Free Carrie Goes Off the Map by Phillipa Ashley Page A

staring out over the garden. ‘It’s all the time I’ve wasted.’
    â€˜You haven’t wasted time, hon.’
    â€˜I have. I’ve wasted so much time, and what for?’
    She thought of the decade she’d spent with Huw, ten years during which she’d been fiercely faithful, despite temptation and opportunity. Those years could have been spent doing what she’d wanted. While their other friends had split up, they’d stayed together. She’d honestly thought she and Huw would be different. How could she have deceived herself? How could any one person be enough for another?
    â€˜I am happy for you, Rowena,’ she said. ‘But I won’t lie. I’m green with envy too.’
    â€˜Don’t be. I’ve only just got enough from Auntie Madge to fund the course. I’ll be relying on the rent from you to help out, and I’ll have to get a bar job or something as well.’
    â€˜D’you know what I’d really like to do?’ said Carrie.
    â€˜Fly off to Mauritius and crash Huw’s honeymoon?’
    â€˜Wow… what a great idea.’ Rowena’s face was a picture. ‘Don’t worry. I’m having you on, Row. There’s no way I ever want to see Huw and Fenella again. They can go to hell for all I care. From now on I’m going to make the most of being young, free, and single. I’m going to make up for all the days I spent cooking him fry-ups, cleaning his sodding overalls, and sorting out his bloody VAT. She can do the lot now and I hope she enjoys it.’
    Carrie felt a new fire stealing through her veins. She wasn’t sure whether it was rage or sheer bloody-mindedness, but it felt so much better than the misery she’d endured for months that she didn’t care. ‘When did you say your course starts?’
    â€˜Middle of September. I was planning on drinking a lot of vodka and smoking a lot of cigarettes, but if you’re saying you’re up for an adventure…’
    â€˜Oh, I’m up for it all right.’
    â€˜Then we’d better start now.’
    â€˜But how? Where? What with? We’re both broke.’
    Rowena stubbed her cigarette out in the geraniums. ‘I think I’ve got an idea.’

Chapter 10
    â€˜Well, it’s certainly an idea.’
    Carrie stood with her hands on her hips outside the cottage, fighting a battle between laughter and disappointment. Parked at the curb was a vehicle that would have been more at home in Scooby Doo than Packley Village.
    â€˜It’s very… interesting,’ she said, as the sun bounced off the bright orange paintwork. ‘Very… different.’
    Rowena let out a giggle.
    â€˜Right. I’m off. I knew you’d be like this. People who don’t understand always are. You either get it or you don’t, and you two don’t,’ said Nelson in disgust.
    â€˜No. No, don’t get upset, sweetie. Not everyone has your discerning eye. It’s gorgeous. Really.’
    Carrie stared at the windshield of the van, which was divided into two panes like the windows of a house. It was cool, in a surf-bum kind of way, but it was also tiny. How on earth would she and Rowena fit into that space? Her makeup would fill the storage cupboard on its own, and as for her shoes… Yet Nelson looked bereft, so she tried to look interested.
    â€˜Is that… is that a splitty?’ she asked.
    Nelson hesitated, unsure whether to stay or go. ‘Yeah,’ he grunted at last.
    â€˜I wondered what it meant. It’s the windshield, isn’t it?’
    â€˜Yeah, but…’ he said, sliding back the door with great reverence, ‘this isn’t just any old splitty. This is a 1967 split-screen VW camper van with, I might add, the original Canterbury Pitt conversion. I had a right job persuading the bloke to let her go and she cost me a fortune. But she was worth it. Dolly is one of the finest vehicles of