Chapter Four
A train whistle shrieked in the air, it's shrill scream filling her mind and removing her ability to think. When it finally abated she rubbed her temple, wishing she could break the whistle before it screamed again. The pain stayed with her as she hurried down the station walkway, searching desperately for what she had lost. Boxes were scattered before her, each one closed tightly. Reaching for the one nearest her she tried to pry open the flaps but they were taped firmly together. Pulling, ripping, attacking the tape she tried desperately to open the box.
With a small grin of triumph she pulled back the flaps and peered into the box. Curiously she pulled out a small music box. Wondering what it meant she was still investigating it when a small card fell out. Picking it up she read the words scrawled on it. 'Save the Pilgrims Peach Puff.' What was a Pilgrims Peach Puff? How was she supposed to save it?
Suddenly the train whistled again and she looked up with a grimace, dropping the music box to cover her ears from the painful noise. From behind she felt someone lift her to her feet, a pair of strong arms wrapping themselves around her as they walked through the station. 'Walk with me,' the arms said.
'No,' she said. It wasn't fear that drove her to say no, but a need to open another box, a need to try and solve the mystery of the peach puff. 'I will not!'
'Please!'
'No.'
'Please!' the arms said again. The voice was urgent, desperate, and she found herself giving in.
'What do I have to do?'
The voice told her to get on the train and get a red hat before it suddenly disappeared. Looking after it she saw a man in a white jacket running away, getting as far as he could before he was tackled to the ground. Shocked she climbed onto the train and stopped in confusion. The car was filled with red hats from top to bottom. Which one was she supposed to take?
Before she could decide a man approached her, asking what she was doing. Not trusting him to tell the truth she made up an excuse and got off the train. The boxes were gone and she fell to her knees in despair. What was going on? Who was she? Would she ever get the answers she needed?
Off in the distance she saw a person hanging from the wall. Would they have the answers? Getting to her feet she hurried toward them. As she got closer she saw that it was the scarecrow again. His hazel eyes bored into hers and she knew he was the key to answering her questions. 'Please, tell me what I need to know!'
'Give me my heart back,' was his only reply. 'I need my heart to live.'
A glimmer caught her eye and she looked down to see a pendant lying at her feet. Bending down she picked it up and examined it. It was a diamond pendant in the shape of a heart.
'Give me my heart back. I need my heart to live.'
Holding out the pendant to him he took it from her with tears in his eyes as he brought it to his lips. 'My heart is home,' he said, smiling through his tears. 'Thank you for bringing my heart home.'
'Who am I?' she asked him, hoping now that he had his heart he would help her. 'Please scarecrow, tell me who I am.'
He smiled at her, his smile electric. 'My heart,' was his only reply before he climbed down from the wall and wandered off, holding the pendant over his heart.
'Who am I?' she cried after him. Falling to her knees again she rocked back and forth, tears falling from her eyes. 'Who am I?'
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Standing before the glass he watched her toss and turn in her bed. Her face was twisted with pain and fear and he wondered what was going through her mind. What nightmares were laying out in her dreams? Did she dream about him? Was it possible that somewhere in her clouded mind she remembered him, even if she didn't realize it?
He could feel tears pricking at his eyes as he watched her. It had been so long, so many years thinking she was dead. Now, like a dream or a miracle, she was back. Somebody had some explaining to do and he wondered who would have the answers. Half of him didn't care. Just knowing she was alive, that she was almost home, was enough for him.
"Hang in there, Mom," he whispered, touching the glass briefly. "Lee will bring you home."
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The file sat open on the table before him but his mind was elsewhere. Since the group had split off, Amanda going to rest, Billy and Francine going back to work, he had been poring over the file, searching or an answer to the questions in his mind. If the bomb squad had been fake where were the real people? Whose bodies had been recovered from the fire? How had the coroner made such a mistake with the autopsy and the dental records?
Hours later he stood and forced himself to move around, stretch out his legs before they stiffened to a point of being unable to move. As he took a turn around the room his eyes fell on a leather-bound book resting on the table where Amanda had been sitting. The debate between Winter and Amanda came back to him and he wondered what it was about the book that she thought was wrong. Picking up the book he opened it and scanned the pages within its covers. Notes were written in the margin in the handwriting he recognized as Amanda's.
'Scarecrow had a brain – he needed a heart.'
The field of flowers that Dorothy had fallen asleep in had been crossed off, the word 'roses' written in its place.
Suddenly it hit him. She was mixing up the story with the Oz Network, the history that she had been introduced when the Tin Man was trying to kill the rest of the network. Without realizing it Amanda had remembered!
"Lee?"
Slamming the book shut Lee looked up to the doorway to see Jaime standing just inside the room. "Hey Jaime, come on in," he smiled. "What are you doing here?"
"I had to come and see her," he answered honestly.
Lee nodded. "Did you talk to her?"
"No, she was sleeping," he shook his head. "I just needed to see her Lee, to make sure she was really here."
"It's okay," he soothed. "I know how you feel."
"Grandma's been going crazy at the house."
Lee frowned. He hadn't been home in a few days and he suddenly realized he hadn't given Dotty any sort of an update on her daughter. Swearing under his breath he chastised himself for being so stupid and thoughtless. "I'll call her."
"I think she just needs to know she's still okay. Philip too. He doesn't say much but I know he's worried."
"Where does Dotty think you are?"
"At the library. I'm going there next to get some homework done."
Lee smiled. Jaime was as good at lying to Dotty as Amanda had been. "Then you'd better get going."
Jaime nodded but didn't move. "How long, Lee? How long do you think it will be until she... she remembers us?"
"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I really don't know Jaime."
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Waking with a start she sat up in the bed like a rocket, the covers falling to her waist. Her chest heaved with exertion, her heart hammering as though she had been running for her life. And she had. Her dream played vividly in her mind, the guns that were chasing her, yelling at her to stop in English that was thickly accented by a Russian tongue. Tossing the covers aside she stood, her legs shaky, and moved into the bathroom that joined the room. Running the water for a minute she splashed some onto her face, trying to rid herself of the fear that stayed in her very bones after waking from her dream.
Taking the towel from the wall she headed back out to the main room, patting her face dry as she walked. With a sigh she dropped down onto the bed, lying back and staring at the ceiling. 'Pilgrims Peach Puff' What was it? It sounded like a dessert of some kind. Why would that be so important?
A knock sounded on the door and she called out for whomever it was to enter. The door opened and a guard poked his head in. "Excuse me, Ma'am. Mr. Stetson asked me to see if you were ready to rejoin the group for another session."
"Of course," she said. Tossing the towel aside she stood and moved toward the door. "Thank you," she said as she passed by the guard.
Entering the room she saw the same picture sitting on the table and she was drawn to it. Sitting down she picked up the picture and stared at it for a moment, her mind a swirling whirlwind of scattered and confusing images.
A masked man, gun in hand, ordering her to come with him.
'Set it up,' he commanded to the ones that were with him.
From behind the man she saw the men from the bomb squad dragging bodies towards the bomb and dumping them on the ground unceremoniously next to the device.
"They were working together," she said, her voice disrupting the silence of the room. "The bomb squad wasn't really the bomb squad. They were taking orders from him."
"Him who?" Francine asked.
She shook her head. "I don't know, he was wearing a mask. He had a gun and told me to come with him. The other men were dragging bodies toward the bomb."
'It's always the blue wire'
Shaking her head she tried to focus on the picture. "We left the warehouse and got into some sort of van. It was dark; I couldn't see anything. As we drove away the ground seemed to shake and I could hear a loud explosion. Someone put a cloth over my mouth and I blacked out."
The scratching of a pen against paper was the only sound for a moment while Francine noted Amanda's account of events.
"Can you remember what happened next?"
Frowning she closed her eyes, trying remember. "It's fuzzy. I think I woke up at one point but they drugged me again. While I was awake I felt... I don't know. It felt like we were flying but I can't be sure."
"What's the next thing you remember?" Billy prompted. "Take your time."
Leaning forward she put her head in her hands, her elbows resting on the table. "It so confusing. I can hear some chanting in the back of my mind, it keeps repeating over and over."
"What is it?"
"Sing no more ditties, sing no more, men were deceivers ever. One foot on sea and one on shore, to one thing constant never. Then sigh not so, but let them go, and be you blithe and bonnie, converting all your sounds of woe into hey nonnie nonnie."
Lee frowned. "That's your mantra," he said. "It's from Shakespeare."
"Mantra," she repeated, every thing falling into place. "To avoid giving any information during torture."
The men and women in the room reached the same conclusion at once. She had been tortured. Whoever it was that had taken her out of that warehouse had tortured her for whatever information she had known.
"The next thing I can remember I woke up in a hospital."
Silence filled the room. Lee felt sick. Amanda had been tortured. He had left her alone in that warehouse with an entire team of the bad guys and she had been kidnapped and tortured as a result. He wanted to scream, he wanted to run away, but he couldn't trust himself to move for fear he would collapse if he tried to stand.
Lifting his eyes to her face he stared at the eyelid that drooped a little, the scar that ran along her jaw. Forcing himself to his feet he left the room, barely making it into a bathroom stall before he lost everything he had eaten that day.
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Sitting at the table she stared at the door. After three days of being stuck below ground she could feel herself slowly going stir crazy and knew I she didn't get outside soon she would lose what little mind she had left. Making a decision she stood and carefully, soundlessly, made her way to he door, opening it just a crack to peer out. There was a guard at the end of the hallway, several doors and one corridor between her and him. Waiting until his attention was focused in the other direction she slipped from the room and hurried down the hallway.
Peering around the corner of the other corridor she saw that it was empty and ended at a T. Her decision made she hurried down the hall, silently making her way down various corridors until she recognized one of them and found her way from there to one of the security exits. Wondering how she could get past the guard the answer came to her when she saw a deliveryman making his way down the hall. His badge was a generic one, no picture id, and his hat hid a good portion of his face from view.
Plan in mind she followed him with her eyes waiting until he was alone in a secluded area before making her move.
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Reaching for the phone Lee picked up the receiver without thought and said hello. Listening to the man on the other end of the line his focus was pulled into the forefront when he heard the mans news. "What do you mean she's gone?" he yelled. "How could she have gotten out without being noticed?"
Not getting the answers he wanted he hung up the phone. Working as quickly as he could he called down to security and had them pull the tapes for the last few days. The tapes were brought to his office and he reviewed them, fast forwarding until he saw what he was looking for. Watching Amanda deliver a quick chop to the back of a deliveryman's neck he knew what she was doing before he saw her don the mans uniform and hat, pushing the delivery cart toward the exit.
She had escaped without being noticed and he had no idea where she was planning on going.
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Shutting the door behind her she left the keys on the seat. She didn't want the truck; she had only needed it to get away from the agency as quickly as possible. Taking a deep breath to steady herself she looked around. The area was unfamiliar to her; she didn't recognize anything. Unsure of where she was going, or why she had chosen that direction, she started walking. Taking in the peaceful suburb around her she stopped when she saw a sign for Maplewood Drive. It looked like a nice street and so she turned down it.
As she looked at each of the houses she suddenly stopped still as her head began to throb again. Sitting down on the sidewalk she put her head in her hands, tears of pain filling her eyes.
'Do not call your brother lamebrain!'
Kids?
She shook her head. That was unexpected. Even as she thought that her mind remembered part of her dream. Two little boys playing in the alleyway, begging her to come home. Maybe it wasn't such a far off concept after all. The pain beginning to lesson to a dull ache she stood up from the sidewalk and took another look around. The house that was across from her was pleasant looking and it seemed to call out to her. Curious she wandered into the yard and around the side of the house to the backyard.
'Get down!'
Stopping still at the unexpected memory of Lee Stetson darting out of view she froze where she stood. Was this where he lived? Why did this place seem so welcoming to her? Her mind still focused on her questions she didn't notice the back door suddenly open, an older woman coming into the back yard, her face white as though she were seeing a ghost.
"I'm sorry," she stammered, quickly backing up. "I shouldn't have trespassed."
"No!" the woman cried, reaching out toward her. "Please don't go!" Her hand still reaching out to her the older woman's eyes began to fill with tears. "Panda," she breathed.
A giant stuffed panda bear sat on the front doorstep and she knelt down behind it.
"Do I... do you know me?" she asked. Hesitation filled her voice as she stammered over her words.
The woman nodded. "Yes, I do."
"Who am I?" she whispered, repeating the words from her dreams.
"You're my daughter."
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A train whistle shrieked in the air, it's shrill scream filling her mind and removing her ability to think. When it finally abated she rubbed her temple, wishing she could break the whistle before it screamed again. The pain stayed with her as she hurried down the station walkway, searching desperately for what she had lost. Boxes were scattered before her, each one closed tightly. Reaching for the one nearest her she tried to pry open the flaps but they were taped firmly together. Pulling, ripping, attacking the tape she tried desperately to open the box.
With a small grin of triumph she pulled back the flaps and peered into the box. Curiously she pulled out a small music box. Wondering what it meant she was still investigating it when a small card fell out. Picking it up she read the words scrawled on it. 'Save the Pilgrims Peach Puff.' What was a Pilgrims Peach Puff? How was she supposed to save it?
Suddenly the train whistled again and she looked up with a grimace, dropping the music box to cover her ears from the painful noise. From behind she felt someone lift her to her feet, a pair of strong arms wrapping themselves around her as they walked through the station. 'Walk with me,' the arms said.
'No,' she said. It wasn't fear that drove her to say no, but a need to open another box, a need to try and solve the mystery of the peach puff. 'I will not!'
'Please!'
'No.'
'Please!' the arms said again. The voice was urgent, desperate, and she found herself giving in.
'What do I have to do?'
The voice told her to get on the train and get a red hat before it suddenly disappeared. Looking after it she saw a man in a white jacket running away, getting as far as he could before he was tackled to the ground. Shocked she climbed onto the train and stopped in confusion. The car was filled with red hats from top to bottom. Which one was she supposed to take?
Before she could decide a man approached her, asking what she was doing. Not trusting him to tell the truth she made up an excuse and got off the train. The boxes were gone and she fell to her knees in despair. What was going on? Who was she? Would she ever get the answers she needed?
Off in the distance she saw a person hanging from the wall. Would they have the answers? Getting to her feet she hurried toward them. As she got closer she saw that it was the scarecrow again. His hazel eyes bored into hers and she knew he was the key to answering her questions. 'Please, tell me what I need to know!'
'Give me my heart back,' was his only reply. 'I need my heart to live.'
A glimmer caught her eye and she looked down to see a pendant lying at her feet. Bending down she picked it up and examined it. It was a diamond pendant in the shape of a heart.
'Give me my heart back. I need my heart to live.'
Holding out the pendant to him he took it from her with tears in his eyes as he brought it to his lips. 'My heart is home,' he said, smiling through his tears. 'Thank you for bringing my heart home.'
'Who am I?' she asked him, hoping now that he had his heart he would help her. 'Please scarecrow, tell me who I am.'
He smiled at her, his smile electric. 'My heart,' was his only reply before he climbed down from the wall and wandered off, holding the pendant over his heart.
'Who am I?' she cried after him. Falling to her knees again she rocked back and forth, tears falling from her eyes. 'Who am I?'
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Standing before the glass he watched her toss and turn in her bed. Her face was twisted with pain and fear and he wondered what was going through her mind. What nightmares were laying out in her dreams? Did she dream about him? Was it possible that somewhere in her clouded mind she remembered him, even if she didn't realize it?
He could feel tears pricking at his eyes as he watched her. It had been so long, so many years thinking she was dead. Now, like a dream or a miracle, she was back. Somebody had some explaining to do and he wondered who would have the answers. Half of him didn't care. Just knowing she was alive, that she was almost home, was enough for him.
"Hang in there, Mom," he whispered, touching the glass briefly. "Lee will bring you home."
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The file sat open on the table before him but his mind was elsewhere. Since the group had split off, Amanda going to rest, Billy and Francine going back to work, he had been poring over the file, searching or an answer to the questions in his mind. If the bomb squad had been fake where were the real people? Whose bodies had been recovered from the fire? How had the coroner made such a mistake with the autopsy and the dental records?
Hours later he stood and forced himself to move around, stretch out his legs before they stiffened to a point of being unable to move. As he took a turn around the room his eyes fell on a leather-bound book resting on the table where Amanda had been sitting. The debate between Winter and Amanda came back to him and he wondered what it was about the book that she thought was wrong. Picking up the book he opened it and scanned the pages within its covers. Notes were written in the margin in the handwriting he recognized as Amanda's.
'Scarecrow had a brain – he needed a heart.'
The field of flowers that Dorothy had fallen asleep in had been crossed off, the word 'roses' written in its place.
Suddenly it hit him. She was mixing up the story with the Oz Network, the history that she had been introduced when the Tin Man was trying to kill the rest of the network. Without realizing it Amanda had remembered!
"Lee?"
Slamming the book shut Lee looked up to the doorway to see Jaime standing just inside the room. "Hey Jaime, come on in," he smiled. "What are you doing here?"
"I had to come and see her," he answered honestly.
Lee nodded. "Did you talk to her?"
"No, she was sleeping," he shook his head. "I just needed to see her Lee, to make sure she was really here."
"It's okay," he soothed. "I know how you feel."
"Grandma's been going crazy at the house."
Lee frowned. He hadn't been home in a few days and he suddenly realized he hadn't given Dotty any sort of an update on her daughter. Swearing under his breath he chastised himself for being so stupid and thoughtless. "I'll call her."
"I think she just needs to know she's still okay. Philip too. He doesn't say much but I know he's worried."
"Where does Dotty think you are?"
"At the library. I'm going there next to get some homework done."
Lee smiled. Jaime was as good at lying to Dotty as Amanda had been. "Then you'd better get going."
Jaime nodded but didn't move. "How long, Lee? How long do you think it will be until she... she remembers us?"
"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I really don't know Jaime."
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Waking with a start she sat up in the bed like a rocket, the covers falling to her waist. Her chest heaved with exertion, her heart hammering as though she had been running for her life. And she had. Her dream played vividly in her mind, the guns that were chasing her, yelling at her to stop in English that was thickly accented by a Russian tongue. Tossing the covers aside she stood, her legs shaky, and moved into the bathroom that joined the room. Running the water for a minute she splashed some onto her face, trying to rid herself of the fear that stayed in her very bones after waking from her dream.
Taking the towel from the wall she headed back out to the main room, patting her face dry as she walked. With a sigh she dropped down onto the bed, lying back and staring at the ceiling. 'Pilgrims Peach Puff' What was it? It sounded like a dessert of some kind. Why would that be so important?
A knock sounded on the door and she called out for whomever it was to enter. The door opened and a guard poked his head in. "Excuse me, Ma'am. Mr. Stetson asked me to see if you were ready to rejoin the group for another session."
"Of course," she said. Tossing the towel aside she stood and moved toward the door. "Thank you," she said as she passed by the guard.
Entering the room she saw the same picture sitting on the table and she was drawn to it. Sitting down she picked up the picture and stared at it for a moment, her mind a swirling whirlwind of scattered and confusing images.
A masked man, gun in hand, ordering her to come with him.
'Set it up,' he commanded to the ones that were with him.
From behind the man she saw the men from the bomb squad dragging bodies towards the bomb and dumping them on the ground unceremoniously next to the device.
"They were working together," she said, her voice disrupting the silence of the room. "The bomb squad wasn't really the bomb squad. They were taking orders from him."
"Him who?" Francine asked.
She shook her head. "I don't know, he was wearing a mask. He had a gun and told me to come with him. The other men were dragging bodies toward the bomb."
'It's always the blue wire'
Shaking her head she tried to focus on the picture. "We left the warehouse and got into some sort of van. It was dark; I couldn't see anything. As we drove away the ground seemed to shake and I could hear a loud explosion. Someone put a cloth over my mouth and I blacked out."
The scratching of a pen against paper was the only sound for a moment while Francine noted Amanda's account of events.
"Can you remember what happened next?"
Frowning she closed her eyes, trying remember. "It's fuzzy. I think I woke up at one point but they drugged me again. While I was awake I felt... I don't know. It felt like we were flying but I can't be sure."
"What's the next thing you remember?" Billy prompted. "Take your time."
Leaning forward she put her head in her hands, her elbows resting on the table. "It so confusing. I can hear some chanting in the back of my mind, it keeps repeating over and over."
"What is it?"
"Sing no more ditties, sing no more, men were deceivers ever. One foot on sea and one on shore, to one thing constant never. Then sigh not so, but let them go, and be you blithe and bonnie, converting all your sounds of woe into hey nonnie nonnie."
Lee frowned. "That's your mantra," he said. "It's from Shakespeare."
"Mantra," she repeated, every thing falling into place. "To avoid giving any information during torture."
The men and women in the room reached the same conclusion at once. She had been tortured. Whoever it was that had taken her out of that warehouse had tortured her for whatever information she had known.
"The next thing I can remember I woke up in a hospital."
Silence filled the room. Lee felt sick. Amanda had been tortured. He had left her alone in that warehouse with an entire team of the bad guys and she had been kidnapped and tortured as a result. He wanted to scream, he wanted to run away, but he couldn't trust himself to move for fear he would collapse if he tried to stand.
Lifting his eyes to her face he stared at the eyelid that drooped a little, the scar that ran along her jaw. Forcing himself to his feet he left the room, barely making it into a bathroom stall before he lost everything he had eaten that day.
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Sitting at the table she stared at the door. After three days of being stuck below ground she could feel herself slowly going stir crazy and knew I she didn't get outside soon she would lose what little mind she had left. Making a decision she stood and carefully, soundlessly, made her way to he door, opening it just a crack to peer out. There was a guard at the end of the hallway, several doors and one corridor between her and him. Waiting until his attention was focused in the other direction she slipped from the room and hurried down the hallway.
Peering around the corner of the other corridor she saw that it was empty and ended at a T. Her decision made she hurried down the hall, silently making her way down various corridors until she recognized one of them and found her way from there to one of the security exits. Wondering how she could get past the guard the answer came to her when she saw a deliveryman making his way down the hall. His badge was a generic one, no picture id, and his hat hid a good portion of his face from view.
Plan in mind she followed him with her eyes waiting until he was alone in a secluded area before making her move.
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Reaching for the phone Lee picked up the receiver without thought and said hello. Listening to the man on the other end of the line his focus was pulled into the forefront when he heard the mans news. "What do you mean she's gone?" he yelled. "How could she have gotten out without being noticed?"
Not getting the answers he wanted he hung up the phone. Working as quickly as he could he called down to security and had them pull the tapes for the last few days. The tapes were brought to his office and he reviewed them, fast forwarding until he saw what he was looking for. Watching Amanda deliver a quick chop to the back of a deliveryman's neck he knew what she was doing before he saw her don the mans uniform and hat, pushing the delivery cart toward the exit.
She had escaped without being noticed and he had no idea where she was planning on going.
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Shutting the door behind her she left the keys on the seat. She didn't want the truck; she had only needed it to get away from the agency as quickly as possible. Taking a deep breath to steady herself she looked around. The area was unfamiliar to her; she didn't recognize anything. Unsure of where she was going, or why she had chosen that direction, she started walking. Taking in the peaceful suburb around her she stopped when she saw a sign for Maplewood Drive. It looked like a nice street and so she turned down it.
As she looked at each of the houses she suddenly stopped still as her head began to throb again. Sitting down on the sidewalk she put her head in her hands, tears of pain filling her eyes.
'Do not call your brother lamebrain!'
Kids?
She shook her head. That was unexpected. Even as she thought that her mind remembered part of her dream. Two little boys playing in the alleyway, begging her to come home. Maybe it wasn't such a far off concept after all. The pain beginning to lesson to a dull ache she stood up from the sidewalk and took another look around. The house that was across from her was pleasant looking and it seemed to call out to her. Curious she wandered into the yard and around the side of the house to the backyard.
'Get down!'
Stopping still at the unexpected memory of Lee Stetson darting out of view she froze where she stood. Was this where he lived? Why did this place seem so welcoming to her? Her mind still focused on her questions she didn't notice the back door suddenly open, an older woman coming into the back yard, her face white as though she were seeing a ghost.
"I'm sorry," she stammered, quickly backing up. "I shouldn't have trespassed."
"No!" the woman cried, reaching out toward her. "Please don't go!" Her hand still reaching out to her the older woman's eyes began to fill with tears. "Panda," she breathed.
A giant stuffed panda bear sat on the front doorstep and she knelt down behind it.
"Do I... do you know me?" she asked. Hesitation filled her voice as she stammered over her words.
The woman nodded. "Yes, I do."
"Who am I?" she whispered, repeating the words from her dreams.
"You're my daughter."
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