The Quaint and Curious Quest of Johnny Longfoot, The Shoe King's Son by Catherine Besterman (acx book reading .txt) 📕

"Forty bags and forty -- and for-for " stuttered Uncle Lucas, rubbing his eyes. "Are you crazy?"

"No more crazy than you, who asked this very price for some linen and nails," laughed the cat.

When Uncle Lucas realized that the cat really meant it, he began to cry.

Why do all these terrible things happen to me? he thought. Now, either I don't go to the island at all and never even have a look at my treasures, or I do go and everything that I get I have to pay for my journey. Everything -- to the last piece of gold, to the last precious gem, to the last piece of fur.

He cried desperately for a long time, collecting his tears in a shell as usual. "I am lost!" he exclaimed. "I shall die of sorrow. It's all Johnny's fault. There's no justice in the world." Then he shouted, "No, no, it's impossible! You must see that it's impossible! I could probably give you one or two gems and one fur. Let's bargain."

"Why not?" said the cat calmly. "We can talk it over. It might quiet you down. But there'll be no change in my price."

So, while Uncle Lucas bargained with the cat the others all went on board and waited patiently. Then Captain Cat took his place at the wheel and said dryly, "We start in five minutes. Stop all the talk."

Johnny looked at Uncle Lucas. He stood in water up to his waist. He was holding tightly the ladder that dangled from the ship. He was crying and moaning in despair.

"Dear Uncle," said Johnny, "don't get so excited. You'd better come on board. I know by the determined look in his eye that the captain will never give in. You'd better give him the agreement you signed on the rat's skin. One loss more or less doesn't mean so much. Maybe you'll have good luck on the island."

Four minutes and fifty-nine seconds passed. "One second more," said the Captain, in a still drier voice.

Uncle Lucas pulled out his last four hairs, threw the rat's skin to Captain Cat and jumped aboard. He was so unhappy and so cold that Johnny took pity on him. He rubbed him dry with a soft linen cloth and forced him to drink a glass of hot milk from the cats' supplies. He then put him to bed in a cabin.

Bewildered by all that had happened to him, Uncle Lucas was as weak as a baby and let his nephew take care of him. He fell asleep immediately.

Meanwhile, the barge cut through the blue waves, rolling softly, and the shores quickly disappeared.

CAPTAIN CAT was in charge of the boat. The dogs, the cats and Fuzzy worked under his orders. They furled and unfurled the sails and their oars dipped rhythmically into the sea. The fresh salty air made them all feel good.

Johnny stood on the deck, lost in thought. So many unusual things had happened to him since he left his father's dark workshop. This was a wonderful vacation -- and still more wonderful things might happen. He counted on his fingers. First there was Shoestring Manor and Uncle Lucas; then Barnac's estate, cats, mice and Uncle Lucas. Later on there were mountains, bears, dogs, cats and Uncle Lucas, of course. Then the seashore, shipbuilding, and always, always Uncle Lucas. Now the crossing, whales, sharks, sea creatures of different kinds, and maybe even a storm. And later...

Johnny smiled with deep satisfaction. He thought, This is an exciting life. I can't understand why my unhappy Uncle Lucas doesn't enjoy it.

News travels fast at sea.

The sea gulls were the first to spread the news about the little boy and the sailing barge. They had overheard Johnny talking to the dogs and cats. They took the word all over the sea about the little shoemaker and his voyage to a far island to get the seven-league boots.

"Here comes the boy shoemaker," chirped the sea gulls. "Here he comes, the shoemaker prince, in his long coat and big hat. He'll fix the boots and then walk in them from island to island and from seashore to seashore."

They evidently didn't know the boots were to be fitted for a cat.

The winds carried their words to the whales, and sharks, and giant sea crabs with mighty claws, and octopuses.

And the waves murmured: "On the stormy, wild, immense sea, a boy is sailing to Coral Island."

An old pirate shark thrashed the water with his scaly, rough tail and croaked, "The sea belongs to us. And all the islands belong to us. We don't want any men around. If we let even one man in, others will follow. They will hunt us with harpoons, they will drive us into nets, they will kill the whales and rake the bottom of the sea looking for pearls. Death to all men!"

Rising rapidly from the depths of the sea and pushing the waves aside with force, the old shark put his head above the waves and repeated: "Death to all men!"

A school of sharks followed him. Big octopuses joined them and stretched their long tentacles toward the barge. Giant sea crabs clattered their sharp claws. And finally the King of the Seas, the whale, repeated in a deep voice: "Death to all men!"

"Let's surround the barge," said the pirate shark. "Then let's overturn her, make a hole in the bottom, sink her, and eat the whole company up."

"We'll pull them down with our tentacles," murmured the octopuses.

"We'll cut them into pieces with our scissors," croaked the crabs.

The barge by now was completely surrounded by threatening creatures of the sea.

"I don't like the looks of things," said Captain Cat uneasily. "There's a school of sharks behind us. I see octopuses. And I hear whales pounding through the water."

"Is there any danger?" asked Johnny.

At that very moment the barge was severely rocked by several sharks who were butting the ship with their foreheads.

"The seafolk are attacking us," miaowed Captain Cat in alarm. He didn't lose his presence of mind, however. He gave orders quickly. "Everybody on deck! Fuzzy, arm yourself with that big pole. Shove off the octopuses and the crabs. Push the sharks away. All cats -- man the mast and unfurl the sails!"

A second later, each member of the crew was at his task. Fuzzy performed miracles of courage. His enormous strength spread destruction among the enemy. Johnny attached his shoemaker's awl to a long stick and fought fiercely. The dogs bit the octopuses' long tentacles.

Uncle Lucas, awakened by sounds of the struggle, climbed up the mast and shouted: "Dear crabs! Dear sharks! Lovely octopuses! Gentlemen whales! Please don't fight us. Don't destroy this ship. If you must have something to eat, why not eat my nephew Johnny? He's fat, very tasty and smart. And he knows how to repair and sew every type of leather and skin."

"My dear Johnny," said Captain Cat to the boy, "never in my life have I seen such an uncle as this."

"I'm sorry for him," said Johnny, still fighting. "Sorry because he doesn't know how to laugh, because he's so stingy, and a coward besides."

Suddenly the turmoil ceased. The octopuses sank silently to the bottom. The crabs stopped rattling their claws. And the sharks swam away. From the depths of the sea came the voice of the pirate shark. "Ahoy, you there, on the barge! Is it true that the boy is an expert leather and skin repairer?"

"Ahoy," miaowed Captain Cat, "you in the water. Why do you want to know?"

"We want to talk things over," answered the deep voice.

"Well, then, send someone aboard," miaowed the cat. He called to Johnny in the same breath: "It's the first time Uncle Lucas has been of any use to us. He praised your tasty meat, but by mentioning your good craftsmanship he's told them about another use for you, I suppose."

In the meantime two giant crabs climbed aboard and rattled their claws three times in sign of greeting. One of them said: "Let's get to the point right away. Answer yes or no. Never mind the fallen soldiers. For several months some of our high sea officials have been suffering from bad wounds. Three sharks had their skins torn by harpoons. One has a sore tail, cut by a sharp cliff. And there's one wounded baby whale. We want you to stitch and repair all these skins. In return we will spare your life. Yes? Or no?"

"Yes," said Johnny quickly. He liked the crab's direct approach. "Bring me the shoes -- I mean sharks and whales -- and I'll get started right away."

"Just a minute," answered the crab. Bending over, he made sharp taps on the deck with his closed claw. Dot-dash-dot-dot-dash-dot-dot-dot...

"That's the Sharks-Whales Sea Code," said Captain Cat, who knew everything.

And, indeed, in a moment four enormous sharks and a baby whale appeared on the surface. Although a baby, the whale was ten times as large as the barge.

"I can't ask all this nice crowd onto our deck," said Johnny. "I'll have to jump on their backs with my tools and repair their torn skins that way. But what guarantee have I that they won't eat me up?"

"We'll stay on the boat as hostages," said the crabs abruptly. "Besides, we give you our sea word that nothing bad will happen to you."

"I trust you," said Johnny. "And such being the case, I don't need any hostages." He jumped immediately onto the back of the worst wounded shark.

It was the hardest job he had ever tackled, because the shark's skin was so tough that no needle could pierce it. Johnny had to drill holes for every stitch. And the skin was so big he had to divide it into small sections before he could start to patch it and polish it.

But when the work was done, the shark's leathery skin looked like new. When he saw his reflection in the water, he splashed his tail with delight and said, "What perfect work! Today I'll give you a Sea Passport so that you can pass freely throughout the seas. You can go through shallow water, swim through medium water, and dive through deep water and no seafolk will do you any harm."

"Thank you, Mr. Shark," said Johnny. "I like the idea of a Sea Passport. Not because I expect to spend all my time diving, but because I consider it an even greater honor than my father's gold medal."

Then Johnny started working on the other sharks without losing any time. Meanwhile, the baby whale was getting quite impatient. "It's my turn," he cried. "A storm is coming and you won't have time to mend me or stitch me up."

"I'll begin on you right away," exclaimed Johnny gaily. "I'm not slipshod in my work, you know. My work is perfect. It takes a little time. Don't rush me and I'm sure you'll be satisfied." And he jumped onto the whale's back.

In the meantime, Uncle Lucas was watching everything very carefully. He thought to himself, Another boy would certainly have been eaten by the sharks. But Johnny is so lucky everything turns