A Royal Adventure [Ongoing]

Seventeen

It was now bright daylight, and it was strange to watch all the cars and the people passing. They wouldn't know that we had been driving through the night. To them, we were just another car on the road – and an English one. I imagined that that must be slightly strange. I couldn't think of a time when I had seen an English car in COUNTRY, although I was sure that of course it must have happened. But we weren't exactly the number one tourist destination for travellers. And I liked that.

I watched as the roads began to grow busier, and horns were hooted.

'You girls okay if we go on a little longer before we stop again?' Saunders asked.

'Sure thing,' Pen replied. 'Although don't make it too long, I'm desperate for that coffee.'

'Will do my best,' Saunders promised.

'We should be back on motorways soon,' Charlie said, rather tiredly. 'Then it'll be plain sailing from there.'

'Where are we exactly?' Pen asked. 'I think I slept through many places.'

'You slept through Switzerland,' Saunders informed her.

'I thought I might.'

'You missed the mountains.'

'Don't worry, we've still got the way back to do.'

I hadn't thought about that. They would all have to come back again – drive back down these same roads, through the mountains. And they had done all this for me. That was what was difficult to comprehend, because I was so worried that they would regret it all when we got there.

And now we were so close.

Charlie cranked the radio up and was singing along to a song no one else knew. I was glad of the distraction. It was rather welcome.