Rascal's Seaside Adventure (4 page)

Chapter Seven

A Picnic for Rascal

“Oh, look, it's that horrible cat again!” Gran waved the dishcloth crossly, as she looked through the kitchen window, and Ellie, who was helping her wash up after breakfast, stood on tiptoe to look out too.

“He's going to pounce on that blackbird,” Ellie said, her voice squeaking with horror. She ran to the door. “Rascal, you stop him!”

Rascal didn't need asking twice. He shot out of the door as soon as Ellie opened it
for him, and raced down the garden, barking. The blackbird fluttered away in surprise, never knowing the danger it had been in, and the cat hissed at Rascal, its tail fluffing up to three times its size.

Ellie stared out of the door worriedly. The cat was bigger than Rascal and she hoped he wouldn't get hurt. She winced as the cat lashed out with one paw – she could see the claws from here!

But the scratch across his nose had Rascal jumping up and down and barking his head off, and the cat seemed to realize that now he meant business. It shot off up the fence, scrabbling and wobbling all the way to the top, then disappeared into
next-door's
garden with a last angry hiss.

Rascal barked at the fence for a little while, in case the cat was thinking of returning, and then trotted proudly back to the kitchen.

Ellie watched him open-mouthed. “Rascal, you were so brave! Oh, Gran, look, that horrible cat scratched his nose.”

“Nasty beast. Who's a good boy then?
Here, Rascal, you have this bit of leftover bacon.” Gran gently wiped Rascal's scratch with a clean dishcloth, and Ellie beamed to herself.

“I was thinking we might take a picnic lunch down to the cove,” Gran suggested. “I've got a special sponge cake tucked away in the cupboard and I'll make up some sandwiches. It's lovely for swimming there, and we've never taken you children. Just you and me and Max and Lila, so your mum and dad can have some time together. And your grandpa wants to get on with those new plants he's bought. Shall we take this clever little dog with us, hmmm?” She patted Rascal on the head, and Ellie made a thumbs up sign at Rascal. He was finally winning Gran over!

The cove was about a mile along the beach, but with the picnic and the rugs and all the swimming things to carry, it felt much further. Everyone was hot by the time they got there, and Gran pointed out that it would be best to swim while the tide was coming in, so they all ran into the sea, even Gran, leaving Rascal standing worriedly by the edge of the water.

“Come on, come with us,” Ellie called, but he just ran up and down the shoreline, looking worried.

“Some dogs just don't like water, Ellie,” Gran told her.

“He tried to drink it,” Ellie told Gran, as
they swam a little further out. “And he got splashed by a wave the other day. I think he's a bit scared of the sea now.”

“Just don't let him bury the towels again!” Lila called.

“He won't,” Ellie told her, looking back at Rascal. “He's gone to sit on the rug. He's fine. Just sitting next to the picnic bag.”

Gran looked round sharply. “Is he?”

Ellie peered over at Rascal. “Yes. Um… I'd better go back and check on him…”

There was something shiny hanging out of Rascal's mouth. Something that looked awfully like the foil Gran had wrapped the sandwiches in.

“Rascal! No!” Ellie half swam, half splashed her way out of the water, to find
Rascal happily demolishing a whole packet of sandwiches. Ham … his favourite!

And Gran was right behind her, looking furious.

Chapter Eight

Cave Adventure

“Take him for a walk up the beach and get him out of Gran's way,” Lila muttered. “You too, Max, go on.”

Ellie slipped on her flip-flops and hustled Rascal away. Gran was checking the picnic bag to see if Rascal had eaten anything else.

“Let's go and look at those rocks over by the cliff.” Max pointed along the beach. “That's far enough away to get Rascal out of Gran's sight.”

Ellie nodded. She clipped on Rascal's lead and they hurried down the beach. The rocks were piled up against the cliff just at the edge of the bay.

Even though they were only exploring to keep Rascal and Gran apart, Ellie soon found herself amazed at the little damp crevices between the rocks – full of shells, and different seaweeds, and tiny crabs that disappeared as soon as Rascal stuck his nose into their holes.

“This is really cool,” Max said, clambering to the top of another big rock. “Oh, wow, look! There's a cave!”

They had been working their way towards the cliff face itself, and now Ellie saw that Max was right. It was a narrow little crevice, damp and dark, and she watched as Max climbed speedily over the rocks towards the entrance. “I'm not sure we should go in there,” she called nervously, but Max was already standing in the opening, not listening to her.

“It goes back really far! And I reckon it must go through to a hole or something up above, because there's some light coming in further down.”

Ellie and Rascal followed him, slipping and scrambling over the rocks. Somehow when Max said there was light, it made Ellie feel better – she'd been scared of
going into somewhere dark and eerie. Feeling a little bit silly, she stood hesitating at the entrance, but Rascal was keen to follow Max, and pulled on his lead. He obviously didn't think the cave was scary.

“There might be treasure!” Max called back, and Ellie grinned. Max had been obsessed with pirates until a couple of years ago, and it looked like he hadn't really grown out of it after all.

“Is it safe?” she shouted back, and Max snorted. “Of course it is! It would be fenced off if it wasn't.”

Ellie nodded. That was probably true. She stepped into the dim, salty air of the cave, and followed Max, who was quite far ahead now. It wasn't at all like she'd
imagined – no slime dripping down the walls and definitely no skeletons. Just walls of crumbling greyish-brown rock. The sandy floor was covered in shells, swept in by the sea, and Ellie peered at them in the greyish light. She was sure that there were some kinds she'd never seen before, and she hunted through them eagerly. She'd found lots for Christy's present, but she was sure that these were some of the nicest.

Ellie let Rascal off the lead. He sniffed around the cave, his paws scratching and scrabbling on the rocks, then returned to the entrance. He stood there for a few minutes, and then Ellie heard him whine. She looked up. “What's the matter, Rascal?”

He whined again, staring out at the rocks. Ellie went to see what Rascal was looking at, and gasped. “Max! Max, quick! The tide's coming in!”

Max dashed back down the cave, stumbling in the darkness, and looked out at the water lapping up around the rocks.

“What are we going to do?” Ellie cried.

“It's OK, Ellie,” Max said calmly. “We can go back to the other end, and climb out through the hole. Hey, don't be scared.”

Ellie nodded, and they hurried to the other end of the cave where a pile of rocks had fallen, leaving a big hole in the ceiling. “I'm not sure I can get up there with

Rascal,” Ellie said nervously, staring up at the tricky-looking climb.

Max frowned. “Maybe you're right. Oh, well. We'll just have to go for a paddle!”

It was all very well for Max to say that, Ellie realized as she watched him step out of the hole in the cliff and balance carefully on the nearest rock, but persuading Rascal was another matter entirely. He'd had quite enough of the sea this week. When Ellie clipped his lead back on, and prepared to make the wobbly scramble on to the rock, Rascal started to howl and wriggled
backwards, trying to pull himself out of his collar.

“Rascal, come on!” Ellie coaxed.

“What's the problem?” Max clambered back to them. “We need to hurry, or we're going to get soaked.”

“I can't make Rascal move!” Ellie told him. “He won't budge.”

Max grabbed the puppy round the middle, and carried him, howling and wriggling, across the rocks. The water had risen up around them, so it was like hopping from one tiny island to another. They were just reaching the last of the rocks, when Ellie saw Gran and Lila hurrying down the beach towards them, waving.

“Are you all right?” Gran called. “We've been looking everywhere for you; we thought you must have gone along the cliff path at the top.”

“We found a cave,” Max yelled back. “We were inside, we didn't see the tide coming in. Sorry, Gran!”

“You'll have to wade across this last bit,” Lila called.

She and Gran were standing on the beach, between the cliff edge and the creeping tide. Lila pulled off her jewelled sandals, and started to walk through the water towards the rocks. It seemed to get deep awfully quickly – she was up to her knees, and she wasn't even halfway to Max and Ellie.

Max looked round at Ellie, shouting over Rascal's panicky howls. “Ellie, you have to just slip down the side of the rock. Feel for the sea bed with your feet, OK?”

Ellie nodded, and watched as Max wriggled down into the water – it was up to his waist! Rascal struggled in Max's arms, howling, and then clawed his way up on to Max's shoulder, where he sat draped round Max's neck like a little furry scarf. She giggled. Poor Rascal. He really didn't like the sea!

Ellie slid down the rock, and gasped as she landed in the cold water. “Shh, shh, Rascal!” she murmured – or she tried to, but her teeth were chattering. She reached out for Max's hand, and they waded through the water to Lila.

“We were starting to get worried,” Gran told them, giving Ellie a hug as Lila helped her out of the water.

Ellie lifted Rascal off Max's shoulders. He was whimpering miserably. “Not as worried as Rascal!”

Gran tickled Rascal's ears. “Come on, poor little pup. This time I'll actually give you a ham sandwich.”