Chapter 18
ERIN
In the morning Nellie woke them with steaming mugs of coffee and bacon sandwiches.
Of course. And then Noah arrived and he filmed them at work.
Nellie had blow-dried her hair and had a full face of make-up.
She spent a lot of time making sure she was in camera shot which meant she wasn’t really giving Erin and Martha full instructions, or even bothering about what they were doing.
Consequently, the two women spent a lovely couple of hours feeding and playing with the pigs.
It was only when Louise arrived that they really got to work.
She had them mucking out the pigpens and carting feed from the back of her truck into the barn.
Erin didn’t mind at all. She loved the pigs and being outside and not racing was a nice change from their usual routine.
It also meant she could stretch out her back after being curled up on a floor all night.
When they were done, they met Nellie in the kitchen of the farmhouse after Louise said her goodbyes and left for the restaurant.
‘I called my boyfriend and he said he and his friend, Blue, would be happy to get you both to Canora today,’ Nellie said.
‘Really?’ said Erin. ‘That is so generous.’
‘If you can cover their gas, Ray said they’d do it.’
‘We’d be more than happy to,’ Martha said. ‘Wow, the kindness of the people we’ve met in your country is staggering.’
‘They drive fast. Are you okay with that?’
‘When you say “they”, what do you mean?’ Erin asked. ‘Are they both driving?’
‘Well, they’d have to. You can’t both get on the back of Ray’s bike,’ Nellie said and laughed.
‘Motorbikes?’ Martha said. ‘You mean motorbikes?’
‘Yeah, sorry, didn’t I say?’
Noah snorted with laughter.
‘I guess I’ll be in the producer car, then. But we’ll have to get some footage from behind and then with us overtaking you. It will look great on film. A nice change from all these buses.’
‘I’m fine with that,’ Martha said, and she looked to Erin whose mouth was hanging open.
‘I’m not sure I am.’
‘It’s a free ride – well, almost free other than gas. They’re both good riders. You’ll be fine,’ said Nellie.
Erin realised that the decision had already been made in those few words and her grandmother wasn’t saying anything to the contrary. Nellie left the room and Erin turned on Martha.
‘We’re going to get on the back of bikes?’
‘Sure, why not. It’ll be fun.’
‘Nana, you’re seventy.’
‘And…? You seem to be the one who’s not sure. I’m looking forward to it. I’ve never been on a motorbike before.’
Erin felt sulky. If she were still with Hamish she’d have loved to have sent him a photo of her on a bike.
He’d never believe it of her. How adventurous.
But she wasn’t with Hamish and she couldn’t send a photo regardless, not without her phone.
Then her thoughts turned to Sam. Would he be impressed she was on the back of a bike?
She shook her head. She shouldn’t need validation from a man.
‘Let’s get ready then,’ she said.
* * *
The bikes were big and the men were even bigger.
Erin gulped when they pulled up outside the farmhouse, the words ‘Hell’s Angels’ ringing in her head.
Ray and his friend looked like twins in their leather jackets and wild beards but when they took off their helmets to greet them, they seemed a little less scary.
They were polite and friendly. They offered up helmets to the women and told them there were mics set up inside so they could talk to each other.
There was plenty of room, Erin was pleased to see.
She didn’t fancy being pushed up against a complete stranger.
‘This is where it gets cosy, honey,’ Blue said to Erin. ‘You can hold onto the bars there or you can just hold onto me.’
He laughed as Erin chose the bars and then they were ready to go. Martha grinned at her from the back of Ray’s bike and then asked Nellie to take a photo of them with their camera.
‘This will be one for the album,’ Martha said as Nellie took it, although there was plenty of footage from Noah as he swung around the bikes with his own camera.
It took Erin a little while to get used to the bike and Blue kept reassuring her with his words coming through the speaker in the helmet. He drove carefully in convoy behind Ray, and with Cally and Noah in the producer car behind them. After a while Ray began to speed up and Blue matched his pace.
The flat and arid-looking countryside flew past them. Long gone was the sight of mountains and tree-lined winding roads. This landscape was completely different and the roads seemed to go on for ever.
‘Do you know how long it takes on the train from Canora to Churchill?’ Erin asked Blue. ‘I’m imagining quite a few hours as it looks a fair way.’
‘Imagine thirty-six hours,’ he said and Erin gasped.
‘Thirty-six hours?’
‘And it will set you back a pretty penny too,’ Blue continued while overtaking everything on the road in front of him to keep up with Ray.
‘Do you know how much?’
‘I only know because a couple of tourists came in my garage the other day with their hire car. They had a flat and it was quicker for me to do it than wait for the company to come out. They said they’d paid a hundred and thirty dollars for the cheap seats.
Although they do recline, apparently, and they did get access to the skyline car. They said the views were great.’
‘Wow,’ I said. ‘So that’s going to be two hundred and sixty dollars for the two of us.’
Erin thought about their free dinner and bed last night and tried to think positively about the fact that what they’d saved would now have to be spent. But then everyone would have to pay it. It wouldn’t just be an expense for Martha and her.
‘You know that’s only one way, right?’ said Blue.
‘Who goes only one way?’ Erin asked, but didn’t need an answer.
‘One of the 900 residents, I guess.’
‘Oh my God, this is going to cost us five hundred and twenty dollars,’ Erin said, feeling a little startled. ‘I guess we could just get a single ticket as we don’t know where we’re going next.’
‘Common sense tells me you’ll be back on the return train unless you’ve packed your magic carpet,’ Blue said with a chuckle.
The money was one of the biggest considerations, though. If they ran out of dollars it would, of course, be the end of their race.
Ray and Blue got them both to Canora two hours before the train was due. Erin hugged Blue as she thanked him, much to his surprise, and then the two men left them in a cloud of dust from the back wheels of their bikes.
‘Well, that was an experience,’ Martha said. ‘How did you get on?’
‘I actually loved it,’ Erin said. ‘I surprised myself and Blue was a real gentleman. Nana, did you know the train will take thirty-six hours to get to Churchill?’
‘Yes, Ray was telling me. And the cost. But we have no choice and everyone will be in the same boat. Well, on the same train anyway. And you have to think that it’s far better value than the gondola.’
They were the only contestants at the railway station. In fact, they were the only people there, full stop, and for a gut-wrenching moment Erin wondered if they had this all wrong. Perhaps it was the wrong station, the wrong time. She looked to Noah for confirmation but he just shrugged.
Then Femi and Liz turned up and piled themselves and all of their bags out of a large truck.
The driver tooted before he left with country music blaring from his cab.
They’d obviously been lucky with a lift, too.
Erin wondered how their finances were holding up, thinking about the expensive taxi they got to Banff.
‘Fancy seeing you both here,’ Femi said with a grin. ‘Any news on the others?’
‘We don’t get any news, do you?’ Martha said pointedly but he shook his head.
Erin wondered why she was being a bit spiky.
‘Nope, none. We didn’t see anyone after we all dispersed in Saskatoon,’ Liz said. ‘Have you bought your tickets yet?’
‘There’s a waiting room but no ticket office,’ said Erin.
‘We’ve arranged that you can buy your tickets before you board,’ Cally said.
‘They want to catch our faces when we find out how much it is,’ Erin whispered to Martha. ‘I’m going to look pleasantly surprised.’
Martha laughed and then they all walked into the waiting room to wait for the train.
It was another hour until Priya and Tara arrived in a rush, both looking at their watches.
‘Are we glad to see you,’ Tara said. ‘I was sure we were going to miss the train. Our bus didn’t show up and we had to hitch a lift.’
Erin picked up a leaflet lying on the seat next to her to make room for Tara but Priya chose to stand by the door, arms folded and with a pout on her face.
That vibe was still strong and Erin pondered how likeable Tara was over her mother.
It was watching that first race that had sealed her dislike of Priya, but Martha didn’t seem to get the same feeling as Erin.
Then she wondered if Martha was right and careful editing had Priya painted in a bad light when in reality she was actually just a normal and nice person.
Erin thought about her comment about the brothers being out of the race and then she glanced up at her again and at that pout. Maybe not.
Eight sixteen came and went and there was no sign of Harrison or Sam and no sign of the train. Erin and Martha chose to wait outside on the platform.
‘They’ve probably caught it further down the track,’ Erin said.
‘Knowing Harrison, he’s probably paid them to be late so he can just waltz up and step on it,’ said Martha glancing over her shoulder, but Noah and Cally were inside.
It had started to drizzle but still they chose being outside over the cramped confines of the waiting room with the restless contestants and crew.
‘Do you really feel you know him?’ Erin asked her. ‘I mean it’s been such a long time. Maybe you’re being a little unfair to him.’
Martha seemed to consider this for a moment.