Canal Stories for Children & Colouring Pages

Canal Stories

for Children

with colouring pages

––––––––

Jules Mack

The right of Jules Mack to be identified as the author of the work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents act of 1988.

Previously published by Kitty Irvine

All rights reserved.  Apart from any use permitted un UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by any means with prior permission in writing from the author, or in the case of reprographic production in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licencing Agency and may not be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

All characters in this publication are fictious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

A Catalogue copy of this book is available at the British Library.

ISBN: 9798597905396

For all the children who live on the water xx

Sam & Lucy’s Canal Adventure

Lucy woke up and looked around her.  'Oh no, we're still on that boat!' she snuggled back down under the quilt trying to keep warm.  She wondered if she closed her eyes hard enough, when she opened them again would she be at home in her beautiful bedroom and the central heating would be on!  It seemed like a lifetime, but this was their fifth day on the boat.

Mum had promised that it would be wonderful and a great way to get into the countryside and get some fresh air – it was horrible, cold and wet.  It had been raining since yesterday morning.

When they arrived on the canal boat it was brilliant sunshine, it was warm and everywhere looked amazing and the flowers around the canal smelled gorgeous.  The boat was small but big enough for a week’s trip up the canal for the four of them.  Lucy heard movement in the bedroom next to hers.  'Are you awake?' her brother asked her through the thin wooden wall 'Yes, but I wish I wasn't!'  Lucy answered. 'Should I pretend to be ill and they might take us home?' Sam, Lucy's brother was not having a good time either! 'They wouldn't believe us. Anyway, they are having a brilliant time.'

Their parents had barely been on the boat. Every morning they put on their walking boots and waterproofs and set off on 'long walks of discovery', that's what they called their walks.  Later, at dinner time when they were sat around the small table eating their dinner, their parents would tell them all about their walk and what sights they have seen. 

After dinner their dad would move the boat along the canal until he found somewhere that looked pretty, they would then look on the canal map and see what was around them and then decide to moor the boat ready for the next day.

Sam and Lucy were not walkers.  At home mum or dad took them out in the car or they got lifts from friends and their parents.  They had never really been the outdoor type.  Dad had promised to teach Sam to drive this winter as he would be seventeen years old in November. Mum and Dad were always trying to get them to go places with them.  Dad was a keen rugby fan and was always asking Sam to go to rugby games with him or go and play squash or try metal detecting but Sam would rather play on his computer in his bedroom. 

Mum was the same with Lucy asking her to go and get their hair done together or go shopping or a spa day.  Really mum would suggest anything so that they could spend some time together, but Lucy would rather spend time on her computer reading blogs and talking on websites.

At sixteen years old Lucy thought she was not bad looking but hoped she got better!  'IS THIS AS GOOD AS IT GETS?' Sam shouted from his bedroom.  Lucy started to laugh.  She saw Sam pass her bedroom door cocooned by his duvet.  He toddled into the lounge area and flopped down on one of the settees.  Lucy quickly jumped out of bed and followed her older brother into the lounge.  'What's for breakfast?' Sam asked Lucy 'How should I know. Where's mum?'  she asked.  'Their bedroom is empty, look, there's a note on the table'.  Lucy jumped up and picked up the note from mum.

' Couldn’t wait for you to get up so we have gone out for the day.  There are sandwiches in the fridge for your lunch, try and get some fresh air. Love and kisses Mum xxxx'

'Great, so I have to make my own breakfast' Sam said still covered in his duvet he shuffled his way to the cupboard and took out a cereal packet.  He half emptied the packet into a bowl and filled the bowl with cold milk.

'That wasn't too hard, was it?' Lucy said laughing at her useless brother. 'I'm just going to have a cereal bar I think I have some left in my bag’ Lucy said as she picked up her handbag that was the size of a rucksack.  'That's cheating' Sam said. They soon finished their 'do it yourself' breakfast, got dressed and were back sitting at the table. 'What are we going to do, it's not raining anymore?'  'Should we go outside?' Lucy asked 'We might as well but if it starts raining again, I'm coming back' Sam answered.  'Ok, it’s a deal' Lucy agreed. 

So, they found their jackets and put on some wellies and opened the door of the boat.  The air smelled clean after the rain, but the towpath was muddy and had big puddles in it.  They set off walking towards an old red brick bridge, there was nothing else to walk towards. Soon they reached the bridge and stood still. 'What now?' Lucy asked Sam 'Do you want to walk to the next bridge or go back?' he asked. 'I don't mind walking a little further if you don't ' Lucy suggested.  'Ok' Sam answered, and they walked on towards the next bridge. 

'Can you hear that?' Sam asked Lucy.   'What?' she said not really knowing what she should be listening for. 'THAT' he answered.  'Someone is crying' he said. Lucy listened carefully and yes; she could just hear someone crying. 'Who is it?' she asked Sam. 'How should I know I can't even see anyone but us' he said.  'Let’s keep walking' he said and set off along the towpath at a quicker pace.  Lucy had to nearly run to keep up with her big brother.  Sam was tall and had longer legs than Lucy.

As they rounded the next bend in the towpath, they could see someone sitting on the edge of the canal bank with her feet nearly touching the water.  Sam and Lucy looked at each other.  'Should we go over and see if she is alright?' Lucy asked Sam.  'How can she be alright if they are crying, ninny'!  Lucy slowly walked over to the person they had found.  She gently tapped them on their shoulder. ‘Hello, are you alright?' Lucy asked the girl who was crying. 'I've lost my way home' she said in between sobs.  'Do you have your phone with you?' Sam asked her.

'My what?' she looked at Sam’.  ‘I'm sorry I don't know what that is' she replied. Next to the girl was a small dog. It was the whitest white dog Lucy had ever seen. It had little spots of brown on the tips of its ears as though someone had flicked a paint brush and the final drips had landed on the dog’s ears.  The dog was watching the girl. 'Can we help you?' Lucy asked her.  'Do you know the way to my house?' the crying girl asked Lucy.  'No, I don't know where you live' Lucy said feeling so sorry for the girl. 'Do you know where I live?' she asked turning to Sam. 'No sorry, I don't' he answered. 

'I thought Mompy could show me the way home, but he doesn't know either' she said stroking the white dog. 

'Is Mompy your dog?' Lucy asked.  'No, Mompy is my woofen' the girl answered giving Mompy a cuddle. 'He's a what?' Sam asked. 'Mompy is my woofen' she replied. 'I thought that's what you said' Sam said giving a queer look to Lucy who just smiled.  Sam thought 'well, if it looks like a dog and barks like a dog, it must be a dog, woofen must be a pet name for it’.

'We are just having a walk. Would you like to come with us? We might find something that looks familiar to you' Sam asked her.  'Oh, thank you so much, my name is Myrtle by the way' she answered as she got up from the canal bank and picked up Mompy's lead.

'I'm Lucy and this is my older brother Sam' Lucy introduced them to Myrtle who smiled for the first time.  Lucy looked at Myrtle, what a lovely smile she had, and her eyes were piercing blue.  Her hair was coal dark black and Myrtle had one of those fringes that most girls wanted.  It was thick and it fell in the shape of a half moon and rested just on her eyebrows.  She was about the same height as Lucy. Lucy wondered how old Myrtle was.

They started to walk along the canal towpath with Mompy leading the way.  Lucy thought she should talk to Myrtle to stop her crying, so she asked her if she was on school holidays.  'No, I'm finished schooling now, so I'm in between' Myrtle said. 'In between what? Sam asked.

‘I’m in between schooling and what happens next’ Myrtle said, 'But what happens next?'  Sam asked again. 'I don't know, so that's why I'm in between' Myrtle answered again.  Sam gave up, he could never understand girls!

They had been walking for some time. Myrtle had been showing Lucy all the different flowers along the canal bank.  Lucy had thought they were weeds!

Mompy decided it was time for a rest and sat down on the grass bank next to the canal.  'Does any of this look familiar?' Sam asked as they sat next to Mompy. ‘No, I'm afraid it doesn't' Myrtle said. 

The three of them sat for a while watching Mompy balancing on the edge of the canal bank and leaning right over to get a drink of water.  His bottom was straight up in the air with his tail up towards the sky, his two front paws were down near the water.  'Has he ever fallen in?'  Sam asked.

'Not yet' Myrtle said giggling 'But there's still time!'  The three of them giggled.  They sat for a while, Lucy was telling Myrtle about their holiday canal boat and where they had been so far.  Suddenly, Sam said.  'That looks like a policeman walking towards us.'

The three of them jumped up and looked.  All they could see was a tall man in a smart black uniform.  He was wearing a cap with a peak on the front.  They could see the shine from his buttons and boots from where they were standing.  The figure got bigger and bigger, closer and closer and then he was stood next to them.

'Hello everyone. Are you alright?' he asked. 'Yes, thank you officer' Lucy said.  'I'm not an officer, I'm Mr Bobbins. I look after the canals.' he said.

Mr Bobbins stood looking down to them, Mompy came and sat next to him. 'So, who has been crying?' he asked.  'That was me' Myrtle said looking guilty. 

'We don't like people crying on the canals. This is a happy place. Why were you crying?' Mr Bobbins asked Myrtle.

'I can't find my way back home. Sam and Lucy were going for a walk and they asked if I would like to go with them to see if I could find my way home' Myrtle said in one big breath. 'And have you?' Mr Bobbins looked at Myrtle closely. 

'No' she said. 'Well, that won’t do. I think it must be time for a cup of tea and perhaps a fruit scone. This will give us some time to decide what to do next' Mr Bobbins stroked Mompy's head.

'And a bowl of water and a biscuit for this young man here' Mompy's tail started to wag at the mention of a biscuit.

'If you follow me, I will take you to meet Mrs Bobbins. She makes the best fruit scones you have ever tasted' Mr Bobbins started to stride away from the children along the towpath so they started to follow him.

They only seemed to walk around the next bend in the canal and they came to a long line of the most colourful canal barges of all sizes.  Mr Bobbins explained that the very big barges are known as wide beam and that some of them are old workboats that have been converted for people to live in.   

Sam could smell people's lunch cooking as they passed the boats.  There were lines of grey smoke coming out of the boats' chimneys.  The smell of the smoke reminded Sam of the open coal fire that his grandma had in her house when he was little.  He still remembered it.

They passed lots of lovely big boats and then suddenly Mr Bobbins came to a stop next to the smallest boat Sam and Lucy had ever seen! 

'Here we are then' Mr Bobbins went to the back of the little boat and held the metal doors open.  'We won't all fit in there' Lucy said and Sam nodded his head, for once agreeing with his little sister. 

'I'll be the judge of that if you don't mind. Come on, the tea is getting cold' and Mr Bobbins disappeared down some steps, Myrtle and Mompy followed. Sam and Lucy just looked at each other. 'Go on then. You’re the oldest' Lucy said to her big brother. 'This is stupid' Sam said as he stepped onto the back of the little boat.  Sam stood at the open doors and looked down into the boat.  His mouth fell open.  He looked at Lucy and then looked back into the boat.

'Well?' Lucy asked.  'No way. You won’t believe this. Look, it's amazing! No way' Sam just managed to get his words out.  Lucy stepped onto the back of the little boat and stood next to her brother.

'OMG!' Lucy looked down the wooden steps.  All she could see was a large wooden table with Mr Bobbins and Myrtle sitting there. 

'Are you coming in?' Mr Bobbins shouted up to them. Sam and Lucy looked at each other and looked down into the boat again.   Lucy was the first down the steps.  She stood at the bottom of the stairs and looked around.  She ran back up the stairs and jumped off the boat and stood on the towpath looking at the little boat, she had to see for herself.  Yes, it was real.  Lucy jumped back onto the back of the little boat and came down the steps.  Sam was standing there with his mouth open and eyes like saucers. 

'It's real' Lucy said to Sam.  'I can't believe it either' Myrtle said. 

Inside the little boat was huge.  The kitchen table was at one end of the main room. There were large squidgy settees along the sides of the boat and there was a large roaring coal fire with a stone hearth at the other end of the room.  The walls were wooden and had eight shiny brass porthole windows, four on each side.  The wooden floors had big thick rugs on them and there was pretty coloured bunting hanging around the walls.

Sam pulled one the chairs out from around the table and sat down. 'How can this be? The boat is so small outside and inside is bigger than our school assembly hall. Is it a trick of the light?' Lucy looked at her brother.

'Don't be daft. How can it be a trick of the light. The outside is small!'  'It's a mystery my lovelies' a lady's voice said.  Sam and Lucy looked around and saw there was a little old lady standing next to the kitchen sink.

The lady was wearing a long grey skirt with a white frilly blouse, but she wore a long white apron over them.  Her grey hair was tied in a bun perched on the top of her head. 'It looks like a doughnut' Sam thought.

On the end of her nose were a pair of round gold-rimmed glasses.  She had a lovely warm smile.

'This is my wife, Mrs Bobbins' Mr Bobbins went and stood next to the little lady. He was a lot taller than her, but she looked up to him and smiled. 

'No one knows why Mouse is big on the inside but small on the outside. But you are very lucky that you have been chosen my lovelies' Mrs Bobbins came and sat at the table and Mr Bobbins sat down next to his wife.

'What do you mean, chosen?' Sam asked.  'Well, my lovelies. Mouse, that's the boats name, Mouse sometimes finds some children who need something exciting, something a little different, to happen in their lives and they go on an adventure with Mouse' Mrs Bobbins was pouring five cups of tea while she explained about Mouse. 

'Why do you think we have been chosen?' Lucy asked. 

'We don't know why Mouse chooses the children it does, but they always have a great time and at the end of their journey they are all glad that they were chosen. So, my lovelies, it's up to you. Do you want to go on an adventure and have an amazing time?'

'Well. No. I'm sorry but we said we would help Myrtle find her way home. Her grandpa will be getting very worried but thank you all the same' Lucy said and looked at Sam and nodded her head towards the way out of the boat.  Sam stood up.

‘Thank you so much for the tea and scones, I’m sure they would have been delicious' Sam said and started towards the wooden steps out of the boat. 

'That's a very good reason why you were chosen my lovelies. You are very caring and would look after Myrtle before having an adventure of a lifetime.  You soooo deserve your chance my lovelies' and Mrs Bobbins went over and scooped Lucy and Sam into her arms and hugged them.

'Myrtle will go with you and I am sure that Mouse will find her home so she will be alright' Mr Bobbins said.  'One day won't hurt?' Lucy said looking at Sam.

'Yeh, one day won't hurt and mum and dad are out all day so we can be back before they are. So yes. Let’s get Myrtle and Mompy home' Sam said.

Suddenly the little boat started its engine. 'Time, as you know it will stand still, so when you get back only a few hours will have passed, so your parents won't be worried' Mrs Bobbins explained.  ‘Wow, this sounds amazing’ said Sam.

'Time to cast off' Mr Bobbins said with a smile.  Mr Bobbins went over to Sam.  He put his hand in his uniform jacket pocket and pulled out a long black cord.  On the end of the cord was a small golden duck.  Mr Bobbins handed it to Sam. 

'If you need me, just give a blow and I'll be there' Sam took hold of the golden duck. 'What do I do with it?' he asked.

'Blow down it's bill' Mr Bobbins answered.  Sam gave a big blow, as hard as he could, down the duck’s bill.

Such a rude noise came from the duck’s bottom!  Sam blew it again and Lucy and Myrtle came up to see what was making such a rude noise. 'Neat isn’t it?' Sam said.  He was beaming from ear to ear!  'Don’t forget, if you need me just blow' Mr Bobbins said as he stepped off Mouse onto the canal side.

Sam, Lucy, Myrtle and Mompy stood on the back deck of Mouse as the little boat pulled away from the canal bank.  Mr Bobbins was on the towpath and gave them a wave.

'I will be