The Hitchhiker in Panama (Love and Wanderlust Book 1)

by Liz Alden

  I reached over and swatted his hands away from the bedding. “Hush. It’s free. And I like Edith and Peter. I think they usually use this room for storage, and they were nice enough to clean it out for me. I doubt they know how bad the bed is.”

  “You could always come to sleep in my bed,” he teased.

  “Nice try,” I said.

  He reached over and wrapped his arms around me. “My bed is much more comfortable. And I have been told I am excellent at cuddling.”

  “Mmm. I believe that.” I snuggled into his side.

  We were quiet for a few moments.

  “So, you will come to sleep on our boat?”

  I raised my head to look up at him. His heart beat strong under my palm, his warmth radiating through the fabric of his T-shirt. Eivind’s eyes traveled down my face, coming to a stop on my lips. His eyelids grew heavy, his thumb coming up to trace my bottom lip.

  Reaching over, I smooshed his cheeks together with my hand. “This is why I won’t sleep in the same bed as you. No kissing.”

  “Whoops,” Eivind said. The muscles in his cheeks pulled under my hand. “I pwomise. No kwissing.”

  He opened and closed his lips, puckering them up to make fish faces at me. I shook his head for him.

  “Repeat after me. ‘I, Eivind, solemnly swear.’”

  He repeated after me, his l’s disappearing into a jumbled mess. Sowomwy. I laughed.

  “‘To not kiss Lila.’”

  “Nowpe,” Eivind said. He shook my hands off his face. “I think you should promise to me.”

  “I should promise to not kiss you?”

  “No,” he said, eyes mischievous. “I know you are tempted right now, but repeat after me.” He grabbed my face with his hand and made me a fish face this time. I giggled. “‘I, Lila, solemnly swear.’”

  I rolled my eyes and repeated after him as best I could.

  “‘To kiss Eivind.’”

  I protested, but he held up a finger.

  “Wait, wait, wait. ‘To kiss Eivind,’” he reiterated.

  I gave him a look. He shook my head gently.

  “‘To kiss Eivind.’” I mumbled the words, and he grinned.

  “On our last night together.” His grin faded as he watched me.

  I cocked my head at him, and he released my face.

  “Promise me,” he whispered.

  “I, Lila, solemnly swear to kiss you on our last night together.” My voice was husky.

  “Okay.” Eivind reared back, putting some space between us. “Now, I promise, I will not try to kiss you again. You get to kiss me. I can wait.”

  I laughed and pressed my face into his chest, attempting to hide a very pleased smile. Eivind was one of the sweetest guys I’d ever met.

  “Lila! Eivind!” Edith called us through the door. “Jonas is waiting outside.”

  Reluctantly, Eivind and I rolled out of bed and went to join Jonas, Marcella, and Elayna on the dock. Edith sent me off with a bottle of water, which I slipped into Eivind’s backpack while he pulled on his trainers.

  We mingled with the group of walkers in front of the hotel and introduced ourselves to the leader, Francois, who I had talked to on the radio but hadn’t met yet, and at the designated time we took off into the woods. We followed a thick trail with lush jungle on either side. A few minutes into the walk we had to clear the path for a car, so technically, it must have been a road. Several walkers had binoculars. We weren’t a quiet bunch, conversing with one another. But we still managed to spot so many interesting critters.

  At one point Francois stopped us and pointed into the trees. He grinned at me as I stood beside him, peering into the jungle.

  Several trees over, branches started to sway. The thick foliage blocked my view. I craned my neck, standing on my tippy-toes, as if that would help.

  I heard it: the same call I heard every day. It reverberated through the forest, echoing off the trees. A flash of black fur peeked through the leaves.

  Suddenly, from behind me, another call sounded. It echoed from further away, so I didn’t bother looking for it, but the monkeys were communicating across the jungle—and we were in the middle.

  “Uh, should we be worried?” I whisper-hissed to Francois.

  “No, you are perfectly safe.”

  Just to be sure, I inched a little closer to Eivind and froze, looking up into the trees, catching glimpses of the animals here and there.

  Finally one cleared the leaves. Following closely behind, six or so more came into view, some smaller than the others. I watched them climb in the canopy, wrapping their hands, feet, and tails around branches and vines.

  One monkey paused, hanging upside down from two vines. His legs were spread-eagle from vine to vine, proudly showing off his goods to anyone who cared to look. His tail tightly gripped one of the vines.

  Rotating his head, he watched us, watched the jungle, watched his fellow monkeys. Still dangling, he howled—not necessarily at us, but perhaps at the jungle around him and to anyone who would listen.

  The group around me chuckled as he howled again and bounced up and down, giving us a floppy X-rated show. Perhaps disappointed in our response, he moved on.

  The group of monkeys passed overhead, climbing out onto the branches of the trees on one side of the road and leaping across to the other side.

  I took this all in, reeling in the knowledge that I stood in a completely different world than I’d ever known. Close encounters of the jungle kind were an unexpected benefit of this trip so far. In all my planning, I’d never imagined being someplace so wild.

  Twelve

  When the monkeys moved along, we did too. I couldn’t take my eyes off the canopy, hoping that more monkeys would approach. But we’d left them behind.

  The walking group didn’t last very long. Jonas had struck up a conversation with one of the men, and they talked about an old military base further into the jungle.

  “What do you think, Lila? Should we go explore the base?” Jonas asked.

  “I’m in,” I said, and Eivind pumped his fist.

  The crew of Eik and I separated from the group, waved goodbye, and walked deeper into the jungle.

  We came upon a huge vine hanging from the canopy into the path. It was thicker than my wrist and barely had any leaves.

  Eivind grabbed the vine and tested its strength. He looked at his brother, who grinned at him.

  Launching himself as high as he could, Eivind grabbed the vine and pulled himself up. His feet wrapped around it, knees clamped together. With a few heaves, his feet were up over my head.

  Oh dear God, please don’t let this vine break.

  Eivind stopped and bounced on the vine a little bit. He climbed a few meters more and carefully slid down. When his feet were on the ground, he said something in Norwegian to Jonas.

  Grabbing the vine, Jonas pulled himself up the same way his brother had, muscles straining as he rose hand over hand. He stopped and said something to Eivind, who laughed but never took his eyes off Jonas.

  “What did he say?” I asked.

  “I told him getting down was the harder part and not to go too high. Jonas basically said, ‘Oops.’”

  Jonas fumbled a little bit getting his feet to slip through the vine as he descended. When he stood on safe ground again, Eivind pulled his shirt off and wiped the sweat from his face. Tucking the shirt into the back of his shorts, he faced me.

  “Your turn.”

  “Wait, what?” I squealed as Eivind grabbed my hips from behind and lifted me up. I gripped the vine and Eivind tried to release me gently.

  “Hold on to the vine,” he said.

  “I am!”

  He chuckled as he lowered me down until his hands left my hips and I dangled off the vine. I lasted two seconds before I dropped off and Eivind caught me.

  “How do you even do that? I don’t know what to do.”

  Eivind held me up while he showed me how to tangle my feet in the vine. It was tough; the vine wa
s thick and didn’t flex much under my feet. But once I had my feet right, I grabbed the vine again with my hands.

  Eivind let go and took a step back.

  “Ah!” I shouted into the jungle. “I’m doing it!”

  Eivind chuckled and encouraged me to try to climb up. I leaned back and looked at him upside down, standing with his arms out, waiting to catch me if I fell.

  “Nah, I’m good.”

  He grinned. “You are good there? Just hanging out?”

  I giggled. “Push me.”

  Eivind laughed and grabbed my hips, pulling me back and then letting go. I swung out toward Elayna, who caught me and, laughing, pushed me back to Eivind.

  I went back and forth a few times, but then I had to call it quits, so Eivind helped me down. My legs shook, the insides of my thighs sore from holding on so tight with my feet.

  Elayna and Marcella took turns, and I watched, impressed by Elayna’s upper body strength. While she didn’t climb anywhere near as high as Jonas and Eivind, she managed to climb a few strides up the vine.

  They took turns swinging, the rest of us pushing them around our group. I absentmindedly fended them off, but my eyes kept drawing back to Eivind. His biceps were swollen and sweaty and flushed . . .

  He caught me looking at him and winked. I blushed and kept my eyes to myself until everyone had taken their turn swinging and we moved on.

  It didn’t take long to find the ruins—what used to be Fort Sherman, an American military base built over a hundred years ago.

  It had been abandoned for a long time, and the jungle was reclaiming the land. The five of us wandered through the base, tramping down on leaves and empty shell casings all over the ground. Everyone had brought headlamps except for me. Eivind grabbed my hand and pulled me to explore with him.

  Up and down we went, trodding stone staircases to the roofs and exploring dark passages. We found jail cells for prisoners and a chapel for the faithful. In tunnels that reeked of guano, bats flew past in the darkness.

  Mortar bases were strategically located in some of the buildings, their barrels gone, but identifiable by their large round embrasures.

  Eivind stood behind one and brought his fists up, guiding an invisible weapon. He mimicked the sounds of gunfire, his arms shaking from his imaginary rapid-fire weapon.

  He peered as though looking through a scope. “What do you suppose they were fighting anyway?”

  “I think it was a training base. The US was training its men in jungle warfare.”

  He grunted. “That was certainly not something I trained for in Norway.”

  “What? You were in the military?”

  “Do not sound so surprised. In Norway, everyone must apply. I do not know the word in English.”

  “Conscription?”

  “Is that what it is?”

  “Yes.” I nodded. “Conscription. I can’t picture you in the military.”

  Eivind straightened up and stepped closer. He cocked his head at me. “Why?”

  “I guess I think of military men like our ANZAC veterans. Gruff and hard. Older.”

  Eivind’s voice dropped. “You don’t think I’m hard?” He took a step closer and I backed up.

  “Well, no, of course I think you’re hard. I mean, not hard hard, but tough.”

  Eivind took another step forward, and I backed up more, hitting the wall. He brought his arms up on either side of my head. Then I made the mistake of putting my hands on his biceps.

  “Definitely hard,” I squeaked.

  Eivind leaned in and pressed a kiss just beneath my ear. He inhaled deeply before taking a step back. “Everyone must apply, but no one serves unless they want to. I served because Jonas had done his service too. He said it was our duty.”

  I rebuilt myself from the puddle of Lila on the ground and nodded. Quieter, darker Jonas would be serious about military service.

  Eivind gestured onward, grabbing my hand, and we emerged from the bunker to find the rest of the crew seated on a grassy patch, snacking. I dragged Eivind to join them and Marcella gave me a biscuit from her plastic bin—she had well over a dozen chocolate chip oatmeal biscuits. I tried to pull my hand back, but Eivind ignored me and I ate with one hand.

  The longer we sat in silence, the more noises the jungle made. I leaned against Eivind and closed my eyes, listening to the whistles and rustles around us and Eivind devouring cookies. It reminded me of a white noise machine, and I relaxed against him.

  Before I could pass out, Eivind nudged me, and we all dusted ourselves off to head back home. I returned to Silver Lining for dinner, and spent the next day, my last with Edith and Peter before moving aboard Eik, hung over.

  Thirteen

  I was, quite possibly, vibrating from excitement. Today was the day. I was moving on board Eik, and we were starting our transit of the Panama Canal. I put up a post on Facebook with a link to the webcams and our approximate transit time, and I sent the same information to my parents via email, plus I had a conversation with my mum before packing up my stuff on Silver Lining. I gave Peter and Edith a few gifts: some of Edith’s favorite chocolates to replenish the supply I’d been dipping into and a collection of random candy bars.

  We tearfully hugged goodbye, and I promised to email them updates. Edith said cruising friendships are like jack-in-the-boxes: you never knew when they would pop up again. I hoped she was right.

  I’d walked the docks with my stubby last night, saying goodbye to everyone who’d ever invited me on board for a drink or dinner, anyone who’d performed at open mic night or played dominoes with me. Many of them gave me boat cards—business cards, but with the name of their boat and their contact info—and told me to keep in touch.

  I had flopped onto my bed afterward and cried a little. I’d become attached to these people, this place, this lifestyle. I thought about how cruisers like Peter and Edith were always on the move, finding tight-knit groups like this one and then moving on. How could they keep that up?

  It helped that they had each other. Peter and Edith were my life goals: the idea that you could have someone you were willing to live with in a small space for years, making fast but fleeting friendships as you went.

  This cruising lifestyle was such a juxtaposition of fast friendships and quick goodbyes.

  I heaved my backpacks on, grabbed a few bags of miscellaneous stuff to bring over, and made my way to Eik. The crew welcomed me aboard, and I threw my backpacks in the new cabin I was to share with Marcella.

  When I emerged, the rest of the crew waited, sitting around the table. I slid into the booth next to Marcella, and Jonas brought me up to speed.

  “Robert said we need to be at the anchorage at three o’clock, so we will leave here at two to give ourselves plenty of time. The advisor”—the person who would ride through the canal for the day with us—“will board at three thirty. We are going through side-tied to a bigger boat, so it’s very little work for us. We will still have to be careful attaching and detaching, and I will still have all of you set up on a different quarter of the boat to help me out.”

  I was a little disappointed not to be needed, but more than anything, I felt relieved to have less pressure on me to do the lines right.

  Jonas continued. “Marcella will be responsible for dinner tonight, and Elayna will help her. That way Eivind and I can focus on tying the boat up to the mooring ball in the lake and we will not have dinner too late.

  “Any questions?”

  We all shook our heads.

  “Then, in thirty-six hours, we will be partying in the Pacific Ocean!” Jonas was happier than I’d ever seen him. I was sure he was nervous, too, but he didn’t show it.

  We split up to get some chores done. Marcella worked in the kitchen, putting dishes away. Eivind signaled for me and we went up on deck together. The day before, Robert had delivered some supplies to the boat: long lines and these round, comically huge things Eivind said were fenders. Instead of the white cylindrical inflatables most boats at
the dock had, these were bright orange.

  Eivind showed me how to tie one to the lifelines, and we practiced over and over again. He explained that the fenders would go between the boats to protect them from each other. One of my jobs would be to adjust the height to make sure the boats didn’t cause damage as they knocked together.

  The rest of the crew joined us on the deck. Jonas started the engine, which came to life growling and vibrating under my feet. Marcella and Elayna were on the dock, and Jonas barely gave them instructions. Everyone had a job and they knew exactly what to do. Elayna stepped on board with one line in her hand, so now it was only Marcella on the dock, with one last line tying the boat to it. Marcella took it off the cleat, threw it over the lifelines, and Eik started to move backward out of the slip. Marcella hustled down the dock to the gate and climbed on board.

  Eik swung wide out into the water, and Jonas shifted the engine into forward gear. The boat picked up speed, making the tight turns around the dock and then out the entrance of the marina. The whole time the rest of the crew had their places, calling out information to Jonas, who adjusted accordingly.

  “Three meters off the stern!”

  “The edge of the dock is right here.”

  “Whoa, check out the crocodile onshore!”

  We all looked starboard to find the beast sunbathing on the sandbank. I shuddered.

  Once clear of the entrance, the crew coiled up the dock lines and piled them by the mast. The giant orange fenders went over the sides, and they bounced against the hull with each swell.

  Out ahead of us, Colón loomed with a bit of a haze around the city. Behind us, past the break wall, were dozens of ships waiting in the ocean.

  I walked back toward Jonas and sat down behind him and to the right, in the corner of the bench. I could see all the instruments and gadgets he watched, and Jonas spun the wheel to adjust course.

  He reached down to click a button labeled auto and took his hands off the steering wheel. It continued to move without him, and a gentle whirring continued beneath our feet.