time to stop for a break. She sat with Sally and the other volunteers and was drinking squash and eating a biscuit when Cai arrived back from the airport with his parents and Claudia.
“Everyone, this is my mum and dad,” announced Cai, pinching a biscuit from the plate.
Antonia had met Cai’s parents before, but hadn’t seen them for ages and was overcome with shyness. She quickly recovered when Mr and Mrs Pacific hugged her warmly.
“How was your flight?” she asked, hugging them back.
“Good,” said Mr Pacific, “until we stepped off the plane and remembered how cold it is here in April.” He shivered dramatically and chattered his teeth.
“This isn’t cold, it’s warm!” exclaimed Cai.
Mr and Mrs Pacific looked as sleepy as Rusty the fox cub after their long flight, but Cai was too excited to notice and insisted on showing them round with Antonia.
“Come and see outside,” he said, after they’d looked at everything indoors. “We’ve got new aviaries, a deepwater pool and our own beach.”
“Is it the same beach that was here the last time I visited Claudia?” Mr Pacific joked.
Cai laughed. “You haven’t seen the deepwater pool, though,” he said persuasively.
“We’ll see the outside later, honey,” said Mrs Pacific, smothering a yawn with her hand. “Right now I need to lie down before I fall down!”
Antonia didn’t go up to the house with Cai. Expecting him to stay with his parents, she went down to the beach with Emily to take some sea-water samples. But it wasn’t long before Cai joined them.
“That was quick,” said Antonia.
“There wasn’t much point in hanging around,” said Cai. “Mum and Dad are having a sleep in Claudia’s spare room.”
“Don’t you miss your parents?” asked Emily curiously. “I’d miss mine if they lived on the other side of the world.”
Cai sighed. “I do miss them loads, but when we all lived together I didn’t see them much because they were working such long hours. In a way, it’s better like this. Now when I see them they take time off work so we can do stuff together. Dad’s taking me windsurfing and he said you could come too, Antonia.”
“Really? I’ve always wanted to try that,” said Antonia enthusiastically. She was pleased Mr Pacific had invited her.
There was so much to do at Sea Watch that the day sped by. Claudia was concerned about Rusty, who still wasn’t feeding well, and she rang Mr Singh, the vet, for a chat. She looked a little happier afterwards.
“Mr Singh thinks our cub might be cold. He told me to put a heat lamp in his pen and see if that helps. He’s also suggested getting in touch with the Sandy Bay Badger Sanctuary. They take in injured or orphaned fox cubs as well as badgers, so I’m going to see if they have room for Rusty. Mr Singh thinks he’ll be much better off there because they have lots of experience dealing with young cubs. They’ll have other foxes for Rusty to socialise with.”
At the end of the day Antonia and Cai couldn’t resist going to visit the cub before they went home. Rusty looked so small and cute curled up in the pen on his own.
“I wish we could keep him here until he’s big enough to release back into the wild,” said Cai.
“Me too,” Antonia agreed. “But it wouldn’t be fair. He’ll be much happier at the badger sanctuary.”
“I wonder if he misses his parents,” said Cai with a soft sigh.
Antonia gave Cai a look as he headed for the door.
But Cai sounded his usual cheery self as he called back, “See you tomorrow, Antonia. And don’t forget to ask if you can go windsurfing while my parents are here.”
“I’ll ask as soon as I get in,” said Antonia, following him.
The moment Antonia arrived home her little sister Jessica swooped on her.
“Come and play with me,” she said. “I’ve built a den in my bedroom with blankets and pegs. It’s really cool.”
“In a minute, Jess,” said Antonia. She wanted to ask Mum about going windsurfing first.
“That was nice of Cai’s dad,” said Mum. “Of course you can go.”
“Good, now you can come and play with me,” said Jessica.
Laughing good-naturedly, Antonia let Jessica pull her upstairs.
“Close your eyes,” said Jessica bossily.
Antonia closed them and Jess flung open her bedroom door, declaring dramatically, “Open them again.”
“Wow!” exclaimed Antonia. “This is really cool, Jess.”
The den took up most of the bedroom and reminded Antonia of a Bedouin tent in the desert. It was built from blankets pegged to various objects in the room. There was a string of pink and blue flower-shaped lights hanging around the entrance. The bedroom curtains were drawn and the lights glowed prettily in the darkened room. Antonia crawled inside and found that the den was comfortably furnished with cushions and pillows. The bathroom radio was playing softly in the background and Jessica had put a framed photo of Mum, Dad and Antonia on a table made from an upside-down box.
“I love it,” said Antonia, settling on a cushion.
They only had a short time to play before tea, so after they’d eaten, Jessica asked Antonia if she’d come back to the den to play some more.
“Not tonight,” said Mum, stacking the dirty plates. “It’s time to take the den down and get in the bath.”
“Can I leave it up?” asked Jess. “I want to play in it again tomorrow. Antonia does too, don’t you?”
“I’d love to, but I’m going to Sea Watch,” said Antonia. “I’ll play with you when I get home, though.”
“Is that a good idea when you’re going windsurfing with Cai?” asked Mum. “I thought you might give Sea Watch a break for a day or two. Cai’s not seen his parents for ages and he might like some time alone with them.”
“Then Cai won’t come to Sea Watch, he’ll stay up at the house,” said Antonia reasonably.
Dad sighed wistfully. “Lucky you! Before I started my garage business I used to go windsurfing. Those were the days…when I had time for hobbies!”
Antonia groaned loudly. It was a family joke that Dad never had time for anything because he was always working.
“Just don’t overstay your welcome,” said Mum. “Cai’s a good friend. He might not tell you that he doesn’t want you around all the time in case he hurts your feelings.”
“Cai knows me better than that!” said Antonia indignantly. “We don’t have secrets from each other.”
“What about my den?” Jessica interrupted. “Can I keep it up or not?”
Mum hesitated. “All right, but no more playing in it tonight. Go and get in the bath.” Mum followed Jessica upstairs to get her a towel from the airing cupboard.
Antonia went outside and stared at the bay. The blue sea shimmered invitingly and she longed to be swimming in it. She screwed up her eyes against the slanting evening sunshine, hoping she might see her dolphins. But the only things in the water were the bright-green canoes of the Sandy Bay rowing club. Disappointed, Antonia went indoors.
The next morning, Antonia was the first volunteer to arrive at Sea Watch. Claudia was