Secrets at Sea Chapter 3 Summary

The Haystack

  • So Lamont is missing part of his tail—actually it looks like the thing got bitten off. Gross.
  • Helena takes charge. She takes Lamont to go find the missing part of his tail, heading out of the house and toward the barn. Since the cat lives in the barn, the mice pretty much avoid the thing. Remember how Helena's mom and sister are dead? Well her dad was killed by a cat in the barn to boot. Needless to say, it's a pretty sore subject for poor Helena.
  • So Lamont doesn't take his big sis to the barn, but he does head towards the second worst place: the haystack. Apparently his so-called friend, Gideon McSorley, wanted to play hide-and-seek by the stack, but something bit Lamont's tail and Gideon headed straight home. Some friend.
  • Helena knows just what took her little bro's tail: a snake. They live in the haystacks and they're seriously mean. So when Lamont heads back to the haystack to fetch the remnants of his tail, she knows something is up.
  • While Lamont is grabbing his tail, Helena chases after him to protect her little bro. And it's a good thing she does, because a copperhead snake attacks them from the haystack. Somehow Helena and Lamont outrun the snake and head back home.
  • Back at home, Helena whips out a needle and thread—yes, she's going to sew Lamont's tail back on.