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[Author's Note: Upon re-reading Reunion VI-Murphy's Law it has been noted by numerous sources, okay, Erin and me, that certain key pieces of information have not been fully addressed. So, we decided to remedy this oversight. You will please note that this does not pretend to be an actual story, but rather an amendment to Reunion VI. Thus, not surprisingly, it heavily references that literary, if slightly swiss-cheese-like, masterpiece.]
When last we left our hero...
Skip reached the lit window first, stopping immediately at what he saw. He motioned Remington forward. Murphy sat awkwardly on the ground, his arms behind his head, while Lee lay half in Amanda's lap. Remington couldn't see if he were conscious or not, but Amanda wiped at his forehead with something that used to be white, but was now deep red. Skip counted three armed men questioning his cousins.
Alarmed, Skip glanced to Remington. Though they couldn't hear the words, Amanda appeared to be challenging the gunman. "We gotta do something and fast," he whispered.
...This is the last we see of Lee Stetson, hurt man and hero extraordinaire, in this story. Oh sure, Amanda and Murphy and yes, even Lee, do get rescued by the daring-do of Skip, Andy, Remington and Laura but still the masses cry out -- all right, Erin and I whine -- what became of Lee?
Therefore, we will now rewind and present the scenes that you did not see before...
"It still looks abandoned, but there's activity." Murphy handed the binoculars to Amanda. "I think we've found the bad guys, but no sign of our missing mother."
"Do you see Skip or Murph?" Lee squinted to see through the night and distance while he waited his turn.
Amanda shook her head. "We should be hearing the horses if they were nearby. Backup?" Amanda asked, knowing the answer already.
Lee took the glasses, scanning the entire area. "I don't see any guards, this should be easy." He stood, carefully checking the clip in his gun. "Let's move in closer and see if we can get a better idea."
"Lee, maybe we should at least call the Sheriff's office," Amanda counseled. "Get Paul out here with some of his deputies."
Lee looked at her incredulously. "Amanda, we could handle these guys in our sleep." He laughed easily. "Why wake anyone else out of theirs?"
Amanda sighed, finally nodding her agreement.
Murphy shrugged, then followed his cousin's lead.
Circumnavigating the tumbleweeds and bits of broken fence, they worked their way to the back of the house. Light leaked out of one of the boarded up windows and Lee directed his team towards it.
Peering inside, Lee could see broken furniture but not much else. He shifted to the next window. "There's just one guy sleeping on a cot in the corner," Lee began. "And one more... uh oh, he's armed, but just a pistol." He turned around. "We should be able to..." He stopped. Two armed gunmen stood behind Murphy and Amanda, who already had their hands up in surrender.
"Make that three men with guns," one of the men corrected nastily, motioning for Lee to drop his weapon.
"Glad we didn't wake anyone out of their sleep so they could see this," Murphy muttered under his breath...
Lee nodded grimly and slowly lowered his gun. Letting it slip from his fingers, it landed in the dirt with an audible thud.
"Now, why don't the three of you come in and join our little shindig?" The man gestured sharply for Lee to go ahead of him.
Glancing to Amanda and Murphy, Lee complied slowly.
"This one's gonna be trouble, I can feel it," their captor's partner muttered.
"No, he's not," came the reply, as the man hit Lee across the back of his head with the butt of his gun.
Stunned, Lee stumbled and dropped to his knees.
Amanda gasped and moved to stop the gunman. Murphy grabbed her back as the second man swung towards them and pulled back the lever on his own weapon with an audible click.
"No," Murphy whispered tightly as he held her struggling form. "Not here. Not now."
"Don't hurt him," Amanda pleaded desperately, one hand outstretched as if she could stop them by will alone. But her cries went unheeded as the man struck Lee again, knocking him unconscious.
* * *
Amanda knelt on the floor of the shack with Lee's head gently cradled in her lap. They'd been unceremoniously dumped into the small room. Their captors hurriedly consulted and decided to scout the immediate vicinity for other possible "party crashers." They'd only left one man on guard. But one man with a forty-five was far more than enough against Murphy and her, even with the guy currently more interested in peering out the dirty window to see what his partners were doing than watching his prisoners.
She glanced down at Lee, he hadn't regained consciousness yet and the blood continued to stream steadily from a cut above his brow. Futilely she tried to staunch the flow with the edge of her sleeve. "We've got to stop this," she said to Murphy, although her words easily carried the few feet to their guard. He glanced down at them indifferently, then resumed his scrutiny of the view outside.
Murphy took advantage of the guard's inattention to visually scan the room for any possible aide to a future escape attempt.
"Murphy?"
His eyes swept the small expanse again, searching. The room was stripped nearly bare, the few broken furniture pieces were piled in the opposite corner. It may as well have been the other side of the moon for all it would help them. There was also nothing they could convert to a bandage. Murphy shifted and shrugged off his flannel shirt. The guard swung around at the movement, taking two swift steps toward them. Both Amanda and Murphy froze.
Murphy locked his eyes with the other man's and held his palms up in a universal peace gesture. He slowly, very slowly, continued to pull the white undershirt up and over his head. Without removing his eyes from the guard, he handed the wrinkled material to Amanda. "Here, use this."
She smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks." She gently pressed the cotton folds to the crimson wetness, while her other hand cradled Lee protectively to her.
The guard continued to stare down at them, then man finally snorted derisively and returned to his position by the door. Only then did Murphy move again to put his shirt back on.
Disturbed at how swiftly the white material stained red, Amanda pressed her lips tightly together to prevent their trembling. "Where do you think the others are?" she whispered cautiously.
But Murphy only had the chance for one sharp shake of his head in uncertainty as the other men abruptly came back from patrolling the woods.
"Looks like they were alone," one of them informed the guard.
"What I want to know, Steve, is how they knew to look here and who else they've told 'bout our little place."
The one who was obviously the leader turned and eyed them speculatively. With a nod of his head he indicated Murphy. "Tie that one up. We've got some questions to ask."
"Questions? We gotta kill 'em, Steve," the younger man pointed with his gun. "Otherwise, we're not gettin' away from here."
Steve shook his head. "We didn't sign no contract for murder." He paced in front of his hostages.
"Only kidnapping poor innocent babies," Amanda accused, shielding her unconscious husband. "What kind of person does that?"
"Look, lady, you don't shut up, you're gonna end up like your pal there," the third man threatened. "Jeez, you ain't shut up since you got here."
Amanda glared at him. She started to say something, but a loud bang from outside drew their attention. Then they heard the cry of a wounded bird, some more banging and then a cat screamed in pain.
Steve peered out into the darkness, but could discern nothing. "Joey, go check it out," he directed.
"Why?" Joey argued. "It's just a stupid cat catching his dinner." Another thump echoed through the room. "All right," he conceded.
The third captor joined Steve in staring out the window, their full attention away from their prisoners. Then a lamb bleated.
"Huh?" Steve asked.
"I believe that was the signal for you to drop your weapons, gentlemen," Remington Steele ordered. Andy and Laura stood at his side, all three pointing guns at the kidnappers.
The men slowly obeyed.
Skip raced in, out of breath. "I knew it'd work!" he declared happily, then turned to the former captives. "You guys are so in trouble."
As if hearing his cousins words, Lee stirred with a groan and blinked several times before managing to open his eyes.
Skip knelt down beside him and Amanda. "Hey, cuz. Cavalry's arrived."
Lee nodded in comprehension, then winced from the pain the gesture brought.
Skip grinned and shook his head patting a reassuring hand on his cousin's shoulder. "How you and Murph have survived into adulthood without us around all the time is beyond me."
* * *
Several hours later, back in the kitchen of the old ranch house which was now lit with a golden glow and packed with the weary adventurers, the doctor carefully drew his stethoscope from around his neck and folded the instrument into his medical bag. "For the number of calls I make out here, you folks should put me on retainer. Getting people up at all hours of the night to attend infants and the wounded. Used to be, I got sleep. No, sir. Who needs No Doze with the Michaels' clan around." But then the old physician seeing Amanda's worried look gave her a small wink. "Don't worry Mrs. Stetson, your husband has a hard head. He'll be just fine."
Skip opened his mouth to give the doctor's observation the response it was begging for but upon seeing Lee's glare thought better of it.
"Now, Mr. Stetson, if you feel any dizziness or begin to experience any nausea be sure to call me," the doctor directed. "Otherwise I think my work here is finished," he added, packing up his bag to leave.
"Don't worry, Doctor," Amanda assured. "We know how to treat a concussion." Amanda glanced up at her husband and the bandage that now adorned his forehead just over the right brow.
Feeling her stare, Lee pulled his gaze from the harried motions of Skip trying to arrange the various family members for the reunion photo to peer down at his wife, only to see the direction of her eyes. His lips gave a wry twist. "Think it'll ruin Aunt Katie's picture?"
She smiled up at him. "Nope, I think it makes you look quite rakish and mysterious."
Lee grinned. "Rakish and mysterious, huh? Hear that Jenny?" He peeked down at the infant sleeping in her arms. He glanced back up at his wife laughing, "I don't think she's impressed."
"Oh, but I am," Amanda teased tucking her arm through his.
"Yeah?" His expression suddenly serious.
"Yeah," she murmured softly back, her face aglow.
Lee's eyes lit with an inner fire as he slowly leaned in to kiss her.
Checking around him one last time just to be certain that everyone had found their place and was ready for the camera, Skip glanced over at his cousin, only to roll his eyes, he bumped his elbow squarely into Lee's side. "Face forward, Romeo, or we'll never get this picture done."