“DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE!” said Rahul.

“Do we know how near they are?” said Jack. BLEEP! BLEEP!

“Oh,” said Janet. “It’s them! It says, DO NOT MOVE. WE ARE COMING TO GET YOU. WE WILL BE THERE IN AN HOUR.”

“DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE!” said Rahul.

Five minutes later, they were on the road. Not just on their way, which is what “on the road” can sometimes mean, but actually on a proper road again, no longer driving through fields. It was only a country lane, but, still, there were other cars on it, which meant that they were getting some very funny looks from passing drivers.

Although one, at least, shouted out: “Enjoy the Crazy Car Rally!”

“You’re going to have to turn your phone off, Janet!” said Amy.

“What?” said Janet anxiously.

“You are,” said Rahul.

“But I won’t text them any more,” she said more anxiously.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Jack. “If your phone’s on, they’ll be able to trace us.”

“But I never turn my phone off!” Janet said, looking as anxious as she possibly could.

“What about when it runs out of power?” said Jack.

“I make sure it never runs out of power!”

“How?”

“By keeping it plugged in!”

“Where?”

“In a power point!”

“Right. Janet … how can I put this?” said Jack. “Right now, are we in a house? With power points? Or are we in … a ridiculous contraption, sort of a car, sort of a fish tank on wheels, but definitely without power points?”

“Actually …” said Rahul, “I could probably fix up a—”

“DON’T OFFER HER A POWER SOURCE!” said Amy.

“OK,” said Rahul.

“Seriously, Janet, you’re going to have to turn your phone off,” said Amy.

“ALL RIGHT! ALL RIGHT!” shouted Janet.

She held her phone up in the air. Her thumb hovered over the “off” button. Her eyes appeared to fill with tears.

“Goodbye,” she whispered.

“Really,” said Jack. “I think it’s au revoir.”

“I don’t speak German,” said Janet.

“It’s—”

“Jack!” said Amy. “Let her turn it off!”

“Let her turn it off,” he repeated, in his most stupid voice.

Janet held up the phone again.

“Goodbye … I love you …”

“Oh my days,” said Jack.

“Shh,” said Amy.

Closing her eyes, Janet pressed her thumb against the side of the phone. The screen went to a smiley-face icon, with little hands, waving goodbye. Janet, who had clearly never seen it before, waved back, brushing away the tears that had now come.

The screen went black.

“AAARGH! AAAAAARRRGGH!” screamed Janet. “MY PHONE, MY PHONE!”

“WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?” said Jack.

“Anyway,” said Amy, looking ahead. “We’ve got another problem.”