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  ‘Stop it, stop it, stop it,’ I hissed. ‘Stop thinking about Mum. Don’t let her spoil everything. You’re going swimming with Matty and her family, and Dad’s coming too, and next Saturday you’re going to be a bridesmaid all over again, so you’ve got to feel happy.’

  I unhooked my bridesmaid’s dress from where it was hanging and held it up under my chin. I looked at my raspberry-pink reflection and managed to calm myself down.

  ‘Tilly? What’s the verdict on your swimming costume?’ Dad called.

  ‘It’s fine, Dad,’ I called back. ‘Absolutely fine.’

  And I was absolutely fine after that too. Dad and I did do a little shopping, but just at the Saturday farmer’s market down the road. We wanted to contribute to the Lido picnic. We chose a big bottle of apple juice and a beautiful home-made coffee-and-walnut cake.

  ‘I’ll be able to make us cakes soon, Dad, when Mrs Flower has given me baking lessons,’ I said.

  She’d sent us a postcard from the Isle of Wight telling us that she was having a grand time with Mr Flower and they both hoped we’d go round to tea as soon as they got back.

  I wanted to carry the cake to the Lido, but it slid about in its box and it made my arms ache trying to hold it steady. Dad carried it instead, with the apple juice in his backpack, along with our swimming costumes and towels. We were meeting Matty and her family inside the Lido, but I hadn’t realized how crowded it would be. Dad and I peered at the wooden decking around the pool and the grass further back and the turquoise water itself, but we couldn’t see them anywhere.

  ‘Oh well, we’d better go and change into our swimming costumes now we’re here,’ said Dad.

  The men’s and ladies’ changing rooms were entirely separate, of course.

  ‘Will you be all right by yourself, Tilly?’ Dad asked anxiously.

  ‘Of course, Dad. I’m not a baby,’ I said, sauntering into the ladies’ – but I was actually a bit worried, not sure where to take my clothes off and how to work the little keys in the locker. All the other girls my age were with their mums. But it was simple enough to watch what other people did, and when I’d locked my clothes away, I pinned my key to my costume so that I wouldn’t lose it.

  When I came out of the changing room, I couldn’t see Dad for a moment, and that did make me catch my breath. I stood clenching my fists, staring at all the hundreds of strangers all around me. I walked over to the men’s changing room, but Dad wasn’t there either.

  ‘Are you all right, lovey?’ said a man coming out, his little boy riding on his shoulders.

  ‘I think I’ve lost my dad,’ I said in a very tiny voice.

  ‘Isn’t that your family over there? Look, they’re all waving at you,’ said the man.

  I turned round. There was Dad, looking thin and white in his swimming trunks, his towel slung round his shoulders, standing with Matty and Lewis and Angie and Matty’s dad, Tom – and, yes, they were all waving at me.

  ‘Hi, Tilly!’ Matty called, running over to me. ‘Wait till we get changed! Don’t go swimming without us!’

  Dad and I found an empty spot on the decking and spread our towels out, saving the rest of the space for Matty’s family. When they joined us, we all sat and chatted for a little bit, but then Matty got fidgety.

  ‘Come on. We’re at a swimming pool. We’ve got to swim!’

  ‘That pool’s a bit too big,’ said Lewis. ‘I want to go in the little pool.’

  ‘That’s just for babies,’ said Matty scornfully.

  ‘Why don’t you two dads go in the big pool with Matty and Tilly, and I’ll go in the little pool with Lewis,’ said Angie.

  ‘No, I’m not really that keen on swimming,’ said Dad. ‘I’ll sit and watch the picnic. We don’t want anyone sneaking a slice of our cake, do we, Tilly?’

  So Dad stayed on the decking. Angie and Lewis went off hand in hand to the little pool. Matty started pulling me towards the deep end.

  ‘What about starting at the shallow end?’ I suggested.

  ‘It’s too crowded down there. It’s much more fun up at the deep end,’ said Matty.

  ‘Is that OK, Tilly? How far can you swim?’ said Tom.

  ‘I can swim a length. Maybe two or three lengths, though I get out of breath,’ I said, truthfully enough – but I didn’t add that I hated going out of my depth. I was in Lewis’s camp – I liked to put my toe down on the bottom every now and then, just to prove it was there.

  Still, I wasn’t going to have Matty calling me a baby, so I clambered down the steps of the deep end and pushed off bravely. We swam backwards and forwards, careful to keep out of the way of some big boys who were mucking about, with Tom treading water beside us, checking we were all right. At first I held my breath and went a bit trembly, but after a while I got used to it. In fact it was almost fun. I stuck my hand out of the water and waved at Dad, and he waved back and gave me a thumbs-up sign to show that he was proud of me.

  ‘I’m getting a bit cold. Do you mind if I have a quick swim to warm up?’ Tom asked. ‘I can see you two are like little fish and won’t come to any harm.’

  He sped away, doing a quick crawl.

  ‘My dad swims ever so fast, doesn’t he?’ said Matty.

  ‘Mmm,’ I said, wondering if she were casting aspersions on my dad.

  ‘Let’s have a race,’ Matty suggested. ‘One, two, three, go!’

  She was half a width away before I could turn myself round and swim after her. I knew I was actually just as good a swimmer as Matty, if not better. I sped up determinedly, head down, arms pushing down, legs kicking hard. And then suddenly I was hit hard, knocked right down under the water.

  I thought someone was attacking me. I’d forgotten the big boys on the edge. One had forgotten to look below and had dived straight on top of me. I thought someone was deliberately trying to push me under the water to drown me. I opened my mouth to scream and water rushed in, choking me. I tried to kick to get my head above water but I floundered helplessly. I really was drowning!

  But then arms were around me, tugging me upwards, and suddenly I was free of the water, gasping in clear air. And so was Dad, his hair flattened in a fringe, water streaming off him.

  ‘Oh, Dad!’

  ‘Oh, Tilly!’

  We neither of us had any breath left till we got to the side. We clung there, both of us panting.

  ‘You saved me, Dad!’ I said at last. ‘And you can’t even swim.’

  ‘I can swim enough to save my girl,’ he said.

  Then Matty came swimming up to us, and Tom, desperately apologetic. We all got out and Angie and Lewis joined us, and after we’d all towelled ourselves nearly dry, we started on the picnic.

  Angie had made egg-salad brown baguettes, with carrot sticks and grapes to nibble. Our coffee-and-walnut cake wasn’t anywhere near as healthy – but it tasted marvellous. We’d forgotten to bring a knife so we had to tear chunks of cake off with our hands, which was great fun.

  Angie had brought paper cups so we could drink our apple juice more decorously. We all drank a toast to Dad for being such a hero, which made him blush. I licked the cream off my lips and leaned against my dad, smiling up at him.

  He was the best dad in the whole world.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I ATE SO many suppers the next week, it was a wonder I actually fitted into my bridesmaid’s dress on Saturday. Simon and Matthew asked Dad and me round to supper on Wednesday so we could discuss all the details for the Big Day. I’d already had fishcakes and peas at Angie’s, but I managed a big plate of bacon and potato pancakes and apple sauce and sour cream with Simon and Matthew.

  Then, on Friday after school, I had tomato soup and chicken salad at Angie’s. Afterwards Dad picked me up early and we went round to the Flowers’. Dear Mrs Flower had made fancy sandwiches and home-made sausage rolls and three kinds of cake – a Victoria sponge with buttercream, a chocolate cake with icing and a jam Swiss roll.

  ‘Help yourself, Tilly dear,’ said