not too tired—”
“We’re not tired, Mum,” Ruairi said as brightly as he could.
“Well if you want to, we can decorate the Christmas tree tonight while we listen to the story instead of waiting until tomorrow.”
Dani and Ruairi said they would like to stay up to decorate the Christmas tree and hear the rest of the story and roast marshmallows. So they all hurried toward home.
“My dear,” Granny said to Mum, “do you remember the last time we saw Eoin Lerwick? It’s so very odd. I can pick out the time when he and I were no more than Ruairi’s age, and we had gotten lost exploring the caves on Mount Violaceous. One of Eoin’s birds, tiny then, found us and led us out. And I can remember this trip to the beach and that trip out on the boat to the mainland and picnics in the Crimson Forest when we were Dani’s age and even your age, Mum, but not for the life of me can I remember anything more recent than that. It is very puzzling.”
“Very puzzling, Granny!” Mum said. “Let’s give him a ring when we get home.”
“That’s an extremely smart idea, Mum!”
The wind picked up and blew hard against them and the family of Millers thrust forward into the wind and made for home.
The Night before Christmas Eve
Back at Gargle View Cottage, Mum put some logs on the fire while Granny, after a quick snack of a roast leg of lamb, a barmbrack, and a cantaloupe melon, unearthed the box of Christmas tree decorations in the attic. Dani and Ruairi put on their pajamas and helped Granny down the stairs with the box.
“I don’t want you to get upset now, you two, but, I have something to tell you,” Mum said as they prepared to start. “Dad may not be coming.”
“What do you mean he may not be coming?” Ruairi said. “Why not? He said he’d be right behind us. He said he just had to go to a meeting.”
“Yes,” Dani asserted. “He said, ‘It’s unavoidable, kids. The blah blah blah has to be signed off before Christmas. But,’ he said, ‘ but —I’ll get parachute-dropped between Greenland and Norway and paddle from there.’ He promised!”
“Darling, you made him promise. You wouldn’t leave until he promised. It’s out of my hands, guys. You’ve got to be grown-up about it. There’s nothing we can do,” Mum said.
“But there’s plenty of time,” Dani said. “It’s the day before Christmas Eve … plenty of time.”
“He promised,” said Ruairi, determined to refuse the marshmallows once they were toasted.
“Come on now, you two. If he doesn’t make it here for Christmas, it isn’t because he willingly broke his promise to you. It’s because … It’s because …”
“Yes?” Dani and Ruairi said. Granny gave Mum a look now; her eyebrows went up, and her mouth puffed a little.
“It’s because of … the tarantulafish! The waters to the south of the island are tarantulafish-infested waters, you know.”
“Rubbish!” snorted Dani as Ruairi turned pale.
“Nonsense!” said Ruairi, getting paler.
“It’s true. Granny, isn’t it true?”
“What, dear? Tarantulafish. Oh, yes. Once, when I was a little girl, it was rumoured that Dougal MacLaggan went for a swim on the wrong side of the island and got caught in their web. He never came back. Of course, some people say he was actually sent to boarding school on the mainland, but that doesn’t make sense to me. Because if he really just went to boarding school on the mainland, why did he never come back? Answer me that! Everyone always comes back to Yondersaay.” Then Granny wandered into the kitchen to see if she could fashion a sandwich out of some leftovers.
“Anyway,” Ruairi said, “say we did believe in tarantulafish—”
“Which we don’t,” said Dani.
“Right, which we don’t, but say we did … What do they have to do with Dad coming for Christmas?”
“Good question,” Mum said. “As you know, there’s only one harbor on the island, and it’s right here at the bottom of the