At lunch the guests at the Black Dog Inn could talk of nothing but the museum robbery.
“If you ask me,” one guest said, “the police should question Miss Coffin first. After all, she lives at the Sailors’ Museum.”
“Humph!” another guest said. “What about investigating the biggest scrimshaw dealer in these parts, Spooner Cooke? He’s another strange one, always in that rowboat of his at odd hours.”
This last comment about Spooner Cooke upset Violet. She put down her soup spoon and spoke up. “Mr. Cooke only rows his boat at different times because of the tides and weather. We visited him just a little while ago. He was as nice as could be.”
“Nice to children?” one person asked with raised eyebrows. “As long as we’ve been coming to Ragged Cove he hasn’t let a child so much as look in the window of his shop.”
Benny reached into his pocket, pulled out his scrimshaw top, and whirled it next to his clam chowder bowl. “Well, today he gave me this as a present. And he gave Violet a whole bunch of needles. All kinds.”
Mrs. Pease came around with the soup pot. “There are different sides to everyone,” she said. “Now, who wants seconds on chowder?”
For once Benny didn’t want seconds. “I’m saving room for apple pie,” he said, giving Mrs. Pease a big smile.
“Well, you’d better start your pie now,” Mr. Pease said when he overheard this. “I just found out Captain Hull is setting out on a whale watch with a bus group that came down from Bassville. I asked him for a few more tickets for some of our guests. So whoever wants can have a whale of a good time.”
“Let’s go find some whales!” Mr. Alden told his grandchildren.
When the Aldens arrived at the docks, a tour group was boarding the Jonah. The children and their grandfather stood at the end of the line with tickets in hand. The line moved slowly up the gangplank.
Mr. Alden handed Captain Bob their five tickets. “Hi there, captain. I finally finished my business, so I can go out and see some of those whales my grandchildren told me about.”
Captain Bob stared at the Aldens. “Uh . . . gee, Mr. Alden, where did you get these tickets?”
Mr. Alden took a closer look at the tickets. “Why, from you, of course. Mr. Pease said you gave him some for the Black Dog guests. That’s us, you know. Is something wrong?”
The captain’s face reddened. “It’s just that I don’t have any room today, sir. This tour group from Bassville pretty well fills the boat. I’ll be going out in a couple days. I’ll take you then.”
Mr. Alden shook his head. “We have to be on our way tomorrow, so this is our last chance.”
Several other tourists overheard Mr. Alden. A man stepped forward from his group to speak to Captain Bob. “Let these folks take our place. Our group has decided to come back tomorrow when it’s sunnier.”
“Then we can take their places, captain, wouldn’t you say?” Mr. Alden asked.
A shadow seemed to pass over the captain’s face. Finally, he took the Aldens’ tickets and stuffed them into his pocket. “Life jackets are over there,” was all he said before he rushed below deck.
The Aldens settled themselves on a bench at the front of the Jonah. “I can’t imagine why Captain Bob didn’t want our family on board,” Mr. Alden said. “He seems out of sorts for some reason.”
One of the passengers leaned on the railing near the Aldens and pointed toward Howling Cliffs. “Look. There are those lights again. Didn’t I tell you, Millie, that I saw some lights over that way before the last storm?”
The children jumped up to see what the man was talking about. Sure enough, flickering lights shone over the water near Howling Cliffs.
The man went on. “Captain! Captain! Aren’t those lights supposed to be from that wreck the uh . . . .”
“The Flying Cloud,” Jessie finished. “Or the lights have something to do with the weather. They only come out when there are storm clouds.”
“What’s your opinion on that, Captain Bob?” the man asked. “You’re the expert in these waters.”
Captain Bob just piloted the Jonah straight ahead, as if there were nothing unusual at all about lights coming from nowhere.
“Leave him alone,” the man’s wife whispered. “He’s looking out for whales, not ghosts.”
Everyone nearby except for Captain Bob had a good laugh over this comment. Just as Jessie had said, once the clouds disappeared, so did the strange lights.
“Whale off! Whale off!” Benny cried a while later. “Look, Captain Bob. There’s a pod of whales.”
All the passengers moved to the front of the boat. Everyone could see the shiny gray backs of at least six whales.
“Oh, look!” Violet cried with delight. “There’s a baby whale on its mother’s back! How wonderful!”
“It’s a whale calf,” Captain Bob said from behind the wheel of the Jonah. His voice seemed gentler now that there were whales nearby. “That’s how the young ones ride around until they’re old enough to leave their mothers. They stay safe that way. Whoa!” he yelled out suddenly. “Everybody sit down on the benches or go below deck! There’s a big whale ready to breach right by us!”
Mr. Alden motioned for Henry, Violet, Jessie, and Benny to head below deck.
“What’s ‘breach’ mean, Grandfather?” Benny asked, holding on to the rail of the narrow stairs.
“That’s when a whale suddenly breaks to the surface,” Mr. Alden explained. “That one came awfully close to this boat.”
“My tummy feels funny,” Benny said as the Jonah rocked back and forth.
“I bet that big whale made some big waves,” Henry said. “That’s why the boat is rocking like this.”
Everyone tried to hold on to each other when the Jonah made a sharp turn. Some metal dishes slid and crashed to the floor. Several cans of food rolled around. Cabinet doors opened. Out fell books, ropes, boxes, and tools. The boat pitched back and forth for several long minutes before it settled down.
“Let’s put away some of these things that fell out,” Jessie said.
Mr. Alden and the older children started to pick up all the objects that had fallen to the floor. They returned everything to its proper place. Then Jessie noticed something way under the table.
“Look at this,” Jessie whispered to Henry. She held up a black, leather-covered book that said: Diary: Captain Coffin on the front.
The Aldens heard the Jonah’s engines stop. They looked up and saw Captain Bob’s black rubber boots on the stairs.
“Everybody and everything okay down here?” Captain Bob yelled down below. “Hope nobody got seasick.”
Jessie quickly replaced the diary in the cabinet.
“We’re fine now that the boat’s not rocking,” Mr. Alden told Captain Bob when he came to see how the Aldens were doing. “But I think we’ll head up for some fresh air.”
The captain looked around. “Thanks for cleaning up. I forgot to lock up some of these cabinets. I’d better do that now in case another whale decides he wants to ride nearly piggyback with us.”
The children watched Captain Bob go straight to the cabinet where the logbook was hidden. He put a small lock through it and snapped it shut.
“Everything’s where it should be now,” Captain Bob said. “Let’s find some more whales.” |