by Holly Webb
For Mia
www.hollywebbanimalstories.com
CONTENTS
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
About the Author
Other titles by Holly Webb
Copyright
Anya lay on her front in the sand, trying to build a tower of pebbles. It was quite tricky because she was holding a cheese sandwich, so she only had one hand free for building. She was a bit full for another sandwich really, but as they were on holiday her mum had let her put ketchup in them so she didn’t want to waste it.
“Anya, did you want a drink?” Mum called over from the picnic blanket. “And some cake?”
“In a minute,” Anya murmured, balancing a large black stone on top of her tower and looking at it hopefully. It wobbled for a second or two – and then the whole thing collapsed. Anya sighed, but she didn’t mind that much. It was the fifth time she’d built it and it always fell down in the end. This tower had been higher than any of the others. She got up and wandered back over to the picnic blanket, where her mum and dad were trying to persuade her little sister, Jessie, that she was too small for cake. Jessie was only nine months old, but she was convinced that everybody else’s food was nicer than hers. Anya thought she was probably right – some of the meals in the baby recipe book sounded very odd. Who would want to eat Tasty Lentil Surprise?
Anya took her drink and a slice of cake and moved over to the edge of the blanket so that Jessie couldn’t see her. Otherwise it would just be mean.
The beach was really busy today. Anya looked around at all the other families, who were mostly eating their picnics, too. Anya’s family had only come to the beach for a quick visit the day before, when they’d first arrived in Saltmere. There had been unpacking to do and Jessie had been a bit tired after the long car journey. This was their first proper beach day. Anya hadn’t felt lonely yesterday – it hadn’t been the real start of their holiday. But today… She couldn’t help wishing that she had someone else to build sandcastles with – or make mermaid statues, like those three girls over by the steps up to the promenade. Or even swim – there was a whole big family group standing by the edge of the water now, the children squeaking at the coldness of the waves washing over their toes.
“Oh, look…” Anya whispered, as the family’s dog sploshed through the water, too. She darted into the waves and then shook herself all over the children, making them squeal.
“They’re so lucky,” Anya murmured to herself. The dog was gorgeous, even when she was wet. Anya wasn’t really sure it was a girl dog, of course, but the dog was so pretty – golden-brown and curly all over, with great fluffy ears and a sort of topknot of blonde fur. The seawater had turned her curly fur into coiling tendrils all over. She wasn’t very big, and Anya wondered if she was still a puppy.
She watched the family splashing with each other and playing with the dog while she tried to build her tower of stones again. She couldn’t help feeling a bit jealous. There was an older boy, a girl about her age and a littler girl as well. They were all laughing and flicking water at each other.
Anya sighed and looked round at Mum and Dad and Jessie. Her little sister was cute and Anya adored her – most of the time. But it was going to be quite a while before Jessie would be big enough to play in the sea with her.
And the other family had a gorgeous fluffy puppy, too! Anya loved dogs and she really wished they could have one of their own. Dad had said maybe – when Jessie was bigger. He’d had a dog when he was Anya’s age and he loved them, too. But he said he didn’t think a dog was a great idea with Jessie being so tiny – and grabby. Even the nicest dog would get grumpy if Jessie pulled at its ears, he pointed out, and Anya had to admit that he was right. Jessie was always pulling her hair and it hurt, even though Jessie didn’t mean it to.
The children were coming out of the sea now, heading back to their spot further along the beach by the steps. Anya could see their mum and dad waving. The fluffy little golden dog was racing along the beach after them, stopping to sniff here and there. Anya giggled as she saw the puppy gobble down a bit of sandwich that someone had dropped and then sniff at a pile of seaweed. She looked like she might be about to eat that, too, and Anya wondered if she ought to tell the children. Seaweed wasn’t the sort of thing that would be good for a dog to eat. Anya frowned disapprovingly as they hurried back to their parents along the beach. How could they not notice that their dog had been about to eat something disgusting? She couldn’t help thinking that if she had such a lovely dog, she would take better care of it than that.
But then the golden puppy stopped nibbling at the seaweed and raced after the children, flinging herself at their legs and yapping. The older girl was just walking past Anya and her tower of stones, and the little dog was so excited that she knocked it over with her wagging tail.
“Oh! I’m really sorry!” the girl said, looking down in horror at the pile. “I didn’t mean to knock it over.”
“It’s OK! It was an accident. The dog knocked it with her tail,” Anya said, a little shyly. “She’s beautiful.”
“She is, isn’t she?” the other girl agreed, watching as the puppy chased off after her little sister. “She’s called Molly. Do you want me to help you build your tower again? I was looking at it as we came past – it was really tall! I bet I couldn’t do that, but I could pass you the stones or something?”
Anya smiled at her. “Don’t worry. I was only building it because I was a bit bored. It falls down every time. I must have built about seventeen towers by now.”
“You’re bored?” The girl looked surprised. She glanced around the beach, as though she couldn’t see how anyone could be bored in such a nice place.
“My dad says he’ll come in the sea with me later,” Anya explained. “But right now he’s looking after my baby sister and giving my mum a break. And he says it’s not a great idea to go in the sea on my own. I suppose I could paddle, but…” She shrugged. “You’re so lucky having your brother and sister to play with.”
The other girl sat down next to Anya and let out a huffy sigh. “You think? Didn’t you see Zach tip me up into that wave? Having a big brother is awful.” She sniffed. “Little sisters are a bit better, but Lily always wants to do everything I’m doing, which is a real pain sometimes.” She grinned at Anya and nodded over at Jessie. “You’ll find out! But I suppose I am quite lucky really. It wouldn’t be as much fun here without them to do things with.” She glanced back at Anya. “You could come and build sandcastles with us, if you like? My mum says the tide’s going to be high in an hour, so if we want to get the water to go round the castle, now’s the time to build it. Would your mum and dad let you?”
Anya nodded. “I’m sure they would. I’ll ask. Um, thanks,” she added, turning red. “That’s really nice of you.”
“I’m Rachel,” the girl said, jumping up. “I’ll come with you. Then I can show your mum and dad where all our stuff is. We were going to build our castle just over there.”
Anya’s mum was delighted that she’d found someone to play with.
“Of course you can,” she said, smiling at Rachel. “It’s very kind of you to let Anya join in. Are you the same age as Anya? Nine?”
“I’m almost ten,” Rachel said. “And my brother Zach is twelve and Lily’s seven. They’re both over there.” She pointed across the beach. “Oh, they’ve started. We’d better go, or Zach will build it all wrong.”
Anya picked up her spade and followed Rachel over to her brother and sister. Zach was alread
y digging enthusiastically, making a channel for the sea to flow into the moat, and Lily was collecting stones and seashells to decorate the castle. Molly was helping her, sniffing at the piles of seaweed again and rooting shells out for her to pick up.
Anya and Rachel started to build the main part of the castle, digging out a deep moat and piling the sand into the middle to make the fort. Every so often they had to stop and shoo away Lily, who kept trying to stand on the mound of sand.
“I’m bigger than you!” she sang to Rachel.
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Yes, Lily, because you’re standing on a big pile of sand!”
Anya giggled and Rachel shrugged at her. “Just you wait,” she muttered, elbowing Anya in a friendly sort of way. “Oh, look, look! The water’s starting to come in!”
A creamy yellow foam was creeping slowly down Zach’s channel and the girls danced up and down excitedly, waiting for it to get right into the moat.
“This wave! It’s going to be this one!” Anya yelped. “Look! There it is! Oh no…”
Molly had been watching the water most suspiciously, glaring at it as it inched along. Now she leaped into the moat and stood there barking at it, sand showering down from the castle all over her golden coat.
“You’re going to need a bath tonight,” Anya giggled. “Come on! Come on!” She coaxed the little dog out and sat down next to her, patting her gently as they watched the water spread all around the moat. Rachel crouched next to them and stroked Molly’s ears.
“Yay, look, it’s meeting in the middle!” Rachel squealed, jumping up and nearly falling in the moat herself, before sitting back down again.
Anya gave the surprised puppy a hug and then laughed as Molly licked her across the nose. “I’m so glad you knocked down my tower,” she whispered in Molly’s curly ear.
Molly lay on the sand between Anya and Rachel, her eyes half-closed. One of the girls was scratching her behind the ears, just where she was itchy, and the sun was warm on her back. She could feel that she needed brushing, to get the sand and salt out of her coat, but she was warm and comfortable so she didn’t mind.
“Want to play cricket?”
Molly twitched her ears and looked up as the girls began to talk over her head. The boy was standing there with a ball so she jumped up with an excited little woof.
“Oh, she wants to play!” Anya laughed. “Do you like chasing balls, Molly, hey?”
“As long as she doesn’t eat my tennis ball,” Zach said doubtfully. “Still, I suppose she can fetch it if Lily hits it into the sea!”
“I won’t!” Lily yelled, stamping her foot and Molly edged back, looking worried.
“Oh, she’s scared. Careful, Lily, you frightened her, shouting like that. Good dog, Molly.” Rachel crouched down and fussed over her, and Molly licked her hand gratefully. She didn’t like it when people were loud. But she soon forgot that she’d been scared as she raced around for the ball, barking excitedly as the children laughed and chased after her.
“She’s the best fielder I’ve ever seen,” Zach said, grinning. “Come on, Molly. Give me the ball! Come on – oh no, Molly! I could have got Rachel out if you hadn’t held on to it.”
“She’s on our side,” Rachel said smugly. “Good dog, Moll. Oh, look, Mum’s got biscuits. I’ll give you one when she’s not looking.”
Molly wagged her tail blissfully and wolfed down the sweet biscuit, looking hopefully over to the girls for more.
Anya giggled. “Oh, go on, then. You can have half of mine – I’m not that hungry. I suppose you’re growing, you need the energy!”
Molly gobbled the biscuit and flopped down on Anya’s feet, sleepy after all the racing around that she’d done. She was still hungry, of course, but the biscuits had been very, very good.
It was one of the best afternoons that Anya had had in ages. But all too soon, Rachel’s mum and dad were rolling up their rugs and sending everyone to find the spades and bodyboards and balls that they’d left scattered over the sand.
“Will you be on the beach tomorrow?” Rachel asked hopefully, and Anya nodded. She’d wanted to ask the same thing, but what if Rachel didn’t want her hanging around with them again?
“Oh, Rachel, I think we might be going to that adventure park tomorrow,” her mum said, looking up from packing away all the damp swimming things. “We’re not quite sure. But maybe we’ll see you the day after, Anya?”
Anya nodded and smiled, then wandered back to Mum, Dad and Jessie.
“Weren’t they friendly?” her mum said, smiling. She’d chatted to Rachel’s mum and dad for a bit, when she’d come over to check on Anya.
“They probably aren’t coming to the beach tomorrow, though,” Anya sighed, flumping down on to the sand next to Mum.
“Well, I owe you a swim. We’ll definitely do that tomorrow,” Dad pointed out. “It’s getting a bit chilly now that the wind’s picking up. Might be time to think about going back to the cottage. Don’t worry, Anya. I promise you’ll have fun tomorrow. I’ll take you in the sea and we could bring the kite down, too.”
Anya smiled at him. Dad was right – she would love going in the sea for a proper swim. It was just that everything seemed a bit quiet and flat now without Rachel and the others.
“I’ve just thought of something,” Dad said, looking worried.
“What?” Anya asked anxiously – Dad was really frowning.
“We’ve been on the beach for a whole day and none of us have had an ice cream!”
“Oh, Dad! I thought something terrible had happened!” Anya grinned.
“That is terrible! Come on. Help me fold up the picnic rug and we’ll go to the ice-cream shop on the way back.”
Molly watched as the children trailed away along the path up to the top of the cliff, laden down with bags and buckets and sandy shoes. They had fussed over her and petted her all afternoon, and for the first time in ages she had felt as though she had really belonged to someone. But now they were going and she was left behind again.
She had tried to follow them, but the older girl had shooed her back. “Go on, Molly! Go home! Go and find your owners – that’s them over there, isn’t it? Those boys?”
Molly gave a hopeful whimper and tried again, trotting along behind them, but the man had pushed her gently back towards the beach and told her no. She knew they wouldn’t let her stay, even if she did sneak after them again.
So she went back to the beach and sat by the little kiosk that sold the ice creams and beach toys. They had a bowl of water outside for dogs and she was thirsty after running around in the sun all afternoon. The kiosk sold bacon rolls and sandwiches as well, and she’d found leftovers in their bins before. But she couldn’t go scuffling through the bins until later on, or the owner would shout at her and chase her away.
“That’s such a cute little dog,” a girl said, as she came away from the kiosk, carrying an ice cream. “I wonder who she belongs to?”
The girl’s mother looked over at Molly and smiled. “Oh, she’s with that family sitting down by the steps. I saw them playing with her. She is sweet, isn’t she?”
The beach was emptying out now, just a few people left and all of those slowly packing up their things. The families with beach huts began to put away their chairs and tables, and Molly watched them hopefully, wondering if there would be any scraps left when they’d gone.
The lady who ran the ice-cream kiosk came out to fold up her shutters, and Molly skittered away behind one of the beach huts before the lady could shout at her. She scurried along behind the line of huts and came out by the steps. She would go and sniff along the line of broken shells and seaweed down by the sea. She’d found things to eat mixed up in there before.
Molly dragged her paws over the deep sand, feeling weary. She had loved playing with the children that afternoon, but now she was worn out and so hungry. The seaweed smelled strong and salty and there was another smell – a hopeful sort of smell. A fish! She scrabbled at it excitedly with her paw an
d it broke up into bits.
Molly sneezed at the smell – it had been dead for a while and didn’t smell very nice. It was dry and leathery from lying there all afternoon in the hot sun. She could just about remember the delicious bits of fish she used to get as a treat when she’d lived with her owners, before she was a stray – this fish smelled quite different. But Molly was too hungry to be fussy. She wolfed it down, even the bones and the dried-up skin.
After the fish, Molly padded along the sand to the little hollow under the patch of marram grass. This was the wilder end of the beach, past the concrete promenade, where the road led down to the harbour. It was never as busy, so there wasn’t as much chance of scraps from a picnic. But the dunes were a quiet place to sleep. Molly had found a sandy hole under a big clump of grass a few weeks before. She’d then dug it out a little more, so that it made a nest just large enough for a small dog to sleep under cover. She snuggled into it and curled up. Her stomach was hurting – the fish probably hadn’t been a good thing to eat. But it had been all there was.
The next day, Anya and her parents packed the picnic things under Jessie’s pushchair again and got ready to set off for the beach. Anya had been hopping about by the front door for what seemed like ages. When they’d stopped at the ice-cream shop the day before, she had spotted a bodyboard with dolphins on and she’d been admiring it while the lady behind the counter scooped out their ice creams. The dolphins were gorgeous – they looked as though they were smiling and Anya couldn’t help smiling back at them. Then she’d heard Dad saying, “And we’ll take that bodyboard as well, please?”
Anya had wheeled round, staring at him in surprise. She hadn’t even asked, just thought how much fun it would be to have one. Lots of the people on the beach that day had been splashing around on them.
