by Sarah Lean
Tom steered a course to the spot marked X on his map, where Tiger had asked Grumps to bury something for him. Tom coasted Spinaway to the shingle bank of a small island in the middle of the river that Tiger had spotted when she’d first explored the riverbank. They landed with a gentle bump as Tom lowered the sail.
Tom pulled up some branches and dug away at the earth with a spade, while Tiger waited for him to find his surprise. Buried in the middle under the trailing branches of a willow tree was his treasure-chest box. Tiger had decorated it with brightly coloured buttons and paint, as if it was made of gold and rubies and sapphires and emeralds. Burying it in the earth had made it look old and piratey. It was the perfect chest for keeping his river treasure in.
“Open it!” said Tiger, grinning.
“I always wanted one of these!” said Tom, holding up to his eye the telescope that he found inside. Tiger had made it from the cardboard tubes inside the paper towels that she had used to help May Days clean windows.
Pirate Tom was sailing Spinaway back home, looking through his telescope now and again while they coasted on the current, when all of a sudden Tiger saw something unexpected. She gasped, not because she felt worried, but because it was something wonderful.
“Tom,” she whispered. “Stop here!”
Without asking why, Tom lowered the anchor over the side of the boat and dropped the sail, so they could float where they were.
Grumps leaned in, whispering, as it seemed the right thing to do. “What’s going on?”
Tiger couldn’t believe her eyes. Lucky was on the concrete slipway slope. He was ready to leave and find a new home. Everyone held their breath and stayed still and watched.
Lucky turned round and was about to head back along the bank to his pen, but then stopped as if he had changed his mind. Instead he went to the end of the jetty and leaned over the edge, his head waving around. He looked down at the water, holding on with his claws and webbed feet.
“Sometimes you have to let go,” Tiger whispered. The most important thing would be for him to decide to go by himself.
And Lucky did. Bubbles burst to the surface where he dived, and he disappeared into his new home.
Tiger cuddled Holly in bed that night, thinking of Lucky’s arched back as he’d swum away through the water, ready to find his own home in the wild. He didn’t come back for his dinner and wouldn’t come back again.
“Do you think we’ll ever see Lucky again?” she whispered to her grandmother in the dark.
“Would you mind if we didn’t?” asked May Days.
Tiger smiled to herself. “No, because he’s happy.”
On the last day of the holiday, Tiger was feeling more confident about going sailing with the pirates. She wanted one more trip on the river with everyone before her dad returned to take her home later that day.
Once again, May Days was about to wave them all off from the jetty, saying she had things to do. “I must finish mowing the lawn,” she said. “Have fun!”
“But you finished the mowing,” said Tiger.
“Oh,” she said, and it surprised Tiger to see May Days looking flustered. “Actually, I was going to plant up the pots.”
“They are already full of flowers!” said Tiger. Something was definitely up.
And then Tiger worked it out … May Days was about to make another excuse, but Tiger went over and hugged her.
“Are you afraid of going on the water too?” she whispered.
It wasn’t that May Days didn’t like to sail. She was afraid of falling in as she hadn’t learned to swim very well when she was young.
“I’m rather embarrassed and feel a bit silly when all of you are so brave,” she said.
“This will be the third time I’ve been in the boat and I’m only a quarter as scared now compared to the first time,” said Tiger to reassure her grandmother.
“Thank you, that makes me feel much better,” said May Days.
“You could have swimming lessons,” Tiger suggested. “But please come, just this once. If I can do it, you can too.”
“We wear lifejackets on board,” said Tom. “You won’t sink if you are wearing one of these.”
“Everyone has something they are afraid of,” said Tiger to May Days. “But you can hold on to me.”
“I feel braver already,” her grandmother said. Grumps and Tom helped her down into the boat. “Oh my,” she added, “I am feeling rather wobbly.”
May Days and Tiger held hands, and also held a side of the boat each, as Tom steered the tiller and lowered or raised the sail to catch the breeze.
They sailed to where the cows came down to the river to gaze at them with soft brown eyes.
Then they sailed back home as the setting sun reflected on the water and made the river turn pink and orange.
“What is the most treasured thing you have found this holiday?” May Days asked everyone.
“Gold,” said Tom, digging into his pocket and bringing out a stone.
“Gold?” said Tiger. Where had he found such treasure?
Tom showed them a stone he had found with a golden line running through it. “Actually, I looked it up in a book and it’s not real gold. But I wish it was so I could sell it and have enough money to buy another boat because I want to race Grumps and see who is the fastest pirate on the seas!”
Grumps ruffled Tom’s hair. “Maybe one day,” he laughed.
“What is the most treasured thing you have found this holiday, Tiger?” asked May Days.
Tiger had seen so much wildlife, all of it wonderful, all of it treasured. Just then, the water rippled under the surface. Tiger put a finger to her lips to tell everybody to be quiet and look where she pointed. “There’s my best treasure.”
Only metres from the boat was Lucky, swimming through the water. Bubbles of air, caught in his waterproof fur, made him look as if he was coated in diamonds.
He surfaced and his nose twitched and his whiskers curled as he blinked at the four people in the boat, their eyes bright, their smiles beaming.
“Dad, have you ever been sailing in a proper boat?” said Tiger after she’d blown a hundred kisses to May Days and Holly and Tom and Grumps from the window of the car as they’d driven away from Willowgate House.
“No, I get scared on the water because I don’t like falling in. Remember that time at the seaside when we had a blow-up boat?”
“I was thinking about that the other day,” said Tiger, smiling. “Maybe you should come sailing with me and my friend Tom. He will make you feel so much better about it.”
“Did you find an opportunity to surprise May Days?” asked her dad.
“Yes.”
“How did you do that?” he said, knowing how hard it was to surprise his mother.
“Because anyone can be surprising when you don’t expect them to be.”
Would it ever again be as good a holiday as this time at Willowgate? Tiger would have to wait and see.
Tiger’s grandmother looks after animals in need, and when Tiger comes to stay she quickly learns how to feed a baby warthog and keep it safe.
Tiger already has her hands full when a mysterious sound leads her to another little animal …
This time at Willowgate House Tiger discovers a mysterious tunnel that has appeared under the shed and someone – or something – has been burying eggs in the garden …
Tiger and her friend Tom decide to become detectives – determined to crack the case!
About the Author
SARAH LEAN’S fascination with animals began when she was aged eight and a stray cat walked in the back door and decided to adopt her. As a child she wanted to be a writer and used to dictate stories to her mother, but it wasn’t until she bought a laptop of her own several years ago that she decided to type them herself. She loves her garden, art, calligraphy and spending time outdoors. She lives in Dorset and shares the space around her desk with her dogs, Harry and Coco.
www.sarahlean.co.uk
Als
o by Sarah Lean
The Tiger Days series in reading order:
The Secret Cat
The Midnight Foxes
The Riverbank Otter
Duckling Days
For older readers:
A Dog Called Homeless
A Horse for Angel
The Forever Whale
Jack Pepper
Hero
Harry and Hope
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
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Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
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New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
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Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London, SE1 9GF
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
http://www.harpercollins.com
