Chapter Seven #3
The route wasn’t actually that bad. A bit of mud, but mostly smooth driving. Rosie gasped at some of the tight squeezes between trees and bushes they had to get through. Louis’s ears rang at the sound of branches scratching the car.
“Oh, no!” Rosie shouted, just as a wing mirror got ripped off. Thankfully, she had the window open and managed to catch it before it got lost in a bush. Vince could sort it later no problem.
Eventually, they found a big muddy patch. Louis got out to poke it with the stick. Then slid over in front of everyone. Mud covered his legs, back, and backside. Rosie was laughing hysterically in the safety and warmth of the car.
Scowling, he picked himself up and got back in the car.
“Will you not get the seat muddy?” Rosie teased. “Do we have a hose?”
“Easy clean covers.” Louis smiled sarcastically at her, and he wiped a dirty hand on her coat. She screamed and laughed as she tried to escape. “And I wouldn’t let any of you loose with a hose anywhere near me. No doubt you would all plot together to put it on full power.”
“Ah, smart.” Then she laughed again. “That was such a spectacular slide.”
That made him grin. Yes, she was laughing at his expense, but it wasn’t the first time he had fallen over. He would do it again if it meant seeing her so carefree. The fall and the new bruises made it worth it.
Inching the car through the mud slowly, they seemed to be okay, so he put on some speed. They slipped a bit, but they got to the other side without any issues.
So did Emerald. But the two cars made a little bit of a mess, and made it muddier, which meant Vince was struggling. The wheels were sliding. In fact, one wasn’t even touching the ground at all anymore. It meant poor Vince was sliding to one side, heading straight for the bank.
Emerald was there straight away, wading through the mud with the waffle boards to put them under the wheels that she could reach.
“What are they for?” Rosie asked, her gaze glued to the scene to watch intently.
“They are to help find purchase for the tyres, giving them something solid to help drive them out of the mud,” Louis explained.
It wasn’t working, and mud went flying. Emerald was absolutely covered as she went to retrieve the winch and snapped it on Vince’s car. Not that she was bothered, she loved mud.
Plodding over to the pink car, Emerald went to Rosie’s window. “Want to have a go at pulling the car out?” she asked
Nodding enthusiastically, Rosie was out of the car before Louis even blinked. Louis was grateful to his sister for including Rosie. Taking each step slowly on the mud, she made it over to Emerald’s car and learnt which button to push, how much speed to put on, and they were giggling as they did so.
It lightened Louis’s heart to see it. Both women needed a friend. They needed a reason to laugh. And here they were together, bonding over pulling a car out of mud.
Eventually, they got Vince out and packed all the equipment away.
That rescue seemed to put a fire under Rosie. She was now more interested in taking part and wanted to learn as much as she could.
“What are all of these?” Rosie asked, pointing at the boxes in Emerald’s car.
“Some tow ropes and straps, in case the winches fail. We wrap them around a tree, and the loops on the end get attached to a clamp that we attach to the car. Snatch blocks increase the pulling capabilities,” Emerald answered.
That was when Louis lost Rosie as she ended up in Emerald’s car, having a go at driving. His sister had sorted out the insurance in a field.
A field.
Because to her, this was her favourite hobby and now she had a friend to share it with.
Louis had offered his car to Rosie, but Emerald’s had more buttons.
And it was bigger. Louis may have lost his passenger, but it was worth it.
Rosie was having a blast. And Emerald was opening up to a new friend.
Before they knew it, they had reached their lunch stop. Parking at the designated car park at the top of the cliff, they took their picnic down to the beach.
Emerald was now talking to Rosie about diff locks, their heads close together. “Diff locks are used to enhance traction. They make the wheels on the same axel go the same speed, as opposed to sending more power to the wheel with the least resistance.”
Rosie was listening to it all, fascinated.
Banjo had a great time jumping about in the sea.
It was raining, but since they were covered in mud, it made little difference to them.
Vince threw a stick for the dog, who retrieved it and wouldn’t give it back.
Vince ended up chasing the dog as the women chatted, and Louis listened. This day had been perfect.
Packing up, they headed back home. They ended up in another wood, with more scratching from branches. Louis used the radio to warn the others of any low branches or big holes. Emerald was the one responding since Rosie was the one driving in their car.
Rosie seemed pretty steady and confident as she avoided the obstacles. It looked like those two were best friends now. That filled him with a lot of joy knowing she was included and wanted.
More mud appeared, and this time Louis got stuck. Rosie was straight out in the mud to use the winch. She got him pulled out in no time. Once he was free, he figured out another route.
Alas, the day had to come to an end at some point. Pulling into Louis’s drive, they left the cars so the mud could start dropping off outside instead of in his garage. Later, Vince would clean them properly and move them into the garage. Louis had the most space, so they lived here.
Since it was raining and they knew they would get muddy, they all had spare clothes. Heading off to various rooms, they all quickly showered and changed, before meeting in the kitchen.
“Who fancies a barbeque?” Louis announced. “I have steaks. Hotdogs. I also have vegetarian sausages and burgers I can cook inside to avoid contamination.”
Emerald and Vince knew what to do, straight away getting the barbeque lit while Louis raided the fridge.
Poor Rosie was so confused. “But it is raining.”
“It’s fine,” Louis assured her. “We can do it under cover as I have quite a big porch. We love a barbeque after an off-roading day. We can just sit and relax, letting the food cook while we enjoy the fresh air.” Grabbing some wood from one of his sheds, he took Rosie with him. “Come on. We can build the fire pit.”
Setting up the wood, Louis showed her how to stack it, then how to light it. The fire started nicely, and already he was feeling warm.
Really warm. Wrinkling his nose, why did he suddenly feel hot? Why did something smell like it was burning?
“Oh, Louis! I am so sorry!” Rosie shouted, patting his shirt.
“You’re on fire,” Emerald said calmly, approaching with the extinguisher.
“I know! Got this lit super quick.” Then he realised what she meant as the flames went higher up his jumper, and he started patting the flames.
“No. You’re on fire,” Emerald clarified as if he hadn’t already noticed. “Rosie just set you on fire.”
“I am so sorry. I was practicing what you taught me on some smaller pieces!”
Vince just rolled his eyes as he carried on tending to the food on the barbeque. Like this was normal.
“How did you manage that?” Louis shouted in shock.
Throwing his jumper off to land on the grass, Emerald got the extinguisher ready and blasted it while laughing so hard. Banjo barked and ran around.
Horrified, Rosie hid her eyes behind her hands. “You showed me how to light it, but just as I did my section, you moved and the edge of your jumper got caught in the flame.”
As helpful as ever, Emerald was laughing so hard she was crying now. “You fit in so well!”
Pulling his crying girlfriend into his chest, Louis uncovered her face and kissed her nose. “It’s fine. You didn’t mean it.”
“I set you on fire!”
“And it was hilarious,” Emerald announced.
“That is not helping!” Louis shouted. “And in case you care, I am not injured.”
“Lovely,” Emerald responded, and skipped back inside to grab utensils.
“Food is ready,” Vince shouted. His priorities were clearly very different to everyone else’s.