by Fiona Foden
He walks on, and as soon as he’s out of sight, Leon flips out a little pointy implement from his knife. “What’s that for?” I ask.
“Rosie asked me that,” he chuckles. “She’s obsessed with this knife. I told her it’s for getting stones out of horses’ hooves, and she said, ‘Why d’you have it then? ’Cause we don’t have a horse…’” I watch intently as, in one deft movement, he pushes it into the tiny space and prises open the wooden hatch. I help him to lift it away, then jump down into the cabin below, with Leon landing beside me a moment later. Reaching up through the square opening, he carefully slides the hatch back into its closed position.
We stand in silence, blinking in the dim light as we peer around the cabin. It feels the same – it even smells right. “I think this was Mum’s cabin,” I whisper, pushing open the door and stepping into the main living area. “This is Promise,” I exclaim, too thrilled to keep my voice down now. “Leon, it’s definitely our boat!” I gaze around, and everything is just as it always was: our little kitchen with the oven and sink and the worktops with their speckled blue pattern. There are the long, built-in seats on each side, made of dark, shiny wood, and the red cushions, which are a perfect fit. Maggie made them for us when Mum decided Promise needed a spruce-up last winter. “Are you sure?” Leon asks, pushing back dark, wavy hair from his eyes.
“Of course I am. Come on – I’ll show you the other cabins.” We peer into Ryan’s, then finally mine. “My mirror’s still here!” I shriek.
“That’s amazing. Why wouldn’t he have taken it down?”
“Because it wouldn’t come off the wall,” I say, feeling like laughing and crying all at once. “When she bought it, Mum used some kind of strong glue instead of bothering to drill holes, and she had to leave it behind when she cleared out all our stuff.” I glance at my flushed, wide-eyed reflection in the mirror, its sparkly butterfly border matching the ones that are fluttering madly in my stomach right now. “My God,” I breathe. “I can hardly believe this. I’m so glad you’re here to see it too.” It’s true – I’m loving being able to show him my real home. It’s almost like seeing Promise through Leon’s eyes and, perhaps for the first time, I can see how magical she really is.
“What about your tin, then?” Leon asks.
“OK.” I swallow hard, realizing now why I’ve left this part till last. I’m scared, you see – scared in case it’s gone.
“Did you say it was under your bed?” he prompts me.
I nod as, slowly, I bob down to reach under my old wooden bed and lift the loose slat. But before I can feel around for the tin, there’s a loud clunk above us, and the boat rocks violently. Someone has just stepped on board.
I wish I were somewhere else. I wish I were … I don’t know. Stuck at home in my mustard room, or in that bleak shopping mall with Chantelle and Gemma … anywhere would be better than this.
Leon squeezes my hand tight. There’s another thud as someone else steps on to the deck. “She’s looking good, Bill,” comes a booming male voice I’ve never heard before. “You’ve done an excellent restoration job on her.”
“Well, they do say I’m the best in the business.” Bill chuckles, and I can sense the tiny hairs on the back of my neck sticking up. There’s the sound of a key in the door as it’s opened up, then footsteps as the men come down the short flight of wooden steps into the cabin.
“So what was her history again?” the other man asks.
“Oh, she came in for repair a while ago,” Bill replies. “Owned by some clueless hippy-dippy woman who thought she might need a small repair to the hull.” He snorts with laughter. “And of course, once I’d got this beauty out of the water, I could see we were talking major work. She wouldn’t have been able to afford it.”
I glance at Leon, feeling as if my blood has turned to ice.
“So she sold her to you?”
“Yeah, as a wreck,” Bill says. “But I was happy to do a full restoration. As you know, David, she’s a very special boat.”
“Sold her?” I mouth at Leon. Of course, there was no money involved – just a pack of lies. My heart is thumping so hard, I’m amazed the men can’t hear it. They’re so close now, I can hear every creak from the wooden floorboards as they move around. I can even hear Bill breathing noisily through his nose. Any second now, they’ll peer into this tiny cabin…
I bite my lip, wondering if we’d be able to hurtle straight past them and escape. No, that would be impossible. There’s hardly any space out there, and they could easily block our way out. “Well, Bill,” the other man is saying, “you’ve been true to your word – she’s turned out better than I could have hoped. I’d like to go ahead and buy her.”
“Great,” Bill says. “If you could transfer the funds into my account later today, you can take her tomorrow. She’s completely finished and ready to go.”
The other man clears his throat. “And … you’re not prepared to budge on the price?”
“Oh, come on,” Bill says with a gravelly laugh. “She’s already a steal – you know that.”
The boat rocks again as first one man heads back upstairs to the deck, followed, miraculously, by the other. There’s the metallic sound of the door being locked, and a soft thud as each man jumps on to the path. Their voices fade as they make their way back along the riverbank towards the boatyard.
I let go of Leon’s hand. “They’ve gone,” I announce, my heart still rattling away at what feels like three times its normal speed.
He shakes his head, laughing softly in disbelief. “We are so lucky…”
We stand there, blinking in the shadowy cabin for a few moments, before I lift the loose slat and reach into the space behind it. As my fingertips touch a hard metal lid, I stop. No one found it. It’s still there. My hands are shaking as I carefully lift it out.
“Leon,” I say, my vision fuzzing with tears, “I’d like you to meet my dad.”
I know it’s risky, and that Bill could come back at any time. Even so, it wouldn’t feel right, hurriedly showing Leon the contents of my tin. So we perch on the edge of the hard wooden bed while I hand him each object in turn: the newspaper cutting about Dad being an athletics champion, and the picture of him as a little boy in what was probably his parents’ back garden, where he’s busy making a complicated-looking model boat. There are more photos, taken during camping holidays and Christmas parties. In one, he’s just the way I remember him – smiling proudly, his dark hair neatly cropped, standing on Promise’s deck with a baby in his arms.
The baby is gazing up adoringly at him, her eyes wide and her mouth open in one of those funny gummy smiles babies do. “That’s me,” I tell Leon.
He smiles. “You haven’t changed a bit.”
“Apart from now I have teeth,” I laugh, handing him the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World book, which he leafs through slowly, taking care to study each one of Dad’s soft pencilled drawings.
He turns to look at me. “So what shall we do now?”
“I … I don’t know.” Yet, as soon as the words leave my mouth, I realize I do know. “We’re going to take her, Leon.”
“What … you mean take Promise?”
I nod. “Yes.”
He tips his head, studying my face. “But … how? Where would we go?”
“Home,” I say simply.
“You mean to London?” he asks. “Wouldn’t that take all night?”
“No,” I say, “I mean back to where we used to live. There was still a space there, next to Bella’s boat, remember? She mentioned that someone else had moored there, but they must have moved on.”
“How long will that take us?”
“A couple of hours, I think.” I look at him, hardly daring to believe I’ve suggested this, but knowing it feels right. After all, I’m only planning to take back what belongs to my family. Then it will all come out that Bill
lied to us, cheating us out of our home so he could make a fortune. “Will you come with me?” I ask hesitantly.
“Of course I’ll come!” Leon exclaims. “Are you crazy? Where else d’you think I’d go?”
“I don’t know. I just—”
“How will you start the engine, though?” he cuts in. “Does it have a key or something?”
“Yes,” I say, “and Bill must have that. But there is another way to start it – with the crank handle. It’s not easy but if Mum could manage it, I’m sure I can too. We kept it in a compartment under the deck. Let’s see if it’s still there…”
Putting the lid firmly back on my tin, I place it back under the bed. Leon follows me out of the cabin and, being taller than I am, he reaches up to push open the hatch. Once he’s shoved it aside, we haul ourselves up through the opening and on to the deck, where I lead him to the smaller hatch, with its storage compartment underneath. Just as I thought, the crank handle is still here. Back below deck, I fit it to the engine. I can’t get it started at first but finally, as I push with all my strength, there’s a low spluttering noise, as if Promise is clearing her throat after waking up from a long sleep – and the engine kicks into life. “It’s going!” Leon yells from outside. “You’ve done it!”
“Course I have,” I laugh, scrambling back outside and joining him on the deck again. I inhale deeply, taking in the familiar warm, oily smell of the engine. It really feels like coming home. “Could you untie her?” I ask Leon.
“Sure.” He jumps on to the bank, lifts the rope from the mushroom-shaped bollard and steps back on to the deck. My heart feels as if it could burst with joy as I take the tiller and guide her gently away from the bank.
“You know this’ll take ages, don’t you?” I tell Leon. “I mean, even after we’ve moored next to Bella’s boat, we’ll still have the journey back to London tonight…”
“So?” he grins.
“I just thought, in case anyone starts to worry, maybe you should call home.”
He shrugs. “I don’t think they will.”
I smile and give his hand a squeeze. While I’m glad Leon has so much freedom, it still doesn’t feel right that no one cares. I’m also starting to worry that Bill could come back at any time and find his prized boat gone. It’s the first time I’ve wished that Promise could chug along a little faster…
Still gripping the tiller with one hand, I slip my phone out of my pocket and read the text that came earlier: Any news??? “Bella again,” I explain. I’m about to reply, but where to start with all that’s happened today? No, better to just turn up and surprise her.
“So,” Leon says, “d’you think it’ll be OK, leaving Promise at your old mooring?”
“Yes, there are plenty of people there who’ll keep an eye on her. Anyway, I need to get back and tell Mum.”
“Don’t you want to phone her now?” he asks.
I shake my head. “Can you imagine how she’d react? No – better to tell her face to face. Then I can explain everything properly and she won’t freak out.” I glance at Leon, aware that he’s studying me with a quizzical look on his face. Is it because I’ve taken his dare further than he’d ever imagined, or does he think I’ve gone completely nuts? I’m about to ask if he’s OK with all of this when he does something that takes the words right out of my mouth.
Without any warning at all, he leans forward and gently kisses my lips. My head swirls, and Promise does a crazy curve in the river as I forget how to steer for a moment. In fact, I forget everything apart from the boy I’m with now.
Although we’re puttering along as slowly as the duck beside us, I feel as if I could soar like a bird.
The sun beats down as we leave Clingford behind. Soon we’re out in the countryside, surrounded by nothing but gently sloping hills and a wide turquoise sky. As for that kiss – well, I feel as if I’m sort of glowing all over. Oh, I know things are about to get complicated. Bill will probably track us down – it’s generally not too difficult to find a boat, after all. But what we’ve done today still feels absolutely right.
As I guide Promise past a tiny overgrown island guarded by a swan, I keep stealing glances at Leon. Those deep brown eyes, those long, dark lashes and infectious smile … how can I start to doubt what we’ve done when he’s here? “So we’ve done it,” he says with a grin.
“Yeah.” I blow out air. “I can’t wait to tell Mum now. She’ll understand why I had to sneak off today.”
“And what about Ryan? How d’you think he’ll react?”
I mull this over for a moment. “I don’t know. He likes living at the Stag – he has his job, more money than he’s ever had in his life, and he’s started to make friends.” I smile and wave as we pass a narrowboat heading upstream. “But this is our home, Leon. Promise is ours and we need to have her back.”
“Yeah,” he says, “of course.”
“I don’t know what Bill McIntyre will do when he discovers she’s missing,” I continue. “It’s a lot of money to lose. But he can hardly report it to the police, can he?”
“Not when she wasn’t even his to sell,” he agrees. I catch his eye, wondering what’ll happen when we’re back home – not just with Mum and Promise, but to Leon and me. I do want our home back, but I also wish today could go on for ever: our own perfect little world, with no Chantelle, and no difficult questions to answer…
“Can I steer for a while?” Leon asks.
“Sure,” I say, moving aside so he can take the tiller. “Just keep an eye on the bow to see if we’re veering over to one side…”
“You think I’m going to crash her, don’t you?” he teases.
“No,” I laugh, “course I don’t. But you do realize you’re in sole charge of a very valuable boat right now, don’t you?”
“Stop pressuring me,” he laughs as we pass a family gathered around a picnic table on the riverbank.
“Look,” I add, “they’re all watching to see if you mess up. You should have L-plates.”
We carry on like this, chattering and bantering, while I feel as if I could burst with happiness. Occasionally, I forget about Bill McIntyre and the whole stack of lies I told, and almost believe we really are on a day trip. Just a boy and a girl, boating on a perfect summer’s day … until, suddenly exhausted after the day’s events, I stretch out on the warm deck. Soon I’m drifting away, lulled by the low rumble from the engine and the relentless heat of the sun…
“Josie!” Leon’s cry wakes me with a start.
“What’s wrong?” I scramble up to my feet.
“Nothing,” he laughs. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to shock you. It’s just … well – is this starting to look familiar to you?”
I glance towards the boarded-up building to our right. “That’s the old boatyard we used to go to! Yes, it’s not far now. About fifteen minutes.”
Rubbing my eyes, I take back the tiller from him, my heart thudding hard now as we pass familiar landmarks: the old-fashioned garage which I’d cycle to for newspapers and milk, and the posh hotel with its immaculate garden where prim-looking adults are having afternoon tea. “That’s where Mum worked,” I tell him.
“Bit different from the Stag, huh?” Leon says with a smile.
I nod, aware of a small twist of sadness deep in the pit of my stomach. Of course I want my old life back. I miss Bella like crazy, and Murphy too. We were all happy on the river – I even got the impression that Ryan enjoyed moaning about the lack of space. But now, it’s hitting home that, in rescuing Promise, I could lose the loveliest boy I’ve ever met…
That kiss replays in my mind, and I sense myself blushing. As if tuning into my thoughts, Leon takes my hand in his. “You know,” he says softly, “I’ve never met anyone like you.”
I laugh, aware of my cheeks turning an even fiercer shade of pink.
“No, really,” he insists. “I
mean … I dared you to call the boatyard, didn’t I? But you didn’t just do that. You planned the day, you sneaked off and confronted that man…”
“I was terrified in the boatyard,” I remind him.
“OK, but then you actually stole the boat…”
“Rescued,” I correct him, then gasp, “Look, we’re here!” All bunched up together, the boats look like an explosion of paint colours against the sludgy greens of the surrounding water and trees.
“Which side shall we moor on?” Leon asks.
“The right bank. There should be room next to Bella’s…” I squint into the distance, reassuring myself that of course there’ll be a space there for us. No boat was moored there when we passed on the bus, on our way to Clingford – I definitely checked. But now, as we slow down and draw closer, I can see that another boat – a dark blue cruiser with a shiny white roof – is crammed into the space next to Tarragon. “There’s a boat in our old mooring,” I announce. “We can’t stop there…” Anxiously, I scan both sides of the river.
“Aren’t there are any spaces at all?” Leon asks.
“Can’t see any.”
“There must be somewhere we can stop…”
I shake my head, panicking now. “There are hardly any official moorings on this part of the river, and you can’t just pull up anywhere – not where there’s nothing to tie up to…” This is precisely why, once someone’s finally managed to get a mooring here, they hardly ever leave.
I slow Promise right down. A few of the boaters are pottering about on their decks, but no one has spotted us yet. Then Tyler, who’s lying flat out in a pair of shorts on his deck, turns to see who’s approaching. Maggie swivels round too, and soon several boaters have emerged from their cabins to see who’s arrived. I’m focusing so hard on Bella’s boat, I don’t even smile or shout hello. “We’ll have to double moor,” I tell Leon. “There’s nowhere else to go.”
“What does that mean?” he asks.