"I didn't know it was like this at night. You can see the moon across the river and the stars look so close."

"It's even better when you're floating through moonlight," Kirk said. He looked up at an old plane tree he used as his marker and then plunged into a boggy area of brambles and nettles.

"I think the river is gradually getting in here, somewhere," he commented. He bent over a log and carefully began to lift the ivy which was covering it.

Maria wondered where they had hidden the canoe he had told her about.
“What do you think of her?” he asked proudly.
She looked, not quite knowing what to say. All she could see was a tree trunk, cut into a single large log.
“We usually carry it like this,” he said. “But I’ll turn it over and we can push it on a branch I use as roller when I’m on my own.”
He rolled the log over, far more easily than she had expected, to reveal a hollowed interior with three good paddles and several large packages with rope round them.
“Guess?” he said. “You’ve got some in your pocket.”
“Old cork floor tiles tied together and stitched into a package!”

“Right. The two big ones are lashed in. They should be enough to keep us afloat. The two small ones are for emergencies. Grip on and swim with your legs. It works.” he added. “I’ve done it!”
‘I bet you have,’ she thought to herself, but she didn’t say anything.