Dave got buried in sand from the spaceship’s crash-landing, but aside from that he was unhurt. He hurriedly dug his way out, and began to search for Chanelle.

He scrabbled in the golden sand, throwing it everywhere. He was quickly rewarded with the whining sound that had irritated him so much a few minutes ago.

“Dave…” he heard from a couple of feet below him.

Just a couple of minutes later he hauled a bedraggled Chanelle out of the sand and hugged her.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

“No!!” she cried. “I’ve broken a nail with all that digging.” She shook herself and burst into tears. “I look hideous! It’ll take me ages to get all this sand out of my hair.”

Trying not to laugh, Dave was satisfied that Chanelle had avoided any serious injury. Unfortunately, a crashed spaceship was definitely the business of the Simeon, so it looked like his holiday was over for now. Stepping away from the huge mound that had buried him earlier, Dave surveyed the scene.

“Chanelle!” he cried. “It’s one of ours!”

Dismayed and worried that one of his Rearguard Beagles was in trouble, he ran towards the ship and leapt up to the cockpit.

“There’s no-one here!” he exclaimed.

Sure enough, the ship was empty. The Simeon’s holiday was definitely over, he had to find out what was going on.