Co-Authored by Tracey Arcieri and Karen LaManna

Chapter 6

Amanda drove towards her house frustrated. Francine managed to get under her skin to the point it upset her, and now Amanda was more determined than ever to prove her worth. The first place she headed was to her local library, however as soon as she pulled into the empty parking lot she remembered the library closed early. She checked the times posted on the door and confirmed it would open again at nine o'clock the next morning.

She drove home, the few facts she knew spinning through her mind. "Mother? Fellas?" she called out to her quiet house. On the counter in the kitchen she found a handwritten note from her mother, "The boys are sleeping over Andy's house tonight. I have a date, don't wait up for me." Sighing loudly, she let the note flutter back onto the counter as she looked around the empty room. She spotted a few books left on the table in the family room. She shook her head as she crossed the room and bent down to pick up the stack. "How many times have I told the boys to put away the encyclopedias when they're finished doing their research?" she whispered aloud. She started to put the books away when she stopped. "That's it!" she exclaimed.

She ran her fingers along the spines of the books as she whispered, "U, U, U?" The books were out of sequence, so she spent a few minutes reorganizing and sorting, discovering two books were missing. She looked around the room, under the couch and in the bookcase to no avail. Frustrated even more, she dropped down onto the couch and immediately jumped back up. Hidden under the throw pillow behind her was one of the two missing books. "Okay, you want to play that game," she muttered as she lifted the remaining pillows, finding snack wrappers hidden under one and Philip's unfinished math homework under another. "That boy!" she griped as she threw away the wrappers and left his homework on the counter.

She surveyed the room one last time before she ran up the steps toward the boys' bedroom where she found the missing book on Jamie's bed. She checked the spine and confirmed aloud, "Taylor to Utah, the Underground Railroad will definitely be here." She carried the book back down to the kitchen where she found a notepad and a pencil in the drawer. She flipped open the encyclopedia and began making notes on anything related to the surrounding area.

Several hours and two encyclopedias later, she heard her mother stumble through the front door, laughing and calling goodbye to someone. Amanda heard the sound of a car engine pulling away and the front door closed. Dotty walked into the kitchen, carrying her shoes in one hand and her purse in the other. She jumped when she saw Amanda sitting at the counter, the open books and the notepad filled with notes. "Amanda, what are you doing?" she exclaimed.

Amanda looked around to her pile of research and thought fast. "Do you remember last year when Jamie wrote his research paper on Harriet Tubman?" she asked.

"Yes, he was so proud of himself for that paper. The first A plus he got from Mrs. Anderson, as a matter of fact I think it was the only A plus she gave out all year, why?" Dotty replied.

"Well, we're doing a documentary on homes in the area that may have been part of the Underground Railroad, so I was just trying to see if there were any close by, you know, so we could use them in the piece," Amanda shrugged her shoulders as she hoped silently her mother would believe her story.

"Amanda," Dotty stated as she put her hands on her shoulders, "I hope this company appreciates all the extra work you put in. I mean, here it is almost midnight, and you're elbow deep in encyclopedias. You should put this away and get some rest, darling."

Amanda smiled weakly at her mother as she replied, "I will as soon as I finish this." Dotty kissed Amanda on the cheek, turned and climbed the stairs. Amanda heard the door click closed as she focused back on the page before her. She shook her head, rubbed her eyes then closed the book with a thump. "Francine would never have thought to do this, I bet," Amanda muttered as she turned off the light and headed off to bed.

She tossed and turned for almost an hour, images of Lee floating through her mind kept her awake. "That's it," she declared quietly as she climbed out of bed to change her clothes. Amanda crept down to the kitchen and left her mother a note before she left. She drove the familiar roads, now vacant of any other traffic to Lee's apartment building. The doorman nodded as she entered. "George, Mr. Stetson was called away for work and he asked me to feed his fish. I got all the way here and realized I forgot his key at home. Would you mind?" Amanda asked sweetly.

"Mr. Stetson's lucky to have a good friend that's willing to come out this time of night just to feed his fish," George replied as he gestured for her to follow him toward Lee's apartment.

"Well to be honest, I should have done it earlier, but I lost track of time," Amanda stated in her best attempt to appear sheepish.

George smiled politely as he unlocked Lee's door and ushered her inside, "Remember to lock up when you leave, Mrs. King."

Amanda stepped inside and flipped the switch bathing the room in bright light. She wandered from room to room, as she tried to feel closer to Lee. In his bedroom, she straightened the wrinkles on his spread and lifted a pillow to her nose finding comfort in the mere scent of him. She took the pillow with her to the living room where she noticed magazines and mail haphazardly strewn across the coffee table, along with a half-filled coffee mug. She shook her head and with a sigh she said, "I guess I'll just pick up a few things then head home."

Amanda tried to his mail into multiple neat piles, one for bills, one for junk and one for items she was unsure about. In the middle of the pile of mail she found his comb, the same comb she teased him about a few years before. A simple Ace comb with two teeth missing that was as Lee had stated, "the correct comb" for his hair. She fingered the comb sadly before she moved to organize the stack of magazines. She scooped the stack into one before she separated the periodicals by category. The glossy paper was slippery and before long, the pile slipped off her lap to the floor. When she reached down to pick up a few of the magazines, something fluttered out onto the floor. She thought it was just a reply card until she picked it up and flipped it over. She inhaled sharply as her misty eyes focused on a photograph of her and Lee at the Embassy party they had attended just a few weeks before. Amanda had worn the handmade black dress she knew he loved and they had spent more time on the dance floor in each other's arms than anywhere else.

Amanda fingered the image of his face lightly before she placed the photo beside his comb, swiped the tear from her eye and straightened the stack of magazines, foregoing her initial sort. "He's going to be okay, I know he will," she whispered before picking up the pillow she'd carried from his bedroom. She held his pillow tightly as the tears fell and fear took over. Outside his window she heard a bird chirping, her mind immediately churning with thoughts of Lee still held captive. "Oh, Lee, where are you? I need you here to tell me it's going to be okay. There are so many things you need to know," she lamented. She allowed the tears to fall before she steeled herself and thought, You have to be brave, Amanda. Get it together. Tears aren't going to help him right now. When he's back in your arms, tell him how you really feel. She wiped her tears roughly, carried his pillow back to his bed and drove home. Amanda fell asleep in her own bed with a new resolve to find him with or without anyone else's help.

Early the next morning, Amanda woke before her alarm despite only having slept a few hours. She took a quick shower, dressed and found her mother downstairs already awake. "Amanda, are you alright? You seem rather sad?" Dotty asked as she handed her a steaming cup of coffee.

Amanda shrugged her shoulders in reply as she sipped her coffee. She formulated a plan for her day, which included a trip to the library and town hall to find land records before she headed to the Agency to share her findings with Billy. "Mother, I'm probably going to be out all day and maybe even later this evening. We're on location today so I'm sure I'll be pretty busy," Amanda stated over her mug.

"Always working, Amanda. When are you going to take some time just for you? I mean, how are you ever going to meet someone if all you do is work," Dotty groused from the breakfast nook.

Amanda placed her mug in the sink and replied, "Goodbye, Mother, I love you."

"And I love you too Sweetheart, but remember what I said," she called after her. Amanda's response was the slamming of the front door.