The Tide Knot (32 page)

  “Yes,” says Granny Carne, “the flood is falling.” 

  Conor sighs deeply. He’s watching the retreat of the flood with relief, but as his gaze shifts to the sea’s horizon, there is longing in his face too. I’m sure he’s thinking of Elvira.

  She’ll be deep in Ingo by now.

 
I wish I was away in Ingo
 

 
Far across the briny sea,
 

 
Sailing over deepest waters
 

 
Where love nor care never trouble me….

  But no one’s singing. I’m just imagining things.

  “There ought to be a rainbow,” says Mum.

  “What?”

  “A rainbow. You know, like in the Bible after Noah’s flood.

  The rainbow was a sign that the world would never be drowned again.”

 
But it nearly was, if you only knew,
I think. I catch Conor’s eye and know he’s thinking the same.

  The sycamore tree is standing quite clear of the water by now, in a pool of mud. “It’s going to be a terrible job clearing up after this lot,” grumbles a woman next to Mum.

  “Let’s just be thankful that we’re here to do it,” says Mum quietly.

  “Sapphire!” cries a voice in the distance.

  I spin round. “Rainbow!”

  And here they come, racing toward me. Sadie’s golden body bounds forward at full stretch, with Rainbow tearing along in her wake, clutching the leash. Sadie’s eyes are fixed on me joyfully as she hurtles down the grassy slope. I drop to one knee and open my arms.

  HELEN DUNMORE is a novelist and poet as well as a children’s writer.

  She has published eight collections of poetry and has written eight novels and two collections of short stories. 

She has won the Orange Prize for Fiction, and her novel THE SIEGE was short-listed for the Orange Prize and the Whitbread Prize for Fiction. 

Her writing for children includes short stories, novels, and poetry. 

Helen travels extensively to read and lecture both in the UK and in locations as diverse as Morocco, Hong Kong, and Romania. INGO and THE TIDE KNOT are the first two books in her acclaimed  Ingo series.

  You can visit Helen online at

  www.helendunmore.com.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

 
iNGO
 

  THE TIDE KNOT.

 Copyright © 2006 by Helen Dunmore. 

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  EPub © Edition JANUARY 2009 ISBN: 9780061972607

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