They call her the Flying Fish. You can see from the sleekness of her lines that she used to be fast while she was in the water. But that was a long time ago. Now she lies on her side in the meadow on windward side of the pier, just above the high water mark. Her hull planks are cracked and dry, her paint is peeling off in sheets, and what remains of her sails are spotted with mold. It was the old harbor master who had her moved to this spot after she drifted ashore during the great storm all those years ago. No one knows what happened to her owner, Tom Collins. Of course, the most reasonable explanation is that he got washed overboard during the storm and drowned. However, some people, the harbour master among them, believe that he is still alive somewhere out there. They say that young captain Tom, as they would call him, was the best sailor, not just in our village but the entire north west coast, maybe even the entire country. If anyone could have survived sailing through that storm, it would have been him....continue reading