Sophie had been on her way back from school with her best friend, Jemima, when Tom had called.
‘So what was that all about?’ Jemima asked as Sophie hung up. ‘Has Simon just dumped you?’
Sophie groaned. ‘How many times do I have to tell you, I’m not going out with Simon!’
‘Try telling Simon that,’ Jemima said. ‘So what was it then?’
‘It was Tom,’ Sophie replied. ‘He needed my help with a grass snake.’
‘A grass snake?’ said Jemima. ‘Hang on a minute. I know that look!’
‘What look?’ said Sophie.
‘The look you get when you hear about a lost or injured animal – sort of mushy,’ said Jemima.
‘What do you mean?’ Sophie said.
‘Just what I said.’ Jemima laughed. ‘You’re thinking about snakes, aren’t you?’ Don’t tell me you’re thinking about getting one!’
‘Well, no,’ Sophie replied. ‘Not exactly.’
‘Sophie!’
‘They’re just interesting, that’s all.’
The two girls turned along the road that led to Regent’s Park. Sophie was twelve years old, but because she was tall and clever and confident she could easily pass for fourteen. Jemima was the same age, and also got mistaken for older, but this was mainly because of the dyed red hair and the mascara.
‘My cousin has a snake called Albert; they are the grossest pets ever,’ said Jemima.
‘Come on, there are grosser pets,’ said Sophie. ‘What about spiders? Or slugs?’
‘It’s got to be snakes,’ said Jemima. ‘Every time I go to my cousin’s house, you open the fridge and there’s a mouse defrosting in there. Albert’s dinner!’
Sophie laughed.
‘And he’s always escaping,’ said Jemima. ‘One time, I was over there watching telly when I felt this arm creeping round my shoulder. You know, like I’m in the back row at the cinema. Only it wasn’t an arm, it was Albert! I turn round and there I am – eyeball to eyeball with him.’
‘What kind of snake is he?’ asked Sophie.
‘I don’t know, do I?’ said Jemima. ‘A flippin’ big one! With fangs! So look, if you get one, there’s no way I’m coming over to your house again. Not that you’ve got a house, but you know what I mean.’
They stopped at a gate that led down to the Regent’s Canal towpath. The houseboat that Sophie lived on with her family was moored on the canal below, whereas Jemima’s house was a little further on up the hill.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Sophie. ‘I won’t get a snake any time soon. For a start, I don’t think Clarence and Win would like it very much.’
‘Who are they? Your mice?’
‘My rats,’ said Sophie.
‘Don’t tell me,’ said Jemima, scrunching up her eyes, ‘rats are misunderstood as well. Talking of rats, look – it’s Christian Hemmings. Stay with me.’
‘But you used to like him.’
‘That was when he was still washing his freaking hair.’
‘Sorry, Jem, got dogs to walk, fish to feed.’ Sophie smiled over her shoulder as she walked down the track that led to her boat. Jemima pulled a mock-angry face and then turned to face a sullen-looking teenage boy wearing eyeliner.
As Sophie got closer to the canal, she felt London fading away behind her. Within a few seconds there were no more car horns or police sirens; there was no music blaring from shops. She was surrounded by trees and water and wildlife.
She pulled out a crust of bread that she’d saved from her packed lunch and threw it towards a patch of reeds. A group of ducklings emerged, quacking happily and jabbing at the bread.
‘All right, try not to fight over it,’ she said. Sophie watched for a moment before walking on towards the marina, where the houseboats were moored.
As she passed the first boat she heard a voice coming out of an open porthole.
‘Hello, Sophie. How’s your mum?’
‘Better now, thanks, Mrs Macready,’ Sophie said, bending down to look in. ‘It was just a bad cold.’
‘Good, good,’ said the voice. ‘Send her my love.’
On the second boat there was a man on the bow, cooking sausages on a barbecue. He looked up and waved.
‘Hi, Jim,’ Sophie said.
‘Can you give this screwdriver back to your dad?’ he said, picking it up from the roof of the boat and handing it to her.
‘Sure thing,’ Sophie said.
She passed the third barge and waved at a middle-aged woman who was repainting the name of her boat on its prow: LILY THE PINK.
The woman turned round and said, ‘Hello, Sophie. If you and Tom want to earn a tenner at the weekend, I could use a hand re-sanding the deck.’
‘Call it twenty and you’ve got a deal,’ Sophie said.
‘Fifteen and as many muffins as you can eat!’ said the woman with a smile.
‘Done,’ said Sophie.
After walking past another three barges, Sophie finally reached the family boat.
All of the boats on the canal were completely different to each other – some were black and long, while others were short and blue. There were red ones and green ones – some brand new, others old-fashioned. Some of them were built for one person, others could hold ten. But even in the midst of all this variety, the Nightingale boat really stood out.
For a start, half the roof had been turned into a vegetable garden, while the other half was covered with solar panels. Then there was the boat itself, which was decorated all over with animals. Tom and Sophie’s dad had painted rhinos, bears, tigers, zebras and lots of other creatures on the sides. The portholes had been worked into the design as well, so that if you were inside, looking out, you could be poking out of a kangaroo’s pouch, stuck inside a lion’s mouth or peering out of a tortoise’s shell.
Inside there were animals everywhere too. The family had a terrier called Rex and two cats called Mindy and Max, while Tom had five stick insects and Sophie had her two rats, a ferret, a budgie and eleven goldfish.
The boat’s name was the Jessica Rose. But everyone in the marina just called it The Ark.
Sophie opened the front door and ducked inside. Rex had come running out of his basket as soon as he heard the key turn in the lock. Sophie swept him up and screwed up her face as he licked her chin.
‘Ready for walkies, Rexie?’ she asked. Rex leapt out of her arms and stood in front of the hook where his lead was hanging.
‘OK, let’s take Felicity as well,’ she said.
She picked up a small collar from the windowsill and walked over to her ferret’s cage.
Within a couple of minutes, Rex the terrier and Felicity the ferret were on their way to Regent’s Park, pulling Sophie along behind them.