Alice pointed toward the trees. “Try to get over there. Don’t stand up.” Alice crawled sideways like a spider, with her toes digging in, her knees against the dirt, and her hands holding on to rocks that looked stable. She’d sweated so much by the time she made it to the first tree that her shirt clung to her back and stomach, and her hair was wet at the nape of her neck.
She rested in the shade, trying to cool her body down, but all she could think of was water. Cold, fresh water. She wished there was a river. She would dive in fully clothed.
Jenny had been following Alice’s path—but a couple of feet below—and she’d also reached the shade. They stayed there for a few moments, then Alice looked at her.
“Ready?”
Jenny nodded.
They climbed the hill, using roots and shrubs, sometimes moving up, sometimes sideways. A dangerous chess game. Finally, the hill leveled out and they were in a thick forest.
When Alice stood, everything around her blurred and spun. She shot her arm out to brace against a tree trunk until she felt stable. Jenny was nearby, looking equally wrung out. Her face was sunburned, her arms and legs dusty and scratched. Alice’s face was so burned that her sweat stung, and when she made to wipe it away, she could feel the heat radiating from her skin.
It was cooler among the trees, but the forest floor was tangled with thick shrubbery and deadwood, so it was still slow going until they stumbled out onto the tracks. They walked back along the railway ties, the creosote sticky under their shoes. Alice had run farther than she’d realized.
They found the dirt road, and then the car. Alice was grateful to see the keys still hanging in the ignition. When Alice opened the driver’s door, a hot wave of cologne and cigarette-scented airrushed out. She slid inside, wincing as her bare legs touched the velvet seat. She leaned over to unlock the passenger door, but Jenny was already getting into the back seat.
Alice looked over her shoulder. “You can sit up front.”
Jenny wasn’t listening, though. She’d seen Simon’s backpack on the seat, and her face twisted in anguish. She clutched it to her chest.
Alice fought back her own tears. Even after all that Simon had done, she felt sick when she saw his empty coffee cup on the floor of the passenger side. He’d been alive only hours ago.
Alice wound down her window and looked at Jenny in the rearview mirror. She was still clinging to the backpack like it was the last thing holding her on earth.
“Can you roll your window down, Jenny?”
Jenny sniffled a few times, wiped at her face, and rolled it down, but it took her a couple of times to manage the handle, like she was struggling to make her body move.
“I need the knife.”
Jenny fumbled with the clasps on her backpack. Each movement seemed excruciatingly long to Alice. She wondered if Jenny was delaying. Maybe it was a ruse. She tensed.
When Jenny finally pulled out the knife, it was still in the sheath. She passed it over top of the seat to Alice, who set it down beside her.
Alice reversed the car until the dirt road widened and she could turn the Buick around. It was only a minute or two before they hit the highway and headed back toward Bellevue. When they reached the town, though, it was clear that it was far too small to have a hospital. She didn’t even see a medical clinic. They had to drive back to Blairmore, where they’d stayed at the motel.
Her leg was throbbing. She peered down. She’d bled throughher makeshift sock bandage. She glanced up at the rearview mirror at Jenny, who was still clutching Simon’s backpack. The girl was dangerously flushed and glassy-eyed.
They made it to Blairmore and Alice drove around the town, searching for a medical building of some type. She was beginning to worry that there might not be one, when she finally found a white building with a sign—BLAIRMORE HOSPITAL. She pulled into a parking lot and shut the engine off. She turned in her seat so she could see Jenny. Would she bolt?
Jenny looked at Alice. “What’s going to happen now?”
“We’re going to go inside and tell them who we are.”
“They’ll call the police.”
“Yes.”
Jenny took a shuddering breath. “I’ll be arrested.” Her hand dropped to her stomach, and she caressed it as tears coursed down her flushed cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”
Alice didn’t know if Jenny was apologizing to her or the baby. Jenny lifted her head and looked at Alice. Her blue eyes were bright against her sunburned face.
“I guess this is the last time we’ll see each other.”
Alice didn’t know how to respond. Jenny was making it sound like they were friends heading off on different voyages.
“There’ll probably be a court case.”
