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SHARK!

As we slithered down the sand dunes in front of the Water Wonderland, Brenda, who has a kind of ho instinct where Wanda is concerned, suddenly appeared out of nowhere There is no escaping Brenda once she wants you to do so, and Brenda wanted us underneath the beach uht now And that is where we ended up--stuck under the beach u in her pink cat carrier wearing a pair of sunglasses that matched Brenda’s

And if that wasn’t bad enough, Aunt Tabby had brought my hat that Uncle Drac had knitted "Put this on, Araminta, " she said "It will protect you froiant squid, Aunt Tabby, " I said "And it’ssunburned, dear, " said Aunt Tabby She crammed the woolly squid onto my head and said, "There It really suits you " A weird snorting noise caot her hat out You would not think that it was possible, but it orse than reen tea cozy with a pink fish on the top And sticking down from the tea cozy part were toolly blue braids "And that really suits you!" I spluttered Then I had to hide under a towel to

Even though earing stupid hats it didn’t stop us froet away froood I think they had some kind of deal between them, because every tis, one of theot ahen Brenda went to get ice crea book she likes to read about fixing things--this one was all about wardrobes--how boring is that? Suddenly I noticed she was snoring Aunt Tabby does not snore loudly, as that would be rude Aunt Tabby tries to be polite, even in her sleep, but it was a definite snore I nudged Wanda "Let’s go, " I whispered But I had forgotten about Pusskins

As soon as we stood up, Pusskins let out a loud yowl Aunt Tabby sat up with a start and saw us creeping away "Are you going for a swim, Araminta?" she asked suspiciously "Er, yes, Aunt Tabby " So we had to go for a swi e did not have to wear Uncle Drac’s hats, because, as I pointed out to Aunt Tabby, they would only get wet and then they would fall off and sink Which would have been a good idea, come to think of it It was quite fun in the sea really I splashed Wanda and pretended to be a sea monster and then she tried to splash ot mad Then she yelled, "Shark!"

Wanda has a very loud voice, and all the little kids ere busy ju up and down in the waves screarabbed hold of Wanda’s arm "You shouldn’t do that, " I told her "It’s not fair frightening the little ones like that " "Let go!"Wanda yelled at led and tried to pull her arm away, but I can pull harder than Wanda, so I won Wanda was still yelling, "Let go of o! There’s a shark!" Now I am not stupid--I know about sharks and stuff like that I did a project on sharks once and I know that sharks do not live in the sea near Spookie House They would not dare

But fro you would think ere surrounded by sharks, and that that creepy music that always starts up when a shark circles so full blast It was only when Wanda inhaled afor a moment that I noticed how quiet it had beco at us Then I noticed Aunt Tabby and Brenda pushing through the crowd and heading for the water waving their ar And then I saw the shark fin It was really close It didn’t look like I expected a shark fin to look soer--and all I could think was that if the fin was that big, then there must be an awful lot of shark attached to it Which was not a nice thought "Shark!" I yelled "I know, " Wanda yelled Wanda has s than I do and I usually beat her in any running competi- tions But she won this one with s churning up the water and kicking salty spray into my face She did not even bother to look around to see whether I was being eaten by the shark or not--anyone would have thought that she did not care

By the ti under the beach u a cheese sandwich Aunt Tabby squashedwhile all the other people on the beach stared out to sea and watched the shark fin They did not seem as excited as they had been when Wanda and I had been in the sea with the shark In fact I thought they all seemed a bit disappointed, and I definitely heard one of the little kids say, "But, Mom, it’s not fair I alanted to see someone eaten by a shark " And then his mother said, "Never mind, dear Maybe next ti to Or theiroff after that

Brenda, Aunt Tabby, and Pusskins kept their beady eyes on us all afternoon The beach got evenafter his lunch had disappeared We all watched his fin swiht behind the rocks, and then people began to pack up and leave as no one wanted to go in the water again Soon ere the only ones left Aunt Tabby and Brenda started building a sand castle "Come on, you two, " said Brenda "Help us fill the s to think about "I wonder what has happened to Sir Horace?" Wanda whispered when Aunt Tabby and Brenda were too busy trying to stop the bridge into the castle fro down to eavesdrop on our conversation like they usu- ally do

"I don’t know, " I whispered back "Old Morris has probably taken him to pieces by now and thrown him in the sea Or sent him off to be recycled Or melted him down Or--" "Stoppit, Arairls fighting again?" she asked "No, Mom, " said Wanda sulkily "We’re bored " "How can you be bored on a beautiful day at the beach?" asked Brenda as she turned her bucket upside down and made another tower on the sand castle "What more could you possibly want to do?"

Wanda did not say anything but I could tell that she was thinking And then she said so brilliant It was so brilliant that I ao to Water Wonderland, " she said