‘There were the bodies of two small children on the back seat. Holding each other in their arms. Long dead, they were covered in a fuzz of green and orange mould and had sort of melted into the seats. ‘Henry dropped the key and walked away, squatted down, holding his knees to his chest. Nobody wanted to get in the car, so I stepped up. This was supposed to be my expedition after all. I was supposed to be the one getting into the supermarket. I picked up the key and opened the door. The stink that came out was so foul that Susannah bent over and threw up all over the place. I quickly climbed into the driver’s seat and just told myself to keep moving. I buckled up my seat belt and jammed the key into the ignition. One twist and the engine started. First time. ‘I’d had driving lessons from an uncle in Iran when we went over there on a family holiday the summer before. It had been cool. We’d rolled round the countryside and I knew enough to get the thing going and keep it in a straight line.
