Free The Third Hill North of Town by Noah Bly

clouds again.
    She shrugged. “Several hours, I should think.”
    The stranger woke at the sound of their voices and raised his head. He looked at Julianna for a minute before turning in his seat to study Elijah. His face was guarded, but not unfriendly.
    “Hi,” he said.
    Elijah was not in the best of moods. His head hurt, his shirt was ruined, and he was apparently hours away from his home. Worst of all, he was still a captive of the lunatic woman, and this guy might be her accomplice, for all he knew. Frustration and fear overrode his usual good manners.
    “Who the hell are you?” he demanded.
    The stranger blinked. He had a black stubble of beard on his chin and cheeks, but he didn’t look much older than Elijah.
    “Benjamin Taylor!” Julianna chided. “What on earth has gotten into you?” She dropped her voice to talk to the newcomer. “You’ll have to forgive Ben. He’s been acting strangely all day.”
    She spoke louder to address Elijah. “This is our new friend Steve, Ben. Say hello.”
    In spite of himself, Elijah felt a little abashed. His arms tightened over his exposed torso. “I’m Elijah,” he muttered, looking at the floor.
    Julianna’s voice fell to a whisper again. “His name is Ben,” she said, sounding distressed.
    “No, it isn’t,” Elijah snapped, glaring at the back of her head. “It’s Elijah.”
    In the mirror he could see her big green eyes rolling.
    Jon Tate looked from one to the other of them, confused. “Uh, I’m Steve.” He held out a tentative hand. “Nice to meet you.”
    Elijah stared with suspicion at the offered hand for a few seconds before taking it in his own. Both boys were sweating and Elijah let go promptly. He didn’t like touching other people, especially when perspiration was involved.
    His stomach growled and he gazed with longing at the bags of groceries next to his feet. His throat felt raspy as he raised his head and looked at the woman again. “Can I have some of your food?”
    Julianna realized she was hungry, too. “Of course you can, silly. I could use a bite myself. Find me a chicken leg, will you?” She smiled over at Jon. “Momma always packs the best picnic lunches. Would you like to try some of her delicious fried chicken?”
    Jon was starving and his mouth started watering. “That would be great.”
    He watched the top of Elijah’s head as the other boy dug around in Edgar Reilly’s grocery bags. Jon was trying to figure out what the connection was between Elijah and Julianna. It seemed odd that a middle-aged white woman and a young black kid would be traveling together, but the woman acted as if the two of them were old friends. The kid was bent out of shape about something, but maybe it was just because he’d hurt his head, like the lady said.
    Elijah handed up a couple of bottles of Pepsi and a bag of potato chips and Jon thanked him, then asked if Elijah had a bottle opener. When Elijah shook his head, Jon shrugged and said “No problem,” and promptly pried open the bottles with the latch of his seatbelt, impressing Elijah in spite of himself. Jon grinned and explained he’d learned to do this trick on beer bottles, then he passed one of the sodas to Julianna and tried to make conversation as he waited for Elijah to find the chicken.
    “So how long have you guys known each other?” he asked.
    Hearing this, Elijah abruptly straightened in the backseat, realizing that the older boy wasn’t with the woman after all.
    Maybe he can get her to stop the car! he thought in excitement.
    “Oh, forever,” the woman answered, taking a sip of warm Pepsi and smiling appreciatively at its sweetness. “We grew up together.”
    Elijah poked his head between Julianna and Jon. “We did not, ” he said emphatically. He thrust a bag of Chips Ahoy! cookies at the other boy as if he were presenting him with a sworn affidavit. “Honest to God, I’ve never seen this lady before this morning. I don’t even know her name!”
    Jon ignored