Page 30 of The Hitchhikers

“What’s wrong?” he said.

She lifted her chin to look up at him, still startled by how different he looked with his new haircut and color. “I don’t want to steal all their money.”

“Why the hell not?”

She searched his face, worried he was angry with her, but he just seemed surprised.

“How will they get home when we’re done? They’ll need money.” She didn’t know whatdonewas, though. When was the end to all of this? They couldn’t leave Tom and Alice and take the RV. Jenny had only driven her mom’s car around their town—and barely at that. She got nervous at yellow lights, four-way stops, and while reversing. She never drove at night.

It had been months since she’d even touched the steering wheel. Her mother had taken away the keys because she’d scraped the sides of the tires on a curb too many times.

Simon’s dad wouldn’t let him borrow his truck, not even so Simon could get his license. Sometimes Simon was able to use a friend’s car to practice, but after paying rent for the apartment above the marina and buying groceries for both of them, he was too broke to take the test. She knew he felt bad that their only transportation was his boat, but she’d loved that metal skiff, and she’d hated that they’d had to abandon it once they’d made it up the Fraser River.

She missed watching him navigate the water, laughing with him when they went over the waves. They’d found secret beaches and coves where they collected rocks and sea glass that she could use to make her jewelry. Her eyes prickled with tears when she thought about those days.

“Why are you so worried about them?” Simon said. “They’re probably rich and have family who can send them money. We’re the ones who have to start over with nothing, Jenny.”

He was right, but she still knew it wasn’tright. “What if we were to pay them back?”

“How?”

“One day. When we get settled.”

“You want to mail them a thank-you card?” He smiled to take the sting out of his words, and added, “Maybe we can make amends somehow, okay?”

It was vague, nothing concrete that she could land on, but it needed to be enough. She had to believe that they weren’t ruining Alice’s and Tom’s lives forever.

“You knew when we left White Cliff that we’d have to steal,” Simon said. “Hell, we stole backpacks and sleeping bags from one of the boats that night.”

It was true that they hadn’t had much, just a few dollars, but in the panic of running away, the concept of stealing had been blurry and involved nameless people.

“Everything feels so out of control.”

“I know, baby. That’s why we can’t argue in front of them. Alice is smart. She watches everything. So just go along with whatever I say.”

He used to like hearing her thoughts on everything. He would wait until she added her ideas. She thought of her mother, how she’d walk away sometimes when Jenny was in the middle of a sentence, but this wasn’t the same thing. Simon was doing this toprotecther.

A beige station wagon with wood paneling turned in to the rest area, rolling to a stop not far from the RV. The door opened and two kids jumped out, running past them to the bathroom.

Simon shifted so his back was to the station wagon and she was blocked from view, then whispered, “We’ll head straight back to the RV. Keep talking to me and smiling.”

They turned around but now they were walking closer to thestation wagon. All the doors were flung open. A harried-looking mother was sitting in the front seat, a baby on her lap. She was feeding it a bottle. She looked hot and flushed and gave them a wan smile.

A man got out of the driver’s side and leaned against the side of the station wagon, watching them. His orange checkered shirt was unbuttoned, showing a hairy chest and belly.

“Hey!” he said loudly, but Simon kept them walking forward. The man repeated his call. “Hey, you two! I’ve got to tell you something.”

Simon stopped with a grimace and looked back at the couple. “Yeah, man?”

“You see any hitchhikers?”

Simon shook his head.

“There’s some killers on the run.”

Jenny felt Simon’s hand clench around hers. They had to make a comment, or it would look strange, but she panicked. Should she act scared? Shewasscared.

Simon said, “We heard something about that. We’re being careful.”