by Down, Reg
“And so it has been ever since, and will be for many years to come,” said Tiptoes. “Father Sun and Mother Earth are pleased, but Oshi the Restless Sea King longs for Silver Iluna. On full moon nights he longs for her so much that the sea itself is restless and rises and falls to its highest and lowest. And when the moon is new and hidden Oshi misses Iluna terribly and again the sea rises and falls to its highest and lowest.”
“That is what is happening tonight,” said Tiptoes. “The moon is full and the ocean heaves to its highest as the Sea King wanders the waves longing for Iluna.”
“Doesn’t Iluna see the Sea King now?” asked June Berry. “She must see he loves her.”
“Yes,” said Tiptoes. “She looks down upon the earth and sees the love Oshi the Restless has for her. She sees his longing and her love for him is growing. Year by year her love grows. In far distant days her longing will become so strong that it will draw the moon back to the earth. Then Silver Iluna will wed the Sea King, Oshi the Ever-Restless, but the earth will be changed utterly.”
Tiptoes finished her story. Outside the storm-wind groaned and the sound of the sea rising on the shore became ever louder. After a while they couldn’t tell the difference between the thunder and the wild waves crashing against the rocks.
Chapter 58
June Berry meets the Sea Maiden
That night Tiptoes woke June Berry. She sat up and listened. The grown-ups had gone to bed.
“It’s time,” said Tiptoes.
June Berry dressed in warm clothes and snuck to the mudroom. She put on her raincoat and boots and slipped out the door. Outside the wind was fierce. It caught her and pushed her around. Overhead, the full moon raced through the clouds. The storm front had passed and now the lightning played on the mountains and the thunder sounded in the distance.
Tiptoes led the way across the sea meadow to the bluffs and down to the beach. O, how the waves roared! They were huge and the tide was still rising. Far out to sea another front was brewing and lightning flashed and crackled back and forth. June Berry stayed by their ship. The waves were so wild she was afraid to go close to the water. Tiptoes left and she waited. She put her hand to her neck and felt the pearl necklace against her skin.
Up the beach a woman came walking in the flickering moonlight. She had long hair which blew in the wind and she wore a light dress. The wind and weather didn’t bother her at all. She came to June Berry and stood before her. She was more beautiful than anyone June Berry had ever seen. She was slim, and had long, delicate fingers. On one hand she wore a ring with two entwined fish. She smiled and June Berry smiled back.
June Berry lifted the necklace over her head and handed it to the woman. She held it in her hands and gazed at the pearls. Then she put the necklace around her neck.
“You’ll have to fix the clasp,” said June Berry. “It was broken when we found it.”
“I’ll get Peter to fix it,” the woman said. “He’s good with his hands.”
“Where is he?” asked June Berry.
“At the lighthouse,” said the woman. “He has to tend the light. Besides, it’s better if he isn’t on the sea during storms. My father is restless when the moon is full.” She ran her fingers along the pearls and smiled. “Thank you,” she said. “I haven’t seen this necklace for a long time. It means a lot to me—both sorrow and joy.”
Then she turned and walked down the beach and into the waves. June Berry wanted to cry out, but already the first breaker had curled over the woman’s head and she was gone.
Chapter 59
Tiptoes says goodbye to Obaro
Tiptoes led June Berry back to the cottage and then returned to the beach. The tide was nearing its height and was reaching up to the ship. The second storm front had grown. From horizon to horizon a massive wall of black cloud stood a mile or two out to sea. It growled like a beast. Tiptoes slipped into the cave. Suddenly the storm seemed far away. She looked about and went to the second chamber.
“Looking for me, are you, are you?” asked Obaro, suddenly appearing.
“I wanted to tell you about the necklace,” said Tiptoes. “June Berry gave them back to the Sea King’s daughter.”
“She did, did she?” said Obaro. “So the tale goes on, and on. The pearls were lying here for so long I began to think of them as mine. Mine. But that’s silly, of course. Only the Sea King’s daughter can ever own those pearls, those pearls.”
“What will you do now?” asked Tiptoes.
“Do now? Do now?” said Obaro. “If the cave is here, I am here. I am here. If the cave is not here, then I am not here. Not here.”
“Where would you go if the cave wasn’t here?” asked Tiptoes. Tiptoes couldn’t imagine staying in one place for so long.
“Go? Go?” said Obaro. “What an adventure that would be! To go—that would be fun.”
“But where?” asked Tiptoes again. She had met lots of gnomes before, but Obaro was by far the strangest she had come across. She knew her gnome friends back home would want to hear about him.
Obaro was silent for a moment. He was thinking.
“I would go wherever I am told,” he said at last. “Wherever I am told. You, little Tiptoes, have been with those human beings far, far too long. You are getting to be like them. You are getting willful and rushfull.”
“I suppose,” said Tiptoes. “But who would tell you where to go?”
“You are small but persistent,” said Obaro, chuckling. “Very persistent. Who do you think? Think!”
Tiptoes scratched her head. “Asherah the Earth Mother,” she guessed. “She would tell you where to go.”
“Yes! Yes, of course,” boomed Obaro. “Who else? Who else!”
Tiptoes gave a little bow. “Thank you for telling me,” she said. “I have to say goodbye now. We are leaving tomorrow.”
Obaro gave a little bow too—though it looked more like he was bowing into his hollow space. “It’s been an adventure meeting you. Oh, what fun—but far too quick, too quick.”
He shifted and hovered over another spot.
“Before you go, have a look in the sand over here,” he said. “You’ll find something your little lady might enjoy. Enjoy.”
Chapter 60
~ Saturday ~
Salty Jack
Tiptoes was up early the next morning. The storm had cleared, the clouds were gone, and the wind was gentle and warm. Out the door and high in the air she flew. She saw the sea sparkling in the morning sun and the lighthouse far away on its little island. Seagulls were circling round and round it, mewing and calling. A gull with a snow-white breast flew past. He came so close that Tiptoes heard the wind in his wings. Quick as a wink she grabbed his tail.
“Hey!” cried the seagull in surprise. “Wha’cha doin’?”
“Hitching a ride,” said Tiptoes cheerfully.
The seagull whirled and dipped to shake her off, but Tiptoes hung on tight.
“If you’re not going to let go you might as well sit on my back,” said the gull at last. “I’m flying to the lighthouse.”
So Tiptoes sat on the gull’s back and off they flew until they joined the flock circling the tiny island.
“Hey! Salty Jack,” cried the gulls. “Who’s that on your back?”
“Donno,” said Salty Jack. “Some kinda butterfly what talks.”
“My name is Tiptoes Lightly,” called Tiptoes to the flock. “I’m not a butterfly, I’m a fairy.”
“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.
Chapter 61
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.
Chapter 62
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 Being of the Arts by Rudolf Steiner
Vendors, please contact me at [email protected] for wholesale terms.