Alice was woken by a sound she had never heard before. The rag dolls looked out of the window and there by the river was a large bird with feathers and a red-feathered head. It was going ‘cock-a-doodle-do’, and was waking everybody up, even the fish in the river. Alice and Alfie heard Jacques go out of the door of the windmill and say to himself, “That noisy cockerel has come back again.” By the time he had finished cock-a-doodle-doing everybody was awake.

Jacques had to make flour that day; he set in motion the wheels that started turning the big sails on the windmill. The noise was very loud. Alice said to Alfie, “I could not stand the noise of the cockerel and the windmill. Let’s go out for the day.”

Alice and Alfie climbed down the ladder at the side of the window and walked along the side of the riverbank. Two big birds flew down in front of them.

Alice said to them, “What sort of birds are you?” as she had never seen birds like that before. They told her they were seagulls. Alfie said, “Where do you live?” and they told him that they lived by the seaside. Alice said, “What is the seaside?” One seagull told them that it is where there is a sandy beach and seawater and where children love to play with the sand and in the water.

Alice asked, “How do we get there?”

The birds replied that it was a very long way and it would take a long time to walk there. “If you like we could take you there,” they said.

Alfie asked, “How can you take us?”

They replied, “Jump on our backs and we will fly you there.” Alice said to Alfie, “Please, please can we?”

Alfie agreed to go and so they jumped up onto the back of the birds who said, “Up, up and off we go. Hold on tight and we will be there before you know.”

The birds flew over the magic windmill and saw the sails going round. They showed the birds where they lived and the seagulls told them that they would bring them back safely. They flew over the magic castle and for one moment they thought they spotted the horrible witch OLIVE, but it was only a flash of the magician’s spells that came from the castle.

As they flew, they saw the sea in the distance. It was shining blue and bright. The seagulls landed on the beach behind some rocks and told the rag dolls to be careful because the tide goes in and out. They said they would be back that night to pick them both up and off they flew up, up and away.

As Alice and Alfie looked over the top of the rocks they could see children playing and swimming in the sea. They had buckets and spades and flags.

Alice said to Alfie, “Can we go and play with the buckets and spades in the sand?” He agreed but he told her they must make sure the children did not see them.

The rag dolls built sand castles and put the flags on the top of them. All of a sudden they saw the children coming back, and they ran and hid behind some rocks. They heard them talking, “Who has made these beautiful sand castles?” They looked around but nobody was there. The children said to one another it must be magic. Alice started to giggle, and Alfie whispered to her to be quiet.

Alice felt something tickle her feet and she looked down and saw a large crab. The crab looked up at her and said, “Don’t be scared of me, I won’t bite as long as you don’t eat me.”

Alice replied, “Why would we want to eat you?” “Mummies and daddies do. That is why I run sideways so they can’t catch me.”

Alice said, “Can you show us how you run sideways so they can’t catch you?” The crab showed them his sideways run and they had never laughed so much. He said, “It does work, you know. I am over twenty years old and have never been on a plate yet. Anyway I must go now as my dinner is coming in on the next tide.”

All the children had gone and had left a small boat on the sand. The tide was coming in fast and it was pushing the boat nearer and nearer some rocks. All of a sudden Alice and Alfie realised that they were stranded. Alice said, “Quick, grab the boat” and they both jumped in. The tide was pushing them out to sea and they started to get frightened.

It was cold and getting dark and in the distance the sun was going down. Alice said, “I wish we were back at the windmill,” and she began to cry.

There was a flash of light and the moon came down and said, “Don’t be frightened, the seagulls are on their way.” The rag dolls looked up in the sky and they spotted the seagulls flying towards them.

They landed on the boat, and one said, “Jump on our backs and we will take you to the windmill.”

The rag dolls lay on the windowsill and Alice said, “What a lovely day.” Alfie agreed and said goodnight. Suddenly the moon tapped on the window and said to them, “Remember, the beach is fun but the sea is the boss, so never make him cross.”

“Go to sleep have sweet dreams. Nichole is near so do not fear, God bless you.”

“Oh, Alice, wasn’t Mr. Crab funny?”