Hattie’s Ferry Day

Hattie and Thomas were taking a ferry trip with Mum. Their ferry left at ten thirty-five and reached the island at eleven twenty. Thomas looked across the harbour. “How long will we be on the boat?” Hattie took out the timetable Mum had given her.

She could not find the journey time by subtracting the minute numbers alone. Twenty was smaller than thirty-five, and the trip crossed into the next hour. “Let’s stop at eleven o’clock on the way,” Mum suggested. Hattie drew a short timeline in her notebook.

From ten thirty-five to eleven o’clock was twenty-five minutes. Hattie counted five minutes to ten forty, then twenty more to eleven. Thomas followed the jumps. “That gets us to the next hour. We still need the part after eleven.”

From eleven o’clock to eleven twenty was another twenty minutes. Twenty-five and twenty made forty-five minutes. Hattie marked both parts on the timeline. Thomas checked the whole journey by starting at ten thirty-five and adding forty-five minutes. He reached eleven twenty too.

They boarded with Mum and found seats together. Hattie put the timetable inside her bag before the breeze could lift it. Thomas wanted to stand at the rail, but Mum asked him to wait until the ferry had left the wharf. They kept the walkway clear.

Once they were under way, they went outside with Mum. The town grew smaller behind them. Hattie watched a seabird glide beside the ferry, then settle on the water. Thomas spotted the island ahead. Knowing the journey time helped them understand how much of the trip remained.

The ferry slowed as it reached the island wharf at eleven twenty. Hattie checked the timetable with Mum before they joined the line to leave. Thomas picked up their picnic bag. Their forty-five-minute journey had crossed from one hour into the next.

At a sheltered picnic spot, Hattie showed Thomas the two parts of her timeline. “Twenty-five minutes before eleven, then twenty after,” she said. Mum opened the picnic bag. The island paths were waiting, and the children already knew how they would check the return journey.