The beach at Banana Bay was stunning, with the softest white powdery sand that stretched as far as the eye could see. Yes, there was enough sand for Langdon to make a million sandcastles, complete with turrets if he so wished, thought Polly most excitedly. And as if that was not enough in itself, the sea looked wonderfully inviting, too. It was the deepest crystal clear blue with small frothy waves mischievously chasing each other to get to the shoreline first.
The beach was rapidly filling up with people, mainly families, who had chosen to have a family day out. Having set up base in a very pleasant spot she sat alone, enviously watching family after family set up camp on the beach, laughing and chatting most happily as they struggled to tiptoe over the very hot sand without burning their feet. As soon as they had chosen the perfect spot they then set about making themselves comfortable, bringing out multiple beach towels before pulling bright buckets and spades out of equally-colorful bags for the children to play with. This was then closely followed by large and small picnic hampers, windbreakers, and brightly colored umbrellas—in fact all the paraphernalia that families insist on taking with them whenever they decide to spend a day at the beach.
Once settled, mums covered their children’s writhing bodies with thick white sun cream while the children continued to impatiently wriggle, desperate in their desire to be released and get in the water. Dads were left to have the all-too-familiar fight with stubborn deck-chairs that never play by the rules. They battled against all odds to set them up without getting fingers and hands pinched between the wooden struts. Polly observed that many dads, as usual, lost this battle and could be seen hopping up and down on one leg as they clutched a couple of painfully pinched and sore fingers, which now urgently required a bandage.
As family after family settled down to enjoy this most glorious day, Polly felt decidedly lonely inside. She had such a deep need to belong, and whenever she saw families out and about enjoying their togetherness it served to make her sense of loneliness and isolation feel all the more desperate and unbearable. She knew many families that did not speak to each other due to some disagreement. She had heard of one family where the sisters had not spoken to each other for years. Polly found this unbelievable, for, to her way of thinking, having family was the most precious gift on Earth and nothing should be allowed to destroy that, especially a stupid argument. Polly observed that most families did not appreciate this wonderful gift as much as they ought. But for herself, who had no real family, she knew she would do all within her power to hold on and to treasure such a gift. Polly gave a deep sigh before rebuking herself for allowing such sad feelings to descend upon her on such a beautiful day.
After a while she decided to move elsewhere. So she gathered up her belongings and headed over towards some rocks to find another nice spot to lie down. She placed her schoolbag closely by her side and then folded the jumper Morag had given her, positioning it underneath her head to make her feel just that little bit more comfortable. She allowed Langdon to lie down beside her, for she felt that he too could benefit from a nice bit of sunbathing. Polly had no towel or personal effects, such as a windbreaker or chair, but this did not matter. She just stretched out fully on the sand and sifted the silky grains between her fingers as she allowed the sun to caress her body with its warmth, occasionally twisting the little ring on her finger as she fondly thought back to her meetings with Ralph and Hodgekiss. Funny enough, thinking of those two rogues always made her smile, and she couldn’t say precisely why they had this effect on her, other than that at the end of the day they were quite loveable vagabonds!
It was not too long before she began to experience a wonderful sense of well-being. It was not something she usually experienced, and as she basked in the sunshine she also basked in this newfound contentment. She really appreciated the quietness and solitude with no Aunt Mildred or Uncle Boritz breathing down her neck and finding endless chores for her to do, nor Gailey Gobbstopper to chant cruel tormenting words in her ear. No, it was just Polly at peace with herself and the world, and this new experience felt simply great.
As she had been up all night talking to Ralph and his ragamuffin friends, she was happy but also exhausted. It was therefore no surprise that before you could say, “Bob’s your uncle,” she had fallen into a peaceful slumber.
When much later she woke up, she realized she must have been asleep for some time, for although the sun was still burning brightly, it had fallen a couple of feet from its original position in the sky. Polly felt extremely hot and sticky as she sat up to look around her. She was pleased to see that there were still plenty of people on the beach. One family had buried their two children up to their necks in sand. Polly hoped that this was purely for fun and that they would in time dig them out. Children wandered by the seashore, nibbling on large clouds of pink cotton candy on long wooden sticks, while others licked enormous ice cream cones. She could also hear a variety of different musical sounds that rang through the air before fusing together as people lay in the sun listening to their favorite radio station.
Polly would have loved an ice cream to cool her down, but she had no money for such a luxury and, as she wasn’t hungry enough to fancy one of the stale cakes from the bag Ralph had given her for her journey, she therefore decided to go for a swim. She realized she had no swimsuit with her, but she figured that as the sun was still shining and it was still hot, her clothes quickly would dry off in the sun afterward. So she picked herself up and, after kicking off her shoes, instructed Langdon to watch over her possessions and then headed down towards the water’s edge. As she did so, she noticed a lot of people waving. Polly waved back, thinking that this was indeed a most friendly beach that she’d found. As she neared the shore people still seemed to be waving. Polly thought this to be a little odd. After all, she had already waved back. So she waved her hands in the air once again as she neared the water’s edge. Suddenly she heard various cries and screams coming from the sea. To her horror she quickly realized that they were not waving at her, but were actually waving to get her attention; the cries she heard were actually the pitiful pleas of people drowning.
Polly panicked. What on earth could she do to help them? There were far too many of them for her to attempt saving on her own. She made the snap decision to alert the people on the beach, and then they could all wade in and help these poor people. She turned on her heels and rushed over to the first group of people she could find.
“Help me! Please help me!” she cried. The small group looked up at her feeling most annoyed before an extremely large lady in a polka dot swimsuit and wide-brimmed straw hat piped up, “We came here for a bit of peace and quiet, young lady, so be off with you. Just leave us alone. That’s a dear. Now what was I saying before I was so rudely interrupted, Clarissa? Ah yes,…”
“But you don’t understand. There are a lot of people drowning in the sea,” she stammered as she pointed towards the shoreline.
“Didn’t you hear me the first time, girl? Just go away and leave us alone, or I will call the police and have you arrested for being such a nuisance!”
Polly fled and raced up to the next group. The gentleman was putting sun cream on his wife’s back while the children that were sitting nearby slurped on bottles of sugar-filled lemonade.
“Please, sir, I am so sorry to bother you, but I really need your help, for there are many people drowning in the sea, and I cannot save them all by myself.”
The man looked up at Polly and sighed, before saying, “Sorry, love, my hands are covered in cream, and I have not finished applying it to the wife’s back. Give me ten more minutes and then I will see what I can do to help.”
Ten more minutes! Polly panicked as she turned towards the shoreline and could still see many heads and arms flailing as they struggled to keep their heads above the water.
“Please, sir. Ten minutes will be far too late. They need our help now!”
“Sorry, love. As I’ve already said, I have my orders, and that is to put this
here cream on the wife’s back. My life won’t be worth living if I don’t get to cover her back thoroughly,” he said, giving Polly a wink.
“You’re quite right about that,” intervened the lady who despite being covered in white cream turned over to take a better look at Polly. “My needs come first, so if you can’t wait that long, then you’ll have to find your help from somewhere else,” she said rather snottily before turning back on her stomach and saying, “Stick a bit more cream on my shoulders, love, will you? For that’s where I go most red.”
The man squirted half the tube of cream on her shoulders and began to rub it in, ignoring Polly and her plight as he did so.
Polly turned on her heels, for she was feeling absolutely exasperated at their lack of concern for all the desperate people who needed their help. But she was not about to give up. Through the corner of her eye she saw a man and woman who had just left the water’s edge and were walking back to their deckchairs. Polly raced over just as they were picking up their towels to dry themselves off.
“Excuse me,” said Polly breathlessly. “I really need your help.” She then pointed out towards the sea before continuing on. “Look, there are lots of people drowning, and I can’t get anyone to help save them,” she said with pure desperation.
They looked over towards the sea, and then they turned to each other, shrugging their shoulders. “Look, young lady, can’t you see we’re wet? We’ve just come out of the sea and we have no wish to go back in again, for we need to dry off. So you’d better ask someone else. Look, there are some folks over there. Now why don’t you go and ask them,” said the man pointing over towards some rocks.
Polly followed his pointing finger. Yes, she could see them sitting peacefully on deckchairs, but they were an old and most frail couple who never in a million years would be up to the task, for Polly quite rightly believed that she would probably end up having to save them as well. No, they definitely would not have the strength required to be of any assistance to her.
She therefore moved on, this time to a man helping his two young boys build a huge impressive sandcastle.
“Come and join us,” said the man invitingly to Polly, for he wrongly thought that she was coming over to ask if she could join in.
“Oh, sir, I really would love to, but I have a matter of extreme urgency, and I really do need your help.”
The man put down his spade. “How can I help?” he asked, showing a measure of concern as he put his hand on his forehead to shield his eyes from the sun.
Polly pointed towards the sea and cried out, “Look, all these people are drowning, and I cannot rescue them all by myself.”
The man looked over towards the sea, still shielding his eyes as he did so, but Polly noticed distinct signs of hesitation in his eyes. “Look, love, I would help you, truly I would, but I only get to see my young boys every other weekend since I split with the wife. So my time with them is very precious, therefore I will have to decline your request for my assistance in helping you. You can stay here, though, and help us finish this sandcastle if you like. The boys would really appreciate some help, wouldn’t you boys?” The two brothers looked up and smiled before nodding.
“Sorry, but I can’t stay, much as I’d love to,” said Polly, now very agitated and feeling close to tears.
She rushed from one group to the next and it was the same. Oh, the excuses were different, and some seemed most genuine in their concern and desire to help, but sadly none were available or prepared to abandon the pleasure of the afternoon to assist Polly. With no help at hand, a very desperate Polly threw caution to the wind and just raced into the sea in a last-ditch effort to do what she could. Within seconds the sea went from calm to extremely rough, and the waves grew higher and higher. She struggled to swim as the waves hit and lashed at her with the full might of their fury. Still she swam on, her body aching all over, but she was not prepared to give up. Suddenly she saw a Royal Navy frigate coming toward her. As she looked harder she realized that it was a battleship. Polly winced and shook her head, thinking she was now imagining things, for she had no idea what such a ship would be doing at Banana Bay.
She continued to be battered by the waves as the ship drew nearer. Polly coughed and spluttered as she bobbed up and down like a warning buoy, her mouth and lungs filling up with sea water. As one final gigantic wave grabbed hold and launched her high into the air Polly managed to read the big, bold, black name painted on the side of the ship. It read H.M.S. Freedom.
No sooner had she read its name than she realized to her horror that it was heading straight at her. Polly then did what she usually did—she panicked. She summoned up all her strength and began to swim for her life. Yes, a life that up until this point in time she had not believed was worth fighting for. It was all to no avail, for the ship was moving so fast, though how many knots she had no idea. It was enough to say that the vessel was racing toward her at full steam, threatening at the very least to pull her under, or worse, crush her tiny body into a million little pieces.
Polly was now well-and-truly frightened. Her heart was pounding furiously, and all seemed hopeless as she fought against every wave in her desperate bid for air. Seconds later the vessel was almost on top of her, when suddenly a large wave pushed her clear of its path. Polly disappeared from sight as she was forcibly sucked under, the water swirling around her and dragging her with great force toward the ocean bed. She knew in that instant that she was drowning. Her lungs felt near to bursting as they filled with water and her life flashed before her eyes in a most spectacular fashion. With that over, for she had not lived too many years, she gave up her struggle to survive and fell unconscious onto the sea bed.
Polly awoke to find many people standing over her. She was in such a state of shock that she was unable to speak.
“Roll her over onto her side,” ordered the man who sounded like the captain, for he had a gruff but authorative voice.
Another man, who had a gold, braided band around his pointed flat cap, quickly acknowledged the order, “Yes, Captain, I’ll do that, for I’m sure she has taken in much water.”
He gently rolled Polly onto her side, and she immediately began to be sick as the pea green liquid emptied from her lungs and stomach. After this, Polly remembered nothing, for she blanked out.
When she finally awoke she felt as if she were in a dream, for everything appeared very hazy, and although she could hear many voices talking above her head their voices appeared very slurred and muffled. She moaned and shook her head from side to side, and this alerted the captain to the fact that she was coming round. Yes, thankfully alive and well, although he had to admit there had been a few dodgy moments when he, as well as the whole crew, thought that they had lost her.
“Where am I?” Polly asked the captain with the kind eyes and silvery beard.
“You’re on a lifeboat, young lady. In fact a Royal National Lifeboat, to be precise,” he gently replied. “And I have to say that you’re very lucky to be alive. There’s been a lot of praying for you on this boat, as your heart stopped numerous times. Now tell me dear, what is your name?”
Despite being weak, Polly smiled and quietly said, “Polly—Polly Brown,” before drifting back into a deep sleep.
She awoke many hours later, and this time the whole crew was sitting around her bed, peering intently into her eyes.
“What happened to me?” Polly asked the captain, whose full title was Captain Cuthbert Codswallop. “I mean, one minute I was in the water trying to rescue all these people who were drowning, and then…” Polly cut short her sentence as she immediately felt immense anguish remembering all those poor drowning people. “Please tell me the truth,” she said, her eyes welling up with tears. “Did you manage to save any of them?”
The captain took hold of Polly’s hand as he falteringly answered her. “Polly, we did indeed manage to save a few of them, but for many it was too late.” He paused to take a deep sigh and Polly started to sob.
“Tha
t’s why I went into the water in the first place,” she cried, “for I could see so many of them, and they were all fighting for their lives as they cried out for help. I asked so many people who were on the beach to help me, but no one would listen.” She turned her head away from the captain as tears slid down her cheeks. “I cannot bear to think of how much they suffered,” she whimpered.
Captain Codswallop gently squeezed Polly’s hand as he looked down at her most concerned. “Polly, you did all you could, and no one could have asked more of you. Why, you are lucky to be alive yourself! The crew and I think you are a most courageous young lady.” All the crew who were sitting by her bed wholeheartedly agreed. She was indeed a very brave girl. “I think there might well be a medal for bravery given to you in the not-too-distant future,” he added while he gently squeezed her hand for a second time.
“Thank you, sir. Forgive me if I appear ungrateful, but I don’t want any medals. I would gladly forgo any award just to have saved one of the lives of all those helpless people. So as far as I’m concerned there is absolutely nothing to honor.”
The captain smiled as he thought to himself how rare a breed this young lady was in a world that seemed only to care about themselves, with many receiving accolades for next to nothing. He quickly decided that he would very much like her to join the Royal Navy when she was older.
After eating her way through a large plate of the good captain’s fish pie, which was named Codswallop Pie after him, Polly spent the rest of her time on board playing chess with the crew members and drinking quite a few cups of hot and very sweet tea. Polly was having such a good time that she felt very disappointed when the captain told her they would be landing very shortly and therefore her time was almost up.
Polly Brown Page 30