Chapter 1 #2
The man nodded. “Great, then you’ll be the one to talk to, even though Bonnie failed to mention you were coming with her in her letter.” He eyed her, looking somewhat annoyed. “I’m Jeff Carter, and this is my good friend Kevin Munson.”
The men shook hands and kind of ignored her. Bonnie was rather relieved, needing a moment to compose herself.
“So, what seems to be the problem?” Uncle Leo asked.
Jeff looked around nervously. “Mr. Di Aventura, things here aren’t what I would call ideal for your visit.”
“Visit?” Uncle Leo asked. “And what do you mean, ‘not ideal’?”
“Jeff, could I have a word with you?” Kevin asked. “It’s important.”
“Not now,” Jeff said.
“What do you mean, not ideal?” Uncle Leo demanded. “Is it those bandits you wrote to Bonnie about? Because in your letters it sounded like you were on top of that situation.”
Now Jeff looked embarrassed. “I might have exaggerated that.”
“Jeff, now!” Kevin said urgently.
“What?” Jeff asked.
Kevin looked from his friend to Bonnie and then to Uncle Leo before returning his gaze to Jeff. “Okay, fine!” he said. “Things aren’t ideal at home, but they’re never going to be. I think you’re about to make a mistake, doing what you said you were going to do.”
Bonnie didn’t have time to wonder what that cryptic statement meant, as Jeff retorted heatedly.
“I know you think that, Kevin; you told me repeatedly the whole way here,” Jeff said. “But I can’t in good conscience bring these two people into the line of fire.” He lowered his voice. “They blew up the darn bridge, for heaven’s sake!”
“And we blew up their camp,” Kevin retorted, causing Bonnie to blink in surprise.
Blew up their what? Wait. Blew. Up? Never mind what. Why? And how? But mostly, why?
“It’s out of control!” Jeff said.
“And yet the rest of us are starting families and living our lives,” Kevin said. “It’s not that bad.”
“But I don’t want to chance it,” Jeff said.
They were nose to nose in their battle, each glaring at the other.
“But you have to, because this could be the single biggest mistake of your life!” Kevin exclaimed, making the other folks on the platform stare at them.
Bonnie bit her lip, baffled and afraid. She whispered a prayer for courage and marshaled her wits. “Hold on!” Her voice came out rather louder than she’d intended.
Everyone turned to look at her. She swallowed. “You said things were fine at the town. You said that it was all coming on nicely. Isn’t that what you wrote? I believe it is. So, what happened?”
Jeff turned to her. “Weren’t you listening? They blew up the bridge a week ago in our town, right under our noses. Do you want to come to a place where that sort of thing happens?”
Bonnie took a step back in shock. “Blew up a bridge?”
“Hey, we’re from Brooklyn,” Uncle Leo said with a shrug. “That sort of thing doesn’t really shock us.”
She was inclined to disagree.
Jeff stared at him. “I’m from New York too,” he said. “And I find what’s going on to be disconcerting. You can’t tell me that you want Bonnie to be in the middle of all this?”
Uncle Leo frowned. “I don’t want her in danger, of course, but you’ve got to understand. There’s nothing else for her. This is a one-way trip.”
“Well, it’ll have to be a two-way,” Jeff said. “You have to head back. You just have to do it now.”
Alarm surged through Bonnie. Head back where. To New York? Surely he couldn’t mean?—
“Jeff, you’re being unreasonable,” Kevin said with a shrug. “They at least deserve the chance to decide things for themselves. So, come on. Let’s go somewhere more private and talk it through.”
Jeff shook his head. “No. They’re going to go to the ticket office and buy tickets home. I’ll pay for them.” He turned to Bonnie and caught her eye, regret in his, but also that initial determination she’d spotted. “You have to go back to Brooklyn, where it’s safe.”
Reeling, Bonnie looked over at Uncle Leo. He had gone white as a sheet.
“We can’t do that,” he said softly. “We won’t do that.”
“Why in heaven’s name not?” Jeff asked. “Aren’t you listening to me?
We’re in the middle of a war here with no rules of engagement or anything.
There is nothing, and I do mean nothing, that these cold-hearted, evil-minded bandits won’t do, including kidnapping women and children to use them to their own ends.
This is not a safe place to set down roots. You have to go back!”
“You’re not hearing me,” Uncle Leo said firmly. “Going back isn’t an option.”
“Jeff, listen to the man,” Kevin said. “Clearly there’s?—”
“Just because you don’t mind taking the chance that Anita might get blown to bits, Kevin, doesn’t mean that I’m willing to risk Bonnie!” Jeff said agitatedly.
Bonnie felt she should do or say something—anything—to calm the situation down, but what could she say? She’d expected him to be irate that she’d come out west without his invitation, but she’d never expected him to threaten to send her back home because he feared for her life!
“Jeff, could we just find a coffee shop or something to go and have a chat ?” she offered tentatively.
“A coffee shop? This isn’t New York, Bonnie,” Jeff said grimly.
“We can’t go somewhere for a chat. We have to do this here, and you have to be on that train when it leaves.
Okay? Because I can’t risk losing you to those fiends.
I can’t. You mean too much to me. Your letters have been the only things getting me through all of this. I won’t risk you.”
Bonnie’s heart melted. So he hadn’t minded her jumping on a train without an invitation.
He cared about her. In fact, he felt so strongly about protecting her that he was willing to live without her if it meant she was safe.
This was better than him putting her on some horse and riding off into the sunset. This was real.
“Please,” Jeff said, taking both of her hands in his. “Please go home.”
Bonnie drew in a breath. “Oh, Jeff,” she said sadly. “If only it were that simple.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“She means that there is no home to go to,” Uncle Leo said. “We can’t set foot in Brooklyn, or possibly even New York, ever again.”
“Why?” Jeff asked. “What happened?”
“A lot that I didn’t write to you about,” Bonnie said. “I’m sorry, but we really should find somewhere to sit down and have that talk. Because we can’t get back on the train. Like Uncle Leo said, there’s nowhere to go.”