Frozen Billy (14 page)

Mother leans over the rail to stare down at where the
Fresh Hope
's steep bows slice through the water. When I come near, she reaches out an arm to draw me closer.

Together we watch the wide waves part.

‘Just twelve days more!' she tells me. ‘Captain Percival said he thinks it will be only twelve days more.'

I tell you honestly. I cannot
wait
.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A
NNE
F
INE
was born in Leicester. She went to Wallisdean County Primary School in Fareham, Hampshire, and then to Northampton High School for Girls. She read Politics and History at the University of Warwick and then worked as an information officer for Oxfam before teaching (very briefly!) in a Scottish prison. She started her first book during a blizzard that stopped her getting to Edinburgh City Library and has been writing ever since.

A
NNE
F
INE
is now a hugely popular and celebrated author. Among the many awards she has won are the
Carnegie Medal
(twice), the
Whitbread Children's Novel Award
(twice), the
Guardian Children's Literature Award
and a
Smarties Prize
. She has twice been voted Children's Writer of the Year at the
British Book Awards
and was the Children's Laureate for 2001-2003.

She has written over forty books for young people, including
Goggle-Eyes, Flour Babies, Bill's New Frock, The Tulip Touch
and
Madame Doubtfire
. She has also written a number of titles for adult readers, and has edited three poetry collections.

Anne Fine lives in County Durham and has two daughters and a large hairy dog called Harvey.