“We’d better not. The water flow could rip the patch sail away, and if they don’t see us then we’re just wasting time going back the way we came. We won’t catch them up. They’ve got engines, they can come to us – if they see us …”

Mia and Bear eagerly fixed their eyes on the shape on the horizon, waiting for it to turn towards them.

7

POSITIVE ATTITUDE

Mia quickly realised two things.

One was that she was holding her breath, and starting to feel a little dizzy. She started to breathe normally again.

The other was that the oil tanker was sailing on without changing course. Slowly the dark blob disappeared below the horizon, and that was that. Mia felt the disappointment hanging on her shoulders like weights.

“They didn’t see us,” she said sadly.

“I’m afraid it’s something you get used to in situations like this,” said Bear. “And I’ll tell you someone else who isn’t going to see us either, and they’re even closer to us than that ship was.”

Mia looked around. There were no other ships. Was Bear talking about a submarine?

“Who? Where?”

Bear smiled and pointed straight up. Mia craned her head back. A thin white line was slowly drawing itself across the blue sky.

“An aeroplane?” Mia said.

Bear nodded again.

“It’s five miles up, so it’s closer than that ship on the horizon was. You’ll see several planes during the day, and you can bet not one of them will see us. It can feel like they’re ignoring you deliberately, but you can’t let it get you down. Depression is a killer for a survivor, so …” Bear tapped his head. “You don’t let it in. Think of the good things we have. A boat. A destination. The ability to get there. There have been people worse off than us, and they managed, so we can too.”

“Who had it worse?” Mia asked out of curiosity.

“Well, in 1789, a British navy captain called William Bligh managed to sail four thousand miles with eighteen men, in an open twenty-three-foot boat – smaller than Ursula and with no cabin. He only lost one man in forty-seven days.”

“That’s pretty good,” Mia agreed.

“Of course, he was a rubbish captain.” Bear smiled. “That’s why he was in that boat in the first place. His men had thrown him off his ship. But he was an amazing sailor and navigator. One thing he knew all about was keeping his men’s spirits up. They had to be kept busy. And so do we. So, how about we try to catch us some food?”

Mia was alarmed. First the water, now food?

“You mean we don’t have anything to eat on board?”