Columbia Heights

March 17 - Saturday morning

The morning dog walk was nearly over when Amanda's day took a turn for the worse. It was a mild day, hinting of Spring, and the dogs were chafing at the restraint of the leashes. They had tugged Amanda in all directions during the long walk, and she was glad to be on the home stretch.

Within sight of Margarite's house, a squirrel ran across the street in front of them, and up a tree. At the same time, a cat streaked from under a hedge and ran in the opposite direction to hide under a porch on the other side of the street. All six dogs shifted into hyper-drive. Some chased in this direction after the squirrel and some chased in that direction after the cat. In the melee, the leashes became tangled around Amanda's legs, and she tripped over the curb and landed hard on her hands and knees. She lost her grip on the leashes and the straining dogs pulled free.

All six dogs went racing off while Amanda picked herself up and surveyed the damage - two sore wrists, two sore shoulders, one torn pants leg and a nasty looking scrape underneath. She limped to the squirrel's tree and picked up the leashes of those four dogs, and tugged them to the other side of the street to reclaim the dogs barking at the porch.

As she turned towards Margarite's again, she saw that the uproar had brought the older woman onto her porch. "Amanda, are you alright? You're limping and you've torn your jeans."

"I'm fine. I'm fine. It was the funniest thing. I guess the dogs just got away from me." Amanda laughed it off, but her knee was throbbing.

"Let me get some things and we'll clean that up." Margarite adeptly maneuvered her crutches through the swirl of dogs and leashes and they all moved into the kitchen.

Amanda rolled her shoulders gently and tested the movement of her wrists. She decided nothing was broken or dislocated, only strained muscles. Margarite insisted that Amanda take off her jeans to properly clean her knee, loaning her a housecoat for modesty. Her left knee was merely bruised, but the right knee was badly scraped, with mud and road debris caked in the torn skin. Amanda cleaned it thoroughly, applied disinfectant, and then bandaged it. Margarite brushed off the mud from the jeans, then used an adhesive roller to remove most of the dog hair.

"That knee is starting to swell. Let me get you an ice pack, and I can iron on a patch to cover this hole while you rest."

"Oh, no, don't bother. I can take care of that later. I'm actually late for another appointment, so I really must be going." Amanda put her jeans back on, ready to leave.

"I can't tell you how sorry I am that those naughty dogs caused such a ruckus. I keep intending to send them to obedience school, but with six, it is too expensive."

"Don't you worry. It's an expected hazard of the job. It will all heal in a day or two with a little rest. I'll be fine. See you this evening."

Quince Orchard Country Club

Amanda was flustered by arriving late, but realized that she would hardly be noticed in the bustle. There was a team of men setting up chairs which was getting in the way of another team of men laying audio cables between the podium and the sound booth. There were loud voices competing to be heard, calling for more tape or asking questions about flower placement. She looked for Abby's fashionably permed hair-do, and dramatically colored red hair. She spotted her friend on the low stage talking to a dark-haired man.

"Oh, there you are!" Abby waved and then scurried over to give her a fake hug, whispering, "Eduardo didn't want to get started without you. He is quite smitten." With a little giggle, she slipped her arm through Amanda's and steered her onto the stage saying, "Amanda, I'm sure you remember Eduardo. He's ready to tell us what to do."

He smoothly reached out to take her hand and smiled charmingly into her eyes. "It's a pleasure to see you again. I've been looking forward to today."

Amanda smiled back, but inwardly, she was mildly alarmed. She was quite sure she had never met this man before. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to have her here and it probably wasn't for her benefit. Eduardo was still holding her hand, so she tugged her hand free and rolled up the sleeves of her thick flannel shirt. "I'm happy to help. Where do you want us to start?"

The next hour was spent covering the tables, tacking up the fabric and bunting along the stage, and other decorative work. While she worked, Amanda stayed alert to the activities in the large room. She had a bad feeling about this. She saw that film crews had arrived and a van outside advertised Bob's Balloons. There were several teams clustered around the large helium tanks getting started. Eduardo approached carrying a crate of glasses and a stack of campaign brochures.

"Lay these along the table at each chair. Then we'll help with the balloons."

There was some delay, and Amanda took the opportunity for a bathroom break. Her knee hadn't bothered her much, but with all of the stooping, it was starting to protest. She was pleased to see that the bandage was still dry.

When she returned to the club room, she could see that the balloon man was fastening the balloons to a long string which formed an arch over the doorway. Two other teams were more slowly doing the same thing on either side of the large room. A third team was fastening helium balloons to poles which could quickly be moved into the center of the audience allowing everyone a chance to "burst their bubble" at the end of the evening.

She stepped up onto the stage and her heart stopped when she saw the small canister beside the box of blue and red balloons. Carefully not jumping to conclusions, she casually approached the table and turned the silver canister until she could see the interlocking "C's" - the logo for Carmichael Chemical. She gasped as Abby touched her arm.

"Eduardo wants us to fill these balloons and place two at each of the high points in the swag. That gives one balloon each to the folks at the speaker's table, and then we'll fasten balloons to two poles that will flank the speaker. That will allow the staff seated on the back edge of the platform to have plenty of balloons. It will look festive on camera, don't you think?" Pointing and gesturing to describe their task, Abby was surprised when she turned back to Amanda.

Wild-eyed, Amanda clapped her hand to her chest and started breathing raggedly. "Allergies!" she gasped. "Inhaler," gasp, gasp. She clutched the ample fabric of her plaid shirt and loosened it from her jeans. "Car glove compartment." Collapsing into a chair facing away from the room, she waved Abby toward the door. As soon as the red haired woman had stepped off the stage, Amanda grabbed the shiny nerve gas canister and dropped it down her blouse, double checking that the shirt tail was still confined by her waistband. Holding her arms tightly across her chest, still feigning an asthma attack, she bolted off the stage and through a side door marked "Emergency Exit Only." The door slammed closed loudly behind her as she dashed into the wooded area behind the clubhouse. Too late, she realized that sending Abby to the car meant that Amanda couldn't use the car for her escape. She would just have to get away, and then figure out how to get somewhere safe.

Her sprint into the woods hadn't been good for her knee and Amanda was soon limping. She pushed onward, wanting as much distance as possible between her and the clubhouse before someone got close to finding her. She didn't know what else she could have done. She couldn't let the nerve gas fill the balloons. Those delicate containers could have burst at any time. No, waiting until the Agency could come to confiscate the balloons would have been too risky. She knew the riding trails would eventually lead to horse stables where she could find a phone. She stayed near the trail, but didn't want to be exposed on it. That made her journey more difficult as the terrain was uneven beneath the dead leaves.

Her caution was justified as she soon heard hooves galloping towards her. Above that sound was a woman's voice shouting, "Studson, you cheated again! Studson!" And a second set of hoof sounds joined the first, but from farther away. Amanda dodged quickly behind a clump of juniper. Peeking through a gap in the needles, she was surprised to she Lee vault gracefully off the back of a running horse and bounce lightly to his feet.

She darted towards him, "Lee! Oh, Lee I'm so glad to see you! I found the nerve gas and I'm sure they're coming to get me."

"Amanda, what are you doing here?"

"Trying to get away with the nerve gas. Here." She reached into the front of her shirt, and pulled out the heavy canister and handed it to him. "Be careful with that. It's deadly."

The agent rolled his eyes, "I know that. This changes things. We need to hide to let her get past and then we'll find better cover." He pressed her back behind the fragrant greenery and listened to the hoof beats draw even with them and race past.

"Come on." He dashed into the woods away from the trail. He reached back for her hand, and was surprised that she was not within reach. He turned to look and noticed her limping gamely toward him. "What's wrong? No, don't answer that. Grab onto my belt. This will be the fastest three-legged race you've ever run."

Wrapping her right arm around his waist, Amanda gripped his belt tightly. Lee and Amanda raced away from the trail and into a denser area of evergreen coverage. With Lee's long legs and strong thighs doing most of the work, Amanda felt like she was flying. She ran with her left leg as best as she could, and used her right leg mostly for balance. The land was fairly level with good visibility since many of the plants had gone dormant for the winter. He guided them skillfully to a different part of the trail that crossed over a stream. There was a wooden bridge spanning the stream for about four feet and he stopped them on the far side. He hopped down and then reached up to help her down into the stream bed. The stream was rushing through the lowest channel, but the edges were dry and Lee turned and ducked under the bridge. The reinforcement for the bridge provided sturdy beams where they could catch their breath and she could rest her knee. Litter suggested that local teens used the underside of the bridge as an informal clubhouse, away from adult eyes.

"Now, we wait for a bit. We have the nerve gas, and that was the primary danger. All we have to do is get you back to your car without being stopped and you'll be out of this mess."

"What were you doing in the woods, anyway? It sounded like a horse race."

"Something like that. Horses are creatures of habit and Blaze likes a particular clearing near the Pedroza estate which is a couple of miles away by trail, but not nearly as far straight across country. I've been able to use that to my advantage to scout the area and keep an eye on the house. When I jumped off him, I expected him to wind through the woods following the trail until he gets to the clearing. Since I know where he's going, I'll just meet him there. That means Adele will also go to the clearing, following Blaze and expecting a surprise from me when she gets there. She'll be surprised that I don't show up."

"So, you planned that? But what did you plan to do without the horse?"

"I needed to get a look at the duct system of the country club and I knew the building would be open today with folks crawling all over it. If they wanted to release the gas through the duct work, today was my chance to check it out."

"Aah" she nodded.

"You stealing the nerve gas will be reported to Pedroza right away, and his folks will start combing the woods for you. Adele will put two and two together and realize that I was playing her, and she will be looking for me with a vengeance."

"So, why are we sitting here? Isn't this delay risky for us?"

"I'm waiting for the sound of pursuit to pass this bridge and then we'll cross the stream and head down the hill to the clubhouse parking lot. We're much closer to the parking lot here, and on the far side of the clubhouse. It's not much farther," he assured her.

He paused then smiled, "I sure enjoyed that horse. His fondness for that clearing was handy more than once. The day I met you in the study, was the first time I took advantage of his habit, and it worked like a charm. I had the hardest time getting away from Adele to do any surveillance in the house. That morning, I had saddled her horse,and tied it to Blaze. Then I rode Blaze to the clearing and left him there while I jogged back to the stables and drove my car to Pedroza's. Later, I 'accidentally' knocked Adele into the pool and slipped into the study when she went to get changed. Of course, the servants panicked when they couldn't find me, but when I appeared with both horses, everyone assumed I had walked all the way to the stables for them. A couple of other times, I stashed a bottle of wine or a basket of grapes in the clearing as a surprise for Adele. I would challenge her to a race when I was already far ahead of her, then jump off the horse and scout the land, showing up in the clearing just before she arrived. A good agent has to think on his feet, but it's always good to do your homework and know what's at hand. That's how I found this place. And that's how I know Adele will expect to find me at the clearing."

A scuffle of footsteps hurrying up the path caught their attention and they cocked their heads, listening. A low voice growled, "She was limping this morning, so she can't have gone far, and she'll likely stay on the trails. But look everywhere – those damn evergreens could hide anything. And keep quiet. We don't want to alert her that we're coming." Booted feet stomped across the bridge and then there was silence.

Lee rose from the beam, and ducked under the edge of the bridge to take a quick look. He ducked again and held out his hand. "All clear. Let's get you home."

He straddled the stream and lifted Amanda lightly over the water. The she turned to face him, and put both hands on his shoulders to steady herself while he lifted her to a sitting position on the bridge. She carefully got to her feet as he leaped up onto the bridge, and they started down the slope. It quickly became apparent that Amanda's knee had gotten even worse during their brief rest, and Lee again drew close to provide support.

"I guess you'll miss Adele," Amanda said with a sideways glance as she gripped his waist.

"Hardly. I'll miss the horse more than her. She was part of the job, Amanda. You have to keep your feelings separate. You know that." His scornful tone was directed towards the thought of missing Adele, but the slight squeeze at her waist hinted to Amanda that maybe she was more than just part of the job. She was never quite sure what to think of those tiny hints, the small gestures.

As they emerged from the woods into the lawn beside the parking lot, Eduardo stepped menacingly into their path waving a knife. "I'd appreciate the return of what you stole from us." He was poised for action and pressed the switch to cause the knife blade to spring open.

Lee thrust the canister into Amanda's arms and shouted, "Run, Amanda" then whirled around, kicking low to sweep Eduardo's legs out from under him. The man fell on his side, and the knife flew from his grasp to stab the earth down the slope. While Lee moved in for another kick, Eduardo grabbed his ankle and pushed up, knocking Lee off balance and down. Eduardo scrambled up and dove on top of Lee pinning him to the ground. Amanda, edged around the outside of the fight, to get the knife. Lee grabbed Eduardo's shirt and rolled, causing them to switch places. He punched Eduardo's jaw, but Eduardo grabbed Lee's shirt and pulled them together with a sharp head-butt. Unfortunately for Eduardo, it hurt him more than it hurt Lee, and Lee took the opportunity to raise up and drive his knee into Eduardo's ribs. Groaning from the blow, Eduardo grabbed Lee in a scissor hold with his legs and rolled again. With arms and legs flying, the two men crashed into Amanda, sending her and the nerve gas to the ground. With a bum knee and the need to maintain her grip on the canister, she had no way to brace herself and her face skidded against pine cones and bits of gravel. Lee seized Eduardo's head firmly and pounded it against the ground until he was subdued. Then he got up heavily and picked up the knife with one hand and assisted Amanda with the other. Keeping one eye on his adversary, he glanced sideways and asked, "You alright?"

Breathing shakily, she answered, "Yeah. It will all heal in a day or two."

Now that the fight was over, Francine and James Edgecomb (dressed in blazers identifying them as news staff) raced up to take Eduardo into custody and secure the nerve gas as evidence.

"Lee, I thought you were going to make sure that Amanda didn't get involved in this today. What were you thinking?" Francine scolded.

"Ah, Francine, you're just jealous that you missed out on all the fun," Lee scoffed, shoving Eduardo in her direction.

"Well," sniffed the blonde, "only a little."

4247 Maplewood Drive

Saturday evening

Throughout the trying day, Amanda had longed to go home and rest her knee in a long soak. But as she approached the house, the longing was mixed with dread as she braced herself to answer her mother's barrage of questions. Following Eduardo's arrest, Amanda had met Lee at the Agency to debrief the incident and file her report. It was now past dinner time and the boys should be getting ready for bed.

The moment Amanda pushed the door open, the questions started, "Amanda, is that you?" The voice came from upstairs.

"Yes, mother." She stepped across the threshold into the warmth of the kitchen and removed her jacket.

"I was so worried. Where have you been?" Amanda could hear Dotty's feet hurrying down the stairs.

"It's a long story, mother."

"When Margarite called, she was concerned that you didn't show up to walk the dogs this evening. Did you go to the emergency room? How badly were you injured? She felt just terrible that your injuries kept you from the afternoon walk." Dotty grabbed both of Amanda's arms as she assessed the damage.

"No, mother I didn't go to the emergency room. It's not as bad as it looks. I'll be fine in a day or two."

"Amanda, your face is all scuffed up and I bet that eye will be black by morning. And your knee! I can see you limping, missy. Sit right down there, and I'll get an ice pack. Sit!" Her mother's flurry of activity and concern washed over Amanda like a waterfall. It was easier to go with the flow than to cross the current, and Amanda was too bruised and tired to resist.

"Yes, mother. I'm sitting."

"Here, prop it on this chair. Have you had dinner? I can heat up some of the casserole in no time, and I saved you some salad."

"Dinner would be great, mother. Thank you." Amanda let her head roll back and from side to side, easing the tension of the day.

"Oh, you poor baby. Who knew that dog walking could get so rough? You need a safer profession, Amanda. Something with more stability, maybe a chance to meet more people. You'll never meet a nice man if you're just walking dogs. Now that Dean's lost interest, you need to think of your future." Dotty's bright red nails flashed as she gestured.

"You're right, mother. I need a safer profession." Amanda said, wearily, but with a glimmer of hope.

"You type 90 words a minute and you could meet a lot of nice men as a secretary." She clasped her hands together under her chin, gleefully imagining the possibilities.

"I'll look into it, Mother. In fact, I saw an ad today for a film company. They do documentaries. Maybe I'll apply there on Monday."

THE END

Author's notes:

Full credit to SMKLegacy who originally had the idea of nerve gas in balloons. You can read her wonderful story here: s/229184/8/Operation-Esther.

Shout-out to the actor James Edgecomb who silently appeared in several SMK scenes but never in the credits, and to Abby Treloggen who was music editor for 84 episodes.

The female Democratic Vice Presidential candidate in 1984 did actually visit Central America advocating for compromise between the established repressive governments and legitimately furious rebel forces. I have no idea whether her life was threatened following those talks. My derogatory comments about her were strictly the thoughts of my characters and not an indication of my own opinion of her. And I'm pretty sure that "bursting their bubble" has never been a campaign activity for either political party.

Farewell: I have been writing fanfic for nearly 3 years and found it to be a delightful avenue of escape. Life circumstances have changed and I will be ending my "play time" in the SMK fandom. Like the end of summer camp, I'll leave with wonderful memories, but it's time to get back to more serious pursuits. I hope you enjoy reading my stories as much as I enjoyed writing them.