Daisy Dawson at the Beach

by Steve Voake

  “Ark! Ark!” The other seagull laughed. “Nice-to-eat-you! Nice-to-eat-you!”

  They both flew up into the air squawking, “Eat-the-fish! Eat-the-fish! Eat-the-fish! Eat-the-fish!”

  “Honestly!” said Daisy, folding her arms. She thought about Flapperton and was glad that at least some birds had been brought up to have good manners.

  Daisy sat on a rock next to a long, deep pool and dangled her feet in the water. She loved the way the tide went out and left its treasures hidden among the rocks: glassy shrimps tiptoeing across silver sand, bright fish darting beneath the weeds, and the tiny tentacles of sea anemones waving like mermaids’ hair in the watery breeze.

  “Ow!” she said suddenly. “Owchy, ow, ow, ow!”

  Pulling her foot from the water, she saw a small crab hanging from her toe by one of its claws. Carefully, she lowered her foot onto the rock, and the crab scuttled sideways.

  “HA-HA!” it said, waving its claws at her. “PINCHY, PINCHY, PINCHY!”

  “That’s not very nice,” said Daisy, rubbing her toe.

  “What?” said the crab.

  “I said it’s not very nice, going around pinching people like that.”

  “Pinchy, pinchy, pinchy,” said the crab again, sidling up to Daisy’s toe. “Pinchy, pinchy, pinchy!”

  “Now, stop it,” said Daisy firmly, pulling her toe away. “How would you like it if I started pinching you?”

  The crab stared at her. “You don’t have claws,” he said.

  “So?” replied Daisy. She began tapping her fingers and thumbs together, then moved them toward the crab. “Pinchy, pinchy, pinchy. Pinchy, pinchy, pinchy!”

  “¡Ay, caramba!” cried the crab, putting his claws over his head. “Stop, stop!”

  “You see?” said Daisy, putting her hands down. “It’s not very nice, is it?”

  “OK,” said the crab. “I get it.”

  He looked at the tide pool for a moment as if he was about to jump back in. Then he seemed to change his mind.

  “Wanna learn to walk sideways like me?” he said. “It’s fun. It’s sideways fun!”

  “I already know how to walk sideways,” said Daisy.

  “No, you do not,” said the crab. “Not like a crab.”

  “I do too,” said Daisy. She walked sideways along the edge of the rock, did a little twirl, and then walked back again.

  “Hmmm,” said the crab. “That was pretty good.” He scuttled closer and stared at her. “Are you actually a crab?”

  “No.”

  “But all that pinching and walking sideways. And, also, you speak the lingo.”

  “Well, that’s another story,” said Daisy. “Talking to animals is just something I do.”

  “And this is what I do,” said the crab, holding out his claws. “Pinchy, pinchy, pinchy. Even my name is Pinchy!”

  He stopped and tapped his claw softly against the top of his shell. “I have an idea,” he said. Daisy carefully moved her foot away. “How about I stop the pinching and teach you how to dance instead?”

  Daisy smiled. “Pinchy,” she said. “I think that’s a wonderful idea.”

  “OK, then,” said Pinchy. “Watch carefully. First you put your claw in the air like you just don’t care.”

  “You mean like this?” asked Daisy, waving a hand above her head.

  “Exactly like that,” said Pinchy. “And now you gotta feel the rhythm, Daisy. You gotta listen to the wind and the waves and the earth and the sky, and then you move your feet like this, and your claws like this, and then you start to dance!”

  He clacked his claws together, making a ha-cha-cha sound. “Come on! Get with the rhythm!”

  Daisy raised her arms above her head and began snapping her fingers, shuffling her feet, and twirling around.

  Ha, cha, ha-cha-cha! Ha, cha, ha-cha-cha!

  “Look, Pinchy!” she cried. “I’m doing it!”

  “And I’m loving it,” said Pinchy, lifting his legs up and down in time to the rhythm. “You’re making me crazy!”

  “Come on, Pinchy,” called Daisy, still dancing. “Let’s do the dance together!”

  Pinchy began copying Daisy’s movements. Ha, cha, ha-cha-cha! Ha, cha, ha-cha-cha!

  “That’s it, Pinchy!” Daisy giggled. “You’ve got it. You’ve got it!”

  As they danced across the rocks, more crabs crawled out of the water to join in. Ha, cha, ha-cha-cha! Ha, cha, ha-cha-cha!

  One started a clackety rhythm in the background, one scraped his claws rhythmically across the barnacles, and another began thumping the seaweed. The sound was so catchy that after a while even the limpets started joining in, lifting their shells up and down in time to the beat.

  Slurpy-slurp, slurpy-slurp. Slurpy-slurpy-slurpy-slurp.

  Ha, cha, ha-cha-cha! Ha, cha, ha-cha-cha!

  “Hey, Daisy!” called a voice behind her. “Whatcha doin’?”

  Still dancing and ha-cha-cha-ing, Daisy turned to see Rabsy and Raberta skipping about on the sand.

  “Come and join us!” she called, holding out her foot so that one of the crabs could play a solo on her toenails. Rabsy and Raberta hopped up onto the rock, and as the crabs moved back to give them space, Raberta began to rap:

  “We’re so happy, by the sea,

  Hearing all the crabs go clacker-dee-dee,

  I’m Raberta, he’s Rabsy,

  and we’re hangin’ with our good friend Daisy D.”

  Suddenly the music stopped and all the crabs plopped back into the water just as the two seagulls swooped down onto the rock, shouting:

  “Eat-the-crabs! Eat-the-crabs! Eat-the-crabs! Eat-the-crabs!”

  They stopped and stared at Daisy.

  “Ark! Ark! We lost our food!

  Ark! Ark! Well, that’s no good!

  Ark! Lunch! We came too late! Ark! Ark!

  Well, that’s just great.”

  Then they flew away again.

  “Sorry about that,” said Daisy. “I don’t think anyone’s ever taught them to be polite.”

  “I don’t think anyone’s ever taught them how to rap, either,” said Raberta. “That was awful.”

  “I liked the Ark! Ark! part,” said Rabsy, skipping from foot to foot. Then he saw the way Raberta was looking at him and added, “But yours was much better.”

  Daisy looked around to see if any people had noticed the dancing crabs, but everyone seemed too busy swimming or sunbathing to pay any attention.

  “Splosh!” said Rabsy as a wave swept into the rock pool. “The blue uppy-downy thing has come to say hello!”

  “The tide’s coming in,” said Daisy. “Stay here while I see if I’m allowed to go surfing.”

  “How is the peanut-butter sandwich?” asked Dad, who was lying down reading a newspaper.

  “I think it’s disappeared,” said Daisy, picking up her surfboard.

  “Really,” said Dad. “I think there must be magic in the air.”

  Daisy smiled. “I think there is,” she said.

  “Well just be careful,” said Mom. “Do you want one of us to come with you?”

  “No, I’ll be fine,” said Daisy, who knew that trying to explain about surfing rabbits would make life complicated. “I’ve got my lifesaver badge, remember?”

  It was true. Daisy was one of the best swimmers in her class and had placed first in the swimming competition for three years running. But even so, her parents always wanted to make sure that she was safe.

  “All right,” said her mom. “But stay where we can see you, and don’t go out of your depth!”

  When Daisy reached the water, the incoming tide had already flooded the pools, and Rabsy and Raberta were standing by the waterline playing catch with a pebble.

  “You brought the foam floaty thing!” said Raberta.

  “I did,” said Daisy. “So who wants a ride on the blue uppy-downy things?”

  “Me!” shouted both rabbits together, jumping up and down on the sand.

  “OK,” said Daisy, �
��but first you need to calm down a bit.”

  “Sorry,” said Raberta. She stopped jumping up and down and then held on to Rabsy’s ears until he stopped, too.

  “Now,” said Daisy, “first of all we need to go through some safety procedures.”

  “Do not talk to foxes,” said Raberta sternly. “NEVER talk to foxes.”

  “OK, good,” said Daisy, “although I was thinking more about surfing actually.”

  She did a quick check to make sure no one was watching, then waved the two rabbits toward the front of the surfboard.

  “Now, go like this,” she said, holding her arms out.

  As Rabsy and Raberta raised their front paws, Rabsy started swaying from side to side, pretending to lose his balance.

  “Uh-oh,” he said. “Going … left! Going … right!”

  “Rabsy, pay attention,” said Daisy. “When we’re riding the waves, that’s when you can try to stand up. But you have to put your paws out to help you balance. And remember, any time you think you’re about to fall off, just lie down and hang on to me.”

  “Where will you be?” asked Raberta. “Right behind you,” said Daisy. “Now let’s practice. When I say ‘surf,’ you stand up and put your paws out, and when I say ‘drop,’ you lie down and pretend to be holding my arms. Are you ready?”

  “Ready,” said Rabsy.

  “Ready,” said Raberta.

  “OK, and … surf!”

  Rabsy and Raberta jumped to the front of the board and held their paws out just as they had been shown.

  “And … drop!”

  Rabsy and Raberta dropped to the board with a little “Ooof!” sound.

  “Now pretend to be holding my arms,” Daisy reminded them. “That’s it, that’s it, and … surf! And … drop! And … surf! And … drop!”

  Rabsy rolled off the board and lay on his back in the sand. “I’m tired now,” he said. “Can’t we play hide-and-squeak instead?”

  Daisy chewed her lip and looked out to the water. Although she was a strong swimmer, she could see that the waves were rough, and she didn’t want to put the little rabbits in any danger.

  “Maybe we should leave it until tomorrow,” she said.

  “Phew,” said Rabsy, lying on his back and staring up at the sky.

  “Surf’s up tomorrow though, li’l brother,” said Raberta, grabbing his ears and pulling him to his feet. “What d’you think, Daisy? D’you think we’ll be ready to ride the blue uppy-downy things?”

  Daisy smiled. “There’s only one way to find out,” she said.

  The next morning, Daisy met Rabsy and Raberta by the tide pools.

  “I’m feeding the fish,” said Rabsy, dropping bits of carrot into the water.

  “I don’t think fish like carrots,” said Daisy.

  “This one does,” said Rabsy. “It’s waving at me.”

  Daisy smiled. “That’s not a fish,” she explained. “It’s a sea anemone. It’s waving its arms around because it’s trying to catch some food.”

  “Good thing I was here, then,” said Rabsy. “Can we go surfing now?”

  Daisy looked at the sea and saw that the water was much calmer than the day before. “All right,” she said. “But remember the safety procedures.”

  “We will!” chorused the rabbits. “Surf and drop! Surf and drop!”

  As Daisy pushed the surfboard through the shallow water, Rabsy and Raberta sat at the front and watched the waves gently rising and falling.

  “Here comes another one!” called Rabsy, clapping his paws together as Raberta squealed with excitement. “And another! And another!”

  Raberta began skipping around the surfboard, coming up with a little rap.

  “We can dance and we can hop

  We can surf and we can drop

  But if you want to surf like me

  You must be safe beside the sea.

  So don’t go where it’s rough or deep

  These are rules you have to keep.”

  “Excellent, Raberta,” said Daisy, “but you’re a little close to the edge.”

  “Oops, sorry,” said Raberta, skipping back toward the middle of the board. “Got carried away there.”

  When Daisy was up to her waist in water, she turned to face the beach. Rabsy and Raberta stood at the end of the surfboard, lifting their paws just the way Daisy had shown them.

  “Is this right?” squeaked Raberta. “Are we doing it right, Daisy?”

  “That’s perfect,” said Daisy. “OK, ready? Here we go!”

  As the ocean swelled behind her, Daisy lay on the surfboard until her arms were on either side of the two little rabbits, and then she launched herself forward. For a moment they hung on the crest of the wave, perfectly balanced between sea and sky. Then the wave broke, and they shot forward, bouncing and skimming across the water as it frothed and foamed beneath them.

  “Wooooh!” cried Rabsy. “Wheeeee!”

  “Drop, Rabsy, drop!” shouted Raberta, throwing herself forward and clinging on to Daisy’s arm. But Rabsy was having so much fun that he forgot to hang on, and when the board crashed down again, he was flung off into the waves.

  “Rabsy fell off!” wailed Raberta as the wave took them up the beach. “We have to go back and rescue him!”

  “You stay here,” said Daisy firmly. Racing back into the water, she searched frantically for the little rabbit, but all she could see was the white waves and the sunlight sparkling on the sea.

  Daisy held her breath and put her face in the water, then opened her eyes, desperately searching for him. But the waves had stirred up the sand, and the salt water stung her eyes, making it impossible to see. She was about to lift her head out of the water when she thought she heard a faint voice calling, “Help me! Help me, please!”

  But when she listened again, all she could hear was the sound of the sea.

  “Rabsy!” she called as she raised her head. “Rabsy, where are you?”

  “Right here,” said a little voice behind her. “Can you give me a lift, please?”

  Daisy turned to see a bedraggled Rabsy paddling through the waves with wet fur plastered over his eyes.

  “Rabsy!” she cried, scooping him up in her arms. “I thought I’d lost you!”

  “I thought I’d lost me, too,” said Rabsy. “But it turns out I was here all the time.”

  “I heard you calling for help,” said Daisy as she waded through the shallow water toward the beach.

  “I didn’t call for help,” said Rabsy. “I knew you’d come and find me.” He shivered and then clapped his paws together. “That was fun! Can we do it again?”

  “I think you should warm up first,” said Daisy, putting him down on the sand next to Raberta. Raberta squeaked, flung her arms around him, and hugged him tightly.

  As the two rabbits scampered toward the dunes to dry off in the sun, Daisy walked back up the beach, wondering where the cries for help had come from.

  “You looked as if you were enjoying surfing,” said Mom. “Although I could have sworn I saw something on the front of your surfboard.”

  “That was the rabbits,” said Daisy. “They wanted to go surfing, but one of them fell off and I had to rescue him.”

  Mom smiled. “You and your imagination,” she said.

  Daisy grabbed her snorkel and mask and headed back to where she had heard the call for help. When she reached the spot, she lay on her tummy and peered down into the water. It was clearer now, and with the mask on she could see shoals of silver fish darting above the seabed. As she listened, she heard the voice again, echoing up from the depths of the ocean. “Help me,” it called. “Help me, please!”

  As Daisy watched patterns of sunlight dancing on the sand beneath her, she noticed that the seabed fell away into deeper, darker water. And there, lying in the shadows, was a young dolphin. It had gotten caught in an old fishing net, and the more it struggled, the more it became entangled.

  Daisy felt completely helpless. She knew that it was unsafe for her
to swim out of her depth. But she also knew that she couldn’t just leave the poor dolphin there.

  She was about to swim back and ask her parents for help when she heard a familiar sound.

  Ha, cha, ha-cha-cha! Ha, cha, ha-cha-cha!

  Scrrrrritch! Scrrrrratch! Scrrrrritch! Scrrrrratch!

  Ha, cha, ha-cha-cha! Ha, cha, ha-cha-cha!

  Turning around, Daisy swam as fast as she could toward the sound of clacking claws. In the shallow water, she saw a huge assortment of crabs gathered in a circle beneath the waves. There were crabs of all shapes and sizes, from the tiniest hermit crab to a red spider crab with a huge front claw and a barnacle-encrusted shell. All of them were dancing and singing and clacking their claws in time with the music. And there, conducting the others from the middle of the circle, was someone who looked very familiar.

  “Pinchy!” she cried. “Pinchy, it’s me, Daisy!” Although because she had a snorkel in her mouth, it actually sounded more like, “Himp-shee! Mit’s me, Nayzee!”

  But it didn’t matter, because as all the other crabs stopped dancing and turned to see what the ruckus was, Pinchy held up his claw and waved to her.

  It was impossible to explain the situation with her snorkel in her mouth, so Daisy swam down to the seabed and held out her hand. Seeming to understand, Pinchy scuttled sideways until he was sitting on her palm, and Daisy swam to the surface again and took the snorkel out of her mouth.

  “Pinchy, you’ve got to help me,” she said.

  “But why?” asked Pinchy. “You’re a good dancer already.”

  “I’m not talking about dancing,” said Daisy. “I’m talking about rescuing a dolphin.”

  “Ha, ha! Very funny!” said Pinchy. “Wait, I don’t get it.”

  “I’m being serious,” said Daisy. “There’s a dolphin caught in a net at the bottom of the ocean, and he needs our help.”

  “¡Ay, caramba!” said Pinchy. “But Pinchy has never rescued a dolphin before.”

  “I’d never danced the cha-cha before, either,” said Daisy. “But thanks to you, I’m pretty good at it.”

  “True.” Pinchy clacked his claws and did a little two-step shuffle on her hand. “OK. Let me go and talk to the others.”

  “Please don’t be long,” said Daisy. “I don’t think we’ve got much time.”