The day after, Ann had definitely finished to pack her backpack and her overnight bag. Everything was in it, she just had to put everything in the van and go to Roger's place. She took her two bags and ran down the stairs, heading for the kitchen. She opened her fridge and took out the beers and the sandwiches she prepared earlier. She put them in a plastic bag and went outside to put them in the van with her bags that were becoming a bit too heavy for her back. She went back in and grabbed her UK map with her keys, two novels, a book with Scottish legends, and her mobile turntable. She did not take her makeup or anything; they were going to camp in the wild, why bringing it? She had only taken her three round and colourful sunglasses and her big purple floppy hat. She already put it on with her blue sunglasses and made sure she had not forgotten anything. Once it was done, she slammed the door behind her and locked the house. With her hands on her hips, she looked at her house with pride.

“See you later, housey!”

And she ran to her van, opened the door and sat on the driver's seat. She started up the car and disappeared from the street. Next step: Roger Daltrey's house. While on the way, she turned on the radio and tried to receive the best station. The only one whose sound was correct was a pirate radio, but she could not care less: pirate radios broadcast way more rock'n'roll than usual and public ones. She heard the end of a song by the Troggs, and after a short speech of the DJ, she heard the intro of a song that she knew only too well. Magic Bus by the Who. Her face lit up with a smile as she then heard Roger's voice. She opened the window of her car and removed her hat. She wanted to feel the wind blowing in her hair. She did not really know why she was that excited for the trip. Was it more because she would find out about Nessie – at last – or more because she could spend time only with Roger? She could have written an essay about it. Anyway, she threw her hat on the backseat and sang along to the song, happily shaking her head in rhythm.

“Too much Magic Bus!”

When the song ended, she sighed and laughed. She felt incredibly good. She had this impression that she went back in time and was a child again. Everything she could see looked wonderful to her, even the details she usually hated. For instance, she hated that chipped off paint on her side of the door, but now she liked it. It made her feel peaceful in a certain way. Then, she heard Jumpin' Jack Flash by the Rolling Stones. She screamed in her van, raising a fist through the window; all the people that were going by turned their heads quizzically. Another crazy young woman!

She arrived in Roger's street and parked in front of his house. She saw him wearing an unbuttoned shirt, showing his – wonderful – chest, tight jeans and boots. He had placed a hand on his hip and was gracefully smoking a cigarette. Ann almost did not want to stop the car and get out: she wanted to stay inside and look at him smoke like that all day long. But they had a long trip and they could not waste time. She closed the door behind her and ran to Roger. She jumped into his arms after he threw his cigarette and crashed it with the tip of his boot. He gently squeezed her against him and kissed her forehead.

“Well, well, well!” he laughed. “Someone's ready to go on an adventure am I right?”

“You have no idea! I took beers and sandwiches.”

“What did you put in the sandwiches?”

“Your favourite things, chicken, salad, tomatoes and mayonnaise.”

“Er, love, these aren't my favourite things at all.”

Her eyes suddenly became as round as cricket balls, and she blanched.

“W-what? Did I make any mistake?”

“I'm only kidding!” he said, bursting out into laughter. “Of course these are my favourite things.”

She playfully hit him in the arm, her face being colourful again. He played with her hat she had put on again, and kissed her hair.

“Just you wait, Roger Harry Daltrey. I know your weak points! If you terrorise me one more time like this, I swear I'll make you pay for it!” she tried to say naturally with an eyebrow raised. He cupped her face in his hands and stroked her nosetip with his.

“We have a long, long trip that's waiting for us. You don't want to miss it, do ya?” he whispered, smiling at her.

“No way! Let's go.”

She grabbed Roger's overnight bag and ran to the van before putting it on the backseat with her stuff. He put his hands in his pockets and slowly walked up to the vehicle, examining it with his blue eyes.

“You changed something on your van, didn't you?” he frowned.

“Yeah, I changed the paint. You know what I love with this van?”

“No, but I'm sure you're going to say it.”

“I love opening the windows and feeling the cold breeze on my face. As if the van caught the wind. By the way, I gave it a name!”

“Oh, did you?”

“Yup. Its name is Don O'van.”

Roger's eyebrows raised so high that she thought they would go higher than his curly hair. He crossed his arms on his chest and stared at her.

“That's the most horrible pun you've ever made, love.”

She laughed, gently put her arms around him, and kissed his nose that she liked a lot.

“Come on, smile a bit, Rogie! We're going on an adventure!”

“It'll hurt my lips.”

“You're not George Harrison, love, come on!”

He smiled and grabbed her by the waist before carrying her on his shoulder all around the van. But then, he saw a group of girls running to them, at the edge of the streets. Two of them were wearing a Who t-shirt.

“Oh, fuck! Let's go!”

He opened the door and made her sit in before bypassing the vehicle and sit on the driver's seat.

“Can you give me the keys?”

She nodded and threw the keys to him, as they were in her pocket. He caught them and did not wait to start up the car and drive away. He sighed and took a look at Ann.

“Sorry for the groupies.”

“Oh, it's okay. If I didn't know you, I'm pretty sure I would have been with them.”

He laughed and looked at the road.

“By the way, what's the way to Scotland?”

“Maybe you need a map, champion!” she winked. “Let me get mine.”

She stood up and leant towards the back seat; she took her backpack and opened it. Even if she was well organised for the planning, her bag was a mess. A total mess. Plus, the map was at the bottom. She leant a bit more and heard Roger giggle.

“What?”

“Oh, it's just that you're showing your beautiful arse to everybody, and they're staring at it when we pass by.”

“Aw, shit.”

“Don't worry, I take care of it!” he said, putting a hand on her bottom. She laughed and grabbed her map before sitting back on the seat. She opened it and Roger frowned as he was looking at it, then back at the road, then back at the map, then back at the road. Her finger followed the red line she had traced from London to the Loch Ness.

“Okay, take the slip road right here” she said, pointing at a direction. He nodded and turned left. They were now on the motorway. She turned round and looked at London that started to disappear behind them. With a grin, she waved at the city and sat correctly on the seat. “D'you want a beer?”

“Not for the moment, thank you, love.” he smiled. “Can I turn on the radio?”

“Sure! I currently receive a good pirate radio that broadcast rock'n'roll. They played Magic Bus when I was on my way to your house.”

“Oh, really? That's great. I prefer pirate radios anyway. They're real fans. For the majority, at least.”

“Yeah!”

Roger turned on the radio and let Ann put the pirate radio she was talking about. The DJ was talking about the Beatles and other artists, and she immediately recognised the DJ she heard before.

“Here it is!”

“... and now, let's play a marvellous song for this sunny day! Here comes Catch The Wind!”

“Oh, it's the van's song!” Ann laughed, followed by Roger. “Sing with me, Rogie!”

“I don't know the lyrics very well.”

“We don't care!”

“In the chilly hours and minutes of uncertainty, I want to be in the warm hold of your loving mind” Roger started to sing with a huge smile. “This song is wonderful, but my voice isn't made for folk.”

“Come on, we're only having fun, nobody's judging you.”

“Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind.”

Ann was singing too and smiled at Roger before kissing his cheek and playing with his curly hair. They drove for an hour, listening to the radio and singing along to the songs they knew by heart, mainly Ann. She watched the landscapes they passed by with a huge grin, while singing with her beloved friend.

“Ann, honey, can we stop at a rest area? My back hurts a bit and I need to pee.”

“Okay, the next one is in two miles, there was a sign showing it.”

“Great.”

“We'd better park in the wild, y'know. Groupies are everywhere, maybe there will be some at the rest area.”

“Yeah, I guess you're right. Tell me if you see a small path to a field.”

“No problem.”

She coughed and looked carefully at her side of the road, trying not to miss a path. Roger frowned with attention to the road too.

“There!” Ann pointed at a path not too far away. Roger turned left and drove a bit on it, trying to escape from the motorway. Actually, the path had an end, but it was perfect to have a rest. He stopped the van and stretched his back. He opened the door and got out of the van, walked a while in the field that was surrounding them and stopped at a tree before unzipping his trousers and urinating against the tree trunk. As for Ann, she was wandering around the van, reading out loud the Scottish tales book she had taken with her.

“The sea-maiden rose at the side of the boat, and asked, 'Didst thou bring thy son with thee hither to me?'”

In the middle of her reading, Roger went back from the field, stretching his back again. He ran a hand through his curly hair and looked at Ann with a tender smile. She looked adorable with her purple floppy hat on her long hair and her blue round sunglasses, reading The Sea-Maiden in the middle of nowhere. For him, the most adorable thing was that she actually acted the characters. She was trying to find the correct voices and intonations for each character. And she was doing it well. He silently walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her collarbone.

“Still proud of your Scottish origins, huh?” he whispered with a grin.

“Of course I am! Oh, Rogie, your hair is tickling my ear.”

He playfully shook his head to tickle her ear even more. She was laughing out loud, struggling to free herself from his embrace. She was trying not to make her book fall on the ground. She spun round between Roger's arms and wrapped her own arms around his neck.

“I'm glad that you came, love.” she whispered.

“I will catch your monster!” he said, proudly contracting his biceps. She laughed and gave him a brief kiss on his lips.

“You're the monster, love!”

He smiled and kissed her back on her lips.

“Can you read this tale for me?” he asked with a smile. “You never read this one.”

“Sure. Come, let's have a beer and let's sit on the roof!”

He nodded and Ann took two bottles of beer in the plastic bag that was on the back seat and joined Roger outside. She climbed on the roof of the van, putting her book and her bottle on it first; once she was on it, she took Roger's hands and helped him to climb too. He sat behind her, stretching his legs around hers and opened the bottles before giving her one. Then, she opened the book again and started to read The Sea-Maiden.

“There was ere now a poor old fisher, but on this year he was not getting much fish. On a day of days, and he fishing, there rose a sea-maiden at the side of his boat, and she asked him if he was getting fish.”