May turned out to be a scorcher so the family spent as much time as possible on the beach.  When Sarah could not go, she allowed David and Anna to swim in the sea alone.  However, they were under strict orders not to go any deeper than the tops of their legs.  Sarah made sure that her rules were not broken by spying on them unexpectedly.  She was also comforted by the fact that a pair of conscientious Seaboard Inspectors kept an eye on her kids as they did with everyone who went into the sea. 

            However despite Sarah’s safety standards, a story emerged that David and Anna had been seen drifting dangerously out to see on inflatables....

             It all began when Sarah took Jason and Jessica after their nap to the beach to join David and Anna.  She was approached by one of the seaboard inspectors, Russ Jennings, who informed her of the afternoon’s drama.

            “Thought I’d put you in the picture,” Russ began.  “Some woman made an emergency call about your kids.  She said that they were way out of their depth, drifting on rubber rings right out to sea, metres beyond the end of the pier.”

            “What?” Sarah asked, frowning. “I don’t believe it.  My kids know that they’re not allowed to go any deeper than here [marking the spot on herself.]  They know that if they venture out any further I will know because I often pop down without them knowing just to check up on them.  And if I do see something I’m not happy with then they’ll have spoilt it for themselves because they’ll be banned from coming to the beach alone.”

            “Oh, don’t worry.  I’m well aware of that.  I think you’ve got great kids.  They’re friendly, polite, well disciplined.... I’ve never seen them doing anything that they shouldn’t be doing and I’ve never had to tell them off.  Not once.  They’re angels compared to a lot of the little buggers who come down here giving us cheek, getting themselves into deep water [literally] and behaving like little idiots.  We’re forever calling them in or calling the police on them…. but with your two, I was able to tell the coastguard that they’ve never been in any danger.  I told him that the woman caller must need glasses.”

            “Oh, thank God for that,” Sarah breathed a sigh of relief.  “Only I’ve had to put up with so much stick from my bloody-minded ex that I can’t turn around for social services or police knowing about it.  He’s trying to get me or my kids into trouble, you see. His aim is to get custody of these two here.”

            “Well I don’t know what it was all about.  Everything was as it usually is and then the next minute, Al, the coastguard, comes tearing up to me asking me about these two kids who are supposed to be drifting off out yonder....”

            “So, she, the woman, called the coastguard?”

            “No, she called the police and they automatically alerted the coastguard.”

            “What was her name?” queried Sarah.

            “Potter, I think.  Don’t know if it was Miss or Mrs.   Did you get the woman’s full name Tim?” shouted Russ to his colleague Tim Hughes.

            “Er, no.  Potter wasn’t it?  Al’s got the details,” replied Tim, sauntering over.

            “Thought so,” pondered Sarah.  “Probably Kim - Greg’s [my ex’s] daughter.”

            At this point David and Anna emerged from the water and legged it over to where their mother stood nattering.

            “Mum, mum, Kim was watching us earlier on.  She was sitting up there with an older woman,” jabbered David, pointing to a bench on the promenade.  “She was there for quite a long time - fifteen minutes or so, just looking at us.  She was on her mobile too.”

            “Sounds like it must be her then,” Sarah said to Russ. “Did you get an address?”

            “No, I didn’t.  I can ask Al for you though.”

            “Yes, please.  Anything else?”

            “Um, she mentioned your kids’ names, so she obviously knows them.  The coastguard arranged to meet her here but she didn’t turn up.  Al drove up and down the prom looking for her.”

            “Well that proves she knows she’s done wrong.  You don’t go making hoax calls, especially to emergency services.  What if someone was genuinely in difficulty at sea?  Someone could’ve died because of her ill-natured actions.  I hope the coastguard has got her identity and I hope she’s prosecuted for her mean little prank.”

            “If she was that worried about them, she’d have swam out to sea and rescued them herself,” quipped Russ.

            “Quite,” smiled Sarah.  But on their way home she got a very uneasy feeling about the whole thing.  Obviously this had something to do with Greg.  Why would anyone else be so spiteful as to make such a nasty allegation?  Her gut instincts told her that although the seaboard inspectors appeared to be on her side, she doubted their innocence.  She was sure that they knew rather more than they were letting on.  It was all a bit vague and far-fetched.  David and Anna said that they hadn’t seen a coastguard and that for most of the time that they were in the water Russ and Tim were sat in their cars reading newspapers as they usually were during the week when the beach was quiet.

            Over the next couple of weeks Sarah repeatedly asked for more details on the mystery caller and although both Russ and Tim kept telling her they’d check with Al, they didn’t manage to get any answers for her until finally she was told that Al didn’t know any more.

            Questions buzzed about her brain like bluebottles around a bin. Why didn’t they know the full name and address of the woman?  The first thing any emergency service does is get a caller’s full identity.  Why would a coastguard waste valuable resources walking along a beach looking for an unknown woman when a swift call to one of the seaboard inspectors would’ve assured him that her kids were safe?  Why were Russ and Tim being evasive?