Emma Tupper's Diary by Peter Dickinson

Author:Peter Dickinson [Dickinson, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: young adult, Fiction
ISBN: 9781618730640
Publisher: Small Beer Press
Published: 2014-01-15T16:00:00+00:00

“We’re down at the tail,” she said. “Do you want to let more water in your end?”

“No. That would sink us. We’re tilting a little to port, too. Try five strokes on your right-hand pump.”

“My right or the boat’s right? I’m facing backwards.”

“Your right, I said.” Andy sounded snappish for the first time. Emma crouched forward to the lever that rose beside the stop-cock. A grown man could have worked it from the chair, but not Emma. The rod moved with surprising ease—less trouble than a bicycle-pump—but she could sense the slight resistance of the water against being driven out. After five strokes she craned back at the spirit-level; now the bubble rested almost exactly between the two hairlines on the surface of the tube.

“Level,” she said.

“OK. Motor two-thirds forward.”

Again the violet lightning, again the rising note of the engine. But this time a quite different noise from the hull—instead of the tinkling beside her ears a dull rattle above her head where the surface of the loch slid against fibreglass.

“Right,” called Andy above the rising engine-note, “when I say ‘Now’ I want you to shove the hydroplane lever two notches away from you. Count ten, and then ease it back until the bubble’s in the middle of the spirit-level. After that you simply, keep it there—don’t think about anything else, and adjust the hydroplanes any way you want. Only tell me what you’re doing. Ready? Now!”

Emma grunted as she felt the weight of water press the tilting surfaces outside, then slotted the lever home. She heard the rattle of the surface against the monster’s neck dull, diminish and vanish. With a startling leap the bubble in the tube sidled towards the bows. She clicked the lever another notch back.

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