Jennifer Jane's summer holiday Part 1

The summer holidays had come at last and dad was going to take the family down to their riverside cottage in Essex for two whole weeks.

Not only that, but he’d promised that Jennifer Jane could have a canoe of her very own to paddle about in. She had learnt how to swim of course and dad said that provided she always wore a life jacket and only went out when the weather was calm, then she could paddle about by herself and go where she chose.

Jennifer Jane was very excited with her canoe. Dad had been making it during the winter and now at last it was finished. It had a shiny silver skin underneath and a bright orange canvas deck.

"What a funny name you've given it," said Jennifer Jane. "'Drawrof', whatever does that mean?"

"Well," laughed her father, "as you can see, a canoe is pointed at both ends and it isn't very easy to see which way it's supposed to go, unless you know about canoes. So 'Drawrof' is 'Forward,' spelt backwards, because you can't tell whether it's coming or going."

Jennifer Jane couldn't quite understand why he laughed such a lot, but she thought it was quite a nice name and was happy to use it.

Dad then went on to show Jennifer Jane how to paddle Drawrof properly, although for the moment she just had to sit in the cockpit on the lawn and pretend she was afloat.

At last he was satisfied that she knew all that she needed about canoeing without actually being afloat and when Jennifer Jane asked if she could play in the wood for a while, he agreed at once. Jennifer Jane rushed off along the lawn, wished herself to the goblin village and was soon telling all her goblin friends about her canoe and the holiday she was going to have.

Mr Kernell listened patiently before he said, "I think the giant would be very interested to hear about your holiday. He knows a lot about rivers and the sea, you know."

"What a good idea," said Jennifer Jane. "I haven't been to see him for a long time." So saying "goodbye" to her friends, she rushed off to the clearing in the wood and wished herself onto the path that lead to the giant's pool.

When she arrived at the pool where the giant cried his salt tears, she was most surprised to see that he was crying because he was unhappy.

When he finally noticed her, the giant talked for a long time and kept stopping to have another good cry, but at last Jennifer Jane found out what the trouble was. It seemed that he had a goblin sailor friend whose name was Barnacle Bill Jones.

"His real name is Charles William," sobbed the giant "but he likes to be called Barnacle Bill. He says it makes him feel more like a real sailor."

Barnacle Bill was in the habit of calling on the giant regularly but he hadn't been seen for nearly three months.

"He used to come here to have a chat about the sea and all the places he'd seen. We had such lovely times together," sobbed the giant again.

“That’s rather a strange name,” said Jennifer Jane, “why ever does he want to be called Barnacle Bill?”

"It's a long story," replied the giant, "so I won’t bore you with all the details, but his family are related to the Davy Jones."

"Davy Jones' locker?" interrupted Jennifer Jane excitedly. Dad had told her that story.

"That's right," answered the giant.

He went on to tell her that the Davy Jones family, who had been born and bred in sailing ships, looked down on poor Barnacle Bill because he sailed about in a paddle steamer. Indeed, they wouldn't even speak to him, unless it was to make rude remarks about his "tea kettle", as they called his steamer, so he used to visit the giant regularly. They would have a good chat about faraway places that the giant could never visit and then Barnacle Bill would steam off home down the little river leading from the giant's pool. He’d be feeling a lot happier and the giant could look forward to his next visit.

"And now he hasn't been here for three months," repeated the giant, "I think something terrible must have happened to him."

Jennifer Jane sat and thought for a moment, while the giant watched her hopefully. Like all the woodland folk, he knew about Jennifer Jane's bright ideas for helping people. After a minute or two she asked the giant where Barnacle Bill kept his boat when he was by himself.

"He lives on Attersea Island in the Therdle estuary," answered the giant.

Jennifer Jane beamed all over her face, "We're going to have our holiday on the Therdle estuary," she laughed. "I’ll be able to look for him in my canoe. If I find him, I'll let him know how upset you are because you haven’t seen him for so long."

The giant was delighted and offered to go and get her canoe that night and put it in his pool for her.

"The stream will lead you to a magic fog," he said "and if you wish as you enter, it will take you to any river in the country. You could go there tomorrow."

Jennifer Jane was thrilled at the idea, but knew that it would be impossible to explain to her parents that she wasn't going to travel in the car with them. The giant quite understood and Jennifer Jane left him at last, crying happily into his pool for the first time in months.