Possibilities

Title: Possibilities

Rating: G

Genre: Friendship/Angst

Disclaimer: No, I don't own them. Lee and Amanda just stopped by for coffee one evening and shared stories from their past with me. (I wish!)

Summary: With both of them living in the D.C. area for so long, is it possible the train station wasn't the first time Lee and Amanda crossed paths? A Five Things Story, set pre-series.

References made to information learned about the characters on The Pharaoh's Engineer, Unfinished Business, Wrong Way Home, and Santa's Got A Brand New Bag. Also spoilers for The Horse & His Boy by C.S. Lewis.

1955

Dotty smiled and watched as the children in front of her raced to grab their chosen carousel mounts so that their ride could begin. To the left and a little ways ahead she could make out her own little girl Amanda, who'd turned five a couple of months earlier, eagerly leaning forward and stroking the carved mane of an attractive white horse, its saddle and bridle a rainbow of colors and flowers. Then her view was obscured as the sandy-haired little boy on the horse beside Amanda on the outside leaned forward. Whatever he said made Amanda laugh and reach over to pet his horse as well, a rich dark black horse with a saddle and bridle in various shades of blue and green.

Dotty just shook her head. Learning she was allergic to horses — the most idealized animals in any child's fantasies — two weeks earlier at a friend's birthday party hadn't dampened Amanda's love for the animals a whit. She still borrowed every horse story she could find at the library and carefully set up her horse figurines around her room every chance she got. "Aunt Minnie told me she used to be allergic to dogs when she was little and she outgrew it once she got big," Amanda told Dotty with a big beaming smile on several occasions. "I bet I will too." Dotty had just smiled and smoothed her light brown curls, which never quite managed to stay in the confines of the ribbon they way they were supposed to. Outgrowing allergies was rare — Dotty's own experience with shellfish had taught her that — but she wouldn't discourage her child.

The music started and she saw Amanda wave excitedly before gripping her horse's reins again, forgoing holding the traditional post to lean forward in a traditional jockey's crouch. Ever since her father had brought her home the story of National Velvet, Amanda had talked of nothing else but riding a horse on a jumping course one day. Dotty shuddered. Now that was something she hoped Amanda would outgrow!

"I'm going to have this song stuck in my head all day," Dotty remarked to nobody in particular. The woman beside her laughed.

"Wait till you've heard it three times in the same afternoon," she remarked in a crisp English accent. "The last time we were here I ended up humming it for a week straight."

Dotty burst into laughter. "Oh, I'm already on the fourth round," she told the woman. "We just came back to the carousel after walking around the rest of the grounds. I promised her one or two more rounds before we went home."

The Englishwoman laughed. "Which one is your daughter?"

Dotty watched for a second, waiting for the horses to come around again, then gestured. "The little one with the brown curls on the white horse. She's next to that little boy pretending he's a circus rider." She gestured to the sandy-haired little boy who was now making a valiant attempt at standing on the rump of his chosen mount as Amanda watched him, wide-eyed.

"The boy pretending...oh no!" The Englishwoman broke off and cupped her hands around her mouth. "Lee Stetson, sit down and ride that horse properly this minute!" Dotty watched as the sandy-haired boy quickly slid back down into his seat. One foot slipped as he did so and he tilted precariously to the side for a second as the Englishwoman gasped. Amanda quickly grabbed Lee's arm, holding on and giving him enough to right himself back in the saddle and he shot her a dimpled grin of thanks.

Mrs. Stetson just shook her head as she sighed with relief. "What that boy does not think of," she remarked. "I'm going to be glad when he starts kindergarten next month, although I shudder to think of what he's going to be putting his teacher through instead."

Dotty chuckled. "Amanda starts next month too. She can hardly wait. We're going to tour it next week."

The carousel music finished and the children reluctantly began to dismount and run back towards their parents. Dotty saw Lee dismount first and then reach out to help Amanda down as she shot him an adoring glance. "Well, your son may be a circus performer, but he's also quite the little gentleman," Dotty remarked.

Mrs. Stetson smiled. "Thank you. He seems to have picked up a lot of that from watching his father."

Both children were running towards them now, Amanda's right hand clasping Lee's left. "Mommy, did you see the fantastic tricks Lee was doing on his horse? Will you tell him it's okay for him to teach me to do them to?"

"Well, I would, but I don't think Lee's mother would be quite so supportive of that idea," Dotty replied quickly as she shot Mrs. Stetson a sidelong glance. Sure enough, Lee had slipped his hand from Amanda's and was standing in front of his mother, his head bowed slightly but his eyes still sparkling with an unrepentant twinkle.

"Lee, how many times do I have to tell you that you do not ride a horse like that?" Mrs. Stetson questioned.

"But Mommy, I have to practice if I want to be a circus rider one day," Lee protested.

Dotty winked at Lee's mother before bending over to look at the little boy. "But did you ask your horse if he or she is a circus horse first?" she asked. "Because horses have a very particular opinion on those kinds of things."

Lee looked over at her, wide-eyed. "They do?"

Dotty nodded emphatically. "Oh, absolutely. And when they aren't circus riders, there are only certain ways they like to be ridden."

Amanda's brown eyes widened in recognition. "She's right, Lee," she spoke up. "We're reading this story right now about a talking horse named Bree that teaches a boy named Shasta to ride and he has very strong opinions on the right and wrong ways you're supposed to ride. I don't think Bree would have approved of us riding like circus riders at all."

"A book about a talking horse? That teaches a boy how to ride?" All thoughts of circus riding were gone now as Lee looked at them in fascination, before looking up at his mother. "Mommy, can we get that book? Please?"

"Well, I'm not sure," Mrs. Stetson replied hesitantly. "I don't know what book that is."

Dotty smiled. "It's called The Horse And His Boy, by C.S. Lewis. Here, I'll write it down for you." She fished in her purse for a pen and paper. "And it's the latest in a wonderful series of books that are filled with talking animals."

"Oh, you'd love them, Lee. There is this wonderful talking Lion, and some beavers and owls and everything!" Amanda said enthusiastically. The two children fell into an animated discussion as Dotty finished writing the title down and handing it to Lee's mother.

"Thank you," Mrs. Stetson said gratefully. "These sound like just the thing he'd love."

"Oh, believe me — you'll love them too," Dotty assured her. "I keep telling Amanda I have to 'proof' each book for her first in case there's anything there's too scary in them for her, but the truth is I just can't wait."

"Mommy, can we please go riding on the carousel one more time so we can pretend we're Shasta and Aravis riding Bree and Hwin?" Amanda asked.

The two mothers exchanged glances and nodded their assent. Both Lee and Amanda beamed and ran off again.

"You see, Shasta is an escaped slave boy and he meets up with Aravis and her horse and they're on their way to this place called Narnia..." Amanda's voice trailed off as they ran hand in hand back towards the carousel.