The first thing Georgi did when they got in the wagon was to gather all their old identity papers and put them in a plastic bag. “That is the end of Marie and Georgi. I never liked that name.”

“I didn’t mind my name except Marie drank too much,” Marie said with a sigh.

“Are you going to stop?” Georgi looked at her and couldn’t help the hopeful tone in his voice.

“Of course,” Marie said, holding her head up. “Sue doesn’t drink. I feel we have a fresh start and for the first time in my life I feel free. In control of my life. In Canada, I felt we were always being watched by the KGB.”

“Well, we are now the Olsens, Richard and Susan.”

Susan took her new documents and looked them over. “Since Susan doesn’t drink, she is starving. Find her something to eat.”

“Richard sounds so formal. People with the name Richard often are called Dick. Until our next change, call me Dick. We’ll be Dick and Sue Olsen, the American couple from Chicago.”

“I like that, but Sue is hungry. Do something.”

“You’re on. Get ready for an American farm country breakfast.” Dick drove toward the downtown section of St. Cloud and pulled into an almost full parking lot of a diner serving breakfast.

After breakfast of poached eggs, biscuits, ham, and home fries with a carafe of strong black coffee, Sue said, “Okay, husband, I’ve been fed. Now where do we sleep?”

“We passed a row of cheap motels on the way in. When we leave here, you can pick one and we’ll get set up. Tomorrow we rent a house. Today after we rest I just want to cruise the town and read local papers. There will be a local Chamber of Commerce. We can pick up some information there, and I want to visit the local university.”

“Sounds good,” Sue said, settling back into the comfy booth and taking another sip of the coffee. “The future looks … hopeful.”

All of Barry Kelly’s novels are available in print and digital formats from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your local bookstore. Visit www.factsandfictions.com for more by the author.