Disclaimer - "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" are copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. This story is for entertainment only. I will not make any money off it but do hope that at least some people will enjoy it. The Characters are not mine; I only took them out to play with them for a while so they could help me tell the story. All the credit goes to Bruce and Kate and their wonderful supporting staff for portraying these wonderful characters so well that so many of us still love them so much today. The additional characters and this story are mine.

A/N #1 – For those who are familiar with my In Between Series, you know that these are stories being told in between the aired stories of the show. Since I have made them meld into the series like they really existed, I will be using references from them in future stories. I don't think you need to read each of the stories in order to understand the story being told but hopefully you will read all of them anyway. Thanks again for all your support.

A/N #2 - There were a lot of holes in "Always Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth." Due to time constraints, I'm sure we were left to imagine filling in those holes on our own so one of the things I like doing with this In Between Series is to fill in some of the holes. Since this one had so many, the "In Between" Story doesn't begin until Chapter 11. I hope you enjoy what I have done and that you enjoy the In Between Story as well. Thank you for reading my stories, thank you for the really nice reviews and thank you to those who have written to me privately. I'm enjoying writing this series and am glad that there are others who are enjoying reading them.

A/N #3 - Since the Chess Hall does not exist, any stories that are told that supposedly took place there are not true either and were written just to add to the story taking place.

AND NOW ON WITH OUR STORY: (Story will be completely posted before the end of the week)

Chapter 1 -The Cast

Amanda couldn't believe how much her leg still bothered her. She couldn't sleep at night; she found it hard to even walk. It really hurt a lot more than she thought it would. She had simply demonstrated to her Little Leaguers how to do the Hook Slide and she apparently slid the wrong way and hurt her ankle. The doctor had assured it that it wasn't broken but it sure felt like it was. He had felt that just keeping it wrapped would be enough but Amanda was having her doubts. She finally had no choice but to make an appointment and go back in. Dr. Nelson greeted her as he walked into the examining room "Hi Mrs. King. So I hear that your foot is still causing you some problems?"

"Yeah, Doc, it really is hurting a lot and I can't seem to get comfortable with it at night to sleep."

"Well let's take a look at it" He said as he sat on the rolling stool and slid over to where Amanda was sitting. He gently unwrapped it and noticed right away that her foot seemed to be more bruised than before.
He began to chuckle. "I should have known that I couldn't get away with just wrapping the foot of a housewife. You are much too active for this foot to be just wrapped. I'm afraid we are going to have to put it in a cast."

"A cast? Really? You think that is really necessary?" Amanda asked.

"I do if you want your foot to heal." Dr. Nelson replied.

"Well maybe you are right. I do have our Neighborhood Thanksgiving Play this week and I'm going to be busy finishing decorating my house for it."

"Then definitely we need to secure this foot of yours in a cast. Dr. Nelson replied.

In no time, Amanda's foot was put into a cast and she was sent on her way.

When she arrived home, her mother was putting away some groceries that she had gotten for dinner.

"Hi Dear, how was your day? Wait, is your foot in a cast now?"

"Yes Mother. Apparently it is not mending well enough just being wrapped."

"Well darling, that is sure going to make it hard for you to go out with Dean on Friday. Doesn't he have some sort of dance he was going to take you to?"

"I know, I will have to cancel with him. I'm sure he will understand though."

"Yes, that's our Dean. He is just a pillar of understanding." Dotty said with a smile.

"Mother, I think I'm going to go rest now."

"Okay, I'll call you when dinner is ready."

Later on when the boys got home, they were excited to hear that their mother was in a cast. Phillip ran into her room and jumped on her bed while she was still sleeping.

"Phillip! Oh my gosh, you nearly scared me to death. What are you doing?"

"Grandma said that your foot was in a cast. Can I see?"

Jamie came running into her bedroom at that moment. "I want to see too" he squealed.

"Okay fellas. Just be gentle with your old Mother, okay?" Amanda uncovered her foot and let them see the cast.

"Whoa!" Phillip exclaimed. "That is so cool. All of that from a hook slide? Wait till the guys hear about this!"

"Well don't forget that we have your game tomorrow night against the Pirates so they will be seeing it soon enough." Amanda reminded him. "Now why don't you go downstairs and help your Grandmother set the table for dinner."

"Okay Mommy" Phillip and Jamie both said at once. They gave Amanda a hug and then ran down the stairs.

Amanda carefully made her way downstairs and just as she reached the kitchen, the phone rang.

"Hello!" She said into the line.

"Hello Mrs. King. This is Billy Melrose."

"Oh, hi Sir." Amanda glanced at her Mother who was busy mixing potatoes in a bowl and moved to the edge of the kitchen to try to avoid her hearing the conversation.

"I was wondering if you would be available for an assignment on Wednesday?"

"Well Sir, I would love to but I do need to talk to you about it first. Would it be okay to come in early Wednesday morning?"

"That would be fine. I'll see you in my office at, ummm, let's say 8:30am?"

"Thanks Sir, I'll see you then." Amanda replied.

"Amanda Dear, oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were on the phone."

"I'm all done now Mother. What could I do to help?"

"We've got this, don't we fellas?" Dotty responded while looking at the boys. The boys nodded their heads and began setting the table.

The doorbell rang and Phillip ran to go answer the door. He soon came back with Dean behind him.

"Dean? What are you doing here?" Amanda asked.

"Well I heard from a certain little birdie that you hurt your foot. Are you okay? Amanda? Are you in a cast?"

"Yes, but it is okay. When I told Dr. Nelson that I was putting on the neighborhood Thanksgiving Play, he knew that my foot needed more reinforcement so he put it in a cast. I'm okay though."

Dotty said "Dean, it is so nice to see you. Will you stay for dinner?"

Dean said "Amanda, I think you need to reconsider resigning from managing the Little League team. We have talked about it before; it is just too much for you."

Amanda put a smile on her face and said "Dean now is not the time to talk about that but I'm not leaving the team. We have already discussed this and I decided that I would continue. Wow Mother, all that food looks great and I'm hungry, let's eat."

During dinner, Amanda asked the boys if they were ready for the Thanksgiving Play and Phillip teased Jamie about being nervous. "Shut up" Jamie said to Phillip. Amanda reminded Phillip not to tease his brother and then scolded Jamie that it wasn't nice to tell his brother to shut up.

Dotty asked Dean "So are we supposed to have good weather for Thanksgiving Dean? Any sign of snow?"

"Well Dotty, that's a bit in advance to tell right now but this next week should have nice weather." Dean answered as he smiled at Dotty. "I guess we won't be going to the dance though."

"Sorry Dean" Amanda said.

Dean helped clear off the dinner dishes and stood in the kitchen while Amanda washed them. The boys had gone up to play before bedtime and Dotty had left the two of them alone downstairs.

"Amanda, I really do think you need to slow down." Dean said. "Why don't you let the other parents take over Little League at least?"

"Dean, I don't want to do that. I enjoy managing Little League. Now can we talk about something else please?" Amanda insisted.

"Fine but I don't like it." Dean said as he watched Amanda finish doing the dishes.

Amanda smiled and said "You don't have to like it. You just have to respect my decisions, right?" She gave him a peck on the cheek and then pointed toward the living room. They sat down on the sofa together but Amanda really wasn't in the mood to have Dean there. After a few minutes, she stretched and yawned and said "I'm sorry Dean but I'm really tired. Can we cut tonight short?"

"Sure Amanda. I have to go home and do laundry anyway." Dean answered. He gave her a quick hug at the door and then he was gone.

Amanda watched him drive off and then closed the front door. After making sure the downstairs was locked up, she went upstairs to bed. Tomorrow was another day.

TBC