The Magpies A Psychological Thriller - By Mark Edwards Page 0,27

made a retching sound. ‘Please, don’t. I’ll be sick.’

Kirsty nodded at them as they smiled at each other. ‘Well, you certainly look happy together. And, Heather, you can tell me all about it later. In detail. Graphic detail.’

The traffic began to thin out and soon they reached the go-kart track. Chris and Lucy had been driving ahead of them all the way. At one point, shortly after Paul and Kirsty’s revelation, they had almost lost them. But now, here they were, about to reach the venue. Jamie felt the butterflies in his stomach stir. Although he hadn’t admitted as much to any of the others, he felt nervous. He had never been in a go-kart before. He’d played Super Mario Kart on a friend’s Nintendo, but that was as far as it went. Paul had never been karting either, but he was really excited, as he kept telling everyone. But then, Paul had always had a penchant for speedy, adrenalin-generating activities. He had been snowboarding and rock climbing, water-skiing and even bungee-jumping, things that made Jamie – who couldn’t even roller-skate – break out in a cold sweat.

A parking attendant showed them towards a couple of good spots, then the six of them walked towards the entrance. At the pay-booth, Chris produced his membership card and they paid their entrance fees. The woman behind the counter handed over their crash helmets.

‘Where’s yours?’ Jamie said to Lucy.

‘I’m not taking part. It doesn’t really appeal to me. To be honest, I find it too frightening. The karts go so fast.’

Jamie turned his crash helmet over in his hands. He could imagine himself skidding on a patch of oil, crashing into a wall, his go-kart exploding, a fireball consuming him. He imagined himself as one of those horribly-disfigured burn victims, having to undergo reconstructive surgery and being called ‘brave’ by everyone. He could just see it: this would be the point where he cashed his good luck chips in. At times like this he wished he was a woman: it would be much easier to say no; he wouldn’t have this ridiculous masculine front to keep up, whereby if he said he didn’t want to do it, he would be accused of wimping out. He could just imagine Paul ribbing him about it. And Kirsty too. She seemed perfectly relaxed, although a little impatient to get Heather on her own so she could find out the salacious details of her and Paul’s tryst.

‘Are you alright?’ he said to Kirsty.

She nodded. ‘Yes. I can’t wait to get started.’

He smiled weakly. ‘Me neither.’

‘So what are we waiting for?’ said Chris, and he led them outside, Paul and Heather holding hands, Kirsty beside them, Lucy and Jamie following behind.

They found themselves standing in a large, noisy area, the smell of petrol and burnt rubber smoking in the air around them. The track was directly in front of them: a figure of eight, its shape marked out by hundreds of tyres, stacked up to chest height. The go-karts zipped around this track, the racers gripping the steering wheels tightly, moving at great speed, overtaking and being overtaken. The karts buzzed like wasps trapped in bottles, brakes and tyres squealing intermittently as they took sharp turns around corners. The karts came in all colours, patterned with checks and stripes, and each kart had its own number and name on its side. Jamie noticed that all of the drivers were adults: there were a few children hanging around, but they were spectators only. This was an adult sport. He felt sick.

An attendant in dark-blue overalls came over and said hello to Chris. ‘Brought some friends with you, I see. Any of you karted before?’

They all shook their heads.

‘No?’ He chuckled. ‘You’re going to love it. It’s tremendous fun. And these karts are top-of-the-range, with very powerful five horsepower engines. We import them from the States.’

To Jamie’s horror, the man looked at him and said, ‘Hey, mate, you look a bit pasty. Don’t be nervous. You’ll love it.’

Chris clapped Jamie on the shoulder. ‘He’s right, Jamie. It’s really good fun. I was a bit nervous before my first time, but once I was out there, I was fine.’

Jamie nodded, but he didn’t feel very reassured.

‘Where are our karts?’ said Paul. ‘I can’t wait to get started.’

The attendant held up his hands. ‘All in good time. First I have to explain a few rules. First of all, no bumping…’

Jamie tuned out the man’s words and stared at the track. He watched