They burst out of the house and rushed to the car, all carrying things which were stuffed, pell-mell, into the boot.
‘Off on a picnic? Going somewhere nice?’ said Josie, emerging from her front door and eyeing the unco-ordinated activity with interest.
Sometimes Kim wondered if her neighbour spent all her spare time just behind the lace curtains, considering the frequency with which she would pop out to comment on their daily doings.
‘Just off to meet some friends,’ she said. It was close enough to the truth to be convincing. ‘Sorry Josie, I’d love to chat, but we’re late already.’
As Joe opened the passenger door to get in, she reached into the back seat and scooping up the trailing edges of the lemon floral duvet, wedged them round Delphine’s legs, trying unsuccessfully to close the car door against the bodies inside. The four were jammed against each other like books tightly packed on a crowded shelf, with no room to budge.
’Sorry, sorry. Emma, if you slide forward a bit and Delphine leans back…’ After a bit of shuffling she managed to get the door to latch and took her place in the driving seat.
‘All set?’ Without waiting for a reply, she started the engine and they were off, driving at speed, leaving Josie staring after them. Yet another bridge to rebuild later, thought Kim ruefully, but she couldn’t worry about that now.
Most of the morning’s commuting traffic had thinned out but their progress was stately rather than fast, until they cleared the town and turned towards the motorway.
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