“Wow …” said Janet. “That was nice of Mr and Mrs Hancock.”

“One of the good things about being disabled, Janet,” said Amy. “People are nice to you.” She paused. “Well. Sometimes, anyway. Sometimes people are pretty horrible. But nice people are nice to you.”

“Nice people are nice to you,” said Jack, in his teenager voice.

“Which obviously rules out you, of course.”

Rahul turned the button that had changed the TurboChaser into its motorbike shape back the other way.

“AAAARGGGH!” said Janet. “The car is moving weirdly! Inside!”

“No, do you remember, Janet? This just happened.”

“But it was the other way round. AAAARRGHH!”

“Yes, I’m just changing it back.”

“Oh, OK,” she said, suddenly calming down.

They drove for some time, leaving the traffic jam far behind. The countryside changed. They started driving through some very pretty places, with a lot of lakes everywhere.

For a while, there were no problems outside – no roadblocks, no diversions, no one in sight chasing them. But there were some problems inside.

“What’s that smell?” said Amy, sniffing suddenly. “Is it the car?”

“No,” said Rahul, “it’s not the car. Nothing I put in this car could smell like that.”

“Is it the countryside? Sometimes the countryside smells a bit like that.”

“I don’t think cows ever get that ill,” said Janet.

“Jack …”

“What?”

“It’s you, isn’t it?”

“No.”

“Come on,” said Janet. “It is. I’m sure.”

“Why are you so sure?”

“Because I’ve got a teenage brother too. And that is definitely the smell of teenage fart. Of teenage male fart.” As she said this, Janet pushed her face – or at least her mouth and nose – out through the cat flap.

“Yes,” said Amy. “It is.”

“I think so too,” said Rahul. “And I don’t even have a teenage brother. But I have a lot of cousins. And we meet and eat a lot of Indian food …”

“All right, all right!” said Jack. “Yes! OK! I’ve let off! I’m sure some of you have during this journey as well!”

“Oh my goodness, yes,” said Amy.

“As Simon Cowell says, ‘It’s a yes from me,’” said Janet, bringing her face back inside.

“Um … well, if we’re all admitting it, then, yes, I too have broken wind,” said Rahul. “Once or twice.”

“But …” said Amy, “we aren’t teenagers. So our farts don’t smell as bad.”

“Is it time to stop for some lunch?” said Janet.

“Smell not put you off then, Jan?” said Jack.

“It’s gone away now.”

“Hmm. Maybe we could stop,” said Amy. “We’ve probably put enough distance between us and Mum’s van. We’re nearly in Cumbria, I think. And we have –” she looked at the clock – “over twenty-four hours before Dad leaves for Japan. What have we got to eat?”

Janet took out her bag. “Beans!”

Everyone looked at Jack.

“I think it might be time to see if we can get some different food,” he said.