Journey With the Comet

by Dana Wayne Haley

  “You mean my great-great grandmother Carver was born here?”

  “That’s right. But you’re missing a few greats, dear; she was born about three-hundred-miles from here—in Massachusetts, near the town of Plymouth—a very long time ago. Her father was a great Indian chief, and….”

  “What was her name?” an excited Leona asked.

  “Princess Falling Star,” Margaret answered.

  “What were her parents’ names?”

  “I never knew her mother’s name, but her father’s was…. Darn, it’s right on the tip of my tongue. Oh well, it’ll come to me.”

  “When was my great-great-great grandmother Princess Falling Star born, Mama?”

  “I figure she must’ah been born sometime in the 1600s, so you’re still missing a whole boatload of greats, Leona. All of her grandmothers before her were born in this land too.”

  “And my very-very-great grandfather came on a boat, all the way from England?”

  “That’s right, dear,” Margaret laughed. “Isaac Carver sailed to America on a ship called the Speedwell, shortly after his brother John came over on the Mayflower. John Carver is a very famous man; he was the very first governor of the Plymouth Colony.”

  “How did grandfather Carver know how to get to America?” she asked.

  Margaret turned toward Murdock, and from his wife’s expression he knew it was his turn to respond to his curious daughter’s questions.

  “Well, he probably didn’t, Leona, because he was just a passenger. But, back then, the sailors used the stars to navigate the world’s oceans.”

  “The stars? How?” she asked.

  “They used an instrument called a sextant, along with a compass and navigational charts. The compass told them which way to head, but they had to use a sextant to look at the stars so they could determine just where they were. Look up there. See those stars in the sky?” Murdock said while pointing northward toward the Big Dipper. “Sailors use the position of stars like those to navigate. There is one star in particular that they use more than any other. It’s called the North Star. See, it’s that one right up there.”

  Leona wasn’t sure just which of the myriad of stars her father was pointing to, but she nodded her head as if she was.

  “What happens if it’s cloudy at night and there are no stars in the sky?” the inquisitive girl asked.

  “Well, I suppose the sailors had to wait until it cleared up again, and hope, in the meantime, that they didn’t run into anything. But manys-ah-ship has been lost over the years and I’m sure that long periods of starless nights was one of the most common reasons; next to storms.”

  —2—

  “How do you know so much about the stars, Papa?”

  “I’ve spent manys-ah-long-night talking with the sailors who visited Bangor, dear. They know all about the stars. If you look at the sky long enough you can find groups of stars called constellations. They’re all given special names: names that describe the way they look.”

  “What kind of names?” Leona asked.

  “Well, the best known constellations are Ursa Major and Ursa Minor: the Big Bear and the Little Bear. See those stars up there? That’s the Ursa Major constellation: the Big Bear.”

  “Where, Papa? I don’t see a bear.”

  “I hav’ta admit that it is hard to imagine those stars looking much like a bear without seeing a drawing, but if you look real careful you can see seven stars in Ursa Major that look a lot like a dipper. In fact, they’re called the Big Dipper. It’s that group of stars right up there.”

  Leona looked and said: “I don’t see a dipper.”

  “You hav’ta open your eyes wide, dear, and take in a lot of the heavens at once to see it. Come sit on my lap so I can point it out to you better.”

  Leona ran to her father and hopped onto his lap.

  “See those four bright stars? The ones that look like the corners of a box.”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, that’s the dipper’s pan, and the three stars to the left are the Big Dipper’s handle.”

  “Oh! Now I see it. But why is it called a big dipper?” Leona asked.

  “Because there’s a smaller group of stars that also look like a dipper and they’re called the Little Dipper. See, it’s right up there,” Margaret said.

  “Oh yes, I see it,” Leona said without hesitation.

  Margaret was astonished at how quickly her daughter found the Little Dipper. She barely had time to point out its brightest star, let alone all seven, and it was not nearly as easy to find as its larger counterpart, yet Leona located it right away.

  “How did she do that?” Margaret wondered.

  “The Little Dipper is part of Ursa Minor,” Murdock told his daughter.

  After telling her all he knew about Ursa Minor, he pointed out a few more constellations to his daughter: Andromeda, the Chained Princess; Aquarius, the Water Bearer; Aries, the Ram; Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown; and some other of the more easily recognizable celestial sights that he remembered his sailor friends telling him about. When he was almost finished describing the last one he could remember, Murdock noticed that Leona was no longer paying attention to him. Instead, she was staring intently at another portion of the sky, smiling and appearing to nod her head as if being spoken to.

  “Do you see the Corona Borealis, Leona? It means Northern Crown,” Murdock said, trying to regain her attention.

  “Oh yes, I can see all the constellations real clear now, Papa. They’re so bright. Look at Equuleus. What a pretty horse. And Gemini; the twins are so cute.”

  “Yes, dear,” Murdock answered with a smile while winking at his wife.

  —3—

  As Leona gazed skyward watching the flickering stars, she caught a glimpse of one that seemed to appear out of nowhere and race across the sky. It was curving downward toward the Earth until, after a few seconds, it mysteriously disappeared into thin air. The little girl was dumbfounded.

  “Did you see that, Papa!? What was it!?”

  “I sure did. It’s called a shooting star, and it was quite spectacular, wasn’t it?”

  “Did you see it, Mama?” Leona asked.

  “Yes, dear,” Margaret said, “as plain as day. Wasn’t it beautiful?”

  The little girl didn’t answer. Leona’s thoughts were now turning back to her Indian ancestor.

  “I wonder if my Indian grandmother got her name from a star like that one?”

  “It’s more than likely, Leona,” her mother said. “Stars have been falling from the heavens since time began; and some say that if you make a wish on a shooting star your wish will come true.”

  “Do you believe that, Mama?” Leona asked.

  “Well, why don’t you make a wish and find out.”

  Leona thought real hard and then made a wish.

  “What did you wish for, Leona?” Margaret asked.

  “I can’t tell you, Mama, ‘cause it won’t come true. But I know you and Papa will like it if it does. Do you really believe a wish made on a star like that will come true?”

  “I’m not sure, sweetheart,” Margaret replied, “but I know one thing for sure:

  “A wish can only come true if you make one.”

  “Your mother’s right, Leona,” Murdock said.

  “Just like dreams can only come true if you dream them.

  “So never stop dreaming, Leona. Never stop dreaming.”

  Leona pondered what her parents said, and then returned her gaze to the sky.

  “So, Leona, which of the constellations do you think is the prettiest?” her mother asked.

  “I like the eagle constellation the best. I’ve never seen an eagle that beautiful before. It’s so amazing.”

  “What do you mean, dear? What eagle constellation?”

  “That one
over there, Mama.”

  Margaret turned to Murdock, looking confused and shrugging her shoulders.

  “Don’t look at me, Maggie,” he said, “I don’t see anything. I vaguely remember something about an eagle constellation—Aquila, I think it’s called—but darn if I can remember where it is, or what it looks like.”

  Then he turned to his daughter. “Where is it, Leona?”

  “It’s right there. Don’t you see it flying away?”

  Margaret and Murdock just looked at each other with eyebrows raised. Leona was pointing toward a part of the sky that had no visible stars.

  “It’s gone now, Mama. And so is the old Indian. Will they come back?”

  Margaret gave her husband another funny look, and then she turned back to her daughter.

  “Indian? You have quite an imagination, Leona.”

  Murdock shook his head and said: “I’ll say.”

  Leona looked puzzled.

  “Well, it’s getting late and we’d better be getting back home,” Murdock said. “Come on, Lillian; and you too, Arlene. Tomorrow’s Leona’s birthday and I promised to take her for a ride on the Bon Ton.”

  “Can we go too, Papa?” Lillian asked.

  “I don’t see why not, unless your mother needs you to stay home with her.”

  “What do you mean, Murdy? I’m going too.”

  “Do you think you should, sweetheart; what with you being pregnant and all?”

  “Oh, I’m not due for another three weeks. I’ll be fine. I’ll just stop and rest a lot, like I did today.”

  “Okay. If you think you’re up to it. Well, girls, it looks like you’ll be getting a ride on the Bon Ton too.”

  “Yaaay!” Arlene screamed. “Can we get an ice cream again tomorrow?”

  “I guess that would be okay. What do you think, Maggie?”

  “Well, since it’s Leona’s birthday, I guess it’ll be okay.”

  “I hope it doesn’t rain,” Lillian said.

  “You don’t hav’ta worry about that, dear. It’s gonna be good tomorrow.”

  “How can you be so sure, Papa?”

  “Because the sky was red tonight.”

  “Huh?” Lillian said with a puzzled look on her face.

  “Haven’t you heard the saying: ‘Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night, sailors delight.’ The sailors taught it to me. They use it all the time to predict the weather. They say, in their experience on the high seas, it’s 99.9% accurate. When the sky is red at night, the weather will be good the next day. And when the sky is red in the morning, the weather will be bad that day. So tomorrow should be beautiful.”

  “Papa, what if it’s not red at night, or the next morning?” Arlene asked.

  “Hmmm? I suppose it’ll be just so-so that day,” he conjectured.

  On their walk home, Murdock started to whistle.

  “What’s the name of that song, Papa?” Leona asked. “You’re always whistling it.”

  “It’s called Beautiful Dreamer, sweetheart.”

  “It sure is pretty.”

  “It sure is, Leona. Someday I’ll teach you the words.”

  Chapter 14

  The Boat Ride

  On April 26, 1915, Leona’s 5th birthday, the Haleys walked to Front Street and boarded Bon Ton II, one of the three miniature ferries docked in Bangor. It was being readied by its captain for a trip across the busy Penobscot. But first they would have to wait for the City of Belfast to depart on its weekly trip to Boston. As usual, the harbor was filled with ships and barges from all over the world, so navigating the small ferry across the Penobscot was going to be no easy matter. Even so, the enormous ships and barges were not the only concern for the cautious captain. Occasionally a gigantic log would break free in Veazie from the massive log rafts that made their way down the Penobscot this time of year, and avoiding them was even more imperative for the small boats like the Bon Ton II.

  “You bin keepin’ busy, Captain Jacobs?” Murdock asked as he boarded the ferry.

  “Busier than I’d like to be, Murdy. It’s been real hectic this spring. There must be a whole slew of inexperienced river-drivers this year, ‘cause the number of runaway logs is a whole lot more than I recollect in past years.”

  “How many safety crews are working the river?”

  “The usual: one two-man canoe on each side. They do the best they can corralling and steering the runaways to the banks, but if more than one or two logs get away at a time, then one is bound to get by ‘em.”

  “Well, in that case, I’ll help you keep an eye out.”

  “Thanks, Murdy. Another pair of eyes wouldn’t hurt. Now, you kids make sure you hang on tight. Here, Maggie, why don’t you sit on this bench over here next to me? I’ll let you borrow my nice, soft cushion; and I’ll try to make your ride nice and smooth. I wouldn’t want you giving birth on my boat; although, I must say, it wouldn’t be the first time.”

  “What do you mean, Captain?”

  “Oh, didn’t you know? Last year we hit a large wake square-on, and a young lady was jolted into labor. Fortunately, we made it to the dock before she gave birth. One of the passengers was a nurse, so the two of us were able to deliver her baby without too much trouble. Still, I wouldn’t want you going into labor before your time,” he said as he passed his cushion to Margaret.

  “Thanks, Captain Jacobs. I appreciate your concern. I never heard that story before. Did you, Murdy?”

  “I’m afraid not, and I hear most everything that happens on the Penobscot from the sailors, especially if it happens in Bangor.”

  After the captain skillfully navigated his little boat around the much larger ships in the harbor, the Bon Ton II docked in Brewer and the passengers were let off.

  “See you in about an hour, Captain.”

  “Okay, Murdy. You and your family have a nice visit in Brewer.”

  “I’m sure we will. Thanks, Cap.”

  —1—

  In a little less than an hour the Haleys returned to the dock in time to see the tiny ferry approaching. After the Bangor passengers were let off, the Haleys and three other passengers from Brewer were allowed on. On the way back to the Bangor side the Bon Ton II had to stop to let a huge ship pass in front of it. The name on the side of the vessel was Sea Turtle. It was a Scandinavian vessel arriving to pick up a load of goods that was most likely headed for ports throughout Europe. Lillian waved at the sailors on board, and some of them smiled and waved back.

  “Mama, look. The sailors are waving to me.”

  “Well, isn’t that nice of them,” her smiling mother said, as she appreciatively waved back at the sailors. “Some of them look awfully cute. Don’t they, Lillian?”

  “Maybe a little, Mama,” Lillian said, her cheeks now blushing.

  “Wake!” the captain of Bon Ton II shouted. “Hang on tight!”

  Just then a huge wake from the Sea Turtle hit the tiny boat, tossing it around.

  “Yippee!” Arlene yelled.

  Lillian began laughing when she saw Leona lose her balance and go sliding backwards, five feet along the deck on her butt. The sailors on the huge ship also began to laugh when they heard Lillian and then saw Leona looking up at them with a sheepish grin on her face.

  “Do you know any of those men, Murdy?” Margaret asked.

  “Oh yes, I know most of them. They’re all good men from Norway, although I’m not sure if I should call them men, because some of them are no more than fifteen or sixteen.”

  “It must be fun for them to visit other parts of the world,” Leona said.

  “I’m sure it is, Leona,” Margaret answered. “I’m sure it is.”

  “Someday, I want to do that.”

  “You want to be a shiphand?” Lillian joked.

  “No, silly. I want to travel to other
parts of the world.”

  Lillian began laughing, and that made Leona laugh, even though what her sister said was not particularly funny to her. Still, try as she may, Leona couldn’t help but giggle when she heard Lillian’s contagious laugh. She had probably heard her laugh a thousand times before, but there was something about it this time that struck Leona funny. Even her mother and father were laughing uncontrollably, and so was Arlene.

  “Stop it, Lillian,” Leona pleaded. “My stomach is hurting from laughing so hard.”

  But instead of stopping, Lillian laughed even harder when she saw her sister’s reaction and also heard the 5-year-old’s squeaky voice begging her to stop. After everyone finally stopped laughing, Leona was quick to realize that her older sister had a very strange laugh that, by its very nature, made everyone else laugh too. Although she had heard it many times before, until now she never realized how uniquely different it was from most people’s laugh, and just how contagious it was.

  “Lillian, you sound just like a hyena when you laugh,” she said.

  Hearing that, Lillian began laughing again, only harder this time, deliberately trying to make her little sister laugh some more.

  “Stop that!” Leona pleaded, over and over.

  But it was too late; everyone on the little Bon Ton was now laughing hysterically, even the captain and the other three passengers who were making the trip to Bangor: two middle-aged women and a three-year-old child. When Lillian saw the effect her laugh was having, she exaggerated it even more by upping its pitch as best she could to make it sound even more like a hyena’s laugh, or what she thought a hyena’s laugh would sound like. From that moment on, Lillian decided to use her newfound ability to her advantage, that of making people laugh uncontrollably. Where before she had always been an introvert, Lillian was now happy to be the center of attention.

  —2—

  “Hang on! Here comes another wake from the Sea Turtle!” Captain Jacobs yelled.

  Margaret turned to make sure her children were holding onto something when the boat was jolted again by an even bigger wave. Leona was in the process of picking herself off the deck from the last wave when the second wave hit, and she once again lost her balance. However, the impact of this one sent the 5-year-old over the side of the boat into the chilly Penobscot.