Amy found a spot at the edge of the field under a large oak tree, and parked. Rahul got out of the TurboChaser with his torch, and began scraping at the back window with a spatula.

“There’s a lot of cow mess on here!” he shouted.

“Oh, that is good,” said Jack.

“It is good!” said Rahul. “We can use it for—”

“I don’t even want to know what for, thanks,” said Jack, getting out of the car. “Would you like the bits on my face too?”

Rahul shone the torch at him and squinted. “No. That’s just some flecks. It’s not enough.”

Janet appeared next to Jack.

“Is there anywhere to wash this off?”

Rahul flashed the torch towards the oak tree.

“There’s a little stream, I think, down behind the tree.”

They went down there.

“Sorry,” said Janet to Jack, as she took her wings and dipped them in the water.

“That’s OK,” said Jack, splashing his face. “Good meme.”

“What was?”

“The poo-flick, spell-URRGH joke.”

Janet beamed. “Thanks!”

Meanwhile, Amy called over to Rahul from her seat.

“What about the crack in the window?”

“I’ve put some black tape on it. I think it will hold up until we get there … What about you?”

“How do you mean?”

Rahul looked at her. “Will you hold up until we get there? This is hard work.”

Amy blinked. She felt that she was, already, deeply tired. She looked at the alarm clock on the dashboard: it was three o’clock in the morning.

“I’ll do my best,” she said.

Janet and Jack came back from the stream.

“OK, everyone!” Amy said. “Try and get some sleep. We’ll get going again as soon as it’s light tomorrow.”

“Will it be OK to drive during the day? Won’t people think, What kind of car is that?” said Janet.

“I’ve had an idea about that,” said Rahul.

“Where are we going to sleep?” said Jack.

“In the car,” said Rahul.

“In the car?” repeated Jack, and not sarcastically, just astonished.

“I’ve had an idea about that too,” said Rahul. “Well, I had an idea about it, in advance. I thought we might have to sleep in it, so … Amy, can you press that button on the dashboard, the one that looks like a teepee?”

Amy looked down. She pressed it. Nothing happened.

“Nothing’s happening” she shouted.

“Just wait,” said Rahul.

He went over to the front of the car. He bent down to the TAYTURB1 number plate and lifted it up. He rummaged around underneath and pulled out a crank handle, a bit like the ones on very old cars that people in the very old days would turn round and round to get the engine going. And that, in fact, was what Rahul did. He turned the crank round and round. But it didn’t start the engine.

Instead, out of the chimney, the one that poked through a cat flap in the roof, came a fabric of many different colours – red, blue, green, yellow – shooting out like a kind of cloth firework. It fell over the car, like a loose drape. Then he turned the handle the other way, and the material tightened and moved upwards, making the car into …

“A tent!” said Amy. “You’ve made it into a tent!”

“Yes,” said Rahul. “And I packed sleeping bags!”

With the tent round it, inside the TurboChaser everything felt very cosy. Amy switched on some of the car lights so that they could see. Rahul showed them how to fold down the glass sides of the inside of the car to make an enormous bed for them all to sleep in. A comfortable bed, because he was also able to slide out the mattresses from beneath the chassis for them to sleep on. They all got into sleeping bags (courtesy of Agarwal Supplies, Outdoor Section). Then Janet brought out her Lodlil bag.

“Dinner!” she said.

“Yum! Lovely!” said Rahul. “What is it?”

She turned her bag upside down. About forty plastic cartons rolled out.

“Beans! Baked beans!”

Amy, Jack and Rahul looked at each other.

“And …?” said Jack.

“Four plastic forks!” said Janet, fishing them out of the bag.

Amy shook her head, and laughed. She grabbed a fork and peeled open a carton.

“Nothing like cold beans!” she said.

“That’s what people say about leftovers. After they’ve been hot,” said Jack, picking up a fork wearily. “Not about ones that have never been heated at all …”

“Yum,” said Janet, her mouth full.

After dinner, they all settled down to sleep. It was warm, and dark, and Amy felt especially tired – she did, after all, have to drive all by herself, and just with her arms.

“Goodnight, everybody!” she said.

“Goodnight, Amy!” said Rahul.

“Night, sis. Good meme,” said Jack.

“Night, um, bro,” said Amy.

She was asleep before she noticed that Janet hadn’t said anything. In fact, they were all asleep, and so couldn’t hear a tap-tap-tapping sound coming from her sleeping bag.