“Hey, wake up.”

My eyes fluttered open. I blinked but I saw nothing. Then suddenly, light!

“Ouch!” I groaned and closed my eyes again.

“I’m glad you finally woke up,” said the elderly man holding a lantern close to my face. “I was almost about to toss you back into the river.”

I knew he didn’t mean that because I could hear the smile in his voice. I was on a boat and I was soaking wet. When I shivered from the cold, he grabbed a smelly wool blanket and covered me with it.

He was probably expecting me to thank him for rescuing me from the river but I...