I Hitched A Ride Into Hell

By Joan Hall Hovey

A Young Adult Novelette by Joan Hall Hovey

All we wanted to do was hitchhike across Canada before we got into the college grind – get to know our country. Everyone said travelling was educational and my best friend Shirley and I thought it would be fun and exciting to go off on our own. Neither of us expected the nightmare it would turn out to be.

Reviews:
"...Ms. Hovey's talent in creating characters is so real, you feel their emotions and their fears. You want to yell at them to warn of the danger . . . and you do! The best suspense writer I've ever read!
Beth Anderson, Author of Raven Talks back

"...Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen King come to mind, but JOAN HALL HOVEY is in a Class by herself!..."
J.D. Michael Phelps, Author of My Fugitive, David Janssen

"...CANADIAN MISTRESS OF SUSPENSE...The author has a remarkable ability to turn up the heat on the suspense... great characterizations and dialogue..." James Anderson, author of Deadline

• Language: English
• Publisher: BWL Publishing Inc.
• Release date: Apr 18, 2013
• ISBN: 9781771450904

Joan Hall Hovey

As well as penning Award-winning suspense novels including Chill Waters, Nowhere To Hide and Listen to the Shadows, Joan Hall Hovey's articles and short stories have appeared in such diverse publications as The Reader, Atlantic Advocate, The Toronto Star, Mystery Scene, True Confessions, Home Life magazine, Seek and various other magazines and newspapers. Her short story, “Dark Reunion” was selected for the Anthology, Investigating Women, published by Simon & Pierre.Joan also tutors with Winghill Writing School and is a Voice Over pro, narrating books and scripts. She lives in New Brunswick, Canada with her husband Mel and dog, Scamp.She is currently working on her latest suspense novel.

Book preview

I Hitched A Ride Into Hell

By

Joan Hall Hovey

ISBN: 978-1-77145-090-4

SMASHWORDS EDITION

PUBLISHED BY:

Books We Love Ltd.

Chestermere, Alberta

Canada

Copyright 2013 by Joan Hall Hovey

Cover art by Michelle Lee copyright 2013

http://bookswelove.com

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

JUNE, 1970

A time before we all had computers and cellphones

It was June, 28th, 1970, on a Saturday morning when my best friend Shirley and I started out to hitchhike across Canada. We lived on the east coast in the small town of Belle-Arbre, population – 9,007    and we were planning to travel via our thumbs all the way to Vancouver, British Columbia.

The day was sunny and bright with a promise of adventure in the air. I could hardly believe we were on our way at last. As we walked along the shoulder of the road watching cars whiz past, waiting for someone to stop and give us a lift, I thought about all the things that had led up to our being here now.

Shirley Masson was my best friend, and we had been kicking around this idea of hitchhiking across country all during our last year in Belding Senior High. When we decided for sure to do it, we could hardly wait for graduation.

One day to pack our jeans and toothbrushes, Shirley had bubbled as we sauntered the two blocks from school, and the next we’re off to see how the rest of this corner of the world shapes up.

I caught the glow of excitement on her pretty face and I had to grin. I felt the same way. Beneath her blond hair, Shirley has wide blue eyes that can manage to look both innocent and worldly at the same time. And when she talks it’s in this excited, breathless way with the kind of enthusiasm that rubs off. Somehow she makes you feel that around every corner there’s a new adventure if only you’ll risk taking a chance.

You’re like color TV and I’m like black and white, I told her once when we were analyzing one another during a sleepover at her