Page 75 of The Trip of a Lifetime

‘Thank you,’ Erin called as she and Martha ran back across the road. ‘So, we’re spending, are we?’

‘I don’t think we have any choice. If we’d been here alone I might have spent some time finding out about ferry prices to Newfoundland, but now we have Femi and Liz on our tails, I just want to get there.’

‘But we know whatever happens, we’ll be back here at the bus station trying to find out information. Wouldn’t it be best to find out now, and then we’ll have the upper hand on the next leg? Even if we get to Anne’s museum before them, it won’t be by much. We need to think smart, not fast. There’s only one more leg to go.’

Martha turned to her granddaughter and grinned.

‘When did you get so wise? You’re right, of course. We should find out now.’

They walked quickly back to the bus station and spoke to the man serving behind the counter about ferry fares. He looked for a moment as if he wasn’t going to help them. Why would he, after all? They weren’t looking to buy bus tickets.

‘Let me check for you,’ he said and then began tapping onto his keyboard.

Erin walked over to the window and watched as Femi and Liz got into a car. From where she was, she couldn’t tell if it was a taxi or not.

‘Okay,’ the man said. ‘Here are the statistics. You need to get to North Sydney, which is here.’

He stopped and took the map from Martha, opened it up and refolded it to the correct part.

‘I’d take the ferry from here to Caribou in Nova Scotia. It’s a seventy-five-minute crossing but it’s only eleven dollars fifty per person. You won’t do it for that in a taxi. Then you need to get to North Sydney.’

He traced a finger over the route as he spoke.

‘Then you have a couple of options. You can get the ferry to Port aux Basques and drive across to St John’s, or you can get a ferry to Argentia, which will take longer but is closer to your destination.’

‘What’s the difference in time and cost?’ Erin asked, hoping she wasn’t pushing her luck, but he smiled and kept tapping.

‘To Port aux Basques, you’re looking at seven hours. Two crossings a day, 11.45 or 23.15 and that’s $21.92.’

‘That’s not too bad,’ Martha said.

‘Yeah, but you’ve got a nine-hour drive overland to get to where you need to be,’ he said. ‘And that’s not a hugely populated route. There is a bus but it’s once a day, fifteen hours and about a hundred and eighty dollars. Each.’

‘Wow,’ Erin said. ‘And to the other ferry port? The one nearer St John’s?’

‘Argentia? Well, that’s a sixteen-hour crossing, leaving three times a week at 17.30 and will cost you sixty dollars each,’ he said.

‘Great,’ she said.

‘You’ll have a final run of about an hour and forty minutes’ drive to get from the port to St John’s. Want me to look up taxis?’

‘Would you? I feel as if we’ve taken enough of your precious time,’ Martha said sweetly.

‘It looks like a lot,’ he said, glancing at his screen again. ‘Three hundred dollars.’

Erin whistled through her teeth.

‘You’d be better asking on the ferry for a lift. Is that thing on?’ he said pointing at Noah’s camera.

‘Yes, sorry, we should have asked,’ Erin said.

‘No problem,’ he said. ‘You can express your thanks by making sure I feature on your show.’

‘What’s your name?’ Noah asked.

‘Ralph,’ he said.

‘Then I’ll make sure of it.’