A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond

Author:David Almond
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2015-10-12T16:00:00+00:00

SEVEN

We sang songs from childhood as we headed further north.

My bonny lies over the ocean.

Nobody seemed to mind. We sang sweetly, good-humouredly. We were nice young folk, no bother to anybody. Some little boys sitting with their mothers sang along with us.

The day was fine, sun shining on the fields, breeze making the tips of the trees dance. We left Tyneside behind, we crossed the ancient healed coalfield, we saw the sea shining. At Amble, bright boats danced their way to Coquet Island. Beyond here, the road followed the coast, and the beautiful places started, the places of dunes and castles and long white beaches. Sparkling rivers danced to the surging sea. There were stone-built harbours, and little natural harbours called havens. Fishing boats rested on shingle and lobster pots were stacked up by black timber sheds. Orange nets were stretched out across the rocks to dry.

We whooped and pointed through the windows as we went through Seahouses.

“Oh, I used to love this place!” called Michael.

“Fish and chips from Coxons!”

“Those boats from the gift shop made out of shells!”

“Yeah! And rocks shaped like walking sticks and full English breakfasts!”

“And sugar dummies!”

“And mermaids made of sea coal!”

“And that ice-cream shop there!”

“And look! The kipper man!”

We twisted in our seats as we drove on, to look back and remember until we could see no more.

And then the miles of dunes right by the road, and the Farnes stretching away across the sea, and then the great red castle on its rock above Bamburgh village, and the thrill of arrival, the thrill of hauling out rucksacks and bags from the bus, and walking in a happy crew down The Wynding to the beach, and the sound of the sea, and the scent of it, and gulls screaming above.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.