Book 4 - Winter of Discontent

Created and written by Duleigh

Edited by KMaz317

©Copyright 2026 by Duleigh

Chapter 1

The roads out of Buffalo were empty as Josh and Veronica headed south. It seemed like Buffalo was in holiday recovery mode after that Andalon party last night. Luckily, Josh held himself as close to the promise of not drinking as possible. He had two glasses of wine to celebrate their engagement, but that was typical for Josh. He was a lousy drinker; he didn’t drink to have a good time; he drank when he was having a bad time. Looking back on his life, he realized that he only drank a lot when he was planning to die. Now he was planning to live forever, with Veronica at his side.

Veronica’s beautiful Lincoln Navigator was loaded with their clothes and two coolers. One cooler was filled with soft drinks, and the other was filled with food. Cold fried chicken, bread and cheese, and lunchmeat, condiments, and microwave popcorn. They were planning to take Veronica’s dad on a picnic on New Year’s Day.

Interstate 90 skirted the east edge of Lake Erie, and a wall of lake ice was building. Ice on the surface of the lake gets broken up by the waves and blown up on shore by the winter winds, and it piles up into an enormous wall. Sometimes the walls of ice are over six feet high. They looked at the ice walls in awe as I-90 continued southwest. “Do you mind if I sleep? I danced my legs off last night,” said Veronica.

“The only people that wanted to dance with me was Emily and Audrey Mitchell.”

“Frank Rollins wanted to dance with you too,” said Veronica as she pulled a blanket over her.

“I like Frank but I guess I’m not modern enough to dance with Mitch’s husband,” said Josh with a sigh. Mitch was Veronica’s dancing instructor and long-time partner in shows and pageants.

“How did you sleep last night?” asked Veronica.

“Same-old, same-old,” said Josh sadly.

“Aww,” Veronica sympathized. “The gunship?”

Josh sighed and said, “Cholly.” He has nightmares of Cholly spending days in a tiny apartment with his dead mother. He had a box of Cheerios that he munched from, but Josh didn’t think the poor kid ate all that much, and what did he drink? He was eighteen months old. And poor Amelia, she carried him all the way to John’s church on two bad hips and was in so much pain she couldn’t walk home; he had to carry her home, and she wept the whole way. Then the police investigation… “dead junkie” was all they said. It’s no wonder Josh wakes up in tears.

As he drove, he reached behind the seats and pulled out a portfolio. “Remember what we talked about last month?”

“We talked about a lot of things last month,” said Veronica without opening her eyes.

“Here,” said Josh, and he placed the leather-bound folder on her lap.

“What is this?” she asked without making a move to open the folder. Josh was sure she didn’t open her eyes either.

“A new year’s present for your dad.”

“This entire trip is a new year’s present for dad,” groaned Veronica as she opened her eyes. She pulled herself up to a sitting position. “Why are we pulling into a rest stop?”

“I have to go potty,” said Josh, who had far too much coffee before sunrise. He pulled into a parking spot at the rest area and sat smiling at Veronica.

“We’re almost there, dad is waiting for us.”

Josh just reached over and tapped the portfolio. “Make sure Mike packs a tie.”

“What?” She finally opened the folder and gasped. There in the folder, looking up at her, was an application for a State of Maryland marriage license.

“We have an appointment with Judge Roland Schmidt in Jefferson Maryland at 11:00 AM tomorrow morning.” With that, Josh shut off the ignition and got out of the SUV.

The next document was an application to legally change her name… but there was one for Josh as well. “Hey!” cried Veronica. She got out of the Navigator and ran around the front and grabbed Josh by the front of his jacket with two mitten-covered hands. “We’re getting married?”

“Uh huh. We talked about it at Thanksgiving dinner.”

“But you… I… tomorrow? On New Years Eve? Our names too?”

“Yeah, that way we get to file jointly for this entire year and take advantage of the marriage bonus,” said Josh.

“Why?” said Veronica as she pulled him close.

“Because even though I love you and you love me, Mike von Köster hates us sleeping together unmarried, John Jarecki hates us sleeping together unmarried, Macy doesn’t complain but I know. And I hate being single, I want you…” He didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence because Veronica pulled his lips to hers and slid her tongue into his mouth. They kissed passionately until they were interrupted by a giggle.

Veronica looked and saw that they were being watched by a pair of young children, who a tired-looking mother and father were trying to corral into their car. “We’re getting married!” squealed Veronica.

This caused the tired-looking mother to say in a painful-sounding Brooklyn accent. “Good luck on ya!”

Josh and Veronica walked hand in hand up to the main building, Veronica’s heart soaring. “What about the wedding in September under the trees?”

“We will still have it, we’ll just call it something else. Sanctification? Renewal of Vows? John and Macy can’t turn us down for that, can they?” asked Josh.

Veronica squeezed his hand. “And you have your blues, don’t you?” Josh just smiled and turned to the men’s room.

Back in the SUV, they were cruising southwest on I-90 and then got off in Erie, PA, and took the back roads to Mike’s apartment. Veronica had a million excited questions. “What’s a civil wedding like?”

“I don’t know, never been to one.”

“Is this legal? I mean, will New York recognize our marriage?” asked Veronica.

“You’re silly,” said Josh. “People running off for a quickie wedding or quickie divorce in Las Vegas isn’t a meme, it happens. But just to be sure I had our lawyer check and make sure everything is cool.”

“Paul? You told Paul we’re getting married?”

“Don’t worry, he’s a lawyer, he can’t tell anybody… except maybe Andi.”

Veronica looked shocked. “He told Andi?”

“She’s his wife,” insisted Josh. “If I were privy to information like that, you’d be all over me for the information.” He held Veronica’s shaking hand. “We don’t have to do this, we can wait until September.”

“No, let’s do it,” said Veronica. “I want to be Missus Ephraim Joshua Gravely. How far is it to Jefferson from Harpers Ferry?”

“Not far, about ten miles in a straight line. We’ll be Mister and Missus by this time tomorrow.”

“Does daddy know we’re going to Harpers Ferry?”

“He’s going to, in about five minutes,” said Josh as he pulled up to the Railroaders Memorial Nursing Home that Veronica’s dad, Mike von Köster, lived in. Veronica tapped on the door to his apartment and called out, “Dad? Are you ready to go? Dad?”

He didn’t answer, so she tried the door, and it opened. The room was tiny, much smaller than the room that Josh and Gus Didomissio made for him in the basement. It had a single bed, a tiny nightstand with a reading lamp and wind-up alarm clock. There was a small round table with two chairs, a three-drawer chest of drawers and a small wardrobe with two drawers at the bottom and no room for anything else. He had a small TV mounted to the wall he could watch from bed. “I didn’t realize how bad it was,” said Josh quietly.

“Come on dad, it’s time to go,” said Veronica.

Mike was sitting on the bed staring at his hands, muttering. “They’re going to throw me out,” said Mike.

Veronica crouched down in front of Mike and said, “good, then you come live with me.”

“I can’t impose,” he said sadly.

“Daddy, we have a place ready for you,” she said.

“This is all I have left from my pension.” He was near tears himself.

“Nica, let us have the room for a minute,” said Josh. Veronica looked at Josh, her face painted with confusion, but he crouched down next to Veronica and whispered, “It’s a point of pride, let me talk. I know a bit about pride.”

“Ok,” she mumbled and left the room. Josh took one of the chairs and pulled it close to the bed and sat down on it backwards, resting his arms on the top of the chair’s back.

“Mike, I need your help,” he said, and Mike looked up at him in confusion. “I plan to spend the rest of my life making your daughter happy. My problem is that I’m kinda fucked up in the head. I’m not violent or anything, but I have these nightmares, and sometimes I need someone to talk to. A man. Us guys understand guys, and we can talk. Veronica tries but she’s too sweet. My shrink is a woman too, and she don’t understand guys other than what the book tells her. I need someone who’ll tell me to pull my head out of my ass and enjoy doing it.”

“You want verbal abuse?” asked Mike.

“No, I want someone that won’t sugar coat the truth. That, and you understand Veronica better than I do. You’ll be doing me a favor.”

“I don’t want to impose,” he started, but Josh cut him off.

“Mike, last year Veronica and I raised seventeen million dollars for charity, and that ain’t no shit. Putting an extra bowl of grits on the table is not going to be a problem. And I got something I’d like you to keep an eye on.”

“What?”

Josh took out his phone, pulled up a photograph and handed it to Mike. “This is cabin number five.”

Mike looked at the photo; it showed a beautiful log cabin sitting about ten feet back from the shore of a lake. It had a porch with a couple of wooden Adirondack chairs. There was a dock, a rowboat, a few fishing rods, and a campfire burning in a metal fire ring. It was everything Mike envisioned his retirement would bring him. “I can’t put you out of your cabin.”

“That’s not our cabin, ours is this one,” and he showed Mike a picture of cabin number one. It was like number five, but it was bigger. “It’s at the other end of the lake. The lake is stocked with bass, perch, and brown trout along with sunnys and bluegill. If you want to shoot, we have deer, turkey, partridge, grouse, quail, ducks, geese, squirrel, anything you can put in a stewpot. We have a big ol’ two-room suite in the basement that I just finished painting.”

“Why?”

“Because you earned it.” Josh got up and dug Mike’s suitcase out of the wardrobe and put underwear, socks, shirts, trousers, and shoes in the suitcase. “Did I miss anything?”

“Where are we going?” asked Mike.

“Veronica told me there’s two loves in your life, trains and American History. We’re going to spend New Year’s in a magical place that’s made entirely of both.

“What, Harrisburg? Altoona?” asked Mike, but Josh just smiled. “Where?”

“Harrisburg and Altoona are great train spots, but not all that great historically. No, we’re not going to be in Pennsylvania, but not far.”

“Not… Harpers Ferry?”

“Yes sir,” said Josh with a grin. “Then when we get back, we’ll grab everything else and move you in where people love you.”

“You don’t have to,” said Mike firmly.

“Look, I didn’t have much for a father, he drank himself to death when I was a young teenager. So did my mom. I nearly followed them into their graves. Now I got a dad I can go fishing with. We will go fishing together, won’t we?”

Mike looked up at Josh’s expectant but worried smile and said, “Perch? I haven’t hauled in a perch in ages.” Mike stood and grabbed his coat. “I suppose I’ll give it a try.”

Mike wanted to grab Mike in a big hug, but that was Veronica’s job. He put Mike’s shaving kit in the suitcase and said, “You won’t be hauling this up and down the hallway every morning, you’ll have your own bathroom and walk-in shower.”

“How did you know?” asked Mike.

“I’ve lived in dormitories too,” said Josh. “Let’s go make Veronica’s day.” They stepped out in the hall, and Veronica was standing out there looking extremely nervous.

Mike took her hands in his and said, “Honey, I know how much my moving in means to you, but…” he took a deep breath and said, “It means even more to this guy. So, I’ll move in with ya… on my birthday.”

Veronica squealed and threw her arms around her father and kissed his cheeks. “Thank you daddy, but that’s the end of January. Why then?”

“I’m paid up here until then,” said Mike. “Your mother didn’t grab everything from me.”

“No, just the money and the house,” grumbled Veronica.

“I got the good stuff,” said Mike. “I got you and Magda.”

“Oh daddy.” They walked out of the Railroaders Memorial Nursing Home with Josh leading the way, carrying Mike’s bags. He was followed by Mike and Veronica as they walked with their arms around each other. “You’re going to love Springville, daddy. The summers are warm, the autumns are beautiful, the winters aren’t really that cold, just snowy.”

“Cold enough for ice fishing?” asked Mike.

“Sometimes,” said Josh. “If it’s not cold enough to go out on the ice and you really want to do some ice fishing, you can do it off your dock. It’s not that high up off the surface.”

“It’s a brand new dock,” said Veronica. “It’s nice and sturdy, it doesn’t wiggle at all.”

“Oh?” asked Mike. “How did you determine that?”

Veronica suddenly went silent. She was thinking of that warm night when they made love under the stars on that dock not long after it was completed by Anthony and the gang from Andalon, built as a surprise for Josh while Josh was helping to raise money for the orphans. Her stalling may have caused Mike to guess what they were up to, but as he put Mike’s bags in the back of her Navigator, Josh said, “Dancing.”

“Dancing?” asked Mike suspiciously. “Is that what you call it now?”

“That’s what your generation called it,” said Josh with a smile.

“Touche.”

“Honey,” said Veronica. “Why don’t you sit in the back and get a nap if you can. Daddy and I need to catch up.”

“Yeah, it’s been over four months since you’ve seen each other,” said Josh. When Veronica gave him a scolding look, he said, “Just teasing! I think it’s great when family can get together.”

Veronica looked into Josh’s eyes and saw the sadness of somebody who had been denied the one thing they had always wanted. She hugged Josh and whispered in his ear. “Twenty-four more hours and we will be a family. You, me, and daddy.”

“Don’t forget Magda and Jameson,” said Josh.

“Yeah, I guess every family tree has to have a sour apple or two,” said Veronica, trying to imitate Josh’s South Georgia accent.

“Not bad, y’ ain’t gonna fool no one, but it’s a good try honeychil’.”

“Git in there and take a nap,” she scolded and swatted him on the butt.

“Yes ‘m,” said Josh and he climbed in the back seat. There was a pillow and a blanket, and he was able to lean the passenger-side seat far back. He was nodding off as Veronica followed the map out of Erie, Pennsylvania, and headed south. The weather was typical of the lakeshore area. A mix of rain and sleet sputtered from the dark gray sky as they sailed south on I-79, listening to Josh’s playlist of yacht rock music.

Veronica glanced over her shoulder and saw that Josh was asleep. That was an immense relief. He had been so worked up lately. Ever since that maniac attacked Andi and John Jarecki in front of the church and Josh almost killed him, he’s been a bundle of nerves. He’s been spending a lot of time over at Amelia Hernandez’s house. “What’s the matter?” asked Mike.

“Just worried about Josh,” said Veronica. “Summer was so wonderful, but ever since September, it’s been one thing after another. Just before Christmas, his friend rented a room to a young couple with a baby. Both parents died. The father was murdered; the mother died of an overdose; and we think that was murder as well.”

“Dear God,” groaned Mike.

“The little boy was trapped alone for two or three days with his dead mother. He’s just the cutest, sweetest child. He speaks a little French and…” Veronica’s eyes teared up. “He won’t say it, but he wanted to adopt that baby.”

“Did he try?”

Veronica shook her head sadly. “No. Our friends, our pastor and his wife, speak perfect French, and they immediately took in the boy. It broke his heart, but he never said a thing to me. He just let everything build up inside until he decided it was best if he just said goodbye.”

“What do you mean?” asked Mike.

“He wanted to break up. I think actually…” Veronica looked back in the back seat to be sure that Josh was asleep. “I think if it wasn’t for Ayato Tanaka talking him down off the ledge, he would have killed himself.”

“Who is Ayato Tanaka?” asked Mike. “His psychologist?”

“His bartender.”

Mike nodded in acknowledgment of the sage wisdom. “Same thing if he’s a good bartender.”

“He’s an old maintenance officer from the Air Force, so I guess there’s a connection with Josh somehow,” said Veronica. She checked again to see if Josh was still sleeping. “He had a bad upbringing. He says that every time he hears a baby cry, he remembers his dad hitting him for crying.”

“Jeez,” groaned Mike. “And you want to have kids?”

“You should see him with the children!” gushed Veronica. “He was the star of show and tell. When Madeline said the former president gave Josh cancer, I thought the teacher was going to faint.”

“The twins sound like a handful.”

“Josh loves them. In the summer he teaches them swimming along with seven other kids. He loves to babysit their little brother, but he’s mostly attached to the orphan, Cholly. He can identify with the little guy.”

“Cholly,” mumbled Josh in his sleep.

Josh’s mumble made Veronica laugh. “Josh speaks terrible French, Cholly speaks terrible English. They were made for each other.”

“What was this you said a few weeks ago, that Josh has a unique negotiating style?” asked Mike.

“Oh, several weeks ago he found that a potential client was stealing their internet access from another company and the contract fell through. The VP who lost the deal came storming into Josh’s office demanding an explanation. Josh was sitting at his desk cleaning a pistol, so the conversation didn’t go the way the VP wanted.”

“Did he report Josh to the boss for having a gun at work?”

“Almost immediately, but it was the boss’s gun. Josh was cleaning it for him.”

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Chapter 2

In the back seat, Josh dreamed one of those dreams that were disjointed and meaningless, exactly what his overtaxed mind needed - the chance to relax and be silly. He remembered opening one eye occasionally and listening in on the conversation up front. The grand proposal was done in front of the entire company and posted on the web by dozens of coworkers; now it was time to relax and to get to know Mike.

Up in the front seats, Mike and Veronica were talking about ‘the grand proposal.’ “I never saw it coming, We practiced dozens of times cutting in and taking me from Mitch, he never once mentioned that he’d be wearing his blues,” said Veronica as Mike watched a video of Veronica’s dance with Mitch on her cell phone. He’s seen her dance with Mitch a thousand times before, and he never grew tired of it. She looked so beautiful in her white gown, and Mitch looked so handsome in his US Army dress blues. When Josh stepped up in his dress blues and cut in, the look on Mitch’s face when he saw Josh’s ribbons was priceless.

Mike’s head shook as he looked at the scene. “He really earned all those ribbons?”

“That and more. He said there’s a few more from classified missions that he can’t wear.”

Then Mike saw the proposal. The look of surprise and joy on Veronica’s face made his heart leap for her. “Does your mother know?” asked Mike.

“No,” said Veronica firmly.

“Can I ask why?”

“I told her about Jameson, and she made sure to be part of his wedding to Magda without telling me. I didn’t find out he ran off and married Magda until after he left me standing at the altar.”

“I’m sorry for bringing it up, but what do you think she should have done?”

“You mean instead of being Magda’s matron of honor when she married Jameson? How about telling me that Jameson knocked up Magda then step back and let us work it out.”

Ellen was a beautiful woman, like her daughters Veronica and Magda. According to Veronica, sometime after Magda was born, Ellen grew to hate Mike because he wouldn’t leave General Electric and move her and the girls to a “vital city” like New York or Los Angeles. When the girls were little, Ellen got involved with political issues. Anything that got Ellen marching in the streets and shouting slogans with mouth-foaming zeal was what Ellen loved most. Anything: save the snails, skelm’s rights, tax breaks for sinistral Americans, pollution reform. Anything that could devolve into name-calling and hate-filled accusations was what Ellen loved most.

And the thing that Ellen hated the most was the military. She has marched in protests at dozens of military installations, but it didn’t stop there. She got onto Ellsworth Air Force Base and was arrested as she walked across the ramp toward a B-1B Lancer with an axe in her hand. She was arrested for throwing Molotov cocktails at a missile silo in Wyoming. Never once did the realization that throwing firebombs at several nuclear warheads sitting on top of a giant and extremely flammable rocket booster was a dumb idea. Most recently, she made her way onto Fort Hood and camped out in the tank training area, where she almost got run over by an M1 Abrams tank. The tank crew came over a rise and saw her campsite at the last moment. The gunner was injured when the driver slammed on the brakes. The angry tank crew sewed her up in her sleeping bag to hold her until the MPs could get there.

Ellen had been arrested many times, and Veronica had bailed her mother out of jail three times, and each time, her mother failed to show up on her court date. Finally, Veronica had to stop enabling her mother and stopped bailing her out. Her mother cost her nearly ten thousand dollars in fines and court fees, so the gravy train had to come to a halt.

“How do you think Josh is going to handle your mother. They have to meet sometime,” said Mike.

“He said he’s going to throw her and Magda in the pond if they cause trouble or not show me the respect he requires.”

“And Jameson?”

Veronica just smiled. “He promised me he’d take Jameson across his knee if he acted up.”

<><><><><>

Josh opened his eyes. The odd silence in the car worried him. The soft conversation that had lulled him to sleep earlier was gone. Had Mike and Veronica left? He looked at the tree branches passing overhead so they were still moving, but he didn’t see Veronica in the driver’s seat. Startled, he cried out and sat up. They were still purring along I-79, but he was alone in the Lincoln. Veronica and Mike were gone. “Honey?” called Josh. Maybe she was invisible. She had to be invisible. They were still moving along at 70 miles per hour with nobody in the driver’s seat? It’s impossible. “Mike?” he called, but there was no answer.

Now Josh was getting scared; he was careening along at 70 mph in the back seat with nobody driving. It’s insane. He sat up and leaned forward between the seats, and there was nobody up front. He looked behind the center seats, and there were just luggage and the coolers.

With a shout of terror, Josh worked his way into the front seat and somehow got into the driver’s seat and took control of the SUV before it slammed into the back of a beige Toyota sedan. He leaned on the brake as two children peered at him from the back seat of the Toyota. “Gotta get off,” he muttered, and saw that an exit was coming up, a rest stop.

Josh coasted into the rest stop, his body shaking, a cold sweat covering his face. He wheeled into the handicapped parking spot, and he remembered a line from Johnny Dangerously. Joe Piscopo was the bad guy, Danny Vermin. He had parked in a handicapped parking spot in 1933 Chicago. “Hey boss, you gotta be handicapped to park here,” said a henchman, to which Joe Piscopo said, “I am handicapped, I’m psychotic.”

“It’s fitting,” said Josh softly, and he leaned his head against the steering wheel and he began to shake. He waited a long time until the shaking subsided. Slowly, he got out of the Lincoln and walked on wobbly legs to the men’s room in the main building. He walked up to a urinal, fished out his cock and relieved his bladder. With that finished, he walked over to a sink, washed his hand then turned to a blow dryer to dry them. That’s when he heard the child crying. “Cholly?” It sounded like Cholly!

Josh walked to the entrance of the men’s room and looked around. He sighed with relief when he heard nothing, but his relief was short-lived. “Maman!” shrieked Cholly. Josh looked around; the cry came from behind him. Somebody has Cholly! He turned around and dashed back into the men’s room, and suddenly he was in a dark kitchen. “Maman!” the tyke shrieked in horror.

Josh looked around. He was in Amelia Hernandez’s kitchen, but it was her old kitchen, before they helped remodel it. “Cholly?” he called.

“Maman! Maman!” wept Cholly.

Josh dashed through the kitchen, through the ancient living room and into the tiny room in the back. Poor little Cholly knelt on the floor, shaking and hitting the woman lying against the back door of the shotgun-style house, trying to wake her up. Josh scooped up Cholly, who tried to throw himself out of Josh’s arms. “Cholly, it’s me, Uncle Josh, I’ll take care of you.”

“MAMAN!” the tiny boy shrieked as he tried to reach out to the body on the floor… but it wasn’t his mother, the beautiful blond Seraphine Lavesque. Josh was familiar with the body on the floor. The woman on the floor was short but the embodiment of a tough chick. She was a scrapper, a fighter, a woman that wasn’t afraid to roll up her sleeves and take on the hardest tasks. She had her dark hair pinned up, ready for work. The body before him was wearing a flight suit… and her left leg was missing. The leg of the flight suit was pinned up, and a pair of crutches lay on the floor.

The horror of what he saw overwhelmed Josh, and he began shaking. Cholly continued to cry, but now it was because Josh was squeezing him to his chest. Finally, the terror released its hold on Josh, and he screamed, “ELLIE!”

The body was Ellinor Stadelmeyer, the loadmaster on his last mission. She was alive; he had saved her. He damn near died trying to save her, but he pulled her in the plane, put a tourniquet on her mangled leg and stopped the bleeding. And now she’s dead! It can’t be! “ELLIE!” he shouted, but he couldn’t catch his breath… Cholly was smothering him… he couldn’t move…

Josh’s eyes flew open, and he was in Veronica’s SUV, seat-belted in the back seat, with the pillow over his face. He sat up and looked around in shock. Veronica and Mike were not in the Lincoln, and it was parked in a rest area. He saw Veronica and Mike walking into the main building for a potty break, but that didn’t ease his nerves. He pulled out his phone and, with shaking hands, dialed the number he swore he would stop dialing.

“What’s up Pappy?” came the familiar voice.

“Ellie! Oh god how are you doing? Please say you’re ok.”

“No, I’m not but I’ll be fine in a few months. I got a doc and everything is cool.”

“Tell me what is it,” said Josh as the relief of hearing Ellie’s voice washed over him. “Your doc, is he good?”

“SHE is awesome and it’s girl stuff so that’s all I’m going to say, you nosey old freak. How are YOU doing?” The laughter in Ellie’s voice did more to relax him than a dozen meetings with Doctor Lennox, his shrink.

“I had a horrible dream…” He told her the story of Seraphine’s death and little Cholly surviving for days with only the corpse of his mother to keep him company.

“But, there’s more,” said Ellie. “What is it, Pappy?”

“This time you were the dead woman keeping him company.”

“Hmmm,” said Ellie. “Well… I promise not to die without your permission, but if I do, I’ll leave any children in the area to you.”

“That’s pretty close to being funny, Ellie,” sighed Josh.

“How’s the pretty lady?” asked Ellie. “I got the picture of you proposing at the party. Hell, I want to propose to her myself!” Ellie never said she was a lesbian, but Josh had suspicions.

“You better be quick about it; we’re getting married tomorrow.”

“WHAT? You are? Dude!” laughed Ellie. “If you don’t go for it, I will. Why tomorrow? Isn’t that kind of sudden? Did ya knock her up?”

“No, I did not knock her up. We’ve been talking marriage for about ten months,” said Josh. “I figured New Years Eve, and we’re going to need a tax break after hauling in all that money for charity.”

“I don’t want to hear it,” said Ellie. “Give her a stroke or two for me tomorrow night, will ya?”

“Why can’t shrinks work as good as talking to you?”

“You’ve talked me in from the ledge a few times yourself big guy. Now go get her tiger.”

“Thanks sweetie.”

Josh hung up and walked to the main building in the rest stop, and he saw Mike waiting for Veronica. “You’re awake,” said Mike with a smile.

“I hope my snoring didn’t keep you and Veronica awake,” said Josh as he approached the men’s room. He paused, looking through the open doorway and studying it to see if there were any signs of Amelia’s kitchen. Then he slowly entered. What he didn’t notice was Veronica watching him from the entrance to the women’s room.

“I’ll meet you at the car dad,” she said, then waited for Josh to come out.

Josh finally came out of the men’s room, and he looked nervous. “Are you ok?” Veronica asked.

Josh frowned. He won’t lie to Veronica, but she knows about the dreams; she lives with them. It makes no sense to hide the dreams, but somehow his pride wants him to hide them. He wants Veronica more than he wants his pride, so he said, “Yeah, I’m better now. I had a dream.”

“Tell me,” said Veronica.

“Most of it is gone by now, but I dreamed that I woke up alone in the car, and it was moving. Drove it here, and went to the bathroom, but the bathroom was Amelia’s house and Cholly was there trying to wake up his mother, but it wasn’t his mother, it was Ellie.”

“Oh wow, what did you do?” asked Veronica.

“I called Ellie, she had a good laugh over my misery, as usual,” said Josh.

“You laugh at her dreams,” said Veronica as they walked hand-in-hand to the Lincoln and opened the back of the SUV. “Would you like a drink daddy?”

“Root beer would be good,” he said.

“We got your poison right here,” said Josh as Veronica dug out a can of zero-sugar root beer and put a can koozie on the can, then Josh handed the can to Mike. They had to hide this can because Mike took his root beer seriously, and he might not enjoy a zero-sugar drink. When Josh handed Mike the can, Mike studied the Buffalo Bills Mafia koozie for a bit and then opened the root beer. He sipped it but didn’t say a word about it, and soon they were on the road.

They were now traveling southeast, skirting Pittsburgh and heading into some of the most beautiful country Mike had ever seen. “Look! Route 219!” cried Veronica as they came up to the interchange. “Down here they call it the Flight 93 Memorial Highway.”

“The two nineteen goes all the way into Maryland,” said Josh as he looked it up on his phone.

“I wonder how long it would take to get here on the two-nineteen,” mused Veronica as they continued to cruise east on I-76. The countryside got more challenging, and they found themselves approaching a tunnel.

“I don’t go underground,” said Josh. “Hardy is waiting for me there…”

“Oh stop!” said Veronica, and she reached back between the seats and swatted Josh on the knee.

“Just warning you,” said Josh. “If we come out of the tunnel and I’m not here, you’ll know Hardy exists.”

“If you keep that up, you won’t have to worry about Hardy, I will throw you out,” snapped Veronica.

“Just sayin’.”

“What is this Hardy stuff?” asked Mike.

“Oh, the only TV he watches is silly Japanese cartoons…”

“Anime,” corrected Josh.

“Hit him for me please Daddy? My arm is getting tired. Anyhow Hardy is an evil goddess or some silly thing.” Then to Josh she said, “And Hardy is a lesbian, so you don’t have a chance.”

“Ah-HA! I knew you were watching!” said Josh with a laugh.

“You guys are silly,” said Mike.

They eased into the tunnel, which had a 55mph speed limit, and Veronica was impressed at how long the tunnel was. “Six thousand feet long,” said Mike. “It was built for the South Pennsylvania Railroad which was a Cornelius Vanderbilt and New York Central plan to drive the Pennsylvania Railroad broke…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” moaned Veronica. “And the Pennsylvania built the West Shore parallel with the New York Central to drive that broke.”

Josh was surprised. “You know about the West Shore Line and the South Pennsy?”

“I am a railroaders daughter,” said Veronica. “You’re going to need to know that.”

“No, that’s fine. You need to come to Paul’s house when we have an operating session on his layout,” said Josh with a new sense of astonishment for this woman.

“I don’t play trains,” said Veronica.

“I do!” said Mike. “What does he have?”

“He’s got two layouts in his basement. In his radio room there’s a Lionel layout for his kids, in the other third of the basement is an HO layout set in 1955 so he can run steam and diesel.”

“Does he allow visitors?”

“He loves visitors,” said Josh.

“Straight DC? Handheld throttles?”

“It’s DCC with wireless remote throttles. He can run six trains at one time, but it’s a bit crowded with six. He’s got a buddy from Orchard Park that likes to dispatch and he can get six trains running smoothly, along with switchers in the yards,” said Josh.

Mike looked like he had died and gone to heaven. Veronica was lost when it came to model railroading. When Paul and Josh talk about it, she and Andi disappear into the parlor and play with the baby.

Now the countryside was getting rough, hilly and mountainous. It was amazing how the Pennsylvania Turnpike made it through such country, but it was chiseled out of living rock starting in 1881 and opened as a road in 1940.

The most confusing part of the trip was the interchange between the eastbound I-76 and the southbound I-70. There was no interchange to the southbound I-70. They had to take I-70 North to Breezewood, PA, where they found a Bob Evans and stopped for lunch. “I love this place,” said Josh as they sat down. “It’s like home here.”

“Bob Evans is from South Georgia?”

“No but they cook that way,” said Josh. When the waitress came, he asked for a large order of hash browns à la carte, two eggs over very, very easy, à la carte, a bowl of sausage gravy, and an order of sausage links. Veronica got a western omelet, and Mike got the blueberry banana oatmeal. When their orders came, Josh took the eggs and eased them off their plate onto the mountain of hash browns, then poured the sausage gravy over the whole concoction.

“What do you call that?” asked Mike.

“We called it an FU All To Hell,” said Josh as he sipped his coffee and rolled up his sleeves. “It is a middle finger raised directly in the face of Satan. He missed me again.” Josh dug into his meal with delight.

“Pardon?”

“When Josh was flying their missions ended around sunrise. They had been flying all night and working hard so they’d go to the chow hall and eat this,” said Veronica. Josh didn’t say anything because his breakfast was so delicious he didn’t pause eating, but he did nod in agreement with Veronica.

“You were busy when you were flying on a C-130?” asked Mike. He was picturing guys running around, shifting cargo and tying it down.

“Daddy, I said AC-130, it’s a gunship. It’s full of cannons and guns.”

“Really?” asked Mike. “I’d like to learn more about that.”

“It’s mostly blowing up people who deserve it. Sometimes blowing up people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. When we get to West Virginia I’d like to hear about the trains there.”

“The railroad history in that town is rich and varied. This is a chance of a lifetime for me.”

“Why are you smiling?” said Josh to Veronica between bites of his meal.

“Oh, I’m just happy I have my men around me. Paul said he was taking an entire week off, so Andi must be so happy.”

“I’m sure she is,” said Josh as he finished and placed his credit card on the tray that the waitress brought.

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Chapter 3

In Nouméa, New Caledonia, Valériane Lévesque cautiously opened an email from a United States email address that she was not familiar with. She had her anti-virus program scan the email, and when she received a report that it was safe, she opened it up. Her biggest worry was that, being from the United States, it would be written in English, but she HAD to open it. The subject was Noël à Chamonix, Chamonix’s Christmas. When she opened it, she found quickly that it was written in perfect French.

Dear Valériane and Pierre

We have never met. My name is Veronica von Köster, and the family that Chamonix adopted are close friends and neighbors. I am writing this to assure you that Chamonix had a wonderful Christmas. I included a link to a video my fiancé assembled for you to watch and download if you desire. I am not sending this to sway any decisions you may make concerning Chamonix. His adoptive parents have sadly realized that you are his only actual relatives and will abide by any decision you make. Here in the US we have a saying, ‘blood is thicker than water’ meaning that relatives, family, are closer and more important than acquaintances.

Sadly, Cholly has no relatives on his father’s side of his family who would take him. Dennis’s father is in prison, and his mother has disappeared. We think she is in France. Only one person here knew Dennis. Dr. Paul Jarecki, he is the brother of John Jarecki the man now sheltering Chamonix. He was close to Dennis in the Air Force. Paul’s wife, Melony, flew with Dennis, and Paul was a good friend. He is utterly shattered over the loss. My fiancé is a close friend of the woman who found Chamonix and Séraphine, and he was there when Dennis was found. Josh too is shattered over losing what he calls, “A friend I didn’t get the chance to meet.”

You may notice that I called Chamonix ‘Cholly,’ Paul Jarecki’s twin daughters have adopted Chamonix as their baby brother and named him Cholly, and they refuse to accept any correction, and he seems to love being called Cholly. You will see them playing with Cholly in the video. I added narrative to the video so you will know who you are seeing and their relationship to Cholly.

I hope you come to visit. We have room to put you and your girls up in Paul’s house, (It’s big and beautiful and very spacious) and if you would like, my fiancé owns a section of forest with a lake and several cabins and you can stay in one of the cabins and enjoy camping in the woods. As for language, Cholly’s adoptive parents both speak fluent French (French Canadian) I speak fluent Parisian French, and my fiancé speaks what is best called “pidgin French” but Cholly understands every word.

Thank you, and I hope we can meet someday as friends,

Veronica

Valériane nervously clicked the link, and soon a beautiful woman with warm hazel eyes, large breasts, and thick dark blond hair appeared on the screen and began speaking French in a Parisian accent. “Bonjour Valériane et Pierre, I am Veronica von Köster. It was a busy holiday season here in Springville, New York. We hope it will be more relaxing over the New Year. Josh pieced this video together from different sources for you, and we hope you enjoy this.”

Pierre came home and found Valériane more cheerful than she had been for weeks, even though her eyes were full of tears. “How are you today?”

“We were sent a new video of Chamonix,” she said happily. She had connected her laptop to the big television in the living room. “As soon as the girls are ready.”

“Ah, movie night,” said Pierre as he sat down on the sofa with Valériane. Soon their remaining daughters Marcelline and Josianne appeared with a large bowl of popcorn and tumblers filled with soft drink. “Popcorn and cola?” asked Pierre.

“That’s how you watch an American movie,” said Josianne with all the assurance her fourteen years can sum up. The family was excited; their mother assured them that the video was happy and something they needed to watch. “Who is that!” gasped Josianne as Veronica appeared on the screen and gave the introduction. “They hired a Parisian movie star?” To Josianne, there is no one more beautiful and well-mannered than a Parisian movie star.

“No, she is very American,” said Valériane.

“She must be a famous actress,” said Marcelline, who was also transfixed by Veronica.

“Then ask her,” said Valériane. “I have her email address.”

“Can we?” gasped Josianne.

“Shh - after the movie,” scolded Pierre. For the next forty-five minutes, they were treated to the sight of Cholly’s Christmas in Springville. Before the holiday began, they saw two little blond girls pulling Cholly on a plastic saucer through the snow. They ended up at an outdoor ice rink where the little girls put on ice skates and hit the ice with the ferocity of a pair of NHL players. Cholly followed but stood still on the ice. A young Asian woman put Cholly’s saucer on the ice, and Cholly sat down, and the Asian woman pulled Cholly around the ice rink as Veronica narrated the event.

“Yi is the governess for the two girls, Sandy and Madeline and like Cholly she is new to the cold north. She has a special place in her heart for Cholly. The entire village does. Moments after he was found the call went out for clothing, diapers and cold weather clothing, and we were inundated with generosity.”

The scene shifted to Cholly sitting in the lap of a black woman. Cholly was holding a little black girl who was barely two months old. The woman said, “When Cholly came into our lives I was shocked. How could this happen in my little village? I stopped worrying about it because here was a little boy who needed love. I was having postnatal problems accepting my daughter, but Cholly opened my heart. He showed me what it was like to love a child, and thanks to Cholly I was able to love my daughter the way she deserves.”

There were videos of Cholly on Christmas morning at his own home with John, Macy and two month old Katarina. Cholly was opening her presents and showing them to the baby. Marcelline and Josianne cooed, “How cute!”

Pierre watched as his grandson became a big brother to Katarina. Cholly got a little aggressive with a toy trying to get Katarina to play, but Macy corrected Cholly, teaching him that the baby will play when she gets older. Cholly gave Katarina a kiss and said, “Je suis désolé.” (I’m sorry)

Pierre looked at Valériane, and the sweet but sad look in her eyes told him the same thing he realized: they can’t take the boy away from this family.

The next scenes were at Paul and Andi Jarecki’s enormous house, where Cholly opened a box that was covered with holes. When he got it open, the largest puppy they had ever seen poked its nose out. “CHIOT!” cried Cholly, and he hugged and rolled around with the black Newfoundland puppy. Tussling and laughing, Cholly cried, “Chiot!” over and over as he played and laughed with the puppy. One of his blond cousins asked him what he named his puppy, and Cholly said, “Chiot!” proudly.

“He named his puppy Puppy!” laughed Josianne.

“He’s just a little boy,” said Valériane.

Cholly lifted the huge puppy, which was a strain for the child, but Chiot hung limp in his arms, happy to be in the arms of his boy, tail wagging as Cholly strained under the weight of the big happy fur ball. A cut scene showed Cholly napping with Katarina and Chiot.

The scene changed to Paul and Andi Jarecki sitting in front of a fireplace with Cholly on Andi’s lap and Chiot in his lap. The fireplace was decorated beautifully for Christmas. They spoke English, but Veronica translated. “It may be presumptuous to give a puppy to Chamonix, but we know the joy a well-trained dog can bring to a family. If you choose to move Cholly to New Caledonia, we ask only two things: that his dog go with him, and that John and Macy be allowed to visit.”

The next scene was of Paul and John sitting in a home office with a big circular window circled by Christmas lights overlooking a snow-covered park. This was Paul’s home office in the attic. Paul spoke, but John didn’t translate; Veronica translated off-screen. “I am Paul Jarecki, John’s brother, and I represent him as an attorney. I’ve been asked to say the hard part. Cholly has many emotional issues, having watched his parents die and having been locked up with Séraphine, he came to us in very bad emotional shape. It looks like he was abused at some point. We are equipped to deal with those issues. Macy is a Doctor of Psychology and is working with him constantly. She is getting peer assistance from specialists, and he’s making phenomenal progress.”

Paul continued. “Since getting Chiot, he has begun to sleep through the night. Macy is keeping records in French, so if you take him to New Caledonia, the records of the work she has done with him will be readily available. However, Cholly is a United States citizen. This may cause legal difficulties. We want to make sure that Cholly’s final disposition is fair, and peaceful. I’m not saying we will cause problems, but the US State Department may have its own ideas, so you may need legal services.”

The next scene was of Cholly with the twin girls in a hen house collecting chicken eggs, and off camera, Veronica explained how Cholly was learning to deal with the chickens. One pecked him, and he shouted, “Mauvais poulet!” (Bad Chicken!) then later he was carrying a basket full of eggs out of a huge ancient barn singing with the twins “Alouette, gentille alouette, Alouette, je te plumerai.”

“Shouldn’t they be singing about chickens?” asked Marcelline.

The last scene was of Veronica sitting next to Josh with Cholly sitting on Josh’s lap and Chiot lying across Cholly’s lap. Veronica had a second Newfoundland puppy on her lap, and they were sitting in a log cabin. The puppy in Veronica’s lap was lazily licking Chiot’s nose. “This is Josh…” started Veronica.

“Unka Josh!” cried Cholly, and he patted Josh’s leg.

“And this is Chiot’s litter mate Jolie, she belongs to the twins Sandy and Madeline…”

“Sandy and Madeline,” said Cholly happily.

“He doesn’t take to new people readily, John, Paul, and Josh are the only men he will come near, and he only likes Macy, Andi, and Yi…”

“Tata Yi!” (Auntie Yi) cried Cholly.

“Cholly, come sit on my lap,” said Veronica.

“No,” said the little boy firmly.

“He’ll come around. Please send us videos of grandma, grandpa and any aunts and uncles so your meeting won’t be a surprise. I hope this video helps; we will continue to send videos so you can see how your grandson is growing. I am speaking for myself only, but from what I see, John and Macy love this little man dearly. Our first meeting was traumatic for everyone involved and it brought them close together. They want to see everything resolved so there are no broken hearts for anyone. Please keep the lines of communication open and Josh will be putting together another video very soon.”

The last ten minutes of the video were of still pictures of Cholly in different situations. Many were taken in a church with Cholly in Macy or John’s arms, meeting people. One picture showed Cholly standing next to John at the podium as John preached his Sunday sermon. John had braces on both legs, and Cholly stood next to him, clutching John’s leg brace with one hand and nervously sucking his thumb on his other hand. “John is a priest?” asked Josianne.

Pierre chuckled and remembered an earlier email he had received. “Almost. He was in seminary and had a crisis of faith. He then taught himself French so he could attend class at a divinity school in Montreal. There he met Macy, she was his instructor and they married on his last day of class.”

“Our little boy is being raised by a man of God,” said Valériane.

“He can still be my nephew if I’m catholic, right?” asked Josianne.

“He will be your nephew regardless of anything,” said Pierre. He had never seen his youngest daughter so worried about something.

“But he will still go to heaven if he dies won’t he?” asked Marcelline in a slight panic.

“Of course he will,” said Valériane. “His mother is waiting there for him.” And with that, she jumped up and fled from the room in tears.

“You should apologize to momma,” scolded Josianne.

“It’s ok,” said Pierre. “Momma is still overwhelmed by everything. I’ll see to her.”

“Poppa, are we bringing Chamonix here?” asked Marcelline.

“That is the problem,” said Pierre as he got up and headed to the bedroom to comfort his wife. “We all want to see him and hold him. We want to love him but do we want to raise him? Your mother and I raised three babies and we’re out of practice. It’s a troublesome question.”

“Can we go to America and see him? Does everyone speak French like the Jareckis?” asked Josianne.

“Call them in the morning on January second. It will be in the evening on New Years day there.”

“Can we call the movie star?” asked Marcelline.

“If you’d like.”

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After a Bob Evans brunch that couldn’t be beat, Josh drove, and they followed I-70 south through Crystal Springs, Amaranth, and Warfordsburg, then across the state line into Maryland, where their route took them through rugged hill country paralleling the West Virginia Border. As they headed east following the border, the country mellowed to rolling hills and gentle farms. “It’s like over by John and Macy’s house,” said Veronica.

“Really?” asked Josh.

“He’s your best friend and you don’t know what the view out his back door is like?”

“We’re usually in the basement playing wood wacker and putting together Christmas presents. Did you see the rocking chairs he made?” gushed Josh.

“They’re pretty nice,” said Veronica. John made four rocking chairs, one each for his brother Paul and himself and one for each of their wives.

“That was a replica of his grandfather’s rocking chair that he made from a snapshot taken in 1951.”

“I know, but he does all his work at Gus’s shop,” said Veronica from the back seat.

“We made a surprise for Macy,” said Josh. “We built a meeting room in the basement where she can conduct women’s ministry meetings and bible study classes.”

“Licking Creek Road,” said Mike. They were making the time fly by finding funny names of places and things.

“Licking Creek Hiker Biker Campsite,” added Veronica.

“Beaver Creek,” said Josh.

“That’s not funny,” said Mike.

Josh smiled and said, “No, but its proximity to Licking Creek…”

“JOSH!” Veronica swatted his arm.

Finally, I-70 brought them into Frederick, Maryland, where they turned onto US 340 and headed west. “Here’s Jefferson!” said Veronica happily as they passed the village. Then suddenly they were across the West Virginia border, and weaving through the rolling low mountains, and crossing the Potomac River. The trees were bare, but the country was still breathtaking. “We have to come back here in the summer!” gushed Veronica.

“Wow,” gasped Josh. Josh was born a flatlander; the only mountains he ever saw were from a distance. The hills of the “south towns” of Western New York were pretty, but nothing like this. They had crossed over the Potomac River to the south side, but they needed to cross over again to get to the town of Harpers Ferry and Harpers Ferry National Park. They crossed the Shenandoah River and entered Harpers Ferry.

Mike was sitting in the back seat and was silent as they drove slowly through town. Up front, Josh and Veronica held hands. “This is where our life begins,” said Josh softly. When he said that, a thrill ran through Veronica. She brought his hand up to her lips and kissed it.

“Eighteen more hours,” she whispered. Then she realized that she hadn’t heard from Mike since they had crossed into West Virginia. “You ok back there dad?”

“This… this is incredible…” he spoke with the reverence a believer would use when entering a grand cathedral. “Five battles took place here between 1861 and 1865. Six battles if you count John Brown’s raid in 1859. John Brown led 22 men on a raid to the armory that was over there, it’s gone now. They were hoping to capture weapons to arm the slaves. Colonel Robert E. Lee and J. E. B. Stuart, still in the US Army, led 86 United States Marines to put down John Brown’s attempted slave revolt. Brown’s abolitionists holed up in that three-stall fire engine house right there, and on October 18th Lee’s men got off the train and stormed the firehouse. It was over in a couple of hours.”

“Wow,” was all Josh could say.

“The village changed hands eight times during the war,” continued Mike. “The B&O railroad and the bridges over the rivers made Harper’s Ferry a highly valuable location. Lee’s invasion of Maryland and his Gettysburg invasion both came through here, and the Union Army moved south through here. Almost nothing of 1859 Harpers Ferry still exists. Everything was flattened during the war.”

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Chapter 4

They finally arrived at the Ferry’s Inn; a hotel made from several vintage stone homes that were built next to each other in 1890 and were now joined by walkways to make one hotel from the three buildings. They had two adjoining rooms that were a delight to Veronica. Beds with brass headboards, tin plate ceilings, and were filled with antique lamps and baskets. The baths were modern but still had a 19th-century feel to them. The rooms were small, but they were warm and cozy. The main room had a queen-size bed and a sofa sleeper. The second room next door was small. The bed was a full-size mattress that took up most of the room. There was a reading nook in the corner and not much else. It shared a bathroom with their master bedroom.

“Well, who is going to sleep where?” asked Veronica.

Mike turned to Josh and said, “Humor an old father, Veronica can take the main bed, I’ll take the sofa sleeper, and you can take the other room.” To Veronica and Mike’s surprise, Josh agreed.

“If this will make you happy, I’m all for it,” said Josh. “But after we’re married…”

“I know. She’s all yours from that point on,” said Mike.

“Good, I’m going to take a nap, why don’t you guys go out and explore?” said Veronica.

“As you wish,” and the guys pulled their coats on and headed out. Josh knew where Mike wanted to go; they were only a couple of blocks away from the historic train station. The building was beautiful. It was a red clapboard single-stage building with wide eaves over the platform and black trim. A separate baggage building and the business end of the station had a two-story observation tower.

Mike stood on the platform. The station was on a sweeping dual-tracked curve; looking left, the tracks swept around the northern hill and off to the west. Looking to the right, the tracks crossed a double-track bridge spanning the Potomac River and disappeared into a tunnel through a small mountain named Maryland Heights.