5 Once in a Blue Moon

CHAPTER 5

Once in a Blue Moon "I remember the day well," Nanny Louisa began. "I was a young maiden in those days—not a single gray hair nor a wrinkle. I worked at the Dew Drop Inn. I often served a young gentleman known as Captain Douglas Brown. Captain Brown was strong, kind, and well-liked in the village. One rainy night he asked me to be the cook aboard his ship, the Blue Moon. He planned to take some men on a fishing trip. I have always liked adventure, so I agreed to go. "We sailed the open sea for three weeks. The boys caught mackerel, tuna, and herring. Then we set our course for home. I stood on deck and enjoyed a gentle breeze. I watched the clouds turn pink. Then my eyes fell on a dark patch of water. A patch of seaweed, I

thought to myself. I looked more closely and noticed the dark water begin to boil and churn. A pod of dolphins? I wondered.

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"Then something unimaginable happened. A creature began to rise from the water. It rose higher and higher—above and beyond the mast of the Blue Moon. It had the head of a dragon, with two horns and a mouth full of daggerlike teeth. The creature had a never- ending neck of green scales for a body, like an enormous snake. "But the strangest thing of all was the rusty old cauldron that hung from the monster's jaw. It looked like a wizard's cauldron, though cracked and broken. Why does it have a cauldron in its mouth? I wondered. "I stared—too scared to move. A brave sailor grabbed a spyglass and climbed the rigging to the crow's nest to get a better look. Others began to throw things at the creature: boat hooks, silverware, and dishes— anything that might scare it away. The monster roared and threw his head to one side. Then it flung the cauldron right at our ship!

"The cauldron crashed onto the deck and we dove to, get out of its path. The ship rocked this way and that. Captain Brown quickly spun the wheel to get us to safety. Then the men pulled themselves up and threw more things at the monster."