Me: I’m not sure if going down to the beach yesterday afternoon and staring longingly at the island was a good idea.

Nell: It’s what David wanted us to do.

Me: We were never going to see Sally from there.

Nell: He says he felt nearer to her.

Me: We don’t even know if Stephen Seagull and the Beefies are telling the truth. It might have been another Golden Retriever.

Nell: Or another lion.

Me: No, it was definitely Lionel King. It’s just the kind of thing he would do.

Nell: What? Have dinner with a beautiful Golden Retriever?

Me: No, try and steal somebody else’s betrothed.

Nell: You just said it might not be Sally.

Me: It’s not like he hasn’t tried it before. Taking you away from Knitwear Wolf.

Nell: I wasn’t with Rupert.

Me: Well, you jolly well should be.

Nell: This is getting us nowhere. We need to take action.

Me: What do you mean?

Nell: Which is why David and I have decided to go over to the island.

Me: I don’t like the sound of that at all.

Nell: If Sally is there we can have a quick chat with her and sort out any misunderstandings.

Me: If Sally is there and hasn’t told Dave then she doesn’t want to be disturbed.

Nell: She won’t mind a quick cup of Earl Grey and the odd scone.

Me: How did afternoon tea come into this?

Nell: You can’t go to the Burgh Island Hotel without popping in for tea. Besides, David and I will be tired from the journey.

Me: Are you taking Harriet with you?

Nell: No. She’s not here.

Me: Where is she?

Nell: Off on some kind of mission, I expect. You know what spies are like. Dreadfully secretive.

Me: Yes. Sorry.

Me: I think Dave might actually be in a very bad mood.

Nell: He is.

Me: But he’s never in a bad mood. He has a sunny disposition.

Nell: Not today.

Me: Do you know what’s made him so grumpy?

Nell: I might do.

Me: Have I done something to upset him?

Nell: Have you?

Me: Not as far as I know.

Nell: Well then.

Me: Has Sunday Songs been rained off?

Nell: The Welsh Corgi Choir aren’t afraid of a little rain.

Me: Are we having salad instead of a Sunday roast?

Nell: Don’t be ridiculous. Sunday roasts are non negotiable.

Me: Well, what is it? Something must have upset him.

Nell: Sally has been sighted on Burgh Island.

Me: Sally, head of MI5 and the love of Dave’s life?

Nell: Yes.

Me: Golden Retriever Sally?

Nell: Yes, and David didn’t even know she was in the area.

Me: She’ll have a very good reason.

Nell: Of course she will.

Me: It won’t just have been a holiday.

Nell: I hope not.

Me: A little break away from everyone and everything.

Nell: No.

Me: Like a retreat.

Nell: Sally is not on a retreat.

Me: She might be.

Nell: She was seen having dinner with a lion.

Me: Dinner?

Nell: Yes.

Me: With a lion?

Nell: I just said that.

Me: Who saw her?

Nell: The Beefies. Stephen Seagull happened to mention it in his ‘thank you for a lovely afternoon tea’ text to David.

Me: Except it didn’t just happen. That nasty piece of work knew it would upset my darling Big Brave Beautiful Boy.

Nell: But what was Sally doing on the island?

Me: Having dinner with a lion. You just told me.

Nell: Why keep it a secret? Especially from David?

Me: I’ve no idea. Sorry.

Me: There’s nothing like a group of snuggly dog faces. Look at darling Harriet.

Nell: Kindly stop taking photos of us and get back into bed. You’re not well.

Me: I’m just a bit run down, Nell. I think it’s all this looking at houses and talking to estate agents.

Nell: Back into bed. We need to discuss yesterday’s afternoon tea.

Me: Tell me again what happened.

Nell: Stephen Seagull arrived in a bow tie carrying a bunch of seaweed in his beak.

Me: Unusual, but interesting, and better than mackerel, I suppose.

Nell: Only just.

Me: Yes.

Nell: Malcolm showed him into the living room where he decided to sit on the Stuffed Tiger.

Me: How very surprising.

Nell: The tiger thought so.

Me: It always looks like that.

Nell: Anyway, Susan engaged him in polite conversation until Miss Penny Lane arrived.

Me: How did she manage that? The Stuffed Tiger has never said a word to me.

Nell: I’m talking about Stephen Seagull.

Me: Of course.

Nell: When Penny walked in Stephen bowed and took off his hat.

Me: You never mentioned a hat.

Nell: Didn’t I? Then afternoon tea arrived and Stephen asked Penny to join him on the Stuffed Tiger.

Me: It is quite big.

Nell: That’s not the point. She refused and told him in no uncertain terms what she thought of him and his evil gang of Beefies.

Me: Was he offended?

Nell: Not at all. He loved it almost as much as the soggy sandwiches David brought him.

Me: So, you went down the bad tea route?

Nell: We decided on half and half. Soggy sandwiches but fluffy light scones.

Me: Good idea.

Nell: He dipped them in his tea.

Me: How disgusting.

Nell: Fluffy scones are wasted on Beefies.

Me: Yes. Sorry.

Me: The puppies seem awfully serious.

Nell: If you’d been at Morning Thoughts you’d know why.

Me: It’s my writing time.

Nell: There were some huge differences of opinion.

Me: Was it about slippers? They really aren’t for everyone and a little bit of mud on the floor isn’t the end of the world.

Nell: It wasn’t about slippers.

Me: What was it about?

Nell: Afternoon tea with Stephen Seagull.

Me: I see.

Nell: The problems began with the guest list.

Me: Is he bringing someone?

Nell: No, but everyone seems to think they should be there.

Me: We all enjoy an afternoon tea.

Nell: You’re definitely not invited, so don’t start.

Me: I can be very well behaved.

Nell: You write everything down.

Me: It’s what I do best. Who’s invited?

Nell: Susan will be attending with Malcolm as her husband.

Me: And Miss Penny Lane?

Nell: Of course. I shall be overseeing proceedings with Harriet as my deputy.

Me: What about Dave?

Nell: David will be serving.

Me: Not a good idea.

Nell: He wants to prove himself.

Me: He’s my darling Big Brave Beautiful Boy but food rarely reaches the table untouched.

Nell: I don’t think Stephen Seagull cares about half eaten scones. He’s a Beefy.

Me: Who else will be there?

Nell: Henry and Horst, Rupert and the Stuffed Tiger.

Me: Why is it invited?

Nell: It’s always there. It sits by the yellow chair. You sound like Beauregard. He says if tigers are invited he should be too.

Me: He has a point.

Nell: And I haven’t even got to the food.

Me: What do you mean?

Nell: Do we offer Stephen a lovely afternoon tea, or soggy leftovers?

Me: Soggy leftovers every time.

Nell: But Beefies like their leftovers soggy.

Me: You’re right. Sorry.

Me: You spent an awful lot of time staring at the sky when we were down on the beach.

Nell: I like to do my thinking by the sea.

Me: There’s something almost spiritual about the way the sun shines through the dark clouds, isn’t there? Like someone is reaching out to you.

Nell: Here we go.

Me: Were you talking to Poppy?

Nell: No, I wasn’t. Poppy was busy. She usually talks to me in the mornings before training.

Me: Training?

Nell: Guardians don’t just sit around, you know.

Me: I didn’t.

Nell: Well, not when they’re Poppy.

Me: But we have her sword.

Nell: She’s practising the martial arts now. Swords aren’t needed.

Me: How is she?

Nell: Annoyed. She doesn’t like the idea of Stephen Seagull coming to tea.

Me: Nobody does. Is Dave making scones?

Nell: He’s given Poppy’s recipe to Herr Hoffmann. He says it’s in safer paws with him.

Me: But Poppy wanted Dave to learn how to make her scones.

Nell: I know but they are still far too heavy.

Me: I think a heavy scone is just what Stephen Seagull deserves.

Nell: You might have a point there.

Me: Might I?

Nell: Yes, Maybe David should be the one making the scones.

Me: He could put salt in the jam, instead of sugar, and serve them with sour cream.

Nell: Hold on a moment, please. We are talking about afternoon tea here. Some things cannot be changed.

Me: It was just an idea.

Nell: Although we could make him his own tea, I suppose. On a separate plate.

Me: Brilliant. With soggy sandwiches and stale cake.

Nell: Poppy’s going to love this idea.

Me: Could I tell her?

Nell: She already knows. She’s watching over you all the time.

Me: Yes. Sorry.

Me: It was fun and games on the beach today.

Nell: It was certainly very windy.

Me: The sea froth turned Dave into a Dalmatian. Harriet couldn’t stop laughing at him.

Nell: I’m not a fan of sea froth. It sticks to the paws.

Me: Dave did look funny though, Nell, and he didn’t care about the froth.

Nell: Not a lot bothers David, to be honest.

Me: He’s an awfully optimistic sort of animal. Darling Big Brave Beautiful Boy.

Nell: Now, Malcolm told me something rather worrying this morning and I’d like your opinion.

Me: How exciting.

Nell: I said worrying, not exciting.

Me: I know, but you so rarely ask for my opinion on anything. What’s happened?

Nell: Stephen Seagull is coming to tea.

Me: That’s not exciting. It’s dreadful.

Nell: I agree.

Me: Why?

Nell: Because he’s the evil head of a vicious seagull gang called the Beefies.

Me: I meant why is he coming to afternoon tea?

Nell: He’s Susan’s biological father so when he asked if he could come to tea she felt it was the least she could do.

Me: I see.

Nell: He says he wants to meet Miss Penny Lane.

Me: I don’t like the sound of that.

Nell: Neither do I. Apparently, the Beefies have told him of her beauty.

Me: Penny doesn’t want to be getting involved with a nasty piece of work like him.

Nell: Which is what I said to Malcolm.

Me: She doesn’t need to be there.

Nell: That’s the thing. She wants to be. She says she’s got a few things she needs to say to him about driving her family up north.

Me: Has he got a car?

Nell: Figuratively, not literally. Good grief. The Beefies chased her family away. Remember?

Me: Oh yes. Sorry.

Me: Meeting that lovely lady and her dog really made my day.

Nell: Tell everyone what happened.

Me: We arrived at the beach and were just about to walk down to the sea when I heard someone calling ‘Sara!’

Nell: Yes.

Me: And the next thing I knew this smiley lady and her dog were running towards me.

Nell: David wasn’t sure about the dog.

Me: Dave was being silly. Anyway, it turned out that she reads our posts regularly so she knew exactly who we all were.

Nell: She did.

Me: It was like meeting a good friend.

Nell: It was.

Me: Everyone said hello. She knew all your names.

Nell: David overdid it as usual.

Me: He was a little over excited. Darling Big Brave Beautiful Boy.

Nell: Harriet just wanted to get to the sea. I was well behaved and welcoming.

Me: You were exceptionally friendly and I was absolutely delighted to meet someone who enjoys my stories.

Nell: You didn’t stop smiling during the whole of the walk.

Me: I’m still smiling.

Nell: You can stop now, please.

Me: I wish I could have done a book tour.

Nell: Unfortunately Covid got in the way.

Me: Meeting my readers would have been such a joy.

Nell: When the animation comes out the first book is bound to sell and they might publish your second book.

Me: True.

Nell: Have you shared the link to the fundraiser lately? We’re gaining new followers all the time.

Me: I haven’t. Here it is: https://gofund.me/42cc1159.

Nell: It all helps us get a step closer to making it happen.

Me: Yes, thank you. And if you’re ever in Devon and see us out and about do say hello as it will make our day.

Nell: You’re still smiling.

Me: Yes. Sorry.

Me: Today is World Kindness Day.

Nell: As I always say; ‘If you can be anything, be kind.’

Me: Dave was very kind to me.

Nell: What did he do?

Me: He rested his head on my legs.

Nell: That sounds more uncomfortable than kind.

Me: It was a little bit uncomfortable but he did it in a kind way.

Nell: If you say so.

Me: I saw you watching over Harriet.

Nell: She wasn’t herself.

Me: Yes, she seemed rather out of sorts.

Nell: Remembering can be exhausting.

Me: It can.

Nell: Anyway, I’m thinking of introducing slippers inside the house.

Me: Slippers?

Nell: You wear them.

Me: I do.

Nell: Have you seen the state of the floor? Muddy feet everywhere.

Me: I know. It’s never ending.

Nell: Quite. And no matter how many times I ask everyone to wipe their feet on the mat, they forget.

Me: Manuel is going to have to wear 8 slippers. Do they even make ones for an octopus?

Nell: Manuel is not the problem. And before you start asking me if they make slippers for woodlice, neither are Henry and Horst.

Me: Who is the problem?

Nell: David and that bear.

Me: Herr Hoffmann?

Nell: They have large feet.

Me: Olive the Other Reindeer has large feet.

Nell: She lives in The Barn and she’s out a lot at this time of year.

Me: I’ve had an idea.

Nell: Here we go.

Me: What if we asked Princess and Sir Roger Blubbery to slide around the floor?

Nell: Excuse me?

Me: They could clean it.

Nell: So now you want to introduce two large wet seals into the equation?

Me: It was just an idea.

Nell: You’ll be asking Malcolm to use his flamingo feathers as a duster next.

Me: Sorry.

Me: It’s a difficult day today, Nell.

Nell: Yes, it is.

Me: Remembering all those we have lost and who gave up their lives for others.

Me: Yes.

Nell: And it still goes on.

Me: It does. There is so much sadness in the world.

Nell: I’m afraid there is.

Me: It’s heartbreaking.

Nell: That’s why we have to hold on to what is good and always look for the light wherever we can.

Me: Yes. You’re right. Can you see the sea tractor in the distance making its way over to the island?

Nell: I can.

Me: It’s a bit like us. Even though the sea is rough we aren’t giving up. We’re quietly making our way forward and shining our little light.

Nell: Yes, we are.

Me: And if we can be of comfort to anyone, or put a smile on their face, that’s something, isn’t it?

Nell: It’s a lot. More than you realise.

Me: I think today is a curl up in front of the fire sort of day.

Nell: Yes. Time to remember your sister Alex.

Me: And our darling Poppy.

Nell: They’re together now you know, with Mutley, your mother and my dear Charlie.

Me: I’d like to think so.

Nell: Poppy says that’s enough, by the way.

Me: What is?

Nell: Enough gloom and doom. We should be celebrating those we have lost.

Me: Can we do it quietly then?

Nell: We can do it any way we like.

Me: “They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.”

Nell: Beautiful words.

Me: I felt they needed to be said. Sorry.

Nell: No sorries. Not today.

Me: Do you know what I’ve noticed about you recently?

Nell: No, but I know you’re going to tell me.

Me: You’re developing a soft side.

Nell: What are you talking about?

Me: Snuggling into cushions and resting your head on Harriet.

Nell: Harriet doesn’t mind.

Me: Both puppies love snuggling because they’ve never known anything else. You were always different.

Nell: You mean special.

Me: You’re all special, Nell, but yes, you’re my soul dog. I can’t deny it.

Nell: I should hope not.

Me: You’ve changed. Along with being even more demanding…

Nell: I beg your pardon?

Me: You bark orders at everyone nowadays, even strangers. You should hear yourself.

Nell: I’m simply offering advice.

Me: Anyway, along with offering advice you have started letting your guard down a little more often and enjoying a cuddle. It’s lovely to see.

Nell: Everyone needs a cuddle now and again.

Me: They do. I think it might be part of getting older. I can be a bit prickly and impatient sometimes.

Nell: Tell me about it.

Me: But I appreciate the beauty and the love around me so much more than I used to.

Nell: I know what you mean. Grief plays a role too.

Me: Yes. It’s been a hell of a year. I shall be glad when it’s over.

Nell: Don’t wish the days away.

Me: No, you’re right.

Nell: We need to think positively and look towards a happier future.

Me: Maybe we should try and see moving house as a big adventure instead of a sad farewell?

Nell: Yes. Kev was saying the same thing.

Me: We can do this, can’t we?

Nell: Of course we can. You and me. Always.

Me: Do you want a cuddle?

Nell: Appealing to my soft side?

Me: Yes. Sorry.