“Did they tell you to go to Missing Persons?” he asked. “People are found all the time.”
Fenn had now missed the start of his shift and would be in so much trouble with Amber, but he couldn’t bear to leave the woman on her own. “I’ll take you if you want,” he offered. “This way.” He pointed to the opening at the end of the tent.
She acknowledged his kindness with a little nod, so fleeting he could have missed it, and walked on, towing her sadness behind her. People glanced at her as she passed, stepping out of her way, as if her unhappiness were something black and spidery creeping out of her that they didn’t want touching them.
They headed out of the tent. The sun was at its lowest before disappearing altogether and its orange rays raked the sky, dazzling them both. The tips of her long, grey hair lifted in the breeze, showing threads of reddish brown. She had been pretty once – you could see that – but she was gaunt now. She stumbled and Fenn cupped his hand beneath her frail elbow, as if he was holding something terribly fragile, like an egg. All of a sudden she began talking, confessing the guilt she carried with her grief.
“They promised me,” she whispered. “They swore we’d be together. It was one of those convoy ships; I gave them everything. I … I keep thinking she might have thought I wanted to send her away…”
She faltered, and had such a look in her eyes, such a hurt, wounded look that Fenn could hardly bear it. Her face hollowed like she was biting the inside of her cheeks to stop herself crying. Fenn went to put his arm around her, but she shrugged him off. She didn’t want comfort; she just wanted her child. She straightened her back, gave him a brittle smile and marched on bravely, murmuring a tune just under her breath. She had forgotten most of the words and only a few fragments trembled out.
“Hey, diddle, diddle hm, hm, hm, hm, hm-hm, hm, cow, jumped over hm-hm, hm. Hm-hm, hm, hm to see such sport and the dish ran away hm hm hmm.” Her voice quivered with sadness, but she kept going.
At last they reached Missing Persons, a large wooden hut Fenn had helped build from driftwood. They pushed open the door and went inside. On each wall, long lists were chalked in alphabetical order, where people could log their own names and those they were searching for. There were dozens of people, but apart from the soft scraping of chalk, the tent was in complete silence. The woman started reading the first list.
“Who are you looking for?” Fenn asked again, following her gaze.
“My daughter,” the woman replied. “Her name is Amber.”
About the author
Francesca Armour-Chelu grew up by the Suffolk Coast. She studied English and Drama at Goldsmiths and went on to work in museum education and public libraries. Her experience of living on water meadows in an abandoned Edwardian railway carriage inspired her debut novel, Fenn Halflin and the Fearzero, which was short-listed for the Mslexia Children’s Novel Competition 2012. Francesca lives in Suffolk.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, used fictitiously. All statements, activities, stunts, descriptions, information and material of any other kind contained herein are included for entertainment purposes only and should not be relied on for accuracy or replicated as they may result in injury.
First published in Great Britain 2017 by Walker Books Ltd
87 Vauxhall Walk, London SE11 5HJ
Text © 2017 Francesca Armour-Chelu
Map illustration © 2017 Francesca Armour-Chelu
Cover design © 2017 Richard Collingridge
The right of Francesca Armour-Chelu to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, taping and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: a catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-4063-7537-4 (ePub)
www.walker.co.uk
Fenn Halflin and the Seaborn Page 19