Their newly planned route was to follow the A49 to the Coldra roundabout just outside Newport, then join the M4 until it took you to The Severn bridge, and Peter had the biggest grin on his face when he found out that you only paid the toll one way, and their crossing of the bridge would be of no cost, not that he was tight with money, it just made his decision to do a detour even more satisfying, and for him it all seemed so easy, though the journey had been long and arduous, everyone was pleased with the detour they had taken, even if the roads had not been clear it had taken away the monotony of the M5and at least they had been travelling, though at times not very fast, soon they would be back on the M5 towards Cornwall, they had phoned the Holiday camp to tell them that they were running late, the receptionists indicated that so were many others, and regardless of the time they got there, someone would be able to check them into their caravan, ‘okay today had been a bit of a washout’ but the forecast was good for the rest of the week thought Peter, even the nicotine craving didn’t seem to bother him now as he drove along eating sweets and singing along to the radio.

‘Oh shit’ said Peter when they got to the Coldra roundabout, the signs were saying the M4 was closed due to an accident, he briefly wondered how many accidents there had already been that evening, it was nearly 9pm and the roads had gone extremely quiet as it seemed people would rather stay in their homes then travel in this awful weather, or they had stopped off somewhere and settled for the night until the storm was through.

He could see a colossal hotel called the Celtic Manor, up on top what seemed to be a hill, he recalled there was golf tournaments played there, he wasn’t sure if the British open had, and for one moment he was tempted to book in for the night and travel again in the morning, but it could still be 5 hours from here to their holiday destination, even on a good day, and he didn’t want to waste another day travelling, and who knows what the roads would be like in the morning, they could still be in utter chaos, at least they were quieter now, eerily quiet he had thought, so he decided against it, at least they would wake up in the morning in their holiday camp, all going well, a quick check of the map suggested that things were not too bad after all, if they took the Magor road the Severn Bridge was less than ten miles away, so that’s what they decided to do, they were on holiday and nothing was going to stop them getting there, they drove along the Langstone road which was where the map told them to go, Peter fiddled with the sat nav in his car but it didn’t want to work so he started looking for the sign to Magor, as they drove the heavens seemed to open again with a forceful downpour as the lightening lit up the skies once more and the thunder appeared to shake the road beneath them as they drove, the storm had come back with a vengeance, 2 miles down the road they took a right turn to Magor, Peter only just seeing the sign, they passed a hotel offering cheap rooms, but again Peter decided against it, if they were going to stop off somewhere for the night, he would prefer it closer to Cornwall.

Peter thought maybe once they were over the bridge they may have to stop off at a travel lodge for the night, visibility was only a couple of yards as Peter crawled along in the torrential rain, Nathan and Lily were growing very restless in the back now, and even the ever cheerful Eileen was getting cheesed off, wishing they had gone back to Scarborough after all,

‘Even Filey would have been better than this’ thought Eileen.

‘I don’t fucking believe it ‘said Peter as he stared at the sign placed on the side of the road which he had only seen at the last minute, he had stopped the car and put his head in his hands as if he had all the troubles in the world on his shoulders, all of a sudden wanting a cigarette more than ever, Eileen was beginning to get cheesed off with his dramatics and her patience was wearing thin, this was soon turning out to be a day she would rather forget,

‘Dad ‘Lily said chastising her father, she hated her father swearing, it just didn’t seem natural,

‘Road ahead closed, flooding’ the sign told them, Peter stopped the car and got out, immediately feeling his clothes wetting with the rain, he lit a cigarette and tried to keep it dry as he smoked it and looked around, this wasn’t really a road, it was a lane, and even though the night had drawn in he could see that all that surrounded him was fields and trees, and as he stared the wind seemed to pick up and it howled which made the woods more alive as the trees swayed and the wind howled, and Peter began to worry what his next move would be, should he turn around and try another direction, he knew they were so close to the M4 and the bridge that would lead them over the water and onto the M5, then he noticed a small sign on the side of the road, he walked over to it, it read Underwood next right’ he ditched his cigarette and sat in his car soaking wet looking at the map ‘can’t see Underwood on this map’ said Peter.

Eileen took it off him, she studied it ‘nope nor me’ she said, she rammed the map into the glove compartment, thinking of Scarborough and all it had to offer,

‘Just go there dad, I need a wee and I gotta get out of this car’ Lily told him, they all pretty much thought the same, Peter shrugged his shoulders, he guessed he had no choice, there didn’t seem enough room to do a three point turn, maybe if he headed right he could turn around and head back to that cheap hotel he had seen, that seemed a good idea, so he took the sign that read Underwood.

He put the car in gear and inched forward into the ever deepening water that seemed to be increasing as they drove along, he hurriedly took the right turn, they drove past a church and a graveyard and Peter just hoped his faithful Avensis would not fail him now because he really didn’t want to get out by that graveyard, it spooked him, and Nathan covered his eyes until they were past, Lily tried to look the other way but found her eyes drawn to the graveyard, Eileen was silently urging Peter on, they were driving up an incline now and the rain run down it like a river cascading through its rapids, and the hail pelted against the sign that said ‘Underwood’

But all they could see was trees.

A nervousness and fear came over Peter like never before, his instincts told him to turn around but the road was to narrow, he needed to get his family on dry land, somewhere safe until this rain stopped, he didn’t care where it was, anywhere would do, he wasn’t sure what had gone wrong or even how he put his family in this position, he tried to gather his thoughts, but the truth was he was nervous.

‘Have you gone the wrong way ‘asked Eileen? Her voice was anxious, she bit her bottom lip, she didn’t want to show her kids that she was scared, Peter could see it on her face, and his heart went out to her, he got them into this mess, it was up to him to get them out, he leaned over and grasped her hand trying to reassure her, their eyes met and Peter winked, it made Eileen feel just a little better, but still she trembled inside.

‘I don’t like it here dad’ said Nathan with a nervousness in his voice, and his father’s stomach dropped once more, the truth was Peter didn’t like it here either, he somehow felt that he had let his family down and that tore him up inside a little as his heart raced, he couldn’t see a thing behind him to reverse, there seemed nothing in front other than trees and something told him he should not have gone this way, and at that moment the sky seemed to explode with a sheet of lightening that lit up the trees that surrounded them, and in that split second of brightness the trees seemed to be beckoning them, Nathan shrieked while Lily screamed and  then the skies were dark again, the howling of the wind through the trees only interrupted by a crack of thunder, to be replaced by the winds once more, then the rain poured bouncing off the trees as they swayed, hammering on the metal of the Avensis, thumping on the roof of the car, and soon the lane resembled a river, and panic started to set in, it was then that Peter realised what they had done and he cursed himself for it, his own stupidity, ‘no wonder it’s not on the fucking map’ he thought, for it was only then he realised that Underwood must be Just a wood.