Monster Belt - Chapter 12

'The drive to Hamar on Lake Mjosa took two hours,' he wrote, 'with the heater on full, the car soon warmed up.' She took off her cardigan, pictured the car as he described, crates, bags and cases in the boot, a box behind his seat. Music. As he drove off the Danish ferry when it reached Finland, evening sunshine illuminated low fields darkening as the sun set until only grass verges showed in the headlights' spill. Half tempted to snap the book closed, she noticed the elder boy from earlier watching. Damn it, she thought, where's his parents? She looked back at the book. Words began to merge through the long journey and her head, in the quiet of his vehicle, began to nod. 'Shit.' He slammed on the brakes and dazed, she looked up. Static in the beam of the headlights stood a woman staring directly at them. Harris released his seatbelt, clambered out and strode towards the blond haired woman. 'Are you all right?' he put out his hand. The woman didn't speak. Harris gestured to the car and stumbling ahead in his haste, opened the rear door. She doesn't speak English, you daft sod, Jess thought.