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Graeme comes over and hands us helmets. “Safety first.”
Allan puts his on and straps in with the required seat belts Robertson added to the cars. I do the same, pull down my visor, and start the motor. The noise of the supercharged engine drowns out anything he might try to say.
We start the warm ups, so we have a feel for the track and make sure the cars are ready to go. After the second time round, Dad struggles out of Meggy’s car. We take three more, then line up at the start and wait for the signal.
My car has been going well and I’m neck and neck in the lead with Les, who surprises me with his skill. On the tenth circuit, we are coming down from the rise and into the hairpin when there’s a sharp crack and the car starts to wobble. I grip the wheel tightly, trying to hold on course. I look around but on the side there is a deep culvert to separate the track from the woods beyond. Nowhere to pull off here. There is a roaring in my ears and a persistent stabbing in my chest as I try not to panic. Allan’s mouth is open, but if he’s making a sound, I can’t hear it.
I wrench the wheel to avoid the culvert and we slew across to the barrier on the other side. Then I yank it back the other way to keep from crashing into the corrugated iron as I pump the brakes desperately. But there is no response. Before I have time to do anything else, my head snaps back against the seat. Pain radiates down my neck as the car slides hits the metal and bounces back toward the center of the track. It flips twice and lands upside down. We dangle, trying to release the belts.
“What the hell do we do now?” Allan yells.
Fighting to keep calm, I give him my standard flip response. “Hope your neck doesn’t break when you drop.”
* * *
Cress
A loud bang brings us to our feet. Then silence. A scream rises in my throat, but I swallow it. Everyone is frozen. All we can see is a plume of smoke from the other side of the track, which is soon displace by flames and then an explosion. A sick feeling comes over me. What if something has happened to Max? Not that I want it to be someone else, but but my thoughts are all of Max. I can almost see him, trapped in a burning car as it explodes. Tears are running down my cheeks but I can’t be bothered to wipe them away. I feel a hand squeeze my shoulder. Through bleary eyes, I see that Brian has one hand on my shoulder and the other on Viktoria’s. He’s saying something, but the words are garbled. This is my worst nightmare come true.
I’m sitting in the middle of the row and I try to get out so I don’t lose my breakfast all over Viktoria, who is sitting next to me. She grabs my wrist. “Just stay here, Cress, until we know what happened.” I nod and try to will my rebellious stomach to behave.
Graeme Robertson jumps into a golf cart at the side of the track and starts driving toward the sound, steering with one hand while clutching a cellphone in the other. The wail of sirens is nerve-shattering as several ambulances tear up the lawn toward the track and disappears around a curve.
I want to run after them, but Viktoria grasps my sleeve. “We will be in the way, I am sure, now that the medics are here. Mr. Robertson will soon tell us what happened.”
Before he reappears, a few Mini Coopers come trailing toward the grandstand, none of them green. Meggy’s is first. She maneuvers out of the car and runs over to the grandstand. When she reaches us, tears are running down her face
“What happened?” Brian shouts to her.
Wiping her eyes on a sleeve, Meggy says, “One of Max’s tires blew at the hairpin curve. He lost control as Ian was coming up and Ian crashed right into him. Max’s car flipped upside down.” She’s wringing her hands. “Then the petrol tank caught on fire and the car exploded.” Her mouth opens and closes like a fish, but the only sounds are raspy breathing combined with stuttering wails. Brian, Viktoria, and I run out onto the track.
Someone is screamingno, no, no. Turns out it’s me. Viktoria hugs me, our tears mingling.
Brian stands on the tarmacked track, and he enfolds his trembling daughter in his arms. Meggy is always so collected but now she is shattered.
In the grandstand, Lucy Robertson is sobbing. Diana and Liz, arms around each other, emit breathy gasps. Sean has collared the kids into a circle, eyes big with confusion, Felicity whimpering for her dad. Graeme Robertson chugs up the track in the golf cart. Ian, Frank, and Les are with him. Ian, disheveled, appears uninjured.
Frank grabs his daughter, hugging her tightly. “It’s okay, Lissy.” Gradually she quiets against his chest.
Max and Allan are not with them. A chill settles around my heart. Pain radiates through my chest and I feel my legs give way. Strong arms grab me. Dimly I hear Ian telling me something. I register the urgency, but not the words. I subside into noisy sobs.
Brian has slipped a pill bottle back into a pocket and rubs his chest. Then he abruptly sits down on the ground, while Ian pats my back gently.
The uneasy silence breaks as the ambulances reappear, then turn to race across the lawn the way they came, and out of sight. Their howling sound lingers in the air long after we lose sight of the vehicles. Once the noise has dissipated, Graeme yells out, “They’re on the way to Dr. Gray’s Hospital. You can meet them there.”
“Are they alive?” Brian calls out.
Robertson jogs up, out of breath. “Your boys managed to pull them out before the car blew. Thank God.”
I sag into Ian’s arms, relief making me weak. Mrs. Robertson has gone back to the house, and now comes out with a bottle of whisky and glasses. “I think a drink will do us all good,” she says.
Once everyone is more composed, we decide that JL and I will go to the hospital with Les. Everyone else will go to Grant House.
Brian, however, insists on going along. A tearful Viktoria remonstrates, pointing out that he’s just taken his heart medication, but eventually agrees to go home and make sure there is a comfortable place for Max and Allan. She kisses Brian’s cheek as he turns toward Les’ vehicle.
Sean protests loudly. I’m touched by his concern for his uncle, until he clarifies that it is all about the excitement and possible blood.
Exasperated, Diana chides him. “Really, Sean, this is too much. No matter how injured your uncle might or might not be, you wouldn’t see anything. In fact, you’d be a nuisance. Get into the Rover and drive back with your grandmother and Aunt Meggy. I’ll go with Uncle Frank.”
