Merida At the Beach
"Merida sweetheart, wake up." said Queen Elinor sweetly one morning. Merida sleepily rolled over in her bed and stretched sleepily. "What's going on Mum? It's really early." said Merida with a large yawn. Just then, Fergus came into the room with a large green beach bag and placed it onto the bed next to Merida. "What's all this for Dad? Are we going away for a month?" asked Merida curiously as she sat up in bed and turned on her bedside lamp. "Your father and I are taking you to the beach today." said Elinor excitedly as she pulled out Merida's two-piece bathing suit. Merida's sparkling blue eyes widened in surprise and her mouth hung open in excitement. Obviously she was very excited. Then, she finally regained her voice. "But what about the boys?" she asked curiously. "Maudie will be taking care of them for the time that we're gone, it'll just be the three of us, just like the days before they came into our lives." said Fergus as he gently ruffled Merida's hair lovingly. Merida sighed with relief. No wee devils to be chasing after all day long and no scolding them for whatever they did wrong. It was just going to be the king and queen and their precious princess. "Well, let's have breakfast and get ready to go." said Elinor as she opens the curtains in Merida's window. Merida stretched and got out of bed and made up the bedclothes. In the dining hall, the three boys were wondering why their sister and parents looked so happy and cheerful. Usually, they were worn out by the boys' antics. "Why are Mum and Dad smiling like that Harris?" asked Hamish curiously as he took a bite of egg. "I don't know Hamish." whispered back Harris as he buttered the opposite side of Merida's toast while she wasn't looking. Hubert on the other hand, sneakily put a piece of sausage into Merida's apple juice. When Merida went to pick up her toast, she shrieked with alarm. Both sides of her toast were buttered with thick ooey gooey butter! She then went to pick up her cup of juice and she then saw a piece of sausage floating in it. "BOYS!" scolded Merida angrily. She hated it when they teased her like that. It was a good thing that Fergus and Elinor were taking her to the beach and not those pesky boys. "You boys are staying with Maudie as a punishment for what you just did to your sister, you should be ashamed of yourselves." said Elinor sternly as she wagged her finger angrily at her three sons. Harris crossed his arms in an angry huff, Hubert's lips quivered and Hamish started bawling like a baby in his plate, resulting in getting his food all soggy with his tears. Fergus's face softened at seeing how sad his boys were. Merida and Elinor exchanged weary frowns at each other. They didn't know exactly what they were going to do with the boys or how they were going to discipline them. Elinor then squeezed Merida's hand, knowing how stressed out she felt. On the other hand, they were glad that they were going to the beach for the day without the boys tagging along, for it would give them a break. Maudie on the other hand, let out a heavy sigh. She was in for a day of handling those three wee devils who rarely behaved as princes. After breakfast, it was time for everyone to get dressed. Merida wore her sea green bathing suit under her dress and she wore her usual boots and put away her sandals in her beach bag. Fergus and Elinor did the same and soon enough, they were ready to hit the road. Harris, Hubert and Hamish on the other hand, were displeased about their parents and sister going away for the day. They never got to do anything exciting or fun. They were always being bossed around and disciplined often for their shortcomings. In fact, the day was perfect for going to the beach, it was a warm 25 degrees Celsius and it was sunny and there were a few puffy white clouds in the bright blue sky. The boys sighed heavily and went to play ball in the large backyard behind the castle with the hound dogs following at their heels, their tongues hanging out due to their constant panting. Before the threesome left, Merida decided to go to the stable to feed Angus. "It's a hot one today Angus, you'll need to drink plenty of water." said Merida as she filled his water trough to the brim with water. Angus nodded and swished his tail lovingly at Merida. She then proceeded to brush out his mane and try to make him feel cooled down. "You'll have to try and stay in the shade today lad, the sun is hot and bright." said Merida as she patted her trusty Clydesdale fondly. Soon, a car horn was heard. Fergus and Elinor had gone ahead and gotten the car out of the garage and they were telling Merida that it was time for her to get going. "I have to go laddie, but I'll be back this evening." promised Merida joyfully as she gives Angus a loving kiss on his forehead. Angus whinnies softly as he watched Merida hurry over to the car and got into the front passenger seat beside her mother, who was driving. Fergus was in the back seat, making sure that the picnic basket wouldn't topple over during the drive to the beach. The boys raced up the driveway to watch their parents drive away and they gave them all a sad good-bye wave. Fergus winked at them, promising the boys that they would go to the beach as a family some day, providing that they behaved. The boys smiled and scampered off to the back yard once more to play ball while Maudie was busy in the kitchen. Merida gazed out of the front windshield and turned on the radio to a rock station. She wanted the family to be revved up for their trip to the beach, never mind the Gaelic songs that they listened to on a regular basis. She then turned up the volume, which made the atmosphere in the car a lot more exciting. Everyone was certainly perky and cheerful, which was what Merida had been aiming for. The song "Surfing U.S.A." came on the speakers and soon, everyone in the Buick was singing along to it. Fergus of course, was belting it out the loudest of them all, trying to burst off Elinor and Merida's ear drums. But of course, both Elinor and Merida were laughing their heads off hysterically at Fergus's wild antics. "Oh Dad, you're the best back seat driver I've ever known!" said Merida between hearty chortles. "I'm a better front seat driver though." replied Fergus as he patted Merida's shoulder affectionately. Merida grinned and squeezed her father's knee fondly. It was then quiet in the Dunbroch car, for no one spoke, just enjoyed the serenity of the moment. There were no boys being mischievous, no fighting or crying or whining. It was just plain quiet. Elinor sighed contentedly. She wished that they could do this more often. Merida seemed to agree, for she was daydreaming happily as she watched the landscape go lazily by before her. Fergus pulled out a book from his beach bag and began to read from it while Elinor concentrated on driving the car onward. Half an hour later, they came to a gas station to fill up the car. Fergus got out and filled up the gas tank so that his loving wife didn't have to do it. Elinor detested getting the gas tank filled, for it was filthy work. Only Fergus and Merida seemed to enjoy this filthy chore every time they went to the pumps. Then, Merida got out of the car and went into the store to get some sunscreen and three large bottles of water. She knew that if she and her parents didn't take the right precautions, their day at the beach would land them in the hospital. Merida wasn't willing to take any chances of that happening. Not one bit. For her purchases, it cost her $5.75 including tax. She then paid for the gas as well, saving her dad from having to go into the store. She then came back to the car and got into the front seat and buckled her seatbelt up. "Merida, what have you got there sweetheart?" asked Elinor surprised. "I went to get us some water and sunscreen Mum." said Merida as she showed her parents the large bag. "I knew that we had forgotten something." groaned Fergus from the back seat. "It's lucky we have Merida with us." pointed out Elinor as she patted Merida fondly on her shoulder. "It's waterproof and it has an SPF of 50." said Merida proudly as she showed them the large bottle of coconut scented sunscreen. There were also three water bottles which were each holding two liters of fresh cold water. "A queen stays hydrated, remember?" said Merida as she hands her mother her water bottle. "You're right sweetheart, I certainly want to stay hydrated when I end up losing so much water in this heat." smiled Elinor as she took a swig from her water bottle. Fergus did the same in the back seat of the car. Merida smiled sweetly at her parents, feeling good that she had helped them to stay safe during their trip to the beach. To celebrate how proud she felt of herself, Merida took a large swig from her own water bottle. Meanwhile, back at the Dunbroch castle, Harris, Hamish and Hubert were flying their kites. Hamish and Harris had gotten their kites up in the air, but Hubert's kite was falling down a lot. "You're not standing in the direction of the wind." said Harris to Hubert who had a dejected look on his face. Hubert sighed and advanced towards his brothers, where finally his kite took flight. They were having a great time, until Harris got his kite stuck up in a tree. How could he get it down? He would have to ask Maudie for her help. But before he could, she came outside to see what they were up to. She sighed heavily and helped Harris get his kite down from the tree. Harris feeling happy again, resumed flying his kite. A short time later, Fergus, Elinor and Merida arrived at the beach. It was a beautiful beach, with white sands, a lot of changing and bathroom facilities, a large picnic area, crystal clear water and ever so much more. As soon as Elinor got the car into a parking space, Merida was the first one to jump out of the car with delighted excitement. She could hardly wait to get her sandals on and stretch out on the sands. But first, she took the car keys from her mother and popped open the trunk to get their luggage out. Fergus's job was to lug the picnic basket which was very heavy, three folding lawn chairs and his beach bag, which he was fully capable of doing. Merida and Elinor on the other hand, helped lug each other's bags plus the bag of water bottles and sunscreen bottles that Merida had previously purchased that morning. Once Merida and her parents got onto the sand, they found a perfect spot to set up their lawn chairs and large parasol umbrella. This beach was called Castle Cove and it was a perfect place for families of all shapes and sizes to come and spend a tranquil day by the sea washing their worries away. Merida then took off her dress and put on her sandals and then, she applied some sunscreen onto her skin. She then plopped a large sunhat onto her head and dark tinted sunglasses over her eyes. She was now ready to enjoy her day at the beach. Fergus and Elinor on the other hand, took a little longer to get ready to enjoy their relaxing day at the beach. In fact, it was a beautiful day at Castle Cove. The waves were softly lapping against the shoreline and the seagulls were lazily flying in the air without a simple care in the world. In fact, it took Merida and her parents an hour and a half to get to Castle Cove from their home. The first thing that Merida decided to do was go for a walk around the beach. Fergus and Elinor watched Merida go off and a smile stretched itself upon their faces. She walked across a boardwalk leading to a balcony that overlooked the whole beach. From up there, Merida could see where she had previously left her parents. She could also see that the tide was rising. Soon, she knew the tide would be tickling her parents' feet and they would have to move a few paces up the beach unless they wanted to have their feet wet. Merida also noticed that they were the only people apart from the lifeguards on the beach. Everybody else had gone to the colder beaches in Scotland where they could get cooled down before viewing Loch Ness and Nessie. As Merida came back down to the sands, she noticed that there were shells buried in the sand. She had remembered to bring a satchel to put the shells in should she find some shells that interested her. As she approached the water's edge, she noticed that a conch shell was half sticking out of the sand, beckoning her to pick it up. Merida did so, thinking that perhaps this shell would bring her good luck. She remembered Elinor telling her if you put a conch shell up to your ear, you could hear the ocean. For a second, Merida listened to the sounds of the mighty Atlantic Ocean. It sounded very soothing to her ear. A smile slowly creased itself on her face as she continued to listen to the softly lapping waves of the ocean. This would sooth her to sleep should she have a rough night. When Merida returned to her parents, she proudly showed them the conch shell. Both gasped in surprise. Next, all three took turns listening intently to the sound of the ocean. Fergus thought that he heard a whale through the shell, which resulted in both Merida and Elinor laughing as he impersonated a blue whale. "Dad, you would make a great comedian." said Merida between chuckles. "Ya think so me wee darlin?" asked Fergus with a grin. "You would Dad, you'd be a huge hit on Comedy Central." said Merida with a large smile on her freckled face. Next, the whole family put in a great effort to build a large sandcastle. As it turned out, it was as tall as Mor'du! But all in all, it was a very beautiful sand palace and it had taken nearly all morning to construct and it had also taken a lot of elbow grease from the threesome. At the very top, Merida placed a clam shell to decorate it. Next, the family stood beside the castle and posed for a picture. In fact, it turned out beautifully. Merida had even made the king, queen, prince and princess as well as a horse all out of sand. Everything looked so realistic. Elinor actually thought that Merida would make a fine sculptor one day. So did Fergus. "Thanks, but I couldn't have done this without you." said Merida grinning as she joyfully hugged her parents. Back at the castle, Maudie had fixed lunch and the boys were hungrily digging into their sandwiches. While they were eating their lunch, Maudie hoped that she could have some time to herself. But as usual, she had to tend to every little accident that happened while the boys ate. Back at the beach meanwhile, Fergus had spread out the picnic blanket and the three were ready to enjoy their picnic under the large beach umbrella emblazoned with the Dunbroch clan symbol. In fact, there was plenty to eat in the picnic basket, but most of it was finger foods. For a drink, everyone had some delicious lemonade and to sweeten it, they added some water from their large water bottles that Merida had bought earlier that day. After lunch was concluded, Elinor and Merida had a nap on the large picnic blanket and they were using their towels for blankets. Fergus on the other hand, went for a walk around the beach to burn off some calories. As he left, he smiled at his sleeping wife and daughter and blew them each a kiss to wish them sweet dreams and a nice nap. In fact, they deserved a nice refreshing nap, for they never got to indulge in this peaceful afternoon activity often, since they had to chase after the triplets. As Elinor and Merida slept, the breezes from the sea tickled their cheeks and their hair blew gently away from their faces. Merida then snuggled close to her mother, who gently put a loving arm across her sleeping daughter's waist, which prompted Merida to sleep deeper as did Elinor. Fergus then discovered a little shop that sold such things as ice-cream cones, hotdogs, chips and other such things. He decided to get some hotdogs for their supper and since he had a cooler in the picnic basket, he got three large ice-cream cones. He got vanilla for Elinor, strawberry for himself and chocolate for Merida. There was even some Kit Kat pieces in the chocolate ice-cream. For a drink, he got everyone some milk. Then, he took the long way back to where Elinor and Merida were peacefully sleeping. Fergus had even gotten them some chips to eat with the hotdogs. The hotdogs were freshly grilled on the BBQ and they had ketchup and other toppings available with them so that everyone could make their own hotdogs. There were two hotdogs each and there was also one bag of chips. Fergus got a bag of All Dressed chips, Elinor got a bag of plain and Merida got a bag of sour cream and onion chips. When Elinor and Merida awoke, everyone went swimming in the ocean. Merida was the first one to jump into the cool water while her parents took a little while longer to adjust to the water's cooler temperature. When Merida was up to her waist in the water, her parents were only wading in shallows that were up to their ankles. Some waves were so powerful that they knocked Merida off of her feet and she ended up floating on her back for a few minutes while she let the wave sweep overtop of her. "Fergus, I don't know how Merida does it, she's obviously in the water up to her waist and she's not cold." said Elinor as she shivered, her body turning blue. "She's young Elinor, the young ones have a way of dealing with the cold, while we older ones get cold easier." said Fergus as he wrapped his large arm around Elinor's waist to keep her warmed up. "Also, she's a brave one, she's known to chase the wind and touch the sky." said Elinor cheerily as she leaned her head lovingly onto Fergus's broad shoulder. "What's taking you two slow pokes so long? The water's beautiful!" cried Merida delightedly as she swam and splashed in waters that were chest deep. "We're coming sweetheart, don't rush us." said Elinor as she smiled sweetly at Merida, who was having a fantastic time in the surf. Soon, the threesome were having a splash fight and Merida was winning. Then, Fergus hoisted Merida up onto his shoulders and swam the length of the beach at top speed. It was just like old times when Merida had been a little girl and Fergus had done this with her on land, giving her a horse ride which was better than what Angus could accomplish. Next, Merida rolled off of her dad's back and fell into the water with a small splash. She then resurfaced, her red curls all frizzy since her hair was drenched. She then swam over to her mother who was inspecting a five-point starfish. It seemed to be trapped in a bunch of loose seaweed. Elinor couldn't get the seaweed free from the starfish's fin, so it was up to Merida to give it a try. Merida diligently worked at the knots in the slippery seaweed and soon, the green starfish was free and it was swimming away at top speed. Merida then watched it swim away and waved cheerily to it. Next, she spotted some dolphins and she motioned to them to come closer. Sure enough, three dolphins came over to Merida and her parents and they carefully climbed onto their backs. The next thing that Merida, Elinor and Fergus knew, they were getting a ride around Castle Cove on the dolphins' backs. Merida had her waterproof camera with her and she took lots of pictures of the many sea creatures that passed by them as they enjoyed their relaxing ride on the dolphins. Then, when the ride was over, they deposited Merida and her parents onto the beach near their beach chairs. As the dolphins swam into deeper waters, Merida waved good-bye to them and they happily chirped back to her. Merida then decided to do some beach target practice. Luckily, she had packed her bow and arrows. She aimed directly for a large apple tree which had a huge shiny red apple at the very top. If Merida was lucky, she'd be able to knock down three juicy red apples for a snack. Sure enough, her arrow was swift and true and three beautiful, red juicy apples came tumbling down into Merida's arms. She then deposited them gently into the picnic basket, next to their supper. She didn't want those precious apples to get bruised since they were her favorite food. Next, Merida took out her surf board and began to wax it down. She was ready to go on an epic surfing safari. In fact, the surf was perfect today for surfing and Merida could hardly wait to hit the big waves and have a blast. While she surfed, Fergus took a video of his daughter having fun on her surf board. She looked so happy and peaceful as the surf board carried her further and further away from her troubles. Elinor also decided to try surfing. She had never done it before, but with Merida coaxing her constantly to try new things, Elinor was soon surfing in the crystal clear waves as well. Fergus as well, got out a surf board and got into the surfing trend. He was having such a great time, that he didn't see the huge wave that was coming towards him and was about to wipe him off of his board! Sure enough, Fergus got wiped off of his board and he went under the water momentarily while the wave passed over top of him. Merida on the other hand, was riding over the crest of a very tall rogue wave and she had just made it over the other side without wiping out. Elinor on the other hand, was surfing on smaller safer waves which had white water on top of it. She did manage to surf over to Fergus to see if he was all right, but he had a huge grin on his face, telling his beloved Eli that he was having a whale of a time. Merida on the other hand, was being a big thrill seeker and she was surfing over big waves further out in the Atlantic Ocean. One huge wave in particular, wiped her right off of her board and she went right under the water with a huge grin on her face. Elinor was very worried that Merida wouldn't make it, but Fergus knew that Merida would soon climb right back onto her board and continue surfing as if it were no big deal. After their surf session, it was time for a snack. Fergus, Elinor and Merida sat down in their chairs and munched on their apples happily. After her snack, Merida then decided to go scuba diving. Luckily, she had her scuba gear with her. She even had her waterproof camera and a satchel to put things in, should she find anything under the water. "Be careful Merida, you don't want to get tangled in seaweed." cautioned Elinor as she gave her a big hug. "Don't worry yourself silly Mum, I've done this before. Dad got me into this sport." said Merida with a grin. Fergus then came over to Merida and gave her a kiss on her cheek. Merida then put her green goggles over her eyes and put her blue snorkel into her mouth before diving into the sparkling blue waters of the ocean. The last of Merida that her parents saw were her red flippers as she dove down deeper into the ocean's waves. The scenery underwater was spectacular as Merida took a good peek around. She saw some tuna, a five-pointed starfish, some coral, some sea turtles and much, much more. Merida even saw some oysters imbedded into the sandy ocean floor. She decided to try and pry open the oysters to see if there were any pearls to make a necklace for her mother. Sure enough, opening the oysters were quite easy, to Merida's relief and there were lots and lots of colorful pearls inside of them. Trying to avoid the sharpness of the shells, Merida gingerly removed the pearls from the oysters and put them safely into her orange satchel. Afterwards, Merida took out her waterproof camera and took as many pictures of the wildlife under the sea as possible. She even saw a crab scuttling towards its shell for cover just as a big fish was going to devour it. Merida even witnessed some lobsters being hatched as the parents watched with astonishment and pride. Merida could hardly believe how those tiny crustaceans got hatched out of eggs. One lobster even clung to Merida's hand as it took in its surroundings of the big wide world of the ocean. Merida smiled down at the small creature with amazement. Then, she snapped its picture as she crawled across Merida's hand and up her arm. She then gently deposited it on a rock near its mother so that she would be able to care for it. After swimming a little further on, Merida noticed something odd. There, in a large patch of seaweed, was a large pineapple. Its leaves were tangled in the seaweed and it looked as if it were hanging there. Merida swam closer to it, curiosity etched on every line of her face. "Why would a pineapple be under the sea?" thought Merida aloud as she takes a careful look at the luscious fruit. Merida then reaches out and touches the pineapple and notices that it's really stuck in the seaweed. She would have to work at it to get the fruit out of the seaweed. Soon enough, Merida had the pineapple free from the seaweed and safely into her satchel. Still, Merida couldn't figure out why a pineapple would end up underneath the waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Merida decided to investigate this mystery further. A few minutes later, Merida saw a full container lying on the ocean floor. This of course, sparked her curiosity even further. What could be inside the container? Why was it here, under the sea? There was only one way to find out. Merida opened the container and she discovered that it was full of fresh pineapples! Apparently, the container had turned onto its side and one pineapple had spilled out of it. This one pineapple had drifted with the current and gotten entangled in the seaweed that Merida had seen a few minutes ago. But how had a whole container containing a large supply of pineapples get underwater? How was that even possible? Merida had to simply investigate further. A little further on, Merida got her answer. There, lying on a shelf on the ocean floor, near a deep, dark crevice, lay a large container ship, which was lying on its port side. Merida's eyes widened with surprise when she saw the huge vessel that lay on the ocean floor. She simply had to figure out why this huge ship had sank to the ocean's floor. Merida felt around the huge vessel to see if there were any holes or missing propeller blades from the rudder. Sure enough, there was a huge gash on the ship's hull at mid-ship where rivets had popped out. As it turned out, there had been so much water rushing into the ship that it had listed onto its port side and sank. Luckily, the crew had had enough time to get into their lifeboats and escape from the sinking cargo vessel. But many of the containers which had been containing fresh fruit, went down with the ship and when the ship hit the ocean floor with alarming force, one of the containers had gotten loose from the cargo hold and had simply floated away and had landed thirty kilometers away from the wreckage. When it had landed on its right side, one pineapple had escaped and had floated for twenty more kilometers where it had gotten entangled in the seaweed. All this had happened five days ago and apparently, nobody had known where the ship had gone. Apparently, while she was scuba diving at Castle Cove, Merida had discovered it and now she knew where the ship was. It had sunk a full 50 kilometers short of the Scottish coast line. The cargo ship had been on route from Lima Peru to London England, but when it had been nearing Europe, a bad storm had hit the ship and they were in heavy seas with dangerous rogue waves. One such rogue wave took the ship and flung it slightly off course, colliding it against sharp underwater obstacles which had torn a massive hole in the middle of the ship, the size of a small car. This, had caused massive leakage and the captain was forced to order the crew to abandon ship. Luckily, a large percentage of the crew were near their homeland and were able to sail directly to shore. All crew members survived and as for the non-Scottish crew members, they were taken to England and Peru, which were their home countries. Apparently, the captain and Fergus were good friends and he had personally asked Fergus to find out what had caused his ship, the Scottish Ambassador to sink. Fergus had shook his head and had said to his friend Alistair that he didn't know what had caused his ship to sink. Well, now at the bottom of the sea, Merida was flashing her underwater camera so that she could give her father solid proof about the mystery of the Scottish Ambassador. She had even taken pictures from all angles so that her father could get a good view of the entire wreck site of Alistair's ship. The large container ship was mostly a dark blue with a red bow and on the stern, there was a Scottish flag which identified the ship's nationality. The mast was a large red pole with two flags hanging from it, which also doubled as the main sails. One flag was the flag of the kingdom of Dunbroch. The other was the British flag with its visible union jack. After awhile, Merida decided that it was time to hit the surface, for her tank was getting low. When Merida surfaced, she spotted a dolphin. Apparently, it was the same dolphin that she had ridden on earlier that day. The dolphin let Merida climb on and it brought her back to her anxiously waiting parents. As soon as Merida slid off of the dolphin's back and had waved good-bye to it, she ran over to her parents and gave them both a big hug. "Merida, you're all right." said Elinor, as she breathed a sigh of relief. "We were starting to get worried about you darling." said Fergus as he hugged Merida close. "I'm fine Mum and Dad and I know what happened to Alistair's ship." said Merida with a huge grin on her face. "Really lass? What happened to Alistair's ship? Is he hurt?" asked Fergus curiously. "All the crew members got off safely Dad." said Merida calmly as she got out her underwater camera to show her parents the shipwreck that she had seen earlier on her scuba diving excursion. As she showed them the pictures, she described to them in gruelling detail about what had happened to Alistair's ship as her parents listened with wide eyes of horror. "I did manage to get the pineapple free though." said Merida proudly as she showed her parents the luscious fruit that she had gotten free earlier that day. Both stared with astonishment at the fruit that Merida held out to them. This had been the missing cargo that Alistair had said had gotten loose. He would be happy to know that Merida had found the container under the sea. She even knew the exact location of where the container was. In this case, Fergus wanted to go and collect the container of pineapples that had gotten loose. As for the rest of the cargo, it was at the bottom of the ocean in the cargo hold of the ship the Scottish Ambassador. So, Fergus rented a boat and Merida navigated the outboard motor at top speed to where she had previously seen the container. Then, with the help of some strong cable attached to a metal hook, Fergus was able to hoist the container aboard the boat without much difficulty. Next, he put on some scuba diving gear and dove down to retrieve the rest of the cargo that was in the cargo hold in Alistair's ship. It would be a very pleasant surprise for Fergus's good friend Alistair. Once all the cargo containers were aboard the boat, in their pertaining containers, Fergus was now satisfied that he had done a good deed for his very dear friend. Even Elinor was pleased about this retrieval effort. Soon after, it was time for supper. Fergus then opened up the picnic basket to reveal a sumptuous feast for the royal family. Back at the castle, Maudie had successfully given the boys their supper of ravioli with chicken and cheese. It was so quiet during supper that Maudie was actually able to sit down for a little while before Fergus, Merida and Elinor were due to return. After the boys had eaten each two servings of ravioli with garlic bread, it was time that they have a bath. In fact, they had been playing very hard all day and when Harris, Hubert and Hamish played hard, it usually meant getting really grimy and scruffy. So, it was time to get the scrub brush and scrub them clean before getting them settled into their beds for the night. Back at Castle Cove, Merida, Elinor and Fergus were enjoying their supper very much. They each had two hotdogs plus a bagful of chips and an ice-cream cone for dessert. They also had plenty of water from that morning and they also had plenty of lemonade and milk as well. Merida since she was being a big adventurer, had put ketchup, mustard, relish, pickles, onions, cheese and sour croute on her two hotdogs. Also, her buns were toasted clean through, giving her a very nice crunch with an abundance of flavors. After supper was done, Fergus, Elinor and Merida had a game of beach ball where they threw and kicked the beach ball around and it was a great way to burn off excess calories. When Fergus threw the ball from ten feet away, Merida expertly caught it in her arms. She then threw the ball over to Elinor, who caught it mid-jump. Elinor then threw it back to Fergus, who tackled the ball just as it was going to fall to the ground with a light bounce. He then kicked it at Merida who tackled it against the base of a tree. After half an hour of this delightful game, everyone was getting quite tired. They all collapsed into their beach chairs to admire the beautiful sunset. Shortly before they left to go home, the family went for a sunset swim so that they could end the day on a good note. Soon after, it was time for Fergus, Elinor and Merida to pack up their beach gear and head for home. Merida puts away her bathing suit inside of a plastic bag inside of her beach bag and she also places her sandals in the bag as well. She now wore her casual dress and her comfortable boots. As they made their way to the Buick, the final rays of the sun made their way below the horizon. It was time to head back home to the Dunbroch castle. Even the sandcastle that the family had built had stood the test of the waves the entire day and as they passed it, Merida saluted it. Even the clam shell was still clinging to the top turret of the sandcastle. This time, when the threesome exhaustedly made their way into the Buick, Fergus got into the driver's seat and both Elinor and Merida sat in the back seat, trying as hard as they could to stay awake so that they could tell the boys all about their fun-filled day at the beach. But as they drove away from Castle Cove, Merida's pretty blue eyes drooped and she fell fast asleep on her mom's shoulder. Elinor smiled sweetly at Merida and patted her head fondly. In fact, Merida slept the entire way home and she didn't even notice when Fergus turned off the engine when they had arrived at their home. Slowly, Merida's eyes fluttered open and she slowly took in her surroundings. She soon realized that she was back at home and she still had to give Angus his good-night pat on his mane. Merida got out of the car and jogged over to the stables where Angus was anxiously waiting for her. When Angus saw Merida coming, he whinnied with pleasure. He had really missed her that day, especially since it had been an excruciatingly hot day and he had had to stay in the shade and drink plenty of water. The triplets had swam in their wading pool for most of that afternoon and that had cooled them down. They had also drank plenty of refreshing lemonade to keep pleasantly cool. "Hello Angus." said Merida sweetly as she patted him fondly on his nose. Angus smiled sweetly at Merida and then nuzzled up against her to give her a big welcoming hug. Merida smiled up at Angus and wrapped her arms around his neck. She then decided to take him on a short quick ride so that he could get some exercise before bed. As soon as she dismounted Angus, she led him to his stable and stroked his mane methodically and slowly. Next, Merida went inside, where Elinor greeted her with a warm hug and some iced tea. Fergus had gone upstairs to see if the boys were asleep. They were, but when they saw their father, they jolted awake and jumped on top of him to give him big bear hugs. As Elinor and Merida sipped their iced tea in the kitchen, Fergus told the boys all about their trip to the beach. When Fergus had mentioned Castle Cove, the boys' eyes popped out of their heads with excitement. That was the most fun beach out of them all. Fergus also made a mental note that in the morning, he would tell Alistair to come by to pick up his cargo. Fergus could only imagine how pleased that his old friend would be at Fergus for getting his cargo back. As soon as Merida finished her cupful of iced tea and blueberry muffin that Elinor had baked the day before, and then she went upstairs to take a nice warm soothing relaxing bubble bath which Maudie had already prepared for her. Elinor went upstairs to let her hair down and brush it free from tangles. Fergus had just come into the royal chambers from getting the boys back to sleep to see what Elinor was up to. He found her sitting at her dressing table, brushing out her long brown hair and making sure that it was free from tangles. As usual, her spirit was carefree and she was happy, since she had gotten to spend some relaxation time with both Fergus and Merida without the pesky boys to bother them. Meanwhile, as Merida was having her bath, she was pretending that she was a mermaid under the sea and making friends with Ariel and the other ocean creatures. Even Nessie was there enjoying the party. Back in the royal chambers, Elinor smiled at the baby pictures of her children which were situated in a line in chronological order on the dressing table. Fergus put a gentle comforting arm around Elinor's shoulders and smiled at her as she stared contentedly at the pictures of the triplets and Merida when they had been tiny infants. In the photo, Merida still had her shockingly wild red hair and her blue eyes seemed to twinkle with childish merriment as she cuddled her teddy bear. The boys however, had blue eyes and red hair and they looked like three heaven sent angels as they slept in their crib. A few moments later, Merida emerged from the large marble bathroom, wrapped in a large fluffy purple towel, a huge warm smile plastered onto her young feminine face, her hair dripping off of the ends as she came into the room to hug her parents good-night before she would go off to bed. "All that sunshine and salty sea air must have tired you right out." commented Elinor sweetly as she noticed how sluggishly Merida manoeuvered herself towards her mother. "I'm just about ready to topple over Mum." said Merida as she stifled a large yawn as she hugged her mother with a loving embrace. Elinor patted Merida's back fondly and then ruffled her hair playfully. Fergus then came over to his wife and daughter and planted a big loving smooch on the back of Merida's neck, his beard tickling her, causing her to laugh contentedly. Next, Merida lazily wrapped her arms around her father's neck to hug him with all of her might. He loved it when Merida gave him big old bear hugs. Elinor then bestowed a loving kiss on Merida's cheek and patted her bare shoulders lovingly. Soon after, Elinor and Fergus guided a very sleepy Merida to her room where she put on her nightgown rather sluggishly and then ran a swift comb through her damp curly red hair. Next, she slowly shuffled along to the bathroom to brush her teeth before going to her cozy warm bed. As soon as Merida sat on her bed, she cradled her stuffed horse in her arms and stroked its mane lovingly. She then turned on her bedside lamp and she settled happily into her bed, beneath the covers which Elinor had sweetly and lovingly tucked around Merida's shoulders. Fergus then patted Merida's face fondly while Elinor sang "Noble Maiden Fair." As Merida fell sound asleep peacefully and happily. Soon after, both Fergus and Elinor were in their bed and everyone was having very sweet dreams about their happy day at the beach that they had spent together. They hoped to do this again someday soon, but next time, they would bring the triplets with them. As Merida slept, her special conch shell stood happily on her bedside table, and thanks to the light of the big round yellow moon, it shone a brilliant hue of bright colors. As Merida had predicted, her new shell protected her from nightmares and all was at peace in the Dunbroch kingdom.