calm and lovely.
I lean on the railings and study the beach. ‘I suppose they might have tried to get home,’ I say.
‘Where is home?’ says Eric.
‘In a sort of cave at the end of the beach,’ I say, a sudden thought coming to me. ‘Do yousuppose there’s nothing actually wrong with the beach itself?’
‘What do you mean?’ asks Eric, catching a wild curl of hair and jamming it under the hook of his glasses.
‘Well, I know everything that’s happened so far has been on the beach, and we assumed that it must be the sand or the sea or something. But supposing it isn’t?’
Eric rubs his chin in a thinking way. ‘Where’s the cave?’ he says in the end.
There are masses of people on the beach. We’re weaving our way through the family encampments when a shriek comes from above us on the sea wall.
‘AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGH!’ It’s about four million decibels and it comes from a woman and her daughter who race straightdown the steps onto the sand and hop about as if they’ve been stung by something.
‘Get off!’ screams the girl. ‘Beastly thing!’
The mother stares in horror at her daughter and we run over. The child has a smallish deckchair clamped to her piggy nose, much like a large peg. ‘Ow! Ow!’ squeals the girl.
‘Stay still,’ says her mother, sticking her fingers into the deckchair and pulling.
‘OW! It hurts!’ The girl can’t stay still and the mother can’t get it off.
‘Try this,’ says Eric, pulling his Field Craft penknife from his pocket. ‘We might be able to force it open.’ He jams it into the deckchair mechanism and, oyster-like, forces it open.
‘Help!’ comes a shout from above us on the sea wall.
‘Go,’ Eric says to me, his fingers dangerouslyclose to the deckchair’s snapping jaws. ‘We’re good here.’
‘Help!’
The cries seem to be coming from the amusement arcade. Amongst all the flashing lights and gurgling games, the owner is standing with his back to the wall, his eyes fixed on the dark space under the machines. I move closer but it’s not the space under the machines where the problem lies, it’s inside the machine. I press my nose to the glass and see two tiny deckchairs having fun dancing in the tuppence waterfall. They’re kicking the coins off the ledges and snip-snapping at the prizes, while the bigger one – the one Eric put under the microscope – is dancing inside the claw machine and throwing itself at the cuddly toys.
I could shrink them, but what good would that do? They’d still be inside the machines,still capable of pinching and biting. I need to get them out.
I rush to the change machine, stuff a pound coin in the top and it spews 2ps into a plastic tub at the bottom. I grab another plastic tub and stick it underneath the machine and then start feeding the coins into the top of the machine. It takes twenty-three coins to get the first cascade, and twelve to get the next, and on the third one of the deckchairs that was teetering on the edge slips over and shoots down into the tub. Before it can even stand up I grab another tub and jam it inside, pinning the chair to the bottom of the first tub.
Eric appears beside me, his hands clasped together, real tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. ‘This thing’s vicious,’ he says, gasping.
‘Quick,’ I say, picking up another tub, ‘drop it in here. It’ll work for a few minutes.’
Once we have both the chairs imprisoned we feed more 2ps into the machine. The last tiny deckchair is dancing and leaping and kicking the coins around inside. It seems oblivious to the disappearance of its companion. Just as the man who runs the amusement arcade seems totally ignorant of what has really happened and is still thumping a broom around underneath the machines. He obviously thinks he’s looking for an insect.
It takes two more pounds to catch the last deckchair, which tumbles into the tub in a shower of coins, and we jam it under the other two. Then I hold
I lean on the railings and study the beach. ‘I suppose they might have tried to get home,’ I say.
‘Where is home?’ says Eric.
‘In a sort of cave at the end of the beach,’ I say, a sudden thought coming to me. ‘Do yousuppose there’s nothing actually wrong with the beach itself?’
‘What do you mean?’ asks Eric, catching a wild curl of hair and jamming it under the hook of his glasses.
‘Well, I know everything that’s happened so far has been on the beach, and we assumed that it must be the sand or the sea or something. But supposing it isn’t?’
Eric rubs his chin in a thinking way. ‘Where’s the cave?’ he says in the end.
There are masses of people on the beach. We’re weaving our way through the family encampments when a shriek comes from above us on the sea wall.
‘AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGH!’ It’s about four million decibels and it comes from a woman and her daughter who race straightdown the steps onto the sand and hop about as if they’ve been stung by something.
‘Get off!’ screams the girl. ‘Beastly thing!’
The mother stares in horror at her daughter and we run over. The child has a smallish deckchair clamped to her piggy nose, much like a large peg. ‘Ow! Ow!’ squeals the girl.
‘Stay still,’ says her mother, sticking her fingers into the deckchair and pulling.
‘OW! It hurts!’ The girl can’t stay still and the mother can’t get it off.
‘Try this,’ says Eric, pulling his Field Craft penknife from his pocket. ‘We might be able to force it open.’ He jams it into the deckchair mechanism and, oyster-like, forces it open.
‘Help!’ comes a shout from above us on the sea wall.
‘Go,’ Eric says to me, his fingers dangerouslyclose to the deckchair’s snapping jaws. ‘We’re good here.’
‘Help!’
The cries seem to be coming from the amusement arcade. Amongst all the flashing lights and gurgling games, the owner is standing with his back to the wall, his eyes fixed on the dark space under the machines. I move closer but it’s not the space under the machines where the problem lies, it’s inside the machine. I press my nose to the glass and see two tiny deckchairs having fun dancing in the tuppence waterfall. They’re kicking the coins off the ledges and snip-snapping at the prizes, while the bigger one – the one Eric put under the microscope – is dancing inside the claw machine and throwing itself at the cuddly toys.
I could shrink them, but what good would that do? They’d still be inside the machines,still capable of pinching and biting. I need to get them out.
I rush to the change machine, stuff a pound coin in the top and it spews 2ps into a plastic tub at the bottom. I grab another plastic tub and stick it underneath the machine and then start feeding the coins into the top of the machine. It takes twenty-three coins to get the first cascade, and twelve to get the next, and on the third one of the deckchairs that was teetering on the edge slips over and shoots down into the tub. Before it can even stand up I grab another tub and jam it inside, pinning the chair to the bottom of the first tub.
Eric appears beside me, his hands clasped together, real tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. ‘This thing’s vicious,’ he says, gasping.
‘Quick,’ I say, picking up another tub, ‘drop it in here. It’ll work for a few minutes.’
Once we have both the chairs imprisoned we feed more 2ps into the machine. The last tiny deckchair is dancing and leaping and kicking the coins around inside. It seems oblivious to the disappearance of its companion. Just as the man who runs the amusement arcade seems totally ignorant of what has really happened and is still thumping a broom around underneath the machines. He obviously thinks he’s looking for an insect.
It takes two more pounds to catch the last deckchair, which tumbles into the tub in a shower of coins, and we jam it under the other two. Then I hold
Similar Books
