CHAPTER 1
All Aboard!
Four shivering children stood next to a big black stove. They were all wrapped up in white towels.
“I think my hat blew a-w-w-w-a-y,” six-year-old Benny Alden said through chattering teeth. “I hope it didn’t land in the ocean!”
James Alden, the children’s grandfather, gave Benny a hug. “Not to worry, Benny. Mr. Pease got all our things from the car nice and dry. See?”
Just then, a man with a jolly face stepped into the kitchen of the Black Dog Inn. He was carrying several suitcases and wearing a bright yellow rain slicker. On his head was Benny’s missing sailor cap. “All hands on deck!” the man said with a smile.
Benny grinned and saluted. “That’s my hat on your head,” he told the man.
Everyone laughed. “Mr. Pease, these are my grandchildren,” James Alden said. “The boy who belongs to that sailor cap is the youngest, Benny. And those three shivering children are Violet, Jessie, and Henry. You’ll be able to tell them apart when they’re not all dressed up in towels. Mrs. Pease thought they might like to dry themselves in your warm kitchen. Why, that wind and rain just soaked through us in no time at all.”
“Indeed!” Mr. Pease said. “That’s a gale blowing up. Yessir. First one of the season. Ragged Cove is about to be hit by a storm. A big one, too. You folks are in for an adventure.”
“Adventures are what we like!” announced Henry, who was fourteen.
“Your grandfather told me you’d say that!” Mr. Pease said. He put the sailor cap on Benny’s head. “And he said nobody’s better in an emergency than his grandchildren. I don’t know if you mind being guests who help instead of guests who get help. With this storm coming up so fast, I could use a few extra hands.”
“I’m a good worker,” Benny said.
“And a good eater,” Mrs. Pease added as she came into the big cheery kitchen. “Benny has already eaten one of the johnnycakes I finished frying up on the griddle. I’ll have to start calling them Bennycakes. How about another one, Benny?”
“Yum,” Benny said.
“First I’ll take you up to your room so you can put on some dry clothes,” Mrs. Pease said. She led the children up the creaky stairs of the old whaling captain’s house that was now an inn. The Aldens were staying there while Mr. Alden did business in the old seaport town of Ragged Cove, Massachusetts.
“I had to send the staff home early because of the storm,” Mrs. Pease told the children. “I’m so glad you don’t mind pitching in.”
“We can be your junior staff,” twelve-year-old Jessie said. “We like to help out.”
“Mr. Pease and I are glad to have some young people at the Black Dog. Our own grandchildren live a long way off. We don’t see nearly enough of them,” Mrs. Pease said. “Now here’s your room. It’s called the Crow’s Nest. It’s taller than the rest of the inn and looks out over everything, just like the crow’s nest on a ship.”
Mrs. Pease opened a narrow wooden door to reveal a snug room with tidy bunk beds and chests built into the walls.
“Oh, look, a little porch right outside our room!” cried ten-year-old Violet. “I can go out there to paint seascapes when the weather gets better.”
“That’s called a widow’s walk, Violet,” Mrs. Pease explained. “Back in the whaling days of Ragged Cove, the wives of sailors could stand there and watch for their husbands’ ships to return.”
“Then why isn’t it called a wife’s walk?” Benny asked.
Jessie Alden, who loved history, answered. “Well, Benny, so many of the husbands died at sea, these lookouts got to be called widows’ walks.”
“That’s so sad,” Violet said in a quiet voice.
“I bet a lot of ships were lost on days like this,” Henry added.
“Quite a lot,” Mrs. Pease told the children. “My mind is at ease now that Mr. Pease has retired from his fishing boat. I don’t have to come up here to look out for him on these stormy
All Aboard!
Four shivering children stood next to a big black stove. They were all wrapped up in white towels.
“I think my hat blew a-w-w-w-a-y,” six-year-old Benny Alden said through chattering teeth. “I hope it didn’t land in the ocean!”
James Alden, the children’s grandfather, gave Benny a hug. “Not to worry, Benny. Mr. Pease got all our things from the car nice and dry. See?”
Just then, a man with a jolly face stepped into the kitchen of the Black Dog Inn. He was carrying several suitcases and wearing a bright yellow rain slicker. On his head was Benny’s missing sailor cap. “All hands on deck!” the man said with a smile.
Benny grinned and saluted. “That’s my hat on your head,” he told the man.
Everyone laughed. “Mr. Pease, these are my grandchildren,” James Alden said. “The boy who belongs to that sailor cap is the youngest, Benny. And those three shivering children are Violet, Jessie, and Henry. You’ll be able to tell them apart when they’re not all dressed up in towels. Mrs. Pease thought they might like to dry themselves in your warm kitchen. Why, that wind and rain just soaked through us in no time at all.”
“Indeed!” Mr. Pease said. “That’s a gale blowing up. Yessir. First one of the season. Ragged Cove is about to be hit by a storm. A big one, too. You folks are in for an adventure.”
“Adventures are what we like!” announced Henry, who was fourteen.
“Your grandfather told me you’d say that!” Mr. Pease said. He put the sailor cap on Benny’s head. “And he said nobody’s better in an emergency than his grandchildren. I don’t know if you mind being guests who help instead of guests who get help. With this storm coming up so fast, I could use a few extra hands.”
“I’m a good worker,” Benny said.
“And a good eater,” Mrs. Pease added as she came into the big cheery kitchen. “Benny has already eaten one of the johnnycakes I finished frying up on the griddle. I’ll have to start calling them Bennycakes. How about another one, Benny?”
“Yum,” Benny said.
“First I’ll take you up to your room so you can put on some dry clothes,” Mrs. Pease said. She led the children up the creaky stairs of the old whaling captain’s house that was now an inn. The Aldens were staying there while Mr. Alden did business in the old seaport town of Ragged Cove, Massachusetts.
“I had to send the staff home early because of the storm,” Mrs. Pease told the children. “I’m so glad you don’t mind pitching in.”
“We can be your junior staff,” twelve-year-old Jessie said. “We like to help out.”
“Mr. Pease and I are glad to have some young people at the Black Dog. Our own grandchildren live a long way off. We don’t see nearly enough of them,” Mrs. Pease said. “Now here’s your room. It’s called the Crow’s Nest. It’s taller than the rest of the inn and looks out over everything, just like the crow’s nest on a ship.”
Mrs. Pease opened a narrow wooden door to reveal a snug room with tidy bunk beds and chests built into the walls.
“Oh, look, a little porch right outside our room!” cried ten-year-old Violet. “I can go out there to paint seascapes when the weather gets better.”
“That’s called a widow’s walk, Violet,” Mrs. Pease explained. “Back in the whaling days of Ragged Cove, the wives of sailors could stand there and watch for their husbands’ ships to return.”
“Then why isn’t it called a wife’s walk?” Benny asked.
Jessie Alden, who loved history, answered. “Well, Benny, so many of the husbands died at sea, these lookouts got to be called widows’ walks.”
“That’s so sad,” Violet said in a quiet voice.
“I bet a lot of ships were lost on days like this,” Henry added.
“Quite a lot,” Mrs. Pease told the children. “My mind is at ease now that Mr. Pease has retired from his fishing boat. I don’t have to come up here to look out for him on these stormy
Similar Books
