Read Online The Man with the Red Bag by Eve Bunting - Free Book Online Page B

have to stay here, too.”
    Geneva looked up at me and beamed. “Perfect,” she said.
    â€œSo?” I asked. “Are you going to fill me in on your plan?”
    â€œUh-uh.”
    â€œHave you ever heard of Mata Hari?” I asked.
    â€œUh-uh again.”
    â€œShe was a spy and she was very mysterious. Everybody hated her. In the end she was executed. Do you think you’re Mata Hari?”
    â€œNo, I’m Geneva,” she said.
    Â 
    Before Grandma and I went to lunch I packed my red bag, as my assistant had suggested. But I was careful what I put in it. There were two phone directories in my room, both pretty skinny. I guess there aren’t as many people living up here as there are in L.A. Fortunately there was also a spiral-bound book telling of all the things the Jackson Lake Lodge offered: the room service, the spa, and so on. I jammed it in, too.
    As I weighed the bag in my hand I tried to remember the few seconds I’d held Stavros’s. Was it just about the same weight? I considered, and then Iput in the Greek dictionary. Grandma might ask me anyway if I’d brought it.
    I knocked on her door, and the minute she opened it, she reminded me.
    â€œThe dictionary for Mr. Stavros? I can tell how anxious he is to read your note. He was so pleased that you would take the time, Kevin.” She gave me one of her special loving smiles and I felt like a weasel.
    I tapped my red bag. “It’s in here,” I said. “Geneva’s staying, too. I brought books and stuff in here, in case we want to read.” The phone books? I thought. Sorry, Grandma!
    Unlike Declan, Grandma did not look even slightly insinuating when I spoke Geneva’s name and said I would be spending time with her. Grandma wouldn’t.
    â€œWell, have fun,” she said. “But check in with Midge now and then. I called her room and she’s okay with looking out for you.”
    â€œOkay,” I said.
    We went down for lunch.
    Buffo and Blessing invited us to sit with them attheir table. They were wearing baggy khaki shorts and identical long-sleeved blue T-shirts, and their bright red hair stuck up in the same kind of wet-looking spikes. Mousse, I thought. She moussed his and he moussed hers.
    They were cheery and hungry. I couldn’t believe how much they ate.
    â€œBlessing is such a lovely name,” Grandma said warmly.
    â€œIsn’t it?” Buffo reached over and pinched Blessing’s cheek.
    â€œMy real name is Mary Jo,” Blessing said. “But when Buffo and I met, he said I was such a blessing in his life that he changed my name, there and then.”
    â€œThat is the nicest story,” Grandma said.
    â€œHe’s like that,” Blessing said. “Romantic. He brings me flowers.”
    Buffo went on spreading butter on his roll but his face was a little pink. “Be quiet, woman,” he said gruffly, but the smile he gave her wasn’t gruff at all.
    I took a nice crusty roll for myself. Who would have thought! Buffo the romantic!
    I glanced up then and saw Millie and Beth cominginto the dining room. They stopped at our table.
    â€œHello,” Millie said. She looked directly at me and rubbed her hands together the way you’d do to get them warm. “Tomorrow, Yellowstone,” she said. “I can’t wait!” She spoke with such significance that Grandma and Buffo and Blessing stopped eating to pay attention.
    â€œSomething special is happening at Yellowstone?” Blessing asked.
    â€œVery special.” Millie gave me another knowing look. She was talking about the picture, of course. What she didn’t know—and what I wasn’t about to tell her—was that Yellowstone was inside the Big C. The thought of that made my bite of roll snag in my throat, just about choking me.
    â€œYou don’t like the Tetons, Millie?” Buffo asked.
    â€œOh, sure,” Millie said. “But Yellowstone is going