Amanda drove through west Dover, near the area where Joyce lived and watched her rearview mirror. “You people are beginning to get on my nerves. This is number six now. You should be glad I'm not a James Bond fanatic, otherwise, I'd do an oil slick right now, or tacks, or better yet, rockets.” In the distance she saw two semi trucks headed toward her and she scouted the surrounding area quickly. She accelerated as fast as she dared and gripped the wheel.
“Hold on tight, body. Stay in the car.”
She cut the wheel sharply to the left after the second truck passed. She kept the wheel turned, drove over the sidewalk and across one driveway and lawn before she got the car back onto the road, in the right lane, with the trucks beside her. She squeezed between them and cut across the highway through a shopping center parking lot and laughed.
With the trail lost, she drove north on the back roads and across to the coast line. She smiled as she remembered the dream from earlier in the morning, and Brownie when she woke him. That she had to plead for what she wanted, surprised her. But perseverance paid off. She gave a thumbs up and turned south on Route 9.
His cool hands on her hot skin worked well for both of them. She remembered a poem she read once: Country lines / clinging vines / red roses / evocative poses / red wine kisses / from lustful misses / passion feats / damp tangled sheets.
“That and then some,” she sighed.
Afterward, Brownie started with her shoulders and massaged and kissed her down to her ankles while she told him the dream she had and what she wanted to do in the future.
“Thank you. I really enjoyed this.”
His hands caught her hips and he jostled them playfully. “So have I. Now, will you please dress so as not to tempt me again?” He watched her dress. “How long are you going to be around?”
She paused and contemplated his question. The idea that someone could be truly concerned with her welfare tugged at an emotion that she felt gone from her life. She zipped her jeans, sat on the bed beside him and lay a hand on his shoulder. “Slipping back into life so suddenly is most difficult. I'm glad that you are the first friend I found. That's why I chose to come here tonight, rather than do another bottle of whiskey. I like you, Brownie, and I'll not split without telling you goodbye. We'll go to dinner or do something before I leave Dover. And I'll let you know where I am when I get there.” With her other hand she wiped a tear that trickled down her cheek.
She pulled onto Route 113 and headed south to Indian River.
“Erotic, lustful, and delicious were the adjectives Brownie used to describe me.”
Her mind flashed through scenes when Joseph dated her, a year before they married. “Joseph used the same words frequently. What happened, Amanda? What derailed the Passion Express into oblivion?”
She stopped for a traffic signal at Bower's Beach and a Corvette stopped beside her. The driver raced his engine and honked the horn to get her attention. He smiled and waved. She stuck out her tongue and gave him an obscene gesture. “The Corvette is what happened,” she said bitterly. “I hate Corvettes.”
“She's dead,” the doctor announced, for the seventh time with a finality that caused her to shiver. He sounded frustrated enough to kill her if she did not die. “And if she isn't, she will be. Please die, bitch.”
Those words buried themselves in the resolve part of her mind and Amanda returned, for life.
“Stop it, Amanda!” she shouted and hit the steering wheel. “The Corvette wasn't the problem. The frustrated doctor wasn't the problem. Joseph's inability to cope was the problem. He didn't honor the till death do us part portion of the wedding. His weakness led to the abuse. Don't let yourself slip back into that hell. Get over it!”
She waved to the departing Corvette. “Sorry, dude. I'm not ready for anyone like you, for I'm having difficulty in holding onto myself right now. Maybe later. However, if I run across that Damash of Three, the whole world will have to kiss my ass and adjust to life without Amanda. I'll be gone so fast, you'll get dizzy and faint.”
Joseph arrived at the office as the FBI agents apprehend Denise Hendrickson. They put handcuffs on her and led her through the back door. “What's up with that, Howard?”
“She was making illegal transactions on the DELJIS system. We don't know if she was doing it for favors or money, but either way, she's out of here and in lots of trouble. How did you make out with your zoo?”
“I got rid of it. I can't wait for the end.”
“I know what you mean. Don't forget to take Linda to court with you. You were tied up yesterday afternoon so I told her what to expect. While you have the time, go see her.”
Joseph finished the morning in court and found Linda to be intelligent and tougher than she looked. He figured quickly that she could hold her own against the Level 3 probationers. He spent the rest of the day dealing with unruly clients. He was frustrated when quitting time arrived for he had not had a drink all day. He considered locking the door for a quick one when the phone beeped.
“Call from Amanda on line three.”
He picked up the receiver. “Yes, Amanda?”
“Hi, Joseph. How are you today?”
“Fine. What do you want?”
“I want to give you the time, date and location of your intake interview. Didn't you get my letter?”
“Yes. Right in the middle of the zoo.”
“Excellent. The time is eight-thirty, the date is Friday, and the place is Brandywine Park, across from the real zoo. Park in the first lot and walk along the river, away from the bridge and you'll find me.”
“Amanda, I'm sorry.”
“Not good enough now. You did too much for too long, and pushed me past the point of tolerance. Be there, or I'll mail the envelopes with Susan's letter.”
“How did you know about her?”
“Elementary, my dear Joseph. I have an eye for detective work. See you on Friday, darling. Ta-ta.”
Joseph cursed under his breath and stood, intent on taking a drink.
The door opened and Howard greeted him. “Are you busy on Friday morning?”
“Not to my knowledge.” He checked his calendar. “Nothing on my schedule. Why?”
“I want to discuss some changes in the level three branch, bringing Linda in to work under you for training, and some memos from the director. Put me down for nine o'clock. Keep cool until then. Have a good evening.”
“Good evening my ass,” Joseph spoke to the closed door. “I see only one way out of this and that's to kill her on sight or before Friday if I find her first. If she can do this now, she can do it in the future, and I won't live with this hanging over me.”
“Cooperate with her, Joseph,” he heard Joyce say.
“I'll cooperate, but on my terms this time.” He locked the filing cabinet and picked up his coat and briefcase when the phone beeped.
“Last call before I leave. A Joyce on line four, Mister Matkins.”
Joyce said, “I think I'm enjoying this, love. Are you coming by tonight?”
“Yes. I guess I will. I feel safer there than anywhere else. What do you have?”
“Wonderful news, I think. Come on over now. I'll fix dinner and we'll enjoy the night. Sound good?”
He considered her cooking and the desert later. “I'll be there.”
Joseph enjoyed dinner and the conversation with Joyce.
“Amanda isn’t Amanda. The social security number is assigned to Jessica B. Holton, born in November 1943 in Ryderville, West Virginia, and deceased in June 1965.”
“Jessica Holton? She said her name was Amanda Amy Blake? This is strange, but does it have anything to do with what's happening now?”
“It might.”
“How did the Internal Revenue Service manage to let this slip by them? And why would she use a false number to start with? And if she's not Amanda, who the hell is she?”
“Amanda Amy Blake was the maiden name she used, correct?”
He nodded, still deep in thought.
“I'll work on her birth next. We'll see who she really is.”
Joyce went to sleep while Joseph tossed about, haunted by Amanda, the arrest in the office, the FBI and several other irritants. She woke at three o'clock to an empty bed, and she found him in the living room, intoxicated, with a bottle of her whiskey beside the sofa.
“This isn’t the correct way. You must get serious if you expect to stay around me.” She left him sleeping on the sofa, locked her door and went back to bed.
Jalan, Ningla and Righli sat in the Research Lodge and watched Amanda Matkins from the time before her accident through the present.
“Incredible,” Ningla said reverently, and realized how the comment would be interpreted. “She's doing this on her own, with no prompting from a Jade Bear. Quite remarkable.”
Righli beamed and spoke. “It's a shame that she can't join us, don't you agree, Ningla? Damash of Three knows quality.”
Ningla cast a disdainful glance at the man. “The council has voted to. . . .”
“And the council is sometimes wrong. It is more wrong not to admit mistakes and correct them,” Righli finished for him. “If you wish extinction, then do away with yourself, but let others have the choice. That is the Life Principle.”
Ningla started to rebut the comment when Jalan's voice stopped him. “Righli is right, Ningla. Do not make matters worse than they are.” He stood and paced behind his chair and watched Amanda lay back in her seat at Indian River and go to sleep.
“Council,” he said. “I move that we allow Damash of Three to run the Paraclipse and go to the full Jade Bear status. Also to that, I move we allow him to bring Amanda Matkins to us, regardless of our previous decisions.”
“You can't be serious!” Ningla protested immediately.
“He will need to become a full Jade Bear soon or he'll remain trapped in the intermediary realms, Ningla. Would you like to take his place?”
“No. I would not.”
Righli held up his right hand. “You have my yes vote. You might also consider another vote on the attrition. You might find that the majority of Jade City citizens wishes are contrary to yours.”
The remaining members voted in favor of Jalan's motion, including a weak hand raise from Ningla.
Jalan stood and adjusted his tunic. “Protractor, reinstate the Portal and summon Damash of Three. Make the Paraclipse available for him at his will.”
Amanda slept and dreamed once more.
She sat before a huge tunnel in the side of a mountain. The entrance looked like a thirty-foot-tall pair of parentheses. The outer surface of the left side was studded with millions of emeralds, and the right with rubies. The area between the two sides was violet light and hazy.
From her left, a group of people came and stopped before the tunnel. A smile crept onto her face and her pulse quickened when she recognized Damash of Three. The group of people went through a ritual in a language that was alien to her and then Damash of Three approached and knelt before her.
“Lady Amanda, I must ask you again, will you join me here in this place?”
She gazed at the rugged and handsome face. “I think so. This is strange.”
“Will you watch me run the Paraclipse?”
“Yes, I will. What will it do for you?”
“Make me a full Jade Bear, and make it possible for me to bring you back here, through the Portal.”
The conversation with the handsome man on his knees as if she were queen intrigued her. “Where's here?”
“The country of Jade, a country between two mountains that has remained hidden for four thousand years.”
“Why do you want me here?”
“I want you to be my mate, to live with me and bear children. Much like the life outside but here there is a serenity and security that is not available beyond the shields.”
She gazed at him and the area surrounding her. “Do men beat their wives here?”
He smiled and shook his head. “If they do, it is only once and they are sent to the outside, with no protection and left to die. That has happened once in four thousand years. You will be treated with dignity and respect here. You will not suffer the injustice you have outside.”
“I accept. You are truly beautiful, Damash.”
He stood. “Then cheer me through the Paraclipse and do not be alarmed by anything you see.”
She nodded and he left her. “What are you doing, Self?” she asked. “Giving up nothing for something good,” she answered. “Just stay out of the way and let it happen.”
Amanda woke to the throbbing engines and waited for Brownie's words of encouragement as he passed. She stroked the Jade Bear and asked, “What are you doing for me? What's with all this lucid dreaming?”
The Jade Bear twitched its nose and turned its head. “Offering a way out,” it spoke and returned to a stationary pose.