Clark and Lois - Hope Realized - Matchmaker Chronicle Volume 5 18/25
By Ken Janney
Rating PG-13
Disclaimers: The characters in this story are property of DC, December 3rd productions and Warner Bros. No Copyright infringement is intended. I have just borrowed the characters for a short time.
* * denotes emphasis
< > denotes thoughts
(#) footnotes
/ denotes telepathic communication/
[ playback of a recording or TV Commentary]For reference purposes the following will hold true throughout.
Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 - Canon Lois and Clark universe also called – Prime
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036 – Canon Alt Clark universe also called – Alt 1
Alpha -120 x Gamma 255 x Tau -190 New universe called Alt 2
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Clark and Lois – Hope Realized - The Matchmaker Chronicles Volume 5
Previously:
The next day they were at their desks when Lois’ phone rang. Lifting the receiver she said, “Daily Planet, Lois Lane, how can I help you?”
Out of the earpiece came a squeal, not an electronic squeal, a human voice squeal followed by, “Lois?????”
Recognizing the voice Lois said, “Lucy! How are you Sis?”
The reply she received caught her off guard for a few seconds, “How am I??? How are you? I’m not the one that’s been missing for five years! I’m not the one that’s had amnesia! When can I see you?”
Suddenly it dawned on Lois, this was the other universe! This Lucy wasn’t the same one that was Maid of Honor in her wedding party! She sent a thought to Clark, /Clark, this is Lucy on the phone. How do I handle this?/
He thought back, /She has been reclusive ever since you disappeared. She hasn’t even dated. She really went into a tailspin. You will need to build a relationship with her. Ask her to come east. Last time I saw her she was in California. Tell her that I found you and brought you back and that I’ll come get her to bring her east./
All of this mental communication took place at the speed of thought so there was no discernible lapse in the conversation as Lois replied, “Lucy, it has been a long time. I really don’t remember much of it. It was Superman that found me and brought me back. I’d like us to get together. Superman could come pick you up, if you’d like him to. I’m partnered with him now here at the Planet.”
“That would be wonderful. I haven’t seen him for a couple of years, since he started looking for you. Tell him that I haven’t moved and that I’ll expect him anytime after five Pacific.”
“Tell you what Sis; I’ll have him bring me there instead. We have a lot of things to discuss.”
“Wow, okay Sis, I’ll look for both of you around five then.”
“Okay, Luce, we’ll see you then.” She hung up the phone.
Lois got up from her desk and walked over to Clark’s and perched on the corner. She leaned in and said, “Thanks. I almost blew it. I forgot about the different universe thing. She just sounded so much like my kid sister.”
Clark said, “Lois, she is your kid sister, in this universe. I think that this is where the amnesia can help us. I’m thinking that now that we are going to be associated, we may want to get her close to us so that we can protect her. What do you think about trying to get her to relocate to Metropolis or at least Smallville?”
Lois said, “I’m not sure which would be best. We are going to be living at the farm but we’ll be here most days. Let’s talk it over with her tonight.”
And now:
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Chapter 17– Lois and Mayson go Undercover(s)
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Universal Locator Designation
Local designation – Alt 1
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At ten a.m. Daniel Scardino showed up for the meeting. He was followed a few minutes later by Mayson Drake. They all went into the conference room and introductions were made.
Lois could see the hurt in Mayson’s eyes as she looked at Clark and also something bordering on hatred when she looked at Lois. Clark asked Mayson to fill Scardino in on the investigation which she did, barely looking at him in the process. She also called him ‘Special Agent Scardino’ no matter how many times he said to her, “Call me Daniel.”
Clark and Lois looked at each other, realizing that did not bode well for their plan. Lois attempted to calm the atmosphere by addressing Mayson. “Ms. Drake, may I call you Mayson?”
As she replied Mayson tone was that of someone doing something that they really didn’t want to do, “Sure, go ahead. You might as well. You won.”
Lois said, “Mayson, this wasn’t ever a contest. I really would like to be friends. If we can’t be, can we at least work together? We have the same goals, after all.”
Mayson replied, “Okay, we can work together. I don’t know about the friend thing. Right now it hurts too much.”
Daniel was taking in this conversation and most of it was over his head. He could feel the undercurrents and wasn’t really sure what it was all about.
“I hope we can team up at least for this investigation. Okay, here is what I proposed to Clark. We know that there are definitely two groups working, drugs and prostitution. It would be hard to horn in on the drug trade so what I propose is that we try to get in on the prostitution angle. Mayson, you and I would be working girls and Dan and Clark would be our ‘handlers.’ What do you think?”
Mayson looked at Lois like she thought she had lost what was left of her mind and said, “Are you crazy? What made you even think of such a thing?” Suddenly, the metaphorical claws came out. “Is that something you’ve done in the past? I mean, while you were away, to make a living?”
Lois knew what she was implying and decided not to rise to the bait. Instead she said, “If you mean going undercover to get a story, then yes, I’ve done this kind of thing before. I’ll feel a lot safer now than I did then because of who will be working the gig with me. Previously, most of my undercover investigations were done solo.”
Scardino was eyeing the two women skeptically and feeling like wallpaper. He looked over at Clark to see how he was taking all of this. What he saw was concern. Clearly there was a history here. He had to be right. They both wanted Superman. He had no idea what had happened, but, whatever it had been, Mayson had been the one to get the short end of the stick. Suddenly a memory hit him. A few months ago, Mayson had been outted as the woman that Superman had been dating. He recalled that as soon as that had happened she had moved into a gated community and had been assigned extra security. Now, suddenly, he’s married to another woman. That had to be it. The puzzle pieces all fell into place at once. That put an entirely new light on this. Here was a woman that Superman had as much as thrown under the bus. He started feeling sorry for Mayson. He gave her another very intense look. He could see why Superman had been attracted to her, she was a looker. He started looking at this investigation in a new light. Initially he hadn’t liked the idea, thinking it would be too dangerous for a rookie. But, personally, he thought the idea of playing the part of a pimp for an attractive woman like Mayson wasn’t too bad of an idea. He had certainly had *worse* undercover assignments and he felt that he should be able to keep her safe.
Mayson, seeming surprised that Lois hadn’t taken her obvious insult personally, started to calm down and actually looked at the FBI Agent. He was an attractive and physically fit man, but his taste in loud Hawaiian shirt knock-offs was execrable. One thing Mayson knew well was clothing. On the other hand, he could easily pass for a pimp. Just a little more bling was needed.
Then Mayson focused on the job and the goal and actually started to feel sorry for what she had said to Lois. Turning back to Lois she said, “I’m sorry about that comment. I just don’t know what got into me.”
Replying with relief, Lois said, “I can understand. I forgive you. Let’s try to get along, okay?”
“Okay. Truce.” Mayson stuck out her hand and Lois took it and shook it.
Lois said, “Okay, now, about going undercover. As an Assistant DA you don’t get much chance to do this kind of investigating, do you?”
Mayson replied, “No, we don’t. We usually rely on the police to do the investigating.”
Lois tried to encourage her as she said, “I think that once you try it, you’ll want to get your hands dirty more often. Believe it or not, it can be fun. Tell you what. Why don’t you talk it over with Daniel? Clark and I are planning to do this. It’ll be more fun with a partner.”
Mayson was actually starting to feel guilty about her previous comment and allowed that guilt to cause her to give an answer that she would not normally have given. “Okay, what have I got to lose? How do we go about this?”
Clark turned to Daniel and said, “You’ve probably been on undercover assignments before, haven’t you?”
He answered with the confidence of experience, “Yeah, more than a few.”
Since this was Lois’ idea, Clark let her run with it.
“Let’s all sit down at the table and get comfortable.” They all took seats at the conference table with Daniel sitting next to Mayson across the table from Lois and Clark. Once they were all seated, Lois said, “Okay, Mayson, you and I will have to get disguised appropriately. Whatever you wear needs to be short and flashy. Fluff your hair out, make it garish. Nothing like how you would do it for the office. Guys cruising the streets aren’t looking for a lawyer; they’re looking for a good time. Now, we really aren’t going to go anywhere with anyone other than the guys here. We just want to be noticed so that the regular working girls make a stink about us cutting in on their territory. When the word gets to the right people, we’ll be approached either with a proposition or a threat. That’s when we know we are getting somewhere.”
Lois continued, emphasizing her points. “To make it look good we’ll have to change locations occasionally and have the guys pick us up like they were johns that chose us in preference to the regular girls. We’ll need to talk to the regular girls, talk it up, how we’re making money hand over fist and our handlers are letting us keep a greater percentage than they get. Cause some unrest and dissatisfaction within the ranks. Really get them stirred up. Remember, talk street, not office. Why don’t we start tomorrow? Pick out what you’re going to wear tonight. Oh, and really lay it on heavy with the makeup. It’s part of the disguise.”
“Now, Daniel, for you, a cheap flashy suit as the pimp, lots of bling and maybe a diamond earring. Regular clothes when you pick Mayson up. Clark will be doing the same thing with me. Let’s meet here at the Planet at 7:30 tomorrow night, in costume. We’ll start at 8PM.”
“Clark and I will be talking all of the details over, the backstory, you know our history together. Maybe the two of you should get together and discuss just how you are going to handle your side.”
Daniel looked at Mayson and said, “Are you hungry? I know this little Italian place, Travaglini’s. They have the best lasagna in the city.”
Mayson laughed, “Yes, I know it well. Okay, let’s go.” She even winked at Clark, knowing he was in on the joke. Clearly she was feeling better.
Since Lois didn’t know the story, Clark sent a thought, /That’s a good sign. Mayson’s cousin actually owns Travagilini’s. This might just work. If Tony’s there Daniel’s in for a surprise./
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It was almost seven PM when they took off from the farm and headed west for their visit with Lucy. They landed in Torrey Pines a few minutes before five PM Pacific. Lois had enjoyed the ride because it gave her a chance to sneak in a few kisses and tease him while he was essentially defenseless. When they landed they were both laughing hysterically, only managing to calm down as the door was answered by Lucy. As soon as she opened the door and spotted Lois, Lucy threw herself at her sister, wrapped her arms around her and started crying. With a little urging from Superman they moved inside. Lois was wearing a polo shirt and jeans and when they stepped inside, to the amazement of Lucy, Clark spun into his casual clothes, a tight black t-shirt which was almost as tight as his spandex and just as revealing and jeans.
Lucy had never witnessed this transformation. She hadn’t even been visited by Clark for a couple of years and each time he had visited he had been in his uniform the entire time. It really hadn’t been a social visit. Seeing him change like that was … spectacular. Her jaw hung open for a few seconds and she blurted out, “Wow!”
Once they were inside Clark guided them to the couch and saw to it that they were settled. Over the course of the afternoon they had discussed how to handle this situation and decided to use the amnesia story to cover the gaps and not reveal the fact that this was not really her sister. Therefore after a few minutes when Lucy started calming down, Lois said, “It’s so good to see you Sis. It’s been so long. Luce, you’re going to have some patience with me. I’ve had amnesia and there are still big gaps in my memory. Tell me about yourself, what you’ve been doing, how the rest of the family is, where they are, what they’ve been doing, everything. Superman’s told me some things, but, there’s a lot he doesn’t know.”
Over the course of the next two hours Lucy brought Lois up to speed on the family. Lois actually cried when Lucy told her that about a year earlier their mother had died from alcohol poisoning. She hadn’t been able to handle the loss of her eldest daughter and had drunk herself to death. Their father was there in California and trying scheme after scheme in an attempt to score the big deal and make a lot of money. Both of these revelations hit Lois very hard. In her own universe her mother had been a rock, steady and stable. As a single mother after the death of her husband in Viet Nam, starting out as a floor nurse and working her way up the ladder to Director of Nursing for MetGen. She was shocked to think that she might just see her father, the father that she had never known!
Lois asked Lucy, “How can I see Daddy?”
Lucy said, “I’ll give him a call and see if he can come over.”
Lois was beside herself with joy, to have her father back, a father that had died when she was five years old, a father she only had dim memories of. It was a dream come true. There were a few things that she and Clark were going to have to talk over when they were back in Smallville. Now she fully appreciated how Clark had felt when he found Martha and Jonathan in her universe.
Finally the conversation got around to Lois and Superman and their relationship. Lois gave her the story that she and Clark had decided on. “Well, you see Luce, it’s this way. Clark actually found me a few months ago. He helped me recover my memory. While we’ve been together these months we fell in love. We were married in Brazzaville so Superman is your brother-in-law.”
At that revelation Lucy let out a squeal and threw her arms around Clark’s neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She was crying as she said, “Wow, not only do I get my sister back, but now I’ve got a brother-in-law! Welcome to the family!”
Clark said, “Thanks Lucy, I appreciate it. Now, that brings us to a problem. Since you are now my sister-in-law we have to take steps to protect you. You could find yourself being a pawn in the hands of someone trying to get to me or your sister. We’d like to suggest a move for you. How would you like to move back to Metropolis?”
Lucy asked, “What about my job here?
Clark asked, “What is your line of work?”
“I work in IT. I’m part of a network administration team for a large firm.”
Clark thought for a few seconds, “Unless I’m greatly mistaken the Planet has an opening in the IT department. I might be able to get you that position. You could live with us until you secure a place of your own. We’ll help with the rental because we’d like you to live in a gated community for the added security.”
Musingly she thought, <Back to Metropolis huh? That might be okay. What if he’s there? Oh well, he’s probably married by now so it won’t matter.> Out loud she said, “Okay, I guess that would work out. I’d need to give my two weeks notice once I have the offer.”
Lois said, “Sounds good Luce, we’ll get the spare room ready for you.”
Clark added, “I’ll get the ball rolling on the job. Do you have a current resume?”
“I’ll e-mail it to you.”
“That’ll work. I’ll look for it.”
Just about that time Sam Lane arrived. When he rang the bell Lucy said, “That must be Daddy.” She got up and went to the door to let him in. Lois was apprehensive of this meeting and in her nervous state stood and faced the door.
Lucy opened the door and as soon as Sam saw Lois he held out his arms and said, “Lois, how’s my oldest daughter? Where have you been? We’ve missed you.”
Lois was rooted to the spot, unable to move a muscle. At the sight of him Lois flashed back to pictures she had seen of her father in uniform as a military doctor. This older version still had the same features she remembered from the photographs. She had only been five when the notification had come that he had been in the aid station working when it had been overrun by Viet Cong and everyone killed. When she was finally able to move she approached him slowly and was in tears as she put her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder as she said, “Daddy?”
Sam was surprised by this response but put his arms around her and comforted her. “Yes, it’s me, Princess.”
Hearing this endearment she burst into a fresh flood of tears. When Lois finally settled down she stepped back and said, “Daddy, I‘ve had amnesia so there’s a lot I don’t remember. I guess we’ll have to make some new memories. There’s something that you need to know,” she reached out her hand and Clark stepped over and took it, “Clark and I are married.”
Sam Lane gave a start and asked, “You’re married to Superman?!?!? Is that the best thing to do? Are you going to be safe?”
Trying to reassure him she said, “I’m as safe as a babe in arms. There’s absolutely nothing that’s going to happen to me. We need to start getting together.” Lois quickly shot a thought to Clark, /Can we have a Bar-B-Q this weekend? Please?/
The return thought contained a lot of side channel amusement, /How could I say no to my lovely, sexy wife./
There was almost no break as she finished up, “How about we have a Bar-B-Q this Saturday. Clark will pick both of you up. We’ll call with the time later.”
Sam replied, “Sounds like fun. Okay, Saturday it is.”
Clark said, “It’s getting late. We’re a couple of time zones away. We’ll call about Saturday. It’s good to see you again Sam, Lucy.”
Lois gave each of them a hug and a kiss and said goodbye as they exited.
On the flight back to Smallville Lois was bubbling over with joy. She couldn’t stop kissing Clark and wouldn’t even if she had needed to, she was so happy. She was going to be able to have a relationship with the father she had never known. This opened up a world of possibilities that she would have to discuss with Clark later.
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The next evening at 7:30 Mayson and Daniel showed up at the Planet. Mayson was wearing a trench coat over her costume until they were in the conference room with the blinds pulled. When she took it off she was dressed in a skirt so short that it just barely covered her panties. The top she had paired it with was scooped so low that the upper slope of both breasts were completely in view. If it had been any lower she would have been showing too much. The stiletto heels showed off her long legs to advantage. Her makeup was blatant and her hair teased out. No one would possibly recognize her as Mayson Drake, ADA.
When Lois removed her trench coat she had on a very short black leather skirt which she had paired with a red vest like top which buttoned at the waist forming a ‘V’ as it came down from the sides of her neck revealing the inner slope of her breasts, her chest and abdomen all the way down to her bellybutton. The fishnet hose and stiletto heels showed off her long luscious legs nicely. Her hair was also frizzed out and she was made up in a punk style.
Lois walked over to her and gave her a hug. She said, “You look wonderful! Absolutely perfect.” Turning to Dan she said, “What do you think? Will she pass?”
Daniel hadn’t been able to take his eyes off of her the entire time and in a distracted tone said, “Yeahhhh,” with feeling.
Lois looked back at Mayson and said, “I think Daniel likes what he sees. If you’re that effective on him you’ll do just fine on the street. Just keep in mind, the only ones we go anywhere with are these two. If anyone else tries anything just give a shout. One or the other of them will come to the rescue. Okay, let’s go do this thing.”
They went down and got into two cars. Since Lois was also super powered they didn’t need a car so they had gotten a car from the Planet car pool for this assignment. Mayson and Dan left in his car. They drove into the Hobbs Bay area and spotted a group of women at 31st and Bayview. Unnoticed, they cruised past and let the girls out. Clark and Dan gave them some time to mingle with the other girls while they changed. Eventually Clark drove up to the curb and stopped. As soon as he did one of the girls separated from the pack and approached his car. She leaned in and placed her hands on the door, putting herself in a position to display her charms. She asked, “Can I help you, big boy?”
Clark replied, “I don’t know, maybe. I’ll have to try and think of something you can help me with.” Playing the part he winked slowly before he looked past her and started looking over the other girls.
Trying to reclaim his attention she replied, “Oh, I can help with a lot of things. You just name it.”
He looked her up and down before saying, “Actually, I’m kinda picky on who helps me. I was kinda in the mood for a brunette tonight. Maybe some other time.”
The girl was a red head and as she stood up she got a sour expression and said, “Not good enough for you huh?”
He repeated, “Tsk, tsk, why the attitude? Maybe some other time, or not.” He made a pretense of looking over all of the girls before saying to Lois. “You look like my type. How’s *your* attitude?”
She said, “My attitude is just fine. Anything you want is fine with me.”
“Climb in then.”
Lois strolled over to the car with an exaggerated rolling of her hips. She leaned in as the other girl had except she put her head inside the car and claimed his lips in a kiss. The kiss lasted a long time and when she broke it he repeated, “Get in.”
Loud enough for the other girls to hear she said, “You haven’t even asked what it’ll cost you.”
His reply was also loud enough for the other girls to hear, “It doesn’t matter. All that I care about is that it’s you.”
She reached in and stroked the side of his face, trailing her hand down his neck and the full length of his arm as she started to move around to the passenger seat.
As Lolo was making the turn around the hood she turned to Mayson and said, “See you later Mae. I hope you get a high roller too.” She giggled as she got into the passenger side of the car. Clark drove off and they joined Scardino. They got out of the car and compared notes. Lois said, “Okay, Mayson is going to put out the story that we’re from out of town but where we come from we’re high priced call girls, not normally street girls. You need to give her some time to put that story out there before you go to pick her up. Clark, why don’t you go upstairs and keep an eye on her.” Clark spun into his snooping clothes in preference to his Suit and took off to hover over the corner so that he could keep an eye on Mayson.
After about five minutes he flew back and landed. He said, “Okay, Dan, you’re on. While I was overhead I saw another car drive up and the guy wanted Mayson. She turned him down but I don’t know how many times she’s going to be able to do that and maintain credibility.”
Dan got into his car looking for all the world like Mr. Businessman and drove off. He returned ten minutes later with Mayson beside him.
They got out of the car and Mayson was flushed with excitement. She said, “After you left with Clark the other girls started quizzing me. I gave them our prepared story. They are fit to be tied that we’re taking their trade away from them. If we go back to the same corner the boys will have to dress differently and drive something else. I’m sure that at least the girls that first approached them would recognize them.”
Lois spoke up, “If we go back to that same corner it won’t be until tomorrow night. We may take this theater troop on the road, what do you think? Gives a new meaning to ‘Guys and Dolls’ don’t you think?”
Daniel finally spoke up, “I think that next time, I should pick up Mayson first. Clark can keep an eye on Lois and keep her safe from a distance. I want to have Mayson here beside me. That way I know that she’s safe.”
Mayson gave Daniel a look that said, ‘Thank you’. Neither Lois nor Clark missed the exchange.
Lois sent a thought, /Well, did you see that? I think your plan is working. She is exuding sex appeal and I’m sure Daniel sees it. He’s starting to feel really protective of her./
For nearly a week the foursome followed the plan.
On the third night there was an incident. When they strolled up to the other girls one of them moved in behind Lois. Lois felt the point of a knife in her back and heard, “All right b*tch. Let’s go into the alley and you and me have a discussion.”
Lois swept around and knocked the knife away with her arm and then grabbed her assailant’s knife hand in a vice like grip and squeezed until the girl dropped the knife. Lois gave her a small push which made her stagger back a few paces while she calmly bent down and picked up the knife. She took the knife in hand and said, “You know, people can get hurt with these things.” And then she threw it so that it flipped once and buried itself in a telephone pole ten feet away. She warned the girl, “Be sure you’re up to completing what you start. Next time I might not go so easy on you.”
A few nights later, when Mae and Lolo were walking up to the corner the other girls spotted them and pointed them out to a stranger. As they walked up the strange woman approached them and said, “Hi, my name is Constance. Mitzie would like to have a talk with the two of you.”
Lois spoke up, “Just who is Mitzie? Are we supposed to know her and be impressed by the name?”
Constance replied, “You should be, all of these girls work for Mitzie. She also has a house. Word has gotten to us that you worked in a house in Frisco. Mitzie wants to make you an offer. Get you off the street and into better quarters, something more to your liking. You’ll also be able to charge more.”
“Listen Dearie, we don’t need to charge more. The johns pay dearly already for our services and we make sure that they get their money’s worth. That’s why they come back so often.”
Constance replied, “I know, I’ve heard. You are both very selective and have a group of regulars that keep you really busy. But we can offer amenities in the house that you can’t get on the street.”
Just then Daniel pulled up to the curb. Lois spotted him and said, “Mae, Loverboy is here. You better go take care of him. I’ll talk to Constance. I’ll fill ya in later.”
Mayson went over and got into Dan’s car and they drove off. Lois watched them go and then turned her attention back to Constance. Lois asked, “Okay, what can you offer that we can’t already supply? As she was saying this she was running her hands down her sides smoothing her dress down.
Constance was impressed in spite of herself. She was used to dealing with high class call girls but this woman and her partner were something else indeed. She said, “We have our own wine cellar and kitchen so you can offer drinks and munchies. We have changing rooms and a relaxing lounge where you can meet your customers.”
Lois asked, “What’s the percentage?”
Constance replied, “The house keeps 65 percent. You get 35. Depending on how much you are bringing in the percentage can be renegotiated.”
“You’re gonna have to do better than that. I keep fifty percent this way and I don’t have the overhead.”
Constance said, “Let’s say those are starting percentages and we want you to start immediately.”
“Why should we even accept your offer, let alone start immediately?”
“Because you’re hurting our trade and we don’t want it to continue. If you don’t accept our offer you’re going to have to find another city to work in, if you know what I mean.”
“I’ll have to talk it over with Mae. We’ll let you know tomorrow.”
“I’ll be here to get your answer tomorrow night.” Constance turned and walked away. She climbed into a Lexus and drove away.
A few minutes later Clark picked her up and took her to meet Daniel and Mayson. As soon as they had parked Lois jumped out of the car and grabbed Mayson and hugged her. Mayson was somewhat stunned by this action but brought her arms up and reciprocated.
Lois was enthusiastic as she said, “We did it! We did it! That woman represented the local Madam. We’ve been cutting in on their trade and we have been invited to join the girls in the house. If we turn down the offer we have to leave town. We did it! We convinced them.”
comments go here To be continued in Chapter 18 – In the House
