Footprints in the Sand

Footprints in the Sand
Chloe Rayban

The first of two exciting titles in the new BACK-2-BACK series. Told with an authentic teenage voice, these stories really hit the right note.Miranda’s story – she’s an only child on holiday with her recently-divorced mother, hoping to get away from it all, but finding herself on a grotty Greek island in the worst hotel ever, where even the Coke is warm! Life is miserable, until she spots a dream-on-a-windsurf, zig-zagging across the bay…Mark’s story – he’s backpacking with a couple of mates and they wind up on a remote Greek island, but some hippies rip off their money and passports. His mates depart but Mark decides to make the most of a bad job – after all, if he works at the taverna he’ll get an hour off every day to windsurf – his passion. He’s noticed the snooty babe in the hotel, so why does she think she’s so great? Can love transform the ugliest of places…?

footprints

in the sand

Lucy’s side of the story…

CHLOË RAYBAN

with grateful thanks toNick Price for his help with the windsurfing

Contents

Cover (#u4df97441-960a-593f-9065-2e2926dbcb7d)

Title Page (#u85090aee-7369-5c52-aa4f-76bf9e18333a)

Chapter One (#ubec9115a-0495-523a-baf3-f820222be665)

Chapter Two (#uf0601fa4-6d58-5e41-8d1d-0373703c9ec8)

Chapter Three (#u24ed1dae-ed1c-5927-888e-cd320d1c5e53)

Chapter Four (#u16dd4711-db70-5995-9276-0a0a10c1b71f)

Chapter Five (#u8744ff9d-8cce-575e-8e30-7e796be2d165)

Chapter Six (#u4148ea6d-e4e7-5791-8ee2-4aa30a152e5d)

Chapter Seven (#u75b920d8-4c55-572a-aad2-59dce78f267d)

Chapter Eight (#ucd62d6ec-e456-52c4-9df2-ea3d391d510e)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Keep Reading (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter One (#ulink_deef67bb-daf6-5df8-afa4-d15dbd32a707)

‘Mu-um! Have you read this?’

My mother looked up from her reading with one of her intentionally vague expressions.

‘Umm – guide book, yes – no… Not sure. Think so.’

‘You can’t have. It sounds ghastly. Listen to this…’

I put on my official travel guide voice and read:

‘The island’s relative fertility can seem scraggy and unkempt when compared with its neighbours. These characteristics, plus the lack of spectacularly good beaches, meant that until the late 1980s very few visitors discovered Lexos. The tiny airport which cannot accommodate jets still means that the island is relatively unspoilt. Not that the island particularly encourages tourism – it’s a sleepy peaceful place populated mainly by local fishermen.

‘Unusually for a small island, Lexos has abundant ground water, channelled into a system of small lakes. These make for an active mosquito population…’

Mum cut in. ‘Well, it sounds fabulous in this – listen. “Lexos – undiscovered paradise of the Aegean.” Smashing picture too.’

I leaned over her shoulder. She was leafing through a glossy tourist brochure. She thrust the cover under my nose.

‘It’s only a pot of geraniums and a bit of blue sea. It could be anywhere.’

‘Well, I’m intending to enjoy this holiday Lucy – whatever.’

I sat back in the airline seat and put my Walkman on. ‘Undiscovered’ – typical. I reckon she’d done this on purpose.

Neither of us had actually said anything, but we both knew it was going to be our last holiday together. By all rights I would have gone inter-railing with Migs and Louisa – three girls off round Europe together, what a laugh. That’s what I’d intended to do. But just when we’d got all the arguments over our itinerary sorted out, Mum had this phone call…

Dad was getting married again.

I don’t know why it got to her so much, they’d been divorced for years – five years at least. Everything had settled down. She’d seemed perfectly happy. But after the call she got this sort of thin-lipped look on her face, like I remembered from way back, when they separated.

‘You know what you need – a really good holiday,’ I said.

“Yes, you’re right. I do. I know I do. Why don’t we go somewhere right away from it all?’ she said.

‘We’. I hadn’t actually fixed anything with Migs and Louisa. I mean, we hadn’t booked the tickets yet.

She looked at me, all kind of bright-eyed and expectant. So I nodded and left it at that. I hoped she’d forget about it. But then, a day or so later, she came up with this plan. She wanted us both to go to the Greek islands just around the time Dad was due to get married. I had no intention of going to the wedding anyway. I didn’t like Sue, Dad’s ‘partner’ much. And Mum seemed so set on the idea, so I hadn’t the heart to refuse.