“Well, we do have tins, but there’s nothing like the buzz of catching your own fresh food. There’s some fishing twine and hooks in the locker by the wheel there …”

Mia found the reel of orange twine. One end had a hook with some bait dangling from it. The other was attached to the reel itself.

“Mind the hook,” Bear cautioned. He was still holding on to the tiller, not able to move away from it. “You can easily cut yourself. Right, start to unwind the line into the sea. When you get to the end, tie it to the stern rail …”

Mia let the hook down into the sea. It flashed and danced below the surface as Ursula pulled it along and the twine slowly stretched out behind them. After about five metres, the line was at full stretch.

Bear had said to tie it to the stern rail, but Mia couldn’t see the point in that. How would they know if they had caught something? Didn’t fishermen feel the tug on their line when they had hooked a fish?

Bear wasn’t watching. He was concentrating on steering. So Mia decided to wrap the end of the line around her finger instead. That way she would feel the tug straight away.

A few moments later Mia realised why she should have tied the line to the rail. The drag of the line through the water pulled it tight. The twine felt like someone trying to bite off Mia’s finger. Within seconds, her fingertip was numb and white. Mia stifled a scream and pulled at the line with her other hand to release the pressure.

Okay, so Bear had been right, Mia thought. There was only one way to do this. She tied the reel end of the line around the rail, like Bear had suggested.

“How do you know when you’ve caught something?” Mia asked.

“Give the line a pull every now and then. If there’s something there, you’ll feel it. Now, how do you feel about taking the tiller for a while?”

“Me?” Mia gasped.

The biggest thing she had ever steered was her bike back home. Ursula was way bigger than that.

“I’ve been awake since before the storm,” Bear pointed out. “However long you can keep going, there’s always a point where it’s better to take a rest. I don’t want to get so tired I end up making a mistake that could get us both killed. If you weren’t here then I’d have to get the sails down and let Ursula drift while I grab some kip. But I’d rather keep moving, and since you’re here …”

Mia saw what he meant. But even so it was scary.

“You will stay to check I’m doing it right?” she asked nervously.

Bear smiled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll stay up here until I’m sure you’ve got it.”