The five of them saw the cars parked on the road. “There they are. We’re supposed to drive to Angus’s place. Do any of you remember the way?” Jacob looked at his friends.

“I think I do,” Jared said. “I’d better drive his car and lead the way.

“I want to drive Mairi’s car,” Julian said.

“We all want to drive, don’t we? We’ll take turns. I will start driving Mairi’s and Jared can lead in Angus’s car. Jared, take Julian and Jeffrey with you and switch off. I’ll take Jason with me.” Jacob ran off and unlocked the door to Mairi’s car. “Here are the keys,” he said, toss them to Jared. “I’ll follow you.”

Jacob climbed in the car and Jason sat in the passenger seat. Jacob put the keys in the ignition and turned the car on. He sat there. “Now what?”

“You put that knob thing to the D, which means drive and steer,” Jason said.

“What if I want to stop?”

“You push something with your foot?”

Jacob leaned over. “There are two things down there. I don’t know which one is used to stop the car. The other one makes the car go, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never driven before. Try it out and see what happens,” Jason said.

Jacob tried to move the car into drive, but it wouldn’t go. “It is broken. The stick thingy won’t move.”

“Try pushing down on one of those things by your feet and then put it into drive,” Jason said.

Jacob put his foot on the gas and it revved the car up. The gear wouldn’t move into drive. “Oops, wrong thing.” He pushed on the break and the car moved into drive. “Here we go.” He held his foot down on the break.

Jason looked out the front window. “We’re not moving.”

“I see that. Let me move my foot to this other flat thing,” Jacob said. When he moved it the car started rolling along the road. “Got it!”

“Isn’t Inveralba the other direction?”

“That means we have to turn around. This is much more complicated than I thought. How do I turn it around?” Jacob sighed and continued moving forward.

“Stop the car first,” Jason said.

Jacob pushed his foot down. “Yes! I did it!  Now what?”

“Turn the wheel and then take your foot off.”

Jacob did as instructed and the car started turning. “It’s working, but what if I hit that tree?”

“Keep turning until you’re on the road going the other way. I wonder how Jared is making out with Angus’s car.” Jason turned to look. “Where is he?”

“He probably knew how to drive and is on his way to Angus’s. We’re going the right way now.” Jacob let go of the wheel until the car was straight.

“Head for town, drive through it and you should remember your way by then,” Jason said.

“It’s easy now that I know which pedal is the right pedal. When I get into town I’ll make the car stop and you can drive the rest of the way,” Jacob said.

“That’s all right, Jacob. I don’t want to drive. I’d rather be a passenger, thank you.” Jason put on his seat belt. “Buckle up, as Mairi says.”

“I can’t when I’m driving. Here, help me,” Jacob said.

Jason reached over in front of Jacob and grabbed his belt. He put it in the slot. “There you go. All safe now.”

                                      *  *  *

“Where is Jacob? I can’t see his car. I hope he isn’t having problems driving. It’s quite simple, you know,” Jared said.

“Good. Let us have a turn now. We’re both anxious,” Julian said.

Jared pulled over and climbed out. “It’s all yours. Did you watch what I did?”

“I’m not a fool,” Julian said. “Of course I watched.” He climbed in and drove off, like he’d been doing it his whole life. “See, it’s simple.”

They headed through Inveralba. “We’re almost to Angus’s croft and Jeffrey hasn’t had a turn to drive. Why don’t you pull over and Jeffrey can drive down a few streets and then take us to Angus’s.” Jared tapped Julian on the shoulder.

“But I’m enjoying myself,” Julian said.

“Julian?”

“All right.” Julian pulled over and parked the car. He climbed out and sat in the back seat.

Jeffrey put on his seat belt and started the car. He didn’t want to be the only one who didn’t know how to drive, so he’d been watching intently. He started the car and drove off. Jared directed him to Angus’s house.

When the croft came into view, Jeffrey went into panic mode. He couldn’t remember how to stop the car, but was too embarrassed to ask.

“Jeffrey, you’re going to fast. You need to slow down,” Jared said.

“Uh, Jeffrey, slow down,” Julian repeated Jared’s words.

“I don’t know how,” Jeffrey said, finally admitting his mistake.

“Push the brake pedal down. Push it. We’re going to crash into Angus’s croft!” Jared shouted.

Jeffrey finally found the brake, but it was too late. He crashed into Angus’s croft, nearly going through the wall.

          Jacob and Jason pulled in behind them. They jumped out the car and ran over to see if everyone was all right.

                                               *  *  *

“Silly guys. Mum, can I take Jack and Jimmy and go exploring.  You and Johnny can stay here with Jesse. This house is so cool. I want to check it out.” Fiona took Jimmy and Jack’s hand.

          “Go ahead, but be good.” Mairi knelt next to Jesse.

          “This is going to be way more fun than driving a car,” Jack mocked.

          “Jack, are you being sarcastic?” Fiona lowered her eyebrows together.

          “I have no idea what that means, but the answer is no, I’m not.” Jack chuckled.

          “Where should we start?” Jimmy looked around. “Upstairs or downstairs?”