Free Forgotten Dreams by Katie Flynn Page B

make a pebble hop the most times when we skim it across the waves!’
    He picked up a couple of flat pebbles as he spoke and handed one to Lottie; then the two of them headed for the sea. Lottie had never quite got the hang of skimming pebbles, but on this occasion Kenny showed her exactly how to do it and very soon her pebbles were skipping almost as lightly across the surface as Kenny’s. Then the sun came out for the first time that day and when Kenny suggested going into the water for a swim it seemed like a good idea, though Lottie thought that a paddle would be more in keeping with the cool breeze which was getting up. Accordingly, she tucked her skirt into her knickers and Kenny rolled up his trouser legs as far as they would go, and the two of them gambolled in the sea until the sun hid itself behind the clouds once more and Kenny decided it was time to eat the remains of their carry-out, most of which had been devoured within ten minutes of boarding the train.
    Wet and sandy but happy, they gobbled paste sandwiches and swigged milk from the bottle Louella had provided. Then they began scraping around in the sand, for this time they would make not a castle but a racing car. Lottie, digging industriously, was suddenly sure that, with Kenny’s help, anything was possible. She would either remember of her own accord what had happened in her life before the accident, or she would be a sort of detective, like the ones in the books Louella was so fond of, and track down anyone – not just the boy with the golden-brown eyes – who knew anything about her past.
    Together, the two youngsters worked hard on the creation of their racing car, though by the time it was finished the tide had crept rather too close for comfort and was within six inches of the car’s long bonnet. ‘If we dig a little channel all round it and then down to the sea, it will be a car moat, like a castle moat only more interesting,’ Lottie said, but Kenny shook his head.
    ‘We can’t do that if we’re to get home in time for that high tea your mam promised us,’ he pointed out. ‘And just look at yourself! Honest to God, Lottie, you’re a right mess. If we go up to the recreation ground, there’s a drinking fountain where we can rinse off the salt and the sand, and then run around a bit until we’re dry. I say, your mam gave you money for ices, didn’t she? There’s nearly always a “stop me and buy one” cycling round any sort of park. I wouldn’t mind an ice.’
    Lottie agreed that this was an excellent idea and soon both children were a good deal cleaner, though still damp. They bought ice creams, for as Kenny had said there was a vendor hanging about the gate to the recreation ground, and then they made their way back to the dockers’ umbrella. Tired but happy, they finished their ice creams and climbed aboard a train. Lottie leaned back in her seat with a satisfied sigh. ‘I’ve had a grand day, Kenny; don’t I wish we could do this every day,’ she said as the train began to pull out of the station. ‘I wonder what Louella is doing now? Making our tea, I hope.’
    Louella had had a quiet sort of day and now she was lying on her bed wondering just where she had gone wrong. She knew herself to be both pretty and desirable for she was always fending off the attentions of young men, yet for some reason Max, though a dear friend, seemed impervious to her charms. Well, perhaps impervious was not quite the right word, she corrected herself, remembering several incidents, but despite the closeness of their relationship – and her expectations – he had not yet asked her to marry him.
    Looking back, she remembered her first marriage, the union which had resulted in Lottie’s birth. She had been seventeen and working in the theatre when she had met Denham Duncan, and she was certain that it had been a case of love at first sight on both sides. At any rate, he had asked her to marry him within a month of their meeting and she, of