The Treasure Cave: sea tales of Tiptoes Lightly (13 page)

After that
Johnny Top jumped ship and ran down the beach to join Gramma. She’d taken off
her shoes and was walking on the wet sand and letting the surf play around her
ankles.

“Me too,” said
Johnny Top, pulling off his shoes and socks and throwing them away.

Gramma put his
shoes and socks neatly on dry sand and helped him roll up his trousers. Then
they went walking in the surf. The waves ran up the beach and splashed against
Johnny Top’s ankles.

“It’s cold!”
he squealed, and ran up the beach.

In a moment he
was back with Gramma. He tried to outrun the next wave but he wasn’t fast
enough. He did this over and over again. Finally, when his legs were turning
blue, Gramma lifted him up and found a sunny spot for him to dig in the sand.

Stuck
on a Stack

Tom left the
girls playing in the ship and went down to the two sea stacks. The tide was
out, leaving Castle Ragged high and dry. It was higher up the beach and always
came out of the water at low tide. Tom had been up it many times. But Castle
Jagged was further down the beach and was almost always surrounded by swirling
water. Tom had never been on it. He stood as close as he could and watched the
surf surge around the rock then pull back again and run rapidly out to sea.
Finally, every few waves, a thin strip of sand was left bare for a few seconds.
Tom waited for his chance. A few waves later it came. He ran as fast as he
could and leaped upon Castle Jagged.

An instant
later the water was back again, swirling around the rock. Tom smiled and
whooped—he was on an island!

He climbed
past the weedy skirt and up the bare rock to the top. This rock was once part
of the land, but the sea had worn away the soil around it. A small, bright
green ice plant clung to the last patch of dirt. It had one purple flower. Tom
wondered how many years the plant had been here all by itself. He climbed down
the seaward side. It was steep and he had to be careful. From there he couldn’t
see the beach, just the sea stretching on forever. He gazed out and imagined
being on an island all by himself with the great sea swirling and crashing
around him. That would be an adventure!

Tom heard a
flurry of feathers. A jet-black raven settled on a rock a few feet above his
head. Tom stayed still. Ravens are shy, cautious birds and he’d never seen one
so close. Tom liked them. His dad said they lived for a long time and were very
smart. The raven stared at him with a dark glossy eye and cocked his head
sideways. He tipped forward, opened his heavy black beak and croaked: ‘Caw.’ As
he cawed Tom saw his beard of feathers standing out below his beak. He was a
big bird, much bigger and heavier than a crow. He croaked again, still staring
at Tom, as if to say: ‘What are you doing here?’ Twice he bent his knees and
lifted his shoulders. Then he jumped into the air and sailed away.

Tom worked his
way around the sea stack to the landward side. He climbed down to the water and
waited for the waves to pull back and let him run back to the beach—but they
never did. They kept rising and Tom had to retreat up the rock. The tide had
turned.

“I’m stuck,”
thought Tom.

He tried to
keep calm. He climbed back to the top of the rock. From there he could look
past Castle Ragged and see the ship.

“June Berry!
Veronica!” he shouted, waving his arms.

They didn’t
hear him. The roar of the surf drowned out his voice. He waved again and again.
Finally Veronica saw him. She smiled and waved back. June Berry saw him too and
she also smiled and waved. Then they went back to playing.

Tom didn’t
know what to do. He climbed back down and looked at the water. It swirled and
rushed powerfully. It was too dangerous for him. He went back up. He saw Gramma
and Johnny Top, but they didn’t see him. Further down the beach his dad was
sitting with Uncle Finn and Aunt Sally. Tom began to panic. He knew the tide
was low only twice a day—the next low tide would be early the next morning when
it was still dark. The only help Tom could think of was Tiptoes Lightly.

“Tiptoes!
Tiptoes!’ Tom cried out, hoping she’d hear.

In a moment
she was there.

“You’re
stuck,” she said.

“I’m stuck,”
he agreed with a rueful grin.

“Wait,” said
Tiptoes, “and whatever you do, do not go into the water,” and she flew away so
quickly that Tom thought she’d vanished.

A moment later
June Berry stood up and looked towards Tom. She raced down the beach to their
dad. In a minute he came running with Uncle Finn and Aunt Sally.

“Looks like
you’re stuck,” shouted Farmer John over the waves.

Tom nodded. He
was afraid and felt like crying, but tried not to show it.

Farmer John
and Uncle Finn took off their jackets. They waded into the swirling water,
holding on to each other to keep themselves steady. The surf pushed and pulled
them from side to side. Soon they were up to their waists.

“Jump,” said
Farmer John when they were close enough and Tom jumped. Farmer John caught him
and he clung to his dad’s back as they made their way back to shore. Tom was
never so glad to be on dry land.

Farmer John
laughed and ruffled Tom’s hair. “You’ve had an adventure,” he said, wagging his
finger, “and a lesson. Don’t forget it,” and they all went back to the cottage
so the men could change.

Gramma’s
Tale of the Fire Fairies

Johnny Top was
three years old. Next year he’d be going to preschool. He had sandy brown hair
and three freckles on his nose. He had to go to bed earlier than the other
children, and his mom gave him a bath, brushed his teeth and put him in pjs. He
came into the living room with his hair combed and his thumb in his mouth. He
went to Gramma sitting in an armchair by the fire and climbed onto her lap.

“Story,” he
said, and snuggled up.

Gramma leaned
back in the chair and a faraway look came into her eyes.

“Wait,” cried
June Berry, and she went and sat at Gramma’s feet. So did Tom and Veronica.
Lucy came too. He flopped down and put his nose on Gramma’s toes.

“Where’s the
little fairy we met earlier?” asked Gramma. “Doesn’t she like stories?”

“Oh yes, she
does,” said June Berry, and called out:

“Tiptoes
Lightly,

Small
as a sprite,

Won’t
you come back

From the sea tonight?”

“Here I am,”
said Tiptoes. “How did you know I was by the sea?”

“I guessed,”
said June. “Gramma’s telling us a story.”

“Oh, goody,”
said Tiptoes, and she flew to Gramma’s shoulder. She whispered in her ear.

Gramma nodded
and smiled, then she began her tale.

“Once there
were two fire fairies called Flicker and Flash. They lived high above the earth
where the air is warm and makes a blanket for the world. One day Flicker and
Flash were dancing about when they saw two sunbeams coming from the sun.

‘Oh look, two
sunbeams,’ said Flicker. ‘They’re so pretty. Let’s ask who they are and where
they’re going.’

So Flash
called out: ‘Pretty sunbeams! Pretty sunbeams! What are your names and where
are you going?’

And the
sunbeams replied: ‘Our names are Shiny and Bright. We are on our way to the Ten
Tall Trees. Do you want to come?’

‘Yes, please,’
cried Flicker and Flash, and they hopped on the backs of Shiny and Bright and
off they flew faster than galloping horses. Down they whizzed through the air
to the Ten Tall Trees and landed on their leaves as lightly as a feather.

‘Knock-knock!’
cried Shiny and Bright, and all the leaves on the Ten Tall Trees opened their
doors and they went inside. Through the greeny leaves they traveled, through
the greeny-brown stems and into the brown branches and trunk—even into the
roots.

“That’s where
they stayed,” said Gramma. “The two fire fairies and the two sunbeams closed
their wings and stayed inside the Ten Tall Trees.

One day, two
men came walking through the Ten Tall Trees. They were looking for firewood.
Quick as a wink, Flicker and Flash and the two pretty sunbeams ran to a dead
branch just as it broke from one of the Ten Tall Trees. The branch fell at the
feet of the two men with a CRASH!.

‘Yikes!’ cried
the men, jumping back.

They took the
branch back to their cottage where one grandmother and four children were
staying. They cut it up and put the pieces into the fire. And there it is
burning in the fireplace,” said Gramma, nodding towards the fire. “If you look
carefully you can see Shiny and Bright. They are shining into your eyes and
letting you see. And if you put out your hands you can feel Flicker and Flash
making them warm and warming your face too.”

Johnny Top put
out his hands and nodded. So did the other children.

“I am going to
clap my hands,” said Gramma. “And when I clap, Flicker and Flash will jump out
of the fire.”

“Clap-clap!”
Gramma clapped, and out of the fire sprang two fire fairies.