Together they hauled the sails back up and Bear got them back on course, cautiously handling their new tiller.

“It works,” he decided, “but it’s very sensitive. It’ll need constant attention. Mia, I’m going to have to leave some things up to you. I’d better brief you.”

“So, you’re going to tell me what to do,” Mia said without thinking, and her brain shut down. It was automatic. An adult was giving instructions, so they went in one ear and straight out the other.

But today Mia overrode her brain. She forced herself to start listening. This was life and death stuff out here. It was important. Bear was talking about water.

“… I estimate the island will be no more than three days away, and we each need at least one litre of water per day. So that’s a total of two litres per day for three days …”

“Six litres,” Mia calculated.

“There’s bottled water in the locker under the sink. See how much we have, and bring one of the bottles up.”

Mia popped quickly back into the cabin, holding her breath. She counted the bottles, and her heart sank. She took one back on deck.

“We’ve got four litres, including this one,” she reported reluctantly. Bear opened the bottle thoughtfully.

“So, we need to ration ourselves, and supplement what we have.”

He took a mouthful from the bottle, but didn’t swallow it immediately. He gargled it, then swilled it around in his mouth, then licked his lips, then swallowed. He handed Mia the bottle.

“Take a mouthful.”

Mia was so thirsty that she gulped it down before Bear had finished.

“Woah! Hang on there … do what I just did and swill it around your mouth first. It helps the water soak in so you get as much good as you can from it.”

Mia took more care with the next mouthful. The water moistened her mouth and made her less thirsty than she had been.

“Now,” Bear said, “I need you to get more stuff out of the cabin. There’s a big bowl and a pair of metal cups in the locker by the cooker. There’s a plastic sheet under the bunk and a couple of fishing weights and bungee cords from the locker up here … Can you get all that for me, please?”

Mia could feel herself wanting to tell Bear to get it himself, but she resisted. She knew that they were in a bit of trouble and that he needed her to do what he said. She decided to trust him. Besides, being busy helped take Mia’s mind off feeling ill. She quickly followed Bear’s instructions.

“That’s great,” he said as she added the last item to the pile on the deck. “Thanks, Mia. Now can you set the bowl down on the cabin roof? It needs to be as flat as possible.”