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in their long friendship.
    Gargoth was silent and scowled deep in his sack. He didn’t even complain when he realized that Philip was going to use the coins to buy their way on a boat to cross the huge expanse of water before them.
    He stayed silent when later that night Philip rested him on the floor of a busy tavern, and he was kicked and jostled by dozens of large muddy boots. Loud men and women sat at the long wooden table around Philip, eating mutton stew noisily and sloppily from huge wooden bowls. Gargoth did not complain when he was bumped and banged on Philip’s back to a damp spot near the water where Philip fell asleep in the sand, snoring gently. Great white cliffs rose at their backs into the night sky, and the enormous ocean spanned before them. Gargoth did not sleep at all that night but kept watch over his friend, hunched and peering out over the dark beach and the even darker, endless water.
    But Gargoth could not keep silent the next day. He woke to Philip shouldering his sack and saying, “Off to the Merryman , Gargoth. Our ship is waiting. She will be sailing with the early tide.”
    “The Merryman ? Do you mean that tiny speck of wood we saw yesterday? We are sailing the ocean on that ?” Gargoth could not contain his panic.
    Philip laughed. “Yes, my sturdy gargoyle. We are shipping out on that .”
    Gargoth trembled. He was going to cross the English Channel in the smallest boat they had seen. And he didn’t like the captain one bit, or the way he kept asking Philip to show him what was in his apple sack.
    “Apples, what do you think?” Philip finally said, angry with the man. The captain had looked at him oddly then but left the sack alone.
    “When are we leaving?” Gargoth managed to ask.
    “Now,” Philip answered casually, biting deeply into an apple. He ignored the coughing and spluttering from the sack over his shoulder and strode out onto the little wooden pier. Gargoth could hear his boots striking the wood as he walked.
    It was a beautiful, clear day. The birds overhead (which Gargoth had learned were called “seagulls”) wheeled and cried, and the breeze was fine and fair. The water between England and France was calm, still and very blue. There wasn’t a wave on the water or a cloud in the sky. As Philip stood upon the deck of the vessel which would take him away from England forever, he barely looked back. He shook the captain’s hand, and after a few more travellers had joined them (including one very big lady with a basket of geese that never stopped gabbling), he took his place on the deck, watching for France. It would take them not more than twenty hours to sail to the shore of their new home, if the weather stayed fair.
    And all the while, he ignored the snorting, sneezing, grunting sound from the sack over his shoulder. He was quite sure that most people would think the sound was coming from the big lady and her noisy geese.

Chapter Twelve
    More Night at Daye's
    Two nights later, Katherine and Gargoth were back at Cassandra’s. The roof was ablaze with lit pumpkin candles. Gargoth was loudly eating an apple. Cassandra was working on her knitting, while Katherine was talking to them both.
    “So, it’s settled then, Gargoth. You and I come back tomorrow to Cassandra’s for the week. A whole week alone at home would be awful for you, especially since Milly is going to be staying with the neighbours, the McDonalds. Instead, you and I will stay here with Cassandra and keep your candles lit, and give you all the apples and lemonade you could ever need. Look, she’s even knitted you a scarf to keep you comfortable!” Katherine held up a giant green scarf, which Gargoth eyed suspiciously. He held out a claw, however, and took the scarf without saying anything. He let it fall beside his cushion.
    “It’s more of a blanket, wouldn’t you say, Katherine?” he said wryly.
    “Gargoth says thanks, Cassandra.” Katherine hated lying. But she really wanted him to stay for