Where the Dark Wind Blows
Title by: petnurser
Story by: Breezy Walsh
Beta'd by: Heather (if she were a man, she'd be the man)
Timeline: After Utopia and our favorite near miss, yeah we kind of stray from cannon, but I've been told it's worth it.
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"Mother, we'll be back Sunday night. Have a good weekend!" Amanda King shouted inside the door just before she closed it.
"Come on Mom!" Phillip called to his mother from the passenger's seat of the station wagon, "We're gonna be late."
"Yeah, Mom," Jaime added, "We'll never get a good tent spot if we don't get there soon."
Amanda smiled at her two sons as she climbed behind the wheel, "Fellas, we'll be fine. I have to register the group when we get there, so no one will be able to be there ahead of us."
"Well, let's go!"
"Yeah!" The boys called out simultaneously.
***
In a building not so far away…
"Lee Stutzmun! I know you're home! I saw the light on," the voluptuous woman called from behind the door, "It's me, Olga, from Munich. You told me to stop by when I was in the states."
Lee Stetson groaned in his bed. He had heard Olga, the merry confessor, call for him. He didn't want to talk to her. He didn't think she was what he needed after the fight the night before. It had been close and his lip was still very fat.
"Vell, I'll be in town. I'm leaving my hotel number on your door for you to call me," The blonde said as she walked away leaving a slip of paper on his door.
Lee heaved a sigh. He rolled out of bed and walked ever so slowly to his bathroom. His body was protesting every step, but he knew a shower was just what he needed. Before he could make it to the bathroom his phone rang.
"Oh great," Lee groaned and sped up so he could make it to the phone.
"Stetson," he said in the receiver. His face shifted into a look of concern as he listened to the other end, "Sure Billy. Count me in. This is important. I'll pick Amanda up and get moving."
Lee went back to getting himself in shape for the day. When he was finished he started to head to Amanda King's house until he remembered that she had a camping trip with some youth group or another. He figured he could take this on his own. It was a milk run after all.
***
Meanwhile in the forest…
Amanda just put the finishing touches on her tent. She was admiring her handiwork when two suspicious looking men walked through the site. She kept her eye on them as they went past all of the boys' tents, until they were totally out of sight. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew there was something up.
She decided right then was not the time to worry about them and got back to the task of taking care of her troop of fifteen boys.
"Fellas! It's time to get a fire started so we can cook dinner. Who wants to collect the firewood?"
***
"Me and Bobbie McGee, ladada," Janis Joplin sang as Lee Stetson made his way to Howudoin Field to catch an exchange of information that the government couldn't afford to let out of its borders.
Lee didn't realize that the baseball field was so far out into the woods. As the field came into his view he drove by a sign for a campground. He thought for a second that it could be his luck that he had stumbled upon the campground where a certain group of boys were, but he doubted it. He pulled his car into a small copse of trees and sat back. He had to wait until dark before the meet was supposed to happen, so this was the perfect time for a nap.
Lee had just started a light snore when he heard a tapping on the window. He allowed only one eye to open and find out who dared to disturb his slumber. The face looked familiar, but he couldn't seem to place it. As he pulled his head up to look more awake, he opened the window.
"Sir?" the young boy questioned, "Would you mind taking a nap someplace else? You're parked on top of our campfire pit and we have a very special ceremony tonight that we need to build a fire for."
"Um, sure, I guess I can do that," the still bleary agent answered.
"If you want to park up on the camp ground you can have hot dogs with us. If you do, I get my hospitality badge!" The small scout crowed.
"Well, if it'll get you a badge I would be happy to help," Lee still wasn't entirely sure he knew who this youngster was, but he felt that he should do him the favor of eating dinner with him, "Would you like to hop in, so you can show me where the camp is?"
"I'm sorry sir, but my mother told me not to get in the car with a stranger, but if you want to follow me up the road I'll show you where we are."
"You're mother is a very smart lady," Lee answered.
"She's the smartest," the lad said with a grin.
Lee had allowed his head to clear enough to know that this was Amanda's son, Jaime, and that he would love to help him out. Plus he could get Amanda's help with the layout of the area.
He smiled as he thought of the boy's mother while Lee followed the tiny form that was stomping along the dirt road. Lee knew he had a crush on her. It made him feel extremely vulnerable. It was a feeling he hadn't felt since he was in elementary school when he had Miss Krandall. He cleared his head when he noticed that Jaime had stopped and was directing him into a space next to Amanda's wagon.
"If you want to rest some more you can take my tent until we start cooking," the young man directed while Lee got out of his car, "by the way, my name is Jaime King," he held out his hand to shake.
"Lee Stetson," the man offered his hand as well and was shocked to feel the grip he was given, "thank you for the invitation."
"No problem," Jaime answered, "if you want to follow me, I need to introduce you to my mom and pack leader."
"Sure," Lee smiled as he followed. He walked right up behind Amanda and waited for her son to get her attention.
"Mom, I want to introduce you to Lee Stetson," Jaime pointed behind her.
"Jaime, where did you- -," Amanda started before she was cut off.
"Hi," Lee smiled at her and offered his hand to her. "Pleased to meet you," he winked.
"Uh, hi," Amanda smiled back and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you too. Would you like to join us for hot dogs?"
"I sure would," he smiled and under his breath he continued, "Can we go some place to talk in private?"
"That's great," she answered loud enough for everyone to hear and answered him sotto voice, "I do, but first you need to let go of my hand."
"Oh, right," Lee blushed.
***
In the meantime…
Heinrich Problovich was on his way back to the Capitol Building to return the documents. He realized that what he was about to do was wrong and corrected himself. He hoped he wasn't too late, but either way he would not let the plans get into the wrong hands.
Heinrich knew he had been followed out of the park, so he had sped up. He had forgotten about the large corner and taken it much too fast. He laughed, knowing that no one would ever see that file again as he crashed head on into a tree. His car exploded because of the speed and the two men that had been tailing him drove on into the night.
***
Two hours later…
Lee was sitting by the campfire helping to get it going when he heard a loud beeping coming from his car, "Excuse me, work is calling me."
The boys watched in wonder as Lee pulled what looked like a combination radio- telephone out of his car.
"Stetson… yes… uh huh… okay thanks Billy," Lee put the radio back in his car and approached Amanda. "The run is off. Apparently the guy killed himself and the papers won't be exchanged."
"Well," Amanda smiled, "why don't you stick around. You can help with the ceremony of the Arrow Fellowship. It'd be good to have a deep voice to read the narration."
"I seem to have some spare time now. I'd be more than happy to," he smiled back.
As the day faded, the night took over lining the sky with diamonds points setting the scene for the boys' big production. They had all changed into their homemade headdresses and Native American vests. Amanda even had a spare feather and headband for Lee.
He began reading, "Long ago, a grand chieftain told his tribe that to become a man, you must do his best to be honest, courteous, brave, and honor his ancestors. He had each of them announce his accomplishments on the night of the dark wind. This was a feast that would celebrate a successful hunt. If the chieftain deemed worthy, the accomplishments of the boy, he would then allow him to step into manhood. Tonight we celebrate our feast and welcome our accomplishments with the dark wind."
On that cue, Amanda tossed a handful of pine needles into the fire. One by one the boys announced their good deeds and were given a badge that welcomed them into the Arrow Fellowship. The entire ceremony took two hours and after they celebrated with s'mores. By ten all of the boys were asleep in their tents, which left Lee and Amanda alone.
"Amanda, I had a good time today," he said trying to be nonchalant.
"I'm happy you were here," Amanda whispered, "I had fun."
Lee looked into Amanda's eyes, "I was sure today was going to be terrible with the way things started out, but you and your boys turned it around. But something is still missing."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, everyone else talked about their good deeds and I noticed you didn't tell everyone yours," he pointed out.
"This ceremony was for the boys, Lee. I didn't need to say anything."
"Do you have a good deed that you have done today?" he asked.
"Today? I helped Tommy Rickleson out of his tent when he got tangled."
"That's not really that good," Lee teased as he moved closer, "I was hoping for something a little more…"
"A little more what?"
"A little more Lee oriented," he mumbled as he dipped his head. Amanda's eyes opened wide and then flew shut as Lee's lips pressed against hers. He pulled back to look into her heavily lidded eyes and smiled.
He took a step back before he spoke.
"I'll always remember tonight and how the dark wind blows," he leaned over to kiss her cheek and then ran off to the darkness. Leaving Amanda stunned, but very happy listening to his car drive off into the night.