Bear had told her where the rope was, and she had been able to go straight there, instead of fussing around in the stinking air, trying to find it. Ursula had a place for everything, and everything was in its place.

It must have taken time and effort to get the boat like that, but it was obviously worth it. Mia knew that the word ‘shipshape’ means being tidy and well ordered. She could see why. She remembered what her bedroom at home looked like, and how her parents were always nagging her to get more organised. She usually ignored them.

She climbed quickly back onto deck before she passed out from the smell, and handed the rope over.

Bear had taken a washboard – a flat piece of wood that had been slotted into the cabin entrance to keep the weather out. It had ventilation slots cut into it and he had fastened it to one end of an oar, looping the rope through the slots.

At the other end of the oar he had tied on a wooden pin, sticking out at right angles, with a kind of X-shaped knot that lashed around it, over and over again – top left to bottom right, bottom left to top right. It all looked pretty complicated to Mia, but she guessed what it was for.

“Is that our new rudder?”

Bear nodded.

“Sure is. Do you think you can help me fix it in place?”

Together they lowered the oar into the sea by the back rail, next to one of the vertical rail supports. Mia held it in place while Bear lashed it to the rail with the rope she had brought him, using another of those X-knots. Then he tied another around the oar and the bottom of the rail support, so that the oar was held in two places.

“That will stop it flopping about,” Bear said. He gave the wooden pin an experimental push. The oar turned left and right in its knot supports, but it stayed attached to the rail.

“Okay. Once we’re moving again, this should give us a bit of control …”

Suddenly Mia felt her guts give a heave inside her. She clutched her middle and gulped. A moment later it was like her entire stomach wanted to crawl up out of her mouth. She leaned quickly over the back end of the boat and was sick into the sea.

“It’s sea sickness,” Bear said with sympathy. “The motion sensor in your inner ear tells you that you’re moving, but the cabin seems to be staying still, so your brain gets mixed messages and the result is you feel sick. A strong smell like the bilge water can just make it worse. Hold on.”

Bear was back a moment later, with a piece of cloth, and a couple of mugs of water. He tore the cloth into two strips.