At the foot of the wharf Teena said, “It’s early yet, Eddie. Let’s take a hike up the beach, shall we? Maybe we could even go as far as the lighthouse and say hello to Cap.”
“Suits me,” Eddie agreed. He never got tired of walking along the beach. There was always something new to see and do. The fresh ocean breeze on his face and the soft sand underfoot made him feel good. Nor did he ever tire of picking pebbles off the beach and skipping them across the smooth water of the bay.
A little while later they were almost to the cove when a piece of green material caught Eddie’s gaze. It was being gently buffeted up and down on the sand by the small lapping waves. He trotted over and picked it out of the water.
“What’d you find, Eddie?” Teena called from nearby.
“Just a piece of rubber,” Eddie said, holding up the four-inch length of green material. “Looks like part of a strap off someone’s swim fins.”
“Boy, you’re some beachcomber,” Teena teased. “An old strap off someone’s swim fin is some treasure.”
Eddie drew back his arm and was about to throw the scrap back into the water, when some printing which was molded into the rubber caught his eye.
“Hey,” he said, looking at it closely. “It’s got some kind of foreign words on it.”
“So what?” Teena said. “I guess they make swim fins all over the world. Probably some tourist from another country brought them. There are quite a few tourists around here during the summer, you know.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Eddie admitted, but he stuffed the scrap of rubber into his pocket and walked on.