By the time the last of the picnic food was eaten and packed away it was four o’clock, and the heat did not seem to have lessened. In fact, when they piled into the car, hot, salty and well content with their day out, it actually seemed to be hotter than ever. The very air burned, and as they drove through the countryside Tess drew Jonty’s attention to a heavy black bank of cloud approaching them quite rapidly, and turning the blue of the sea to as forbidding a grey as that of the clouds themselves. Mr Bell heard the uneasy murmurs in the back of the car and glanced in his mirror. He had put the hood down before they set out so that they might enjoy the breeze of their going, but now he slowed the car and drew in to the side of the road. ‘That look like rain,’ he said prosaically. ‘Best get the hood up.’ The words were hardly out of his mouth before the wind, which had been non-existent, suddenly began to toss the tree under which they had parked. Jonty, Mr Bell and Tess all got out of the car, and though it had not seemed necessary at first it soon became clear that the combined strength of the whole party might be needed to get the hood into position. Indeed, they had just fastened the last stay when the gale arrived, ripping part of the canvas and causing Mr Bell to shout to Jonty to hold it on.

Too late. Mr Bell had engaged first gear and begun to pull out into the road again when, with a shriek and a howl, the gale seized the hood and ripped it from its moorings. Like some gigantic bat it flapped away, first taking the line of least resistance along the road but then seeming to decide that it preferred the open fields. It leapt the hedge and was momentarily lost to view behind a stand of trees. Mr Bell jammed on the brake and drew on to the verge once more whilst his wife wailed that they would never see the hood again and might as well go home before the wind did more damage. But Mr Bell ignored her. ‘Come on, you two,’ he shouted. ‘I can’t afford to lose that there hood. Jonty, you and Tess go to the right of them trees and I’ll go to the left. First one to spot it give a holler.’

Tess obeyed, though she thought they had little hope of recovering the hood, but fortunately she had not allowed for the effect of the trees and she and Jonty cheered simultaneously as they entered the little wood and saw a gigantic, bat-like creature lying at the foot of a pine tree, looking so pathetic, as though its bid for freedom had been cruelly curtailed, that Tess found herself murmuring words of comfort as she and Jonty, having shouted the news of the capture to Mr Bell, began to pick up the great dusty object. Then they returned to the car, taking their places on the back seat and laying the hood across their laps. Mr Bell was last back, and as he came he had a hand pressed to his forehead and was looking pale and shaken. ‘Ran into a low branch,’ he mumbled. ‘Gave my head one hell of a whack.’ He wrenched the door open and almost collapsed into the driver’s seat, then turned to his wife. ‘You’ve always wanted to have a go at driving,’ he said in a slurred voice. ‘Now’s your chance. I’m seein’ double . . .’