Precious Time Read Online Free PDF Page B

a little hasty.’
    Now Clara did turn and look at her friend. ‘And you’re too proud to admit that you’re envious of what I’m doing.’
    ‘Me? Jealous of being cooped up in a box on wheels for five months with a chemical loo? You must be joking!’
    ‘Come on, Louise. Admit it! Aren’t you just a teensy-weensy bit envious that I’m escaping, taking time out so that I can enjoy each day as it comes?’
    ‘No, I’m not. I’m more concerned with living in the real world, not this frothy concoction you’ve invented for yourself.’
    ‘It feels real enough to me.’
    ‘Mm … let’s see how it feels in a week’s time when you’re bored of your own company and Ned says he’s homesick.’
    Clara looked across Louise and David’s sitting room to where Ned was on the sofa with Moira. A momentary pang of uncertainty made her wonder if she wasn’t being entirely honest with herself. Who did she think would benefit most from this trip? Herself or Ned?
    Both of them, she told herself firmly. She needed a break from work and to be with Ned. ‘Boredom and homesickness won’t be an issue,’ she said. ‘What we’ll experience will be just as real and valid as anything that’s going on round here.’
    ‘But it will only be as real as a holiday, which, when it comes to an end, will bring you back to where you started.’
    ‘Maybe it won’t. Maybe I’ll find my personal Utopia out on the road and never come home.’
    ‘And you can take this as a first official warning. If you stop washing your hair, pierce yourself just once and turn into a New Age hippie, I’ll publicly disown you.’
    Clara smiled. ‘Is that a promise?’
    ‘Oh, come here, and give me a hug. I’m going to miss you. You will write, won’t you? I’ll need the occasional phone call, too, to keep me going.’
    Clara hugged her back. ‘I’ll miss you too. And of course I’ll keep in touch. You don’t think I’d pass up the opportunity to brag about what a wonderful time I’m having, do you? Rubbing your snooty nose in my happiness will give me the greatest pleasure.’
    They drew apart. ‘And don’t you dare quote me,’ Louise said, ‘but, yes, part of me is jealous of what you’re doing. Who wouldn’t be?’
    Clara embraced her again. ‘And that happy thought will be with me every time I clean out the Chemi-loo!’
    A bang on the window made them both jump. Guy and David’s
    open-mouthed faces were pressed against the glass; it wasn’t a pretty sight.
    ‘And there’s another happy memory for you take with you,’
    laughed Louise. ‘A matching pair of gargoyles!’
     
    At last they were ready to go.
    ‘Come on, you intrepid explorers,’ David said, lifting Ned down from his shoulders, ‘that’s enough of the goodbyes. It’s time you were on your way.’
    ‘Glad to know you’re eager for us to be gone,’ said Clara. She settled Ned into the front passenger seat.
    ‘That’s because the sooner you go, the sooner you’ll be back, sweetie-pie.’
    ‘I wouldn’t count on it.’
    ‘You’re all talk, Clarabelle. A hundred quid says you’ll be crawling back to us within the month and applying for your old job.’
    She held out her hand to Guy. ‘Two hundred says I won’t.’
    He grasped it firmly. ‘Done!’
    Clara hugged everyone all over again and received their unhelpful words of advice with good grace. No, she wouldn’t talk to strangers.
    No, she wouldn’t hold the traffic up too much. And yes, she would remember to respect the countryside.
    Louise moved in to have the last word. ‘And don’t do anything stupid while you’re away.’
    ‘Such as?’
    ‘Such as taking any unnecessary risks. We want you to come back in one piece. Okay?’
    ‘This may come as a shock to you, Louise, but that’s something I’m keen to do myself.’
    An hour into the journey and with Walton-on-Whinge - as she and the gang referred to Walton-on-Wineham where they all lived - well behind her, Ned had fallen asleep: the