The Treasure Cave: sea tales of Tiptoes Lightly (12 page)

“I bet he’s
headed to Summer’s Fort,” said June Berry. “Perhaps he’s going to get his
Thanksgiving turkey.”

On the way
back they stopped at the cave. This time they let Lucy crawl into the back
chamber with them. Tom had found another candle stub in a drawer and they
wanted to continue searching. As Tom struck a match and lit the candle Lucy
sniffed around the spot where they’d found the pearls. Then he started to dig
furiously.

“What are you
after?” asked June Berry, holding the candle over him.

“Woof,” said
Lucy, scratching with his paws.

June Berry
knelt down and handed the candle to Tom. She peered into the hole.

“Stop, Lucy,”
said June, pulling him back. She reached in and felt around. Then she pulled
out a delicate golden chain.

The
Wave and the Cousins

Tiptoes left
Tom and June and flew out to sea. The mist hung low over the water. There was
no wind to blow it away and the sun was still freshly over the mountains. The
sea was calm except for the huge swells forever marching across the ocean
towards land. Tiptoes followed one for a while.

“Where are you
going?” she asked the great wave.

“To make a
splash,” said the swell. “The bigger the better.”

“Where did you
come from?” asked Tiptoes.

“A hundred
puffs of wind, three storms and the wiggle of a whale’s tail,” said the wave.

“How about a
fishes’ tail?” asked Tiptoes.

“Thousands of
those,” said the wave, “both big and small.”

“And what
about falling stars?” asked Tiptoes.

“Oh no, not
me,” said the wave, “but my brother behind me has the splash of a star.”

Tiptoes followed
the wave as it came closer and closer to the shore. It rose. Bigger it became,
its head crowned with white. It curled, it crashed, it bellowed like a bull and
swirled foaming over the rocks and around the rocks and onto the rocky shore
and that was the end of the sea wave.

A gentle sea
wind picked up and began to blow the mist away. It carried Tiptoes along the
rocky shore to the sandy beach. As soon as she saw the battleship Invincible
she turned inland. In a moment she came to the cottage beside the wind blown
pines. The lemon tree looked so festive with its bright green-yellow lemons. In
the driveway sat Farmer John’s car. Another car she had never seen before was
parked beside it.

Tiptoes heard
chattering coming from an open window. She flew to the windowsill and looked
in. On the living room floor were two children, one much younger than the
other. The younger one was a boy, and the older one a girl—about June Berry’s
age; she even looked a bit like June Berry. These were their cousins. They must
have come for Thanksgiving—but it wasn’t until tomorrow. The children were
playing with alphabet blocks made of wood and the girl was trying to teach the
boy the alphabet. He was putting one block on top of the other and singing the
alphabet song:

“A,
D, C, P, E, F, B –”

“No! No! No!”
laughed the girl, taking the blocks apart and rebuilding them. “It’s:

“A,
B, C, D, E, F, G!”

“Okay,” said
the boy, knocking the blocks down and rebuilding them.

“A,
B, E, D, I, C, Fairy!”

“I, C, Fairy!”
cried the girl. “There’s no letter called Fairy!”

“Not the
alphabet,” said the boy. “On the windowsill—I see fairy!” and he pointed to
Tiptoes.

The children
jumped up and looked at Tiptoes.

“Hello,” said
Tiptoes.

The children’s
eyes turned big and round, then they turned and ran into the kitchen.

“Gramma!
Gramma!” they cried. “There’s a fairy on the windowsill! She spoke to us!”

In a moment a
tiny old woman with sparkling eyes came into the room. The children clung to
her dress and gaped at Tiptoes.

“Yes, that’s a
fairy,” she said. “Doesn’t she look pretty! Why don’t you invite her inside?”

The children
stuck their thumbs into their mouths and said nothing.

The old woman
laughed and beckoned to Tiptoes. “Come on in, little fairy,” she said. “These
are my two grandchildren, Johnny Top and Veronica.”

“And I’m
Tiptoes Lightly,” said Tiptoes, introducing herself with a curtsy.

Surprise!

Tom Nutcracker
and June Berry walked back to the cottage with Lucy. They decided to bring the
pearls back and wash them. Now that they’d found the chain they could string
them together. The clasp was missing, but they’d easily find a way to close the
necklace. As they crossed the meadow they saw a new car at the cottage

“Whose car is
that?” said Tom.

“I don’t
know,” said June Berry. “Let’s see,” and she began to run.

Close to the
cottage they heard voices coming out the opened windows.

“Uncle Finn!
Aunt Sally!” they cried, charging into the kitchen. “What are you doing here?”

“Surprise!”
said Farmer John and Uncle Finn, laughing.

“We’ve come
for Thanksgiving,” said Aunt Sally, giving them a hug. Aunt Sally was their
mother’s sister.

“Woof, woof,”
barked Lucy, wagging his tail and licking everyone he could reach.

Veronica and
Johnny Top came into the kitchen. They were jumping up and down.

“Surprise!
Surprise!” they cried. “And guess who we brought?”

An old face
with twinkling eyes peeked in the door.

“Gramma!”
shouted Tom and June, running to her.

“Grandma
surprised us too,” said Aunt Sally. “She drove all the way down from the north
and turned up out of the blue.”

There were
more hugs all around and it wasn’t long before the grown-ups were busy chatting
in the kitchen and the children were playing in the living room. June Berry
took the pearls and chain out of her coat pocket and showed them to Veronica
and Johnny Top.

“Those are
gorgeous,” said Veronica. “Where did you get them?”

“In our Treasure Cave,” said June Berry. “They were in the sand.”

“Pretty
beads,” said Johnny Top taking one in his chubby hand. He popped it in his
mouth.

“Don’t,” giggled
June and Veronica, trying to stop him.

“Pfui,” said
Johnny Top, spitting it out. “Not sweet—sandy!”

“Let’s wash
them,” said Tom. “We have to clean the sand out of the holes.”

They went to
the bathroom and rinsed the pearls under the tap until the holes were clean.
Then they washed the chain. It sparkled beautifully.

“We need a
safety pin,” said June Berry, and ran and got one from Grandma.

They sat on
the hearth rug and strung the pearls together. Veronica put the necklace round
June Berry’s neck and fastened it with the safety pin.

“There,” she
said, “—you look like a sea princess.”

Lunch
and Sails and Sailing

Farmer John
had prepared baked vegetables and brown rice for lunch. Tom and June helped to
set the table and bring in extra chairs. The kitchen was crowded when everyone
finally sat around the table. A high chair had been brought for Johnny Top. He
sat in it like a king.

“Foooood!” he
said, banging his tray. “Fooodies!” He was hungry.

“First we say
grace,” said Aunt Sally, reaching out and holding Johnny Top’s hand. She
thought for a moment. “I’ll say my sister’s grace.”

“Roots
in earth and leaves in sun,

Through
the stem the waters run.

In
the warmth the fruits so fair,

Ripen now to food we share.”

This was Tom
and June’s mother’s favorite grace. She died in an accident when Tom and June
were younger.

Farmer John
served the food and everyone settled in to eat.

“I couldn’t
work out why you were scrubbing vegetables first thing in the morning,” said
Tom.

“Me neither,”
said June Berry. “You fooled us!”

“I knew you’d
like to see your cousins,” said Farmer John. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“And we get to
see Gramma too,” said June Berry, giving her a hug.

After lunch
Tom helped Uncle Finn and Aunt Sally unload their car. June Berry and Veronica
rummaged through the ragbag. They were searching for a sail to put onto the
ship. At the bottom, folded up, they found an old bed sheet.

“This is
perfect,” said June Berry. “Just wait till you see our ship!”

Then they
searched the laundry room and found a handful of wooden clothespins. When
everyone was ready they went to the beach. Tom walked with the men, but June
and Veronica ran ahead holding the sheet between them and letting it flap in
the wind.

Johnny Top’s
eyes opened with delight when he saw the ship. He climbed in and crawled inside
the cabin on the deck and started playing. Soon Tom and the girls had the sail
pinned to the ropes and they were out sailing the seven seas with two new
pirates on board. They sailed to Hawaii and lay in the hot sun. They sailed to Africa and rode on a giraffe. They sailed to China to see the seven-headed dog with two
tails and eyes as big as saucers. On the way, Johnny Top went fishing and
caught a whale. He almost hauled it aboard but a sword fish came along and cut
his fishing line. Then they sailed to Australia and ate the oranges that Gramma
brought for a snack.