As Debby carried on along the line, shouting at the other dogs, laughing in their faces or teasing them with dog biscuits that she then cruelly snatched away, Bobby was suddenly aware of a fluttering and panting behind him.
“Psst! Psst!” he heard someone wheeze. Turning his head, he was surprised and relieved to see Pam the puffin sitting on the side of the boat.
“Pam! Pam!” he whispered, making sure he didn’t get Debby’s attention. “You’ve got to help me. I’ve been dog-napped by an evil woman! I’ve had nothing to eat all day and I’m so thirsty.”
Pam breathed deeply a couple of times before she could reply. “That’s what I’m here for, me ’ansome. Your family’s going out of their minds with worry. And all the local animals are looking for you.”
“How did you find me?”
“Some seagulls told me they’d heard a lot of barking coming from this boat so I came to investigate. But it was further out than I thought. I nearly didn’t make it. I need to get my breath back first.”
“I’m so glad to see you,” said Bobby. “But how are you going to get me off this boat? We don’t have much time.”
“What d’you mean?”
“Well, from what the others say, she’s stolen us all and now she’s planning to give us all a makeover so she can sell us to the rich people of St Ives who want pedigree dogs. She painted black spots on a white bulldog type and sold him off as a dalmatian yesterday, and apparently last week she gave a sheepdog cross a perm and sold it as a poodle! Goodness knows what’s she’s got planned for me. I need to get off this boat quick.”
Just then Debby came walking back down the line. “What’s all this noise?” she shouted. “And what’s that ugly bird doing here? Go on, shoo-shoo!” she shrieked, flapping her arms at Pam.
Pam fluttered up into the air but Bobby could see she really didn’t have much puff left. Could she seriously make it back to shore and get a message to his parents?
“Good luck!” he called after her. “Fly safely!”
“I’ll try, me ’ansome,” she called back, battling to fly against the blowing wind.
Chapter 16
Later that day the Bolds’ search parties met back at the tent, each group hoping the other would have some news about missing Stinky.
Uncle Tony and Miranda hadn’t spotted him or found any new scent to follow.
Mr. Bold and Mr. McNumpty reported that Stinky wasn’t at the animal shelter either.
And no one had turned up at Sunnyside with any information as a result of Betty and Minnie’s poster campaign.
The only glimmer of hope was the news Mrs. Bold had received from Bertha the cougar about a strange woman called Dog-Mad Debby who lived on a boat somewhere.
“But where?” sighed Mr. McNumpty. “The sea is huge! It’ll be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“Or a flea on a grizzly bear,” offered Mr. Bold. “No offense.”
Just then a familiar whizzing sound and a shower of feathers indicated that their puffin friend was dropping by. She lay on her back in front of the tent, beak wide open, gasping for air even more desperately than usual.
“Pam!” cried Uncle Tony. “Whatever is the matter?” He gently helped Pam onto her feet. “Take your time, little one,” he said soothingly, gently stroking her back while her breathing gradually returned to normal.
“I-I-I flew as fast as I could,” Pamela explained, her eyes occasionally rolling to the back of her head. “But it was almost too much for me.”
“You poor thing,” said Betty.
“Why? Is it something to do with Stinky?” asked Mrs. Bold anxiously.
Pam nodded. “Saw him.” She gestured out to sea.
“On a boat?” prompted Mrs. Bold.
Pam nodded once more.
“Dog-Mad Debby!” gasped Mrs. Bold.
After a while Pam was able to explain. “Some seagull chums tipped me off that they’d heard the sound of distant barking coming from a boat moored off Harlyn Bay. A small fishing boat with a red hull and a white painted deck, they said, anchored out at sea. So I flew around till I found it. It was farther out than I’d thought. And they were right. I found several dogs on board, all looking very miserable and each tied with rope to the buoys and anchor on deck. One of them was Stinky!”
“No!” cried Mrs. Bold.
“Poor Stinky! Was he hurt?” asked Betty.
“Not as far as I could tell,” said Pam. “Bit bedraggled, though. Frightened, obviously, and chacking.”
“Chacking?” repeated Mr. Bold.
“Thirsty,” explained Pam. “Local word for thirsty.” She sucked in a breath. “He asked me to come and find you, explain where he was.”
“Thank you, Pam. Thank you so much,” said Mrs. Bold gratefully.
“But how did he get on the boat in the first place?” asked Minnie. “And who were the other dogs? Who owns the boat?”
“I be getting to that, me ’ansome,” replied Pam patiently. “Saw her with my own eyes, I did. A mazed, stuggy benyn!” she said dramatically.
Everyone looked confused.
“A mad, sturdy woman!” Pam clarified.
“Dog-Mad Debby!” announced Mrs. Bold excitedly. “Bertha was right! We must go to Harlyn Bay at once and rescue my poor boy.”
“And what’s this woman planning to do with Bobby?” asked Mr. McNumpty.
“She’s going to give him a cruel makeover to make him look like a posh dog and then sell him off to some rich, and quite frankly unobservant, people in St Ives.”
“What on earth could she turn Stinky into?” pondered Betty. “He’s never going to look like a pedigree dog in a million years. A floor mop, perhaps!” She chuckled to herself, despite the seriousness of their situation.But her mother gave her a look.
“There’s no time to lose then,” said Mr. Bold. “Quick, everyone, to the car.” They all stood up, rushed to the Honda and squeezed in. Pam perched on the dashboard and directed them to the sleepy cove from where they could see the boat. As they traveled along, not even Mr. Bold was in the mood for any jokes.
In the fading light, he parked the car and they all raced down the beach to the salty sea edge. There, outlined on the horizon, they could see Dog-Mad Debby’s boat anchored some way out and just hear faintly the distressing sound of faraway dogs, barking for their owners.
The beach was deserted, and unfortunately there weren’t even any boats at anchor there. As the Bolds looked dismally out toward the sea, the problem of how they were going to reach Debby’s boat began to dawn on them. A big full moon rose in the sky, its silvery light reflected on the still water.
What do you think the Bolds could do? It was too far out to swim—and there were no waves for Uncle Tony to surf on. Even if there were he couldn’t rescue Bobby single-handedly—he was too old . . . Who was going to help?
As I told you before, though, unusual things happen to the Bolds—and something very unusual (and rather wonderful) was about to occur.
Chapter 17
The friends all stood in a line at the water’s edge: Mr. and Mrs. Bold, Mr. McNumpty—with Pam the puffing puffin on his head—Uncle Tony, with Miranda perched on his shoulder, Betty and Minnie. They were thinking as hard as they could.
“Well, I’ve had an idea,” said Mr. McNumpty, not sounding very convincing. “Debby can’t stay out at sea forever. We could wait here until she comes ashore to sell the dogs, then jump aboard and get Bobby.”
“But that might be days!” responded Mrs. Bold after an uncomfortable silence. “Or she might sail farther away. Or go to another cove. Or sail to Australia! My Bobby needs rescuing now. We must get to him as soon as possible.”
“What about the Coast Guard?” suggested Betty.
“They do search and rescue and maritime emergencies,” said Minnie, shaking her head. “They wouldn’t be interested in a lost dog. Anyway, he’s not lost, as we know where he is.”
“He’s not a dog, either,” muttered Betty.
“There aren’t any. And we couldn’t sail it anyway. Not after dark,” said Mr. McNumpty.
The group lapsed into worried silence. Every now and then a ghostly howl floated over the sea from Debby’s boat . . .
It was Minnie who saw it first. “What is that?” she said quietly, raising an arm to point at something in the water just a few feet out from the shore.
“Where? I can’t see anything,” said Betty.
“There it is again!” exclaimed Minnie. A small triangular shape broke through the surface of the water, then disappeared again.
“Me see it!” said Miranda.
“Probably just a bit of driftwood,” said Mr. McNumpty dismissively.
“No, it’s moving too fast,” disagreed Minnie.
“Hang on—there are a few of them now,” said Mrs. Bold. “Look!”
It was true. Six or seven of the shapes now rose out of the water in a line, shot along for three feet or so and then submerged again.
“Looks like they might be fish of some sort, perhaps?” pondered Mr. Bold. Everyone had seen them now. The shapes changed course so they were moving in a circle right in front of them, causing graceful ripples to radiate outward.
“It’s as if they are trying to get our attention,” said Minnie. Everyone moved closer, up to their knees now in the sea. And then, to gasps from the Bolds, a big, blue-gray head appeared in the center of the formation, with a wide smiling mouth and a row of neat pointed teeth. Large, black, wide-set eyes looked kindly at them.
“A dolphin!” whispered Betty. “Oh my goodness!”
“Why hello, everyone!” said the dolphin, speaking in a clear, friendly way. “It is quite exceptionally pleasant to make your acquaintance. My name is Galileo. And you, of course, are the Bolds.” He spoke in a very posh voice—more of a drawl, in fact.
“Er, y-y-you know who we all are?” stuttered Mr. Bold.
“My dear Fred, your work rescuing animals from drudgery is world-famous! Of course I know who you are.”
The Bolds glowed with pride.
“Nice evening for a swim, isn’t it?” said Fred.
“Oh, Mr. Bold!” said the dolphin, chuckling. “You are an amusing fellow. Your humor both entertains and enlivens all who hear it. And as for your Christmas cracker jokes—they are very popular here in the Cornish faction of the bottle-nosed dolphin community. Simultaneously predictable and innovative, preposterous and enlightening, foolish yet educational. Bravo!”
“Thank you!” said Mr. Bold, a little confused by all the big words.
“I couldn’t trouble you for a dolphin joke, could I?” continued Galileo. “My friends and I would be unspeakably thrilled.” Five other eager dolphin heads appeared out the water, all looking expectantly at Mr. Bold.
“Oh, I’m sure I could come up with something. Er, let me think now . . .”
The six dolphins laughed appreciatively—a nasal, high-pitched snort of a laugh, and applauded, daintily clapping their rubbery fins together to create a rather squelchy noise.
“Any more? We did so appreciate that. Encore!”
“Of course,” said Fred. “Here’s another one.”
This went down even better, and as well as applaud, two of the younger dolphins leaped in the air and did a somersault to show how much they had enjoyed the joke, landing with a loud splash.
Mrs. Bold had had enough. She marched into the water and tapped her husband on the shoulder. “May I remind you, please, that our son is out there on that boat, crying and whimpering and wanting a hug from his mother?” she said crossly. Next she turned to the dolphins. “It’s lovely to meet you, and I’m glad you enjoy my husband’s jokes. But we don’t have time for this. Having fun will, for once, have to wait. Some awful person called Dog-Mad Debby has kidnapped, or dog-napped or hyena-napped, or whatever-you-want-to-call-it-napped our pup Bobby. Now will somebody please . . .”
Mrs. Bold bared her teeth at the dolphins. Her eyes seemed to glow an angry red as her maternal hyena instinct to rescue and protect her young showed itself with unmistakable ferocity. Several of the dolphins sank below the water.
“It’s all right, dear. Keep calm. We’ll think of something,” said Fred as soothingly as he could.
“WHAT?” growled Mrs. Bold.
“My dear Amelia,” said Galileo. “But that’s why we are here. We have come to help!” he said. “Forgive us, we got carried away with the excitement of meeting your husband and his entertaining jokes.”
“How are you going to help us?” asked Mr. McNumpty, not unreasonably.
“We will transport you to the boat. On our backs. That’s how,” replied Galileo. “We have been watching your son Bobby, or Stinky as he’s sometimes called, swimming about with the playful young Taxi. Oh, and thumbs up (not that we have been blessed with those particular digits) to Uncle Tony and Miranda for their surfing—an amazing display!” There was more applause from the other dolphins, who had reappeared once Mrs. Bold stopped shouting.
“We may have helped propel the surfboard a little from under the water, using our dolphinesque expertise and unseen by anyone, but really, all credit to you.”
“You mean you helpy-ed us with our surfing?” said Miranda.
Uncle Tony looked a little crestfallen at this news.
“Yes, my dear,” confirmed Galileo.
“So I wasn’t a natural after all,” said Uncle Tony rather sadly.
“Well, I still think you’re brilliant,” said Betty.
“We just gave you a helping hand—or should I say flipper? But you do have some natural talent, I’m sure. You see, we’ve been watching out for you since you arrived. It’s just a trifle unfortunate that we were having our afternoon nap when Debby took a liking to Bobby and nabbed him while he was sniffing about the rocks. He had a bit of an injured leg, didn’t he? Don’t suppose she’d have caught him otherwise. Now then,” continued Galileo. “To matters in hand: the liberation of your offspring. We’d be delighted to help. There are six of us and seven of you.” He looked kindly at Pam. “Plus this lady, of course. You hop on our backs—Tony and Miranda can share a dolphin—and we will slowly and silently swim alongside Betty’s boat. Once you all climb aboard, it’s over to you to rescue young Bobby and get him away from Dog-Mad Debby. Do you think this will be of any assistance to you?”
“Brilliant! Thank you so much!” said a delighted Mrs. Bold.
“I’ve always wanted to swim with dolphins,” said Minnie.
“We’d come on board with you, but frankly, a school of dolphins flapping about on the deck is not going to help matters. We’ll wait in the sea till you’ve liberated Bobby and then bring you all safely back to the shore.”
Mr. Bold was rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He loved this plan but as you’ll know if you’ve ever read any other of the Bolds’ stories, Mr. Bold is an excellent plan-maker himself, and he was about to add some finishing touches of his own to Galileo’s idea.
“Is there a big rock sticking out of the water just past where Debby’s boat is moored?” he asked. “I thought I saw one . . .”
“Yes, there is,” confirmed Galileo.
“Excellent. Then I think I have a plan!” said Mr. Bold. “Give us ten minutes while I brief everyone and get a few things from the car, and then we’ll be ready.”
“Perhaps another joke to keep us amused while we’re waiting?” asked the dolphin.
“Very well,” said Mr. Bold, glancing warily at his wife.
Chapter 18
Do you want me to tell you the whole plan? I’m quite sure you do. But I think if I do that it will take away the surprise and you’ll find yourself putting this book down to watch something dreary on television. So I’m going to keep you in suspense a little longer, I’m afraid. But trust me. It’s a great plan.
A short while later the rescue party set off. It was quite a sight: in accordance with Mr. Bold’s instructions, Betty went ahead on the first dolphi
n, and the others followed. But you wouldn’t have recognized them—they had all had a roll in the mud to make themselves look darker and therefore less noticeable in the moonlight, and Mr. Bold had covered everyone in long slimy strands of seaweed too. Once they were all astride their assigned dolphin, they clasped their ride with their thighs, a bit like horse riding, and leaned forward to keep hidden. It was quite a fishy sight, as the procession glided quietly toward its destination.
“Claws crossed we get there in time!” whispered Pam, hopping onto Mr. McNumpty’s shoulder after they had been in the water for only a few minutes. “Don’t mind if I hitch a lift, do you?” she puffed. “I’ve done enough flying today to last me a week.”
“Be my guest,” said Mr. McNumpty, giving Pam a gentle stroke on her back.
Meanwhile Betty’s dolphin took her to the rock near the boat, as her father had planned. She clung on tightly to her dolphin taxi as they approached the boat. He told her to take a deep gulp of air, as they were going to be traveling underwater for about thirty seconds. When they reached the surface again, they’d passed Debby’s boat and were hidden on the far side of the rock.
“Here you are. Good luck!” whispered the dolphin, and Betty crawled onto the craggy outcrop. She lay low, motionless, waiting for the signal from Pam the puffin, as arranged.
Everyone else in the dolphin convoy, meanwhile, had silently arrived at the stern of the boat, in easy reach of the ladder. They sat still on their respective dolphins, tense with excitement.
Everything was in place, and Mr. Bold’s plan to rescue Bobby was about to spring into action.
He peered over his shoulder to see if everyone was ready, then he nodded gravely at Miranda who nimbly hopped onto his shoulder and from there to the ladder. Next he gave a hand signal to Pam the puffin, who fluttered up into the air and flew, just above the water, around the boat to the rock where Betty was waiting, poised and determined. Pam bounced up to the hyena pup and said, “You go, girl!”
The Bolds on Vacation Page 7
