Hint of Danger

Teen Targets is the sequel to Teen Spies, my Young Adult mystery novel co-authored by our granddaughter Audrey Deichmann. Set in World War II era Charlottesville in the spring of 1943, the son of Otto Herman searches for the teenagers that killed his father a year earlier:

… When I entered Nat’s room, she gave me the silent sign, a forefinger to the lips, and handed me a folded page. “Read this letter I just received from Karl Ellis, who lives in New York City.”

When I looked her in the eye, she sighed. “Just read it, James, especially the ending.”

I scanned Karl’s letter. His writing was cramped, but his message was interesting: I had a visit one week ago from an older student, Ernie Herbert, who traveled over here from England. Ernie hates the war. He wants to get away from the bombing, the suffering, the shortages, and the rest of it. He’s considering enrolling here at NYU, and he says a counselor advised him to talk to a few students. I guess that’s why he showed up at my apartment.

We talked about college stuff like classes and majors and places to live. I told him I lived for a while last summer with an uncle in Charlottesville, but I never gave his name. I just said it was because I was thinking about going to the University of Virginia. He asked if I liked it there, and I did. I told him the uncle passed away, but I didn’t mention that Uncle Otto was a secret Nazi. I just told Ernie it was less expensive for me to live here with my father and attend NYU.

I guess my story prompted Ernie to tell me his. It turns out he grew up in Portsmouth, England, with his mother, Ann Arnold, who came from London. He never knew his father, and his mother said the husband abandoned her years ago. They moved to Munich, Germany, and lived there a few years when Ernie was younger because the schools are supposed to be very good. When the Germans invaded Poland in 1939, Ernie and his Mom left Germany, crossed the English Channel, and moved to Plymouth on the southwest coast. She has a brother living there, and he took them in. But after a couple of years, Ernie landed a job as a seaman on a Lend-Lease ship bound for New York. On the ship he bunked next to a seaman from Roanoke, who said he loved the University of Virginia because his older brother went there and later became a teacher.

When Ernie left, he was talking about moving to Charlottesville. Natalia, you and James live there, so I thought you might like to know about this bright young Englishman. By the way, if I can earn a little extra money, I’m going to visit you this summer. In case you need to call, my phone number is on the back. Sincerely, Karl

I noticed the phone number, folded the letter, and handed it back to Nat. We looked at each other knowingly. “Is Karl telling us about this guy Ernie, or about himself, Karl, visiting us this summer?”

“Well, I’m not sure, James. But I’m wondering about this English guy who looked him up.”

I nodded. “Well, maybe we’ll hear more from Karl. But for now, I’m hungry! Aunt Cora’s making lunch, and afterward, she wants me to take her grocery shopping.”

“Okay, I’ll be right down,” Nat said. As I turned to leave, she opened the right drawer of her desk and placed the letter inside, next to the blue leather bound My Diary that she started keeping a year ago after her first encounter with Otto Herman.

I descended the stairs thinking, Karl Ellis still likes Nat, but he must have doubts about Ernie Herbert, or he wouldn’t have written the letter …

Teen Targets can be ordered from bookstores like Barnes and Noble, from Amazon, and from the authors at jimsargentbooks.com