The Stories Say…

The HMS Eldridge was caught in a maelstrom off the southern tip of Africa. In the inky night, waves crashed hard against the hull of the clipper ship as she sped home, filled with tea from India and goods from the farthest extents of the British Empire.

Lightning flashed, hinting at a monstrous shape beneath the waves. The Eldridge shook. The ship tumbled sideways, caught in the grips of a massive creature. Masts, sails, and tentacles intertwined on the tumultuous sea. Sailors lept overboard as timbers crunched and wind howled.

Struggling from below, Miss Valentine Van Der Doodle pulled her way onto the open deck. Raised in a family of explorers, she felt little fear. She watched officers shout, soldiers shoot, and sailors throw harpoons. Nothing stopped the beast. As the next wave came, Miss Valentine could only watch. The beast loomed over the ship. One massive eye stared down into hers.

The kraken tightly gripped the Eldridge.

Behind the beast, the ocean swelled as a massive wave towered over both ship and creature. All aboard the Eldridge were doomed. Which would kill them first, the kraken or the foul weather?

Oh! How had they offended mother nature, so?

The killer wave was upon them. They were swept up. The ship flew away from the angry water, lifted hundreds of feet aloft by the kraken’s powerful grip, and landed neatly upon the wave’s crest. The ship was safe… as if the kraken had softly lifted a tea cup to sip, and placed it gently down again.

The strong tentacles of the beast released and dark shadows melted back into the blackness of the depths.

Years later—when Miss Valentine decided to retire from her world travels—to give thanks for that wondrous incident, she named her tea room after the creature.