Sea journey and storm
"Och! That's bonnie!" said Nessie, "It's just beautiful. Well, you've convinced me anyway - - no girl should be kept waiting. Come on, Coojee - slip yon shoelace between my teeth, and hop aboard. We'd best be on our way".
"Aye aye, Cap'n!" said Coojee.
And so, bidding goodbye to their little Irish friend, ...they set sail for England!
Of course, being a native Australian, Coojee had no trouble at all manoeuvering the giant shoe over the heaving waves. It reminded him of the happy times he'd had back home riding the huge breakers on Bondi Beach when he was only a titchy little fellow, fresh from the bush.
He had taken to it like a koala to water!
Right in the middle of these daydreams Coojee suddenly realised the waves were getting higher and higher and the dips between them deeper and deeper!
"Uh, uh!", thought Coojee, - "Looks like a storm brewing!"
As he tightened his grip on the shoelace the wind howled and the ice-cold spray began to lash his furry little face
"Shiver me shillelaghs!", cried Coojee, "This is a bit much! If this keeps up I'll have to abandon shoe!"
Meanwhile, beneath the surface, blissfully unaware of Coojee's peril, Nessie ploughed steadily on.
The waves were like mountains now and the thunder and lightening began to make Coojee more than a little scared.
"I can't hold on much longer!", he whimpered... "My hands are freezing!"
Just then disaster struck - the shoelace snapped!
"HELP!", screamed Coojee, as the shoe went whirling away.
Off and away, off into the dark unknown...
By the time Nessie had surfaced, Coojee was nowhere to be seen.
"Och! What a terrible thing!" she cried, "The puir wee chap cannae swim!"
Desperately, she plunged off in search of him.
Later that evening, - when the storm had subsided, the battered shoe was carried by the tide towards a deserted coastline, and up a sheltered inlet. Inside the shoe, fast asleep, lay an exhausted little bear.
When Coojee awoke, it was morning. He peeped over the side of the shoe. He was in the middle of a vast lake, surrounded by mountains.
"Where am I?", he wondered.
And then, remembering the terrible storm, an awful thought occurred to him.
"Where's Nessie?!
"Nessie!"
"Nessie!"…