Free Forgotten Dreams by Katie Flynn

Kenny will want to paddle and dig sandcastles and do all sorts of energetic things, whereas I want a nice restful day. Which reminds me, I’ve not yet given you the train fares. You said Kenny liked the idea, didn’t you?’
    Lottie laughed. ‘He certainly did. He skipped a lecky and went today anyway, just in case tomorrow’s wet,’ she said cheerfully. ‘But two days at the seaside is twice as good as one, and a ride on the overhead railway is a favourite treat. And I do love going to the beach, though Seaforth is nowhere near as good as Rhyl.’
    ‘Never mind. At least it’s sand and seawater,’ Louella said vaguely. ‘Maybe next summer we’ll take our act on tour – that usually means seaside towns. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? We might go to Scarborough and Whitby, places like that.’
    ‘Are they near Rhyl? I’d love to go to Rhyl again,’ Lottie said eagerly. ‘There’s no end of things to do in Rhyl, quite apart from the beach, and I’ll bet the theatre is full every night.’
    Louella, however, shook her head. ‘No, darling. Whitby and Scarborough are on the east coast, and so is Great Yarmouth. There are two piers there which means two shows and they get enormous audiences. Yes, we might try for a booking in Great Yarmouth. Max would like that because he’s awfully fond of bloaters and they say the best ones come from Yarmouth.’
    ‘Right,’ Lottie said. It was clearly useless to expect her mother to talk about Rhyl, and anyway, now that she came to think about it, Rhyl was not that far away from Liverpool. Louella was generous over such things as pocket money so it was quite possible that Lottie could save enough money for a return train fare for herself and Kenny.
    But here, unfortunately, her imagination gave out. Just what she meant to do when she reached Rhyl she truly did not know, for finding one boy amongst the thousands who thronged the prom might well be beyond her even if she had a week at her disposal.
    She and Kenny discussed the situation as they sat on Seaforth Sands the next day, chucking pebbles into the grey sea, for though it was warm enough, the sky was cloudy. ‘I don’t see why you want to find that feller again anyway,’ Kenny said, when she explained why she wanted to revisit Rhyl. ‘He called you Sassy, which ain’t your name, and he ran off before you could ask him what he meant. What good would it do, meetin’ up with him again?’
    Lottie screwed up her eyes and rubbed her nose. The truth was, she had no more idea than Kenny whether a meeting with the strange boy would be any use. She remembered she had dreamed about him but could not recall any details. She wondered whether to mention the dream to Kenny but was sure he would only scoff. Instead, she told the truth. ‘I don’t know if I just looked like this Sassy and the boy simply made a mistake,’ she said honestly. ‘But I do want to know about the years before my accident. I think it’s important that I know.’
    ‘But you do know. Your mam told you,’ Kenny said impatiently. ‘Ain’t that enough for you?’
    Once more, Lottie hesitated. But if she was to go to Rhyl to find the strange boy, then she knew she needed Kenny with her. It was far too big an undertaking for an eight-year-old to venture on alone, which meant she had better come clean. ‘Louella is my mam but she’s not like other people’s mams,’ she said slowly, picking her words. ‘Sometimes she says things which aren’t true. It’s part of her being an actress . . .’
    Kenny had been gazing towards the sea and preparing to hurl another pebble, but at her words he stopped short. ‘D’you mean she tells lies?’ he asked. ‘If you means she says she’s put the rent money aside when she ain’t, or she likes someone’s new hat when she really hates it, all mams do that and I don’t think it counts as lyin’. Everyone’s gorra pay the rent money in the end, an’ sayin’ you like somethin’ when you don’t is