Call of the Camino

On her fourth day, Reina arrives in Puente la Reina feeling physically defeated and stressed about her competition with Matt. While resting by a river, she reads her father Peter’s journal and learns he fell for Joan, the “copper-haired” French girl, instead of Reina’s Portuguese mother, Isabelle. Believing her own name holds no sentimental value for her parents, Reina is crushed. However, when the journal entry details Peter’s admiration for Joan and his plan to backtrack 70 kilometers over a mountain to Pamplona to buy her new shoes, Reina is moved by this selfless act.

Later, a fellow hiker, Gordon, tells her the albergue is open. Just then, Matt arrives with a group, having hiked over 90 kilometers in two days to catch up. He insults Reina, calling her “Velma” and saying she has “delusions of adequacy” (73). Reina walks past the church but deliberately does not go inside, unwilling to see where her father met Joan. When one of Matt’s new friends asks who she is, Matt dismisses her as “no one,” leaving Reina hurt and furious.

In 1997, Isabelle, going exclusively by the name “Joan,” continues to walk the trail. Peter’s brother, David, joins their group and begins flirting with Jen.