The Treasure Cave: sea tales of Tiptoes Lightly Read Free

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.

    She opened it,
scooped out the seeds, and held them in her hands. Kalor breathed on them and
made them glow bright red. Vallor shone on them and made them shine like stars.
Vive cast the seeds into the sky, and down, down they fell upon the earth,
shining like golden rain. Some fell into the oceans and lakes; they hissed and
sizzled and sent up clouds. The rest fell on the land and were buried deep
under the ground.
    Kalor and
Vallor sat on the sun and waited. They watched the first clouds cover the
world. They watched the rain, the first rain, wet the soil. Then Kalor sent
waves of warmth to the earth. The seeds soaked in the warmth. They sprouted and
grew, and Vallor sent rays of light to the earth as the leaves unfolded. The
plants bathed in the light and soon made flowers. Last of all, when the flowers
had faded, Sister Vive sang a song and caused the seeds to scatter over the
ground for the coming year.”
    “That’s how
the first plants began,” said Tiptoes, “and why they love the light and warmth
so much.”
    “But what
about the fire fairies?” asked Tom Nutcracker. “You never told us about them.”
    “That’s just
the first part of the story,” said Tiptoes. “But the rest will have to wait.”
    “Why?” said
June Berry, disappointed.
    “Because
supper’s ready,” said Farmer John, looking in the door. “Time to wash your
hands.”

Chapter 8
    The
first Trees
    After supper
Tom Nutcracker and June Berry cleared the table while their dad made the beds.
They sang as they washed the dishes:

    “This
is the way we wash the dishes:
    Fill
the tub and add some fishes,
    Let
them swish their scaly tails
    And clean the cups as big as whales!”
    And they sang some more as they put the plates and cutlery away.
    “Store
the plates upon the floor,
    Throw
the bowls into the drawer,
    Stack
the knives upon the shelves
    And let the cups go hang themselves!”
    When they were
finished they went to the living room and found Tiptoes sitting close to the
fire.
    “Can we finish
the story?” asked Tom.
    “Let’s wait
for your dad,” said Tiptoes.
    So they sat
and watched the flames flickering over the logs and the smoke rising up the
chimney. After a while Farmer John came in and drew the curtains.
    “You’re quiet,”
he said.
    “We’re waiting
for you,” said Tom. “Tiptoes is going to finish her story.”
    “Oh, I see,”
said Farmer John, settling down on the sofa.
    He looked
around for Tiptoes.
    “She just flew
up next to me,” said June Berry, patting the armchair.
    Farmer John
nodded, but still didn’t see her. Tiptoes smoothed her blue dress and continued
the tale of the fire fairies—but as soon as she began Farmer John’s head nodded
forward and he fell fast asleep.
    “All over the
earth,” said Tiptoes, “the seeds of Sister Vive sprouted and grew. These were
the first plants. Some were tiny, some were tall, and some were so small they
were hardly there at all!”
    “Just like
today,” said Tom.
    “Yes, except
they didn’t look like plants do today,” said Tiptoes. “Oh no, not at all! They had
only three things: warmth from Brother Kalor, light from Brother Vallor and
life from Sister Vive. If you saw one today you’d hardly see it at all—maybe
just a delicate light hovering over the ground. The trees were