BLACK POOL

I don’t know where we’re going.  Instead of heading towards the beach, we’re walking down a path along the side of our house.  I’ve never even seen this path before. 

But it has plenty of bushes and trees, so I’m happy!  All these new scents to sniff are enough to make any chap glad.  So it doesn’t really matter where we’re going as there’s such pleasure right here.

Mum has gone on ahead.  I’ve noticed she doesn’t ever stop to sniff things.  Doesn’t she know how pleasurable sniffing is?

Now she’s clapping her hands.  Why’s that?  I run to catch her up and find out why.

Oh gosh!  There are huge creatures in front of us.  They are even bigger than the ponies and they’re black and white like me.  One of them is looking at me funnily.

I back off and bark at him.  Mum claps her hands again and says to me: “Don’t worry.  These heifers won’t hurt us.  They’re just curious, as they’ve probably never seen a Beardie before.  Let’s put you on the lead while we cross their field.”

I feel uneasy.  There are so many heifers and their curiosity is bothering me.  Do I look like food to them?  They have big mouths and very long legs.

But Mum is moving, so I need to move too.  Forward we go, together, and the heifers let us.  I bark to show them I’m not scared.  “We’ll soon be there,” says Mum. 

“Where’s ‘there’?” I ask. 

“The far corner of the field,” she answers.  “See that stile?  Once we’re on its other side we’ll be alright.”

It’s a relief to leave the heifers behind.  Off comes my lead again and off I run to explore more scents.

There are lots and lots of trees.  Oh, and here’s a little stream!  I plop my two front paws in while I drink from it.  Then I flop into the middle with a satisfactory splash.  This isn’t the sea, but it’s quenching my thirst and my fur’s spreading out around me in the water.

Then Mum calls.  Shall I run to her, or linger a little longer?  “Sam!” she calls again.  “Come and see where the stream leads us!”

That does it.  I want to know where we’re going and what else is in store.  So I answer her call.

“These woods,” Mum tells me, “will be abundant with garlic and bluebells soon.  They’ll be even prettier then than they are today.”

I look up at her, liking the sound of her words though their meaning isn’t altogether clear.  What’s that I can hear?

“Yes,” Mum says, when she sees me pricking up my ears, “it is what you think it is!”

I race on ahead, reaching a little wooden bridge.  On the far side of it is a kind of mountain.  I climb up, over loads of smooth white stones.  By the time I reach the top I can see that my ears had not deceived me.

There’s no sand, like on our usual beach – just stones, all the way down to the sea.  There’s something else as well.  I look where Mum is looking and can see a gigantic black pool.

“It looks black because it’s very, very deep,” Mum tells me.  “Do I need to put on your lead or will you promise not to try swimming in it?”

I don’t know why she thinks I’d want to swim in still black water when the restless sea is beckoning me.  So I put my head on one side and give a little bark to reassure her.

Just then two gulls fly over to greet me and  I’m quickly following them to the sea.