Page 63 of The Hitchhikers

They took more turns, with Simon consulting the map. He was getting increasingly frustrated, snapping out orders. On a straight stretch of empty road, with nothing but forest on either side, he told her to pull over, then he gathered the cowboy hat, overalls, their costume glasses, bandanas, gloves, and the toy guns—and tossed them into the woods.

They continued driving. The road narrowed, turned into rough pavement with cracks and potholes. Not a main road. They passed a couple of mailboxes. Long driveways. Fenced fields.

Simon hit the dash hard with his fist. “We went the wrong way. Turn around in that field.” He pointed to the left side ofthe road, where there was an open gate and a rolling field of long dried grass that rose higher in the distance. Alice guessed there was a farmhouse nearby.

She hadn’t gone far into the field when she felt the back tires slip, then sink. The RV tilted to the side. The tires spun, and the engine revved. She lifted her foot off the gas.

“What are you doing?” Simon said.

“We’re stuck.”

“Goddamnit.Turn the RV off.” Alice did as he said. He yanked the keys out of the ignition, then got up out of his seat to pass Jenny the handgun.

“Don’t let Alice move.”

He flung open the door and jogged down the steps.

Alice listened to the engine tick while they waited. Maybe she should have kept trying to drive the RV out of the ditch. It might have overheated, then they’d be stuck for sure.

Simon returned a couple of minutes later, wiping sweat and dust from his flushed face with his arm. “I’ll have to dig us out.”

Alice watched in the rearview mirror as Simon moved toward Jenny, reaching for the handgun, but she wasn’t giving it to him. What was the problem? Alice turned around.

Jenny was staring at Simon’s shoes, then raised her eyes to his.

“Your shoes are bloody.”

CHAPTER 23JENNY

Simon took the gun from her, set it on the counter, then scrubbed at his shoes with the damp towel. Jenny’s eyes burned and her throat ached from holding back tears. Why wouldn’t he tell her what had happened? He told her everything was fine, but it clearly wasn’t.

She’d seen the van arrive and watched the people get out. She’d been so angry when the girls touched Simon. Anger had turned to fear when they all went into the church, but then the people left. She didn’t understand why Simon wanted to go back inside. They were gone for an eternity while Jenny sat there, useless.

A dog barked in the distance. Simon peeked out the small window above the sink. He pulled a clean T-shirt out of his pack and slipped it on.

Alice was sitting sideways in the driver’s seat.

The barking was growing louder. Now a woman’s voice. Yelling something at the dog. The words became clearer as the dog and the woman reached the RV.

“Bones! You stop that.”

Simon hid the gun under his shirt and looked at them. “Be cool.”

He opened the door and took one step down, his hand gripping the side of the doorframe. Jenny could see his shoulder and back.

“Good morning,” he said to whoever was standing outside.

“Morning,” the woman said. “You lost?”

“Yes, ma’am. We were turning around when we got stuck. I’ll have us dug out soon.”

“You got your folks with you?” The woman already sounded suspicious. Jenny rubbed at her shaky legs. Everything was going wrong.

“My sister and girlfriend.” He poked his head into the RV. “Alice, Jenny, come say hi.”

Jenny moved toward the doorway. Simon had stepped down and was now standing in front of an old woman dressed in a blue gingham housedress with a lace collar. She had a round face, pink cheeks, and wisps of silver hair escaping from the coiled braid on top of her head.

The dog was reddish brown, shaggy, and looked equally as old, with white around his eyes and muzzle. He weaved between Simon and the woman, panting, his tail smacking their legs.