CHAPTER 7 THE LOCKED DOOR

“WHY, it’s locked!” Vevi exclaimed, rattling the padlock. “We can’t get in.”

“The owner must have been here since yesterday,” agreed Connie. She too was disappointed. “He must have found the door open and locked it.”

The Brownies circled the little house several times, peeping through the porthole windows. Plainly, the cottage was deserted.

“This place would be ideal for our shell exhibition,” declared Rosemary. “And what grand cook-outs we could have here!”

Miss Gordon reminded the Brownies that the cottage did not belong to them.

“Since we don’t even know the owner, we may as well forget it,” she advised.

The Brownies did not want to forget the ship cottage. Reluctant to leave, they wandered about the grounds for a while. The back yard sloped down to the cliffs which overlooked the ocean.

“Why, one can see Starfish Cottage from here!” exclaimed Connie.

“The beach too, and the docks,” agreed Sunny. “Looking down from here is like being in an airplane.”

The little girl never had been in one. She imagined though that scenery would look much the same if one were high in the sky.

After the girls had left the cliff, Vevi pleaded with Miss Gordon to let the Brownies hike on to Cabell’s pond.

“Turtles?” asked the teacher, smiling.

“To see the birds,” Vevi answered quickly.

Both Miss Gordon and Mrs. Williams thought the hike would be worth while. The matter was put to a vote. Everyone was in favor of making the trip on to the pond.

Vevi and Connie knew the way well now that there was no fog to confuse them. Without once hesitating, they led the troop to the tiny body of water off the winding, dirt road.

“Oh, someone’s here ahead of us!” exclaimed Vevi.

A boatman was fishing in the center of the pond. Apparently, he was having no luck. At any rate, upon seeing the children, he rowed in.

“Catch anything?” Vevi demanded, running up to peer into the bottom of the boat.

“Nothing except turtles,” the fisherman replied in disgust. “They’re a nuisance in this pond. Always taking your bait.”

“I wish I could catch one,” Vevi said quickly. “I’d give anything in the world if I could. You know what I’d do with him? I’d race him at the hotel beach!”

The fisherman smiled. He seemed to like Vevi for after asking her several questions about the race, he said:

“It’s easy enough to get a turtle. The trick when you’re fishing at this pond, is not to get one. Jump into my boat and we’ll have a turtle in nothing flat.”

Vevi made a scramble for the boat and so did all the other Brownies. The fisherman had to tell them to get out again.

“I can’t take you all,” he said. “Only two may go. The little girl who wants the turtle and you.” He pointed to Sunny.

Sunny and Vevi jumped into the boat and the fisherman pushed off. He did not row out very far.

“Now you’ll have to be quiet, or we’ll never get a turtle,” he warned the pair.

Hardly moving the oars, the fisherman eased the boat into a little reedy cove. Vevi and Sunny looked sharp, but they could not see a single turtle.

For awhile, the fisherman sat motionless in the boat, just watching the water. Vevi and Sunny began to grow tired. They thought the man was wasting a lot of time.

“There’s one!” he whispered suddenly.

“Where?” demanded Vevi.

In her eagerness to see, she turned around fast and struck the oars. They clattered loudly.

“He’s gone now,” said the fisherman. “You’ll have to be quiet if you want to catch one.”

Vevi and Sunny kept as still as they could. The sun beat down on them and they were rather uncomfortable. They began to think they never would see another turtle.

Then the fisherman without saying a word, pointed a few yards ahead of them. At first Vevi and Sunny didn’t see anything unusual. Then they noticed a black head peeping up amid the lily pads.

The fisherman eased the boat forward. While it drifted, he picked up a net from the bottom of the craft.

So fast that Vevi and Sunny were astonished, he swished the net into the water directly under the turtle.

“Got him,” he announced triumphantly.

Wrapped in the folds of the net was a spotted turtle. It clawed at the netting trying to escape.

“He’s not too likely a specimen,” declared the fisherman. “But at least he’s a turtle you can enter in the race. Now we’ll get one for the little girl with the big smile.”

“Oh, I don’t want one, please,” said Sunny. She was afraid of turtles. “I’d rather have a water lily.”

The fisherman shoved the boat into the water lily pads. Sunny picked her own flower. The stem was tough though and she had to pull very hard.

Vevi was too busy looking after the turtle to think about flowers. The fisherman showed her how to hold it so she would not be bitten.

The turtle though, would not hold still. He kept squirming and squirming. The shell was wet and slippery and Vevi finally dropped him into the bottom of the boat.

“Don’t you dare let him get near me!” squealed Sunny, edging away.

The turtle had fallen upon his back. But he used his long neck to lift himself up and flip over on his feet again. Vevi picked him up before he could crawl toward Sunny.

All the Brownies were waiting when the boat reached shore.

“You don’t know what you missed!” Jane called out before Vevi could show her turtle.

“We saw a wonderful bird,” added Connie, her eyes shining. “It had long legs like a stork.”

Vevi thought at first that the girls were only teasing her. Then she realized that they really were excited.

“Who cares about an old bird?” she replied. “I’d rather catch a turtle any day.”

Miss Gordon told the girls that the bird the Brownies had seen was a great blue heron, rarely observed in the area.

“It had a neck like a flat ‘S’ loop,” Jane described the bird. “And a funny long tailpiece on its head. When we saw it, it was standing in the edge of the water looking for crayfish.”

Miss Gordon told the girls that herons belonged to a group of birds called waders. For that reason, she explained, they had long legs, and long necks and sharp bills with which to search for food.

“Want to see my turtle?” Vevi offered. “I’d rather look for another heron,” declared Jane, running off.

The other Brownies followed her.

Miss Gordon and Mrs. Williams both admired the spotted turtle. But they warned Vevi it would require a great deal of work to look after it properly.

“I don’t mind,” replied Vevi. “I’ll make a little pen and feed and water my turtle every day. I’m going to name him ‘Lightning.’ He’ll win the race for the Brownies!”

Vevi dropped her turtle lightly on the ground to see how fast he would go. He crawled very slowly, then faster and faster toward the water.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Vevi laughed, running after him. “You don’t get away from me!”

She recaptured the turtle and held him for awhile. By this time the other Brownies were having fun exploring along shore. Vevi would have liked to join them, but was afraid to leave the turtle for fear of losing him.

She decided to put Lightning in the boat for awhile. But the fisherman already had overturned it on shore. As he started to leave the pond, he warned the girls never to use the boat in his absence.

“We won’t,” Vevi promised. “Brownie Scouts are honor bright. They never take property that doesn’t belong to them.”

Sunny, who had come up behind Vevi, heard her remark.

“Why, we didn’t even try to get into the little ship cottage,” she added earnestly. “And we wanted to dreadfully.”

The fisherman did not know what the children meant, so they told him about the cottage built to resemble a ship.

“Oh, you mean Captain Tarwell’s place!” he exclaimed.

The name took Vevi by surprise. “Is that who owns it?” she asked quickly.

“Yes,” replied the fisherman. “He’s a retired sea captain. These days he doesn’t do much except act as a caretaker and guard at the Yacht Club docks. One occasionally sees him walking along the shore or through the hills—always by himself.”

“Connie and I met him in the fog,” Vevi said. “He didn’t tell us though, that he owned the cute little house.”

“Captain Tarwell isn’t one to talk about his personal affairs. He’s never been quite as cheerful since his son was lost at sea.”

The fisherman then went on to explain that since the cottage had been built no one ever had lived there. Captain Tarwell had constructed it with his own hands, intending it as a home for himself and his only son, Jerry. After the boy’s drowning, he had locked the doors, refusing even to rent the place.

“Maybe Jerry isn’t really dead,” said Vevi. “Perhaps someday he’ll come back.”

The fisherman shook his head as he gathered up his fishing equipment.

“Jerry never will return,” he said. “His drowning was well established. Captain Tarwell ought to try to forget the past.”

Now Vevi and Sunny felt very sorry for the kindly old sea captain. Nevertheless, they considered it a shame that he would not allow anyone to live in the little cottage.

“Captain Tarwell must have put up the padlock after Connie and I told him about the door being unlocked,” Vevi said thoughtfully. “I suppose he doesn’t want us going there any more.”

Very shortly after the fisherman had left the pond, Mrs. Williams and Miss Gordon announced that it was time for the Brownies to leave also.

Vevi was ready to go, because she was having trouble with the turtle. Whenever she would put him down, even for a minute, off he would start for the water.

Lightning would be plenty of work, Vevi realized. Not only would she have to make him a pen, but she would need to feed him each day.

“What do turtles eat?” she asked Connie’s mother.

Mrs. Williams told her she could buy turtle food at the store, if she wished. Or she might feed her pet bits of raw meat, fish and lettuce leaves.

A half hour later, back at Starfish Cottage again, Vevi looked around to see what she could use for a turtle pen. Not finding anything that would do, she wandered down to the beach to ask Barney Fulsom if he had any ideas.

The lifeguard was busy giving a swimming lesson and did not have time to help her.

“Ask Jamie Curry,” he suggested, pointing to a boy who was digging with a stick in the sand. “He’s an expert on turtles.”

The name startled Vevi. She knew that Jamie must be the son of Raymond Curry, the hotel lifeguard. But she thought he had run away.

“Jamie’s back again,” Barney said, as if reading Vevi’s mind. “Better not say anything to him about being a runaway because I hear his father gave him a licking. Hey, Jamie!” At the lifeguard’s call, the boy came over. He was barely thirteen, but very muscular and strong for his age. His nose was blotched with hundreds of freckles. Vevi liked him because she had lots of freckles too.

Barney introduced the youngsters and then said: “Jamie, Vevi has a turtle and needs help in fixing up a place where she can keep him.”

Jamie looked at the turtle. He didn’t seem to think very much of it.

“What d’you want a sluggish old turtle like that for?” he asked. “He’s no good.”

“He is too,” Vevi insisted. “I call him Lightning. I’m going to enter him in the race Saturday. Maybe I’ll win for the Brownies.”

“You won’t win with that old slow poke,” Jamie scoffed. “I’d toss him in the water.”

“No,” Vevi answered firmly. She was so hurt and disappointed she felt like crying.

Jamie seemed to be ashamed of himself for making fun of the turtle. At any rate, he said quickly:

“Oh, he’s not too bad. And you never can tell about turtles. Sometimes the fast ones won’t start up right, or maybe they get scared and stop just before they reach the finish line.”

“Then you think he might win?” Vevi demanded eagerly.

“Might,” Jamie shrugged.

“You’ll help me fix a pen for him?”

Jamie told her that she wouldn’t need a pen. “An old dish pan will do,” he said. “I can get you one, I guess.”

The boy took her across the beach to the big hotel. On the way he pointed out a little beach house where he lived with his father during the summer.

Jamie didn’t say much about his father, or explain why he had run away. Vevi wanted to question him, but she was afraid he might be offended if she acted curious.

She couldn’t help thinking though, that he was exactly the same size as the boy she and Connie had seen in the fog. Had he hidden in the little ship house? And had she and Connie frightened him away?

Jamie took Vevi around the big summer hotel. In the courtyard, near the trash barrel, they found an old dishpan.

“It’s rusty,” the boy said, giving it a crack with his stick, “but it will hold water.”

They took the pan back to the beach. Jamie found several rocks and built up an island in the center of the pan. Then he poured in a pail of fresh water.

“That will make a first-rate turtle pond,” Jamie declared. “Now where’s Lightning? Stick him in.”

An odd expression came over Vevi’s face. She tried to answer and couldn’t say a word.

“Don’t tell me he got away?” Jamie demanded.

Vevi nodded miserably. She hadn’t meant to be careless. But she had been so interested in watching Jamie build the rock island, that she had forgotten all about the turtle. Just for a second she had put him down on the sand. Now he was gone.

“You’ll never see that turtle again,” said Jamie in disgust. “Oh, well, he never would have made a good racer anyhow.”

Two big tears rolled down Vevi’s face.

“Don’t start bawling,” Jamie said quickly. “Turtles are a dime a dozen. There’s only one I know of that would be worth keeping.”

“What one is that?” Vevi asked him.

“A young snapper that won every race here last summer. His name was Clover and it was painted in yellow on his shell. If you had him you might win.”

“What became of the turtle, Jamie?”

“He was tossed back into the pond.”

“He’s still there then?”

“Might be. Turtles live for years and years.”

Already Vevi had lost interest in Lightning. Clover, she decided, would be a much better turtle to own.

“Oh, Jamie,” she said, catching her breath. “I’d give anything to own Clover. Couldn’t you find him for me?”

“I’d like to find him for myself,” Jamie admitted with a laugh. “Not much chance though. There are thousands of turtles in Cabell’s pond.”

“They come out on the logs to sun themselves. If Clover has a name painted on his shell, couldn’t one spot him?”

“Maybe, if you were there at just the right time.”

“Won’t you try to get Clover for me?” Vevi pleaded. “I do so want to win the race for the Brownies.”

Jamie seemed to be thinking over the request.

“I don’t like to promise,” he said after a long silence. “My dad keeps me close to the beach since—well, lately. I might be able to get you a turtle, but not Clover.”

“Any will do,” Vevi said. “I’d rather have Clover though. Will you please get me a turtle right away?”

“If I get one at all, it will be right away,” Jamie answered soberly. He looked out across the waves. “I’m not figuring on being around here much longer.”

“You’re not going to run away again?” Vevi asked.

Jamie did not appear offended by her question.

“Maybe I will. And next time, I won’t come back! I’ll go so far my dad never will find me.”

Vevi was very troubled by the boy’s threat to leave home.

“Oh, Jamie, you mustn’t run away,” she said quickly. “Silver Beach is wonderful! I shouldn’t think you’d want to leave. Don’t you like your father?”

Jamie hung his head and didn’t answer the question. He dug the sand with the toe of his beach sandal.

“You wouldn’t like it here either, if you knew what I do,” he said finally.

Having spoken, he turned and ran off down the beach.