Amanda and Penelope hit the ground, tangled together, both giving off yelps of pain as bare arms, elbows and shoulders hit the rough brick surface. Lee could hear the explosion of voices around him, the royal security guards calling out in Zakirian as they raced to the scene, Francine calling orders at a full military volume voice that brooked no questions, but he never took his eyes off the two darks heads in front of him. It could only have been five seconds between the shot and his arrival at Amanda's side but it seemed like an eternity.

Uncertain whether the shooter had been stopped, he swooped down to try and cover both women with his body, realizing as he did so that someone else was attempting the same thing. He looked around desperate for cover, feeling a surge of relief when he realized there was some close by.

"Get them into the pool house!" he gasped and his companion nodded.

"I have Penelope, you get her friend!"

In a matter of heartbeats, he had Amanda up in his arms, turning to follow the man carrying the princess, who was protesting loudly that she did not need to be carried and demanding to be put down. Once safely under the cover of the pool house, he put Amanda down in a chair and began to run his hands over her trying to figure out where she'd been wounded. She was squeaking in pain and batting his hands away.

"Amanda! Where are you hurt?" he snapped at her.

"My ankle" she answered, bending down to try and rub it.

"He shot you in the ankle?" Lee couldn't believe any hitman could have had such terrible aim but thank God he had.

"No, he didn't shoot me in the ankle," Amanda was scolding him. "When you yelled, I turned around too fast and I fell off my shoe and twisted my ankle!" She smiled slightly as he rocked back on his heels and stared at her in complete confusion. "I told you it's been a while since I got dressed up – I don't think this is what my mother meant when she told me to have a high heel good time tonight."

"You fell off your shoe," he repeated slowly. "You. Fell. Off. Your. Shoe." She nodded in agreement. Lee stared at her for a moment, then down at the foot she was clutching. He didn't trust himself to look back up for a moment, afraid he would begin yelling at her in his relief.

"You may count your lucky stars for her clumsiness," said a voice beside them. Lee looked up as the man who had carried in the princess held up the scarf Amanda had had draped over her arms, and found himself staring at the neat hole where the bullet had passed through it. The relief fled, replaced by a feeling of nausea. The bullet couldn't have missed either woman by more than a few inches. He looked up further to meet the dark eyes of the other man who was looking as shocked as he felt.

"Your Highness!" he gasped as he realized his fellow rescuer was the Crown Prince. He scrambled to his feet and bowed briefly. "Is the princess alright?"

"I'm fine," said Penelope weakly. "Just bruised from the fall."

The prince had dropped to one knee in front of Amanda. "Mrs. King, this is the second time you have been there in time to help my wife. I do not know how to express my gratitude."

"Oh, well that's just silly," said Amanda laughing with embarrassment. "All I did was trip and fall – it was Mr. Stetson shouting that warning that really saved us."

In the next instant, Lee could see it hit her – she really had just been shot at. She went very pale and her eyes went very wide; he put a hand on her shoulder suddenly worried she might faint, and she lifted a hand to rest on top of his, her fingers far too cold for his liking.

"Nevertheless, you seem to be a lucky charm where Penelope is concerned," said the prince taking her free hand to kiss it. "In my country, such a friend is considered to be more valuable than diamonds."

In this country too, thought Lee.

There was a scuffling sound at the door as someone pushed his way past the phalanx of Zakirian guards.

"Now come on, boys, y'all know who I am, now let me in there to check on the prince and princess!"

Three heads swivelled to see who was coming in, only Amanda, facing away from the door saw the look of distaste on Penelope's face and immediately shifted in her seat to see who had evoked it.

Lee had known there was some kind of connection between the prince and Bo Johnson – they were due to visit his ranch while they were here – but was still taken aback at the familiarity that he was demonstrating, pushing his way past the Zakirian guards, who barely put up a struggle to stop him. Even so, he had to admit to a certain thrill at seeing Johnson in the flesh – he'd grown up watching his old westerns on television on Saturday afternoons and those westerns were just about the only thing he and his uncle had agreed on. A small part of his brain wished the Colonel could be here to meet him, but the agent part of him had kicked into overdrive, wondering what on earth Johnson was doing.

"Rheza! You okay, Son?" Johnson had pulled the prince to his feet, showing none of the sense of protocol of everyone else in the room. Lee could see the Zakirian royal guards looking disapproving but Prince Rheza was smiling and laughing.

"Bo! I'm fine! And so is Penelope, thanks to Mrs. King!"

Bo turned to where Amanda was sitting and grabbed her hand to pump it furiously. "You know, I saw that! You sure are a brave little lady, jumping in front of an assassin like that! Rheza here is like family to me, just like his daddy was and I sure am grateful to you for your quick thinking!""

Amanda looked appalled, as much because now her hand was hurting as much as her ankle thanks to Bo's crushing handshake, but also because despite his praise, she could see that whatever gratitude he was expressing, it wasn't reaching his eyes. She met Lee's eyes and gave a helpless shrug.

"I really didn't do anything – like I told His Highness, I just…"

"Nonsense!" Bo wouldn't let her finish. "Credit where credit's due, Little Lady! All these highly trained agents and guards who are supposed to be protecting them and it comes down to you! Now I know that I, for one, am very grateful and I sure would like to show you how much! How would you like to join us at the ranch this weekend when Prince here is visiting?"

Rheza began to laugh. "Oh Bo, you always make me laugh when you call me Prince that way – it always makes me sound like I'm a German Shepherd!"

Amanda caught the look on Penny's face at that moment – lips pressed together in irritation, eyes blazing with antagonism.

"Oh I don't think I can, Mr. Johnson – you see my youngest boy has Little League and my oldest has a birthday party…" she began to explain only to have Penny interrupt her.

"Oh please come, Amanda! It's been so long since I've had a chance to spend time with a real girlfriend and it would be such fun!" Amanda could tell there was something more to the request than a chance for a girly visit and couldn't resist the plea on Penny's face. She looked at Lee questioningly, but he had on his agent face and she couldn't read him at all.

"Well, ok," she said uncertainly. "But when you say ranch, do you mean like a country house or do you mean like a real ranch because if it's a real ranch…"

"Well, of course it's a real ranch, Little Lady! Bo Johnson wouldn't have anything less than a little bit of Texas right here in Virginia now would I? I mean, we don't run any longhorns, of course, but we do have a herd of cattle and a stable full of some of the prettiest horses you've ever met! Isn't that right, Penny?"

Penny nodded with a forced smile. "That's absolutely true, Bo. Your horses are the best reason to visit your ranch."

Amanda had the feeling Penny meant it was the only reason to visit but she was currently distracted by her own problems. "Well, I'm sure they're lovely, Mr. Johnson, but you see that's another reason that I can't…"Her voice trickled off at the beseeching expression on Penny's face. She sighed and finished the sentence, "that I can't wait to get there and see for myself."

Penny looked relieved and Lee looked slightly annoyed – she wasn't sure why.

Rheza suddenly realized how long they'd been talking and moved to help Penny from her chair. "Darling, we must get back to our guests!"

"Your Highness, do you think that's wise?" Lee asked, startled by their move to the door. "You've just been the target of an assassination attempt – I'm sure everyone would understand if the party was cancelled."

"Oh no, Mr. Stetson, thank you for your concern, but that is why it is more important than ever to show no fear. Isn't that right, Darling?"

Penelope nodded and visibly drew herself up and became royalty again. "I'll be fine, Mr. Stetson. I appreciate your concern but we'll be fine since I'm sure he's been caught by now. But perhaps you could make sure Amanda has that ankle checked out? I'd hate for her to miss any of the fun at the ranch – there are some beautiful trails out there, aren't there, Bo?"

"There sure are!" said Bo agreeably. "I'll look forward to taking you out and showing it off myself, Mrs. King!"

Amanda nodded miserably, then gave Penny a little wave goodbye as the royal couple stepped out of the pool house and back into the sunshine to a round of applause from their guests.

"Okay, Hopalong, I'm going to check in with Francine on the shooter and after the party, I'll get you home so you can start packing for your weekend at Los Pinos since you probably can't drive with that ankle." Lee finally noticed that Amanda wasn't looking as excited about the impending getaway as most people would be. That odd trace of inexplicable annoyance that she thought she'd seen earlier crept into his voice. "Amanda? What's the problem? I'm sure your ankle will be fine by then and even if it isn't, you don't need a good ankle to ride western – it's like sitting on a rocking chair."

"It's not my ankle," she started to explain only for him to interrupt her again.

"Well, it can't be the boys – your mother can get Phillip to the birthday party and I'm sure Jamie will understand you missing a game when you've got an opportunity to spend the weekend with a princess, right?"

She had to smile that he'd actually paid attention to all the reasons she'd listed off earlier. "No, it's not the boys either. They're old enough to understand. No, the thing is…"

She was doomed never to explain as Lee's walkie-talkie crackled to life with Francine's voice – all business.

"Scarecrow, the shooter got away, but Billy wants you to call him asap. Beaman and Fielder have the exits and entrances secured and the embassy staff is taking the other teams over the property again to make sure the house is secure as well."

"Copy that. I'll be there in a minute." Lee hooked the radio back on his belt and turned to Amanda. "Amanda, I'm sorry but I have to go. Do you want to wait somewhere more comfortable until I can drive you to the hospital to have that ankle looked at?"

"Oh I can't stay – The boys have their Thanksgiving play tonight and I promised I'd be home early. Don't worry about it, I'll manage." She pulled herself to her feet, wincing when she tried to put weight on her foot.

Lee looked around helplessly. "No you won't – you can barely stand up. Look, why don't you take a cab, and I'll make sure your car is brought home later tonight. You wait here and I'll go find a waiter or someone who can help you out front."

"That would be great, Lee, but the thing is, about this weekend…"

"Amanda, I gotta go. Stop worrying; just go and enjoy yourself. I'll talk to you before you leave to brief you on protocol and security, but in the meantime, just sit back and think about how much fun it'll be pretending to be the Sundance Kid for real, okay?" And with that, Lee vanished out the door, back to his real job.

Amanda stared sadly at the empty doorway and sighed. "Yeah sure, Butch. But the real Sundance Kid probably didn't sneeze himself almost to death when he got anywhere near a horse though, did he?"