Hitch-hiker Horror

They weren't laughing for long

"Never pick up hitch-hikers" is the rule I've followed all my life, so last week Henry and I picked up four, all in one go.   I suspect they may have wished we hadn't.

We came across the two Belgian girls first, as we drove north-west through South Island.  Their handwritten sign had a "2" turned into a "3", indicating the number of hours they'd been waiting.  Rain threatened to the east.  Henry and I looked at each other --  but we'd already driven past them, and as there was nowhere to pull in, we decided against.

Around the next corner, two Swiss lads were waiting, equally glum amidst their camping gear.  We exchanged glances again.  Our campervan had room for four.  Besides, I mused to myself, one pair of hitchhikers is less likely to whip out a shotgun if there's an extra pair of murders to be committed.

They were overjoyed, of course, and were soon chatting happily to each other in French before a natural silence fell and the rain began to tap on the window.  The mountain views demanded music, I thought, remembering  a new CD I'd just bought by an up and coming Kiwi soulsinger.  Alas, my purchase had been misguided: she turned out to be New Zealand's answer to Susan Boyle, warbling her way through a range of opera arias at a pitch to shatter granite.   It wasn't entirely our taste, and certainly wouldn't have been theirs, so I turned the volume low.

It wasn't until three days later that I understood why they'd looked oddly relieved when we'd dropped them off.  I was sitting at the back of the van where they had sat, and Henry had turned the radio on.   In my seat, beneath the rear speakers, a blast of music pounded out.  "Turn that DOWN, Fella!" I pleaded.  Henry looked puzzled.  In the cockpit, where Henry sat, the volume was already low.  We'd had no idea.  The dials on the radio were set for the back of the van, not the front.  We may have saved four hippy hitch-hikers from the rain, but for two hours we had drenched them in opera.

I did glance at the road from time to time

John