Chapter 4

I’m ready to run but there is only the back of the cave facing the red egg glows and l notice that it is covered in tiny  freckles of gold . but we are trapped ! it’s then that  toosy starts  talking, in a low , soothing voice  “it’s ok,” she says, taking a step forwards .

The listmander pansies in front of Toosy she says it is ok we are not trying to hurt you . She stretched her arm out in front of the listmader and the egg in her parm over her hand i sotid Toosy what

are you doing I said . It is working. It’s working  the listmader later out a hish . Harry finally gets out of here . we talk one step to the right and we are out of there  . 

Outside, I take a deep breath and sigh with relief. Inside, we hear the lisdmander shuffle towards its nest and the sound of it settling down to keep its precious egg warm and safe.

The mist has cleared. A bright moon eyes the beach and stars stud the dark sky, their reflections speckle the sea. All is still. We walk back towards the promenade and talk. No one must find the cave. No one must find the lisdmander and her precious egg.Toosy talks rapidly about what we need to do. She is full of ideas – pretend there has been a rockfall and report it to the local council. Get more signs up, banning people from that end of the beach as the cliffs are unsafe. I listen as she speaks at a mile an hour pace, her face determined and forceful.

By the time we are walking through the town, it is waking up. The sun edges over the still sea.It casts shadows across the sands.  is putting out a few deckchairs as it looks as if it might be a lovely day for once. He waves to us with a cheery grin. Chris’s Corner Caff is opening and he’s inside brewing up an urn of tea. Mrs Butcher pulls down the awning at her Bucket & Spade corner shop. She sets out piles of beach umbrellas, water wings for little ones and beach boards of all colours. By the time we get to the museum, the morning traffic has begun. Cars snake past us on their way to the seafront car park.

Toosy wanders over to look at the ‘Showcase of Beach-combing’. I stand beside her and she points to the fragments of sea-worn glass. And she’s found some that are red. Red, speckled with gold. We look at each, both thinking the same thought.

All day, Toosy has her nose stuck in books, ancient logs and records. In a leather-bound volume, she finds a captain’s log written in 1867. It is the story of a fishing vessel that netted what the fishermen believed to be a huge, smooth rock that glowed red with speckles of gold. They kept the find but that night, the rock shattered and the Captain told the story of how the ship had been visited by the devil’s cat. They had only just managed to capture it and throw it into the sea. Ever since then, fishermen have an unspoken bond to capture and kill any species of mander that they might find.

That evening, we talked. Our adventure is not over. It has only just begun.