Kathy
© 1991, 1998, 2001 by Morgan. All rights reserved.
Book I
Chapter 1
	Kathy Smith was doing something different tonight, having just quit her job.  She visited Charley’s, a bar she owned in town.  Normally, she would sit at a table but tonight she wanted to talk to Charley.  She was sitting at the corner of the bar nursing a club soda with a lime.  It was nearly eleven o’clock on a Friday night in Norfolk, Virginia.  The crowd was, as usual, almost entirely Navy personnel.  Located across from the main gate of the Naval Base, it was a primary hangout for sailors.  After all, Norfolk was the headquarters facility of the entire U.S. Atlantic Fleet.
	Charley, the manager and ostensible owner, was protective of Kathy.  He was tending bar while looking over the crowd.  Although he made a point of keeping the stool next to hers free, while he was at the other end of the bar a naval officer in uniform sat on the stool next to hers.  Although he wore the rank of commander, he looked like a wreck.  His uniform looked like it had been slept in despite the man looking like he hadn’t slept in days.  Charley didn’t like it, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.  The officer looked dead tired, but he was still about six feet three, and appeared to weigh something better than two hundred pounds.  He was more than Charley cared to take on.
	Kathy looked at the officer and felt a unique sensation surge through her.  Without conscious thought, she turned and said, “You look like you lost your last friend.”
	Charley saw what was happening and was astonished.  This was the first time Kathy had ever spoken to anyone in the place except for himself and a few of the staff.  For that matter, she seldom came in at all.
	Kathy Smith was a built like a dream: five feet seven, with a figure and movements like an athletic model.  Although not apparent from her present conservative dress, Charley knew she had a perfect figure.  Tonight she was wearing a camel’s hair skirt, cashmere sweaters, and a simple gold chain.  As usual, Charley thought, she looks like a million bucks.
	Kathy continued looking at the stranger and feeling the strange sensation.  The officer tried to focus on her.  “I don’t like women!”
	“Why not?” she asked quietly.
	“They’re all bitches!”
	“All of them?”
	“I guess so... at least my ex-wife is.  She’s a real bitch.”
	“Have you eaten?” Kathy asked.  My God!  What am I doing!? she wondered.
	“I guess so, but I can’t remember exactly when.”
	“Today?”
	“I’m not sure.”
	“Would you like to take a ride?”
	“Let’s go.”
	Kathy got up off her stool and gave Charley a private wink on the way out.  Charley just shook his head in amazement.  She and the officer went around the corner of the building to her car, a new BMW 635 CSi.  She unlocked it and said, “Hop in.”
	“Is this yours?”
	“Yes.”
	“The B-girl business must be better than I thought.  I had better warn you, though: I don’t have any money.  What little my ex-wife didn’t get, my lawyer did.”
	Kathy gave him an icy look.  “Thanks a lot.”
	Kathy started the BMW up and drove off, smoothly shifting up through the gears.  After leaving the Expressway, she drove in a circuitous route to an office-apartment complex in Virginia Beach.  At a gate, she reached for an electronic controller, pressed the button and the gate swung open.  Beyond the courtyard a garage door was automatically rising.  She drove into the garage and shut off the engine.
	“Hop out.  We’re here.”
	“Where is here?” he asked.
	“My place.  Come on up.”  She took a key from her purse and put it into a wall switch.  The steel door in front of them slid open revealing a wood-paneled elevator car.  They got in and Kathy pushed an unmarked button.  As she did, she turned to her companion and held out her hand.  “Let me introduce myself.  My name is Kathy Smith.”
	“Hi.  I’m Ken Stark.”  He shook hands and was surprised at the firmness of her grip.
	The elevator door smoothly slid open revealing a quietly decorated entrance hall.  To their right was the main entrance to the apartment.  They went on through the living room to the kitchen with Kathy turning on lights as she went.
	“What would you like?  I could whip up a couple of steaks and a salad, if that’s okay.”
	“That sounds great,” Ken replied.
	Kathy noticed that Ken was starting to relax.  She noticed laugh lines now appearing when he smiled.  It was obvious that his depressed attitude was not his normal condition.  “Why don’t you make yourself comfortable?  Would you like to fix yourself a drink?”
	“Sure.  What do you have and where do you keep it?”
	“Just about everything, and it’s in the bar over there.”
	Ken looked and saw a fully-equipped wet bar located between the living room and another room he guessed to be the library.  “I think I’ll just have a beer.  What can I get you?”
	“I’ll join you.  There’s Sam Adams in the refrigerator.”
	He opened the refrigerator and found at least six brands of beer.  Most were imported.  He found the Sam Adams and opened two bottles.  “Do you want a glass?”
	“Please.  They’re in the cabinet right above you.”
	Ken found the beer glasses in a chiller paneled to appear to be a piece of furniture.  He poured the beers and returned to the kitchen.  “All the comforts.  I’ve never seen a place with so many.  The B-girl business is much better than I thought.
	“That’s the second time you’ve said that, and I didn’t appreciate it the first time.  Actually, I’m a lawyer.”
	“Business must be pretty good.  How old are you, anyway?”
	“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m twenty-six.  How old are you?”
	“How old am I, or how old do I feel?”
	“Both.”
	“Well, I guess my driver’s license says I’m thirty-one; I just feel like I’m 110.”
	While they talking Kathy was preparing two gorgeous steaks.  “Do you like spicy food?”
	“I guess so.  Why?”
	“I’ll try something different, then.  Tell me about your problems.”
	“I would rather not.  It would just bore you and infuriate me.”
	“Would you like to clean up a bit?  You look like you’ve been going for days.  Come on, I’ll show you where.”  Ken allowed himself to be led to the master bedroom and then into a bathroom off it.
	“Good grief!  I’ve never seen anything quite like this.”  He stopped and stared like a bumpkin.  The bathroom was larger than most bedrooms.  It had two sinks, a shower, a tub the size of a small swimming pool and opened out through glass doors to a private swimming pool area beyond.  The area was beautifully landscaped and surrounded with a palisade-type fence about ten feet high providing complete privacy in all directions except from directly overhead.  Ken turned to Kathy, “What floor are we on?”
	She grinned.  “The sixth.  Why?”
	“Just asking.  I thought it was impossible to put a swimming pool up this high.”
	“It can be done.  It just takes money.”
	“Obviously.”
	Kathy left Ken alone in the bathroom after showing him where a full array of men’s toiletries were kept.  Ken continued to look around in amazement.  His wife had been a world-class slob, particularly in the bathroom.  There were always undies, makeup, tissues and other debris lying around.  Ken thought about taking a shower, but didn’t feel like getting back into his dirty clothes.  He realized he looked terrible.  Taking off his tunic — he was wearing his officer’s whites — Ken decided to settle on a wash and a shave.  A whore’s bath would have to do.  He noticed that all the men’s toiletries were Polo by Ralph Lauren.  Since every container was the same shade of green, it took a few moments to figure out which was which.  He washed, shaved, splashed on some cologne and started to feel human again.  After dressing again he returned to the kitchen.
	“Feel better?” Kathy asked.  “You certainly look and smell better, at least if you like the fragrance of Polo.  I do.”
	“Who’s stuff is that?  Isn’t your boyfriend going to be pissed when he finds a stranger has been using his things?”
	“I don’t have a boyfriend.”
	“Then what is it there for?”
	“For you to use.  And you just did.  Let’s eat.  I didn’t think I was hungry until I started cooking.  Now I’m famished.”
	“Good grief!  It’s almost two o’clock.”
	“As I said, let’s eat,” Kathy repeated with a smile.
	They sat down at a counter built as a part of the kitchen cabinets.  The two steaks looked beautiful; they had been Cajun blackened.  Along with baked potatoes, there was a beautiful salad.  Ken went to the bar and returned with two more beers.  The dinner passed without conversation.  When they finished, Kathy told Ken to go into the living room and sit down while she cleaned up.
	He sat down on the sofa and that was the last thing he remembered.

Chapter 2
	Kathy sat on the sofa in the living room with her legs tucked under her, trying to read a book.  She was wearing a man’s pajama top with only one of its buttons fastened.  She could see Ken still asleep in the bedroom.  She tried to analyze her motives, but could not.  She had picked up a man in a bar!  She had never done anything like it in her life!
	She remembered with a small smile how she had returned to the living room early in the morning to find Ken out like a light, the poor guy.  He had just collapsed.  She remembered struggling to get him into bed, and she shivered as she recalled stripping off his clothes piece by piece.  The effect must be similar to men watching a stripper perform with the excitement coming more from the anticipation than the realization.  When he was fully naked she admired his body.  He had broad shoulders and narrow hips; in spite of its hard use his body was that of a trained athlete.  Just then Kathy saw Ken stirring on the bed.
	Ken looked around and found that he was in the king-sized bed he had seen in the bedroom the previous night.  He was naked.  Looking around, there was no sign of his clothes.  Looking through the doorway he saw Kathy sitting on the sofa with her legs tucked under her wearing a man’s pajama top.  The bed showed the marks of shared occupancy.  He tried to remember what had happened.  He had the vaguest recollection of making love — of achieving a marvelous physical release.  But was it all a dream?
	Kathy looked up and saw him.  “Hi, sleepyhead.  Have you rejoined the ranks of the living?”
	“I think so.  I would get up, but I’m not dressed.  What do I do?”
	“You get up.  How do you think you got into bed in the first place?”
	“You did it?” Ken asked incredulously.  “How?”
	“I’m practiced,” she said enigmatically.  “You’ll find a robe that fits in the closet.
	Ken got out of bed, ignoring his nakedness.  Going to the closet he found a navy-blue flannel bathrobe.  It was a perfect fit and seemed to be brand new.  He put it on and went out to the kitchen.  Kathy was bending over the stove as he came up behind her.  Her pajama top was hiked up in the rear exposing a gorgeous little ass.  Ken couldn’t resist.  He put his hands over her asscheeks and squeezed.
	Kathy gave a little yelp and then seemed to melt.  He continued to gently squeeze, while she had her hands on the range, making soft mewing sounds.  His right hand continued around her body.  He put it on her prominent mound and received a surprise.  Her mound of Venus was bare — there was no pubic hair.  He slowly moved his hand and entered her cunt.
	Kathy straightened up slowly.  She didn’t turn nor did she try to move his hand.  She just leaned back against him.  By now both of his hands were around her body gently exploring it.  He found that her belly was flat while her breasts were perfectly proportioned and beautifully sized.  Ken loved nice boobs, but didn’t like cows.  He unbuttoned the only fastened button on the pajama top Kathy was wearing and let it drop to the floor, then gently turned her around to face him.  “You’re beautiful.  You know that, don’t you?”
	“Thank you, kind sir.  Can we go to bed now?”
	“That’s supposed to be my line.”
	“You’re too slow.  I’m tired of waiting.”
	Ken picked her up in his arms and carried her into the bedroom.  Curiously, she seemed to be as light as a feather.  Her hair was medium length and tawny, gold in color rather than blond.  Her eyes were a brilliant blue and were focused on him.
	When he slipped out of the robe and got into bed beside her, she rolled over on top of him.  Ken’s phallus was powerfully erect and had been ever since the kitchen.  She got astride him and slowly worked it into her vagina, moving her pelvis with slow motions to help.  As he entered her she continued to move her hips as his cock went in to its full length.  She gave a soft sigh, and slowly started to rotate her hips.  She began making small mewing noises as her pleasure mounted.  In the meantime, her loins were vibrating on his cock.  It was almost as if there was another pair of hands inside her, slowly squeezing him.  Her body barely moved.  There was just the slow pelvic motion and that wonderful internal movement.
	Then she started to move slowly up and down on his raging member.  To Ken it was exquisitely tormenting.  He wanted to move quickly but Kathy wouldn’t let him.  “Just lie back.  I know what I’m doing,” she said.
	Her movements increased in tempo.  As Ken was about to release, she slowed her movements just enough to bring him down from his peak only to bring him back up again moments later.  He lost count of how many times he had been up and down.  His whole being started to scream for release.  But still Kathy maintained the tempo, nearly to climax then retreat.  Each time it seemed that the peak was higher than the time before, but still she wouldn’t let him cum.  Her moans, increasing in intensity, showed she was reaching her own peak.
	Finally, he could contain it no longer and his phallus exploded.  It seemed that he would never stop cuming.  His release triggered an eruption at the heart of Kathy’s being.  It had never ever been like this before for her or for him.  She screamed.  Her climax was so powerful she lost consciousness and collapsed on top of him.
* * *
	Kathy awoke and found herself entwined on the bed with Ken.  She stretched her arms and legs languorously.  It had been so long since she had been with a man.  And it had never been like this.  She looked over Ken’s body.  It was beautiful, but scarred.  She continued the exploration of his body that she had begun the night before but the light was better this time.  She looked again at the dimpled bullet scars on his upper arm and shoulder.  Feeling playful, she tweaked her nipples to make them turgid and then found that her stiff pink nipple just fit into the depressions on Ken’s body.  She looked down and found him looking at her with his grey eyes.  His hair was brown, she thought, but it had been bleached by the sun to a color similar to her own.  He grinned up at her and she grinned back.  Slowly, she slid down his body, kissing it and running her nipples over it.  It was exciting to feel his body hair on her smooth skin.  Ken started to run his hands over her body.  “What are you doing?” she asked.
	“It’s figure study by the braille method.  You’re beautiful.”
	Kathy moved up and kissed him.  Good grief, she thought.  That’s the first time I’ve ever kissed him.  The kiss lasted.  She heard bells and felt her body start to go limp.  It was as if her bones and muscles were turning to jelly.
	“Do you hear them too?” Ken asked.
	“Mm, Mm.  I guess you mean the bells?”
	“Have you ever heard them before?”
	“Nope.  Have you?”  Kathy slid down Ken’s body again.  When she got down to his sex, she stopped and studied it.  “You have a beautiful cock,” she said.
	“And you have a beautiful body.”
	She took his member into her mouth.  Because of their earlier exertions, it was now flaccid.  She ran her tongue slowly over its head, and took the tip inside her mouth.  Ken lay back.  “What are you doing?” he asked.
	“Just finding out what you taste like.  You taste of cum and, I guess, my cunt juices.  It’s wonderful.”
	As she continued to run her tongue over his prick, it started to stiffen to attention.  Just then, with his prick in her mouth, Ken pivoted on the bed.  His face was opposite her cunt.  “It’s beautiful.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hairless cunt before.  Why did you do it?”
	Kathy didn’t answer.  Instead, her head started moving up and down over what was now a full erection.  Ken watched in amazement as, without apparent effort, she took it all the way into her mouth.  The feeling was wonderful.  She was doing with her mouth and tongue what earlier she had done with her vagina: slowly squeezing and massaging his vibrant sex.
	In the meantime Ken had spread Kathy’s legs.  He noticed that they were like dancer’s legs, smoothly muscled and firm, not soft.  He put his face near her cunt and extended his tongue causing Kathy to moan softly and spread her legs wider to give him easier access.  His tongue entered her and found her magic button.  He got it between his teeth and gently bit on it.  He ran his tongue in and out, slowly sucking in the accumulation of fluids.  It did taste good.  As his tongue went in and out, her hips were undulating.  Ken was beside himself.  While his mouth was encountering exquisite tastes, he could feel his prick being massaged and his balls gently kneaded.  Again, he could feel himself taken to a peak where he felt he had to explode.
	Each time Kathy eased back a trifle just before he had to come.  Finally, the excitement was too great for them.  Kathy’s mouth closed over his cock swollen to its extreme size but nevertheless, she had taken it all in.  Then he exploded.  He could feel her swallowing quickly as she took his discharge.
	At the same time, her hips moved violently; it was all he could do to hold her beautifully muscled body as her fluids gushed.  He licked and swallowed; they tasted great.  After licking out the final drops, he flipped Kathy’s body around so it was lying beside his own.  Then they dropped off to sleep together.
* * *
	Ken was the first to awaken this time.  He looked at the lovely girl he was holding in his arms.  He saw a girl with skin as smooth as satin and he wondered at his luck.  Being invited to her apartment by a beautiful girl wasn’t the way his world worked.  He thought about his ex-wife, Sylvia.  She was different from Kathy in every way.  At its best their sex life together had been barely adequate.  Ken recalled that it was never as good after the wedding as it had been before.  She used to complain that his phallus was too big.  He couldn’t recall ever getting it all the way in.  As far as going down on him was concerned, she said the idea was repulsive.
	He realized that Sylvia didn’t really like sex but knew he did.  In fact, he felt he had to have it so she used sex as a weapon to get what she wanted from him.  Now he wondered why he had ever bothered.  Ken guessed that it must have been his lack of experience with women going back to his Naval Academy days.  But while Sylvia was reluctant, Kathy was joyous.  She seemed to love sex and seemed to need it as much as he did.
	As he studied her, Kathy’s eyes opened.  She murmured, “Hi.”
	He just grinned at her.  Although he thought that his grin must look dumb, she just grinned back.  She looked at him and said, “Let’s eat.  I’m starving to death, particularly with all of the exercise we’ve been having.  Do you want me to melt away from starvation?”
	She got out of bed while Ken admired her sleek nakedness as she moved gracefully with apparent total unconcern for her nudity.  She went to the kitchen and Ken heard a few noises.  A moment later she reappeared and went into the bathroom.  After he heard the toilet flush and the water running, she reappeared, still nude.
	Stopping at the bed she looked down at him with her hands folded into small fists on her hips.  “And what are you looking at?” she asked.
	“Just you.  Do you really know how beautiful you are?”
	“No, and neither do you.  You’re just showing how little you know about women.”
	“And you’re just fishing for compliments.  You are beautiful, you know.”
	Kathy pertly stuck out her tongue and then went out to the kitchen.  Ken got up, went into the bathroom and started to clean himself up.  He found a toothbrush, and then jumped into the shower.  When he came out, he put on the bathrobe and went out to the kitchen.  He stopped and laughed.
	There was Kathy, nude, wearing only a small apron, with a hurt look on her face.  “What’s so funny?” she asked with a wry little grin.  “How would you like it if bacon fat spattered on your tit?”
	“I wouldn’t know; I don’t have boobs.”  Ken went up to her, knelt down, and started running his tongue over her breasts and nipples.  He stood up and took her into his arms.  “I kissed it to make it better.”  He kissed her gently on the mouth.  She tasted delicious.  And the bells sounded again.
	“Please, Ken, I really am starving.  I know your spend is protein, but I’ve never heard of it being tested for food value.  Besides, the bacon and eggs will burn.”
	She took them off the stove.  Ken was dazzled to find in addition to the bacon and eggs, orange juice — freshly squeezed — along with hash browns and toast.  The aroma of the coffee smelled delicious to a sailor who lives on it.  They sat down again at the counter side by side where they had eaten the previous night.  The food rapidly disappeared and he realized that Kathy wasn’t just picking at hers.  She was eating like a person with a real appetite who wasn’t afraid to show it.  When he asked her about it, she said, “I do like food, and I told you I was hungry.”
	As they had another cup of coffee, Ken asked Kathy, “By any chance, do you have a cigarette in the house?”
	“What brand do you smoke?”
	“Winston Lights, why?”
	Kathy got down off the stool and went off to the other room.  Ken loved the way her firm little ass wiggled slightly as she went off.  A few moments later she was back with a pack of Winston Lights and a lighter.  He opened the pack, took out a cigarette and lighted up.  “May I have one too, please?” she asked.
	“I’m sorry.  I didn’t think you smoked.”
	“I shouldn’t, and I guess I don’t really, but...”
	“But what?”
	“It just seems to be the right thing to do after the lovemaking, the breakfast, and the second cup of coffee.”
	They smoked in silence for a few moments.  Kathy rested her head on Ken’s shoulder.
	“Feel good?” she asked.
	“I don’t know how I could possibly feel any better.”
	“I do.  Come with me.”  Jim followed Kathy out of the kitchen and then into the bathroom.  As she left the kitchen Kathy dropped the little apron on the floor.  In the bathroom, she turned and took off Ken’s bathrobe.  Standing up on tiptoe she kissed him gently on the lips.  “Come on.”
	She went into the shower and beckoned Ken to follow her.  Although he had taken a quick shower earlier, he hadn’t realized how large the shower enclosure really was.  There was plenty of room for both of them.  Again, Kathy manipulated a set of controls that Ken hadn’t noticed earlier.  Warm water poured over them coming from every conceivable angle.  Kathy pressed a button and suddenly the flow of water stopped.
	Kathy picked up soap on a rope — again it was Polo — and started to soap Ken’s body.  She delighted in the way his body hair caused the soap to lather.  She ran her hands all over his body paying particular attention to his prick and balls which she fondled tenderly.  Then she moved her fingers between his ass cheeks soaping all the while.  Finally, she went to her knees and soaped his long legs and feet.
	Ken just luxuriated in the feeling.  At that point, Kathy stood up, gave him her own soap and said acidly, “You can do this, too, you know.”
	She stood there as he caressed her entire body, paying particular attention to her gorgeous breasts.  Again, as he soaped them, her nipples started to harden.  He continued, lathering her loins and her ass cheeks.  Then he bent over and soaped her legs and her feet.  At this point with her back to him Kathy pressed a button and again they were flooded with warm water from every direction.  She wriggled her hips and moved her ass against his prick.
	Ken, just following his instinct, bent her body forward.  By this time his prick was again fully erect and he moved it against her ass.  Kathy bent over, grabbed a rail, and, with the water flowing over them, spread her legs.  He put his phallus against her anus and it slowly went in.
	Again, Kathy moved, this time using her ass, with body movements that Ken couldn’t even imagine.  His hand went around her body and was welcomed into her cunt.  Kathy put his finger on her tiny bud, while she continued to move her hips.  Again, Ken could feel the pressure mounting in his balls.  With so much sexual activity in such a short time, he did not believe he could possibly get hard again so soon, but he had.  He moved in and out slowly while her sphincter held his weapon like a tender vise, slowly massaging it as it went in and out.
	Once again he came and Kathy screamed her release.  It seemed to be even more violent than the times before but that was impossible.  They sagged slowly together to the floor of the shower as the warm water continued to flow over their bodies.
* * *
	Kathy got up with a groan, activated another switch and the water stopped.  She pulled Ken up and they got out of the shower.  Then Kathy picked up a huge terry cloth towel and started drying him off.  She again stood up on tiptoe and tenderly kissed his lips.  She gave him a towel and he carefully dried off her beautiful body.  “Come on, we need to get you cleaned off.”
	“Cleaned off!  What was the shower for?”
	“That just takes off the surface dirt and sweat.  I’ve got something else.”
	They went through a door in the bathroom, and entered a sauna.  As soon as he entered, Ken could feel the dry heat strike his body.  It was hot!  Meanwhile Kathy took a small dipper and poured water over hot rocks which caused it instantly to flash into steam.  Then she sat beside Ken on the wooden bench and leaned her head on his shoulder.  “You know, this sauna is much more fun with someone to share it.  I’ve had it for a year or so, but this is the first time I’ve had the chance to use it with a man.”
	The steam rose and Ken could feel his pores opening.  Then Kathy picked up a flat wooden stick and started scraping his skin.  Although he thought his body was clean, what Kathy was scraping off looked black.  When she was finished, Ken took another stick and started to scrape her flesh.  What came off appeared to be just the outer layer of skin with no dirt visible.
	About the time he was wondering if he was going to die of suffocation, Kathy took his hand and pulled him to his feet.  Opening the door, they went outside.  The swimming pool he had seen the night before was there but now he noticed a smaller circular pool near the sauna’s door.  Kathy let go of his hand and jumped into it feet first.
	Ken realized that the pool was much deeper than it seemed.  Kathy’s head disappeared below the water’s surface before her feet touched the bottom.  She bobbed to the surface and floated vertically.  It was much too deep for her to stand on the bottom.  She ducked her head for a moment and then surfaced.  She flipped her hair back off her face, and grinned up at him.  She looked as sleek as a seal.  “Come on in!  You saw how it’s done.”
	Ken dropped into the pool next to Kathy.  And he almost died.  The water was like ice.  Instantly, with a smooth, almost effortless motion, Kathy pulled herself from the pool.  As she got out, she put a foot on Ken’s head and pushed him under water again.  When his head popped up to the surface, Ken was sputtering and shivering.  He was freezing!  Meanwhile Kathy was laughing so hard she couldn’t even stand.  Finally, she controlled herself and gave Ken a hand, pulling him out.  Although Ken didn’t think Kathy weighed more than 120, she seemed to pull him out without effort.  She grabbed a dry towel and, still giggling, wrapped it around him.
	Ken took her in his arms, gave her a kiss which almost caused her knees to buckle, and then suddenly picked her up.  Dropping to one knee, he laid her over his leg and proceeded to spank her bottom.  The spanks were just hard enough to redden her ass cheeks.  Kathy struggled in his grip, but she might as well have been held by steel bands.
	The spanking continued as she continued to struggle.  She realized her clit was contacting his leg and was being stimulated by it.  Suddenly, she came in a flood that ran down Ken’s leg.  At that point he stopped and released her, helping her to her feet.  Again he gave her a melting kiss, tasting the salt from the tears rolling down her cheeks.

	Mournfully, she backed away a step, rubbing her tender ass.  “You’re a brute!  You attacked a helpless woman!”
	“You tricked me!  I almost froze to death in there.  And then you tried to drown me!”
	Kathy’s grin broke through her tears.  “You know, I thought about doing that when I had the sauna and pool put in.  It’s refrigerated water: thirty-eight degrees Fahrenheit.  I use it almost every day, but I wasn’t sure I could keep from giving it away.  Usually, my teeth start chattering and I get goose-bumps all over.  I thought I handled it pretty well.”
	At that, Ken grinned.  “You did, you stinker!  You were perfect.  I’ll have to add actress to the list of your talents.”  He started to laugh, then paused.  “I hope I didn’t hurt you.  I didn’t mean to.”
	Kathy grinned back.  “You injured my pride.  Now my bottom is tender, in a warm sort of way.”  She glared at him and said, “But you made me cum, you brute!  On the other hand, my loins are sore, my asshole can still feel you and my mouth and throat may never be the same.  I still can’t believe I was able to take in your full length.  You are a woman’s dream.  But if we keep up like this much longer, I’ll be a physical wreck.”
	They went back into the apartment and checked the time.  It was nearly five o’clock.  “What would you like to do this evening?” Kathy asked.  “Do you have any plans?”
	Ken, standing naked looking like a Greek god, grinned at her.  “No, I have no plans... and I don’t have any clothes, either.”
	Kathy gave a little yelp and left the room, returning in a few moments with what looked to be his uniform and a box.  She hung up the uniform and gave him the box.  “I hope it all fits.”
	Ken opened the box and found new underwear, socks, and everything else he needed.  “How did you know my sizes?”
	“I guessed.  Did I guess right?”
	“You certainly did.  You make me a little nervous sometimes.  How did you know I like Polo toiletries?”
	“I didn’t.  I bought them because I like them.  The fragrance really turns me on.”
	“Oh.  And I thought it was just me.”
	Kathy cocked her head and grinned.  “Well, maybe it’s a little bit of you, along with the Polo.”
	She squealed and jumped away, covering her reddened ass with her hands as Ken made a move towards her.  When he stopped and held out his arms, she came up to him and he kissed her.  Again, her knees seemed to buckle.  “Do you want to go out tonight?”
	Ken smiled at her.  “If you’re willing, I would like to show you off at the Officers’ Club at the Base.  Would you like to go?  I think they have a band playing on Saturday night.  I could try to make a reservation.”
	“I would love to,” she said.  “Let’s do it!”  Arm in arm they went into the bedroom.

Chapter 3
	The Officers’ Club at the Naval Base in Norfolk is one of the largest clubs of its kind in the world.  Since Norfolk is the headquarters of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, as well as the home of countless other military installations, the size of the club is no surprise.  Ken and Kathy drove onto the base with Ken wearing his uniform and driving Kathy’s car.  He received a snappy salute from the guard on the gate after showing his ID and then drove up to the entrance of the club.
	“Why don’t you get out here?” Ken asked.  “I’ll go park the car.”
	Kathy said she would rather stay with him.
	He put the car in gear and found a parking spot.  Opening Kathy’s door, he handed her out of the car.  Again, he was startled at how beautiful she looked.  Tonight, she was wearing a white cocktail dress with a full skirt.  With her even tan and golden hair, she was exquisite.  Ken realized that she must use her private pool area to tan in the nude because he now knew she had a mark-free tan.  Her only jewelry was a large sapphire hanging from a golden chain around her neck.  The gem was the color of her eyes.
	Ken was pleased that they were the focus of all eyes as they entered the club, and it was Kathy’s astonishing beauty that was attracting the attention.  Looking at her closely, he realized she was blushing.
	“It’s just your beauty, Hon.  I keep telling you, but you don’t listen.”
	The headwaiter nearly fell over himself to seat Kathy at a very prominent table.  Ken took his seat and groaned.
	Kathy looked at him with concern in her eyes.  “What’s the trouble?”
	“I’m an idiot.  Here we are at the club and now I remember I don’t have any money!”
	Kathy smiled at him an asked, “Have you checked?”
	“What do you mean, have I checked?  I left the ship last night with less than five bucks, and I spent most of that before I met you.  Good grief!  I don’t even remember paying the bill last night at Charley’s.”
	“Don’t worry about it,” she said, “I own the place.”  He gaped in amazement.  Then she said, “Why don’t you check your wallet anyway.  You never can tell.”
	Ken unbuttoned the flap on his hip pocket and took out his wallet.  Thinking about it, it had felt a little different when he had taken out his ID at the gate.  He looked in the bill compartment and received a shock.  He counted.  There were twenty $100 bills in it.  No wonder it had felt a little thick — Ken had never had $2,000 in cash in his life.
	Kathy looked at him with concern on her face.  “What’s wrong?  Isn’t it enough?”
	“Enough!?  You’ve got to be joking.  This is the Navy, not Tokyo.  Of course it’s enough.  But where did it come from?”
	“It’s mine, it’s honest money, and I love you.  Do you need to know any more than that?”
	“I guess that’s enough.  By the way, I love you, too.”
	Very daintily, Kathy stuck the pink tip of her tongue out at him.  “The way you said that wasn’t very romantic.”  Then she held out her hand and said, “Let’s dance.”
	As they went towards the dance floor, Ken tried to conceal his reluctance.  With Sylvia he always felt like he had two left feet.  As a matter of fact he had felt that away about dancing ever since he was a plebe at Annapolis, but he took Kathy in his arms and moved out on the floor.  He couldn’t believe it!  He was moving with a feather in his arms.  In bed she had moved like a dancer.  On the dance floor she moved like a dream.  He grinned at her and she grinned back.
	“You didn’t like to dance before, did you?”
	“How did you know?”
	“Call it another good guess.  Can we open up a little?”
	Kathy moved away from him in time with the music.  It appeared that Ken was controlling her feet, when in actuality she was somehow controlling his.  Other dancers on the floor moved away to give them more room.  Ken felt like he was lost on a cloud.  The music stopped.  Suddenly, there was applause from the dancers around them as well as the band members all of whom had been admiring their dancing.  Kathy made a quick curtsy and fled back to their table.
	After seating Kathy and taking his seat Ken looked around for the waiter.  “What would you like, Hon?”
	“I think I’ll have my usual, club soda with a lime.”
	“Do you mind if I have something stronger?”
	“Of course not!”
	The waiter came over and Ken gave him the drink order, ordering a Beefeater martini for himself.  Ken looked at Kathy.  “What happened out there?”
	“What do you mean?”
	“You know what I mean.  I can’t dance like that!  What happened?”
	“Obviously you can, because you did.”  Then she added with a note of alarm in her voice, “Some people are coming over.  Do you know them?”
	Ken looked over in the direction of Kathy’s eyes and grinned.  “It’s my parents.  I wonder what they’re doing here tonight.  They live on the Peninsula and almost never come down to Norfolk.”
	As he got to his feet, Kathy saw a man almost as tall as Ken approach accompanied by a matronly woman at his side.  He was wearing the uniform of a full admiral and appeared to be about forty-five years old.  When the couple reached the table and joined them, Ken reached out his hand to grip his father’s and then gave his mother a quick kiss.
	“Mother and Dad, I would like you to meet Katherine Smith.  Kathy, this is my father, Admiral Samuel Stark, and my mother, Betty.”
	Admiral Stark gave a courtly bow, smiled and bent to kiss Kathy’s hand.  She blushed.  Then she rose to greet Ken’s mother, an overweight woman who looked much older than her husband.  “I am delighted to meet you both.  Would you care to join Ken and me?”
	“Why thank you,” Sam Stark replied, “Betty and I would be delighted.  We haven’t seen Ken to talk to in nearly a year.  After his marriage he seemed to disappear.  However, a nice thing about carrying rank is that I’ve been able to keep track of him through the Navy — but no thanks to him.  How have you been, son?  You’re looking very well.”
	“Kathy gets the credit for that one, Dad.”
	As the evening progressed, Kathy studied Sam and Betty Stark.  She was an expert.  Sam showed all the marks of an attractive man with a roving eye.  In fact, she saw a female lieutenant commander looking at him from time to time with a possessive look that Kathy thought she recognized.  Kathy was certain that Betty was displaying the telltale symptoms of a woman who is afraid of losing something of great value to her: her husband.
	After a very pleasant evening, Ken and Kathy returned to Kathy’s apartment.  It was nearly two o’clock and they were both tired.  After taking off her dress Kathy went into the bathroom.  Ken could hear the noises as he undressed and entered the bathroom.  What a joy to have facilities large enough for two to use at the same time!  Ken thought.  He looked at Kathy lovingly.  As usual, she was nude and was brushing her teeth at the sink.  He washed, brushed his teeth, and took her in his arms.
	Again, like the morning — could it have been only a single day?  — he carried her to the bed.  This time, though, he laid her gently on the bed and lay beside her.  As he gently took her in his arms and held her, he could feel his arousal from their close contact.  While he felt for her moist spot, she spread her legs to make his access easier.  She was wet already.  Slowly, he straddled her and moved his phallus towards her moist cunt and entered it.
	The previous times had been a near-frenzy.  This time it was slow and lovely.  She arched her back and hooked her ankles around his neck to get the greatest possible penetration.  As he moved in her, she started to moan softly.  Deliberately, he moved in and out while her hips moved slowly in the tempo.  He could feel that he was close to release and slowed his movements as Kathy had done earlier.  He looked into her face and saw a beautiful smile.
	“You’re wonderful,” she whispered.
	The movements continued.  He could feel her movements speeding up while the flow of her internal juices increased.  Suddenly, he let go in a flood.  Her pelvis was bucking in a frenzy as she, too, let loose a flood of fluid that nearly drowned his cock.  She lowered her legs and they lay side by side.  Almost immediately, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
	Ken awakened in the morning to find Kathy standing next to him fully dressed.  “Come on, lazy-bones, we’re going to church.”
	Ken was surprised, but said nothing.  He took a shower, shaved, and got dressed.  Going out to the kitchen, he found Kathy had breakfast on the counter waiting for him.  After eating, Kathy led him down to the garage and then backed the car out.
	Driving back towards the apartment after church, Ken looked around and sighed.  It was a magnificent early spring day in Tidewater without a cloud in the sky.
	While stopped at a traffic light, Kathy looked over at him.  “Okay, where are we going to play?”
	Ken, looking like the little kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, grinned sheepishly.  “Play what?  What are you talking about?”
	“Golf, silly.  You have all the symptoms of a junkie deprived of his regular fix.  Where are we going to play?”
	“What do you mean, play?  You can’t play golf like that.  You’re dressed for church.”
	“Hah!  My clothes and clubs are in the trunk.  For the third time, where are we playing?”
	Ken gave up the act and grinned.  “How would the course at the Officers’ Club be?  But with the weather so nice, though, we might have quite a wait.”
	Kathy smiled.  “I have another idea.  Why don’t we swing by your club, pick up your things and play at mine?  I belong to a private club nearby.”
	“Do you think we can get out?”
	“Since our tee-time reservation is for an hour from now, I’m sure we can,” Kathy replied.
	Ken, still trying to salvage something from the exchange, asked her, “How did you know I play golf, or would want to play?”
	“Because, silly, it’s as nice a day for golf as we will ever find.  Any golfer would want to be out, and you look like a golfer to me.”
	Driving up to Kathy’s club, an attendant came rushing out to greet her.  “Good afternoon, Miss Smith.  May I take your clubs?  Will you be walking or riding today?”
	“Thank you, Jack.  Commander Stark and I will be walking.  Could you see that he is set up in the men’s locker room?”
	They met a few minutes later on the practice tee.  Kathy was already hitting balls with a very fluid swing.  After loosening up, Ken started hitting balls starting with his wedge and working up through his bag.  When he got to his driver he was pounding the ball almost off the range.  Kathy stepped back and admired his shots which were ripping off the club head with a small draw adding to the distance.
	The caddies were waiting for them on the first tee.  Kathy turned to him, “Since this is my home course I won’t even ask you to give me strokes, but what are we going to play for?”  The idea of an even match with a girl had never occurred to Ken.  He didn’t know what to say.
	Kathy looked at him.  “I’ll tell you what.  If you win, the $2,000 in your wallet is doubled.  If I win, you give me one wish.  It will easily be in your power to grant.  Fair?”
	“Sounds fine to me.  You’re on.”
	Before they had finished the match word of it had spread to the clubhouse and they had attracted a gallery.  Ken’s drives were straight and more than 250 yards off the tee.  Although Kathy’s were shorter, she was still hitting hers over two hundred yards.  But what she was losing off the tee she was making up around the greens.  She was deadly.  After seventeen holes the match was even with both golfers at one under par.
	The eighteenth hole was a 460-yard par five played to an elevated green.  Ken led off and hit his best drive of the day.  It was over 300 yards, leaving him only 150 yards to the pin.  Kathy also crashed one nearly 250 yards.  After studying her position on the fairway she took her three wood.  Her swing was straight from a golf video.  The ball cleared the lip in front of the green and disappeared from sight in the direction of the pin.
	Ken approached his ball, selected a six iron, swung — and pulled his shot.  It reached the green, but was well to the left of the pin.  They walked up the hill together.  “Where on earth did you learn to play golf like this?  Do you realize I’m playing the best round of my life against a girl I outweigh by about 100 pounds, and we’re still even?”
	Kathy smiled up at him.  “It’s a simple game.  After all, the ball just sits there on the ground looking at you.  It’s not even moving.  Besides, you got me warmed up yesterday.”  Her eyes glistened with love.
	“Thanks a lot,” Ken grinned resisting the temptation to take her into his arms.  “My regular partners who have trouble breaking ninety on their best days would kill you if they heard you say that.  But I love you anyway.”
	Ken’s ball was on the left edge of the green.  He had a forty-five-foot putt with a sharp left-to-right break on the green.  After carefully lining it up, he stroked the ball firmly.  Although his line looked good at first, the green broke more than he expected.  His ball passed below the cup and stopped about three feet away.
	Kathy’s ball was about twelve feet beyond the pin.  It was a very difficult putt, downhill, with a right-to-left break.  She lined it up carefully and stroked the ball firmly.  The ball, following the contours of the green that she had read perfectly, dropped solidly into the center of the cup for an eagle three.  Ken, although he had already lost the match, stepped up to his ball and sank his putt for a four.
	Ignoring the cheering spectators surrounding the green, he took Kathy in his arms and kissed her.  Her back was wet from sweat and her face glistened.  She put her arms around his neck as their kiss lingered.  Meanwhile, the cheering increased in volume.
	Finally he let her go and whispered, “That was great.  It was the best round of golf I ever played: two under par.  And I lose to a girl!  I’ll never live it down.”  He faked a grimace.  Kathy, with her face hidden by Ken’s bulk, stuck out her tongue.
	After showering at the club, they returned to the apartment.  Ken sprawled on the couch.  “Not so fast,” Kathy said.  “There’s a small matter of our wager.  You lost!”
	“I remember.  One wish.  You mean you want it now?”
	“I sure do,” Kathy replied archly.  “You are going to be my slave for the rest of the day.  Take off your clothes.”
	Ken stripped off his clothes, looking at her.  “Are you serious?  I’m afraid you are.  You want to get even for the spanking.”
	“Slave Ken, bring me a Sam Adams.”  she commanded imperiously.
	Ken returned with the cold beer.  “You may have one, too, if you like.  But only one.”
	Ken returned with his beer and went to sit beside her.  “Remain standing, slave.  Better yet, kneel on the floor.”  Ken knelt and drank his beer.  “Slave, undress me.”  Kathy rose gracefully from the sofa and stood in front of him.  With trembling hands he carefully undressed her.
	As the clothing came off, once again her glistening beauty was revealed.  Kathy had an idea in mind.  When she was as naked as he was, she left the room and came back a few moments later with a feather quill.  She ordered Ken, “Spread your legs slightly, stand up straight, and don’t move.”
	She took the feather and started to run it over his chest, then his back.  She played with it over his buttocks as he continued to stand.  Kathy watched as his erection grew as large as it could possibly get.  Yet it continued to increase in size!  Finally, using both the feather and its tip, Kathy turned her attention to his genitals while kneeling in front of him.  Ken’s body was starting to shake from his sexual tension.
	“You’re not standing still,” she said sharply.
	She continued to tease his organ, while the strain was showing on his face.  His body was crying for release but all she was doing was further exciting him.  He longed for release between her thighs, but failing that, release through masturbation.  She continued to torment him.  Finally, his system couldn’t take it any longer.  He erupted in spurts.
	Kathy, still on her knees caught it in her mouth.  He came in torrents, with most of it going into her mouth but also spraying her face, her hair, and her breasts.  When his orgasm finally subsided, Ken realized that Kathy was shaking.  He looked down and could see moisture running down her legs.  Orders or not, he collapsed on the floor.  “Please, Kathy.  Never again.  I don’t think I could survive.”
	That night was like the previous night, one of the most tender lovemaking.  Ken was on a voyage of exploration on the body of this glorious girl he had found, or who had found him.  When Kathy fell asleep, her head was on his shoulder so he reached his hand around her body and gently cupped her breast.  She made a small mewing sound and snuggled her body even closer to his.  Ken fell asleep that way.
* * *
	On Monday morning, Ken awakened in Kathy’s bed.  Having the facility of being able to set his mind like an alarm clock, he awakened at five-thirty, since he had to take a cab back to the base in time to be back on board by 0800.  Beside him the bed was empty.  He went into the bathroom, shaved, showered, dressed, and went into the kitchen to find Kathy with another beautiful breakfast ready for him to eat.  She was wearing a flannel bathrobe.
	After eating, Ken looked at her.  “May I see you again, Kathy?  Soon?”
	Kathy opened her bathrobe and held it spread wide like the curtains on a stage, revealing her gorgeous body.  “Is this soon enough?” she grinned.  Ken moved towards the telephone.  “What are you doing?” she asked.
	“Calling a taxi to get back to the base.”
	“Don’t bother.  I’ll be ready in a second.”  As good as her word, she was back in the kitchen, struggling to button a pair of Levi’s that fit like a second skin.  She had on a windbreaker and held her car keys.  Ken couldn’t resist.  He had to give that lovely little ass a spank, and was rewarded with the little pink tongue being stuck out at him.
	When they arrived on the pier, Ken looked solemnly at Kathy.  “Kathy Smith, who are you, anyway?”

Book II
Chapter 4
	Kathy Smith stretched catlike on her bed.  As she did, she appeared older than her eighteen years.  She had been at Julie’s for as long as she could remember.  Looking around the small room, she didn’t much care for what she saw.  Although the room was as clean as she could get it, in an over-100-year-old house in Norfolk, that wasn’t very clean.
	She got up and inspected her nude body in a mirror which was showing its age.  The silvering was smoked so her reflection appeared fuzzy.  Other girls in the house admired her figure which, they said, was like a dancer’s.  That surprised Kathy because she didn’t get much exercise except in bed with the johns.  She looked herself over and could find no blemishes.  Her breasts were beautifully shaped with small tip-tilted pink nipples.
	She looked down at her loins.  Her mound was hairless.  God, pulling out her pubic hairs one by one had been tedious and painful.  One of the girls had said that it was a good way to prevent crabs and reduce the chance of venereal disease.  She had done it slowly.  She could still remember the pain, sitting cross-legged on her bed, fighting the poor light, pulling the hairs out by the roots.  Her mound was still smooth and hairless.  The men loved her cunt.  They said it was made to be fucked.
	Kathy didn’t have a bad life.  Julie liked her and gave her special treatment.  She never worked the parlor downstairs.  She didn’t fully understand her own attitude.  It wasn’t that she felt superior to the other girls.  I guess it’s the meat-market aspect that gets to me, she thought.  Girls sitting around in attire ranging from diaphanous shorty tops, to negligees, to being naked from the waist up, or, with the redhead, Shirley, from the waist down.  Shirley often appeared in a tight red sweater and red mules.  Her red pubic hair was combed and brushed with as much care as she devoted to her tresses.
	Still, Kathy didn’t like to see the johns handling the tits of the girls, tweaking their nipples, jamming a finger — or a fist — up their cunts.  “Just trying you on, sister,” one said.  Worst of all in Kathy’s view was the girls had to pretend to like it.  But maybe they did.  Most of the girls would grab at the john’s crotch to build up his ego.  They said they got better tips.  At any rate, Kathy never had to do that.
	Perhaps it was because she looked so virginal in spite of having been a prostitute for years.  Her body didn’t show the wear and tear that she saw every day on most of the other girls.
	Kathy played a special rôle in the house.  She was the house “virgin.”  Once in a while Julie would dress her up in a little-girl’s dress for a special customer.  Usually it was an older man.  He would come into the room and Kathy would pretend to be terrified as he slowly stripped off her clothes.  Then she would squeal as he placed his hand on her breast and fondled a nipple.  She would pretend to draw away as he felt her cunt and her firm bottom.  Before he finally entered her, she often had to help while appearing to be trying to fight him off.  Kathy laughed to herself remembering how difficult entry was for some of them.  Their biggest problem was getting and maintaining an erection.  She couldn’t go down on them which always worked because it would give the game away.  After they spent inside her she would break a small vial of chicken blood in her crotch to make it appear the john had taken her maidenhead.  Although Julie never gave her any money, she used to say that she had earned a bonus for her work.
	At least there was one thing she didn’t need to worry about.  The doctor who came regularly to inspect the girls had told her that she didn’t need to bother with birth control devices.  She could not become pregnant.  Kathy couldn’t remember the explanation he gave her but he had seemed certain and, unlike many of the other girls, she had never been pregnant.
	Kathy didn’t know who owned the house.  At first she thought it was Julie’s, but one of the other girls said she just managed it “for a man downtown.”  Once a month Julie would put on her best dress and take a taxi downtown to report the month’s results.
	Kathy smiled to herself, thinking of some of the lines about whores she had heard.  “The only profession where you start at the top and work down.”  “Spread your legs and let the johns put money in your twat.”
	Julie took special care with Kathy.  She wore no makeup in contrast to the pounds of it that some of the other girls wore.  Occasionally, she put on a little lipstick, and occasionally lightly rouged her nipples and her pubic lips.  When she did, she was very careful to be sure that it wasn’t noticeable.
	Kathy paced back and forth across her tiny room.  There was only room for her bed, a washstand and a tiny space that served as her closet.  She had hung a curtain to hide the hooks and her negligible wardrobe.  Finally, there was her dressing table and a chair.  It looked like what it was: a room in a mid-level Norfolk whore house.
	She stretched again.  Today will be an easy one.  It’s Wednesday, and Sam Jenkins will be here soon.  She glanced at the clock and saw it was almost eleven.  Nevertheless, the house was still quiet as the girls slept off their exertions of the night before.
	Kathy left her room and went down the back stairs looking for Ginny, the black maid.  She found her and got clean sheets for her bed.  Ginny used to give her a hard time about her foibles.  Changing the sheets once a week or so should be plenty, Ginny said.  Julie had told her that because Kathy was a great producer she was to give her whatever she wanted.  Returning to her room, she stripped the bed and remade it with the clean sheets.  The rest of the room was as neat and clean as Kathy could get it.
	She went down the hall to the bathroom.  As usual, it smelled of urine, cheap perfume and body fluids.  It was an odor and a sight Kathy was now used to but still didn’t like.  She climbed into the bathtub and tried to maneuver what passed for a shower curtain to keep most of the water off the floor.  When she turned on the faucet the water started by running brown.  After letting it run for a while and adjusting the temperature, she climbed in and showered.  She carefully washed her hair — shoulder length, golden and wavy — which was her pride.
	Stepping out of the tub, she dried her body and her hair and returned to her room.  Still naked, she sat in front of her dressing table and brushed her hair.  Next she took a pale rouge and delicately tinted her nipples and her nether lips.  She didn’t put on any lipstick.  Finally, she reached under the dressing table top and retrieved a small bottle that she kept taped there for safekeeping.  It was a bottle of Chanel No. 5 that Sam had given her last Christmas.  She wore it only for him.  Now all ready, she just sat in the chair waiting.
	Sam Jenkins was strange, but in a nice sort of way.  He was the oldest customer who ever came to the house.  She guessed his age at around seventy.  He had taken an interest in Kathy a long time ago.  For quite awhile now, he had had a standing reservation for Wednesday afternoon.  Normally he arrived at noon and stayed all afternoon.
	The odd thing was that they never had sex.  He treated her like a granddaughter, sort of.  She grinned, thinking about it.  Grandfathers don’t usually spend their time with stark-naked granddaughters.
	Usually they just talked.  Kathy gathered that Sam was a bachelor and a Navy veteran of World War II.  She didn’t have the slightest idea where his money came from but he seemed to have enough.  He lived very simply, Kathy gathered.  Probably most of his money came to her.  She didn’t know how much Sam paid Julie for the Wednesday afternoons, but it wasn’t cheap.  Julie handled all of Kathy’s arrangements and handled all the money.  Sam always arrived wearing a rather worn blue suit and a blue tie.  He was about the only customer who ever wore a tie in the house except for the occasional officer in uniform who would sneak in.  Mostly the officers came in civilian clothes.
	Sometimes there were other things.  Once, Sam had asked her to sit on her haunches at the foot of the bed with her hands forward on her knees.  Then he took a long feather from his jacket and slowly ran it over her nipples.  He delighted in the way they hardened up.  He then asked her to come closer, still kneeling, and spread her legs wide.  He took the feather, and working with both the feather and the quill, started to play with her slit.  He searched for and found her tiny sentinel and teased it into life.  Kathy’s juices started to run but Sam wouldn’t let her move.
	It was exquisite torture as her young body screamed for release of some kind.  She just continued kneeling with the juices flowing slowly from her cunt, moaning softly.  He caught a drop on a finger tip and licked it slowly and smiled.  Another time he asked her sheepishly if he could touch her nipple.  He said she had the most beautiful breasts he had ever seen.  It felt strange to have his work-hardened finger touch her nipple in the gentlest possible way.
	But mostly, they just talked.  Sam asked about her education.  She didn’t go to school, but Sam would bring her books to read.  Although she didn’t know it, they were all classics.  It was as if she was being tutored, but with the tutor paying her.
	She always read the books he brought her because he would want to talk about them with her the next time he came.  The discussions were fascinating because the books ranged from Herman Melville, to Adam Smith, to The Federalist.  The most recent book was a copy of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
	Promptly at noon, there was a knock on her door and Sam let himself in.  Kathy was lying on her back on the bed with her hair carefully arranged on the pillow.  Her right leg was raised to display its shapeliness, while her slit was in full view the way she knew Sam liked it.
	He smiled at her and closed the door.  Today he looked tired as he took off his coat and carefully hung it on a hook in her closet.  Smiling at her, he held out his arms.  This time was very different.  “Kathy, would you please give me a kiss?” he asked.
	Kathy hopped out of bed, ran to his arms and was surprised to find that she was almost as tall as he was.  It was the first time she could remember standing beside him.  Taking her into his arms, he gave her a tender kiss on her lips.  As he kissed her she could feel the rough material of his suit on her smooth skin.
	Kathy was surprised.  Johns didn’t kiss whores, but this kiss was lovely.  It was exactly like a kiss one would share with a beloved grandfather, utterly devoid of passion but full of love.  Sam sat down on the chair while Kathy returned to her bed, knelt on it, sat back on her heels with her back up straight and just looked at him.
	“Kathy, I want you to know I love you.”  Sam said very softly.
	Hearing the words, Kathy felt a twinge of fear.  There had never been anything like this before!  She didn’t know what to say, so she just said what she thought.  “I love you too, Sam.”
	“Kathy, what are you going to do when I’m gone?”
	Kathy was scared.  Tears started to form in her eyes.  She didn’t know what to say.
	“You seldom leave the house, do you?”
	“There’s no place to go, and Julie doesn’t like it very much when I do go out.”
	“But the other girls do.  You don’t have any clothes of your own, either, do you?”
	“The house is always warm, and I don’t need clothes in my work.  I work on my back, Sam.  I’m a prostitute.  All of my bodily openings are for sale at different prices.  I have what I need.  Julie is good to me.  She keeps me away from the rough stuff.”
	Kathy shuddered as she remembered how red-haired Shirley had been out of action for days.  It was after that ape had paid to have her tied up and suspended by her wrists so he could beat her with a dog whip.  In her mind Kathy could still hear Shirley’s screams as her body slowly rotated, suspended by her wrists from the hook in the ceiling.  He beat her on the thighs, on her ass cheeks and across her breasts, but she really screamed when the john pulled out a handful of her glorious red pubic hair.  It was expensive for him because he had to pay Julie a lot extra for the loss of Shirley’s services.  Her pubic hair had only just returned to normal.
	Kathy could vaguely understand the sadists.  The ones who really threw her were the masochists.  There weren’t many, but there were some.  They would pay to be bound in leather with their genitals tied tightly.  During her recovery, Shirley had the chance partially to get even by beating one of them who was hanging suspended from the same ring to which she had been tied during her torture.
 	“You spend all of your time here naked, don’t you?”
	Kathy looked at Sam puzzled.  She tried to grin and said it was her working uniform.  “I don’t work downstairs, you know, and there isn’t anything to bother getting dressed for.”
	They continued to talk.  Then the conversation swung around to Macbeth.  As they talked, Sam would occasionally ask her to change her position so he could look at her nude body from some other angle.  She wished he had the feather with him again.  It had felt wonderful: sexy but passionless.  It was like masturbating alone.
	About four o’clock, Sam got up to leave.  After putting on his coat he turned to Kathy and asked plaintively, “Could you give me one more kiss?  Please?”
	She went to his arms and he gathered her to him.  His coat was even rougher on her tender skin than his suit had been.  Instead of kissing her on the lips, though, he just hugged her closely.  Kathy was surprised at how strong he was.  She felt a tear rolling from his eye onto her cheek.  When she looked up, he kissed her quickly but softly full on the lips, then let her go and fled out the door.  Kathy heard him talking with Julie downstairs and then heard the front door open and close again.
	A few minutes later Julie came into the room and told her she wouldn’t be working the rest of the day.  “It’s all paid for,” she said, handing Kathy a package.  “Sam asked me to give you this.”
	It was a book still in its bookstore wrapping.  Because she had no storage space, she was able to keep only one or two books around her room.  The others Sam took away when he gave her a new title.  She unwrapped it and found that it was a copy of the Bible.
	Lying on her bed she started to read.  Awhile later, she fell asleep.

Chapter 5
	Kathy was awakened by the sound of her door opening suddenly as Julie rushed into the room.  “Honey, I just received terrible news!  I got a call from a man at the hospital.  Sam Jenkins has been admitted in critical condition.  They don’t expect him to live, and he’s asking for you.”
	Kathy leaped out of bed.  “But that’s impossible!  He was here just a couple of hours ago!”
	“Kathy, Sam knew he was in trouble.  He told me a little about it before he left.  He paid me to keep you off duty.  Do you want to go see him?  You don’t have to, you know.  He’s just another john.”
	Kathy frowned.  Sam, another john?  Not in a million years!  She suddenly realized she had meant what she said a few hours ago.  She did love him and had to go to him.  She headed for the door.
	“Not so fast, Hon.  You can’t go out on the street like that!”
	Only then did Kathy realize that she was headed out the door stark naked.  “But I don’t have anything to wear!  Sam asked me about clothes earlier today.  I really don’t have any.”
	“I’ll see what I can find.  I’m sure we can get you something.”  Julie moved quickly.  She was a very large woman, about five feet ten inches tall, weighing almost two hundred pounds.  A few minutes later she came back with a dress over her arm.  “It’s not much, but I think it will do.  You have a pair of shoes, and we found a raincoat that you can wear.”
	Kathy quickly put on the dress.  It was long enough, but was made for a woman at least twenty pounds heavier than she was.  On her it hung like a tent.
	Julie looked her over.  “I think we can make do with a belt and some safety pins.  Let’s try.”
	A few minutes later, Kathy left the house and got into a taxi waiting at the curb.  Arriving at the hospital she asked at the reception desk for Sam Jenkins and received a very strange look from the woman behind the desk.  After finding a note on her desk she asked, “Are you Katherine Smith?”
	“Yes, I am.”
	“Mr. Jenkins is in a private room on the fifth floor.  His doctor left word that you are to go to him as soon as you arrive.  The nurse on duty will show you to his room.”
	A few minutes later Kathy was shown into Sam’s room.  It was dark with only the night light burning along with a little light that spilled in from the hall.
	Quietly, she made her way to the bed and found Sam lying on his back peering in her direction.  “Kathy, is that you?”
	“It’s me, Sam.”  she whispered.  “What’s happened?”
	“I’m sorry to bother you like this, Kathy.  I guess you knew something wasn’t right when I saw you this afternoon.  I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to go all gushy on you the way I did.  The doctor told me I’m very sick, and won’t be around much longer, but I didn’t realize it would be this fast.”  He looked at her with love in his eyes.  “Kathy, would you do me a tremendous favor?” he asked.
	“Of course, Sam.  Anything.”
	“Would you get in bed with me and just hold me?  The staff won’t know.  I’m supposed to be left alone if you came.  The doctor left word that you would keep an eye on me.”
	Kathy hung up the shabby coat, slipped off her shoes and the dress and went towards the bed.  Since she was wearing no underwear, she was again completely nude.  Parting the covers she slipped into the bed beside him.  His body felt cold.  Sam was wearing only the standard short hospital gown that opened in the back.  She nestled up to him and pulled him close to her body to warm him.  His arms closed around her, and he kissed her lips and her hair.  Reaching down she found his genitals and gently caressed them with her fingers.
	Sam sighed and murmured, “Kathy, you’re wonderful.  Can you just hold me where you’re holding me now?”
	There was no sexual reaction from him, but his body seemed to warm from the close contact with hers.  After she kissed him softly on the lips his eyes closed, and he slept.  Awhile later, she was awakened by Sam’s hand gripping hers tightly.
	He gasped, “Kathy, I love you!”
	His grip loosened, and she felt his body go limp.  When he did, she pushed the emergency call button and leaped out of bed.
	As she quickly slipped into the old black dress, she heard staff rushing down the hallway towards them.
	A doctor came in and quickly examined the old man.  “I’m afraid he’s gone,” he said, raising the sheet over Sam’s head.  Turning to Kathy he said, “I’m terribly sorry, Miss Smith.  He was a wonderful gentleman.  I don’t know where we would be today if it hadn’t been for all his support.  I understand that you are his only living relative, so I imagine you will be making the necessary arrangements.  Please accept our deepest sympathy in your loss.”
	Kathy was stunned.  She now realized why it had been so easy to see Sam after hours in his private room and why she had been allowed to stay.  They thought she was his only relative!
	Just then another nurse came into the room.  “Miss Smith, following Mr. Jenkins’ instructions, we’ve contacted Attorney Ferguson at his home.  We told him that you were here during Mr. Jenkins last hours.  He asked if you could please wait for him here at the hospital.  He is on his way.”
	Kathy didn’t know what to do.
	Just then a man entered the room and introduced himself as the senior duty hospital administrator.  “Would you care to wait for Mr. Ferguson in the Administrator’s office?  You look very pale, Miss Smith.  Could I send down to the cafeteria for some food for you while you’re waiting?”
	“Thank you so much.  That would be very nice,” she replied.
	They went down in the elevator to the Administrator’s office and a few minutes later an orderly appeared carrying a tray that he put on the desk.  Kathy suddenly realized she was starving.  She hadn’t eaten all day.  It was all she could do to keep from appearing ravenous to the duty administrator who continued talking about the way the hospital had just lost its greatest benefactor.
	Kathy was bewildered:  They couldn’t be talking about the Sam she knew.  He just existed on his pension and Kathy had always felt guilty.  She thought he was spending more money with Julie for her time than he was spending on himself.  What is going on? she wondered.
	Minutes later, there was a knock on the door.  A well-dressed man came into the office and approached Kathy with his arms outstretched.  When she rose from her chair, he folded her into them.  “Kathy, it’s so good to see you again.  My deepest sympathies on your uncle’s passing.  I’m so glad you were able to be here during his last moments.  How are you?”
	My uncle? thought Kathy.  I don’t have an uncle.  In fact I don’t think I have any relatives at all.  Who is this man?
	“Kathy, I think the staff has everything under control as far as your late uncle is concerned.  Since you just got into town and have no place to stay, why don’t you come out to my house for the rest of the night.  I know my wife, Belle, will be delighted to see you again, and she asked me specifically to extend the invitation.  Will you come?”
	Kathy allowed herself to be led away.
	At the main entrance a big limousine was parked with its motor idling.  When the driver saw them approach, he jumped out of the car and rushed around to open the door for them.  She got in followed by Attorney Ferguson.
	As the limousine slowly moved away, Ferguson turned to face her.  “Do you drink?  No?  Well, I think you need one anyway.”  He opened a compartment behind the front seat and poured a drink for Kathy and one for himself.  “It’s fine cognac.  I think we both need it.”
	Kathy took a sip.  She had never had cognac before.  In fact, she could count the number of drinks of liquor she had ever had on the fingers of one hand.  Julie felt that drinking was very bad for Kathy’s image.  Some of the other girls drank heavily, and at least a few were alcoholics.  Nevertheless, she found that the cognac warmed her insides.

	The lawyer continued, “I’m sorry about the charade in there.  Sam said you could do it, and you pulled it off magnificently in spite of wearing a dress that looks like a Salvation Army reject.  Sam loved you deeply.  He said you would pass for a queen wearing rags.  You know what?  You just did!  By the way, my name is Bob Ferguson, Kathy.  As you’ve undoubtedly gathered, I’m Sam Jenkins’ attorney.  As far as we can find out, you are not related to Sam in any way.  For that matter, neither is anyone else, so you are his sole beneficiary.  But we’ll discuss all that after the funeral.”
	The car rolled up a winding driveway to a majestic home.  The door opened and a matronly woman rushed out.  Folding Kathy into her arms she said, “Welcome, Kathy.  I’ve heard so much about you from Sam.  I’m Belle Ferguson, Bob’s wife.  Bob, have Saunders bring Kathy’s baggage up to the guest bedroom while we get acquainted for a few minutes.  Good Heavens!  It’s nearly six o’clock.  Kathy, would you like some breakfast while we talk.”  Turning back to her husband she said, “Bob, the poor dear hasn’t even been to bed yet!”
	Bob Ferguson looked at Kathy and then looked at his wife in amused exasperation.  “Honey, Kathy has no luggage.  What she has, she’s wearing, and it isn’t much.  Kathy, our daughter, Sandy, is about your size.  Although most of her clothes are with her at school, I think there may still be a few things around.  Belle, would you mind taking a look?”
	Kathy followed Bob up the stairway into a beautiful bedroom with its own private bath.  A few moments later, Belle entered the room.  “All I could find were some tennis outfits.  Would you mind, Kathy?”
	“Of course not,” said Kathy, hugging the old raincoat around her, “I’m sure whatever you found will be just fine.”
	Kathy took the garments from the woman and the couple left the room closing the door after them.  Since Belle had suggested that Kathy might want to freshen up a bit first, she went into the bathroom and found the Fergusons were equipped for unexpected guests.  In the medicine cabinet Kathy found a new toothbrush, toothpaste and all of the other cleansing essentials.
	Stripping off the coat and dress she flung them back into the bedroom.  After brushing her teeth she luxuriated in the shower.  She hadn’t felt so good in years in spite of her lack of sleep.  Returning to the bedroom she hung the coat and dress in the closet and picked up the tennis outfit.  Uh, oh, she thought.  I have no underwear.  But I guess it’s better than walking around the house naked.  This isn’t that kind of house.  She slipped on a pair of shorts and put on the tennis top.
	Looking at herself in the mirror — a good one, for a change — she examined herself critically.  The shorts looked great with her long legs.  The top fit all right but her nipples protruded.  Oh, well, they feature underwear that isn’t supposed to show lines.  Mine is just extra good.
	She found the Fergusons in the breakfast room.  In spite of the early hour, the cook was about to serve.  Belle commented on how beautiful Kathy looked, making no comment about her underwear or lack of it.
	Following breakfast, Bob asked her to join him in his study.  “Please sit down, Kathy.  There are some things I have to talk to you about.  First, you are now a very rich young woman.  Sam had a great deal of money.  Over the last few years I think he saw the end was near, so he liquefied his estate.  Now it’s composed almost entirely of cash and marketable securities.  I don’t expect any problems with its valuation or the probate of it.”
	Ferguson smiled warmly and continued, “Kathy, Sam asked me to look after you.  I hope you will allow me to.  Incidentally, I am more than amply taken care of.  Sam also made some specific bequests.  For example, the hospital where we were tonight will receive a very pleasant surprise.
	“I know a bit about your background, but I’m the only one who does.  Belle thinks you are Sam’s niece and she knows you are his only heir.  It might be a good idea if you let her take you clothes shopping later today.
	“Incidentally, I have one very confidential telephone call to make to a woman named Julie, who I believe you know.  I’ll be making the call very soon.  I would like to drive you over there to clean out your room, if its all right with you.  And I think it would be much better to go in my car rather than having Saunders drive us, don’t you?”
	Kathy’s head was spinning.  She didn’t know what to say and wasn’t in any condition to say anything.  She just nodded at his comments.  “I think I need some sleep,” Kathy said finally.  She went up the stairs and into her room.  Stripping off her clothes, she crawled into bed and was almost immediately asleep.
	She was awakened in the late afternoon by a knock on her door.  “It’s me,” Bob Ferguson said.  “Do you feel like taking a ride?”
	“Give me five minutes, please, Mr. Ferguson, and I’ll be right with you.”
	Kathy raced into the bathroom, took a quick shower and put on the tennis outfit again.  Taking the old coat out of the closet, she carried it over her arm.  Ferguson was in the hallway waiting for her as she descended the stairs.
	“Good thinking.  Tennis shorts would be a little out of place where we’re going.”  They went out and got into Ferguson’s car, an inconspicuous Chevrolet Cavalier.  “I thought that this car would be a bit less obtrusive,” he said.
	They arrived at Julie’s.  Kathy had noted that Ferguson needed no directions to get there.  It was just as well because she left the house so seldom she wasn’t sure she could have found it herself.  He waited in the car while Kathy went into the house.
	The first person she saw was Julie who gathered her into her arms.  “I heard about Sam, Hon.  I’m very sorry.  Mr. Ferguson tells me we’re losing you, and I feel badly.  Badly for me, not for you.  You’re much too good for this business.  Kathy, I truly love you.  I don’t know how you do it.  It’s a dirty business, but somehow you always stayed clean.  We’ll miss you.  Now, is there anything you want to take with you?”
	“I would like to check my room, please, Julie.”
	She went upstairs and entered the room in which she had spent so much time.  She took the little bottle of Chanel and the new Bible that Sam had given her the day he died.  There was nothing else worth taking.
	When she went back downstairs, Julie was waiting with a fat brown envelope.  “This money is for you, Kathy.  You may not want it or need it, but you certainly earned it.  I’ll miss you.”
	A couple of the other girls came in and said goodbye.  Then Kathy opened the door and went back to the car.  With the closing of the car door, Kathy closed a chapter in her life.

Chapter 6
	A short time after Sam’s funeral, Kathy met with Ferguson in his law office downtown.  The girl his secretary showed into his office appeared to be typical of the upscale clientele he cultivated.  She was exquisitely groomed and dressed, obviously a younger member of the Junior League of Norfolk, she thought.  The secretary couldn’t tell she was wearing almost nothing under her tailored suit.
	Ferguson greeted her warmly.  “Kathy, we’re here this morning for the reading of Sam’s will.  We have already taken care of the mechanics.  The will has been filed in probate with all of the usual witness affidavits, so we’re ready to go.  Would you please be seated?”
	Kathy sat down.  Although she appeared composed, she was scared and nervous as a cat.  The Fergusons had been very nice to her, but she wanted to be by herself.  She was amused at the thought, really.  She had “lived alone” in the whore house, but at the Ferguson’s she felt like she was on stage.  She couldn’t really relax.
	Ferguson put on a pair of reading glasses and unfolded a will, recognizable by its characteristic blue wrapper.  Kathy noticed that it was quite thin.  He looked at the document and then looked over his glasses at Kathy.  “Kathy, there’s no sense in my wasting your time.  There are only three important elements to the will.  First, you are the primary beneficiary.  Except for some specific bequests that I mentioned, it all goes to you.  Second, there is some identification material to be sure that the money goes to the right person.  As trustee of the estate and as an officer of the court I have satisfied that requirement.  Finally, Sam wanted you to know that he loved you very deeply.  If you were his own flesh and blood he could not have loved you more.  Finally, there are a couple of special contingent provisions which are not operative at this time, but the net of all this is, Kathy, that you now have $55 million.”
	Kathy sat in the chair, stunned.  She already felt wealthy with the more than $20,000 she had received from Julie.  She had used some of her money to buy clothes and was now looking for an apartment.  But millions — fifty-five million!  Her brain tripped out like a circuit breaker that had been overloaded.
	“Kathy, the fact is that you can expect a spendable income, after taxes of four to five million dollars a year.  That’s in the neighborhood of $400,000 a month.  I think you are set for life financially.  Now what are you going to do?  Sam gave me a letter to pass on to you.  In it he urges you to get a formal education.  Are you interested?”
	“Of course I’m interested, but I’m too old.  I don’t have any of the things you need to go to school.  I don’t have a school record, and I don’t know who my parents are.  I don’t even know where I was born.”
	Kathy started to cry.  Deep down, even as her tears flowed, she was struck by the irony of her position.  She had just learned that she was wealthy — so wealthy she could never spend the money she already had in her lifetime — but she was crying about the lack of a birth certificate.
	Ferguson, who like so many men became totally helpless in the presence of a woman in tears, did nothing.  As Kathy started to fumble in her new purse, he handed her a tissue.  My God, he thought, Even though she’s crying, she’s beautiful!  He studied her face and realized there was no makeup to run.  The women he knew spent hours to achieve the appearance of no makeup but when on the face it would still run under tears.
	Kathy composed herself, and gave him a small smile.  “I’m sorry.  I realize how ridiculous I must look.  You must think I’ve lost my mind.”
	“Don’t worry, Kathy.  Perhaps money can’t buy happiness, but there isn’t very much else it can’t buy.  I have your birth certificate here.  At least, a birth certificate that will serve.  It says here that you were born in a small town in western Virginia eighteen years ago.  Unfortunately, the court house records were lost in a fire about ten years ago.  You will find the record of birth of Katherine Smith in the reconstructed files today.  She is you.”
	He grinned and continued, “As for the school record, it is all set to go pending your approval.  You see, Sam was personally taking care of your education.  Arrangements have been made for the proper representations to be made by an accredited tutor who will vouch for your prior education.  You will be admitted as a junior at Hillsdale Academy in New Hampshire.  It’s a coed boarding school with an excellent reputation.  Believe it or not, I have a special admissions test in the office ready to administer to you.  Are you interested?  Would you like to try it?”
	By this time, Kathy had fully regained control.  She was very impressed by Ferguson’s competence and was awed by the amount of thought that Sam had devoted to her future.  “Sure,” she replied with a grin.  “They can only say no.  Let’s do it.  Can I take the test now?”
	Bob Ferguson picked up his phone and buzzed his secretary.  “Mrs. Wilson, could you come into my office, please.”  Moments later his secretary appeared and Ferguson gave her a folder containing the test materials.  “According to the instructions, you have two hours for the test.  Mrs. Wilson, could you supervise Kathy’s test without ruining any lunch plans?”
	Jane Wilson said that would be no problem, and asked Kathy to follow her to the office law library.
	For a moment, Kathy started to get nervous.  She hadn’t thought about a test, let alone prepared to take one.  Then she realized that any preparation would be futile; she either knew it or she didn’t.  “Let’s go.  I’m ready.”
	Less than two hours later she turned in the last of the test sections.  It had gone quickly, she thought, And was very easy.  Mrs. Wilson took the test back to her desk, and Kathy went back into Ferguson’s office.
	“Let’s wait a few minutes, Kathy.  There’s a scoring sheet that came with the test.  The official grading is done at the school, but you can get some idea of how well you’ve done.”
	Moments later Mrs. Wilson returned with a big smile.  “Kathy, you’re in!  Mr. Ferguson, I can’t grade the essay questions, but Kathy had no mistakes on the short answers.  Not even one!”
	Ferguson looked at Kathy.  “Kathy, that seems to take care of Hillsdale admissions.  Now the question is, do you want to go up there?  We never even talked about it before.”
	“Mr. Ferguson, obviously I’ve never been there.  I’ll take your word that it’s a good school.  Did Sam know about Hillsdale?”
	“Yes, he did, Kathy.  He thought it would be a good school for you, but as in everything else, he absolutely insisted that the final decision be yours.  What about it?”
	“Mr. Ferguson, I think you’re looking at the newest member of next year’s Junior class at Hillsdale Academy!”

Chapter 7
	Kathy Smith was settling into her apartment close to the Yale University campus in New Haven.  She smiled to herself as she thought back over the last three years.  She had liked it at Hillsdale which was located in a small town in rural New Hampshire.
	She had taken the opportunity to learn to ski.  Kathy couldn’t quite understand why sports came so easily to her, but really, it was so simple.  You put on the skis and let gravity take you down the hill.  Yet she knew it couldn’t be quite that simple for most people, or the spills wouldn’t be so frequent.  She had made the Hillsdale ski team skiing the slalom in her senior year.
	The academic work had been fun.  Although she had been a little scared at first, she had had no problems.  Undoubtedly her confidence had been helped by the fact that the headmaster congratulated her on having the highest admissions test scores in the history of the school.  As a result of the advanced placement courses she could take, coupled with her combined SAT scores of sixteen hundred, she was admitted to Yale with advanced standing.  Although she was still a little older than her average classmate she was catching up fast.
	Kathy was glad to be back in an apartment of her own after a year in the dormitory.  It wasn’t that she minded the other girls so much, but the communal living was a drag.  She smiled to herself thinking how similar were the living styles of her dorm mates and her fellow prostitutes at Julie’s.  The only apparent difference was the social position of the families the two groups of girls came from.  The more she dwelled on the idea, the funnier it seemed.  Comparing the pampered darlings to prostitutes was a joke.  But like all good jokes it contained more than an element of truth.  One difference was the cost of the clothing thrown into corners of the rooms.  The clothes cost more, but they were treated the same and stank the same.  The odors around the dorm and the house were about the same, too, except her dorm mates’ perfumes were more expensive.
	She finished putting her clothes away and again she smiled to herself.  It had been so much simpler at Julie’s when she never wore any.  There was nothing to buy or store or clean.  Now she had to be careful that they didn’t overflow her room.  She looked around and liked what she saw.  Perhaps it was the years spent wearing no clothes and having no possessions, but Kathy hated a cluttered room.
	If anything, her apartment was somewhat under furnished and the decor was quiet and understated.  Old habits die hard, she thought, as she moved around nude.  It made her feel freer, and was something she had missed in the dorm.
	Kathy sat on the edge of her bed and picked up a pair of tweezers.  Swinging around toward the light, she studied her mound of Venus for any sign of hair growing on its smooth surface.  There had been a reason for keeping it bare when she was at Julie’s.  Now there was none.  But it was fun keeping the secret from the other girls at Hillsdale, and now here at Yale.
	She really didn’t know why she kept her pubic area hairless.  Perhaps it was a form of egotism, constantly reminding her of where she had come from.  At any rate, she thought, I don’t have to worry about a bikini — any size bikini; there’s nothing to show except my slit.  Kathy went into the bathroom and took a cold shower.  After getting dressed, she put on a jacket and walked over to the campus.
	Walking across the Old Campus she met Jennifer Crown, one of her dormmates from the previous year.  “Hi, Kathy!  Good to see you.  When did you get back?  Where are you living now?  I didn’t see you at the College.”
	Kathy and Jennifer were both assigned to Calhoun College, but Kathy had her own apartment.  It was a fact she wasn’t anxious to advertise to Jennifer.  Telling Jennifer was as good as taking out a full-page ad in The Yale Daily News and Kathy wanted to maintain her privacy as much as possible.
	“What are you doing this weekend?  Do you know Bill Johnson?  Bill, this is Kathy Smith, my roommate last year.”
	Johnson shook hands and stripped Kathy naked with his eyes.  Obviously, he liked what he saw, but Kathy didn’t like him.  “Kathy, I’m delighted to meet you.  We’re having a party at my fraternity house on Saturday.  Jennifer has already agreed to come, and I hope you’ll come, too.”
	“Thanks for the invitation, Bill.  I’m not sure of my plans yet, but could we leave the invitation open?”
	“Of course!  I’m at the Alpha house on York Street.  You know where it is, don’t you?  If you can make it, just tell the guys at the door that you’re my guest.  They’ll let you right in.  Sure hope you can make it.  Jennifer, let’s go!  We’re going to be late.”  With that the couple strolled off across the campus and Kathy watched them go.
	Kathy thought about the chance meeting.  Jennifer was friendly enough, but her behavior worried Kathy.  Jennifer was a redhead who reminded Kathy of poor Shirley back at Julie’s.  Shirley’s figure was slimmer, though; Jennifer showed signs of running to fat.  Kathy smiled to herself as she realized what really reminded her of Shirley.  Like Shirley, Jennifer had a full bush of red pubic hair.
	She worried about the girl.  By reputation, she was a careless drinker.  The word was that she regularly drank far more than was good for her.  She seemed to be the type who could easily lose control.  Bill Johnson was good looking and knew it.  He was also a lecher.  Kathy chuckled to herself.  Give him another twenty years or so and he will be a dirty old man.  If that is so, what does that make him now? she wondered.  The combination of Bill and Jennifer was potentially explosive: She could easily lose control, and he would just as quickly take advantage of the situation.  Kathy walked on over to the Sterling Library.
	On Saturday, Kathy remembered the invitation to the party at the Alpha house.  She worried about Jennifer.  It’s curious, she thought, Jennifer is about my age, but I think of her as a kid.  I feel like I’m her mother.  I just don’t think she could handle the aftermath of a bad scene.  With that thought, Kathy resolved to go to the Alpha’s party that night.
	That evening, Kathy showered and carefully dressed.  It was a warm day as it can still be in New Haven in September.  She put on a skirt and sweater.  For some reason she couldn’t explain — a premonition, perhaps — she put on her most serviceable bra and briefs.  After eating her dinner and studying for a while, she set out for the Alpha house, planning to arrive about midnight.  There was a reason for her arrival time.  Reflecting on it, she had realized subconsciously if there was going to be any trouble, it would likely start about then.
	As she walked up to the door of the fraternity house she could hear the party noises spilling out through the opened windows.  It sounded like the party had already passed its peak.  As she walked up to the door she passed a few couples already leaving.  Since the two members on duty at the door showed more interest in their beer than in her, she was happy to leave it that way.  From their appearance the beers were not their first of the evening, more likely their tenth.
	She told them that she was Bill Johnson’s guest and one of them waved in the general direction of the door leading down to the basement where the remains of the party seemed to be concentrated.  Kathy descended the stairs and watched the action from a darkened corner.  At the other end of the room there were a bunch of young men with Jennifer who was standing topless on a strong table holding a glass of beer in her hand.  Her breasts were large and, because of her youth, still firm.  Her nipples were large and flaccid.  While a tape deck played The Stripper, she bent at the hips and tried to rotate her tits.  Kathy didn’t think she had the coordination to do it under the best of circumstances and these were not the best.  Jennifer gave up and sat down hard on the tabletop.  Bill Johnson was standing near the table egging her on.
	Jennifer had sat down on a table puddled with beer and splashed the liquid under her.  “Oh, the hell with it,” she cried, stripping off her skirt and panties.  Kathy didn’t think that the knee-high stockings she was wearing enhanced her sexiness.  Struggling back to her feet, she stood on the table with her body swaying.  She stuck out her hips and, drunkenly proud of her figure, swung her head back and ran her hands up and down her body.  Finally, she drew a finger up her slit.  Swaying a bit, she sat down on the edge of the table and spread her legs as wide as she could.  “You’re all a bunch of wimps,” Jennifer slurred.  “There’s not a man in this house.  I’m all woman, and I’ll take you all on, one at a time or in bunches!”
	The inchoate fear that had been bothering Kathy all week jumped into sharp focus.  This was exactly what she had been fearing even though she hadn’t been able to put it into words.  In her drunken state Jennifer was asking for a gang-bang.  In spite of her talk, Kathy doubted that she had nearly the experience with men that she was advertising.  Jennifer could be badly hurt physically and at the very least there would be serious emotional scars.  Nevertheless, some men, led by Bill Johnson, were starting to shed their clothes.  Kathy had no clear idea what to do but if she did not do something now it would be too late.
	Pushing through the group of men Kathy reached Jennifer.  Her chin had lolled down on her chest and she was only moments away from passing out.  Kathy was sure that at least a few of the guys weren’t above fucking Jennifer even if she were unconscious.
	Grabbing the girl by the hair, she lifted her head up.  The girl’s eyes were glassy; she was about to pass out.  The men, taken by surprise, stood motionless.  Facing the group Kathy sneered, “What do you want to fool around with a drunken slut for?  Aren’t you afraid of getting something contagious?”  She allowed Jennifer’s head to drop to the table.  Although her movements were apparently disdainful, she took care that Jennifer’s head didn’t hit the table hard.
	The men looked at Kathy and for the first time realized what a gorgeous woman had entered the room.  If they were willing to fuck Jennifer, they dreamed of a girl like Kathy.  She took advantage of their inaction.  “Do any of you guys shoot pool?  I see a pool table here.”
	The guys looked at one another in amazement.  Is this girl crazy?  What is she thinking about?
	“Jennifer challenged your manhood.  I’ll challenge your skill.  I’ll take on the house champion or anyone else in a game of rotation.  Every time a ball is sunk the other player has to take off an item of clothing.  When we run out of clothing, we do what the other player wants.  Is anyone interested?”
	They all looked at Bill Johnson.  He leered at Kathy and said, “I’ll take you on.  I’m the house champ.  Since you challenged, I get to break.”
	Drinks were cleared off the pool table that was standing in the middle of the room.  The cover was removed and tossed towards the corner while another member brought over the balls and racked them up.  Kathy went over to the wall to select a cue.  As she examined the bedraggled collection, she could see Johnson putting together what was obviously his personal cue stick.  It looked like it cost more than the rest of the cues combined.  It appeared to be very well-made and to have beautiful balance.
	Kathy was worried.  She had issued her challenge without any prior thought.  It was just the first thing that came into her head as a possible way out of a dangerous situation.  She looked at the boys who had all undressed her with their eyes.  Oh, well, she thought, I can physically handle them all if it comes to that.  Kathy found one cue that was reasonably straight and still had a tip on it.  It was the only one that appeared even close to being usable.

	Bill stood at the end of the table crouched over his cue.  He lined up his shot and let fly.  The cue ball crashed into the point ball at the head of the rack.  The balls flew around the table, and she heard one drop, followed by another.  Calmly she stripped off her sweater and stepped out of her skirt.  Carefully she hung them over a stool where it appeared they wouldn’t get soaked.  The boys cheered.  They stared at her gorgeous body now clad only in a bra and briefs.
	Kathy relaxed as she realized she had an advantage.  She was used to being naked around men who were dressed, but they weren’t used to being close to a nude woman.
	Bill stared at Kathy and then looked back at the table for his next shot.  He found the one-ball at the opposite end of the table from the cue ball.  He had a shot.  After carefully lining it up, he stroked.  Kathy could see his hand trembling slightly as he did.  The ball dropped into the corner pocket.
	Kathy calmly removed her bra and put it on the stool with the rest of her clothes.  Now all she was wearing was a pair of loafers and her panties.  To heighten the impact of her body on Johnson, she reached out her arms and stretched.
	The boys audibly groaned as she just stood waiting with her back straight and her breasts with their small nipples erect.  Bill Johnson was just watching with his mouth agape.  His blood pressure had been rising as he watched Kathy’s performance.  He looked back at the pool table in an effort to regain his concentration.  When he had taken his previous shot, he had been so busy trying to control his shaking hands, he had not really paid attention to the location of the two-ball.  In rotation, the balls must be hit in order, starting with the one.  A player gets credit for any ball sunk as long as the cue ball hits the correct target ball first.  Johnson didn’t have a shot.  The two-ball was in a nearly unreachable position.  His only hope was a shot off the cushion and then to the two-ball.  His shot missed.  His miss caused the one-ball to come back on the table to be spotted on the mark.
	Now it was Kathy’s turn, and she had a clear line to the spotted one-ball.  Calmly she lined up her shot and stroked the cue.  The cue ball struck the one-ball perfectly; it sank in the corner pocket, while the cue ball caromed off and sank the fifteen-ball in the other corner.  She looked at Bill who took off his jacket and tie.  The other men booed.  Their sympathies were already starting to shift towards Kathy.
	Johnson just shrugged off their jeers with the comment,  “You said two pieces of clothing.  You didn’t say we had to start with the same number of articles on.”
	Kathy just smiled and looked back at the table.  She had a good shot on the two-ball at the far corner.  She delicately rolled the cue ball down the table.  It struck the two which caromed into the nine which dropped while leaving the two-ball sitting at the edge of the pocket.  Bill took off his shirt.  Kathy sank the two with sufficient spin on the cue ball to take it back up the table to give her a shot on the three.  She sank the three-ball in the corner; the cue ball ran back on the opposite side of the table and sank the twelve in the side pocket.
	Bill let his pants drop and took off a shoe.  The boys cheered.  “Go get him, Kathy.”  They had learned her name from Bill as they set up the table.
	Kathy lined up her shot on the four-ball.  With six balls off the table it was getting easier to set up clear shots.  Calmly she dropped the four-ball into the side pocket with the cue ball rolling to a stop, set up on the five.  She watched as Bill took off his other shoe.  The five-ball sank; off came a sock.  The six-ball rolled into the corner; off came the other sock.
	Now there were just six balls left on the table.  Johnson was down to his shorts and was starting to shiver.  It was a combination of the chill in the air, but even more it reflected his increasing embarrassment.  By this time everyone still in the house had gathered downstairs with their attention divided between Kathy’s body and the pool table.
	Calmly, she stroked the cue ball.  It struck the seven-ball sharply driving it into a corner pocket; the cue ball came back setting up on the number eight.  Kathy stood up from the table and watched Bill.  He dropped his shorts, and stood up.  Kathy had thought that he was well built when he took off his pants.  With nothing on it was obvious that he was.  Surrounded by now-jeering fraternity brothers, he didn’t know what to do.  He was blushing crimson in embarrassment.
	Kathy turned back to the table and sank the eight; the cue ball caromed off it and sank the fourteen as well.  “I’m sorry guys, but it looks like the game’s over.  Bill, my first wish is for you to pick up Jennifer, get her dressed and get her back home... without doing anything else to her.  My second wish is to get dressed again and go home myself.”
	“That’s not fair, Kathy!  Those weren’t two wishes; those were five,” Johnson protested.
	Kathy glared at him and picked up her cue stick again.  In a matter of moments the last three balls were off the table, leaving only Kathy’s cue stick where she had placed it down beside the cue ball that was still slowly spinning.  “Okay.  Now I have five wishes.  Go to it, Buster!”
	Calmly, Kathy walked over to where she had left her clothes; the boys moved back to give her room.  She picked up her bra and secured it, then stepped into her skirt and slipped on her sweater.  “Is there a mirror around somewhere?  I need to fix my hair.  And by the way, can a girl get a beer in this place?”
	The men cheered.  One rushed up with a bottle of beer and a clean glass he had found somewhere.  In spite of being nearly naked in front of them she now had their respect.  Someone wiped off a stool carefully with a towel to be sure it was dry and offered her a seat which she accepted gratefully.  She was delighted at the way things had finally worked out.  When she had arrived the situation was turning ugly.  Now, a more-normal collegiate good humor was restored.
	Kathy looked towards the end of the room where Bill and a friend were struggling to get Jennifer dressed.  Getting off her stool she went and joined them.  Jennifer couldn’t stand up.  The two boys were ignoring her nakedness but were not making any progress in dressing her.
	Again, Kathy grabbed Jennifer by her hair and raised her head.  “Wake up, Jennifer.  It’s time to go home.”  Her head felt like it was unattached to her body.  Kathy could tell that if she released her hold on the girl’s hair her head would just drop.  Firmly, she slapped her face, once, twice, three times.  Jennifer’s eyes blinked.  Kathy slapped her twice more.  Her eyes opened as she started to come to.  “Come on Jennifer.  It’s time to get dressed and go home.”  By this time the girl had revived enough to be able to stand with support from the two men.  Kathy got her panties on and got her skirt up to her waist.  At least she’s back to the topless condition I found her in, she thought.
	“Where is her bra and top?” Kathy asked.  Someone produced the girl’s bra.  It was the lacy sort of thing that provided no support but was the kind she thought Jennifer would be wearing tonight.  She fastened the clasp and then got the girl’s blouse back on.  Fortunately, it buttoned.  Kathy didn’t have to try to get it on over her head.
	“She’s all yours, guys.  Be sure she gets home safely.  Does anyone know where her shoes are?”  She was only wearing short stockings.  The shoes were found and two boys led Jennifer up the stairs.
	Kathy returned to her beer.  “Thanks for keeping it for me.  Can I buy a second?”
	Two hours later Kathy left the Alpha House.  Two of the brothers insisted on walking her home pointing out that downtown New Haven wasn’t the safest place in the world at three in the morning.  The night at the fraternity house had ended with drinking songs and football fight songs.  The finale was Cole Porter’s Boola Boola.

Chapter 8
	Thinking it had been a good year, Kathy stretched on her bed like a cat.  It was Thursday and it was spring.  Pulling aside the covers, she hopped out of bed and went to the bathroom where she spent a few minutes studying her body in the mirror.  She felt her flat belly.  Was there fat creeping in?  She turned slowly, looking at her reflection critically from every angle.  Was she starting to age?  She knew that women reached their physical peak in their late teens.  Was she over the hill?  As she reflected critically, she decided that she had a few good years left.
	It was just as well because she had a lot to do.  After talking with her advisor, she was now confirmed in her desire to go to law school.  Although she thought about calling Bob Ferguson to ask for his help, she decided not to.  Bob had not been the same since his wife, Belle, and daughter, Sandy, had been killed in that tragic plane crash.  She was sure that Bob would help her, though, since she wanted to go to University of Virginia Law School which was his school.  In addition to his alumni connections Bob was very well connected around the state.
	After dressing she went out to get the mail even though she didn’t get very much.  Most of her bills were paid directly from Norfolk.  Mrs. Wilson, Bob’s secretary, took care of them.  Most of her personal mail came to her Yale Station post office box because she didn’t normally give out her home address to fellow students.  Even her telephone was listed with Yale as the address.
	She walked over to the Yale Station post office, opened her box, and took out a single letter.  The paper was Crane’s and there was no return address.  As she walked out onto the Old Campus still looking at it, Kathy laughed at herself.  There is one easy way of solving the mystery.  Open it!  She finally did.  It was written in calligraphy.  Someone is a beautiful penman or paid someone else who is.  It was formally addressed to Miss Katherine J. Smith.  While still in prep school she had adopted Jenkins as her middle name.
	She skimmed the letter and then started over and read it again slowly.  The president, officers and members of the Alpha Fraternity earnestly requested that she accept the nomination as queen of their fraternity, and to represent them in the campus-wide Queen of Yale College contest.  She thought for a moment and grinned.  It will drive the lesbians at Yale absolutely crazy.  And it couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of guys.
	Instead of writing, she decided to walk over to the house and accept the invitation personally.  At the same time she could find out what was expected of a fraternity queen.  It was almost five o’clock when she reached the Alpha house.  After ringing the bell she walked into the entrance hall.  Knowing the usual disarray around the house, she stopped and yelled, “Anybody home?”
	Moments later, male bodies started to appear from every direction.  “Hey, guys, it’s Kathy,” someone yelled.  In no time there was a crowd in the hall.  For some reason, she felt like Snow White with the seven dwarfs.  “Did you get our invitation?” asked one.  “Will you do it for us, Kathy?” asked another.
	The president of the house, a senior named John Robinson, came up to her.  John was one of the two members who had walked her home after the September party.  She was shocked as he took her in his arms and gave her a big kiss.  When she started to blush under her tan, John’s face fell and he suddenly looked like a little boy who had done something wrong.  “I’m sorry, Kathy.  I was just so glad to see you!  I didn’t mean to insult you.”
	“Don’t be silly, John.  You just took me by surprise.  I came over after receiving your wonderful invitation to find out what it’s all about.”
	“That’s great, Kathy.  Say, could you stay for dinner?  Tonight the members have to wear jackets and ties, so they’re less likely to act like the slobs they really are.  Will you join us, please?”
	There was a loud chorus of pleas from the group around her.  “Sure, I would love to,” she replied.  “When do we eat?”
	“Well, dinner will be served at six-fifteen.  As you can see, most of these guys have a lot of cleaning up to do before they come down to dinner.”  John verbally underscored his last words to make sure his fraternity brothers got the message.  “Would you like to join those few of us who are dressed for a drink before dinner?”  John led the way downstairs to the bar.  When Kathy stopped at the foot of the stairway and inspected the scene, John reddened.  “I’m sorry, Kathy.  I shouldn’t have brought you down here... not after that night.”
	Kathy brightened and grinned at him, “Maybe I earned the invitation to be your queen that night.  Most of your members know what I really look like.  Don’t worry about it.  You saw only a few square inches more of me than you would at the beach.  I really don’t mind.”
	John smiled and seated her on a stool while he went behind the bar.  There were only two other members with them.  John looked at them quickly, then at Kathy.  He swallowed hard and said, “Kathy, thank you for what you did.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you.  The next day, when the guys sobered up, we realized what might have happened.  We could all be headed for prison right now, convicted of rape.  The other girl — Jennifer, wasn’t it?  — was in no condition to consent to anything.  I guess she’s probably legal age, but it still would have been rape.
	“Kathy, something has been bothering us for months.  You did the bravest thing we’ve ever seen.  It may have been too late, but the next day we realized that you did it deliberately.  We were convinced that had it worked out differently you would have been lying on that pool table with your legs spread wide.  You were going through with it, weren’t you.”
	Kathy blushed.  “I didn’t really think that far ahead,” she lied.  “But I just couldn’t allow Jennifer to wreck her life and a lot of other lives as well.  Anyway, it all worked out and I didn’t even catch a cold!  By the way, are you reneging?  I only let you lure me down here with the promise of a drink.  Where is it?”
	John smiled at her.  “Anything in the house is yours, mademoiselle.  The finest champagne, the best imported liquors, the...  Anyway, the beer’s cold.  And Kathy, we want you to know that we know we can never thank you enough.  I hope you understand that we really do love you.  You are the sweetheart of the Alpha house.  Now how about a beer?”
	Kathy was looking down at the bar counter after hearing the heartfelt statement.  When she looked up, there were tears rolling down her cheeks.  “Thank you.”  She grinned through her tears and added, “But what’s a girl gotta do to get a drink around here?”
	The beer and a clean handkerchief were both quickly produced.  The members found all sorts of fascinating things around the room to absorb their attention as Kathy dried her eyes.
	At dinner she was seated on John’s right as the guest of honor.  She looked up in surprise to see Bill Johnson sitting across from her.  “Kathy, I don’t want to embarrass you but I’m sitting here because I’m vice-president of the house... and because I want to.  Kathy, you saved my life that night.  It cost me a little embarrassment — and I’m afraid it cost you a great deal — but it saved me twenty years in the Connecticut State Penitentiary.  Thank you, Kathy.”
	She looked at him and saw tears forming at the corners of his eyes.  Impulsively, she reached across the table and took his hand.  “Bill, I had an unfair advantage.  My body is reasonably attractive.  When I had almost all of my clothes off, it wrecked your concentration.  With our clothes on, Bill, you would beat me ten times out of ten.”
	She turned towards John and said, “Before this evening gets completely out of hand, could you tell me what this queen business is all about.  What is the queen supposed to do?”
	Bill and John both visibly relaxed.  John said, “It’s brand new, Kathy.  Bill and I will try to fill you in.  There is a competition in three parts: brains, looks, and athletic ability.”  He looked straight at Kathy.  “Please don’t take this the wrong way — none of the brothers know you very well — but you are pretty smart, aren’t you?”
	Kathy blushed again.  “This isn’t my night.  I’m starting to resemble a lobster, I’ve been blushing so much.  But yes, I guess I am reasonably intelligent.”  They both continued to look at her.  “Okay, I’ll admit it.  I was just informed that I have been elected to Phi Beta Kappa.”
	“Aren’t you only a junior, though?” Bill asked.  Kathy just nodded.  Bill stood up and tapped on his glass for attention.  “Gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to announce to you that Miss Katherine J. Smith has consented to be our queen this spring.”
	The dining room exploded with the members’ cheers and whistles.  When order was partially restored, Bill tapped his glass again, and they quieted down.  “I have also just learned that our queen, Miss Smith, a junior here at Yale, has just been elected to Phi Beta Kappa.”  Before he was drowned out by the shouting he yelled, “We’ve got the brains side locked!”
	All the brothers crowded around Kathy’s chair.  She finally stood up and set up an impromptu receiving line.  After shaking hands, kissing or hugging each member, they all sat down.
	“Kathy,” John said, “I hope it’s obvious to you that the brothers love you.  By the way, you aren’t in a fraternity or sorority, are you?”
	“No.  Why?” she replied, puzzled.
	John didn’t reply.  Instead, he stood up and tapped his glass again.  “Gentlemen, I have an announcement to make.  As you know, our national By-Laws have recently been revised to permit the induction of women into Alpha.  I hope you will all join me in extending a bid to Miss Katherine J. Smith to become the first female member of Alpha fraternity here at Yale!”
	Again, the dining room exploded.  This time, a line formed snaking around the room, singing the fraternity’s song.  Kathy just sat in her chair, stunned.
	John motioned for her to go into the next room with him.  He turned and looked into her eyes.  “Kathy, I’m sorry.  I wasn’t thinking.  As you know, the Alpha’s are champion non-thinkers.  I just want you to know that we may be inept but we are sincere.  There are a thousand reasons why we would like you to be a member.  I wish I could think of even one reason why you might say yes.  I can’t.  But please say ‘yes’ anyway, Kathy?”
	“Yes, John.  I would be proud to pledge the Alpha fraternity.  What happens now?”
	“Just a minute.  I’ll be right back.”  John tore out of the living room and went up stairs.  Moments later he was back with a small box in his hand.  “Kathy, this is your pledge pin for Alpha.  Will you put it on?”
	“Would you pin it on please, John?”
	He opened the pin and came up to her.  He was so nervous, his hands were shaking so the point of the pin went into her left breast.
	“Ouch!” she yelped.  “Maybe it would be safer if I did it.”  She attached the pin to her sweater and then, going up on her toes, kissed John soundly on the cheek.  John’s face reddened with embarrassment as he slowly rubbed the spot she had kissed.
	“Kathy, you know us well enough to know that we aren’t the most suave fraternity on campus.  We mean well most of the time but we don’t often get it right.  I don’t think I want to mess with a lot of pledge garbage with you.  I’ll give you a book to read with all the stuff you are supposed to know.  Maybe we could have the initiation tonight?”
	She agreed immediately and said, “Come on, John.  The cook will kill us both if his dinner gets any colder.  He must wonder what’s going on out here.”
	They returned to the dining room where the members were returning to their seats.  “Gentleman, Kathy has consented to pledge Alpha.  Her pledge period has begun.  It will end at the initiation following dinner.”
	With food now on the table, the members settled for a loud cheer.
	When dinner was over, John took Kathy into the living room while the other members changed.  “What happens now?” she asked.
	John looked pensive.  “I really don’t know.  Things are moving too fast.  Just about an hour ago we were wondering if you would consent to be our queen.  Thanks again for saying yes.  Most of the brothers were certain you would say no.  One of the guys was pretty graphic in his description of what you would say we could do with our invitation.  But the house decided to invite you anyway because you are the only girl we really wanted.
	“As far as the initiation goes, I just don’t know.  We’re a pretty rowdy crowd with the reputation of being drunken jocks.  Unfortunately, the description is too often accurate.  It extends to our initiations.  Things come close to getting out of hand.  No one had even thought of inviting a woman to join the house.  It’s never even been discussed.  When we got word of the National’s action, the guys just had a big laugh.”
	He looked at her and added, “Kathy, I can’t promise you won’t be embarrassed a little, but you won’t be hurt.  You are the most courageous girl any of us has ever met, so it should be okay.”  As they were talking, the members were trooping back downstairs wearing older clothes.  “Come on, Kathy.  I guess it’s time.  We’re going downstairs again.”
	When the members assembled in the basement room, it was strangely quiet.  The members were looking at each other wondering what to do next.
	“What about the initiation uniform?” a member called out.  John blushed.
	“What’s the initiation uniform, John?” Kathy asked.
	“It’s a fraternity tradition here at Alpha.  Pledges are only allowed to wear their underwear.”
	Kathy went over to the bar and stepped out of her loafers.  After stripping off her sweater, she stepped out of her skirt.  Now she was wearing only a bra and a pair of bikini briefs.  There was a gasp from the members.  “Okay, John, I’m in my initiation uniform.  What’s next?”
	“How about the honey?” a member suggested from the back of the room.  Again John reddened.
	“It doesn’t sound like that could hurt,” Kathy said, “I don’t know what he means, but let’s do it.”
	A couple of the members slid small square tables together.  Three tables formed a surface about two feet wide and six feet long.  Kathy went towards them.
	“Kathy, you have to lie on your back on the table.”  Members steadied the tables while Kathy sat on one and gracefully swung her legs around and lay down.  “Reach down and back and hold on to the legs with your hands.”  With her arms reaching down, her breasts jutted out.  There was another gasp from the members.
	A member produced a large jar of honey.  He uncapped it and passed it to John.  “This will be an eating contest.  We pour the honey over you, and members lick it off.  Are you ready?”
	Kathy remembered some of the strange requests at Julie’s.  At Julie’s though, the substances were usually put on the girl’s breasts and cunt.  Although it had never been done to her, the girls reported that it was sort of kinky but nice.
	She gripped the table legs as John let the honey run in a stream.  He began at the bottom edge of her bra and started pouring.  He went over her navel and down her right leg to her foot.  Righting the jar, he returned to her navel and followed a line down her left leg.  Then he went back to her belly and let the honey form large circles as he went around and around her abdomen, belly and up to her breasts again.  Then he moved back a step to examine his handiwork and decided to pour more on her chest and shoulders.  Finally, he poured it on her face, chin, forehead and ended with honey on her lips.
	Kathy felt that it had been like a Chinese water torture, as the honey slowly flowed across her body.  Although she couldn’t see anything, she could feel her body heat thin the honey and allow it to flow across her bodily curves.
	Just then she heard John call out, “I guess it’s time, guys.”  With that, he bent over and started to lick the honey around her lips, ending with a kiss.  She could feel other tongues all over her body licking up the sweet sticky substance.
	Thank God, Kathy thought.  It was the end of her period and she was still wearing a super-absorbent tampon.  As she felt her sexual juices start to flow she fought to keep from writhing on the table tops.  She could sense members changing places as they took turns on her body and she could hear the sounds of their licking the full length of her body.  One spread her legs slightly so he could chase the honey that was flowing between her thighs.  When he did she could feel his tongue rasping on her sensitive inner flesh.
	“Have you ever seen skin like this?” she heard one member ask.  “She is flawless.  I don’t know what to do.  I could run my tongue over her body all day long, but I can handle only so much honey.”
	Meanwhile, her juices continued to flow.  It was an exquisite form of torture as she fought to keep from moaning and crying out.  She wanted to writhe on the table top but, with an effort of will, managed to remain still.  After what seemed like hours it was over and they helped her up to a sitting position on a table.  Kathy stretched and massaged her aching shoulder muscles to work out the kinks from having her arms outstretched below her.  She could still see some honey on her bikini.  The fabric at the hips was so narrow that John hadn’t stopped pouring as he went across.  I should be flattered, she thought.  The guys would rather lick the honey from me than from fabric.
	A member gave her a glass of beer.  She took it gratefully and drank it, suddenly realizing how thirsty she was.  Again the members were looking around at one another obviously trying to figure out what to do next.
	“I think that’s about enough, guys, don’t you?” John said in a voice loud enough to carry across the room, “What do you say?”
	A voice called out, “No one has ever been initiated into Alpha without being paddled.  It’s tradition!”
	John blushed again.
	“I guess you have to do it, John.  This is Yale and tradition must be observed.  Let’s do it!” Kathy said, making a little face and touching her bottom.
	A few moments later some members appeared carrying a strange object draped with a sheet.  Kathy was puzzled as others put the tables back against the wall and positioned the object where the tables had been.  One stripped off the sheet and threw it towards the corner.  The object was a strange-shaped leather-covered piece of furniture.  It had a sloping top covered with a leather pad and it seemed that the height of its legs was adjustable.
	“Come with me, Kathy,” John said softly.
	She followed him over to the object and studied it.  She thought she knew what was coming next as members looked at her long legs and made tentative adjustments to its legs.  She realized how it worked.  To save John from further embarrassment she went over and lay over the higher end.  “Is this the right way?” she asked.
	“You got it, but the height isn’t quite right.”  he replied.
	She straightened up and stepped away to give them room to work.  Final adjustments were made on the object’s legs and then they were solidly tightened.
	When Kathy bent over it again, her toes just touched the floor and there were hand grips that she could just reach.  She realized there were handcuffs which could be secured.  As she lay on it she could feel the stickiness of the vestigial honey against the object’s leather.  Because of its stickiness, her body couldn’t easily slide.  She could feel the contact from her abdomen to her shoulders.
	“Do you want the handcuffs, Kathy?” she heard John say.  “If you move, we have to wait and start over, so they’re there to help you if you want.”
	“Thanks, John.  I think I can hold on.  Let’s go.”
	Kathy realized that in her present position her ass was her body’s highest point.  It was up in the air and exposed to anything.  She just lay there with her hair cascading over her head towards the floor, waiting.  She didn’t know what would happen, but she knew about fraternity paddles and assumed that one would be used on her.  Then a stroke hit her almost-bare cheeks lightly.  Was he just trying the range?  There was another and another.  Kathy was surprised.  They weren’t at all hard, but they kept coming.  She could feel her ass cheeks reddening as the light blows continued.
	Then she felt something else.  My God, she thought, I’m a masochist!  This spanking is turning me on!
	Still it continued, not hard, but with increasing frequency.  She gripped the handholds and gritted her teeth to silence the moans that she was sure would come.  She knew that, were it not for the tampon, her cuntal juices would be running down her legs in a river.  Faster and faster the paddle came down on her small bottom.  She realized that she was being struck harder but it didn’t really hurt.  My bottom must be cherry red by now, she thought.  Now aren’t you sorry you don’t have a well-padded ass?  It may not be pretty, but it sure would be useful right about now!  Still the beating continued.  She had no idea of the passage of time.  It seemed like she had been in this position for hours, but it couldn’t have been more than a matter of a few minutes.
	Now she realized that her clit was being stimulated from contact with the sharp curve on the leather top.  With a supreme effort of will she tried to keep herself from writhing in ecstasy.  The spanking continued and now her insides were in agony from the sexual stimulation.  Kathy realized she was suffering not from physical pain but from the sexual pleasure she was trying so desperately to control.  Her sweat was running down her back and into her hair and she was in agony.
	It was no use.  She felt her pelvis shake as her release came.  Although she kept from crying out, she knew that her juices had overwhelmed the tampon and were flowing down her legs.  As she clung to the hand grips she hoped that the light in the cellar wasn’t good enough for the members to see what had happened to her.  Suddenly, it was over.  The assault of the paddle on her nether cheeks stopped and Kathy collapsed on the device.
	“Kathy, you were great,” she heard John say, “I hope I didn’t hurt you.”  He helped her straighten up and then held her as a wave of dizziness passed over her.
	She pulled her damp hair back from her face with one hand and looked at him.  His eyes were bright.  He knows what happened, Kathy thought.  She touched her bottom which was stinging now and was hot to the touch.  “Ouch, I’ll be crippled for life,” she said as she ruefully rubbed her tender bottom.
	“I think you might like to clean up now, wouldn’t you... Sister Kathy?” John said softly.
	“I certainly would.  Where can I go?” Kathy asked.
	“Hey, guys,” John called out, “Kathy wants to get cleaned up.  Make sure no one is wandering around on the main floor and get most of the junk out of the good bathroom.  Let’s go!”
	The members rushed for the stairway.  When they heard the coast was clear, John and Kathy followed them up with another member carrying Kathy’s clothing.  She smiled her thanks as she was shown into a typical fraternity bathroom that showed signs of a hurried attempt at cleanup.
	Oh, well, Kathy thought, I’m used to places like this.
	The boy hung her clothes on a hook where they wouldn’t get wet and carefully closed the door as he left.
	Kathy took off her bra and looked down at her bikini.  Turning on the shower she adjusted the water temperature and then stepped in.  Using the soap she washed the bikini she was still wearing.  She shrugged, reached out for her bra, put it back on and washed it as well.  Then she stepped out of the shower, stripped her underwear off again and hung them over a towel to dry.
	Stepping back into the shower she soaped her body.  Between the honey, her sweat and her sexual juices she felt grubby.  One of the boys had supplied a bottle of shampoo which she used to soap her hair.  Strands still stuck together as she worked the lather in.  She repeated the process until it was as clean as usual.  There is no conditioner, but a girl can’t have everything, she thought.  Finally she pulled out the tampon and soaped her cleft.  She worked her fingers in and let the water pour on it.  Gently, she massaged her bottom which was sore, but didn’t really hurt.  She was reasonably sure that it hadn’t been bruised.  Shifting the water to cold, she let it run over her body, then stood shivering as it flowed over her nipples causing them to harden.
	Finally, after running her hands over her body be sure she hadn’t missed anything, she shut off the water and stepped out.  Picking up a clean bath towel, she rubbed her body vigorously.  There was no sign of a hair dryer so she used the towel.  Since her golden hair had a natural wave to it, all she had to do was comb it.  It would be almost back to normal when it finally dried.
	When she picked up her undies, she found the bikini was wearable because there was so little to it.  Her bra was still too wet to put back on so she put it in her purse.  Then she slipped on her skirt and sweater and combed her hair.  She felt good as she ran a comb through her thick hair.  Leaving the bathroom she received a warm smile from the two brothers who had been guarding the door.
	When she went down the stairs, she found the members waiting for her.  As she appeared on the steps, one of the brothers yelled, “Three cheers for Sister Kathy!  Hip, Hip...”  There was a thunderous roar as the cheer continued.
	Kathy stood on the steps and watched.  When the cheer ended, she said, “Thank you so much.  I was just thinking that I never had any brothers.  Now I have dozens.  I’m honored that you asked me.  Normally, brothers and sisters just appear.  We don’t have a choice.  I’m flattered to be chosen as your sister.”
	She continued down the stairs and was met at the bottom by John.  “Kathy, the last time I did this, I stuck you with the pin.  I have a fraternity pin for you.  The brothers voted to buy you a jeweled pin as our gift to you.  Will you wear this for us in the meantime?”
	“Of course I will, John.  After all, I earned it... or at least my bottom did.  Thank you all so very much.”  Carefully, she took off the hours-old pledge pin and replaced it with her new member’s pin.
	She had pitched her voice loud enough to be heard by the members.  Now she spoke quietly to John, “Can we go somewhere and talk?  I have a very sore bottom, thanks to you.  I’m now a brother — sister?  — in the house, after possibly the shortest pledge period in history, but I still haven’t found out what I came for.  What is this queen business all about?”
	“Let’s go to the dining room.  We can talk there.  I’ll get Bill to join us.  He knows more about it than anyone else in the house.”  John located Bill and the three went back to the now-empty dining room.  The boys grinned as Kathy very gingerly seated herself on the chair.  John looked concerned.  “I hope I didn’t hurt you.”
	She smiled at him, “No, you didn’t.  But I’ll remember it for a long time.  Now, what’s the story?”
	“It’s a new event, Kathy,” Bill said, “And it’s still evolving.  At dinner I indicated the three parts of the competition.  The brains and beauty you have in spades.  But what about the athletic part?  Excuse me for saying so, but the guys were creaming in their jeans watching you tonight.  You have an athlete’s muscles and an athlete’s way of moving.  Have you had dance training?  You look like you have.  There’s one other thing that I almost hate to bring up.  You know there are a lot of lesbians at this school?”
	Kathy made a face.  “Are there ever!  Around here a girl would be afraid of being accosted in an all-girl dorm.  This must be the only school in the country with multiple lesbian organizations.  There are three different ones, aren’t there?”
	“I think that’s about right,” Bill responded.  “As you know, the lesbians don’t like us very much.  First, we’re men...  Well, most of us are.  Second, we sexually exploit girls; we hold them up as sex objects.  I have to say it, Kathy: you are the most gorgeous sex object I’ve ever seen”
	Kathy gave a mock bow, and grinned.  “Thank you, kind sir.  I am only here to serve my lords and masters.”
	John winked at her and grinned at Bill.  “She’s got that right.  I wonder who’s been training her?”
	“At any rate, Kathy,” Bill continued, “We have reason to believe there will be demonstrations, disruptions, and possibly an all-around mess.  Frankly, this house is in enough trouble with the administration.  We don’t want any more.  On the other hand, we would like to do it.  But look, Kathy, maybe it would be better if you withdrew?”
	“Not on your life!  I’m in it whether you like it or not.  I’m now a brother in the house.  Our honor is at stake.  Look, let me know as soon as you get more details.  By the way, I don’t think you have my telephone number.  Let me give it to you.  But I would appreciate it if it wasn’t broadcast around.  I normally keep pretty much to myself.”
	She gave them the number and John wrote it down on a slip of paper that he then stuck in his wallet.  Kathy looked up at a clock.  “Good heavens, is that time right?  The clock says it’s almost three!  If it is, I have to dash.  I have a nine o’clock class.”
	Once again John walked her home, this time alone.  As they walked along the darkened streets, John looked at her.  “Kathy, I know what happened tonight.  I was swinging the paddle.  I didn’t know anyone could have the physical control you did.  You came, didn’t you?”
	Kathy stopped and faced him, looking up at the tall young man, “Of course.  I could feel my cum running down my legs.  Could you see it?”  John nodded.  She stepped into his arms, kissed him lingeringly on the lips, and then stepped back.  John looked like he had been hit by a truck.
	“I just wanted you to know, John, I do like men.”  She looked at him with concern, “Are you okay?”
	John ran his hand slowly across his lips.  “If being hit by a truck is okay, then I’m okay.  My God, what a kiss!  Kathy, there’s a volcano inside you.  What I saw tonight was like a lava flow.  When there’s an eruption — and there will be, sooner or later — the poor guy that makes it happen won’t have a chance.  You know that, don’t you?  I’m sorry it isn’t me.  But that was the hottest sisterly kiss I could imagine.”
	He visibly brightened and added, “You are my sister, now, anyway.  Come on, Sis, let’s get you home.”

Chapter 9
	Kathy was sitting in her easy chair reading a history book.  Although several weeks had passed since her initiation, she still couldn’t quite categorize the evening.  It had reddened her bottom but hadn’t hurt her.  She had come to orgasm in front of the members, but John had assured her that he was the only one who knew.  She had been repeatedly cheered to the rafters by her new brothers and they had all had a taste of her honey-covered body.
	Every time one of the brothers saw her, if he felt he was unobserved, he would lick his lips and murmur, “Yum!”
	Yet all in all, the net of it was pleasant.
	Then the phone rang.  It was Bill calling: “Kathy, I have more information on the queen contest.  The group running it called around today and said the date is being moved up to this weekend.  It was supposed to be in four weeks, but the word is out that the lesbians are planning a gathering of the sisterhood from around the whole Northeast to protest.  We hear the group even chartered a bunch of busses to bring lesies down from Boston.  The organizers are trying to derail the protest by changing the timing.  Can you handle the change in date, Kathy?  I’ve got to get right back to them.”
	“Of course, Bill.  I wouldn’t miss this for the world!  What am I supposed to bring?”
	“There are three parts, you know.  I guess you wear whatever you want to for the ‘brains’ part.  You’ll need a bathing suit for the beauty part.  You have a choice of type.  I’m not really sure about the athletics.  I guess you ought to have a sweat suit, good all-purpose athletic shoes, shorts and a top.  Does that sounds like it covers it?
	“By the way, there is something you should know.  Before they got word of the date change, the lesbians, citing the campus-wide nature of the contest, entered contestants, too.  Each organization has only a single nominee.  The rumor is that they got a bunch of radical organizations to sign blank nominating papers.  Personally, I don’t think they care about winning; I think they just want to wreck the competition.”
	“Thanks for the warning, Bill.  The clothes sound about right.  Let me know if you hear anything more.”
	Saturday was a brilliant spring day in April that comes to New Haven every ten years or so.  Kathy dressed, picked up the small bag that held her clothing changes and walked to Strathcona Hall in time to be there at nine o’clock.  As she walked down the hall towards the designated room, she met Bill and John.
	“Kathy, it’s apparently working the way we thought,” Bill said.  “The test is the GRE that they got from the folks in Princeton.  There are a couple of girls down there we recognize as Phi Bete’s.  They’re ugly as sin but they’re smart as hell.  The regular contestants are mostly looking bewildered.”
	Kathy entered the hall which was normally used for large lectures.  There appeared to be nearly one-hundred girls present and it was obvious at a glance which were which.  The minority appeared to be very attractive girls who were real contestants.  She saw the brains that Bill had spoken of, but there were other girls there who puzzled her.  A few were built like men.  Then she remembered the athletic competition.  Although she didn’t know what events would be contested, she figured that was what they were there for.
	The girls took alternate seats as if it was a normal exam.  But because of the competition, there would be no cheating on this one.  The answer sheets were passed out followed by the test booklets and then the contestants were instructed to open their books and begin.
	Kathy started through the examination.  Although she did not realize it, her brain worked like a computer on tests of this nature.  She went through the sections, marking her machine-readable answer sheet.  Finishing the two-hour test with time to spare, she turned it in and left the room.
	Bill and John, joined by some of the other brothers, were sitting against the wall waiting for her.  “How did it go, Kathy?” John asked anxiously.
	“I think I did all right.”  She smiled at them.  “I understand that the grades will be posted at one o’clock.  The athletic contests, whatever they turn out to be, will start at two-thirty out at the Bowl.  The beauty contest is this evening.  Tell you what!  How about if sister buys her brothers a lunch at Mory’s?  Anybody interested?”
	They gathered up their gear and went over to Mory’s on York Street.  At eleven-thirty, it was just opening for lunch so they were able to get a large table.  When they were all seated, the brothers looked at her sheepishly.  One of Mory’s famous surly waiters appeared to take their orders.  Kathy ordered steak sandwiches, medium rare, for everyone along with pitchers of beer.  The boys looked startled.
	“What did you expect me to order?  Watercress tea sandwiches?  Mory’s doesn’t make them.  I asked before.”
	The immediate laughter broke the ice.  When the meals came, they enjoyed the lunch thoroughly.  Kathy signed the check and they went back towards Strathcona.
	It was nearly one o’clock when they got back to the examination room.  There were obvious signs of excitement as the people who were running the testing scurried around.  John cornered one of the men and asked what was going on.  There was some irregularity with the scoring but he didn’t really know what it was.  He did know that some people were trying to reach the Princeton examination people even though it was a Saturday.
	The Alphas looked at each other, puzzled by the explanation.
	A few minutes later the man in charge spoke up.  “Ladies and gentlemen, the results are final and will be posted in a moment.  We apologize for the delay, but we had to check with Princeton.  As you know, the test administered today is a variant of the Graduate Records Examination — the GRE.  Of course, we are not scaling scores.  We had been told that raw test scores run in a specified range.  One of our contestant’s scores was significantly above this range.  Princeton confirmed that, although it is rare, it does occur.  We were able to provide assurances to them about testing security, both before and during the test.  I will post the official results in a moment.  However, I am pleased to announce the winner of the Scholarship Competition is Katherine Smith of the Alphas!”
	“My God, Kathy, you blew out the exam!  Guys, I ask you.  Can I pick ’em or can I pick ’em!?”  Bill grinned at Kathy who faked a punch at his jaw.
	They heard some ugly noises down the hall and turned to look.  The man who had just posted the standings was surrounded by a group of angry women.  “The lesbians look unhappy.  I can see that at least one of their brain types looks like she’s about to cry.  Let’s get out to the Bowl and avoid any trouble here.”
	Although there was shuttle bus service to the Yale Bowl from Payne-Whitney Gym, they chose to take their own cars.  They arrived at the athletic area and found a group gathering around a practice track.
	They walked over, took a schedule of events and then went over to a row of trees to look it over.  John read it out to them.  “Good heavens, there’s a sadist loose!  Kathy, the first event is the 100-meter dash.  Then comes riflery at the Armory, then back to the track for the 1,500 meter run, followed by what’s called a strength competition, whatever that is.  Can you handle it?  Have you ever fired a rifle?”
	“I never have, Bill.  But I’ve seen enough shooting in old war movies that I think I know how it’s done.  You just look through the sights, squeeze the trigger and the bullet does the rest.  I’m so proud of myself.  I even remembered that you don’t pull the trigger, you squeeze it.  Any tips?”
	Another member of the group, Chris, spoke up.  “I used to do a lot of shooting at camp, Kathy.  You have the procedure right, but a lot depends on the type of sights on the weapon you’ll use.  I suspect they will give you closed sights, but I’ll tell you about the various sight patterns.”  Chris proceeded to run through ring sights, post sights, and open sights.  He ended with a final tip.  “Kathy, one more thing.  When you have the target fixed in your sights, take a breath, release a little of it and hold the rest as you squeeze.  You’ll do just fine!”
	Kathy went off to the dressing room to put on her shorts and then joined the other girls assembling for the 100 yard dash.  The event organizer was looking around in dismay at the size of the group.  With over ninety girls and only eight running lanes they would have to have twelve heats, followed by two semifinals of six, followed by the finals.  They would never get through the first event.
	He explained the problem to them and asked if any girls wanted to drop out.  Kathy looked around.  The rather small number of real contestants all chose to stay but a bunch of others dropped out.  The field was cut to forty girls who were divided into five heats.  Kathy was placed in the second.
	The Yale track had a runway, so 100 meters was run on a straightaway.  Without turns, lane position was not a factor.  When the first group of runners approached the starting line, she paid particular attention to one of the girls who seemed to know what she was doing.
	The girl backed into the starting blocks, got out and adjusted the block position slightly, then tried again.  When the blocks were adjusted to her satisfaction, she stood up and awaited the call.  Although the competition was supposed to be for fun, it was obvious that great care was being taken in running the events.  Obviously, someone was paying attention to the lesbian threats and wanted to be sure that the competitions were fairly run.
	The runners were called to the line, took their positions and were off at the starter’s gun.  As Kathy expected, the girl she had been watching moved quickly ahead of the pack and just pulled away.  Kathy could see her continuing to drive at the far end of the course as she crossed the finish line.  She was the winner by more than ten yards.
	Then it was Kathy’s turn.  Although she had watched the experienced girl, she wasn’t sure what the blocks should feel like.  She concluded that the idea was to get a powerful drive off the blocks, accelerate out and slowly straighten up as the race progressed.  She went to the blocks and tried her stance.  The blocks provided the support for the leg drive that she expected they would.  She adjusted the spacing, tried them again and was satisfied.
	The starter called.  “Take your marks...  Set...”  The gun fired.  Kathy drove off down the track trying to keep her back straight.  Her arms were driving as she burned down the track looking straight ahead.  Her legs were driving as she passed the halfway mark and she maintained the pace until her breasts broke the finish tape.  Then she turned off the track and slowed down.  When she looked up, the guys were all around her.
	“Kathy, you did it!  You had the next girl by a good ten yards!  Why, in God’s name, didn’t you tell us you were a sprinter?  It should have been obvious, I guess, with your muscles, but... but you haven’t been in training.  How did you remember your block positions?  You didn’t even look at the scale!”  Bill was ecstatic.
	Kathy was standing with her hands on her knees catching her breath.  Someone handed her a towel which she used to wipe her face.  She wrapped it around her neck and put on her sweat suit.  She looked up at Bill, grinning.  “That was the first race I ever ran in my life!  I’m glad you liked my maiden performance.”  She sat down on the grass and looked at their incredulity.  “Honest, guys.  It really was.”
	Bill looked at John.  “Is there no end to this girl’s talents?  I want to believe her, but I can’t.  You can’t get a start like that the first time out of the box.  My God, Kathy, sprinters work on their starts constantly.  They rehearse their drive off the boards over and over.  How did you do it?”
	“I just watched the girl who won the first heat.  She seemed to know what she was doing.  Watching her movements, I guess I figured out the physics of the start.  After that, I just had to keep the wheels turning.”
	“All she did was figure out the physics of a sprint start from a single observation.  Good Heavens!  By the way, Kathy, that girl is the best female sprinter at Yale.  She burns every other sprinter in the Ivy League.  I think she’s one of the lesbians.”
	Kathy lay down and closed her eyes.  She could hear the sounds of the other heats being run as she fell asleep.  It seemed like only a second later when someone shook her shoulder.  She opened her eyes and looked into John’s face.
	He said, “That’s what worries me about you, Kathy.  You can’t seem to relax.”  He grinned and added, “You’ve been asleep for about half an hour.  They’re about to call the finals in the 100, and you’re in second place.  Your time is only fractionally off Mary Snyder’s.  She’s the sprinter who provided your coaching on the starts.  Let’s go!”
	He pulled Kathy to her feet and they walked over towards the starting line.  Kathy took off her sweats and a brother Alpha took them.  Then she started her stretching exercises to warm up again.
	The race was called.  Kathy was in the second lane, next to Mary Snyder in lane one.  After setting her blocks she stood up.  Mary had finished her preparations and was standing beside her.  Kathy had an inspiration.  Turning to Mary she said, “That was a great race you ran in the first heat.  Congratulations and good luck in the finals!”  She stuck out her hand to shake.  Mary, in the process of getting mentally prepared to run, was taken aback.  She mumbled something, looked at Kathy and then at Kathy’s hand still outstretched.  She took her hand in a weak grip and turned away.
	Just then the starter called the field.  Kathy took her crouch and rolled her weight forward with her back straight.  The gun sounded and she was off.  It was an even better start than the first time.  It could have been filmed and shown as a demonstration of a perfect sprint start.  Her weight was just where it should be as she came out of the crouch and dashed up the track with her legs driving like pistons.  As she approached the finish line, Kathy called up her last bit of energy to try to force her legs to drive even faster.  The finish line came up in a blur and she could feel her breasts breaking the tape.  Coasting down, she jogged off the track and collapsed on the grass.
	The guys who had been waiting at the finish line came running up to her, with Bill in the lead.  “My God, Kathy, you won!  You beat Mary Snyder!  I don’t think she’s lost a race in New England in years.  You left her at the post.  Your start was absolutely perfect and she blew hers.  She was gaining on you at the end but there was too much distance to make up.  She couldn’t do it.  What do you suppose happened to her start?”
	Kathy was sitting on the grass laughing.  “My God, it worked!”
	“What worked?” Bill asked.
	“When we were getting ready to get into the blocks, I saw Mary putting on her game face.  I realized that she was mentally preparing, so I just stuck out my hand and wished her good luck.  It must have broken her concentration.”  They heard the announcement of Kathy’s victory.  Her time had equaled Mary’s in the first heat and had beaten her own.  It was one of the fastest female times Yale had ever recorded.
	Then it was time for the shooting competition, so they went over to the rifle range in a group.  Once again many of the competitors took advantage of the offer not to compete.  This time some of the real candidates passed, too.
	“I guess they’re afraid of guns,” Kathy remarked.
	The field was only nineteen girls.  They were shooting small-caliber rifles on an indoor range at fifty feet.  The competition was based on the total score on five targets, five bullets at each target, fired from the prone position.  The maximum possible score would be 250.
	Kathy was in the last group to shoot and elected to go outside to wait.  As they sat under a tree, Chris reviewed the sight patterns with her.  Each rifle was fitted with a rear peep sight and a hooded post sight on the front.  “Just remember, Kathy, you put the bulls-eye right on top of the post and squeeze.  Don’t forget to take a breath, release a bit and hold the rest as you squeeze.”  Again, Kathy lay down and was instantly asleep.
	Chris tugged at her shoulder to awaken her.  “Come on, champ, you’re up.  Let’s go!”
	The guys followed her into the range.  Chris had borrowed a spotting scope which he set up behind her position as the rangemaster called the contestants to the line.  They were given their targets and five bullets each in a wooden block.  They took their positions and Chris showed her how to adjust the sling.  Kathy was wearing a shooting jacket with padded elbows and a padded shoulder.  She put a pair of sound-absorbing ear protectors over her ears and took her position.  The targets had been run down to their position on the range.
	The range master gave his orders: “Five shots, prone position.  Remain in position until all weapons have been fired and placed down on the mats with bolts open.  Load and lock.  Fire at will.”
	Kathy sighted through the eyepiece.  It was the first time she had ever sighted on a target and was surprised to see how small it looked.  She remembered what Chris had told her.  Being careful to keep the weapon upright, she positioned the post right under the bulls-eye.  She took a breath, let out a little and started to squeeze gently.  The gun fired.  She hadn’t known what to expect but was afraid that the recoil would smash her shoulder.  She was surprised and pleased at how little recoil there was.  She sighted and fired again.  And again.  And again.  This was fun!  The last bullet flew down the range and she opened the bolt ejecting the last shell.  Putting down the weapon she carefully picked up her spent brass.
	Looking around, she saw the other girls were still firing.  Only one other girl in her group seemed to know how to shoot.  When the firing stopped, they retrieved their targets using a motor-driven wire that carried the targets back and forth on the range.  She unclipped her target and looked at it.
	Chris was looking over her shoulder.  “Just keep doing that, Kathy, and we have it locked!  That’s a fifty!  You just shot out the center of the target!”
	A judge came by and picked up her target after putting her name on it.  The competition went on.  Kathy was having fun.  It seemed so easy to her.  Position.  Breathe and hold.  Squeeze.  Finally the competition was over and again Kathy was announced as the winner with a score of 248.  The girl in second place had a 231.
	They left the range and walked back towards the track with Kathy still wearing her warmups.  Chris spoke to the group as they walked.  “Okay.  I give up.  We recruited Wonder Woman.  Kathy, talking to you earlier, I would have sworn you had no experience with target shooting.  Would you please tell me how you do it?  I’ve been shooting for years and I’ve never had a 240!  And you get a 248, for God’s sake.  By the way, why did you pull those two 9’s?”
	Kathy grinned up at him.  It was great.  She was having a lot of fun!  She felt that she really did have a bunch of brothers looking out for her.  “It was easy, Chris.  I just did what you said.  Isn’t that what I was supposed to do?”  She looked up at him in feigned innocence.  The others howled with laughter.  “As for the nines the judge blew the scoring on one and the bullet must have had a slight defect on the other.”  She stuck out her tongue at Chris and raced away before he could hit her.
	The other guys just howled.  At the track, Kathy took off her sweats.  One of the boys kidded her about ‘Kathy’s strip show’ so she rolled her hips, gave a little bump, and stuck out her tongue.  She did her stretching exercises carefully.  The 1,500 meters was the metric mile.
	Kathy was massaging her calf muscles when Jack, another Alpha, came hurrying up carrying a blanket.  He spread the blanket and had her lie down on her stomach.  He opened a bottle, poured some liquid onto her legs and started kneading her muscles gently but firmly.  “You’re tightening up, aren’t you, Kathy?  I worked as a team trainer in high school and here at Yale.  You can’t do the kind of job you need on yourself.  The 1,500 is a bitch.  If you get a leg cramp in the middle of it, it’s all over.”
	Jack continued to work on her leg muscles.  “Watch your pace in the race.  There is a very good middle-distance runner in it.  I’ll point her out to you.  The trick is to maintain the right pace.  If it’s a fast pace, try to stay close to the front and use the lead runners as a wind screen.  It’ll save a lot of effort.  Watch the girl I’ll point out, Charlene Brown.  If she’s close to the front, try to stay with her.  I know you can sprint.  It’s important to have a finishing kick, which is a sprint at the end of the race.  Look out for the start, though.  There could be some accidental rough stuff with everyone jockeying for position.  You can start from blocks, but a lot of runners go from a crouch.  Now how do you feel?”
	“Mm,” said Kathy who was now almost asleep.
	The race was called and they went out on the track.  The field had increased in size again; there were about thirty girls standing around preparing to run.  Charlene Brown, a tall black girl with long legs, was pointed out to her.  Jack was certain that she was the competition in the race.  The race was nearly four full laps on the 400-meter track.
	The girls lined up with Kathy taking a position midway across the track.  The starter gave his commands and the gun sounded.  They were off.  Kathy broke quickly and moved to the inside.  A couple of girls were ahead of her as they reached the first turn.  Coming out of it, she glanced back and saw Charlene was on her shoulder.  Kathy was pleased to find that she could maintain a long stride without a great deal of effort.  They went through the second turn together, maintaining relative position.
	As they passed the 400-meter mark, Kathy sensed that one of the girls ahead was starting to fade.  She eased over to the right to pass, still maintaining her pace.  As she came up, she saw the second girl stumble into the back of the first.  They both went down on the track as Kathy swept by.  Once into the turn she looked over her left shoulder.  There was a mass of bodies down at the point where the two girls had fallen.  Apparently others had tripped over the girls sprawled on the track.
	Kathy realized with a start that she was right where she didn’t want to be: in the lead.  She could hear footsteps over her shoulder she assumed were Charlene’s.  She was doing exactly what Kathy had been trying to do, staying on the shoulder of the lead runner, using her as a wind screen.  Unfortunately, Kathy thought, The lead runner is me!
	Kathy concentrated on her posture and maintaining her stride.  She swept the next turn and came up to the 800-meter mark.  With her head up and striding with her long legs she could see girls spread out ahead of her.  There was a cluster of people on the infield gathered around the girls who had gone down.  Going into the turn she maintained the pace while the sound of footsteps continued just over her right shoulder.  Kathy guessed that she and Charlene were moving stride for stride.  She was being pursued by a chocolate shadow.  Coming out of the turn she was surprised to see that she was closing on the stragglers.  Entering the next turn she went out to her right because she was about to lap some of them.  Remembering what had happened at the 400-meter mark she allowed plenty of room.  They closed the 1,200-meter mark and started into the turn.
	Now the race was getting dicey.  As if her shadow wasn’t enough, she had to pick her way around struggling runners she was lapping.  Obviously, the idea of passing runners beginning at 1,000 meters hadn’t occurred to Jack.  They entered the final turn.  It is now or never, she thought.  Charlene has been running the ideal race.  I’ve been breaking the wind for her and finding our way around the other runners.  All she’s had to do is maintain position.  And she has, perfectly.
	It was time.  Kathy leaned forward, shortened her stride a little and picked up the pace.  She drove around in the middle of the track as she passed runners.  Just a few more steps, she thought.  A few more steps.  Dimly she could hear cheering in the distance.  She was going as fast as she could.  She looked out and saw the tape across the track.  She broke it and kept on going, slowing carefully.  She slowed to a walk, looked to the inside, stepped up onto the infield grass and collapsed.
	She was lying there on her back panting when her brothers fell all over her.  They were hugging and kissing her and shouting.  Kathy smiled and stretched out an arm.  “Help me up, someone.  There’s something I have to do.”  A hand grabbed her and pulled her to her feet.  Jack appeared with her sweat suit and a towel.  “Thanks, Jack.  You know, a sweat suit is well named.  I’m dripping.  I must have run off fifteen pounds.  And it’s all your fault,” she said with a grin.  She went up, wrapped her arms around him and gave him a big smack on the lips.  He turned crimson, while Kathy went off.
	She looked around and found Charlene sitting on the grass still trying to catch her breath.  Kathy picked up a sweat suit and a towel lying on the ground and went over to the girl.  Reaching out her hands she helped her stand up.  Then she took her in her arms and gave her a big kiss.  The Black girl looked startled.  “I’m Kathy Smith.  You’re Charlene Brown, aren’t you?”
	“Yes,” came the soft reply.
	“It was you on my shoulder through the whole race, wasn’t it?”
	Charlene smiled warmly.  “It sure was.  I’ve never run such a race and lost.  It was perfect.  I was right on your shoulder.  Then on the last turn you kicked in the afterburner and you were flying.  I’ve never seen such a powerful finishing kick.  But, hey, you’re the girl that won the 100 meters, too, aren’t you?”  Kathy nodded.  “How is it I haven’t seen you before, then?  I pride myself on knowing all the other middle-distance runners, but I don’t know you.  I knew you could run, but I was certain I was going to burn your little pink ass at my distance.”
	She grinned and hugged Kathy, “Instead you fried my black ass like Cajun-fried chicken.  By the way, I surely admired the view!  You were really moving that little ass.  It was beautiful to watch.  That was a great race!”
	Kathy put the towel she was carrying around Charlene’s neck and used it to pull Charlene’s head towards hers.  She whispered in her ear, “It was the first mile I ever ran in my life.”
	Charlene took her by the shoulders and held her at arms length.  She studied Kathy: the golden hair now caked with sweat, the brilliant sapphire-blue eyes, the velvet complexion.  “My God!  I believe you.  But no one else will!  That was a professional race you ran.  And you had to run it through an obstacle course of amateurs!”
	She studied Kathy up and down.  “I can tell you’re straight and I know I am.  The lesbians talked to a black organization and I agreed to run for them.  Kathy, you’re made to be loved by a man, not handled by some dike.  It looks like you’re going to win today’s competition in a walk.  The word around is that you will win the beauty contest, but could be beaten with points picked up everywhere else with ringers.  Kathy, I ran the best race I could run.  I don’t know what my time was but I expect it’s my personal best.  I couldn’t have run a better race, so I’m not ashamed.  In fact I’m proud to have lost to a person like you.”  She wrapped Kathy in her arms and hugged her.
	Kathy hugged her back.  The two bodies, one white and one black, were locked in a womanly embrace.
	When Charlene pushed back there was a single tear rolling down one cheek.  “I am proud.  Kathy, there’s just one thing.  Look out for a girl named Sophie Stotz in the strength event.  It’s supposed to be secret, but our group found out it’s going to be arm wrestling.  Sophie can break your arm in that event, she’s so strong.  She’s a bull dike and she hates girls like you and me.  If you like men, she hates you.  Now she’s got incentive.  The people know you’re going to win the crown, but they would settle if you had to compete in the beauty contest with a broken arm in a sling.  Believe me!  She’s capable of doing it.
	“Say, why don’t you just take a pass on that one?  It would blow their minds!  They’d be so mad they would spit bullets.  Kathy, you have so many points, you can’t possibly lose.  Do it!”
	“Thanks, Charlene.  I’ll think about it.  By the way, where are you from?”
	“Charlotte, North Carolina.  Why?” the girl replied.
	“Because I’m from Norfolk.  I thought you were a good old Southern gal like me.  Charlene, Norfolk’s a tough town.  We’ll see what happens.  But thanks for the thought... and for the great race.”
	Kathy went off to look for the Alphas.  She found them huddled together reading a paper.  “What’s up, guys?”
	They turned to look at her.  “Kathy, we got trouble.  Guess what the strength event is?”
	“Arm wrestling?” she asked quizzically.
	“My God, there is no end to this kid’s talents.  Guys, this girl is scary!  She’s smart enough to put you in jail.  If you come after her, she’ll put a bullet in your eye at twenty paces, or she can run your tails off at short or long distance.  Now she reads minds, for chrissakes!  Kathy, how do you do it?”
	Kathy looked at them.  Then she pointed her toes sharply inward, put her hands behind her back forcing her belly out and crossed her eyes.  “Cause Charlene told me.  That’s how!” she exclaimed in a little-girl voice, making sure she sprayed spittle around with the last words to underscore her little-girl act. 
	The guys cracked up with laughter.  “Okay, Kathy.  We give up.  We really give up.  Guys, they say if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.  We went one better.  We got ‘them’ to join us!  Kathy, I suppose it will just bore you, but your 1,500-meter time was the best at Yale this year.  And Charlene Brown, the girl you beat, is the top middle-distance runner in the school.  But I guess you already knew that, too.”
	“Guys,” said Kathy, now being serious, “Charlene did tell me.  She says that it’s a setup.  There’s a girl named Sophie Stotz who Charlene warned me about.  Does anyone know her?  No?  Well, let’s go see about the luck of the draw.”
	The final athletic event was to be held back on campus at the Payne-Whitney gym.  They piled into the cars and returned to downtown New Haven.  After entering the gym they took the elevator up to the weight floor.
	They were in luck.  Looking over the elimination pairings they found that Sophie and Kathy were at opposite ends of the draw.  If they met at all, it could only be in the finals.  Arm wrestling is a match of strength, leverage and timing, but psychology can enter into it.
	Kathy made it a point to try to see as many of Sophie’s matches as she could.  The schedule permitted her to see Sophie in action before her own first competition.  Sophie was big.  She appeared to stand nearly six feet tall and weigh about two hundred pounds.  She had broad shoulders and biceps that would look normal on a longshoreman.  She looked like one of the Soviet or Bulgarian women shot-putters.  Like them, Kathy thought, Sophie would have trouble with both steroid and sex testing.  She smiled to herself.  At least, she thought, She won’t be much trouble in the beauty competition.  If I’m still alive, that is.
	Sophie’s first match was called.  She sat down across from a real contestant who looked terrified.  When the referee signaled the start, Sophie just looked into the eyes of her terrified victim, and kept her arm in the starting position.  Then she grimaced and slammed her opponent’s hand down on the mat with a crash.  The loser jumped up crying from the competition table and fled from the room.  Sophie slowly got up and stretched.  Her breasts were no more visible than a man’s.  She smiled like the cat that swallowed the canary and was now looking for a new victim.
	Kevin, another Alpha brother, came up to Kathy and smiled.  “I’ve been elected to be your strength coach.  How do you feel?”
	“Hi, Kevin.  I feel fine.  Look, I just watched Sophie’s first match and I’m planning to see as many more as my schedule permits.  I want you to do something for me, but first, what do you think of the competition on my side of the draw?”
	“A piece of cake, Kathy.  You’re a cinch to meet Sophie in the finals.  And I don’t see anyone on her side who could possibly take her.”
	“That’s what I thought, too.  Now, here’s what I want you to do...”
	Kathy went off to get ready for her first match.  When she sat down across from her opponent she realized that it was timing and leverage as much as strength that made a difference.  She gripped her opponent’s hand and then appeared to relax.  She looked away from the girl and allowed her hand to relax in the other girl’s grip.  The signal to start was given and Kathy suddenly and smoothly took her opponent’s hand backward to the table.  It was a quick win.
	Her opponent jumped up saying, “That wasn’t fair!  You weren’t ready.”
	The referee looked at the girl in amazement.  Was he hearing things?  “I beg your pardon, young lady, but did you say that you weren’t ready when the match began?”
	“No.  I said my opponent wasn’t.  She was relaxing and looking away on the start signal.”
	Kathy was struggling to keep from rolling on the floor with laughter.  Valiantly, she tried to maintain a straight face as she listened to the backwards protest.
	“Well, then,” the referee said, “if I understand your protest correctly, the match should be redone because the winner wasn’t ready.  Is that correct?  Did you wonder how Miss Smith could have beaten you if she hadn’t been ready?  The match is official: Kathy Smith is the winner.”
	Kathy saw John and Bill standing back from the table.  They left the competition room, went out into the hall and around a corner.  Then they cracked up.  Kathy was laughing so hard she couldn’t stand.  Tears were rolling down her cheeks while John and Bill were pounding on her back and howling with laughter.  Finally, side by side they sat down against the wall.
	John looked at Bill.  “Now you have to add comedienne and actress to Kathy’s list of talents!  Hold on!  Kathy only gets the prize for actress.  The loser of the match wins the comedy prize.”
	It was late afternoon, getting close to six o’clock.  They had heard the beauty contest was scheduled for nine but might be pushed back if the arm wrestling ran late.  The people making up the schedule never dreamed there could be nearly ninety competitors.  Except for the written test, the large numbers meant running more heats and more elapsed time.
	Kathy commented to Bill, “Good grief.  If there hadn’t been dropouts this afternoon, this competition would be running nonstop into tomorrow afternoon.”
	She continued to win her matches and was able to see one more of Sophie’s.  It was a replay of the first.  Kathy won her semifinal match and moved into the finals.  Then she went off to find Kevin.
	He was waiting for her outside the competition room where the finals were going to be held.  “You have it absolutely right, Kathy.  Sophie is the cat swallowing the canary!  She likes to terrify her opponents before whipping them; I think she’s sick.  I think she gets a sexual charge out of her opponent’s terror.  I can’t be certain, of course, but I don’t think a single opponent even tried to move!  I think they were all scared shitless.  She is a monster and a real sadist.  I would hate to meet her alone on a dark night!”
	The final match was called.  Sophie was sitting in her assigned position glowering.  Kathy came up and gave Sophie her most dazzling smile and stuck out her hand.  “Hi!  I’m Kathy Smith.  You must be Sophie Stotz!  I’ve heard so much about you, and I’ve been simply dying to meet you!”  Kathy thought that even the most hardened Junior Leaguer would have been sickened by her gushing.  It seemed to be having its effect, though, because Sophie looked puzzled.
	Kathy took her position at the table.  Where she had been gushingly friendly when she came in, she now appeared bored.  While their hands were being placed in position by the referee, Kathy appeared to concentrate on a fascinating spot on the side wall.
	The referee yelled, “Go!”
	In a split second, Kathy came to life.  Concentrating all her thoughts and all her strength, she smashed Sophie’s hand back against the table.  Then she leaped into the air with her arms upthrust.
	Sophie jumped up and rushed at Kathy, determined to destroy her.  She screamed, “I’ll kill you!” and charged with her arms outstretched, intending to crush Kathy in a bear hug.
	Kathy surprised her.  She stepped inside the outstretched arms and slammed the tips of the fingers of her right hand into Stotz’s solar plexus.  Her hand was rigid so her fingers drove into the girl’s belly like a knife blade.  Kathy thought she could feel Sophie’s backbone with her finger tips as the woman doubled over in agony.  As her head came down it exposed the back of her neck.  Kathy had withdrawn her hand.  Now it came down on the back of Sophie’s neck like an ax.  The female giant just continued over and crumpled in a heap on the floor.
	The spectators were stunned.  The whole fight — both fights — had only taken seconds.  Suddenly, there was a thunderous roar from the crowd.  Kathy was surrounded by screaming, cheering spectators.  The Alphas, screaming like lunatics, fought their way to Kathy, picked her up and carried her out on their shoulders.
	When they finally put her down, she looked around, found Kevin and gave him a warm hug and a long kiss.  “You did, it, Kevin!  It worked.  She didn’t know what to do!  I think she’s so used to terrifying opponents that she’s forgotten how to fight.  She wasn’t ready when I put her arm down.”
	“But Kathy, what happened then?  Suddenly she was coming at you like a bear.  It looked like she was trying to kill you.”
	“She was!  That’s why I had to get a little rough.  Sorry about that.”
	“But where did those moves come from?” Kevin asked.
	“That’s easy,” Kathy replied.  “It comes from a youth misspent watching Kung Fu movies!”  She ducked and wrapped her arms around her head as the Alphas pummeled her.
	Bill had the last word on the afternoon.  “John, I hope you paid attention to what happened to Sophie.  She didn’t touch Kathy and look what Kathy did to her!  You were spanking her with a wooden paddle for hours!”
	Everyone howled with laughter as they headed back to prepare for the beauty contest.  Because she lived away from the campus, Kathy had brought her things to the Alpha house.  When they entered, her companions were mobbed by other brothers trying to find out what had happened.

	“Guys,” John announced, “We’ve done it.  Kathy’s done it.  With ninety competitors including a bunch of ringers for particular events, she won it all.  Everything!  If she dissolved into a glob of protoplasm on the stage tonight, she’d still win!  Kathy is so far out in front, I don’t think there is a second place.  If there is, God knows who’s in it or what her score is.  Fellows, it was like the Olympics but with one person winning every event.  It’s unheard of.”
	The house shook with the cheers.
	Meanwhile, as Kathy was standing in a corner she could feel her knees start to sag.  Seeing what was happening, Jack went up to John and whispered in his ear.  “Two more things, guys,” John announced.  “First, the basement lounge is closed and off-limits for at least the next hour.  Second, Kathy is changing for the beauty contest here at the house.  I want some of you slobs to be sure the bathroom is as clean for Kathy as you can get it.”
	Jack put an arm around Kathy and put hers over his shoulder.  “Come on, kid.  I know the signs.  You need help, don’t you?  I just realized that John was absolutely right.  You had a full Olympic schedule in one afternoon.  And you’ve done it on nothing but adrenaline and one steak sandwich.  Let’s go.”
	Exhausted, Kathy smiled up at him.  “Lead on.  I’ll try not to collapse.”
	They went down to the basement room.  Kathy was startled to see three tables — probably the same three — arranged together, covered with towels.  Jack helped her off with her sweat jacket and supported her while she took off her pants.  “Kathy, get up on the table and lie on your stomach.  I’ve got to get a few things.  Just take off your clothes, and I’ll be right back.”
	Jack left, and Kathy slowly stripped off her top, then her shorts, and finally kicked off her shoes.  She didn’t have the energy to bend over, so she worked off her socks with her toes.  She thought for a moment then stripped off her bra.  Carefully she positioned herself on the table and was almost instantly asleep.
	As Kathy drifted out of her sleep strong hands were working on the muscles in her upper thighs.  Whatever Jack was using was warm and penetrating and she could feel her muscles respond.  Hiking up her hips, she allowed him to work off her bikini.  Oh, well, she thought, I tell myself I like to be in the nude.  Jack has probably seen just about all of me, anyway.
	She could feel his strong fingers working on her buttocks.  She remembered what Charlene had said about moving her ass.  The ache in those muscles said that she had been moving it fast.  Jack worked up her spine and finally started working on her shoulders, neck, and upper arms.  It felt so good.  Then he gave her two towels and turned his back asking her to roll over.  She did, positioning the towels across her breasts and loins.  Jack started to work on her legs, and then her stomach muscles.  He devoted particular attention to her right arm and biceps.
	Finally, he pulled over a chair and straddled it.  He rested his chin on his folded arms and just looked at Kathy’s body.  Feeling his eyes on her she opened hers.
	“Kathy, there’s no one else like you.  I’m convinced.  Forget the muscles and the pain.  I could work on you for hours.  There are no blemishes — no imperfections — anywhere.  Your body is perfect.  Do you feel better?”
	She quietly smiled at him.  “I’m fine.  I thought I was just tired until you started working on my body.  I didn’t realize I had so many muscles.  And they all ache!  Thanks Jack.  It felt great.”
	She lifted her head and studied his face.  “Jack, there is just one thing.  Do you think I could get a hamburger?  A big, red, juicy hamburger?  With everything, so it drips all over?”
	“One big, red, juicy, dripping hamburger with everything coming right up!  Kathy, here’s a robe you can put on.  It’s not much, but I don’t think you want to put your other things back on.  I’ll be right back.”
	When he left, Kathy carefully got off the tables, stood up and stretched.  With a little food and a shower, she thought, I’ll probably feel human again.
	She ran her hands over her breasts and cupped them.  Kathy decided that they would do.  They weren’t as big as some, but were beautifully shaped and needed no support.  She picked up the bathrobe and put it on.  It must have been made for a man at least six inches taller and a hundred pounds heavier than she was.  It carried a masculine smell which she breathed in hungrily.  As she wrapped it around herself Jack reappeared with a tray.  Putting it on the counter he stripped the towels off the tables, pulling one away from the others.  Then he retrieved the tray and served with a flourish.
	“Dripping sloppy red hamburgers for mademoiselle.”  He put them on the table along with one for himself.  They were followed by two bottles of beer.  To Kathy they looked beautiful.  When she picked up one and started to eat, the juices started running down her chin.  Not having a napkin, she wiped her chin with the back of her hand.
	Jack just looked at her.  “God, you’re cute.  I know that’s a stupid thing to say, but you really are.  I’ve never met a girl as natural as you are.  You have a style and grace and beauty... even with juice dripping down your chin.”
	Kathy grinned at him and pertly stuck out her tongue.  “Thank you for the compliment, kind sir.  I think!  Now eat your hamburger before it gets cold.”
	They finished eating and Kathy went up to shower.  On the first floor she met John and Bill.  “Do you know any details about this evening?  I was going to put on my bathing suit instead of underwear and then wear the sweater and skirt I wore this morning over it.  What do you guys think?  I was planning on wearing a bikini.”
	John looked at Bill, who nodded.  “That sounds fine with us.  How long will it take you?  It’s nearly eight o’clock, and, as far as we know, the contest is still scheduled to start at nine.”
	“I’ll be ready,” Kathy said.  She grabbed the small bag with her things in it and raced up the stairs into the bathroom.
	“My God,” Bill said to John, “Kathy says she’ll be ready for a beauty contest that starts in about an hour.  The girls I go out with couldn’t be ready for a movie date, for chrissakes, in less than three.  And then I would be waiting for at least half an hour.”
	Unlike the first time, Kathy now had her own things with her.  As the water flowed over her body she started shampooing her hair and then applying conditioner.  She carefully soaped her body trying particularly to remove the odor of whatever Jack had been massaging her with.  After letting the water rinse off the soap, she stepped out of the shower and toweled herself dry.  Then she plugged in her hair dryer and worked on her hair, wiping the steam off the mirror first.
	After studying her face for a moment, she decided that extreme measures were in order.  She carefully applied a small amount of lipstick.  Going into her bag, she extracted two small scraps of fabric that together made up a white bikini.  It was absolutely plain and pure white.  Turning around she viewed herself in the mirror.  Then she put on the skirt she had worn in the morning substituting a cardigan for the pullover to avoid mussing her hair.  After putting her things in the bag she went downstairs to where the boys were sitting.
	They stood up as she approached.  Bill glanced at his watch.  “Guys, that was thirty-three minutes, 23.2 seconds.  I think Kathy has set another world’s record.”
	He ducked away as Kathy swung her bag at him.  She took up a model’s pose: hand behind her thrown-back head, breasts jutting and one leg forward.  “How do I look, guys?”  The boys just looked at her in silence.  Kathy dropped the pose and looked at them with concern showing in her eyes.  “I do look okay, don’t I?”
	John looked at the others and then at Kathy.  “No, you don’t look okay.”  He frowned.  “You look spectacular.  Like a dream.  Like an angel.  Definitely not just okay.  Right, guys?”  He grinned and the brothers applauded.
	Kathy smiled her relief.  “Thank you, kind sirs.”  She made a deep curtsy.  “On the other hand, it’s a well-known fact that Alphas have their taste in their feet,” she grinned.  “Come on!  We’re going to be late.”
	They arrived at Woolsey Hall where the competition was to be held.  While Kathy went in the back door, her brothers went around the front to get the best seats they could.
	She walked in and found a large group of girls primping.  Many were wearing dressing gowns over their bathing suits.  Most of the suits were one piece.  Kathy noticed that several them were the highly-engineered models capable of concealing various bodily imperfections.  She noticed only a few other two-piece suits.  While some were small, none were as revealing as her own.
	She went over to a board where the scheduled order of appearance was posted.  There were also instructions for the girls:  The contestants were to enter from the rear, stage left.  They were to proceed to center-stage front, go to the left, across to the right, back to the center, and exit stage right in the rear.  Kathy was surprised to find that she was scheduled to be the last contestant.
	Shortly after nine o’clock, the master of ceremonies walked out on the stage.  Musicians, who had been playing as the audience got settled, played a fanfare.  “Ladies and gentlemen.  Welcome to the final event of today’s Queen of Yale College competition, the beauty contest.”
	There was an immediate chorus of boos from parts of the audience where the lesbians and their friends were seated.  The lesbians consider beauty contests to be sexually exploitative of females but their boos were quickly drowned by cheers from the rest of the audience.
	The MC went on to explain the procedure.  Since there had been no rehearsal, the band played music of its own choosing as the first contestant was announced.
	Kathy went to the back, slipped off her sweater and skirt and changed shoes.  In addition to the bikini she was wearing plain white pumps.  She went to see what was happening on stage.
	After parading around the stage, as each contestant paused at center stage, the MC called for applause.  It was then measured by applause meters rigged up by the electrical engineers.  A large dial at each side of the stage measured the applause and a group of judges seated in front recorded the readings.  As the contestants paraded one after the other, Kathy noticed that the readings were mostly in the first quarter of the applause scale although one girl reached the midpoint.
	Kathy stood there, apparently oblivious to the looks of envy and jealousy aimed her way.  Since she had brought no wrap, she was grateful for all of the time she had spent nude.  Her exposure didn’t bother her in the slightest.  One after the other the names were called.  Finally it was her turn.
	“Ladies and gentlemen,” the MC announced, “Representing Alpha fraternity, Miss Katherine Smith!”
	Kathy walked out to the center of the stage.  There was an audible intake of breath from the audience.  She was holding her back straight and her head up.  At the center of the stage, she paused for a moment and posed with her head back slightly.  She turned in a complete circle and moved to the left.  She posed again and slowly walked across the stage.  She saw a concentration of Alphas and gave them a quick wink, turned, and returned to the center of the stage.  She struck the same model’s pose she had at the Alpha house as the MC said, “Miss Katherine Smith!”
	The applause roared and increased in intensity.  As men rose to their feet and cheered the needles on the applause meters reached the stop at the end of their scales and stuck there.  The cheering continued and then slowly subsided.  Kathy quickly walked off the stage.
	As a number of girls led by Charlene surrounded her with congratulations, Kathy could hear the master of ceremonies making an announcement.  “Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to present the Dean of Yale College who will announce the results.  Ladies and gentlemen, Dean Charles Mansfield.”
	Charlene folded Kathy in her arms.  “You were spectacular.  This couldn’t happen to a more deserving girl!”  She patted Kathy on her bottom.  “Go get ’em, tiger!”  Kathy moved closer to the stage to hear what was being said.
	The Dean had taken a small mike out to center stage.  He was speaking without notes.  “Ladies and gentlemen, I am here this evening to crown the new Queen of Yale College.  I’m supposed to talk for a while to allow time for the judges to total the scores and try to determine a winner.  It won’t be necessary.
	“I know that some of you in the audience oppose this contest.  You consider it exploitative.  You believe that a girl appearing in front of you is presenting herself as a toy — a sort of sexual plaything.  Frankly, up to this morning, I was bothered by the same thing.
	“But there was more.  I heard that efforts were made to disrupt the competition.  I heard that a number of contestants were entered, not with an intention of competing in the full range of events, but rather to dominate a particular one.  If there was such a scheme, it didn’t work.
	“This morning the judges found it necessary to communicate directly with Princeton.  One of the contestants’ scores on the GRE was so high it seemed to be off the top of the scoring scale.  It counted.  In the 100-meter dash, the winner had the fourth fastest women’s time ever recorded on that track.  In the riflery competition, the winner achieved a score of 248 out of a possible 250.  For the ignorant — and I include myself in that group — that is twenty-three bulls-eyes in twenty-five shots.  The other two shots were nines.  I have it on good authority that a person believes there was a slight defect in one of the bullets, otherwise it would have been a ten.”
	There was laughter from the audience and Kathy could feel herself blushing.  She was amused at the thought of what a blush must look like when wearing a tiny bikini.
	The Dean continued.  “The 1,500 meters — the so-called metric mile — was one of the best middle distance races our track experts have ever seen run.  Not only did the winner have to beat one of the finest runners who has ever attended this school, but she had to do it while threading through runners she was lapping on her way to the finish line.  And still the time was close to the record for the distance on our track.  In wrist wrestling the winner defeated a woman rated by the experts as unbeatable.  She also quelled a slight disturbance at the end of the final match before the spectators were aware there was one.”
	Laughter rippled through the audience.
	“That brings me to tonight.  I’m not an engineer.  However, it took only a minimum of consultation with my distinguished colleague, the Dean of the School of Engineering, to determine that when the needle on the applause meter bends on its end stop, it’s a high reading.  I shouldn’t say this I suppose — I’m supposed to be impartial — but I was applauding so hard myself I had a hard time focusing on the meter.  Fortunately, I was able to focus while the needle was still stuck on its stop.
	“Another thing I’m not is a mathematician.  However, it doesn’t take a degree in higher mathematics to compute an overall winner when the winner of every event is the same person.
	“Ladies and gentlemen, I am truly delighted to present the Queen of Yale College, Miss Katherine Smith!”
	Kathy felt a gentle push in the small of her back.  She joined Dean Mansfield at center stage while the applause thundered from the audience.  Virtually everyone was on his feet applauding.  As she stood there, someone came up behind her and held up a blue academic gown.  Kathy slipped her arms in and turned to allow the girl to fasten it.  As she turned back a man came across the stage and presented her with an armful of roses.
	Dean Mansfield, watching the proceedings, smiled at her warmly.  She saw him switch off his mike as he said to her softly, “At graduation I’ve always wondered what some of the girls are wearing under the gowns, particularly if it’s a hot day.  Kathy, what is under your gown is breathtaking.”
	He switched the mike on again as a man brought out a crown set on a blue pillow.  At the same time the other contestants were filing onto the stage behind them.  “Kathy, it is indeed an honor to crown you Queen of Yale College.  In one body you combine all of the things we want to have here at Yale and which God so seldom combines in a single person.  Congratulations!”
	The applause roared out again.  Just then, the band played a fanfare followed by Yale’s alma mater, Bright College Years.  The entire audience stood and sang.  Holding her head up proudly, Kathy could feel tears of joy rolling down her cheeks as she joined in.  Other girls crowded around to offer congratulations as the audience filed out.  She accepted them gracefully and looked around for someone to take the crown.  No one was interested, so she gathered that it and the robe were hers to keep.  Oh, well, she thought, they can always add it to my Bursar’s bill.  Finally, she retrieved her skirt and sweater and put them on.  After changing her shoes for loafers, she carefully folded the gown and left the theater.
	The Alphas were waiting for her at the door, and mobbed her when she emerged.  They all wanted to hug her, kiss her and tell her how proud they were.  Kathy was mauled.  Finally they backed off and just smiled at her.
	She shook her head like a terrier and ran her fingers through her hair to get it back together.  She grinned at the guys.  “This calls for a celebration.  Let’s go back to Mory’s.  I’m buying.”
	The celebrating group marched up to Mory’s.  One of the members was carrying her crown, another had her gown, while a third carried her roses.  It was almost eleven o’clock when they entered.  Kathy was immediately recognized by people near the door who began to applaud.  As word of who had just arrived spread through the old building, Kathy could hear the sound of applause flow around and fill the structure.
	The headwaiter ushered them up to the Whiffenpoofs’ room.  Mory’s unique concoction known as a Green Cup passed from hand to hand until closing time.  As she took a sip, Kathy realized that she had left Mory’s less than twelve hours earlier.  It seemed like years with so much happening between trips.

Chapter 10
	“Bright college years with pleasures rife, the shortest, gladdest years of life.  How swiftly are ye gliding by...”
	Kathy could feel tears forming in her eyes as the Yale Alma Mater was played.  She was standing, singing it with her graduating classmates, “...In after years should troubles rise, to cloud those bright and sunny skies...”
	She thought of her life’s reversal.  It wasn’t “after years”; for her they were prior years.  Just a few short years earlier she had been a prostitute with no future at all.  Now, the President having formally conferred degrees, she was a graduate, with highest honors, of one of the world’s most prestigious universities.  She wondered what Julie would think of her now.
	The song continued towards its conclusion.  Kathy shook out her handkerchief in preparation for the last lines.  She waved in time with the rest as they sang “...for God, for Country, and for Yale!”
	This is my graduation, she thought, standing straight.  These were good years.  The diploma I receive back at Calhoun College reads, “artium liberalium baccalaurei, summa cum laude.”  My final class standing is number four.  Maybe I should have majored in math or engineering.  The liberal arts faculty won’t ever give grades as high as the engineering and math guys do.  She smiled at the thought.
	Finally the ceremony ended and the crowd scattered towards the residential colleges.  Kathy went to Calhoun College where diplomas would be distributed.  When the master called her name, she walked over to receive her diploma.  Calhoun is one of Yale’s Gothic colleges.  A true “ivy covered hall,” Kathy thought as she reached out her hand.
	The master, after giving her the diploma, put out his arms and pulled her into a powerful hug.  “Kathy,” he said softly, “having you here at Calhoun has been one of my real pleasures at Yale.  I’m only sorry you didn’t spend more time with us.”
	He kissed her on the cheek, and raised his voice, “Ladies and gentlemen, could we have a round of applause for the Queen of Yale College and Calhoun’s top graduate this year, Katherine J. Smith!”  Her classmates stood and applauded as, red-faced, she walked back to her seat.
	Bob Ferguson had come up for commencement and was seated next to her.  “Kathy, Sam would be so proud.  I know I am.  Everything he hoped you would do, you have done... and far more besides.  You’re wonderful, hon.  And I think you have some visitors.  There are a group of guys standing back there waving at you.”
	She turned in her seat and looked back.  There were John and Bill who had graduated the previous year; Jack, Kevin and other classmates still wearing their academic gowns; and other underclass fraternity brothers who had stayed on for graduation.
	When she went back to see them she kissed Bill and John and held their hands, “I missed you big lugs!  Thank you so much for coming.”  Again she could feel tears starting to roll down her cheeks.
	John took her into his arms, hugged her, and stroked her hair.  “I wouldn’t miss it for the world!  For our baby sister to be graduating without Bill and me here to see it is ridiculous.”  He held her at arms length.  “You still look great, babe.  But look out for that eruption,” he added in a whisper.
	When John released her, Bill took her in his arms and hugged her tightly.  He whispered with his lips close to her ear, “Kathy, I still remember that pool game.  You were so beautiful.  You stood there like an Amazon defending your world.  I guess you know it changed me.  I’ve met a wonderful girl who I want to introduce to you.  We’re planning on being married in a couple of years when I finish business school.”
	Kathy gave him a warm kiss and then held him away, “Bill, I’m so happy for you!  That’s wonderful news!”  She lowered her voice to a whisper and added, “But can she shoot pool?”
	Bill grinned and faked a swing at her.
	Then Bob Ferguson joined the happy group.  Kathy proudly introduced the men to Bob.  Handshakes were exchanged all around.  Bob said, “So you’re the guys I’ve heard so much about.  It sounds trite, I know, but Kathy has told me all about you.”  He saw some faces redden.  “Well, maybe not quite all.  She was orphaned some years ago and has no brothers and sisters of her own.  I know, though, that she loves you as much as she could possibly love real ones.  I want to thank you all for everything you’ve done for Kathy while she’s been in New Haven.”
	The boys laughed.  “I don’t know what Kathy’s been telling you,” said Jack, “but it couldn’t be the truth.  What we’ve done for her?  Or to her?  The reality is what she’s done for us.  Aside from winning every award for us there was to win, she whipped us into shape.”
	His expression suddenly changed, “Good Heavens!  I didn’t realize.  You must be the Mr. Ferguson who...”
	Ferguson smiled, “Guilty.”
	Jack looked at John.  “Maybe you didn’t hear.  Last fall, we got the word from the University about our house: Clean up or close up... and fast.  It was all the structural work: the fire safety stuff, and the bathrooms.  The cost was nearly a million dollars.  Then we got a call from a man named Ferguson — Mr. Ferguson, here, obviously — who is trustee of a foundation in Norfolk.  He said we won an award for capital projects of a million...”
	He stopped in the middle of his sentence and looked at Bob Ferguson, whose head was bent as he studied something fascinating on the ground.  Then he looked at Kathy who was trying to disappear into the shrubbery.  “Of course, it was you!  My God, how dumb can we be.  Kathy’s from Norfolk and by a coincidence a Norfolk-based charitable foundation decides that an impoverished fraternity in New Haven — damnyankee territory, if you will — needs money to fix its joint up.
	“Katherine Smith, don’t you dare try to hide!  Stand up straight in front of the Alpha Council.  What do you have to say for yourself?”
	Kathy stood up straight in front of him.  Tears started to form in her eyes.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean...  I didn’t want...  I don’t know what I mean.”  She continued to stand with her head up straight and her arms at her sides as the tears started to pour down her cheeks.
	Jack took her in his arms and held her.  He could feel her body shaking with sobs as she nestled into his shoulder.  He stroked her hair which was silken gold.  “God, Kathy, I’m sorry.  Look at you!”  He held her out at arms length.  “You’re sorry for getting us more money than we could ever think about — and on a single phone call, I’ll bet!  Right?”  Kathy nodded her head.  “You lovely little idiot.  You’re standing there crying because you saved our house, for chrissakes.  That’s really something to be ashamed of.”
	Then he took her into his arms and kissed her hard.  When he released her, the other brothers took her and kissed her, too.  Soon Kathy’s head was swimming.  Some of the kisses were decidedly unbrotherly.
	Jack looked at Ferguson.  “It was only a single call, wasn’t it?  It had to be.  The timing was too quick for anything else.  I’ll bet we got your letter only a couple of days after Kathy knew.  My God!  What did she tell you?”
	Bob Ferguson looked a little sheepish.  “Well, she said that you fellows had a financial emergency, and... well...  Oh hell, it’s all her money anyway!”
	The boys spun on Kathy who was glaring at Bob Ferguson, “You promised!”
	Ferguson looked miserable, “I’m sorry, hon.  It slipped out.”
	“Katherine Smith, are we to understand that you made a gift to the house of one million dollars of your own money!  Is that true?”
	Kathy nodded once.
	“She’s done it to us again, guys!  She really has.  John, I think it was your idea to pledge Kathy into the house, wasn’t it?  What a dumb move.  All we got out of that deal was a house full of trophies, a crown or two, a jump in our academic standing, a few athletic records and a million dollars.”
	He took Kathy in his arms and kissed her again.  He kept his arm around her waist as he turned towards his friends.  He started to laugh.  “This reminds me somehow of that old story about the shotgun marriage to the beautiful nymphomaniac whose father owns a liquor store... but I’m not sure why.”
 	He looked at Kathy as he laughed harder.  She started to laugh, too.  Everyone else joined in.  Soon they were rolling on the grass, with everyone piling on Kathy.  Someone started to tickle her; another joined in.  Then her arms and legs were held as Jack tickled her ribs.
	“I’m not ticklish,” Kathy said in a voice that carried no conviction.
	She was laughing harder and trying to roll into a ball to escape but her arms and legs were trapped.  Jack knew how to use his hands and was able to control his fingertip pressure.  It was just the right pace and pressure to maximize Kathy’s torment.  Tears of laughter streamed down her cheeks.
	Finally she yelled, “I give up!  I’ll be good!  I’ll never do it again, I promise!”
	The friends holding her limbs had to let go because they were laughing too hard to hold on any longer.  The laughter slowly subsided.
	Kathy got to her feet and looked down at her academic gown, now covered with dirt, leaves and grass clippings that she rather ineffectually tried to brush off.  There were leaves in her hair, a dirt smudge and tear stains on her cheeks.  While trying to wipe off a tear she left a grubby finger mark.  Jack thought she was the most beautiful girl alive.
	She gave up the effort.  “How many of you guys can join us for lunch?”
	A group of seven including Jack, Bill, and John agreed.  The others had to get back to relatives and friends up for their own graduation celebrations.
	“Come on, guys, we’re off to Mory’s to celebrate!”  She looked at herself ruefully.  “Provided they’ll let us in looking like this.  It’s my treat.”
	“No it’s not,” said Jack.  “You see, the fraternity has this mysterious benefactor who gave us a million dollars and the repairs have all been paid for and we still have a few bucks left, so...”
	They walked arm in arm up Elm Street.  Kathy thought about University of Virginia Law School in Charlottesville, her next stop.  Thomas Jefferson’s school...
Chapter 11
	It was a sunny June day in Norfolk.  The temperature was in the mid-90’s with humidity to match, and Kathy was lying on her bed staring out at the sky.  She was lying nude, reflecting on recent events.  She supposed that she should do something about studying for her bar exam, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.  She had just graduated from UVA law school and wanted to leave the books alone for a while.
	She thought about her decision to refuse the editorship of the Law Review.  She had earned it, but she really didn’t feel like working that hard.  She accepted the position of Note Editor instead.  As at Yale, she had graduated with highest honors.  It was still unclear to her why her studies came so easily to her.  She really didn’t believe that her scores on the LSAT’s were indicative of her ability.  She had heard all the stories about the cultural bias on aptitude tests so she didn’t believe the evidence of her own experience that, biased or not, they were certainly directionally accurate.  Kathy’s direction was the top.
	The law school recruiting season had been funny.  After her first year in law school she had interned with an appellate-court judge in Virginia.  She spent the summer after her second year working for a Federal Appeals Court judge in Richmond.  When the representatives from the nation’s top law firms came to Charlottesville to interview, they all tried to interview Kathy Smith.  Aside from it being good for their image to hire young women, Kathy had become a legend at Virginia.  Her grades were distinguished as were the recommendations from both faculty and the judges for whom she had worked, so she was considered the top employment prospect in her class.
	When she absolutely could not refuse, she would attend a cocktail party or dinner sponsored by one major law firm or another.  Young lawyers in the firm, brought to Charlottesville because they were thought to be able to “relate well” with students, were swarming like studs around a bitch in heat.
	Now, at age twenty-four, Kathy was a truly stunning woman.  Her face, figure, skin and hair were all flawless.  However, she treated them all with a subtle amusement that they didn’t understand.  Women were supposed to be flooding around and fawning all over them.  In the meantime, the senior partners — used to standing around, impressing the rabble, and sitting in judgment over whom they should deign to invite to visit their Firm’s offices — struggled to get close to Kathy without too-obviously elbowing their juniors aside.  Kathy maintained her poise and appeared to be an ice goddess.
	Accidentally, she had discovered the most effective way of playing the recruiting game: Ignore them.  The results were hilarious.  At school she had a drawer-full of invitations to visit top law offices in cities around the country.  In spite of never having taken an interview she received eight firm offers of employment.  Most were from top firms offering top money.  She wrote polite notes of refusal to both the invitations and the offers.  Idly, she wondered if she had even bothered to save the letters.
	Her classmates never knew how she obtained her position.  While representatives of the top firms were swarming all over her, she had written to the District Attorney of Norfolk County applying for a position.  The next day she received a call from him at her apartment.  After convincing himself that it was not a prank, that she really was who she said she was, he offered her a job on the spot.  She accepted his offer and then asked how much the position paid.
	She remembered the silence at the other end of the phone.  “The position pays $17,500 per year to start,” he said in an absolutely flat voice.
	“That’s fine,” Kathy replied brightly.  “Could I start September first?  I would like to rest this summer and get the bar exams out of the way, if that’s all right with you.”
	“Miss Smith,” the District Attorney said, “I don’t get it.  Top graduates from top schools are getting up to $75,000 a year to start.  Clearly, you’re a top graduate and UVA is a top school.”
	“You’re right, sir.  As a matter of fact, I just turned down an offer at $80,000.  I didn’t mean to upset you about the money; I was just curious.  May I call for an appointment to meet you the next time I’m in town?”
	“Kathy, I’ll be available to see you any time you can make it, and I will leave standing instructions with my secretary to that effect.  You may be one of the great nuts of the Western World, but I am looking forward to meeting you.”
	Kathy had an appointment to see the District Attorney that afternoon.
	Idly, she glanced around her apartment.  The decorating wasn’t quite finished but it was pretty close.  The apartment was on the top floor of an apartment complex.  Through a hidden door it connected to an exercise room and through that to her personal law office.  The office and the exercise facility were actually in an adjacent building.  The office building fronted on a commercial avenue in Virginia Beach while her apartment opened on a residential street to its rear.
	No one knew of the connection except the architect, the builder and Kathy.  Of course, it helped to own both buildings.  She was pleased.  Both buildings were almost completely rented out.  It was going to be quite a moneymaker, even if she paid no rent herself.
	She was particularly pleased with her pool and deck.  Walking through her bathroom, she slid open the door and stepped outside.  The terrace was surrounded by a ten-foot palisade-type fence for privacy.  The pool was a narrow rectangle 25 meters long.  Diving in, she swam in long, powerful strokes to the far end, did a racing turn and came back.  Although she hadn’t intended to swim, she was enjoying it so she kept on going back and forth.
	Kathy thought about the problems with the architects and engineers.  They had insisted that a pool of the size she wanted couldn’t possibly be suspended.  She pointed out that the Payne-Whitney Gym at Yale had a 50-meter pool a lot wider than hers up in the tower.  The architect said there was no way such a large area could be provided with the privacy she insisted upon.  She told them to consider it a challenge.  The engineer finally allowed that it could be done but it would be too expensive.  She archly reminded him that cost was her problem, not his.
	In the end, the architect was proud of his design, and the engineer of his accomplishment.  Now both were miffed because she refused to allow it to be photographed for the shelter magazines or the engineering trade books.
	She pulled herself out of the pool and picked up a huge bath towel.  Why did she derive such a sensuous pleasure from something as mundane as a large, fluffy towel?  Glancing at a clock she saw it was time to get ready to meet Peter Mahoney, the District Attorney of Norfolk County.  She wondered if she would have to live in Norfolk.  Both Norfolk and Virginia Beach were city/counties.  The borders of the cities and their respective counties were co-terminus.  She dressed in a cotton seersucker suit she thought would be appropriate for the weather.  Then she got in her car, drove to the Expressway and headed for Norfolk.
	Peter Mahoney came out of his office to greet her as soon as she was announced.  Kathy was pleased.  She hated officious people who kept visitors waiting just to show they were very busy.  Peter shook hands and ushered her into his office and into a chair.  Going behind his desk, he sat down and studied Kathy intently.
	Kathy sat upright in her chair and waited.
	“My God, everything I’ve heard about you is true!  After you wrote and we talked, I checked at the law school.  At first some of my friends thought I was joking when I said I had hired you.  They confirmed the $80,000 offer, by the way.  In fact, the guy I talked to said that firm was willing to go to $100,000 to get you.  You are a graduate of Yale University and University of Virginia Law School, both summa cum laude.  You are a beautiful girl.  What, in the name of God, are you doing here?”
	“Mr. Mahoney...”
	“Everyone calls me Pete or Peter.  I don’t answer quickly to ‘Mr. Mahoney.’”
	“Peter, I want to be involved in criminal law.  I grew up in Norfolk.  I heard that you have trouble hiring staff attorneys.  I thought I could help.”  Kathy looked down at her hands which were folded in her lap.
	Mahoney stared at her.  “You scare me, Kathy.  May I call you Kathy?  You are the most beautiful girl to come into this office since I’ve been here at least, and probably forever.
	“Kathy, the DA’s office deals with the scum of the earth: the rapists, the robbers, the muggers, the drug dealers.  You name it.  If it’s a felony, we get them.  And Kathy, they aren’t nice people.  A cheap hoodlum kills two people knocking over their grocery store and I hear these bleeding hearts bleating, ‘How did society fail this poor boy?’  I could vomit!  Society didn’t fail him.  There are exceptions, of course, but there is an English word that isn’t used much any more, but which fits: The word is ‘evil.’  Kathy, there’s a lot of evil that ends up in this office.  I’m not sure you can take it.”
	Kathy showed concern.  “Are you withdrawing your offer, then, sir?”
	Peter smiled.  “Kathy, I’m not completely crazy.  Of course not.  You are the most highly qualified lawyer to join our staff, probably in this century.  I take that back.  There have been some good ones just passing through on their way to a career in politics.  Are you headed for politics?  I think you would get every male eligible to vote.
	“Of course, I’m not sure of the women’s vote,” he added with a grin.  “Are you a libber?”
	“By that do you mean do I burn bras and kick a man in the groin if he opens a door or holds a chair?  No, I don’t.  I believe God made man and woman equal, but he sure didn’t make them the same!”
	“Kathy, I think you may do,” he said with a grin.  He opened a desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of bourbon and two not-very-clean glasses.  “Will you join me in a drink to our association?”
	“I certainly will!  With pleasure,” she replied.
	Peter reached across the desk extending his hand.  Kathy took it in a firm grip and they shook on it.  Peter poured two stiff drinks, and lifted his glass in a toast, “To the newest assistant district attorney of Norfolk County.  Effective September first, of course.”  He drained his glass in a gulp.
	Kathy lifted her cup, “Thank you, sir.  I’m looking forward to it.”  She raised her glass and drained it without a sound.
	Peter’s mouth formed a silent, “Wow.”  He continued to study her.  “You’ll need to get a weapon.  We’ll take care of the carry permit.”  He expected to get a strong reaction.
	What he got was the same reaction she would have given if he said she needed a new dress.  “Would a .38 with a 4-inch barrel be okay?  Hammerless, so it won’t hang up in my purse?”
	“Kathy, do you know what you’re talking about?  I don’t think you’ve ever fired a weapon in your life!”
	“May I use your telephone for a credit-card call, please?”
	Mahoney just nodded.  Kathy punched ‘O’ followed by a ten-digit number; following a pause, she punched in her credit card number.  A few moments later the telephone was answered.
	“Hello, this is Kathy Smith calling.  By any chance is Dean Mansfield free?  Thank you very much.”  A few moments later she said, “Dean Mansfield, it’s good to talk to you.  I’m calling because I have a favor to ask.  I’m in the office of the Norfolk, Virginia, District Attorney.  I will be starting in September as one of his assistants.  However, I’m afraid he thinks I’m breakable.  Could you take a few moments and tell him about the contest?  Thanks so much, sir.  He’s right here.”
	Kathy handed the receiver to Peter, sat back in her chair, and listened to the one-sided conversation.  First there was a period of silence after the opening hellos as the dean told about the contest.  She smiled to herself as expressions of incredulity passed over Peter’s face.  Then there were a series of questions: her times in the races, her score on the range: “Twenty-three bulls-eyes in twenty-five shots!  Unbelievable!” and the encounter with Sophie: “How big did you say she was?  In two blows and fewer seconds.”
	He thanked the Dean for his time and for the information and hung up.  “I give up.  The Dean says you are the most remarkable person he has ever met.  Incidentally, I think he loves you like a daughter.  As far as the weapon is concerned, I was just teasing you, but now I think it is a good idea.  I’ll check with the plainclothes force and see what’s good in women’s weapons these days.  I gather, you’re not interested in a bra or garter holster?”
	Kathy laughed and relaxed again.  “Peter, I’m single.  What do you think a guy would do if he was groping at my bra and came up with a .38?  I really don’t want to find out.  The purse will do just fine.”  She got up to leave.  “I hope to pass the bar before I report for work.  In the meantime, let me know what type of weapon you want me to have and where to get it.”  She stuck out her hand, “I’m looking forward to working for you.  And thank you for giving me the opportunity.”
	Peter shook her hand and opened the door.  He realized that he usually made a point of not opening doors for women.  What is there about Kathy that makes it seem to be the most natural thing in the world?  He scratched his head in puzzlement while he watched her ass subtly swing as she walked away down the hall.
	As long as she was downtown, Kathy decided to drop by Bob Ferguson’s office.  It was in a bank building overlooking the Omni and Harborside with Portsmouth across the bay.  After parking near the bank she walked past the monument to the last encampment of the Confederate War Veterans in the square behind the bank.  She paused and looked up at the statues of the Confederate soldiers on the monument and the names of some of the battles in which they fought.
	She thought of that time long ago when so many young men lost their lives each fighting for what he thought was right: preservation of the Union for the North, and States Rights for the South.  She reflected on the war.  She had studied it in school, of course, but later her interest had deepened.  She used her spare time while at Charlottesville to visit many of the battlefields spread all over northern Virginia.
	There is scarcely a square foot of land here over which men’s blood has not been shed, she thought.  She turned away thinking that about the only thing the war had established was that Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia was the best damned light infantry the world had ever seen.  These men were the crackers, the rednecks, the poor white trash.  But God, could they fight!  Coming back to the present, she realized that the descendants of those men still made the most loyal friends and most implacable enemies.  Anyone who unnecessarily gets crosswise with one of these people is fourteen kinds of fool!
	Entering the building, she went up to Ferguson’s office.  She knew Bob was out of town on vacation but she was sure Mrs. Wilson would be there.  Ferguson maintained an office for Kathy’s use which she used mainly as a place to keep her files and records.  She walked in, smiled at the receptionist and walked back to Bob’s office.  His was in the corner while Kathy had an adjacent office with a view of the harbor.  Mrs. Wilson took care of any secretarial services Kathy needed.
	As she walked down the hall, Mrs. Wilson rose from behind her desk.  She greeted Kathy warmly and followed her into her office, carrying her ever-present steno pad.  Kathy went behind her desk, sat down and started to thumb through the mail waiting for her while Mrs. Wilson sat in a chair opposite.
	Kathy heard a sniffling noise and looked up.  Mrs. Wilson was holding a tissue to her face and was obviously crying.  Kathy rushed around the desk, knelt in front of her and asked, “What’s wrong, Mrs. Wilson?  What’s happened?”
	At that, the woman broke down completely.  She was crying as if her heart would break.  Kathy helped her up and took her over to the couch.  They sat down and she held the older woman as she cried.  Finally she cried herself out and stopped, but Kathy continued to hold her until she could feel the heaving stop and her breathing return to normal.
	“What is this all about?  Please tell me what’s wrong.”  Kathy found a box of tissues and passed one to Mrs. Wilson along with the rest of the box.
	“It’s Mr. Ferguson, Miss.  I’m scared.”
	“Before we go any further, my name is Kathy.  What’s your first name?  I’m ashamed to say I don’t even know.”
	“It’s Jane, Kathy.”
	“Now, Jane,” continued Kathy, “What about Bob?  What’s he done, or what is he about to do?”
	“He’s getting involved with a woman.  She’s the wrong type.  She’ll ruin him.  I don’t know what to do,” Jane wailed.
	“Come on, Jane.  Don’t turn on the waterworks again or you’ll get me started.”  Kathy suddenly understood.  “You love him, don’t you?”  Jane nodded, miserably.  “Well, what are you doing to trap him, for God’s sake!”
	Jane’s head jerked.  “I don’t understand.  What do you mean?”
	Kathy replied, “If I loved a man the way you obviously love Bob Ferguson, I wouldn’t be sitting here at a desk while he’s on vacation.  I would be chasing him.  Where is he anyway?”
	“At the Greenbrier,” Jane replied softly.
	“Is this other woman with him?” Kathy asked.
	“She’s not staying in his room, but I think she’s at the hotel,” she replied.
	“You still haven’t answered my question.  What are you doing to catch Bob Ferguson and marry him?  I want an answer,” Kathy demanded.
	Jane looked up in alarm.  The poor woman didn’t know what to say.  Kathy asked her about her background.  All she only knew was that Jane Wilson was a widow.  She learned that Jane’s husband had been a navy fighter pilot who had been killed in a training crash.  She had started to work for Bob Ferguson shortly before Sam Jenkins died and had worked for him ever since.  Kathy remembered that Jane had been wearing black the first time she met her but had not previously made the connection.
	Kathy said, “Jane, those fighter jocks are supposed to be hot tickets.  They fly and they fuck.  I hear that every minute they’re ashore, they’re either in a bar or in a girl’s body.”
	At that comment, Jane shyly smiled and nodded, keeping her head down.
	Kathy continued, “So you were married to a fighter jock and kept him happy in bed.  What happened to you?”
	Jane looked up, startled.  “What do you mean, what happened?  He was killed.”
	Kathy could see Jane’s eyes showing signs of new tears.  “I know that,” Kathy said brutally.  “I mean what happened to you?  Just look at yourself.  I can’t believe that you caught a Navy fighter pilot looking and acting like you do now.  Stand up and take off your clothes!”
	Jane’s head jerked up as if she had been slapped.  She looked at Kathy as if she could not believe what she had just heard.
	Kathy repeated, “Stand up and take off your clothes!  All of them!”
	Taking Jane’s hand, she pulled her to her feet.  Jane looked panicked as Kathy started unbuttoning her blouse.  Looking frightened, Jane released her skirt and let it slip to the floor.  Kathy had already removed Jane’s blouse while the woman stood there in a slip.  Glaring at her, Kathy motioned for her to take it off.  Jane, looking terrified, pulled it over her head.
	“The rest,” Kathy ordered as she started to take off her own clothes.  She moved over to the door and locked it.  Kathy put her seersucker suit on the desk, slipped off her bra and bikini and stood proudly nude.
	Jane hesitated but finally unfastened her serviceable bra.  Then she stood there with one arm over her breasts and her head downcast.
	Kathy could see that the woman was unable to go on.  “All of it, I said.  Take everything off!  Now!”
	Really scared now, Jane slipped her cotton panties down to her ankles and stepped out of them.  Kathy asked Jane what her late husband’s name was.  The answer was Bill.  Jane stood bent over with one arm over her breasts and her other hand covering her pubic area.
	“My God!  Is that the way Bill saw you?  I can’t believe it.  He must have seen something I haven’t seen.  Jane, you’re lying to me.  There’s no way you could have been married to a fighter pilot.  It’s absolutely out of the question!”
	Kathy succeeded in provoking the response she was seeking.  Jane’s fury overwhelmed her fear.  She stood up straight, raised her head, and screamed, “You little bitch!  What do you know about a marriage?  Bill and I were good together.  Why, the night before he died, neither of us slept a wink.”  With the memory of the night, Jane started to sink back into tears.  She covered her face with her hands and started to cry again.
	Kathy looked at her.  She saw a middle-aged woman who could have been very attractive, but who had allowed herself to go to seed.  Jane had brown hair pulled back into a very severe style.  Her clothes were utilitarian and businesslike.  Her figure could have been good; her breasts were still well-shaped and firm, her pubic hair was a darker shade than her head.  Kathy noticed it was silky rather than curly.  Her legs were long but were showing fat in the thighs.  Her hips were slim and her bone structure was fine.  Jane was five feet six and Kathy estimated her weight at between 135 and 140.  She could easily spare ten pounds.  Kathy realized that her worst feature was her posture:  Her head was normally carried tipped forward.  As a result, her shoulders slumped allowing her breasts to droop and her belly to protrude.
	Kathy decided on the spot to make Jane Wilson her summer project.
	“Jane,” said Kathy, removing the harshness from her voice, “stand up straight with your back against that wall.”
	Jane looked up and moved to obey.  Kathy was standing up straight looking like a statue whose sculptor could not come up with an interesting pose.  As usual, she stood erect with her shoulders squared and her breasts jutting.  Suddenly it registered on Jane that Kathy was also nude.  She stared at the younger girl.  Her eyes traveled over Kathy’s face and hair, her breasts and slightly rounded belly, the smooth swell of her hips.  Her eyes moved down her slim legs and came back to focus on her loins.  “You... You have no pubic hair!” Jane exclaimed.
	Kathy smiled at her warmly.  Jane was the only person to see her bare in years.  “No.  I keep it plucked.  I’ve grown accustomed to it this way.  Now stand up straight and let me look at you.”  Kathy’s nudity seemed to relax Jane.  When she finally put her back against the wall and stood up straight, Kathy went over and looked at her critically.  “Move your shoulders back.  Feel the wall at the tips of your shoulders.  Roll your hips back.  Squeeze your butt against the wall.”  All this time Kathy’s hands were pulling and pushing.  “Lift your head up straight.  Look straight ahead.  Now hold that position!”
	Kathy stepped back for a better look.  She went back to the older woman and cupped one of Jane’s breasts in her hand as if she were weighing it.
	Jane jerked away and went back to her frightened crouch and looked at Kathy in horror.  “What are you doing?”
	Kathy looked at her calmly, “I’m feeling one of your tits.  What did you think I was doing?”
	With that, Jane took her position against the wall.  Her head was up straight, her shoulders were back, her hips were back, and her breasts were jutting out, proudly this time.  She was inviting Kathy’s exploration.
	It’s going to work!  Kathy approached her again and put her hand under Jane’s breast in the same way she had before.  This time she felt a little shiver but Jane held her position.  She delicately moved her fingers up to her nipples and tweaked them.  She felt them harden under her fingers and she could feel the older woman shake.  Still she didn’t move.
	Kathy backed away to allow Jane to regain control while she contemplated the woman pensively like a sculptor looking at a piece of uncut stone.  “Okay,” Kathy said, “that’s enough.  Sit down over here and relax.  I think we can do something.”
	Kathy retrieved her purse, extracted a pack of cigarettes and a lighter, returned and sat down.  She offered one to Jane who automatically started to refuse, then took one.  Kathy lit them and they both took deep drags.
	“Good grief,” said Jane, “a couple of more steps and I’ll be in the gutter!”
	Kathy grinned and jumped to her feet.  She opened the bottom drawer of her desk and retrieved a bottle of Cardhu, a 12-year-old single-malt Scotch.  She poured two stiff drinks into glasses from the credenza and brought them back to the couch.  She handed Jane one of the glasses and said, “Now what’s the last step?”  The two girls started to laugh.
	Kathy noticed that Jane was now ignoring her nakedness.  After taking a small sip of the Scotch, she put her head back and took a deep breath.  “This is good!  What is it?”
	Kathy told her.  Then Jane put her head back on the sofa.  Her hair had fallen free and was much longer than Kathy had realized.  With her head back, Jane’s breasts were jutting out.  “Now that’s more like it.  I’m starting to see you as a fighter pilot’s wife.  You’re a passionate woman, Jane.  Why did you crawl into a shell?”
	“I guess it was the shock of Bill’s death, Kathy.  God, did I love him!  Would you believe, we spent hours together naked in broad daylight?  We would make love everywhere!  On the floor, in the kitchen...  Once, in the summer we went out on our terrace in the middle of the night and made love where people could see us.”  Thinking about it, Jane turned brick red and added, “Bill used to say that I was made to be fucked.  Isn’t that awful!”
	Kathy stretched and lifted her legs out straight in front of her.  Slowly, she spread them until her legs were nearly 180 degrees apart.  She held the position for a moment, slowly brought them back together, and then lowered her feet to the floor.  “No, I don’t think it’s awful.  I think it’s great.  Do you know what I dream of doing?  Going out with my husband naked and making love on our terrace with all our neighbors watching.  I can see it in my mind.  They go bananas!”
	Jane looked at her.  “Do you really?  Don’t you think it’s...  Well, it’s...”
	Kathy finished the sentence for her, “Perverted?  No, I don’t.  I think it’s a physical expression of two people’s love for each other.”
	“Kathy, I believe you mean that.  You know, it sounds beautiful when you say it.  You don’t think it’s sinful?  Bill used to say that if two married people were giving such pleasure to each other it couldn’t be sinful.  I guess I was never that certain.  What should I do?”
	“Jane, now comes the sixty-four-dollar question.  Do you love Bob Ferguson?  Or are you just used to him?  Please be honest.  Your answer is important.”
	Jane looked at Kathy steadily.  “I love him more than life itself.  When Belle and Sandy were killed in that crash, it nearly killed him, too.  I was in agony.  I wanted to hold him close and tell him I understood.  I wanted to hold him, to comfort him...”
	“To fuck him?” Kathy added softly.
	Jane sat up straight.  “Yes, damn it!  To fuck him.  To warm him inside me.  Yes, damn it, I wanted to fuck him!”
	“Do you still?”
	“Yes, I do.  I would do it right now in front of you on your carpet if he were here.”  Jane stood up and started pacing the office like a caged tiger.  Or tigress, Kathy thought.  Maybe this will be easier than I first thought.
	“Sit down, Jane.  We have to plot and scheme.”
	Jane returned to the couch, sat down, and idly picked up the cigarettes and lighted one.  She suddenly looked guilty.
	Kathy said softly, “Welcome back to the human race, Jane.  As for the cigarette, I think you need it.”
	Jane grinned.  Kathy realized that she really had a lovely smile and probably had a good sense of humor that was starting to resurface after so many years.  Kathy continued, “There are a few ground rules.  First, you are my project.  You are going to be my wedding gift to Bob.”  She started to laugh at the thought of the bride being the wedding gift to the groom.
	Jane realized instantly the reason for Kathy’s laughter and joined in.  They were soon howling.  The tension was now gone completely.  “Back to the ground rules.  Because you’re my gift, we’re playing with my money.”  Kathy put up her hand as Jane was about to protest.  “Jane, you pay most of my bills for me.  As a result, you know better than anybody else that my bank balance just grows by itself.  Right?”  Jane nodded.
	“Okay, that’s settled.  The next thing is that you’ll have to trust me and do as I say.  I think you’ll quickly see what I’m doing, but you have to trust me.”  Jane nodded again.  “Okay, then, let’s get started.  When is Bob due back?”
	“Next Monday,” Jane replied.
	“We’ve got to get him to change his plans.  I have an idea!  Haven’t I seen Bob entering some of those sweepstakes that come in the mail?”
	“Every one,” she replied with a grin.  “I tease him about it, but he says that sooner or later he’s going to get lucky and win one.  And besides, he says, it only takes a first-class stamp.”
	Kathy went to her desk, checked her Rolodex, and dialed a number.  “Mike, it’s Kathy.  How’s the travel business?  Good.  Mike, I have a favor to ask.  Don’t worry, it will even make you some money.  Mike, I need the longest cruise combination you can put together for one person.  It has to be full deluxe, everything included.  Ideally, it should run into August.  The vital thing is, though, the client must leave this Sunday.
	“I think there is a combination of cruises that can be put together in the Med operating on the QEII that could work.  If you have to send the client on a wild goose chase through Europe to get the sailing dates right it’s okay, but he must leave this Sunday.
	“Another thing.  Take all the time you need, but I must have confirmation that it can be done within thirty minutes.”  Kathy was silent for a few minutes smiling at the reaction from Mike on the phone.  “Of course it’s not easy!  If it were easy, I would do it myself and pocket the commission.  Thanks, Mike.  I’m in my office downtown.  I’ll wait here to hear from you.”  She put the phone back on its hook.
	“Mike will be back to us as you heard.  Then you are going to put on your Mrs. Wilson professional voice and call Bob at the Greenbrier.  He’s won the grand prize in the...  Oh well, we’ll make up something.  It’s a good thing he enters so many contests.  He couldn’t possibly remember the prize structures of all of them.  Now here’s the trick.  He’s the substitute grand prize winner.  The trip must be taken now, all arrangements are made, but he must leave Sunday.”
	Kathy got up from behind her desk and started pacing.  Jane watched the grace with which she moved and felt a bit jealous.  She’s so fluid, so unconcerned, she thought.  Then, with a start Jane realized that Kathy was absolutely unaware of her nudity.  It was a revelation to Jane to see a woman who could be as self-assured without clothes as with them.  Jane got off the sofa and stretched.
	Kathy looked at her speculatively.  “We might as well use the time while we’re waiting.  I want you to walk around the office.”
	Jane tried to emulate Kathy’s walk.  She straightened her back, tried to keep her shoulders back and her head up straight.  It felt like her breasts were jutting out miles.  She thought about Kathy’s walk and looked at her.  Kathy’s rump was on the edge of the desk and she was looking at her thoughtfully.  Her breasts were standing out proudly but Kathy was both unaware and totally unconcerned.
	Jane glanced down at her chest.  She was proud to see that her breasts were nicely shaped and were not sagging at all.  The older woman started walking back and forth.
	Kathy smiled, then grinned.  “My God, you’re walking like me.  I’m flattered!”
	Jane stopped and turned towards her, putting one leg a little ahead of the other.  She then did a classic Southern curtsy, lacking only clothes.  “I’m trying, mademoiselle.  Do you approve of your humble and obedient servant?”  To finish the act, Jane lowered her head until her forehead touched her leg.
	“It’s perfect, Jane.  Absolutely perfect!  You’re getting used to not wearing clothes and you’re developing pride in your body.  It’s the pride that does it.  Now keep it up,” Kathy said as she moved to answer the phone.
	It was the travel agent with word that the plans were set.  Kathy motioned to Jane to go to her own desk and pick up so she could write down the itinerary.  Jane retrieved her steno pad and pencil and returned to her desk.  When Kathy told Mike that Jane was on, he rattled off the dates and places.  Kathy was pleased that Jane was her usually poised self on the phone in spite of being naked at her desk.  Mike hung up, and Kathy could hear the sound of Jane’s typewriter.
	Then she looked up in surprise to see Jane proudly walking past her door towards the copier.  A few moments later she came back to the office and closed the door.  Her shoulders were sagging forward slightly as she stood in front of Kathy’s desk.  Kathy moved her shoulders back.  Jane gave a small start and squared hers, too.  Her breasts jumped to attention with the posture change.  She grinned.  “How did I do, coach?  Did I do okay.”
	“You were great, Jane.  I was surprised to see you go down the hall, though.”
	Jane blushed.  The color rose from her belly, over her breasts to her face.  “When you motioned me to the phone, I just went to pick it up from force of habit.  It wasn’t until I felt the chair seat on my bare butt that I realized I was naked.  Then I just said to hell with it and went ahead.  Kathy, it was fun walking down the hall naked even if people are seldom at this end of the office with Bob away.  Was it wicked of me?”
	“Personally, I think it’s great.  I’m amazed at the self-confidence you’ve developed in such a short time.  Now, let’s see how good an actress you are.  You have to call Bob at The Greenbrier.”
	Kathy was surprised to see Jane return to her desk to make the call.  Kathy punched the light to listen to the call with her Speaker button on so she could hear the conversation.  Jane asked for Mr. Robert Ferguson’s room.  When there was no answer, she told the hotel operator that it was an emergency.  She said she was Mr. Ferguson’s private secretary and it was vital she contact Mr. Ferguson at once.  Could he be paged?  The Greenbrier’s paging system is as extensive as it should be for one of the Nation’s top resorts for business gatherings.
	Kathy took advantage of the break in the conversation to go out to see how Jane looked at her desk.  Jane’s desk was to the left, in front of Ferguson’s office.  Jane was sitting with her back to Kathy’s office.  Kathy watched Jane sitting up very straight in her secretarial chair, pulling her shoulders back.  As she watched, the older woman was looking down at her breasts which were jutting out proudly.  She could see Jane smile to herself in satisfaction.  Kathy went back to her phone in time to hear the Greenbrier operator say that Mr. Ferguson had been located and would soon be on the line.
	A few minutes later Bob Ferguson picked up the phone.  Jane was perfect.  She behaved exactly the way a breathless secretary would behave when passing on such exciting news.  As she relayed the itinerary, Kathy switched off the speaker, pushed the Privacy button and dialed a call.  She spoke for a few minutes, received confirmation that her request would be carried out and then hung up.  She resumed listening in on Jane’s conversation as the arrangements were completed.
	Jane hung up and came running back into the office.  Kathy met her half way and the two women embraced.  As they did Kathy took the opportunity to reach down and squeeze the older woman’s buns.
	Jane looked startled.  Kathy told her that her breasts were in good shape but her buns and thighs needed work.  She ran her hand over her belly and told her it was rounder than it should be.  “Overall, Jane, you show promise, but you still need work.  Let’s go to my place.”
	As the two women put on their clothes, Kathy saw Jane frown at hers, particularly at her underwear.  Obviously, the woman’s attitudes had changed dramatically.  Jane ensured that the office was locked and then they went down to Kathy’s car and got in.  Before starting the car Kathy faced the older woman.  “Jane, I want to swing by your place and get some clothes.  For this project to work best you’ll have to live with me.”  Jane looked startled but readily agreed.
	They drove out the Expressway to Virginia Beach where Jane owned a small house.  It was a long distance from Kathy’s and reflected the fact that it is one of the nation’s largest cities in area.  Kathy waited in the car while Jane went inside.  A short time later she reappeared with one medium-sized suitcase.  When she put it in the back seat and climbed back in, Kathy expressed surprise that she had only a single bag.
	Jane grinned.  “Maybe I’m taking a lot for granted.  I have a business wardrobe that is sort of drab, but serviceable.  As for the rest, the less said the better.  And somehow I got the feeling that I won’t be wearing many clothes around you.”
	Kathy grinned back, but didn’t answer.  When they reached her apartment, Kathy pressed the appropriate buttons and switches.  They were soon in the private elevator going up to her apartment.  When the door whooshed open and they stepped out into the hall, Jane looked around and gaped.  She put her bag down and started walking through the apartment.  Kathy stopped her.
	“We have a new house rule for you, Jane.  No clothes.  Come on, I’ll show you your room, and you can change.”
	Kathy led her to a guest bedroom.  It was large and furnished with a king-size bed.  It had its own bath only slightly smaller than Kathy’s own.  Like Kathy’s, it too opened out to the pool deck.  Jane put her bag in the closet and glanced at Kathy.  Then she stripped off her clothes and hung up her business suit.  Kathy laughed as Jane took off her slip, bra and panties and threw them into the wastebasket.  Then she slipped off her shoes, put them away and closed the closet.
	Jane threw back her arms forcing her breasts out and up.  “How do you like my new uniform?”
	“It shows promise.  Let me get into my own and we’ll take it from there.”  Kathy went into her room, took off her clothes and returned to the living room where she had left Jane.  “Come on, let’s eat.”
	Jane was surprised at dinner that night.  Kathy prepared a full meal, while Jane found herself looking at a diet special.  By the time dinner was over they realized it was late so they went to bed.  Jane, exhausted by the day’s physical and emotional excitement, was asleep instantly.
	The next morning Jane was rudely awakened when Kathy stripped the covers from her.  She blinked awake and was momentarily confused by her surroundings.  When she realized where she was, her features relaxed, she stretched luxuriantly and just lay there, her eyes on Kathy.  “If this scheme doesn’t work out, would you consider an alternative proposal?  Could I apply for the position of your maid, or slave, or whatever?  The only requirement is that this room has to be my compensation in the deal.  No money.  Just this room.”
	With her hair spread on the pillow, she looked lovely, and Kathy said so.
	Jane looked at Kathy standing at the foot of the bed, “Kathy, I know this is going to sound dumb, but you are my inspiration.  I look at you standing there like a young goddess with an awe-inspiring figure.  I can’t get there, but I’m going to try like hell to get as close as I can.  Let’s get with it.”  With that Jane bounded out of the bed and headed for her bathroom.
	Kathy was eating her breakfast when Jane came out.  She made a little face when she saw how little there was for her to eat.  Then she ran her eyes over Kathy’s flat belly, her slim hips and thighs.
	“Inspiration!  I guess I’ll live on black coffee,” she said with a grin.
	After breakfast, Kathy led the way into her bathroom and opened the shower.  She set the controls and motioned for Jane to get in.  Jane looked puzzled as Kathy followed her in.
	“By the way, Jane, how old are you?”
	“I’ll be thirty-five this Fall, Why do you ask?”  Kathy watched as a kaleidoscope of expressions ran across Jane’s face, accompanied with a pantomime of gestures.  “Of course!  How old did you think I was?  Forty?  Forty-five?”
	With the water pouring over her, she slid down to the floor crying.  The intensity of her sobbing increased as she slid down into the corner of the shower and just huddled there.  Slowly her sobs subsided, and Kathy helped her up while the water from the shower’s myriad sprays continue to pour over them both.  Pulling Jane into her arms, she held her tightly as the sobbing ran off into hiccoughs and finally stopped.  Jane just stood there with her head nestled in the younger woman’s shoulder.
	Kathy reached down and gave an available soft buttock a hard pinch.  Jane jumped with a yelp.  “That’s for going soft on me and turning on the waterworks,” Kathy said softly.  “And in my very own waterworks, yet!  The reason I asked is that I had put your age at forty to forty-five until yesterday.  Then I saw how firm your breasts are.  This morning I saw you bound out of bed, but I figured you couldn’t have been widowed eight years ago and still be only twenty-five.
	“Those fighter jocks are notorious cradle robbers, but allowing for having been married for three years, you would have had to be fifteen when you were married.  Even those guys have some standards.”
	Kathy started to leave the shower when she was pinched hard on her bottom.  She jumped with surprise and wheeled on Jane who was standing behind her and grinning.  “Why did you do that?” she wailed, trying to sound hurt.
	“That was for all of the gratuitous insults you’ve directed at Navy fighter pilots!  Cradle robbers, indeed!”  Jane replied in the haughtiest voice she could muster.
	They both laughed heartily and went out to the pool deck.
	As they stood poised at the end of the pool, Jane asked, “What do I do now?”
	“Just stay beside me.  Don’t drop back, though, or my pet shark will get you!”
	With that, Kathy smoothly entered the water in a racing dive.  She heard Jane enter with a much greater splash, and she continued to glide while she waited for the older girl to catch up.  When she did, Kathy reached out with long arm strokes while she established a powerful kick.  She found that Jane had to take at least two strokes to her one to maintain her position.  Up and down the pool they went.  Kathy was sorry to see the older girl struggling so hard to keep up, but she didn’t relent.  It was only when she saw Jane flailing and getting close to the point of exhaustion that she stopped.
	She came to the end of the pool, and in one continuous motion, touched the wall and pulled herself out of the pool.  Then she turned and saw Jane just hanging on to the side wall gasping for breath.  She waited until Jane’s breathing returned to a semblance of normal, adn then reached out her hand.  When Jane grasped it, she smoothly pulled the older girl out of the pool.
	Jane took two steps and collapsed on the deck.  Finally, she raised her head and peered at Kathy, “Are we there, yet?”
	“Are we where?” Kathy replied.
	“China, turkey.  That’s where you were going, wasn’t it?  By the way, I’ll have you know I resent the fact that here I am dying — I’m not sure whether from drowning or exhaustion — and you’re not even breathing hard.  It’s not fair!”
	“As our late president, John F. Kennedy, once said, ‘Who says the world is fair?’  Come on, we have work to do!”
	Jane looked at her.  “You can’t be serious.  That was six weeks worth in the last hour!  What do you mean, work?”
	Kathy looked at Jane affectionately.  She was developing a deep respect for her spirit and good humor.  “Work.  We have to get you into shape.  That was just a warmup to loosen up your muscles a little.  Come on, let’s go!”
	Kathy tried to maintain a straight face as she led the way to her exercise room in which there was a wide range of exercise equipment.  She set Jane up on a treadmill and later on machines to exercise her thighs and buttocks.  Finally, she set up weights for Jane to use on her shoulders, back and chest.
	The regimen continued day after day with Kathy giving Jane pointers on her technique.  After a while, combining her exercises and weight training with improved technique, she was keeping up with Kathy in the pool.  She continued her low-calorie diet while she enviously watched Kathy devour large meals.  Periodically, Kathy would steal away to a bar exam cram course she was taking.
	One morning, Kathy came into Jane’s room to awaken her in her usual fashion by stripping off the covers.  Jane stretched like an awakening tigress and then got out of bed.  Kathy studied her closely and led her into her bathroom.  The mirror covered the entire wall to the ceiling.  “Jane, look at yourself.”
	Jane looked in the mirror carefully for the first time in several weeks.  She scarcely recognized the reflection as herself.  There was a girl there, studying her carefully.  The girl had a flat belly, tip-tilted breasts, slim hips and slim but powerful legs.  The carriage was erect and the face was lovely.  The girl’s face looked a bit thin, as if she had been missing meals.
	Jane’s eyes widened in amazement at the apparition.  “My God!  That’s me.  I can’t look like that.  I can’t, can I, Kathy?”
	“That girl looks a little thin to me,” said Kathy.  “I think she needs a good breakfast.  Let’s eat.”
	Jane followed Kathy out to the kitchen.  There on the counter were two man-sized breakfasts of orange juice, ham, eggs, hash brown potatoes, toast with real butter, coffee, and real sugar.  Jane sat down and started eating with relish.  When they were finished, Jane poured another cup of coffee, pivoted her stool half around and leaned her head back against the wall.
	Sensuously, she rubbed her long, slim fingers over her now-flat belly.  “God, that tasted good.  Kathy, that was the most delicious meal I could imagine.  Do you have a cigarette to make it perfect?”
	Kathy produced cigarettes.  Jane lighted hers and took a deep drag and slowly let it out.  “Okay, I’m ready.”
	“Ready for what?” Kathy asked, puzzled.
	“The firing squad, the slaughter house...  Whatever,” Jane replied airily.  “That’s why you’ve been working on my body this way, isn’t it?” she asked with mock seriousness, desperately trying to maintain a straight face.
	“My God!” exclaimed Kathy, picking up on the gag.  “It’s all over.  I’ve failed!” she wailed.  “I forgot.  The Sheik who’s buying you insisted that your pubic hair be curly.  What can we do?”
	Jane looked down with great unconcern and ran her fingers through her silken pubic hair.  Her expression was intent as she rolled some pubic hair around a finger.  “How about a permanent?  Do you think that would fix it?” she asked in wide-eyed innocence.  At that point, she and Kathy dissolved in laughter in each other’s arms.
	It was just about over.  After making several phone calls Kathy told Jane to get dressed.  It was the first time in weeks she had had clothes on.  Jane ignored underwear and put on the suit she had been wearing the night she arrived.  She was shocked.  The suit was the best she owned and had been hand-tailored for her.  Now the shoulders were tight.  When she put on the skirt, it wouldn’t stay up.  It just slid down over her now-slim hips.  She called to Kathy who came in to see.  The two girls rolled together on the bed in laughter.
	Kathy took Jane to a hair salon where she had made an appointment.  Jane’s hair was restyled to be off her face and shortened so it was just below her collar.  A new wardrobe was assembled.  Jane delighted in the lingerie.  She had noticed that Kathy characteristically wore bikini briefs, so she bought those.  There were no slips, but some half slips.  Finally, Kathy bought her several diaphanous shorty nightgowns which were essentially transparent and reached only to her hips.
	When the girls returned to the apartment, they went back to the exercise room.  After her workout, Kathy had Jane get on the massage table where she went to work on the older woman, massaging the muscles that did not ache nearly as much as they had a few weeks earlier.
	“Jane,” Kathy asked the next morning, “did you ever go down on Bill when you were married?”
	The question, coming from out of the blue, took Jane by surprise.  Again, a kaleidoscope of emotions passed over her face.  Finally, she answered, “Yes, a few times.”  She blushed scarlet.
	“Why are you blushing?” Kathy asked.
	“Because I’m embarrassed, silly.  Nice girls don’t do that.  That’s reserved for prostitutes.”
	“Why is it reserved for prostitutes?” asked Kathy.  “And if it is, why did you do it with Bill?”
	Jane looked confused.  “Well... Because... Because we would be together, and I looked at his male organs and...  I just wanted to weigh his balls in my hand and...  His prick looked so soft and vulnerable because we had just made love.  I just wanted to kiss it to show my love.  And I...  And I...  did.  I mean I went to kiss it, and I tasted the juices, accidentally, and... and it went in my mouth, and I guess I licked it.  And I guess I sucked it...  And then it was all hard again and in my mouth.  So I... I started to go down on it.  Kathy, he just exploded.  I absolutely lost control, sucking him dry.  Kathy, it was marvelous.”
	“Did you like the taste?” Kathy asked.
	“The taste of what?  Oh!  You mean... You mean... Bill’s semen?”
	“Yes,” said Kathy, “Did you?”
	“Of course not... I mean...”  Then Jane raised her head defiantly and replied, “Yes!  Damn it, yes, I did.  It was wonderful: warm and a little salty...”
	“Then why are you ashamed?” Kathy asked quietly.
	“I’m not ashamed.  I mean... I mean, good girls don’t...  Damn it, Kathy, I don’t care what good girls do.  I was just a fighter jock’s hot cunt, damn it.  I was great, and he was great, and...  Yes, damn it, I loved it.  I like the taste.  I like the feel of it.  I can still remember it exploding in my mouth.  Kathy, it was magnificent.  It was nearly as good as our exploding together with him inside me.  But yes, damn it!  I like it.  I’ll leave now.  I’ll get my few things together and...”
	“And what?” Kathy asked.  “And most particularly, why?  Why would you possibly want to leave now?”
	Jane looked confused.  “Why because... because I’ve had a man in my mouth... and I swallowed it, and.... and I liked it.  Of course I have to go.”  Jane started to get up, and Kathy, gently but firmly, pushed her back.
	“You didn’t ask me.”  Kathy said in a matter-of-fact voice.
	“Didn’t ask you what?” Jane asked, obviously puzzled.
	“You didn’t ask me if I liked it.  I’ll tell you anyway.  Yes, I like it.  I love the taste.  I like to feel the explosion in my mouth.  I like to pretend my mouth is my vagina.  I like it, too!”
	“But Kathy, you can’t!  You’re not even married!” Jane wailed.
	“Jane, honey, we’re talking about sex, not marriage.  Let’s face it.  They may be related but they aren’t synonymous.  You had your experience in the context of what I’ve gathered was a fabulous, loving marriage.  I haven’t been married, but I have had the experience.
	“Listening to you, Jane, I have been awed.  You were making love to Bill in every way you knew how.  Worshiping his body, if you will.  Listening to you tell the story was beautiful.  You were expressing your love for Bill and his body.  Jane, I’m convinced that Bill was a very lucky guy.  And you know something else?  I’m sure he knew it.  Now, can you do it again with Bob Ferguson?”
	Jane now understood what Kathy had been doing.  She started to beam.  It was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud after a summer shower.  “Kathy, you mean that going down on a man — on your lover — is an expression of the love you feel for him.  And God, it does feel so good, and leads to...  Kathy Smith, you are wicked!  You led me along and all along you... you... you wanted me to see how stupid my attitudes have been.  You didn’t say it was awful, I did.  Kathy Smith...”
	Jane drew Kathy into her arms and hugged her.  “Kathy Smith, you are a piece of work!  I’ve been working for you for years and I liked you.  You have always been thoughtful and generous.  But now... now, I love you like a sister, but even that isn’t good enough.  Kathy, one of these days the right man will come along.  We’ll be able to hear the explosion for miles!  You are a wonderful person!”
	“Thank you, Jane Wilson, for that fine testimonial!  Now, Mrs. Wilson, ma’am, would you please get that lovely little ass of yours in gear!  You’ve got a plane to catch.”
	“I’ve got a what?” Jane exclaimed.
	“You know.  Airplane.  It has wings and engines and...”
	“Katherine Smith, I take back everything I just said.  You are impossible!  For God’s sake, what plane?”
	Kathy acted like she was talking to a small girl, telling her how to go to the grocery store.  “The plane to Kennedy Airport in New York, connecting to the Swissair flight to Zurich, which connects with another Swissair flight to Athens.  Then you take the limousine that will meet you to the port of Piræus where you meet Bob’s ship.  What other plane would you be taking?”
	Kathy ducked as Jane swung at her.  “By the way, you and Bob have connecting staterooms.  I expect that you won’t be using separate rooms for too long, so, Jane, when you move in with Bob, would you please tell the purser?  That way, I can get a refund on the unused portion of your ticket.”
	Kathy was grinning broadly until Jane gathered her in her arms and hugged her tightly.  Kathy could hear small whimpering noises coming from Jane and could feel the tears flowing down the older girl’s cheek to her shoulder.  Kathy held her until the woman’s shaking stopped.
	When she pushed back, Jane’s eyes were gleaming with tears.  “I should have known!  You’re the girl who gives her fraternity a million dollars.  You rescue stray dogs and kittens.  I should have known.  You know, Kathy, I can’t thank you?  How can you thank a person who can re-instill youth, love, feelings, beauty...  Yes, damn it, beauty.  You’ve made me more beautiful than I ever dreamed I could be!”
	“For God’s sake, knock off the maudlin chatter and get your ass in gear!  You’ll miss the damn plane and wreck my beautiful plans.  And one more thing.  If I’m not the maid of honor when you marry Bob, I will shoot you!  And I’ve got a gun and a carry permit now, too.”
	Kathy was so proud of Jane at the Norfolk airport.  After checking in on the Piedmont flight to New York, she saw her walk down the concourse towards the security checkpoint with her small ass wiggling just a bit.  Kathy smiled as she saw men’s heads turn to follow her progress.  At the gate checking in for her first class seat, the gate agent saw the radiance in her face.  I only wish she was thinking of me, he thought.
* * *
	It was late August in Norfolk.  The day was steaming when Kathy dressed for the wedding.  She was to be the maid of honor at Jane’s wedding to Bob Ferguson.  She smiled as she remembered meeting Jane and Bob at Kennedy Airport on their return flight.  As they came out of the Customs area at the International Arrivals building, Jane was beautiful and self-assured, walking with her head up, her shoulders back and her breasts standing out proudly.  Bob Ferguson looked wonderful.  He, too, was trimmer, standing taller and obviously madly, head-over-heels in love with the apparition by his side.
	Bob was the first to see Kathy and came running over.  Kathy noticed that Jane, too, ran with a smooth runner’s stride.  He hugged Kathy and burbled, “You wouldn’t believe what happened.  Here I am on this wonderful cruise, but absolutely bored to tears, when who should board the ship at Piræus but Jane.  She said it was quiet at the office and you told her to get out so you could concentrate on the bar exams, so she found this cruise.  You see, the Queen Elizabeth runs a whole mess of cruises with different designators, depending on where you board and where you get off.  Jane never dreamed it was the ship I was on, but anyway, we were in adjoining cabins.”  Bob suddenly blushed.  “After a while, we... uh, we... well it was stupid to waste money on two cabins so... uh... well Jane talked to the purser, and we got a big refund on her ticket.”
	Jane was standing behind Bob.  As Kathy looked up Jane gave her a broad wink.  Kathy had chartered a plane to fly them down to Norfolk.  As the plane reached cruising altitude, Bob fell asleep.  Jane unbuckled her belt and came back to sit next to Kathy.  She was absolutely radiant.
	“Kathy, I feel so good.  These have been the most thrilling weeks of my life.  Kathy, some days we never got out of bed.  We had our meals brought to the stateroom and just made love.  Kathy, there’s one thing you should know.  Do you remember when we talked about going down on a man?  Well, it tastes great when you wash it down with champagne!  I think Dom Pérignon is the best.”
	Jane and Bob were radiant as they took their marriage vows.  At the reception, she got Bob aside to ask about the honeymoon plans.  He said that Jane had found a small island in Hawaii that was very quiet.  Because of the cruise, they were only going to be gone for a week.  He hadn’t been in the office for months and really had to get back.
* * *
	 It was the last weekend in August.  Kathy had just received word that she had passed her bar exams with the highest grade on the test.  It was Saturday and she had to take care of a few things at the office before starting work as an assistant district attorney.  After signing in with the security guard at the bank building Kathy went up to Ferguson’s offices.
	When she let herself into the outer office she found it was very hot, very stuffy and very quiet.  Then she remembered that the building’s air conditioning and ventilating systems were shut down over the weekend so the heat of the sun coming through the windows raised the temperature substantially.  The office was eerily quiet.  Kathy realized for the first time how much noise was generated by the ventilation, typewriters, office machines and the hum of human voices.
	Quietly, she walked down the corridor and turned the corner heading for her office.  She stopped when she saw a nude female form bent over an open filing drawer.  It was Jane.  Kathy slipped off her shoes and put them next to a desk.  Her feet made no noise on the carpet as she came up behind the girl.  She was intently flipping back and forth through files searching for something.
	Kathy couldn’t resist.  Sneaking up behind the girl, she pinched her bottom hard.  Jane gave a yelp and jumped up, rubbing her bun.
	Just then Bob appeared at the office door, wearing only his trousers.  He looked at the two women he loved most in the world.  Kathy looked down and noticed signs of dampness on Jane’s pubic hair.
	Bob blushed.  “We had some work to do today.  It’s awful hot in here on Saturday, so, no one’s around, so...  Besides, Jane likes it this way.  She’s even got me not wearing clothes.”
	Kathy could look past Bob and see Jane smiling.  She was standing with her breasts jutting proudly.

Chapter 12
	It was eleven o’clock on September 1 and Kathy was sitting upright in a chair facing Peter Mahoney across his desk.  While Peter glared at her as he talked on the phone, she was a picture of alert innocence, exactly what one would expect of the newest member of the District Attorney’s staff.
	Peter looked away from Kathy as he spoke.  My God, he thought, this girl could excite passion in a plaster saint!  As noises continued from the end of the phone, he glanced in Kathy’s direction.  She was sitting across from him with her hands folded in her lap.  Her dress appeared to be the same one she had worn when they met before.  It was as neat and conservative as one could wish, the sort of thing featured for the bright female professional on the way up.  She wore no jewelry of any kind except a watch.  He had noticed earlier that it was a woman’s gold Rolex.
	Clearly, he thought, this girl doesn’t need money or she wouldn’t be giving up about eighty grand a year to work for me.  He reflected on her Rolex.  He decided that it was typical of Kathy: beautiful, expensive, and understated.  He also realized that it was a highly functional timepiece: accurate, shockproof and waterproof, with a very legible face.
	With all of that, why was she so disturbing?  The person on the other end of the phone was the mayor.  Kathy had just returned to the office.  She had been patiently standing at the office door that morning waiting for someone to come to let her in.
	Mahoney prided himself on opening the office, and yet here it was, the Friday before the Labor Day weekend, and this lovely girl is standing at the door waiting for him to open up.  He sent her off to Personnel to complete the forms beloved of bureaucrats everywhere.  He had blown his stack when he found out that Kathy had been in the day before to complete the paperwork but had been told that she wasn’t an employee until the next day.
	Earlier, the personnel director had called to complain.  He was angry because Kathy was starting the day before the Labor Day weekend.  He wanted to stop the processing and change the start date to the fifth so Kathy would not be paid for the weekend.  Peter smiled to himself remembering the call.  He hoped the bureaucrat had a ruptured eardrum.  He delighted in telling the director that Kathy had turned down a $100,000 job to come to work for him at seventeen-five.  A couple of bucks wouldn’t break the bank, particularly since he had just learned that Kathy stood number one on the Commonwealth of Virginia bar exam.
	The bar exam was the reason for the mayor’s call.  His phone had been ringing off the hook all morning.  The mayor must have been at least the fifteenth caller.  The results of the test had been released late the previous afternoon.  Rarely do bar-exam results make news, but this time they did.  The listing at the top read Katherine J. Smith, District Attorney’s Office, Norfolk.
	Routinely, the top scorer would be affiliated with one of the state’s top law firms, or a national firm’s Washington office inside the Beltway.  An assistant DA heading the list was obviously a “man bites dog” sort of story.  He had quickly reviewed Kathy’s background for the mayor and was accepting his congratulations on his recruiting coup.
	The mayor’s last words were, “I don’t know how you did it Peter, but persuading her to join your office has to be the greatest thing you’ve ever done.  I’ve always told people that you could talk the birds out of the trees, but now even I believe it.  Give her my best wishes, will you?”  Peter had not told the mayor that Kathy had found him.  He hung up the phone and turned to face her.
	“That was the mayor.  He asked me to extend his congratulations on your bar exam, and welcome you.  So, welcome.  You have been on the payroll less than three hours, and already you’re turning this office upside down.  The Virginian & Pilot is sending over a photographer for a picture.  He’ll be here in a few minutes.
	“Kathy Smith, you are a very interesting person.  I still don’t know why you joined this office.  I do know that you impress people.  While you were at personnel, the director of the police pistol range called and asked if you could serve as his women’s pistol instructor.  It seems that you shot out the lights over there, erasing every mark in their book.  Incidentally, he wants to send you to the FBI facility at Quantico for competition.  It seems you are unerring in separating the good guys from the bad guys.  You only gun the baddies apparently, and with lethal effect every time.  So much for being scared by firearms.”
	He picked up his telephone in response to an intercom buzz, and was told the gentlemen of the press had arrived, so he and Kathy went out to meet them.
	The paper had sent over a reporter and photographer.  The reporter led off by asking Kathy what she was going to do to stop crime.
	Kathy, ignoring the snide intent of the question, responded brightly.  “I’m so glad you asked!  District Attorney Mahoney has named me to a special task force to fight violent crime.”
	Kathy went on to say that, using a crime-control computer installed with Federal Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) money, they had completed a study of dangerous criminals.  Dangerous criminals were defined as those with three or more felony convictions or five or more felony arrests.  A run had been made of the persons matching these criteria in Tidewater and the computer came up with a listing of 163 persons.
	The list was being distributed to all law enforcement agencies in the area.  Steps were being taken to prosecute immediately anyone on the list to the fullest extent of the law with minimum delays in going to trial.
	When Kathy started speaking, a passing police reporter heard the phrase, “special task force”, and perked up his ears.  He ran to the phone and made a few calls.
	Peter Mahoney was listening to Kathy’s recital in growing amazement.  He was concentrating on not letting his jaw drop when his secretary ran in with the news that film crews from the three local television stations were on there way over.
	“Mr. Mahoney, they asked if you could take a break for fifteen minutes or so to give their crews time to get over here and set up.”
	Peter felt circumstances had taken events out of his control.  He glared at Kathy who returned the glare with a sweet smile.  The photographer took the break as an opportunity to get pictures of Kathy.
	“Kathy,” he said, “I would like you to turn a little and put your foot up on that chair, then hike your skirt up on your thigh.  You seem to have pretty good legs.  Then unbutton your jacket and turn your body.  Let’s see some chest.”
	Kathy looked at him with an expression that almost caused Peter Mahoney to crack up.  It was a cross between what one would expect after stepping on dog feces on the sidewalk and the response to the suggestion that she perform a lewd and lascivious act at noon on the sidewalk of the Harborside Mall.
	“I beg your pardon,” Kathy said disdainfully.  “I am a member of District Attorney’s professional staff.  You may take an appropriate photograph of me, or, if Mr. Mahoney is willing, of the two of us together.”  She looked at Peter, who nodded.  “As the most junior member of his staff, I would be proud to stand next to him.  This never would have happened had he not so graciously invited me to join his staff.”
	The pictures were duly taken with Peter smiling proudly at his new recruit.  To some degree or other all DAs are political, and it never hurts to get your picture in the paper, particularly under flattering circumstances.
	After the picture-taking, the group moved to a small auditorium that had been commandeered for the impromptu press conference.  In addition to the TV news crews Kathy saw that representatives of other news-gathering organizations were also present.  Meanwhile, Peter had been unable to get Kathy alone to find out what she had been talking about.  On the other hand, he was impressed with her aplomb.
	She handled the news conference as if she had done nothing else for years, so Peter decided to go along for the ride.  With the news crews ready, Kathy apologized for not having prepared visuals.  The program was too new and they had not expected television coverage.  After repeating what she had said earlier to the single reporter, she elaborated on special arrangements that were in place to expedite the handling of the listed criminals.  Then she opened the conference to questions from the floor.
	“Miss Smith, when can we get a copy of this special watch list.”
	“I’m sorry, sir, you cannot.  The list is considered highly confidential.  However, when it is distributed, all of the law enforcement agencies will have a copy.  I think it’s fair to say that those on the list know who they are.  The announcement we wish to make is that Norfolk is going to be a safe city.  The criminals preying on our citizens — all the muggers, the robbers, the rapists, the burglars — know who they are.  They now face three choices: go straight, get out of town or go to prison.  Norfolk is going to be the safe city we all want it to be!”
	The reporters were impressed with the obvious sincerity in Kathy’s speech, even if they were skeptical about its prospects for success.  A reporter turned to Peter, standing beside Kathy.  “Mr. Mahoney, I’m Jim Smith of WTAR.  Would you please tell us who is going to be in charge of this special unit in your office?”
	“Thanks, Jim, I would be delighted to.  The answer is Katherine Smith, of course.  I would like to say a few words about Kathy.  She is new to our staff, as you know.  Officially she only started today, yet I’m sure it’s obvious to you all that she has been doing her homework before reporting aboard.  She represented this office in the creation of the Dangerous Criminals list and is fully conversant with the way we intend to operate.
	“We are proud to have Kathy with us.  To show the caliber of talent this office has been able to attract, I would like to acquaint you with her background.  She graduated from Yale University with highest honors after being elected to Phi Beta Kappa.  She was number one in her class at University of Virginia Law School, and you all know that she achieved the top grade recorded on the recent bar exam.
	“This office recognizes talent.  I am proud to announce that Katherine Smith is my special assistant in charge of our newly-formed Dangerous Criminals unit.  I won’t repeat Kathy’s warning to our criminals.  I will only add, Amen!”
	There were many more questions that Kathy fielded, detailing how the unit would work.  The crews finally packed up quickly after nearly ninety minutes of questioning to get back to their studios to edit their tape for the evening news shows.
	When the crews left, Peter motioned Kathy to come into his office.  After she entered, he closed the door and took his seat behind the desk while Kathy sat upright in a chair facing him, looking attentive.  “Miss Smith, would you kindly tell me what that was all about?  And, Kathy, for God’s sake, no injured innocence, please.”
 	Kathy grinned, dropping her pose.  “I thought it went well, didn’t you?  I think we’ll get a good play on tonight’s news.”  She frowned and continued, “It’s a shame it’s the Friday before Labor Day.  The audience for tonight’s TV news and tomorrow’s papers will be awful.  It’s one of the slowest news days of the year.  Peter, you should have waited and announced it next Tuesday or Wednesday.”
	She ducked as Pete hurled an eraser at her head causing it to miss.  She straightened up quickly and assumed her attentive look as if nothing had happened.
	He looked at her and started to chuckle.  It turned into laughter.  Soon he was roaring with laughter, leaning back in his chair.  Kathy joined in.  “Slow news day, indeed.  Young lady, we will get more time on the news tonight than we’ve had in the last five years combined.  I’ll settle for a slow news day!  Now, young lady, you are going to have to deliver!  Seriously, Kathy, I hope those numbers were real.”
	Kathy went into her briefcase, pulled out a file, and pulled her chair around to Peter’s side of the desk.  He sent out for sandwiches as they reviewed the voluminous data together.  Kathy explained to him how the data were set up, the definitions used and the limitations.  She stressed that the key was felony arrests and convictions.  She pointed out that only a small fraction of crimes resulted in arrests.
	It was after five-thirty when Kathy finished her presentation, “Pete, the key is the number of arrests against the number of reported crimes.  Either the guys on the list are the dumbest, unluckiest criminals in this city, or — much more likely — we’re looking at the tip of the iceberg.  For every arrest, the guy actually committed ten, twenty or even more crimes.  In business there is an eighty-twenty rule.  It means that 20 percent of the customers produce 80 percent of the business.  Is it possible that it applies to crime, too?  Twenty percent of the criminals commit 80 percent of the crimes?  I think they do, and I’m going to get them!”
	Peter looked at his watch.  “Come on Kathy.  Tonight I really want to see the Six O’clock News!”
	They closed up the office quickly and went to a nearby bar.  They entered just as the evening news was coming on the air.  They were surprised to hear that the Dangerous Criminals Task Force, as the media now dubbed it, was the evening’s lead story.  Kathy was amused at the way she appeared in the news footage while Peter was impressed.
	The station they were watching — WAVY — had obviously dug deeper.  Although they did not have names, they had gotten numbers from the police computer that they had used to make graphics for the show.  They agreed that the station had done an excellent job with its coverage.
	When it was over and the station broke to commercials, they received a shock.  First, the patrons in the bar had been paying close attention to the story.  Second, they recognized Peter and Kathy.  The crowd which was very large for the Friday before a long weekend started cheering.  They crowded around and wished Kathy luck.  She heard comments like, “It’s about time!”  “It’s the first crime program I’ve ever heard about that makes sense.”  “Kathy, throw ’em in prison and lose the key.”
	They left the bar and took a booth in the corner.  Peter wiped his forehead with his handkerchief, put it away and looked at her steadily.  Then he asked to see her weapon.  Kathy slipped a stainless steel .38 out of her special purse and passed it to him butt first, making sure to keep it out of the sight of the other patrons.
	Peter examined it carefully.  “What is this?  I can’t ever recall seeing a piece like this before.”
	“It’s a new weapon from Smith & Wesson called the LadySmith.  As you see, it has a four-inch barrel and stainless steel construction.  I carry it in this purse I ordered from Texas.  It’s designed to keep the gun away from the other junk I carry.  How do you like my lethal new friend?”
	“Kathy, I just hope you never have to use it!  After watching the news film, though, I’m glad I got that call from the police pistol-range officer.  Kathy, you’re set up as a target, now.  You declared war on the worst of the scum infesting this city.  And you did it on television, yet.  Remember, young lady: They’re scum and they’re vicious.
	“Kathy, do you remember what I said when you were in my office in the spring?  They are evil.  I wouldn’t be surprised if at least some of those maggots decide that the best way to end this war is to gun down its commanding officer.  That’s you!”
	Kathy realized that Pete wasn’t trying to scare her, but was expressing how he really felt.  She replied, “Pete, I understand, and I appreciate your concern.  I promise I’ll be careful.  I won’t say something stupid like, ‘They can’t touch me.’  I know they can.  So I promise to stay out of trouble as much as I can.”
	“Kathy, I believe you.  I sort of expected some show of bravado, I guess, but you’re too smart for that.  You are brave.  Period.  You know something?  I think this Task Force idea might work.  I am certain, though, win or lose you are the best person for the job.  Shake on it?”  Peter extended his hand and was pleasantly surprised at the strength of Kathy’s grip.
	“Thank you, Peter, for giving me the chance.  I promise I’ll do my best.”
	“Let’s go home, Kathy.  It’s a long weekend, remember?”
* * *
	Kathy was at home in her library playing with her electronic toys.  There was a normal-appearing television set on a shelf in built-in cabinets, but it wasn’t normal.  Pressing a button raised a sliding panel above the set.  Behind the panel were two additional TV sets.  Using a remote control unit, Kathy could watch the three network channels simultaneously; the audio came from whichever channel was displayed on the main screen.
	It was after eleven o’clock and she was using the device to watch the three newscasts for coverage of the Dangerous Criminals Task Force.  At the same time, a bank of videotape machines in the ventilated cabinet below were recording all three programs.  Kathy smiled to herself thinking about her electronic overkill.  The three operating tape units were in a bank of six.  The other three — now idle — were there against the possibility that she might want to tape cable channels as well.  She was surprised to see that the coverage was even more extensive than she had seen at six o’clock.  If broad publicity could be of value to her program, she was getting the best that could be hoped for.
	Just then the telephone rang and Kathy picked it up.  A familiar woman’s voice was on the phone, but Kathy couldn’t immediately place it.  It certainly wasn’t Jane.  “May I speak with Katherine Smith, please?”
	“This is Kathy Smith,” she answered, sounding puzzled.
	“Kathy, this is Julie.  Do you remember me?”
	Memories came back in a flood.  How could she ever forget the large woman with whom she lived for so many years.  How many years?  For some reason Kathy had never been sure.  “Of course I remember you, Julie.  How have you been?  Where are you?  How are the girls?  Are you still in the business?”  The questions just bubbled out.  This was the first time she had spoken to Julie since she left the house — how long ago? — in eight years.
	She heard the familiar laugh she had not heard for such a long time.  “Slow down, honey.  I’m fine.  I’m in a new house.  Or at least at a new location.  You may not know it, but the old house was leveled for urban renewal five years ago.  I don’t think you want to know where I am now.  With your new job you’d close me down and I’m too old to go into another line of work.  As far as the girls go, there aren’t any who were here when you were.  This is not a business where a girl ages gracefully.
	“I saw you on television tonight and I had to call you.  Honey, you are so beautiful!  And I’m so proud!  There was the district attorney himself introducing his new special assistant, Katherine Smith.  Kathy, your achievements!  Yale University, and University of Virginia Law School.  My God!  And in only eight years.
	“There’s more.  First, I’m the only one around who knows where you came from.  The only one.  And I’m not saying anything to anyone.  Second, I want you to know that you’re doing a wonderful thing, and I sure hope you succeed.  I know you have a hard time believing this, but it’s true.
	“I’ll bet you never thought of it this way, but those vicious scum wreck my business.  Face it:  Places like I run aren’t in the best part of town.  We’re in their territory.  They attack my girls and they attack my customers.  I hope you put ’em all in prison!
	“I guess you know by now that we operate pretty much in the open.  My girls aren’t hoity-toity call girls; customers come here.  Payments for certain people to look the other way or not see certain things are a cost of doing business.  The owner takes care of things like that.  I don’t know who’s involved and I don’t want to know.  But, Kathy, we hear things.  We’re not on the right side of the law but it’s in our interest to get these dangerous scum off the streets.  If I hear anything that sounds useful, I’ll pass it on.  Do you have an answering machine on this line?”
	“Yes, I do,” Kathy replied.
	“Great.  Now that I’ve talked to you again, you’ll recognize my voice.  I won’t leave any identification, just the message I think you should hear.  Be careful, Kathy!  They might come after you.  I still love you, baby.  Good night.”
	The connection clicked off.  Kathy reflected on the conversation.  Julie must have some very well-connected friends to obtain her unlisted phone number.  However, she was not sure that even the phone company knew where her telephone was really located.  Her line ran to another address blocks away.  A private wire linked to her apartment.  She tried to summarize her feelings about Julie but could not.  She did believe that she could and would maintain her secret.
	The weeks following Labor Day were busy ones.  Pete assigned two assistants to work with her.  Because of the public announcement of her appointment, there was no question raised about her authority; they did their work.
	After the List had been circulated to police units, Kathy scheduled a series of meetings including both unit commanders and patrol units.  She quickly discovered that she would have to produce a success quickly or lose them.  The police — both male and female — fully supported the effort.  They sincerely wanted to protect the people and the men on the Dangerous Criminals list were immediately recognized as the ones to get.
	However, Kathy discovered what she started to think of as the “Washday Miracle” syndrome: Yet another new laundry detergent is introduced to the disdainful reaction, “Oh boy.  Another washday miracle.”  The officers wanted to put these targeted men away but had been trying to do so for years.  Any number of special campaigns, usually announced with great fanfare, had started... and failed.  Worst of all, she sensed a pervasive attitude, “The good guys are losing.”  She felt she had to have a success.
	The first break came on September seventh, a Thursday.  Kathy had just finished her first week, although Monday had been Labor Day.  She received a call at her apartment from one of the district stations.  One of the men on the List had been picked up by a patrol unit responding to the silent alarm in a jewelry store.  Kathy was at the station twenty minutes later.  She supervised the questioning and personally handled the bail hearing.
	When the judge was about to release the accused, Horace Brown, on his own recognizance, Kathy contested his release on the grounds that Brown was already out on parole.  He had been released from prison less than six months before.  Furthermore, Brown was already free on his own recognizance awaiting trial on an Armed Robbery arrest only six weeks before.  Accordingly, the State wanted Brown held without bail to await trial, or failing that, wanted cash bail set at a minimum of $100,000.
	The judge recessed the court for ten minutes and went to his chambers.  A few minutes later the court reconvened.  The judge ordered Brown held in jail pending the posting of cash bail set at $100,000.  Bail was not produced and Brown went to jail.
	Kathy wondered who the judge had called from his office but it didn’t matter.  The publicity of the previous weekend was working.  Better still, the news media, sensing strong public interest and support — and hence ratings or circulation — were maintaining their interest.  Kathy saw a couple of reporters race for the telephones when the high bail was set.
	When she returned to her apartment she saw there was a message on her answering machine.  She recognized Julie’s voice, “Hon, I thought you would like to know.  Word on the street is that Horace Brown is pissed.  He was trying to make a score to pay the lawyer who’s supposed to defend him in his armed robbery trial!  Keep it up, kid!”
	Kathy laughed and fell into bed.
	The morning news led off with the story of Brown’s arrest.  The morning news anchorman reported, “Authorities will neither confirm nor deny, but the report is that Brown is a name on the Dangerous Criminals list.  Assistant District Attorney Katherine Smith, director of the unit, personally appeared to contest Brown’s release from custody on his own recognizance.  Such a release without posting bail has been the procedure that informed observers tell us is normal in such cases.”  A still picture of Kathy had appeared when her name was mentioned.  There was also a mug shot of Brown along with a review of his recent arrests.
	When Kathy arrived at the office in the morning, Pete gave her the thumbs-up sign from his office while he was talking on the phone.  Kathy met quickly with her assistants and assigned one to the Brown case.
	“Jerry, there will be no plea bargains, nor will the State ask for any continuances.  I want you to prepare for trial as soon as possible and file this morning for the first available trial date.  After you do that, check on his robbery bust.  Let’s see if we can take over that prosecution, too.  It’s a heavier rap than burglary.”
	The next morning Kathy saw a squib in the paper that caused her to chuckle.  It seemed that the attorney scheduled to represent Brown in his armed robbery trial had withdrawn from the case which had been reassigned to her unit.  Kathy personally handled the prosecution and obtained a conviction.  Brown was sentenced to twenty years to life on the robbery charge and the burglary charge was still awaiting trial.  Kathy refused to drop it.  She was delighted at the effect of the Brown case on the police.
	A few days later, everyone — including the press and the public — was delighted when one of the men on the List was arrested for littering, and with an assistant district attorney appearing for the State, was given the maximum punishment, a $100 fine.
	This was the subject of the lead editorial in the paper the next day.  The editorial writer commented that the word was that Kathy Smith was going after the people on the List and would prosecute everything.  Going after littering and insisting on the maximum penalty suggested she was serious.  The names on the list were never released, but Kathy and her assistants were considered the bloodhounds.  Whenever they appeared the individual was considered to be on the Dangerous Criminals List.
	Kathy met with Peter Mahoney.  Pete was grinning at her.  “Kathy, you are getting it done.  It is absolutely brilliant.  You started with that press conference.  You’ve been playing the media like a keyboard virtuoso.  You have the public behind you and the media supporting you.  Most important of all, Kathy, I think you have the cops on patrol starting to believe in you.  They are the hardest ones to sell because they’ve heard so much talk and seen so little action.  You know, I’m really proud of the selling job I did to get you in here!”
	He grinned broadly.  “But then His Honor, the mayor himself, said I can talk the birds out of the trees.”
	Kathy stuck out her tongue at him, and he howled with laughter.
	The program moved ahead.  By mid-November, they had registered two convictions and had twenty-three others awaiting trial.  A local paper started running a Target Scoreboard with the number, 163, in the center of a target.  Below was a bar chart with three bars.  The first was the number on Kathy’s list, 163.  Below was a bar for those awaiting trial, now standing at twenty-three, and one below for convictions, now numbering two.  Below that was a space for acquittals, dismissals, etc., showing a zero.
	On a Friday night in late November, Kathy got home to her apartment at seven-thirty.  She smiled to herself thinking that, given the hours she had been keeping since starting the job, she had only worked half a day.
	She thought of her lunch with Jane Ferguson earlier in the week.  They had a window table at a luncheon club on the top floor of the bank building where Jane worked.  Kathy was seated with her back to the window with Jane facing her.  She looked at her and smiled warmly.  “I have never seen you look so beautiful, Jane.  You are positively radiant!”
	Jane was wearing a light grey wool dress with a white cashmere cardigan.  Kathy was certain there wasn’t much underneath it.  The older girl was sitting upright in the chair with her shoulders back and her head up.  In spite of the date, she still had a nice tan.  Her brown hair showed golden sun streaks which looked beautiful.
	Jane smiled warmly.  “Kathy, I just want to state the obvious.  First, I love you and consider you my closest friend in the world.  By the way, I never had the chance to thank you adequately for giving me a key to your apartment.  I’m a little concerned, though,” she added with a mock frown.  “I offered to be your maid, or your slave, or anything else if I could only keep the room.  Since I still have the room, am I your slave?  I’m only asking, and it really doesn’t matter much — maid or slave — but I haven’t told Bob yet.  What should I tell him?”
	In view of their very proper surroundings, Kathy was doing her best to swallow her laughter as Jane went through her very straight-faced comic recital.  When Jane finished, Kathy gave her the sweetest possible smile and said, “It’s lucky for you, dear, there are so many people here, or I would throw a roll at you!  And you know how hard they are!”  Jane grinned broadly and Kathy added, “Furthermore, it’s unfair!  You’re sitting with your back to the room.  They can’t see you so you can get away with murder!”
	That crack caused Jane to laugh as she was taking a sip of water.  The result was that the water sprayed in Kathy’s face.  While Jane laughed even harder, doing her best to remain still in her chair, Kathy wiped her face with her napkin.  “Boy, I can’t take you anywhere!”
	The two friends just grinned affably at each other.  “Seriously, Jane, I wanted to thank you for taking such care of my business affairs.  I honestly don’t know how my bills would be paid if you didn’t do it for me.”
	Jane thought for a moment and then appeared to be thinking out loud, “Well, let’s see...  She gave me back my self respect, took about ten years off my appearance...”
	Kathy interrupted, “Twenty years.”
	“Well, fifteen maybe,” Jane continued, “got me married... but...  I don’t know.  Now there’s been a dramatic increase in internal wear and tear, so there’s an offset...  Let’s me use her private pool, exercise equipment, apartment...  Yeah, that’s about right.
	“Now, against that I write her checks at least once a month...  Sometimes more.  Or at least the computer does, but I have to push the buttons all by myself... and... and I have to sign them all by hand.”
	Jane appeared to come out of her reverie.  “You know Kathy, you’re absolutely right!  Please buy me a check signer with a signature plate?  You can’t appreciate how hard it is to sign your name... by hand... in ink!  It wears a girl out.  It really does.”
	Kathy shook her head and grinned.  “Okay, I know when I’m licked.  I’ll let you know about the other thing.  I think ‘slave’ sounds kind of nice, though, don’t you?”  Jane daintily stuck out her tongue.  “See, there you go again!  Next time I get to sit facing the window.”
	Then Jane’s facial expression changed as she changed the subject: “Seriously, Kathy, there are some things I wanted to talk about.  First, Bob and I would like you to spend Thanksgiving with us.  Would you please?  It’s our first Thanksgiving together and it’s special.  All kidding aside, you made it happen.  And Bob is looking younger every day.  He claims it’s the exercise.
	“Second, we are so proud and impressed with what you’re doing in the DA’s office.  You know Bob’s well-connected politically around the state.  Some people who are never impressed by anything are starting to be impressed by you.  You know the ones: the court house types who are always there.  The guys who never change are starting to think about changing.  Bob is really impressed, and not just because it’s you, Kathy.  Honest.
	“Finally, Kathy, a new subject:  Bob got a call early this week from a man named Charley McCann who owns a bar near the Naval Base.  It does a great business with the sailors, I understand.  Of course, I don’t know anything about sailors.”  Jane rolled her eyes and continued, “At any rate, he needs some financial help, and he called because he was an old friend of Sam Jenkins.  Bob remembers Sam speaking of him as his oldest friend.  Do you think you might be able to do something for him?”
	“Of course, Jane.  Give me his name, address, and phone number.  I’ll go see him.  By the way, are you going to continue to be Bob’s secretary?”
	Jane, who had been neatly writing out Charley McCann’s name and address, looked up at Kathy as if she had a screw loose.  “Lady, are you crazy?  Do you think for one minute I would quit and let my oversexed husband bed someone else on the office sofa every afternoon?  Speaking of which, I better get back.  Bob is very easygoing provided I’m there for my principal duties of the day.”  Jane gave a big wink and allowed Kathy to see her rubbing her groin.
	When she returned to her apartment, Kathy stripped off her clothes, and took a quick shower.  My Lord, I have this beautiful shower but it has been months since I’ve been able to really enjoy it, she thought.  With her hair wrapped in a towel, she picked up the phone and called Charley McCann.
	The phone was answered with the words, “Charley’s place.”  Kathy asked to speak to Mr. McCann.  An older voice came on the phone, “This is Charley.”
	“Mr. McCann, this is Kathy Smith calling.  I understand that you spoke with Bob Ferguson earlier this week.  He suggested I call you.  I’m Sam Jenkins’ niece.”
	“Miss Smith?  Good heavens!  Are you the Kathy Smith I see all the time on television?  I’m honored.  I would be proud to meet you any time you say.”
	“Would it be convenient if I came by tomorrow afternoon?  Perhaps about four-thirty?” she replied.
	“That’s fine!  I’ll be here and it should be kind of slow then.  I’m looking forward to it.”

Chapter 13
	The next afternoon Kathy drove to Charley’s place and parked in the lot.  Most of the spaces were empty.
	Before going in, she carefully looked around.  It was a perfect location for a bar, across from the main gate of the Naval Base.  The building was large but visibly needed work.  Paint was peeling and the neon sign needed refurbishing The parking area was pot-holed and in need of resurfacing.  There was no planting, and the place looked barren and uninviting, particularly in the daylight.
	Kathy walked in and stood at the entrance.  The establishment was really a single very large room.  A partition rose to the ceiling beginning about ten feet back from the entrance which separated the bar and lounge area on the left from a table area on the right.  There were a substantial number of customers around the bar, but compared with the large size of the place Charley’s appeared almost empty.
	As Kathy walked up to the bar, an older man tending bar at the back saw her.  He wiped his hands on his bar apron, and came hurrying down to greet her.  Kathy saw there were two bartenders working even with the small crowd; Kathy estimated there could be five or more working when the place was busy.
	Charley lifted a hinged section of the bar and came out to greet her.  He stuck out his hand in greeting, “Hi!  I’m Charley McCann, and I certainly recognize you as Kathy Smith.”
	Kathy took his hand in a firm grip, while Charley studied her.  He slowly shook his head.  “Some people are going to be very surprised.  We see you a lot on those television news shows and talk about you.  We thought that it was the TV makeup and lighting that made you look so good.  Boy, are the guys going to be surprised when I tell them that TV doesn’t do you justice!  You’re much more beautiful in person.  Can I get you something from the bar before we sit down?”
	Kathy smiled warmly, and Charley could feel his heart start to melt.  “You’re an Irish flatterer, Charles McCann!  That’s a lot of blarney!  But I would love a cold beer.”
	Charley blushed, retreated to the bar and returned with two bottles of Sam Adams and chilled glasses.  He led the way around to the empty table section.  After seating Kathy at a table he sat down across from her.
	“Miss Smith, you must be Sam Jenkins niece.  I just don’t understand why he never mentioned you to me, though.  He was my closest friend.  But you are just like him.  You’re so warm and friendly...  so natural.”  Charley thought about the gloomy prospects for his place and his face fell.  “I guess you looked around when you came in?”
	Kathy just nodded.
	“I’m afraid it doesn’t look too good.  I made a mistake a few years ago.  I don’t take any money to speak of out of the business.  The whole thing’s paid for.  Sam gave me some money to help me get going, but I paid him back a long time ago.  But then I didn’t notice that the old place was showing its age until it was too late.  I guess I kept the prices too low for too long.
	“When I realized I needed to fix it up, I got some estimates.  I almost fell over when I learned what the cost would be.  Now I don’t feel I can raise prices until I fix the place up, and I can’t fix it up until I get money.  Everyone knows it’s a great location.  I have had some good offers to buy the property from some big operators.  Their idea is to tear the place down and put up a new, much fancier place on the property.  I guess word of their interest got around.  When I went around to the banks, they didn’t want to lend, they wanted me to sell.”
	Charley looked at Kathy with sorrow visible in his eyes.  “Kathy...  Do you mind if I call you Kathy?”
	Kathy took has hand warmly and said, “Please do.  And may I call you Charley?  I really feel I should call you Uncle Charley.”
	Charley blushed and continued to hold Kathy’s hand.  “I would love it!  Imagine having a niece like you.  But Kathy, I don’t want to sell!  It’s not the money.  The offer is a very good one.  But what can I do with money?  Kathy, I’m a bachelor like Sam.  This is my life!  These are my friends!  I just don’t want to give it up.”
	Charley’s head dropped and Kathy could see tears forming in his eyes.  She went around the table and took the older man in her arms.  Charley started to cry in earnest as if his heart would break.  She continued to hold him while he regained control.  Then he sniffed and reached into his pocket for a handkerchief.  He wiped his eyes and blew his nose, then looked up at the girl.  “I’m sorry, Kathy.  That was awful!  My God, I don’t think I’ve cried since I was six years old.  I certainly didn’t mean...”
	Kathy smiled at him warmly and held his hand in both of hers.  “I understand, Charley.  I really do.  It’s your life.  Look, can I make you an offer?  Will you let me give you the money to fix the place up?  I would like to help you make Charley’s the best damned Navy bar in the world!  Would you like that?”
	Charley started to smile.  It grew like the sun coming out from behind a summer cloud.  “You would do that?  For me?  But my God, Kathy, you don’t know what you’re saying.  The estimates are for over $750,000!”
	Kathy replied, “That’s light for what I have in mind.  I was thinking between a million and a half and two.”  Charley’s jaw dropped.  “I would like to see the exterior completely redone.  You ought to have the area landscaped.  Put in some grass and shrubs and trees.  This is a naval base, Charley.  Except for the sea, all the sailors get to see is asphalt!  We need to have some green things around.
	“Now the kitchen:  The swabbies like to drink, but they love to eat, too.  Nothing fancy, but the kitchen has to be serving as long as the bar is open.  The only places you can get something to eat after ten o’clock are the top hotels that the sailors can’t afford, or the fast-food joints.  And you need a car to get to most of them.  Then...”
	Charley interrupted her.  “How long have you been studying this place, Kathy?”
	Kathy reddened with embarrassment, realizing that she didn’t know the first thing about running a bar or a restaurant.  She had never seen the place in her life until a few minutes earlier, and here she was trying to tell the man who had built it and run it for years how to do it.  “I’m sorry, Charley.  I was out of line.  I haven’t studied your place at all.  I never even saw it until I came in this afternoon.  I apologize.  Forget I said anything.”
	“The hell I will forget!  I just heard more sensible ideas from you in two minutes than from these dumb, so-called hospitality consultants over the last two years.  Honest, Kathy, you never saw the place before?”
	“Honest, Charley.”  Kathy smiled.  “I just tried to put myself in the position of the sailors.  We want to give them what they want to buy.  Now, about the money.  I’ll loan it to you and you pay me back when you can, the way you did with Sam.”
	She reached into her handbag and pulled out a check that she had prepared at Ferguson’s office on her way over.  “I didn’t know how much you would need, but I brought a check with me that you can use to get started on.”
	The check, payable to Charles McCann, was for $1 million.  She passed it to Charley who glanced at it, then stared.  “This check says $1 million,” he said, overcome with awe.  “Are you crazy?  I mean...  I mean...”
	“Charley, what’s the trouble?  I’m only doing what my uncle would have done if he were still alive.  He loaned you money to get started, didn’t he?”
	“But Kathy, that was a few thousand dollars.  This is one million!”
	“But that was before inflation, Charley,” Kathy said with a big grin.  She put out her hand.  “Is it a deal?”
	Charley looked at the extended hand and then down at the check.  “No,” he said firmly, “It’s not.”
	Kathy’s face fell.  I just don’t know how to handle money.  I’ve hurt this poor man’s feelings, and I’ve wounded his pride, she thought.  Tears started to form and then roll down her cheeks.  “I’m sorry, Charley.  I was just trying to help,” she said softly.  “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
	This time he held her while her shoulders shook with sobs.
	Charley smiled.  “I didn’t want to make you cry, Kathy.  But it is a great excuse to get to hold you.  It’s not the money, it’s the deal that’s no good.  You are buying the place for that money.  Of course, I would like to stay on and run it for you...”
	Kathy smiled brilliantly.  She hugged him and then gave him a warm, soft, lingering kiss on his lips.
	Charley reddened like a beet.  My God, what a kiss! he thought.  This girl is a volcano.  I wonder if I’ll be around when she finds the right guy?  Aloud he asked, “Kathy, do you have a boyfriend?”
	Kathy was visibly startled by the question.  “No, I don’t.  Why do you ask?”
	“Because you will!” replied Charley.  “When the right guy comes and you hear the bells, there’s going to be a volcanic eruption.  I hope I live to see it.”
	Kathy had an eerie feeling.  Charley had almost exactly repeated John Robinson’s words the night of the fraternity initiation at Yale.  “Charley, I have a favor to ask?”
	“Anything!” he said.
	“I would like to work as a bar waitress tonight.  I could put on one of those super-short little strapless outfits.  My legs are good enough, don’t you think?”  She swung her chair so around so she could extend her legs out straight.  She pulled her skirt up to the tops of her thighs so Charley could inspect them.  “My bottom’s small, but it’s firm.  I’m not as big on top as I should be, but the construction of the outfit usually pushes a girl’s boobs up so she looks bigger than she is...”
	Charley was scandalized.  “Not on your life!  Is your figure passable, indeed!?  Kathy Smith, you idiot!  Your figure could win the Miss Universe contest, for chrissakes!  Do you think I want to start a riot?  The Shore Patrol would put the place Off Limits.  Your bottom would be so black and blue from pinches, you couldn’t sit down for a week.  No!  You may not work as a bar waitress!”
	Kathy was prepared to argue when he added, “Besides, how would it look?  Do you think you’re invisible?  You may be the best-known woman in Tidewater with all the television coverage you’re getting.  How do you think it would look for the Assistant District Attorney of Norfolk County in charge of the Dangerous Criminals Task Force to be seen working as a bar waitress?  I ask you!”
	Kathy pouted at him like a little girl.  “You’re just saying that to keep from hurting my feelings.  My body isn’t up to your standards.”
	“And you, young lady, are just fishing for more compliments.  ‘Vanity, thy name is woman.’  Besides, you know I’m right.”
	Kathy grinned at him.  “Okay, you win, I guess.  But seriously, I would like to look at the crowd tonight.  Could I sit at a table and just watch?  Please?  I’ll be real good!  Honest.”
	Charley nodded and smiled.  “I guess I can’t stop the new owner from keeping an eye on the place she just bought,” he said.  Charley grinned.  “Of course, that assumes she pays for her own drinks...”
* * *
	At eleven-thirty that night, Kathy was sitting at a small table in the back of the room on the bar side.  She liked the friendly atmosphere of the place.  She had been interested to learn that most of the employees were off-duty naval personnel, including a number of the waitresses.  She was recognized and word of who she was spread quickly.
	Kathy was embarrassed when a pretty young waitress came up and asked for her autograph.  The girl said that she was a yeoman first class assigned to the base legal office.  She told Kathy that she wanted to go into law when she got out of the Navy, and Kathy was her personal hero.  In response to Kathy’s question, she said her name was Sally.  As Kathy wrote the autograph she looked at Sally.  The girl was wearing a uniform exactly like the one Kathy had been describing to Charley earlier; she hadn’t realized she was being prescient.  Out of curiosity, she asked Sally about pinches.
	The girl rubbed her bottom ruefully and grinned.  “They mean well.  If they give you a really hard pinch, they usually end up sticking some money down your top.  Besides, it improves my agility.  I think of it as an obstacle course.  A hard pinch is when I didn’t clear the obstacle.”
	Sally moved off to serve the customers that were crowding the place.  Moments later, two men entered the bar.  For some reason, Kathy sensed that they didn’t belong.  Responding to her premonition she unobtrusively placed her purse on the table in front of her.
	The pair went up to the bar and suddenly guns were brandished.  “This is a holdup!” one of the men yelled.  “Nobody move!”
	At that instant a sailor sitting opposite the bar against the wall, got up and started towards them.  “Hey, wait a minute, you can’t...”
	The gunmen were about fifteen feet away from the sailor when both weapons fired.  Kathy was sitting to their left out of their sight line.  She slipped her weapon from its holster and squeezed off four shots in rapid fire.
	Suddenly it appeared that their weapons had become too heavy to hold and their bones turned to jelly.
	Before they hit the floor, Kathy was running towards the sailor who was on the floor.  “Call the police and get an ambulance.  This man’s been hit,” she yelled.
	She found that he had been hit in his right arm at a point just below the shoulder.  The slug was imbedded in the muscle; there was no exit wound.  Although she couldn’t be sure, Kathy didn’t think the bone had been hit.
	The young waitress, Sally, came running up quickly with a first-aid kit.  She seemed to know what she was doing as she cut away the sailor’s sleeve to prepare to bandage the wound.
	The sailor tried to smile at her.  “That’s not fair, Sally.  Why did you have to cut off my sleeve like that?  These are my best tailor-made blues!”
	Sally finished bandaging his arm and then gave the sailor a soft kiss full on the lips.
	In the meantime, Kathy had moved to where the two gunmen lay crumpled on the floor.  Other sailors were keeping curious people away from the scene.  Moments later, sirens were heard responding to the shooting report.  At the same time a siren with a different pitch could be heard moving in their direction from the Naval Base hospital.  Two policemen entered the bar with their guns drawn.
	When they realized that everything was under control, they holstered their weapons and examined the bodies on the floor.  Both men were dead so they were left untouched awaiting the crime team.  Navy corpsmen came in with a stretcher and carefully removed the wounded sailor to the ambulance outside.  A moment later its siren screamed as it rolled back towards the base hospital.
	Charley and his people moved the customers around to the table side of the establishment to clear the area for police who were now arriving in numbers.  A detective lieutenant took charge and asked what happened.  Kathy went up and introduced herself.  She drew her .38 and gave it to the officer.
	After relating what had happened so suddenly, she concluded her story by saying, “They started shooting, so I returned fire to protect lives.”
	The lieutenant wrote down the serial number of Kathy’s LadySmith in his notebook and gave it back to her.  Surreptitiously, he dropped four fresh .38 rounds into her hand along with the weapon.  “You may need it again, Miss Smith.  Please keep it fully loaded.”
	Television news crews arrived and set up their lights and cameras out front.  The lieutenant had conclusively identified one of the dead men as a person high on the Dangerous Criminals List.  Since over two months had passed since the list was placed in broad circulation among law enforcement agencies, all of the media now had copies of their own.
	Kathy was pleased that, even though they had obtained copies, no one had published it.  The other dead man was identified as an associate of the first whose criminal accomplishments were not yet numerous enough to make the list himself.  Kathy put on a coat and went outside to meet the press.  She quickly related the events of the evening.
	A TV reporter identified one of the gunmen by name and asked Kathy if he was on the List.  Kathy decided to break precedent by conceding what both she and the reporter knew.  “Yes, he was,” she said without elaboration.
	By this time, things were winding down at Charley’s.  The morgue wagon had taken the bodies away, and the crime lab people had finished their work.  One was overheard saying to the other that it was a waste of time.  The whole thing was open-and-shut.  Two dangerous hoodlums had been gunned down, and it couldn’t happen to nicer guys.  The other replied that they still had to fill out all the forms neatly to keep the paper-pushers happy.  The last vehicle moved out and things started to get back to normal.  Kathy whispered to Charley who announced that the bar was open and drinks were on the house until closing.  Then he raced around filling orders.
	Meanwhile, Kathy went back to her table and sat down.  Suddenly she felt her knees turn to rubber and she started to feel sick.  As she did, Sally quickly came over and held her.  Kathy absently noticed how clean the girl smelled.
	“Thank you, Kathy.  They were going to kill Jim, you know.”
	Kathy looked up, slightly dazed.  Just then Charley came up with a glass filled with an amber liquid which he gave to her.  He asked Sally when she needed to be back at the base.
	“Not until 0800 on Monday.  Why, Charley?” she asked.
	“Sally, I would appreciate it if you would drive Miss Smith back home.  I really don’t think she’s in any condition to drive now, and she certainly won’t be after she drinks that cognac.  I’ll keep your time running on the clock until Monday.”
	“Charley McCann,” Sally exclaimed angrily, “That’s an insult!  On the clock, indeed!  Look, she saved Jim’s life!  I don’t know if I’ll marry him, but I sure want him to stay alive while I make up my mind.  Miss Smith, I would be honored to take you home if it’s all right with you?”
	“Sally, it would save my life.  Thank you so much!”
	The girl went back to the dressing room to change out of her uniform.
	Charley sat down at Kathy’s table while they were waiting.  “Kathy, I just don’t know what to say.  Don’t take it the wrong way, but when those guys pulled their guns, I looked your way to be sure you were safe.  Then I heard the firing.  Kathy, I don’t think a cobra can strike as fast as you moved.  You were sitting with your hand on your purse.  The next instant there’s flame coming from your right hand and those shits are on the floor.  Sam and I were buddies during World War II and saw a lot of action together.  He would have been very proud!”  He held her in his arms until Sally returned.
	The two girls went out to the car with Kathy still carrying her cognac.  Charley had told her that it was one of the best in the world, Rémy Martin’s Louis XIII.  All she knew was it was delightfully smooth and was calming her down.  Sally headed out the Virginia Beach Expressway.  Kathy could hardly stay awake to give Sally the intricate directions to her apartment.
	Kathy showed Sally to the guest room, went to her room, removed her clothes and fell into bed.  She was so tired that she left her clothes in a pile on the floor where they fell.

Chapter 14
	Kathy awakened in her bed with sunlight streaming through the window.  Sally was standing at her bedside looking unhappy.  After stretching luxuriantly, she said brightly, “Good morning, Sally.  What time is it, anyway?”
	“Good morning.  It’s nearly eleven and I’m very sorry I awakened you.”
	“Don’t be silly.  I haven’t slept this late in months,” said Kathy as she got to her feet and disappeared into the bathroom.  She emerged a few minutes later after brushing her teeth.  “Why are you looking so unhappy?” she asked with the concern showing in her voice.  “I hope you didn’t get bad news about Jim!”
	Sally brightened.  “Oh, no!  I called the hospital and he’s fine.  I am going to see him tonight.”
	Kathy was seeing Sally for the first time in good light.  The girl was wearing skin-tight blue jeans, a loose sweater, and a pair of moccasins with no socks.  The girl had beautiful auburn hair, brilliant green eyes and lovely features.  Kathy studied her carefully.
	Sally reddened under her gaze and continued, “It’s not Jim, it’s your apartment.  He’s the electronics technician, I’m not.  I’ve never seen such a place.  Everything is electrical!  I’m so inept, I couldn’t even figure out how to draw your drapes.  I tried to draw them so you could sleep longer.  Then I decided to try to fix breakfast, but the kitchen scares me.  And I couldn’t even figure out how to make my shower work.  And I know I look like a slob, but...”
	“I’m so sorry.  I was just admiring your beauty.  Sally, I think you’re a doll.  It’s none of my business, but are you wearing anything under those jeans?”
	Sally blushed crimson and shook her head, no.  “I was going to work and we wear those little uniforms.  They’re built sort of like a girdle and they’re strapless with kind of a built-in bra.  With the side cut, you can’t be sure even bikini briefs won’t show so...”  She held her head up straight and finished the speech.  “No, Miss Smith.  I am not wearing any underwear.  I’m sorry for embarrassing you.  I’ll leave now.”
	Kathy smiled fondly.  She liked this lovely little sailor.  “Sally, you will like hell leave!  First, for God’s sake, it’s Kathy, not Miss Smith.  Miss Smith sounds like a maiden 64-year-old school teacher.  Second, you seem like a bright girl.  I hope you’ve noticed what I’m wearing... or not wearing.  I apologize to you.  I seldom wear clothes around my apartment.
	“You probably noticed that there is no view into the apartment except from straight overhead.  You’ve noticed that I have no pubic hair.  It’s a foible I have and I’ve gotten used to.  I hope I’m not embarrassing you.
	“You mentioned breakfast, which reminds me, I’m starving.  And it’s Sunday.  I love a big breakfast on Sunday.  How about you?  I’ll start cooking while you check at the front door for the Sunday paper.”  By the time Kathy finished her recital, Sally was smiling happily.
	Kathy padded off to the kitchen while Sally retrieved the paper.  She asked if she could help and was told that the biggest help would be to sit down and let the demon cook work.  Kathy made a breakfast of omelettes with pecan-smoked bacon, and waffles with butter and pure maple syrup.  “Since you’re in the Navy and surviving, I assume you drink coffee?”  She nodded and Kathy poured it.  “Sally, I’m embarrassed.  I don’t even know your last name.  I gather Jim is a boyfriend, and I don’t know his, either.”
	Sally put out her hand, “I’m Sarah Fitzgerald, but I am called Sally; Jim is James O’Rourke.  I am very pleased to meet you.”
	Kathy took the girl’s hand and was pleased with the firmness of her grip.  She hated limp handshakes from anyone.  Glancing at the front page of the paper, Kathy noticed that the temperature was expected to reach the upper seventies.  She looked at Sally speculatively.  “Do you swim?”  Sally looked puzzled but answered that she did.  “Come on then, let’s take advantage of the day!”
	She led the way through her bathroom, opened the sliding door to the pool deck, and checked the temperature.  For a change, the weather man had got it right.  “I don’t think you want to swim in those do you?  Those sweaters get terribly heavy when they’re wet,” she said with a grin.
	Sally had long since become accustomed to Kathy’s nudity and had guiltily wanted to be bare as well.  She lost no time in stripping off her sweater and jeans after kicking off her mocs.  She stood in front of Kathy with a question in her eyes.
	“Turn around slowly,” Kathy said absently.
	Sally was a smaller girl than Kathy, standing five feet four inches tall.  The uniform she wore at Charley’s may have been made like a corset, but obviously Sally Fitzgerald didn’t need one.  Whiteness across her loins showed where they had been covered by a bikini.  There was no similar mark across her breasts.  Like Kathy’s, Sally’s breasts were high and firm but not overly large.  She had a small patch of red pubic hair.  Sally blushed with the color beginning at her loins and rapidly spreading upward.
	She had seen that Kathy had noticed the remains of an even tan covering her breasts.  She answered Kathy’s unasked question.  “I looked everywhere but I couldn’t find a suit whose bra matched the line of my uniform at work, so I just leave the bra off when I can.”
	Kathy grinned.  “You look perfect to me.  What does Jim think?” she asked, guessing that Sally’s relationship with the young man was more serious than she would admit even to herself.
	As she asked the question, she manipulated the controls on her shower.  The water flooded out from all directions.  She motioned to the smaller girl and they both stepped in.
	This time, Sally didn’t blush.  “He always wants me to take the bottom off, too, but usually I won’t.”  She jumped a little as Kathy turned down the water flow and the girls started soaping themselves.  When Sally reached her buttocks, Kathy noticed there really were bruises showing.
	Kathy probed a particularly dark one with her fingers and Sally yelped.  “You weren’t kidding about the pinches, were you?”
	“No, I wasn’t,” she said ruefully.  “I try to keep Jim from seeing them.  He gets furious.  I try to face him which usually works okay.  He’s a boob man, and he really likes mine.  He likes to weigh them in his hands.  Anyway, concentrating on my boobs keeps him from looking at my bottom.”  Sally started to laugh, remembering a scene from the past.  “Once, a guy gave me a really hard pinch and I yelped.  Jim got mad and decked the guy!”
	“That doesn’t sound funny.  What did you do?”
	“I decked him.  I told him that I worked there, and it was bad for business to hit the customers.”  While Sally was talking, Kathy was soaping her own body.  “Kathy, you really are magnificent, you know.”  When she finished, Kathy activated all the jets again and the girls moved under the sprays.  “This is heaven,” Sally said.  “I could stay in here forever.”
	“We can finish later.  Let’s go.”
	She led the way to the pool and dove in.  Sally followed moments later.  They stroked side by side up and down the pool.  Sally was a smooth and powerful swimmer and had no difficulty keeping up.  As they moved, Kathy could feel the tension in her muscles ease.  She figured it was the aftermath of the events of the previous night.  Finally exhausted, she hauled herself out of the pool with the smaller girl following smoothly behind her.  After hauling out two mats, the girls soaked up the November sunshine.
	Kathy awakened feeling cool.  She and Sally had almost immediately fallen asleep.  It was the drop in temperature caused by the late hour that had awakened her.  The smaller girl was still sleeping on her back, but Kathy could see the girl shiver a little in her sleep.  “Come on sleepyhead.  Let’s go!”
	Sally opened her eyes and shivered.  “Good Heavens.  What time is it?  I must have slept for hours!”
	Kathy replied, “Judging by the sun, I guess it’s about three.  You’re cold!  Let’s warm up.”  Earlier, Kathy had activated the sauna so it was up to temperature as the girls entered the room with its dry heat.  Kathy poured water on the rocks which instantly flashed to steam.  She joined Sally on the bench and they leaned back to enjoy the moist warmth.  After sweat had been pouring from her pores for a while, she showed Sally how the scraping technique worked.
	Finally, Sally said, “Can we leave, now?  There’s not nearly as much of me as there is of you, and I think at least half of what was there just melted!”
	Kathy laughed at the quip.  “Do you feel brave, Sally?  Do you want to go the whole hog with a sauna?”
	“What do you mean?” the girl asked.
	“In Finland where they originated this device of torture they do it in the winter.  They also beat each other with birch twigs in the sauna, but we passed on that and settled for scraping.  In the winter, before going into the sauna they cut a hole in the ice of the lake outside.  When they get out of the sauna they jump into the freezing water.  It closes the pores in a hurry!  I think there is some religious significance to the whole thing, but I’m not sure.  I don’t have a frozen lake, but I do have a cold water pool that I’m going to jump into.  Do you want to join me?”
	“Lead on, boss!  I’ll try almost anything once,” the small girl replied.
	Kathy opened the sauna door and jumped feet first into the circular pool.  After the instantaneous shock, the water felt good and then cold.  She let her head break the surface.  Sally was looking in the water with concern showing on her face because Kathy had stayed under so long.  When her head bobbed to the surface, Sally smiled in relief and jumped.  She, too, stayed under, emulating Kathy’s performance.  When she bobbed to the surface, Kathy said, “What do you think of it, Sally?”
	“I think I’m freezing my boobs off, is what I think.  Can we get out now?”
	The two girls quickly emerged and went back to Kathy’s shower.  In an instant, warm water flooded over them.  This time Kathy produced shampoo and conditioner.  As their bodies recovered from the thermal shock, they washed each other’s hair.  “I love your hair, Sally.  The color is glorious.  You’re the first redhead I’ve ever met who can tan.”
	“Thank you.  I appreciate the comment from a girl whose hair is 24-carat gold!  Yours is magnificent.  Why don’t you just let it grow?  I couldn’t imagine anything sexier than letting that gold flow over your breasts and over your man’s chest and...  I’m sorry, Kathy.  I’m getting carried away.  Who’s your boyfriend, by the way?”
	“I don’t have one yet.  I’m still hoping,” said Kathy.
	Sally looked at her thoughtfully, “Have you tried a classified ad?  That works sometimes.”
	With that, she fled from the shower, but not before Kathy landed a hard swat on her rump.  When Kathy got out of the shower, the smaller girl was ruefully rubbing her bruised rump and talking to herself.  “When are you going to learn, Fitzgerald?  When will you learn not to antagonize big brutes when you have a bruised ass?  When?”
	“Follow me,” Kathy said with an impassive expression on her face.
	They made their way to the exercise room where Kathy had the girl lie face down on a massage table.  Kathy went to her supply of lotions and found the one she was looking for.  Gently, she worked it into the girl’s bruised buttocks.  Then she massaged the rest of her body.  When she finished, she covered the girl with a soft blanket and let her sleep.
	At five-thirty she went back to the exercise room.  Sally was just waking up.  She looked like a small girl with her eyes full of sleep.  Tenderly, Kathy lifted the blanket and lightly ran her fingers over the girl’s bruises.  “Does that feel any better?  I apologize.  I forgot the bruises.  Lady, I’m going to see about armoring the uniform bottoms with Kevlar when we reorder.  You are hurt.”
	Sally sprang lightly from the table without saying a word.  She motioned Kathy to take her place on the table.  A little fearfully, she did, lying on her stomach.  Sally motioned her over on her back.  The girl examined the massage lotions.  Her eyes lit up when she found what she wanted.  Then she started to work on Kathy with strong yet gentle fingers.  Kathy could feel her muscles warm and relax as the fingers did their work.  Sally rolled her over and started to work on her legs, moving up her thighs to her buttocks.  As the warmth spread Kathy fell into a sound sleep.
	At seven-thirty she opened her eyes to see Sally studying her face.  “Smith, I hate you!  Not only are you beautiful when you sleep, you’re even beautiful at the moment of awakening!  That’s disgusting!  It’s... It’s... It’s sinful!”  Her words and her tone were belied by the lovely smile on her face.  “Come on sleepy head.  Time to move.  I called the hospital and they said I could see Jim until eleven.  I have to get going.”
	Kathy looked at her.  “May I visit, too?  I’m driving you back to the base.”
	Sally looked surprised but nodded.  After a quick dinner, Kathy sat the girl down and went to work on a hairdo that she had thought of.  Sally was delighted with the result.  “I don’t know what you did, but it makes me look like a pixie in a very seductive way.  And that’s a contradiction in terms, I know.”
	With reluctance, she pulled on her jeans.  Kathy helped with her sweater to avoid spoiling her new hairdo.  Then she went to her room and came back tugging on a pair of skin-tight Levi’s of her own which she topped with a Yale sweatshirt.  She put on a pair of moccasins and they were off.
	While driving toward the base, she probed Sally’s plans.  “Sally, last night at Charley’s you said you wanted to be a lawyer.  Were you serious?”
	“Honestly, Kathy, I was more hoping than planning.  I’m going to be twenty-two when my enlistment is up.  Jim will be twenty-two, also.  He wants to study electrical engineering at Cal Tech.  The big lug is smart enough to do it, too.  But there’s just not enough money, I’m afraid.  I’m saving a lot of my Navy pay and we get good educational benefits.  As you gathered, Jim doesn’t like me working at Charley’s and getting mauled.  The only reason he hasn’t hauled me off by my hair already is that the money is good and I save it all.”
	When they arrived at the hospital, Sally showed her Navy ID, and Kathy identified herself.  They went up to the ward where Jim was lying in bed.  Kathy realized the talk today had helped Sally sort out her feelings.  When they reached his bedside, Sally looked beautiful and Jim said so.
	She said, “Jim, I would like you to meet my friend, Kathy Smith, who saved your life last night.  Kathy, this is Jim O’Rourke, who keeps asking me to marry him.  Can you imagine marrying a big lug who’s so dumb he thinks he can walk through bullets?”
	With a soft cry, Sally cradled his face in her hands and kissed him lovingly on the lips.  Ignoring Kathy, Jim put his hand under her sweater and cupped a breast.  Sally continued to kiss him while mewing softly.  Then she put her hand over his and held it there.  Finally she pulled herself away.
	The previous night Kathy had not had a good look at Jim.  He was big and powerfully muscled, standing about six feet three, and weighing over 200.  He had dark hair and blue eyes, which didn’t leave Sally.  Kathy approached the bed and extended her left hand so he could grip it with his.  When he smiled at her, he showed even white teeth.  Kathy thought he was a very handsome young man.
	“Miss Smith,” Jim said, “I owe you my life.  The guys I was with last night said that I would have been a dead man if it hadn’t been for you.  I was looking at the gunmen.  They had a kill-craze in their eyes when they started shooting.  I thought I was gone for sure.  Suddenly, they folded up like puppets with their strings cut.  Thank you.”
	As he spoke, Kathy could see tears forming in his eyes.  By the time he finished, they were streaming down his cheeks.  He turned toward Sally who had a tissue and started gently drying his eyes.  “As for you, young lady!  I spent all day thinking about you and about us.  I love you so much, Sally!  I decided something.  You admire Miss Smith enormously and want to follow in her footsteps.  I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for her.
	“We’re going to pool our money, and we’re going to use it for you to go to USC and then on to USC Law School.  There are a lot of jobs in Southern California for a top electronics technician and I am one.  We’ll do just fine.  When you finish, you can support me!” he said with an attempt at a grin.  He continued.  “Miss Smith, would you believe this little twit has combined SAT’s of almost 1550?  She really does.”
	Kathy was trying desperately to keep from crying.  These two young people were obviously so deeply in love and now Jim was preparing to sacrifice his career for his future wife’s.  She managed to control herself and speak without her voice cracking.  “If you call me Miss Smith one more time, James O’Rourke, I’ll hit you right where the bullet went in.  Ask your future wife if I can hit.  She’s still rubbing her cute little ass.”
	At that point Sally spoke up firmly.  There was not even a quiver in her voice.  “No, you will not, Jim O’Rourke.  I’ll be barefoot, pregnant and home with the kids.  Kathy, he didn’t tell you he got an even 800 on SAT math...  And 800 on AP Physics...  And 800 on AP Math B&C.  Of course, we don’t talk about his SAT English scores.  The poor dear is only marginally literate.  That’s why I feel sorry for him and have to take care of him.”
	“Jim,” Kathy asked changing the subject, “is it true that Sally decked you at Charley’s one night after you flattened a customer?”
	Jim grinned and rubbed his jaw.  “I’m afraid it is.  I was on the floor.  She has an absolutely wicked right cross!”
	Sally went back into Jim’s good arm and was kissing him passionately when Kathy quietly left the room.  Neither knew she had gone.  Kathy wondered how long it would take them to figure out how to make love in the hospital bed without hurting his wounded arm.

Chapter 15
	When she returned to her apartment after leaving Jim and Sally, she turned on the VCRs and rewound the tapes to see the evening news shows that she had recorded.  The three network stations had major coverage of the shootings the night before.  One of the anchors commented that the two gunman had been convicted of three killings between them.  He continued by saying that, regardless of what one may think of the deterrent value of the death penalty, those two men would never kill again.  Overall, Kathy was pleased with the tone of the newscasts.  The next morning she glanced quickly at the morning paper while she ate a quick breakfast.  It, too, played the Saturday-night shooting prominently.  There were sidebars with eyewitness interviews coupled with statements from several officials.
	On Monday, Kathy had no idea how the staff in her office would act.  When she walked in, everyone dove for the floor.  Her laughter broke whatever tension there may have been.  Pete motioned for her into his office.  She sat down in her customary chair, adopting her usual pose.  He looked at her.  “Knock off that Junior League shit, for Christ’s sake!  It looks natural, but it’s an act.  A very good act, understand, but an act.  Saturday night was not an act.  Kathy, you could have been killed.”
	Kathy stuck out her tongue.  “I rather like my Junior League bit, too.  You’re mean!”
	Pete ignored her and went back to the papers on his desk.  “We have a bunch of stuff that hasn’t been released to the press, yet.  Some of it never will be.  The medical examiner’s report is interesting.  I’ve never seen one quite like it.  Instead of the usual technical jargon written in a studiedly dispassionate tone, this one was written with overtones of awe.
	“It seems the cause of death was identical in both cases: two .38 caliber bullets entering the chest cavity from the left on a slightly rising trajectory.  Both bullets passed through the heart and imbedded in the upper right quarter of the body, in or near the shoulder.  All four bullets have been recovered.  They match the rifling of your LadySmith and the spent brass retrieved from its cylinder.  Death was instantaneous.  Either bullet in each body would have been immediately fatal.  The two reports are identical.  Do you have any explanation?”
	“The place was crowded with people.  I wanted to be sure bullets wouldn’t be ricocheting around the room.  Did they find and recover the other bullet fired by the gunmen?”
	“The police dug it out of the wall panel separating the rooms.  The Navy turned over the slug extracted from O’Rourke’s arm.  The guy on our List gunned O’Rourke.  His buddy’s bullet hit the wall.  The police can’t recreate the scene with accuracy good enough to determine how close it came to hitting him, but it isn’t important anyway.  Paraffin and other tests were run on the bodies.  Results are conclusive:  Each man fired his weapon once before he was hit.  The recovered bullets match up, and so forth.”
	Mahoney stopped and looked up.  “Never in my years in law enforcement have I encountered such a clear-cut case.  It’s so good, even the usual gun-control nuts haven’t opened their mouths.  As soon as the inquest can be scheduled, there will be a finding of justifiable homicide in the line of duty to prevent further injury or death.  The mayor is waiting for the official finding to award you a commendation for exceptional performance.
	“For chrissakes, Kathy, even the damned Navy wants to get into the act!  For some unfathomable reason the Admiral commanding the Naval Base wants to present a commendation at a formal Admiral’s inspection and review next Sunday.  It seems some of his people who were at Charley’s Saturday night stated that the two gunman started firing with a crazed look in their eyes.  They said the guys were going to keep shooting and would have wasted a lot of highly-trained naval personnel.
	“The governor is watching developments.  He would like to do something dramatic but hasn’t figured out just what to do yet.  To top it all off, just before you came in I get a call from that dumb-ass head of the police pistol range!  He wants to see you as soon as possible; he had you shooting at full-face targets and didn’t fill you in on target areas of the body from other angles.”
	Kathy continued sitting, but her face looked grim.  She waited for Mahoney to speak while he waited for her.  He broke the silence.  “I’m sorry, Kathy.  Damn it, I’m scared!  The best assistant in the whole damned state, and possibly the whole country, in a shootout!  The experts are unanimous.  It was the finest police work they’ve ever seen.  It is the only exchange that went exactly by the book.  One shot each from the bad guys and they’re wasted.
	“The District Director of the FBI won’t stop talking about two shots.  ‘Not one, two.  Right by the book.  Fire at least two to make sure — a double tap.  Every bullet lethal.’  Kathy, I am proud.  Scared as hell for you, but proud.  I find myself believing what the Dean told me:  You do get the job done.”
	He rose and went around his desk.  Kathy also got up, thinking they were leaving the office.  Instead, Pete stopped, took her in his arms and kissed her.  Kathy calmly kissed him back.  When he released her, she heard a barely-perceptible, “Wow!”  Peter started muttering about getting a lot of shit from Personnel for sexual harassment.
	The hearings and paperwork were handled in record time.  About all Kathy remembered later were people with their hands out congratulating her.  Often they were trying to get into news photographs with her.  As soon as she could, she got away from the office after ensuring that her assistants were staying on top of their cases and pushing ahead as fast as possible.
	She went out to visit some police stations to check on morale, the critical variable in her law-enforcement equation.  On her first set of visits announcing the program she had been received with skeptical support.  “We’ll give it a try, but...”  Left unsaid was the thought that it wasn’t going to work.  The atmosphere she found on this visit was totally different.  She was treated with the deference accorded Queen Elizabeth of England on a state visit.  The attitude was shared from the newest rookie to the most senior watch officers.  “Kathy, you’re one of us.  You’ve been there.”
	In spite of always being armed, the typical police officer spends his entire career without ever firing a shot in anger.  Some observers feel it’s a good thing considering what all too often happens: Dozens, and at times hundreds of rounds are fired without hitting the person at whom the shots were aimed.  Gun battles in which more passers-by are hit than bad men occur all too often.  It is not frequent but often enough to hurt the police self-image.  Police officers detest, most of all, appearing to the public to be a bunch of Keystone Kops.
	Kathy had been involved in the most dangerous possible situation encountered in police work: shots fired in a location crowded with innocent civilians, with the civilians as the target.  Her response was instantaneous, exactly correct and most of all deadly accurate.  All the officers knew this.  None of them put it into words.  Kathy had buried two of the worst gunmen in Tidewater.  The police appreciated it.
	She went into a small station in East Norfolk.  The desk sergeant saw her come in and did a double-take.  Instantly, he was out from behind his desk to shake her hand.  “Miss Smith, what you did was perfect, simply perfect.  Thank you.”
	Kathy, without thinking, said simply, “Thanks, Sergeant.”  and kissed him full on the cheek.  The sergeant turned bright red and glowed.  Kathy Smith kissed me on the cheek, he thought.  At that moment he would have cheerfully died for her.
	Kathy went back to the small squad room.  A single detective stood up, came over and shook her hand.  He didn’t say anything but just kept shaking her hand.  A pair of patrolmen entered the station and saw her.  One stiffened to attention and saluted smartly.  The other’s jaw dropped.  Kathy heard him mutter as she passed, while returning the salute of the first, “It’s her!  It’s Kathy Smith.  She’s here.”
	At the end of the day, she sat in her library and tried to evaluate the day.  She couldn’t.  It had certainly boosted her ego.  On the other hand, the tributes she received were genuine and heartfelt.  There were no fancy speeches.  There were people who respected her for what she had done and were grateful for the opportunity to show this respect.  She finally decided that the day was positive for both her and for the uniformed forces.
	When she entered her apartment, her answering machine showed twelve messages.  It was an extraordinary number since so few people knew her phone number.  When she played back the tape she found no messages at all.  Because her machine marked the time of each call, she did notice that they came about every thirty minutes, beginning about six hours earlier.  The most recent call had come in about fifteen minutes before she returned home.  If the caller follows his schedule, she thought, The next call is due about now.  At that instant the phone rang and Kathy picked it up.
	“Kathy, it’s Julie.  I’ve been trying to reach you for hours!  How are you?”
	“I’m fine, Julie.  What’s the trouble?”  Clearly something was very important to cause Julie to maintain her call frequency.  For some reason she wanted to deliver a message personally without placing her trust in a machine.
	“Kathy, I told you once before that we hear things.  I also told you that you have important support in surprising quarters.  Well, Hon, ‘the surprising quarters’ just about declared today a holiday in your honor!  Those creeps you burned are not missed.  In fact, their passing was greeted with cheers.  Incidentally, you have achieved a level of respect with some people who, uh...  use weapons in their profession.  One man with particularly good firearms skills believes it was perfect shooting.  He kept repeating, ‘Not good...  not great...  Perfect!  It can’t get better than that!’
	“At any rate I have been asked to pass on a warning.  A rumor has reached town that some special talent may have been imported to take you out.  This rumor has started activity in very high councils.  It’s a matter of turf, you understand.  No one knows if the rumor has substance, but I was ordered to tell you, ‘For God’s sake, keep your head down and be careful.’  Honey, you were unbelievable.  Good-bye.”  The circuit went dead.
	Kathy had noted particularly Julie’s use of the word, ordered.  It said to her that this was a direct communication from the top of the organization in Tidewater.  It was interesting.  She took out her gun-cleaning kit and cleaned and oiled her pistol.  She replaced the bullets the lieutenant had given her with four from her box of special match-grade ammunition.
	The next day was Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.  Kathy felt she had to bring a gift to Jane and Bob when she visited on Thanksgiving.  As she headed out of the building, she was preoccupied trying to think of an appropriate gift.
	As she walked slowly toward the curb her brain registered something wrong.  A car was moving slowly down the line of parked cars as if looking for a curbside parking space to open.  Kathy was at a spot on the curb where parking was not permitted.  The curb in front of her was clear for a space of about two car-lengths.  Just then the approaching car accelerated.  Kathy hit the sidewalk, rolled once, drew her pistol and fired one shot as a shotgun blast went over her head.  The car sped away but Kathy thought she had hit the gunman sitting in the passenger seat.
	She got to her feet and looked down.  Foolishly, all she could think of was that wonderful medical phrase, abrasions and contusions.  She assumed the doctors felt better treating abrasions and contusions than they would treating scrapes and bruises.
	While she stood there wool gathering, the sounds of sirens were heard coming from all directions.  The glass door in her building had been destroyed by the shotgun blast.  Made of safety glass, it had disintegrated into thousands of pieces.  The force of the blast had driven most of the broken glass back into the building’s lobby.  Fortunately, no one was hit by either the pellets or the flying glass.  In moments, police cruisers screeched to a stop at the curb.  Officers jumped out with their guns drawn.  The first arriving officer immediately recognized Kathy.  At the same instant she felt faint and went down on one knee.
	The officer grabbed his radio microphone and screamed, “It’s Kathy Smith!  Someone tried to kill Kathy!  Send an ambulance!”  He followed with the address of the district attorney’s office, grabbed his first aid kit and ran to Kathy’s side.  He took off his coat, folded it to make a pillow for her head and made her lie down.
	She tried to get up but the officer insisted that she remain flat on the sidewalk.  The officer started to weep, “The dirty bastards tried to kill Kathy.”
	Other patrol units had arrived by this time.  A second officer took off his coat and gently put it over Kathy as a blanket.  In moments, there was a phalanx of police surrounding Kathy with drawn weapons in case another attempt were made on her life.
	The ambulance arrived.  Emergency Medical Technicians quickly determined that she had not suffered a life-threatening wound requiring on-the-spot attention.  Carefully they transferred her to their stretcher, covered her with a blanket, and loaded her in their vehicle.  The two officers retrieved their coats.  As the ambulance roared away towards the hospital it was accompanied by four police cruisers, two leading and two trailing.  The police were taking no chances.
	At the hospital, she was rushed into an emergency treatment room.  The time lying on her back, both on the sidewalk and in the ambulance, had allowed her faintness to pass.  Although she wanted to get up, the staff wouldn’t let her.  They carefully undressed and examined her.  She had bruises and abrasions on her right arm, elbow, hip, knee and calf from hitting the sidewalk.  The doctors found two shotgun pellets had ripped through the back of her dress.  Idly, Kathy wondered if she could write off the now-destroyed garment as a business expense.
	After the sustained seriousness following the shooting she appreciated the trauma specialist who examined her.  He was a young physician of about thirty.  Kathy looked at him, smiled to relieve the tension she felt and asked him how she was.
	The doctor frowned, and looked very serious.  “Miss Smith, I’m sorry.  I’ve treated girls with more serious injuries sustained jumping rope!”  At this he grinned and started to chuckle.
	Kathy had felt a sinking sensation when she had seen how serious he looked.  When he finished his statement, she yelped.  Then she started to laugh.  The doctor held her in his arms as her laughter turned to tears when post-trauma shock hit her.  He just held her as she slowly calmed down.  Finally, she pushed away and really smiled.  “How much do you charge for holding patients in hysteria, Doctor.”
	He looked very thoughtful for a moment before he answered.  “Well, it depends on how attractive they are with rates inversely proportional to beauty.  I’m afraid, Miss Smith, I would be paying you a great deal.”  He stuck out his hand, “I’m Charles Miller, Miss Smith.  I’m delighted to meet you, but I wish it had been under more pleasant circumstances.”
	Kathy gripped his hand firmly, “Please call me Kathy, Doctor.”
	She had become more aware of her surroundings.  She was seated on an examining table wearing the standard hospital gown that is both very short and open in the back.  She looked down at herself and then at the doctor.  “I wonder...  I think this is the perfect dress for the Thanksgiving party tomorrow, don’t you?”  They both laughed.
	A nurse came in to assist Charley — “If I’m supposed to call you Kathy, you damn well can call me Charley” — with cleaning and dressing the abrasions.  “Kathy, I would like you to meet my wife, Cindy.  Cindy, this is Kathy Smith.”  Cindy Miller shook hands, and the two then set about carefully cleaning the abrasions of dirt, cement particles, and other debris.
	Kathy was regularly “ouching” as they worked.  She finally said, “Look, I know you Millers are sadists.  I know you have to use scouring powder to be sure its clean.  But for God’s sake, do you really need to use Brillo, too?”
	The Millers laughed but were relieved she was well enough to crack jokes.  While Charles finished, Cindy left the room for more supplies.  When she returned, she had a lovely robe that fit Kathy well.  She also brought some facial soap and washed Kathy’s face, as well as a hair brush which she used first to brush out dirt and dust and then to arrange her hair neatly.
	Cindy Miller looked at Kathy and said softly, “Wow!  Kathy you don’t use any makeup at all, do you?”  Kathy shook her head.  “And your hair:  You just wash it, brush it, and comb it.”  She nodded.  “Kathy, if I let this information out, half the women in Virginia would be after you.  With all the garbage the rest of us have to go through...  And after all that agony, we can’t hope to look half as pretty as you do on your worst day...”  Cindy cocked her head, then grinned, “Which just might be today.”
	“Cindy, this is your bathrobe, isn’t it?”  The nurse nodded.  “It’s a very nice one.  A present from Charley?”
	Another nod.  “Kathy we’re a trauma team and our hours can be weird.  So I keep some things I need here at the hospital.”
	“Thanks, Cindy.  I am very much obliged.”
	Dr. Miller had checked outside and returned.  “How do you feel, now?”
	“About like the girl who tripped jumping rope in the playground at recess.  Why?” Kathy replied.
	“Because I can’t even count the number of people waiting for you out there.  I don’t think there’s been such a mob since President Reagan was shot!  How do you want me to handle it?”
	“Well, for openers I want to get out of your hair so you can treat some injured people.  Then I guess I’ll try to sort out the guest list.”
	“Kathy, I have just been told in no uncertain terms that you are the primary concern of this institution right now.  I just realized you probably don’t even know where you are.  This is the hospital where your uncle, Sam Jenkins, died.  He built the damn thing by himself.  His generosity will never be forgotten.
	“Furthermore, you are the hottest news item on the East Coast and have been for months.  We like basking in your reflected glory.  Speaking professionally — and seriously — I don’t want you out of my sight just yet.  I’m pretty sure you’re okay.  But I want to be absolutely certain.”
	Peter Mahoney was the first one in the door.  He was reassured that Kathy wasn’t seriously hurt and she was soon grateful for his presence.  He directed traffic and set the interview sequence.
	There were detectives who had been assigned to the case.  They checked her pistol, extracted the empty cartridge case and put it in an evidence bag.  A police stenographer joined them and recorded her statement.  Finally — at Kathy’s insistence and against Pete’s better judgment — the press were allowed to see her.  Dr. Miller had arranged to use the room in the hospital set up for press briefings.  The TV cameras were set up and the crews were ready.
	Kathy walked out on the podium alone to field questions.  As she appeared the press applauded and cheered.  Kathy blushed.  She realized that the gentlemen of the media — regardless of whatever else they might be — are the most cynical audience around.  They like to believe that they’ve seen it all and believe almost nothing.  Their applause was a tribute from their hearts.
	She briefly described the events, which were few enough.  No, she was not seriously injured, just scrapes and bruises.  There was absolutely no way she would change the Dangerous Criminals Task Force approach.  She was strangely proud of this attempt on her life.  It was proof that the program was working.  Then, from memory, she gave the press a comprehensive progress report on the program.
	When it was over she called Jane Ferguson.  She had previously called to reassure her that she was all right.  When she finished, she asked the Millers if they were on duty on Thanksgiving.  When they said no, she extended Jane’s invitation to join them for Thanksgiving dinner.  The invitation was accepted.  Kathy checked the time.  It was three o’clock.  She made another call to Jane to ask for her help, quickly giving her a list of things to buy.  Jane was used to getting strange requests but she repeated back the list because this one was particularly odd.  Kathy then accidentally caused a near-brawl.  She asked a group of police officers if someone would give her a ride home and a fight almost erupted over who would get the privilege.
	While Kathy was being treated, the law enforcement agencies in the area mobilized.  In only moments the message had spread that parties unknown had try to gun down their Kathy.  Three hours after the shooting there was a break.  A rental car was discovered abandoned in the woods near the airport.  It was messy: There was a corpse in the passenger seat, and a shotgun was on the floor by his seat.
	Then the crime lab people swarmed into action.  The cause of death was determined after autopsy to be one bullet in the head.  It had entered at the bridge of the nose and ricocheted inside the skull making jelly out of the brain.  Death was instantaneous.  Only one shot had been fired from the shotgun and the corpse tested positive as the shooter.  The bullet recovered from his skull was the one bullet fired from Kathy’s gun.
	That evening the TV news shows rearranged their planned story sequence.  The stories began with the shooting, shifted to the body in the car and then to Kathy’s press conference.  The story tone was one of awe.  Today, the girl who killed two gunmen Saturday night shoots and kills a killer who is shooting at her.
	One local news show featured an interview with a Marine small-arms expert.  The Marine officer was an instructor in a special program developed to train men in urban fighting.  The officer said that Kathy’s shot was nearly impossible.  However, he pointed out that her reactions reflected extraordinary training and practice.  “Hitting the gunman had to be luck.  But her prior reactions showed training and practice.  Miss Smith saw the danger, dropped to her right, rolled, drew her weapon and returned fire in a single continuous motion.  That was not luck, nor could it be.”
	The reporter asked how the officer could be sure.  Statements from passers-by were, as usual, conflicting and inconclusive.  The officer replied, “It’s a matter of physical evidence.  From the location of the broken glass ballistics experts reliably placed the car at a point on the street where the shotgun was fired.  At the same time, a forensic pathologist estimated where the car was when Kathy fired.  The two spots were virtually identical.  With the maximum margin for error, the two points were only a few feet apart.  Therefore,” he concluded, “It had to be highly-trained reaction.”
	The main story was transmitted by satellite to network news control in New York.  It was then re-transmitted to all affiliated stations for discretionary use on their local news shows.  Because of the pervasiveness of violent crime in cities around the country, many local stations used the story, and some used it all.
	That night Kathy received a telegram from Chris who had given her shooting pointers in the Yale competition.  Chris was now working in Minneapolis where the story had been played.  The telegram read, SAW YOU ON TV TONIGHT.  YOU STILL LOOK GREAT.  GLAD TO SEE YOU’RE STILL SHOOTING 10'S.  STORY SAYS 5 10'S WITH 5 SHOTS.  LOVE, CHRIS, ALPHA HOUSE, YALE.
	Kathy sat on her sofa assembling the energy required to get up and go to bed.  She had absolutely refused the police offer to have policewomen in her apartment overnight.  Just then the phone rang.  It was Julie again.  After reassuring the woman that she really was all right, Julie said, “I was ordered to thank you for keeping your head down.  The dead gunner has been identified and steps are being taken.”
	They talked a few more minutes and Julie hung up.  Kathy smiled to herself.  Clearly some sources were faster than others.  She knew for a fact that the body lying in the morgue was still John Doe as far as the law enforcement agencies were concerned.  Officially, the body was still unidentified.  Yet she had just heard “from a well-informed source” that others had identified the body and — ominously for someone — “steps were being taken.”  She stumbled into bed.
	The next morning — Thanksgiving Day — Kathy eased herself out of bed and limped into the bathroom.  She turned to look at her right side which was a mess.  The bruises were now turning color and the abrasions were oozing lymphatic fluid.  Of course, they looked far worse than they were.  She went to her closet to find something to wear.  Her clothes were all tailored to her figure and would be very uncomfortable over the bandage on her hip.  In the corner she found a wild muu-muu she had bought on a trip to Hawaii.  It hung from her shoulders like a tent.  It was perfect.
	She arrived at the Ferguson mansion before the Millers.  Jane and Bob were waiting at the door as she walked up, concern in their faces.  Jane had talked with Kathy and they had seen her on the television news, but it wasn’t the same as being reassured by the woman in person.  Kathy realized there was an unforeseen advantage in wearing her muu-muu.
	When Jane saw what Kathy was wearing she started to laugh.  The incongruity of the mansion setting, a Thanksgiving dinner and the multicolored muu-muu were too much.  The older girl started laughing so hard she could no longer stand.  She collapsed onto a living room sofa.  When she recovered her composure, Jane took Kathy upstairs.  They went into a bedroom so Jane could inspect Kathy’s injuries first hand.
	As she did Kathy smiled down at her, “The big problem today is going to be how to maintain modesty.  It’s the only thing I own that I can wear that doesn’t put pressure on the bandage on my hip.”
	Jane stood up and held her friend.  “It’s disgusting...  It’s not fair...  Kathy Smith, you are the only person alive who can put on that wild-looking tent and still look gorgeous!”  She smiled, and kissed the girl.  “Kathy, we’ve been so worried!  Please don’t use up all your luck.”  Jane then told Kathy she had been able to obtain all the items on the strange list Kathy had given her the day before.
	A short time later the Millers arrived.  Kathy had the opportunity to see Cindy Miller out of her nurse’s uniform for the first time.  She was a beautiful girl with brown hair.  Her size and build were very similar to Kathy’s.  Then it turned out that Charley Miller and Bob Ferguson knew one another from the Hospital board on which Bob served as a member of the Executive Committee.
	Drinks were served followed by a sumptuous dinner.  After the blessing, champagne was poured and Bob offered a toast, “To Kathy Smith!  Without Kathy, Jane and I wouldn’t be together today.  I would not be the happiest, most contented man in the world today.  This is a day for giving thanks, Kathy.  Thank you for being with us, and thank God for allowing you to be with us.”  They all drank.
	After dinner, they adjourned to the living room.  The butler and chauffeur appeared carrying a stack of large boxes which they placed, without instructions, beside Kathy’s chair.  Kathy said, “There are a few things here I want to present.  I know it is Thanksgiving, not Christmas, but these are in the way of thanksgiving.”
	She shoved two large boxes over to where the Millers were seated, looking very puzzled.  Cindy and Charles each started to strip the festive paper off the two boxes.  Charley’s turned out to be a case of Comet cleanser; Cindy’s was a case of Brillo.  They were dumbstruck; they were about to open the cases, when Kathy said, “Don’t bother opening them.  They are what they appear to be.  I know you exhausted the hospital’s supply on my body yesterday, so I thought it only fair for me to replenish it.”
	The Millers started to laugh, remembering Kathy’s comments of the previous day.  Then Kathy carried over two more boxes and gave them to the couple.  Again they started to unwrap the packages.  Cindy opened hers first.  She took out a beautiful natural-tan cashmere bathrobe.  As she unfolded it, feeling the wonderfully soft fabric, Charley finished opening his box.  It was a duplicate in his size.  At that moment the maid appeared with Cindy’s bathrobe that she had lent Kathy.  It had been cleaned and refinished to a like-new state.
	Cindy looked up at Kathy.  “I don’t know how to thank you!  But it’s so unnecessary.  Charley and I saw you on television last night.  I was so proud that the robe Charley gave me was on television.  Honestly, Kathy, I only wish it looked half as good on me as it does on you.”
	At this point Jane entered the conversation.  “Cindy, I know, and you’re right.  But please accept Kathy’s gifts in the spirit intended.  I can tell you from glorious personal experience that Kathy makes a life’s work out of being nice... of doing things she isn’t expected to do... of being nice to others.  Cindy, she does it because she wants to.  She’s Kathy.”
* * *
	The Naval review on Sunday was memorable.  Kathy felt strange wearing the maternity clothes she and Jane had picked out on Friday.  They were constructed appropriately for her injuries, even if they did appear odd.  Kathy was on the reviewing stand as sailors and marines passed in review.  With the formation at Parade Rest facing them, the admiral began his address.
	“Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today to honor Katherine Smith, Assistant District Attorney of Norfolk County.  As I’m sure you all know, through her skill and bravery she prevented serious loss of life in a very dangerous shooting incident.  An establishment was crowded last Saturday night with sailors and marines.  Two gunmen entered to commit a robbery.
	“One of our sailors, demonstrating more bravery than good judgment, tried to intervene and was shot for his pains.  We have statements from over a dozen eyewitnesses.  They all agree on one crucial point: The gunmen were about to empty their weapons into the crowd.  At this point I can only conclude Providence intervened in the form of Katherine Smith who was sitting there at the time.
	“She drew a weapon and fired four shots.  Each gunman was hit twice in the heart, dying instantly.  Experts here at the base are still shaking their heads in utter disbelief.  Each shot would independently be considered miraculous.  There are no numbers large enough or small enough to determine the probability of four-for-four.
	“The Congress has acted on the recommendation of the President.  Katherine Smith, please step forward.”
	Kathy faced the Admiral and stood straight, as he continued.  “It gives me great pleasure to award to you, on behalf of the Congress and President of the United States, the Medal of Freedom.  It is the highest award the Government can present to a civilian.  I have asked Electronics Technician First Class James O’Rourke, the sailor whose life you saved, to present it to you.”
	Kathy hadn’t seen Jim before.  He came forward, smartly saluted the Admiral with his left hand — He must have been practicing, Kathy thought — and received the award.  He faced her and put the medal hanging from its ribbon around her neck.
	At this point he departed from the script.  He kissed her on the cheek and whispered, “Thanks, Kathy!”
	The assembled troops cheered.  The Navy band struck up a march and the troops were dismissed.
	Then the Admiral came over to Kathy and kissed her.  He echoed Jim in a whisper, “Thanks, Kathy!”
	Off the reviewing stand, Jim O’Rourke caught up to her.  Sally Fitzgerald was at his side wearing her uniform as a yeoman first class.  Kathy thought she looked beautiful.  Kathy could see Sally’s eyes glowing whenever she looked at Jim.  The small girl gave Kathy a warm kiss and thanked her, too.
	Kathy took the opportunity to whisper, “I assume you brilliant kids were able to figure out how to make love last Sunday?”
	Sally started to blush but then just grinned.  “Sure did!” she replied.
* * *
	Three weeks later Jim and Sally each received registered letters.  Jim’s was from California Institute of Technology in Pasadena informing him that he had been admitted to the class starting the following September.  He read the next lines, blinked, read them again and yet again.  The words didn’t change.  Due to a special grant, his education had been prepaid through the completion of his doctoral studies.
	Sally had a similar experience.  Hers was from the University of Southern California informing her that she was admitted to the class starting the following fall.  Her education had been prepaid through completion of Law School.
	The letters arrived on Friday, the week before Christmas.  They celebrated together over the weekend.  They never got out of bed.
	On Christmas Eve, Sally saw Kathy at Charley’s.  She ran to her, gathered her into her arms and kissed her.  Tears flowed down her cheeks.  “Kathy, there’s no way Jim and I can ever thank you, let alone repay you, for what you’ve done!  You saved his life and made ours.  All we can do is name our first daughter, Katherine, after you.  So, of course we’ll do that.  There’s nothing more we can say.  Merry Christmas, Kathy, and may God bless you!  I pray that you find the guy you’re waiting for.”  She dabbed at her tears and tried a small grin.  “And don’t forget to try the classified ads.”
	Kathy gave her a very light pinch on her bottom and left the bar.
	That night, when Sally took off her uniform she found five $1,000 bills in her bosom.  In her locker was a small box with Christmas wrapping.  The gift was a box of birth-control pills with a little note, “Don’t be in a big rush to have Baby Katherine.  I’m patient!”  The note was unsigned

Chapter 16
	Spring had arrived in Norfolk.  Kathy was in her accustomed pose and in her usual chair in Peter Mahoney’s office.  He was looking at her with a wry smile, while she looked at him with what he termed her “bright little Junior League face.”  Their respective attitudes had developed to the point of being a joke shared between them.  In the six months since Kathy had joined the staff, they had developed a mutual fondness and respect.
	Peter masked his affection with gruffness, while Kathy screened hers with her little smile.  Pete was impressed.  For the first time in memory, the momentum in the war on crime appeared to have shifted to the law enforcement agencies.  All the reports he received were that police morale was the best it had ever been.  They were attacking, rather than fighting a rearguard action.  And it was Kathy who had done it.  He saw his job as being to get her the tools she needed and keep others out of her way.
	He looked at her steadily.  With a deadpan expression he said, “I hear WTAR is changing the name of it’s news show.  It’s going to be ‘Eyewitness News Starring Kathy Smith.’  For chrissakes, they can’t have a show without footage of Kathy to open on.  Kathy at the courthouse after a conviction.  Kathy at a police station handling a booking...
	“Come on, for chrissakes!  There are other things happening in the world outside Norfolk!  Keep this up and the first mention of war being declared would follow the first commercial break!”  Peter grinned and added,  “You are doing a great job.  I understand that we’re close to 100 arrests of people on the list.  By the way, when are you going to put out a new one?”
	“That’s a good question, Pete, and I’m glad you brought it up.  We started with a list of 163 names.  There are fewer than seventy left at large.  The police are really going at it.  For the first time a list is shrinking.  They’re used to stacks of cases that just grow larger.  New files are added at the top of the stack faster than they come off the bottom.  The pile just gets bigger.  This pile is shrinking and they’re charged up.  I don’t want them to lose that momentum.  It’s the most powerful weapon we’ve got!
	“On the other hand, intelligence reports that some guys on the list haven’t been seen around town in weeks.  Presumably, they’ve moved out of town to what they hope to be more hospitable surroundings than Norfolk has provided lately.  Obviously, we’re not going to get those guys unless they come back just to help us close our files.  It’s a fine line, Pete.  What do you think?”
	Mahoney was impressed.  Kathy never just did things, she thought about them.  Her observations were dead accurate:  It was a fine line.  Police were gung ho.  “Let’s sleep on it Kathy, and see how it goes.  I agree with your analysis, as usual.  Damn it, girl!  All I’ve done since you got here is agree with you.  Who’s in charge around here, anyway?” he demanded.
	With her usual grace Kathy went down on her knees on the floor and bowed from her waist until her forehead touched.  She folded in half like a jackknife and slowly straightened with a smile.  “You are, oh mighty lion!  You are in charge here!”
	Pete grinned and threw an eraser at her which, as usual, she effortlessly ducked.  “Just so you don’t forget!”
	That evening the news led with the story that the 100th man on the list had been arrested.  He had been surprised by a police stakeout team while trying to rob a liquor store at noon.  Kathy appeared on the screen announcing the arrest and praising the great police work.  Every available local politician was there to take a bow for the TV cameras.  She went into the kitchen to fix her dinner when the phone rang.  It was Julie.
	“Kathy, I’ve got a huge favor to ask.  Honey, no one knows about this call.  There is a terrible miscarriage of justice in progress.  This afternoon a boy was arrested for rape.  It seems he and his girl were in a sleaze-bag motel.  You know the kind: where they rent rooms by the hour?  Anyway, they were in their room going at it.
	What they didn’t know was that the operator was making money on the side by hiding TV cameras in the rooms.  It’s sort of a do-it-yourself porno movie without hiring the talent.  We resent that, by the way... all these damned amateurs.  Anyway, they have this girl on videotape saying ‘no, no, it hurts.’  You know the stuff.
	“The girl was all confused and signed all sorts of things.  One of the things she signed was a rape complaint.  I don’t know what really happened but I’m damned sure it wasn’t what that idiot, Hannigan, thinks.  They’re throwing the book at the guy and trying to wrap it into your Dangerous Criminals thing.  That sleaze bag is trying to horn in on your act.
	“Kathy, it’s bigger than those clowns know.  The guy is the son of the top boss here in Norfolk.  The girl is the daughter of the top man in Philadelphia.  She’s a house guest of my boss and the shit has hit the fan!  The kids are engaged to be married.  Kathy, you could prevent a major war!  The kids are good kids, by the way.
	“I have to level with you, Hon.  There are big risks for you.  If you get involved, the story may come out and you would look like you are washing Mafia linen.  It could wreck your operation.  I don’t have to tell you that the people, the press and the police are all on your side.  But there are scum out there who resent being moved out of the limelight.  They would cut you down in two seconds if they thought they could.  If this blows, they’d be on you like the pack of jackals they are.”
	Kathy didn’t hesitate.  “I need some more information, Julie.  Where are they holding the boy, and where is the girl?”  Julie named the station house in South Norfolk.  She said that Hannigan was even holding the girl in custody as a material witness.  “I’ll do what I can, Julie.  Keep in touch, though.  I may need to communicate with your man through you and I don’t know your phone number and don’t want to know.  Now I’ve got to move.”
	Kathy knew Mike Hannigan.  He was Pete’s least-liked assistant.  As Peter told her once, “He crawled out of the woodwork the day I arrived.  I can’t get rid of him so I just ignore him.”
	Kathy called Pete at home.  He came to the phone at once and knew it was important.  Kathy never called him at home unless it was.  He sensed, too, that this was no time for jokes.  “What’s up, kid?” he asked.
	Kathy said, “I have a favor to ask Pete.  There’s a rape case in South Norfolk Hannigan is running.  I would like you to move him out and let me take over.  It’s important.”
	Pete asked no questions.  He trusted Kathy to have good reasons and knew she had good judgment.  He said, “Gee, Kathy, I’m glad you called.  There’s a very important rape case in South Norfolk I want you to handle personally.  Hannigan’s on it now, but I have to use him on something else.  I hate to spoil your evening, but I would appreciate it if you could get down there right away.”
	Kathy grinned, and played along.  Pete couldn’t keep from joking.  “The guy who’s trying to get into my pants won’t like it chief, but for you, anything!”  She knew that Pete could hear laughter in her voice.  She became serious, “Thank you very much, Pete.  I appreciate your trust and will respect it.”
	Kathy had recently purchased a new BMW.  Tonight, with the highways clear of traffic, she opened it up and nearly flew to the South Norfolk station.  When she arrived, Hannigan was on the phone.  He was obviously arguing with Peter, an argument he couldn’t win and didn’t.  He slammed the phone back in its cradle.  “Pete has taken me off the case for something bigger.  It’s yours, now.”  He stalked out of the station without another word.
	Kathy wondered what “more important case” Pete had cooked up.  She didn’t worry.  He could be very creative.
	She met Sergeant Tucker who had led the vice squad raiding party.  The esteem in which Hannigan was held by the police was as low as Kathy’s was high.  It was obvious he was pleased to see Hannigan off the case.  “Miss Smith, it’s a genuine pleasure to meet you.  I think you’re doing a wonderful job, and I don’t have to tell you that we think you walk on water.”  Kathy sat down and asked him about the case.  “Honestly, Miss Smith...”
	“It’s Kathy, Sergeant.  At least all the officers who stop me for speeding on the Expressway call me Kathy.  But I guess they see me enough so we should be on a first-name basis by now.”  She smiled and Tucker melted.
	“My name’s Tom, Kathy.  And this case stinks to high heaven.  Hannigan was on the raid — why I’m not sure — and he ran everything.  The trouble is all the damn wheels are turning.  If it had been me I would have sent the kids home with a spanking but Hannigan said it’s rape, so now it’s rape.
	“The problem is, Kathy, it can stick.  We have the video tape with the girl saying ‘Stop, Tommy, stop!  You’re hurting me.’  Tests taken — against her will, by the way — show traces of semen.  That’s really all it takes.”
	“Tom, who are the kids?”
	“That’s another thing that’s funny.  The girl’s name is Cynthia Agnelli.  She won’t give an address.  The boy is booked as Tom Doe on the strength of the tape.  No last name.  She won’t say, and he refuses to answer any questions.  I told him he could make a telephone call when he was booked, but he refused.  The kid is scared shitless — pardon my language — but won’t say a word.  The girl just sits in a holding cell, crying.  What do you want me to do?”
	“I want to get this case on track, Tom.  If it’s really rape I’ll throw the book at him.  If it’s a miscarriage of justice, I’ll stop it.  May I see the girl, please?  And let’s get her the hell out of this shit-hole right now.  Pardon my language,” she said with a grin.
	Tom grinned back at her and started to relax.  Kathy Smith might be young, he thought, but she’s a real pro.  She has all the ink and TV time she can handle.  She’s not going to let this turn into a three-ring circus!
	Kathy and Tom went to the sergeant in charge of the holding tank.  He immediately recognized Kathy.  “Sergeant, I am taking custody of the witness and will be responsible for her.  What do I sign?”  Kathy signed for the prisoner and waited.
	A few minutes later a terribly frightened girl was escorted out.  Kathy held out her hand.  “Hello, Cynthia.  My name is Kathy Smith.  I’m an assistant district attorney for Norfolk County.  I’ve been assigned to handle your case.”
	Cynthia was obviously frightened, but her training came out, “How do you do, Miss Smith...”  That was as far as she could go as she looked around.
	“Are you looking for something, Cynthia?” Kathy asked.
	“That man...” she said with hatred audible in her voice.
	“Oh!  You must mean Mr. Hannigan.  He’s been taken off the case.  I hope you don’t mind?”
	The relief in Cynthia’s face was obvious.  She even tried a small smile.  “Not at all, Miss Smith.  What are you going to do?”
	“The first thing I’m going to do is get you out of here.  I’m afraid Tom will have to spend the night.  He’s booked on a felony charge.”
	When she said the words, Cynthia broke down in tears.  It was obvious to Kathy that the poor girl had spent most of the day in tears and was an emotional basket case.  She led her to the car, helped her in and drove back to her apartment.  After showing the girl where things were in her room, she found a high necked flannel nightgown for her to wear, and helped her into bed.  Then Kathy called Jane’s private number.  A few moments later a passion-filled voice answered with, “ Uh... Hello?”
	Kathy grinned to herself.  “For chrissakes, don’t you and Bob do anything besides imitate rabbits!”  No words were spoken as she heard the two reach orgasm together.  Kathy put the telephone on speaker while she undressed and waited for Jane to come back on the line.
	Minutes later Jane spoke on the phone, “The answer to your question is no.  Unlike some other people I know, we’re poor.  We can’t afford a 25-meter swimming pool outside our bathroom.  A girl’s got to get her exercise somehow!”  Jane’s voice became serious, “What’s up?”
	Kathy quickly filled her in, knowing that the secrets would be safe.  Finally, she got to the point of the call, “Look, Jane, you understand the situation.  Could you babysit my guest in the morning while I play girl DA?  Could you get here at seven?”
	Jane said of course she would and then continued teasing Kathy.  Before she hung up the phone, Kathy could hear her say lovingly,  “Come over here, Bob Ferguson!  I’m not through with you yet.”  The connection was broken.
	Jane was in the apartment at seven, using her own key.  As Kathy gulped her breakfast, Jane stretched like a tigress and lightly ran her fingers over her loins.  “I had to miss my wake-up this morning!  I hope you appreciate the sacrifice I’m making for you?”
	As Kathy ran for the elevator, she wheeled and stuck out her tongue, “Abstinence is good for you!”
	The hearing was scheduled for nine o’clock.  Kathy had made sure that hers would be the first case called.  “The People vs. Thomas Doe, please.  The People vs. Thomas Doe.”  Wearing handcuffs, Tom was led out by the bailiff and was shown where to stand.
	Kathy swallowed hard and thought, Here goes nothing!  She approached the bench.  “Your Honor, the state is dropping its charges against the defendant.”
	There was an audible gasp from the spectators in the courtroom.  Many of them were court watchers, people who spent their time attending trials and hearings.  They were to jurisprudence what the knowledgeable fan is to baseball: they knew the players and they knew the game.
	This was a “man bites dog” story.  It was the first time Kathy Smith had ever dropped a charge.  She was always going for the throat.  And she was death on violent crime, certainly including rape.  As word of this reversal quickly spread, reporters started to sidle into the courtroom.
	Kathy continued, “The complainant, Miss Agnelli, has withdrawn her complaint.  The state believes the withdrawal is sincere.  Accordingly, the state is withdrawing its charges.”  Kathy had her fingers crossed as she looked at the judge.
	He knew Kathy professionally and had developed a thorough respect for her.  He looked at her thoughtfully for a few moments and then banged down his gavel.  “The case of the People vs. Thomas Doe is dismissed!  Next case.”
	Kathy went over to Tom Donetti who was standing utterly bewildered at the change in fortune, while the bailiff unlocked his handcuffs.  “Tom, I’m Kathy Smith.  You’ll have to collect your things and sign out before you go.  I can see I’m going to have to meet the press.  Please wait for me.  I must talk with you before you leave.”
	Donetti went out the way he had come in to sign out, while Kathy walked out the courtroom’s main door.
	As she expected, the press was waiting in force.  She led them into a room she often used for these press conferences and closed the door.  “You seem to have a bunch of questions.  Let’s hear them,” she said.  “There’s just one thing.  This session is entirely off the record.  You’re free to take any notes you want.  When we finish, we’ll see what goes on the record, okay?  Questions?”
	There were none.  Kathy had called in a chit she knew she had with the press.  In her career she was always available and always on the record.  She knew how to tell a story complete with headlines.  She was also spectacularly photogenic, whether for still or TV cameras.  She knew the press owed her and, more importantly, they knew it too.
	“What happened in there, Kathy?” a reporter asked.
	“A miscarriage of justice was just averted, is what happened.  A couple of kids were fooling around where they shouldn’t have been.  The motel operators were getting free porno movies without having to pay the talent.  All the rooms in that by-the-hour horror show are wired with TV cameras.  If the action is good, the operator has a pornographic video to sell.  If it isn’t, he reuses the tape with the next sucker.  The book is being thrown at the operator, by the way.  Anything else?”
	“I just learned that Thomas Doe is Tom Donetti, the son of the top Mafia man in town.  Why did you walk away from organized crime?  You’re not afraid of them, are you, Kathy?” another reporter said.  There had been a gasp when the Mafia connection was mentioned.
	Kathy ignored the buzz.  “I believe the name you have is correct.  However, I think that’s the only thing you said that is.  Thomas Donetti is vice president of Eastern Virginia Trucking Company.  It is an ICC-regulated common carrier which, I understand, is known for good service and good prices”
	“And good Mafia connections,” someone interjected.
	Kathy ignored the interruption.  “Mr. Donetti is a college graduate.  He has no arrest record of any kind, not even a speeding ticket.  His father has been the subject of more grand jury and other investigations than anyone other than his lawyers can count.  He has never been indicted.  You people are far closer to the libel laws than I am.  Are you sure you want a libel suit on your hands?”  Kathy had shot her bolt.  Now the question was whether the press would buy what she was selling.
	“What about the girl?” someone asked.
	“What about the girl?  The poor kid is scared out of her wits!  And she’s the victim, for chrissakes.  Good question.  What about the girl?  She comes down to Norfolk to visit her fiancé and his family.  She’s busted and held in a stinking holding tank in that shit-hole in South Norfolk for nearly twelve hours.  Yeah, what about the girl?  She’s terrified for her lover.  It’s a great way to plan for a wedding, isn’t it!”
	It worked!  She could see the reporters looking down at the floor.  They knew their papers’ lawyers would have a fit if they thought the word, Mafia, let alone printed it.  The boy certainly didn’t look like a criminal.  They could hear “press persecution” already.  And then there was the poor girl.  No story.
	“What would you like us to print, Kathy?” a friendly reporter asked.  “How about a tiny police-blotter line saying that charges against Thomas Doe have been dismissed?  Full stop.”
	Kathy turned on her most dazzling smile.  “Thanks, guys!  I really owe you!  I think that would be a fine story.”
	The reporters smiled back.  They really liked this girl, and she was doing a hell of a job.  They trusted her.  She came off the podium and circulated, shaking hands and individually thanking them.  As he was leaving, one reporter was thoughtful.  I didn’t get a story.  It’s all dead.  So why do I feel so good about it? he wondered.
	Kathy went out and found Tom Donetti waiting for her.  “Where is Cindy?” he asked.  “Where have they taken her?”
	Kathy liked him at once.  His first words were for his fiancée.  “That’s what I had to see you about, Tom.”  She put out her hand and he took it in a firm grip.  She liked the shape of his hands.  “She’s at my apartment.  If it’s okay with you, I think it would be better if she stayed there awhile.  What do you think?”
	Tom Donetti was a little under six feet tall with dark hair and a dark tan.  He held her hand and looked into her eyes.  He liked what he saw.  “I think it’s a great idea.  My dad’s going to have my hide,” he said starting to grin, “and the sight of my skin coming off would make Cindy cry.”
	“There’s one thing, Tom.  Can you get her clothing over to my office fast?  The poor kid has nothing to wear.  And I need a number where I can reach you.”
	He gave her a set of numbers for various times.  “Miss Smith, could you do me a favor?  Could you lend me some money for a phone call?  Mine disappeared somewhere.”  He smiled at her warmly and added,  “This favor is in addition to the minor one you just carried off: getting me out from under 20-to-life on felony rape, of course.”  Then he shuddered and said, “You just met with the reporters.  What’s going to happen?”
	Kathy fished some coins out of her purse and passed them to Tom.  “They’re going to report the news, of course.  It will be in the fine print on the police blotter column: rape charges against Thomas Doe were dismissed.  What did you expect them to say?  And the name is Kathy.  I think we’re about the same age and you act like I’m some old woman!  You’re disgusting!”  Her accompanying smile took the sting out of her words.
	Tom looked at her in utter disbelief.  Then his expression changed to a beaming smile as he said, “Kathy, I owe you!  I’m not really as dumb as I act.  And yesterday I was all-galaxy dumb, I’m the first to admit.  But that’s the story they’re going to print?”  Kathy nodded.  “That’s all of it?”  She nodded again.  “What about Cin?  What are they going to say about her?”
	Kathy looked at him and frowned.  “What do you mean, ‘say about her?’  They’ll say absolutely nothing about her.  She’s the victim for chrissakes!”
	“Kathy, I know what you’ve just done.  Not only are the charges dropped but you made them disappear!  How many chits did you call in to make that happen?” he asked shrewdly.  “Kathy, I swear to you, you will never be sorry for what you did today!  Never!  Now I gotta dash.  I’m going to be late for my skinning.”
	Kathy waited for him to return.  His call took awhile.  Kathy was nervous and wanted to get home.  While she waited, she called the office and quickly filled in Peter on what she had done and then said she would be taking a few days off.  He told her to remind him to dock her pay.  She said baggage was going to be dropped off for her and she would be by to pick it up.
	Tom came back shaking his hand as if it were burned.  “That receiver got hot!  I thought Dad would explode.  He was about to start tearing the city apart to look for us.  While I was talking he got word that I was being held on a rape charge, and he exploded again.  I told him that you had taken care of it.  He went off again!  ‘Who did what?’  God, I’ve never heard him so upset.
	“So I told him that Kathy Smith had dropped all charges and taken steps so that there would be nothing in the papers.  He said to tell you that I’m a no-good bum but you knew that anyway.  But you, Kathy, are a genius and a wonder worker.  He told me to be sure to thank you.  Cindy’s clothes will be at your office by the time you get there.
	“Kathy, I have to agree with everything Dad said.  Particularly the parts about me being a bum and you being a wonder worker.”  He shook her hand and left the court house.  A black limousine arrived for him as he reached the curb.
	By the time Kathy retrieved Cynthia’s luggage and returned to her apartment, she was surprised to see it was not yet noon.  It had been a very eventful morning.  She went in and found Jane sitting in a chair reading a book.  She looked up and smiled, “Hi.  That was fast.  How did it go?  Cynthia is still dead to the world in there.”
	Kathy quickly recounted the morning’s events.  Jane regarded her fondly, “I’m glad to see you’re still picking up fallen sparrows and returning them to their nests.  Kathy, you joked about it, but they were serious and I am too.  You are a wonder worker!  Working wonders comes so naturally to you it doesn’t seem like such a big deal.  It is a big deal!”  Jane glanced at her watch and yelped, “Gotta dash!  I’ll be late for my major work of the day!”  She gave Kathy a big grin and a wink as she ran out of the apartment.
	Kathy went to her room and changed into her favorite Levi’s and a Yale sweat shirt.  With her feet bare she entered the guest room where Cynthia was just starting to awaken.  Kathy accelerated the process by opening the drapes to allow the sunlight to spill into the room.  The girl stretched and opened her eyes.  Suddenly, she looked terrified and jumped out of bed.  “We’ve got to help him...  We’ve got...”
	“Calm down, Cindy.  It’s all taken care of,” Kathy said.
	The girl looked startled.  “How did you know?” she asked quizzically, “Tommy’s the only one who calls me that.  Have you seen him?  How is he?  Tell me!”
	“Relax,” said Kathy giving Cynthia a bathrobe to wear.  “Let’s eat, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
	She went out to the kitchen and started preparing breakfast.  Cynthia joined her and she poured the fresh coffee Jane had made.  “Tom is on his way home.  Charges were dismissed this morning.  I have your luggage downstairs.  It was agreed that you might be better off here for a few days.  Tom wants you to stay here, too.”  She grinned at the girl and added, “He said to tell you his father is going to skin him alive and the sight of him losing all his skin and screaming might make you cry.  He wanted me to emphasize how considerate he is of your feelings!  So there!”
	Taking the joke as a sign that things were all right, Cynthia smiled.  It was the first smile Kathy had seen on the girl’s face and it lighted up her features like sunshine.  Cynthia looked at her shrewdly.  “You did this for us, didn’t you, Kathy?  I’ve only been down in Norfolk for a few days, but I already feel I know you... or at least know about you.  I must have seen you on every newscast that’s been on since I’ve been here.  Why did you do it?”
	“What do you mean, why did I do it?  You and Tommy were in trouble and needed help.  I helped.  Big deal.”
	Cindy pursued it, “The Mafia connection, Miss Smith.  You’ve heard of the Mafia.  It’s an organization that runs things.  Why did you do it?  You are the straightest straight arrow alive!  I think you’re incapable of doing anything dishonest.  Why?”
	“Do you mind if I call you Cindy?” Kathy asked.
	The girl smiled and said, “Not at all.  I love the name, even if Tommy and I are the only ones who do.  I would love it!”
	Kathy continued.  “Where are you in school?”
	“I graduated from Rosemont College last June.”
	“How about Tommy?”
	“He graduated from Lafayette College three years ago.”  Cindy was puzzled at the line of questioning.
	“What have you been doing since graduation?”
	“I loafed during the summer.  Now I’m involved in the Junior League on the Main Line.  And I’m getting ready for the wedding, of course.”
	“When is the wedding?”
	“In June... in just two months!”
	“Do you like Tommy?”  Kathy chose her words with care.
	“No, Miss Smith.”  Cindy replied coldly, “I don’t ‘like’ Tommy!  I love him!  I adore him, perhaps...  But no, Miss Smith, I don’t just like him.”
	Before she could move, Kathy had the younger girl in her arms.  “I’m sorry.  That was nasty of me.  I had to know and you answered my question.”
	By this time the girls had finished their meal.  “Cindy, I may shock you.  I am dying for a swim, but I don’t wear a suit in the pool, so I hope you don’t mind being around a naked woman.  You probably wouldn’t care to, but you’re welcome to join me.”  With that Kathy went to her room, stripped off her clothes and stepped into her shower.  She was interested to hear the sound of the shower running next door as well.  She stepped out of the shower dripping and made for the pool.  The April day was glorious with the temperature in the eighties with low humidity.
	Then she saw Cindy emerge from her bathroom, also dripping from the shower and also nude.  Kathy could see that the younger girl was quite tentative, like a young bird just trying its wings.  Kathy dove in and stroked back and forth.  She heard the other girl hit the water an instant later.  They continued swimming laps companionably until Kathy pulled herself from the pool with Cindy following.
	Kathy dragged up two mats.  As she did, she could feel the younger girl’s eyes following her as she moved.  When they were settled on the mats, Kathy asked, “Do you approve?”
	Cindy jumped.  “Approve of what?”
	“Me.  I could feel you studying me.  What do you think?”
	Cindy smiled and relaxed.  “I think you are the most beautiful district attorney in the country, is what I think.  No wonder you don’t wear clothes!  I would never wear clothes, either, if my body was like yours!”
	Kathy grinned, “Well, it just goes to show you.  If you fish for compliments long enough, you’ll eventually get one.  Thank you.”
	“That wasn’t a compliment, it’s the truth!  Just look at me and look at you.  I didn’t think I was too bad, but compared to you I’m ugly!”
	Kathy accepted the invitation and studied the girl.  She was about five feet three.  Kathy guessed her weight at less than 110.  Her face was oval with sensuous lips.  Her breasts were proportionately fuller than Kathy’s giving way to a small waist with very trim hips and beautiful legs.  Her hair was light brown and — judging by her pubic hair which was a slightly darker shade — it was her natural color.  Her body was lightly tanned with the tan accentuated by the white strips across her breasts and loins.
	Kathy got up and returned a moment later with tanning lotion.  “If you’re going to lie in the sun like this, you’d better use some.  It’s obvious you never lie in the sun nude and, believe me, you can burn in a hurry.”  She grinned at Cindy, “You better believe it’s embarrassing when you can’t sit down because you fried your ass and your breasts are jiggling like Jell-O because you can’t possibly wear a bra!”
	Cindy took the lotion and started spreading it on her breasts and loins.  When she rolled over, Kathy applied it to her bottom which was trim and firm.  Cindy started laughing.  The laughter grew in intensity as Kathy looked at her.  “What’s so funny?” she asked, puzzled.
	Cindy rolled over on her side to face Kathy.  “I was thinking about what you said.  The more I thought about it, the funnier it seemed!  I can just see myself with fried boobs!  And they would wiggle like Jell-O!  I’m bigger than you, Kathy, but not nearly as firm.”
	She made a startled face.  “What was that?” Kathy asked.
	“That was Tommy squeezing one of my burned buns!  He’s an ass man.  At least that’s what he says.  Whenever he thinks he can get away with it, he takes my buns in his hand and gives a gentle squeeze.”
	“What do you do when he does it?” Kathy asked.
	“Well, the first time he did it I slapped his face hard and started to cry.  Then I progressed to slapping his hand away.  Now...”
	“Now, what?”
	“Now, I just melt!  Kathy, I’m awful, but I do.  I try to move his hand away because... because...”
	Kathy looked at her with understanding and said, “Because you feel that if he doesn’t take his hand away you’re going to melt.  Your loins are on fire.  Everything is getting wet.  If he doesn’t move his hand you’re going to want more...”
	“You know!  Oh God, Kathy, I want him so...  I just want him inside so badly it hurts!  I’m on fire here,” she placed her hand on her crotch.
	Kathy could tell she was feeling the sensation as they spoke.  She said softly, “Your cunt’s on fire.”
	Cindy’s eyes widened for an instant, then relaxed.  She lay on her back with her right hand still over her moist slit.  “My cunt’s on fire...”  She went back up on her elbow.  “I said it!  It’s true: my cunt’s on fire.”  Kathy lay back to soak up the sun.  The two girls slept.
	Kathy awakened the sleeping girl at four o’clock.  Several times while Cindy slept, Kathy had applied more lotion to her breasts and loins.  Cindy was still half asleep as Kathy led her into her oversized shower.  They showered and soaped and rinsed.  At that point when Kathy cut the hot water, the shower was suddenly ice cold.  Cindy jumped and squealed.  Then she just turned in the sprays, seemingly oblivious to the goose bumps that appeared all over her body.  Kathy turned off the shower, gave Cindy a towel and took one herself.  After toweling off her body and towel-drying her hair, she ran a comb through it and left the bath.  She noticed that Cindy had put down the towel, reentered the shower and shampooed and conditioned her hair, too.
	Kathy was sitting in the library cross-legged watching the evening news when Cindy padded in and joined her.  Kathy had made herself a martini and had left the pitcher at the bar.  There was no mention of the rape arrest.  It was what Kathy had been watching for.  She turned off the television set.  “I made myself a Beefeater martini.  There’s more in the pitcher, but I have almost anything else.”
	“May I try one, please?”  I’ve never had the nerve before.  I had to wash my hair.  After the day in jail yesterday I would like to be skinned to get rid of that... that...”
	Kathy held her tightly.  “It’s over.  Don’t think about it.  Think about your wedding!”  She released the girl and went to the bar.  She returned with the drink and raised it in a toast, “To you and Tommy: Long life, love and happiness.”
	Cindy blushed.  “Thank you, Kathy.”  She took a sip of the martini and beamed.  “I like it!  It’s good.”
	“And they can be lethal,” Kathy added.  “I think it’s a better drink than what I see a lot of girls ordering today, though.  I’m talking about those alcoholic milk shakes with every possible mixture of strange cordials.  Some of them taste pretty good but you have no sense of the alcohol content in what you’re drinking.  With the strange mixtures, it can be a good formula for getting sick, passing out or both.”
	When Kathy went into the kitchen to prepare steaks for dinner, Cindy followed with her drink.  Kathy said she needed no help, so she sat down and watched the preparations.
	“You are a strange and wonderful person, Katherine Smith.  You don’t normally wear clothes in your apartment, do you?”
	Kathy looked over at the girl, startled.  “You’re very perceptive, Cindy.  How did you know?”
	Cindy smiled fondly at this tall girl who had become her friend.  “Two reasons.  First, you move so naturally around the apartment.  You are not only unconcerned about your nakedness, you’re unaware of it.  Secondly, the furnishings — I love your taste, by the way — feel good on my bare skin.  I figured they were chosen with that in mind.  I was serious, earlier.  You have a perfect female body.  Not a good figure, not good boobs, not pretty: Perfect, as in perfection!”
	“Cindy, how do you feel, by the way.  I put more lotion on you while you slept.  Are you okay?”
	Cindy put a finger on a breast and pushed.  The finger mark indicated that the breast had received sun, but was not burned.  “I’m fine,” she said and started to laugh, “I wonder what fried boobs would taste like?  Speaking of which, I’m ready to eat a horse.  Will we be ready to eat soon?”
	For reasons she could not explain even to herself, Kathy served the dinner in the dining room.  The meal was served on fine china and eaten with sterling tableware.  She dimmed the lights and they ate by candlelight.  When dinner was finished, she served coffee and cognac.
	“That was exquisite, Kathy.  Is there anything you can’t do well?  And may I see your pistol I heard so much about on the news?”
	Kathy returned with her purse-holster.  She withdrew the gun, unloaded it and passed it to Cindy.  The girl studied it with care, Kathy noticed, not as if it were some form of snake and passed it back after deftly flipping it to pass it butt first.  “It’s a nice weapon.  You used this to burn three men with five shots.  Utterly incredible!”
	“You’re familiar with firearms, I see,” said Kathy.  “Frankly, I’m surprised.”
	Cindy grinned, “Shh!  For God’s sake, don’t tell my father!  He would absolutely freak out!  His daughter handle a .38?  The idea!  The fact is, Kathy, I like to shoot.  You know, I’m really looking forward to being married.  Tommy’s different.  I don’t think he would particularly like me to handle guns, but he would go along if there were a reason.  It’s like the sun.  My father would freak out over tanned boobs!  With Tommy, it would depend how they looked.  I like yours, Kathy.  They look so much... so much healthier when they’re not pasty-white like mine.  Do you mind if I try to tan mine?”
	“Of course not!  In fact, I’m flattered, I guess.”  Kathy refilled the coffee cups and cognac glasses, and sat down again.  “Cindy, do you feel like talking?”
	“Of course,” she replied.  “About what?”
	“About what you were doing in that dump yesterday with Tommy.”
	She could see the younger girl start to tense and then relax.  Cindy smiled, “You are a master of psychology, too, whether you know it or not.  You ask the sensitive question!  But first, we swam God knows how many laps.  That’s a great pool for swimming, by the way.  Then we soak up the sun, have a magnificent dinner eaten while we’re still nude, then have a couple of cognacs that taste like ambrosia.
	“Now how in hell can I say ‘I can’t talk about that:  It’s too personal.’?  The fact is, Kathy, Tommy was trying to help me lose my virginity!”  The statement was made defiantly with a toss of her head.  Her eyes were bright as she watched for a shocked reaction from Kathy.
	There was no reaction, as Kathy continued to swirl her cognac in its snifter.  She looked up, “The way you say that, I gather it didn’t work?”
	“No, damn it, it didn’t!”  Cindy suddenly started to cry.  “Why me, for God’s sake!?  Every girl I know lost hers at age fifteen.  Or at least it sounds that way.  In the dorm at school these dumb bitches lie around in bra and panties and talk about how wonderful it was when Charley stuffed them or something stupid.”
	She looked up at Kathy forlornly, “That’s unfair and unkind.  They’re nice girls, really.  It’s just that I’m so jealous!  Every time I hear this stuff, I get upset.  Kathy, I have a very strong hymen.  The damn thing just won’t rupture.  I’m pleased, really, that I’m a virgin for Tommy.  I want to pop it but it hurts so damned much.  Then I had to watch that tape with that obscene man, Hannigan.  We watched the tape of me and Tommy in bed together.  That shit was creaming in his pants... and he made me watch it, too, the bastard.  I feel dirty, thinking about it.
	“What can I do, Kathy?  Tommy’s sex is so long and massive!  I want it inside me desperately but when we tried the pain nearly killed me!  Kathy, I’m like a girl dying of thirst, inches away from a crystal-clear lake, stopped by this awful membrane that I can’t penetrate.”  The poor girl started to cry like her heart would break, “Kathy, please help me!  Please!”
	Kathy held her until the sobs quieted down.  Finally she said, “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
	Cindy’s head jerked up, with her eyes lighting with hope, “Can you?  Could you help me...”
	Kathy stood up from the table and asked, “Would right now be soon enough?”
	Cindy jumped up, “Last year wouldn’t be soon enough!  Let’s do it!”
	Kathy led her into the exercise room and had her lie on her back on the massage table with her legs spread wide.  Kathy went to a cabinet, put on a pair of sterile surgical gloves and took out a scalpel and a supply of surgical cotton.  She returned to the table.  “Cindy, you know what’s going to happen.  I’m going to need your help as much as possible.  Open yourself as wide as you possibly can.”
	Cindy spread her thighs wide apart to open herself and used her fingers to open her vagina as wide as she could.
	Kathy inserted her fingers with the scalpel tip exposed.  She encountered the expected resistance, made a slit and withdrew.  “You can put your legs down now, Cindy”
	Cindy was crestfallen.  “I was all ready.  What went wrong?”  She looked like she was ready to cry again.
	“Nothing went wrong.  It’s done.  See.”  She showed Cindy the blood on the cotton.
	Cindy’s eyes got as big as saucers.  “That’s all there is?  It can’t be.  I didn’t feel a thing.  With Tommy it feels like my insides are being torn out.  Why?”
	“Honey, it’s the difference between a scalpel tip and a male member.  The scalpel just cuts.  The member, in conditions like yours, batters.”  Cindy still looked skeptical.  Kathy went off and came back with a vibrator that looked like a combination of a male sex organ and a flashlight.  Cindy was sitting on the table cross-legged watching with fascination as Kathy assembled her gear.
	 “Here,” said Kathy, “Do something productive.  Put this condom over the head.”
	It was obvious in an instant that the girl had even less experience with condoms than she did with male sex organs.  Notwithstanding, she did it.  She unwrapped the condom and examined it carefully.  She looked up at Kathy and smiled brightly, “Do you charge for educational services?  This is wild!  Whenever I’m with Tommy, we’re both so hot and anxious for something to happen that nothing good ever does.
	“Here I’m relaxed, the light is good and most of all, Kathy, you don’t treat me like I’m a little fool.  Kathy, this is the way it unrolls, isn’t it?”  She showed the condom to Kathy who nodded.  The girl looked so proud as it neatly rolled down the imitation organ.  “What now,” she asked.
	“Now you put K-Y over it and put it into your vagina.  You haven’t got all sexed up so you’re probably very dry inside.”
	Once again the girl approached the task with great seriousness, smearing K-Y jelly over the condom and then putting as much of the lubricant into her vagina as she could.  “Now what?”
	Kathy grinned and then laughed.  “Now you insert imitation male member (A), into real Cynthia Agnelli’s vagina (B).”  Cindy grinned, and carefully started to insert.  Since she had spread the lubricant generously, the fake slid in easily to its handle.
	Cindy asked earnestly, “What do I do now?”
	Kathy could no longer control herself.  She started to laugh and her laughter continued and increased in intensity to the point she could no longer even stand.  Tears of laughter started to roll down her cheeks.  Cindy lay on the table with her thighs spread wide looking bewildered.  She obviously didn’t understand.
	Finally Kathy regained control.  “I’m so sorry, but I couldn’t help myself.  Look at your cunt, Cindy.  What do you see?
	Cindy quickly extracted the device, then she, too, started to howl with laughter.  She was laughing so hard Kathy had to catch her to keep her from rolling off the table and falling to the floor.  The girls returned to the apartment still laughing.  They went back to the dining table where Kathy poured more cognac and coffee.
	“Kathy, how did you do it?  You kept a straight face for so long while this hopeless idiot has an imitation cock all the way up her cunt and wonders what to do next.  My God, it’s like that Polish sex manual that reads (1) Insert, (2) Withdraw, (3) Repeat, if necessary.  I’m so sorry, Kathy!”
	“I thought it was so cute!” Kathy exclaimed.  “You are such a sweet girl, Cindy.  You’re a virgin who doesn’t want to be one.  You’re going to your husband untouched.  Yet, it’s so obvious that you have physical needs that you desperately need to satisfy.  I think you two will do just fine.
	“By the way, before I forget, Cindy, you don’t have to worry about that tape you were forced to watch.  I got a call today at the office from Sergeant Tucker, the officer who led the raid.  He personally destroyed it.  It won’t come back to haunt you.  But there’s one question that’s been bothering me.  Why, in the name of God, did you go to that rat-hole with Tommy?  You are a girl with exquisite taste, and I would expect everything in that damn place to crawl away.  Why there?
	“But Kathy,” Cindy wailed, “we’re not married yet!  We won’t be for two whole months!
	“You travel a lot don’t you, Cindy?”  The girl nodded.  “Have you ever checked in at a hotel by yourself?”  The girl shook her head.  “Has Tommy?”
	Cindy looked puzzled, but said, “I don’t really think so.  He’s supposed to do some traveling on business, but he hasn’t yet.  I guess he travels pretty much like I do.  Why?”
	“Cindy,” Kathy replied, “I love you!  Please don’t lose that lovely innocence.  But Hon, what do you think happens when you and Tommy check in to a hotel?  Do you think they ask to see your marriage license?  Cindy, they really don’t!  They couldn’t care less, and if they did care they wouldn’t do anything for fear of being sued.  All they really care about is being paid.  Honey, Tommy could register, ‘Thomas Donetti and friend’, and as long as his credit card is accepted by their machine, you’re in!”
	Cindy’s reaction took Kathy by surprise.  “Do you mean to tell me that after Tommy and I get married, he could take any bimbo off the street into his hotel?  That’s not fair!  I’ll... I’ll... I’ll make him wear a chastity belt, that’s what I’ll do!”
	Then Cindy looked up and smiled forlornly.  “Kathy Smith, do you mean to say Tommy and I could have just walked in off the street and had a suite at the Omni?  With room service.... and champagne... and breakfast in bed...?”  Cindy jumped out of her chair and started pacing the floor.  “I’ll kill him!  I’ll castrate him!  I’ll never speak to him again...  Kathy, it’s not right!  Men are supposed to know how to do those things!  After what he put me through...”
	“I think it’s wonderful, Cindy,” Kathy interjected quietly.
	Cindy stopped short and wheeled on Kathy, “What do you mean?”
	“I mean,” Kathy replied, “that Tommy hasn’t been shacking up with every bimbo he could get his hands on.  If he had been, he’d know what to do.  And Cindy, Tommy is a very handsome man.  He could have dozens, and we both know it!”
	“Kathy Smith, you’re some kind of wonderful person, you know that?  I’m a dimwit for not thinking of that.  You mean while I’ve been so hung up on being a virgin, Tommy’s been waiting for years, too?”
	Kathy asked, “How long have you two been going out together?”
	“Eons!  My God, I can’t remember the first time.  Kathy, you know about the family connection.  Well, our families have been talking about it for as long as I can remember.  I live in Bryn Mawr, and Tommy went to Lafayette which is just up in Easton, so we could be close.  When I was at Rosemont, poor Tommy was practically commuting from Norfolk.  And all this time...  Of course!...  Oh, the poor dear!”  Cindy took Kathy in her arms and kissed her.  “Thank you, Kathy.  I’ve been such an idiot!”
	The next day was a repeat of the first, except it lasted longer.  The weather was holding so they swam, soaked up the sun, swam some more and just relaxed.  That evening, Kathy called Tommy.  He picked up anxiously on the first ring.  “Tommy, this is Kathy.  How are you?”
	“I’m fine, Kathy.  I even have my skin.  How... how’s Cindy?”
	“Aside from being madly in love with you, she’s fine.  Why?”
	“Could I speak to her, please?”
	Kathy couldn’t resist teasing him.  “I’ll see if she’s free to come to the phone.  Just a moment please.”
	Kathy passed the phone to Cindy and sat down across the room.  She watched Cindy open up like a flower while she talked to Tom.  It was a pleasure to watch because they were obviously so madly in love.  She put the phone down and looked at Kathy, “Tom would like to know if you would have dinner with us tomorrow night.  Please say yes!”
	“Tell him I would love to,” Kathy replied.
* * *
	They met Tom at the Omni Hotel where he had reservations in the Promenade, an elegant restaurant overlooking the main dining room and Portsmouth harbor.  Tom looked ill at ease.  “Kathy, I have to say something that you’re not going to like:  My father wants to meet you.  He said to tell you anytime, anywhere, but he really wants to meet you.”  Tommy carefully examined the design of the service plate in front of him.
	“I would be delighted,” she answered quietly.  “What time would be convenient?”
	Tommy looked up at her, stunned.  “You will?  You really will!  That’s wonderful.  When might you be free?”
	“How about ten o’clock tomorrow morning?  Would that be convenient for him?”
	Tommy rose from his seat and excused himself to make a phone call.  When he was out of earshot, Kathy said to Cindy in a low voice, “I think you’ll find the accommodations here significantly better than at your prior hotel.  What are you doing this weekend?”
	Cindy excused herself and went after Tommy.  Awhile later they came back arm in arm.  They both glowed.  When they were seated, Tom said, “Ten o’clock tomorrow would be fine.  My father asked me to thank you for taking the trouble to see him.”  He went on to provide directions.
	Cindy was bubbling.  “We have reservations for this weekend!  Tommy and I discussed with the clerk the merits of various suites before we chose one!  Kathy, she said they are looking forward to having us!  Do you think she really means it?”
	Kathy grinned at her.  “Of course she means it!  Wouldn’t you mean it if it was a choice of having paying guests who look like they’ll spend a lot of money with room service against having an empty suite?  That’s the hotel business these days, Hon.  There’s just no business on weekends.”  Cindy had blushed when Kathy mentioned room service.
	“There’s one more thing,” Cindy said.  Like Tommy earlier, her eyes were focused on the service plate in front of her.  “I would be deeply honored if you would be the maid of honor at my wedding.”  Cindy did not look up as she extended her invitation.
	The poor thing!  Kathy thought, She believes I won’t accept but she wants to make the offer anyway.  Kathy looked at Cindy and smiled, “Cindy, I am truly honored.  You shouldn’t ask me and you know it.  You only met me for the first time two days ago.  The maid of honor is the bride’s best friend, but I’ll accept on one major condition.  The condition is that your parents approve of your inviting me.  Cindy, I am deeply touched.  I will fully understand if they say no, and I want you to promise that you’ll accept their decision.  Agreed?”
	Cindy’s eyes were glowing at her good fortune.  She nodded, jumped up from the table and ran out to the telephones.  A few minutes later she returned, glowing with joy.  “My parents would be deeply honored to have you as a member of our wedding party.  My father asked me to say that were it not for you, there could be no wedding.  The groom would be facing 20-to-life for rape.  He is arranging a suite for you at The Barclay on Rittenhouse Square, unless you have some other hotel preference.  There will be a car and driver at your disposal, of course.  Also, my mother would like to know what date would be convenient for her to send the dressmaker down to take your measurements.  Oh, and your plane tickets will be delivered to your office tomorrow, if that’s satisfactory?”
	“Cindy, I’m overwhelmed!  Of course, the answer is yes!  I can be available whenever the dressmaker wishes to come.  Oh, Cindy!  I’m so excited!”
	Cindy and Tom just glowed.  They dined that night on baked stuffed lobster, done in Tidewater style.  The lobster was three and a half pounds; the stuffing was lump crab imperial... about a pound and a half of it.  When they finished dinner, Kathy felt she could roll home to Virginia Beach without having to drive.
* * *
	Promptly at ten the next morning, Kathy arrived at the address Tom had given her and asked for Mr. Donetti.  A guard took her purse, noticed the LadySmith, and put it aside.  He was carefully patting down her body for more weapons when Anthony Donetti appeared.  “What in hell are you doing!” he yelled.  “Get your hands off that woman!”  He came hurrying up to Kathy with his hand outstretched.
	Kathy took it in a firm grip, “How do you do, Mr. Donetti.  I’m Katherine Smith.  I’m very pleased to meet you!”
	Tony Donetti beamed.  “Miss Smith, I’m honored.  Will you please come with me?”
	Kathy hesitated, and Donetti noticed the hesitation.  “Is there something wrong?” he asked with concern in his voice.
	“The guard has my purse.  I don’t like it out of my sight.”
	“Give the lady her purse.  Now!”  There was steel in his voice.
	“But boss, she’s packing!  It’s in her purse!” the guard protested.
	“Of course she is, you idiot!  This is Kathy Smith!  The weapon in that purse has buried three men in the last six months!  Do you want to try for four?”
	At the mention of her name, the guards jumped.  The guard instantly returned the purse.  “I’m terribly sorry, Miss Smith.  I didn’t recognize you.  I won’t ever make that mistake again!”
	Donetti ushered Kathy into his office and into a chair.  He went behind the desk, sat down and looked at her steadily.  Finally, he spoke.  “I agree with Tom.  You are an angel.  Miss Smith, I asked you to come in for two reasons.  First, because of who you are and what you’re doing for Norfolk.  The people you’re putting away are the scum of the earth, the predators: evil men who prey on the weak.  God knows, I’m no saint.  We’re into things that are illegal.  But we don’t do drugs.  They’re lethal.  They corrupt everyone who gets close, not just the users.  They corrupt and destroy the dealers, too.
	“Our biggest business is gambling.  I laugh whenever I hear those clowns talking about ‘the billions the gamblers take in.’  What a joke!  First, we don’t gamble; our customers do.  We just make the book.  Miss Smith, let’s say the Giants are playing the Redskins.  You bet $10 on the Redskins and another guy bets $10 on the Giants.  You win.  I pay you $10.  I never saw your $10 — that was credit — and the other guy pays me $11.  I make one dollar on twenty.  The clowns talk about the $20, but I only get the dollar.  That’s 5 percent of the handle.
	“The sad part is the same clowns sing the praises of the state lotteries.  Do you know what they keep?  Upwards of 50 percent!  It’s a rip-off!  Why do you think we still sell numbers, even when the state has a numbers game?  Our payoff is better, our service is better and we’ll take smaller bets.”  He smiled sheepishly and said, “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to run off at the mouth like that.”
	Kathy said, “Mr. Donetti, I would appreciate it if you would call me Kathy.  I also want to tell you that you have a fine son!  I was very impressed by him.”
	Donetti smiled, “Kathy...  I like the name, and I’m honored.  Kathy, you mentioned my son.  I’m very proud of him, too.  Did you know that he was an honors graduate at Lafayette?  He was... and his old man barely finished high school.
	“I’ve been hearing about you.  You put all the Kathy Smith stories together and you’re a cross between Joan of Arc, Wonder Woman and Venus.  I think they’re right, directionally, but I still think they’re missing a few things.  I got a call from Sal Agnelli this morning.  He was very excited.  He wanted me to know that you had agreed to be the maid of honor at his daughter’s wedding.  His daughter loves you like a sister and worships the ground you walk on.  My son tells me that if it weren’t for you, he’d be looking at 20-to-life.  He’s right.  They had him cold, and you walked in and dismissed the case.  Why?  Why did you save my son, Kathy?”
	“Tony...  I’m sorry.  May I call you Tony?”  Donetti beamed and nodded while Kathy continued.  “I couldn’t do anything else.  There was no crime committed!  Two good kids — and I’ve been amazed to learn how good they really are — are in the wrong place at the wrong time.  They have the bad luck to meet a bum who happens to be a colleague of mine.  For that, my boss, the District Attorney — who knows we’re meeting, by the way — has asked me to express his deepest personal regrets for the humiliation your son has suffered.  Tony, if Hannigan’s political influence were neutralized, he would be history in a matter of seconds.
	“I’m sworn to uphold the law.  I take my oath very seriously and try to discharge it to the best of my abilities.  I’m out to get rid of the violent criminals who make people afraid to walk the streets after dark.  Your son and future daughter-in-law love each other very deeply.  I swear to you, rape was impossible in that situation.  I am sworn to prosecute criminals.  There can be no criminal if there was no crime.  There was none.”
	“I believe you, Kathy.  But you’re overlooking a few things.  You not only dropped the charges, but at least as important, you kept it out of the papers.  As far as the media are concerned, it didn’t happen.  Kathy, I happen to know that you called in a lot of chits that morning to keep it out of the news.  There’s nothing in that oath of yours about that.  Right?”
	Kathy blushed under his gaze and replied, “No, there’s not.”  Then she looked into his eyes with her blue eyes blazing and exclaimed, “But there’s no way in hell I could just stand there and watch two fine kids dragged through the mud!  It may not be illegal but, by God, it is certainly immoral!  I will not allow it!”
	Tony Donetti beamed, “That’s what I said: I owe you!  Kathy, I’m going to give you a telephone number.  If you need me for any reason — for any reason at all — call the number and say it’s Angel.  I will speak to you within thirty minutes.  That is a solemn pledge, too.  My son loves you.  My future daughter-in-law loves you.  Let me join the crowd, Kathy.  I love you, too.”
	He stood up and came around the desk.  Kathy suddenly realized that he was only about five feet eight inches tall, about her own height.  He had an aura of power, she realized, that made him seem taller than he was.  He stopped in front of her, held her and kissed her on both cheeks.  The guards were standing at attention as she left.
* * *
	On Monday, Kathy drove to the Omni to pick up Cindy and take her to the airport.  She already had the rest of the girl’s luggage in her car.  As she swung up to the entrance, the two young people waved.  They knew that Kathy was taking more time away from the office so they had assured her they would be waiting.  Tom took Cindy in his arms as Kathy got out of her car.  She smiled as Cindy lifted one small foot off the ground while she kissed her fiancé.  It reminded Kathy of paper starting to roll just before igniting into flame.  She could hear small noises coming from the girl.
	“That’s disgusting!” Kathy said with a wry grin.  “Haven’t you two had enough?”
	At the sound of her voice, they turned toward her.  Both sets of eyes looked glazed with passion.  At the same instant they both said softly, “No,” and went back into each other’s arms.
	“Cynthia Agnelli, if you don’t get in the car this instant, you’ll miss your plane!  Your father will skin you alive.  And I’ll be there to help!”  Reluctantly, they parted, and Cindy climbed in.
	Tom turned to Kathy and kissed her softly on the cheek.  “Thanks, Kathy!”
	She grinned at him, shook her head in mock exasperation, got into the car and rolled it out of the lot and up to the Expressway.  As the car headed towards the airport, Kathy stole a glance at Cindy.  “Well, how was your weekend?”
	The look on Cindy’s face was beatific.  “Heavenly!  Oh, Kathy, it was like being in heaven!  We did everything.  It was a discovery.  We would make love and.. and sleep a little...  Then one of us would start running fingers lightly over the other’s body... and then we’d be awake, and Tommy would be aroused... and then we’d make love.”
	Kathy was shaking her head slowly and smiling a tolerant little smile.  “No, silly, I meant the important stuff.  You know, the food in the restaurants, shopping at Harborside — Damn!  I forgot to tell you about this darling new shop — the museums...”
	Cindy was startled for an instant and then realized that she was being teased.  “Kathy Smith, you are terrible!  It’s a good thing you’re driving or I would push you out of the car!  Oh!”  Continuing her mock anger, she folded her arms and stared straight ahead.  Kathy thought she looked cute and said so.  The younger girl grinned, and ran her tongue over her lips as if she were a child licking off ice cream, “Delicious!  That’s the word for the weekend...  Deeelicious!”
	She swung in the seat and turned serious.  “Kathy, can I ask you something?  I... I... I feel so sore!  I ache...  I mean my thighs, my groin...  Kathy, my cunt is so sore!  And Tommy!  This morning, he could hardly get it up the second time.  I... I had.. I had to help him by taking him in my mouth!  Do we need to see a doctor?”

	Kathy felt a wonderful warm feeling as she listened to the girl.  She’s so innocent, Kathy thought.  Then quietly she asked, “How many times did you do it over the weekend?”
	Kathy watched the girl smile softly and wriggle her hips slightly as she tried to count.  Finally, she answered, “I can’t count...  I don’t remember.”
	“More than ten?” Kathy asked.
	Cindy looked startled, “Oh God, yes!  But why do you ask?”
	“Because you’re getting a wonderful husband and he’s getting a wonderful wife!  That’s why.  Cindy, Tommy is human!  He’s not a machine, and neither are you.  My God!  What I’m hearing is seventy-two hours of near-constant lovemaking.  I’ll bet the only sleep you got was when you both collapsed!  Honey, there’s nothing to worry about.  But be careful!  I’ll bet your parents will recognize the signs.”  She smiled at her warmly.
	“Kathy, there’s something else.  When we were making love...  when Tommy was inside me, I felt these waves in my loins.  They would just build up and up and up...  I kept going higher, until... until I exploded.  My body was going crazy!  My hips were moving by themselves...  I was moaning and then... and then I screamed.  Kathy, I blacked out!  What can I do?”
	“Did you like the feeling?”
	“Like it!  I can’t describe it.  It was so wonderful!... hot...”
	“Then enjoy it, silly!  It sounds like you and Tommy were reaching orgasm together.  Cindy, that’s what it’s all about!”
	“But Kathy...  when the girls talked, I never heard anything that sounded like what I was feeling.”
	Kathy smiled and delighted in the girl’s innocence.  “Obviously, I should have given you an instruction manual.  That’s the trouble with these damn marriages.  The marriage license doesn’t come with a set of instructions.  Honey, you may not have heard it because they may never have felt it!  The thing about sex is that when it’s good it’s great, and when it’s not, it’s still good.  With you and Tommy it was great!  By the way, when you went to check in at the front desk, did the clerk ask to see your Learner’s Permit?”
	Cindy looked startled and Kathy continued her teasing.  “Well, you and Tom don’t have a marriage license, so you need a Learner’s Permit.  They sell them at the next window...”  Kathy was pulling up at the Piedmont gate.  With the transmission in neutral and the brake set Cindy had her chance.  She hit Kathy on the arm with her small fist and started to laugh.  Kathy, startled, began laughing, too.
	“You are terrible!” said Cindy with a mock pout.  “I’m being very serious, and all you do is laugh at me.”  She smiled ruefully and asked, “Is it really so funny?  Am I so hopelessly naïve?”
	Kathy’s face had a loving expression.  “No, it’s not funny.  It is beautiful.  I envy you.  And I’m so happy to have the opportunity to be in your wedding.”
	Cindy impulsively leaned over and gave Kathy a kiss.  “And I’m so happy my best friend can be there!”  She dashed off into the terminal.
	When Kathy entered the office, she met Pete who had a big smile on his face.  He was so happy he didn’t even bother to tease her about arriving late.  “Guess what!  I can’t believe it!  What do you suppose I found on my desk this morning?”
	Kathy cocked her head and looked thoughtful.  “A dead mouse?... a turkey?...”
	Pete grinned.  “Hannigan’s resignation!  It seems he’s decided to go into private practice.  For him, that has to be ambulance chasing.  My secretary just delivered my acceptance.  Damn!  I knew I forgot something!  I forgot to say, ‘accept with regret’.  That girl should have reminded me!”  Kathy gave him a big kiss on his cheek.
	When she reached her desk, she found a plain white envelope in the center of her blotter.  It was unmarked and unsealed.  She took out what was obviously a story torn from a Detroit newspaper.  She read it quickly.  It reported that a body had been found in a ditch beside the highway leading to Detroit’s Metropolitan Airport riddled by a shotgun in classic gangland fashion.  From dental records it was identified as the body of a known gunman with numerous arrests for violent crimes in the Greater Detroit area.  The report concluded by saying that the victim was a known associate of a man found dead in Norfolk after having made an attempt on the life of Katherine Smith, an assistant district attorney.
	Kathy brought the clipping in to Peter who read it quickly.  “My, my!  What do you know about that?  Reading this suggests that the word is out in unmistakable terms that Kathy Smith is not to be confused with one of the ducks in a shooting gallery.  How interesting!”  He looked at her speculatively.  “Kathy, how did your meeting with Donetti go last week?”
	“Fine.  But why do you ask?” said Kathy, looking puzzled.
	“Just asking.  You know,” said Mahoney thoughtfully, “this supports something rumored on the street.  There are strange things going on.  It seems there are some unexpected people supporting your crusade.  Remember that stakeout that produced the 100th arrest?  Honey, police weren’t there by accident.  There was an anonymous tip phoned in.  I think you can feel a lot safer now!”
* * *
	When Kathy arrived in Philadelphia, she was made to feel like a princess.  Cindy was waiting for her as she passed airport security and gave her a big kiss.  Two big men were waiting behind her.  “They’ll bring your bags to the hotel.  There is nothing you need from them right now, is there?”  Kathy shook her head.  Cindy led the way down to the closer Departures concourse and out to a waiting limousine.  While the driver remained behind the wheel, another big man was waiting to open the door for the girls.  They got in and the big car smoothly pulled away.
	When Kathy had last seen Cindy two months earlier in Norfolk, she didn’t think the girl could ever look happier but now she did.  She was joyous.  “Kathy, my father says I’m a big girl now, so he let me meet you in his personal car!  Look!  She opened a panel behind the driver and took out a cocktail shaker containing a clear liquid.  She poured it into two glasses containing ice and olives, and passed one to Kathy.  The girl was so intent on her task it made Kathy smile.  She waited expectantly as Kathy took a sip.  “Is it all right?  I’ve been practicing, but I have trouble getting the amount of vermouth just right.”
	Kathy smiled at her warmly.  She noticed that the privacy window separating the girls from the men in the front was opaque.  “Cindy, I didn’t think you could ever look happier than you did when I left you at the airport, but you are now!  What’s happened?”
	“Kathy, I feel joyous!  I’ll be with Tommy tomorrow night!  You were right, by the way.  When I got home, my parents watched me carefully.  I tried so hard to move normally.  I was in such delicious pain.  It reminded me of him whenever I moved!  Kathy, I miss him so much when I’m in bed at night that I hurt...  I honest-to-God hurt, I want him so.”  Suddenly, Cindy showed concern, “Is that sick or something...  I mean... a girl shouldn’t...  I mean men...”
	Kathy smiled, “Shouldn’t like sex?  Why, in hell, not?  How do you feel now?”
	“Wonderful!  When I met Tommy at the airport and I kissed him, I started to feel that wonderful wetness inside.  Oh God, Kathy, I can hardly wait!”
	The car pulled up smoothly to the door at The Barclay.  The girls alighted and went in.  Cindy went straight to the elevators.  She commented that Kathy was already registered and she had her key.  Cindy still had her virtually untasted and now watery martini in her hand.  She sipped it and thumbed through a magazine while Kathy changed for the evening’s rehearsal and dinner.  Kathy was back fifteen minutes later.  She spun in front of Cindy and asked, “How do I look?”
	Cindy, recognizing the opportunity to get even for some of Kathy’s teasing, looked up idly and airily replied, “Okay, I guess.”
	Kathy’s face fell.  She was wearing a blue dress in a shade that exactly matched her eyes.  With her golden hair and tanned body, she thought she looked good.  Now she was crushed.
	As she stood there, Cindy jumped to her feet and hugged her.  Kathy looked up and saw the wide grin on her face.  “I did it!  I did it!” the girl cried.  “Kathy Smith, you dish it out enough, but...  You look gorgeous, as usual.  You dunce!  You’re exquisite, and you should know it!”
	The car took them to Bryn Mawr.  Although the privacy window was still up, it was now transparent.  Kathy realized there were two, with one providing complete privacy in the passenger compartment.  She saw the man in the passenger seat make a call on the car phone.  As the car pulled to a stop at the door, Kathy saw a couple waiting for them.  Cindy introduced Kathy to her parents.
	Salvatore Agnelli took her hand and said, “Miss Smith, we are deeply honored.  Welcome to our home!  This is my wife, Theresa.”  Cindy’s mother stood on tiptoes and kissed Kathy on her cheek.  The older woman was about five feet two.
	They entered the house and Cindy flew up the stairs to change with Kathy moving to follow.  Agnelli took her arm.  “Miss Smith, please.  Could I speak to you for a few moments alone?  Cynthia can take care of herself for a few minutes.”  He smiled, and led the way into a book-lined study.  He carefully closed the door, seated the girl in a comfortable wing chair and went behind his desk.
	“Miss Smith...  Kathy... may I call you Kathy?”  Kathy smiled and nodded.  “As you probably know, Tony Donetti and I are... business associates.  We’ve been friends for years.  Our children — our only children — grew up together.  Kathy, I know what you did for our children.”  He smiled warmly.  “I suspect what happened the weekend before she came home.”
	Agnelli held up a hand, as Kathy blushed.  “I don’t want to know.  I do know that Cynthia was so happy she could have floated home without an airplane.  Please don’t breathe a word of this to my wife.  She would die!  And, Miss Smith, my daughter was moving rather stiffly.  In one of my businesses, I’ve become sensitive to the signs.  Kathy, without you this could not have happened.  Our children owe their happiness to you.  They know it.  They are all we have... all we live for...  My daughter’s happiness is the most important thing in my life.  Because of you, she is overflowing with happiness!  She is joyous!  Seeing our daughter’s joy fills us with great happiness... 
	“I’m trying to say, Kathy, that you’ve made me, Sal Agnelli, the happiest man alive!  Anything that you ever want, if it’s in my power to provide, you will get.  That is a solemn promise.  Tony gave you a number to reach him.  You can reach me through the same number and in the same manner.”
	Kathy looked at the man.  She realized that he was what he claimed to be: a proud father on the eve of his daughter’s wedding, rejoicing in her happiness.  And he gives me all the credit, she thought.  She looked at him speculatively.  “Mr. Agnelli,” she began.
	“Sal, please!” he interjected.
	She smiled, “Sal, may I ask you a question?  You know an attempt was made on my life?”  Agnelli nodded.  “A man was found dead in a ditch near Detroit.  Do you know anything about that?”
	Agnelli smiled.  “I think I heard something about that.  I wondered about it.  So violent!  Has anyone bothered you since, Kathy?”  She shook her head.  “I thought not,” he continued.  “I don’t think it would be considered a healthy activity.  Now shall we join the others?”
* * *
	At the rehearsal dinner that evening, Kathy was sitting at Tom’s right with Cindy on his left.  She couldn’t resist a dig.  “Thomas Donetti,” she whispered, “would you please keep your hand in your own lap.  Can’t you wait just a few more hours?”
	Tommy looked at her and grinned.  “I’m trying!  I’m trying!”  He slid his chair back so Kathy could have a clear view of Cindy.  “Cindy,” he said, “Guess what?”
	She looked over, “What?”
	“I learned something a few days ago.  Kathy may be your best friend, but she’s my sister!”
	Cindy frowned, puzzled.  “What are you saying?” she asked.
	Tom grinned at his bride-to-be and at Kathy.  “Hon, you know I was an Alpha at Lafayette?  Well, I learned that Kathy is an Alpha from Yale!  She’s my fraternity sister.  And did I ever learn a lot!  She was elected Queen of Yale College, representing the Alphas.  Honey, they had this contest — sort of an Olympics — in three parts: brains, athletics and beauty.  Kathy won it all!  I mean, she won every single event.  They’re still talking about it up there.  And she’s your maid of honor.”
	A toast had already been offered to the bride and groom when Tony Donetti, who was hosting the dinner, stood up.  “Ladies and gentlemen: I would like to offer a toast to a young lady that many of you have heard about but few of you have met.  I’m speaking for my wife and me and for Sal and Theresa Agnelli when I say that, were it not for this young lady we would not be here tonight.  This young lady has made an impact in Norfolk where I come from.  Single-handed, she has caused street crime to drop by 60 percent in less than one year.
	“She courageously stopped a wholesale slaughter of innocent people by killing gunmen who had already opened fire in a crowded establishment.  She escaped an attempt on her life and in the process killed the man who had fired on her.  Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in a toast to our dearest friend, the maid of honor, Miss Katherine Smith.”
	Kathy sat blushing with her eyes downcast as the guests rose and warmly applauded.  She looked up and out at the crowd and realized that many of the guests were out-of-town “business associates”.  She was surprised to see expressions of understanding and respect in their faces.  Suddenly, Kathy understood.  She had just been publicly taken under the protection of the Donettis, the Agnellis, and all of their associates.
	After the toast had been drunk, Kathy rose.  She heard intakes of breath, not realizing that it was a tribute to her extraordinary beauty that many were seeing for the first time.  She said simply, “Mr. and Mrs Donetti.  Mr. and Mrs. Agnelli.  Thank you.  I am honored to be here tonight and deeply grateful for your hospitality and very kind words.”  She sat down as applause echoed through the room.
	The next morning she was alone with Cindy.  The other bridesmaids had been asked to wait downstairs.  Before beginning to dress, Cindy was standing nude, critically inspecting herself in the mirror.  Kathy saw that her loins and breasts were now tanned, although with the differences in shade her bathing suit marks still showed.  She turned slowly for Kathy’s inspection.  “Do I pass?  What do you think?”
	“Well...”  said Kathy thoughtfully, taking advantage of the opportunity to tease Cindy for the last time, “Okay, but...”
	“But what?” said Cindy with concern sounding in her voice.
	“It’s your left breast...  It doesn’t seem...”
	Cindy ran back to the mirror and cupped her breasts in her hands.  Suddenly, she released them and spun on Kathy, “Katherine Smith, I hate you!”  She grinned at Kathy as she started to dress.  “I may be slow, but I am learning.”

Chapter 17
	Kathy walked into Peter Mahoney’s office and sat down in her usual chair.  “Pete, I have to talk to you.”
	Mahoney looked up startled by the serious, almost sad, tone in her voice.  He showed his concern.  “Mr. Mahoney, today I am submitting my resignation as assistant district attorney.”  Peter was shocked and showed it.  As he started to speak, she held up her hand.  “Peter, this is hard enough.  Please don’t interrupt.”
	Kathy was sitting upright looking at him, as she continued, “You are up for reelection this year on the Democratic ticket.  The Republican committee in town approached me.  They asked me to run against you.  I am a registered Republican, you know.  They said that I have achieved a great deal in the ten months I’ve been in the job.  They said I’m the best-known public official in town and have had extraordinary impact reducing street crime.  They want me to run against organized crime.  Close down the gamblers, the whorehouses, the after-hours clubs... you know, all the targets beloved of reformers everywhere.  They said I could neutralize your position on violent crime and beat you on sin.  What do you think?”
	Mahoney’s face was expressionless.  “It makes sense.  I agree with the analysis except I’m not so sure you could beat me.  Probably you could, but so what?  What did you say?”
	Kathy did not lower her head.  Pete could see tears form in her eyes and start to roll down her cheeks.  She ignored them.  “I told them everything I knew about fighting crime I learned from you.  I said you were the most honest, most honorable man it’s ever been my good fortune to meet.”  The tears were flowing in twin streams now and her voice was cracking, but she did not lower her head.  “Running against you would be the dirtiest, most underhanded thing I could imagine.  You focused on danger to the people: violent street crime and drugs.  If someone wants to place a bet, big fucking deal!  I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.  I couldn’t be so two-faced!  The idea of a 26-year-old girl, less than one year out of law school, trying to run this office is absurd.  I told them...  I told them...  I told them to take their offer and stick it!”
	Kathy couldn’t go on.  She just sat in the chair with her head still upright and bawled.
	Pete went around the desk, took her in his arms and could feel her shoulders shaking from her sobbing.  He continued to hold her while she slowly quieted down.  Then he helped her back to her chair, produced a box of tissues and sat down in a chair next to her.  He sat silently while she regained her composure and dried her eyes.  “What do you plan on doing, Kathy?”
	“I live in Virginia Beach, you know.  I’m even set up with an office out there,” She looked at him with a rueful little smile.  “You know, lined with the law books that every lawyer thinks he has to buy.  I think it’s kind of cute...  Anyway, I guess I’ll try the private practice of law.”
	“Is there any way I can get you to change your mind?” he asked.
	“No, Pete.  I’m afraid not.  What happened was the thing furthest from my mind.  Me?  Becoming a threat to your career?  It’s absurd!  I can’t stay Pete.  I’m sorry.”
	“Kathy, can I tell you something?  Do you remember when you came in here for the first time?  Right out of law school?  I told you that I had been doing some checking.  Well, one of the guys said that you were so good you would be able to take my job.  I don’t think he had just a year in mind, but never mind.  He said he thought you could, but you never would.  He said you were the most personally loyal person he had ever met.  His last words to me were, ‘You’re the luckiest guy alive to get Kathy Smith.’
	“He was absolutely right, Kathy.  You are the best thing that ever happened to me or to this office.  I am proud!  You made me proud, Kathy!  If anyone had said that this office could accomplish what it has in the last twelve months, I would have said he was crazy!  But it’s happened, Kathy, and you did it.”  He took her in his arms and kissed her warmly.
* * *
	The news of Katherine Smith’s resignation stunned the city.  A major press conference was called.  In addition to all the local media, the wire services were present.  In the absence of advance warning, the local TV stations were alerted by their respective network news centers to prepare a story for possible network broadcast.
	Peter Mahoney handled the press conference: “Ladies and gentlemen, this morning I received news that shocked me and will shock you, too: Katherine Smith has just resigned her position as Assistant District Attorney of Norfolk County, effective immediately.  The reasons for the resignation were given to me but I am treating them as confidential.  She can tell you if she wishes.  I tried to get her to reconsider, but I did not succeed.  Perhaps you will.
	“I want to make another announcement.  Kathy Smith has bent over backward to give me public credit for the Dangerous Criminals project.  She claimed that I did the analysis, worked out the program and was ready to put it into action when she started work in this office.  What garbage!  When we met in this very room one year ago, I was hearing it for the first time, too.  The only credit I deserve is for acting ability.  I didn’t let my astonishment show... and I had the good sense to put in charge the person who conceived the program in the first place.
	“It was Kathy’s program from the beginning.  All of its success is hers, not mine.  The program has been running for one year.  Have any of you ever had a hint of what I just told you?  Of course not!  I was enjoying the limelight, so I sure wouldn’t talk!  That leaves Kathy.  Politics is often a game of leaks and planted stories.  Never with Kathy!  She is the most loyal, dedicated and effective public servant I have ever met or heard about.
	“Ladies and gentlemen, Kathy Smith represents the true essence and meaning of the term, public servant, that is all too seldom seen.  I am proud, ladies and gentlemen!  She comes from the great tradition of service in Virginia: George Washington, the Lees, and the founder of her recent school, Thomas Jefferson.  Personally, I think Mr. Jefferson is very proud right now.
	“I have been honored to be associated with this woman.  You know, you hear a lot about women’s lib: how men won’t give them a chance, and all the things men have and women haven’t.  Some of you may not have noticed, but Kathy Smith is a woman.  She is a beautiful woman.  And look what she has done in just one year.  There’s one more thing.  In the year she has been in the job, she has been paid $17,500.  Kathy Smith is the biggest bargain in the history of government!  My God!  Did we ever get our money’s worth!  Thank you!”
	At this emotional moment, with tears running down his cheeks, he turned to Kathy.  Tears were in her eyes as well.  He embraced her, while strobe lights flashed like continual lightning and the TV cameras recorded it on film.  The TV news people, normally glib with instant analysis, were stunned into silence.  The shock of Kathy’s resignation was coupled with Mahoney’s public announcement giving her credit for the entire program.
	The press was in a turmoil as Kathy clung to Peter and whispered, “Why did you do it Peter?  I don’t want the credit.”
	He whispered, “I know that, but you earned it.”
	They faced the press.  “Kathy,” a TV anchor asked, “I won’t ask why.  I will say — and I think I’m speaking for everyone else here, and throughout Tidewater — please stay.  We need you!”
	Kathy stood up straight with her head high facing the press the way she always did.  Except tears were pouring down her cheeks.  “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you!  I’m sorry I cannot stay in this position.  Before I leave, however, I want to thank you for all your support over the last year which helped make our success possible.  Thank you for the many personal and professional courtesies extended to me.”  She tried to smile and almost made it.  “Thanks to the photographers and cameramen who kept me from looking like a witch.  Thanks to the reporters and news people who kept me from sounding like a fool.  Thank you all, very much!  Good bye!”
	A policeman, tears blurring his eyes, helped Kathy off the stage.  She needed the help because tears were blinding her.  The cheers and applause were ringing in her ears.
* * *
	She cleaned out her desk and put the material in a box.  She told Pete she would pick it up on Monday if it was all right.
	He kissed her softly.  “Keep in touch, kid.  We’ll still be here.”
	Kathy couldn’t face her apartment right now.  She didn’t want to watch what would be on TV.  She decided to swing by Charley’s.
Book III
Chapter 18
	Kathy was waiting for Ken Stark when he saluted the quarterdeck and left his ship.  Something was wrong.  Then she knew what it was.  He had no luggage, not even a small bag for a shirt and toiletries, but he had a newspaper folded under his arm.  Ken opened the car door and got in.  He intended just to give Kathy a peck of a kiss, but when his lips touched hers he tasted the sweetness and fire... and heard those damned bells.  He was pissed and he was going to really tell her off tonight.  He reluctantly ended the kiss, sat back in his seat and stared straight ahead.  Kathy put the car in gear and rolled off in the direction of Virginia Beach.
	The ride to her apartment was silent.  Uh oh, he’s pissed!  Am I going to get it tonight, she thought.  She shivered involuntarily as she remembered the spanking he had given her after the freezing-pool episode.  Her loins were getting hot now that she was close to him.  God, she thought, how I love this guy... and I’ve only known him for three days.  Kathy was wearing the same Levi’s she had on in the morning along with her Yale sweatshirt.
	They went into the apartment and Kathy led the way back to the library.  She motioned for him to sit down while she prepared drinks for both of them.  “I think this is a martini night, Ken,” she said softly.  “Will you join me?”  He nodded and she made the drinks and joined him on the sofa.  She offered him a cigarette which he accepted.  She took one and he lighted them both.
	Then he sipped his martini... and got madder.  He didn’t want the martini to be perfect, exactly the way he liked it, but it was.  He was not surprised.  But the time had come.  He turned to face her.  “Kathy Smith, you lied to me!  You deceived me!  You tricked me!  You... you...”  he yelled.
	Kathy was hurt, but she knew what he was referring to.  She responded softly, “I’m sorry, Ken.  I certainly didn’t mean to lie to you.”
	Ken looked at the girl and was baffled.  How, in the name of God, he thought, can you stay mad at a girl who looks like an angel?  Who responds to his yelling in a soft voice?  Who seems to be apologizing to him for... for what?  What had she done, anyway?  He realized that his anger had evaporated like a puff of smoke.  He looked at her serious face just looking at him waiting for him to continue.  She was expecting and prepared to accept punishment for... for nothing.  He smiled at her and watched as she blossomed under his smile.  God, she’s beautiful! he thought.  Aloud, he said softly, “Will you give me a kiss?”
	She leaped across the sofa and into his arms.  She kissed him lovingly and lingeringly.  It was soft... warm... and almost worshipful.  He heard the bells.  He looked into her eyes and saw a wonderful warmth and love.  For me...  Kathy really loves me!  He let her go, and straightened her body parallel to his.  They had their long legs resting on the cocktail table.
	She rested her head on his shoulder and snuggled.  She whispered, “Ken, let’s neck.”
	“Could we talk first, hon?  I feel like such an idiot, jumping on you like that.  But darling, it’s been such a wild day.  My phone’s been ringing off the hook!  A guy I went to school with saw us together on Saturday night and called.  I didn’t notice him, but he saw us.  I asked him why in hell he didn’t come over, and he said — in a hushed and reverent tone, for God’s sake, ‘But you were with Kathy Smith!’  I thought he had lost his mind.
	“Then I did something I never do: I looked at a newspaper.  What do I find?  A major news feature on Kathy Smith and her sudden resignation as Assistant District Attorney.  It had a full biographic background: summa cum laude from Yale with a Phi Beta Kappa key, summa again from University of Virginia Law School graduating number one.  How you turned down megabucks to be an assistant DA.  It reviewed your one-year career in detail.  Then my father called.  He asked me to apologize to you for not recognizing you at the club.  Nice guy, my father!  He says it was because he couldn’t believe I could move so far up in class.  He says you are the kind of girl that every son should bring home... and leave with his father.  What a lecher!”
	Ken grinned, and Kathy said with mock thoughtfulness, “I like your father!  He shows discerning judgment and good taste.  No wonder he has four stars!”
	She grinned and Ken continued, “Do me a favor?  Bring me your purse.”  Kathy hopped up, got the purse, and handed it to him.  He opened it, drew the LadySmith, and looked at it carefully.  “So this is it.  It saved a lot of lives.”  He looked at her and held out his arms.  “Come here, doll.”
	Kathy looked at him fondly but didn’t move.  “Ken, play a game with me?”
	He looked puzzled.  “What game?”
	“Could we just neck?  No touching below the waist?”
	“That’s no game, Kathy.  You know what’s going to happen as well as I do!  In no time, I’m going to be screwing you right here on the couch!”
	Kathy grinned and shivered, “That’s the game.  Whoever cracks first and goes below the waist loses!  Want to try?”
	Ken grinned and said, “Sure.  Let’s do it!”  They both stood up.  Kathy carefully hung up Ken’s uniform coat and took off his tie, followed by his shirt.  She held her arms up and Ken lifted off her sweatshirt revealing her unencumbered breasts.  He started to take off his pants but Kathy shook her head.  “But they’ll lose their crease,” he complained.
	Kathy grinned.  “What a stinking shame!”
	He sat at the end of the couch with his legs on the table.  Her upper body was on his lap with her head resting on the arm of the couch.  As he gently ran his finger tips over her beautifully formed breasts, she wriggled slightly and purred in his arms.  Meanwhile she nuzzled his chest, and explored it with a feather-light touch of her fingers.  Then he lifted her head and kissed her.  Ken intended it to be light and delicate and it was.  He could taste the sweetness of her lips as her tongue probed his mouth and tongue.  At the same time his sex was desperately trying to harden, but it was trapped by his underwear, trousers and Kathy’s body.
	She felt it, too.  When he shifted his weight and tried to relieve the constriction, she disengaged from his lips, smiled lovingly and said no.  It wasn’t completely one-sided, though.  He derived some satisfaction from seeing her nipples become hard and her body start to writhe in passion.  He could see that the denim in the crotch of her jeans had darkened with moisture.  He was in an agony of desire but holding on.  He could see her hand flutter in the direction of her crotch only to be quickly withdrawn.  He realized that he was moaning with her.  It was going to be over very soon.
	He broke first.  When he pulled off her pants and slipped out of his own, he heard her whisper in ecstasy, “Thank God!” as he entered her.  They were soon lying in each others arms resting as their breathing slowly returned to normal.  She had her eyes closed with her head on his shoulder murmuring happy sounds.
	He whispered, “May I see it?”
	Her eyes fluttered open — God, what a dazzling, brilliant blue, he thought — and she looked puzzled.  “See what, hon?”
	“The commendation,” he said.  She smiled, got up, opened a drawer and came back with the framed citation for the Medal of Freedom.  He read it carefully.  “Dad mentioned this.  He said I should ask to see it.  You know, Kathy, you’re entitled to wear the ribbon at any time?  Can I pin it on your breast now?” he asked teasingly.
	“Pin it right here?” she asked as she pointed to her left nipple.
	My God!  he thought.  She’s serious.  She would pin it through her nipple if she thought I wanted her to.  He was starting to develop an appreciation for her depth of feeling for him.  He felt very humble.
	Suddenly Kathy jumped up and exclaimed, “Oh, my God!  I completely forgot!  Ken, I’m having a couple for dinner tonight.  They’ll be here in...  Holy shit!  In ten minutes!  And absolutely nothing’s done!  Ken, could you do me a favor?”
	“Sure, honey!  What do you want me to do?”
	“Hon, would you mind taking a shower now so you’ll be ready to greet our guests, while I get some hors d’oeuvres together and try to figure out how we’re going to avoid starvation?  I’ll try to make it up to you somehow.”
	Ken went to the bedroom with his clothes.  As he was taking a shower, he reflected on what Kathy had just said.  He realized that she meant it.  She gave everything and asked nothing, so something as trivial as greeting guests was important to her.  He was dressed and back in the kitchen in five minutes.  Miraculously, wonderful cooking odors were rising towards the vent hood while a large platter of hors d’oeuvres was waiting on the table.  She looked up at him and carefully straightened his tie.  Just before running to the bathroom, she said quickly, “The guests are the O’Rourkes.  They’re just out of the Navy!”
	She ran toward the bathroom, while Ken went to retrieve their drink glasses from the library.  He found Kathy’s still full and only a few sips out of his own.  He emptied the glasses in the sink and put the glasses in the dishwasher.
	Moments later at seven o’clock the doorbell rang.  He opened the door and welcomed a very pretty little auburn-haired girl with a very big and handsome dark-haired man.  “Welcome!  Please come in.  You must be the O’Rourkes.”  They entered the apartment, and it was obvious to Ken they had been here before.  “I’m Ken Stark, a friend of Kathy’s.  She’ll be out in a few minutes.
	The girl stuck out her hand.  “I’m Sally O’Rourke, until today yeoman first class, Commander.  I’m very happy to meet you.  This big lug is my husband, Jim, until today electronics technician first class.”  Sally looked at Ken and noticed the love light in his eyes.  My God, she thought, Can it be?  Has the prince appeared to awaken Sleeping Beauty?  As the men shook hands, Sally said quickly, “Commander, I see from your ring that you’re Annapolis.  Would you mind talking with Jim in equations or something?”  She looked lovingly at her husband and winked.  “He’s great in math and electronics, but he’s not much on words.  But he’s great in bed, so I keep him around.  I want to check out Kathy.”  She grinned, and flew around the corner to the bedroom.
	Jim’s eyes followed his wife as she left.  “Lovely little ass, don’t you think, Commander?”
	Ken smiled his agreement.  “Please, Jim, it’s Ken.  And you’re right, it sure is.  You’re a very lucky man!”
	“Ken,” Jim replied, “on that last you’re more right than you may ever know!”
	Sally came bursting into the bedroom as Kathy emerged from the bath.  The small girl studied her friend carefully.  Then she gave a little yelp.  “Kathy, it’s happened!  That’s your man, isn’t it?  Don’t even bother to answer.  I see it all over you.  I couldn’t see how you could possibly be more beautiful, but you are.  You glow!...  You’re radiant!”  Kathy regarded her friend with a quiet smile.  Sally gathered the older girl in her arms and hugged.  “I’m so happy, Kathy!  You know I mean it when I say it couldn’t happen to a nicer person.”
	Kathy slipped on her blue dress that matched her eyes and ran a comb through her hair.  “Let’s go join the party!”  It was only seven-ten.  They sat in the living room and had drinks with Ken serving as bartender.  He liked the O’Rourkes very much.  They were a handsome couple and obviously very much in love.  Sally asked Ken about his ship, something that had not occurred to Kathy.  She was abashed that she had not even thought to ask.
	Sally grinned and said, “Kathy, never forget.  The correct sequence is to ask a sailor about his present ship, his last ship, his mistress and finally, his wife.  That also pretty well tracks the regard in which they are held.  Christ!  I had to get Jim out of the service so I could move up in the pecking order.  Particularly when I lost rank by changing from his mistress to his wife.”  She grinned and stuck out her tongue at her husband.
	“Please don’t mind my wife, Ken.”  Jim said with a grin, “She really isn’t housebroken yet, so I have to be careful who I allow her to meet.  With Kathy, it’s already too late!  She knows the truth, so to hell with it.”
	“Now that you’re out of the service,” Ken asked, “what are your plans?  Although I’ve just met you two, it’s easy to see that you’re the kind we can’t afford to lose.  Sally, what was your most recent duty assignment?”
	“The base legal office, Ken.  Why do you ask?”
	“Because it’s going to be a very different place without you.  Much quieter!” Ken replied with a grin.  Sally faked a pout and grinned back.  Ken really liked the little girl.  “What about those plans?”
	Sally suddenly turned serious and looked down at the floor.  “Ken, I want to tell you a little story.  Once upon a time there were these two dumb kids.  They were madly in love, but the girl was particularly dumb and didn’t know it.  Then one day in a place where the girl worked some bad men came in waving guns.  The boy thought he was Superman and could stop a bullet.  He did... with his arm.  Just then the fairy princess appeared and made the bad men dead.  She took the dumb girl in and made her see how much she loved the dumb boy.  The fairy princess wasn’t finished with the dumb kids, though.  She knew that they both wanted desperately to go to college.
	“There wasn’t enough money, so the dumb boy says he’ll work and the girl will go.  The girl says she would be barefoot and pregnant and the boy will go.  The fairy princess doesn’t say anything but she waves her magic wand.  The dumb boy gets seven or eight years of education paid at the Cal Tech castle.  The girl gets seven years paid at the USC castle.  The fairy princess visits the dumb girl at work.  The dumb girl finds $5,000 in her boobs.  The dumb kids get married and the fairy princess doesn’t know what to do so $25,000 appears to tide them over while she thinks about it.
	“The kids are dumb but not so dumb they don’t worship the ground the fairy princess walks on.  And they lived happily ever after.”  Sally looked up at Ken with her eyes shining with tears.  “You don’t look dumb, Ken.  Would you like to guess the name of the fairy princess?”
	He looked at Kathy.  He could see tears running down her cheeks.  “The fairy princess’s initials wouldn’t be ‘K S’, would they?”
	Sally grinned through her tears and said to her husband, “See, Jim, I told you he didn’t look dumb.”  She went to Kathy and kissed her.  “We never had the chance to thank you properly for the wedding gift.  Ken, to show you the kind of person the fairy princess is, the dumb broad writes a long letter apologizing for not buying a gift, for chrissakes!  Thank you, dear Kathy.”
	“Before things get so maudlin the tears soak my beautiful carpet, could we take a break for dinner?  Ken, would you please serve the wine.  I decanted it to let it breathe.”
	Ken was stunned.  At six-fifty in the evening, this girl was lying naked on the floor.  There had been no thought of eating.  At seven, hors d’oeuvres are served that appear to have been in preparation since noon.  At seven forty-five, a gourmet feast appears featuring roast filet of beef, sauce Périgord, and Chateau Mouton Rothschild, 1959.  My God, he thought, she is a fairy princess!  Dinner was followed by crepes Suzette, followed by coffee and cognac.  Ken had spent the evening watching the beautiful girl facing him across the table.  Clearly, she loved good food, good wine and good cognac.  His eyes widened as Louis XIII was poured from its Baccarat decanter.  The only thing standing between this meal and utter perfection is the lack of a great cigar, he thought.
	Kathy appeared with a cigar humidor.  Jim took one, Sally was tempted, but declined.  Then Kathy brought the box to Ken.  “I think you’d like one of these Corona coronas.  They are really very good.”  He took one, lighted it and savored it with the cognac.  Kathy lighted a panatella for herself.  Seeing her take one, Sally reconsidered and took one, too.  Sally decided that the mild cigar made a perfect accompaniment to her coffee and cognac.
	Ken said quietly to Kathy, “If I were to die right now, I would be in heaven without moving an inch!”
	Kathy raised her glass.  “I’m sorry,” she said, “I should have done this earlier with the wine, but better late than never!  Sally and Jim, I would like to offer a toast to you both: Your love for each other lights up this room!  Your selflessness leaves me breathless.  Two brilliant people willing — no, anxious! — to sacrifice his interest for the other’s.  May your love burn forever as brightly as it burns tonight!”
	Ken could feel his eyes burn with tears as he listened to Kathy’s words.  But the words are true, he thought looking at the young couple.  They’re really true!  As they were preparing to leave, Ken said, “By the way, I should have asked.  How long have you kids been married?”
	Sally brightly replied, “Almost two months, Commander, sir, and I love it!  She looked at Jim and licked her lips lasciviously.
	“In that case,” Ken asked, “May I still kiss the bride?”
	Sally jumped at him and kissed him softly on the lips.  When they parted, she held him, looked into his eyes and whispered so softly he could scarcely hear, “Ken, be good to her!  She’s the very best there is!”  Ken agreed with her judgment.
	When the O’Rourkes left, Ken looked at Kathy, “Hon, how do you feel?”  It was nearly eleven-thirty.
	“I feel great.  Why?  How do you feel?”
	“Kathy,” he said, “I feel about one inch tall.  I would like to tell you another story.  There was this little kid who met a fairy princess.  He was angry because the princess had a secret.  Of course, if he knew what the secret was, he wouldn’t have believed it.  Then he read a story about the fairy princess.  Of course, even if he wouldn’t have believed the princess, he did believe the story.
	“Then he met a giant and a pixie who told him more about the fairy princess they had come to love.  The little kid shrank until he was only one inch tall.  The only thing that can change the little kid back to normal is a kiss from the princess.  Will the princess kiss the little kid?”
	Kathy came to him and tenderly kissed him.  He held her as the love flowed between them.  Finally, they separated.
	“Thank you, fairy princess!  Kathy, can you help me?  I have to go back to the ship.  The dumb little kid was so pissed off at the fairy princess he didn’t even bring a change of underwear.  If the fairy princess were smart, of course, she would just kick the little kid the hell out of her house.  But then the fairy princess is known for her kindness, not her brains.”
	Kathy kicked him lightly in the shin and grinned.  “Come on, little kid.  We have to go get your toys.”  He took her in his arms and kissed her again.
	The BMW was speeding west on the Expressway.  Ken noticed the speedometer needle pass 100 mph on a 150-mph dial.  Suddenly, he heard a siren wail behind them.  “Oh, shit!” Kathy exclaimed.  “Of all the damn times to hit a Smoky.”  She pulled over well to the right in the breakdown lane.  The patrol car, blue lights revolving and headlights flashing, pulled up behind, but the trooper stayed behind the wheel.
	Ken assumed that the trooper was running Kathy’s plate through the police computer.  He noticed Kathy impatiently drumming her finger against the wheel.  The trooper finally got out of the cruiser and approached the driver’s side.  Ken was astonished at what happened next.
	The tall trooper towered over the low sports sedan.  “Damn it, Kathy!  You gotta knock off this shit!  It makes us look bad!  Why once we even got a grumble from the captain... ’til we told him who it was, o’ course.  How fast this time?”
	“A hundred-ten, Will.”  she replied.
	“Kathy?” the trooper said skeptically.
	“Oh, shit!  A hundred-twenty, okay?  You happy?”
	Just then, Ken ducked his head low and leaned over to the left so he could see the trooper’s face.  “Is there some problem, officer?” he asked.
	He could see the trooper’s face turn bright red as he recognized him as a naval officer.  He heard the trooper mutter under his breath, “Damn it, Kathy, why didn’t you tell me you had company?”
	Then, following a very snappy salute, he said in his normal voice, “Commander, would you mind stepping out of the car and coming back here with me?”
	Ken said, “Of course, not, officer.”
	As he stepped out he heard Kathy mutter, “Oh shit!  Here it goes!”
	Ken followed the trooper back to his patrol cruiser.  The trooper introduced himself, “Trooper William Stockdale, Commander.”
	Ken said, “Ken Stark, trooper.  I’m glad to meet you, but I would have liked to do it in happier circumstances.  I don’t understand what I just saw over there.  You haven’t even started to write Miss Smith’s ticket.”
	The trooper broke into gales of laughter, as if Ken had just told the funniest joke he had ever heard.  In fact, he had.  “Write a ticket!  On Kathy!?  I’m sorry, sir, but maybe you just don’t understand.”
	“Understand what, trooper?  I understand Miss Smith was driving at an excessive rate of speed.”  Ken was becoming annoyed.  He looked at the car ahead.  Kathy had her hands at the top of the wheel, with her forehead resting on her hands.  She appeared dejected.
	“Commander, the only trooper that would ever give Kathy a ticket would be the guy who’s lookin’ to get off the force in a hurry.  That’s assumin’ o’ course, he lives long enough to get off.  Commander, sir, this is a game!  We love to haul her down!  It reminds her we’re still around and it gives us a chance to talk to a real, live angel!  O’ course there’s a little more to it: the speed thing, for example.  We always ask her and she always fibs a few miles light.  Ya know, Commander, thinkin’ on it, I don’t rightly know who’s checkin’ on who.  Us checkin’ her speed, or her checkin’ our radar!”
	“Trooper, on behalf of Kathy, we apologize for such speed.  it’s very...”  Aside from sounding pompous as hell, Ken stopped because Stockdale was looking at him like he had a screw loose.
	“Commander, what’d Kathy admit to?  One hundred twenty?  Sir, is Jackie Stewart a dangerous driver?  Is Dick Petty?  Why Commander, that girl’s better in that car at 140 than the average driver is out here at forty!  I mean, she’s that good!  Why one day some buddies and I were with Kathy down in South Virginia Beach... down by the Carolina line, you know?  Well damned if...  Commander, have you ever heard of a bootlegger’s turn?”  Ken shook his head.
	“No?  Well, it was developed out west o’ here in the hill country.  See, a bootlegger with a full load bein’ chased by Revenue?  Well he’d roar down this two-lane road bein’ chased.  Then he’d touch the brakes just right, and turn the wheel just right, and shift the gears just right, an’ all of a sudden he’s made a 180 and he passes the Revenue goin’ the other way.  Follow?  Well, some o’ those good ol’ boys could do that trick at seventy or sometimes, if he was real good, at eighty.
	“Well, Commander, I’m here to tell ya that Kathy did it at 110!  And that’s radar speed, not her braggin’ at us.  That lady can handle a car, sir!  She truly can!
	“O’ course there’s the other thing.  You ever see that little gun she carries?  You did?” he asked, as Ken nodded.  “Well, sir, that li’l weapon has fired five times in anger.  Sir, four rounds penetrated the targets’ hearts, and the fifth entered a target’s brain.
	“Now sir, you could think o’ Kathy as sort of a Virginia police mascot.  You could o’ course, but you’d be dead wrong!  We truly admire that woman!  She’s one of us!  She’s been there.  But more, sir, we love her... like a beautiful sister, I guess.  Sir, when those bastards took a shotgun to her, well...  As you know, sir, she burned one of them.  She was rollin’ on the deck and fired one shot right between the eyes!  Then this other creep turns up in a ditch near Detroit weighted down with buckshot.  Sir, if we had gotten there first, there wouldn’t a bin enough left to bury!
	“God, we love that girl!  Commander, one more thing!  I don’t know why, but I think she’s special interested in you.  You’re the first man she’s ever been seen with.  I got somethin’ you might like to see!”
	Stockdale opened the door of his cruiser and returned with his clipboard.  He lifted the forms clipped to it.  Underneath them, protected by acetate, was a photograph of Kathy wearing a tiny white bikini.  Her breasts were thrust out, her back was arched and one arm was behind her head.  “Sir, that was taken at Yale University the night she was elected Queen of Yale!  O’ course, that’s a Yankee school an’ all, but damn, those boys do have good taste!”
	“That’s a lovely picture, Stockdale.  Does Kathy know you have it?”
	The trooper blushed.  “O’ course she doesn’t!  At least, I hope she doesn’t...”
	“Stockdale,” Ken said, “Want to make a deal?  I’ll get Kathy to autograph your picture if you tell me where I can get one.”
	“Commander,” the trooper replied, “that’s the kind o’ deal I like!  Let’s go!”  The two returned to Kathy’s car.
	Ken got in, while the trooper stood by Kathy’s window.  Ken held the clipboard.  “Honey, will you do me a favor?”
	“Of course!  I told you before: anything,” she replied.
	Ken reached over Kathy’s head to the overhead light control and turned on the dome light.  “Kathy, look at me,” he asked.  “I have a picture of you that’s very important to him.”  He dropped his voice to a whisper.  “Hon, he loves you very much.  Would you sign it for him?”
	Her eyes widened as she saw the picture.  She didn’t know such a photograph existed.  She took a pen out of the glove compartment and wrote, “To my dear friend, Trooper William Stockdale, Virginia State Police, with great respect and affection.”  she signed it and gave the board back to the trooper.  He read it and blushed.
	The trooper was so overwhelmed, his back-country origins sounded even stronger in his speech: “Thank you, Miss Kathy!  If y’all pardon my sayin’ so ma’am, you’re the most beautiful woman in the world!”
	He passed Ken a slip of paper with a name and address written on it.  Stockdale saluted smartly, “Good night, y’all.  I apologize for keepin’ you so long.”
	Kathy put the car in gear, and after checking for traffic, smoothly pulled away.  “Ken, I’m embarrassed.  What did Will tell you?”
	“Well, I guess you have the track record for a bootlegger’s turn.”  Even in the red-orange light coming from the dash he could see her blush.  “And, of course, he and every other law enforcement officer love you like a sister!  Kathy, he’s sincere.  And honey, if you’re good enough to gain the respect of men like that, you have it made.  I think they invented the word, loyalty.”
	After retrieving his things from his ship, the destroyer Evans, they headed back to Virginia Beach.  Glancing over, he was sure that the needle on the speedometer passed 130 but, after his talk with the trooper, Ken relaxed.
	Their lovemaking that night was soft and gentle.  After reaching their climax together Ken and Kathy fell asleep still wrapped in each other’s arms.

Chapter 19
	It was a warm afternoon.  Kathy was parked near the brow of Ken’s ship, the USS Evans.  She was out of the car facing the ship with her rump on the front fender.  As Ken requested she was wearing her skin-tight Levi’s and a Yale T-shirt.  Her golden hair was being blown by the wind off the water but she made no effort to control it knowing that a flip with a comb would put it right.  It was three forty-five — 1545 in Ken’s language.  Her behavior was totally consistent with respect to people she loved.  If she was asked to do something, she did it if it was within her power to do.  And she loved Ken desperately.
	She reflected on this man who had captured her heart.  She had not known him for even a week but could not face the prospect of life without him.  She accepted as a matter of indisputable fact that he was the man she was made for.  It was very simple and straightforward.  He had telephoned earlier in the afternoon and asked her to wear her jeans and a top that revealed her figure.
	He asked her to stand outside her car where she could be seen from his ship, and to please be there at 1545.  She looked down at her chest and decided with a grin that she just needed water and she was ready for a wet T-shirt contest.  Ken had offered no explanation for the strange request nor had it occurred to Kathy to ask for one.  Her lover had asked her to do something and she was doing it.
	She occupied her time by examining the ship.  She identified the hull, of course, and the bridge.  There were single gun mounts fore and aft.  Then there was a bewildering array of antennas that seemed to occupy every available inch of superstructure.  She was surprised at the size and boxiness of the structure below the bridge.
	It appeared to her there had been two different designers at work.  The one who designed the hull had had a sense of aesthetics.  It was sleek and beautiful.  The other designer then put a big metal box on the hull.  It was like a packing box shaped to hold a lot of people and equipment, but a box nonetheless.  She thought the second designer had ruined the sleek look begun by the first.
	Although she was totally unfamiliar with the Navy, it seemed there was a greater-than-normal amount of activity topside since it so close to liberty at 1600.  She wished the O’Rourkes could be with her to explain what was going on.  She thought of them fondly; the young couple were now on their way to California.
	Ken was never far from her thoughts these days.  She found herself wondering about his marriage and divorce.  In the few minutes they were together without being consumed by their passion, a single question kept recurring with increased intensity each time:  How had Ken been financially ruined?  These days such a thing almost never happened.  In the rare cases in which it did happen, there had to be overwhelming fault on one side coupled with legal representation so poor as to amount to malpractice.
	She had been hearing the General Announcing System in action ever since she arrived squawking announcements, most of which were totally unintelligible to her.  She made a mental note to learn more about the Navy.  Finally, she heard an announcement she did understand: Liberty was announced for three of four duty sections.  The sailors started streaming off the ship, most in civilian clothes.  She was surprised when those in uniform saluted her in a most military fashion as they passed.  This caused her to stand up straight and smile in return.
	Then Ken came running over.  She wanted to laugh as she watched to poor man try to run with a large suitcase in each hand.  She went to the back of the car and opened the trunk for him.  He smiled gratefully and threw the bags in and shut the lid, then took her in his arms for a hello kiss that — as usual — became more than that.  With Ken, she decided, she had a very short fuse.  When he reluctantly pulled away, they were both breathless.
	She blushed as she heard what seemed to be the ship’s entire duty section lined up at the rail cheering their captain and his girl.  Oh, well, she thought, I might as well make the best of it.  As she went towards the driver’s door, she waved at the ship and smiled.  She was rewarded by a redoubling of the cheers.  They got in the car and Kathy drove away.
	“Well,” said Ken with a grin, “So much for another of the dumb captain’s great ideas.  I’m sorry, honey.  I didn’t think it would work out this way.”
	“What way?” Kathy asked, puzzled, as she concentrated on threading her way out of the base and back towards the freeway to Virginia Beach.  It was rush hour and slow going.
	“Kathy, in the Navy there’s a reference to ‘the 10 percent that never gets the word.’  It’s kind of a standing joke.  Well, it’s pretty embarrassing when the captain is in the 10 percent, and particularly when the word concerns his... his...”
	“Mistress is the word you’re searching for, dear.  I am your mistress,” Kathy said with a warm smile.
	“...lady,” Ken finished.  “It seems that everyone on the Evans but me knows who you are and what you are.  I kept hearing these snatches of conversation all day, so I thought they might like to get a better look at you.  It was a disaster.  The Exec was afraid guys were going to fall overboard staring at you, or maybe cause the ship to capsize with all the weight on the shore side of the vessel.  There were comparison made between you and the top Hollywood beauties...”
	Kathy stole a glance at Ken’s face.  “How did I do?” she asked.
	“It was terrible, Kathy.  Simply awful!”  He concealed a smile as he watched her face fall.  “The others were dismissed out of hand.
	“The guy who thought a particularly beautiful star was almost in your class was accused of having his taste in his feet.  Kathy, aboard USS Evans you are the most beautiful girl in the world.  By the way, I didn’t say ‘considered’, I said ‘are’.  It is established fact, like the sun rising in the east.”  He smiled at her warmly.
	Kathy smiled, basking in his love.  “And where does the captain of the Evans stand on the question?”
	“Where can the captain stand?  With his men, of course!”  He grinned and added, “I am their leader, after all.”
	She glanced at him and saw his face become serious and show concern.  Haltingly, he continued in a voice that initially worried her.  “Kathy...  Those bags in the trunk...  Kathy, I have no right, but... you...”
	“You’re moving in with me.  That’s wonderful!” she exclaimed with a bright smile.
	“But Kathy...”
	“Ken,” Kathy asked, “what characteristic does the Navy look for in its officers?”
	Ken looked puzzled.  “I don’t understand your question...”
	“Ken, officers — particularly commanding officers — are supposed to exercise initiative.  You just did.  There is a girl with a big apartment.  She meets this handsome man and instantly falls in love.  Her love for him is so intense, when he’s near her he’s the only thing in color.  The rest of the world is black-and-white.  She wants him to live with her so badly that she would give him the bedroom and sleep on the floor except when he wanted to use her body.  She is much too frightened to ask him because she’s afraid he’ll laugh at her.  When he says he’s moving in, the girl’s body just starts to melt.  She thinks, ‘Maybe he cares for me, just a little, too.’  Thank you, Ken, for having me.”
	As she concentrated on her driving, Ken studied her.  My God!  he thought.  I can’t believe what I’m hearing!  This girl, who has an abundance of everything a man could possibly want in a woman, feels unworthy!  Of me!?
	“Ken,” Kathy asked, changing the subject, “Why were those sailors saluting me when they came off the ship?  I mean...  I’m not an officer or a flag or anything.”
	Ken smiled.  “Yes you are.  Those guys, unlike their ignorant commanding officer, know all about you.  They were saluting your beauty, Kathy.  More than that, they were saluting a hero.  When a man is awarded the Medal of Honor — the nation’s highest award for valor — he is saluted first, regardless of his rank or the rank of the person rendering honors.  As a civilian you can’t receive that award.  Furthermore, it’s only awarded in wartime, and, thank God, we’re not fighting anyone right now.  You received the Medal of Freedom which is the closest we can come for a civilian.  They know you saved the lives of their shipmates, Kathy.  Several of them were in Charley’s that night.”
	“Ken, I need to learn about the Navy.  Are there some good books I could read?”
	“Kathy, please don’t,” he protested.
	She looked hurt.  “Why not?”
	“Because in no time flat you would be second guessing the Chief of Naval Operations... and more than likely you would be right!  Honey, people have been talking about street crime for years and it just gets worse.  You come along right out of law school and it starts to recede here in Norfolk.  You would be trying to shape up the Navy, too.”
	They had exited the Expressway and were making their way towards the apartment when Ken saw a sign in the next block.  “Kathy, could you stop at that flower shop in the next block, please?”
	She pulled into a parking space and he said he would be right out.  A few minutes later he was back with a long large box which he just managed to fit across the back seat.  When they reached the apartment, Kathy carried the box while Ken carried his suitcases.  She was waiting for him in the kitchen when he emerged from the bedroom.
	“You didn’t open it,” he said.
	Kathy thought she heard a note of disappointment in his voice and said, “Open what?”
	“The box, silly!”
	“But... It’s for me?”
	“Who else would it be for?” Ken asked.  “Of course it’s for you!”  Ken got another insight into this remarkable girl.  Nothing was ever too good for her friends or too much trouble for her to do for them but she could not seem to understand that others might ever want to do something for her.  He realized that Kathy Smith was the most unselfish person he had ever met.
	Kathy opened the box, revealing dozens of red roses.  “Oh, Ken!  They’re beautiful!  But there are so many...”
	“Do you really like them?” he asked diffidently.
	“Like them!?  Oh, Ken, I adore them!”  She looked up at him sweetly and added, “No one has ever given me flowers before!”
	He took her in his arms and kissed her.  As he did, he wondered how there could be so many stupid guys in the world.  Kathy should be walking on flowers coming from thousands of admirers.  What was wrong?
	It was only five o’clock, Kathy noticed, much too early for dinner.  She thought she would get started on a project she had been mulling over in her mind.  In the meantime, Ken had changed into a golf shirt and slacks and asked her if she would like a drink.  She told him there was something she wanted to do first and led him through the exercise room.
	His eyes widened as he saw all of the equipment for the first time.  My God! he thought.  A fully equipped gym, too.
	At the far wall Kathy inserted a key and activated a switch.  A motor-driven door opened slowly away from them, and they walked into an office.  Ken hadn’t realized it, but when they entered the gym they had entered the office building fronting the main street.  He was in a lawyer’s office.  Kathy activated another concealed switch and a section of the wall of bookcases slid back in place.  She excused herself while Ken looked around and was puzzled.  It was a beautifully furnished office suite.  The sort of surroundings, Ken thought, designed to extract maximum fees from clients with the minimum of complaint.
	Going through to the outer office he found a desk for a secretary-receptionist and a good-sized conference room next to it.  Something bothered him, but...  It suddenly came to him.  The office was unoccupied and had never been occupied.  Of course!  There were no magazines in the reception area, no files on the desk — nothing!
	When Kathy emerged from the bathroom, Ken was stunned.  A lovely hoyden wearing jeans and a T-shirt had gone into a room.  A lovely young attorney reappeared in her place.  As she smiled at him, Ken saw the unspoken question in her eyes, Do you approve?  She was wearing her favorite warm-weather outfit: a man-tailored cotton cord suit.  The blue in the material’s vertical stripes complemented the blue of her eyes and Ken whistled appreciatively.
	After blushing with pleasure Kathy turned surprisingly businesslike.  He reflected that, given her accomplishments, she had to be good.  He smiled to himself.  Behind her on the wall were the usual lawyer’s trappings: an array of framed diplomas, all honors degrees from top schools.
	“Commander, I would like to review the facts surrounding your recent divorce.”
	Ken was shocked.  Kathy was being absolutely serious and businesslike.  Exactly the way Knight never was, Ken thought.  “Let’s do it!  Miss Smith, what would you like to know?  And may I call you Kathy?” he asked.
	He melted under her warm smile, “Of course, Commander.  Now tell me some basics.”
	His ex-wife’s name was Sylvia.  “Kathy, the easy way to describe Sylvia is to say that two people could not be greater polar opposites than you two.  You’re totally unselfish while she’s totally self-centered.  You rejoice in lovemaking; Sylvia hates it.  You are bright and gold while Sylvia is dull and dark.  I could go on but you get the idea.
	“We had only been married for a few months when Sylvia tells me she is filing for a divorce.  I’m certainly stupid, I freely admit, but not a complete idiot.  The marriage was a disaster from the beginning, so it was an opportunity to cut my losses.  Who knows?  I might meet a golden goddess who melts my insides...”
	“Commander, the subject is law, not love.”  She grinned at him and added, “If you’re good, the love will come later.  In fact, even if you’re not so good...  But what was the outcome?  I gather you were serious when you said you were financially wiped out?”
	Ken smiled wryly.  “I was all too serious.  Everything I had, she got.  Except for what my lawyer took, of course.”
	“Who was your lawyer and how did you find him?”
	“He is a lawyer named Homer Knight with an office in Norfolk.  I retained him because he was cheap.  Also, he was recommended to me by Sylvia’s attorney.  Because of the nature of the action, her lawyer initially was going to represent us both but decided it would be better if I had my own counsel.”
	“Ken, you’ve just learned something.  Sometimes the lowest-priced lawyer can be the most expensive.  I smell a rat — a very big rat — that’s really stinking up this office.  I’ll explain in a minute.  But first, what were the grounds for divorce?  General incompatibility or something like it?”
	“You’re right, but...”  Ken stopped, looking puzzled.  “But that’s not the way it ended up...”
	“What was Sylvia’s maiden name?”
	“It was Black.  Why?”
	“Just asking.  Ken, were you present at the divorce hearing?”
	“No.  We were on an extended Med deployment.  Homer said that it was all routine and everything would be taken care of when I got back.  Well, the way it worked out, it wasn’t.  I was!”
	“When did you get back to Norfolk?”
	“Early last week... Monday, I guess.  Then the roof fell in.  When I met you at Charley’s, I had just finished signing over everything at Knight’s office.”  Ken blushed, remembering.  “Kathy, I want to apologize to you again for what I said to you that night.  I would rather forget it, but I can’t.  What I said to you was unforgivable.  Christ!  I think I even accused you of being a whore!”
	“Your words were ‘B-girl’,” she said with a warm smile.  “But there’s absolutely nothing to forgive.  After all, I did pick you up in a bar.”  Getting back to the subject she asked, “Ken, do you have the final papers on your divorce?”
	“They’re on the ship.  I didn’t even look at them.  Homer told me what happened, and I was just stunned... in a state of shock.  I just never expected...  Kathy, can you explain to me what did happen?  You seem to have some idea...”
	“Ken, I think you were set up.  You were fattened, killed, stuffed, roasted and served as the main course for dinner.  I need to check this out before I can be sure, but I’ll give you my theory.  All the known facts fit it, by the way.”
	Kathy had a sudden inspiration.  “Ken, I don’t want there to be any secrets between us, but could you be a dear and wait out in the reception room for a minute?”  She grinned and added, “There are lots of law books you can read.  They don’t have any pictures, but you can admire the big words we lawyers love to use.”
	Ken was puzzled but complied.  He even took a law book at random off the shelf out with him.  Realizing Kathy wanted privacy, he closed her office door.
	When he left, she picked up the phone, checked in her wallet and dialed a number.  The phone at the other end was picked up on the first ring.  A deep male voice said a single word, “Yes?”
	“This is Angel.  I need to speak to Tony.”
	The voice changed instantly from boredom to respect.  He sounded like he had been jerked to attention.  “Yes, ma’am!  Immediately.”
	An instant later she heard Tony Donetti’s voice.  “Can you give me a minute, Angel?  We were in the middle of a conference and the boys are leaving the office so we can talk.”  She could hear the sound of movement and then a door closing.  “Now how can I help?” he asked.
	“Tony, I have a problem perhaps you can help me with.  A friend — a very close friend — is a naval officer.  He was just cleaned out in a divorce action that sounds like a scam.  I thought maybe you could ask around...”
	“He’s the one, isn’t he?  He’s the man you’ve been waiting for.  I can hear it in your voice!”
	She smiled at his perceptiveness.  My God, she thought, I might as well advertise it in the papers!  Aloud she said, “He’s the one for me, Tony, but I don’t...”
	“Angel, unless he’s a hopeless idiot, he’s yours.  Now, what do I need to know?”
	“There are only a few things now.  The officer’s name is Commander Kenneth Stark.  His wife’s maiden name was Sylvia Black.  He was represented by a conniving creep named Homer Knight.”
	“Give me a phone number.  I’ll get right back.”  He hung up and Kathy looked at her instrument.  He had been as good as his word.  He had said anytime.  It was obvious he had stopped a meeting in progress to take her call.
	She went out to the reception room to get Ken.  When they returned to their former seats, she smiled at him lovingly.  “My theory is this:  You were filing for a straight uncontested incompatibility divorce — very short duration, no children.  It can be easily done for a few hundred dollars by any attorney.  It could have been done, in fact, by a single lawyer representing both sides.  I think it’s a terrible practice, but it’s done every day, particularly in cases such as yours.  The tip was when you said that you were starting in that direction, when her lawyer...  Who is he, by the way?”
	“His name is Holmes.  Edward Holmes.”
	Kathy continued, “Holmes gets his buddy, Knight, in on the scam.  He has to, Ken.  They then shift to a fault action.  The way you were cleaned out it had to be all fault: adultery, wife-beating, the whole nine yards.  A single lawyer — Holmes, in this case — couldn’t represent both parties.  The judge would smell a rat stinking up his courtroom.  After reading the bill of particulars I’m almost certain he would refuse to hear the case if the defendant were not represented by personal counsel.
	“Ken, our system of jurisprudence is grounded on the adversary system.  It’s not perfect, heaven knows, but the theory is that when each side presents its best case, the truth will out.  Unfortunately, it can be defeated if there aren’t two sides.  If, rather, two attorneys are representing a single side: in this case, the plaintiff, Sylvia.  Does it make any sense?”
	Ken had gone white.  She could see perspiration on his forehead in spite of the climate-controlled environment.  “Perfect sense!  My God!  Everything I know fits.  Can we do anything now?”
	“I think so.  I’ll be right back.”  Kathy got up and went to the outer office.  He heard a file drawer open and close, then the sound of a typewriter.  He went out to look.  Kathy was at the typewriter rapidly filling out a form.  The way her fingers flew over the keys Ken knew she could be a top-flight legal secretary.  Yet another of her skills, he thought.  Then he heard a copier warming up.  Kathy spun the form out of the typewriter and marched back into her office.
	“Ken, give me one dollar, please.”  He looked puzzled, but opened his wallet.  He still had almost all of the $2,000 she had put in it on Saturday night.  He was amused at the idea of giving her back one dollar of the $2,000 she had given him.  He handed her the dollar.  “Thank you.  Now please sign above your name at the bottom.”
	He saw the indicated position and signed, then passed the form back to her.  She signed also, went to the outer office and came back moments later with two copies.  She gave him one of them.  “What’s this?” he inquired.
	“Ken, you have just signed a form retaining me to act as your attorney in all matters relating to your divorce.  The form, a copy of which will go to Homer Knight, certified mail, removes him as your attorney of record, effective immediately.  The money was my full fee for services.  I acknowledged receipt of the fee and accepted the appointment.”
	“One dollar?  That’s all?” he said in a bemused voice.
	Kathy shook her head sadly and said, “After all the damned trouble you got yourself into, would you do me a big favor?  For God’s sake, will you read a paper before you sign it?  If you had read the damned form you would have seen ‘$1 and other valuable considerations,’ the nature of said ‘other valuable considerations’ I’ll leave to your imagination,” she replied smiling lasciviously.
	The telephone rang and Kathy picked it up.  It was Tony.  She glanced at the clock and found it had been less than thirty minutes since they first talked.  He must need more information.
	“Angel, you got it right.  No wonder you did the job you did for the DA!  Sylvia Black — we’ll call her that because that’s the name you know her by — is a small-time grifter.  She has a good little business going fleecing sailors.  Angel, I’m embarrassed.  We provide certain... services to the fleet, but this was never intended to be one of them.  Apparently she works it by acting like she has... connections... I can absolutely assure you she does not have!
	“She works with a sleaze named Holmes, but she’s the brains.  I haven’t got it all yet, but I have already found at least three other guys she’s cleaned out in less than two years.  They’re always sailors and it always works the same way.  Your man was out on a long cruise, wasn’t he?”
	Kathy answered, “Yes.”
	“I thought so:  He had to be.  They always are.  The sucker... I’m sorry, Angel... the man thinks he’s going for an uncontested divorce.  There’s always another lawyer in it with them representing the guy.  The guy is served with papers, which — if he bother to read them and they never do — say uncontested, no-fault and all that other good stuff.  Then the papers are switched.  There is a new filing replacing the others.  The new filing alleges physical cruelty, adultery and anything else her creative mind can add.  And she is creative, I’m told.  There’s sewer service on the new papers and off they go.
	“They try to time the trial for just after the guy sails so everything is all wrapped up with a big red bow by the time he gets back.  Then he’s just told who to sign over what to.  The poor guy doesn’t even know what hit him.  And even if he smells a rat he doesn’t have a dime left to use for another lawyer.
	“There’s more, Angel.  It’s embarrassing to me!  They use some of my people.  Girls to testify... that sort of thing.  Kathy, Sylvia may be a masochist.  One of our people whipped her so she could show the fresh marks on her back.  It was done close enough to the time of the split that the colors would be right and all that.
	“How much more do you need, Angel?  If you agree, the word is going out that she is not protected and the judge will be amenable to reopening the case.”
	“That’s all I need.  I agree,” she said cryptically.
	“He’s sitting with you, isn’t he?  You don’t need to answer.  Thank you, Angel!  I appreciate it very much.”
	“What do you mean?” she asked, very puzzled.
	“The opportunity to help you.  I was hoping, but frankly, I couldn’t really think of how I could.  Call me if you need any more.  By the way, Tom and Cindy — he’s calling her Cindy, not Cynthia, now — are back from their honeymoon.  My God, they just radiate happiness.  I still owe you... big!  And so does Sal.  We love you Angel.  Good bye.”
	After hanging up, she looked at the instrument.  Good heavens! she thought.  He got it all and in only thirty minutes.  She looked at Ken and said, “I won’t tell you, yet, who was on the end of that call, but I will tell you...  Please wait one more second!”
	She hit the redial button.  The same voice answered the same way.  “This is Angel.  I need to speak to Tony.”
	An instant later he was back on the line.  “What did you forget?”
	“I need the name she used in her previous marriage, the court in which the divorce was filed — that sort of thing.”
	“Wait one second,” he said.  He was almost as good as his word.  “It was Collins.  She was Mrs. Edward Collins.  It was in Newport News on...  May 15 of this year!  Angel, you did it!  I didn’t know before, but I’m starting to see the way your mind works.  I’ll bet you’ve got her on bigamy!  I am prepared to have my girls recant their testimony with Stark, testify about whipping Sylvia and all of that stuff.  I still will without a second’s thought if you need it, but with bigamy it all blows away, right?  Let me know.”  Tony hung up.
	“Ken, when did you marry Sylvia?  It’s important.”
	“The second Day of Infamy?  It was March...  Of course!  The ides of March: March 15!  Me and Julius Cæsar,” He replied with a smile.
	“Bingo!” Kathy shouted and rushed around the desk to launch herself into his lap.  She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him joyously — and then passionately.  Slowly she pulled away and allowed her head to clear from the effects of his kiss, but stayed on his lap.  “Honey, you’re home free!  You get it all back.  Every dime!  She was a bigamist.  On March 15, she was still legally married to a guy named Edward Collins.  Your marriage never took place!”
	Ken looked at the lovely girl he was holding in his arms.  Somehow she was feather-light on his lap.  In less than one hour and two phone calls she had put his life back together.  After kissing her softly he asked, “How did you know?”
	“Ken,” she replied, feeling almost childlike in his arms, “Sylvia was running a racket.  My source — who is unusually reliable — found three marriages and is confident there were more — possibly many more.  She always worked with Holmes although the other lawyer changed from time to time.”  She went on to explain what she had learned and its significance.
	Finally she said, “Can I stop playing lawyer now?  Can I take you up on the drink offer?”
	Ken was amused.  Instead of wearing her suit back to the apartment she went back into her washroom and reappeared moments later in her jeans and T-shirt.  He made drinks while she made dinner.  That night they went to bed early with Kathy jumping in first.  The covers were up around her neck when he emerged from the bathroom.  She flipped them back to welcome him, revealing her beautiful golden body.  “Now about those ‘other valuable considerations’...”
	They got very little sleep that night as they took turns waking each other for more lovemaking.

Chapter 20
	The next morning Kathy was dressed in her lawyer suit as she drove Ken back to his ship.  Then she crossed the bridge to Newport News and went to the courthouse where she was immediately recognized as she entered.  After obtaining a copy of the Collins divorce papers she found a pay phone and called Tony Donetti.  Once again he picked up immediately after she identified herself.  “Tony, I’m clear to talk.  I’m at a pay phone in Newport News and I’m getting ready to see our sleazy friend, Mr. Holmes.
	“One thing I’ll need is names of people who will testify that Sylvia was Sylvia Collins.  I also need her current address.  She’s the kind who changes identities as fast as a chameleon changes its color.  Also, if you have Holmes office address it would save me from walking my fingers through the telephone directory.  And Tony, I hope you don’t mind if I go for disbarment on Homes, and Homer Knight, too, if I can prove collusion.”
	“Angel, why would I possibly mind?  Go get ’em, tiger.  The names of the people are easy to get.  Do you need them now?”
	“No, Tony.  I was pretty sure but I wanted to check with you first.  I want to be sure there are some witnesses in case Holmes tries to bluff it out.”
	Donetti gave Kathy Holmes’ address, Sylvia’s address and the assurance that she would not be able to hide.  Getting back into her car she drove to her old office in Norfolk.
	When she walked in, she found Peter there.  He closed his office door, looked at her steadily and then exclaimed, “Katherine Smith, you are in love!  And on you it looks great.  It happened over the weekend, didn’t it?”  Kathy blushed and nodded.  “Who’s the lucky guy?”
	She told him about Ken and his divorce.  “Pete, this stuff is new to me.  I don’t really know what it takes.  What evidence do you need to move?”
	“Kathy, I’ll help you all I can.  What we need is an admission from him that he knew Sylvia had already married Stark while he was working on the Collins divorce.  Hon, even though its almost never prosecuted, bigamy is a felony.  If he admits to knowledge, he’s an accessory after the fact.  Of course, there could be other marriages worked this way.  Then you not only get disbarment, you get felony prosecution on conspiracy to commit fraud, bigamy...  It could be a very interesting indictment!
	“I have one question, though.  It’s Wednesday.  You only met the guy on the weekend, yet you seem to know everything there is to know about the scam already.  Wait!  Don’t answer!  I’ll hear about Kathy Smith, girl wonder-worker, and feel inadequate again.”
	He grinned at her and she gave him a warm smile in return.  After the emotion-filled day the previous Friday she was glad his sense of humor was still intact.
	“Kathy, I have an idea, if you’ll go for it.  Carry a wire when you meet him.  If he says what I’m confident you’ll get him to say, he’s dead meat.  Do you want to try?”
	“Let’s do it!” Kathy exclaimed with delight.
	Peter called a police technician.  While waiting, Kathy said, “Pete, one thing occurred to me.  I have a carry permit for my gun in connection with my DA’s job which I no longer have.  Is the permit still good?”
	“No.  As a matter of fact, it was revoked this morning.  May I have it, please?”  Pete’s voice was flat as he spoke.
	Kathy was hurt but she said nothing.  She found the permit in her wallet and gave it to him.
	After glancing at it, he tore it up and dropped the pieces in his wastebasket.  Then he reached into his desk, took out two laminated cards without looking and flipped them across the desk to Kathy.  “These are yours,” he said.  As usual, his face was totally expressionless.
	Kathy picked up the cards which both looked very official.  One was headed United States of America, while the other said Commonwealth of Virginia.  Both had ID pictures of her identical to the one formerly on her District Attorney’s identification.  “What are these?” she asked.
	“I’m not really sure,” Pete answered, appearing bored by the subject.  “The Federal one is some sort of junior G-Man, or junior federal marshal, or something stupid like that.  The other is something similar from the State.  I guess it gives the overpaid bureaucrats something to do with their time.  At any rate, it amounts to a Federal gun permit.  By the way, I asked where the junior G-Man badge and cap gun were that usually come with this junk.”  His face broke into a wide grin.  “Kathy, they didn’t seem to be amused!”  At that they both burst into laughter.
	“By the way, I can’t think what the Virginia one does that the Federal one doesn’t do on a broader scale.  I finally came to the conclusion that the Governor looks on you as one of his people, and he won’t back off for the Feds.  Of course, I seem to recall a certain unpleasantness a hundred years or so ago when Virginia didn’t back down, either.”
	As Pete was talking, Kathy had been idly examining the card.  Then she looked at its Virginia counterpart.  “Pete, this is strange.  It says I am a special U.S. Marshall; Virginia says I am a special agent of the Virginia Bureau of Investigation.  It may be a weird way to get a pistol permit, but I think I may have accidentally picked up some arrest powers.  If I’m right, they’re concurrent.  Federal or state charges, I can pick them up.”
	Pete was suddenly interested.  “Kathy, could I see them again, please?”  He read them carefully and then spun in his chair to pick up a phone on the credenza behind him.  His back was to her and he was speaking in a low tone of voice which was unusual for him.  She could not hear what he was saying or to whom.  As he was talking, there was a knock on the door.  She got up and opened it.
	A conservatively dressed man was at the door.  “Miss Smith?  I’m sorry to interrupt, but I’m here to see you.  My name is Joe Peters.  I’m Special Agent in Charge of the FBI office here in Norfolk.  May I come in?”  He took a seat in the chair next to Kathy’s.  Meanwhile, Pete was continuing his phone conversation.  “Miss Smith, I don’t quite know how to begin.  Did Pete give you a card this morning?  One with your picture identifying you as a special U.S. Marshall?”
	Kathy nodded.  Things were getting interesting.  Peters continued, “I’ve known Peter Mahoney for years, and I know his sense of humor.  However, I guess some folks inside the Beltway make careers out of taking themselves very seriously.  At any rate, Pete made some crack about a junior G-Man badge and they came all unglued.  Miss Smith, I have something for you that came down from Washington in a special pouch.  I was asked to deliver it to you personally.”  He reached into his briefcase and pulled out a small rectangular box.
	Kathy opened it.  It was a gold badge with the legend, United States of America, on top and Department of Justice below.  There was a shield which she assumed to be the seal of the Justice Department.  It also said Special Marshall.  Turning it over she saw engraved on the back Katherine J. Smith.
	Agent Peters was smiling now.  Going back into his case he pulled out a thin black leather wallet, then tapped Peter on the shoulder.  Pete nodded and passed him a card.  Then the agent asked Kathy for the badge.  After taking it from her, he fumbled for a few moments, then passed the case back to her.  “Open it,” he said.  She did.  The badge was pinned to one side of the wallet and the ID card to the other.  With a grin he said, “Us real G-Men carry ours that way, so I guess Junior G-Men should, too.
	“Miss Smith, will you please stand?”  Kathy did so.  Peter had completed his call and was watching the proceedings with amusement.  “Raise your right hand and repeat after me: I, Katherine J. Smith, do solemnly swear that I will uphold the Constitution of the United States and its laws as a Special Marshall of the United States Department of Justice, so help me God.”
	Kathy did so, and was moved.  This is no joke, she thought.
	“Miss Smith...”
	Please call me Kathy, Mr. Peters.”
	“Kathy, then — and please call me Joe — there are some papers to fill out and that sort of garbage.  Please don’t forget your social-security number.  They need it for your paycheck.”
	“Paycheck!  What paycheck?” Kathy nearly screamed.
	“Your Department of Justice paycheck, of course,” Peters replied looking very amused.  “I’ve heard about you from Pete, of course.  You’re the girl that doesn’t do things for money, so you didn’t even ask what the job pays before you let me swear you in.”
	“But I don’t want any money!” Kathy wailed.  This is getting out of hand! she thought.
	Mahoney could no longer control his laughter.  He held up one finger and Peters grinned and nodded vigorously.  Pete finally controlled himself enough to say, “Kathy, it pays one dollar per year — and you have to take it.  It’s a Federal offense to work for the U.S. Government for nothing!  As the two men were laughing, Peters was nodding his head to what Mahoney had just said.  Kathy joined in their laughter.
	When the laughter died down, Pete said, “While you two were laughing it up, I was talking to Richmond.  You were absolutely right, Kathy.  You have the full Junior G-Man kit, complete with arrest powers.  Believe it or not, those two sets of idiots — Washington and Richmond — are still debating whether special legislation is needed for concurrent powers of arrest.  It’s a bureaucratic classic.  They don’t know if it’s needed at all, but if it is, is it Federal of state?  Or both?
	“Kathy, you may have generated enough work to keep full departments busy in both places for a year!  And I hope you’re satisfied.”  By the time Mahoney finished his speech, both Kathy and Peters were howling with laughter.  Tears were rolling down her cheeks.
	“Then I told Richmond that the FBI’s SAIC was in my office preparing to swear you in as a special Federal marshal.  They made me write down the words so I could swear you in now, too.  Of course, the State’s more frugal with its money.  They’re not paying you.  You can work of the State for free.  In fact, they prefer it, so you are.”
	Turning serious, he swore her in as a special agent of the Virginia Bureau of Investigation.  After she took the oath he added, “By the way, they asked me to apologize that your badge isn’t ready yet.  I gave them your address and it should arrive, registered mail, within a week.  It also comes with its own wallet.  I told them the Federal wallet was black and to get a different color so you can pull the right one.  The jerk thanked me for the information, would you believe?  It would be a helluva note if you try to make a Federal collar and pull a State badge!”
	Mahoney’s intercom buzzed.  His secretary told him that Police Sergeant Kowalski was in the office to see him by appointment.  Kowalski was shown in and introduced.  As Peters was preparing to leave, Mahoney had an idea.  “Joe, do you have another minute?  It just occurred to me that what Kathy and I were talking about could concern you.”
	“Pete, would you excuse me a moment?” Kathy asked.  “Could I use my old office to make a phone call?  It’s important.  You can brief Joe while I’m gone.”
	She went back to her old office, closed the door, and was relieved to find that nothing had been changed.  She had a direct line there that did not go through the office switchboard and had no extensions which she used to call Tony Donetti again.  Moments later he was on the phone.
	“Tony, I’m on a secure line.  By any chance, do you have any other names, dates and places on Sylvia’s marriage scam?”
	Donetti chuckled, “I sure do, and I was wondering what to do with them.  I don’t feel right calling you.  Anyhow, it’s like that Walt Disney thing when the buckets start bringing water and Mickey Mouse can’t turn them off?  Well, the guys heard it was for Angel so they won’t quit.  Do you have paper?  Good.  I’ll read them off to you.”  He did.
	Before she hung up, Tony had given her twelve names over a four-year period.  She was only missing a few dates.  Tony gave her an organized list with name, date of marriage, date and place of divorce — but not all the blanks were filled.  But it was enough — more than enough.  She had to study the dates more carefully, but she was reasonably sure that at one point Sylvia was married to three men at the same time.  She thanked Donetti and then changed the subject.
	“Tony, something just happened that you should know about.”  She filled him in on the badges she was now carrying and ended by saying, “It nets out that I have full arrest powers, but no one can tell me to do anything.  I just wanted you to hear it direct from me.”
	Donetti laughed and said, “I think it’s great, Angel.  You now have the ultimate carry permit.  You know, I think they did a very smart thing.  You can use that weapon of yours better than anyone else carrying a badge!  They gave it to the right girl.  No one else knows this, right?”
	“You’re right, Tony.  One more thing.  There may be a Federal charge against Sylvia.  Were all the names you just gave me Navy?”
	“Sure were — and they were all officers.  Need anything else?”
	“No, Tony.  And thanks...  Just thanks!”
	“Good bye, Angel.  One more thing.  The boys and I are getting a real kick out of being on the right side of the law for a change.  Just thought you might like to know.”
	When she hung up, she called Holmes’ office and made an appointment to see him there at two o’clock.  Then she returned to Mahoney’s office where the men were waiting for her.  “Kathy, Joe thinks there is a Federal angle, but he had better tell you himself.”
	Peters said, “This is all from memory, and I’ll check it back at the office to be sure, but it works like this:  Back in the Second World War several servicemen’s protection laws were passed.  You can’t garnishee a serviceman’s pay, for example.  Were these guys out of the country?  Pete said he thought they were, but wasn’t sure.  If they were, I think that’s the hook.  You can’t act against a serviceman if he can’t be present to defend himself.”
	Kathy brought out Donetti’s list.  “I have a surprise for you.  While you important law-enforcement types were in here shooting the shit...”
	Eyebrows were raised at Kathy’s use of the phrase.  Pete commented, “How unladylike!  Joe, you can see how she’s gone to the dogs in less than a week away from the office!  Shame!”
	“Shooting the shit!” Kathy repeated, with emphasis, “the loyal girl detective was working her fingers to the bone for her munificent Federal wage.  I have a list of twelve names with most of the dates and all of the places.  This is four years’ worth.  They are all naval officers.  None was present at the trial that cleaned him out.  All were deployed overseas, mostly to the Med.  Did I do good?  Huh?”
	The men laughed with her, but quickly turned serious when they looked over her sheet.  She had made copies for each of them before she came in.  Joe Peters was the first to speak.  “Kathy, let me check something.  When did you first start this investigation?”  She replied that it was the night before, about five o’clock.
	Peters whistled appreciatively.  “I knew it was quick, but...  My God, that’s only about fifteen hours, and almost all of it was nighttime.  I don’t suppose you want to tell me the source?”  Kathy shook her head, no.  “I didn’t think so.  Pete, this girl is tapped into the finest intelligence network around.  You know that the FBI cracks a lot of cases by digging around in dusty ledgers, old bank records, court files... that sort of thing.
	“Believe me, I’ve been there and I know how tedious and time-consuming it is.  If I had put my entire office on this project, I don’t think they could have produced this in less than eight weeks.  And after eight weeks, I doubt if our list would be nearly this complete.  This was put together in less than twenty-four hours!  What I wouldn’t give for your sources...”
	He continued with a grin, “Kathy, you earned your Junior G-Man badge... and at least half of your year’s pay.  Well... maybe one-third.  But it’s definitely a good start!” he said brightly.  Everyone laughed.
	“Joe,” Pete said, “Am I correct in assuming that it should be a very simple matter to complete the sheet?  Obtain the missing dates?  All the divorce dates are here along with the courts.  How long would it take to get the corresponding wedding dates?”
	“Hell, Pete, one of my girls ought to be able to fill in the blanks this afternoon.  Let’s do it!  If you don’t need me any longer, I’m going to put this show on the road.”
	Kathy looked at Pete and then at Sergeant Kowalski.  “I have an appointment with Holmes in his office at two.  What do I do?  I assume Mr. Mahoney told you I’m going to be wired.”
	Kowalski quickly reviewed the various forms of recording devices.  The smallest one available was cylindrical in shape and a bit smaller in diameter and a little shorter than a long cigar.  They talked about Holmes.  Although no one knew him, they assumed he would be wary and sensitive to the possibility of recording.  As they talked, an idea occurred to Kathy.  “Sergeant, how small is the smallest microphone you have?”
	“It’s tiny,” he replied.  “Look.”  He took out a tiny mike about the diameter of a shirt button but much thinner.  She asked if it could be taped in place.  He answered that with special sound-conductive tape he had, yes.  Finally, she asked about wire and was told that he had some that wasn’t much thicker than sewing thread.  Kathy was excited.  Her idea might work.
	“Guys, listen and tell me how this sounds.  Let’s assume that he’s as sensitive as we think he is.  I go in wearing a skin-tight dress.  He’ll ask, and I’ll leave my purse with his secretary so when we go into his office, there’s just me.  He spills and I record.  What do you think?”
	“Ma’am, it would work fine, but where do we put the gear?  Solve that, and I think we’re there.  But how do we solve it?”
	Kathy checked her watch and found there was just enough time to get to her apartment and then back to the office.  “Sergeant, get that cylindrical thing, the thin wire and a button mike.  I’ll meet you back here at one.  The target’s office is only a two-minute walk from here.”
	After racing back to her apartment, Kathy ran to the closet.  After stripping, she put on a plain white dress with a “V” neck.  The fabric outlined her body contours clearly.  Perfect! she thought.  It even showed the outline of her bikini briefs.  Then she picked up one other item from the apartment and finally in the interest of modesty grabbed a lightweight tan raincoat on her way out.
	Promptly at one o’clock she met Sergeant Kowalski.  When they went into her old office, she immediately closed the blinds.  “Sergeant,” Kathy said with a grin, “Since you are about to know me intimately, we ought to be on a first-names basis.  You know mine, but what’s yours?”
	“It’s George, ma’am...  I mean, Kathy.”  He grinned.
	“Well, here goes!” she said as she lifted the tight-fitting dress over her head.  Now she was standing nude in front of him except for her shoes and bikini.  Kowalski’s eyes bulged and he let out a low, appreciative whistle.
	Then he blushed red as a lobster.  “I’m terribly sorry, Kathy, but I have never in my life seen a body like yours!”  Regaining control, he asked, “What do we do?”
	“I want you to tape the mike to the inside of my breast.  But first, let me see the transmitter.”  Reaching into her pocketbook, she took out a corona cigar enclosed in an aluminum cylinder.  “Will it fit in this?  And is it heat sensitive?  To body heat?  By the way, George, you’re welcome to the cigar if you smoke them.  It’s a very good one.”
	Kowalski examined the cylinder and took the transmitter from his pocket.  It fit easily.  After wrapping it in padding, he put it into the empty cigar tube.  The tiny device combined a short-range transmitter and a battery with a three-hour transmitting life.  The antenna was the third wire in the strand of threadlike wire connecting the transmitter with the microphone.
	“But where are you going to put it?  It’s small, but not invisible.”  She told him and his jaw dropped.  “Kathy, you can’t be serious...  I mean... I mean the wires...  My God, Kathy, I couldn’t...”
	“I can, George, but thank you for caring.  Now, can it take body heat and moisture?”  He nodded yes.  “Okay, here’s what we do.  Connect the wires and seal the cylinder.  I’ll put it in and then you tape the wires and the mike.  Okay?”  He nodded and reluctantly did what she asked.
	Kathy took off her bikini when George left the room.  Sitting on the edge of the desk with her thighs spread wide she gently inserted the cylinder into her vagina.  With her finger she pushed it up as far as she could, being careful not to jar the wire.  Carefully, she slid into her briefs and knocked on the door, the signal to George that he could come back in.  After locking the door again he got out his tape.
	“Kathy, I think the less we use the better.  He looked over her body critically.  “Kathy, I think we ought to...  I need to see the dress for a second,” he said, excited.  She handed it to him and he flipped it inside-out.  “Shit!  I should have known.  It’s knitted, not sewn.  I was hoping I could follow a seam, but there aren’t any.  Well, back to the drawing boards.  How about if I follow the curve of your abdomen and belly up to the inside of your right breast?  The mike is omnidirectional, so it really doesn’t matter a whole lot, but try to have your left shoulder a bit towards Holmes.  If you do that, he’ll be talking directly into the mike.”
	Carefully, he executed the plan.  He had been utterly amazed at Kathy’s cool unconcern about her nudity.  She allowed him to work on her body as if she were a department-store dummy.  But, as he carefully placed the mike on the inside of her right breast, he could see her nipple start to harden.
	Finally, he helped her on with her dress.  It was only one-thirty; the whole process including the discussion had taken only thirty minutes.  For the final test they went to Peter’s office.
	“My God,” he said, “Kathy, you look like a dream.  But you’re late!  You’ve got to be wired.”  He turned to George.  “Come on, Kowalski!  Let’s get this show on the road!”
	Kathy ignored him and made a model’s turn.  “See anything?  I am wired!  Listen!”
	With that Kathy closed the office door as she went out to chat with Mahoney’s secretary.  As she was leaving, George plugged in and activated the combination receiver-recorder.  Kathy approached Peter’s secretary, apologized for interrupting her, but said she needed a woman’s opinion.  She said she loved Peter Mahoney dearly but he had his taste in his feet.  She told the girl that she had been invited to a big dance at the Officer’s Club on Saturday night with a very special guy.  Would the dress she was wearing be appropriate?
	Peter’s secretary was a young Black girl named Grace Washington.  Grace was only one year out of high school and she worshiped Kathy.  Grace looked at Kathy carefully, then said, “Miss Smith, he’s the one, isn’t he?”
	Kathy knew what Grace meant but feigned ignorance.  “The one what, Grace?  I don’t understand.”
	Grace fairly beamed.  “Yes you do, Miss Smith.  You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.  But now... now you beam like the sun, you’re so radiant!  Ma’am you must have met the man you’ve been waiting for all this time.  Miss Smith, before I answer your question about the dress, you have to answer one of mine.  Are you planning on sleeping with him Saturday night?”
	Kathy nodded shyly but said, “Grace, why do you ask a question like that?”
	“Because wearing that dress with no intention of sleeping with the gentleman...  Why, Miss Smith, that’s as good a definition of ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ as I can imagine.  It surely is cruel, and it has to be unusual.”
	Kathy asked the girl about her schooling.  She knew Grace was enrolled in night school.
	“I got straight ‘A’s’ last term, Miss Smith!” the girl said proudly.  “I’m going to take more courses next term.  I want to go to law school some day.”  The girls continued to talk about Grace’s plans.
	Meanwhile in his office Peter was listening in amazement.  “She’s wired!” he exclaimed.
	“That’s what I said, sir.  She’s wired,” Kowalski said.
	“But where, in the name of God, is it?” Peter nearly shouted.  “She can’t be wired in that dress!  You can see everything and there’s no bug.  It’s a trick!”
	Kowalski shook his head and told him where it was.  “It’s Kathy, sir.  I never would have thought of it, and if I had thought of it I wouldn’t have dared even mention it to her!  She is some woman!”
	Meantime, Peter was listening to the girls talk about school.  When he heard Grace Washington mention her grades, he exclaimed, “Oh, shit!  I’m going to lose a secretary in January... and a damned good one, too!”
	Kowalski looked at Mahoney as if he had lost his mind.  “What do you mean?  Why would she quit?”
	Peter looked at him sadly and replied, “Because, Kowalski, Kathy’s going to pay for her full-time college education.  That’s why.”
	“But... But that’s ridiculous!  College is expensive these days, and...”
	Peter interrupted.  “I happen to know there are two kids just out of the Navy driving across country right now.  They’re headed for California, and school.  The girl — who’s cute as a button, I hear — is going to USC, and then on to USC Law.  Her husband is going to Cal Tech for the eight years or so that it will take him to get his doctorate, for chrissakes.  It’s all paid.  Kathy paid it!  Kowalski, we’re talking big money now.  Kathy’s loaded.
	One day Kathy gave me a check for something — maybe ten dollars or so — drawn on United Virginia Bank.  As a joke, I called the bank and said I had a check from Katherine Smith, and was it good?  The answer was, ‘It’s good.’  I said that I hadn’t told him the amount.  He repeated, ‘It’s good.’
	“Kowalski, how much money do you have to have for UVB to say, ‘It’s good,’ without asking the amount?  I guess $10 million or more.  She’s going to pay for Grace Washington’s education, as sure as you’re sitting there!”
	“But...  But Grace Washington is black!” George blurted out.
	“Kowalski, to Kathy she is a person.  Kathy doesn’t care if the girl is green, orange, or yellow with purple polka-dots!  She sees a girl who is working hard — struggling — to get ahead.  Kathy helps those people.  Why do you suppose every person who knows Kathy Smith loves her?  Look at you, for chrissakes!  What word did you use?  I forgot.  But I think you meant courageous... guts...  She’s Kathy, and that says it all!  She’s coming back.”
	Kathy entered the room and asked, “How did it go?  Could you hear?”  Turning to Kowalski she asked, “George, don’t these things have some way so the wearer knows she’s being heard?”  George nodded.  “Great!  Try it, so I’ll know.”
	“Kathy, on this unit it transmits a small shock.  I don’t want...”
	“George!  Do it!  Now!” Kathy commanded.  He did.  Peter watched and Kathy didn’t move or jump, but just smiled.  “Great!  It works!  Be sure you hit it when I get into Ed Holmes’ office.  I don’t want my upcoming Academy Award performance to be lost to posterity.”
* * *
	Edward Holmes came out to his reception area to great her.  He was obviously impressed — and wary.  He saw her purse and then he looked over the girl.  The white dress she was wearing fit like a second skin.  My God! Holmes thought, I can even see the line of her underpants!  And from the look of those nipples, she can’t be wearing a bra!  He wasn’t at all sure about her purse, though.  “Miss Smith, welcome!  I’ve seen you on television so often, I feel I know you.  What can I do for you?”
	“I am representing Commander Kenneth Stark, Mr. Holmes.  I have come to get his money back.  Since you are representing the former Mrs. Stark, I thought I would start with you.”
	“I’m delighted to talk with you.  But would you mind leaving your purse with my secretary?  I’m sensitive to certain things.”
	“Not at all,” replied Kathy.  “There’s nothing in it I need.”
	She gave her purse to the secretary, entered the office and seated herself in a chair.  Its location positioned the mike perfectly.  She waited for Holmes to be seated and then began.  There were a few moment of pleasantries during which she again felt the curious shock in her vagina.  In fact, she thought, it’s really quite a pleasant sensation.  Now, since we have the broadcast audience, let’s get with it!
	“Mr. Holmes, let’s get to the point of this meeting.  I said in your reception area that I want Commander Stark’s money back.  I do.  I should have added, I suppose, that I want you, Sylvia Stark, and that clown who represented Commander Stark, Homer Knight, in jail.”  Holmes was shocked at her statement and showed it.
	“I have evidence that Sylvia — I’ll call her Sylvia, because only God knows what her real name is — that Sylvia’s divorce from Edward Collins was not final until May 15 of this year.  Unfortunately, she had attempted to marry my client on March 15, sixty days earlier.  As we both know, counselor, bigamous marriages don’t count.  One cannot obtain a divorce if one is not married.
	“In my purse on your secretary’s desk is a list of twelve marriages Sylvia entered into and twelve divorces she has gone through in the last four years!  You can ask her to bring in the list if you’re interested in the details.  The interesting thing is, Mr. Holmes, you represented her in every action.  The defendant’s attorney changed from time to time, but you and Sylvia were constants in all the equations.  You represented her in every one!
	“Mr. Holmes, I am sure that you know that bigamy is a felony in this state.  It is not often prosecuted, but it remains an active statute.  Knowledge before the fact makes you at least an accessory, and more probably a co-conspirator.  Then, of course, there are the Federal charges.  They’re still being researched, but I think they’ll prove very interesting.  Some fascinating protective legislation was enacted during World War II.  It applies particularly to servicemen on duty outside the continental United States.
	“Every one of Sylvia’s victims was outside the country when your charade played out.  The FBI’s SAIC in Norfolk is looking into the law now using the services of the U.S. Attorney’s office.  Then, of course, there are witnesses.  My favorite is the girl who whipped Sylvia at an appropriate time so she could have the marks to show in court.  That person is convinced that Sylvia is sick and is anxious to testify.  Then there is...  But need I go on?”
	Holmes had been sitting behind his desk listening to Kathy’s recital.  He felt a horrible sinking sensation as he felt his world disintegrate beneath him.  It was only through an extraordinary effort of will that he remained impassive.  He was sweating profusely, though, and could feel perspiration forming on his forehead and his scalp, and feel it running down his back between his shoulder blades.
	When Kathy mentioned the whipping, it was too much.  Holmes cracked.  He jumped to his feet and screamed, “You can’t prove that!  They would never testify!  Sylvia promised me.  She’s connected.  That’s how we were able to get all of the witnesses in the first place.  Of course I knew about it.  I’m her partner!  The whole idea was mine.  Sylvia has the connections to get the people we need.”
	He started to calm down a bit as he continued, “I think you’re right about one thing, though: I think Sylvia is a masochist.  I was with her when...  By God, it was for your Commander Stark’s divorce!  She had this girl with a whip — a big long bull whip, for God’s sake.  Sylvia braced herself against a wall with her arms outstretched, stripped to her panties.  She had this girl whip her.  After each stroke, she would just shudder a little — it was almost a sexual thing — examine herself in the mirror and then tell the girl where the next whip stroke should be applied.  You know, I think it carried the trial.  It was so effective when Sylvia bared her back and showed the whip marks.  A finding of fault was in the bag.”
	Kathy was growing concerned.  Strangely, Holmes’ confidence seemed to grow as he told how the scheme had worked.  There was probably enough to convict them on the tape already, but she wanted to be sure.  Then she had an idea.  “Counselor, when did you contrive this scheme?  As I said earlier, we have twelve cases over the last four years, but we really haven’t looked very hard.”
	Holmes puffed up in importance.  “I started it eight years ago.  Of course, you missed some.  The total is thirty-two.  We do four every year, so there are another four within the period you missed.  They weren’t all in the Tidewater area, of course, so that might explain it.
	“Would you believe it, Miss Smith?  I found Sylvia in a whorehouse.  She showed promise and certainly developed.  Every one of the marriages over the last five years has been to an officer.  Many were Annapolis graduates.  We fooled them all!”
	“What about Homer Knight?  How does he fit in?” she asked.  It was all Kathy could do to control herself when she learned Ken’s former wife had also been a prostitute.
	“I like Homer.  I think we’ll probably use him again because he’s very good at gaining the victim’s confidence.  On the other hand, he’s greedy.  He wasn’t satisfied with what Stark paid him and wanted some of mine, too.  So I really don’t know.”
	Rising from his chair he came around the desk and said, “Miss Smith, it’s been a real pleasure.  It’s been a particular pleasure to watch your nipples move under your dress.  You are, indeed, a beautiful creature.  TV tape and newspaper photographs do not do you full justice.  Good bye, Miss Smith.  It’s too bad you can’t prove any of this.  Now let me escort you to the door.”
	They went back to the reception area and Kathy retrieved her handbag.  Under the guise of ensuring that all of her belongings were intact, she pulled out her new ID wallet.  “Mr. Holmes, you are under arrest for Federal conspiracy.”  She showed him her shiny new gold badge and said, “I am a special United States Marshall.  Everything you said in your office has been recorded for your future listening pleasure.”
	“It can’t be!  There’s no way you could be wired!  Where is it?  I demand to see the recording device.  You’re lying to me and trying to trick me.  I refuse to go, and you cannot make me!”  As he spoke, Holmes quickly opened a drawer in the desk.  Kathy could see the butt of a pistol that Holmes was reaching for.
	Holding her purse in her left hand, Kathy’s right moved with the speed of a striking cobra, producing the LadySmith in her hand aimed directly at Holmes’ overweight midsection.  “I believe I can, Mr. Holmes.  And I don’t think you want to touch that weapon.  It could be quite hazardous to your health.  And surely you don’t want to add resisting arrest to your list of troubles?”  Her pistol disappeared back into its holster as quickly as it had appeared in her hand.
	She escorted Holmes back to Mahoney’s office and turned him over to waiting uniformed officers and an FBI special agent Joe had sent over.  Mahoney had called him and told him that the tape of Holmes’ confession was of broadcast quality.  Returning to her office, she stripped off her dress and briefs, quickly detached the equipment and carefully extracted the transmitter from the cigar tube, throwing the tube away.
	She dressed again and returned Kowalski’s equipment.  “Thank you, George.  I think it went well, but I’m no expert.  What did you think?”
	“It was perfect, Kathy!  Technically, it couldn’t be better.  The tape is broadcast quality, it’s so good.  You and the DA know far more about its value as evidence, but it sounded to me like he hung himself at least a couple of times.  I would like to use this device with some of our policewomen, but they would kill me if I even mentioned it.  If the need ever arises, would you come down and explain it to them?  By the way, that was a great cigar.  I smoked it while you were in there with Holmes.”
	Kathy checked the time and found it was almost four o’clock.  She would be late to meet Ken at his ship.  Waving to Peter, she dashed out to her car, still carrying her raincoat in her hand.  Heads turned in unison to watch her progress as she ran to her car.
	She arrived at the ship only one minute late and found Ken waiting for her as she drove up.  As he climbed into the car, he looked at her dress and whistled.  “Wow!  What’s the occasion?  You look absolutely gorgeous in that dress!”
	Beaming at him she said, “Thank you, kind sir.  You just answered my question.  I was thinking about what to wear to the club dance on Saturday, so I thought I would put it on and let you decide.  You did.  I’m wearing it.”
	“Anything else happen today?” he asked.  She told him she got a Junior G-Man kit of her very own.  Ken just looked at her strangely, not knowing what to make of her comment.

Chapter 21
	It was New Year’s Day and Ken was admiring the beautiful girl asleep beside him in the bed as he reflected on their months together.  His happiness and good fortune was due entirely to Kathy.  He could not believe that only a few months had passed since they had first met.
	Bless the United States Navy, he thought.  Famous for screwing up family lives, in his case the Evans’ operating schedule fit his personal needs perfectly.  He had met her only a few days after returning from the Med.  Ever since the Evans returned, she had spent the time at pier-side, in dry dock and back at pier-side again, as the technicians — ship’s company, base, and civilian contractors — found first one and then another major item that required attention before she could rejoin the fleet.
	His crew had adopted Kathy.  He grinned thinking about fights ashore that started because his men were thought to be too possessive of her.  They had ben told that just because Kathy was their captain’s lady it didn’t mean the Evans owned her.  She was the Norfolk Navy’s girl.
	If they didn’t know about Kathy, his crew could not have understood his behavior.  Ken was honest enough with himself to admit that he had a reputation as one of the hardest-charging skippers in the destroyer fleet.  Pre-Kathy, he would have been going berserk at the endless delays and pyramiding mechanical casualties — main propulsion, weapons, and most of all, electronics — that kept his ship tied to the shore.  Captains make their reputations in peacetime by running more exercises and achieving higher scores in less elapsed time than their predecessors.
	Now living with Kathy, he showed an uncharacteristic patience.  Objectively, the Evans was better off this way.  She was a warship, with no war to fight.  She was reaching the highest state of readiness she enjoyed since she was first placed in commission.  Better, in fact, since major weapons systems had been replaced with newer, even more effective ones.
	Now the Evans was preparing for sea.  Next week she would be going out for a two-week shakedown preparatory to another extended Mediterranean deployment.  As commanding officer, Ken did not stand watches so he had spent every night in Kathy’s arms.  As a result he was facing the first time they would have slept apart since that fateful Friday night.  When his life was a shattered ruin, this girl appeared and put it back together in less than a week.
	Idly, he ran his fingers lightly over an exposed breast.  Almost instantly its nipple stood to attention, and a smile started to form on the lips of the still-sleeping girl.  He quickly took his hand away and watched her relax again.  She nuzzled closer to him with a soft sound like a purr and was again deep in sleep.
	He carefully covered her exposed breast and grinned to himself as he remembered the day that Kathy had picked him up wearing her white dress.  When they returned to the apartment he had asked her about the curious reference to “Junior G-Man.”  With a grin she had showed him her Federal badge and Virginia State ID.  Another expression of the extraordinary regard in which she was held by respected agencies that knew her.  It was weeks later that he found out about the hiding place she had used for the transmitter.  He vividly recalled her concluding explanation, “You did it,” she had told him brightly.  “I was so stretched from having you constantly inside me I didn’t feel a thing.”
	His thoughts returned to the Evans and the ship’s picnic they had had in late October.  There had been the usual contests and Kathy insisted on being on the enlisted men’s side competing against the officers and senior NCOs.  The white hats had been delighted to have her as their mascot but they got a whole lot more.
	He remembered with chagrin how she had won the softball game for them with her hitting and fielding.  He had been pitching for the officers when Kathy came to the plate with men on second and third.  The usual practice when a woman was batting was to float the ball up and let her try to hit it.  He knew Kathy better than that, so he started firing his pitches despite loud complaints from the white-hats.
	With the count one ball and one strike, he released his best pitch of the day.  It was on the letters at the inside corner for a second strike.  Suddenly, Kathy uncoiled and lined the ball into left center.  The outfielders normally played very shallow when women batted — more of a deep infield — but he had them playing very deep.  They understood why as the ball was still rising when it passed between them.  He remembered how she had sped around the bases so fast she had to slow almost to a walk to avoid passing a slow runner who had been on second base.  She had hit the ball so deep and had run so fast, she could have easily circled the bases twice before the ball came back to the infield.
	He could have still won the game for the officers, and he thought he had.  In the last inning he was batting with two outs, two men on, and trailing by one run.  He nailed a pitch flush, right on the sweet spot of the bat.  The ball was a line drive rising out to deep center field where Kathy was playing.  He had seen her put her back to the plate at the crack of the bat and start to fly.  It was probably the longest ball he had ever hit in his life but she still outran it.  At the last instant, she launched her body out straight and, with her glove hand outstretched, caught the ball, and then did a somersault as she hit the ground.  For an instant he though she was hurt, but then she bounced to her feet, waving the ball in her glove.
	There was silence for an instant, followed by pandemonium as the enlisted men went wild.  The officers and chiefs looked on in awe.  Kathy was mobbed on the field by her teammates and carried off on their shoulders.  She really knows how to hurt a guy! he reflected ruefully.
	When they finally released her, she ran over to him.  There was dirt all over her legs, on her clothes and in her hair.  There was a huge sweaty dirt smudge on her cheek, and she looked beautiful.  She smiled sweetly, said, “Thank you, dear,” and told him that the ball she had hit wouldn’t have gone nearly so far if it hadn’t been his best fast ball.  No wonder the crew love her, he thought.

	Then he remembered a dinner they had in Norfolk at the Omni when he first met Tom and Cindy Donetti.  His first reaction was that they were a handsome couple and, from the way they were greeted by name, were well-known in the hotel.  He recalled how very much in love they seemed.  He had a revelation that night when he saw the way Cindy looked at Tom with an expression of adoration and realized that it was nearly identical to the way Kathy always looked at him!  They were delightful young people and they adored Kathy.  Nonetheless, he couldn’t figure out how their paths had crossed.
	When Kathy excused herself from the table, he took the opportunity to ask.  Tom quickly recounted the rape charge and how Kathy had had it dismissed.  Ken had commented that he thought he had heard all the Kathy Smith stories, but this was a new one.  Tom had smiled and explained how Kathy had buried the story.  Cindy chimed in and hinted at the way in which Kathy had helped her and the subsequent weekend here at the hotel.  Blushing, she explained that she and Tom still came back for weekends.  As she said it, she took Tom’s hand in hers and squeezed.
	Ken understood partially.  He still didn’t see what was such a big deal.  Of course Kathy had dismissed the charges; there had been no crime.
	Tom had looked down at the table and then into his eyes.  “Ken, you’ve heard of the Mafia?  My father runs Tidewater, and Cindy’s father runs Philadelphia.  We’re used to people being nice to us because of what they think we can do for them... or are afraid of what we might do to them.  They’re not friends in any real sense of the word.  A Mafia kid was caught cold on felony rape.  Make no mistake, Ken, there was even video tape that would have done it.  She did what was right, in spite of who we are, not because of it.  Then she honored us by being Cindy’s maid of honor because she loves us.  God knows, we love her!”  Ken recalled his eyes were moist when Kathy returned to the table.
	Then there were the Fergusons.  Jane Ferguson is Kathy’s closest friend and confidante.  He recalled the night Kathy had them over for dinner and he first met them.  When he greeted Jane, he saw a vibrant, bubbling, beautiful young woman madly in love with her husband, Bob.  He recalled thinking how her tan, her dancer’s grace, and her lack of self-consciousness reminded him so much of Kathy.  Bob, he knew, was Kathy’s attorney.
	When they excused themselves to go over some papers, he had a chance to talk to Jane alone.  He recalled her studying him carefully.  Finally she nodded, smiled, and said he might do.  He recalled being taken aback by her comment.  “Ken,” she had asked, “How old do you think I am?”  He had guessed twenty-five to thirty, and she had grinned, thanked him for the compliment, and said that she was older than he was.
	She told him that she had been the widow of a Navy pilot and had been working as Bob’s secretary when she first met Kathy nearly ten years earlier.  She told him how Kathy had brought her back to life, and in turn, how she had been able to bring Bob back from the tragic death of his first wife and his daughter.
	He recalled how this beautiful woman had looked at him and said, “Kathy has a wonderful sense of humor.  She loves her little jokes, and she loves to tease.  Ken, her little joke as far as I’m concerned is her ‘wedding present to Bob.’  You see, I am the wedding present.  She dragged me, kicking and screaming, out of the dark hole where I buried myself after my first husband was killed.  She brought me back to life.
	“So please be good to her, Ken.  She’s the very best there is!”  He recalled her use of the exact words Sally O’Rourke had whispered to him.  He recalled all the people who loved Kathy and looked to him to give her the happiness she so richly deserved.
	Recalling Jane’s comment about Kathy’s sense of humor reminded him of their second meeting with Trooper Stockdale.  They were in Kathy’s car headed home late one night at a conservative — for Kathy — 115, when the flashing blue lights appeared.
	This time, he recalled, Kathy grinned as she pulled over.  “I’ll fix him this time!” she had exclaimed.  He recognized Will Stockdale in the lights.  He had started a repeat of the previous exchange when Kathy interrupted.  “Don’t give me a ration of shit, Will Stockdale,” she had said.  “Look at this!”  She had passed him her Virginia badge and ID, followed by its Federal counterpart.
	Will, suspecting one of Kathy’s tricks, had taken the ID back to his cruiser.  A few minutes late he ran back towards them, opened Kathy’s door and lifted her out of the car as if she was a feather.  He then hugged her and gave her a big kiss saying, “Kathy, you’re really one of us now!”
	Embarrassed, he then carefully put her back on the ground, at which point she had kicked him in the shin — fortunately protected by a high leather puttee — and told him he had a hell of a nerve manhandling a defenseless girl.  Will had just smiled and Ken recalled he had cracked up laughing.  “Defenseless” was not a term he could easily associate with Kathy.
	Ken frowned as his reverie continued.  For months now he had been asking Kathy to marry him.  He pointed out that his marriage to Sylvia had been annulled.  He loved her and she loved him.  But the answer was always no.  She had told him she loved him more than life itself.  Although he couldn’t understand why, he had come to believe her.  Usually when he asked, she tried to tease him off the subject.  Several times she had cited Sally O’Rourke’s comment about a sailor’s loves.  Like Sally, she insisted that she was already sufficiently far down of his list of loves; she was unwilling to move from mistress down to wife.  There were many other excuses offered, but the answer was always the same: No.
	Yet he wanted desperately to marry this girl.  He was torn.  He wanted to break down her defenses and get her to say yes.  At the same time, studying her carefully, he believed that each time he asked, it seemed that she wasn’t taking him seriously.  Yet he thought they were perfect together.  They liked all the same things.  She was radiant in his presence.  He noticed it, but more importantly, her friends, who knew her before she met him, saw it.  They said Kathy was madly in love with him.  He didn’t know what to do.
	Becoming aware of soft fingertips moving on his chest and brilliant blue eyes watching him, Ken was startled again to see she was as beautiful at the instant of awakening as at any other time.  Her fingers moved lower on his body and soon they were making love again.  After recovering from their climax together she whispered softly, “Good morning, darling.  Happy New Year!”
	Later in the day they were side by side on the couch in the library companionably watching a football game.  It was another interest of his that she improbably shared.  She was nuzzling close and his arm was around her shoulders when he asked, “Honey, what are you going to do when I’m gone?  We’re scheduled to be out two weeks, assuming something major doesn’t crap out before then, of course.”
	She looked at him steadily.  “I don’t know if I should tell you this, but your mother is coming to visit.  For some reason, it’s a secret.”
	Ken was startled.  It was so out of character for his mother, he thought.  “Kathy, did she tell you anything?  Why she wants to see you?”
	She turned off the TV using her big toe on the remote control.  “Make me a drink?”
	Uh, oh!  thought Ken.  Something’s up.
	He made drinks for them both and sat down again.  He was tempted to say something like “Out with it!” but quickly decided it would be the dumbest thing he could do.  Rather, he said, “Kathy, I would really appreciate it if you would tell me anything you think you can.”
	She smiled at him gratefully, and he thought that he might have said the right thing for a change.  “Ken, before I answer, would you answer some questions first?”  He nodded agreeably.  “How long have your parents been married?” she asked softly.
	He looked embarrassed and was.  “Gosh, Kathy, I don’t know...  Wait...  Of course I know!  About thirty-two years: I was born before they had been married a full year, and I’m thirty-one.”
	“How old are they, Ken?  Your parents, I mean,” she asked softly.
	This time he did his thinking out loud.  “Well, let’s see...  They got married in June, as soon as Dad graduated from the academy.  It was one of those Annapolis weddings you see on the society pages every year with the arch of swords and all that stuff.  I guess Dad was twenty-one or twenty-two, so that would make him fifty-three or fifty-four, I guess.  Mother didn’t finish college.  In fact, I think she may have only had one year — no more than two, certainly.  How old would that make her, Kathy?”
	“Do you know if she was young or old for her grade?” she asked.
	Ken said he didn’t have a clue.  “Damn it, I do, too.  Now I remember!  Of course!  She wasn’t twenty when I was born, so I guess she’s just about fifty plus or minus a couple of months.”
	“How do your parents get along?  I know it’s a strange question to ask, but let me explain:  You refer to your father as Dad and show him a great deal of respect and affection.  I realize you share naval careers and that probably makes a difference.  But, Ken, you refer to your mother as Mother.  I don’t know if you intend it to, but it comes across sounding very formal.  The fact is, Ken, you hardly ever refer to your mother at all.”
	Ken was shocked at Kathy’s astute observation.  He looked at her wryly.  “Hon, as usual, you’re right.  I never really thought about it before, but you’re right.  Kathy, since you brought it up, can we talk about it?  I think my mother is irrelevant!  It really sound terrible when I say it...  But let me explain: I guess, for as long as I can remember, she’s had a life of her own...  That’s it!  It’s like they’re not even married, for God’s sake.  They are more like two unrelated people sharing a house.”  He saw Kathy looking at him fondly.  She understands! he thought.  She really does.
	Kathy picked up the thread.  “Thank you.  On no evidence at all — just intuition — I agree with you.  To answer the question you asked at the beginning, I think your mother is frightened.  She has been leading her own life independent of your father.  Now she’s hitting fifty.  She suddenly notices that your father is very attractive to other, younger women and she’s getting scared!  Very scared, I think.  Ken, I never want to hurt you, but I have to ask a question.  If you don’t feel like answering, tell me to shut up.  Promise?”
	Ken was startled, but he realized Kathy was deadly serious.  “Yes, Kathy.  I promise,” he answered, maintaining her serious tone.
	“Does your father play around?”
	Ken reddened with embarrassment and remembered his promise to her.  God, it did hurt!  He looked down at the table top and said quietly, “I think he does.”  He looked up at her quickly and saw the sympathy in her face.  “Kathy, I can’t know for sure, and I know you know that.  But... but... but I hear things and see things.”
	His voice was growing stronger as he spoke.  It was becoming easier, now that he faced it.  “There’s a young lieutenant commander I hear about.  I’ve seen her around, and she’s very attractive.  They’re supposed to be very discreet...  Do you remember the first night we met my parents at the O-Club?  I think she was there with an escort.  She’s supposed to be very careful to be seen around with a lot of different guys, and just as careful never to be seen with Dad...
	“That’s it!” he exclaimed with a note of discovery.  “That’s what’s so damned suspicious!  She’s on his staff, for chrissakes!  Even if she was ugly as sin, service activities would bring them together in public sometimes.  But they’re never seen together.  Ever!  Kathy, does it sound like I’ve lost it completely?”
	She grinned at him affectionately and said softly, “And to think that I believed his only feelings were in his cock!  Who would have believed it?”  She grinned and apologized, “I’m sorry, darling.  I am a hopeless tease.  Will you forgive me?”
	He took her in his arms and slowly kissed her.  She could feel her internal fires ignite and quickly build, as she gently pushed away and smiled softly, “Can I interpret that as being forgiven?”
	They were together on the couch with Kathy lying on top.  He loved this position because it provided him the opportunity to caress and squeeze her firm little ass.  She was lying as still as possible making warm, appreciative noises.  He stopped his stroking and cupped her cheeks in his hands.
	When she opened her eyes and looked at him questioningly, he said, “Kathy, I have to ask you something.  I want to marry you — I want it desperately.  But hon... you don’t seem to take it seriously.  You change the subject, you joke, you tease.  Kathy, I’ve never been more serious in my life.  Please marry me, Kathy.”
	With her face inches above his, he saw her smile sadly and say, “No.”
	“Kathy, I give up — for now.  You don’t seem to take my proposal seriously.  I don’t know why.  Look, I won’t bug you any more, but the offer stands.  If you change your mind, all you have to do is say, “Ask your question.  Okay?”
* * *
	Kathy appeared to be unusually cheerful as she drove him to the pier.  The Evans was sailing today.  Ken thought ruefully of the way Kathy had affected his own attitudes.  In the few months he had been married to Sylvia, he came to greet the ship’s sailing with a vast feeling of relief.  It got him away from her constant bitching, at least for a few days or weeks.  Sylvia used to cry and say he didn’t love her.  Considering what he had learned through Kathy, the bitch should have recorded the announcement.  She had undoubtedly used it over and over with her many husbands.
	Now he was with Kathy.  She was so wonderfully cheerful, while he felt that something was being ripped out of him.  He hurt!  Then with startling clarity he realized what was happening.  Kathy was trying to make him feel better.  He had told her of the conflict between wives and the demands of the naval service.  God!  he thought, what a woman!  If only Sandra, the wife of Jack Castle, his executive office, could take a lesson from Kathy.  But that was far too much to hope for.  He was certain that Jack would be glad to get away from the shrew, if only for a couple of weeks.
	Kathy came into his arms and they embraced.  He kissed her softly and she instantly responded.  Then he felt tears on his cheek and gently pushed her away to see her face.  Tears were streaming from her eyes as she desperately tried to control them.  It was no use.  She clung to him and he stroked her hair.  Then he heard her soft voice huskily trying to apologize — apologize!  To him?  For what?  Then he heard her say how much she had wanted to avoid this: making their parting more difficult than it had to be, and she was so sorry she had failed.  Ken thought of the women screaming at their husbands about the Navy, while Kathy apologized because she cried.
	Kathy sat in her car as the Evans was maneuvered away from her berth with the help of a tug, and out into the channel.  She couldn’t drive yet.  She couldn’t see through her tears.
* * *
	That afternoon she met Ken’s mother, Betty, at the airport.  On the way back to the apartment they just exchanged pleasantries.  Kathy got her settled in the guest bedroom and explained how all the equipment worked.  She was not looking forward to their forthcoming week together.  After her conversation with Ken she concluded that if anything could help it would have to be shock therapy.
	Betty seated herself in a chair opposite Kathy in the living room and Kathy studied the older woman thoughtfully.  Here goes nothing! she thought.  “Are you sure you want to save your marriage, Mrs. Stark?” Kathy began.  The woman recoiled in her chair as is she had literally been slapped across the face.  Emotionally, she has been, the girl thought.
	“What do you mean!?  Why the nerve...  Why I’ve never been so insulted...”
	Kathy harshly interrupted, “I’m sorry if I misjudged you, but I don’t believe I did.  If there’s not a major problem with your marriage, why are you visiting Ken’s mistress while he’s at sea?  Why is your visit such a secret?  Tell me, Mrs. Stark!  Why are you here?”
	The older woman sagged back into her chair and began to cry.  The weeping was so heartfelt, Kathy’s heart was wrenched just watching her.  It increased in intensity until it became near-hysteria.  Still Kathy sat erect in her chair with her face impassive.  After minutes — Kathy did not even want to move to glance at her watch — the woman slowly regained control.  Still Kathy did nothing.
	Finally Betty looked up, her face a tear-ravaged wreck, obviously looking for tissues to try to repair some of the damage.  Still Kathy remained seated.  “The least you could do, young lady, is to have the human decency to get me a Kleenex!” Mrs. Stark cried.
	“Kleenex are on the counter in the kitchen.  You may as well start getting things like tissues for yourself, because if you can’t change there will never again be anyone else to do it for you.”
	Betty Stark returned with the box of tissues and looked at Kathy, puzzled.  “What did you mean by that last comment?” she asked with a note of alarm in her voice.
	“Mrs. Stark, you’re surely familiar with Dickens’ Christmas Carol?  Do you remember the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come showing Scrooge what his future would be like?  I just showed you what your future will be like if you don’t change — beginning right now!”  Changing the subject radically, Kathy asked, “When did your husband last make love to you?”
	Betty tried to remember.  “Well, it was... It was...”
	“Never mind, you answered my question.  Here’s another.  Have you ever initiated lovemaking with your husband?  Ever?  In your entire life together?”
	The woman was indignant.  “Young lady, who do you think I am?  I’m not one of those cheap little...”
	“...girls who are making love to your husband?” Kathy finished for her.  “No, I guess you’re not!  Do you know what my answer would be with your son?”  Betty looked up, interested, as Kathy continued, “It’s an easy question to answer.  It was this morning before he sailed.  He teased me later because my sexual attack delayed his packing.  Moreover, as a result I’m afraid, Mrs. Stark, that my love juices and Ken’s are all over what were his nice clean clothes.  You see, they were lying on the bed when I attacked him, and they were under us when he entered me.
	“You can see why it’s an easy question for me to answer.  A much harder one would be how many times we came to orgasm in the twenty-four hours before he sailed.  My number is something greater than fifty.  Of course, Ken’s is a much smaller number, being a man — probably not more than fifteen or so.”
	Kathy forced her face to remain impassive as she watched Betty’s face register a kaleidoscopic series of emotions including shock, horror and fascination.
	“But Kathy, when I met you at the Club you seemed like such a nice girl.  That’s why I came to see you.  I thought you would... would...”
	“...be sympathetic?  Pat you on the head and tell you it will be all right?  Tell you there’s nothing at all for you to worry about?  That the younger, much more attractive woman your husband is sleeping with is not a threat to your marriage?  I could say those things, I suppose.  It would be quite easy, really.  Of course, they would be total lies, every one!  I know it, and you suspect it.  In fact, Betty, let’s be honest:  It’s a lot more than a suspicion, isn’t it?”
	With the fear showing in her eyes, the woman slowly nodded.  “Would I be any kind of friend if I tried to convince you to believe those lies?”  Betty shook her head.  “I don’t think so either, so I won’t.
	“Now I want an answer to my first question.  But before you do, has Admiral Stark asked you for a divorce, yet?”  Betty’s response was a look of utter horror.  Kathy had succinctly put into words her worst fear.  Then she began to cry again.  This time, because of her earlier tears, her crying was dry, wracking and hopeless.  Things are looking up, Kathy thought.  “You answered my second question, Betty.  Let’s get back to the first.  Do you want to save your marriage?”  The older woman nodded her head slowly then more vigorously.  “Okay!” Kathy exclaimed.  “Now, are you sure you want my help?”
	Betty looked at her, utterly bewildered.  She replied, “Of course, Kathy.  But you knew that when I walked in, didn’t you?  I really don’t understand your question.”
	Kathy smiled at the woman for the first time.  It was a very warm smile.  “Betty, the question isn’t as strange as it may sound.  Now, I’m going to ask you a set of questions.  I guess you know by now that I deliberately set out to shock you with some of the questions I asked.  But, Betty, my answers were not exaggerated.  I am so shameless that I am not embarrassed to say I feel a sense of loss — of incompleteness — whenever Ken is not inside me.
	“But back to my questions.  I am going to ask for your reactions and then I will give you mine.  I’m afraid that some of them may require you to go back in time a bit, but that’s okay.  If the situation I describe never happened, answer it in terms of what you think your reaction would be.  I promise you my answers will be limited to what I did with your son in this apartment within the past seven days — no longer.  My reactions are real.  Understand?”  Betty nodded.  “Your husband grabs your ass?”
	“Why... Why I slapped him.  Hard!”
	Kathy nodded.  “I melt.  Then I try to guess whether he wants my cheeks relaxed or firm, and make them that way.  We play a lot of games.  Sometimes he gives my ass a smack if I guess wrong.  I was wearing jeans one time, and I pulled them down so there was no cloth to protect my ass.”
	She asked her next question: “He gropes for your tit when you’re not in the bedroom or undressed?”
	“I tell him...  I give up, Kathy.  And I understand.  There’s really no need to go on: I get the message.  With Ken you are loving and uninhibited.”  Betty started to smile warmly.  “Whatever my son wants to do — whether with you or to you — you do it because you love him.  Right?”  Now it was Kathy’s turn to nod.  “You’re constantly creating new love games to play, aren’t you?  I think I heard something about a golf match you played and won.  What was the bet?”
	Kathy blushed and replied, “Ken was my slave for the rest of the day.  I made... He came all over my body.”
	“How did it feel?” Betty asked curiously.  “Did it feel good?”
	“It was warm and a little sticky...  Nice,” she answered.  “I think you’re getting the idea.
	“Betty, my sense is that you and the Admiral have been drifting apart for years.  Now I’m going to set a scene.  Don’t take it too literally, but tell me if it’s at least directionally accurate: You spend your time with the garden club, the Junior League, a bridge group, a senior officers’ wives group, if there is such a thing.  You are home for dinner, you appear at functions as required, but you live your own life.
	“You don’t feel any particular desire for sex, let alone any need for it.  Sex is really a sort of dirty little thing that wives have to do once in a while as a favor to their husbands.  When you do have sex, your hair is up in rollers or curlers.  You may even have on some face cream.  You’re wearing a ratty old nightgown, which, as a great concession, you may lift up towards your waist.  On the other hand, it’s probably dark in the room, so your husband doesn’t see...”
	She saw Betty with her head down and her shoulders shaking.  Uh, oh! Kathy thought, I think I may have overdone it — this poor woman is going to have a total collapse if she starts crying again...  At that moment Betty lifted her head and Kathy could see her laughing.  And it was real laughter, not hysteria.  She watched in amazement as the woman could no longer control herself and literally rolled off her chair onto the floor and was doubled up, still laughing.  Well, I guess she is Ken’s mother.  He has a hell of a sense of humor, too, Kathy thought.
	Slowly, Betty regained control and her laughter died down to giggles.  Instead of getting up from the floor, though, she just rolled on her back with her arms and legs outstretched.  Finally, she sat up on the floor and shook her head saying, “I’m sorry, Kathy, but you’re too much.  ‘Directionally accurate,’ my ass!  You must have been following me around with a video camera.”
	Slowly she got to her feet.  Although she looked a wreck, she appeared happy for the first time since she arrived.  My God, thought Kathy.  With the worry lines starting to fade, this is a lovely woman!  “Kathy, now it’s my turn to shock you.  Can an old bag get a drink in this dump?”
	Minutes later they were sitting in the library on Kathy’s favorite couch sipping very dry martinis.  Betty continued, “Kathy, I said you followed me with a video camera.”  She shook her head and added, “But I hate to think how far back you would have had to have gone to get the bedroom scene.  Video cameras probably hadn’t even been invented yet.  I’m not even sure Sam’s been in me since you met Ken.  In that period, how many times has Ken been in you?”
	Rolling her eyes, Kathy just shook her head.  “Betty, I can’t even tell you the number of times we’ve made love on this couch or on the floor right here.  I do know I’m a little embarrassed to have my lover’s mother sitting in our cum.  And you probably are!”
	Betty just smiled fondly as her eyes took on a faraway look.  She said, “Kathy, could I tell you about a young girl I used to know?  She was younger than you are, and not nearly as beautiful, but she was pretty enough.  She did have good tits, good legs and a neat little ass.  She was madly in love with a handsome Naval Academy midshipman.  He stood tall and straight.  Although she was the envy of all her friends, she was very young and very innocent.  All she could see was herself in her bridal gown walking beneath an arch of swords, following his graduation.  This came to pass and she took that walk under the swords.
	“That night, she received a shock.  There was something that happened when she took off her white gown.  Her midshipman, now an ensign, had something big and long and straight growing between his legs.  He wanted to put this thing between her legs.  This wasn’t a sword arch, and it hurt.  Particularly the first time.  Once he took her small ass in his large hands.  He said it was just the right size — a good handful.  She was shocked, and correctly slapped his face.  After all, she was a good girl, and that was the right thing to do, because when he squeezed her ass it made her feel all warm and wet between her legs and we both know that’s sinful, don’t we?
	“Once he wanted to make love to her in the morning with the sunlight streaming in the bedroom.  She felt all warm and languid and refreshed from her sleep.  Then, when she felt warm and wet between her thighs, she was shocked, so she pulled the covers up under her chin and said he was evil.  It must have been the evil that made her crotch so wet.
	“One evening she was in the kitchen preparing a gourmet meal — probably tuna casserole.  He sneaked in and put his hand on her breast!  A bare breast, mind you.  He had slipped it under her bra!  She did what every good girl would do, of course.  She slapped his face.  Hard!  This almost made up for the fact that her knees had almost buckled and she really wanted to spread her legs for him right on the kitchen floor... and it wasn’t even carpeted!
	“Soon, a strange thing happened.  Her period stopped.  Her breasts started to swell.  A couple of months later, her abdomen started to swell.  Fortunately, she had heard enough at the Officers’ Wives Club meetings to guess what was going on.  She went to the base hospital.  Some months later this young girl — still not twenty years old — gave birth to a baby boy.  The girl was immediately wrapped up with the baby.  Her breasts that the young officer liked so much were needed to suckle the baby.  She was shocked at some of the things he said to her.  Clearly, he was perverted.  One day he took one of her breasts swollen with milk and very gently shook it.  He had the nerve to call it a milkshake.  He even wanted to try a sip.  She concentrated on the baby and ignored him.
	“Years passed.  She became wrapped up in her do-good activities.  She couldn’t even get to his ship to meet him after he had been at sea for four months.  There was a vital meeting of Navy Relief or something, and she was on the board of directors.  The tall young officer remained attractive to women.  They made themselves available, but she didn’t mind.  Everyone knew that’s what these cheap little things were for, after all.  They did things that no decent woman would consider.  She just got older.  Her husband didn’t.
	“Meanwhile, her baby had grown up and the girl was now a woman.  She thought her boy was even less experienced with women than she had been with men, and that is clearly hard to imagine.  Then he married a woman who his mother detested.  The mother did not realize at the time what good judgment she had.  A short time later the son called to tell her that he had been financially destroyed by his divorce.
	“Less than one week later, the mother meets her son with an angel.  The angel makes the son with two left feet look like a dancer.  She realized that maybe — just maybe — there was help available.  Clearly, this angel can perform miracles.  The woman hopes she can perform just one more.
	“Kathy, there is one ray of hope.  Now I see that my instincts were right.  My beliefs — wherever the hell they came from — were wrong.  God, I only wish!  It must be thirty years, Kathy, but I can still feel Sam’s big hand on my firm ass.  God, I wish I had done what you do.
	“I hear that you are a very smart girl.  I think you prove it with Ken.  Kathy, I can’t imagine him being happier.  Of course, it’s not nice for a mother to say to his son’s girl — I’m sorry.  You call yourself his mistress, don’t you?  — the only shortcoming I see is in your judgment.  I really can’t see what you see in that big lug!”
	Kathy grinned and replied, “It’s easy, Betty.  He may be a big lug, but he’s my big lug.  And besides, he’s great in bed!”
	“Kathy, can you help me try to hold on to Sam?  I do love him desperately!  Help me, Kathy.  Please?”
	“Kathy smiled again and replied, “Let’s have dinner and give it hell in the morning.”
* * *
	Kathy had just returned to her apartment after taking Betty to the airport.  Although it had only been a week, she already looked ten years younger.  At the boarding gate Betty had winked at Kathy and said, “Please wish me luck!”  Kathy did, and Betty headed for the commuter plane holding one hand up with her fingers crossed.  Kathy did wish her luck.  She hoped things would work out for her lover’s mother.
	While sitting on the couch, the phone rang.  It was Sandra Castle, the wife of Ken’s executive officer, and she wanted to come over to see her.  Kathy had been dreaming about cooking her body in the sauna and the last person in the world she wanted to see was Sandra Castle.
	That being so, she said, “Great!  Why don’t you come right over.”  Hanging up the phone, Kathy split her time between kicking herself for saying yes and wondering what the bitch could possibly want to talk about.  All she knew about the girl was that she was a CPA.  As far as Kathy was concerned, that was enough.
	Sandra Castle was a tall girl, about Kathy’s size.  When she arrived, Kathy led her into the library — and hated her.  She seemed to be using her CPA brain to price every item of furnishings in Kathy’s apartment.  Kathy amused herself thinking of the girl coming up with a very large number.
	When drinks were offered, Sandra asked for white wine.  Oh shit! Kathy thought.  Just what I don’t need — the white wine and Brie bit.  She opened and poured a chilled vintage Villages Chablis.  She enjoyed seeing the other girl’s eyes widen as she realized what was being poured.  Eat your heart out, bitch! Kathy thought venomously.
	After making herself a martini on the rocks, Kathy sat down.  “Welcome!  What brings you here?”
	Just asking the question seemed to release the girl like releasing a tightly-coiled spring.  Sandra Castle proceeded to unload about the unfairness of life, the unfairness of the Navy, her uncaring husband, the meanness of Ken — which caused Kathy’s back to stiffen — and back to the unfairness of life.  Kathy listened patiently without saying a word.  Finally, the girl, who was about Kathy’s age, ran down.
	“Okay, Sandra...  Do you really use Sandra? — not Sandy?”
	“I’ve always thought Sandy sounded so common!”
	“In that case, Sandra, you’ve come to the wrong place,” Kathy said.  Sandra looked puzzled, and professed not to understand.  “Sandy — I’m sorry, I can’t handle Sandra anymore — do you know who I am?”
	“Of course!  That’s why I came here.  You’re Katherine Smith, formerly Assistant District Attorney of Norfolk County.  You graduated from Yale, Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude, you...”
	“Sandy!” Kathy interrupted, “I’m proud to say I’m Ken Stark’s mistress!  I keep him warm at night between my thighs.  There is no service I will not perform for Ken Stark.  None!  Fuck the diploma!  It doesn’t take me to orgasm to the point of passing out every night.  Do you know my failing, Sandy?  I can’t keep from passing out because my orgasm is so intense.  If Ken came through that door right now, in the next second I would be on my back with my legs spread wide to welcome him into me!  It might take two or three seconds before my juices were running, but it could take that long to strip his clothes off.
	“I’ll tell you now, his sex is huge.  It would take a few minutes, but then I would be passed out on the floor after more orgasms than I could count.  My cunt — yes, Sandy, my cunt!  — would be flowing rivers all over the carpet you’ve been pricing in your mind.  You know what?  It’s easy as hell to replace the carpet.  There’s no way in hell I could replace Ken!  If anything happens to him, I will die.  I don’t mean figuratively.  I mean literally, as in dead and buried.  I really love him that much.  It’s very simple.  I’m his mistress and that’s all that counts.  Now get out!  Please!”
	Then Sandra shocked Kathy by starting to cry.  She kept on as if her heart were breaking.  Kathy did nothing as the girl’s body racked with sobs, but this time, Kathy went to the kitchen and retrieved the Kleenex.  She waited for the girl to calm down and finally she did.
	Then Kathy handed her a tissue as she slowly regained control and sat up in her chair.  “I’m sorry, Kathy.  You won’t believe this, but I feel the same way about Jack.  It’s just that...”
	“Just what?” Kathy asked.
	“Well, women aren’t supposed to be that way anymore.  This is the 1980’s: We have important careers.  Surely you understand, Kathy!  You’re considered the top criminal lawyer in the state of either sex.  I’m struggling, but I’m about be become a partner in the Firm, and...”
	“Look,” Kathy said, “I’m tired.  I’ve had a rough week.  Ken and Jack will be back with the Evans in just seven days.  I’ve promised myself that I am going to be in the best shape I can be when he returns.  I owe it to Ken to be at my best when he comes home.  But what the hell!  If you’re willing, let me try a little test.  I’ll ask a question.  You answer and then I’ll answer.  I promise you, I will restrict my answer to things that happened with seven days prior to the Evans sailing.  Okay?  Do you want to play?”  Sandy nodded and Kathy said, “First question: Jack comes up behind you and squeezes your ass.  What do you do?”
* * *
	The homecoming was joyous.  In no time they were out of their clothes with Kathy on her knees before him.  She was weighing his scrotum filled with his sexual juices in her hands.  When she made little unhappy noises, Ken asked what was wrong.
	She looked up at him with a loving smile and said, “We’re going to have to work very hard to empty this all inside me.  Let’s get started!”

Chapter 22
	The call from Ken’s father came as a surprise.  The ship was undergoing additional repairs to correct problems identified during her two-week shakedown.  She had been back for over three weeks and was scheduled to sail for the Med in two more months.  His call was an invitation to come up to their home above Williamsburg that weekend and Kathy accepted at once.
	As they drove over the bridge to the peninsula, Kathy reflected that Betty had flown over from Patrick Henry Airport rather than drive.  Today, Ken was driving the Mazda RX-7 Turbo she had given him for Christmas.  He loved his new toy so much that Kathy had teased him by saying that she had been demoted a notch.  Now she ranked behind the car which she — like an idiot — had given him.
	When they arrived at Ken’s parents’ house, the senior Starks were at the door to greet them.  The Admiral gave Kathy a warm kiss while Ken kissed his mother.  Pushing her away to get a better look, he exclaimed, “Good heavens, Mother, what happened to you?”
	Kathy was stifling a grin as Betty pretended to look herself over for a split seam, a run in her stocking or some similar disaster.  It was obvious to Kathy that the plan she had set in motion with Betty Stark was working.  Betty had started with intensive work on Kathy’s exercise machines to tone her muscles and she had promised to sign up with a fitness center when she returned home.  Now her hair was shorter and it looked younger.  Kathy noticed it was a carefree hairdo that did not require work at night.  Good grief, she thought, Betty’s not even wearing a bra.
	She and Ken were talking to the Admiral while Betty went to the kitchen, passing close to Sam’s chair on the way past.  Sam’s hand went out and gently gripped his wife’s ass.  Betty stopped suddenly and backed up so he didn’t need to reach.  Kathy could see the woman’s eyes close as she enjoyed the sensation.
	Ken had watched the whole thing in utter amazement.  He was completely nonplused when his mother slid her bottom over the arm of his father’s chair and sat on his lap.  His father’s hand moved toward his mother’s breast and Ken was astounded to see her unbutton a button on her blouse to make his access easier.  With his hand warmly cupping her right breast, his parents began an increasingly passionate kiss.
	Kathy wanted to cheer but instead said, “Kenneth Stark, you’re a peeping Tom.  Mind your own business.”  She put Ken’s hand on her own breast and kissed him.  While they were still engaged, she heard the senior Starks head for the bedroom.  She slid off her dress and started working on Ken’s pants.
	“What are you doing?” he asked, shocked.
	“What does it look like?  I’m preparing to be loved — by you — on the living room floor.”
	“But what if...”
	“Ken, your parents are making love in their bedroom.  Who’s going to come?”
	They were sitting on the floor together with their backs to a sofa, fully dressed when Sam and Betty reappeared.  Betty, positioned behind Sam, gave Kathy a broad wink.  “Ken,” she said quietly, “would you do me a favor and call me Mom?  Please?”
	At this point Ken could contain himself no longer.  “Would somebody please tell me what’s going on at this funny farm?  Everyone seems to have lost his mind!”
	His parents sat side by side on a love seat facing them and looked at one another.  They then looked at Ken as if he were a sweet but somewhat feebleminded child.  Betty looked at her husband feigning puzzlement.  “I don’t see anything strange, do you, dear?”
	“Well,” the Admiral said thoughtfully, “there could be one small thing...  I just found the lovely girl I married and almost lost.”  He turned to Betty and they kissed lovingly.  Once again, the Admiral’s hand slid inside his wife’s blouse and cupped her firm breast gently.  While she returned the kiss, she placed her hand over his to keep it in its cupped position.
	“Dad!” Ken almost screamed, “Look where your hand is!”
	They ended their kiss with some reluctance and the two looked down.  “Ken, I thought your eyesight was better than that.  My hand is cupping your mother’s tit.  It’s full, soft yet firm, and her nipple engorges in an instant every time.  Now where in hell did you think my hand was?”
	Ken glanced to his left and realized that Kathy was convulsed with laughter, and almost choking in the attempt to avoid making a sound.  “Katherine Smith, what is going on here?”
	“I thought it was pretty obvious, son,” his father replied, “While you were steaming around in circles, Kathy has been saving a marriage: ours.  Which reminds me, when are you two going to get married?”
	Ken felt the floor drop away beneath him as he heard his father’s straightforward question.  He looked down at the floor and said nothing.
	Betty was looking directly at Kathy and saw her go white as a sheet, apparently with fear!  Betty whispered quickly in her husband’s ear.
	He quickly nodded, got up and went over to Kathy.  “Come on, young lady.  I want to talk to you, alone.”
	He led her into his study.  After carefully closing the door he seated her in a maple captain’s chair across from his desk and poured a large glass of cognac for her and a small one for himself.  He gave her the glass and took his seat behind his desk.  Kathy looked at him in near-terror.  “It seems I said something I should not have.  I jumped to a conclusion which is a very dangerous practice for an admiral.  Let’s start simply.  Do you believe Ken loves you?”
	She answered in a very small voice, “Yes, sir.”
	“But you don’t love him, is that it?”
	Suddenly, it was as if the main burners under a ship’s boiler all ignited at once.  The look of fear suddenly disappeared.  She jerked herself up straight in the chair and looked directly at the Admiral.  “Admiral, I love Ken Stark more than life itself.  Anything he asks of me — if it’s in my power to do — I will do.”
	She laughed bitterly “The language is inadequate.  Love is a simple word.  It is overused and abused, and it’s totally inadequate to express my feelings.  ‘Adore’...  ‘Worship’ perhaps get closer.  But I think you understand.”
	“Are you married, Kathy?”
	“No, sir.  I have never married.”
	“Well, you know that Ken is free to marry you.  You did that yourself.  Kathy, I’m stumped.  Before I forget, though, thank you for saving my marriage.  It’s clear we owe you more than we can ever repay.  But from what I know of you, that just puts us at the end of a very long line of people who Kathy Smith has helped.  Betty told me some of what you said to her.  Your lovemaking is passionate, frequent and good, so that’s out...  Kathy, what are you hiding?”
	Kathy looked into the piercing gray eyes regarding her.  The Admiral was sitting erect.  He is a very handsome man.  Ken will resemble him when he reaches his age, she thought.  His hair was prematurely gray and looked very distinguished.  She suddenly realized that his eyes were kind.  He was trying to help.
	“I cannot marry Ken, Admiral,”  she said quietly.
	“You are a brilliant, highly-educated young woman.  So I will take the answer literally.  ‘Cannot’ as in ‘not being able to.’  Why are you unable to marry him?”
	Her eyes were fixed on his.  She was sitting as if at attention.  He admired her posture.  “Because, Admiral, Ken has been married to one prostitute already.  He scarcely needs another.”  Tears started to flow down her cheeks.  She ignored them and continued to look directly into the Admiral’s eyes.
	“I know you are not a prostitute now.  That means you were a prostitute before you met Ken.  When was that?”  His voice was very quiet and matter-of-fact but he was being torn up inside watching this lovely girl enduring unbelievable torture.  The tears were flowing unchecked down her cheeks, yet she made no move to wipe them away.
	“I was a prostitute until I was eighteen years old.  I spent my time in the whore house naked.  I am still nude whenever I can be.  It’s partially because I like it and, I think, partially to remind me who I was.  Admiral, I have no pubic hair.  Since I also have no shame, I would show you now.  I pulled it out, hair by hair, years ago as a hygiene measure.  Like the nudity, I’m now used to it.  But like the nudity, it, too, reminds me of who I was.”
	“How many people know that you prostituted your body for a living?”
	Kathy was stunned.  She had told the Admiral she was a prostitute and there was no reaction.  It was as if she said she liked the color red.  It was a fact to him, nothing more.  “There are two: my lawyer and the madam.”
	“You were a prostitute.  Is there any other impediment to marrying Ken?”
	“Yes, there is, Admiral.  I cannot bear his children.  He’s going to father strong children.  You and Betty deserve grandchildren.  I cannot have any.  I’m sorry.”
	The tears continued to flow.  The Admiral could see that her eyes were so misted with tears she could not possibly see him, yet her head remained erect and she continued to look at him.
	“I’ll ask the question again.  Why won’t you marry Ken?”
	Anger was replacing sorrow.  “Admiral, I’m shocked!  That is the first ungentlemanly thing I have ever seen you do or say.  If it would do any good, I would prostitute myself for you right now, so you wouldn’t tell Ken.  Deep down, I knew this was too good to last.  Ken will find a girl who comes from a fine background — I have no background, by the way — who can give him the children I know he wants and deserves.  Sometimes I allow myself to dream that I could remain his mistress... his wife’s maid... anything to remain with him.  I do everything imaginable to keep his eyes on me and away from all the other girls who could do so much more for him.”  She looked fierce.  “Admiral, your question is unworthy of you.  The idea of a man like your son marrying a prostitute is absurd!”
	Suddenly the Admiral’s voice changed.  It picked up the command presence that is a trademark of a person experienced in command, and Sam Stark was certainly experienced.  “Now you listen to me, young lady!  What right do you have to ruin my son’s life!  I thought you said you loved him ‘more than life itself?’”
	Kathy was shocked.  What was he saying?  Surely after what she had said he could see it was impossible.  “But I do love him!,” she protested.
	“Then you’re a bigger fool than I would have dreamed possible!  Look at you!  You say you grew up as a prostitute.  Where did you go to school?”
	“I didn’t, sir, until I went to Hillsdale Academy as a Junior.”
	“How did you get in?  Cheat?”
	“No, sir.  I took an admissions test.”
	“What did you do then?”
	“I went to Yale, sir.”
	“How?”
	“How?  I’m sorry, sir.  I don’t understand the question.
	“How did you get into Yale?”
	“Oh!  My Hillsdale record, my SAT’s and my achievement tests.”
	“Which were?”
	“Straight ‘A’s’ at Hillsdale.  My SAT’s were 800 and 790, verbal and math.  My achievements were 800’s.”
	“How many men have you had since you stopped prostituting yourself?  Besides Ken, I mean.”
	“None, sir.”
	“No one at all?  At Yale, at Law School, any time since then?  None?
	“No, sir.  None.”
	“That’s enough Kathy.  You’ve made my point.  My son is the luckiest man on the face of this earth.  There is a girl, a prostitute no less, who never went to school.  Yet she achieves a level of academic performance that few can dream of.  She achieves more in one year fighting violent crime than has been achieved in this century.  She demonstrates a willingness to risk her life and sacrifice her career for others.  A girl who defines selflessness.  A girl who has a body that few can imagine, and a near-infinite capacity to love and be loved.  Against this, she cannot have children.  Big stinking deal!
	“Now, Kathy, let’s take it again from the top.  Will you marry my son?”
	The tears had stopped, but the tear streaks remained.  She still had made no move to wipe her eyes, when she heard the Admiral’s words.  Her eyes had cleared now, so she could study his face.  He was still looking directly at her with eyes now warm with love, waiting for an answer.
	Slowly the truth dawned on her, and her face started to brighten.  “Admiral, you’re saying that I’m one of the world’s greatest fools?  My God!  I’m not a whore, am I?  I was, but that was years ago.  I haven’t been with a man before Ken since I left the house.  And all this time...  Do you really think he would have me?” she asked with a note of hope in her voice.
	“Let’s see.  Kathy, I would like to ask my wife to join us, as well as my son.  I know she has some thoughts.  Before I ask them, though, I want to say that you are the bravest person I have ever met.  Kathy, that inquisition was tearing my guts out.  I was only asking the questions.  You must have been destroyed inside, but you never flinched or even looked away.  I could see the tears in your eyes to a degree that must have blinded you, yet you continued to look at me.  Young lady, you were sitting in a position of attention and never moved.  I want you to know that I’ve never been as proud of anyone, ever, as I am of you right now.  I have never seen such a display of personal courage in my life!  Now please remain seated.  I’ll be right back.”
	Moments later he was back with Betty and Ken in tow.  “Ken, I learned some things from Kathy that she wants you to know.  First, she was a prostitute until she was eighteen.  Apparently, she did not like men very much, because the next man she was with was you.  Secondly, she does not believe that she can have children, so she is unworthy of marrying you.  What do you think?”
	“Kathy, this is true, isn’t it?”
	“Yes, Ken, it is.”  Kathy was still sitting at attention with her head high.  Once more, tears appeared in her eyes.
	“Why didn’t you tell me about your background, Kathy?”
	“Because I was too selfish.  I couldn’t bear to give you up, and I knew you’d leave me if you knew.  I apologize for hiding this from you.  I only hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.  Of course, it’s impossible anyway because of my defect.  You couldn’t possibly want me as your wife.”
	“Defect?  Defect, she says.  Young lady, the only thing defective around here today is the way your brain is working — or, more accurately, not working.”  Ken was angry.
	“Dad, there are some things you don’t know, but should, I think.  I’m sure they’ll come as no surprise to you, though.  Since I’ve met Kathy, through her I’ve met some truly wonderful people.  They’re very different, one from the other, but they share one thing in common: They worship the ground that Kathy Smith walks on.  I’ve had several extraordinary women tell me the same thing: She’s the very best there is.  She is the heroine of the organized law enforcement agencies in this state, and beyond.  They love her!  But Dad, I also know that she is respected — yes, and loved — by the Mafia, for God’s sake.  Dad, I don’t think they’re wrong, I think she is!  Mom, what do you think of Kathy?”
	“I’m glad you asked, Ken.  Kathy, I consider your behavior today to be deplorable!”  Kathy still did not move, nor make any effort to defend herself, yet her eyes showed the deep hurt she was feeling.  Betty continued.  “I went to your apartment.  Sam knows some of it, Ken knows none of it, but you and I, Kathy, know all of it.  Did you or did you not tell me that you loved my son more than life itself?”
	“Yes, ma’am, I did.”
	“Were you lying or telling the truth when you said you came to orgasm the day before Ken sailed over fifty times?  And he came about fifteen or so?”
	“It was the truth to the best of my belief, ma’am.”
	“Did you save my marriage, Kathy?”
	“No, ma’am, I certainly did not!”  Kathy’s eyes blazed as she added, “You did it all, and you did it all by yourself.  I did nothing!”
	“Sam,” Betty Stark asked, “do you believe this young woman?  Do you really believe that I could have done anything without her?  Do you think I would have known the joy of giving if I hadn’t heard her describe her relationship with our son?  Do you?”
	“I believe you both.  Kathy, when she says that the work was yours, and the changes were those you made in yourself.  You, dear, when you describe the inspiration she provided, a sense of direction to move in and the confidence she instilled in you to make it work.”  Sam took his wife in his arms and kissed her tenderly.
	Meanwhile, Ken was looking at Kathy and said softly, “Honey, do you remember the promise you made when I asked you the last time?”
	He looked in her eyes which were now filled with love and hope as she said very quietly, “Ken, ask your question.  Please?”
	“Kathy, will you marry me?  Please?”
	With a cry of pure joy, Kathy leaped out of the chair and into Ken’s arms.  She kissed him with the passion that came from the knowledge that she had almost lost him through her own blindness and then gained him back.  Ken hugged his bride-to-be.
	While the Admiral went out to the kitchen, Betty kissed her and wished her every happiness.  “Kathy, I couldn’t hope for a more perfect daughter-in-law.  Will you be the daughter I never had?”
	“Yes, Mom, I’ll try!”
	The Admiral came back juggling a bottle of Dom Pérignon, ’75, and four glasses.  He carefully put them down on the desk, gathered Kathy into his arms and held her.  “I’m sorry for what I did to you, Kathy.  But the outcome made it worthwhile.”  Kathy had her head buried in his shoulder and was crying.  He lifted her chin and looked into her beautiful blue eyes.  He realized that he was seeing tears of joy, and kissed her.  “Hi, daughter!” he said.
	The toast was offered and drunk.
	“Ken, would you just hold me, please?” Kathy asked softly.  He took her in his arms.  He sensed that she didn’t want to be kissed, just reassured.  She held him tightly, and then moved her head back to look at him.  Very softly she said, “This is forever.  Are you really sure?  It’s not too late.  I’m spoiled goods, you know?”  She tried a weak little smile, “There’s no 90-day warranty for parts and labor.”
	“Kathy, you’re perfect!  You’ve just made me the happiest man alive.  I want you to know that,” he replied softly, ignoring her attempt to joke.
	The four went out to the kitchen and sat in the cozy breakfast area.  Betty had prepared salads, and she was glad she had.  After the emotion of the last hour they just sat and looked at their food.  Finally, Betty asked, “When would you like the wedding, Kathy, and who’s going to be in it?  And Kathy?  Even in your present condition, you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, but wouldn’t you feel better if you washed your face?”
	Kathy looked up, startled, and muttered, “Oh, my God!”
	Ken got up to show her where to go.
	Betty looked at Sam with deep affection.  “Sam, I would not have believed it if I hadn’t seen it.  At her apartment I broke down at the thought of losing you.  I looked like... like... like a horror.  With the tears streaking her face Kathy is still lovely!  She’ll do, Sam!  She really will!”
	“Betty, that was the worst hour of my life!  I could have destroyed that girl.  For a moment, I’m sure she was contemplating suicide.  But she never flinched.  I was destroying...  No!  Much worse!  I was making her destroy herself...  her happiness, all her hopes.  She sat there at attention — attention, mind you — looking straight at me.  She should have dissolved in tears, or at least turned away.  She didn’t.”
	He took his wife’s hand.  “I don’t know who it hurt worse:  Kathy, who went through it, or me for having to watch.  God, Bets, I think the outcome made it worthwhile, but never again!  Please, God, never again!”
	He continued to hold his wife’s hand, and she gave him a gentle squeeze.  She said softly, “Thank you, Sam!”
	When Kathy returned, she looked brighter and happier than they had ever seen her, and she was still holding Ken’s hand.  “Admiral — Dad?  — I just realized I need to call Norfolk.  May I use your phone?  I have some money here...”
	“Katherine Smith!” bellowed the Admiral in a tone that had made flag officers cringe in fear.  “What do you think this is?  I have never been so insulted in my life!  Military pay may not be the greatest, but I don’t care if you’re calling China!  Put your damned money away and get out of here!”
	Kathy had jumped when he shouted, but ended up grinning.  She winked at him as she went back to his study to make her call.
	“Son,” Sam said, “that’s Kathy!  She does everything for others, but expects nothing for herself.  You know, don’t you, that it never occurred to her not to pay?  I don’t know what you’ve done to be so lucky!”
* * *
	Kathy immediately called Jane Ferguson.  “Jane, I’m going to be married!” she said without preamble.
	She jerked the phone from her ear as Jane shrieked.  “Oh, Baby!  I’m so happy!  Kathy, words fail me.  I’ve been praying and praying and it’s finally come true!”  She heard Jane tell Bob about the impending marriage; he had come running to the room in response to Jane’s initial shriek.  “Honey, Bob wants to say hello.  And from the look in his eye, I think I’m wanted somewhere else.  I’ll talk to you in a bit.  Here he is.”
	“Kathy, that’s wonderful news!  Ken is a fine young man, and I’m sure he’ll make you very happy.  Congratulations!”
	Kathy was shaken by Bob’s words.  He’ll make me happy?  The idea had never occurred to her.
	“Honey, Sam would be so happy!  By the way, where are you, anyway?”  She told him.  “What did they say?” he asked.
	“Say about what?” Kathy asked, puzzled.
	“About your background.”
	“They didn’t say anything, except...  How did you know I told them?”
	Bob said very quietly, “Because you’re Kathy.  Sweetheart, I’m so happy for you.  You’ve been tearing me up inside, you know.  It’s been so obvious to me for so long that Ken desperately wanted to marry you.  I knew it had to be you, not him.  I also knew that if he was half the man I thought he was he wouldn’t blink.  He didn’t, did he?”
	“No, Bob, he didn’t.  Neither did his father who I told first, nor his mother.  Bob, they were so kind!”
	“Not kind, Kathy.  Smart!  They know how lucky Ken is to get you.  They didn’t want to let you get away.  But Kathy, what are your wedding plans?  And may I please give the bride in marriage?  I know Ken’s ship is due to sail soon so you will want to get married quickly.  Where is it going to be, and when?”
	“I don’t know, Bob!  I haven’t let myself even think we could ever marry.  I haven’t thought about it.”
	“How about the cathedral, in three weeks?  How does that sound?”
	“That’s impossible, Bob.  There’s no way a cathedral wedding could be scheduled that fast.  It’s booked years ahead!”
	“You’re right.  And it’s scheduled for you two for three weeks from today at one o’clock.  The Bishop asks if you would allow him to preside.”
	“Bob Ferguson!  Have you lost your mind?  I’m serious!  There’s a lot to do and you make jokes, for chrissakes!”
	“No joke, Kathy.  Jane has been making calls on the other phone.  You know how organized she is!  And if you don’t get your little ass back here in a hurry, you won’t even have a chance to pick out your own dress!  Jane knows you better than you think, Kathy.  She knows...  Wait!  She doesn’t know exactly, but she believed, as I did, that you were the impediment, not Ken.  So she’s been making the advance arrangements for months.  God!  If I try one more piece of wedding cake...”
	“What are you talking about?” she interrupted.
	“I’m really being serious, hon.  Jane knows you.  She prayed that you would come to your senses and marry the poor guy.  But she knows that Ken is shipping out soon so there would have to be a quick wedding.  She couldn’t see you sitting around for months once you accepted his proposal.
	“Most important, Kathy, she knew you wouldn’t allow yourself even to dream of getting married, so she’s been doing the dreaming for you.  And I was serious about the cake, by the way.  She’s been going to every damned wedding-cake baker in Virginia getting samples.  It sounds like we’re teasing you, Honey, but really we’re not!
	“One more thing.  Do you remember years ago when I read you Sam’s will?  I said there were ‘a couple of other points’ that didn’t matter?  Well, one of them matters now.  There’s $1 million set aside.  Sam knew he wouldn’t be here, but...  The bride’s family customarily pays for the wedding.  Kathy, he’s paying.  It can be used for anything related to the wedding or honeymoon, but that’s all.  And Kathy, I have a very special favor to ask: Would you consider asking Jane to be your matron of honor?”
	“Oh, Bob!  While you were talking, I was kicking myself for not asking her when I told her...  But...  But...  There wasn’t a wedding for her to be in!  May I ask her now, please?”
	Jane picked up the phone.  “I accept!” she said.
	“Accept what?  I was going to ask you to please consent to be my matron of honor.  It would do me a great honor if you would.”
	“Honey,” Jane replied softly, the usual joking quality now missing from her voice, “that’s what I accepted.  Thank you so much!”  Her voice changed, “Now get your ass back to Norfolk!  I can’t do this all by myself!”
	“Thank you, Jane,” Kathy said softly, “for everything!”
	Kathy had a bemused expression on her face when she returned to the breakfast nook.  “Ken, it seems we’re going to be married in the Cathedral in Norfolk in three weeks.  The bishop is presiding.”  She smiled.  “It seems, Ken, everyone knew we were going to get married except me.  Jane has organized the whole thing.  She told me to ‘get my ass back to Norfolk,’ right now.  Do you suppose there’s time for a cup of coffee first?  And I do want to talk with your folks about the guest list and stuff.”
* * *
	Kathy was lying in bed the next morning when Ken came in with the Sunday paper.  With studied casualness he commented, “There’s a small note on the front page, Kathy, you may be interested in.”  He passed her the paper and grinned as her eyes suddenly widened.
	Below the fold was a small box headlined, Kathy Smith to Wed  The small front-page story was datelined Norfolk.  It gave the information, including the date, time and location of the ceremony.  It ended with a reference to the first page of the society section.  Ken thought she looked cute scrambling across the bed with her bare ass in the air to get the society section.
	There on the society front page was a two-column photo of Kathy followed by a lengthy story detailing her career and the background of her intended.  The photo was a beautiful smiling picture of her she had never seen before.  Ken had never seen it, either.  He left the room, while she slowly reread the story.  When he returned, he was smiling and shaking his head.
	“I should have guessed!  I called the paper.  It seems they received the story from Jane, representing Bob’s office and then they amplified the story from their own file on you.  It’s a rather extensive one, I gather.  However, the story didn’t come with a picture, and Jane couldn’t provide them with one.
	But it seems you are considered by the experts — the photographers — to be the most beautiful girl in Norfolk.  One of their guys has shot rolls of film of you.  The photo that appears is his favorite.  You see his credit line beneath it.  But he was afraid you wouldn’t like it.  It still doesn’t do you full justice, he says, but he’s so happy he’s sending over a stack of studio prints.  His wedding gift to you, he says.  Another in the vast Kathy Smith Fan Club.”

Chapter 23
	The Wedding March was playing as Kathy walked up the center aisle of the Cathedral on Bob Ferguson’s arm but she still could not believe it was happening to her.  Ken, standing at the altar with his best man, Jack Castle, beside him, watched her approach with the familiar measured pace.  He had never seen a bride look so beautiful.  Her white gown was magnificent, setting off her tan and her golden hair.  When she reached him at the altar, he took her hand, paused for a moment and looked into her brilliant blue eyes.  All he saw was the deepest love.  Together they moved forward to where the Bishop was waiting.
	Later in the ceremony the time came.  After the Bishop told Ken to, “Repeat after me...”  she saw his eyes locked on hers as he said in a strong voice, “I, Kenneth, take thee, Katherine, as my lawfully wedded wife...”  she was hearing words she had not allowed herself even to hope she would ever hear.
	Then it was her turn.  “I, Katherine, take thee, Kenneth, as my lawfully wedded husband...”  Her eyes blurred over with tears of joy as she completed her vows.
	They heard the bishop complete the ceremony, “...and I now pronounce you man and wife,” and then more softly to Ken, “You may kiss your bride.”
	Ken took her in his arms.  As he kissed her she could feel her knees weaken, but then it was over.  As they were going down the aisle together she was dimly aware that the church seemed full.  When they reached the steps of the cathedral, Kathy’s eyes widened.  Flanking the steps on each side were naval officers wearing their blue coats with the gold on their epaulets flashing in the winter sun.
	The senior officer gave the command, “Officers!  Draw... sabers!”  Two dozen silver blades appeared and formed an arch under which Ken led her to the waiting limousine.  They got in and the car moved off.
	Kathy looked at her husband fondly, “Thank you, Ken.  That was so beautiful!”
	“It was Mom’s idea.  She said that she saw your eyes light up when she described her wedding at Annapolis.  Instead of a bunch of ensigns, though, you got some fairly senior officers.  I’m so glad you enjoyed it.”
	“Ken, was it my imagination?  Were there lights flashing all over the place?”
	He grinned at his bride, “No, hon, it wasn’t your imagination.  I don’t know how many photographers were there, but it was a whole bunch.  Maybe you didn’t notice, but there were at least three TV trucks parked alongside the church.  This is clearly the biggest wedding in town in years.
	To Kathy the reception seemed to be a huge blur, but a few events remained in her memory in sharp detail.  She reflected on them.
	Bob Ferguson caught them alone for a moment.  “Kathy, there’s a small matter of a wedding present for Ken which had to wait for the ceremony.  After all, the chump could have backed out.
	“Ken, you’ve undoubtedly heard about Sam Jenkins from Kathy?  Well, although Kathy has most of it, there’s still a little slush fund that I keep track of.  I guess Sam was conscious of problems if the wife has money and the husband doesn’t.”
	Kathy and Ken were both looking at Bob as if he were speaking some strange language.  They were so wrapped up in their love, the subject of money had never come up.  They said as much to Bob.
	He held up his hands, “Okay, fine.  I give up!  However, I have a duty to carry out.  Ken, this is for you from Sam Jenkins.”
	With that he took a check out of his pocket and passed it to Ken, who looked at it.  His eyes bulged.  “Bob, this is a joke!  It is, isn’t it?”
	Bob shook his head.  “It’s not a joke, and it is good.  Congratulations, Ken.”
	“Kathy,” said Ken softly with amazement in his voice, “this check is for five million dollars!”
	She grabbed him around the neck and kissed him.  “Wonderful!  I’ve always dreamed of marrying a rich husband, and now you are!  Do you think we’ll be able to eat something besides beans now?”  She grinned at him and then kissed Bob.  “By the way, are there any more of these odds and ends lying around in Sam’s will?”  Bob only smiled and shrugged.
	Her Alpha brothers from Yale, John Robinson and Bill Johnson, were there along with Bill’s wife, Judy, who obviously was expecting a baby soon.  She kissed Bill and was introduced to his wife.  The girl took Kathy’s hand and looked at her steadily.  “Kathy, although we’ve never met before, I think I owe you thanks for our happiness together.  Bill has never told me the whole story, but he credits you for keeping him out of jail.”  Patting her swollen abdomen she continued, “I may even have you to thank for our first child who’s soon to appear.”  She put her lips close to Kathy’s ear and whispered for a while.
	In the meantime, Bill, John and Ken were getting acquainted.  John smiled at Ken and offered his congratulations.  “Ken, I’m one of a great many guys who’s madly in love with your wife.  She knows it, too.  Unfortunately, she loves me like a brother which isn’t exactly what I had in mind, although it’s a lot better than nothing.  I can see in your eyes that you’re madly in love with her, and I can see that she is with you.  It’s so obvious to me now.  As beautiful as she was at Yale, it’s nothing like the beauty she’s radiating today!  Very best wishes to you both.”
	Later, Ken asked Kathy what Bill’s wife had whispered.
	She giggled.  “It seems that Bill bought a pool table as soon as they bought their house in Cincinnati.  He taught her a pool game that is sort of a strip rotation.  When one of the players runs out of clothes to take off, he or she has to grant the other a wish when the next ball is sunk.  Well, Judy was bare and Bill sank another ball.  He had her lie on the pool table and made love to her.  She thinks that was when she conceived.  Bill told her he learned the game from me.”
	“Did he?” Ken asked.
	Kathy smiled, nodded, and looked at Ken speculatively.  “Hmm.  I wonder where we can put a pool table in our apartment?” she mused.
	Jim and Sally O’Rourke had been flown in from California.  Sally took Kathy’s hands in hers.  “Isn’t this really a bit much?  Even for Kathy?”
	Kathy told her about the special legacy, “So, it was use it or lose it, so you’re here.  Thank you both for coming.  Sally you are looking great!  So are you, Jim.”
	Sally grinned.  “I’m almost as brown as you, Kathy, all over.  Now that we’re married, I’m completely naked when I’m in the sun.  Kathy,” she said turning serious, “Jim and I feel a tremendous debt to you for all you’ve done.  With you paying for our education, the obligation extends to working to justify your confidence in us.  We just received our grades for the first semester.  All ‘A’s’.  We’re trying!”
	The toasts were drunk, the cake was cut and it was time to throw the bridal bouquet.  Shortly after, she and Ken made their escape.  The reception was held in the Grand Ballroom of the Omni and they were spending the night in a suite there and would be leaving in the morning for Chicago where they were connecting to a nonstop United flight to Maui.  Ken had a two-week leave for their honeymoon which they were spending at Kapalua.  They retreated to their suite and Kathy collapsed on the bed.
	Ken looked at her.  “Do you want to change first while I get the car?” he asked.
	Kathy looked at him strangely, “Kenneth Stark, are you reading my mind?  How did you know I wanted to go back to the apartment?”
	“Because I do, too.  Why don’t you just leave your gown here?  The bags are all packed and in the car anyway.  There’s just your small bag...” he said.
	“I’ll meet you down at the entrance in five minutes!  Hurry!”
	Less than five minutes later, she jumped in the car as Ken pulled away.  She looked at him and started to giggle.  “What’s so funny?” he asked, puzzled.
	“Us!” she replied, still giggling.  “Just look!  Here’s this distinguished-looking officer with his brand new full-dress blues and this funny-looking urchin wearing Levi’s and a sweat shirt.”
	Ken looked back and forth and started to laugh, too.  “Why don’t you just keep your head down, so people won’t see me slumming?”  At that, she gave him a poke in the ribs.  “My God!” he said in mock alarm, “We haven’t even left on the honeymoon and already she’s beating me!”  Just then a State Police cruiser came up behind with its lights flashing and siren wailing.
	“Damn!” Kathy said, “Those clowns see us like this and we’ll never live it down!”
	Instead of waving them over, though, the cruiser roared up alongside.  Again, it was Trooper Stockdale.  “Doesn’t anyone else patrol this road besides Will, for chrissakes!” Kathy exclaimed, exasperated.
	This time Will just waved his finger in a circle and pointed forward.  He hit the gas in his souped-up cruiser and moved into the high-speed lane.  Ken stepped on the gas and followed him.  They roared east on the Expressway to their turnoff.  Instead of continuing his patrol, Stockdale led them off the ramp, through the streets and up to the rear entrance of the apartment.  He stopped quickly and jumped out of his cruiser.  Ken stopped to wait for him to catch up.
	Stockdale saluted smartly, “Congratulations to you both from me and the other troopers of the Virginia State Police.  Before you get all het up, Kathy, the Captain gave me permission to escort you all the way home.  Commander, sir, I know today was your weddin’ an all.  Could I kiss the bride?  Please?”
	Kathy jumped out of the car and came around to where Will was standing.  She held the tall trooper and gave him a warm kiss on the mouth.
	He had taken off his hat and was smiling happily.  “Thank you, ma’am.  Thank you kindly.  Please accept my sincere wishes for a long and happy life together!”
	“Will Stockdale!” Kathy said sternly, “if I ever get a hint that you told anyone what I was wearing when you saw me...”
	“Now, Kathy, why would I do a thing like that?  Besides, you’re pretty as a pup no matter what you’re wearing and... and...  You’re the best pistol shot in the state, and my mama didn’t raise complete fools!  Good evening to you all.”  With that, he returned his hat to his head, saluted smartly and returned to his patrol car.  Kathy got back in the car and they parked it.
	When the elevator door opened, Ken easily picked her up and carried her into the apartment.  While still being held in his arms, she wrapped her arms around his neck and softly kissed him.  “Thank you, Commander Stark,” she said softly.
	“You’re welcome, Mrs. Stark.”  he said with love in his voice as he carried her into their bedroom.  In no time Kathy’s body was bare.  Ken was just starting to undress when she said, “Please don’t, Ken.  Let me.”
	She approached him and he tried to take her in his arms.  She looked at him.  “Humor me?  Let me.  You stand still and only move if I say.  Please?  For a wedding present?”
	“How can I refuse my bride’s simple request?  Okay,” he said with a smile.
	Kathy took off his tie, and hung it up.  Then she took off his new dress coat, examined it carefully, got a clothes brush and brushed off some lint before carefully hanging it.  She was tantalizing him and they both knew it.  After helping him off with his trousers she repeated the process of careful brushing and then hanging them up.  Ken was getting a massive erection as he watched her glorious nude body move in front of him.
	Meanwhile Kathy was making the situation harder by “accidentally” striking very provocative poses as she moved.  Then she had him sit while she took off his shoes and socks.  She studied the shoes and wiped them carefully with a shoe cloth.  As she did, she made sure her small ass was high in the air and facing him.  She came back and took off his T-shirt, and carefully examined his chest, slowly running her finger tips over it.  It was obvious to Ken that her play had aroused her as well.  Her nipples were hard, and he could see moisture in her slit.  Finally, she took off his shorts releasing a massive erection with semen already forming drops on its tip.
	She went down on her knees, and sat on her heels, pretending to study it.  She looked up at his face — her eyes were alive with excitement.  “Is that for me?  Where does it belong?  Can you show me?  Please?”
	With that he picked her up and carried her to bed.  Ken was playing her game, deciding it was fun.  “Well, little girl, you have a hole into which it fits.”
	“That can’t be!” she said feigning disbelief.  I have only tiny holes, and that is so big!  Surely, you can’t think you could put it in me.”
	“It goes in here,” he said, gentling inserting a finger in her dripping vagina.
	“No!  Please!  It will hurt.  It would tear me in half!” she said, continuing their little play.
	“Let’s try!” Ken said, spreading her legs wide.
	Slowly, he inserted his now-raging erection into her moist crevice.  He was surprised as Kathy manipulated her vaginal muscles to tighten her opening.  Very slowly, he moved his hips back and forth working himself deeper into her each time.  He watched her head toss as her loins took on a life of their own.  In moments, she had a small orgasm, while he rested within her.  He began to move in and out with long, slow strokes, nearly coming out at the end of the backstroke and then burying himself to the root.  He felt it as she built to another orgasm, while he exercised near-superhuman control to keep from cuming.  She recovered her breath while he remained still.
	When she recovered, she started to move her hips in tempo with his motions.  Finally, with Kathy moaning beneath him, he could hold on no more.  His release was massive, flooding her insides.  At the same instant she had reached her peak.  Her loins jerked convulsively as her juices released in a torrent with some forcing past his erection and soaking the bed.  She screamed and lost consciousness from the sensory overload.  Ken collapsed on the bed beside her.
	He was holding her in his arms when her eyes opened.  She just looked at him with love in her eyes.  “Ken,” she said softly, “for a newlywed, your balls are awfully full.  Can we empty them in me — or on me — before we get on the plane?” she said with a soft smile.  They tried very hard to do just that.
* * *
	At Kapalua, they rejoiced.  They made love and played golf.  They made love and played tennis.  They made love and swam.  They made love and lay on the nude beach.  They made love and ate lovely meals.
	One morning near the end of the honeymoon, Kathy awakened first and stretched like a tigress.  She looked at her husband asleep next to her.  She couldn’t resist.  Burrowing under the covers with her head, she made a little tent with them so she could examine Ken while he slept.  Carefully, she felt his scrotum, now virtually drained.  His prick was flaccid as she gazed at it.  Then, with the tip of her extended tongue, she softly licked the tip and the area around it.  As she did, it started to grow erect.  She continued to apply her tongue, and as it grew larger, her mouth.  Soon it was fully erect.  She slowly and then more quickly moved her mouth up and down, taking it inside her throat.
	She felt the covers thrown back as Ken awakened and found her down on him.  He watched the movement of his wife’s golden head as it went up and down.  Finally, he could hold it no longer and released.  When he did, she had him in her mouth to its hilt.  He could feel her swallowing rapidly as the pulsations slowed and then stopped.  Reluctantly, she lifted her head.  She looked at it carefully and daintily licked off some drops of semen that remained.
	Finally, she rocked back on her heels and smiled at him brightly.  “Good morning, my husband!”
	“And what, may I ask, were you just doing?” he said, trying to cover his grin with a stern tone of voice.
	“Having breakfast!” she said sweetly.  “I was hungry, you were still sleeping, and... and it’s very high in protein, I understand.  There’s just one thing: Does it come in other flavors?  Chocolate, perhaps... or strawberry?  Or...”
	He gave her a playful spank and then pulled her to him and kissed her softly.  He eased her away to get a better look at her.  “You’re causing me a lot of trouble, you know?”
	“No I didn’t know, but I’m very glad to hear it,” she said sticking out her tongue.  “Now how am I causing you trouble?”
	He smiled at her fondly.  “I used to think I was a boob man,” he said, carefully cupping one of her breasts and giving it a soft squeeze which caused her to shudder lightly.  “And you have gorgeous boobs.  But...  roll over, Kathy, please.”
	He released her breast as she rolled on her stomach.  “But then I see your little ass, and I think I’m an ass man.  Your ass is so firm and yet you make it soft when you think I want it soft.  In any event, your skin is like satin.  With your small ass and my large hand, it makes a beautiful handful.”  As he said it, he cupped one of her cheeks in his hand and squeezed.  She closed her eyes, arched her back, and made a small mewing noise.  Her hips moved slowly as she enjoyed the feeling.
	“Then, of course there are your legs.  Now I’ve always been a leg man, and pickings aren’t all that good these days.  There are these girls with piano legs, with pipe-stems, with...”  She raised one leg behind her holding it out straight.  “Now that is a gorgeous leg!”  He ran his fingers from the knee, slowly up to the hip.  Kathy turned over on her back.
	He ran his fingers up the inside of her thigh, ending at her slit.  He let his fingers explore its moistness until he found the clitoral sentinel rising to greet his finger tip.  He slowly teased it and could feel it stiffen.  Now her whole cunt was flowing wet with her moisture.
	“Well,” she said with a warm smile, “are you just going to handle the merchandise or are you going to do something productive?  Put something in it, maybe?”
	He grinned at her.  “I’m still sleepy.  You’re the one who woke me up.  You do the work!” he said, rolling on his back.
	She feigned a frown, and swung astride him.  “My God, I’m on my back all night trying to make enough from these cheap sailors to support the guy!  He takes my money, spends it on booze and other broads and, when he finally comes home, I have to do all the work!”  She was grinning and Ken was trying to look bored.
	He entered into her new little play.  He yawned.  “What are you bitching about?  It’s better than keeping you here, barefoot and pregnant, isn’t it?  Besides, you get a chance to meet new people...  Ouch!” he yelled as Kathy gave him a hard pinch.
	In the meantime, though, she was moving her hips in a series of intricate motions and he could feel their tempo rising.  She ended her speech and started moaning softly as she felt him so deep inside her.  In moments they were both moving rapidly to a crescendo of passion.  Again, their orgasms came together.  Kathy slumped down beside him in a faint.
	When they wakened, Kathy took his prick and balls in her hand.  “Look, Ken, look!  Your great thing is dead, and your balls are empty.  What can we do?”  She grinned at him and kissed him softly on the mouth.
	He gently returned the kiss and held her close.  Finally he said softly, “You killed it!  What are you going to do about it?”  They laughed softly and went back to sleep in each other’s arms.

Chapter 24
	It was Ken’s last night at home before the Evans sailed for the Mediterranean and Kathy had prepared a magnificent dinner for him.  She had been unable to resist teasing him that morning, “Ken, you’re no fair!  I want to fix your very favorite meal for tonight, and you won’t even tell me what it is!
	“Sure I will, hon.  It’s your cunt.  Now, browned and sauteed...  Ouch!  Why did you hit me?  I was just trying to answer your question.”
	“Kenneth Stark, I hate you!  You’re mean and cruel and...  Besides, I think broiled might be better...  less butter.  But Ken, I don’t think I would have grown another by the time you get back so...  Are you sure?”
	He held her and kissed her.  “Kathy, you keep forgetting who you married.  After the Navy food I’ve been living on for the last fifteen years or so, everything you make is magnificent.  Remember, hon, except for the submarine service, Navy kitchens are magical.  The food that goes in is the best that money can buy.  Then there’s what comes out!  It’s inedible, but as I say, it’s magic!”
	In the event, Kathy prepared Tournedos Rossini with foie gras and truffles on artichoke hearts, sauce Périgord.  She had a bottle of Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1959 that she had put away for such a special occasion.  When Ken returned home that night from his ship, she had a serious request.  “Honey, I need a favor.”
	He looked at her startled.  Ever since they had married, he wanted to buy her gifts.  She did not eat candy, and after a while the collection of flowers he brought her gave the apartment the aura of a funeral home.  Anything in his power to provide, he would give her.  “Of course, honey!  Anything.  What is it you need?”
	“Ken, you’re going to be gone a long time.  I realized this morning that... that I don’t have your power of attorney.  As your wife, of course, I have risen in the eyes of the law from having been your mistress.  On the other hand, I sank a notch on the Navy scale of officer values.  By the way, do you have a mistress yet?  I’ve tried to make it difficult for the conniving females by trying to be sure that your balls are always empty, of course, but some girls are more ambitious than others.”
	She grinned, and he grinned back.  “Anyway,” she continued, “I prepared a general power of attorney, giving me full powers to act on your behalf in your absence.  Is that okay?”  She produced a paper and was amused to see Ken carefully read it from top to bottom.
	He looked up from the paper and smiled, “I hope you notice that the dumb little kid is trying.  Of course, I don’t understand what the damned thing means, but I did read it!  After all, sweetheart, if you can’t trust your lawyer, who can you trust?”
	They both thought of Ken’s former lawyer, Homer Knight, who had recently been disbarred.  Ken signed the paper, reached in his wallet, took out a crisp new dollar bill, and gave it to Kathy.  “Now, about those ‘other valuable considerations’...”
	“Honey, I’ll get Bob or Jane to sign as a witness.  They both know your signature and will be happy to.  When you said the bit about trusting your lawyer, I saw your grimace.  Thinking about our dear friend, Homer Knight?”  Ken nodded.  “Ken, did you hear what that damned judge did with Sylvia?  He gave the bitch three-to-five and suspended it, for chrissakes.  He apparently bought the line Ed Holmes was trying to sell:  He was the mastermind, and she was just the hired help!  That woman is evil!  Seeing her in court made my skin crawl!  Ken, am I being vindictive?  I’ve never felt this way about a person before, but I want her locked up!  In fact, to be honest, what I really want is her dead!”
	He looked up, startled at his wife’s vehemence.  “Kathy, I feel sorry for that woman.  I really do!”
	Kathy was surprised.  “Why do you say that?  After what she did to you and all those other officers?  Ken, do you realize most of them lost everything — and for good?  We got your stuff back because it had only been signed over a few days earlier.  Those other poor guys are finished.  Their property is gone for good.  So why would you ever feel sorry for the bitch!”
	“Honey, you made a successful career jailing dangerous criminals.  You certainly wanted them locked up, but it was a job that needed doing, like collecting the trash.  The reason I said what I did is that with Sylvia it’s personal.  I don’t think it ever was with the others.  You were just sweeping up the trash.  This is different.  Can I tell you something?  I’m not speaking now as your husband, the guy who’s crazy in love with you, either.  If I were Sylvia and I knew you were after me, I wouldn’t be sleeping well.  You’re the best there is!  And you can be deadly!  That’s why I feel sorry for the bitch!”
	“Thank you, said the black widow to her mate,” Kathy commented as she took Ken in her arms and kissed him softly.  “You know, Ken, a black widow got her name because she’s deadly to her mate?”
	“I know that,” he replied with a grin, “but with you, what a way to die!  By the way, I love that dress on you.  The color exactly matches your eyes, doesn’t it?”
	She smiled and did a deep curtsy.  “Thank you kind sir!”  The smile turned into a grin.  “And I thought you just liked me bare-assed for easier access to my bodily openings!”
	The dinner was superb.  It was followed by coffee, cognac, and cigars.  They ate it in the dining room by candlelight.  While they were enjoying their final sips, Ken sat back and contemplated his wife.  “Do you know what I love about you?  You do things because you like to.  Kathy, I can’t think of a girl more temperamentally opposed to the screaming libbers, yet you sit there with a light panatella in your hand.  They would look on it as a great device to show up men.  You do it because you enjoy it with the cognac.  Am I right?”
	She smiled at him warmly.  “Of course.  I do enjoy it.  I think you said it, Ken.  You need a cigar with the cognac and coffee after a great dinner — if I must say so, myself!”  She finished with a note of acid in her voice.
	Ken was chagrined.  “I’m sorry!  Kathy, I really am.  It was the finest meal I’ve ever eaten.  I apologize for being a slob and not saying so.”  He got up, went over to her and kissed her softly.  For an instant Kathy kept her lips firm, but then she melted.  When the kiss ended, he was holding her tight while kneeling on the floor.  “Does that mean I’m forgiven?” Ken said hopefully.
	She smiled warmly.  “Let’s just leave the junk and go to bed.  I’ve got six months or so to clean up after you leave.”
	She led the way, and by the time he reached the bedroom, she was standing nude.  Looking at her, Ken received a shock.  He went closer and got on his knees in front of her to get a better look.  There on her hairless mound was red lettering that looked like a rubber stamp imprint.  It said “Property of Kenneth Stark.”  She looked at him with concern.  “Darling, there’s one thing I’ve learned since we’ve been together.  Every damned thing in the U.S. Navy is marked, Property of the US Navy.  So I thought I would extend the idea.  What do you think?”
	“I think, ‘Only Kathy,’ is what I think.  It’s permanent stamp ink, isn’t it?”  She nodded.  “It’s one of the many reasons I love you so much.  Life is never dull.”  He sat on the floor and looked up past her legs, her loins and her breasts to her face.  “I love you, sweetheart!”
	“Are you sure you don’t mind?  I knew it would wear off long before you got back, so I took a chance.”
	“Actually, darling, I think it’s neat!”
	“Great!” she said with a grin.  “Now get undressed.”
	He did, and she kissed him, first softly, then with increasing passion.  When she released him, his prick was standing at attention.  She noted it and said, “Great!” and disappeared.  She returned a few moments later.  “Now stand still!”
	She had a stamp pad and a rubber stamp.  As his prick seemed to soften, she took it in her mouth to make it rigid again.  She withdrew her mouth and applied the rubber stamp carefully along its length on top.  When she removed it, there were letters running along its length saying, “Property of Katherine Stark.”  He looked down at himself when she pulled away.  She patted his flat stomach gently and said, “It’s a good thing you’re not fat.  If you were, you might not be able to read it.  What do you think?”
	Ken started to laugh.  He laughed harder and harder until he could no longer stand.  In moments, they were on the floor in each other’s arms.  He kissed her softly and held her tight.
	“You’re not mad?” she asked tentatively.
	“No, I’m not mad.  Only my wife would label me to keep me out of the clutches of the whores in the Med.  Kathy, you know what?  You have utterly ruined me!  I see girls I used to think were the greatest thing since the wheel.  Now I feel sorry for them, for chrissakes!  They’re good enough, I suppose, but compared to you, it’s unfair!  That’s what it is!  Unfair!  Why screw around with silver when there’s 24-carat gold at home?”  He kissed her deeply, picked her up, and carried her to bed.
	Their lovemaking that night ran the gamut from unbridled passion to tenderness.  At one point during the night they were on their backs.  Ken was holding her holding her close when he whispered, “Kathy?  Did Sandy Castle visit you while we were out on the shakedown?”
	He could feel her nod her head, and heard her answer in a small voice, “Yes.  Why do you ask?”
	He pushed up on one elbow to look at her face.  “I knew it!  It had to be!  Kathy Stark strikes again!  You cost me a top-flight executive officer, I want you to know!”
	Kathy sat up and looked at him, alarmed.  “What do you mean?  How?”
	“Ever since we got back, Jack Castle, the guy who could be relied on to take any detail — no matter how lousy — that would keep him aboard, has been going home nights.  He has been walking around with a shit-eating grin, is why.  I asked him once if there were any problems at home.  All I got from the lug is that damned grin and the comment, ‘My wife has a perfect ass.  It’s just a lovely handful.  She’s not as good as Kathy in the chest but she has great legs — for a girl, not an accountant!’  Kathy!”  He ended on an accusatory note.
	Kathy looked sheepish.  “I’m sorry, Ken.  It was just after your mother left.  I was all set to get in the sauna when I get this call from probably the person I least wanted to see in the whole world.  Of course, that made me feel guilty so I asked her to come over.  And... Well... We talked.  That’s all, Ken!  Honest!  We just talked.”
	He kissed his wife with warmth and deep affection.  “Thanks, hon, for saving their marriage.  It was on the rocks, not just headed for them, and the ship was breaking up.  Seriously, when Jack went ashore the day we got back he was primed to ask for a divorce.  That idea died in one hell of a hurry.  What did you do or say?”
	“Nothing, really.  Only... Only... I asked her what she did if Jack put his hand on her ass when she was in the kitchen.  She said she’d slap his face.  I told her I would hold on to the sink to keep from falling because my knees always feel weak when you do.  Well, we covered other things, and...”
	“...And she’s been elected a partner in her accounting firm.”  Ken interjected, “Jack said — well, he may have been bragging, of course — after the first night, she couldn’t care less about the firm.  She started wearing more feminine clothes, was thoughtful to her secretary, and...  Well, anyway, she was elected.  She was told she was about to be passed over in the selection but she saved the situation by her changed behavior.  Some of the other partners were afraid she was acting too masculine.  When Jack told me, he was laughing like hell.  I nearly forgot.  He loves you, by the way.  Sandy — and it’s now Sandy, not Sandra — loves you, too.”
	He took her again, slowly and deeply.  When they reached their climax, her legs were around his neck to be sure he was in as deep as he could get.
* * *
	The next morning, she drove Ken to the ship for the first time since he got his own car at Christmas.  He got out with his bags and then kissed her hungrily.  She felt his crotch and made a small face.  When he asked if anything was wrong, she tried to grin at him, although he could see her eyes were fogging with tears.  “Damn it!  I thought I drained you last night!  There still seems to be something there!”  He just held her as she clung to him.  Finally she said, “Get your ass in gear, Skipper, and get that bucket underway!”
	He smiled and ran for the gangway.  Kathy stood and watched, or tried to.  The tears still got in the way.  As she stood, she sensed someone had come up beside her.  It was Sandy Castle.  She tried to focus on the girl’s face and finally did.
	The young professional accounting partner looked woebegone.  “Kathy, it’s all your fault!  Whenever Jack sailed before, I looked forward to getting a lot of work done for my clients.  Now... Now... Now, Kathy, I hurt!  He’s barely aboard, and we didn’t sleep a wink last night, but... but...  What will I do?  You were so right!
	“That first night he was home, he came in loaded for bear!  I had his favorite drink made, and I was wearing this outlandish negligee...  He kissed me.  While we were kissing, he put his hand on my ass expecting to be slapped.  I did what I had always wanted to do.  I melted.  Well, one thing led to another and I was nude on the living room floor with Jack inside me.  Kathy, it was like heaven!
	“I never did find out what he was so mad about.  Do you know?”
	Kathy smiled at the girl and said she had no idea.
Chapter 25
	Kathy had spent a miserable night tossing in an agony of sexual frustration.  Her cunt ached for Ken’s cock.  She thought about it, but came to no conclusion.  She hadn’t had a man for years before she met him and it hadn’t bothered her at all.  Why was she so tormented now?
	She was thinking along those lines when the phone rang.  It was Tony Donetti.  Hearing his voice startled her:  He had never called her before.  “Angel, there’s a problem I’m sure you’ll be interested in.  It’s in Family Court, downtown.  There’s a young girl named Susan Smith.  She’s a runaway from her legal guardian, Sylvia Black.  Anyway, this kid isn’t represented.  I can help, but I need someone to say some words.  Can you do it?  She needs you, Angel.”
	Kathy was instantly awake when she heard Tony’s voice.  “Tony, how much time do I have?  You caught me in bed.  Do I have time to take a shower?”
	Tony laughed.  “I should have known!  I called the kids first.  They loved your wedding, by the way, as did my wife and me.  You should never have invited us and we should never have come, but we did.  My wife cried, Angel.  She said you were the most beautiful bride she’s ever seen.  All she could talk about was your white gown and golden hair.  You were stunning!
	“Anyway, it’s only seven o’clock!  You know the courts better than I do, but I’ve never heard of anything happening before ten.  And Angel?  Please let me know what happens.  The poor kid is being held in jail pending the hearing.  Will you let me know?”
	“Of course, Tony.  I’ll get right down there.”
	As soon as she hung up the phone, she got out of bed, showered, dressed in her lawyer suit, had a cup of coffee and drove down to Family Court.  She went to the jail where she was well known and asked to see Susan Smith.
	The sergeant on duty looked embarrassed.  “I can’t do that, Miss Smith... I mean, Mrs. Stark.  Orders.”
	“Orders from whom, Sergeant?” she inquired.
	“Up high, Kathy.  It’s some political influence thing,” he said in a near-whisper.
	Kathy left and went to a restaurant close by where she used to eat when she was in the District Attorney’s office.  She had breakfast and was back in the courthouse before the court was called into session.  The bailiff announced the judge’s entrance and the court was called to order.  The first case called was Susan Smith’s.
	A young girl was being dragged into the courtroom from the holding area.  She was handcuffed and was being dragged by the two matrons who were escorting her.  Then Kathy saw Sylvia Black again.  She had seen Sylvia for the first time when she attended her trial on conspiracy.  While she had detested her then, she hated her now.
	The judge looked around the courtroom as if he was looking for something.  “Is this girl represented by counsel?” he inquired.
	Sylvia started to say that it was a juvenile case and no counsel was required, when Kathy came forward.  “I am Kathy Stark, your Honor, and I am representing Susan Smith,” she asserted, smiling venomously at Sylvia.  She continued, “I have been prevented from meeting with my client.  Therefore, I respectfully request a ten-minute recess to speak with her now.”
	Sylvia was about to protest, when the judge’s gavel came down hard.  “The court will be in recess for ten minutes.  We will reconvene at twenty minutes after the hour.”  Looking at the deputies, he said pointedly, “Matrons will assure that Mrs. Stark meets with her client in private!”
	Susan Smith was brought in to an attorneys’ conference room.  The matrons were about to withdraw when Kathy said to them sharply, “Take those handcuffs off my client’s wrists.”
	“But Mrs. Stark, I can’t.  This girl is violent!” one of the matrons replied plaintively.
	“I said, take them off.  Now!”  The matron responded instantly to the steel in Kathy’s voice, took off the cuffs, and quickly retreated.
	For the first time, Kathy had an opportunity to get a good look at Susan Smith and almost fell off her chair.  The girl was Kathy’s identical twin but about ten years younger.
	“Hi, Susan.  I’m Kathy Stark, and I’m an attorney in Norfolk.  I lied in there when I said I was your attorney.  I’m not.  I can’t be your counsel unless you ask me to be, and you haven’t had a chance.  May I represent you, Susan?”
	Kathy almost melted as Susan’s beautiful blue eyes regarded her.  Then Susan did a double take as well.  “But... but... you look like me!”
	“I know, honey.  But we don’t have much time.  May I represent you?”
	“Of course!  Anything to get away from that horrible woman!  Miss Stark, please help me!  I only wanted to go to school.”
	“It’s Mrs. Stark,” Kathy corrected gently.  “Why are you moving so stiffly?”  Instead of answering, the girl lifted her shirttail and turned her back.  Kathy was horrified to see streaks of blood crisscrossing the girl’s back.  “Who hit you?” she asked quietly.
	“One of the guards, ma’am.  She’s a sadist, I think.  After stripping me bare, she tied my hands to a hook that came down on a pulley from the ceiling.  They pulled me up until my toes were barely touching the floor.  She took off this leather belt and whipped me with it.  I was spinning on the hook, and she just kept beating me.”
	Kathy was appalled.  There was a phone in the room for attorneys’ use.  She used it to call Peter Mahoney on his private line, and he answered at once.  “Pete, it’s Kathy.  I’m at Family Court.  Can you get down here right away?  And get a squad of police over here, too?  I’m supposed to go back into court within three minutes.  It’s Courtroom Three.  Just stand in the back of the room and have the police in the corridor waiting.  It won’t be a long wait.  Can you come?”
	“I’ll be there as soon as I get my shoes back on.  It’ll take about five minutes.  See you!”
	Kathy turned her attention back to the girl.  “Susan, I’m dreadfully sorry!  Would you please take your shirt off?”  The girl was wearing a man’s shirt that fit her like a tent, along with a pair of dungarees tied with rope at the waist.  She took off the shirt and faced Kathy.
	Kathy almost became ill.  The girl’s beautiful, but still-immature breasts had been cut by the belt.  Marks crisscrossed her body and went below the belt line.  “How far down do they go?” she asked.
	“To just above my knees,” was the quiet reply.
	“How many times did she hit you?”
	“I don’t know,” Susan replied softly.  “I passed out after about thirty.  It really hurt, Mrs. Stark.”
	Kathy’s voice was so full of menace she didn’t recognize it herself when she spoke, “Never again, Susan.  I swear to you this will never happen again.  Come on, it’s time to return to the courtroom.”
	When they stepped outside the room, the same matron was waiting.  She looked at Susan with a question in her eyes.  The girl shook her head and Kathy turned back to the matron.  “Do you know who I am?” she asked.
	“Yes, ma’am.  You’re Kathy Smith.  Or you used to be.”
	“That’s right.  Now, who beat this girl?  I want to know now!”
	“I can’t tell you!  Mabel would kill me!” the woman replied, terrified.
	“So we know her name is Mabel.  Is she in court today?” Kathy asked.  Both the matron and Susan nodded.  “Fine!” said Kathy.  “Let’s go!”
	They reentered the courtroom.  Kathy escorted Susan to the defendant’s table as the judge returned.  The court was called to order and the judge announced that the plaintiff, Mrs. Black, the child’s legal guardian, could proceed.
	Sylvia Black came forward.  “It’s a simple matter, Your Honor.  I have the papers here appointing me the legal guardian of Susan Smith.  She ran away and got caught.  I want her back.  Thank you.”  Sylvia returned to the plaintiff’s table and sat down.
	“Mrs. Stark, do you have anything to say on behalf of the minor, Susan Smith?  However, before you speak, Mrs. Stark, I have a question to ask the girl.  Susan, would you please stand?”  Susan stood up.  The judge continued, “Susan, Mrs. Stark has claimed to be your counsel.  Did you ask her to represent you?”
	“Yes, Your Honor.  I certainly did.”
	“Thank you, Susan, you may sit down.  Mrs. Stark, you may proceed.”
	While the judge had been addressing Susan, Kathy looked around the room.  She saw Peter Mahoney with a policeman sitting in the back of the courtroom.  “Your Honor,” Kathy began, “there is a great deal about this case I do not yet understand.  First, I do not know how Sylvia Black came to be this child’s guardian in the first place.  Your Honor may not be aware of the fact that Sylvia Black was sentenced to three-to-five years imprisonment less than six months ago after being convicted of larceny, conspiracy and bigamy.  Her sentence was suspended.  I do not understand how a convicted felon could obtain guardianship of a minor.”
	“Mrs. Stark, can you support this charge?” the judge asked.
	At that point Pete spoke up from the back of the courtroom.  “Your Honor, I am Peter Mahoney, District Attorney of Norfolk County.  I can attest to the truth of Mrs. Stark’s statements.  Copies of the relevant documents could be delivered in a matter of minutes from Criminal Court, if you wish.”  Peter sat down again.
	“That won’t be necessary, Mr. Mahoney.  Please proceed, Mrs. Stark.”
	“Your Honor, I request a continuance of this case for ten days.  In the meantime, I request that the defendant, Susan Smith be remanded to my custody.  Further, Your Honor, I demand that the matron standing over there be placed under arrest immediately.”  Kathy pointed to a beefy matron standing back in the corner of the room.  “The charge is felony assault and battery!  Susan, please show the judge your back.”
	Susan approached the bench, turned her back to the judge, and lifted the back of her shirt.  When she exposed her back to him, Kathy saw the judge turn white as a sheet.  Kathy spoke up sharply, “That was done to the child by the matron I indicated.  Perhaps I should ask you to look over this child in your chambers where she could be fully unclothed.  I saw more, your Honor, and it’s sickening!  She has been beaten from her shoulders to her knees as she was suspended naked from the ceiling revolving helplessly.  Your Honor, that woman is a brutal sadist!”
	Just then a shot rang out, followed quickly by three others.  Kathy felt the breath of a bullet passing by her head.  She turned quickly to see the matron, Mabel, crumpling to the floor while the officer who had accompanied Peter was standing holding a smoking revolver.
	Kathy ran to the fallen woman and reached her the same time the officer did.  A glance at the still-drawn weapon in the officer’s hand told Kathy all she needed to know.  It was a Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum, a hand cannon.  Mabel was dead.  At least one of its bullets had blown her apart.
	During the instant that the courtroom remained in a stunned silence, the judge spoke quickly.  “This case is continued for ten days.  Miss Smith is remanded into the custody of Mrs. Stark until that time.  This court is now adjourned!”  His gavel pounded down as chaos erupted.
	Kathy spoke quickly to Susan, “Let’s get out of here.  Move!”
	On the way out, she spoke quickly to Mahoney.  “Thanks, Chief.  This is a lot more melodrama than I had in mind.  This kid is in terrible shape and I really have to get her home fast.  May I call you later?  And please thank the officer for saving my life!”
	They quickly left the courthouse before the press and TV crews could arrive.  Ducking into a luncheonette Kathy used a pay phone to call the hospital.  When she got through she asked for Dr. Miller and was told he was off duty.  She identified herself and asked for his home telephone number.  Calling his home, his wife answered.  “Cindy, this is Kathy Stark.  I need help desperately.  Is Charley home?”
	Charley was on the phone immediately.  “Charley, I need your help, and Cindy’s, too, if it’s possible.  I have a young girl with me who’s been viciously beaten.  She recalls about thirty lashes before she passed out, but God only knows how many there were.  I could bring her to the hospital, but I think another institution is the last thing she needs to see right now.  Can you help?”
	“Of course, Kathy!  What’s your address?”  She gave it to him.  “We can be there in thirty minutes.  Is that soon enough?” he asked.
	“That’s great, Charley.  In fact, the girl and I are in downtown Norfolk now.  I’m not sure we can be there in thirty minutes.”
	“It’s okay, Kathy.  If Cindy and I beat you, we’ll just wait for you there.”  The connection clicked off before she could speak.
	“Come on, Susan.  We’re off.”  They went to her car and got in.  Then she noticed the cellular telephone that she had just had installed.  “Damn!” she muttered under her breath.  Being so new, she had forgotten she had it.  She picked it up and dialed “O.”
	When the operator came on the line she asked for the State Police barracks closest to Norfolk and said it was an emergency.  She was connected and asked to speak to the watch commander.  He came on the line and identified himself as Lieutenant Pinkney.
	“Lieutenant, this is Kathy Stark.  You may know me better as Kathy Smith.  I need help.  I’m in Norfolk and need to get to my apartment in Virginia Beach as fast as possible.  Could I get an escort, please?  It’s an emergency.”
	“Just a moment, ma’am.”  A few seconds later he was back on the line.  “Ma’am, Trooper Stockdale is in that general area.  He knows you and your car.  He will meet you at the Expressway entrance near the Omni.  He’ll be there in two minutes or less.  Is that satisfactory, ma’am?”
	“That’s perfect, Lieutenant, and many thanks.  I have to come out to see you folks at the barracks some day soon.  Thank you, sir.  I’m rolling.”
	She glanced at Susan sitting in the passenger seat.  “Honey, the way you’ve been beaten, that seat belt harness won’t feel too great, but I think you’ll feel better with it fastened.  This ride is going to be a fast one.”
	The girl buckled her belt.  Kathy felt her heart tug as the girl winced just once as the belt slid across her tortured shoulder.  When she reached the Expressway, Will’s cruiser was pulled off the road, waiting.  When he saw her in his mirror, he waved and started to roll.  He cut in his siren and flashers and made for the high-speed lane.  Kathy was on his tail as they were soon up to 100 mph speeding east.  In her rear view mirror, she saw another police car closing in the middle lane.  He passed them both and moved far ahead to provide more warning to other vehicles.  In no time they were at the exit and off the highway.  Again, Stockdale escorted her to her driveway with his siren screaming.  She had made it in less than fifteen minutes.
	Will jumped out of his car and ran up to her, saluting.  “I hope that was fast enough, Kathy,” he asked.  When he peered into the car he did a double take.  “Is this the...  Good grief!  Kathy, she’s... she’s a younger twin sister!  Woweee!  Ma’am, I don’t think this poor old town can take two o’ you.  It surely cain’t.”
	Kathy looked at the beautiful girl sitting beside her.  “Will, I would like to introduce you to a girl you’ve just helped a great deal, Miss Susan Smith.  Susan, this is Trooper William Stockdale of the Virginia State Police.”
	“How do you do, Trooper Stockdale?” Susan said in a soft, melodic voice.  “Thank you so much for your assistance.”
	“It’s a real pleasure to meet you, Miss.  A real pleasure, indeed!  I surely hope you’re feeling better, soon.”
	“Will,” Kathy said, “I spoke with your Lieutenant.  Susan and I would like to visit your barracks soon.  We hope to see you there when we do.”
	Will blushed.  “I’ll surely be there, ma’am, unless of course, I’m on patrol.  Have a good day!”  He went back to his cruiser just as the Millers drove up.
	After Kathy parked her car, the four went up in the elevator together.  Kathy led them into the guest room.
	“Charley and Cindy, I would like you to meet Susan Smith, your patient.  Susan, this is Dr. and Mrs. Miller.  Mrs. Miller is a nurse.  They are a trauma team, and I think you need their help.”
	Both Millers had done a double-take similar to Will Stockdale’s, but Charley recovered quickly.  “Susan,” Charley said, “would you please tell me what happened to you?”
	Susan told the story of the matron, Mabel, and what the woman had done to her.  Dr. Miller asked Susan to undress and she did so quickly.  She was standing before them completely unselfconscious and completely nude.  Kathy glanced at Cindy who had turned pale at what she was seeing.  The girl had been unmercifully beaten with special attention to her breasts, thighs and pubic area.  Kathy noticed that Susan had a small patch of rather dense pubic hair, a darker shade of gold than the hair on her head.
	Charley turned to his wife, “Honey, could you start cleaning up Susan, please?  I would like to speak with Kathy for a few moments.”
	Cindy started opening the treatment bags and removing needed materials as Kathy and Charley left the room.  Miller was shaken as he said, “Kathy I’ve been in trauma treatment for over five years, as has Cindy.  I know you saw her go pale when she saw the girl, and we see some terribly beat-up people.  Of course, I suppose the difference is that the others are victims of accidents while this was deliberate.”
	“Charley, there’s one consolation.  The woman who did that to her is dead.”  Kathy said, recounting the events in the courtroom.  Then she asked, “What do you think, Doctor?  Will she be all right?”
	“I honestly can’t say yet, Kathy.  Let’s go back and take a look.”
	They went back in the room.  Cindy was continuing to clean out the cuts while Charley examined the girl carefully.  She was beaten and cut, but no wounds were deep enough to require sutures.  They were both relieved and amazed to see that the girl was sound asleep.  As gently as they could they completed the process by putting an anaesthetic ointment on the cuts.  When they finished, Kathy drew the drapes to darken the room, carefully covered the young girl and withdrew.
	The Millers were waiting for her.  Cindy had collapsed in a chair.  “Kathy,” Cindy said, “I’m getting too old for this.  That is a beautiful girl in there, as beautiful as you are.  She’s a younger identical twin, except there is no such thing.  Who would do a thing like that to such a beautiful child?  She’s very brave, too.  I’m sure that some of the things I had to do were agonizing to her, but the most she ever did was wince a little.”
	“Charley, you’ve had a chance to examine her now.  What do you think?” Kathy asked.
	“I think she may be incredibly lucky.  We can’t be sure for a while yet, but I don’t see anything that will cause lasting scars.  I would like to leave some anaesthetic ointment for you to use on her body three times a day.  If you give me the name of your pharmacy, I’ll call them and order out a supply.  With her condition you will need a lot.”
	She gave him the name and he placed the call.  When he hung up the phone he said, “They’re sending out their entire in-stock supply right now and are reordering from their wholesaler.  They expect to deliver more before the end of the day.  Between what I’m leaving and what they’re sending over you should be okay.  I guess that about takes care of it.  Could you bring her in to the hospital to see me in a week?”
	“Of course, Doctor.  Now, would you and Cindy care to stay for lunch?  I could fix something very quickly.”
	“Thank you, Kathy, but we want to get home.  It’s our day off and Cindy likes to spend it in bed.”  Charley grinned while Cindy blushed.
	“Then can I at least pay you now before you leave?  It would save you a lot of time and paperwork,” Kathy said.
	They were genuinely insulted.  “Kathy, you’re our friend.  We don’t charge our friends, particularly when our friends are playing Good Samaritan.  We’re glad we could help.  I certainly hope things work out for the poor kid!  If there are any developments you don’t like the looks of, holler?  Promise?”
	“I promise.  And thank you both so very much!”
	The Millers left and Kathy went into Susan’s room.  The girl was sleeping soundly as she gently closed the door again.
* * *
	It was evening when Susan’s door opened.  Kathy was curled up on the sofa with a book as she came into the room.  When Kathy looked up, her heart was wrenched by the juxtaposition of the beautiful face on an equally beautiful, but now brutally battered body.  Kathy put down her book, went over to the girl, and put out her hand.
	“Susan, after the events of today, I think we should start over.  I am Kathy Stark.”
	The girl smiled tentatively, but took Kathy’s hand in a firm grip.  Kathy looked down at the girl’s hand.  It was the same size as her own with the same long slender fingers.  It was as if she were shaking hands with herself.  Kathy noticed that the girl seemed totally unconcerned about her nakedness, but she asked her anyway.  “Susan, would you feel more comfortable wearing something?”
	The girl smiled and shook her head, but suddenly her face showed concern.  “It doesn’t bother me a bit, but if I’m embarrassing you...”
	Kathy grinned and shed her own clothes.  She had been wearing jeans and a T-shirt.  It was May, and the weather in Tidewater was hot.  “Susan, you certainly don’t embarrass me.  I seldom wear clothes around the apartment.  I was only trying not to embarrass you!”
	The girl looked at Kathy’s body with its all-over tan.  “You’re very beautiful, Mrs. Stark,” she said matter-of-factly, But what’s that?”  She was looking at the “Property” stamp across her mound.
	Kathy explained it, and the girl laughed.  Then Kathy heard a digestive growl, “Good heavens!  Susan, you must be starving!”
	“I guess I am a little hungry, Mrs. Stark,” she said shyly.
	“When did you eat last?”
	“Yesterday, I think, ma’am,” was the quiet reply.
	“What would you like?” asked Kathy as they entered the kitchen, “How about a hamburger?”
	The girl’s face lighted up.  “That would be wonderful!  Could I?”
	In no time Kathy had the grill working, and two hamburgers starting to sizzle.  Trying to remember her own likes as a teenager, she sliced onions and tomatoes and took out a head of lettuce.  Hamburger rolls were soon toasting.
	Kathy put the plates on the counter and watched as Susan’s hamburger evaporated.  Before touching her own, she put two more on the grill.  By now the deep fryer had reached cooking temperature, and she dropped in potatoes to french fry.  Finally, she brought the drink mixer in from the bar and blended a milk shake.
	The poor girl was famished.  She devoured the food and the milk shake, and finally looked up.  “That was marvelous, Mrs. Stark!  Thank you so much.”
	Kathy wanted to cry hearing the girl’s thanks for a couple of hamburgers.
	Kathy led the girl into the library.  She let herself down gingerly on the couch and then relaxed.  “Susan, tell me about yourself.  Let’s start at the courtroom and go backwards, okay?  And Susan, please call me Kathy.  I’m not that much older than you.”
	The girl gave her a warm smile.  “Sure, Kathy.  Kathy, I live in a whorehouse, but... but... I’m still a virgin.  My birthday is coming up next month.  I’ll be sixteen, and I’m the prize in an auction that Sylvia’s running.  She made a poster with a picture of me naked.  There’s a place below for the johns to sign up with a bid.  The highest bidder gets to take my virginity.
	“Things weren’t so bad until Sylvia bought the house a few month’s ago from old Mrs. Watson.  She brought in a lot of new girls, Kathy.  A lot of them are younger than I am.  It feels kind of strange and terrible to kneel on a bed and watch a girl fourteen taking a huge cock inside her.  One little girl gripped my hand as this guy ripped her insides.  She was screaming, but he loved it.  He wouldn’t let me do anything to make his entry any easier for her.  He wanted to rip her apart!
	“I guess they’re not considered as pretty as me or something.  If a John pays extra, I’ll kneel on the bed and caress him while he plows the other girl.  For even more money, I go down on them and sometimes I take them in my ass.  Sylvia is always there, though, to make sure they don’t get to my cunt.  She will let them carefully feel my hymen, sometimes, so they know it’s still intact.”
	The recital was the worst Kathy had heard.  Clearly, underage girls were being prostituted.  She suspected that many were probably runaways who had been trapped into prostitution.  “Susan, would you like a Coke, or something?  I can see I’m going to have to change my food-buying habits.  Ken and I don’t stock many things that appeal to teenagers!”  She grinned at the girl and added, “Why don’t you help yourself to whatever looks interesting in the kitchen?  You haven’t had anything to eat in almost thirty minutes!”  She smiled as the girl bounded out of the library in the direction of the kitchen.
	She picked up the phone and called Tony Donetti.  He was almost instantly on the line.  “I’m sorry about what happened today, Kathy.  I had a guy in the courtroom.  He never expected that creepy matron would go for her gun.  What do you think of the girl, Angel?”
	“I don’t know how to answer that, Tony.  She’s like my younger twin sister, but there is no such thing.  The reason I called, though, is I want to smash Sylvia’s little red wagon, and do it for good this time.  But I need a little help.  Evidently, Sylvia took over a house a few months ago and replaced a lot of the girls with underage talent.  I’m going to call Mahoney right now and see if a raid can be staged tonight before Sylvia has a chance to temporarily clean up her act.  But I need to have a full house at her place.  I assume you know where it is?”
	“You’re on, Angel!  She’s the kind who gives the trade a very bad name.  You want a mob of customers present who may get busted.  Kathy, we need to get the timing exactly right.  It’s one thing to be booked for patronizing a house of prostitution, but a very different thing to be nailed for statutory rape.  Guys can be found with the young kids, but not being too friendly, if you know what I mean?”
	“I understand perfectly!” she said.  “I’ll get right back to you.  What is Sylvia’s address, by the way?  I don’t even know.”
	He gave her the address and she called Peter Mahoney at home.  “Pete, it’s Kathy.  I haven’t even thanked you for one favor, and I’m going to ask you for another.  First, though, I don’t know what else to say, except that officer saved my life.  Thank you.”
	“It makes good headlines, Kathy.  Thank you.  The police are delighted.  One of their own saves Kathy Smith.  The guy is a hero on the force.  Incidentally, I’m also making points because of you.  The women’s House of Detention turned out to be a horror show.  Frankly, the officer did the state a favor.
	“That matron, Mabel Mason, was a piece of work!  With her out of the way, other inmates and matrons came forward.  She had them all terrified.  However, Stark, as usual, you leave me with all the shit paperwork — taking statements, preparing for the inquest — all that garbage!”  Kathy could hear the grin in his voice.
	“You’re so welcome, Mr. Mahoney!” she replied sweetly.  “It’s the very least I could do!  Trying to keep the work within the very restricted limits of your capabilities, I mean.”  They both laughed.
	“Pete, could we really nail Sylvia Black?  Raid her place tonight?  Could you get that Vice Squad sergeant, Tom Tucker, to run it?  Here’s what he’s going to find.”  She told him of the underage girls forced into prostitution and the rest of the Sylvia story.  She ended with a request.  “Pete, there’s just one thing.  I need to know, as accurately as possible, the time the raid is going down.  Can you set it up and then let me know?”
	“Let me get back to you,” Pete said.  His voice sounded grim, reflecting his reaction to the story she had just related.
	As she hung up the phone, Susan returned to the room.  She had a Coke and a bag of what had to be very stale potato chips that Kathy didn’t even know she had.  “Susan!  Those are ancient!  They’re stale and...  You shouldn’t be eating them!  They’re all grease!”
	Susan grinned and continued happily munching.  “They’re good, Mrs. Stark — Kathy — honest!”  She eased herself back onto the couch.  Kathy decided that teenagers must have cast-iron stomachs lined with copper or glass or some similar indestructible material.
	“Susan, how long were you in the whorehouse?”
	The girl looked puzzled.  “I really don’t know.  I mean I’ve always been there, but...  I mean, it’s all I remember — a year or so...  It’s very vague.”
	Kathy had the eerie feeling of someone walking on her grave.  My God! she thought.  Exactly like me.  She has no past beyond the whorehouse.
	“Susan, you don’t know where you were born, or when.  You have no memory of your parents or anything back more than a year or so ago, do you?”
	The girl was shocked.  “How... How do you know?” she asked, bewildered.  “But you’re right.  I don’t!  I created a story to tell if one of the girls asked, but I really don’t know.”
	Kathy smiled at the girl fondly, “Because that’s the way it was when I was a prostitute, Susan.  I was just there.”
	This time the girl’s jaw literally dropped.  “You!  In a whorehouse!  It’s impossible.  Look at this apartment, at you...  It just can’t be!  Kathy, you’re educated.  You have fine clothes and a husband, and...  It’s just impossible!”
	“I’m sorry, Susan, but it’s true.  I left the house when I was eighteen, about eight years ago.  I’m glad I could get you out earlier, with your virtue more or less still intact.”  She smiled warmly when she made the last comment.
	“Then you know what it’s like.  The johns pawing you, the smells...”
	“People don’t change that much and the smells don’t either.  I’m pretty sure it’s about what I went through.  Why did you finally run away?”
	“I don’t know... I do know!”  The girl’s head came up straight and her blue eyes flashed.  “I want to go to school!  I don’t want to be a whore all my life.  Is that wrong?”  Tears started to flow from the girl’s eyes, but she refused to lower them.
	Just like me, Kathy thought.  She couldn’t hold back.  Taking her in her arms she could feel Susan’s shoulders shaking with sobs.  Although there was no place Kathy could hold her without touching the vicious lacerations on her body, the girl seemed to need comforting.  She didn’t flinch in the slightest at the contact.
	Finally, the girl lifted her head and looked into Kathy’s eyes.  “Do I have to go back?  Can they make me go back to that place?”
	“I swear to you, Sue, you will never go back!  If it’s the last thing on earth I ever do, you will not go back!”
	Just then the phone rang and Kathy answered it.  It was Pete.  The raid was going down at eleven o’clock that night.  She thanked him and called Tony again.  “Tony, it’s all set.  The police will hit Sylvia’s place at eleven on the dot.  Good enough?”
	“It’s perfect, Angel!”  Tony laughed softly.  “It’s a shame we can’t film it!  I have a feeling we’re going to miss some real Academy Award performances.  One more thing, Angel.  What’s going to happen to that lovely girl?”
	“Ken and I are going to adopt her as our daughter, Tony.  You just brought it into focus for me.  Now all I need is for her to agree.  Thanks, again.  I owe you.”
	“You owe nothing!” he said, “I owe you!  It’s good for our business to get this shit off the street!”
	“Fine, Tony!  You win again.  But one of these days...”  He laughed warmly and hung up.
	Kathy looked up to see Susan’s mouth agape.  Good going, Kathy! she thought.  You’ve done it again!  The poor girl hears about her adoption by listening to you tell it to a stranger.  Cool move!  “I’m so sorry, Susan!  I didn’t mean it that way.  I was talking to a friend — a friend to both of us, by the way.  He’s the one who told me to get down to Family Court in the first place.  Anyway, he asked what was going to happen to you and the answer was so simple I just blurted it out without thinking how it would sound to you.”
	She looked at the girl.  “Susan, will you consent to my husband, Ken, and me adopting you as our daughter?  Will you be the daughter we can never have?  Please?”
	The girl had been slowly shaking her head from side to side as Kathy was speaking.  When she finished the girl said, “You can’t be serious, Mrs. Stark!  You haven’t been listening to me!  I’m a prostitute!  I’m filthy!  I’m amazed that you allowed me in your beautiful apartment, let alone in that gorgeous bed.  It’s so great!  It feels so cool, with those luscious sheets on my body.  But I’m dirty!  I don’t belong here!  The whole idea is ridiculous.”  Tears started to flow unchecked from the girl’s eyes but she still refused to lower her head.
	“Susan, I was a prostitute.  You weren’t.  Remember?  I think I took as many as thirty johns in a day.  I know what life is like there — the people, the smells — everything!  I think we can cope together better than any other two people because we’ve both been there.  I don’t know if you heard, but my maiden name is Smith, too.  We’re too much alike to be apart, Susan.  Please say yes!”
	While she was talking, Susan had been intently studying her face.  The tears had stopped, and a look of tentative joy appeared.  “You are serious, aren’t you?  You really want me... as your daughter!”  The girl ran into Kathy’s arms and hugged her.  “May I kiss you?...  And can I even call you Mom?” the girl asked softly, and kissed her warmly on her cheek.
	Kathy couldn’t answer with words.  She just hugged the girl close.  Her tears were flowing, and her throat was too choked up to speak.  They went into Susan’s room and Kathy applied more of the antiseptic ointment on her body.  Susan was sound asleep before Kathy finished.

Chapter 26
	The next morning while Susan still slept Kathy was in the kitchen fixing breakfast.  Remembering the previous night, she fixed the type of breakfast that Ken would eat and made enough for three.  As it was cooking she heard noises coming from Susan’s bathroom.  In a few minutes the girl was in the kitchen with her hair wrapped in a towel.
	“Mrs. Stark... Kathy... Mom... I hope you don’t mind.  I don’t have anything, and there was toothpaste, and...”
	“It’s yours, Susan.  Maybe you would like a different brand, but you can use...”
	“Different brand?  You mean all of that’s for me?  And I didn’t want to waste that luscious shampoo, so I used bar soap.”
	“Young lady, you can knock off that stuff starting right now.  Everything here is for you to use.  Everything!  Understand?”  Susan shyly nodded her head.  “Good!  Now let’s eat!  It’s all ready and I hope there may be enough to fill even you up!”  The girl grinned and devoured the breakfast while Kathy ate hers and had a second cup of coffee.
	“Come on, young lady!  Back to your room.  We’ve got to see how you’re making out.”
	Susan lay on her bed while Kathy examined her body.  Earlier, she had called Dr. Miller and asked him about swimming and sun.  He said it was fine, but to apply no more ointment until they were finished in the sun.  The lacerations were healing rapidly, a tribute to the recuperative powers of adolescents.
	“Susan, I would like you to do the next test yourself.  Let’s find a particularly ugly bruise.  Then I want you to press it with your finger to see how intense the pain is.  Will you?”
	Susan nodded and they examined her body carefully.  When they found a particularly ugly bruise high on her thigh, Susan probed gingerly with a finger, and then harder.  She smiled at Kathy, “It’s felt a lot better, but it isn’t too bad.  I still would rather not wear anything, Mom, if it’s all right with you?”
	Kathy smiled at her, and excused herself.  She caught Bob Ferguson in his office and quickly briefed him on Susan.  “Bob, I intend to adopt the girl.  Can you get another of your jiffy almost-real birth certificates like you got for me?”
	“I beg your pardon, young lady!” said Bob trying to act as pompous as possible.  “You have a perfectly genuine birth certificate!  Almost-real, indeed!”  He got serious, “I don’t suppose you’ve talked with Ken, have you?”
	“No, I haven’t” she said with the pomposity in her voice this time.  “Would Jane ask you first if she planned to present you with a child?  By the time you knew anything about it, the damage would already have beeen done.  Then it’s just ripening in her belly until it decides to make an appearance.”
	“I give up!” he said.  “Seriously, Kathy, would you like me to talk to some of my friends and get this going?  You know, the world we live in is idiotic sometimes.  There are over a million abortions each year.  Thousands of teenagers get pregnant and go on welfare.  Yet a solid couple has to endure the torments of the damned with our great social-service bureaucracy to adopt a child.  And Virginia has one of the better systems, I’m told.  Anyway, they can legally give you all kinds of aggravation.  “Do you want me to start the ball rolling?  And what about Sylvia, her legal guardian?”  As he spoke, her business phone rang.
	“Bob, could you wait a moment?  There’s a call on the other phone that could provide the answer.”  She put Bob on hold and picked up the other line.
	It was Peter Mahoney sounding gleeful.  “Kathy, it was the greatest raid of the century!  Tucker and the vice boys are in seventh heaven.  As usual, though, it’s up to us poor paper pushers to prepare the indictments and do all that other good stuff.  Felony counts on Sylvia Black will be running pages.  We’re moving against her immediately on massive probation violations.  She will be in prison before the end of the week, and in jail until then.  Kathy, thanks for the tip.  And thanks for establishing the idea that baddies actually serve hard time.  We’re moving, and thanks again.”
	She went back on the other phone where Bob was waiting.  “Sylvia will be unable to attend the hearing, it sounds like.  Pete is moving for imprisonment for probation violations while he gets the new case organized for trial.  He claims the felony counts will run to pages.  Does that help?”
	“I’ll get on it right away.  And Kathy?  We’re looking forward to meeting your infant daughter.  I’ll tell Jane when she gets back.”
	Kathy went back to rejoin Susan who was resting on her bed.  She rolled over and looked at her new mother.  “What now, Mom?”
	“Now we’re going swimming!  The sun is hot, and the water’s cool.  Let’s go!”
	“But, Mom!” said Susan, looking forlorn, “I don’t have a bathing suit, and I’m not sure I could wear one if I did!”
	“Susan Stark!  I think it’ll be your name starting next week, so you might as well start getting used to it.  You’re not nearly as observant as I thought you’d be.  There’s a pool outside your window.”  Kathy saw the girl’s face fall as she listened to the criticism.  “I’m sorry, honey!  That was unfair of me.  The drapes have been drawn ever since you got here.  I apologize.”
	As they made their way out to the pool deck Kathy asked the girl if she swam.
	“I don’t, Mom.  Remember where I’ve been?  And I almost never left the house.  Let me watch you and then I’ll try.”
	Kathy smiled at the girl and strode to the pool edge.  She executed a beautiful racing dive, pounded down to the end of the pool, did a racing flip turn, sprinted back, turned again and then slowed her stroke to the one for distance she used swimming laps in the pool.
	She had completed 100 meters and had just flipped again when she saw a sleek body arch out in a racing dive virtually identical to her own.  The girl was beside her, using the same distance-devouring stroke she was.
	My God! she thought.  Susan does it, too.  No wonder the guys at Yale looked stunned.  She observed my movements, intuitively analyzed the bio-mechanics of the actions — exactly which of my muscles are doing what — and translated it into bio-kinetics.  She makes her muscles do the things she’s just seen for the first time!  That’s what I do, too!
	The two girls were making an endurance contest of it.  It matched Kathy’s superior skill and physical training against Susan’s youth.  Up and down the pool they went side by side.  Kathy had long since lost count of the laps, and was hanging on by sheer willpower.  I will not be defeated by a battered slip of a girl in my own damned pool! she thought.
	Finally, she had to stop.  She finished a lap and grabbed the edge of the pool.  For the first time in her life she had to hold on to the edge while she gathered enough strength to pull herself out.  Finally, she did.  She spun around and sat on the edge with her legs still in the water.
	Susan had her head resting on the edge without enough energy left even to lift it up.  Finally, she did.  With a grin as big as she had the energy to muster, she gasped, “You win!”
	Kathy grinned back at her, got out and reached down to pull the younger girl from the pool.  Susan popped out like a feather.  How did she do that? Kathy wondered, then grinned to herself.  The same damned way I do it, is how!
	Kathy could scarcely walk.  She staggered over and dragged back two sun mats and the sun tan lotion for Susan.  She mumbled something and collapsed on the mat, sound asleep.  Kathy was lying on her back soaking up the sun when she felt the coolness caused by a shadow on her.  Opening one eye, she saw Jane standing there, nude as usual, with her shadow over Kathy.
	“You’re in my sun, Jane,” she said, still groggy.  “Susan and I swam to Bermuda and back and I need to rest.”
	Jane didn’t move, and Kathy reflected that she had seen something different.  She opened her eyes again, alert this time.  She saw the girl’s breasts had begun to swell, and there was a visible convexity in her abdomen.  She jumped up.  “Jane!  You’re pregnant!  You’re going to have a baby!  You are, aren’t you?”
	Jane had pulled up a mat and lay down beside Kathy.  “Sure am!  It was confirmed this morning.  I didn’t believe it.  Anyway, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.  Except I feel so damn good.  Even the swelling in my breasts I dismissed against the hope that I was getting big-chested at long last.
	“You know what the funniest thing was?  I saw this young OB/Gyn guy who gave me a full checkup.  I was sitting in his office, and saw him change something on the chart the nurse had filled out.  He was running on about how so many women were waiting so late to have babies and all the troubles they have.  Anyway, he was so pleased to have a patient only twenty-five.  He said he was a little surprised, because, from the exam he’d figured I was twenty-two or twenty-three.  He had already changed the date of birth on the medical history.  I told him it was correct.  I’m thirty-five.  He almost fell off his chair.  Kathy, it was the funniest, most ego-building thing that’s happened to me in years!”
	“What does Bob think about the prospect of fatherhood?” Kathy asked.
	“That’s why I’m here.  The poor dear was floating so high, I hope he doesn’t hurt himself when he returns to earth.  He’s floating and so am I.  I asked the doctor about my favorite sport, and he said we could continue to have sex as long as I felt like it.
	“Kathy,” she said with a broad grin, “do you suppose any woman ever had it on her way into the delivery room?  By the way, I think you’re cheating.  You’re getting them full grown.  Now will you introduce me?”
	Kathy looked over where Susan was watching the exchange.  She had pushed herself up and was resting on her elbows.  “Susan, I would like you to meet my dearest friend, Jane Ferguson.”
	Susan popped up from the mat, but her leg gave way and she went down on one knee.  From that position, she held out a hand to shake.  Kathy continued, “I think you ought to call her Aunt Jane.  It’ll help her keep you in mind when she needs a baby-sitter in a few months and you need some spending money!”
	Jane was looking at Susan intently.  “She’s your twin, Kathy.  Do you remember the first time we ever met?  I gave you that admissions test?  She looks exactly like you did that day.”  She slowly nodded her head and spoke quietly, “Susan also provides the answer to a question that’s been bugging me for months.  I always wondered what your pubic hair would look like if you didn’t remove it.  Now I know.  She’s you.”
	“Mrs... Aunt Jane, you almost didn’t get to meet me.  My mother was trying to drown her newborn.  Don’t they do that with girl babies somewhere?”
	“Drown you!” Kathy protested.  “Why didn’t you just stop?  I wasn’t hauling you through the water, for God’s sake!”
	“Yes, you were!” Susan retorted with a grin.  “You’d be damned if some battered young squirt was going to beat you in your own pool, and I’d be damned if my mother was going to have a quitter for a daughter!  Mom, you almost killed me.  When I stood up to shake hands with Aunt Jane, my leg collapsed.  Aunt Jane, would it be wrong to say I have the most beautiful mother in the world?”
	Jane looked at Kathy critically, “Well... top five anyway.  Maybe top three.  I guess it’s okay, Susan.  Your mother is certainly in contention.”  She grinned at Kathy fondly.  “Would you women care to help Bob and me celebrate tonight?  One of these months I’m going to have to knock off the booze, but not today.  Can I interest you?  Susan, you are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen except for your mother.  I was looking at you while you slept, and I’m glad that vicious creature who did this to you is dead!  I think you’ll be fine, though.”
	“Mother, I would love to!  Can we?  I’ve never been to a restaurant before.”
	“On behalf of my brand-new bedraggled daughter and me, we accept with pleasure.  Where are we going?”
	“Bob loves the Promenade at the Omni.  Do you mind?  At eight?  We’ll meet you there.  Now I have to go and rescue the poor darling from the ceiling.  And besides, I’m already late for my principal business service of the day.  See you later.”
	They watched her move gracefully inside, put on her clothes again and leave.  Kathy explained to Susan what the principal service was and they both laughed.  “How are you feeling, young lady?  Doctor Miller will skin me alive if I’ve allowed you to get a bad burn on top of your other problems.”
	“I’m fine, Mom, really.  I just got the stuff larded on when I passed out.  You know, I really think I did, too — passed out, I mean.  Mother, you are in fantastic condition... for an older woman!” she said with a broad grin.
	“Young lady, do you know where you are?  If you would like to find yourself dangling by your heels from six stories above the street, you just keep up with that ‘older woman’ shit!  The nerve of some people’s children!”  She grinned back.  “I don’t know about you, but I’m going to soak in my shower and then take a nap.”  Susan struggled to her feet, dragged the mats back where they came from and then staggered off towards her room.
	 It was seven o’clock when Susan came into Kathy’s room looking like a dream, but still nude.  “Mom,” she said with a wail, “what can I wear?”
	Kathy had just slipped into a white sleeveless dress that set off her tan, her blue eyes, and her golden hair.  She inspected Susan closely and thought again of the recuperative power of teenagers.  “Honey, you’ve recovered more in one day than I would have in a week!  Do you feel better?”
	“Much better, Mom.  But I’ve seen your clothes, and they’re all cut like the dress you are wearing — close — to show off your perfect figure.  But much closer than I would care to wear right now.  Don’t you have anything else?”
	Kathy had a brainstorm, and started laughing.
* * *
	The Fergusons were already seated at the table when two beautiful blondes entered the dining room.  Both were five feet seven, both had brilliant blue eyes that were an identical shade of blue, both had hair the color of yellow gold.  Attention was attracted to the younger of the two who was wearing a blue wildly-patterned muu-muu.  One guest who had recently returned from the Islands thought, So that’s the way they’re supposed to look!
	Bob Ferguson rose to greet them.  He took both of Susan’s hands in his, studied her, and said, “She’s right... my wife, I mean.  She says you may be even more beautiful than your mother.  I would never care to have to make a choice.  Welcome, Susan!  Your mother has christened my wife, Aunt Jane, so please, could you call an old guy Uncle Bob?”
	They sat down, and Jane grinned at Kathy.  “That muu-muu gets around, doesn’t it?  I remember when you wore it to our place on Thanksgiving.  Now it’s getting on towards summer, I may get a few myself.  Honey, on you it’s spectacular!”
	The evening was a delight.  As Kathy drove back to Virginia Beach, Susan was asleep beside her.  She thought about the girl, and realized she had met her scarcely two days earlier.  Yet the girl was already settling in and changing her life for the better, Kathy thought.  Now for their day in court.
* * *
	At ten o’clock the following Thursday, Kathy was back in the courtroom.  When the case was called, Kathy announced that the defendant was ready, but there was no plaintiff present.  Although irregular, she asked the judge for permission to proceed.  Permission was granted and she began by calling Peter Mahoney as a defense witness.
	He came forward, was duly sworn, and took his position in the witness box.  He stated his name and gave his occupation as District Attorney of Norfolk County.  “Mr. Mahoney,” Kathy began, “are you acquainted with the plaintiff in this case, Sylvia Black.”
	“I am, Mrs. Stark.”
	“Do you know her current whereabouts?  Do you have any information for the Court regarding her absence from the proceedings today?”
	“I do.  At present Sylvia Black is serving a three-to-five year sentence in the Women’s Prison.  The suspension of her previous sentence was revoked early this week as a result of a major felony arrest the night of the prior hearing in this action,” he replied.
	“As a result of the arrest is Ms. Black facing new charges?”
	“She is.  She is facing over fifty felony counts.  The indictment is not yet complete, Mrs. Stark, so I am unable to give you a more precise number.”
	“Mr. Mahoney, as you know, this hearing is with respect to returning Susan Smith, seated with me at the table, to Ms. Black’s custody as her legal guardian.  Do any of the charges Ms. Black is now facing bear on her capacity or suitability to serve as Susan’s legal guardian.”
	“They most certainly do.  They include Pandering, White Slavery, Soliciting Sex with Minors and many more.  Mrs. Stark, in plain language, Ms. Black ran a whorehouse.  She had girls as young as fourteen years of age that she forced to prostitute themselves.  And I repeat, forced.  The raid was led by the most experienced vice-squad officer on our police force.  He was physically sickened by some of the things he and his men found.  And they are in a line of work in which a strong stomach is an occupational requirement.  Do you wish me to go on?”
	Kathy addressed the bench.  “Your Honor, Defense sees no need to pursue this line of questioning further.  However, there is no need to convince me.  You are the one who counts.  Do you wish me to continue?”
	“No, Mrs. Stark, that will not be necessary.  However, it leaves the Court with the question of what to do with the young lady.”
	“Your Honor, if it please the Court, there is a solution available.  May I present it?”
	“By all means, Mrs. Stark.  The Court is all ears!  Please proceed.”
	“Your Honor, I have adoption papers signed by all relevant parties.  To complete the process, it merely requires your signature.  The papers indicate the adoption of Susan Smith by Kenneth and Katherine Stark.”  Kathy held her head up straight and proud.  “I would be honored to be permitted to adopt Susan as my daughter, Your Honor!”
	From his lack of reaction, it was clear to Kathy that the Judge had at least some advance notice of her proposed course of action.  He said, “Mrs. Stark, you are certainly known to this Court as one of the most honorable and honored citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia.  I have never had the good fortune to meet your husband, but, if I may be so bold, I must believe him to be an outstanding individual for you to marry him.  The Court finds, therefore, that you meet all tests that could reasonably be imposed on adoptive parents.  It leaves only one question — a vital question — that must be answered by the young woman herself.  She is fifteen years old, I believe?”
	“That is correct, Your Honor,” Kathy replied.
	The judge continued.  “Susan, please rise and approach the bench.”  Kathy was so proud of Susan who was looking beautiful in a lime-green dress she had bought her for the occasion.  Susan rose from her chair and came forward.
	“Susan, Katherine Stark and her husband have indicated their desire to adopt you as their daughter.  This is very important, Susan, and I want you to think carefully before you answer.  Do you accept the Starks as your adoptive parents?”
	“Your Honor,” Susan began, “I understand your question perfectly.  Thousands... millions of children are born every day.  Their parents are whomever they are.  Clearly, it just happens.  The child has no say in the matter.  My case is different.  I have a choice, I believe.  Your Honor, if I could pick any set of parents in the world today, I would pick Ken and Kathy Stark.”
	Tears were streaming from her blue eyes, but she continued to look steadily at the judge on the bench.  “I have known Mrs. Stark for only ten days.  I love her as my mother.  I call her Mom.  Please, your Honor, let me continue to call her Mom.  I love her and want her desperately.  I beg you!  Please approve the adoption.  I’ve chosen my parents: Ken and Kathy Stark!”
	The judge was very interested in something on his desk as he fished for a handkerchief and unobtrusively dried his eyes.  He blew his nose and continued.  “This Court sees many family problems of all sorts.  It is rare, unfortunately, when it is in the capacity of the Court to create happiness.  Miss Smith, I am moved.  I believe you.
	“Accordingly, it is with joy on the part of the Court that you are declared the daughter of Kenneth and Katherine Stark.  Mrs. Stark, I should apologize.  Your daughter’s statement has caused my eyesight to blur.  If the papers are ready, I would appreciate it very much if you would indicate where I should sign.”
	Peter Mahoney took care of the chore, carefully blinking his eyes to be sure he was looking at the correct line.
	“Hello, Daughter!” Kathy whispered with tears in her eyes while she kissed Susan.
	“Hi, Mom!” Susan murmured as she hugged her new mother tightly.

Chapter 27
	Two weeks later Kathy and Susan went north to visit her brand-new grandparents.  Susan had still not recovered from the shock of another of Bob’s odds and ends.  He had been waiting for them at the back of the courtroom with the news that Susan, as Kathy’s legal child, had just received a bequest of five million dollars from Sam’s estate.  She was now a wealthy young woman in her own right.
	Kathy could not believe the change that had taken place in Susan in less than two weeks.  Except for a few deep bruises which were rapidly clearing up, she was back to her normal self, a truly beautiful girl.
	When they reached the senior Stark’s home north of Williamsburg, they were heard coming up the gravel driveway and Sam and Betty came out to greet them.  While Betty was kissing Kathy, Sam was looking at his granddaughter.  “Young lady, where have you been?  I’m your grandfather, and I didn’t even know you were alive until a few days ago.”  He took her in his arms and kissed her.
	Susan looked at the very distinguished-looking man holding her, then wrapped her arms around him, kissed him and hugged him tightly.  “Hello, Grandfather.  I’m your granddaughter, Susan Stark, and I love you very much!”
	Sam could feel the tears forming in his eyes as he continued to hug this lovely girl.  Betty looked on.  “Kathy, she is so beautiful!  She’s a younger you.  Ken will be thrilled.”
	“Mother, do you really think so?  I can’t even reach him!  I don’t know where he is.  I’m so scared.  Of course I love Susan dearly, but I’m afraid Ken will think I’ve lost my mind!  I’ve written him, but I don’t know if he even got my letter.”
	They went inside, and Susan went into the kitchen to get to know her grandmother while Kathy and the Admiral went into his study.  “Dad, what do you think?  I told Mom that I’m scared to death!  Ken may not even know.  I can’t reach him by phone.”
	Admiral Stark loved his daughter so much he refused to think of her as a daughter-in-law.  He regarded her fondly.  “He married you, didn’t he?”
	“I don’t understand.”
	“My God!  Is my son lucky!  He’s sharing his home with two of the most beautiful women in the world: his wife, and her younger twin, his daughter.  Kathy, there is no problem.  Absolutely no problem!  Ken is madly in love with you, and I know you believe that now.
	“Sweetheart, Susan is a younger you!  It can’t miss.  Besides, I’ve only known her for a couple of minutes but already I love her almost as much as I love you.  As a flag officer I weigh probabilities.  It’s what we deal with.  There are no certainties in this world.  But this is as close to a certainty as I’ve ever seen:  Kenneth Stark will love his daughter, Susan.  Believe me!  He will.”
	Kathy smiled.  “Okay.  I give up.  Dad, I love you.”
 	“And I certainly love you.  You should know, Kathy, you’re not my daughter-in-law.  You’re my daughter.  Period!  Kathy, you are the greatest thing to happen to this family in centuries!
	“Now, something’s been on my mind.  I’m sure you remember the fateful day when we had that... talk... in this very room?  Well, you said two things.  First, that you had been a prostitute.  Second, that you could never have children.  Kathy, we discussed the first and dismissed the second.  But it’s been on my mind.  How do you know you can never have children?”
	“Why, Dad...” Kathy began.  “Because a doctor who checked the girls in the house when I was seventeen said so...”  She stopped in mid-sentence.  “My God!  Do you mean to suggest...”
	“Kathy, I’m not suggesting anything, I’m asking.  But it occurred to me that if you hung on to the belief that you were a prostitute long after you left the trade, I might inquire about the other.  Have you had a complete gynecological examination recently?”
	“I’m a fool, Dad.”  She stood up, bent over, and pointed to her lovely rear end.  “Would you please stimulate my brain by giving it a kick?  It’s right here!”  She pointed at her ass.  She went back to the chair, sat down and looked at the Admiral ruefully, “That’s what happens when every time you sit down you’re sitting on your brains!”
	“Kathy,” he said, “that’s the one thing I don’t like about you.  You take yourself so seriously!”  He grinned at his daughter and she grinned back.
	“Dad, I promise!  I’ll have that complete gynecological checkup as soon as I can get an appointment!”
	“Fine!”  He looked at her and continued, “Now, why is it I sense my daughter has something else on her mind?”
	“Dad, maybe it’s because I do.  First, you know your daughter is utterly shameless?  If Ken came through that door right now, I would have my legs spread wide to welcome his glorious cock into my cunt in about half a second?”
	“Kathy, your language is... vivid, but so what?”
	“I love to play a little game with Ken, often when he’s asleep.  Dad, when the nipples of my breasts are fully erect — which is most of the time when Ken is around — I find they neatly fill the depressions in his shoulder caused by bullet holes.  In fact, I tease him.  I tell him they’re holes left by some Vietnamese wench who left a permanent impression.
	“But seriously, Dad, I love the big lug more than life itself.  I don’t want to see him screwed, by anyone, ever — except me, of course.  Dad, I’ve been reading books about the Navy and how it works — everything from The Bluejacket’s Manual to Mahan.  And keep your mouth closed, please, thank you very much.  Ken would kill me if he knew.  He tells me I’ll be telling CNO what to do.  Anyway, one of the books was on military decorations.
	“Dad, Ken took four bullets in the shoulder, presumably enemy bullets.  Why doesn’t he at least have the Purple Heart?  It’s supposed to be virtually automatic in such cases.  The only thing I know is that it happened in 1975 when we were bugging out.  That may be part of the explanation.  But damn it, Dad!  He lives with those wounds.  I just play with them.  If he deserves a medal, he should have it!
	“There’s something else: Ken’s very honest and forthright with me.  He tells me anything and everything about his past, life at the Academy... anything.  Sometimes he’s a little reticent because he doesn’t really believe I could be interested, but he tells me.  Maybe that’s why this thing has been bugging me.  He says nothing.  The most he has ever said is that he didn’t duck fast enough.  I don’t even know what ship he was serving on.  My guess is that it was the river navy, though.  It’s the only way I could see him getting hit by small-arms fire.  Do you know anything about it?”
	“Kathy, I don’t.  And, as usual, you’re right.  As you were speaking, I was kicking myself because I don’t know, either, and I’m his father.  You met him years after it happened.  Hell, I visited him in the hospital and let him put me off the same way he did you.  Want to make a deal?  You’ve promised to see a gynecologist.  I’ll promise to find out what happened to Ken in ’Nam.  Deal?”
	She stood up and extended her hand.  Again, he was a little surprised at the firmness of her grip.  “It’s a deal!” she said.
* * *
	As they headed back home, she glanced over at Susan.  “What did you think of your grandparents?”
	“Mom, could I answer a different question?  I consider myself the luckiest girl alive!  I didn’t know the judge was going to ask me what he did that day in court.  I only hope and pray that you understand my answer was from the heart.  I love you, Mom!  You know something else?  I am the luckiest girl in the world.  I not only have the neatest parents in the world, but the neatest grandparents, too.”

Chapter 28
	It was time to prepare for Susan’s enrollment in high school.  Kathy reflected on the events of the summer just past.  Reflecting on it, the summer was the most pleasant she could remember.  It was exciting to get to know one’s daughter... and oneself.  She smiled, thinking of the fame they had achieved, this time on the sports page for a change.
	As a break from the academic tutoring she was doing, she and Susan had gone out to the club one day to play tennis.  She had demonstrated the basic strokes and they started hitting the ball back and forth.  The pace quickened as she saw Susan improving dramatically with every stroke.  She developed a vicious topspin drive in no time, lashing the ball into the corners of the court, but always inside the chalk.
	It had been a hot day, and Kathy called a break to catch her breath.  She hit Susan with the flat of her racket when she heard the girl murmur with a grin on her face, “The old lady’s out of shape.  The legs always go first.”  Kathy noticed with satisfaction that Susan was breathing hard as she said it.
	They found that the mother-daughter tournament was scheduled to begin in less than an hour.  “Mom, could we enter?  For kicks?  You’re too tough!”
	She had agreed and went to see the pro.  There was an open spot in the draw and he wrote them in.  As she did, Kathy reflected that she and Susan had a running athletic competition.  Inevitably, it was her experience against Susan’s youth — their physical skills were about equal, but at a level far higher than either realized.  Kathy looked down at her body.  Because of all the exercise, she decided her physical condition and Susan’s were perfect.
	They met their two opponents in the first match.  The girl was about sixteen, while her mother appeared to be in her forties.  While they had been waiting for the match, Kathy had briefly reviewed doubles tactics with Susan, who immediately understood the reasoning behind them.
	Their opponents served first.  The girl served to Kathy who hit a forehand smash down the center of the court.  The girl, coming to net, could manage only a weak volley return that Susan slammed into her feet for a winner.  The match was 6-0, 6-0.  In fact, they swept the tournament without losing a game.
	Kathy was proud of Susan.  In response to a question, she claimed to have been playing tennis since the age of six.  On the way home, Kathy kidded her about her answer.  Susan explained it.  “Six or sixteen: the difference is the one, right.  And plus or minus one is pretty close, isn’t it?”
	Following their club win they went on to area matches and finally to the state championships.  Perhaps because Kathy was so well known, perhaps because of their shared beauty, the tournament — usually reported in the microscopic print on the sports’ page with long lists of scores — had some reporters and photographers in attendance.
	In the finals they met a team from Roanoke.  The daughter was eighteen, and her mother was in her mid-thirties.  It was obvious watching them warm up that they were very good and very experienced in tournament play.  Susan served first.  Kathy thought they won the tournament with that single serve.  Susan served to the girl who was receiving deep.  Her serve came off her racket like a bullet and kicked up chalk as it hit in the service box while moving at an angle sharply away from the girl.  She could only watch it hit the screen behind the adjacent court.
	In many ways, it was a strange match.  Like the others it ended 6-0, 6-0, yet many of the points and games were hard fought.  Their opponents were real ladies and congratulated them warmly on their victory.  The girl expressed surprise she had never met Susan on the state junior tournament circuit, because clearly she was the best female junior she had ever seen.
	As the mother and Kathy relaxed with drinks after the match, the woman commented that she had never seen a mother-daughter pair like Susan and her.  “There’s one thing I don’t understand.  You’re obviously her mother — you two look like twins — but you can’t be.  You look like her older sister.  And if you’ll forgive my jealousy, only slightly older.  How on earth did you do it?”
	Kathy couldn’t remember what she had replied but knew it was some double-talk that seemed to satisfy the woman.  Or else, Kathy thought, she’s just too polite to pursue it.  Their picture appeared in several Virginia newspapers and it was played up big in Norfolk.  Susan was thrilled.  Kathy was concerned that Susan might be recognized by some of Sylvia’s former customers but realized she had had little customer exposure, and all traces — including her nude photo on the bidding sheet — had been destroyed.
	As promised to Admiral Stark, she had been seen and examined by the best gynecologist in the area.  She told him that she had been told as a teenager by a physician that she could never have children.  The doctor gave her a thorough examination.  He had a sense of humor and laughed when he saw the now-faded stamp imprint.
	When she was again fully dressed, he reviewed the examination with her in his office.  “Mrs. Stark, we like to think of medicine as a science.  To the extent we know certain things, it is.  However, there are still far more things we don’t yet know.  The process of conception is one that we still don’t really know a great deal about.  Frankly, I see dozens of women who are physiologically sound, whose husbands are potent, yet who fail to conceive for whatever reasons.
	“Clearly, there must be a psychological or neurological element involved, because it’s not uncommon for a woman to give up on ever having a baby, adopt one, and then become pregnant.  I will say this, however: I don’t know who the doctor was who said you could not have a baby.  I do know I found absolutely nothing wrong with your reproductive system.  He may turn out to be correct, but to do so he used astrology, numerology, or something of that sort.  He did not use medical science.  He could not have found anything that would make that a physical fact.
	“I would add only one more thing.  It is rare that I get to examine a woman who is as beautifully prepared for motherhood as you are.  Barring complications, there should be no problems.  My only advice to you and your husband is to keep trying.  Whenever you mention him, your eyes light up.  I commented earlier on your... markings.  I conclude you enjoy a very active sex life and clearly you seem to enjoy it.  Continue to have fun trying to make a baby.”
	He’s got that right! Kathy thought.  Just the thought of making love with Ken makes me hurt.  She realized that her fun with Susan had helped her get through what would otherwise have been an unendurable separation.
	Then her thoughts returned to a call she received from Sam Stark a few weeks earlier.  She recalled it vividly in her mind’s eye.  “Kathy, it’s Dad.  Remember when you were up here, you turned around, bent over, and wanted me to kick you in your brains?  Well, I was sure you just wanted me to admire that lovely little rear of yours.  I was about to say so when I remembered you’re the best pistol shot in the state, and you’re armed.  Anyway, if you think you sit on your brains, I must be walking on mine!
	“It appears that your husband was a real hero.  I’m still tracking down the details, but here’s what I have so far:  He was in command of one of those river gunboats we were using out there and they were evacuating a group of Vietnamese from an encircled village.  You were also correct on the timing.  It was when everything was coming unglued all at once.  At any rate, most of his crew were ashore helping to organize the evacuation, and then all hell broke loose.  North Vietnamese regulars attacked the village to try to collapse the defense perimeter before they could evacuate.
	“A couple of Ken’s guys were hit, and they were all cut off.  He took a weapon and singlehandedly fought his way to them and then got them out.  The flotilla commander had been killed in the first attack, so even though he was wounded Ken took command of the force.  They held off the enemy until the people he came for were boarded and on their way to safety.
	“Kathy, I’m trying to speak as an admiral and not as Ken’s dad.  What he did that day deserves a very big medal.  We’re talking the Navy Cross or possibly even the Medal of Honor.  Anyway, I don’t know why Ken never said anything.  Perhaps it’s because we left with our tail between our legs while he was still in the hospital.  I don’t know.  However, the record is being reconstructed from various information sources, and we’re trying to locate some eyewitnesses.  We have names of guys who were there and we know where to look for them, so it’s only a matter of time.  Kathy, thank you.  I’ll keep you posted, and I’m glad your brain still works.”
	Kathy told him she had kept her part of the bargain and reported what she had been told.  “So, Dad, it’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it.  Ken and I will just have to work harder when he gets back!”
	Finally, she thought back to the day she and Susan visited the State Police barracks and saw Will Stockdale.  She had been greeted by the troop commander, Captain Collins.  Lieutenant Pinkney, who had arranged the escort for Susan, was there as well.
	“Captain Collins, it’s a real pleasure to meet you.  I have you to thank for the escort to my apartment provided by Trooper Stockdale on my wedding night.  It was very thoughtful of you.  I’m afraid you’ve been hearing a great deal about me over the last year or so, and not much of it could be good.”
	“Mrs. Stark... but may I call you Kathy?  Around here you’re only known by your first name.  There are so many Kathy stories floating around the barracks, I couldn’t count them.  They’re all respectful and — pardon me for saying it — loving.  I hope it’s not too painful a memory for you, but I remember vividly the morning last year that the call came over the police radio net that ‘Kathy’s down.  Somebody shot Kathy.’  No last name, just Kathy.  With Virginia law enforcement that’s all the identification you need.”  He finished with a warm smile.
	“I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure,” he said turning toward Susan who had been listening to this senior officer greet her mother with such respect and love.
	“Captain, I’m very proud to introduce you to my daughter, Susan.  Susan was the one who was injured when Lieutenant Pinkney provided the escort.”
	“How do you do, Susan?  It’s a real pleasure!  I don’t think you know this, but the greatest pride we have had in our fellow officers was when we learned a Norfolk policeman had killed that sadistic matron who shot at your mother.  You see, your mother spent a brilliant career making law enforcement agencies look very good.  Mostly, we just stood around and cheered while she did our job for us.  It was long overdue for us to do something for her.
	“Kathy, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could I see those famous badges I’ve heard so much about?”  Kathy smiled ruefully and took them out.  Susan’s eyes widened as she saw the gold.  The captain looked at them carefully, looked at Susan and smiled.  “Young lady, from the look on your face — and on your mother’s — you’ve never seen them before.”  Susan shook her head.
	The Captain looked at Kathy with a question.  She nodded, and he handed them to Susan.  “Susan, as far as I know, those badges are unique.  Your mother is the only law-enforcement officer with dual jurisdiction — both State and Federal.  She’s also the finest pistol shot in the state.
	“Kathy, I can tell you’re looking for someone, and it can only be Will Stockdale.  Am I right?”  Kathy nodded.  “He’s around somewhere, I’m sure.  Let’s find him.
	“I’m right here, Captain,” said Will from behind.  “I’m delighted to see you women here today.  He looked particularly at Susan.  “Miss Stark, if I may say, you are looking particularly beautiful.  I’m so happy there were no lasting effects.  We heard what had happened to you.  I shouldn’t say this, I suppose, but it’s a good thing that woman is dead.”  Turning to Kathy, he said, “Now what can I do for you?”
	“Will, could we go somewhere and talk?”  They found a quiet corner in the troopers’ lounge and sat down.  “Will, I have a problem I think you can help me with.  You know how big a city Virginia Beach is.  You really need a car to get around and Susan is starting high school next month.  She’ll be a junior.  She just got her driver’s license and...  Well, she drives like me.”
	“Kathy, are you serious?  Is she really that good?”
	Kathy smiled and nodded.  “She really is — probably better.  Why?”
	“Well, ma’am, as you know — but won’t admit — you’re a legend around here.  And that most particularly includes your driving.  We have a training track out back here.  Well, I asked the Captain if we could get you behind the wheel of one of our cruisers.  He thought about it, but finally said no.  He said you’re too big a name in this state, and he wanted no embarrassment.  But if Susan would be willing?...  If you’d let her?...”
	“May I, Mom?  Please?  If the captain says it’s all right?”
	The captain said it was fine with him if Mrs. Stark approved.  Kathy nodded and smiled at her daughter.
	The whole troop off duty went out to the track.  Will fitted Susan with a crash helmet and a Nomex driving suit and drove her around the track.  It combined a high-speed track with both a skid pad and a slalom course.  First, Will drove the course with Susan riding beside him.  When they got back to the starting point, Susan prepared to make her run.
	Kathy asked what the track record for the course was.  She had been observing the car as Will had driven the course.  Turning to the Captain she asked, “Are you a betting man?  I’ll wager Susan breaks that record by at least one full second.  If we lose, you and all your troopers who are off duty will be our guests for dinner tonight.  If we win, you have to have us as your guests here at the barracks.”
	“Kathy, did I hear you say you would buy food for this whole army at a good restaurant, or we feed you what passes for food here?  Is that the bet?”  Kathy nodded.  “Then Kathy, it’s a bet!”
	He raised his voice, called the troopers over, and explained the bet.  A couple of troopers ran to set up the electronic timing equipment they would need.  Soon they were all ready.  Meanwhile, Will was busy making side bets with his buddies at very attractive odds.  It was pointed out to him that the record holder had spent nearly three years bringing the time down to its present level.  Will just nodded, smiled, and took the bets.
	When everything was set, a light ahead of Susan went from red to amber to green.  At the instant the light changed, she was off with her rear tires smoking from the wheel-spin.  Kathy watched impassively as Susan found the perfect line on the banked track and took it with the cruiser running flat out.  Jaws dropped as the cruiser roared around the track for the three laps agreed, flew out onto the skid pad and executed the required maneuvers, including a bootlegger’s turn at very high speed.
	Will muttered, “Damn!  I forgot to bring out the speed gun!”
	Finally, she roared through the slalom while the cruiser rocked like a bathtub with its tires at the very limit of their adhesion in spite of its special suspension designed to minimize body roll.  She roared across the finish line, spun another 180 degree turn and stopped on almost the precise spot from which she had started.
	The captain had been watching in utter amazement.  He turned to Kathy and asked, “How long has Susan been driving?”
	Kathy grinned at him.  “I apologize, Captain.  That was a setup.  Will has told me I’m pretty good.  Susan’s only been driving for three months, but she’s probably better than I am.  She’s very good with cars.”
	“How much did she beat it by?” the Captain called out.  The answer was by over five full seconds.
	Susan got out of the car and ran over to where they were standing, stopping just long enough to shed her helmet and driving suit.
	The Captain put out his hand and shook hers.  “Susan, that was utterly amazing!  We’re going to get a plaque with the time on that run.  I know you’re only in high school, but...  Young lady, we’re always trying to recruit young women into police work.  Not many are interested.  Of the few that are, some are unsuited.  Unfortunately, too many of the remainder aren’t very good.  You are very good!  If you ever look for a job, there’s one here for you.”
	He had another idea.  “Susan, have you ever shot a pistol?”  She shook her head, no.  “Your mother is the finest pistol shot alive.  She says you are good at all the things she’s good at.  Would you like to shoot a few rounds on our pistol range?  Maybe your mother would like to shoot, too?  Would you, Kathy?”
	Kathy grinned.  “I was afraid you’d never ask!  I would love to.  Susan, would you get that case from the back seat, please.”
	Susan came speeding back with an aluminum carrying case in her hand.  They went to the pistol range where they found the targets arranged in sets of three.  The targets would spin, back to front, on a pivot controlled by the rangemaster.  At the start, there were three black silhouettes.  When they spun so the shooter could see them, they were combinations of felons: targets to be shot, and civilians: not to be shot.
	They decided they would fire it from the draw position.  Kathy opened the case Susan had brought.  In it were loaded cylinders for her LadySmith which dropped in quickly to reload.  Kathy went first to show Susan how it was done.  She went out to the shooting position with her purse in her left hand.  After putting on sound-absorbing ear protectors, she waved ready.
	The targets spun: all bad.  Her weapon sounded like a continuous thunderclap after a draw the officers admitted they never saw.  Six bullets fired, two each into the ten spot marking the heart location on the targets.  She continued in her unerring fashion.  She came back to the line and reloaded the now-empty cylinders while the targets were being scored.
	Susan had been watching her mother’s movements carefully.  She took the unloaded weapon, and Kathy showed her the sighting patterns.  Then she put a loaded cylinder in to get the feel.  Finally she was ready.  If there had been videotapes made, the two images would have been duplicates.  When it was over, she had lost to her mother by one point.  She had a single nine with all the rest tens.
	The Captain spoke to his troop.  “You have now seen a demonstration of how to shoot this course.  We will forgive Miss Stark her miss.  After all, this is the first time she has ever held a gun in her hand, let alone fired one.  Also like her mother, she put two bullets into each target.  The other bullet was, of course, a ten.  One bullet in the heart is as lethal as two, but then we know Kathy — and her daughter — believe in being sure.
	“Susan, you shot the highest score on this range ever!  We won’t mention how your mother did.  I hope this serves as a model to you men.  A girl fires this score within minutes of holding a weapon in her hand for the first time.  It really isn’t so hard, is it?
	“But now I have some bad news.  I made a wager with Kathy and lost.  Mother-love triumphed.  She bet me that Susan could turn the track at least one full second faster than the best previous recorded time.  You all know the results.  Therefore, the only honorable thing to do is to pay up.  Accordingly, under the terms of our wager, we must host the two women at dinner here in the barracks this evening!”
	The troopers cheered, and the Captain turned to Kathy, “There you see true Virginia gentlemen: paying a lost wager with a cheer!”  He grinned at her and winked.
	Kathy looked at him speculatively.  “Captain Collins, could I make a confession?  I thought that something like this might happen, and I know that the state doesn’t go overboard on your food budget.  If you keep quiet, I’ve made arrangements to have dinner tonight catered for you and your men.  It can be canceled on a phone call, of course, but actually, I was planning to take you and your men out to dinner in your own barracks.  May I still?  Please?”
	“Kathy Stark, you are a piece of work!” Collins said with a grin.  “I wasn’t kidding when I spoke earlier about all the Kathy stories.  Collectively, they are forming a legend.  Needless to say, you and Susan added to the legend this afternoon.  We would be honored to accept your gracious hospitality.”
	Kathy found Susan talking with Will.  “Mother, do you know what Trooper Stockdale has just done?”
	Kathy grinned at them both.  “No, I don’t know what Trooper Stockdale has just done... but I can guess.  But Susan, I do think he’d like it better if you called him Will, wouldn’t you?”
	“Susan, I would appreciate it very much if you would.  I call your mother Kathy, and she isn’t much older than you are.  May I call you Susan?”
	“Of course, Will, and I would love it!” Susan replied, with a smile that just about melted poor Will to the ground.
	Kathy continued, “Back to your question.  I think Will has probably just about cleaned out his barracks mates for the next couple of months or so.  Will, I think it’s only fair that you buy Susan a dinner sometime soon.  If you did what I think you did, you cleaned up!”
	“Kathy, it was unfair, I guess.  I know how you drive.  When you say Susan’s good, she’s good!  Then o’ course, they went double or nothing on the range, some of them, and that’s all she wrote!  Susan, it would be a great honor to take you out to dinner.  After next payday, I expect to get about half the barracks’ entire pay, so any place at all.”
	“Will,” Susan replied, “I would be truly delighted!  Please call and let me know what date would be convenient.”  She gave him another of her smiles.  Kathy recognized it as a duplicate of her own.
	“Now that the business is taken care of, I would like to get back to our conversation about Susan.  Will, do you agree that Susan’s a bit better than your average beginning driver?” Kathy asked.
	“Ma’am, you’re joshing me!  She could drive the tracks at Darlington, Charlotte or Daytona, she’s that good.  Yes, ma’am!  If it’s got four wheels and an engine, Susan can drive it!  And I’m not real sure she needs all four wheels, either.  Susan, I’ve never seen that slalom driven better!  Now, Kathy, what do you want me to do?”
	“Will, I was thinking about a car.  I think Sue needs one to get to school.  It’s not a question of money, but I don’t want her looking all that different from the other kids.  On the other hand, I can’t stand anything mechanical that doesn’t work well... very well.  I want to get Susan a car that looks like the basic high-school junkie, but good.  Do you think you can help?  I know you have friends I suspect do this for a living.  Am I right?”
	“I caught your drift at the beginning Kathy, and I’ve been thinking.  I want Susan in a car that won’t mess her up too much.  Air conditioning, for example, understand?  I have an idea.  Mazda makes a car, the 323 GTX.  Now it’s a real pocket rocket, with a turbocharged engine, all-wheel drive, Recaro seats, three spoilers on the rear — the whole nine yards.  Now, what if you bought one new?  I have friends that could take off the spoilers, paint it a standard factory color, that sort of stuff.  It would look like Susan’s driving a 323 which is sort of an econobox.  Now, Kathy, make no mistake.  Susan would look like she’s driving a new 323 you can pick up for less than $10,000.  The additional work isn’t much.  How does it sound?”
	“Honey, how does it sound to you?” Kathy asked Susan.
	“Mom, could we?  Really?  A car of my very own to drive to school?  Fantastic!  It sounds fantastic.”
	“Okay, Will.  It’s a deal.  I’ll order the car tomorrow.  Does it matter what the original color is?”
	“No, ma’am, but a light color would be good if they have one.  Now, the car comes with some things like a sunroof, rear wiper, and the seats that aren’t available on a normal 323, but I don’t think anyone will notice.  My friends will deliver it back to you a week or ten days after they get it.  Okay?”
	“Will, it’s a deal!” Kathy said.  “Now, let’s see about dinner, shall we?”
	The dinner was a spectacular success.  Later, while driving home, Kathy said to Susan, “That was beautiful driving, dear.  And beautiful shooting.”
	“I’m my mother’s daughter!  What more can I say?” Susan responded.  “Mom, you’ve been holding out on me.  At dinner I learned that you’ve killed three men with that weapon in your purse.  At our table all they could talk about was your shooting.  ‘Five shots fired.  Four in the heart, one in the brain.’  That’s true, Mom, isn’t it?”
	“I’m afraid so.  I don’t really know why I still carry that thing, but it’s been very useful.  Susan, how would you like one with a bra holster?”  They both laughed at the thought.
* * *
	Kathy and Susan went together to meet the educationists at the high school.  They had an appointment with an assistant principal named James Worthington.  After they were shown into Mr. Worthington’s office and took seats, Kathy began, “Mr. Worthington, I’ve come in this morning to enroll my daughter, Susan, as a junior in your school.”
	“That’s fine, Mrs. Stark.  May I have a copy of the transcript from her previous school?”
	“Mr. Worthington, there is no previous school.  Susan has had private tutors in the past.  She has decided that she would like to meet more young people so she is enrolling in the public schools.  Now, what is the procedure?”
	“Why, Mrs. Stark, this is highly irregular.  Surely, she has a transcript.”
	“From her tutor?  One could be prepared, I suppose, but it would look like no transcript you’ve ever seen before.  Should we bother?”
	“But... Well... How do we know Susan is equipped to do the work?  I mean...”
	“Why don’t you give her an admissions test?” Kathy asked.
	“Why that’s ridiculous!  There are no admissions requirements.  This is a public high school.”
	Kathy had had enough.  With her eyes blazing blue fire she declared, “Mr. Worthington, you have three choices.  First, admit Susan as a junior and we move ahead to discuss her course of study.  Second, give her an admissions test.  Her scores will blow your mind and then we discuss her course of study.  Third, do not admit Susan.  Then I call the Governor and you think about where you might be able to get a job next year while I go through this again with your successor who is likely to be more agreeable.  Do you understand the alternatives?”
	He nodded, looking like the canary about to be eaten by the cat.
	“Wonderful!” Kathy said.  “Now, which of the alternatives would you like to pursue?”
	“Admit her as a junior?” he said tremulously.  His statement was made to sound like a question.
	“That’s great!  Now that Susan is a junior, let’s talk about her courses, shall we?  Oh, I will see that a transcript of her prior work is forwarded by her tutor.  She will need it for her college applications.”
	On the way home, Susan looked at Kathy strangely.  “Mother, that was cruel.  I have never seen you act mean to a living soul.  Ever!  Yet you terrorized that poor man.  Why did you do it?”
	Kathy looked thoughtful and finally responded, “Susan, there are certain people I loathe.  Occasionally it shows.  Usually, when I don’t like a person I go out of my way to be extra nice.  But Mr. Worthington is in the first group.  He stood between my beloved daughter and her education, an education she underwent a brutal beating to try to get.  I’m sorry, honey.  I blew my stack.  Was I really that bad?”
	Susan was giggling.  “I’m sorry, Mom, but he was in such terror!  And you are so beautiful.  I think of the story of the Amazons.  It’s just so funny, remembering.  Mom, will Dad be home soon?  I can’t wait to meet him.”
	“Very soon,” Kathy answered.  “But, dear God, it can’t be soon enough!  Susan, you can’t believe the extent of my love for your father.  I absolutely worship the man.  But I guess you’ll see that for yourself pretty soon.”

Chapter 29
	Susan had just come home from the very first date of her life with Will Stockdale.  After closing the front door she just leaned back against it.
	“How was your evening, Sue?” Kathy asked.  “Did you have a good time?”
	“Spectacular!  The dinner was wonderful.  And Will was so nice!  Mom, I don’t think the people at the restaurant realized I was only sixteen.  Do I look older?”
	“Honey, you look magnificent!  You have no trouble holding up that strapless dress, even though you aren’t quite filled out.  Susan, honestly, your ‘not quite filled out’ is better than most women who have.  You’re a beautiful girl.  What did Will think?”
	Susan had worn a white strapless cocktail dress with white pumps and a single strand of pearls.  With her flawless skin and tan coupled with her blue eyes and golden hair, she was exquisite.  Susan giggled at the memory.  “He just gaped, Mother.  He said I was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen except maybe for you.  We had dinner, we danced and then he took me home.  Mom, he kissed me.”
	“How was it, honey?  Did you like it?”
	“Mother, I just melted!”
	“Then what did you do?”
	“I asked him to please stop.  And Mom...  I asked him to please be strong enough for both of us because I wasn’t in condition to say no again.  He stopped, and gave me the most tender kiss.  I thanked him for a wonderful evening and for being strong enough for both of us.  Was that all right?”
	“That was fine, dear.  Will is a real gentleman, and I think you said the perfect thing.  What did he say?”
	“He said he couldn’t believe I was only in high school.  He said I was a ‘woman growed.’  He said it was the best evening he’s ever spent with a girl, and hopes he can see me again, sometime.”  Her expression changed as she added, “Mom, Dad gets home tomorrow.  Do you think he’ll be disappointed or angry or anything?”
	“Absolutely not, sweetheart!  He’ll love you as I do, probably more.  There’s just one thing I’ve been meaning to tell you.  Honey, your dad and I are... uninhibited in our lovemaking.  Sue, I doubt if there’s a square inch of this apartment your father hasn’t taken me on.  Once I was peeling carrots at the sink and he came in, picked me up by the legs and entered me from the rear while I kept trying to peel the damned carrot.
	“Usually, we never wear clothes at home.  I don’t know what to do about that now.  But Sue, do me a favor?  As long as your father’s home, please call before you bring any friends home?  I know it won’t embarrass us or you, but it would sure embarrass your friends.  Agreed?”
	“Agreed.  Mom, what time is the ship due to arrive?  Can I come down to meet her?  Please!”
	“Of course!  Now, what should you wear?”
* * *
	Susan and Kathy were watching as the Evans was nudged alongside the pier by tugs.  Mooring lines were made fast and then they saw sailors running along the deck getting ready to go ashore.  Kathy thought she saw Ken on the bridge and waved.  It was a beautifully warm day in early October.  She and Susan were both wearing dresses in the blue that matched their eyes.  It was a color that Ken loved on her.  They continued to wait with Kathy unable to control her impatience.  Finally, the brows were made fast, liberty was called, and men started running down the gangways to get ashore.  The area was filled with families and loved ones there to meet them on their return.
	Finally, Kathy saw Ken and ran to him.  He dropped his bags, gathered her into his arms and hugged.  He could feel her tears on his cheek.  Finally, he eased her away far enough to take her in his arms in an endless kiss.  With their arms around one another they walked over to the car where Susan was waiting fearfully.
	When he was still about fifty feet away, he looked at Susan and then down at Kathy.  “Honey, would you excuse me for a second while I greet our daughter?”
	Ken sprinted the last few feet, grabbed Susan around the waist and lifted her high in the air.  Like her mother, Susan was weightless in his arms.  He set her down, embraced her and kissed her lovingly.  Then he just held her tightly in his arms until he heard her sobbing.  Stepping away, he held her at arms length and saw that tears were rolling down the girl’s cheeks.
	“What’s wrong, Susan?  What did I do?  Did I hurt you?”  His concern was evident in his voice.  Susan just shook her head from side to side, then rushed back into his arms and held him close.  He held her and stroked her hair the way he did with Kathy who was standing close by, saying nothing.  Finally the sobbing died away and the tears stopped, but still she held him tightly.
	At last, she pushed away and looked into his eyes.  A brilliant smile started to form and she said, “Hello, Dad!  Welcome home!  I’m your daughter, Susan.”  She grabbed him and gave him a huge kiss.
	He eased her away and gave her a big grin while winking at Kathy.  “Ease up, honey.  You’ll make your mother jealous!”  He then took Kathy in one arm and Susan in the other and tried to kiss them both at once.
	When they were back in the apartment, as soon as the elevator door closed Susan disappeared into her room leaving them alone together.  Kathy stripped off her dress and was nude except for her pearls and her pumps.  As he was taking off his tie and shirt, Kathy was on her knees working on his belt and pants.  She let them drop, along with his shorts revealing his sex.  She caressed his balls, kissed his magnificent weapon and was rewarded with a drop of juice.
	“Ken, darling, I missed you so much!  My cunt aches for you!  Please, darling.  Put it in now!”  She lay on her back and lifted her hips to make his entry as easy as possible.
	He had shed all his clothes now, and quickly entered her warm grotto.  Almost immediately he could feel her pelvis start to take on a life of its own as it jerked spasmodically in her first orgasm.  It triggered his orgasm, but barely slowed him down.  For what seemed like hours, they made love together on the floor.  Finally, they got up and went to the bedroom where their lovemaking continued.  At last they paused and just lay in each others arms, softly kissing any part of the other within range.
	Kathy was just looking lovingly at Ken, when, following a knock on the door, Susan came in carrying a large tray.  She put it on the dresser and quickly left again to return with a bottle of Dom Pérignon and two glasses.  The tray also held a full kilo of beluga caviar in a bowl of ice surrounded with all the trimmings: the finely chopped onion, chopped egg whites, chopped egg yolks, and toast.
	“Welcome home, Dad.  With the exercise you and Mom have been getting, I thought you might need something to eat.  I’ll pour the champagne.”
	Ken looked at Kathy who nodded.
	“Susan, where’s your glass?  Aren’t you going to have a drink with us?”
	“Please, Susan?” Kathy urged.
	She went for another glass and was back in a wink.  She poured a glass for herself and sat in a chair in the corner.  Meanwhile, Kathy’s hand was exploring under the covers.  It found Ken’s cock which hardened instantly at her touch causing the bed covers to rapidly tent because of the pressure.  He felt his wife’s hairless mound and gently ran a finger up and down her slit.  Then he rolled over and found that her legs were already spread wide to welcome him.
	This time was as gentle as the previous ones had been violent.  Their initial passions had been satiated so Ken entered her and nearly withdrew as he moved in her with long strokes.  As he moved he could feel the walls of her vagina constricting like tender lubricated hands on his sex as it went in and out in slowly accelerating tempo.  By this time they had forgotten the girl sitting silently in the corner.  Kathy could feel herself rising to a peak.  She had already had several small orgasms with each more powerful than the one before.  She could hear the passionate sounds she was making as if they were coming from someone else.  Finally, they reached their peak together and she erupted like a volcano.  Kathy lost consciousness at her peak in a sensory overload.
	When her eyes opened, she was looking into Ken’s face.  Then she realized with a start that Susan was sitting on the edge of the bed.
	“Mom, I only hope that will happen to me someday.  While you were out, I was telling Dad about me... about what I had to do.  Now I know the difference between lovemaking and fucking.  It was so beautiful!”
	Kathy sat up in bed with the covers falling to her waist.  Ken pulled her up so she was resting beside him against the headboard of the bed.  “Susan, why don’t you bring that luscious caviar and put it on the bed.  Let’s all pig out!”
	The family sat on the bed, two in and one on, eating caviar and drinking champagne.  When the caviar had disappeared, Susan removed the tray and went to the kitchen to start preparing dinner while they went back to their lovemaking.
	Later, Susan returned to the bedroom.  “Mom and Dad,” she announced, “dinner’s ready, but would you do me a great favor, please?”
	“Of course, honey,” Ken replied, “What is it?”
	“Dad, Mom says you almost never wear clothes in the apartment.  That’s true, isn’t it?”  Ken reddened slightly but said it was true.  “Well, Mom and I don’t either when you’re not here... and... and... you’re not dressed now.  And I used to work in a whorehouse, too.  Daddy, all kinds of creeps used to handle me.  I can see how you and Mom adore each other.  Well, instead of you two getting dressed, could I take off my clothes instead?”
	He looked at Kathy who was busy studying a spot on the blanket.  He just stared at her, and she could feel it.  “I love you, darling,” she whispered.  “It’s what happens when your lovely new daughter is ‘born’ at the age of sixteen!  Honey, she’s absolutely gorgeous, and I think she’s being very honest.  She was forced to caress men while they were plugging girls much younger and smaller than she was.  She’s still a virgin, but she’s the most sexually experienced virgin alive!  I’m just happy about one thing.  I have no pubic hair, while she does.  It’s a good way to tell us apart.  And honey, in a year or so, it may be the only way!  Whatever you decide is what we’ll do, but my vote is to let her.”
	He took his wife in his arms and softly kissed her lips.  Again, he could feel her melt.  He called out, “Okay, Susan.  We’ll see how it goes.”  Then softly to his wife, “Are you ready for dinner?  What are we eating?”
	Kathy looked at him quizzically.  “I honestly don’t have the faintest idea.  Sweetheart, I hope you ate well aboard Evans, because this is going to be a sixteen-year-old’s idea of haute cuisine.  It could be pizza, hamburgers, potato chips, or all of the above.  You can’t believe how excited she’s been or how desperately she wants you to like her.  I guess you know by now that she’s madly in love with her father?”
	“You’re serious, aren’t you, Kathy?  She’s really afraid I might not like her?  My God, she is a living, breathing doll!  She’s your twin sister about ten years younger, but there is no such thing.  My God, I adore you and she’s a younger replica.  Incidentally, what do my mom and dad think about their granddaughter?”
	“Honey, Susan just cried.  She was so happy, and they love her so much.  But let’s move.  Our pizza burgers are going to get cold!”  She hopped out of bed, followed by Ken, and went into the dining area.  Susan was standing at the table, as if she were ready to be inspected by her father.  He just looked at her and then looked at Kathy.
	“My God, you’re right.  Susan, don’t you dare do anything to your pubic hair.  It is the only way I’ll be able to tell you and your mother apart!”  He ran his right hand up Kathy’s flat belly, and could feel her muscles ripple as his finger tips moved across it.
	She whispered in his ear, “Just wait!  I promised myself I was going to drain your balls dry in less than forty-eight hours.  I sure hope you got plenty of sleep!”  She grinned at him as he gave her a light spank on her tight little ass.
	“What’s for dinner, Sue?” Ken asked.
	“Just sit down, please, parents.  This is mine, and I’ll do it all.  Mom and Dad, I know I’m only sixteen but... but could I have wine, too?  Just this once because Dad just got home?  And he’s meeting me for the first time.  Please?”
	“Susan Stark, am I being conned?” Ken asked with mock severity.  “I think I see your glass already on the table, so I guess so.”  Kathy hadn’t said anything, but she squeezed his hand and winked at him as soon as Susan’s back was turned.
	Susan brought out the first course, carefully serving her mother first, then her father.  She brought out her own plate, and sat down.  She had made a magnificent lump crab meat cocktail, flanked with Chincoteague oysters served with a marvelous cocktail sauce she had created.  Ken looked across the table at Kathy, then at Susan and started to laugh.  Both girls looked at him, wondering what was happening.
	“You should see yourselves.  Here a sailor comes home after six months of not seeing a woman.  Then he sits down to dinner and what does he see?  Two of the most magnificent pairs of tits in the world, with their nipples staring at him.  Is that fair?”
	Kathy just grinned, and Susan looked down at her chest.  “Do you really like my tits, Dad?  Mine aren’t quite as full as Mom’s yet, but they’re getting there.  I waited dinner so you could get the edge off your sexual appetite.  I know Mom’s cum at least a dozen times already.  But I hope you enjoy the dinner.”
	Ken looked at her and smiled.  “I’m teasing you, honey.  Would you like me to pour the wine?”
	Susan jumped up like she’d been shot.  “Oh, good heavens!  After getting permission, and everything, I forgot to pour it!”
	Moments later she was back with Kathy’s best and favorite Chablis.  She poured a tiny bit in Ken’s glass and waited for him to taste it.  He nodded, and she filled Kathy’s glass, then filled Ken’s and finally poured some for herself.
	Kathy offered a toast, “Welcome home, darling!”  She and Susan drank and Ken acknowledged it.  Then, with a whoop Susan went back to the kitchen.
	The couple sipped their wine as they waited.  Ken smiled at Kathy and said, “Pizza burgers?  Maybe I’ve been away too long, but this isn’t starting off as a fast-food special.”
	Kathy returned the smile with a brilliant one of her own and said, “Darling, please don’t laugh.  Whatever happens, don’t laugh.  It would absolutely destroy her.”
	Susan reappeared with salads.  Ken tried his and savored it.  “Susan, what is this dressing?  I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything quite like it.”
	The girl looked at him anxiously, “Do you like it?  I’ve been experimenting with a lot of different ingredients.  Since Mom hates me to waste anything, I’m turning into a rabbit eating the darned salads I make just to experiment with different dressing recipes.”
	“Honey, it’s glorious!  Bottle it and you make a fortune.”
	Susan disappeared and minutes later, reappeared.  She placed plates in front of Kathy and then Ken, and returned to get her own.  She had made Ken’s favorite, tournedos Rossini with foie gras and truffles, sauce Périgord.  The older two cut into the perfectly-cooked meat which was surrounded by beautifully prepared and presented vegetables, while Susan watched.
	They tried it, and savored it.  “My God, she not only looks like her mother, she cooks like her, too!  This is absolutely magnificent, Honey.”
	Susan had just one bite and retreated for the wine.  The wine, a grand cru Bordeaux from 1959, had been decanted earlier.  She poured and served the classic wine.
	Ken, feeling very expansive by this time, asked, “Honey, how long were we in the bedroom, anyway?  We start with caviar and champagne, move on to crabmeat and oysters, a glorious salad, and then to tournedos.  The meal is exquisite.  Now I would like to offer a toast to our beloved daughter, Susan: Darling Susan, as your new father, I want you to know I could not possibly be happier.  Your mother wrote and told me what you said to the judge in the courtroom on the day you were adopted.  How children are born by the thousands every day, and their parents — for good or ill — are the luck of the draw.  You said you had chosen us.
	“Honey, I don’t know how I could be happier.  Susan, to a long and happy life, and a welcome from your parents who adore you.  Thank you so much for choosing us!”
	Kathy and Ken drank the toast to Susan, who just blushed.  Kathy could see tears in her eyes.  She went to her father and gave him a warm loving kiss.  “Thank you, Dad.  Thank you for having me!”
	When the main course was finished, Susan cleared the table and wheeled in a cart with a chafing dish.  She prepared and flamed crepes Suzette and carefully served them to her mother, father, and finally herself.  Ken was amazed at her deftness as she handled the flaming dish.  Finally, she served coffee and poured Kathy’s finest cognac for her parents, while she just drank coffee.  With the cognac she offered cigars which the two took.
	Ken leaned back in his chair and savored his dinner.  He turned to Susan and smiled, “Honey, that absolutely could not have been better.  It’s as good as your mother could do and that’s high praise indeed.”
	He grinned across the table at Kathy and said, “Susan, your mother told me we were going to have pizza burgers.  Instead, I get a magnificent feast.  Thank you!  I’m really happy to be home!”
	Kathy smiled at Susan fondly and said, “Susan, I did tell your father that.  I had no idea you were going to prepare such a meal.  He’s wrong about one thing, though.  I couldn’t do it nearly as well.”
	Susan sat in her chair and blushed.  Ken choked off a grin as he watched the blood rise through her breasts, up her neck and to her face.
	The next morning, the older two were in bed when they heard the sound of a splash in the pool.  Kathy gave him a tender kiss and snuggled even closer.  “Honey, how do you feel?  Would you like to see something funny?”
	Ken had just had one of the most joyous nights of his life with his lovely wife.  He just grinned and said, “Provided all I have to do is watch.  Okay?”
	She threw off the covers and ran for the door to the deck.  She arrived at the end of the pool as Susan was starting her fourth lap.  As Susan completed her racing turn, Kathy cut the water in a dive and started speeding down the course with her.  Ken pulled up a deck chair to watch.  As they completed lap after lap looking like a pair of porpoises and moving as smoothly through the water, he had an idea.  As usual, the two girls were stroke for stroke, so they made their turns together.
	Ken had done some serious swimming at the Academy.  As they turned again, he knifed into the water and was off in a 100-meter sprint, four lengths of the pool.  The girls had been in a distance stroke and had already covered almost two miles.  Nevertheless, with the new challenge they simultaneously shifted to a sprint stroke.  Ken wasn’t in quite as good shape as the women, but he hadn’t swum two miles either.  He beat them by a length, hauling himself out of the pool and sitting on the edge.  With their golden hair plastered around their heads, no makeup, and their bodies still in the water, he honestly couldn’t tell which was which.  He extended a hand to each, and they popped out of the water.  Both of them were grinning at him and at each other.
	“When you two get in shape,” he said, “let me know.  Then we can have a real race!”  He covered himself as two beautiful bodies began to pummel him furiously.  Finally Susan got up and pulled up three mats for them to lie on.  Kathy was still breathing hard as was Susan.
	“How do you two do it?” Ken asked.  “I’m just asking, not complaining, you understand.  I hope you know it’s not the neatest thing for an old man to come out to the pool and see the two women he loves most in the whole world pounding up and down the pool like a couple of trapped porpoises.”
	“It’s the same as usual, Dad,” Susan said.  “Mom won’t allow herself to be beaten by a young squirt in her own pool and I won’t allow her to see her daughter quit.  She’s going to lose one of these days, though.  You really get the drive from your legs, and the legs go first.”
	Kathy looked down at her beautiful legs and carefully lifted them up together from the mat.  “Ken, do you think I have two or three more months before I’m in pieces, ready for the retirement home?  They don’t look that bad, do they?”
	Ken just grinned down at her and Kathy said, “Honey, why don’t you start breakfast?  Your father needs some help.  We’ll come in a few minutes.”
	“How do you spell ‘come’ Mom?  With an ‘o’ or a ‘u’?”
	“In this case, both.  Now get your fresh tail back in the kitchen!”
	As Susan left, Kathy spread her legs.  “Kenneth, you’ve been holding out on me.  I thought I drained you dry last night, but either I missed or your powers of recovery are better than I thought!  Come here.”  she said softly.
	Ken rolled over and got between her warm thighs and slowly entered her.  As he slowly moved in and out in her moistness he ran his fingers over her breasts.  She heard herself making small cries of pleasure as she felt herself taken higher and higher until she was gasping and shaking her head from side to side.  Finally, she achieved her release.  She held him close while her vaginal muscles squeezed him dry.
	“Are you happy, Honey?” she whispered.  “I hope Susan wasn’t too big a shock for you.  You do like her, don’t you?”
	“Nope, sure don’t.”  he replied softly, watching a tiny element of fear enter Kathy’s eyes.  “I love her almost as much as I love her mother.  ‘Like’ as a word just doesn’t do it!”  He kissed her softly on the lips while his now-softened weapon remained inside her.  As usual, though, her kiss was like a jolt of electricity to him.  He could feel himself becoming rigid again, and Kathy could feel it, too.
	She grinned at him.  “Maybe it’s something in the pool water.  Do you think so?”
	He had just reached another orgasm, bringing her with him when they looked up as a shadow reached him.
	Susan was standing there smiling warmly.  “Boy,” she said, “wait until I tell the kids at school.  I work my fingers to the bone slaving at a hot stove and what are my parents doing?  Fucking like bunnies, for gosh sakes.”
	She came around so Kathy didn’t have to strain to see her.  “I’m sorry, dear,” she said in her haughtiest voice.  “It’s your father.  I can never get him to do me when I need it... in the theater, a restaurant, while we’re driving.  He’s very old-fashioned that way.  But you know how it is with the older generation,” she grinned at the girl.  “By the way, is our breakfast ready?”
	“Of course, dears,” Susan said, imitating her mother’s voice perfectly.  “It’s on the table, getting cold.”
	Ken eased out from between Kathy’s thighs, running his hand lightly over her breasts as he did so.  Kathy murmured with pleasure and stretched, finally bouncing to her feet.  They went in to the huge breakfast Susan had prepared.

Chapter 30
	It was getting close to Christmas when Susan and Kathy went to the hospital.  They stopped by the emergency room to see the Millers.  Kathy was delighted to see Cindy’s abdomen starting to bulge.  Grinning at the girl she said, “There’s been a lot of that going around.  Is it contagious?”
	The dark-haired girl smiled at her and rubbed her belly.  “It comes of spending days off in bed, I guess.  But what brings the mother-daughter twins here today?”
	“It’s Jane.  She delivered last night, and we came to see the baby.  It looks like we’ll be back to visit you in a few months.  Congratulations to you both.”
	As they went up to the obstetrics floor, Kathy had her fingers crossed.  Jane had had a very uneventful pregnancy which Kathy had followed with interest.  The girl who Kathy thought of as an older sister continued to come by to swim and joke about the way she was expanding in size.
	When they found her room and knocked, Jane’s familiar voice asked them to come in.  It was feeding time, but Kathy, as a hospital governor, had full freedom of the floors.  Jane was nursing her tiny baby and it was the most beautiful thing Kathy had ever seen.
	“Jane, you look absolutely gorgeous!  How do you feel?” she asked softly as the baby nursed at its mother’s breast, now swollen with milk.
	“Like a truck ran over my pelvis, since you asked.  It may be two or three more hours before I can welcome Bob again,” she answered softly.  “You two look beautiful, as usual.”  She cradled the baby closer and then shifted it to her other breast.  They watched as she put her nipple in the baby’s mouth and then heard it make quiet nursing sounds.
	“How do you like nursing?” Kathy asked.  “What’s it like?”
	“The most wonderful feeling imaginable.  Suddenly you know what it’s all about.”  She smiled and Kathy was surprised to see tears in her friend’s eyes.
	“What’s wrong Jane?  You’re crying!”
	“I haven’t introduced you yet.  This is Billy Ferguson.  Kathy, do you know what Bob did?  He absolutely insisted.  His name is William Wilson Ferguson, named after my first husband.”  She blinked back the tears.  “He said that fighter jock did such a great job of breaking me in, it’s only fair.”  She cradled the baby tighter as he finished suckling and went to sleep.
	“Oh, Jane, that’s wonderful!” Kathy exclaimed.  “When are you going to be ready for a baby sitter?  Believe it or not, Susan has been reading about the care of babies, and she can’t wait.”
	“Susan, would you like to hold Billy?  He’s asleep, now, but I’m sure it’s all right.”
	The girl’s eyes glowed as she took the baby from its mother’s arms and held him, carefully holding his head.  “He’s so tiny!” she said softly so as not to wake him.  “Oh, Aunt Jane, he’s beautiful!”
	“May I hold him, Jane?” Kathy asked diffidently.
	“Are you kidding?  The kid’s going to be with his Aunt Kathy at his christening.  At least I hope he will.”  Jane said as Kathy carefully took the child from her daughter.  “Kathy, Bob and I hope you and Ken will consent to be Billy’s godparents.  Will you?  Susan, you know I was your mother’s first ‘project.’  I was sunk in a hole so deep I couldn’t even see the sky.  Then your mother hauled me out by my hair, and this is what happened.”  She smiled at the girl, “Don’t you think it’s about time I got even?”
	“Jane, Ken and I would be very proud to be Billy’s godparents.  When is the christening going to be?”
	“Since he’s not even one-day old yet, we haven’t decided.  We’ll check with you on Ken’s availability.”
	The nurse came in to take Billy back to the nursery.  They could see Jane’s eyes start to close, so they gave her quick kisses and left.  On the way out Kathy looked at Susan and asked, “What did you think?”
	“Mother, he is the most beautiful little thing!  Now I can see why you and Dad are always working so hard!” she teased.
	They went down to Susan’s car.  It was Saturday and school was closing for the Christmas holidays the following Wednesday.  That night there was going to be an athletic awards dinner for Fall sports at a local restaurant and the whole family was going.  Susan had played soccer in the Fall, and had been named first-team All-State as a halfback.  She was also the leading scorer on the team that had taken the Virginia state title.  Now they were on the expressway headed east back to Virginia Beach from Norfolk.  Traffic was heavy, so Susan was obeying the speed laws — or at least coming close.
	Kathy leaned back and enjoyed watching Susan drive.  She thought about the soccer season and the state championship game against Reston, a perennial soccer power in the state.  It was, by a wide margin, Susan’s best game.  The truth was that Reston had a much stronger team.  It was very well drilled and played beautifully as a team.
	But as good as they were, they were outplayed and outclassed by the human dynamo playing for Virginia Beach.  Susan had her hair tied back in a pony tail and her golden mane was flying all over the field.  Kathy and Ken were at the game.  Later Ken teased her about the beating he had absorbed as she pounded him whenever Susan made a great play, and cheered so much she could scarcely talk when it was over.
	As a midfielder, Susan had both offensive and defensive responsibilities.  She concentrated on defense.  Time after time she charged in and tackled the ball, breaking up Reston attacks.  Virtually the entire first half was played on the Virginia Beach end of the field.  When the second half started, Susan noticed that the Reston players appeared to be tiring.  Because there had been no score in the first half, substitutions for both teams had been very limited.  The starters had played virtually the entire game to that point.
	Early in the second half Reston was on the attack again.  The Reston right wing was bringing the ball up when Susan saw an opportunity, streaked over and stole the ball.  She then took it the length of the field, faking out both halfbacks and fullbacks.  She faked a right-footed kick towards the left corner of the goal and the goalie bit, diving to her right.  Susan drilled it into the right corner with a left-footed boot to go ahead by a goal.  Late in the period she repeated it.  Reston was laying back this time and had learned that Susan Stark was the girl to stop.  They massed around, and Susan passed to her right wing who drove the ball in for another goal.  The final score was 2-0.
	When the final whistle sounded, Susan collapsed on the field and had to be helped off by her teammates.  Ken and Kathy met her on the sidelines.  In addition to the trophy for the championship, Susan won the Most Valuable Player award.  Kathy just looked at her.  She was bleeding, her face was grimy, and her legs were a mass of dirt and blood, but she was beaming.
	Ken gave her a big hug and a kiss.  “You’re beautiful, honey.  And that was the best game you’ve ever played.  How do you feel?”
	“Like I was one of the cars in a demolition derby!  Can we go home now?  For the last ten minutes, all I could think about was taking a bath and soaking in the sauna until I’m fully cooked.  Can we?”
	They grinned at her and went to the car.  That evening, Kathy joined her in the sauna after she had been in for a while.  When she opened the door, she couldn’t find Susan because of all the steam the girl had created.  She found her asleep on the bench with the sweat pouring from her pores.  Kathy grinned to herself, and after she broke a sweat herself, helped Susan up — the girl was still groggy — and took her out to the cold pool.  She pushed her in and giggled as she heard a startled yelp as the girl’s body hit the freezing water.  Kathy jumped in after her.
	“Mom, that’s not fair!  I felt so nice and neat and sleepy, and you woke me up.”  Kathy noticed that the girl had adapted to the water.  Although she was now full of goose bumps, she didn’t jump out of the pool.
	“I give up!” Kathy said as she hauled herself out.  Susan leaped out an instant later grinning as Kathy handed her a big fluffy towel.  “How do you feel now?  You certainly look better.”
	“About as well as can be expected,” Susan replied airily.  “Of course I don’t have a handsome man to keep me warm at night, so I have to sublimate my sex drive in sports.  How’s that sound, Mom?  Convincing?”
	“I guess it will have to do, Honey,” Kathy had replied.
* * *
	They were almost home from the hospital by now and Susan was expertly threading her way through the traffic on the streets.  “Honey, what are you going to wear to the dinner tonight?  I hope it’ll be something nicer than blue jeans.”
	“Gee, Mom, I was planning on going jeans formal.  That’s with shoes.  Isn’t that good enough?”  She glanced over at her mother.  “Mom, how was it when you went back to school?  Did you have... problems?”
	“What sort of problems, honey?”
	“Mom, I really like the school and I like the kids, but it’s so... so strange!  I listen to the girls talk about boys in the locker room sometimes and it’s weird.  They don’t know what they’re talking about!  And you know what’s really funny?  I’m the ‘goody two shoes,’ the untouched virgin!  Untouched!  I never say anything, but it’s funny.  There’s this one girl, Joyce, who claims to be the most experienced girl in the school.  All she does in the locker room is comb her pubic hair so it will look nice for George... or Howard... or whomever. Mom, what did you do?”
	“Honey, it was different for me.  I was a prostitute.  I made my living on my back.  With you it’s different.  You lived in a whorehouse, but you weren’t a whore.”
	“Mom, I took a lot of men in my mouth and more than a few in my ass.”  She shuddered.  “I can still remember that poor, frightened little girl.  She was so young, she scarcely had any pubic hair, and her breasts were just starting to develop.  Mom, she held my hand as this ape just ripped her.  She clutched at me for support as her blood flowed all over the place.  God, I hope she’s all right.  And these dumb girls don’t have the first clue!
	That night the family went to the local restaurant where the sports banquet was being held.  Susan had squeezed her mother’s hand when she quietly offered to cover the bill for those people who couldn’t afford to pay for the dinner.  The school, which used to pay for such things, no longer did due to budget cutbacks.
	Susan looked beautiful wearing the blue dress that matched her eyes.  Kathy and Ken could see the girl was so proud when she received her varsity letter in soccer, and was then surprised to learn she had been elected captain of the team for the following year.  Kathy also noticed a tall boy whose eyes followed Susan everywhere.  When she returned to the table, Kathy asked her about him.
	“Oh, I guess that’s Jeff Fuller.  He’s a senior and plays football, I think,” she replied with a seeming lack of concern.
	“Susan!  You’re not leveling with me.  You ‘think’?  Who are you trying to kid?”
	“Mother!  He’s... He’s just a boy!”
	“And you’re just a girl.  So what?”
	“He keeps asking me out,” Susan said in a small voice.  “And I keep saying no.”
	“Why, honey?  He appears to be a nice boy.”
	The girl continued in the same small voice, “Because he’s a senior, and... and I’m scared.”
	Ken had been listening to the exchange.  He exchanged looks with Kathy who excused herself to go to the ladies room.  “Susan Stark, what aren’t you telling us?” he asked.  “You’re the girl who would tackle hell with a fire extinguisher.  What do you mean, scared?”
	“Dad, I’m afraid I’ll do or say the wrong thing.  He’s very nice.  He shouldn’t get mixed up with a whore,” Susan said softly while looking down at the tabletop.
	Ken took her chin in his fingers and lifted it to make her look at him.  “Young lady, that’s enough of that.  I went through hell with your mother because of that.  I was in agony.  Did you know she wouldn’t agree to marry me, and finally I find out it’s because she had been a prostitute nearly ten years earlier?  Do you think I love your mother?”
	Susan was startled.  “Love her?  Dad, you adore her.  We don’t wear any clothes at home, but if I ever feel chilly I just look at you looking at Mom — you always are, you know — and feel warm all over.  Do you know what I pray for every night?  I pray someday I’ll meet a man who’ll love me just a little bit as much as you love Mom.”
	“Then honey, do me a favor?  Do you like Jeff Fuller?”  She nodded her head.  “I can tell the signs.  You’re both very young, of course, but he thinks you’re great.  How often does he ask you out?”
	“A couple of times a week,” she replied in a very small voice.
	“And how long has he been asking?”
	“For a couple of months, I guess.”
	“Then for chrissakes, say yes the next time!  Okay?”
	Susan grinned.  “Okay, Dad.  And Dad?  I love you very much, too.”
	There was a small high-school dance band playing.  Kathy had returned to the table when the tall young man came up to their table looking very nervous.  “Susan, would you like to dance?” he asked diffidently.
	“Yes, Jeff.  Thank you, I would.  First, Jeff, I would like to introduce you to my parents, Commander and Mrs. Stark.  Mom and Dad, this is Jeff Fuller.”
	Ken stood and shook hands with the boy.  “How do you do, Jeff?”  Kathy shook his hand too.  The kids went out to the dance floor.
	“Would you like to dance, darling?” Ken asked.
	“I would love to.  Let’s!”  She was out of her chair, on the dance floor, and in Ken’s arms.  He held her closely.
	“What do you think, honey?” she asked.  “What did she say to you?”
	“It’s nothing I can’t handle.  She’s exactly like you.  She likes the boy but is afraid of having been a whore.  Does that sound like anyone you know?”
	Kathy had her head resting on his shoulder.  She murmured, “Of course not.  Who could you possibly be thinking of?  After all, I was practically a virgin when you met me.  But my virginity didn’t last very long... about an hour or so, if I remember correctly.”  She tipped her head back and he kissed her softly on the lips.
	“God, am I ever lucky!  Sweetheart, you are the best thing that could ever happen to a guy.  Do you know that?”
	She snuggled closer in his arms.  “No, but keep the thought.  I like it.”
	As they were driving home that night, Susan’s eyes were dancing.  “Mom and Dad, that was terrific!  Boy, did I ever score points.”
	Ken and Kathy looked at each other.  “What does that mean?” he asked.
	“Well, you saw a lot of families there.  Most of the adults are ten or fifteen years older than you two.  That’s one.  The other thing was your necking on the dance floor.  One girl came up to me with her eyes as big as saucers to tell me she saw you kissing Mom.  I told her you were married so it was all right.  She almost choked.  ‘But Susan, it was a real kiss!’  I told her I had it on good authority that kissing hadn’t been invented in just the last six months.  ‘In fact,’ I said, ‘it wouldn’t surprise me if your parents kiss that way once in a while, or used to, anyway.  After all, you’re here aren’t you?  Your parents might have even had sex!’”
	Ken and Kathy both laughed and Kathy said, “Susan, that’s awful.  What a terrible thing to say to the poor girl!”
	“Why?” Susan asked innocently.  “Don’t you think they ever did?”
* * *
	The family drove up to the Peninsula for Christmas leaving their own Christmas tree in the apartment.  As they stuffed packages into the BMW, the biggest car they had, Kathy made a face.
	“What’s wrong, honey?” Ken asked.
	“I was just thinking.  We’re getting old or something.  I was thinking I’ll have to buy a station wagon to haul junk around now that there are three of us.”  She grinned at him.  “Isn’t it ridiculous?  There are three of us, we have three cars, but I’m thinking of getting a fourth just to haul the junk!  That’s what happens when the three are all ‘personal’ cars.  More than two people and you’re dead.  Susan’s legs are going to be crushed!”
	“That’s okay,” Ken replied.  “Young people are supposed to suffer.  Why when I was her age...  Ouch!”
	Kathy had punched him in the arm and then grinned.  “Right!  You walked seven miles each way to school, through a raging blizzard uphill both ways.  You couldn’t even get the horse to leave the barn!  Yes sir!  It was really tough in the olden days.  Let’s see...  That was about sixteen years ago?”
	He grinned back at her.  “Okay, okay, I give up!  But it’s still no reason for you to assault me — except with your cunt, of course.”
	Just then Susan came up.  “Mother’s assaulting you how?  And with what?”
	They all laughed, got in the car and headed over the bridge to the Peninsula.  When they arrived Ken hugged his mother and gave her a kiss.  He then held her at arms length.  “Mom, you look gorgeous!  Every time I see you, you look younger than the time before.  What’s going on?”
	“It’s something very special Ken.  High-protein injections.”
	“Protein injections?”
	“Yes, dear.  I get them from your father.  Sometimes two or three a day.”  Just then Sam Stark came up behind her and squeezed one of her now-very-firm buns in his hand.  “Samuel Stark, you’ll upset the children.  They’re much too young.  Except Kathy, of course.”
	The Admiral had greeted his granddaughter with a very warm kiss.  “Honey, now I get some respect!  A lot of DOD and White House brass live in Reston.  I’ve never had so much fun!  They come in talking about this Susan Stark who singlehandedly destroyed their team in the state championships.  I try to stifle a yawn and say, ‘Oh, yes.  She’s my granddaughter.’  I even made a few bucks.  It’s great, and so are you.  And you’re looking particularly lovely today.  Merry Christmas, sweetheart!”
* * *
	As they were driving home that night, Susan pretended to sulk in the back seat.  Finally, she attracted Ken’s attention.  Kathy was driving.  “What’s the trouble, honey?” he asked.  He wasn’t concerned because he was pretty sure he knew what it was.
	“It’s you people.  All of you.  Just wait until I tell my friends!  ‘What did you do on Christmas, Susan?’ they’ll ask.  And I’ll say, ‘We went to my grandparents.  We opened gifts, and grandmother served a magnificent Christmas feast.  So far, it’s great.  Then I get stuck with doing the dishes while my parents and my grandparents, for God’s sake, go upstairs and fuck like rabbits.’  They probably guess it about you two, but grandparents?  That’s ridiculous!”
	“Does it bother you a lot?” Ken asked with a straight face.
	Susan grinned broadly.  “Absolutely not!  My God, Dad, your mother is beautiful!  Just before you came home she was down visiting, and you know how Mom is.  The three of us were lying nude by the pool.  Grandmother has a body like a 35-year old... and one in beautiful shape at that.  Do you know what she said?  She said as long as she’s bare, she’s Betty.  She’s only Grandmother when she has her clothes on!”
	New Year’s Eve found them planning on going their separate ways.  Susan had been dating Jeff Fuller and they were going to a party while Ken and Kathy went to the Officers’ Club.  They were meeting Sandy and Jack Castle who were already there when they arrived.
	“What in heaven’s name has happened to Sandy?” Ken whispered.  “I’ve never seen her look like this.  She is beautiful!”
	“Protein injections, dear.  They’re administered, usually in the cunt, with a massive thing sometimes called a cock.  Of course, Sandy was telling me she’s now at the point where she likes to take it orally almost as much.  She’s funny now, sweetheart.  She called to ask how you get it out of a carpet.  It seems Jack took her three times before they made it to the bedroom the day you got home.  Don’t you think she looks good?”
	They had drinks and dinner and then danced.  Ken got a chuckle when he saw Sandy move Jack’s hand from the small of her back to her buttock as they danced.  “Honey,” he said, “I can tell this is going to be an early night.  Or else you’ll have to help Sandy.  She’ll be dripping all over the floor.”
	It was an early night.  They were back at the apartment a little after one.
	He was entering Kathy for the second time in the new year when they heard the door open.  She was on top, and straightened up as they heard the door open and Susan say good night to Jeff.  They heard the sounds of a very passionate kiss.  Then Susan came bounding into the room.
	“I might have known I would find you two like this,” she said with a grin.
	“Like what?” Kathy asked, slowly moving her hips as her vaginal muscles gripped the massive instrument inside her.  “Your father’s giving me a protein injection.  You know what wonders it does for your grandmother.”
	She grinned back.  “How was your evening with Jeff?  I see your lipstick’s smeared.  I hope he liked the flavor.”
	“Mom, it was great.  Before we came in, I let him fondle me on top.  He likes my boobs.  Was that awful?”
	Kathy could feel herself reaching her peak, and could feel Ken’s sex beginning to throb.  She lost interest in the conversation for a minute as she and Ken came together.  Then she just collapsed on top of him and just lay there while they caught their breath.  Finally, Kathy rolled off to the side and nestled in Ken’s arm.  She gave him a soft kiss and then turned back to Susan.
	“I think you asked if it was awful.  Was it?  When your father handles my boobs, I melt.  On the other hand, I melt if your father is within one hundred yards, so maybe that’s not fair.  How did it feel?”
	“Absolutely glorious!  He thinks I have a beautiful body.  Do you think he really means it?”
	Ken spoke up.  “Since there is no indication that he’s blind, I think he probably does.  But why do you sound skeptical?”
	“I don’t know, Daddy.  It’s just that...  Well, Mom said I could wear my strapless dress tonight.  It’s got a bra sort of built in.  Anyway we were in Jeff’s car and he took me in his arms to kiss me.  And it was really great — not like you and Mom, but pretty nice.  Anyway, we kiss again, and again.  I guess I’m teaching him a little bit about kissing.  Then he moves his hand, and it’s inside the top of my dress.  He touched my breast, and I could feel the nipple harden.  Then he touched that.  Mom, I could feel his hand shake.  Why do you suppose it was shaking?  He’s not sick or something, is he?”
	Kathy was lying in her husband’s arms.  His right arm was around her and he moved it to cup her right breast.  Her nipples instantly stood erect.  He slowly moved his fingers across her body as she melted even closer towards him.  “Was it like that?” Kathy asked.
	“That’s the point, Mom!  It wasn’t.  Daddy moves his hand so gently over your body.  It never shakes or twitches.”
	“Honey, there are two reasons for that.  First, your father is familiar with every square inch of my body.  He’s kissed it, stroked it, and probably even poured his cum over it.  The second thing is he’s been home for a while now.  Do you remember the day he got back?  Honey, it would have been funny if we hadn’t been so desperate.  He was trying to get his cock inside me and I was trying so hard to help, I’m amazed we didn’t both just cum all over the carpet.  He can afford to be relaxed.  He’s got me, and we both know it.”
	Ken picked up the thread, “Sue, The poor guy was probably so nervous he couldn’t see straight.  You are a truly beautiful girl!  Didn’t you tell me he’s been trying to date you for months?”
	“But Dad, this wasn’t our first date!” Susan protested.
	“How many dates have you had?” he asked.
	“This was the fifth,” she answered proudly.
	“So he’s gotten to kiss you on five occasions?” Ken continued.
	“Of course not!  What do you think I am?  I let him kiss me goodnight the last time.  Before that when he went to kiss me, I turned my head away.”
	“So the poor guy only got to kiss you goodnight once before tonight?  And because it’s New Year’s Eve, you kissed him several times and let him feel a tit?  Is that it?”  She nodded.  “Honey, you’re lucky he didn’t accidentally rip your dress!  No wonder the poor guy’s hand was shaking.  It’s a good thing there aren’t any buttons or he never would have gotten his hand in.  Kathy, what do you think?”
	“I think I love you both very much,” Kathy said.  “And Honey, your dad’s right.  Look at it from Jeff’s point of view.  He’s out with the most beautiful girl in the whole school, a girl he’s been trying to date for months.  She wouldn’t even kiss him goodnight until the fourth date!  And then she lets him caress a boob.
	“Sweetie, I don’t think Jeff drove home.  I think he just floated.  But don’t worry about it.  Believe me, there’s nothing wrong with him.”  She smiled at her beautiful daughter.  “Now when is he going to get farther with you.  He hasn’t seen your breasts bare, has he?”
	“Of course not, Mother.  I’m not one of those cheap little sluts at school who...  My God!  I forgot!  I was the whore.  And I’m calling those girls...  Oh Mother!”  Susan jumped on the bed and kissed her mother.  Kathy took her in her arms.
	“Sweetheart, now do you understand what your father and I have been telling you?  You aren’t a whore.  Your instincts are those of a good girl — a very good girl.  Now do you see?”
	“Yes, I do.  And thank you both so very much.”  She kissed Kathy and went around the bed to kiss Ken.  “It’s really neat to have such great parents.”
	Suddenly, she looked embarrassed.  “But Mom, what am I going to do when he finds out my breasts are tanned.  There’s no bra mark or anything.  Do you think I should start wearing a bathing suit?”
	Ken answered.  “Don’t be silly.  If he sees you bare to the waist, it will blow his mind!  You have perfect breasts.  But that’s because you’re our daughter.  Right?”  Susan grinned and went off to bed while her parents went back to their lovemaking.

Chapter 31
	It was a Saturday in March and Ken was home when the phone rang.  Kathy picked it up.  It was Susan calling.  “What are you and Dad doing?  Or rather, where are you doing,” she asked softly.
	“Hi, honey.  Your father is doing me.  I’m sitting on the kitchen counter.  He says he hasn’t had a taste of hot cunt in a long time and misses it.  He says I’m not fair because I’m always getting his protein injections, but don’t give him a chance.  So my legs are spread as wide as they’ll go, and he’s doing my cunt...”
	She moaned as she felt her hips take on a life of their own.  “Can you hold on... a minute... sweetie.  I’m... almost... there!”  She came in a sudden flood, and Ken was licking furiously to get every delicious drop of her liquid.  Kathy continued her phone conversation.  “What’s up, sweetheart?”
	“Mom, you and Dad are too much!  No wonder you two are in such great shape.  There can’t be two people in the world who get more exercise.  Can I bring some kids home, please, Mom?  They want to talk to you and Dad.  Is it all right?”
	“My God!” said Kathy, feigning horror.  “Do you mean to say...  We have to get dressed?  Besides,” Kathy said with a pout in her voice, “you’ll be going to college soon, and it’s very expensive.  Your father and I have to save money, and this is much less expensive than going to the movies...”
	Susan had now been around long enough to know when her mother was teasing her — which was most of the time.  “Mom, I know Dad’s trying to keep you barefoot and pregnant, but there might be a usable flour sack around you can wear.  And I know Pa still has his overalls.”
	Kathy laughed.  “I give up.  When will you be here?  Can you give us three minutes?”
	“Of course!  Mom, I love you both so damned much.  We’ll be there in a bit.”
	Kathy took Ken’s face in her hands and kissed it.  “I love you so damned much!  Thanks, honey.  That felt marvelous.  Almost as good as taking you in my mouth.  That was Sue.  As you probably guessed, we have to get dressed.  You know something?  This business of going around nude is really a great idea.  This way there’s no risk of one of Susan’s friends accidentally sitting on a bra or a pair of your shorts.”
	She kissed him again.  “Kenneth Stark, I would send your picture in to Playgirl except I want to keep you all for myself.  Yum!  Come on.  Let’s get dressed.”
	When the door opened a few minutes later, Kathy was wearing her favorite Levi’s and a Yale golf shirt.  Ken was wearing a pair of tan poplin pants with a golf shirt.  They were drinking coffee in the kitchen when the kids came in.  They recognized Jeff Fuller, but his was the only familiar face.
	When Susan introduced the group, Ken noticed that Jeff was embarrassed to shake hands.  Ken figured the poor guy was far more shook up about caressing Susan’s breast than she was — or he and Kathy were.  It was also obvious that Susan was the spokeswoman for the group.
	“Mom and Dad, we’ve got a problem.  We just got word a couple of days ago that we can’t have a spring prom this year.  Or it appears we can’t.  Because of the budget cuts, they can’t be sure teachers will be available to chaperon.  I guess they get paid extra or something.  Then there’s the problem of paying the janitors, hiring a band and all that stuff.  We want the prom badly.  Can you help us?”
	Kathy asked, “What exactly do you need?  How many chaperons, for example?”
	Susan looked around at her friends.  They just shrugged.  It was obvious they hadn’t thought about it in any detail.  “I guess the answer is, Mom, we don’t know.”  Susan looked abashed.
	“How about the hall?  Do you use the gym?  How much do the janitors cost, and would the school charge for the use of the gym or just for the janitors and the District’s out-of-pocket costs?”  It was clear to Kathy they didn’t know the answer to that question either.  Rather than embarrass the kids further she went to her office and came back with paper and a pencil.
	“Sit down, kids.  Ken,” she asked with a smile, “could you take care of refreshments?”  Jeff Fuller got up to help.  He accompanied Ken to the kitchen.  Ken got out Coke and munchies and Jeff helped carry them out.  Kathy’s grocery buying habits had changed substantially since Susan arrived.
	Ken looked on in some amusement as Kathy proceeded to organize their dance.  The students just looked at her in awe.  From a very puzzling problem, in no time everything was on track.  After Kathy made assignments to each of the kids, they got up to leave.
	One girl, Linda, said, “Mrs. Stark, aren’t you Katherine Smith...  I mean before you got married?”
	“Yes, Linda, I’m Kathy Smith Stark.  I’m flattered you recognized me.”
	The girl’s eyes widened in awe.  “Then you’re the District Attorney that sent all those people to jail.”  The girl’s eyes got bigger still.  “And some people tried to kill you but you killed them first.  My mother thinks you are the finest person in Tidewater, Mrs. Stark.  She’ll be so impressed when I tell her I met you.  It’s a real privilege.  Thank you so much for all your help.  Now I feel so much better about the prom.
	“But what about the band?  Are you sure you can get one?  We don’t have any money...”
	“I’ll take care of it,” Kathy promised.
* * *
	It was three weeks later.  Kathy had made several phone calls to Sam Stark.  In her first call she asked about Ken and his medal.
	“Kathy,” the Admiral said, “it’s all set.  Ken’s getting the Navy Cross along with the Purple Heart.  DOD is trying to get its collective act together to figure out where and when to make the presentation.”
	“Dad, I have a wild idea.  Susan’s school is in Virginia Beach as you well know.  Now there are thousands of military families in the school district.  I think Susan estimated over half her class are military brats.  We haven’t been shooting at anyone in a serious way for a very long time, and we forget how fast things change.  Now Ken will be getting medals for events that took place in 1975.  Dad, the high-school kids in that school ranged in age from about five to just born in 1975!
	“My idea is this:  Could we borrow the Navy Band to play at the prom?  Get the Secretary of Defense or Secretary of the Navy, or whoever will be making the presentation to come down and make the award at the dance?  I know it’s far out.  But look at it this way:  One of the biggest problems the Armed Forces face is retention.  Many of your best people are leaving for civilian jobs.  Now think about the real careerists:  These are the people whose sons and daughters are in Susan’s class.  Twenty-year-olds don’t have children of high-school age.  If their kids have no sense of what their fathers are doing, why should the families put up with the garbage?
	“Dad, the other night — between attempts at making a grandchild for you and Mom — I was resting on Ken’s shoulder.  You know what he said?  He said he has it all.  He says he’s doing something important, but what’s more important to him, Susan and I think it’s important.  He says we do everything to try to make his life easier.  Dad, he said, ‘If every family was as supportive as this one, there would be no retention problem.’
	“Let’s face it!  We bugged out of Vietnam.  We sure didn’t cover ourselves with glory, particularly in the way we left.  These kids know nothing about it.  Some of them do know their dads are still bitter about it but don’t understand why.  They really have no conception of what was going on back then.”  She took a breath.  “Dad, that’s my idea.  Is it completely crazy?”
	“My daughter isn’t crazy,” Admiral Stark said.  “It even makes sense.  You want the Navy Band and SecDef for an evening.  It just might be possible.  Anything else?”
	“Yes, Dad, there is.  First, how’s Mom?” Kathy replied.
	“Getting younger every day!  My God, if our whole life together had been like the last year or so, Ken would have so damn many siblings we would have had to number them.  Kathy, I really don’t know what to say.  But the quick answer is, she’s great.”  He laughed.  “She says it’s regular protein injections!  Honey, could I make a confession?  I was... fooling around with a younger woman.  In fact, over the years there were several.  I guess I got pretty egotistical about my physical condition.  Well, your mother is in better shape than any of them, and I’ve been working out secretly to try to keep up with her.  Does that answer your question?”
	Kathy was grinning as he spoke.  “It sure does!  Dad, don’t you think Mom would like to get a new evening gown?  Then you and she could help chaperon.  Can you possibly imagine a little high-school kid getting fresh with a four-star admiral?  Besides, I think his parents would like to see their son receive his awards.  What do you think?”
	“Honey, I think it’s a wonderful idea!  Let me see what I can do.”
* * *
	The prom was set for late April and Kathy had been working with the kids and the school administration.  Finally the Board of Education had given permission to invite the faculty with the understanding that their attendance was voluntary, not a professional assignment.  It was another way of saying any faculty members attending would not be paid.
	Admiral Stark had lined up the Navy band from the Naval Base at Norfolk and Kathy kept her fingers crossed that the arrangements for the award ceremony would work.  When the arrangements were complete, she talked to the school principal, Mr. Whitaker.  She told him about the award ceremony and the fact that the Secretary of Defense would be present: “Mr. Whitaker, it’s strictly up to you, of course.  Perhaps you would feel better if you checked with the Board of Education.  However, the Secretary will be here and I think it would be appropriate if someone in authority at the school greeted him.  The whole presentation is set for ten o’clock.  What do you want to do?”
	Whitaker called the Superintendent of Schools who in turn called the president of the Board of Education.  It was finally decided that the Board president and the principal would attend.  Kathy reviewed the list of chaperons with Whitaker when the guest list had been settled.  She and Ken were coming, along with Bob and Jane.  Jane had made arrangements to have a nurse for Billy.  Sandy and Jack Castle would also be there, along with Admiral and Mrs. Stark.
	Finally, Kathy called a couple of friends on the newspapers and at the TV stations.  She told them, very much off the record, that the Secretary of Defense would be at the high school in Virginia Beach and gave them the date, time, and some details, omitting Ken’s award.  They appreciated the call.
* * *
	It was agreed that Sam and Betty would meet them at the apartment.  On the evening of the prom Susan was finishing her dressing and looked magnificent in a white full-length gown.  Kathy’s was similar, but its color was the sapphire-blue of her eyes.  Ken was wearing Navy full-dress.
	Kathy looked at him and put the final touches on his bow tie.  “Darling, I love you so much,” she murmured.  “Kiss me, please?”  Ken took his wife into his arms and kissed her tenderly.  She snuggled up to him and murmured, “Ken Stark, you are the best thing that ever happened to me.  I adore you, you know.”
	Ken ran his hand lightly over her exposed back and shoulders and thought again of his good fortune.  She was all a man could ever hope for and he said that to her.  She gave him a squeeze.  “Honey, for the occasion, I’m even going to wear lipstick.  Do you think I’m going to the dogs?”
	Ken marveled at how beautiful Kathy always looked.
	Just then Susan came in and stood in front of her father.  “Dad, do I look all right?  Do you think Jeff will think I’m pretty?” she asked with concern showing in her eyes.
	“Sweetheart, what do you think of the way your mother looks?” he replied.
	Susan glanced at her mother.  “Mom?  Mom is an absolute vision!  But she always is,” Susan replied.
	“Then stand next to her at the mirror.”  Susan did and showed, in rapid succession, shock, amazement, and then pleasure.
	“But, Dad, I look almost like she does!” Susan exclaimed.
	“We’ve been telling you that, sweetheart, but you haven’t been paying attention.  And, we love you so dearly.  Susan, you make your mother and me very proud to have you as our daughter.  Will you give me a kiss?”  She did, and it was sweet and loving.
	Just then the doorbell rang.  It was the senior Starks.  When Ken opened the door, he was genuinely shocked.  The radiant woman standing there appeared to be his own age.  His mother just grinned as Ken stood there open-mouthed.
	Then she said, “Kenneth, you’re really embarrassing your father and me.  We thought we’d trained you better than to stand in front of guests with your mouth open.”
	“But, Mom, you’re gorgeous!  You’re absolutely radiant!  And you don’t look old enough to be Susan’s mother, let alone mine.”
	The Admiral was positively beaming.  “I’m going to embarrass your mother, Ken.  Last week she was told by a young gynecologist to be sure to stay on the Pill.  Otherwise we might have grandchildren older than our own children.  What do you think?”
	Betty was wearing a very pale grey evening gown that set off her grey eyes which were now dancing with joy.  She had a light tan and, like his girls, her gown was strapless showing off her perfect skin.  “Do I pass, dear?” she asked Ken quietly.
	For answer, he gathered her into his arms.  He whispered in her ear, “I have to have the only mother in the world who’s lost at least twenty-five years in age in the last twelve months.  Mom, you’re gorgeous!”
	While Ken was admiring his mother, the Admiral went back to the bedroom.
	Susan saw him enter and gasped, “Grandfather, I’m impressed!”
	Indeed, the Admiral did look impressive in his full dress uniform dripping with the gold of his four-star rank.
	“And I’m more than impressed,” he responded.  “You two are absolutely too much.  Do you know, Kathy, right now with three generations of Stark women — I’m not sure how we got so lucky — there appears to be about a ten-year age spread, top to bottom?  Susan, go and see your grandmother.  I want to talk to your mom for a second.”
	They could hear Susan’s yelp of surprise as she kissed her grandmother and exclaimed over her appearance.  Sam looked at Kathy.  “Sweetheart, I’ve been asked to make an official request.  Would you please bring your Medal of Freedom tonight?”  Kathy looked at him and saw at once he wasn’t joking.
	“Dad, you meant it when you said, ‘official request’, didn’t you?  I’ll see if I can find it.  But do I have to put it on now?” she asked.  She found the medal in her drawer and gave it to the Admiral to hold.  He opened the box, looked at it, shook his head, put it in his pocket and closed it.
	The doorbell rang again, and it was Jeff.  His eyes almost popped when he saw the combination of gold braid and beautiful women.  He was absolutely tongue-tied when he met Betty Stark.  Suddenly, he brightened.  “Ma’am, I’m truly delighted to meet you.  And you’ve just solved a mystery for me — or maybe just created another.  I couldn’t figure out how Mrs. Stark could possibly be Susan’s mother.  But now I meet you, and you’re not old enough to be Susan’s mother either, let alone the Commander’s.  Maybe it’s something in the water.”
	Betty chuckled and kissed the boy on his cheek.
	The young people left and the older Starks went downstairs where limousines Kathy had hired were waiting.  She had decided there was no sense in wrecking their gowns before they even got to the dance.
	When they arrived the dance was about to start.  Kathy was startled as she read on the bass drum, “U.S. Marine Corps Band — Marine Barracks — Washington, D.C.”  She looked at the Admiral who just shrugged.  The presence of the Marine Band was news to him.  Kathy was worried.  She remembered the Marine Band was the only military unit under the direct command of the President.  The bandsmen were in their dress white uniforms as well.  Kathy knew the band — once directed by John Philip Sousa himself — was still one of the finest collections of musicians in the country.
	She greeted Sandy and Jack Castle.  Sandy took her aside to the corner and took Kathy’s hand.  She pressed it to her abdomen.  Kathy could feel the swelling.  She looked at the girl who was also wearing a strapless gown and saw her breasts were swollen.  The girl’s eyes were radiant.  “Kathy, there’s no way Jack and I can thank you enough.  He knows what happened, now.”  Her eyes grew serious.  “And I do, too.  He told me he was coming home that day to ask for a divorce.  Kathy, if it’s a girl, may we please name her after you?”  Sandy grinned, “After all, she’s your responsibility!”
	The dance progressed.  Kathy floated around the floor with Ken and noticed the admiring glances from the students as they danced by.  As the hour approached ten o’clock, Kathy was growing concerned.  Events were not following her script.  First, the band was scheduled to take a break at ten.  Instead, she saw other members of the band appear to augment the dance band.
	Promptly at ten o’clock the band hit a fanfare and Mr. Whitaker came up on stage.  “Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s a great privilege and pleasure to welcome the Secretary of Defense of the United States, Mr. John Connors.”
	The band played ruffles and flourishes, the appropriate honors for the Secretary.  Kathy had earlier heard the sounds of helicopter operations coming from the parking area outside the gym.  The Admiral had said they were using special choppers which were sound-muffled.
	The secretary came out on stage to be greeted by applause from the obviously very puzzled children.  When the gym had quieted, he said, “Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States!”
	Suddenly the entire Marine Band — all its members were present — struck up Hail to the Chief.  The side door opened and Secret Service agents moved in preceding the President who came in and went directly up onto the stage to the microphone.  He stood at attention waiting for the completion of honors.
	“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.  I’m very happy to be here this evening.  For the two or three people in the country who care about such things, the official White House schedule says I’m at Camp David, fishing.  Well, the fishing wasn’t too good today, so I thought I would come down here instead.
	“Would Susan Stark please come up on stage?” the President asked.
	Susan gasped as the President called her name.  She then went up on stage to where he was standing.  While this was going on and all eyes were riveted on the President, Kathy felt the Medal of Freedom at her throat and could feel Sam securing the catch behind her neck.
	“How do you do, Susan?” the President greeted the girl.  He stood back to admire her, nodded, and went back to the microphone.  “When I’m in the Oval Office, the place is lousy with advisors.  These are people who claim to be experts at everything imaginable.  Well, some of these experts were making some minor — and some not-so-minor — wagers on the outcome of a soccer match last fall.  It seems a number of them live in Reston.  The next thing I know, these experts aren’t so expert.  It seems there’s a beautiful young woman living in Virginia Beach who took their team apart by herself.  I can’t personally attest to the latter, but I agree with their judgment on the former.  Young lady, you are one of the most beautiful young women it has ever been my good fortune to meet.
	“But I didn’t come down here for that.  There’s another reason.  Susan, do you know what your father did in Vietnam?” the President asked quietly.
	The room was still.  Susan replied, “No, sir.  I don’t.  He never talks about it.  I do know he has four bullet holes in his shoulder, but he’s never told us how he was hit.  Mom and I ask, but he never answers.”
	“Thank you, Susan.  Please stay here with me, if you would.”
	The President looked around the now-packed gymnasium.  “I referred to ‘experts’ awhile ago.  Well, they did something they are good at: tracking down obscure bits of information.  It seems that this school enrolls sons or daughters of the commanders of more than half the warships in the United States Atlantic Fleet.  Almost 70 percent of you are sons or daughters of career military personnel.
	“I’m here tonight to try to explain what your fathers do — besides not being home on days that are so important to you, like the day you won the State Soccer Championship.  Susan, I know your dad was there.  I also know that the fathers of nearly half your teammates were not.  Kids, they were defending the country.  What, exactly, does that mean?  Well, I came here tonight to tell you a little bit of what that means.
	“Commander Kenneth Stark, front and center!” the President called out.
	Ken’s jaw dropped.  Kathy gave his hand a squeeze and pushed him toward the stage.  He mounted the steps, saluted smartly and stood at attention in front of the Commander in Chief.
	The President reached for a piece of paper which his naval aide handed him.  “Kenneth Stark, for wounds suffered from enemy action on April 2, 1975, it is my pleasure to award you the Purple Heart Medal.”  The President took the medal from his aide and pinned it on Ken’s uniform.  Ken saluted smartly and was about to go when the President said under his breath, “Stand fast!”
	“That medal should have been awarded years and years ago.  It wasn’t.  It wasn’t awarded because Commander Stark was wounded at a time quite a few people would rather forget about.  We weren’t defeated in Vietnam, we were bugging out.  That’s what we were doing in April, 1975.  Commander Stark, then an ensign and a recent graduate of the Naval Academy, was doing what so many before and since have done — his duty.  What happened that day so long ago?
	“Ensign Stark was second in command of a flotilla of river craft.  It was assigned to help in the evacuation of a unit of the Army of Vietnam that had been cut off by North Vietnamese regulars.  The town was encircled.  The only way out was by water.  Stark’s unit was given the task and it arrived on schedule.  Americans went ashore to supervise the embarkation of the Vietnamese troops, many of whom were wounded.  With almost all the Americans now off the boats, the North Vietnamese mounted an all-out attack with everything they had including heavy artillery.
	“Ensign Stark formed a detail of boat holders and led a charge to rescue fourteen Americans who had been cut off and were being massacred.  Single-handed, he charged an enemy machine gun and destroyed it.  He is given credit for killing over thirty of the enemy himself.  But that wasn’t all.  Attacking a manned machine gun carries a price — a price he paid.  He was hit four times in the shoulder and later nearly died.  Nevertheless, he got his men back inside the rapidly collapsing perimeter.  He organized the evacuation of all the troops, particularly including the wounded Vietnamese he had been sent in to get.
	“I said he was second in command.  Now he was in command.  The commanding officer of the flotilla had been killed.  Ensign Stark got them out and stayed on the bridge of his lead boat, now covering the retreat, until they were out of danger.  At that point, he collapsed and came to quite awhile later in the Naval Hospital at Pearl Harbor.”
	“What I have just said to you is a paraphrase — trying to translate jargon into English — of an award I am about to make.  You know — or possibly don’t — the face on the Purple Heart is that of a great Virginian, George Washington.  Well, it gives me great pride to recognize another great Virginian, Kenneth Stark, by presenting him with the Medal of Honor.”
	The band struck up Anchors Aweigh as the President secured the medal with its blue ribbon with white stars around Ken’s neck.  “Congratulations, Commander.  Well done!”  Then in a low voice he added, “Don’t leave yet, Commander.  We’re full of surprises tonight.”
	The band stopped playing and the President returned to the microphone.  “You know, the award I just presented to Susan’s father is the highest award for valor our country can bestow.  There is another element to the award.  Over 80 percent of the Medals of Honor given are awarded posthumously.  That’s a ten-dollar word meaning the recipient is dead.  Typically, he died in the action for which the medal is given.  Commander Stark came within a whisker of being in the same boat.  I’m happy he’s here, and looking at Susan beam, I’m sure she is, too.
	“There’s more, Susan.  I also know you and your mother are the Virginia state mother-daughter tennis champions.  Am I correct?”  Susan nodded shyly.  “However, I also happen to know something else about your mother.  Would Katherine Smith Stark please come up on the stage?”
	Kathy felt a push in her back and she climbed the stairs.  Before greeting the President, she had something more important to do.  She kissed Ken, and held him in her arms.  “Darling, I’m so proud for you,” she whispered.
	She then went to greet the President who was obviously enjoying himself immensely.  He shook her hand and looked from her to Susan and back.  “Wow!” he said quietly as he held up his hands for quiet.
	“I don’t know if they know which end of the racket to hold, but I do know these two are the most beautiful mother-daughter combination in the world.  As pleasant as that is, though, there’s more.
	“You see Mrs. Stark is wearing a medal around her neck, too.  Although she doesn’t know it, she’s wearing it as a special favor to me.  It is the Medal of Freedom, one of our lesser-known national awards.  Nevertheless, it is the highest award our nation can bestow on a civilian.  Susan, I want you to know you have a most remarkable set of parents.  Your father is a winner of the Medal of Honor, while your mother holds the Medal of Freedom.
	“But there’s even more.  Admiral Stark, would you and your wife join us, please?”
	Sam and Betty Stark joined the party on the stage.  “Susan, I’m told you’re very fond of your grandfather.  I also know he’s very fond of you... and substantially richer because of you.  I mentioned that several senior members of the White House staff were considerably poorer after you beat Reston.  It seems your grandfather was covering their bets.
	“However, the reason he’s here is because, along with being your grandfather, he is also the former Commander in Chief of the United States Atlantic Fleet.  In that position he commanded all the ships in our Navy operating in the Atlantic Ocean, including everything based here in Norfolk.  I can’t tell you what his present job is except to say it’s bigger than his old one, and you can see how big that was.  Sam, welcome.”  The President shook hands with his friend and key military advisor.
	“Susan, your family manifests the highest possible standards of honor, integrity, and bravery.  Susan, I hope you’ll try to live up to the standards your parents and grandparents have set for you.  And you’re off to a helluva start!
	“Kids, I’m sorry for taking up too much of your time this evening.  There’s an old joke that says if you put a politician in front of a microphone with two voters he’ll make a speech.  And I guess I just did.
	“But kids, there’s a serious message for you.  If your dads aren’t with you when you want them — and need them, sometimes — it’s not because they don’t care or don’t love you.  They’re doing something very important and making great personal sacrifices to do it.  Try to understand.  To them and to you, I say, thank God they are there!”
	The band began to play and the President came over to Kathy.  “Kathy, how do you do?  I hope you don’t mind if I call you Kathy.  I understand just about everyone does.  This has been a rare privilege for me.  I’ve heard Kathy stories for years.  Now I have some idea of what the fuss is all about.
	“Sam told me it was you who raised hell about Ken and the medal.  But he says you’re a specialist at raising hell.  Incidentally, the substitution was my own doing.  I read the award, did some research, and decided the DOD was sweeping it under the rug.  It’s not that the Navy Cross is a cheap award — far from it.  But what he did clearly deserves the Medal of Honor, and I’m delighted to make the presentation.
	“Now I’m afraid I must leave before the Secret Service starts having fits.”  He grinned and moved off.  Moments later they heard the throb of helicopters taking off.
	The band was playing and she went to Ken.  “Will you dance with me, please?” she asked him softly.
	When they moved out on the dance floor, they were the only ones there.  She was in heaven, moving in his arms, and floating around the floor.  Ken hadn’t said anything.  He just held her in his strong arms.  Finally the music stopped.
	Suddenly the whole gym erupted in cheers.  They were instantly surrounded by well-wishers including, it turned out, virtually the entire off-duty sections of the Evans who had come to see their skipper receive his award.
	Later that night back at the apartment, Kathy was standing in the bedroom nude — and worried.  Ken had scarcely said anything to her since the award ceremony.  He was in the kitchen, so she got into bed and waited for him.  I did it this time, she thought.  He’s never going to speak to me again.  I meddled once too often.
	Ken came into the bedroom and got into bed, still without speaking a word.  He put his arm around her and gave her a hug.  She responded by molding herself to him.  “Do you want to find out if your nipples still fit the bullet holes?” he asked, as he played with her nipples which instantly hardened.
	With a little yelp, she clambered on top of him and started with one of her favorite games.  At the same time she could feel his hand on her crotch with a finger penetrating her cunt.  Ken was playing one of his favorite games, too.

Epilogue
	Kathy was lying in her bed when she received the memento from Julie.  She had been saddened to learn of the woman’s death.  Since that time so many years ago, she had seen the woman only once, and that was only a few months earlier.  At the time the woman who had kept the house had not looked well.  Kathy had visited her with Susan shortly after learning Susan had been accepted at Yale.
	Julie had commented again on how beautiful the two girls looked, but now she was dead.  Kathy had learned that she was the beneficiary of Julie’s estate and was amazed to find it was worth over $2 million, all in negotiable securities and certificates of deposit.  In addition, there was a memento.  She opened the package and found a lovely little music box.  She opened the lid and heard it play a strange but lovely tune — a tune she had never heard before.
	Then something truly remarkable happened.  She watched in astonishment as her fingers appeared to take on a life of their own.  With no apparent guidance from her brain, her fingers moved across and around the little box as if it were a child’s puzzle.  She was pushing, pulling, and turning at different points on the box.  Suddenly, it was in two pieces.  Inside it she found a small metal container shaped like a cigarette case, but smaller in all its dimensions.  Without stopping to look at the case closely, her fingers began to move again.  Although it was absolutely plain, her fingers pushed and pulled and probed at apparently known locations.
	Suddenly, the container popped open like a clam.  Inside was a carefully folded sheaf of papers.  Kathy unfolded them, realizing they had a different feel from anything she had ever touched before.
	She smoothed them out.  It was a letter to her!  She began to read:
	My darling Kathy,
	Your mother and I are delighted you have received this.  If any person ever reads this letter, dear Kathy, it must be you.  Our scientists have programmed your brain to react to the music the little box plays.  I have watched them rehearsing our little girl and watched your fingers fly through the puzzle.  They tell me the knowledge you have is permanently embedded in your brain.
	We are both happy and sad.  We look at you now in a strange state.  The scientists call it “suspended animation” but to your mother and me it appears our golden-haired child is in a coma.  Your mother is in tears.  You are leaving us forever here and going to a planet its inhabitants call Earth.  Since you are reading this, it must have succeeded.  Your trip combines things we know, things we suspect, and frankly, things we hope.
	Arrangements have been made for you to be placed in a strange place.  It’s called, we understand, a “whorehouse,” a place where men come to take advantage of the women sexually.  Your mother cried when she learned her darling daughter would be subjected to such treatment.  I’m sorry, darling.  We did it for two reasons.  First, we have been told people — and the women in them — come and go quickly.  A strange girl is unlikely to be noticed.  Second, we believe their sexual customs are similar to ours, but we can’t be sure.  You will learn those customs quickly.  You may wonder about this strange location we have selected.
There is one more thing: The woman in charge will have had her memory somewhat altered.  If you were to ask her, she would say you were always in the house.  It is with her we are leaving this little music box.  We are told the tune it plays is unique, and considered to be very melodic.  We want her to keep this safe for you without knowing what it is.  When you hear the music, you will act.
	In this connection, there is a difference between here and Earth.  Women here are prepared for sex almost instantly.  They secrete a great deal of vaginal fluid which releases quickly.  The doctors tell us you are unlikely to suffer great pain from your sexual experiences.  Now you may wonder, “Why Earth?”  The reason is — and in this we combine hope with some knowledge — the people of Earth are near-duplicates of us, genetically.  We believe you will be able to mate and bear the children of Earth people.  At least we devoutly hope so.  But this is a hope, not a scientifically established fact.
There are only two other things they know to be different between us and the people of earth.  The first is our ability to combine bio-mechanical analysis with bio-kinetics.  Basically, we have the ability to analyze physical motion, break it down into its bio-mechanical pieces, and then replicate exactly what has just been observed.  You may find — or may have found — this ability useful.
The second is an ability that seems to be concentrated among our women.  It is a phenomenon for which we have no name.  Basically, it’s the ability to make yourself light.  If a man picks you up to carry you, you can be almost weightless in his arms.  We have found no practical application for this talent, honestly, but there may be one on Earth.  Your mother insists I tell you, “Because,” she says, “It’s fun!”
	Now, you wonder, why did we send you on this great voyage when you’re so young and vulnerable?  We face the total destruction of our home.  There is no doubt it will happen; the only question is when.  I would like to tell you something of your people, but I cannot.  I have been told by our scientists that they have cleansed your brain — you will have no memory of your life here.  However, they are afraid of the chance of even a small mention triggering a chain reaction and causing you to remember your home.  It is a chance they have ordered me not to take.
	There is one other thing I should tell you.  Although I know you are reading this, I don’t know when it will be.  I should have mentioned this fact before.  The reason I can be so sure you are reading this, dear Kathy, is there is only one correct way of opening the box and this container.  Any other way of attempting it will result in the paper’s destruction.
But I interrupt my narrative.  The thing I wanted to tell you concerns your ability to have children.  Our physicians have implanted in you a long-release birth control device.  It has an active duration of about ten years.  It is our devout hope that within that time you will have found your way out of the house where you are being placed and into a better life.  Clearly, with so many uncertainties, we can have no great confidence in the full period of its activity.  But if you are within the period and feel you are barren, please don’t give up hope.  Although you are still very young, our doctors assure your mother and me you will bear children very easily.
	My darling, there are only three final notes.  The first is, in spite of what the scientists want, I must tell you if you wish to know what your mother looks like, just look in a mirror.  She is the loveliest woman I have ever seen, and you will look exactly like her.  The second — and your mother insists I tell you this — is the likelihood you will find a mate to whom you will give your whole heart and soul.
	Kathy stopped reading for a moment to dry her eyes.  The tears were running so much she could no longer read the writing.  Mom, you sure got that one right, she thought, reflecting on her adoration of Ken.  Darling, she thought, Mother’s right!  It is my whole heart and soul.  She dried her eyes on the bed sheet and went back to the letter, a letter with answers she thought she would never learn.
	The third is you have a baby sister, Susan.  We hope we will be granted enough time to send her after you, but we don’t know.  Kathy, you are sixteen years old in Earth time as we send you.  You will remember nothing of your past life.  You will feel you were always in the house.  We pray that we’re granted the time to send Susan.  We cannot send her before she’s about fourteen, and she’s only six now.  If you ever meet her, you will know her.
	Finally, darling, the reason for all of this: Our people face extinction.  We hope you — and your sister, if we last long enough — will be able to have children on Earth.  You carry the very best of our gene pool.  In your children, you will carry on, at least in a small way, our people.  We have reason to believe our genes may be dominant.  From what we understand, you will be considered to be as beautiful where you are going as your mother is considered to be here.
	Darling, we pray for you.  You have all the love your parents can bestow.  We hope that it may be enough.
	This paper will destroy itself in less than thirty minutes.  It could be analyzed, and we do not wish it to be.
	We love you, darling Kathy —
					Mom and Dad
	Of course Susan was her sister.  Who else could she be?  And she had made it away from the place in time.  Tears flowed from her eyes, thinking of her parents who loved her.  Minutes later the paper disappeared before her eyes.
	Just then a nurse appeared with a tiny bundle.  “It’s feeding time, Mrs. Stark,” the nurse said, carefully handling her the small bundle.
	Kathy held the bundle in one arm while she opened her pajama top to expose a milk-laden breast.  She looked at the tiny baby and watched his hands wave.  His eyes had not yet focused.  When she gently put her nipple in his mouth and watched him feed hungrily, Kathy found the sensation marvelous as the newborn nursed at her breast.
	“Hello, darling.  You’re a lovely addition to Earth’s gene pool,” she said softly.