Ten Little Letters
Chapter 1
It was a weary Lee Stetson who entered his apartment at 10:17 p.m. It had been a very long two days and right now he wanted nothing more than a hot shower and ten hours of uninterrupted sleep in his own bed. Not only had he and Amanda been stranded in the swamp overnight, he had just completed three hours of debriefing with every government agency known to man. The Secret Service alone interrogated him for 45 minutes wanting to know how he found the southern perimeter of the underground White House. Thankfully, Amanda had been spared the major debriefing session, but he feared her interrogation would begin once she arrived home. Dotty seemed none to happy with her explanation as to why she hadn't come home last night. He thought about driving by to check on her after his debriefing, but it was just too late and he figured she might already be in bed.
Tossing his keys on the entryway table, he peeled off his jacket and threw it over the back of the couch. He headed for his bedroom, unbuttoning his shirt along the way and stuffed it into the hamper. Then he sat down on the bed and untied his boots. Thank heavens he had worn his hiking boots. They were caked with mud but at least they were water proof which had kept his feet dry while walking through the swamp. His jeans, however, were another story. They were also caked with mud which had dried making the lower legs of his jeans stiff as a board. It took some doing, but at least, he was able to peel them off. He started to throw them in the hamper but thought better of it. He wasn't sure they would ever come clean. Well, what the heck, he tossed them in anyway following that with his socks and boxers.
He turned on the water and climbed into the shower adjusting the temperature to as hot as he could stand it. He decided he must be getting old because spending the night crawling through the swamp and sleeping on the ground left him with numerous aches and pains. He shampooed his hair twice before he felt it was clean. Then he scrubbed his skin to remove any last remnants of mud and slime from his ordeal.
He stood under the spray until the water began to cool. The pulsating heat felt good and worked wonders to relax his back and shoulders. He was beginning to feel better so he stepped out of the shower and dried off. He slung the wet towels over the shower rod and went into his bedroom in search of a clean pair of boxers and a T-shirt. Once dressed, he realized he wasn't ready to go to bed just yet so headed into the kitchen looking for a bite to eat.
Chapter 2
Rummaging through his refrigerator, he found a few slices of ham and some potato salad Amanda had brought to him after a family dinner. He loved her leftovers. They were far tastier than anything he might have put together.
He grabbed a beer and his plate and settled down on his couch using the coffee table as a foot rest. He contemplated turning on the TV but didn't think there would be anything of interest on. Instead, he began to relax and simply let his mind wander.
In the course of doing so, he thought back on Amanda's departure from the Agency. They had been kidding each other about the overnight adventure they had just shared. He lamely tried to make an excuse for the kiss they had almost shared but she'd countered with a parting shot of two simple words – "Not exactly."
Thinking back, he wasn't sure if it was the words or her saucy little smile that left him speechless. Before he could chase after her, he'd been called back into the debriefing room by Billy.
Now that he had time to reflect on their exchange, he tried to figure out what she was trying to say. Did she want him to kiss her? He did enjoy holding her. She always managed to calm him no matter how dire the situation.
Was she hoping their relationship would turn into something more? If the truth be told, he had had those same thoughts in recent weeks.
As he finished off the last of his potato salad, he turned those words over and over in his mind. Not exactly - ten little letters – a combination of six consonants and four vowels or was y considered a consonant. Let's see, what is that old childhood saying – a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y. Yeah, he decided, in this instance it was a vowel.
As he downed the last of his beer, he realized that each time he came to a crossroad in his life, the situation revolved around ten little letters.
Chapter 3
The first time he faced this phenomenon, he'd been only five years old. Strange voices coming from the living room had awakened him. He climbed out of bed and silently padded down the hall looking for his mother or father. When he entered the living room, he saw a number of people in uniform – both policemen and Air Force. None of the adults saw him until Miss Jean, who was his babysitter, saw him standing in the room. When she called out to him, the entire room became silent.
"Where's my Mommy and Daddy?" he asked. "Why are all these people here? Are we having a party?" He climbed up beside her on the couch and he noticed the tears.
"Sweetie," she said quietly. "Your Mommy and Daddy aren't here."
Rubbing his eyes, little Lee looked at her questioningly. "I know, but they said they would be here when I woke up and then we could go and look at the puppies over at Mr. Jensen's house. You know his dog, Lady, had this many puppies," he said throwing up his hands with seven fingers raised. "Daddy said we could go and pick one out tomorrow. Is it tomorrow yet?"
Tears were now flowing freely down her face. "No, Lee, it's not tomorrow but I have something to tell you and it's not pleasant. Tonight there was an accident. Do you know what an accident is?"
Tiny Lee shook his head up and down but he really wasn't sure. He knew something bad was going on because he had never seen Miss Jean cry before. "Why are you crying? Are you sad?"
She hugged him close. "Yes, Sweetie, I am sad because tonight your Mommy and Daddy had an accident on their way home. Their car ran off the road and they were killed."
Lee simply sat there staring at her. He knew the words but he wasn't exactly sure what they meant.
One of the policemen standing nearby merely blurted out "They're dead."
Boom – there it was – ten little letters that changed the course of his life on that September evening so long ago.
Chapter 4
Lee had made it through most of his childhood and adolescence with only a few new "ten letter episodes" as he'd come to think of them. Although his childhood was not ideal, it did offer many perks that a regular kid would not have enjoyed. Granted, he didn't have a normal family life, but he did manage to cultivate several lasting friendships and he did have the guidance of people like Barney, who helped mold him into the young man he had become. And, although he never let the Colonel know, he did enjoy the traveling. He found that he got bored staying in one place too long. Traveling afforded him a chance to see the world and make new friends.
One of those friends was Steve Fairdale. He and Steve were the same age. In fact their birthdays were only three days apart. They met during their sophomore year in high school and became best buddies. They were like peas in a pod and together they ran into all kinds of trouble. Lee and Steve made a bond that once they finished high school they would attend the same college.
And they did. They enrolled at the University of Virginia and tried out for the football team as walk-ons. Much to their surprise, both were selected to the freshman team. They enjoyed the freedom of being on their own. Lee especially, since his uncle had been transferred to Fort Collins in Colorado.
Lee and Steve were a hit among the ladies during their freshman year. There wasn't a weekend that went by they didn't have dates. They played it footloose and fancy free until Steve began to get serious about one of the cheerleaders – Kathy. Soon they were inseparable and they became a serious couple. Lee continued his dating habits never getting to close to any one girl. He believed in living his part of the sexual revolution and often engaged in behavior that was risky to say the least.
He noticed a change in Steve during the middle of their sophomore year. As time went on, he began to withdraw. Although he asked several times, Lee was unable to find out what the problem was. Once day, he headed back to the dorm room he and Steve shared. Lee's history class had been canceled and he was heading back to his room to drop of his books.
When he entered his room, he found Kathy standing by the window crying. When he asked what happened, he assumed that maybe she and Stave had broken up. Kathy turned to him crying harder and all he could do was hold her. He figured she might calm down enough to tell him what was going on. After several moments, her crying did subside.
Lee pulled her toward the bed and sat down with her. "Can you tell me what's going on? You and Steve haven't been yourselves for a while now and he won't tell me."
Kathy looked up from tear-filled eyes and softly said, "I'm pregnant."
Boom – another "ten letter combination" that would change his life.
Steve entered the room at that exact moment and angrily declared, "She said she was on the Pill and I stupidly believed her."
Much to his dismay both Steve and Kathy left school. They quickly married and Steve joined the Marines. Shortly after Steve completed his basic training, he was shipped out. Three weeks into his tour of duty in Vietman, he was killed. Kathy lost the baby.
Watching the world crumble around these two people he'd come to love, he decided then and there he needed to clean up his act and act more responsibly.
Chapter 5
Lee headed back into the kitchen to grab another beer. He found this strange trip down memory lane in some ways fascinating. Not all of his encounters with "ten little letters" were negative. He remembered with joy that day he called his uncle to tell him about the job interview he had with the Agency. His uncle, as was expected, was not impressed, but Lee was overjoyed when Harry V. Thornton called to say, "You're hired."
Lee had thrown himself heart and soul into his training. He found this line of work to be right up his alley and when he was hand picked for an elite unit, he was elated. Lee was chosen to be a member of the Oz Network by none other than the "Wizard of Oz" himself, Paul Barnes.
Under Paul's tutelage he became one of the best the Agency had to offer. And his partnership with Emily Farnsworth proved only to sharpen his skills. When Billy paired him with Eric Newton, they became the best team the Agency ever saw. He and Eric were like brothers and it was like they could read each other's minds.
Lee had grown to love his work at the Agency and the people around him although he was careful to never let that show too much. When Eric was killed in the line of duty, Lee stoically accepted it but deep inside, he couldn't help but wonder why everybody he got close to ended up being taken away.
From that time on, he began living a very careless life. He volunteered for the most dangerous assignments and seemed hell bent on putting himself in harm's way. Billy tried to intervene on his behalf only to be met with resistance on Lee's part. It had come to the point that Billy ordered him to begin seeing Pfaff on a regular basis or leave the Agency.
With that ultimatum, Lee slowly began to re-evaluate his life. Pfaff even recommended to Billy that perhaps Lee was once again ready to work with a partner.
Chapter 6
Billy tried on several occasions to team Lee up with several different agents hoping to find one who could become his permanent partner only to be met with resistance on Lee's part. After one of those pairings ended up in a shouting match in the bull pen, Billy decided to no longer pursue it.
When Billy got the call for a messenger to pick up a delivery that might hold the key to why several of the Agency's operatives had recently been killed, he wanted Scarecrow on the job.
Lee would pose as a waiter, pick up the package that Frank Warner had and return it to the Agency. A relatively simple assignment. But in this business, everybody knows that even the simplest of assignments can be wrought with danger.
Lee got the package but was discovered and being chased by two Russian thugs. In his attempt to escape, he ran from the party and tried to make his way back to the Agency. But with the Russians hot on his trail, he had to change his tactics.
He ended up at the train station where he was to meet Guthrie and hand off the package. But the Russians were still right behind him so he tried a not so well known tactic he had used in Germany. While on the run, he scanned the crowd for an innocent looking bystander and said "Walk with me."
Boom – another change in his life brought about by "ten little letters."
Chapter 7
By now, Lee was growing sleepy. He was clean, warm and full. He took his empty paper plate and beer bottles into the kitchen and placed them in the trash. He yawned and stretched and proceeded into the bathroom. After brushing his teeth, he climbed into bed. As he snuggled down into his pillow, he thought about the life changing events that had come his way due simply in part to ten little letters.
His thoughts soon drifted to his partner. He would swing by her house tomorrow to see if he could get her to explain what she'd meant by uttering "Not exactly."
As he was drifting off to sleep, he had one more thought. One that caused him to smile. In all his life, with all its "ten little letter episodes" that seemed to set him on a new course, none was more rewarding, more satisfying, more confusing, more demanding, or more beautiful than a random combination of four vowels and six consonants - Amanda King.
The end
Story Notes:
This story is based on characters copyrighted by Shoot the Moon productions and Warner Brother. It is intended solely for the enjoyment of its readers. No infringement is intended.