Cub Reporters Page 3

  Cici had a dreamy expression on her face.

  ‘Maybe a velvety rug on the floor and piles of brightly coloured cushions,’ she suggested. ‘And floaty curtains at the window.’

  Cici always had fabulous fashion and styling ideas.

  ‘Perfect,’ I agreed. ‘And a bookshelf, of course!’

  ‘It will need to be a round bookshelf,’ said Charlie. ‘To fit the round wall.’

  We chatted for a while longer and then we climbed back down the ladder.

  ‘And what about down here?’ Cici ran a finger along the unpainted wall. ‘Have you decided on paint colours and furniture?’

  I shook my head. ‘I’m not sure. I’ve thought about it loads but there’s just so much to choose from.’

  ‘Turquoise would be gorgeous,’ said Charlie. ‘Or an apple-green.’

  ‘What you need to do is to create a mood board,’ said Cici decisively. ‘You know like the one on the wall of my mum’s studio?’

  I remembered that Nathalie’s studio had a large black board on one wall which was cover ed in fashion photographs, design sketches and swatches of material.

  ‘It’s just like my lookbook or your mum’s ideas folio,’ explained Cici. ‘You search for photos of rooms on the internet or in magazines. Then you stick up the photos of all your favourite rooms and ideas. It will help you decide what look you love the most.’

  It made sense. ‘Thanks, Cici. I’ll give it a go.’

  I felt a fizzing of excitement. Only a few more weeks of living in the caravan and then our new home would be ready to move into.

  ‘I’d better get home,’ said Meg, checking her watch.

  ‘Me too,’ said Charlie.

  So we all clattered down the stairs together, then the girls said goodbye and left.

  ‘There you are, Pipkin,’ said Mum. ‘Could you come and give me a hand, please?’

  The cafe was nearly empty now. There were just a few tables occupied outside. A businessman was sitting out on the jetty working on his laptop. A couple of mums were chatting, with their babies in prams beside them.

  Nearly every table was covered in dirty crockery, teapots, milk jugs, glasses, water bottles, cake stands, and crumpled paper napkins. The place was a total mess! Zoe was cleaning the coffee machine while Mum was sitting at the long table with piles of dockets and order forms.

  ‘I was wondering if you’d like to earn some pocket money?’ asked Mum.

  A joyous vision came to me of having spending money. I could buy some art supplies or go to the movies. Perhaps I could save up to buy some summer clothes. Money had been very tight in our family for the last few months so I hadn’t had anything new for ages.

  ‘Absolutely,’ I replied.

  ‘Great,’ said Mum. ‘Why don’t you clear all the tables and wipe them down? Then you can pack the dishwasher while I tally up the receipts and check the cash register.’

  My heart sank as I looked at the terrible mess. It would take ages! I decided to focus on one table at a time.

  I set to work. One by one I cleared each table, carrying all the dirty crockery into the kitchen, rinsing and stacking everything by the sink and throwing the rubbish into the bin. Then every table had to be wiped down so there was not a crumb or a smear or a grain of sugar. Zoe made me redo the first couple because they weren’t quite perfect!

  Next, I had to empty the dishwasher, stacking all the cups, saucers and plates neatly. I wasn’t sure where everything went. Lastly, I had to pack the dishwasher with the dirty dishes. Zoe made me restack the dishes, making sure that they weren’t too close together or taking up too much room.

  The last customers paid and left, and Mum finally locked the front door and the sliding windows leading out to the jetty. Then Zoe had to vacuum and mop the floors. It was a big job to get everything ready for the next day. Mum filed the receipts and came to help me finish cleaning the kitchen. At last we were done. Mum and Zoe hung up their aprons and we went outside.

  It was a beautiful time of day on Kira Island with the sun sinking in the west and the island bathed in a golden light. As we walked along the beachfront, Mum handed me a precious ten-dollar note.

  ‘Great work today, Pipkin,’ said Mum. ‘I really appreciated your help.’

  ‘Thanks, Mum,’ I said, as I tucked my money away safely in my pocket. I wandered along, dreaming of all the things I could save for.

  A group of girls ran past on their way back from the beach. All of them were wearing swimming costumes in pretty tropical colours.

  That reminded me of how Olivia had sneered at my boring old navy one.

  That’s what I would save for! A gorgeous new swimming costume. It would take a lot of afternoons helping at the cafe, but it would be something I would use all the time. And boy, did I need one!

  Meg and I had made plans for Tuesday afternoon. Meg and her brother, Jack, had promised me another surf lesson at the beach. I was super-excited about learning to surf because after years of living in central London, we now lived a stone’s throw from one of the most stunning beaches in the world.

  I hurried Bella and Harry out of the playground in double-quick time and marched them to the Beach Shack. Mum stopped work to kiss us all and ask a few quick questions about our day. I zipped into the storeroom to change into my despised navy-blue swimming costume, with shorts and a T-shirt over the top.

  Then I was racing up the esplanade towards the surf beach to meet the others. The village of Kira Cove is built in a sheltered bay at the southern end of the island. Heading north, the surf beach opens to the ocean with a long paved esplanade and a grassy parkland running alongside.

  Kids dashed back and forth on scooters, bikes and skateboards. A group of young mums were doing a kickboxing class under the palm trees, while their toddlers played ring-a-rosie. Surfers in black wetsuits jogged past as sleek as seals.

  ‘Hey, Pippa. Over here.’ Meg waved madly at me.

  Meg and Jack were waiting for me with their mum, Mariana. They were all sitting on the stone seawall near the Kira surf lifesaving club in the afternoon sunshine. A flock of grey-haired older people were practising tai chi on the sand, their movements like a courtly dance.

  ‘It’s a gorgeous afternoon for a surfing lesson, Pippa,’ said Mariana, with a welcoming smile. ‘The waves are perfect for a beginner.’

  ‘Let’s go!’ said Jack, grabbing his board and doing up his leg-rope. ‘It’s time to hit the water!’

  Mariana sat on her towel and watched us, waving from the shore. Meg had brought me a spare beginner surfboard to borrow. As we jogged down the sand carrying our boards, Jack paused to scan the ocean. Meg and I stopped too.

  ‘Make sure you stay inside the flags, Pippa,’ said Jack, waving to the left.

  The red-and-yellow patrol flags fluttered in the breeze, marking where it was safe to swim. Four lifesavers in red-and-yellow striped caps and shirts stood on guard watching the swimmers. As a beginner, I could practise surfing there. However, the more experienced surfers like Meg and Jack had to surf further down the beach.

  Jack pointed down the beach to the right. ‘There’s a rip running out to sea down there, so make sure you stay well away from it.’

  I peered at the spot in the ocean that Jack had indicated. To my inexperienced eye the surf there looked the same as along the rest of the beach. The waves peeled gently onto the beach, foaming on the sand. Sunlight dazzled off the water.

  ‘How can you tell?’ I asked. ‘I can’t see anything different.’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ said Jack. ‘Most mainlanders can’t see rips, but now that you live here on the island, it’s important you learn how to spot them.’

  ‘Can you see that the water in that patch has less waves breaking?’ asked Meg. ‘Where the sea is cloudy and sandy?’

  ‘Yes,’ I replied, noticing that a rectangle of water looked slightly flatter, with waves foaming on either side.

  ‘Waves aren’t breaking there because there is a strong current s
ucking the water and sand back out to sea,’ explained Meg. ‘If you get caught there, you’ll get dragged out with it.’

  I felt a shiver run down my spine. The sea around Kira Island looked so beautiful, but Mimi and Papa had warned me that it could be dangerous.

  ‘That sounds scary,’ I said. ‘I don’t want to get sucked out to sea and lost forever!’

  ‘You’ll be safe between the flags,’ Jack assured me. ‘And if you do get into trouble, make sure you put your arm straight up in the air as a signal to the lifesavers. Have fun!’ He waved goodbye and jogged down the beach past the rip to safer waters.

  Meg and I walked towards the patrol flags. One of the surf lifesavers noticed us and waved.

  ‘Hi, Pippa, hi, Meg,’ she called.

  I took a second look and realised that it was Zoe, our bubbly red-haired barista.

  ‘Hi, Zoe,’ we chorused.

  Zoe introduced us to her patrol captain, Nigel, an older man who looked super-fit and strong from years of swimming and running. He watched the swimmers while Zoe chatted to us about our day. The other two lifesavers were stationed further down the beach.

  ‘How’s the surfing coming along, Pippa?’ asked Zoe.

  ‘Slowly,’ I replied. ‘It’s harder than I thought. Meg makes it look so easy.’

  ‘It just takes lots of time in the water,’ said Zoe. ‘You’ll get the hang of it.’

  I rolled my eyes. ‘That’s what Meg says!’

  Meg laughed. ‘And I’m right! Come on, land-lubber. Let’s do it!’

  Just like on Sunday, Meg made me practise ‘paddling’ on the beach. I lay down on the board while it rested on the sand, then jumped to my feet in a crouched position, left foot forward. We did this a few times together until I could jump up quite easily.

  Then Meg and I splashed out into the water between the flags. Meg left her board on the sand so that she could wade out with me to give me tips, push me onto waves and encourage me.

  For the first few waves I was, as I feared, pretty hopeless. Most times I couldn’t even get to my feet. Then I managed to crouch and eventually stand before being bucked off by the wave and slipping into the sea.

  There were a few other people swimming nearby. I hoped there weren’t any kids from my school. I didn’t really want anyone I knew to see how dreadful I was. Meg smiled encouragingly as though reading my mind.

  ‘You’re getting better, I promise you.’

  At last, a few minutes before it was time to go, I jumped to my feet and rode a wave all the way to the sand. ‘Woohoo,’ I shouted, giddy with exhilaration. ‘That was incredible.’

  ‘You did it,’ cried Meg. ‘We’ll make a surfer out of you yet!’

  Afterwards, I met Mum, Bella and Harry and we walked home together from the beach.

  Mum sent me to collect Summer from Mimi and Papa’s cottage. Mimi minds Summer during the day while we’re at school and Mum is at work. I knocked on the back door and went inside.

  ‘Summer, Summer,’ I called. A streak of gold and white came tearing towards me. Then I realised that Summer was trailing a long white tail.

  ‘Oh, Summer, what have you done?’ I asked. ‘You naughty puppy!’

  Summer had the end of a roll of toilet paper in her mouth. The whole roll had been pulled from the bathroom all around the house in a twisted trail. Summer dashed away again, rolling over and over, knotting herself in the toilet paper. She was having a wonderful time with her new toy.

  I gave chase but the faster I followed the faster Summer ran. The toilet roll unfurled even further. Summer dashed under the couch, between the dining chairs and to her basket in the kitchen. She dived headfirst into the cushion and rolled over, giving up the chase. She lay on her back, with four paws in the air, looking up at me with huge, soft, brown eyes. She smiled at me, her pink tongue lolling. My heart melted.

  ‘I can’t get cross with you,’ I complained. ‘Even though you are the naughtiest puppy on the planet.’

  Just then Mimi came in. She was all dressed up, ready to go out with Papa to meet friends.

  ‘Hello, darling Pippa,’ she said. ‘And what mischief has Miss Summer been up to while I was gone for three minutes?’

  I sighed as I scrabbled about trying to gather up the metres of tangled toilet paper.

  ‘I’m so sorry, Mimi,’ I said. ‘But Summer has made a mega-mess and destroyed a roll of toilet paper.’

  Mimi laughed. ‘Another one? That’s the third roll this week. But it’s my fault for leaving the bathroom door open.’

  ‘She’s soooo naughty,’ I grumbled, as I stuffed an armful of paper in the recycling bin. ‘I never thought that having a puppy would be so much trouble.’

  ‘She’s just a baby,’ said Mimi. ‘She’ll learn. You just need to be firm with her and teach her a few basic commands.’

  Mimi leaned down to stroke Summer on the forehead. ‘Plus, it helps if you use your human brain to think about what mischief she might get into and remove the temptation,’ she said. ‘For example, from now on I’ll be keeping the bathroom door closed and, just to be safe, I’ll put the loo roll on top of the bathroom cabinet rather than hanging it where Summer can reach it.’

  That made sense. We had never had a dog before. Mum had grown up with dogs when she was a child, but in London she had always said we needed to wait until we were older, or had a bigger garden, or she had more time to look after it. To be honest, I think the truth was that my dad had never really liked the idea of getting a dog. I think I was beginning to see why!

  As always, the thought of Dad made me feel sad and hollow inside. I quickly picked up Summer and gave her a tight cuddle.

  ‘How do I train her to be good?’ I asked. Summer snuggled in, then squirmed in protest. I put her down at my feet.

  Mimi opened the container of puppy food that was on the bench. She took out a few pieces of kibble.

  ‘This is what I do during the day when I feed her,’ said Mimi. ‘She’s a really fast learner and keen to please, so she’ll be easy to train.’

  Mimi held out her hand so Summer could see and smell the food. Mimi stepped away a few metres.

  ‘Summer, come,’ commanded Mimi.

  Obediently, Summer raced to Mimi’s feet. I scooped out more loo paper from her basket.

  ‘Summer, sit.’ Mimi pointed her hand downwards.

  Summer plopped down on her chubby haunches, her tongue lolling with anticipation.

  Mimi held out her hand in a stop motion. ‘Summer, staaay.’

  Mimi put two pieces of kibble in Summer’s bowl. Summer strained towards the bowl, her bottom sliding a few centimetres across the floor, but she stayed more or less sitting.

  ‘Good girl, Summer!’ The puppy bounded across the floor to her bowl and gulped down the kibble in one second flat. Mimi rubbed her all over her back and tummy.

  ‘Now you try, Pippa,’ suggested Mimi, handing me a couple more pieces of kibble. ‘Go and stand over there.’

  So I repeated all the commands. Summer had clearly decided that I was not the boss because she refused to do anything I told her. But then Mimi made me show her the food, and do it all again, making sure my voice was firm, and my hand movements strong. This time Summer obeyed until I put the food in the bowl. She dashed straight for it, her tail wagging madly.

  ‘Pick up the bowl, Pippa,’ said Mimi. ‘Don’t let her eat unless she does the right thing. And make sure that you never feed Summer without making her run through all these commands.’

  I grabbed the bowl. Summer hopefully licked the floor where the bowl had been as though it might magically reappear.

  ‘Now do it all again,’ said Mimi. ‘She’ll soon learn that she will only get food if she comes, sits and stays on command. And then she’ll learn the meaning of the words so that she’ll come every time you call her, and sit and stay, even if you don’t have food.’

  I had fun testing Summer on her new skills a couple more times.

  ‘That’s enough training for
one day,’ said Mimi. ‘Why don’t you take her outside for a really good run and a play? She’s been napping for most of the day so she has some excess energy she needs to burn up.’

  I did as Mimi suggested, throwing a ball for Summer in the garden and trying to teach her to bring it back to me, then drop it when I said the magic words ‘leave it’.

  This reminded me that I still hadn’t told Mum about Summer gobbling her shoe. I decided to tell her that evening over dinner. Mum would not be pleased!

  After a few more minutes of rumbling and tumbling after the ball, Summer collapsed on the grass so I took her back inside the caravan. She was too little to climb the steps by herself so I had to lift her up. Summer bounded to her basket, which was tucked under the dining table, and flopped on the pillow. In one second she was fast asleep. Mission accomplished!

  The caravan was filled with the delicious aroma of honey-soy chicken baking in the oven. Yay! It was one of my favourite dishes, and Mum hadn’t cooked it for ages. Mum was standing at the stove, steaming greens. Harry was sitting at the table doing his homework while Bella read out loud to Mum.

  In the evening we often ate dinner with Mimi and Papa on the patio. Tonight they were going out with friends, so we were having a small family meal in the caravan. I was really looking forward to enjoying some of Mum’s cooking for a change. I squeezed in next to Harry and tried to doodle a picture of Summer tangled in toilet paper. It was impossible to capture how totally adorable she was.

  Harry and I set the table while Mum served up dinner. Then we all sat down to eat and chat about our day.

  Mum looked exhausted. Now the cafe was in business, she was leaving even earlier to open up and get ready for the first customers at seven o’clock. We were usually only just awake when Mum left, so Papa made us breakfast in their kitchen while we got ourselves up and dressed. Then Mimi and Papa walked us to school at eight-thirty.

  I had felt tired after my short stint of working in the cafe yesterday. I couldn’t imagine how tired Mum must be.

  ‘So what mischief has Summer been up to now?’ asked Mum with a smile.