Erden says something to Sarnai, and she laughs. ‘Chingis is our king, our god and everything in between. You will love the ceremony. Trust me.’ She winks. ‘Oh, and Erden says you should buckle up now.’

We’ve been so busy listening that we’ve stopped paying attention to the landscape, but when we look out, we see that it has changed dramatically. Dotted around are bursts of lumpen moon rocks. In the distance, huge craggy mountains. The road undulating towards them, before disappearing on the horizon. It’s like the set of a Mad Max film. It probably is the set of a Mad Max film.

‘Wow,’ Rory says.

And just as we’ve got used to the gentle, constant bumping of the truck on the uneven track, Erden swerves off it completely and onto the plain. The truck lurches to the side, and I feel the nausea from earlier threatening a reappearance. It wasn’t obvious until we were on it, but the hard-packed sandy mud is like a never-ending surface of molehills. I think about skiing, and trying to traverse the moguls on the black slopes, getting it wrong and feeling like you’re about to veer off the edge of the world. Erden is not trying very hard to traverse, and the truck bounces hard, over and over. We hastily clip our seatbelts on and use our hands to stop us from banging our heads on the roof, the windows … on each other. I look at Carrie and she has gone green.

‘Sarnai,’ I call out, the clattering and bumping making it hard to be heard now. ‘Can we stop soon?’ I have no idea how long we’ve been in the truck, or how long it is until the planned stop at the wild horses, but I know that if we don’t stop soon, one of us is going to throw up – and the way that the truck is jumping, no one is going to be safe from it. I’ve done many things in my life that I’m not proud of, but I am not keen on puking over another three passengers – but judging by Carrie’s face, she may beat me to it.

Sarnai holds onto the back of her seat and spins around. ‘Almost there.’

I grab hold of Carrie’s hand, squeezing it tight. ‘Breathe,’ I whisper. She squeezes back.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Got a new pal, you’re dumped

Why are you not replying? I missssss youuuuu!! Are you still in UB? Is there no Internet there? Have you found a Mongolian BBQ yet?

The Halloween film was shit, in case you were wondering.

Lx

P.S. Hope your new pal hasn’t killed you and that’s why you can’t reply. HAHA!

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: Checking In!

Hello Darling,