Page 71 of The Hitchhikers
“They’re elderly,” Alice said. “Please don’t do this to them.”
“Old doesn’t mean harmless. Either one of them would shoot me if they had a chance.”
Alice heard the squeaking of chairs being pushed back, and the scrambling of Bones’s toenails as he crawled out from under the table.
“Your bedroom,” Simon said to the couple.
The couple walked past her, Bones trailing behind.
“You too,” Simon said, and Alice followed them into a large bedroom. A wide window, curtains drawn. A sitting chair and small table, with a pair of eyeglasses on top. A blue flowered quilt covered the bed. The headboard was against the wall, the mattress parallel to the window.
They halted in the middle of the bedroom, Bones circling around, tail wagging, tongue lolling.
“Old people, on the bed.”
William sat on the edge of the bed, then lifted his legs and lay back. Ruth walked around to the window side and lay down beside her husband. Bones dropped onto a braided rug in front of the corner chair.
Simon tied their feet together, then their hands. He made Alice sit in the chair in the corner. He tied her up too, then he left the bedroom door open and walked down the hall.
The fridge opened and shut. Was he eating? Were he and Jenny making themselves snacks while Tom sweltered in the RV?
Ruth was pale and shaking. William was trying to stroke her hand with his fingers.
“It’s okay, Ruthie,” he said. “We’re going to be fine.”
“I’m so sorry,” Alice whispered. “I wanted to warn you, but my husband, Tom, is inside the RV. DoeverythingSimon says. They killed her parents—and he’s hurt other people too.”
“Good Lord,” Ruth breathed out.
Alice tested the knots at her wrists, wincing as the rough binding cut into her skin. Simon and Jenny were talking, their words inaudible. Simon sounded insistent, confident. Jenny’s voice was higher pitched. Scared. Was he telling her what happened at the church?
Finally, footsteps walking through the living room. One person. Simon. The front door banged shut. Alice breathed for what felt like the first time since they’d gotten there.
“The police after them?” William said.
“Their photos were in the paper—that’s how we found out.” Alice kept her voice low in case Jenny was listening.
“You all don’t know each other?”
“We met them at a campground and offered them a ride. Wewere worried about their safety.” She couldn’t help her bitter laugh. “They’ve held us captive for days. My husband’s collarbone is broken, and this morning Simon beat a man so badly I’m afraid he might not make it.”
“Gather that’s why he wants my truck,” William said.
“Yes. Some people saw the RV. Will the truck take long to fix?”
“Depends on if he knows what he’s doing,” William said. “Maybe a day or two. More if he messes it up. I was planning on getting help from a neighbor.”
Alice didn’t know if Simon had ever worked on a truck. He only talked about boats, but he had known how to repair the radiator in the RV, so he must have had some mechanical sense. If he couldn’t fix it, she guessed he’d make her keep driving the RV until he found something else.
“Do you have any neighbors or family who might check on you?”
“Our daughter lives in Vancouver,” Ruth said. “But she calls every day, and she’ll notice if we don’t answer the phone. She’ll think we’re outside at first, but she’ll keep trying.”
Good. That was something. A concerned daughter might call the police.
“Do you think he’ll let us care for the animals?” William said. “The horses and the cows graze during the day, but we put them in the barn overnight. The chickens go into the coop.”
“I hope so.”
