The Treasure Cave: sea tales of Tiptoes Lightly (23 page)

“She’s a
fairy,” cried the gulls in unison. “Tiptoes Lightly! Of course she is. Look at
her wings—them’s lovely!”

Tiptoes
laughed, threw out her arms, and sang:

“Come
sail with me and fly with me,

The
day is young and I am free!

Gulls
are wheeling in the air,

And I am riding one that’s fair!”

The gulls
roared with laughter. “A singing Tiptoes butterfly,” they cried. “Hey, Salty
Jack, give us a verse,” and Salty Jack burst out in song:

“What
shall we do with the Tiptoes Lightly?

What
shall we do with the Tiptoes Lightly?

What
shall we do with the Tiptoes Lightly,

Earl-aye in the mornin’?”

And the flock
replied:

“Pull
her out of bed if she sleeps too lately!

Pull
her out of bed if she sleeps too lately!

Pull
her out of bed if she sleeps too lately,

Earl-aye in the mornin’!”

And Salty Jack
sang again:

“What
if her eyes are full of sleeping?

What
if her eyes are full of sleeping?

What
if her eyes are full of sleeping,

Earl-aye in the mornin’?”

And the flock
replied as they wheeled in the wind:

“Dip
her in the sea by her little toesies!

Dip
her in the sea by her little toesies!

Dip
her in the sea by her little toesies,

Earl-aye in the mornin’!”

Tiptoes
laughed and clapped her hands. She spread out her arms, and cried: “Whee! I love
seagulls!”—and the seagulls laughed and mewed and wheeled about her by the
thousands.

Down below,
Peter came out of his door. He looked up and wondered why the gulls were making
such a joyful racket so early in the morning.

The
Ring

Tiptoes
returned to the cottage. She found everyone cleaning and packing. They were
talking about the storm during the night.

“I thought the
roof was going to fly off,” said Aunt Sally.

“I could feel
the ground shaking from the breakers on the beach,” said Uncle Finn.

“It was so
noisy I could hardly sleep,” said Farmer John. “I’m glad the thunder and
lightning didn’t wake the children.”

Gramma came in
from outside. “We lost two trees in the grove,” she said. “The wind blew them
down. That was some storm.”

“I heard the
thunder giants,” said Johnny Top. He was still sitting in his high chair eating
French toast. “They were jumping on the roof—boom-boom-boom!”

At last the
cars were packed and they all went to say goodbye to the sea. The day was sunny
and clear and the wind fresh. They saw hundreds and hundreds of seagulls flying
above the bluffs or flocking over the sea.

“Look at all
those gulls,” said Gramma. “They’ll be looking for food tossed up by the
storm.”

They reached
the edge of the cliff and looked down.

“Our ship,”
cried Tom. “It’s gone!”

Where the
battleship Invincible had been was nothing but freshly washed sand. All the
wood had been swept away.

“And the
cave,” said June Berry. “The cave is gone too!”

The whole side
of the bluff where the cave had been was torn away. All that remained was a
jumble of broken rock.

Uncle Finn
looked up and down the coast.

“That’s
strange,” he said. “This is the only place that the bluff  is damaged. How
could that happen?”

“Perhaps it
was the Sea King,” said Veronica, coming over and taking his hand. “He sure was
busy last night.”

“I think you
might be right,” said Uncle Finn. “He can be a grumpy fellow.”

“Time to go,”
said Farmer John. “I have some milking to do this afternoon.”

They waved
goodbye to the sea and walked across the meadow. On the way back Aunt Sally saw
a ring on June Berry’s finger.

“That’s nice,”
she said, lifting June Berry’s hand and looking at it. The ring was shaped like
a dolphin wearing a crown. The dolphin was silver, his crown was gold, and his
eye was a tiny pearl that glistened with rainbows.

“It looks
real,” said Aunt Sally, surprised. “Where did you get it?”

“It was on my
finger when I woke this morning,” said June Berry.

“On your
finger!” exclaimed Uncle Finn. He was walking beside them with Veronica and had
been listening. “Who put it there?”

“It must have
been Tiptoes,” said Veronica. “That’s something she would do.”

“It’ll match
your necklace,” said Aunt Sally. “They’ll look nice together.”

“I suppose,”
said June Berry with a smile. Then she ran to join Tom and Lucy chasing Johnny
Top about the sea meadow.

Home
again

“Hugs! Hugs!
Hugs!” everyone cried, giving everyone a hug and climbing into their car.

“Woof! Woof!”
barked Lucy and licked all the hands he could find.

“Bye!” called
Uncle Finn’s carful.

“Bye!” called
Farmer John’s carful as they pulled away down the drive. “See you in the
spring.”

Farmer John
and his crew drove through Summer’s Fort and over the Noyo bridge. A little
further on they turned left and drove east. Soon they were winding their way up
the mountains. They sang as they drove:

“Oh,
we’ve been to see the sea at the shore,

The
pirates and the dragons and much more,

We
didn’t mind the weather,

We
love to be together,

We’ve been to see the sea at the shore!”

Through the
redwood forest they drove, the Guardian of the Forest watching them wakefully
the whole time. Then down the mountains they went and into the valley of the
grapevines. All the golden leaves were gone, blown off by the storm. Out across
the wide, flat plain they drove until they reached Running River. They followed it to the village of Fairest Oaks where the chickens and roosters run
wild. They picked up food at the store and drove home. As they turned into
their driveway Tiptoes caught sight of her great oak tree.

“Roll down the
window! Roll down the window!” she cried.

Tom rolled
down his window and out she flew.

“Bye,” she
called. “See you later, alligators.”

“In a while,
fairy child,” Tom and June called back.

“Woof! Woof!”
barked Lucy. He was glad to be back too.

Tiptoes opened
the door to her acorn house. Everything was neat and tidy and just as she’d
left it. Then she looked into the living room.

“Not again,”
she cried. “Lillian!”

Lillian the
Ladybug didn’t stir. She had gone to sleep for the winter and didn’t hear a
word.

“Oh, well,”
sighed Tiptoes. “At least you don’t snore—but you do take up my whole living
room!”

To view sample stories and a synopsis from all of Reg Down’s
books for children please visit
www.tiptoes-lightly.net
.

The
Tales of Tiptoes Lightly

The
Festival of Stones

Big-Stamp
Two-Toes the Barefoot Giant

The
Magic Knot

The
Lost Lagoon

The
Starry Bird

Eggs
for the Hunting

The
Midsummer Mouse

The
Bee who Lost his Buzz

The
Cricket and the Shepherd Boy

Sir
Gillygad and the Gruesome Egg

A
Tangle of Tales

The
Adventures of Jane: the cat who was a dog

Butterbrains
(Kindle edition only)

The
Fetching of Spring (for grown-ups)

The
Darkling Beasts (young adult: grade 7 and up)

Color
and Gesture: the inner life of color (for artists and eurythmists and those
interested in color theory and practice)

Leaving
Room for the Angels: eurythmy and the art of teaching (available from AWSNA
Publications)

The website also has numerous short stories for teachers and
parents to download – they mostly cover kindergarten through grade 4, but some
are for high school and adults.

Other books edited, translated and/or published by Reg Down:

Gilgamesh
by Bernarda Bryson

The
King of Ireland’s Son by Padraic Colum

The
Children of Odin by Padraic Colum

The
Boy who knew what the Birds said by Padraic Colum

The
Boy apprenticed to an Enchanter by Padraic Colum

The
Last little Cat by Meindert DeJong

Sticks
across the Chimney by Nora Burglon

The
Gate swings in by Nora Burglon

The
Being of the Arts by Rudolf Steiner

Vendors, please contact me at
[email protected]
for wholesale
terms.