The next morning, Ethan sat on his cabin floor and wrote in his journal. The page had written Isabel a poem as a token of his affection. He hoped Isabel would help him feel brave enough to go into battle alongside his master so he could become a great knight, but he was worried she might leave the castle soon.

When he had finished writing his journal entry, Ethan took his notebook out of his pocket and stared down at the first page. Yesterday, Polly had asked what he wanted to write. Now there was a question he needed to ask her. He couldn’t ask a question by nodding or shaking his head, or by shrugging his shoulders. He had to ask on paper. He had to stop the question swirling in his head and put it on the page.

Ethan took a big breath and slid his finger into the coil. The pencil popped out. He’d write the question now, when he was by himself. Then Polly wouldn’t be watching him, waiting to see what he had to say.

Ethan touched the nib to the page and pressed down gently. He started to write. His hand shook. He’d keep his writing small to begin with so he wouldn’t feel so nervous.

Ethan finished the last word. He shut the notebook and put it in the pocket of his jeans. He could show Polly his paper words, couldn’t he? She’d shared the secret about her dad. She’d given him the chance to make his wish. And she’d wished for him to speak, too.

Ethan could go to Moon’s End now. His lessons were finished for the afternoon, so he could explore the canal with Polly. Dad had gone to quote on a job. Mum was at the sink washing the lunch plates. She turned and smiled.

“Off to see your new friend, Polly?”

He nodded.

“Don’t go too far down the canal.”

 

Ethan stood on the bank and pressed his nose to Moon’s End’s window. Polly was curled up tight on the lounge sofa, like a cat. She was reading. He gently knocked the glass with his knuckles.

Polly leapt up and waved. A few minutes later, she stepped off the bow plank in her red coat and green hat and scarf.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

Ethan nodded east and they started walking. He couldn’t wait to show Polly all his favourite places.

“We’re going exploring,” said Polly, her eyes shining with excitement. “Are you keeping the notebook safe?”

He patted his pocket to tell her, but he didn’t take it out.

“Good.”

They passed the noticeboard. Ethan pointed to the white iron bridge that stretched over the water to the left side of the canal.

“Brilliant,” said Polly. “I’ve not been on this side of the canal before.”

They stopped in the middle of the bridge and looked down at the water, and the roofs of their boats. Then they jogged down the bridge steps. If they kept going for five more minutes, they would come to the wood.

“Ethan,” said Polly, “do you ever get lonely?”

He shook his head. But then he thought about it. He hadn’t felt lonely before Polly arrived. He’d had Mum and Dad. But now Polly was here and he liked having a friend to explore with.

“Was your mum always a boater?”

Not until she met Dad.

Deity had brought Mum and Dad together. One day, Mum had been sitting on the canal bank, painting Deity. Dad came off the boat to go to work. He said she made the canal look beautiful and that he worked with colour too, on his gardens. The next day Mum came back to the canal and gave Dad the picture of Deity. Then Mum started going to work with Dad so she could paint his gardens. And then they fell in love.

“Have they ever left the pound?” said Polly.

Ethan nodded.

They went to Thailand before he was born. They even took Deity off the pound and cruised the British canals one summer. Then Mum got pregnant with him and she had to leave art school. But Dad still said that one day, when the business was doing well, he’d rent an art studio in town, so Mum had space to paint on big canvases instead of tin jugs. And Dad wanted to take them all back to Thailand.

Ethan and Polly came to the hilly field and leant over the metal bar gate. There were cows snuffling their noses against the grass as they ate. Polly reached out and touched one cow’s rubbery nose. It opened its mouth and licked her hand with its big tongue.

She giggled. “I’ve made another canal friend.”

Ethan felt a rush of happiness. Polly had said they were friends out loud. Now he knew it for sure. He hadn’t had a friend since he’d stopped speaking. He’d had two at school, when he used to speak, even though he spoke quietly and didn’t say as much as the other boys. But then he stopped talking. And the older boys had started teasing him. And one day, Ben and Archie started playing with other boys in the playground instead of him. Sometimes Ben and Archie had joined in the teasing.

Polly was different. It didn’t seem to matter that he couldn’t speak; they could still share the canal and have fun together.

They kept walking past the stone tunnel, towards the edge of the wood.

“It’s like a magic forest,” said Polly, looking up at the criss-crossing branches.

She tapped Ethan on the back and ran off into the wood, her feet sending a flurry of leaves into the air.

“Ha!” She turning back, laughing. “You’re it. Bet you can’t catch me!”

Polly sped off and her scarf streamed out behind her. Ethan ran after her. He remembered this game. Catch. He’d played it at school. He was almost within arm’s reach of Polly, but then she got even faster. She started darting left and right. She wove through the trees, circling one tree and then another. Ethan had to catch her. He ran faster. Soon he was closing in on Polly as she did a figure of eight around two trees. He stole her hat. She laughed.

“OK, my turn.”

Ethan ran off into the trees. The wind whipped his face and the leaves crunched under his feet. He didn’t want to stop. He kept going until he was deep into the wood, where the trees grew taller and closer.

When Ethan looked back, he couldn’t see Polly. He was getting near the edge of the trees, by the stone stile. He stopped for a moment and scanned for a flash of red coat. Then suddenly he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders. He jumped.

“Got you!”

He turned round.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” said Polly with a grin. “I ran around the outside of the wood as a surprise.”

Ethan let out a big breath. Polly liked surprising people.

“I’m tired. Shall we have a rest?”

Ethan nodded and smiled.

They sat on the stone stile.

Polly reached in her pocket and brought out a slice of cake with orange frosting. She broke it in two and handed him half. “From Halloween,” she smiled.

It tasted just like Ethan remembered.

Polly looked down at her cake, but she didn’t bite in.

“I love the canal,” she said, “but I miss my bedroom and my house and my dad.”

Ethan finished the cake and wiped his hands on his jeans. He took out his notebook. He turned the cover. He held up his words so Polly would read them.

How long are you staying on the pound?