The stormteller - Sandra Horn

Zeke loved the sea. He liked to watch the seabirds dive, or look for driftwood, shells and pebbles on the beach. As soon as he was old enough, he went to sea as a cabin boy and travelled the world ...

One day he saw a piece of wood rolling in the surf and waded out to fetch it. It was strange, making him think of a little face. He painted in two black eyes with a frayed rope-end dipped in tar, and he called her Mary. Whenever he looked at her after that, he was sure she was looking back at him. He told her his tales of the sea and she listened. For Mary was something very rare and very special - a stormteller.