The Treasure Cave: sea tales of Tiptoes Lightly
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The Treasure Cave
~ sea tales of Tiptoes Lightly ~
Reg Down
The Treasure Cave: sea tales of Tiptoes Lightly
© Copyright 2013 Reg Down
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written prior permission of the author, except for brief quotations embodied in critical articles for review.
Lightly Press
lightlypress@gmail.com
For Miki, and all those trips to the seaside on the California coast.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 1
~ Saturday ~
Nutcrackers’ Outsetting
It’s time! It’s time!” Farmer John called up the stairs. He was calling his children, Tom Nutcracker and June Berry. They were going to the sea for Thanksgiving.
A moment later thunder rumbled through the house and a herd of wild horses came stampeding down the stairs—buh-boom! buh-boom! buh-boom! Round the corner his children galloped, eyes wide, hair flying, and Lucy barking at their heels.
“Into the car,” said Farmer John, holding the house door open as they dashed through. He locked the door and put the key in its hiding place.
“I’m in the front,” shouted Tom, touching the car first.
“Not fair,” cried June Berry. She was younger and not as quick.
“Children in the back,” said Farmer John. “We’ll let Lucy have the front.”
Lucy jumped in, his tail wagging furiously. He spun around and dived between the seats and licked June Berry’s face.
“Don’t, Lucy,” said June Berry, pushing him away. “I have to put on my seatbelt.”
Farmer John stored the last bits and pieces in the car and down the lane they drove singing loudly.
“Oh, we’re off to see the shore at the sea,
The crabs and the mussels and the weeds,
Never mind the weather,
We’re off to sea together,
We’re off to see the shore at the sea!”
“Ahrooooo! Ahrooooo!” howled Lucy, singing along with them. “Ahrooooo! Ahrooooo!” Lucy’s real name is Luciano Amadeus Pavarotti von Nutcracker because he always tries to sing along with the children. Everyone called him Lucy for short.
“Oh, we’re off to see the sea at the coast,
Sweet potatoes and a turkey we will roast,
We’ll travel on a train
If ever it should rain,
We’re off to see the sea at the coast!”
They’d almost reached the end of the long lane that led out of the farm when Tom grabbed his dad’s shoulder.
“Stop,” he cried. “We have to stop. We forgot Tiptoes!”
Chapter 2
Tiptoes is Invited
Tiptoes is a fairy. Her full name is Tiptoes Lightly. She has a sky-blue dress and golden-yellow wings. Her house is an acorn hanging high in the branches of a huge oak tree growing close to Running River. On this day she was standing on a branch outside her house polishing Lillian the Ladybug’s shell. Lillian’s shell is bright red with three black spots on each half. Because of this Lillian can count up to six—one, two, three, four, five, six.
“And what’s after six?” asked Tiptoes.
“Many!” cried Lillian. “Many, many, many!” and that was the best answer you’d get.
Lillian was having her shell polished because it was getting colder. Soon it would be Thanksgiving—then she’d begin her winter snooze.
“Where are you going to sleep this winter?” asked Tiptoes.
“I’m not sure,” said Lillian, yawning. “I’m so sleepy I can’t even remember where I slept last year.”
“In my house,” said Tiptoes. “You took up the whole living room.”
“Did I? I’m sorry,” said Lillian. “I’ll try not to do it again. Did I snore?”
“No, thank goodness,” said Tiptoes, rubbing the last spot till it shone brightly, “but it might be better if you find somewhere else this year.”
Just then Farmer John’s car went driving down the lane. Tiptoes peered through the branches. She saw Tom Nutcracker and June Berry in the back seat, with Lucy in the front howling out the window.
“I wonder where they’re going?” thought Tiptoes.
Suddenly the car screeched to a halt. The back doors flew open and out jumped Tom and June. They climbed the fence into the meadow and ran towards the oak tree. A moment later Lucy leaped out the car window and raced after them.
“Tiptoes! Tiptoes!” cried Tom and June. “We’re going to the sea for Thanksgiving. You have to come.”
Tiptoes was delighted. She liked the sea.
“Okay, I’m all finished here,” she said, patting Lillian’s shell.
Then she opened her golden wings and leaped into the air.
Chapter 3
Summer’s Fort
Farmer John drove through the village of Fairest Oaks and joined the freeway going westward. They followed Running River as it flowed through the wide, flat plains of the central valley. Up ahead, the mountains that ran along the coast came closer and closer. It began to rain, but they still sang as they drove along.
“Oh, we’re off to see the sea at the shore,
The wind and the waves and the roar,
Never mind the rain,
We’re going just the same,
We’re off to see the sea at the shore.”
The windshield wipers swung back and forth, back and forth. All the cars on the road had their headlights on. After a while everyone settled down and stared out the windows as the world rushed by. When they reached the mountains the rain lifted. They turned north and wound up a long valley with gently rolling hills. The hills were covered with vineyards, with row upon row of grapevines. Their leaves were turning yellow and golden-brown and the fields were empty of people.
At the town of Willits, Farmer John turned west into the mountains. The road rose; it twisted and turned and fell again and redwood trees towered over their
heads. Tiptoes sat looking out the back window and gazed at the trees. She loved trees. These redwoods looked old and upright—though she knew they were only younglings compared to the real redwood giants. She also saw two eyes looking out of the forest at her. They gave her a little shock. No matter where she looked the eyes were there. It was the guardian of the forest. His job was to know every person and creature who passed through. She waved, but the guardian just kept watching until they drove out of the forest and came to the crest of the last hill.
“There’s the sea,” said Farmer John pulling into a lookout.
They got out of the car and stretched their legs. It was mid afternoon and the sun was low in the sky. The blue-gray ocean spread to the horizon below them, the sunlight glinting off the waves. Even though they were miles away they could smell the sea.
On they drove, always downward, passing through farmland and scattered trees until they came to the road that followed the coast. Turning right into Summer’s Fort, they drove along Main Street, through the center of town and over the railroad tracks. Just before the tracks was a sign that said: ‘Skunk Train—tickets here!’
“Can we go on the Skunk Train?” asked Tom. “We’ve never been.”
“Please, Dad,” said June Berry. “Let’s go this time.”
“That’s fine by me,” said Farmer John and the children smiled.
At the edge of town they crossed Pudding Creek and went past the old railway trestle beside the sea. The trestle was made of huge timbers and was three or four stories high. A couple of miles later Farmer John turned in at their cottage. The cottage belonged to the Nutcracker family. It was a small white house tucked against a low hillside and surrounded by windblown hedges. On the south side of the house grew a lemon tree, festively adorned with bright green-yellow lemons amid dark, glossy leaves. Out back was a grove of pine trees leaning away from the wind, and between the cottage and the beach was a wide sea meadow, now covered with brown summer grasses and a few wild flowers.
Farmer John parked the car and they all piled out. “Let’s unpack before we go to the beach,” he said, “otherwise it’ll never get done.”
In a moment the car was unpacked. Then they put Lucy on a leash and went to see the sea.
Chapter 4
The Sea
Tom and June ran ahead, following a faint path through the sea meadow. Small piles of sandy dirt, the diggings of ground squirrels, lay scattered about. The path skirted a tangle of blackberry bushes. They were bare and leafless. Further on, a single windswept pine lay low to the ground. It leaned so steeply that it made a small, sheltered space underneath.
“It’s a house,” said June Berry, hunkering down inside. “There’s no wind here at all.”
Tom joined her and they watched their dad coming across the meadow with Lucy. They were so well hidden he didn’t notice them as he passed.
“Boo!” they cried, jumping out and grabbing his arm.
“Hey, you scared me!” he laughed. “That’s a good place for a playhouse.”
Tom and June raced to the edge of the bluff. Here the wind was always blowing—always and always. The bluff ran for miles along the coast, sometimes low and sandy, sometimes high and rocky. Here it was only as high as a house and a pathway led down to the beach.
“The sea! The sea!” cried Tom and June running towards the waves with their arms opened wide. They loved the sea and the waves crashing wildly on the shore.
They turned and ran back to their dad. “Can we go swimming?” June Berry asked.
“Oh no, it’s far too wild,” said Farmer John. “Listen to the roar! And the water is icy cold—you’d turn as blue as ice.”
Tom and June ran off along the strand, skirting the rising surf as it raced up the shore.
“Woof, woof,” barked Lucy, straining on his leash. He wanted to be free.
Farmer John let him go and he raced after the children. He passed them by and bounded into a flock of seagulls. They took to the air, crying loudly as he ran amongst them. Then he charged into the sea and barked at the waves—but Lucy had never been to the seaside before. He didn’t know how strong the waves were. A huge breaker reared up over his head. Lucy turned and tried to run away, but the surf pulled against him. Higher and higher the wave climbed as Lucy looked more and more worried.
“Watch out, Lucy!” shouted Tom.
“Run!” cried June Berry.
It was too late. The wave crashed down on him. It picked him up and tumbled him head over heels up the beach. Finally the wave let Lucy go and washed away. Lucy stood up, wet and bedraggled. His ears were laid back and his soggy tail hung between his legs. He wasn’t sure what had happened.
“You’re okay, you’re okay,” said Tom and June, stroking his head.
Soon he was wagging his tail and licking everybody’s hands. He shook his whole body and sent the water flying. Then he ran along the beach, exploring everything he saw—but he didn’t go into the water again.
Chapter 5
Tiptoes walks along the Shore
Tiptoes wandered along the shore. At the other end of the beach Lucy was chasing seagulls.
“Lucy better be careful,” she thought. “He’ll go into the waves and then there will be trouble!”
Tiptoes walked quietly. The tide was rising and the surf shot up the beach and touched her feet. Flecks of foam blew in the air or rolled along the sand. Tiptoes found that she couldn’t keep still, she just had to run, and away she went skipping lightly over the strand. The wind played in her hair and sang:
“Tiptoes comes to us this evening,
Bringing songs of joy and skipping
Lightly over sands a-stretching,
As the waves come landward reaching.”
And Tiptoes replied:
“Yes, I come this autumn evening,
To my friend the wind that’s blowing
Over ocean waves a-roaring,
Sending flocks of foam a-soaring.”
Then the wind picked Tiptoes up and blew her high into the air. Over the beach it carried her, over the rocky bluff and into the garden of the cottage where she was staying. It set her down on the doorstep as lightly as a dandelion seed.
“Thank you, Wind,” called Tiptoes, laughing, as she made herself small and slipped through the keyhole of the cottage door.
Chapter 6
Before Supper
Tiptoes was in the living room by herself. She sat on the arm of an old stuffed armchair by the fireplace. She listened to the wind sighing around the cottage, and beyond that the hush ... hush ... hush of the waves breaking on the shore.
Dusk was falling when June Berry came into the cottage, followed by Lucy.
“Woof! Woof!” said Lucy ambling into the living room.
“Lucy, stop that,” said June Berry. “Don’t bark at Tiptoes.”
Lucy looked guilty for a moment, then spun around three times and flopped on the hearth rug. He was exhausted from being on the beach.
June Berry sat in the armchair next to Tiptoes and told her their adventures on the beach. She’d found two seashells and a smooth white pebble.
“Lucy got caught by a wave too,” she added.
“I know,” said Tiptoes. “I saw. Poor Lucy, he looked like someone put him in a washing machine.”
Lucy wagged his tail back and forth on the rug. He knew they were talking about him.
Farmer John and Tom came in with armloads of firewood and put it in the firebox. Their hair and shoulders were damp with the sea mist that had moved onto the land.
“Who are you talking to?” asked her dad, as he lit the fire.
“Tiptoes,” said June Berry. “Can’t you see? She’s here on the armchair.”
Farmer John looked but couldn’t see her. So he smiled and patted June Berry on the head. Sometimes he saw Tiptoes and sometimes he didn’t. Then he went to the kitchen.
Tom put another stick onto the fire and gazed at the flames as they grew. He sat for a long time without mo
ving. He loved the way the fire flickered and hissed and the flames danced.
“Tiptoes, are there fire fairies?” asked Tom.
“Yes,” said Tiptoes.
“Where do they come from?” asked Tom.
“And where do they go to?” chimed in June Berry.
“They go up the chimney, of course,” said Tom, grinning. “But I asked where they came from.”
“And I asked where they go to,” insisted June Berry. “Tiptoes is the only one who knows.”
“No bickering,” said Farmer John from the kitchen. He was making supper. “I’m sure Tiptoes will answer both your questions if you ask her politely.”
“Please, Tiptoes! Please tell us everything!” said Tom and June, falling to their knees and begging her with much-too-polite voices. They were being cheeky.
Tiptoes laughed. Her laughter was like a ringing bell. “Of course I will,” she said. “You guys are just being silly. But first you must settle down and listen.”
So Tom Nutcracker and June Berry settled down, and a moment later, when Farmer John looked in the door, he saw Tom and June wide awake and listening, but all he heard was the crackling of the fire.
Chapter 7
How Plants came to the Earth
Once upon a time,” said Tiptoes, “Kalor and Vallor lived on the sun. Kalor was warmth and Vallor was light and they were brothers. Kalor was older and darker, and Vallor was younger and luminous. They liked to be together.
One day they were sitting on the sun and looking around.
‘The earth looks much too bald,’ said Kalor.
‘Yes,’ agreed Vallor. ‘It’s as bald as a goose egg.’
And it was true; the earth was as bald as an egg because that was in the days before clouds and trees.
‘We will have to ask Sister Vive for help,’ said Kalor.
So they went to Sister Vive and found her sitting under a golden pomegranate tree.
‘Sister Vive,’ said Vallor, ‘the earth is as bald as an egg.’
‘Yes, that has been bothering me too,’ said Sister Vive, and she reached up and plucked a pomegranate.