Brianna stalls until bedtime before launching her final bombshell. She waits until Heather has loaded the dishwasher and tidied her painting materials away for the evening.
‘Can I ask you one last favour, Heather?’
Heather turns to this girl who’s become like family to her.
‘Of course, sweetheart.’
Brianna looks at the floor. ‘I need to go to Birmingham next Thursday.’
Heather’s eyes widen. ‘Birmingham? What’s in Birmingham?’
‘I know it sounds weird, but I don’t want to say. I promise you, though, it’s something life-changing that I really, really need to do.’
Heather hangs her painting rag over the easel and crouches by Brianna’s feet.
‘Are you sure you can’t tell me?’ A knot of worry tightens in her belly.
Brianna’s head shakes vigorously from side to side, but the way her eyes fill shows Heather that this is no childhood whim.Whatever Brianna needs to do in Birmingham is something that means the world to her.
‘You can decide not to help me. But just so you know, I’ll be going, anyway. Georgia’s got a double shift that day, but Trey will be home then. So, he said he’d come.’
Heather frowns. ‘Trey’s in on this?’
‘We all are.’
‘And are you telling me unreservedly that you’re going to do this with or without my support?’
‘Absolutely. There's a route I can take that avoids motorways. I've checked.’
If ever Heather saw a person with an agenda, it is here and now. Brianna means what she says.
‘Honey. Look. Your dad’s due home any time from next week. How about waiting for him and see if he’ll take you to whatever this is?’
‘Uh, uh. No way. And it’s got to be next Thursday.’
‘Okay. Well, I’ll need to check with your dad, of course.’
Brianna shrugs.
‘Can if you want.’
Heather goes into her room to think. She feels she’s being manipulated into a corner. Brianna has clearly decided to go with or without her blessing, and going with Trey, a young lad without a European Driving licence, simply isn’t an option. She needs to get in touch with Scott. But how? He’s unlikely to receive a personal text until the end of the trip. He mentioned a group satellite phone for urgent matters. She could call on that. But does this situation constitute an emergency? If Scott receives a message via satellite link, he will think of a catastrophic incident or a life-changing injury. Not a query about a road trip. No, she won’t be that person. She won’t call; she’ll send a text and hope he can pick up. Scott trusted her tomake sound judgments about Brianna’s welfare if needed. This is her best call.
She returns to the lounge and perches on the sofa beside Brianna and stares into the girl’s eyes.
‘I’m not sure I have a choice about taking you, really, do you?’ she says. ‘But I’ll message your dad to let him know what we’re planning in the hope he’ll pick it up before we leave.’
Brianna throws her arms around Heather’s shoulders.
‘Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We can go in my car.’
Brianna rises, skips out the room and allows the door to close behind her before the words can reach Heather’s brain, compute and articulate.
‘Your car?’
SCOTT
Ten days. They complete the route in only ten and a half days. A general air of euphoria hovers above them from the knowledge that they’ve broken the club’s previous record for the Silk Road Mountain Race by an easy day and a half. The more experienced riders are more muted in their pride. It’s clear they don’t want to piss on the younger guys’ enthusiasm, but they quietly mention that weather conditions have been exemplary this trip and areas of road which were an extremely hard slog previously, appear to have been levelled.
