I showed Dad I’m proud of him,

wrote Ethan.

I wrote him a note and showed him his newspaper story.
And he’s fixed my tree house.

“That’s brilliant, Ethan.” Polly didn’t smile. She hadn’t smiled since she’d come to his cabin that morning. It was as if she was sitting ten boat lengths away, not right next to Ethan on his bed.

“Well done,” she said.

She turned around and touched the white painted castle.

“Mum spoke to me about Dad this morning. She knows I miss him. They want to try to be together again. We’re going to go home tomorrow, Ethan.”

A shiver shot down Ethan’s back. He felt sick, even though he always knew that, one day, Polly would move on. He imagined what his page would be thinking now. He would want Isabel to be happy, even though he was sad she was leaving. And he would hope that one day he might still become a knight.

Ethan felt for his notebook. It took him a while to write the words.

I don’t want you to go.
I’ll miss you so much.
But I want you to be
with your dad too.

“Thank you,” said Polly.

Ethan put his arms around Polly and hugged her tight. He didn’t want to take his arms away. Polly was smiling when he let go, but there was a tear sliding over her freckles. “I’ll miss you too,” she said softly.

Ethan went into the kitchen and wrote Mum a note.

Will you take me and Polly to the tree house?

“Out you get,” said Mum when they reached the little lane. “I’ll pick you up in an hour.”

“It’s amazing,” said Polly as they gazed up at the tree house.

Ethan started to climb the wooden ladder and Polly followed.

“I can see Deity and Moon’s End,” said Polly as they sat in the tree house.

Ethan was looking down on everywhere he’d been with Polly. The wood, the stream, the playground, the pond in the far distance. It felt good seeing it from high up, like getting a big hug.

“You can go further than the canal, Ethan,” said Polly, kicking her legs.

What did Polly mean? The canal was home. He didn’t need to go any further, did he? He could go to the library or the market now and again. And he could come here now, too.

“The canal’s beautiful. You don’t have to leave it completely. I mean, you’re bigger than just the canal.”

Ethan didn’t understand, but it sounded important. He kicked his legs and breathed in the damp air, but he still didn’t know what Polly meant.

“You could go back to another school and be happy. I know it.”

 

That night, they made up the air bed on the floor of Ethan’s cabin, so Polly could sleep over.

Ethan opened his wardrobe and took out the model of Deity that Dad had helped him make.

“It’s beautiful, Ethan, thank you,” said Polly, running her fingers along the side of the model. She reached into her patchwork bag and brought out a book. “This is for you. It’s my favourite book. Charlotte’s Web. It’s about a pig and a spider who become friends. The spider helps the pig by spinning special messages in her webs. It’s a sad story because the spider has to leave the pig, but it has a happy ending.”

Thank you,

Ethan wrote.

His notebook was full now. But he could get a new notebook.

That night, after they got into bed, Polly read to Ethan from Charlotte’s Web. She did a low, kind voice for Charlotte the spider, and a high, squeaky voice for Wilbur the pig.

Ethan lay there listening to Polly read. It made him wonder if he would ever speak again. But slowly, he stopped wondering about his voice, and he just listened, and before long he was inside the story with Wilbur and Charlotte and her special messages. And slowly, Polly’s words lapped over Ethan and gently swept him to sleep.