THE HITCHHIKER #ENGLISH STORY

The Hitchhiker

James Stephens had been driving for three hours. The rain which had started as he left home had poured down all that time. Normally he liked driving in the dark. But he did not like it in the rain; and it was heavy rain at that.
The windsreen wipers had kept up their hypnotic 'swish-swish, making a tune in his brain. His fear was that they would send him to sleep. Every now and then he had felt his head drop forward and he had to keep pulling it up to look at the road. What he needed was a cup of coffee. But he knew that on this route nothing was open at this time of night. He was glad, therefore, when he saw the hitchhiker. A white arm had thumbed him out of the darkness. He did not normally pick up hitchhikers even in the daytime, let alone at night. But he felt the risk was worth taking. It would be somebody to talk to; somebody who could keep him awake. He braked fairly quickly. Even so he must have come to a stop about a hundred metres past the hitchhiker. It would take him a few seconds to run up; more if he had a heavy pack. He opened the nearside" door for him and lit a cigarette. He assumed it was a him. It could be a her, of course. He waited. Some rain drifted in. To his surprise he saw no one. Yet he could have sworn he heard running feet. It must have been rain beating on the car. Had he really seen a hitchhiker? Perhaps it was just a trick played by his lights. They could do that sometimes. Make you see things that weren't there. Still no one came. He shut the door and drove on. The air from the open door had woken him. He drove hard. He had gone three or four miles through very lonely country. No other traffic was on the road. Then he got this feeling that he was not alone in the car. It was silly really but he got the feeling of a presence other than himself. There was no shape or sound but he had this feeling. He kept looking at the passenger seat. Nothing was there. He felt silly for looking, but he had to keep looking because the feeling was so strong. His heart was beating faster. This was a very lonely stretch of road. Because of this he did not want to stop. Besides, what could he find if he did stop? His brain must be overtired. He must put his foot down and ge to the next town and get a cup of coffee. It was then that he sensed something else besides his own tightly gripped hands on the wheel. 'And it was pulling him to the left. He was going to crash! He was going to crash, if he did not control this thing pulling him off the road. He fought to control the wheel in a cold sweat. But the thing was stronger. He must crash! Just as he thought his end had come, a side road appeared and they were suddenly off the main road and going down this minor road. The thing had now. relaxed its grip of the wheel and he was in control again. At all costs he must get back on the main road and into the nearest town. He would turn right at the next turn: His lights caught a signpost pointing right. He lowed but once again the thing gripped the wheel and guided him straight on. Yes, that was it. He was being guided somewhere. But where? What thing would get in his car and guide him sömewhere? What was the purpose? It could not be for his good. Something evil was going to happen to him. At all costs he must stop the car as soon as he saw a house At least this thing could not control the pedals. Or could it?

The road was twisty but the thing grinping the wheel seemed to know every bend. If he had dared, he could have taken his hands off fthe wheel. There must be a house or a cottage soon some light. But no, the narrow road went on and on.
Then he did see a light in the distance. Would the road go by it? was it a cottage or better still a pub? The headlights suddenly shone on the wall of the building. He hammered his foot on the brake and skidded to a halt.
He leapt out of the car and ran towards the light. He was expecting to hear footsteps following him but his breathing was heavy and he heard nothing. He hammered on a door. He stood hanging on to the knocker and listening to his breathing. Would someone come?
To his relief he heard bolts being shot back and the door opened. An old Woman stood there. Let me in! Let me in!' he yelled. And shut the door quickly! The old woman smiled. How nice to see you, son, she said. 'Come in out of the wet'.
He rushed past her into a room full of old furniture. It was like rushing back into another age. Wipe your feet, son, he heard from the hall. But he was too frightened to go back. He fell into a chair and was relieved to hear the door being shut and bolted.

The old woman came in to hinm. She was wrinkled and white-haired.
She looked quite calm. She had not caught his fear. Best shut out the night, she said. "Would you like a cup of tea?
He was worried about what she was thinking of him. Did she think of him as some madman who had burst in on her out of the night? Did she think he needed calming down? Yes, please, he said. 'I've had a shock' 'I'll put the kettle on. Won't be a jiffy."* She went into what he took to be Kitchen. He now felt able to look round the room, though he was listening all the time for the door.
As he had first noticed, the room looked odd. The radio was old. A newspaper by it was twenty years out of date, yet it still looked crisp and
new. That was it. Although the room was out-of-date, many of the things in it looked newish.
She came back in to him. He'll be down in a minute, she said. 'Who?' he asked.
She smiled at him and poured out the tea. He looked at her. What he had taken for calmness was a far away look in her eyes. Her body was with him in the room but her eyes were not. He likes the driver to have a cup of tea, she said. "On a wet night like this it's bad for hitchhiking It was good of you to pick him up'.

For a moment he did not take in what she had said, ' I didn't pick anyone up. I stopped but there was no one there. I came here because I had a frightening experience' .
The old woman smiled. 'I tell him to go by the train but he will hitchhike. Luckily, good souls like yourself pick him up. I was worried till I saw you both at the door'.  He dropped the cup he had just picked up. 'Hark, he's coming down now'.  He could hear footsteps on the stairs. He ran for the door. As he bent to undo the bolts he felt a hand on his shoulder. He swung round to aim a blow but then the bolts gave to his hand and he was out into the night. He tumbled into his car and turned the key. The engine choked but would not start. He turned the key repeatedly but there was only the whirring of the starter motor. He saw a white arm coming down the path from the cottage. It came closer till it pressed against the side window. The old woman was with it.

'Can we help?' she said. He leapt from the car and ran. After a week the police connected the man in the hospital with the car they had found left in a country lane. The doctors told the man he was James Stephens, in an attempt to get his memory working again. The police had found him five miles from his car. He was muddy, soaked through, and unable to speak.
'Funny his car was found there' , said the sergeant at the police station. 'Do you remember that old woman who committed suicide at that cottage the night her son was killed hitchhiking? Just back on the main road he was knocked down'.
'No', said the constable, 'must have been before my time'. 'Yes, I suppose it was', said the sergeant. 'Must go back at least twenty years. No one  lived there since. Now what would cause a man to leave his car there and lose his memory?'
'They say you can lose your memory, if you don't want to remember something', the younger man said. You read too many books, said the sergeant.

# The Hitchhiker-Questions

1. At what point in vour reading of this story did you first realise that it was a ghost story?
2. What do you think was the most frightening experience the driver had in the car?
3. What was so odd about the room in the cottage?
4. Explain why the driver dropped his cup of tea and ran for the door?
5. What happened to the driver after he had run away from the cottage?
6. In your opinion, what was the most spine-chilling moment in this story?
7. There have been reports of ghostly hitchhikers in South Africa. Try to find some of these stories and tell them to the class. Some will be found in Myths and Legends of Southern Africa by Penny Miller. 

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Special Thanks To **P Groves and N Grimshaw**

#THE END