Free North of Nowhere by Liz Kessler Page B

his leash. Then I quietly opened the back door and we set off down to the harbor.
    Flake ran happily up and down the beach, chasing seagulls and barking at the waves. Every now and then he’d pick up a stick and bring it to me, dropping it at my feet and wagging his tail. I threw the stick distractedly and moseyed over to the old jetty. Maybe, by some miracle, Dee would be coming today. Or there might be another note, at least. The more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself it was possible. I desperately wanted it to be. Apart from anything else, I wanted the chance to reply to her last note and explain why I hadn’t replied yesterday.
    I ducked down to get through the arches. The water was up to my ankles and the bottom of my jeans got soaked, as I’d forgotten to tuck them into my boots. I hardly noticed. All I cared about now was seeing the boat.
    But it wasn’t there.
    Well, of course it wasn’t. For one thing, it was about seven o’ clock in the morning. And for another, it was Saturday. Dee’s dad was as entitled to his weekend off as anyone else.
    By the time I got back to the pub, I knew I had to shake myself out of my miserable mood. It wouldn’t be fair to Mom and Gran if I spent all weekend moping around, so I decided I was going to be helpful and cheerful instead. Well, cheerful might be a bit too much to ask, but it wouldn’t do any harm to try.
    So I tidied up my room, and then I cleaned the kitchen, and by the time I’d done that and helped with the breakfasts, I’d managed to pass a couple of hours.
    Part of me wanted to go down to the harbor again, just in case. But I knew it was pointless. Dee wouldn’t be coming. Distraction was definitely my best strategy.
    “Mom, is there anything I can do?” I asked when I’d run out of things that obviously needed attending to. Gran was upstairs cleaning the guest rooms and Mom was in charge of the pub. There was hardly anyone in, just a couple of fishermen sitting on the tall stools at the bar.
    “You could collect some glasses.”
    “There aren’t any.”
    “Oh. Wipe the counters?”
    “Done it already,” I said.
    Mom looked around the bar and shook her head. “Well, darling, I can’t really think of anything else. Haven’t you got anything to do? Why don’t you meet up with one of your new friends?”
    Yeah. Sore point, Mom.
    But then I had a thought. Maybe there
was
a way I could meet up with Dee, after all.
    “Mom, we’re not likely to be really busy in the pub today, are we?” I asked.
    Mom looked around the almost empty room and laughed. “I very much doubt it, somehow.”
    “So, why don’t we see if Gran will close up for a few hours and take a trip out?”
    Mom looked at me. “A trip out? All three of us?”
    I nodded.
    “Where would you like to go?”
    I paused and tried to look as if I were having a good think. “Oh, I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe we could go on a boat trip or something.”
    “I never knew you liked boats so much,” Mom said. “You must get it from your grandad.”
    “Mm,” I replied.
    “I suppose I did stop you from taking a boat trip yesterday, and it might be good for your gran. Anything’s got to be better than moping around here all day, waiting for something to happen.”
    “Exactly!”
    “So, where do you have in mind?” Mom asked.
    I took a deep breath, tried to ignore the thumping, racing feeling in my chest, and said as casually as possible, “I dunno. Luffsands, maybe?”
    At which point, for some reason, one of the fishermen who had been sitting in silence for the last ten minutes suddenly spurted his beer all over the bar.
    “Oh!” Mom exclaimed, and ran out to get a towel.
    As the door swung closed behind her, the fisherman raised his glass to me. “Good luck with that one,” he said, with a twinkle in his eye. He seemed to be laughing at me.
    “Think you might want to come up with another idea,” his friend added. “Somewhere that — how can I put it —