Daisy Dawson at the Beach (2 page)

As she knelt down and stroked his ears, he whispered, “The ocean’s a big place, Daisy. Promise me if you ever get lost in it, you’ll swim toward the sun.”

“The sun?” Daisy frowned. “Why?”

“Because the sun’s above the field,” said Boom. “And if you swim toward it, you’ll find your way home.”

Daisy was dreaming of blue skies and sandy beaches when she woke to the sound of a bird coughing. When she pulled back the curtains, she saw Flapperton on the windowsill, slapping a small sparrow on the back with his wing.

“Ooh, that’s it,” said the smaller sparrow. “A little to the left, maybe.”

“Is everything all right?” asked Daisy, opening the window. Although she had become used to talking animals, this was the first time she had ever been woken up by a coughing sparrow.

“Oh, hi, Daisy,” said Flapperton. “Thanks for saving me from that cat yesterday, by the way.”

“That’s OK,” said Daisy. “What’s the matter with your friend?”

“It’s a toast crust,” Flapperton explained. “Harry here tried to eat the whole thing, but it got stuck in his throat.”

Harry coughed a bit more. Then he put his wing over his beak, because his mother had taught him that this was the polite thing to do.

“Hang on,” said Daisy. “Be back in a second.”

She raced downstairs to the kitchen, where her mom and dad were setting the table for breakfast.

“You’re up bright and early,” said Dad. “Going to help pack the van?”

It was then Daisy remembered that they were going on their camping trip today. For a moment she was so excited, she forgot why she had come downstairs.

“Should I get the surfboard?” she asked. “And the snorkels and masks?”

“That would be good,” said Dad, looking at her pajamas. “But maybe the first thing you should get is . . . dressed.”

“Have some breakfast first,” said Mom. “I’ll make some more toast.”

The thought of toast reminded Daisy what she had come down for. She opened the fridge, took out a bottle of orange soda, and headed back upstairs.

“Soda for breakfast?” said Mom. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Absolutely not,” said Dad.

He opened the fridge and peered inside.

“I don’t suppose there’s any left?”

“Hold still, Harry,” said Daisy, picking up the little sparrow in her left hand.

Harry coughed and looked up at her. “Will it hurt?” he asked.

“Not at all,” replied Daisy, “although it might make your beak tingle for a while. Ready?”

Harry nodded and shut his eyes as Daisy tipped the first few drops into his beak.

At first, nothing happened. Then Harry gave a little squawk and began to dance around on Daisy’s hand, flapping his wings and chirruping loudly.

“Is he all right?” asked Flapperton. “He seems a bit . . . bonkers.”

“That’s just the fizz,” said Daisy. “He’ll be fine.”

“Whoo-hoo!” exclaimed Harry, staggering sideways as Daisy set him down on the windowsill. “That got those crumbs!”

“All clear?” asked Flapperton.

“You betcha,” said Harry. “Throat clear, eyes clear, head clear. And my beak’s all bibbly-bubbly. Thanks, Daisy!”

“No problem,” said Daisy. “Now promise me you’ll go easy on those crusts.”

“Promise,” said Harry, and flew off to do a figure eight around the chimney pots.

“You could come and watch us fly around the park if you like,” said Flapperton. “I’m going to show Harry how to do loop-the-loops.”

“Normally I’d love to,” said Daisy, “but I’m going to the beach today.”

“The beach? That’s near the ocean, isn’t it?” Daisy nodded. Flapperton was quiet for a moment. Then he said, “I met some swifts once who told me stories about the ocean. They used to fly thousands of miles to distant lands. And one day, when they were skimming across the ocean, they flew through a rainbow and the whole sky was alive with colors. Can you imagine anything more wonderful?”

“It sounds nice,” agreed Daisy.

“The thing is,” said Flapperton, “although I practice every day, I know I’ll never be able to fly as far or as high as they do. But I still dream about it, Daisy. I still dream about flying through rainbows.”

As he looked at her, Daisy saw the bright sky reflected in his eyes.

“Will you tell me about it?” he asked. “When you come back, will you tell me about all the things you’ve seen?”

Daisy smiled. “Of course I will,” she said.

She watched him fly away across the rooftops, then closed the window and clapped her hands together.

“Time to start packing!” she said.

After they parked at the site, Mom and Dad started to unpack the van.

“I’ll be finished soon,” Mom said to Daisy. “Then we can go down to the beach for a swim.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” asked Daisy.

“You could fetch some water,” said Dad. “Then I’ll put on the kettle and make us a nice cup of tea.”

The campsite was on a cliff top overlooking the ocean. It was a hot, blue day, and as Daisy watched the sun sparkling on the water, she imagined running across the sand toward the waves. She guessed that most people were already on the beach, enjoying the warm sunshine.

She had just turned on the tap to fill the bucket when she heard a little voice say, “Look. It’s a magical cloud lady.”

“Are you sure?” asked another voice.

“Yes. She fills a cloud with rain, puts it up in the sky, and then it comes down
blib-a-loober-lub.
Like that.”

Daisy turned off the faucet and looked around.

“Why did she stop?” asked the second voice.

“Because she doesn’t want it to rain a lot. She just wants it to rain on the heads of the mean foxes who will say, ‘I’m not going out rabbit hunting in this weather,’ and stay inside and not come and eat us all up.”

As Daisy peered beneath the trees, two baby rabbits danced out of the shadows and stood blinking in the sunlight.

“Hello,” said Daisy, getting down on her hands and knees so as not to scare them. “What are your names?”

“I’m Rabsy,” said the slightly taller of the two, “and this is my sister, Raberta.”

“Hello, Magical Cloud Lady,” said Raberta shyly. “Thank you for making it rain on the mean foxes.”

Daisy smiled. “My name is Daisy Dawson, and I don’t make it rain on the foxes,” she said. She held up the bucket to show them. “This is to put water in so people can drink it later.”