But Gary wasn’t here anymore. It was Becky’s life that needed saving today. Becky, who had been with them throughout this long, difficult journey. Always encouraging. Always supporting. Never once letting any of the exhausted (Raven), grumpy (Flo), or dispirited (Sue), riders dim her smile.
Sue crested a hill and what she saw ahead spread out before her made her heart sink. The banks of the creek they’d been riding along had burst and at the bottom of the steep hill … a lake sprawled out where the road had once been.
She looked to her left.
Woodland.
She looked to her right.
A sheep field awash with rocky outcrops and a load of sheep.
A few metres down there was an open field gate. Sue gunned it, yanked the van into the field, pressed her foot as hard as she could, weaving in and out of clusters of startled sheep, silently telling them there was a life at risk and that they would be okay. With steely eyed determination, she pressed down on the accelerator, aiming the van towards a rocky looking bit further up the hill. A hill which may or may not end on a cliff. She didn’t know. She couldn’t see. She felt like Thelma and Louise, but not with a death wish. More like, a life wish. Full, rich, complicated life wishes for her, for Becky, for Flo, for Raven – for everyone. She pressed her entire bodyweight onto the accelerator pedal, praying to everything that was good in the world, that this would work. ‘Hold on, girls!!!!!!’ They crested the hill and as Sue felt the tyres lose their connection with the earth, Flo shouted, ‘I’ve got a signal!’
OPENING SEQUENCE: BRAND NEW DAY
GRAPHIC: HADRIAN’S WALL SPECIAL WITH BRAND NEW DAY’S KATH FULLER
VISUAL: Kath riding her bicycle, Kath talking to riders, Kath hugging Sue, Kath holding up Flo’s arm in an ambulance as if she’d won a gold medal, Kath giving a foil-blanket-wrapped Raven a fist bump, interior shot of a pale, but smiling Becky receiving a bouquet of flowers from Kath, Sue, Raven and Flo with doctors applauding in the background.
VOICEOVER: When I first came up with the idea of riding my bicycle along Hadrian’s Wall in support of LifeTime, I thought it would be a doddle. A bit of a laugh. Something most of our viewers would mute until my husband Kev’s pieces from South Africa aired. After all, who wouldn’t want a holiday in one of the world’s top ten destinations? Wine, sun, sand, sea and hot beach volleyball players … I thought this was something I would do alone.
CUT TO:
KATH: (helmet under arm) But you proved me wrong.
CUT TO: Exterior: Kath outside Hexham Abbey
KATH: You joined us on our coast-to-coast journey and did so in spades. (Blows viewers a kiss) Thank you. From here. (Presses hands to heart) Truly. Thank you. What I learned about our viewers shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but let me tell you this … I think you’re amazing. Amazingly kind, amazingly generous, amazingly sensitive. To date, we have raised over four hundred thousand pounds for LifeTime, a charity that is there for you. All of you. LifeTime volunteers can advise, support, but mostly, they’re there to listen. I want you to know I am, too. Saying that, I would like you to be the first to know that when we reach the end of our journey this afternoon – it will also be the conclusion of my journey with Brand New Day. From the weekend, I will be … considering my options. But for now! Join us live as our riders prepare to set off for their last epic one … until the next one – which I hope will be even better.
Chapter Forty-Nine
‘And if everyone could lean into the stretch … ahhh … that’s it … well done everybody.’
As lovely as Fola was, there wasn’t a chance in hell Flo was going to be able to cajole her quadriceps into doing anything beyond what they damn well pleased today.
‘How was your interview?’ Sue asked, her head bent towards her knee like the astonishingly flexible thing she was.
‘Fine, yes.’ Quick was what it had been. She hadn’t felt right taking credit for saving Becky Harris’s life. It had very much been a group effort so she’d said as much and then asked the cameraman if she could go now because she had a date with a roll of kinesiology tape. ‘I understand Raven’s got another sponsor wanting to cash in on her Insta-fame.’
Sue laughed, switching legs. ‘Yes. Yes, she has. The most reluctant Instagram star in the world, our Raven, but … she seems intent on saying no to sponsorship and yes to keeping it real. Right!’ She stood up and clapped her hands. ‘I’m going to fill up my water bottles. Can I get you anything?’
A younger body. A gel seat. A journey that was entirely downhill and ended at a fish and chips shack. ‘No, I’m fine. You go on. See you in Tynemouth, love.’
‘You’re alright to ride on your own?’
‘Happy as,’ said Flo.
Happy as a what or who, she thought as Sue gave her a quick, tight hug, then wandered off into the crowd of cyclists all buzzing with excitement that they’d made it this far and only had thirty-seven more miles to go.
Thirty-seven modern miles.
She sent her bicycle a hooded look, its frame sparkling in the morning sun as if it couldn’t think of a better thing to do than hit the road again. After all. That’s what its job was. A ludicrous stab of envy shot through her. Why couldn’t her life be as simple. Her destiny so straightforward?
She screwed her eyes shut tight and reminded herself she could very easily be lying dead in a morgue if Becky’s van had ploughed over rather than through them.
She gave her cycle a pat.
One more day. One more day of
