“Now, press down on the clutch. It’s the pedal on the—”
“I know, I’ve playedGran Turismo.”
“Fine. So, the clutch is always down when you start and when you change gears. Feel it out for a minute.”
He pumps the clutch harder than he needs to, but I don’t correct him.Easy does itisn’t in Snow’s behavioural vocabulary.
“Now put your hand on the gear stick.”
Snow grabs it. I lay my hand over his and try to shake his wrist loose. “Relax. We’re just practising. The car is off, and the brake is on. We’re just seeing how it feels.…” I move the gear stick back and forth. “This is neutral.” I push his hand over and then down. “And this is reverse.”
Up, over, up. “First.” Down. “Second.”
Up, over, up. “Third.” Down. “Fourth.”
Snow nods his head, looking down at our hands. “There’s a diagram on the knob,” he says.
“Right. But you can’t look at it when you’re driving. Just feel.…” I move through the gears again.
“Got it,” he says.
I take my hand away. “So, get back into neutral.…”
Snow lifts his hand to peek at the knob, then moves it over.
“It can be a lot to manage all at once—it’s frustrating at first.”
“Who taught you how to drive?” he asks.
“My stepmother.”
“And she got frustrated?”
“No,” I say. “She was lovely.Igot frustrated. Go ahead and release the handbrake—it’s just there.” I put my left hand on his shoulder, then reach across his lap with my right, pointing.
“Did she use magic?”
“To teach me to drive?”
Snow fiddles with the brake. “Yeah.”
“No. You’ve met Daphne. She hardly uses magic for anything.”
“But youcoulduse magic to drive?”
“I suppose, but then you wouldn’t learn.” I nudge him with my elbow. “Go on, James Dean, start it up.”
“Just turn the key?”
“Yeah, and give it some gas.”
He turns the key, and the car lurches forward and dies. I catch myself on the dashboard. “Good.”
“That wasn’t good, Baz.”
“It was fine,” I say. “It’s normal. I should have double-checked that we were in neutral. Try again: Clutch. Neutral. Ignition. Accelerator.”
The car starts fine this time. Simon revs the engine and looks at me, laughing with delight.
