Character Profile
Soraya
Age 10. The researcher of the group. Soraya notices what others miss and never stops until she's found the answer. Her sharp eyes saved the friends when the tide turned in the smugglers' cave, and her patient digging through old records uncovered a shipwreck story the village had forgotten.
Merhaven village The village library Old records
Favourite Things
The village library
Soraya knows where every book lives — especially the ones about local history, shipwrecks, and the Merhaven coast.
Old maps and charts
She collects them. A faded chart can tell you more about a place than any modern map.
Her magnifying glass
A gift from her gran. Soraya says the details are where the real story hides.
The clifftop path
She walks it to think. The view of the estuary helps her puzzle out problems.
Skills
Sharp eyes
Soraya spots things everyone else walks past — a mark on a wall, a change in the tide, a footprint in the sand.
Research
When the friends find a mystery, Soraya is the one who digs through old records and newspaper clippings to piece it together.
Problem-solving
She connects clues that seem unrelated. Her research uncovered a shipwreck story the whole village had forgotten.
Staying calm
When the tide turned in the smugglers' cave, Soraya kept her head and found the way out.
"The answer is always there — you just have to look closely enough."
— Soraya