Where Has My Soldier Gone? Chapter 2

Are you Miss E- E-Elizabeth?" The taxi driver in front of the Hungarian dock asked Elizabeth as she exited off a near-by ship.

The man's English was poor, and he stuttered terribly when trying to speak the language. It took Elizabeth a few seconds to realize what the man had said before she finally replied,

"Yes I am. Are you the driver who is taking me to the hotel?"

"Yes ma'am," The man replied easily.

Elizabeth wondered because he replied this so well if he usually always said 'yes ma'am, yes sir, or no sir. She didn't want to ask him, however. Taking her bags from her, the driver threw the bags in the backseat. Elizabeth went to get in the front seat by herself but he insisted on escorting her, and fussing and clucking about it the whole time he was doing so. Elizabeth felt bad for the man who tried so hard to speak English to her. Trying to make things easier for him, she decided to talk in Hungarian to him for the rest of the trip. The man climbed into the drivers seat and fastened his seatbelt. Elizabeth did the same.

"Hello. My-my name is William," The man stuttered again. "Did-did you have a nice r-ride?"

Elizabeth shook hands with the man and replied in Hungarian,

"Hello. My trip was fine. How has your day been?"

William first look surprised then smiled. Finally, after two whole years, he met an American who carried the language in her mind. Hardly any American he had met over his years as driver spoke the language so beautifully. Those who did know the language from other countries who spoke the language had many faults, but this girl seemed to have no problem speaking the language when talking to him. It was perfect! He wondered how she had learned the language.

"You speak Hungarian so well," William commented as they turned the first corner on the road onto "Szulettete Utca." "How did you learn the language so well?" Elizabeth looked down at her watch and realized that she had not set her clock ahead to the correct time.

"My mother and father were full Hungarian and one of the only languages we were allowed to speak in the house unless we had company was Hungarian," She told William as she continued to speak in Hungarian to him. "By the way, what time is it?"

William glanced down at his pocket watch.

"It's noon."

"Cusanem."

Elizabeth looked down at her watch and changed the time. William turned one last corner and parallel parked in front of a two story building.

"Here you are miss."

William shut off the car and climbed out of the seat to get the baggages. He took the packages and set them on the curb as Elizabeth looked into her purse to pay William for the ride.

"How much do I owe you?" She asked William, while she pulled out a billfold hoping the bill wouldn't be too much.

"Oh, it's free," William told her as he began to get back into his car. "Excuse me?"

Elizabeth was a little confused.

"I've enjoyed your company and you are one of the first customers especially American that I've met that speaks Hungarian so wonderfully. You're also the first American that doesn't get on my nerves," William chuckled at his last phrase. " I'll be willing to give you a ride Anyday for free."

With this last saying he drove off. Elizabeth thought that was a little odd but she wasn't going to argue. She hadn't brought that much money since the staying at the hotel, hotel food and tickets to and from America were free of charge for her. She'd save her money for souvenirs and foreign foods. Looking up at the hotel, carrying a bag in each hand, she sighed. The sky looked a dark shade of gray and looked either that it had rained before she arrived or was going to rain soon.

"Gosh I hope not," she thought as she walked to the hotel entrance. "I hate rain!"

* * * * * * To Elizabeth's luck it did rain! It had rained a lot as well. For a maximum of four hours straight, you could hear the trickling on the roof of the hotel. The water had overflowed the banks of man-made ponds and streams. Rain had also overflowed the sewers bringing on the stench of mud, clay, water, and other unsanitary smells.

This smell ended quickly thankfully. It also overflowed and clogged the gutters of the hotel and was running overtop of them onto the windows making little waterfalls. Elizabeth had tried to watch television but found only Hungarian stations. She had no problem with the language but she didn't want to get too involved into it! Going down to the lobby, and to the service desk, she asked for a writing tablet, a couple of pens, and a stamp. She had written a note to her boss, telling of the books she wanted shipped to her, and asking for the items she had used to write the note and its shipping supplies. She wrote a four page note page note about the town and it's many citizens. She didn't like the fact that her hotel was on the bad, run-down, part of town. She tried to express the letter in a well written form while still trying to keep it friendly. She all out so far, loved Hungary.

She mentioned how she might want to live there someday, and quickly closed the letter with "I hope to start my work tomorrow morning as long as it doesn’t RAIN!" and the signing of her name. She would soon realize that after her journey, she would be very proud to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Sure, she'd still like Hungary and its county but nothing would compare to USA.

Even though it just finished raining, Elizabeth got into one of her best dresses and did her hair in two low buns. She even added on an extra coat of her extra reddish lipstick. Her dress was of a light blue color, and her shoes the same color. With the slightest move, the dress twirled with the easiest hint of wind. It came to her knees and was cut into uneven edges around the bottom. This was one of her many fashion statements. Yes, she was going to have a good time!

She'd walk to the city and find a tavern that had live dancing. She had heard that a group of American pilots were in town and she hoped to me some of them. Maybe even meet her "prince charming?" Her friends had often told her that she needed a beaux. Her friends, however, were thirty, married, and had a maximum of five kids. If Hungary was such a wonderful place as it seemed out to be so far, then maybe it would turn out to be her own Paris or Rome, "the city of love."

Elizabeth took the elevator down to the lobby and headed towards the main entrance and exit.

"Be careful," A man replied as he smoked a cigarette and clicked his ashes into an empty coffee cup.

Elizabeth didn't know if the man ment for her to watch her step when going down the stairs or be careful on her way to waling into town. While exiting the building, she realized that she was on the rough part of town. Dogs barking and howling at the moon and dark sky, people shouting from apartment windows, so many strange noises! While walking for a little over five minutes, she heard a large group of shouts and someone whistled at her. A group of men came from a windowsill and an alley came towards her. They spoke Hungarian to eachother back and forth. They were either gang members or muggers or both or so Elizabeth thought. As Elizabeth began to run, two more of these "muggers" came out of a another near-by alley and grabbed her.

Having no effect in fighting back and kicking and hitting, she let out a piercing scream hoping and knowing that someone had to have heard her. She hadn't heard the shouts and music coming from a near-by building but thankfully the people in the building heard her. The men pushed Elizabeth off the sidewalk and into the street as she tripped and the water was ankle high to her legs. The water was muddy, smelly, and black. A group of men came out of a near-by building, all in the same uniform except one, and came towards her. They punched their way through the muggers, knocking them all unconscience on the curb.

One man particularly, helped the girl to her feet and her balance.

"Are you alright miss?" The man asked in a Georgian accent. Still to stunned to realize that someone had came to her rescue, Elizabeth began fighting the man.

She screamed and kicked and yelled, "Get off me! Get off me you jerk!"

She tried desperately to get the man away from her and to let go of her wrist. She didn't even bother to notice that the man was trying to calm her down and talk to her. Finally, she bit the man! Quickly the man in blue uniform let go of her wrist and stepped back in pain as his hand had deep teeth marks imprinted. Realizing what she had finally done, Elizabeth put her hand up to her mouth, gave a look of shock and finally began to cry.

A couple of women from inside the building who heard the commotion came towards Elizabeth. All the girls and guys looked to be around her age, fine skinned, and either blonde or brunette hair. The girls brought Elizabeth into the building and gave her a shot of whiskey that brought her back to her senses quickly.

Whatever the brand they gave her, was the strongest kind she had ever tasted! Her eyes were on the point of watering! Re-doing Elizabeth's hair, the girls described themselves was Lita, Amy, April, Samantha and Tina. These women and men were all in blue American uniforms except for one. One man named Juan was in the navy and wore a white uniform with a blue tie. He was touring the world for he had just finished boot camp and began his term. The girls were in nursing and the other men were in the airforce.

The man she had bitten was twenty six years old, dark brown hair, semi dark skin and very deep green eyes. Elizabeth figured his skin tone was so dark because he was in the sun too long.

It get's better! PLEASE BARE WITH ME

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