The Treasure Cave: sea tales of Tiptoes Lightly (19 page)

Then Asherah
the Earth Mother danced, she spun around and around and let her child rise into
the sky. Oh, beautiful, beautiful was the Moon Child as she walked across the
sky and lit the night with her silvery rays. And O, how the Moon Child loved
her mother, Asherah, tender Mother of the Earth. Always and always did the Moon
Child gaze upon her mother with a single face. And always and always was the
Moon Child’s face full and round and shining in those days after her birth.

When Iluna saw
the Moon Child in the heavens her heart went out to her at once. She cried:

‘O,
Moon Child,

Child
of the Earth,

You
who shine so silvery and bright,

You
who tread the darkest night

And
walk the light of day,

Let me touch your beautiful face.’

But Asherah
the Earth Mother said:

‘Iluna,
Iluna, you are a sun-seed,

The
earth is your home.

Here
you were sent

By
Father Sun

And the hand of Sister Vive the Living.’

Iluna wept.
She wept bitterly. Day and night her tears fell upon the earth. They moistened
the ground and watered the plants and at night they watered the oceans and
turned them salty. At last, Asherah saw how much Iluna loved her Moon Child,
and cried:

‘Iluna,
Iluna,

Go
to my Moon Child,

Be
her friend

And
constant companion—

But
how you will you get to her,

She who soars so high in the sky?’

Iluna wiped
her tears and was glad. Every night, she gathered the silvery moon rays. For
long ages she gathered the moon rays from the air, from the clouds, from the
glistening oceans and the dew drops upon the grass. She wove them, strand by
strand, into a silver ladder. Longer and longer the fine ladder grew until at
last, on a night of stars, Iluna climbed to the moon. She cried:

‘O,
beautiful Moon Child,

O,
Child of the Night,

Iluna
comes climbing,

Climbing
on her silvery ladder.

She
longs to touch your face,

She
longs to take you by the hand,

She comes in love.’

Iluna reached
out. She touched the Moon’s face and loved her. She held her hand.

Asherah the
Earth Mother looked up. She saw the ladder leading to the moon and called to
Iluna: ‘You must be the only one who climbs to my child. Throw down your ladder
of woven moonlight.’

Iluna cast the
ladder down. It wavered and twisted in the air. It whipped back and forth like
a snake and wrapped itself around the earth. All around the earth it wrapped
itself, over the mountains and plains, and fell with a splash into the deep
blue sea. Asherah hid the ladder under the ground. There it lies to this day as
strands of silver that miners love.

The next
morning, Father Sun awoke and gazed down upon Asherah and her Moon Child.

‘What is
this?’ he cried. ‘A sun-seed, the great sun-seed, Iluna, has gone to the moon!’

Father Sun was
not pleased. Iluna should have stayed on the earth. In his wrath and anger the
sun shone brighter and hotter than ever, and the Moon Child called out:

‘Mother
Asherah,

Father
Sun is angry!

He
shines on me full brightly,

His anger burns me!’

There was
nothing Asherah could do. She called to Iluna: ‘Iluna, Bright One Full of Life,
save my Moon Child. Father Sun is angry that you are with her.’

So Iluna took
the Moon Child’s hand and led her into the shadow of the earth. Now the Moon
Child no longer stood in the sun, but neither did she shine at night or walk in
the day. She was forever hidden from sight.

Then Asherah
wept. She no longer saw her Moon Child and did not know what to do. She cried:

‘Iluna,
Iluna, Loving One,

Am
I never to see my child again?

Am I never to see her lovely face?’

So Iluna took
the Moon Child by the hand; she took her by the hand and slowly led her into
the sun’s light. Night by night the Moon Child waxed and grew until, for one
whole night, she was round and full and bright. Then bit by bit Iluna led her
back into the shadow of the earth until, at last, she rested for one whole
night in the darkness.”

“So it has
been ever since,” said Tiptoes. “Iluna the Moon Princess, leads the Moon Child
through sunlight and shadow in the course of the year. Asherah was delighted
and thought it was a wonderful idea—and so did Father Sun, when he stopped
being grumpy. He found it so beautiful that he told Iluna she could dance on
the moon in his sunlight whenever she wished.”

“And if you
look closely,” said Tiptoes, “you can still see Iluna dancing in the moonlight
if your eyes are quick enough. She has silvery feet, and silvery hair, and
wears a silvery dress. And if you are lucky and see her face, you will see the
most beautiful silvery eyes gazing back at you.”

Tiptoes
wakes June Berry in the Night

That night,
long after the children had been put to bed, Tiptoes went to the children’s
bedroom. Tom and June were in the bunk bed and Veronica and Johnny Top slept on
foam mattresses on the floor. Silvery moonlight filtered through the lace curtains.
Tomorrow the moon would be full. Outside an owl called, ‘Who-hooo…who?
Who-whooo…who?’ Tiptoes went to June Berry.

“June Berry,
June Berry, wake up,” she said, pulling on a lock of her hair.

June Berry
stirred and tried to brush Tiptoes away, but Tiptoes flitted out of reach and
came back.

“June Berry,
wake up,” said Tiptoes, tugging her hair again.

June Berry’s
eyes fluttered and opened. It took her a moment to wake up. “What’s wrong?” she
asked. Tiptoes never woke her unless it was important.

“It’s the
necklace,” said Tiptoes. “I found out who owns it.”

June Berry sat
up. “Who?” she asked.

“A mermaid,”
said Tiptoes. “The Sea King’s daughter.”

June Berry’s
eyes opened wide—then they narrowed. “But Uncle Finn said the pearls are
plastic.”

“He’s wrong,”
said Tiptoes. “They’re real.”

“I thought
so,” said June Berry. “They don’t feel like plastic. How did you find out about
the mermaid?”

“I met her,”
said Tiptoes.

“You met her!”
exclaimed June Berry. “Where?”

“Shhhh, don’t
wake the others,” said Tiptoes, putting her finger to her lips. “I met her in
the lighthouse, the one out beyond the bay. She lives with the lighthouse
keeper.”

“What’s her
name?” whispered June Berry.

“I don’t
know,” said Tiptoes. “I never asked her. She let the lighthouse keeper tell
their tale. They met when he was a sailor.”

“Does she know
I have the necklace?” asked June Berry.

“No, I didn’t
tell her,” said Tiptoes. “At first I wasn’t sure if it belonged to her, but now
I am.”

June Berry
pulled the covers around her shoulders. She reached out and picked up the
necklace from the nightstand beside the bed. The pearls were silky smooth and
soft to the touch. They gleamed palely in the moonlight. She heard the owl hoot
and the grown-ups chatting in the living room.

“Tell her I’ll
give the necklace back,” she said at last. “But Tom has to know too. I’ll tell
him in the morning.”

Tiptoes nodded
and left. June Berry lay down again. In her hand she clutched the pearl
necklace tightly.

~
Friday ~

A
Shell on the Shore

Tiptoes left
the cottage and flew out into the morning breeze. The smell of the sea wafted
towards her as she soared along the bluffs and glided down to the shore. The
tide was in and waves were washing far onto the beach. Sandpipers with long
beaks ran in the shallow waters piping high-pitched songs. Out in the surf the
last of the pelicans were flying low over the incoming waves.

On the shore
Tiptoes found a seashell newly washed up by the sea. It was the size of a
walnut and shaped in a lovely spiral. When she looked inside she saw the walls
were tinged pearly pink and glinted with rainbows. Tiptoes slipped inside.
Round and round she went, getting smaller and smaller until she wasn’t much
bigger than a speck of dust. Just when she thought she couldn’t get any smaller
and might have to disappear altogether she came upon a door. It was made of
mother of pearl and had a shiny handle.

“Knock-knock-knock,”
went Tiptoes … but nobody replied.

“Knock-knock-knock,”
she went again, and still nobody answered.

She opened the
door. The doorway was tiny, almost as small as nothing at all. Tiptoes took a
deep breath, scrunched herself tight, and squeezed through.

On the other
side, the whole world was streaming light and song. The sea was made of
water-light and it sang as it flowed. The wind was made of wind-light and it
hummed as it blew. The sand was made of sand-light and tinkled as it glinted.
Beyond the bluffs the trees were fountains of light lifting upwards and dissolving
into the air, and each one sang a different song.