Lotti learned to pilot the Sparrowhawk by the light of the moon on the deserted waters of the sleeping canal. It was Ben’s idea, to relieve the tension which gripped them both in those first few hours, when neither of them could quite believe some unforeseen enemy was not already on their tail. Lessons focused the mind.
They began to relax as dawn broke softly over the canal, preceded by a symphony of birdsong, and their surroundings came into view – a water meadow, grazing cows, a hawthorn hedgerow in flower, and not an enemy in sight. The canal grew busier. Slow and steady, Ben manoeuvred the Sparrowhawk along, passing oncoming boats with inches to spare, responding to greetings with a nod as Nathan always used to. Beside him, seated on the storage seat, Elsie had assumed her habitual driving position: upright, ears flicked forward and muzzle raised as the breeze ruffled the hair around her neck. Ben felt a rush of love for her and for the Sparrowhawk. This was where he belonged on the water with his dog and his boat. He could stay like this for ever. He glanced over at Lotti, who was sitting opposite Elsie with Federico on her lap, her face tilted to the sun.
‘All right?’ he asked.
‘More than all right,’ Lotti smiled.
About an hour after daybreak, when they had been going for over six hours, they stopped for a short rest. Ben brought the Sparrowhawk alongside the bank, and showed Lotti how to drive pegs into the ground to make a mooring. Then, while the dogs nosed about the towpath, Ben made tea while Lotti spread margarine and jam on slices of bread, and he explained the plan for the rest of the day.
‘We’ll get to our first lock at Emlyn this afternoon,’ he said. ‘I’ve been thinking. If I was a policeman and I was looking for a boat on the canals, the first thing I’d do is ask the lock-keepers if they’d seen her. Now, Skinner’s not back till Wednesday, as we know. Hopefully, by the time he comes looking for the Sparrowhawk, no one will remember us. We just need to be as inconspicuous as possible.’
‘I’ve never even been in a lock before,’ said Lotti, a little nervously.
‘You’ll be fine,’ Ben assured her. ‘You just drive the Sparrowhawk and I’ll do the rest.’
*
They came to Emlyn Lock at about three o’clock and took their place at the back of a queue of boats waiting to go through.
‘It’s good that there are lots of other boats,’ said Ben. ‘Means it’s less likely anyone will remember us. And I can’t actually see the lock-keeper, only that girl over there with the baby.’
Lotti looked in the direction Ben was indicating and saw a girl of about fourteen standing by the lock with a baby on her hip, talking to the helmsman of a narrowboat which had just pulled in.
‘I don’t see why that helps,’ she said. ‘Skinner could interview her just as well as a lock-keeper.’
‘Yes, but nobody’s ever interested in what children say.’
Two boats had gone into the lock, one behind the other. Ben edged the Sparrowhawk forwards, then stopped again, tucked into the bank. There was just one boat ahead of them now.
‘We’ll be going in after the Marianne,’ said Ben. ‘I’ll get off before you drive in to work the lock. All you need to do is follow the Marianne, slow and steady and turn off the engine. Right, here we go, the lock’s opening again. Ready?’
‘Ready!’ said Lotti, with airy confidence.
With a thrill of nervous excitement, she took hold of the tiller. Federico leaped up on to the storage box beside her. Lotti grinned and pulled one of his ears.
‘Bet you never dreamed we’d be doing this when I rescued you!’
A pair of ducks flew overhead and landed in the water behind the Sparrowhawk. Federico turned to look at them, whiskers quivering.
‘Don’t get any thoughts in your head,’ Lotti warned. ‘We don’t want a repeat of the pheasant. Not here. Here we have to be absolutely, completely invisible.’
The lock gates opened. Two boats came out. The first didn’t stop, but the second pulled in just behind the Sparrowhawk, close enough for Lotti to see the details of the painted bird perched on the curling letters of her name, the Secret Starling.
How strange, thought Lotti. I feel as if I’ve seen that boat before.
But the Marianne was already entering the empty lock. Ben stepped off the Sparrowhawk and called down to Lotti to move on. Eyes narrowed in concentration, she pushed the speed lever forward and began to steer …
‘Watch out for Federico,’ Ben called. ‘Elsie’s used to locks, but it might scare him.’
But Federico wasn’t scared at all. Federico was watching the ducks, still paddling in the water …
His whiskers twitched.
Slow and steady, the Sparrowhawk followed the Marianne into the lock. Ben began to close the gates behind her. Lotti, careful to be invisible, tried to look as if she had done this many times before, but inwardly she was cheering.
The downhill gates closed behind the Sparrowhawk. The sluices on the uphill gates, ahead of the Marianne, began to let in water.
The Sparrowhawk and the Marianne began to rise.
Federico scrambled off the storage box on to the roof of the Sparrowhawk, took a short run and leaped, aiming for the edge of the lock.