I was deep in the #francyfeels last night and started thinking and wanted your input, when do you think Joe caught on to Frankâs feelings for Nancy?
when are all of us not deep in the #francyfeels, am i right
my personal headcanon is that it was frankâs idea to jump from the train to go after nancy at the end of TRN and that this was joeâs MOMENT of epiphany that his brother is completely head over heels for nancy...... which is a moment that i love imagining so much that i accidentally blurbed about it.......
âHey,â whispers Joe, tugging on Frankâs sleeve. âDidnât that seem a bit fishy to you?â
âIt was like the train stopped for no reason,â Joe says. He eyebrows pull together. âI thought this was gonna be it, you know? That we made it to the mine? The timing wouldâve been right.â
He helps himself to the pocket of Frankâs vest, pulling out their map and unfolding it. âLook,â Joe says, pointing at the route. Theyâve been tracking their trip up until now, butâ âDidnât Nancy say Brimstone Canyon?â
âYeah, she did.â Frankâs mind starts tornadoing. Joeâs right; the timing wouldâve been as expected for their destination.
Unless, of course, that was never going to be their destination. Not for most of them, anyway.
Joe scratches the back of his neck. âI kinda thought Lori was gonna brief everybody, tell us all we made it.â
Frank squeezes Joeâs elbow. âJoe,â he says. âWhereâs Lori?â Something more urgent yanks at him. âWhereâs Nancy?â
âWhaâyou donât think theyâre exploring that mine without us, do you?â
âI donât know. Somethingâs off here.â The train is picking up speed, chugging along the tracks with less and less friction. If they just passed Brimstone Canyon, and if Frankâs growing suspicions are correct, they donât have any time to waste here. âWe have to stop this train.â
Joe huffs. âHow? That conductorâs about as friendly as a porcupine. Thereâs no way heâs going to listen to us!â
The natural disaster in Frankâs mind is picking up speed too. Logic and gut feelings and impatience and detective instincts have turned into flying shrapnel, crashing into each other. Frank feels a headache creeping in as the blood rushes his ears.
âThen thereâs only one solution,â Frank says, already on the move. âWe have to jump off the train.â
âAre you nuts?!â Joe shouts, but he hurries to keep up with Frank anyway. âWhy donât we just tell Detective Peabrain over there to do it?â
âYou think Detective Peabrain is smart enough to figure this all out?â Frank shouts right back. âWe canât trust that guy to do anything but get the right PR shot. Nancyâs in danger, and we have to do something about it!â
The train is getting faster still. By the time they reach the front compartment, the quick chug-chug-chug of the wheels matches the pounding in Frankâs head. God, why didnât he realize this sooner? If Lori was clever enough to stage her own kidnapping in order to suss out the best investigator of their group, of course she could be clever enough to use that investigator for her own gain. An investigator who might now really be in serious danger.
Frank shoves open the exit door, the wind nearly whipping it off its hinges. The train is racing down the tracks, definitely too fast to safely jump from. The scenery whizzes by in a blur. Frank gulps in a deep breath.
Joe seizes him by the arm before he can go any further. âWe really doing this?â His eyes are wide, but heâs on the verge of a smile. Frank shouldâve known that Joe can never turn down a dangerous, potentially stupid stunt. It makes for the best stories. âWeâre seriously about to jump off a moving train?â
Frank doesnât need that recap. All he can coherently focus on right now is Nancy, possibly being lured into some kind of lionâs den. He nods, his resolve set. âItâs our only choice,â he says. âCome on!â
He leaps before fear and common sense can overtake him. For one brief second, before heâs hit by the velocity of the whipping wind, this feels like a good idea, daring in its genius. At least up until Frank hits the dirt like a bad belly-flop to a cold swimming pool, every bone feeling the brunt of that plan, and instantly starts rollingâtumbling?âaway from the train. Joe hits the ground next to him with an <I>oomph</I>, neatly cutting off his âGeronimoâ battle cry.
Frank sits up, patting himself down to check for broken bones. Panting, Joe does the same. They both seem a little shaken, but still in one piece.
âI think that goes down as the craziest thing weâve ever done,â Joe says. He turns to Frank, wondrous. âActually, thatâs the craziest thing youâve ever suggested we do. Where on earth did that even come from?â
The awe in his expression as he looks at Frank seems to change, morphing into something different. Almost like a newfound revelation is slowly crawling up Joeâs leg. Frank goes hot around the ears without meaning to, roughly looking away. Heâs not liking what he sees in Joeâs eyes.
âHey,â Joe starts to say.
âDonât tell mom about this,â Frank interrupts. He gets to his feet, ears still burning. He points down the tracks as the train heads in the opposite direction. âCome on. Brimstone Canyon should be that way.âÂ
âLook, Miss Girard may not be a rocket scientist or anything, but even she knows better than to jump off a moving train.â