Page 60 of The Hitchhikers

“Jesus. We’re going to be stuck here all day,” Simon muttered. He gave Alice a warning look, then motioned for her to follow him to the van.

The man held the joint out to Simon, who shook his head.

“Just here to help.”

“Great news, brother!” The man pinched off the end of the joint and slid it into his pocket. He and Simon lifted up the long wooden table, which had metal folding legs.

The girls were taking brown paper bags out. “It’s old clothes,” the taller one said as she passed Alice a bag. She picked up one for herself and hooked their arms together. Alice was guided around the corner of the church along a brick walkway, then up the front steps. The girl smelled of marijuana, campfire, and patchouli oil.

They moved through the short hallway into the main part of the church, which didn’t look like any churches that Alice had ever been inside.

The church was empty but for the colorful pillows arranged in a large circle. In the middle of the circle were bongo drums, candles, bells, and metal bowls. The air had the same marijuana smell as the girl, but now mixed with the cloying musk of sandalwood incense.

Alice was getting a headache.

The girls dropped the bags of clothes against the wall, where Simon and the man were setting up the table. Alice did the same.

“What kind of church is this?” Alice said.

“We’re the Church of the Divine Moon.” The tall girl pressed her hand against her heart. “Our leader, Phoenix, he’s studied in India. He’samazing.” She gave another of those dreamy smiles. Maybe she wasn’t just stoned on drugs. She was high on devotion.

“Where is he?” Simon didn’t even try to hide his suspicious tone.

The blond man shrugged. “He moves around to wherever he’s needed. Sometimes he’s here or back at our farm. Do you want to meet him? You can join our drum circle tonight.”

“We’ve got plans.” Simon strode toward the door.

They carried in another load. Alice dropped the clothes, while Simon and the man set up a table. She caught Simon eyeing a door a few feet away that had been left ajar. Alice couldn’t see what he was finding so interesting. She wondered what he was thinking.

They made two more trips. Finally, the van was empty.

“Come back tomorrow for the sale,” the man said as he closed the doors. “We’ll have fruit and vegetables for sale, and the girls make goat-milk soap.”

“We have knitting too,” the curvy one said. “We dye the wool ourselves.”

When Simon didn’t say anything, the silence growing awkward, Alice said, “Sure, maybe.”

Simon walked back toward the RV, Alice following, but he stopped near the rear bumper, and turned to watch the others leave. Alice had to stand with him.

The van reversed onto the road. The tall girl waved out the window and the man honked the horn. Alice gave a halfhearted wave.

As soon as the van was out of sight, Simon walked to the RV door and yanked it open. He stood on the lower step and poked his head inside.

“You okay, babe?”

“Yeah, but who were those people?”

“Gimme a minute.” He closed the door before Jenny had a chance to say anything else, then gestured for Alice to come with him.

“What’s going on?”

He was walking fast. She hurried to keep up with him as they rounded the corner, jogged up the steps. He let himself into the church, moved quickly over to the wall. She still didn’t know what he was doing or looking for. He reached for one of the bags of clothes, dumped it out.

“Grab one,” he told her, and, confused, she picked up a bag and emptied it. The clothes were an assortment of men’s dress shirts and women’s blouses, slacks.

“Come on.” Simon pushed through the open door into the room beyond.

A kitchen, with wood cabinets, yellow countertop, white fridge, and stove. A small table by a window. Two chairs. She ran her gaze around the space, then saw all the mason jars lined up on the counter, filled with dried green marijuana. She frowned. This didn’t bode well.