Page 47 of The Trip of a Lifetime

Sam seemed to be gone for ages. In fact, it had now been forty minutes since she’d stepped down off the bus, Erin realised as she looked at her watch. They’d all be so annoyed at the delay. No one wants to prolong an overnight bus journey. She’d have to apologise to them all when she got back on board.

‘I’m back,’ Sam said, and his hand appeared under the door with a pair of pliers and a screwdriver. ‘Use the pliers to try and pull it across or you can just undo the whole lock with the screwdriver.’

‘Oh my God, thank you,’ she said, taking both.

She got a good hold of the metal and yanked really hard and this time it flew apart. She pulled the door open, relieved to see Sam on the other side.

‘That is so embarrassing, but I’m so pleased you came to find me. I wouldn’t want the bus to go without me.’

‘I wouldn’t have let that happen,’ he said and those words gave her such a glow. ‘Come on, we’d better get back before our names are complete mud.’

They walked back out onto the forecourt of the petrol station but the bus was no longer there.

21

MARTHA

My head felt like it was stuffed with lead when I woke up and my throat seemed to have a million needles lodged in it. I was actually amazed that I’d been able to sleep as the bus was so shaky. There was a horrible droning noise coming from the engine and the air was stuffy. I guessed that dosing myself up with those tablets had aided my sleep but hadn’t made me feel much better, though.

I looked across to see if Erin was asleep on the opposite seats but she wasn’t there. I looked down the bus to see if she’d gone to sit somewhere else and then behind me too, but she wasn’t on the bus. It took my heavy head a moment to process this and then I could feel the stirrings of panic beginning to travel up my body. I could see that Sam wasn’t on the bus either.

‘Harrison,’ I said groggily, turning around to face him. He had sunk down in his seat, his longs legs stretched out underneath my seat and his head resting on his chest. He was snoring softly. ‘Harrison.’

He opened his eyes, one at a time, and lifted his head to look at me.

‘Yes?’ he said, a little bewildered.

‘Sam and Erin aren’t on the bus,’ I said.

He rubbed a hand across his mouth and sat more upright, then he glanced across at where Sam should have been. Harrison got up and looked behind him. His cameraman was fast asleep in his seat, his camera slumped next to him.

‘Gaz,’ he said, waking the man up instantly. ‘Where’s Sam? Where’s Erin?’

Gaz immediately stood up and scratched his head and if the situation hadn’t been serious, it might have been comical.

‘Where’s Noah?’ I asked him.

What had happened to everyone while I’d been asleep? It was as if aliens had come down and abducted them all.

‘Shit,’ Gaz said. ‘I think we’ve left them at the services.’

‘How on earth did that happen? Surely the driver does a head count. How long have we been on the road since the services?’

‘They swapped drivers and gave everyone plenty of time for a break,’ Gaz said. ‘Noah went to ride in the car with Cally. He said there was little point in both of us being on board, and he wanted to get ahead of the bus and be there when you arrived in Winnipeg. Anyway, I lost the coin toss. We’ve been driving for two hours since the stop.’

‘For goodness’ sake,’ I said. ‘Phone Noah now and find out whether he knows if they got a lift. It’s not likely but I want you to check before I turn this bus around. It’s two thirty in the morning.’

‘Sam doesn’t have his bag,’ Harrison said.

‘Neither does Erin.’

I could see her rucksack and her coat on the seat opposite. Sam’s was there on the seat behind.

‘Erin might have alerted Noah with the tracker,’ Gaz said, taking out his phone and tapping on the screen. ‘I’ve had nothing from Sam.’

‘She doesn’t have it,’ I said.

‘Neither does Sam,’ said Harrison. ‘Or any money. I’ve got it all.’