Page 13 of The Trip of a Lifetime

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The ten of them were lined up at the starting point with their producers and camera people in position to get the perfect shot of them leaving. There was another camera on a drone, hovering above them and waiting for the strike of twelve when they would set off.

Erin turned her back on Harrison and Sam and smiled at Priya and her daughter, Tara.

‘How are you feeling?’ she asked them.

‘For the camera? Energised and excited. Just you and me? Bloody terrified,’ Tara said with an unconvincing smile. ‘I keep thinking I’m too old for this. I’m forty-six. But as Mum is seventy-two, I can’t really complain, can I?’

‘Stop fraternising with the enemy. We should be psyching them out,’ Priya told her daughter, but she laughed and Erin knew this would look great on camera. The crew would love this banter.

‘We can be competitive and still be friends, surely?’ Sam said from behind Erin’s back, but she didn’t dare look around.

‘No,’ Femi said. ‘This is not a social event, it’s a race.’

But Erin could hear the smile in his voice.

‘I agree,’ Don said. ‘I’m sure you’re all lovely people but Pete and I want to win. We owe it to Bob.’

Pete and Don were identical twins and a few years younger than their late brother. They looked like fell runners, or similar, to Erin – fit, active types who wore their walking gear like second skins. Everything Erin had on was new. Her grandmother had had to cut labels out of some of it last night before she transferred it from her suitcase to her rucksack. Erin usually liked neat skirts and cardigans, cropped trousers and ballet pumps. This whole outdoor wear was new to her in every sense. When she looked at Pete and Don she realised that despite the age difference, she was clearly out of their league.

‘Hear, hear,’ Martha said. ‘But just so you all know, and I’m giving you fair warning, Erin and I will win, so go easy on yourselves.’

Erin did chance a glance behind her then, just in time to hear Harrison snort with mock laughter, but Sam was staring straight at her and his look was regretful. Mind games, Erin thought, and she wasn’t going to fall for it again.

Her watch told her it was two minutes to midday and she stepped back to stand next to her grandmother. Martha took her hand and squeezed it. Erin wasn’t sure if they were supposed to run. Surely they couldn’t run the whole way. She certainly couldn’t, not with this monstrous pack on her back. She looked at Martha and wondered if she should ask, but her grandmother looked steely now and with all this attention, anything Erin said would be caught on camera. She kept her mouth shut and waited for the gun to go off. But it wasn’t a gun, it was a cannon that sent out a boom across the park at the stroke of twelve.

They all began to run.

7

MARTHA

We scattered like mice, all scurrying off in different directions. Harrison and Sam were quick and heading into the trees. Priya and Tara were off to the path by the water. Femi and his wife, Liz, not far behind them and the brothers, Don and Pete, ran towards some buildings near the car park. I grabbed Erin’s arm and pulled her onto a woodland path before stopping dead.

‘I think we should try and get a lift,’ I said. ‘There’s a main road running through the park and if we get up to it, we might just persuade someone to get us back into the city. If we walk it could take ages.’

‘From a stranger?’ Erin said and looked appalled.

‘Yes,’ I said firmly, ‘but a nice one.’

Reluctantly, Erin followed me up the path to the main road which was busier than I thought with three lanes of traffic. Cally and Noah were hot on our heels but said nothing about our choices.

‘There’s a slip road for cars coming out of the park. We should get there and flag someone down.’

‘Okay,’ Erin said reluctantly. ‘Let’s do it.’

We stood for a few minutes with nothing more than a couple of bikes going by but then a car drove up and I almost jumped in front of it. The driver looked shocked and before I could suggest he wind down his window and talk to me, he drove around me and joined the main road without a backward glance.

‘I’m not sure about this,’ Erin said. ‘No one will want to give a couple of strangers a lift.’

A small motorhome with an older couple in the front came up the slip road from the park and I waved and smiled. The woman was driving and she stopped and opened her window.

‘Hey there,’ she said. ‘Are you guys okay?’

‘Thanks so much for stopping,’ I said. ‘We’re actually in a race on a TV show and need to get back to the city. Well, really, we need to get to Prince Rupert and on to Haida Gwaii but the city would be a great start. Do you think we could be really cheeky and ask you for a lift, please?’

‘Well, we’re actually going north to Whistler to see our daughter, not back to the city, but happy to take you if you want a ride,’ said the woman. ‘I’m Carol.’