Page 46 of The Hitchhikers

“Thank you.” Alice followed the cars. Simon moved from the dinette to the passenger’s seat and got the map from the glove box. He leaned over to study it in the dim dashboard light.

“Man, what a bummer.” Simon folded the map, kicked his feet up onto the dash, and reclined the seat. Alice turned her head, her profile outlined briefly with light, and Jenny knew that she was probably annoyed about Simon’s feet, but she didn’t say anything.

Jenny took one of the pillows they’d been using at night, placed it against the window, and then turned so that her back rested on it. She stretched her legs out in front of her on the seat.

The RV tires hummed steadily through the seat and the wall.She rested her hands on her belly like it was a crystal ball. Could the baby feel the vibration? Her eyelids were heavy. She let them drift closed. It felt so good to give in. She and the baby rocked to sleep.

She woke to Simon’s loud voice. “Where the hell are we?”

“I don’t know!” Alice yelled back.

“You missed the highway turn?”

“I told you I don’t like driving at night.”

“I only closed my eyes for a few minutes, you should have woken me.”

“To say what? That I missed a turn that I didn’t know I missed? The man said to drive on 95 and that’s what I’ve been doing.”

“Goddamn it.” Simon was sitting straight now, unfolding the map. He reached up between Alice and him and flicked on a ceiling light.

“I can’t drive with that light on.” Alice’s voice was panicked, and the RV swayed, making Jenny’s stomach lurch, followed by a sharp twinge on the underside of her belly that she hadn’t felt before. She frowned, rubbing at the sore spot. She must have slept awkwardly.

“Jesus Christ.” Simon flipped off the light.

From the back, Tom’s groggy voice said, “What’s going on?”

“Your wife got us lost.”

They drove on in silence, Simon leaning forward like he was trying to see the highway better. Jenny peered into the darkness from her side window. All she could see were trees and flashes of moonlight. It felt like an eternity before Simon broke the thick tension by shouting.

“There! That’s a sign ahead. Slow down.”

Jenny slid to the end of her seat so she could see through the windshield.

“Ten miles until Kimberley,” Simon said. “Keep driving until we find somewhere we can pull over. I want to check the map.”

Not much farther down the highway, Simon spotted a gravel road, and Alice turned off the highway. When she parked the RV, she left the engine running, and the headlights pointed down the road, narrowing into darkness. Jenny didn’t like that she couldn’t see what was outside. She hugged her arms around her middle. Simon flicked on the interior light, which was better because now Simon and the unfolded map were reflected up onto the windshield.

“We’re almost at the bottom of BC.” Simon glared at Alice. “You let me sleep forhours.” He jerked his head around to look at Jenny. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“I fell asleep too. Sorry.”

Alice didn’t make any sort of defense or apology. Jenny thought about how Simon had said Alice was smart. Did she miss the turns on purpose? Why would she do that?

Jenny felt stung, the way Simon had spoken to her, like she’d failed. It wasn’t her fault that he’d fallen asleep. She didn’t know.

Simon was studying the map again. “We can still enter Alberta from the south.”

“Can I see?” Jenny said, and Simon nodded. She made her way to the front of the RV.

Simon pointed to the map. “We started here, at Golden.” He drew his finger down the highway, pausing on the two turns that Alice had missed. “We’re not far from the US border.”

“What are we going to do?”

“We’ll park here until the morning. No one can see us from the highway. Tomorrow we’ll get groceries and look around for another place to hit.”

Alice turned and gaped at him, her eyes shining in the light. “Are you crazy?”