Again, Jan has been helping in the kitchen. She's a wizard with the spices. I hear she may whip up a batch of homemade chicken soup!

Mucho gracias, Senora Jan - a la master chef de la cocina :)

How's that for garbled espanol?

Chapter Twenty-six

PART 1

Lee Stetson knew that what he was seeing with his own eyes was very real and yet, his logical mind, the one that observed and analyzed every aspect regarding his job, was having a very hard time wrapping itself around the scene that was playing out in front of him. It seemed surreal to him, as if he were having an out of body experience, viewing the whole thing through someone else's eyes.

Guards, packing weapons and wearing the type of surgical face masks one would see inside a hospital, had greeted him upon their arrival. Clearance codes and identity checks were followed by a gloved hand that extended a legal sized envelope to him, accompanied by muffled instructions to complete everything once inside the Agency.

And only then, after all of that, was Lee granted access into the Agency, which seemed ludicrous to him, considering the fact that he had spent most of his adult working life within her walls.

The fact that his wife could hardly stand on her own two feet brought the realism front and center and suddenly, the entire scenario seemed to snap into sharp focus before his eyes. The guards waved him on and Lee, realizing that Amanda was close to collapsing, gently picked her up in his arms and carried her towards the one destination that he hoped would make things right.

What Lee and Amanda had not noticed, in his haste to get ready and in her cloudy ill mind, was that neither one of them had remembered to take off their wedding rings from the previous night.

SMK

From two separate kitchens, from around the world, the chefs bring you a little more of what I like to call, a recipe for disaster.

The flavor is good, the seasoning is right, and the plague rolls onward!

FYI - Mrs. Welsh's Colonial cooking contributed nothing to this.

PART 2

Joe King had to laugh as he watched Jamie race down the path towards the lake. There was something to be said for youthful exuberance on a beautiful summer's day.

His eldest son, Phillip, on the other hand, was slowly bringing up the rear and Joe turned to look at him, studying the quiet expression on his son's face.

"Phillip?"

"Yeah?"

"You okay son?"

The boy nodded, then sneezed.

"I swear, everyone has been sneezing," Joe said. "I would have hoped that getting away from the city would have helped. At least it hasn't been as dry up here."

"Just allergies, Dad," was Phillip's lackluster response.

"Did you take anything?"

Phillip gave his father a look, one that Joe had come to recognize very well. Lately, Phillip seemed to be going through a macho teenage stage and, thankfully, Amanda had shared her theory on how to deal with their son.

"Well, if you want to take something, let me know. I can always go back to the cabin and get it," Joe offered even as he kept on walking ahead of his son. Briefly acknowledged, suggestion tossed out, and then move onward. Hopefully his ex-wife was right.

"I don't need any crummy allergy medicine," Phillip told him. Then, as if to prove his point, he raced ahead of Joe, seemingly eager to now catch up with his younger brother.

Joe shook his head and chuckled as his son's actions so well mimicked his own during those long forgotten teenage years.

He continued walking at a leisurely pace behind his sons, enjoying the early morning that made Lake Raystown such a fabulous spot to get away from it all.

And then, as he watched the boys reach the edge of the lake where the water gently lapped the beach, Joe King sneezed.