The Beach Squad Diaries

Cora was bored.

Cora liked wintertime, she did. She enjoyed the time she spent with her crow friends in Parry Sound, catching up on all the news. Parry Sound was a great place to spend her winters.

But what Cora liked most of all was spending her summers at Jacklin’s Cove with The Beach Squad, a group of friends bound together by the vow they made to be friends forever and always be there for one another.

Cora perched on a branch of an oak tree as she scanned the waterfront of Parry Sound. Cora liked the train trestle that the Seguin River ran under, and she loved Georgian Bay, the body of water the river flows into.

Yes, Cora loved her winters in Parry Sound, but today she was bored.

What to do? What to do? What to do?

Cora’s thoughts went back to the summer, and she started wondering what everyone was doing now.

Then she remembered a discussion The Beach Squad had one rainy day.

Danny the Dock Spider had asked where Grandma spent the winters.

“I’m not sure exactly where Grandma lives, but I do know it’s in Parry Sound. She lives in a big white cottage,” Griffin the German Shepherd said.

“They are called houses,” Cora said.

She often corrected the squad, but it didn’t bother them. Everyone loved learning new things.

“House, yes. I’ve been there. I live in a house not too far away from her.”

Griffin liked having information to share with Cora, and he had lots more to say.

“Sometimes when I’m there, Grandpa will take me for a walk. I know the neighbourhood pretty well now. Close by, there’s a large building, too big to be a house, and sometimes a bell rings and children come running out. Quite funny, really.”

“I bet that’s a school, Griffin,” Cora said as she explained about schools to the group.

As Cora thought about her talks with Griffin and his winter life, she decided that to keep herself busy this winter, she was going to find Grandma.

Cora was certain finding Grandma would be easy.

After all, Griffin had told her everything he knew.

A big white house.

Near Griffin’s house.

Somewhere in Parry Sound.

How hard could it be?

As it turned out, it was quite hard.

For weeks, Cora searched. She flew over neighbourhoods with rows of white houses. She searched streets lined with maple and oak trees.

She checked verandas, porches, rooftops, and backyards, but every time she thought she had found the right place, the person standing on the veranda was someone else’s grandma.

One snowy day, Cora met a crow named Rusty.

A beautiful crow he was, with a tinge of red in his feathers.

Rusty claimed he knew every house in town, but when Cora described the big white house with the front veranda and olive-coloured pillars, he just flew away in a huff.

Cora met a pair of younger crows, and they helped enthusiastically with the search, loop-de-looping through the air as they looked about.

The two young crows introduced themselves as Inky and Onyx. They were sisters and were always looking for an adventure.

How Danny the Dock Spider would love to meet them.

“A mystery!” Onyx exclaimed. “We’ve never helped solve a mystery before.”

“What does Grandma look like?” asked Inky.

Cora described Grandma as best she could.

“She likes to sit on the beach and watch the water,” Cora explained. “And she’s very fond of Griffin.”

The two young crows nodded seriously.

For the rest of the afternoon, the three crows searched together. They flew over streets, big houses, and small. They searched dozens of white houses.

By sunset, they had found seven bird feeders, four snow forts, a cat sleeping on a windowsill, and a fellow who looked remarkably like Santa Claus.

But they did not find Grandma.

Cora perched on a hydro wire one frosty morning and thought.

She was thinking so hard that even her brain hurt.

Then, there it was.

The memory.

Grandma lived near a school.

“How silly of me to forget that,” Cora said to herself.

She took off like a bullet.

Flying high above the town, she scanned the streets until she spotted the building Griffin had described.

It was far too large to be a house, and just as he’d said, children were coming and going.

Cora flew lower.

Up one street.

Down another.

Around a corner.

Past a row of white houses.

Then she saw it.

A big white house with olive-green pillars on the front veranda.

Before Cora could fly any closer, she heard the squeak of a door opening.

Out stepped Grandma, bundled up in a fluffy winter coat with a steaming mug in her hand.

Cora’s eyes grew wide.

After weeks and weeks of searching, she had finally solved the mystery.

Excitedly, Cora swooped down and landed on the veranda railing.

She looked Grandma straight in the eye.

“SQUAWK!”

“SQUAWK!”

“SQUAWK!”

To Cora, those three squawks meant:

Tag! You’re it! I found you!

Then, before Grandma could say a word, Cora launched herself back into the air and flew away.

Grandma giggled and took a sip of her coffee.

The winter’s snow had melted, and Grandma was sitting on the end of Danny the Dock Spider’s dock.

The sun felt good after the long winter.

Cora the Crow flew down and landed on the arm of one of the dock chairs.

Grandma looked over at Cora with a big smile.

“Next time you drop by in wintertime, I’ll have some snacks for you.”

The two friends sat in silence, watching the river flow by.