Sunrise By the Sea by Jenny Colgan

Chapter Seventy-seven

They ran, both of them. Alexei was surprisingly fast for such a big fellow; he pulled off his ridiculous tailcoat and bow tie, shedding a couple of buttons. Marisa ditched her shoes, and grabbed the skirt up round her hips, and they ran like lightning.

‘Start at rocks,’ Alexei said. ‘Kids lovink rocks.’

They clambered around the headland, Marisa cutting her feet and not even noticing, calling and calling.

‘Where would they go?’ wondered Alexei. ‘Are there caves?’

They glanced back. There weren’t any to be seen.

‘The dunes?’ said Marisa.

‘But there are pirate ships and toys and sweets . . .’

‘I know,’ said Marisa. ‘Why leave that party? It doesn’t make sense.’

Alexei looked at her.

‘Maybe, for some people, is too noisy,’ he said.

They looked at one another and dashed on towards the dunes.

She slipped and stumbled behind him. He listened very carefully to the wind, listening for the tiniest change in sounds.

‘Come with me,’ he said, hearing something, the faintest of sounds; a sound between sounds. A rustle he felt was not right.

‘Avery? Daisy?’ shouted Marisa, but he hushed her, surprisingly.

She crept along behind him, tiptoeing through the sand – and what she saw made her gasp.

The two children were huddled underneath a large swathe of marram grass, clutching one another, white-faced, Daisy’s mouth wide with panic.

And in front of them, rearing and hissing, was the huge snake.

Marisa turned pale. She too was utterly terrified and it took everything in her not to simply bolt. Her throat was dry and she felt absolutely stuck in place.

‘Okay,’ said Alexei very quietly. She looked at him in horror.

‘You have a plan?’

He didn’t answer. She saw in his face that flash of anger she had seen before.

The snake was waving its huge head, poised to strike. The children were struck dumb with terror.

‘Are you ready to take children?’ he said. ‘Be ready.’

‘You know . . . snakes are really fast!’ whispered Marisa, remembering a terrifying documentary.

‘Be ready,’ he said, unsmiling. He took off his shoes and advanced, very quietly, then suddenly, shouted, ‘NOW!’ and, from behind, brought down his heavy shoe on the snake’s head while simultaneously grabbing it round the back of its throat, squeezing it into himself where it couldn’t reach him and shouting a huge stream of furious invective in Russian at the unsuspecting animal, all the while whacking it.

‘Daisy! Avery! Come with me!’ screamed Marisa, and the children, shaken into action, leaped up. She grabbed their hands and charged back towards the beach, as all she could hear behind her was furious hissing and a repeated whomping noise, and the crowds on the beach began to race towards her.