by Gabe Sluis
Aboard the train, Anthony and Beth once again sat alone in their own berth. The window was open, but this time Beth was not smoking. Anthony sat quite, constantly glancing out at the entrances to the car.
"I don't understand why you are being paranoid over stealing a little sign!" she playfully joked. "No one is going to miss it. And no one is going to come after us for it back."
"Give me this one Beth," Anthony said. "I saw a couple cops at the train station and they were looking at us funny. I have a pretty good sense for these sorts of things. I'm not usually a suspicious person, but I feel like something is up."
"I really think you are wrong, but..."
As Beth spoke, the door to the car opened and two uniformed police officers entered the car. Anthony cut her off with a subtle hand motion. He flared his eyes at her right before they stopped at the entrance to the couples booth.
Anthony smiled at the men as they stood regarding the passengers.
"You speak English, correct?" the shorter of the two said.
"We do," Anthony answered.
"Great, so do I. I am officer Marko Passini. I was an exchange student to Michigan in high school. Where are you two from?" he asked pleasantly.
"New Jersey," Anthony smiled.
"Ahh. Yes, the east coast! Are you enjoying your tour of the country side?"
"We are," Anthony said, keeping his answers short but pleasant.
"Excellent!" Officer Passini said with very little accent. "Well, unfortunately, I have been sent by Olio Puro to question you over the disappearance of a piece of their property. Do you have anything you wish to tell me?"
Anthony looked to Beth for a split second, speaking for the both of them as she sat petrified.
"There must be a misunderstanding," Anthony said calmly, devoid of any previous tension he had before the officers arrived. "We were out at Olio Puro this morning. My family used to own the land but we found it had been sold, so we left. A security guard became suspicious of us as we were leaving, but we don't know why. Perhaps because we got nervous when he tried to stop us."
"Well, I have no specifics either. You must understand Olio Puro is an important part of the economy here and we take their requests very seriously. Will you submit to a brief search so that this can all be cleared up?" the officer asked.
Beth swallowed hard. Anthony nodded.
"Then, please, stand."
The officers briefly swept their hands over the American couple and inspected their turned out pockets. Beth was nervous when the non talking officer looked at her knife for half a second and then stood back, appeased.
"And now the bag. I'm sorry for this, but once it is done we can be satisfied nothing was taken and this was all a mistake."
Anthony picked up Beth's pack and placed it on the seat. He opened the top flap and exposed the loose opening. The office poked through the day bag, finding only common items. He removed a book, water bottle, and a folded map. Standing up straight, he nodded and stepped back.
"I see his was all a misunderstanding. Thank you for your cooperation, and enjoy the rest of your holiday."
"Thank you, officer," Beth spoke for the first time since the men arrived. All parties once again smiled at each other and the pair were left alone in their berth.
After ten solid minutes had past, Beth let out a huge sigh.
"Aren't you glad I was a little paranoid, now," Anthony said.
"You were right," she agreed, and laughed. "You were very right! Do you think it's okay to pull it in now?"
"I'm sure they are off the train. And why would they search us again? Yeah, pull it up," Anthony replied.
Beth ran her fingers along the edge of the window, grabbing the drawstring that had been removed from her bag. She drew two short pulls on the cord, bringing the stolen sign, attached by one of the old screw holes, back in through the window.
"You get to re-lace this into my bag," she scolded Anthony as she stuffed the sign back inside.
"Not a problem," he said with a smile. "I'll do it while we are having that drink."
If Your Right Hand...