Blue Skies Over Wildflower Lock (The Wildflower Lock)

Chapter 38

Daisy jumped upwards, only doing so wasn’t as easy as she’d hoped. The September Rose was rocking back and forth.

‘Daisy, what was that? Are you okay?’ Theo was staring at her on the screen, his eyes wide.

‘Yes, yes…’ She looked towards the stern, where she could make out Yvonne’s feet still standing by the tiller. Yvonne had said she would yell if something was wrong, so she must have had the situation under control, although the way the September Rose continued to rock made Daisy think otherwise.

‘What was that?’ Theo said. ‘It sounded like a barge horn.’

Her cheeks reddened. Barges? Were they sailing through barges now? If that was the case, she wanted to be on the stern now, with both hers and Yvonne’s life jackets on. Only she couldn’t say as much to Theo.

‘It’s just some kids playing pranks, that’s all. Probably a holiday boat?’

‘Really? It looked like the September Rose was moving a lot.’

Daisy shook her head. ‘No, no. It’s all fine. Honestly. I’m just balancing a lot of things in my hand, that’s all. Look, I better go. Love you.’

‘Love you?—’

This time, she was the reason he didn’t get to finish his sentence.

Out on the stern, Yvonne was happily whistling away, while their newest crew member was still standing with his head off the edge of the boat, ears flapping in the wind.

‘What was that noise?’ Daisy said, handing Yvonne her life jacket only to realise her question was superfluous. Theo had been right. Barges. Massive barges.

‘Blooming things think they own the water,’ Yvonne said with a sniff. ‘But we were fine, weren’t we?’ She was looking at the dog, rather than Daisy, when she spoke. ‘Handled it like a pro. Although I think if he’s going to be a permanent fixture, we should think about getting him a life jacket.’

‘A life jacket?’ Daisy replied, before realising there was a more pointed part of Yvonne’s comment that needed addressing. ‘He’s not a permanent fixture. I’m going to find out who he belongs to now.’

Throughout the rest of the day, Daisy continued to search for the dog’s owner, determined she wouldn’t start researching other options until she was certain he didn’t have one. So far, though, she’d had no luck, and so a new home was looking like the most likely outcome.

‘Tomorrow is the big one,’ Yvonne said when, according to her, they had less than thirty minutes to go to the marina, meaning they would be moored up well before sunset. ‘It’ll be a long day, and by the end, we’ll be in Central London. Are you ready?’

‘No, but I don’t think I’ve really been ready for any of this, if I’m honest,’ Daisy admitted. ‘There’s just so much to think about, you know. I thought it would be a case of getting on the boat, getting past the sea bit, and then plain sailing to Theo, so to speak. I hadn’t even thought about things like booking moorings or tidal changes. I’m so glad you’re here to take care of that.’

‘Well, once we’re through London, we’re back on the canal, so you don’t need to worry about the tides then,’ Yvonne said. ‘The water is deep enough that we can travel whether it’s high or low. Now, I fancy going inside and getting myself a cuppa. I’m sure it’s my turn. Are you okay with holding the line for a bit?’

‘Well, I’m not exactly on my own,’ Daisy said as she looked down at her canine companion. Yes, she really needed to think of a name for him, even if he wouldn’t be with her much longer. Thinking of him solely as the dog didn’t seem particularly fair, but she didn’t want to get attached either, and that was far more likely to happen if she gave him a name, wasn’t it? Not that it was difficult to get attached to an animal like him. Not given how far he’d travelled to be with her, and how easily he had adapted to life on the water.

‘You’re a good boy, aren’t you?’ she said, making sure the tiller was completely straight as she bent down to stroke him. Her hand had just touched the scruff of his neck when a loud clatter came from inside the boat, causing Daisy to jump up in shock.

‘Yvonne!’ For a split second, Daisy forgot that she was on the September Rose, in the middle of one of the busiest rivers in the world, with barges and speed-boats and every other type of vessel on it. In her state of concern and surprise, she let go of the tiller. Her grip was off the metal bar for barely a second, but that split second was all it took for the tide to yank around to the side and send them right into the path of an oncoming barge.