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chapter one

The Silver Swans

‘I’ don’t think that I’ve ever been in love

She stopped for a minute and then she continued: ‘How will I know?’

My name is Doctor Horatio Fundoby

But I am not the kind of doctor who sees sick people

I am called a doctor because I have spent many, many years studying

I studied history, and I now have an important job at the British Museum in London

Every Sunday afternoon I walk along a path in Chelsea, on the bank of the River Thames

A lot of painters live in Chelsea

People often think that I am a painter

I look like one and I dress like one

I have a white beard, I carry a black wooden stick, and I wear a large, old hat

The hat is more than forty years old, and I always wear it for my walks

I enjoy my walks very much

There is a lot to see and hear

Boats pass on the river, Birds cry noisily above it

Along this bank of the river there are some old houseboats

People buy these houseboats because they like living on the water

They enjoy watching the passing boats and listening to the sounds of a busy river

They paint the boats in bright colours

One Sunday afternoon I was standing by the houseboats, looking across the river

In the deepest water in the middle of the Thames, I could see a beautiful, white sailing ship

It was called the Poseidon

The back of the ship was a little unusual

I knew that the owner of the ship was Lord Struve

He was a great scientist who studied ocean life

Near the Poseidon were a large ship from South America and a dirty Spanish boat

Then I noticed one of the houseboats near the bank

It was called the Nerine and it was very colourful

The boat was grey, but parts of it were painted in bright colours

The door was blue and the large wooden cover in the floor of the front deck was bright red

There were some steps going from the boat to the bank of the river

These were painted blue, like the door

I saw a young girl trying to push back the cover

She wanted to get out, and she was halfway out of the hole, but she had a problem

She saw me

She didn’t shout at me but her mouth formed the words: ‘I can’t open it!’

I hurried towards the Nerine

It was sitting on the bottom of the river and I had to walk down the blue wooden steps, over the water of the Thames

I went carefully along the deck of the boat until I reached the girl

‘The new red paint has dried and I can’t open the cover,’ she said

‘Wait a minute,’ I said

I used my stick to open it

A few minutes later the girl climbed out on to the deck

She was about twenty years old

She was wearing old, blue, paint-covered trousers and a grey shirt

I thought that she looked quite beautiful

She looked at me with big, green eyes

They were the loveliest part of her face

‘Thank you,’ she said

‘That’s all right,’ I replied

‘I was glad to help

‘You’re a dear man,’ she said

‘Do you know who you’re like? You’re like one of those

older men who work in museums

Oh, I’m sorry! That wasn’t very polite

’ She smiled gently

‘But I am an old man,’ I said

‘Please don’t worry

In fact I do work at the British Museum

I’m Doctor Horatio Fundoby

‘Oh, she said

‘The British Museum!’ She was silent for a second, and then she asked, ‘Would you like to see my octopus?’

‘Yes, I would,’ I said, smiling

She took me down through the blue door into a green room

I could see a small bed, bookshelves and paintings

Then I noticed two glass cases: one large and one small

In the small case were two fish and in the large one was the octopus

‘Isn’t it beautiful, she said

‘Sometimes I sit and look at it for hours

‘Does it have a name’ I asked

‘Oh, I just call it Octopus,’ she replied

‘And you?

What’s your name

After a minute she said, ‘My name’s Thetis

‘That’s the name of one of the water people in the Greek stories of long ago’ I said

Thetis was the daughter of Nereus and Doris

They lived at the bottom of the sea

She pulled her ear, thoughtfully

‘My real name’s Alice,’ she said

‘I call myself Thetis because I’d like to live at the bottom of the ocean

When she said this, I could understand the reason for her green room

It was quite dark in the room

The only lights were the ones that lit the glass cases

The paintings on the wall were in blues and greens and showed fish and other underwater animals

I was sure that she was the painter

She was almost a water-child herself, with her small nose, large eyes and pretty, short, brown hair

‘Would you like me to sing for you’ she asked

‘Oh, please do,’ I replied

‘My song’s called “The Silver Swans”,’ she said

she sat down, closed her eyes, and sang in a sweet gentle voice

How shall I know my true love?

When will my true heart speak to me?

Oh, when the silver swans come sailing,

Then I will know my true love

Then I will be with my true love,

For ever with my true love

It was a beautiful song

But I felt that there was a sadness behind the words

The words were wise and understanding

But I knew that the young girl in front of me was never in love

‘That was lovely,’ I said

Thetis opened her eyes

‘Thank you,’ she said

‘Who wrote it,’ I asked

‘I did,’ she said

‘It’s mine

‘Do you often write songs,’ I asked, surprised

‘Only when they come into my head,’ she replied

Suddenly she moved towards me

‘How will I know my true love,’ she asked, seriously

‘How will I know when I’m really in love?’

‘How old are you, Thetis,’ I asked

‘I’m twenty-one,’ she answered

‘Have you been in love,’ I said

‘No,’ she replied

‘I don’t think that I’ve ever been in love

’ She stopped for a minute and then she continued: ‘How will I know? Who will tell me when I am? You’re so old and wise

Can’t you help me?’

She looked pale and unhappy

I thought carefully before I answered her questions

At last I replied, ‘When he’s ill and ugly and you can still love him

Then you can be sure

‘When he is ill and ugly,’ she said to herself, quietly

She sat there thinking

Then suddenly she remembered that I was there

‘Oh, I’m sorry, I’m being rude,’ she said

‘Would you like some tea, Doctor Fundoby?’

‘I’d love some

Thank you,’ I replied

She disappeared for two or three minutes

I looked round the room again

At last she returned, carrying the tea things

She poured out the tea

As she lifted her cup to her mouth, she said again, ‘When he is ill and ugly

Oh, thank you, Doctor Fundoby!’ She smiled at me

We talked for about half an hour

She told me about her mother and father

They also lived in London

But she wanted to live alone on this houseboat

She loved it because it was on the water

She had an evening job

But she did not tell me what it was

Suddenly I began to feel quite ill

I wasn’t sure why

But before I could decide, Thetis asked, ‘Would you like to go out on deck?’

There was not much room at the back of the boat, but it was enough for the two of us

Then I saw with surprise that there was water all-round the boat now

Four dirty white swans went past us

Their feathers were dirty with oil from the river, and their eyes looked very unfriendly

Thetis looked at them

I said, smiling, ‘Perhaps they’re the silver swans in your song

Perhaps you’re going to meet your true love

She only said, ‘These swans are a dirty grey silver

Then a small wooden boat came up to us

There was a tall, strong man in the boat - he looked about thirty-five years old

He was wearing a blue sailing shirt and dark blue trousers

He had black hair, a beard, and bright, blue eyes

‘Hello,’ he shouted, and his white teeth shone against his dark beard

‘Have you some cotton to mend my trousers? I caught them on a piece of wood

‘Yes, of course,’ Thetis called back

‘If you climb up here, I’ll mend them for you

The sailor laughed

‘I’ll do it

I can’t tell you where they’re caught,’ he said

‘Oh, I understand,’ Thetis said, smiling

Then she went to find the cotton

When she returned, she put it carefully in a piece of cloth

Then she threw the cloth into the boat

The sailor caught it

‘Clever child,’ he said

‘Thanks very much

I’ll be quick

He moved the boat away and then tied it up next to another boat

We watched as he mended his trousers with his back towards us

While we stood there, a large boat went past

The Nerine started to go up and down in the water

I suddenly felt very sick

Thetis saw my face

‘Oh, you poor man,’ she cried

‘I forget that moving boats sometimes make people ill

Come with me - I’ve got a bottle of medicine

It will soon make you better

She helped me down into the green room, and sat me in a chair

I was feeling very ill now

She went to a small cupboard and got a small brown bottle from it

She poured something from it into a spoon, and gave it to me

‘They discovered this medicine during the Second World War,’ she said

‘Some of the sailors suffered badly in storms or when the sea was rough

You’ll feel fine in a few minutes

Just sit there quietly

She went out on deck

I heard her shout to the man in the boat: ‘Hello again! What’s your name?’

‘Hadley

Richard Hadley,’ he called back

‘What’s yours?’

‘I’ve heard that name before,’ I thought

‘But I can’t remember where

‘Thetis,’ she replied

There was silence for a minute, then he said, ‘Oh, that’s the name of the daughter of Nereus and Doris in the old Greek stories

They lived at the bottom of the sea

He was silent again

Then I heard him call: ‘Where’s your father?’

‘He isn’t my father,’ Thetis said

‘He’s an old man who’s visiting me

He’s feeling sick so I’ve given him some medicine

I heard the laugh in the sailor’s voice as he shouted, ‘What! Sick! On that old houseboat? It’s like dry land on there

Another boat passed and the Nerine suddenly moved up and down again

But the medicine was beginning to work

‘It isn’t an old boat,’ Thetis said, seriously

‘It’s my home

And it does move up and down a lot sometimes

You need a strong stomach

‘Oh yes, I’m sure that you do,’ he said

But I knew from his voice that he didn’t really believe her

‘Really, it’s true,’ she continued

‘Perhaps even you’ll get sick, one day

The sailor laughed loudly

‘Who, me? Listen, child

I’ve sailed every ocean and sea in the world, and in all sorts of weather - and I haven’t been sick yet

I heard Thetis say, ‘There’s always a first time

Would you like to try?’

‘Tell me when it gets really rough,’ he said

I heard his boat touch against the Nerine, as he continued, ‘You’re not as young as I thought

I’m sorry that I called you a child

Perhaps I’ll try your boat sometime

Well, thanks again for the cotton

At last I began to feel better

When I went up on deck, Thetis was looking out across the river

She was watching the sailor as he went out towards the lovely, white ship

‘Oh,’ she said

‘You’re better

‘Yes,’ I said

‘Good,’ she said

‘That medicine always works

’ Then she added, ‘He said some very unkind things, didn’t he?’

I started to say, ‘He

‘But wasn’t he beautiful,’ she continued, dreamily