Page 6 of The Trip of a Lifetime

‘Stop it, Nana. Don’t put me off before we’ve even started.’

‘Look, can you call me Martha, just for this trip? I know I am almost ancient, but I don’t want to sound it when the programme comes out.’

Erin laughed and then toned it down to a broad smile. She placed her hand over mine and patted it gently, like you would to a nana.

‘You are hardly ancient… Martha,’ she said.

‘All set, ladies?’ Cally asked, reappearing next to us with her cheery, producer smile. And then she guided us out of the building and into a waiting car with blacked-out windows. When I say blacked-out, I mean on the insides – they really didn’t want us to gather any information before the starter pistol went off. Actually, it probably wouldn’t be a pistol this time. Maybe a bell or a horn. A gun didn’t seem as appropriate in 2026 as it had in 1976.

The hotel was luxurious and we were guided up the steps and into a huge atrium with a marble floor, but we didn’t have much time to admire the decor as we were quickly ushered into a lift.

‘Those are the rules, I’m afraid,’ Cally said to a startled Erin, and I was beginning to wonder if my granddaughter was really cut out for this. She was only twenty-five after all. Then again, I supposed I’d been younger than that when I had first raced. But I had a feeling I was made of tougher stuff. I certainly used to be.

There was a lot of prize money at stake and the production company were taking it very seriously. ‘I’ve already checked you both in,’ Cally continued. ‘Let’s get you settled into your room and then I’ll come and get you just before the welcome dinner.’

Our room was enormous with two king-sized beds and a sofa in front of one of the windows with a view down to the harbour. I lifted my case up and onto the bed nearest the bathroom, and then when Cally left us to go and do more producery things, I sank down next to it. I was so tired and hoping for a good night’s sleep later. I also didn’t want to think about the fact my knee was bothering me a little.

‘I don’t actually know anything about Canada,’ Erin said, and threw herself like a starfish on top of her puffy white duvet as if she were about to make a snow angel.

‘To be honest, neither do I, but that really doesn’t matter. We just need to keep focused on the tasks when they’re given. We must come up with a plan and stick to it.’

‘I’ve seen the show. I know how it works, Nana.’

‘Martha.’

‘Sorry, that will take some getting used to.’

‘They edit to make the contestants appear more lost than they are, or less on top of things than they are. Don’t forget, failure looks great on film too,’ I said, and immediately thought back to the archived footage of that last leg. ‘We must make sure to be together on decisions at all times.’

I couldn’t help myself then and let go of a huge yawn.

‘Why don’t you catch up on some sleep,’ Erin said. ‘The dinner isn’t for a few of hours and I’m just going to go through my things and then read for a bit.’

I pushed my case onto the floor and laid down on the covers, my eyes heavy. ‘Can you wake me half an hour before, so I can have a quick shower and get myself together,’ I said, but I didn’t hear Erin’s response because I was already heading into sleep.

4

ERIN

Erin did read for a while but her head wasn’t really into the words on the page. It was too full of the view outside the hotel window and the prospect of what they were about to do. The promenade below was busy and bustling with people – tourists, most likely. A huge cruise ship was moored and a lot of passengers were coming and going on foot and also in little golf carts along the harbour walkway. Nests of clouds clung to the top of the hills, or were they mountains, across the water? Erin really didn’t know.

Martha snored softly from across the room and Erin had a sudden and overwhelming love for her grandmother. They had always had a good relationship but since Erin’s mum had died, that love had firmed up, cemented, encased them in its much-needed protection. They were all each other had now. Erin’s father was still alive, of course, but he didn’t want to talk about the death of his ex-wife. Long since divorced and living with his new family, he never fancied a trip down memory lane. It was her nana who wanted to talk about Clare, to pore over the photo albums and say things like Your mum would have loved this and Clare could have done this with her eyes closed or Did I ever tell you about the time your mum…

And now they were here in Canada and what they were doing was huge. Martha seemed to be taking it in her stride but Erin was beginning to feel decidedly twitchy. Clare could have done this with her eyes closed. She may well have done, but Erin’s were wide open.

* * *

‘A lime juice and soda, please,’ Erin said.

Okay, so she wasn’t really supposed to be here. Cally had said not to wander and absolutely not to speak to anyone, but Erin wasn’t out getting maps of Vancouver and finding secret ways out of the city, she was in the hotel bar asking for a soft drink. She half expected the answer to be no, but the barman served up her lime and soda with a smile. He clearly hadn’t been briefed on the rules of the TV show but then, why would he have been? Erin was becoming a little paranoid.

She couldn’t just sit in the hotel room when this task was ahead of her. Despite the softness of her bed and the luxurious decor of the room, Erin had felt her legs start to jiggle and her feet begin to tap. Martha had told her on the flight to enjoy every luxury when it was presented because it wouldn’t always be comfortable where they were going. Erin had started to protest that they didn’t actually know where they were going yet, but she had seen old, repeated episodes of the show. Sometimes the contestants had to camp, sometimes they had to hitch-hike, occasionally they ate unknown things from strange markets in some parts of the world, but Erin felt fairly confident that wouldn’t be the case in Canada.

She gulped at her drink, wishing she had a vodka in it too. Erin always took strength from her grandmother because she didn’t think she was that strong on her own. Her boyfriend, Hamish… her ex-boyfriend, Hamish had said he wished she were more adventurous. That working her little job and then going out to eat and drink at the weekends was not enough, even though that was pretty much what he did too, apart from when he was playing and watching rugby which, to be fair, was a lot of the time. Going out on a stag do before a rugby match was the most daring thing she had seen him do recently. And yes, he’d apparently thrown up on the pitch.

That was one of the reasons she’d agreed to accompany her grandmother on this trip – to show Hamish how adventurous she could actually be – but by the time the application had gone through and Erin had told him, Hamish had gone off with Serena. She was a supply teacher at the school Hamish worked at and as far as Erin could see, the most adventurous thing Serena did was vary the shade of her fake tan. By that time, Erin couldn’t back out and let Martha down. It was far too late for that.

‘A pint of your local beer, please? I’ll have whatever you recommend.’