Page 100 of The Hitchhikers

“What are we going to do?” Jenny said.

Simon gestured in the direction of the railway tracks. “We’ll walk until we find a town.”

“What if it’s miles away?”

“There’ll be houses, something.” He opened the paper bags and pulled out what looked like food items that they’d taken from the farmhouse and shoved them into the pillowcases. When hewas done, he swung his backpack onto his shoulder and picked up both pillowcases.

Jenny shrugged on her backpack.

They trudged through grass and low bushes until they reached the tracks. Alice was in front, with Simon directly behind her, and Jenny in the rear. Alice stumbled over one of the ties and, unable to balance herself, she slow-motion dropped onto her knees, then her stomach. She stayed down for a moment, groaning and cursing, then shouted at Simon.

“Untie me!”

“No. You’ll run.”

“To where, Simon? We’re lost in the dark!”

He lifted her up from under her armpits. They kept walking. Alice was sore, thirsty, and exhausted. She was glad that Jenny was keeping a slower pace. Alice hadn’t eaten since breakfast and felt lightheaded. She concentrated on putting each foot down on a tie.

He finally let them stop for a break. Alice drank as much water as she could before Simon yanked the thermos away. They ate an apple each, Alice holding it awkwardly between her bound hands, a few crackers, and finished the berries. Simon tossed the garbage into the bushes.

They continued onward. Alice tried to remember the map. If they’d passed through Coleman, then they were heading toward Blairmore. It hadn’t looked far by vehicle, but she wasn’t sure how long it would take to walk. They were somewhat parallel to the road, and the occasional vehicle passed by, their headlights tantalizingly close.

If the railway tracks began to head into the mountains, they might be in trouble, but so far, in the moonlight, the terrain looked flat, with scattered groups of trees.

They’d covered several miles, by Alice’s estimate, and crossed a bridge over a trickling creek when the shapes of large buildingsappeared in the distance. Simon looped his arm through Alice’s, so that she was forced to walk beside him.

The tracks moved closer to the road. They seemed to be walking through an industrial area with buildings spaced far apart. One with silos, a wrecking yard with crushed vehicles, a tire store, some sort of shipping container storage place, and an automotive shop.

When they reached a plumbing store and a general hardware, Alice wondered if they were nearing the town. Then Alice spotted a motel down the road. Simon stopped walking, forcing Alice to stop. Jenny moved up beside them. They stood in silence, taking the sight in.

The neon-orange sign was in the shape of a teepee, with an arrow pointing below to the butter-yellow, chuck wagon–shaped office.THE SLEEPEE TEEPEE MOTELwas written on the side in a flowy script. Three large, teepee-shaped buildings lined up behind the office. A portion of a fourth one was visible. Each teepee was a different pastel color. Pink, blue, yellow. A huge statue of a bison grazed on the small front lawn.

“Can we stay there?” Jenny said. “I’m so tired.”

“Yeah.” Simon pulled cash out of his pocket and handed it to Jenny. “I’ll wait here with Alice. Ask for a room. Say our car broke down—not truck, okay?”

Jenny nodded, her face pale and pinched.

They hid in the shadows and watched as Jenny made her way across the road, then walked up the shoulder, her sandals loud in the silence, until she reached the motel office.

She glowed under the neon light for a moment, then disappeared.

CHAPTER 36JENNY

The bell above the door jingled as Jenny let herself into the small front office. It was empty. Was the place closed? But when she reached the counter, an older blond woman with a tight perm and a crocheted flower vest appeared from around the corner. Jenny could hear the happy sounds of a game show on TV coming from there.

The woman smiled. “What can I get you?”

“We’d like to rent a room, please.” She adjusted the backpack on her shoulder, hoping that it made her look more like a real traveler.

“Who’s ‘we’? I only see one of you.”

“Oh, sorry.” What should she say? Maybe she shouldn’t call Simon her boyfriend. “I’m traveling with my aunt and my cousin. They’re getting our things from our car.”

The woman looked past her and out the dark window, her eyes narrowed, and her lips pursed. She reminded Jenny of the librarian at her school, who was always peering over her glasses at them to make sure no one talked or folded pages in the books.

“Where did you park? Don’t see a car.”