Seaside Mystery (7 page)

Flame’s forehead wrinkled in a frown. “I do not think we need the bike to go to the beach, Maisie.”

“No. But we do if we’re going to Smuggler’s Cove,” Maisie said. “Remember all that amazing driftwood we saw in the cave? They were huge pieces. I’m going to get some for Dad. I
bet he needs cheering up after that mess with the display cabinet.”

Flame nodded. “That is a kind thought. Perhaps you should tell him where you are going or ask him to come, too?”

Maisie thought about it. She had a feeling that if she mentioned Smuggler’s Cove, her dad would say it was too far to go by herself. But if she didn’t ask him, he couldn’t tell her not to go.

“We’re all ready now. Let’s just go,” she decided. “We won’t be long.”

Flame mewed an agreement as she lifted him into the bike’s front basket and they set off.

Rain clouds were gathering overhead and there was a cool breeze, but Maisie hardly noticed the weather
as she biked along the cliff path. It was perfect, just being with Flame. He sat up in front of her, his ears pricked and his little front paws resting over the rim of the basket.

The small parking lot at Smuggler’s Cove was almost empty. There were no picnickers today, only a couple of people sitting on a bench looking out to sea. The girl in the ice-cream kiosk was reading a book.

Maisie chained up her bike and set off down the grassy slope to the cove with Flame at her heels. They soon came to the mouth of the cave and carefully climbed over the rocks to get inside.

Maisie couldn’t suppress a shudder as she stood on the cave’s sandy floor.
There was a slimy green mark about three feet high up the rocky sides, where the water obviously had come up to when the tide came in.

When they had last come here, it had been a bright sunny day, but the cave had seemed damp and spooky. Today, it seemed even more shadowy and gloomy.
Maisie bit her lip, recalling Louise’s scary tales of trapped smugglers being dragged away by sea monsters.

“Is something wrong?” Flame mewed.

“Not really. It’s just this place. It gives me the creeps,” Maisie replied. “Let’s get some driftwood and go.”

Flame nodded. Suddenly he sat up straight and peered intently into the cave, as if he could hear something.

“What is it…?” Maisie began, and then she froze.

Muffled sounds reached her. A burst of hollow laughter swelled in the air, echoing off the cave walls at the back. It gradually got louder as if someone, or something, was coming closer.

Maisie’s eyes widened as a strange figure loomed out of the shadows. It
seemed to have a round back and lots of dark shiny legs. Her blood ran cold as the weird creature crawled over the rocks toward her.

“Argh! M…Monster! Flame…help…,” Maisie stammered.

She couldn’t move. The stories were true. Sea monsters really did live in the cave!

Beside her, Flame hissed. Maisie saw sparks in his fur and then was surprised when they quickly went out as the figure came into the light.

Maisie dared to look back at the cave.

Relief washed over her. It was six teenage kids in wetsuits, holding their dinghy above their heads. There wasn’t any monster after all.

Maisie gave a shaky laugh as the teenagers ran past her and headed for the cave’s entrance.

“Hi!” they called, waving and laughing.

“Hi!”
Maisie waved back.

She watched them put the dinghy down into the shallow water washing around the cave’s entrance. Some of the teenagers jumped in and the others dragged the dinghy out of sight. Just as they disappeared from view, one of them shouted to Maisie.

“Don’t hang around in here. Watch out for the…” Whatever else he said was lost in the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks in the distance.

As soon as they were alone, Maisie turned to Flame. “Phew! I was really scared for a minute! Mom always says my imagination works overtime!”

Flame gave her a whiskery grin and rubbed himself against her ankles. “I thought it was a sea monster, too!”

Maisie bent down and patted him
affectionately. “Did you? I don’t feel like such a wimp then! Come on. Let’s get some driftwood!”

She climbed up to the natural rocky shelves and began collecting big pieces of the twisted, bleached wood. Her dad could make some fantastic carved birds from this. When she had enough to almost fill the bike’s basket, she clambered back down onto the cave’s sandy floor.

“Oh!” she gasped, looking down in dismay as cold seawater swirled around her ankles.

She looked back toward the cave’s entrance and saw that the sea was washing up the sides of the rocks there. The tide was coming in fast. With a gulp, Maisie now realized what the teenagers had been trying to warn her about.

She suddenly remembered the high tidemark on the cave walls. How long would it be before the cave was flooded?

“We’re trapped, Flame! We’re going to have to swim for it!” she cried.

Maisie stared in horror at the entrance to the cave. The cold gray sea was flowing in ever faster. The thought
of having to swim around the cove and back to the beach terrified her.

Sparks ignited in Flame’s long brown tabby fur and his whiskers crackled with electricity. Maisie felt a familiar, warm prickling sensation down her spine.

“Follow me!” Flame’s eyes glowed like green coals. With a shower of bright sparks, he leaped from rock to rock, speeding toward the cave’s entrance and the rising water.

“Wait!” Maisie pleaded, hesitating. “I can’t, Flame. I’m too scared!”

“Trust me!” Flame called and then he leaped into the cold, swirling water.

Maisie felt her whole body fill with a strange tingling. Her feet moved all by themselves and she found herself
running after him. A flash of energy shot up her spine. She rushed forward to the mouth of the cave, and her muscles tensed as she sprang up into a mighty leap.

In a flash, she dived straight into the sea. With a flick of her powerful tail and flippers, she cut through the water. Her body had become strong and streamlined and covered with smooth gray skin.

Flame had turned her into a dolphin!

There was a rush of water against Maisie’s elongated face and she shot through the waves in a stream of bubbles. Shoals of silver fish darted aside as she dived down. She used her flippers and tail to steer herself back around to the cove, avoiding the sharp rocks.

Leaping out of the water with sheer excitement, Maisie performed a set of somersaults, and then it was time to swim toward the shore.

Maisie felt herself carried on the crest of a wave. She coasted along at high speed, like an expert surfer, riding the waves rolling toward the shore.

As Maisie’s feet touched the sandy bottom, she stood up. Feet! She was a girl again. Maisie ran up the beach, surprised
to find that she was completely dry.

Flame came bounding down the sand toward her.

“Wow! Thanks, Flame. That was awesome. I loved being a dolphin!” she said, her chest swelling with relief and happiness. “And I love having you for a friend. I hope you stay with me forever!”

Flame’s emerald eyes twinkled with affection. “I will stay as long as I can,” he answered in a soft purr that held a note of sadness.

“Oh well. Dad’s still going to have to go without his driftwood…,” Maisie commented, as she and Flame trudged up the beach and began the walk back toward Smuggler’s Cove.

Flame’s eyes twinkled, but he didn’t reply.

Maisie’s legs were aching by the time she and Flame had climbed the long
slope up to the parking lot. But as she walked toward her bicycle, her face lit up. The basket was filled to bursting with some of the best pieces of driftwood!

“Oh, Flame, you’re wonderful! You think of everything,” she said.

Flame gave a modest purr. “I try to!”

Maisie lifted him onto the wood
before unchaining her bike and biking home. She smiled to herself as she rode along, remembering the fantastic feeling of being a dolphin and swimming under the sea.