“Ethan, wake up. You’ve got to get home.”

Where was he? Ethan sat up slowly. He saw the flower-shaped clock on the wall. Polly was kneeling on the floor next to him. He remembered running down the towpath to Moon’s End. He remembered about Dad and the boy.

It was six. If he left now, he’d get back to his cabin before Mum and Dad woke up. They would never know he’d stayed at Polly’s.

Ethan pulled back the quilt and stood up.

“Here.” Polly passed him his trainers. “We have to get to the library. Is your mum going to town today?”

He tried to remember what day it was: Saturday. Dad was walking to a job nearby, so he didn’t need the van. Mum had to go food shopping.

Ethan nodded.

“I’ll come to Deity at nine-thirty.”

He turned back before opening Polly’s cabin door.

“Maybe it’s a good thing that you’re remembering, Ethan,” said Polly.

He didn’t understand what Polly meant: the memories made him feel like his head was full of silt. The silt wouldn’t settle. His head wouldn’t clear.

“Maybe if we find out what really happened, we can get your voice back.”

Outside, the sun shone on the frosty ground. Slowly, Ethan walked to Deity. In just a few hours they would be at the library. Today, he might find out the truth about why he had stopped talking.

Ethan hurried along the canal bank, past the lounge to the back of the boat. Once inside his cabin, he took off his outside clothes and kept on his pyjamas. He got back in bed to warm up. Dad would be leaving for work in half an hour; then Mum would get up and Ethan could write her a note. He reached for the laptop and turned it on. He started to write his journal.

His page was worried about his father. He’d dreamt his father was wanted by the sheriff. But he didn’t think his father could have done anything wrong. Could he? He had to leave the castle to find out the truth. He had to prove his father’s innocence.

Ethan heard Dad shut the bow doors as he left for work. Ethan got up and turned a page in his notebook. His hand shook as he wrote out the question in the engine room. His legs felt weak when he got to the kitchen.

He stood at the sink next to Mum and held out the notebook.

Take me and Polly to the library?

Mum smiled.

“Of course,” she said.