“AAAARGH!” said the passengers of the Taylor TurboChaser as they screeched to a halt as well, about twenty metres behind the parent-filled van.

“They’ve stopped!” said Rahul.

“The van doors are opening!” said Janet.

“They’re getting out!” said Jack.

“Hold on!” said Amy, looking over her shoulder and pulling the direction lever backwards towards her. The TurboChaser went into reverse, making a loud groaning sound as it did so.

Suzi and the other parents just stood and watched, amazed. From the point of view of the children looking out from the Taylor TurboChaser, the adults got smaller and smaller. Not small enough, however, for Rahul not to notice what they were doing.

“They’re getting back into the van!” he shouted.

“OK!” shouted Amy. “I’ll keep reversing!”

“You better had!” shouted Rahul. “Because now they’re reversing!”

They were. Amy’s face – looking over her shoulder – set itself now into a determined expression. The backwards car chase was on!

“Why have you put your wings on again, Janet?” Amy screamed.

“They’re clean and dry again!”

“Please take them off! I can’t see out the back!”

The narrow lane curved round. Amy moved the wheel to turn the TurboChaser. But it started heading instead towards the hedge running by the roadside!

“Other way, Amy! You have to turn the wheel the opposite way when you reverse!”

“Oh yes! Yes!” She did so, bringing the back of the vehicle in line with the lane just in time. Leaves brushed against the glass next to Janet’s head as it swung round.

The van, or rather the back of it, was getting closer.

“Come on, Amy!” said Rahul.

“Yeah, come on, Amy!” said Jack.

“Was that sarcastic?” said Rahul.

“No!” said Jack.

“I don’t know if I can make it go any faster!” said Amy. “It doesn’t like going backwards very much!”

“Neither do I!” shouted Janet. “It’s making me feel sick!”

“Fox!” shouted Jack.

“Don’t be rude!” shouted Amy.

“No! In the road! Behind us!”

Sitting there, calm as a cucumber – calmer in some ways, as a cucumber would definitely have been about to be squashed – was indeed a russet-brown fox.

“OH!” Quick as a flash, Rahul pressed the motorbike button and the TurboChaser narrowed.

Quicker even than that quick flash, Amy swerved the handlebars.

The TurboChaser circled round the fox at the last minute. It – the TurboChaser, not the fox – groaned terribly as it went.

“Is it going to fall apart, Rahul?”

“I don’t know!”

“Hang on!” said Janet. “Look!”

They looked. The van had stopped reversing. It was just standing in the lane, waiting.

“Why is it doing that?” said Amy.

“It’s the fox!”

It was the fox. Which clearly was a very calm fox, given that, despite a backwards car chase going on around it, it had settled down to sleep, for all the world like a cat in a basket.

“Aah! Good old Mum!” said Jack.

“What do you mean?” said Janet.

“He means our mum would never run over an animal,” said Amy, and she felt strangely proud of Suzi – even though she was running away from her.

They continued to reverse away. The van receded into the distance. The lane was still narrow, but now on either side of it were two enormous lakes. Very enormous lakes. Amy couldn’t even see the other sides of them.

“Yay!” shouted Janet. “Way to go, Amy!”

“Whoa!” shouted Rahul. “Another victory for the Taylor TurboChaser!”

“Hurray!” shouted Jack in the same tone. “And now there’s a police car behind us!”

Amy stopped reversing. They all looked round.

There was.

“Stop right there,” said an official-sounding voice over a megaphone.