Three for the Road

In Long and Short Stories and More Long and Short Stories by Henry Tedeschi, the stories are relatively short. The present three stories are longer, hence the title Three for the Road. The first story, Adrian takes place in New York State in the 1870s. In a marriage of convenience the bride has reasons to suspect her newly acquired groom of totally immoral behavior and capable of murdering her. Their honeymoon in the wilderness of the Adirondacks is full of suspense and adventure. After discovering that her original conclusions had been based on a serious misunderstanding, she herself is accused of murder. The mystery is quickly resolved in a simple tour de force and in the end, the couple finds that they have learned to love each other. The Second Chance is set in the 1820s in New York City and all over the world--the hero sails around Cape Horn at a time when sail still reigned on the high seas and has adventures on the coast of California (then Mexico) and in the diamond and gold mining areas of Brazil. It is an exciting time. Mexico and Brazil have just declared their independence and in the USA, the Erie Canal has just been opened. The hero of the story, originally rejected by his betrothed returns pennyless after his adventures to retrieve his lost love. Irony is a contemporary story. A reporter of international reputation is studying the events taking place under a cruel dictatorship in a South American country. He risks his life more than once. Both the CIA and the dictator wish that he'd disappear. Embroiled in the survival of a charismatic woman, a guerrilla leader, he eventually saves her life, falls in love with her and brings her to safety in the USA.