The Golden Coins Old Jack's Boat

Go on, Salty!

# Come with me, We're off to the sea

# To where I used to play

# Looking back when I was a boy And the fun we had each day

# Over the cobbles And through the streets

# Playing in the sun

# Friends to meet With games and treats

# Adventures just begun

# Stories from a magical world Washed in by the sea

# Meet the rock pool creatures there It's amazing what you see

# Looking back when I was a boy

# Shrimps and starfish Crabs and snails

# In twinkly Rockpool Tales

Ha-ha! # Those lovely Rockpool Tales. #

Oh, hello!

I'm looking for Salty's brush because her coat is in a bit of a tangle.

I don't know where I put it. Where did you leave it, Salty?

Come on, tell me where it is... Oh, there we are.

Now, I must have put it there, I'm sorry.

You come and sit down next to me. That's it, yes.

Look at the state of you. Now, you sit down there. Sit down, beautiful.

Look at that. Now, this isn't something you can rush, you know.

You've got to be slow and steady and then we'll get the job done.

That's a bit better. You look beautiful now, you really do.

Good girl. Yes.

I got myself in a few tangles over the years as well.

But there was one particular time I remember.

Good girl, you sit nicely and I'll tell you the story.

I'll tell you the story as well.

It all happened when I was a boy

in a twinkly time long, long ago.

I used to run down to play on the beach as often as I could,

meeting up with my best friend Little Sailor Sue.

One day I took my kite to the beach to show Sue.

I'd made it myself with brown paper and string

and I was very proud of it.

We took it down to the shoreline to fly it.

Well, it wasn't easy.

I had to hold on tight to the string

because the wind kept tugging at it greedily.

"Sorry, wind!" I cried. "It's my kite, not yours."

"I made it myself."

Well, that made the wind a bit grumpy and it blew extra hard

and whipped the kite out of my hand.

We ran after it as it blew off towards the rock pools.

It looked like it was going to land in one of them and get wet

but Sue caught it just in time.

When I looked at the string,

it was all tangled up in the seaweed on the edge of one of the rock pools,

so we knelt down and we tried to untangle it.

As we gazed deep down into the glittery waters,

a magical world appeared before our eyes.

On this particular day in the rock pool,

Sidney the Snail had been slowly inching along the sandy floor.

"I love the blue of the pool, I do."

"I love each rock and shell."

"I love the frondy seaweed too

"And the yellow sand as well."

When Bertrum the Butterfish whizzed passed at such a speed

he caused a little cloud of sand to whirl up and float down again.

"I can't stop to chat," Bertrum said. "I have a very important job to do.

"The seaweed is in a terrible mess and I must untangle it."

Sidney looked at the seaweed and it was indeed in a terrible tangle.

"Shall I help you? I like untangling things," Sidney offered.

"No, thanks," said Bertrum.

"I need to get in done quickly and everybody knows that a

"slow snail like you can't help a fast fish like me."

Then Bertrum shot off again.

"Rush, rush, what a fuss," Sidney mumbled to himself.

Meanwhile, high in the sky in the world up top

someone else was rushing.

It was Brenda the Stork.

Yes, that's right, Salty,

Brenda the Stork, a dear old friend of ours, isn't she?

We've sometimes seen her on our fishing adventures.

Anyway, Brenda was rushing to deliver a little pot of gold coins

to the end of the rainbow before it disappeared.

But as she rushed, the pot wobbled,

sending the gold coins tumbling downwards into the rock pool below.

They twirly-whirled through the water and scattered all over.

One landed on the sandy floor, one landed on the mossy rocks,

another fell into a little crevice, while another landed amongst

Sally the Starfish's shell collection.

There was even one that fell into the tangly seaweed.

And Sidney saw all this with the wide-eyed wonder.

But before he could look any closer, Buster the Crab appeared.

"Emergency," Buster snapped, clacking his claws. "Everybody gather round."

As soon as the rockpoolers heard Buster's call, they all appeared.

Bertrum zoomed in, causing another little sand cloud.

Sidney noticed that as the sand settled back down,

it covered up the golden coins.

"What's wrong, Buster, why is there an emergency?" Bertrum asked.

"Brenda the Stork has dropped some precious golden coins

"into our rock pool," said Buster.

"She was delivering a pot of them to the rainbow's end."

"Has anyone seen them?" BARKING

But none of the rock poolers had seen the coins except Sidney.

Sidney tried to tell his friends what he had seen

but nobody would listen.

"We'd better find them quickly," said Buster,

"before there rainbow disappears."

"I'm sure I can help," said Sidney the Snail eagerly,

"because..." "No, you're too slow,"

Bertrum the Butterfish interrupted.

"This is a job for a fast fish like me.

"I was going to untangle the seaweed but, erm,

"I'll have to do that later."

"If we all help to find the coins, we'll get the job done quicker,"

Sally suggested. "All right," said Bertrum,

"but I'll be in charge."

"Let me know if you find anything."

The rockpoolers went off to look for the golden coins.

Sidney was the slowest. He inched his way along the sandy floor.

"I'm sure I saw a coin land near here," he said to himself.

Sweep, sweep, he gently brushed the sand with his feelers and,

suddenly, he saw something glint.

"Oh! I think I've found it," he said.

BARKING

Yes, Salty, yes, yes, he was a very clever sea snail.

But Sheena the Shrimp had seen the coin glint too.

And before Sidney could say anything,

she'd plucked it up with her long antenna. "A coin!

"I must show Bertrum," she chortled and off she bobbed.

"I was the one who found it, really," Sidney mumbled to himself.

Yes, I agree, poor Sidney, Salty. Yeah, that's right, yeah.

Well, he inched his way over to the mossy rocks where

he thought he'd seen another gold coin land earlier.

So sweep, sweep, he gently brushed the moss with his feelers.

Something glittered. "Oh, here's one," he said happily.

BARKING

That's right, Salty, looks like Sidney found one this time.

Andrew the Anemone had seen the glitter of the golden coin too

and before Sidney could say anything,

he'd plucked it up with his tentacles and held it high, like a trophy.

"Bertrum, where are you?!" he cried. "Look what I've found."

WHINING Yes, Salty, yes.

Poor Sidney. Yes, anyway.

He inched his way towards Sally the Starfish's

shell collection this time.

"I'm sure I saw a coin land here," he said.

And then he saw a twinkle amongst the periwinkles

but Sally saw it too.

"Shimmering shells," she cried,

scooping up the coin with one of her arms. "I've found one!"

WHINING Yes, I know, Salty, poor Sidney, eh?

Whenever he found a golden coin, one of his friends grabbed it

from underneath his nose.

Soon, his friends had found nearly all the golden coins.

They wanted to show them to Bertrum but they couldn't seem to find him.

Just then they heard someone shouting from the seaweed.

"Oh, ah, agggrgh!

"Help!"

The rockpoolers rushed over to see who it was.

Ha-ha BARKING

Well, would you believe it, it was Bertrum.

He'd been rushing around so much he'd become tangled in the seaweed!

Luckily, Sidney the Snail inched into action.

"Keep very still, this is a job for a slow snail like me,"

"not a fast fish like you," he told Bertrum.

Sidney took hold of the seaweed fronds and ever so patiently

he started to untangle them.

"I'm free," said Bertrum eventually.

"You've saved me, Sidney."

"And, look, you've untangled the seaweed as well."

It was true. The seaweed looked lovely.

Just then the last gold coin fell out of the seaweed

and landed on the tip of Sidney's shell.

"We've found all the coins now," said Sally.

"So you have," said Bertrum,

looking at the pile of coins his friends had found without him.

"Let's get them back to Brenda the Stork," said Buster.

"We need to be careful, we don't want to lose them again."

"That sounds like a job for a super slow and steady snail,

"like you, Sidney," said Bertrum, grinning.

So Sidney balanced all the coins on the tip of his shell.

Slowly and steadily he delivered them to the rock on top, back to Brenda.

"Thank you, said Brenda. "You are a particularly super sea snail."

And she flew off towards the rainbow.

Nice work, Sidney.

For the rest of the day, the rockpoolers played happily

in the rock pool.

Even Bertrum joined in because Sidney had untangled the seaweed for him.

And I had untangled my kite string by then.

So we headed back down the beach to fly it.

The wind was still a bit wild, so I held on tightly to the string.

Out at sea, guess what we saw?

Can you guess?

Yes, it was a rainbow.

It really was a wonderful sight.

Then we took turns to fly my kite as high as a rainbow

until it was time to go home.

And the tide started to come in and cover over the rock pool

like a great seaweedy blanket.

Come on, girl.

So you see, Salty, it's good to be slow and steady sometimes.

Especially when you don't want to get into a tangle

and you're not in a tangle any more. You look beautiful, girl.

Yes, all ready for a walk on the beach, are we? Good.

So why don't you join us for some more Rockpool Tales next time?

Goodbye.

Come on, girl.