Mary smiled, and pretended not to notice. But the evening went badly. Christine was angry with her because she tidied up the kitchen, and Andrew was angry with her because she didn't want to watch TV. Both the children went to bed early, and thought about their mother.

A few months later, John invited Mary to a meal in the new house. It was a difficult evening. He had never invited anyone to their old flat, and the children's friends nev-er came for meals. The new house was very untidy, and John was nervous about the food. He and Christine cooked a chick-en because they thought it was easy. But the chicken was tasteless and the rice was too soft.

But Mary came again, on a Sunday, and John took them all out in their new boat. That was much better. Mary didn't know how to sail, so the children had to tell her what to do. She did what she was told, and seemed to be happy. John sat at the back of the boat, and watched his children quietly. He felt proud of them, and he thought they were proud of him too. The first time Mary and the children laughed together, John felt a big smile come onto his face.

'Look, Dad, quick! Over there! What are they?'

It was a beautiful, sunny day in the middle of May. There was a good wind, and the sailing was fun. The boat sailed fast, over small, white-topped waves. The sky was blue and clear. They sailed down to the mouth of the river, where there were lots of small islands and sandbanks.

'Yes. It's a group of seal families. The mothers come here every year to have their babies.'

They sailed closer to the sandbank, until they were only about twenty metres away from the seals. Wet, shiny seal mothers lifted their heads and looked at them with their blue eyes. The baby seals were drinking milk from their mothers, climbing over them, and playing in the shallow water. Then a big father seal lifted his head and stared angrily at them.

'Seals,' said John. 'Haven't you seen them before?'

'No,' said Andrew. 'Only in films. Not in real life.' His face was shining, excited, happy. 'Do they really live here?'

'I think they're beautiful,' said Mary. 'I never knew they lived here, so close to the town. It makes me feel really happy, just to see them.'

Andrew pointed excitedly to one of the long, low sandbanks.

'Yes,' said Mary. 'And they're really beautiful, too. Look! Did you see that little one, playing on his mother's back? I wish I could do that!'

'Yes, it does, doesn't it,' said Christine. 'I think nothing can be really wrong with the world, if they can live here, all by themselves, with no one looking after them.'

John smiled, as he watched Mary and his children laughing and talking together. He thought the world was a good place, too.