Donna is on a boat. She is going to Spain with her family for a holiday. On the boat she sees Mark, a tall, good-looking boy. But Mark is very shy and he doesn't talk to her on the boat. W h o will help them to meet?
Will they be together?
Derek Strange writes books and stories for y o u n g people. He lives in London with his family. He has one son; his name is Mark. In July 1993, Derek and Mark went to Spain on a boat for a holiday . . .
But he didn't come. Where was he? Where was he?
14
At eleven o'clock we arrived in Santander. I wanted to stop the boat: I wanted to stop the holiday; I wanted to go back to England. I only wanted to see him again, to talk to him, to ask his name.
But he wasn't there.
W h e r e are you?
I want to see you again.
15
Mark's story
I started Spanish at school in September and I like it.
W e ' v e got a good teacher - Old W e b b . 'Mr Webb, not Old W e b b , ' my mother always says to me.
' H e isn't old, you k n o w . '
Old W e b b - sorry, Mr Webb - always takes some people from our school to a place in Spain for the first two weeks of the holidays, every July. Old Webb is OK. N o t bad, for a teacher.
We were at Portsmouth with Old Webb - sorry, Mr Webb - and Mrs Webb. She's from Argentina; all the boys think she's good-looking, too. There were six of us with the Webbs: Harry Potts and his sister Sonia, Nick Atkins (he's a good friend), Sue Bellamy (she's clever), my brother Dave and me (we're fourteen and we're good friends too . . . usually).
17
There were hundreds of people on the boat. It was hot in the sun, a lovely day. People watched the sea and the small boats. I liked being in the sun and thinking about the two weeks holiday in
Spain. Old Webb started
Mmm. She's nice.
one of his stories about
And she's looking at me!
Argentina, but I didn't
listen. I started to look at
the people. And this girl was
there, near me, a really good-
looking girl with nice brown
eyes and black hair.
18
I'm really shy and I'm not very good with girls. I didn't talk to her then, but I w a t c h e d her with her sister and her m o t h e r and father. Then they walked away and she smiled at me for a
moment before they