'Well, I've nowhere else to go' Herta said and the three of them walked on towards the sea. But it wasn't long before Herta and Fritz began to argue. Herta said it was stupid going to the sea when it was raining and Fritz said it wasn't stupid at all, if you had the right attitude it was a great idea. 'The obvious thing to do' he said 'if you are wet anyway, is to go swimming' and Herta said 'cats can't swim anyway' but Fritz would not be put off 'so what' he said 'I can get as wet as anyone'.

The two of them continued to argue and soon Sally realised that it was just because Fritz was a cat and Herta a dog, and cats and dogs don't get along too well. She made an attempt to ease the tension by joking that it was raining cats and dogs, but it only made things worse and they continued to argue and insult each other. Herta told Fritz that cat was short for catastrophe and Fritz said that Herta looked like a pork sausage with legs.

When they finally got to the sea the two were still arguing and Herta said 'Well, you must be crazy if you think that I'm going into the sea, I don't mind getting wet, but I'm not going to get salt in my eyes for anyone'. Fritz ran straight into the sea until only his head was above water, which wasn't very far. 'Surely you're not afraid of a little salt' he sneered, but Herta didn't take the bait, and sat down on the shore.

'Come on Sally' Fritz shouted, and she hesitantly went into the water. Sally was quite surprised when she realised that she felt more comfortable than she had been in the rain. It was clear and warm and she and Fritz frolicked about splashing each other and generally enjoying themselves.

After a while they stopped splashing and just relaxed in the warm water. Sally was floating on her back and she had drifted a little away from Fritz when she heard him call out in panic. He'd drifted away from the shore a bit and there were two fins circling him. He was certain that he was about to be eaten by sharks, but when Sally swam over to him she laughed loudly as she found that it was two of the dolphins she had met a few days earlier.

'Hello Esmeralda' she said 'hello Daphne'. 'Oh Sally' they said in unison 'come and look at this, what do you suppose it can be?' 'It's a cat' Sally said laughing at Fritz's look of bewilderment. 'No, it can't be' Daphne said continuing to circle Fritz 'catfish have fins and a proper tail, this thing's all shaggy, I've never seen anything like this before'.

'Not a catfish' Sally laughed 'a cat, you don't see many of them in the sea because they don't normally like getting wet, but Fritz is a rather strange cat'. 'It certainly is' the dolphins agreed 'what's it doing here anyway?'

Fritz had composed himself by now and had got himself back into shallow water where he felt much more comfortable and confident 'I'd be obliged if you would stop talking about me as if I was a piece of wood. I can talk you know'.

'It can talk' Esmeralda exclaimed delightedly.

By now Herta had joined them, he had so enjoyed Fritz's dilemma that he just had to come into the water. When Daphne saw him she cried joyfully 'here's an even funnier one, don't tell me Sally, I'll bet this is a dogfish'. 'Of course not' Sally said 'it's a dog' and the two dolphins laughed and splashed about with glee. 'What next a tiger that's not a tiger fish swimming about in the sea?'

Now it was Fritz's turn to laugh and he laughed so much he got a mouthful of water and began coughing and spluttering and Daphne thought he was drowning and helped him to the shore by letting him ride on her back.

Herta was a little disappointed that Fritz hadn't drowned, but the two of them realised that the dolphins weren't going to do them any harm and, in fact, were very gentle and kind and they all began to play happily together. Even Herta and Fritz got along reasonably well and stopped arguing.

The dolphins taught Fritz to swim a little better, remembering what Sally had done for Rainbow, and the two of them let the dog and cat and Sally ride on their backs as they splashed about in the water and jumped high into the air.

The rain stopped and the sun came out after a while, but neither Fritz nor Herta nor Sally even noticed because they were all having so much fun with the dolphins. When someone finally realised and mentioned it Daphne asked 'What's rain?' and when Sally explained what rain and wind was Daphne said that they should come and live in the sea where there was nothing like that 'all we have to worry about are the currents' she said and Herta remarked 'we have currents too, but they don't worry me, I don't eat them, or sultanas'.

Eventually Fritz and Herta went onto the shore to dry out and Sally stayed in the sea with the dolphins. She loved being with these wonderful, gentle creatures, they were so friendly and kind and they told her about the sea and their way of life and Sally thought that it would be really nice if she were a dolphin and could swim as well as they could and live in the sea.