Cassie headed back at top speed and as she reached the shallows, Mark was shepherding the others from the water. ‘Sea snake,’ he explained as he led Nadia to the seat under the umbrella. ‘Gave them all a bit of a fright.’ ‘Oh, dear! Oh, dear!’ Nadia stood trembling, her eyes wide. The colour had left her face and she gasped as she spoke. ‘I am sorry to have made such a fuss, but it was such a big snake. And it was coming straight towards us. I thought it was going to attack us.’ She turned to Cassie. ‘Are they poisonous when they are in the water?’ ‘Yes, they are. You had every reason to be frightened.’ ‘When I splashed and hit the water, it turned and swam away. Thank God!’ ‘Why don’t we have lunch now?’ asked Mark. ‘We’ve probably all had enough swimming for now. You stay here, Mother. Cassie and I’ll go back to the boat and bring the food.’ ‘All right. Thank you. The children can stay here with me but they are not to go back in the water.’ ‘We can go over to the rocks and look for crabs.
