The Secret Invasion of Port Isabel Read Online Free

fill.
    ‘I’m going
back to where it all began,’ Reginald said.
    ‘But you
can’t…’
    ‘I’ll stay if
you can answer this question: Why should I stay? What reason would
you give?’
    ‘Well, I
think…,’ began Harry. ‘Um, well there’s… um…’
    ‘I have no
school at which to teach and no museum for which to curate.
Marjorie, the love of my life, died years ago and we had no calves
of our own. My greatest friend and the best of all animals—and I
mean you Harry—is leaving without me on some foolhardy and
dangerous adventure years in the making. Further to this, I must
admit, last’s night debacle has somewhat dampened my opinion of our
little town. I still can’t believe my neighbours capable of such
blind stupidity and callousness.’
    ‘But there is
a reason that outstrips all of these. In all the years I’ve studied
the past, trying to make sense of its biggest mysteries, I have sat
at my desk and hoped that some newly uncovered artefact would
finally provide the crucial link. I wait and I wait—you know how
good elephants are at waiting—but even I am tired of waiting,
Harry.’
    Reginald
sighed. ‘And I must admit too, that I’m beginning to feel my age
and sense the real possibility I might depart this world without
truly understanding it. So, I have decided to go looking. The loss
of the museum, which is truly unfortunate, and to a lesser extent,
the loss of the school, is a kind freedom for me; as if the ties
have finally been cut. There is nothing keeping me here any longer.
Everything is out there lying amongst the rocks in puddles of
melting ice.’ He waved his trunk grandly. ‘It’s out there waiting
to be discovered.’
    ‘Perhaps,
Harry, you and I are more alike than you know. I long for adventure
too, of a different kind, but adventure none-the-less. It’s just
taken me a lot longer to find my moment; a lifetime of reflection
and study, to find my moment. I want to know what the Heat Trees
are for and how they grow. I want to know where all the owls went
and why. I want to see if there is anything beyond the Northern
Escarpment and the mountain range that walls off the West. Where do
all the strange machines we’ve excavated come from, and what do
they do? Why did the craniums of all species double in size and
change shape at the same time in the fossil record? Of one thing I
am sure, I won’t learn anything more with study. Exploration is the
only way forward.’
    Harry waited
until he was sure Reginald had finished. ‘Hear, hear, my great
blueberry-stealing friend!’ he said. ‘You are full of surprises and
the best of all elephants.’ He raised his nearly-empty mug of hot
chocolate and stood on the bench seat. ‘I would propose a toast,’
he announced formally. ‘Please charge your mugs.’
    Flossy and
Larry hurriedly picked up their mugs. Harry knew Flossy’s mug was
empty and admired her for choosing not to break the rhythm of the
moment by asking for a refill.
    ‘To Reginald,’
said Harry. ‘May his odyssey unlock the world’s enigmatic past and
his great mind plumb its mysteries and untangle its labyrinthine
riddles.’ He raised his mug. ‘To Reginald!’ he charged.
    Harry, Larry
and Flossy chinked together their mugs and drank. Larry
sipped. Flossy pretended to drink. The ostrich waitress, caught up
in the moment, looked round for a mug or glass before realising she
wasn’t supposed to be listening.
    ‘Thank you,
dearest of friends,’ said Reginald with an elephant-bow, eye’s
sparkling. ‘A fine toast and worthy of a worthier recipient than
I.’
    ‘When will you
leave? Where will you go?’ asked Flossy. She had leaned forward,
elbows on the table, one hand cupping cheek and chin.
    ‘Today seems
as good as any.’
    ‘Today!’ Harry
spluttered.
    ‘Yes, once
I’ve helped you with the small matter of lifting a mast, or some
such.’
    The Serendipity , the Baltimore Clipper Harry had been building
for years by scrounging materials and calling