Shane’s parents drop him off at the train station with money and instructions to take the train to his Aunt Sophie’s place for the holidays. The minute they drive off, he walks out again, leans against a pole, and throws out his thumb. Having just turned eighteen, he is, as he regularly reminds himself, now a fully legal adult and quite capable of having his own adventure. In the few days and nights it takes him to hitchhike all the way, he gets to know some very interesting people. Hippies, conmen, an ex-teacher ... and also the dog Jimmy. He learns there are more to people than meets the eye, and the world is rather bigger than his cosseted upbringing led him to believe. By the time he arrives at Aunt Sophie’s place, he has lost his virginity, acquired a dog and a cousin, and has the pleasing probability of a sweet summer romance to look forward to.

A Hitch in Time

“My name’s Bob. Just plain Bob nowadays. I’ve just gotten this car too, I had a nice little Mustang but my woman and I and the kids are moving across country. I got a job driving a truck and they can stay with my brother (I hope.) So I traded the Mustang for this. It’s, ah, bigger.”


“What do you do? I mean, truck driving makes a living, right?” How would I know?


“Oh yeah. Plus it gets me out of the house big time. I used to manage a hardware store but I quit when the owner wanted to unionize the place. And now we got another baby on the way.”


“When my Momma died, I was six years old, and my Daddy and I and my sister moved to a farm. His brother had just died and his wife had kids too, so him and her got together and raised all of us together. I’d like to say I learned to shoot there but I didn’t; I learned to say yes sir and no ma’am and got the hell out there as fast as I could.


Chapter 10