Tommy made a motion with his hand. Kim, Kat, and Trini gazed up at them. They turned to each other as Heather, Olivia, and Benny stopped coloring and closed their books. The children put them in their backpacks.

"I wonder what the guys are chatting about," Kat said with much curiosity.

"Beats me," Trini responded.

Kim ran her hand over Heather's hair. "Let's hope they aren't planning to play pranks on us." She made a funny noise.

"If we only had a dog's hearing, we'd be able to know," Kat commented with a giggle.

"Oh, yeah. We'd be able to hear footsteps from far away too," Trini squeaked in glee.

"How about we try to find a magic lamp and wish for a genie to turn us into dogs?" Heather asked, moving her eyebrow up and down.

"Yeah, yeah!" Benny and Olivia shouted in excitement.

Trini didn't look the least bit interested. "No, thank you, kids. I'm not about to slobber over everything."

"Neither am I," Kim added.

"The same goes for me," Kat said.

"Aw!" the children whined.

"You ruined our fun!" Olivia cried and faked crying.

"You can cry all you want, kids. We're not changing our minds," Kat replied defiantly.

"Yeah!" Kim and Trini added, sitting tall and proud.

Olivia stopped her fake crying. "Okay. It doesn't make us look good, anyway."

Kat pinched Olivia's cheeks while speaking baby talk. Olivia grabbed her mother's wrists and pulled her hands off. She turned around and tweaked her nose. Kat tickled hers, which made her laugh. Olivia returned her attention to the other mothers and children.

"I bet Andros, Ashley, Zhane, and Karone will be jealous that we got to meet Littlespot and Catspaw," Kim commented.

"Yeah, but they got to meet Willy first. The same goes for Nikki, Max, and Isabella," Kat pointed out.

"That's true. Still, it doesn't change the fact that we got to meet his brother and mother first," Trini said with a small laugh.

Heather smiled widely and sat tall and proud. "Yep."

Benny balled his hands into fists and pumped them. "Nobody can take the wonderful day we've had away from us."

"No siree!" Olivia yelled in great joy.

Benny lowered his arms and laughed quietly. The women and the children gazed at the men, who spoke inaudible words. They shifted their attention back to each other.

"If there's one thing I love about those guys, it's they have a great sense of humor," Trini said with much happiness.

"I know," Kat agreed, shifting her position somewhat. "The rest of our little gang have that too." She laughed lightly.

"The best thing about our group's jokes is not a single one comes from a joke book," Kim commented.

Trini appeared very disgusted. "Oh, joke books are so stupid. They only have variations of familiar jokes."

Kat scoffed. "Someone should burn them."

"Yeah!" Trini yelled eagerly.

"Can we watch the books burn?" Heather asked.

"Please?" Benny added.

"Okay. Just remember, kids. You should never play with matches. You can be badly burned," Kim said seriously.

"We'll teach you how to handle them when you are a lot older," Kat said truthfully.

Heather nodded. "Okay."

Suddenly, the sound of spouting air caught the women and children's attention. They stood up and walked to the bow. Just then, Willy surfaced not far from the boat. Littlespot and Catspaw followed suit. Kim, Kat, Trini, Heather, Olivia, and Benny gasped excitedly.

"Wow! It's J-Pod!" Kim screamed happily as she, Kat, and Trini looked toward the men.

Jason looked very eager. "Those three orcas just happen to be the ones we played with this morning, Kim!"

"I'm coming down there to join you, guys! I'll get some binoculars!" Billy yelled.

Kat gave a thumbs-up. "Great!"

The mothers turned back to the water as Billy climbed down from the roof and went into the cabin. He joined them a minute later and gave Kim, Kat, and Trini binoculars. The adults looked through them as Isabella surfaced beside her uncle. She raked him gently behind his eyepatch. He turned and pushed her away. He rolled on his side, swinging his tail to splash water on her. She spit water on him and darted away. He returned to right side up to chase after her.

"Look at Littlespot chasing Isabella!" Kim shouted in delight.

"It's not every day we get to see orcas chasing each other," Kat said honestly.

"Of course, I see our aquarium's orcas do that every day," Trini commented, a big smile crossing her lips. "It's a lot of fun."

"Yep, yep, yep," Billy said and stuck his tongue out of the right side of his mouth while making a weird noise.

"Sure, Ducky," Kat said and felt her eyes become wide with joy. "Hey, there's Oreo!"

Oreo spyhopped, showing off the spots in her left eyepatch. She slipped beneath the surface. She came back up quickly. Ben approached her and nudged her behind her eyepatch gently. He spit water on her. She turned and mimicked his action. She raked him on his side under her saddle patch very gently. Sparkle appeared and turned on her side. She swung her tail, splashing water on both of them. She darted away. Oreo and Ben chased after her. The children laughed in great joy.

"That was so cool!" Heather blurted out.

Billy looked to port. "Hey, Cookie is over there!"

Kim, Kat, Trini, Heather, Olivia, and Benny turned in the young man's direction to see Cookie spyhopping. The dip in the young orca's right eyepatch was clearly visible. DoubleStuf did a spyhop behind him, showing off the tiny knick in the middle of his dorsal. The brothers headed back underwater. They dove downward, bubbles escaping their blowholes. They turned toward the surface. They broke it, landing on their stomachs with two huge splashes each. Kim screamed in great delight. She, Kat, Trini, and Billy put their binoculars down.

"That was so morphinomical!" Kim yelled excitedly.

"It sure was!" Trini agreed and looked toward Tommy, Jason, and Randolph. "Did you guys see that?" She laughed gleefully.

"Yes, we did, Trini!" Randolph answered, giving a thumbs-up.

Tommy and Jason looked at each other and shared a laugh. They peered over their shoulders, gasping in much awe.

"Hey, you guys better head to the stern!" Jason called.

"You have to see this to believe it!" Tommy added.

Kim, Kat, Trini, Billy, Heather, Olivia, and Benny went to the stern. They saw Max, Isabella, Polaris, and Rhapsody jumping over the bow waves. The orcas squealed delightfully, as they hit the water. They went underwater. They came back up and jumped over the waves again. Kat put her hand over her mouth, tears filling eyes. Randolph looked over his shoulder at them.

"I can't believe I just saw orcas riding bow waves," Kat whispered in much happiness. She shuddered in a quiet manner.

"Me neither. That was so incredible," Kim muttered, choking back a sob.

"It sure was, Mommy," Heather said, clapping joyfully.

"The orcas are so graceful with what they do," Benny murmured, sniffling softly.

"Oh, yeah," Billy agreed, swallowing hard.

"Guys, Mike and Blackberry are down there!" Randolph called, looking ahead along with Tommy and Jason.

Kim, Kat, Trini, Billy, Heather, Olivia, and Benny returned to the bow to see Mike and Blackberry surface together. Willy and Nikki came up behind the orcas. Alex appeared and swam up to Willy. He nudged him in the side behind his saddle patch. Willy turned and spit water on him. He swam off rapidly. Alex chased after him, squealing in joy.

Mike and Blackberry went underwater, slapping their tails on the surface. They dove downward, clicking in playfulness. They swam for the surface. They leapt out of the water, reentering just as fast. They surfaced once more and rolled upside down. They flicked their tails, throwing water upward. Luna and Littlespot came up and did five rolls. Everyone smiled so widely that it appeared he or she would stay that way permanently.

"It's great that we've gotten to see J-Pod playing around," Kim said, putting her hand over her mouth as she cried softly.

"Not to mention we've encountered Willy twice today," Trini added.

"I'm sure our friends have been enjoying their day," Billy said and cupped his chin in his hand.

"We sure have," Kat commented, her voice filled with warmth.

"You said it, Mommy," Olivia said, looking up at her mother.

"Oh, yeah, Aunt Kat," Heather squeaked joyfully.

"This is something none of us will ever forget," Benny added. He and the others continued watching J-Pod swim and play around.