Golden sunlight poured into the Crow’s Nest as the Aldens awakened.
Jessie tiptoed to the big windows to feel the sun. She opened the doors that led to the widow’s walk. “Mmm, fresh sea air.”
“Do you see any land yet?” Henry joked. “I dreamed we were on a long sea voyage.”
Jessie focused the telescope the Peases left by the window. “I see lots of land with lots of people,” she answered, laughing. Then she stopped. “Hey, come here, Henry. Isn’t that Captain Bob out on the Jonah?”
Henry jumped out of bed to take a look. “It sure is. I thought he said he was driving up the coast today. Do you suppose he’s running his whale watch trips after all?”
“If he is, let’s get down to the dock,” Jessie said. “A sign said the trips leave at eight. We’ve only got half an hour.”
Henry and Jessie tickled Benny and Violet to get them out of bed.
“Why are we rushing?” Violet said, rubbing her eyes.
“Captain Bob is out on his boat,” Henry told his sister. “We want to see if he’s going out to watch whales today.”
“Whales! Did somebody say ‘whales’?” Benny cried.
The children left a note under the door of their grandfather’s room and went downstairs to tell Mrs. Pease their plans.
She shook her head. “I’ll pack a few muffins for the trip. But I don’t think the Jonah is scheduled for any whale watches today. Mr. Pease said Captain Bob had other plans for the next few days. We’ve never figured out where he disappears to after every big storm.”
“Well, we’re going to try, just in case,” Benny said hopefully.
Mrs. Pease handed Benny a cloth napkin filled with warm muffins for the trip.
The children ran through the sleepy streets of Ragged Cove and down to the town dock. Sure enough, the Aldens could hear the Jonah’s motor warming up. They raced down the dock to the bright blue boat.
“Captain Bob! Captain Bob!” Henry yelled, nearly out of breath.
Jessie whispered to Henry. “Do you think one of us should go on board and see if he’s down below? Maybe he didn’t hear us.”
Jessie didn’t wait for Henry’s answer. She walked cautiously up the gangplank then walked on deck. Before she got very far, a voice boomed out.
“What are you doing on this boat?” Captain Bob yelled when he came up from the engine room.
Jessie jumped back and caught herself on the railing. “We came to see if you were taking people out whale watching after all.”
Captain Bob’s face grew red. He seemed about to shout until he saw that he was scaring the children. He looked down at his boots and shook his head. “I’m not going out today. Told you kids that. Now off you go.”
Jessie didn’t argue. She walked down the gangplank and away from the Jonah with her brothers and sister.
“Maybe another day,” Captain Bob called out. “Just not today.”
“Let’s go sit up on a bench and have breakfast,” Henry suggested. “We’ll try to come up with some better plans.”
But coming up with better plans wasn’t easy. It was such a sunny, warm day. Nothing seemed nearly as much fun as whale watching. Jessie unwrapped the napkin full of muffins. The children each took one but only nibbled at the edges. They watched Captain Bob untie the Jonah then slowly steer it out of the protected cove.
“Look, he’s heading north, up the coast,” Henry pointed out. “Not straight out to sea. Maybe he decided to take the boat up the coast instead of taking his truck like he told us yesterday.”
“He’d better be careful,” Violet said. “Howling Cliffs is in that direction. Mr. Pease said there are lots of boat wrecks up that way.”
Benny tossed crumbs of muffins to the seagulls that had discovered the Aldens. “What are we going to do today, Henry?” he asked his older brother.
“Maybe we can visit the Sailors’ Museum,” Henry said. “Even if we can’t go on a whale watching boat, we can go look at pictures and souvenirs of boats at the museum.”
Violet was worried. “What if that woman, Miss Coffin, won’t let us in? Mr. Pease said she doesn’t even like grown-ups visiting.”
“We’ll try, just in case,” Jessie said. “I’d like to see some scrimshaw and sea paintings.”
“If I can’t be on the sea, at least I’ll get to look at a painting of it,” Benny said.
The other children laughed, but they agreed with Benny. |