“You know what I mean,” I say. “No helicopters to take us to the End or magic potions that will make Crowky disappear. There’s no point. When we tried to put stuff like that in Roar it never appeared. It’s got to be . . . believable.”

“OK.” Rose blows out a long breath and shakes her arms and shoulders. She walks toward me. “I can do this. I can definitely pretend this sofa is a boat.”

I reach out my hand and with a piratical voice I say, “Arrrh, shiver me timbers, climb on board, Rose-me-lad!”

She recoils in horror. “Why did you do that? Now I can’t do it!”

I groan. “Rose, what’s the matter with you? You’ll have to look stupid for, like, five minutes, and it’s only in front of me. Harriet isn’t here, is she? And neither are any of your other oh-so-cool friends, so stop worrying about what other people think of you for one second and be a bit imaginative and pretend that sofa is a boat!”

When I end my speech I see that something I said has made Rose furious. Her hands are screwed into fists and she’s staring at me with a dangerous look in her eye.

“You want me to be imaginative, do you, Arthur? Fine.” She grabs me by my T-shirt, pulls me off the sofa, and takes my place. “Ooooh, look at me climbing onto my SHARK-SHAPED boat. It’s got a big smile”—she grins for a second—“and ruby eyes and the flag is a massive pair of UNDERPANTS. How imaginative is THAT?” She drops to her knees and starts patting the sofa cushions. “Oh, and let’s not forget this sensible reinforced hull that’s strong enough to cut through ice, or the chests of rocky road or the barrels of Marmite!” She jumps off the sofa bed and mimes picking up a huge barrel. Staggering back to the sofa, she shouts, “Help me, Arthur! This Marmite is heavy!” But I don’t help her because she’s doing a perfectly good job of sarcastically loading her imaginary ship all by herself.

“In goes the food and the trunks of candy,” she says, tossing them on board, “and the casks of Fanta.” She rolls these. “Actually”—she darts behind the sofa—“I’d better store them below deck.” Then she gets lower and lower, pretending to climb downstairs until her head disappears completely. “You can’t see me, Arthur, but I’m still in the boat exploring and it is amazing down here! There are slides everywhere!”

Suddenly she gasps and her face reappears. “Arthur, I’ve met the crew, and you won’t believe it: they’re a pair of honey badgers!” She jumps back onto the sofa and starts shaking hands with imaginary honey badgers. “Hello, your name’s Eric? Pleased to meet you, Eric! And you’re Danny. Awesome!”