By arriving in Edinburgh sooner, we’d still have two full days and a night before Norman’s show at the Duke, and he’d also be able to check out a few other people’s acts to “get him in the zone,” as Leonard put it. I was a bit worried about the possibility of that making him feel worse about his own performance, but who knew. At this stage, certainly not me.

What I did know was that the thought of a gaggle of eager Facebook fans trampling down the doors of the Duke to catch Little Big Man’s show was turning my stomach in absolute knots, and I made a mental note to get some antacids at the next pit stop.

As the Austin settled in to eat up the four hundred and sixty–odd miles to Edinburgh, Norman huddled in the back seat and began going over his notes for the millionth time. After checking the road ahead for stray delivery vans first, I quietly relayed the news to Leonard that, thanks to Adam, his humble Little Big Man Facebook event was suddenly threatening nearly three hundred comedy fans in one tiny cellar room in a pub. And I’ll tell you right now that a problem shared is not a problem halved at all, because Leonard immediately looked every bit as worried as me. Which of course had the effect of making me even more antsy about it all. The macramé party in my stomach ramped up the fun and invited the neighbors.

When we stopped for a toilet break at a roadside café, as usual I was the first one back to the car. Norman was standing on the forecourt talking to an old lady who’d climbed out of her car with a cat on a leash, and I’d left Leonard having a very civil one-sided conversation with the attendant about how a Mars Bar used to be 20 percent bigger, and where was the justification in increasing the price by 40 percent and dropping the size. It had looked like it was going to be a bit of a wait, but the attendant must have declared a surrender because Leonard made it back in second place.

We sat in the car in silence, waiting for Norman. Me concentrating on trying not to chew a third antacid too fast or too obviously and Leonard staring out the window at an invisible point beyond the motorway. He appeared completely lost in his own thoughts, so when he spoke it took me by surprise.

“Sadie, it’s all going to be okay, you know.” I swallowed a chalky chunk of antacid whole. “Somebody once told me that if you have a problem that can be fixed, there is no use in worrying. And if you have a problem that cannot be fixed, then there is no use in worrying.” Leonard laughed softly in the direction of the motorway. “Smart woman, my Iris.”

I didn’t think I was imagining that the slack skin around his jowls was sagging a little more than usual, but then he turned and looked me directly in the eyes.