‘I must find a pack of #2 pencils and a big eraser,’ Chet said as he hurried through Muckleys’ Ben Franklin Dime Store. ‘I have a Big Chief Notebook…I like it because of the big spaces that are between the lines…I tend to write in humongous letters,’ Billy B. said with a smile. ‘Mom said to buy Musilage and not Paste this year…but I like the Paste better…especially how it smells,’ Jane laughed. ‘I can not wait to see which wooden desk that I get…I feel like an executive with my own desk and opening the top of it and storing all of my school supplies…and a Mad Magazine…inside,’ Darryl noted. ‘Aren’t you afraid that your Dad…The Wiz will discover your Mad Magazine,’ Chet asked. ‘Not if I hide it in my folder,’ Darryl answered with a wink.

‘I saw the Old Sailor at the Candy Bins…two aisles over,’ Jane said with a look of fear in her eyes. ‘When he saw me he smiled and winked at me and said I will see you back at the Lighthouse…soon, Jane continued. ‘I think that the OS has a special place for us in his heart,’ Chet laughed. ‘Yes and he had Mylo the Maltese with him…,’ Jane commented. ‘Mylo…in the Candy aisle,’ Chet grinned. ‘He told me one other thing…he said that we were now Mainers and that Maine was where we belong,’ Jane mused. ‘Well, that would suit me…I love Maine and the Ocean and the lobster and the cool weather in the summer,’ Neva J. said with a twinkle in her eyes.

‘Let us move to Boothbay,’ announced Neva J.! ‘We will rent the house that the Artist who lives just before Boothbay Harbor told us she would rent to us for the winter,’ Neva J. continued. ‘We will need a snow shovel,’ Chet commented. ‘Won’t it be grand…we will ski and wear snow shoes and skate on the frozen Ocean at Ocean Point Inn…and I bet that there are a lot of Snow Days at School,’ Billy B. said excitedly! ‘We will pay for the adventure with my Irish Sweepstakes Winnings,’ Neva J. announced. ‘Perhaps the OS could use some help around the Lighthouse,’ Chet laughed. ‘I imagine that it is quiet in the winter…with the shortened days and the winter clouds…and the light from the Lighthouse illuminating the rocky shore…

The soothing rains of August contained to fall on our intrepid five adventurers…as The Old Sailor looked on…as if seeing the future…