Page 67 of The Trip of a Lifetime

‘Sure,’ she said. ‘What do you want to talk about?’

‘It’s a bit delicate but I feel as if she’s, I don’t know, got an agenda,’ I said.

‘What, like in the first race?’ Cally said.

‘What do you mean?’ I asked her.

‘Did you even watch it, Martha? Obviously I wasn’t there at the time, but she seemed to be trying to trip everyone up. Is she doing it again now? I need to check in with her producer; make sure we’re getting the best footage.’

‘I guess that wasn’t my focus when I watched it back recently. But it does explain one thing,’ I said, turning to look at Erin. ‘I think it was Priya who made sure I didn’t get that train in Madrid all those years ago. I think it was her who paid the porter. It doesn’t explain why, though. She didn’t win the race. What did she really gain?’

‘I knew I didn’t like her,’ said Erin.

‘I wondered if it was the editing back in the first race,’ Cally said, ‘but she definitely gave Bob misinformation in France. Well, that was how I saw it, anyway. It was one of the reasons we were so delighted she said yes to this anniversary race. Every show has to have its bad guy.’

‘We’re not a social experiment, you know,’ I said.

‘Oh Martha, this is a reality TV show, of course you are.’

30

ERIN

Your fifth checkpoint is Prince Edward Island

‘We’ll be in the Maritimes at last,’ Martha said as she pointed to their destination on the now well-used map later that day. It had got wet a couple of times and there was a rip, but luckily it was in the area of the Yukon and now redundant.

Prince Edward Island looked to be very far away but Erin took comfort from the fact that it seemed like it might be a shorter hop to the finish. Just the thought of the finish line was like a teasing little delight. A bit like when she was a child and her pudding was only a couple more mouthfuls of vegetables away. This is the veg section of this leg, she told herself, which was ridiculous really because as an adult she loved all vegetables.

‘Here we go again, then,’ Erin said, feeling distraught at leaving Sam behind.

After the meal the previous evening, he had caught up with her and they’d found a sofa tucked away in the corner of the bar.

‘I’d love you to come and see me in Marlow,’ he’d said. ‘Let’s not let this race be the last time we see each other.’

‘Okay,’ she’d said. ‘I’m only down the road, don’t forget. It’s really not that far.’

‘I have a gorgeous friend who lives in Henley,’ he’d said and her heart had plummeted.

‘Do you?’ she’d asked tentatively, but he grinned broadly at her.

‘I do now,’ he said and kissed her quickly before disappearing back to his room and leaving Erin rooted to the sofa in delight.

Now, they had their packs on and were ready to go but Erin noticed her grandmother was a little out of sorts too. It was all that talk about Priya before they left. Erin wanted to find out what she was up to but Martha had said they should just concentrate on their race and try to be several steps away from her.

‘Do you think she even has an elderly mother in a home, or do you think she was just trying to soften us up before she stabs us all to death in our sleep?’

‘Erin!’ Martha had given her granddaughter a stern look but then it had fallen from her face and she had sighed. ‘Honestly.’

They really needed to reinvigorate their fighting spirit now otherwise they were going to lose their hour’s advantage. The trouble was it was eight forty in the evening and Erin wasn’t sure how late the buses went.

‘Come on, Martha, let’s go,’ she said and they began to retrace their steps to the hop-on bus back to the bus station and then on to Toronto. There was something a little depressing about doing the journey in reverse, Erin thought, but there was no other option. They couldn’t dip into America as that was against the rules, even though they were right on the border.

‘This is going to be a long journey again,’ Martha said as they got on the WEGO bus and paid for their tickets back to the bus terminal. Noah sat down on the seat behind them and Cally set off in the car. They were all a little jaded.

‘In all the time we’ve been in Canada, has there been any other kind?’ Erin said.

Erin ran for the ticket office when they got off the bus and Martha followed at a more sedate pace. Erin pulled money from her belt as she asked the woman behind the counter if she could get them to Toronto tonight.