Chapter 28
‘Where’s Amy gone?’ I asked, looking round the street.
We’d arrived at the tip of Manhattan, close to Wall Street, and with it being rush hour, the place was heaving.
Police were directing traffic around it, buses and cars rushed past and people were hurrying in every direction.
I stepped back to let a fierce-looking commuter by.
‘We should have had an extra hour in bed, let things calm down here.’
‘Well, you know Amy: she’s got us a jam-packed day planned,’ said Caz. She looked down the street and her eyes lit up as she pointed. ‘There she is.’
I watched Amy bob into view, behind her a balloon with a big forty printed on it.
‘Oh no.’ I turned to Caz. ‘What has she got? I am not taking that round with me.’ I crossed my hands, signalling to her it was a no-go. ‘Nuh, uh. No way.’
‘Come on. It’s your birthday.’
‘This is supposed to be a joint one for all our fortieths.’
‘Oh no, this is all for you.’
I watched as Amy kept having to apologise as the balloon got in the way of people rushing about.
‘Happy birthday!’ She didn’t even wait for me to say anything before tying the balloon to my wrist.
‘Did you really need to tie it?’
‘I didn’t want you to accidentally lose it.’
‘Hmm, how thoughtful of you.’
At least it served one purpose, it seemed to be a commuter repellent. Balloon in hand, everyone was giving us a wide berth.
‘Did you have to get my age printed on it? Forty’s so depressing.’
‘Oh hush now,’ said Caz, who was the oldest amongst us. ‘That feeling lasts for about a week and then you realise that your world hasn’t ended and you carry on as normal.’
‘A week you say?’
‘Mine lasted a bit more than that,’ said Amy.
‘Come on, forty is the new thirty.’
I stared hard at Caz.
‘You told me when I turned thirty it was the new twenty-one.’
‘And I’ll be telling you ninety’s the new seventy when we’re in our rocking chairs on the porch together,’ she said, pushing the balloon gently so it hit me in the face.
‘Besides. Without the balloon, how are you going to do one of those insufferable “This is Forty” posts on Instagram? Seriously, you’re going to have to stop giving me those looks.
The wind might change and you’ll be stuck like that. ’
Amy laughed. ‘Right, ladies, as much fun as this is, we’ve got a schedule to keep.’
She reached into her bag and pulled out an envelope. It reminded me of the ones she and Paul had for us on the last leap year to pick where we were going. Only this time there was only one.
‘What is it?’ She handed it to me and I set about opening it.
‘It’s a treasure hunt.’
‘We’re going on a treasure hunt?’ I looked down at the first clue. I was kind of excited.
‘Well, you’re going on a treasure hunt,’ said Caz. ‘We’re just keeping you company.’
‘You made this for me?’ I looked down at the card and back up to them.
‘Uh-huh, we thought it would be fun. After all, you did kick arse at all those online escape rooms we did on Zoom,’ said Amy.
‘You guys.’ I was choked up with emotion that they’d done something so personal. I reached over and gave them both a hug at the same time.
‘So you might need this,’ said Amy, handing over the guidebook that she’d used like the bible since we’d arrived.
‘And you’ll need to keep your phone handy: every time you get to the right place, you have to take a photo of you in front of whatever the answer is, and you’re going to send it to the group chat.
And from there, Paul, who’s going to be standing by his phone, will text you the next clue. ’
‘Wouldn’t it be easier if you gave me the next clue?’
‘We thought it added a bit more fun,’ said Caz, with a shrug.
‘And less work for us to make sure we got them in the right order,’ said Amy, with a nod that let me know that that was the real reason.
‘Sound good?’ Caz raised an eyebrow.
‘Sounds amazing.’
‘Then what are you waiting for?’ said Amy, tapping the card.
The first clue took us to Staten Island on the ferry where we stopped for breakfast before I snapped a photo of myself in front of the Statue of Liberty – the gift from France that I’d been tasked to find.
‘I’m so sorry I forgot the balloon.’ I tried to hide my little smile.
‘I bet you are.’ Caz had a stern look on her face. ‘We should have known tying it to your chair was a bad idea.’
‘Although it did mean you got free pancakes,’ said Amy, always looking on the bright side.
‘Not that I needed them after that giant omelette.’ I groaned and tugged at my waistband, wondering if I was going to be able to fit into any clothes by the time I left.
I stopped in front of the boating lake at Central Park.
‘Right, I’m pretty sure this is the answer.’ I turned to Caz and Amy for confirmation, but they were giving nothing away.
‘Sure?’ said Caz.
‘Uh-huh.’ I re-read Paul’s clue one more time before taking a selfie and sending it to the group chat.
I turned and took in the park. The strangest thing about being in New York was that at every turn it felt like I’d been there before. There was a familiarity to it that I’d never experienced in any other city.
I looked over at the boat house that was case in point.
‘I wish we could have lunch over there. Like Meg Ryan did in When Harry Met Sally.’
‘I love that movie,’ said Caz, looking over at it. ‘Was it really in it?’
‘Yep, when they’re having lunch.’
‘Not when she does the whole orgasm thing?’
‘Nope,’ I said. ‘Not that bit. She was with her girlfriends chatting about men.’
‘Ah, now that sounds more like it,’ said Caz.
My phone beeped. Paul barely hesitated before he sent back a message, which I hoped was the next clue.
‘What does it say?’ asked Amy.
‘Whilst you’re there, have a paddle, before you get back in the saddle.’ I looked up at her. ‘These clues are getting weirder.’
‘Yeah, well, we did drink an excellent bottle of pinot noir when we were writing them, so apologies for that. But I can translate this one: we’re supposed to be going on a rowing boat,’ she said pointing at the water that had patches of ice on it. ‘That ain’t going to happen.’
I shuddered at the cold.
‘That’s a pity,’ I said. ‘So what do we do now?’
Caz pulled her phone out. ‘There must be a way we can go boating.’
‘Watch out, you’re going to sink me,’ I yelped as Caz’s boat came perilously close to mine.
‘Sorry, but could you drive any slower, Miss Daisy?’
‘Oi, watch it. I just want to get our deposits back.’ I watched as Caz’s boat did little loops of mine.
‘I’m glad that the rowing boats were closed. I can’t imagine letting you loose on a pair of oars.’
‘I’ll have you know, I’m an excellent rower,’ said Caz and we turned to look at her. Amy almost crashed her boat into the side as she wasn’t concentrating.
‘You’ve rowed?’
‘Yeah, in the gym.’
‘On a rowing machine?’ I groaned. That was not the same thing.
‘Well, it can’t be that different.’
‘Other than it’s anchored to the floor,’ I said.
‘And you don’t actually move.’ I high-fived Amy and Caz rolled her eyes.
‘Whatevs, I guess now we’ll never know. So how about we make this interesting. A race from one end to the other? Loser buys lunch?’
‘And winner picks where?’ said Amy.
‘Within reason, no Michelin stars. Just in case it’s me that’s the loser,’ I said, knowing that was a likely possibility. ‘That shopping spree yesterday was not kind to my credit card.’
‘Agreed. Cheap and cheerful. So let’s line up the boats.’ Caz started to laugh. ‘Lucy, we’re having the race this century.’
The others were already at the starting line and mine was lagging behind.
‘What? I’m not burning out the engine before we start.’
‘Ready … steady,’ said Caz.
‘Go!’ screamed Amy and she pushed the lever on the remote control and her boat whizzed along. She ran alongside and when her boat pipped Caz’s to the post she whooped with joy. ‘Hot dogs.’
‘What?’ I looked at Caz who was equally as confused.
‘We’re having hot dogs, from one of those little carts. They smell amazing.’
‘When I said budget, I didn’t quite have one of those in mind.’
Amy did a victory lap with her boat, running circles around us. ‘We had a bet. Besides a hot dog off a street vendor is peak NYC tourist.’
I started to take the museum steps two by two. ‘Is this actually the museum that Ross was supposed to work in in Friends?’ I said, turning back to the other two who were keeping up.
‘Ooh, I thought you were going to say Night at the Museum,’ said Amy.
‘I haven’t seen that.’
‘My kids love it, and I think you would too. Robin Williams, Ben Stiller.’
‘New York really is a movie set,’ said Caz.
‘Isn’t it? That’s why I love it,’ said Amy. ‘That and they have snacks at every corner.’
‘I still can’t believe you made us eat those hot dogs. You have no idea what meat was in them.’ Caz was turning her nose up. ‘And those pretzels, I don’t think my thirst will ever be quenched again.’
‘Oh please, like we didn’t eat worse on nights out.’
I thought of some of the dodgy fried chicken and kebab shops we’d frequented in the past.
‘But then we were too drunk to notice.’
‘Well, it tasted delicious. And look, we’re all still alive.’
A thought flicked into my mind of Paul with his oysters on the day I met him. I hoped Amy was right and she wouldn’t suffer the same fate.
‘Right, let’s figure out this clue,’ I said, really getting into it.
From plains to prairies, marsh to mountains. You’ll find me living the same life day after day after day.
I looked up at the girls. ‘I’m guessing it’s too much to hope for that it’ll be the dinosaur bones?’ I picked up the floorplan and looked at the different rooms, knowing that description could only be talking about the hall of North American Mammals. ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’
‘Don’t worry, we’ll be there with you,’ said Amy, linking her arm through mine. ‘Plus, I’m pretty sure the things in here only came to life at night-time.’
I shot her a look.
‘Oh, on second thoughts, you don’t want to be watching the Night at the Museum after all. Might not help that fear.’