All of the original situations in this story are mine, the rest is the intellectual property of Maddy. Cat is a fictional character, any similarities to anyone living or dead is purely my warped mind in action.
After the action of the last few days Monday was exceptionally quiet. Mum and I went shopping in Mansfield and left Dad to help Gran in her garden.
We made sure that we took Gran's list as we were doing the grocery shopping. It wasn't that she couldn't do it herself, it was just that with three of us eating her out of house and home it was only fair that we did the replenishing.
It didn't take long in Morries to get everything (that's Morrisons to you). Gran shops here all the time but for us it's a bit of a novelty as there aren't many of them round our way.
Once the grocery shopping was out of the way we hit the centre of town. I know I'm not in Mad's class when it comes to shopping but I usually enjoy it, not today though. I guess in comparison to the fun at the weekend it was dead boring. I did try a couple of things on, though apart from a magazine or two I left empty-handed. I even checked out the shoe shops looking for that girl from last week but I guess it was her day off.
Being back in time to prepare the lunch wasn't the chore it appeared to be. Mum and I got to pick the menu so we broke out the salad stuff, sliced meat and some rolls and turned it into a buffet meal. Our garden labourers were most appreciative.
After lunch I listened to my CD while I waited for my food to settle then went out for one last ride on my faithful old bike. Ok so the frame wasn't changing but thanks to John and someone he knew from the club pretty much everything else would be tonight. I had used the last of my birthday money and by dipping into my savings account had been able to get some more good stuff for it.
John had made all the arrangements for me. Rather than sending me to a stranger's place he came to mine and I got to watch the metamorphosis as he fitted Drew's donated wheels as well as replacing my gears and brakes for the ones I'd just bought off him.
The moment he was finished I had the urge to take for a proper test ride, but with the light fading I had to settle for a short proving run down the road - it felt pretty good.
Next morning I got up earlier than I needed to purely so I could have a ride before we went out. I couldn't believe how much of a difference it had made!
I was revelling in it so much that I nearly forgot the time and had to hurry back to get ready to go out.
First port of call today was the air museum at Newark. Yes I know what you're thinking, 'what kind of girl is interested in dead planes?' well this one - so there! We went to airshows when I was younger so it's a normal family thing to me. Anyway I won't bore you with the details, if you are interested I can show you the pictures that Dad and I took.
We got done there just before one and it was just a short trip up the A46 to Lincoln and Karla's place.
I had hardly got in the door when Karla whisked me off to her room to show me her new stuff while I began to fill her in on what I'd been doing since last week. She wasn't best pleased that I had been to Alton Towers without inviting her even if it had been a surprise to me, if I had known I would have invited her but it was out of my hands. I'm not sure how long we had been there but if it hadn't been for our parents we probably would have stayed there for the rest of the day.
"Come on you two, it's far too nice to be stuck indoors," Karla's mum said through the door.
"Sounds like there's a plan. Any ideas what they have in mind?" I asked.
"We know this great spot for a picnic, right out in the middle of nowhere. It's a bit of a trek, but it's worth it." Karla replied.
I was really glad at my choice of shoes that morning, they weren't much different to walking boots so just the job for today.
The start of the footpath was only a stone's throw away and even at the relaxed pace we were setting we quickly left 'civilisation' behind. A passing train was the only thing to interrupt the peacefulness of the place and then only briefly.
I don't know how far we had walked along the path when we veered off it, made our way through a small thicket and emerged in a sheltered spot in the lea of a hill. It was the perfect spot for a picnic. Our parents had been right, it was far to nice to be stuck indoors.
Everybody helped to set things up so it wasn't long before we were tucking into a nice healthy salad and mini baguettes filled with chicken or tuna - yum.
It was all going so well, right up to the point were all the bobbing heads of the ramblers started coming by singing "Valdaree!" (Okay so I made that bit up but I think you get the picture).
Our picnic spot may have been off the main marked footpaths but it was set just above a right of way popular with the more die-hard walkers. Even though there weren't that many of them we were almost done so we packed up early and headed back to the hacienda.
The weather was still nice when we got back so Karla set up the swingball in the back garden and we messed about playing that until we got bored, we even let our parents take a turn or two.
Later on the talk turned to food, not that we needed anything yet but we needed to think about booking something. Having got into the habit of riding the ten on a Tuesday I was about to protest when I remembered that I hadn't been invited for this one then I remembered something else and turned to Karla.
"Tuxford isn't very far away is it?" My memory was pretty good when it came to places.
"Just a few miles the other side of the little toll bridge, why?" she replied.
So I filled in the rest of the blanks from the last time trial and the past weekend and pointed out that if I was able to I wanted to support Drew and Maddy after the way they had helped me.
My parents had no problem with that little detour. Much to my surprise Karla's parents seemed to be intrigued by my descriptions, particularly of Drew and decided that we should forget eating out and all go to watch the time trial instead, much to my delight. I joined Karla in their car for the ride over.
We had found our way to Tuxford and wondered how easily we would find the start but when I spotted a cyclist in the distance as we approached the A1 we knew it wasn't far. When another one appeared we knew exactly where to turn, I just hoped that neither of my friends had started already.
We found a safe place to park and I spotted some familiar faces on the corner so we joined them.
"Hi Brit, Sab. We thought we'd come and support Drew and Mad, where are they?"
"Hey Cat, they're getting ready by the start." replied Brit, "Who is the rest of the crew with you?"
"Oops, these are my folks and that's my friend Karla with hers."
With my half-hearted introductions out of the way I tried to spot Drew. I eventually saw him looking towards us so I headed his way.
"Hi Cat."
"Hi Drew. Good luck tonight, not that you need it, Mr regional champ." I said which made him blush.
"I only remember bringing five with us tonight, did you bring the rest of the crowd? Who are they?"
I turned to look and realised our little group wasn't so little after all.
"You mean you didn't recognise my Mum next to me? After the way she tried to embarrass me last week I would have thought you wouldn't forget her. No prizes for guessing it's my Dad next to her, and that's my friend Karla with her mum and dad."
"You brought your friend?"
"Yep. I went to visit her again today and then I remembered about the trial tonight so I persuaded the folks to come this way. When I told them about you Karla's parents wanted to see what the fuss was about too. Hope you don't mind too much."
"No, I guess not. Hey is it my imagination or have you had your ears pierced?"
"Very perceptive Drew, I had them done by Sylv last week before your victory party."
"Sorry, I guess I wasn't really with it Sunday night."
"Don't worry about it. Anyway I thought if a regional champ could have his ears done then I had no excuse. Cute don't you think?"
"Very you." he replied.
"But enough of the chit-chat, you need to concentrate on racing, just like Mad is trying to." I said.
"Yep, I bet you wish you were riding too don't you?" said Drew.
"You betcha, especially with the new improved ex-clunker."
"New and improved?"
"I know you know John? Well he knew someone at the club who was selling some bike bits so I used the money I was saving." Must have been easy to tell I was pleased, I knew I was grinning like I was from Cheshire.
"Campag?" asked Drew.
"Is there anything else? So with your old wheels and my new gears and stuff it's a bit more like a dream machine. Not in the same class as anything your family owns but we're getting there."
I left Drew to get back into race prep mode, Maddy was almost ready for the off so I didn't interrupt her, I gave her a thumbs up instead as I returned to the unofficial Bond-Peters supporters club. Soon she was off and getting serious encouragement from all of us on the first corner, what must the rest of the 'crowd' think?
Drew's turn came soon enough. I watched him do a few last minute preps and he was off. I think we almost deafened him as he turned the corner.
"So that's all we'll see of them until the finish?" Karla asked.
"Fraid so, circuit racing is more of a spectator event than this, you get to see more of the action, so I'm told." I replied.
We joined up with the rest of the girls where Brit was full of stories of things that had happened to Drew since the party. I thought I had a busy few days but it seems he knew how to pack incident in too. There was something about the way she took delight in his misfortune that just didn't sit right with me.
When I had focused back in to the conversation Brit had moved on to their journey here this evening.
"I noticed that Maddy and Drew were quiet so I thought they were both preparing, but when we got back to the start we discovered that Maddy was a little bit scared." she said.
"She said she wasn't even sure about riding, and Drew was like 'Oh Mad you've got to!' but Mr Bond stepped in and told him that it was totally Mad's decision."
I put myself in Maddy's shoes, you couldn't blame her, you get enough berks with twice as much horsepower as brainpower on country roads the thought of riding on a major road made me feel uneasy. I suppose it wasn't as busy now and the thought of riding the time trial would have driven me on but my sympathies were definitely with Mad.
Karla wasn't known for her shyness, she added her own twopenneth, "There's no way you would get me on the A1 on a bike, it's bad enough riding to school."
I had to agree with her, four-wheel drive owners around home in the morning had made me choose walking ahead of cycling to get to school. (Or maybe it was Mum banning me from the main roads at peak times.)
We followed the parents to our vehicles but I had to grab a look in the camper first, I was expecting it to be kitted out like a mobile cycle shop so I was rather disappointed to see that apart from the odd spare part here and there it was pretty much like your average camper.
When Drew's dad moved towards the finish line I guessed they were due back soon, but who would be first? In theory it would be Drew but Maddy was no slouch and starting four places up might be enough.
I knew the cyclist in the distance was Maddy long before she was close enough for confirmation. Karla must have seen me jigging about because she joined me at the finish. We both cheered and encouraged Maddy as she put in that last bit of effort to cross the line even though my own experience told me she would be oblivious to us.
I jogged behind to congratulate her but Drew's dad had me grab the bike while he lifted her off before she collapsed.
I wanted to see Drew finish as well but I chose to stay with a hyper-ventilating Maddy and watch from a distance. He finished strongly and freewheeled over to us, Maddy was flat on her back and still wheezing.
My first thought was that I could return the favour that they did for me when we first met, but Mr Bond had them riding back slowly instead. I think the leg rub would have gone down really well, although I'm sure they would have preferred to be rubbing each others legs.
Drew helped his dad stow the bikes so Maddy got to use the camper to change. When he noticed the state Drew was in it was his turn to change, just one problem, he hadn't brought anything else. I doubt we could have got to a supermarket in time either.
When Mad offered him some of her clothes we all expected him to accept straight away but he hesitated.
"Not a dress or skirt is it?" he asked. Maybe he was finally learning to be cautious.
He looked relieved to hear that but his relief was short-lived when he saw what he would be wearing.
Technically Maddy wasn't lying, it wasn't a dress or skirt but he might have been better off if it had been. It was a playsuit although playing was the last thing Drew intended to do in it, especially with the way it fit him, you know, down there.
All three of the Americans thought it was funny, Brit found it particularly amusing. I felt for him but it was cute and I told him so, he looked like hs just wanted to disappear.
I wasn't really sure how I was going to explain this one to Karla's parents. "Do you see that boy in the cute playsuit with the rosebuds on? He is going to the schoolboy nationals." doesn't really sound convincing does it?
I made a point of asking Maddy where she had found the playsuit, I wasn't sure that it would suit me but I was definitely going to give it a try.
Into the middle of this chaos John returned with the times. It was bad enough being a spectator but when I discovered that Maddy had done 27.28 and Drew got 23.45 I was even more miffed and I wasn't doing a good job of hiding it.
"You wish that you could have gone tonight." John asked me.
"Too right I would, seeing those times I'd have given my right arm." I replied.
At that point Drew decided to be a joker "If you had then you would fall off your bike." Which earned him 'the look' from me and a poke in the ribs from Mad.
John ignored him, "I'm sorry it just wasn't possible this time, but if you keep at it and do some more Cuckney's next year I might be able to use what influence I've got to get you a ride."
"Thanks John." That cheered me up no end unlike Drew's lame attempt at humour.
"No problem hun, and tell your gran that I'll be round at the weekend to help her with that ivy." he replied.
"Will do, mum says thanks."
"No problem."
And with that he was gone.
I felt someone tap me on the shoulder, it was Karla.
"We're going to head home now, it's been great seeing you again. Give me a call in a couple of days."
"Count on it."
We hugged and then went our separate ways, Karla and Co. back towards Lincoln while we followed the Bondmobile on the short detour to Tuxford town for chips.
We pulled up behind them as Drew got out. "Fancy meeting you here." I said grinning.
"You followed us?"
"Newsflash, the camper isn't easy to miss. Anyway we were peckish and fish & chips sounded perfect."
"Couldn't agree more."
Dressed as he was Drew was feeling self-concious just standing in line, but when the local jerks started making lewd comments he was ready to walk right out and I was getting ready to call for reinforcements. Britney surprised both of us and our would be assailant with a percussive blow to his groin (that's a swift knee to the family jewels to you and me).
After that it looked like it was about to escalate when a big bloke turned things around for us and sent the jerks packing. He obviously made a big impression on Brit as her friendly fireman was all she could talk about as we sat and ate.
My Dad was pretty impressed by the way Brit had reacted when he found out what had happened.
"When we get back it's self defence classes for you my girl." he said.
"Oh Daaaad." I said and sighed, that was not on my list of ways to have a good time but I suppose that it's useful to know if you get in a situation.
Even though he knew the way my Dad followed them back towards Warsop, in fact he must have gone into auto-pilot because he almost followed them into Mad's road. He corrected his mistake straight away and a few minutes later we were back with Gran.
The next day was our last full day in Notts, after an early bike ride we spent the whole of the day with Gran and sorted our stuff out ready for the journey home.
When Thursday arrived I made sure I was up and out early enough for one final ride before anyone could stop me. I hoped that maybe Drew would be out on his bike too but no such luck. When I returned I only had time to wash and change before we left. I gave Gran a big hug then made myself comfortable in the car.
I couldn't help feeling emotional as we started off. This had been one of the best times I'd had and now I was leaving my new friends behind. All I had was my memories and a few phone numbers.
The End
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