The Quaint and Curious Quest of Johnny Longfoot, The Shoe King's Son - Catherine Besterman (best summer reads of all time TXT) 📗

Johnny eyed his uncle anxiously. "I'm afraid you're still not feeling quite well," he said kindly. "I was only watching to keep them from getting too small. The sun is rather hot today, and they were drying fast. When wet leather dries, it shrinks, you know."

"Oh, I see. So that's it," sighed Uncle Lucas in relief. And he laughed merrily. "Ha! Ha! Ha! My nephew's very smart. But thank goodness he's not a magician. Are they really seven-league boots?"

Johnny shook his head. "I don't know. That's what Barnac called them. It makes no difference to me because my business is to fix shoes, not to say what to do with them. A shoe is just a shoe to me, be it a seven-league boot, a one-league boot, a short-distance boot or a long-distance boot. It's all the same to me. It's Barnac's business. I'm sure I didn't harm them because I didn't even touch them. And now, dear Uncle, let's make you a beautiful suit out of this green-gray linen."

"Also only by looking at the linen?" asked Uncle Lucas, smiling.

"Oh, no, indeed. It will take lots of work."

"I protest," interrupted Uncle Lucas decisively. "I'm generous now. My nephew who visits me for his vacation is not supposed to work. I will buy myself a nice suit and shoes when I get back home. Meanwhile, I'll just wrap myself up in some of the cloth."

"How quickly you've changed, Uncle Lucas," marveled Johnny. "I think greediness is a kind of disease. And you simply were sick. You were full of the green and crooked germs of greediness. Your long fast must have killed them."

Johnny stopped talking suddenly, because he realized that the barge was rushing ahead with tremendous speed.

"I don't understand what's going on," said Uncle Lucas in astonishment. "The wind is not strong. Yet the boat is moving very fast."

Johnny looked at the sea and only then realized that twelve sharks were silently pushing the barge along with their mighty heads.

"That Sea Passport of yours is certainly a useful thing," said Uncle Lucas. "If things go on like this we'll get to the coral island very soon." But at that very moment a tremendous crash warned them that something had gone wrong. The barge staggered, wheeled around and keeled to one side.

"We are sinking!" cried Uncle Lucas in great alarm. But right away he remembered that he had promised to be cheerful at all times. So he added, "What fun! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

What had happened was that the boat had struck a large rock and the bottom was pierced. In their eagerness to hasten the barge along its way, the sharks had not noticed the rock. There was little hope of saving the barge for, in a few minutes, it was almost entirely under water.

"If it weren't for the weight of the treasures," said Johnny sadly, "we might have been saved. But the ship is too heavy."

"These treasures are cursed," said Uncle Lucas sorrowfully. "Maybe it's best for them to sink."

"I hope they do sink -- without us!" exclaimed Johnny fervently. "Life is beautiful and I want to live."

"I, too," agreed Uncle Lucas vigorously.

"Well, then you'd better help me, Uncle, as fast as possible. We have ten minutes. By then the barge will have sunk."

Johnny called the sharks, who were looking with sorrow at the disaster they had caused. They were moving their tails in great grief.

"Hey, you there, unlucky ones! Call the sea winds. I need them badly. Tell them to blow in the direction of the coral island, starting in nine minutes. Choose the strongest winds. Sea gulls and other flying creatures must get out of the way. The road has to be entirely clear. Give the signals."

"At your command," mumbled the sharks. They speeded away in a flash.

"Winds! Winds!" they called. "Where are the sea winds? We call them in the name of Sea Passport Number Seven. Oysters, click your signals! Alarm! Alarm!"

The whole sea -- the shallow, the medium, the deep -- was in an uproar. From the smallest sea creatures to the largest whales all were calling out: "Alarm! Alarm! Winds! Winds!"

The air was filled with roars, croaks, rattle and clatter. But the sea winds, having been busy all day long, were resting just then on a high cliff. When he heard the call for help, one wind rose to his feet and stretched his arms. Little ripples came over the water. "I'm getting weaker and weaker from lack of rest," he murmured. "I wasn't even strong enough to sink a ship recently. I succeeded only in smashing all her masts."

But, nevertheless, he awakened his companions and they all soared up. Whirling around, they drew up in line of battle and shouted, "What are the orders?"

"Dot-dash, dot-dash," answered the oysters, hidden in the rocks. "Dash-dash-dot-dot-dot. All go, all blow in the same direction, the direction of Coral Island. Blow past the sinking barge with the holder of Sea Passport Number Seven, Prince Johnny, on deck."

"That's a trifle for us," said the leader of the winds. "As he is obviously an important person, we want to do our job well. Brothers! Let's keep together evenly. Don't let anyone get out of line, not even by a whale's head." And off they went.

Meanwhile Johnny and Uncle Lucas were working feverishly. They cut the sails from the mast and sewed them together. They fastened them to thin pieces of wood. Johnny counted while working: "One, two, three, four, five... ten... twenty... sixty! One minute! Two minutes! Three minutes!..."

"It seems to me we do a lot in a minute," said Uncle Lucas, wiping his brow and breathing heavily. "But what is it we're doing?"

"We're making a kite," answered Johnny shortly. He really didn't have time for a longer conversation.

After nine minutes the kite was ready. Picking up the red leather box and Barnac's boots, Johnny asked Uncle Lucas to tie himself and Johnny to the kite by the strongest ropes he could find. The barge was almost completely under water by now. At the same time the winds approached, and lifted the kite strongly but gently.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" laughed Uncle Lucas, though with a trembling voice, when he found himself high in the sky, dangling with Johnny from the kite. "What a wonderful way to travel! Ha! Ha! Ha! The only thing I can't understand is why I'm so cold. Usually moving around keeps me warm. And we're certainly moving now." Uncle Lucas closed his eyes, to think over this problem.

Johnny was lost in thought, too. Everything, even the best, must come to an end, he thought. It's nice to travel, but now I'm ready to go home. Now that I have the seven-league boots, and the treasures no longer exist, the only reason for going back to the coral island is to pick up my four-legged friends. But how? If the winds die down over Coral Island, how do I know I'll be able to get them to blow again? I have to use them while I have them.

Aloud he shouted, "You, winds! Please go as slow and as low as possible over the island. We have to pick up a small load and then go on."

"As long as we're over the sea, we will fulfill your wishes," the leader called back. "But remember, we are sons of the sea. And we are not allowed to fly over the mainland."

"That's all right with me," mumbled Johnny.

He fastened more ropes to the kite. Faster and faster they were blown through the sky. At last they saw Coral Island. One of the winds roared, "Coral Island! Slow down and lower your flight!"

This was not easy for the fast winds. They moaned as they curbed their speed.

Johnny looked down at the island rising before them. "I see the cats, the dogs and Fuzzy on the shore!" he exclaimed happily. "They see us! They see us!" And he waved and shouted with all his might.

CAPTAIN CAT watched Johnny's movements carefully with his extremely sharp eyes. The kite to which Johnny and Uncle Lucas were tied was approaching slowly.

"By the way Johnny is waving his right hand, wiggling his left hand, turning his left index finger and twisting his right thumb, I judge that we are supposed to catch hold of the ropes," decided Captain Cat. "I don't understand why Uncle Lucas is with him, or where the treasures are, or what's going to happen to all of us. There'll always be time enough to commit hara-kiri -- but right now there's only one minute in which to catch hold of the ropes. Please, dogs, cats and Fuzzy, do this as quickly as possible."

The kite was now directly above the island. When the dangling ropes hit the seashore, all the animals caught them with their claws and teeth. Then Johnny shouted to the winds: "Full speed ahead!"

Soon they were flying unbelievably fast. The winds raced madly. They completely forgot Johnny, the Sea Passport, the kite. They were racing because they enjoyed racing. Down below them the sea was churned into stormy waves. The clouds were chased all over the sky and then driven back again. Fortunately the travelers didn't realize all this. The tremendous speed made them dizzy. They could hardly breathe.

No one could say how long the journey lasted, whether a moment or a year. Suddenly the leader of the winds roared to his brothers, "Attention! Shore off the mainland! About face!"

At this command the winds turned immediately and left the kite. But the kite still floated, gliding slowly down, little by little.

"Everything's working out right," said Johnny happily. "We are now above the mountains. I imagine we'll come down on the far side. That won't be far from Barnac's or from Uncle Lucas'. It looks as if our journey will have a happy ending."

There was nothing to do but wait. Everyone hung from the ropes patiently, and Johnny told his friends about his experience.

"Thanks, Johnny," miaowed Captain Cat, swinging on his rope. "You are a priceless boy. Thanks to you, my honor is saved. The most important thing was the boots. The loss of the treasures isn't important. Barnac didn't want them."

"Never mind the treasures. Treasures are unimportant. They never bring you happiness anyway," declared Uncle Lucas.

"How your uncle has changed!" remarked Fuzzy, amazed. "It's really wonderful if it's true."

"It is true," answered Uncle Lucas proudly. "It's so true that from now on there'll be no wild watchdogs or dangerous bears on my estate. Curly, Brownie, Spotty and Fuzzy will all get nice pensions from me. They can have a real rest for the balance of their lives. They can live at Shoestring Manor, or in the mountains, or forests, or wherever they like."

"Thanks a lot," answered Curly politely. "We've decided we'd like to travel a bit more. We'd like to take a trip around the world."

"If that's what you want to do," suggested one of the cats, "why don't you talk to Barnac? He knows all about traveling. He might even go with you, especially now that he owns the seven-league boots."

This friendly conversation in the air came to an end because the kite was now quickly falling down between mountaintops.

"That's perfect!" exclaimed Johnny. "I think we're landing near Barnac's estate."

A few more minutes passed.