Page 28 of The Hitchhikers

Keep walking. Please, please.

When the bottle was empty, Simon screwed the cap back onthe radiator and latched the front grille. He looked toward the service shop. “That was close. Good job getting rid of him.”

She frowned at him. Did he think she was on their side?

“I didn’t want him to get hurt.”

Simon held her gaze in a cold, blank stare. “I could have done anything I wanted, and there’s no way you could have stopped me.” He slid his sunglasses back on, but they didn’t hide anything. She still felt the coldness in his eyes as he followed her into the RV.

Simon told her not to drive past the garage because it would reveal the damaged side of the RV. Alice argued that it would be worse if they got stuck doing a U-turn. The moment the words left her mouth she realized that she shouldn’t be doinganythingthat might stop them from getting caught. Unfortunately, Simon had already decided she was right, and that they would be in motion as they went by the shop’s window, so the man probably wouldn’t notice the damage.

Alice was hoping for the opposite. Maybe the old man was already calling the police. She relished the image of police cars racing up behind them, lights flashing, sirens screaming.

Simon used the map to guide them back toward the Trans-Canada Highway. When Alice’s stomach grumbled loudly, Simon glanced at her, then turned to look at Jenny.

“Have you eaten anything?”

“Just the muffin.”

“You have to eat.”

“Iknow. We haven’t stopped anywhere.”

Alice looked up at the rearview mirror. Jenny’s mouth was turned down as she stared out the window. Alice guessed she hadn’t liked being scolded.

Simon waited for a moment, but when Jenny didn’t face him,he shifted back around and studied the map again. “We’ll circle back to town. Maybe there’s a picnic area.”

They found a park that ran alongside the river—the Columbia River, Simon told Jenny, and Alice had to fight the tears welling up in her eyes. It should’ve been Tom telling her these things while they were on their vacation. He would have announced the names of every river and mountain, and he’d have a clever story or a bit of history about each town.

The park had a few picnic tables scattered over the grass field, a playground, and a clear view of the suspension bridge that crossed the wide river. Behind them, on the opposite side of the road from the park, a flat-roofed A&W drive-thru was advertising Mama and Papa Burgers.

Alice brought the RV to a halt near an enormous wooden head of a mustached man wearing a black top hat. Beside him a sign stuck in the ground warned them not to be “woodenheaded” and drive carefully. Simon laughed. Alice did not.

Jenny and Simon sat at the table with his arm draped over her shoulder as they looked over the map together. While they talked about the route ahead, musing about the Rocky Mountains and how long it might take them to reach Alberta, Alice made tuna sandwiches. She still had her can opener, but without knives, she had to use a spoon to spread the condiments.

Alice was able to feed Tom a sandwich and help him drink two glasses of water. Then they were allowed to use the bathroom. Alice fretted when it was Tom’s turn. She didn’t like how pasty his skin looked—despite the heat. His shirt was wet with sweat, and he smelled sour.

She helped him back to bed, where he collapsed, seeming to fall asleep in seconds. She felt for his pulse, comforted by the steady beats, but his skin felt so hot. She exchanged the melted juice for the now frozen bag of peas and gently rested it over the top of his shirt.

Alice was glad that he couldn’t see the worry in her face. It was clear that any plan to escape would be hindered by Tom’s injuries. She’d have to find another way to find help.

Alice was washing dishes—angered that Jenny was helping her dry as if things were the same as before, as if they were travelcompanions—when Simon said, “How much food is left?”

Alice looked over her shoulder. “You mean from lunch?” He’d watched her clean everything up. Was he going to force her to make him something else to eat?

“Like groceries.”

She thought about the nearly empty fridge. “Not much.”

He was flipping through the traveler’s checks with a frown. “This is only a hundred dollars. You said you were traveling for two weeks.”

Alice turned all the way around, Jenny following as though they were two spinning tops.

“Yes, that’s right,” Alice said.

“This RV goes through a lot of gas. Then you’ve got food, campground fees, and whatever you spend at the Olympics. You were probably going to buy souvenirs.”

“We budgeted carefully.”