The Double

by Susan Gregersen

Copyright November 2012

All rights reserved

Dedicated to Pam, who was the inspiration for this book, as well as being a good friend and encourager.

Pam not only manages her household, which includes six kids and a huge garden, but rises early every morning to update the day's free kindle downloads for all of us on pamspriderecommendations.blogspot.com.

Thank you, to my husband, Steven, for his help and encouragement.  Steven helps with editing and makes all my book covers, as well as providing ideas and input for my books!

Chapter 1

Request

The three black cars drove with their bumpers almost touching. Cornfields lined the road, with stalks taller than the cars.  It was like driving through a maze.

Occasionally the fields ended and there would be a quick glimpse of a house surrounded by trees and a large, grassy yard, then more corn.  Some of the heads in the cars would turn for that brief moment to look, then face forward again.

“Here it is,” said one of the men in the first car.  He had been furrowing his brow at the GPS and glancing up from time to time.

Without a word, or even an acknowledgment, the driver turned the car onto a gravel driveway.  The other cars followed, bumpers still almost touching.  The first car stopped as soon as it was on the driveway and the other two continued toward a house sitting among trees.

A dog ran out to meet them.  It did what dogs do…it barked nonstop until a boy about 10 years old stepped out on the porch and yelled for the dog to be quiet.  A girl a few years younger came out and stood next to him.

“Who are they?” she whispered.  The boy shook his head and shrugged.  They watched two men get out of each car.  The men from the second one stayed near their car, but the first two men walked toward the porch.

“Is this the Whitner house?” asked one of the men, politely.

“Who’s asking?” said a teenage boy who had appeared from the side yard and stood near the corner of the house.

“Son, we’re here to see your Mom.  Is she here?”  He understood their reticence.  It was probably scary to have strange men come into the yard and ask questions, especially about their Mom.

The girl suddenly ran off the porch and around the side of the house, past the boy who stood on the grass.  The men looked at each other through their sunglasses and followed her.

Striking a ninja-type stance the teenage boy said, “Stop right there.  You can’t have my Mom!”

The men paused, then walked around the boy.  He pivoted, never changing his stance, but was helpless to stop them.  The younger boy walked up to him and said, “Mom’s tough.  She’ll be fine.  Come on,” and they turned and ran after the men.

The girl was yelling something as she ran toward the garden, and a woman stood up with a handful of green beans.  Next to her was a small girl, little more than a toddler.  The woman reached down and took the small girl’s hand just as the other girl reached her and threw her arms around her.

“Ma’am, we’re just here to talk to you.  You’re Kay Whitner?” asked the one who had done all the talking so far.

Kay nodded her head warily and stared at him without speaking.  The two girls clung to her and began to cry.  She patted them and murmured a few comforting words.

“What is this about?  I haven’t done anything, and I know my husband is okay because I can see him from here, on the tractor over there,” she pointed.  “You don’t look like you’re from a church or selling something…”  Her words dwindled to a stop.  Then she looked at him angrily.  “And you’re scaring my children!”

“No one is in any trouble and no one is hurt or,” he coughed, “dead.  We have a request to make of you from the United States government.”

Kay’s eyebrows shot up.  A third boy had joined the other two and leaned on the clothesline pole.  The boys looked at each other with excitement and curiosity.

“A request?” Kay asked skeptically.  Her mind raced but nothing filled in the blanks.

“Could we talk with you alone?” he asked, glancing at the three boys nearby and the two girls standing with their mother.

Kay looked at her children.  She wished her husband would glance over from the field and see the men, and come to see what was going on.  Finally she said, “All right.  Girls, go with your brothers.  Go in the house, and I don’t want to see any of you peeking from around the house or the door!”

She nudged the girls forward and they walked to their brothers.  Both girls looked back at her mournfully as their brothers led them away.

“What is this about?” Kay asked with narrowed eyes.

“I’ll get right to the point.  Computer facial recognition software has identified you as a match for the wife of the president of the United States,” he began.

“WHAT???” she said, stunned.  “What facial recognition software?  How?  Where?  I don’t go anywhere except the grocery store and the bank!”

“It’s everywhere, ma’am.  The bank, the grocery stores, even the street corners and stop lights.  It’s accessed by several government agencies.  For example, the FBI randomly scans footage from around the country, looking for wanted criminals or terrorists.  The Secret Service uses it to find doubles.”

“Doubles?  Me?  Well, at least you don’t think I’m one of your criminals!” she said with a shaky laugh.

“Ma’am, the government needs your help.  We hire doubles that look like important politicians or their wives, to give them a break from the heavy load of social commitments.  They’re trained to act and speak like

the person they’re impersonating.  It’s usually a one-day event, such as a dinner or a luncheon.  Nothing that involves giving a speech or anything like that.”

“So…me.  The president’s wife?” Kay said in disbelief.  “She’s at least 20 years older than me.  I know farming is a hard life, but… twenty years older?”

“Our make-up artists are very talented.  Your facial bone structure and shape are a perfect match.  Even your height and weight is very close to the First Lady’s, ” said the second man, speaking for the first time.  “You won’t even know yourself when they’re done!”

“How do you know my height and weight?” Kay asked, perturbed.

“Motor Vehicle Department.  Your driver’s license,” he said.

The first man took over before Kay could express her indignation.  “You’ll be trained and coached in the first lady’s mannerisms and speech.  You’ll learn to walk, sit and stand like she does, and how to attend to the courtesies required of you at each event.”

“Come on!  This has to be a joke.  Who do I know that could afford to hire men in suits and sunglasses to play this kind of prank on me?” she mused.

The men looked at each other.  Displaying a mild sense of humor the second man said, “And don’t forget the other four men out front and the 3 black cars with tinted windows!”  Kay’s jaw dropped as she stared at him.

His partner nudged him reprovingly, then said, “It’s no joke.  We’re very serious.  Most one-day events pay $10,000, and we pick you up, fly you to the location, then have you home and in your own bed before midnight.”

“$10,000?  Taxpayer money, right?  So that the first lady and other important people can get out of doing something they don’t want to?” she demanded.

“Um…yes,” he said sheepishly.  “We’d like your decision very soon, ma’am.  We need to do a preliminary makeover to make sure you will dress up like the first lady.  You know… body shape and so forth.  Then you’ll be trained to act like the First Lady. It usually takes three to seven days.”

“They’ve been in office for almost a year.  How come you’re just now hiring a double for her?” she asked.

Again the two men looked at each other.  Finally the first man cleared his throat and said, “We had one.  She became…ill.”

“Yes, ill.  We need to replace her as soon as possible,” the other one said.

Kay thought about that for a moment.  She could imagine the stress of impersonating someone like the President’s wife would indeed make a person ill after a while.  Could she do it, she wondered.  “How long do I have to decide?”

“We’ll come back soon to get your answer,” he said.

“When?” she asked.

“When you see us,” he replied.  “Do not discuss this with anyone except your husband.”

They turned and walked back around the house.  Kay stood there for a second, then hurried after them.  She stood in the yard near the front porch and watched as the two cars turned and headed back out the driveway, and the third one backed out and followed them down the road.

They had no sooner disappeared behind the corn stalks when a pick-up truck turned into the driveway and left dust in the air in it’s haste.  It slammed to a stop in front of the house and a woman jumped out.  She ran toward Kay.

“Kay!  What was the FBI doing here?” asked the excited woman.

“Mom, it wasn’t the FBI!” Kay sighed.

“Mom, phone.  It’s Grandma.  I mean, it’s the other grandma,” the 10-year old boy said as he came out on the porch.  He handed the cordless phone over the porch rail to his mother.

“Hello?” Kay said wearily into the phone.  “No, it wasn’t the FBI.  How’d you hear about it?  No!  No, we’re not in any trouble.  What?  No, we’re not growing anything in the basement!  My gosh!  They were government men but they had the wrong place!”

Her mom danced around in front of her, trying to get close to the phone and listen.  Kay finally handed the phone back to her son.  “Well, you heard it.  They had the wrong place.”

“I think there’s something you’re not telling me,” the woman said.  “You look worried or upset.  See, right there around your eyes.”

“Yes, of course I’m upset.  A bunch of men in black suits and sunglasses appear in my yard and ask questions… well, heck yes, I’m upset.  They scared the kids half to death!”  Kay climbed the stairs and sat on the porch swing.  Her mother followed, watching her closely.

“What kind of questions?” she jabbed.

“I don’t know.  None that I could answer,” Kay said.  She sat up straight.  “You know what’s funny?  They were so non-descript that I couldn’t even describe them to you right now!  And I never saw their eyes.  They had those dark mirrored sunglasses on the whole time.”

“Maybe they weren’t even human!  Maybe they’re some kind of artificial intelligence robots!” said one of the boys.

Kay laughed and shook her head.  “Nothing would surprise me any more!”  To herself she thought ‘oh, how true that is!’

Her mother left after a short while and Kay went inside to start dinner.  She sent the kids out to bring in the pails of green beans she had picked and got them started snapping them.  She was going to pack them in jars and run them through the canner after dinner.

A woman’s work was never done, but a farm wife’s workload stayed heaped up high enough to crush lesser women.  Kay sighed and stirred the gravy she was making.  She glanced at the clock.  Her husband would be coming in any minute.

The screen door opened just as she finished that thought, and her husband walked into the room.  He lit up with a big smile, gave Kay a hug, and let the kids throw themselves at him.

“Daddy, the FBI was here today!” the little girls said.  He shot a look at Kay.  She shook her head.

Kay sighed.  “They weren’t FBI!  It was some government men and they were looking for someone else,” Kay said.  She looked sternly at the kids.  There was a lot of poking and pulling and shuffling, but the kids didn’t say any more.

A moment later their oldest son, Danny, came in the same door.  He was 17 and worked for a neighbor during the summer when there was no school.  Both men headed to wash their hands and faces.

When they were seated at the big, round wooden table in the kitchen her husband thanked the Lord for their blessings, then dishes were passed around.  For a while the only sound was the light clank of serving spoons and forks as everyone filled their plates.

“The harvest is going to be a bit below normal, thanks to the dry summer, but I believe we’ll get by,” her husband said as he took his first bite of dinner.  He gave a sigh of satisfaction and Kay smiled at him.

They could lose a whole crop and he would reassure them with “we’ll be all right”.  She loved him for his optimism.  He worked hard and never complained about how weary he was.  She caught him sometimes, rubbing his back or neck, and lately his knees, too.

She wasn’t as old as the President’s wife but she and her husband weren’t getting any younger, that’s for sure.  He’d just hit forty and her turn was fast approaching.  Some days she felt twenty years older.

With mortification she realized she had probably offended the First Lady with her comment about not looking as old as the First Lady.  She stopped chewing for a moment and turned red.

“Mom!  What’s wrong?  You look funny!” asked her 7-year old daughter.  Kay coughed and swallowed, then reached for her water.

“Nothing, honey, I just almost swallowed the wrong way.  I’m fine!” Kay said.  She tried to turn her thoughts away from the visit from the men.  Her eyes wandered to the worn linoleum on the floor.  How she’d love to replace it.

With the money from being a ‘double’ she could, she realized.  ‘Stop it!’ she told herself.  ‘Don’t even go there!’  Her wish list was incredibly long.  They did without so much, and everyone was pretty good natured about it.  She tried to fill their lives with love and happiness and laughter, hoping the lack of money and worn-out house would stay in the background.

After dinner the boys cleared the table and started washing the dishes.  The girls were trying to sweep the floor, 7-year old with the broom and 3-year old following her with the dust pan, wanting each piece of dirt as her sister swept it.

“Ma, how about a walk with the old man?” Kay’s husband asked.  He reached toward her hand.

Kay tossed her apron on the shelf by the door and took his hand.  “We’ll be back soon.  Be good to each other!” she admonished.

“Are you gonna tell Daddy about the FBI now?” asked her 10-year old son, Brandon, as they went out the door.  She tapped him lightly on the head with one finger, but didn’t speak.  He shrugged and closed the door behind them.

They walked out onto the lane that passed the house.  The corn was dry and mostly yellow in the fields, and the leaves rustled like paper in the breeze.  He swung her hand as they walked.

“What was the business those government fellows wanted, Kay?” he asked when they were far enough from the house not to be heard by curious little ears.  She told him about visit and the offer that had been made to her.

He didn’t seem to know what to say.  They came to a stop in the road and just looked at each other.  After a while he whistled and said, “Wow!  It’s like something out of a movie!  I never thought the government really did that!”

“Yeah!  I know!” she laughed, embarrassed.  “Can you imagine?  ME, posing as the President’s wife?  I’d be so far out of my league!”

“Well, maybe.  But you’ve always liked acting.  You might do good at it!” he said.  “I don’t see the resemblance but you’re a mighty fine sight to look at!”

“They said their facial recognition software matched my cheekbones and stuff to hers,” Kay explained.  “Gosh!  Can you imagine that?  I don’t even go to a city and the government finds me among millions of other people!  You know, that’s kind of scary!”

“Yes, it is,” her husband said soberly.  “I think I’ll start wearing sunglasses and a hat, and maybe a fake beard when I go to town!”

“Why?  Maybe they’ll match you to the president, or the pope or whoever!” she teased.

“Well, even if they did, they’d never be able to break me of the way I talk.  I’d probably get him in trouble.  You know…offend some foreign dignitary or something.  Cause a war!” he laughed.

“I don’t know what I should do.  We could use the money, but what about the kids?  And what do we tell people about why I’m gone?” she asked.  “I’m not sure I could pull it off, acting like that under such intense public scrutiny!”

“Well, if you can say such fancy sentences as ‘intense public scrutiny’, you can probably fool people into thinking you’re the First Lady!” he said.  They started walking back toward their driveway.  “It’s up to you.  You have my support if you want to give it a try.”

That night Kay tossed and turned in her sleep.  She was dreaming over and over that she was acting as the First Lady and doing dumb things, like tripping over someone and spilling food on them, or other such bumbling.

Over the next week Kay was on pins and needles.  She jumped at everything the kids said, and kept forgetting what she was doing.  The kids seemed to have forgotten about the men who had visited, but her mother badgered her about it when they were alone in the churchyard on Sunday.

The kids were running around on the grass with some of the other kids, and Kay’s husband was leaning on the fence by the parking lot talking crops with the other men.  Kay’s mom threw a bunch of questions at her, but some of the other women came over to talk before Kay was forced to answer her Mom.  Her Mom, or course, shot her a look that said she wasn’t done asking.

Kay was beside herself when the women cozied up to her and said, “I hear the FBI was at your house this week!”  Kay shot a glance at her Mom, who was innocently straightening the sleeve of her sweater.  She looked up at Kay and gave a weak shrug.

Kay looked back at the woman, straight into her eyes, and said, “it wasn’t the FBI, it was the Secret Service.  They said I look just like the president’s wife and they want me to pose as a double for her at society events.”

The woman and her friends looked dumbfounded, then broke up laughing.  “Oh, Kay!  That’s rich!”  They wandered off, and the woman who had spoken to Kay leaned close to another woman and whispered in a loud voice, “Poor Kay.  She’s cracking under the load.  Some women just aren’t cut out for the farm life.”

Kay smiled with satisfaction.  Her mother folded her arms and scolded her.  “Kay, that’s very funny.  Ha. Ha. Ha. Not.  Why would you do that?”

“Do what?  They wouldn’t have believed anything I told them,” she said.

“Maybe, but still.  The president’s wife?  Kay, really!”  Her mother’s face was reproachful.

Kay’s husband, Dan, waved that he was ready to go.  She told her mother good-bye and went to round up the kids.  As she was helping them into the van, Samantha, her 7-year old daughter, looked her over intensely.

“Mommy, where are your cracks?” Samantha asked.

Kay was puzzled.  “Cracks?  What do you mean?”

“Mrs. Jorgensen told Mrs. White that you were cracking up!” the little girl explained.

Kay started laughing and it took her a minute to catch her breath and explain.  “Honey, it’s her way of saying she’s worried about me.  She thinks I’m working too hard.  That’s all.”  The little girl looked relieved and settled back into the seat.

When they pulled into the driveway a black car was parked by the road.  Two more waited by the house.  Kay and Dan exchanged looks.  The kids started clamoring about the car and asking questions.

“Kids, go straight in the house and change out of your church clothes.  Samantha, can you help Amanda?” Kay asked.  She couldn’t believe the men would come back on a Sunday.  Was nothing sacred any more?

The kids protested but headed for the house.  Dan stayed with Kay, and they watched the men get out of their cars.  Kay wasn’t sure if they were the same men as before since they all looked alike.

When the men reached them, Kay introduced her husband.  They shook hands with him, then turned to Kay.  “We’re here for your decision.”

Kay studied him, trying to see through the mirrored dark glasses.  “Can you take off your sunglasses?  I’d like to see if there’s a real, living, breathing human behind them.”

Neither man moved for a moment.  The man who did most of the talking reached up and removed his sunglasses.  He nudged his partner with his elbow, and the other man hesitantly removed his.  Kay looked from one to the other.  A set of hazel eyes and a set of blue eyes blinked in the sun and gazed back at her.

“Yes,” Kay said.  The men blinked and looked blankly at her.

“Yes?  Yes what?” they asked in confusion.  The speaker continued, “Yes, we’re human?  Or yes, you’ll help your country?”

“Yes, I’ll do it, the ‘double’ thing.  Though I think it helps the first lady more than it helps the country,” Kay said.  “And yes, it’s a comfort to see that you both are actually human.  Nice eyes, both of you.  You should try going without sunglasses sometimes.”

They snapped the sunglasses back on their faces and stared blankly at her.

“I suppose I’d really be pushing it to ask if you have actual names,” Kay said.

The heads turned toward each other until the mirrored glasses faced one another, then back to her.  “Agent Smith.  He’s agent Jones.”

Kay gave a snort of laughter and said, “I could have guessed!”

“You will be picked up tomorrow morning at 8:00.  This will be a Day assignment for the make-up artists to do a test job on you.  You will be returned to your home by 5:00 P.M.” Agent Smith said.

“Okay.  Um… do you think you could come in something besides all these black cars?  Maybe something discreet, like an old pick-up truck?  The neighbors get all excited with these black cars,” Kay asked.

Her husband guffawed next to her.  He could just see these guys in an old pick-up truck.  “Or maybe she can meet you somewhere in town.”

After a pause Agent Smith said.  “No, we’ll pick her up here.  We’ll come in something more discreet.”

“What should I bring?  Do I need anything?” Kay asked.

“Nothing.  Just come as you would if you were going shopping with a friend for the day,” said Agent Jones.

With a nod of their heads they turned as one and returned to their car.  The other two men got into the second car, and they left as they had the first time.

Kay let out a long breath.  “Whew!  I hope I’m not getting in over my head!”

Dan put his arm through hers.  “You’ll do fine.  I’m proud of you, and I can’t wait to hear your stories.  You should keep a journal.  Someday after a new president is in the white house, you might be able to write a book about all of this.”

Kay nodded her head.  “You’re right!  It could be quite a book!  Sort of a ‘tell all’, and a bit of adventure.  Almost like… a fairy tale, like a regular girl who finds out she’s a princess!”

They walked to the house.  Six faces, peering from the windows, suddenly yanked back behind the curtains.  A moment later the door opened and they poured out onto the porch.

“What?  What is it?” they cried.

Kay and Dan had discussed what to tell the kids, and now Dan said, “Mom is going to do some work for them.  Tomorrow is her first day.”

“What kind of work?  Is she going to clean their office?” asked Grace.

“Clean their office?” Dan asked, puzzled.

“Yeah.  What else does she know how to do?” Amanda piped up.

“Mom knows lots of stuff!” said 13-year old Ben, coming to Kay’s rescue.  “She can type really good.  Is that what you’re going to do, Mom?  Type up their reports and stuff?”

“Maybe a bit of that.  I think I’ll be doing a lot of different things.  But it’s only when they need me,” Kay said.

“Oh, like a substitute teacher!” said 10-year old Brandon.

“Yes!  Like a substitute teacher!” agreed Kay with relief.  The kids seemed to understand that.

“I’m going to miss you, mommy!” Amanda said dramatically.  But then she jumped up and down.  “But Daddy lets me put LOTS of sugar on my cereal, so you don’t have to worry about me eating good!”

When Kay looked at Dan he was looking somewhere else.  She led the way into the house.  After changing into every-day clothes she went to the kitchen to start Sunday dinner.  Farm family or not, they broke tradition and had homemade pizza every Sunday, instead of the traditional fried chicken.

Chapter 2

A New Life

Kay sat nervously on the porch swing.  It was almost 8:00.  She’d tried to eat a pancake but it felt like cardboard in her mouth.  The kids were calm and chattering, which helped soothe her.  They were cleaning up the kitchen at the moment.

Dan was going to work around the yard today to keep an eye on the kids.  The older ones were good about watching the younger ones, but just in case the kids were anxious about Mom’s job, Dan wanted to be nearby.

He came out on the porch and handed her a cup of tea, then lowered himself onto the swing next to her.  She smiled at him as he asked, “how are you doing?”

“I’m fine.  Just a bit of ‘fear of the unknown’.” She sipped the tea and leaned against Dan’s shoulder.  They sat in silence, swinging gently.  The summery smell of grass was in the air, and birds flew down onto the lawn looking for their breakfast.

A pick-up truck slowed and turned into their driveway.  It was an early ‘80s Dodge with a dented fender and rust around the tire wells.  Sunlight reflected off a crack in the windshield.  It stopped in the yard by the porch.

Kay and Dan stared in disbelief as two men climbed out of the truck.  They were wearing worn-out overalls, flannel shirts, and beat-up hats… and mirrored sunglasses.  Both removed their hats and said, “Good morning, ma’am, sir.”

“Hi!  Nice disguise!” Kay snickered.  “I can’t believe you actually came without the black cars and suits!”  The agents shrugged uncomfortably.  They looked like they wanted to scratch and tug at their shirts.

Agent Smith said, “are you ready?”  Kay nodded, hugged Dan, and walked down the steps.  Agent Jones held the door open for her to climb in.  She scooted to the middle, and the men got in on each side of her.  Kay waved at Dan as the truck turned and left.

The late summer sun warmed her through the truck‘s window, and Agent Jones started fooling with the knobs on the dash.  “Where’s the gol-darned air conditioner?”

Kay looked at the dashboard and grinned.  She pointed to the door.  “Right there.  It’s called ‘roll down the window’!”

Agent Jones looked in surprise, then cranked the handle around and around and watched the window lower.  The breeze ruffled his hair and he tried to smooth it with his hand.  A moment later he rolled the window back up.

“You guys don’t get out much, do you?” Kay laughed.  “Where did you get this truck, anyway?”

“From the guys who work undercover.  Their work is much more… varied.”  Agent Smith rolled the window on his side down about halfway.  He didn’t seem to mind the breeze.  Kay shook her head and let it blow strands of her hair around.  Agent Jones pushed his hat down farther and didn’t say anything.

The truck stopped at a red light in the small town nearby.  Two women crossed in the crosswalk, and one looked up.  It was Mrs. Jorgensen.  She stopped dead still in the street and stared through the windshield.  The woman with her turned back to see why she stopped.

“Kay?” Mrs. Jorgensen called in disbelief.  “Kay, what are you doing in that truck with those men?”  The other woman took her arm and hurried her across the street as the light turned green and cars began to move.

Kay sank down further in her seat.  ‘Great!  The rumor mill is going to be over-flowing today!’ she thought, mortified.

Agent Smith reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a pair of mirrored sunglasses.  He handed them to her without a word.

Kay took them and slapped them onto her face.  “Thanks,” she muttered.  She was surprised how much better she felt.  She caught a glimpse of herself in the rearview mirror and was surprised at how different she looked with the sunglasses.

On the floor of the truck, next to the shift stick, were a few more hats like the ones the agents were wearing.  She bent down and picked one up and shoved it on her head.

Moments later they pulled into the municipal airport.  Leaving the truck behind a hangar they walked to where a small jet was waiting.  Kay held back for a moment, suddenly scared.  Agent Smith touched her elbow and urged her forward.

A man in a blue jacket helped her into the plane.  The two agents climbed in too, and they settled into the seats.  There were four rows of seats, two seats on each side.  Other than Kay, the two agents, and the pilot, the plane was empty.

Kay buckled her seatbelt and closed her eyes.  She’d been on big planes a couple of times, but never anything like this.  Seconds later the jet was streaking up into the sky and Kay was pushed against the back of her seat by the force.

When the plane leveled off she opened her eyes.  Both agents were watching her closely.  “I’m all right,” she said.  “It’s been a long time since I’ve flown,” she said.  “So, where are we going?”

“It’s classified,” Agent Smith said politely.

“Well, how long will it take to get there, then?” Kay asked.

“About an hour,” he replied.

Kay was trying to work out the math in her head, figuring out how fast the jet probably traveled and therefore how many miles it would cover in an hour.  She was drawing a mental circle of the radius of that distance to figure out where that would take her.

Agent Smith walked to the back and into a small room.  A moment later he returned wearing his suit instead of the grubby work clothes.  Then Agent Jones did the same.  Both were still wearing the sunglasses.

“Would you like a snack?  Something to drink?” asked Agent Jones and he rose from his chair.  He walked forward and opened a small refrigerator.  He pulled out a can of pop for himself and waited for the other two to answer.

“Toss me a Ginger Ale,” Agent Smith requested.

“Do you have Root Beer?” Kay asked.  Agent Jones pulled one out and brought it to her, handing the Ginger Ale to Agent Smith while he was at it.

“There are doughnuts and cinnamon rolls in the box on the counter, and candy bars, nuts, and all kinds of things in the cabinet above it,” he said as he sat back down.  He pulled a magazine off a stack on the seat next to him and settled in to read.

“You guys do a lot of these flights?” Kay asked Agent Smith, who was just sitting there.  He nodded and she continued.  “Does it get boring?”

“Sometimes.  Usually Agent Jones and I play cards.  We get some heated games of ‘War’ going!” he smiled.

“And I usually win,” said Agent Jones without looking up.

“That’s usually on long flights though.  This one is a bunny hop.  Wait until you have to go somewhere like Paris,” Agent Smith said.

“Paris?” Kay said, sitting straight upright, stunned.

“Oh, of course, and London and the usual places,” he said.  “And sometimes places like the Middle East.”

“The Middle East?  Isn’t that dangerous?” Kay asked, her heart in her throat.

“Don’t worry.  I haven’t seen anything on the First Lady’s agenda that includes the Middle East,” he assured her.

Kay sipped her root beer, lost in thought.  She must have dozed, because the jet was landing when she woke.  There were buildings around the airport but she couldn’t tell where they were.  She was annoyed with herself because she’d planned to watch out the window as they came in to the airport and try to guess.

She was ushered from the jet into a big black car.  Her heart pounded.  She was riding in one of those mysterious black cars important people rode in.  Maybe a president had ridden in this very one!  She laid her hand on the leather seat next to her leg.  It felt… regal.

Her eyes raised toward the driver and the front of the car.  Through the windshield as they turned at an intersection she caught a glimpse of a tall, white spire.  With a sharp intake of breath she turned to Agent Smith.  “We’re in Washington DC?”

The mirrored sunglasses looked at her.  “It’s classified.”

She sat still, looking out the windows on both sides and in front,  but she couldn’t identify any more landmarks before they turned through a gate, which was closed immediately after they passed.  They emerged from the car and went through a plain white door.

They walked briskly down a hallway, took an elevator to another floor, down another hallway, and stopped by a door.  Agent Smith placed his thumb on a pad and the door opened.

The room looked like a dressing room at a community theater.  Clothing hung on long rods along one side of the room, and mirrors covered the other walls.  Cosmetics and make-up tools were organized neatly all along a counter, and a beautician’s chair sat to one side.

The door opened behind them and a man and a woman entered.  Agent Smith introduced them.

“This is Gino, and this is Andrea,” he said.  They shook hands.  “Together they will re-create you as the First Lady.”

Gino and Andrea were already circling her.  Then they stopped in front of her and discussed her face, lightly touching her cheekbones and chin.  Agents Smith and Jones told Kay they would be nearby and to let them know if she needed anything, then excused themselves from the room.

“First, into the chair.  We’ll start with your hair,” Gino said in an accented voice.  ‘Italian?’ wondered Kay to herself.

She lost herself in the pleasure of having her hair washed and her scalp massaged.  They worked together, then used a blow-drier and comb on her hair.  They put a pin here and another there, and she recognized a hair style that the First Lady often wore.  But even she could see the color wasn’t the same.

“We’ll have to either color it or go with wigs,” Andrea commented.  Gino agreed.

“Can we try the wigs first?” asked Kay timidly.

Andrea retrieved a pile of hair and straightened it out while Gino worked to flatten and pin down Kay’s hair.  They pulled the wig over her head and by the time they were done fluffing the hair around the edges you couldn’t tell it was a wig.

The effect was stunning!  Suddenly Kay almost looked like the First Lady!  She stared at the reflection of herself.  Gino and Andrea busied themselves among the cosmetics along the counter.  They held samples and pictures next to her face and compared them, then changed to something else, and finally had an array of make-up spread next to Kay.

Watching them, Kay felt her stomach lurch.  It was like going in for surgery, she thought.  She shook her head at her own silliness, then tightened up again as they came toward her with bottles and brushes and sponges.

Gino and Andrea worked and talked as one.   “Hmmm, a little darker here.  Let’s bring this out and up.  Oh, this is good.  Yes, more on the cheek bones.  I’m going to age these eyes now and give her some crow’s feet,” they murmured.

Kay had to smile at how much make-up was designed to make women look younger, and these two were working to make her look older.  At least the First Lady took good care of her skin and looked younger than her age.  That made it easier for the make-up artists working on Kay.

Finally they stepped back and whirled the chair so Kay could see herself in the mirror-covered wall.  She knew it was her face that her eyes were looking out of but she didn’t believe the head she saw in the mirror housed her inside of it.

She stood and walked toward the mirror.  She stopped two feet away and raised her arm, reaching out to touch her reflection, then her own cheek.  “Hi,” she whispered.  “I’m Madeline Jackson, First Lady.  Wife of President Henry Jackson.”

“Good!” Andrea said approvingly, coming up beside Kay.  “Get to know her.  Let her become you.  It’ll become so natural you’ll be able to move back and forth between being ‘Kay’ and being ‘Madeline’ with ease.”

“Isn’t that like induced Schizophrenia?” Kay asked jokingly.

“Only if you start to believe you’re the First Lady!” Andrea laughed.  She held up an evening gown.  “How about slipping into this?”

“Oh my gosh!  I recognize that!” Kay cried.  She continued in a hushed voice.  “She wore it at the inauguration!”

“She did indeed, my dear!  Now, lets see how you look in it!” Gino said.  They led her to a changing room and left her there.

For a moment Kay just stood in the dressing room and stared at the gown on it’s hanger.  Her mind ticked away and she tried to get a sense of reality.  She was looking at a dress the president’s wife had worn.  She, Kay, was going to be wearing it in a minute.  This dress, that millions of people across the globe had watched that gracious woman wear, was going to be on her body in a moment.  Hers.  A farm wife from Ohio.

She changed as though she was in a dream and stepped back into the bigger room.  Gino and Andrea were there in a flash, pulling at the cloth and walking around her, doing their murmuring thing again.

“She’s a bit thinner than Madeline.  Her breasts seem to be the same size.  Hips just a touch wider but I don’t think anyone will notice. Feet… well, doesn’t matter, a little smaller but we can stuff wadding in the shoes.”

Gino looked up into Kay’s face.  “Would you mind gaining about ten pounds?”

Kay looked at him incredulously.  He was serious, she thought.  “What women wants to be fatter?  Of course I would mind!  Couldn’t the First Lady go on a diet?”

Gino was speechless.  He was used to blind adoration and obedience by doubles.  “Um… well… think of it as a compliment that you can afford to gain some weight!” he finally said lamely.

“Well, how about we meet in the middle?  I’ll gain five and she can lose five!” Kay offered.

“It’s going to be interesting working with this one!” Gino said, shaking his head.

Kay was intrigued.  “How many doubles have you worked with?  And for who?”

“My lips are sealed,” he said, exaggerating his accent so it sounded like ‘leeps’ instead of lips, and he rolled the ‘r’ in ‘are’.  To Andrea he said, “call in Peter for the photo shoot.”

Before Kay knew it, she was being turned and posed by a photographer, and the flash popped all around her.  As quickly as he’d swept into the room, Peter and his cameras were gone.

Agents Smith and Jones had come in with the photographer and stayed when he left.

“How does it feel?” Agent Smith asked her.

“Unreal.  Amazing.  Weird.  I don’t know,” she said.

“That’s normal.  It takes a while to get used to it,” he said.

“You’re still wearing those stupid sunglasses,” Kay said.

“I’m used to it,” he answered.

“We even sleep in them,” Agent Jones said seriously.

Kay laughed.  “I believe that!”

Gino swept back into the room.  “Okay, young lady.  Back into your own clothes.”  He opened the door of the dressing room for her.  She walked in and removed the gown and put her own clothes back on.

Gino and Andrea carefully took the wig off her head, then brushed and styled her hair back to what it had looked like when she left home this morning.  They washed the make-up off her face and she watched with interest as she looked younger again.  A lot of women would pay big bucks for that, she thought.

“What now?” she asked as she left with the two Agents.

“Hungry?  It’s well past lunch time and early enough to grab something before taking you home,” Agent Jones suggested.  His stomach growled loud enough the other two could hear it in the elevator.

“Sounds good to me.  Just remember, I’m a farm wife.  I don’t eat salads.  I eat real food,” Kay said.  She couldn’t read their expressions.  Remembering the sunglasses in her pocket she pulled them out and put them on, then stared blankly back at them.  She thought she saw them smile slightly.

When they stepped out of the elevator they turned the opposite way as they had that morning.  At the end of the hallway it opened into a large sunroom filled with tables.  Along one wall was a serving line of food, laid out buffet style.

“I’m sure you can find something you like here,” Agent Jones said dryly.

They each picked up a tray and plates, and walked along the line.  “Wow!” Kay said.  She helped herself to a chicken breast, mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni & cheese, spaghetti, a dinner roll, a piece of cornbread, jello salad, and a piece of peach pie.

Agents Smith and Jones eyed her tray.  “And Gino said you didn’t want to gain ten pounds!” Agent Smith said, shaking his head.  His tray was piled with spaghetti and he was adding some salad to one side.

Agent Jones had piled ham and potato salad onto one plate, and another plate with a piece of pie, a piece of cake, and two cookies.  The three of them walked to a table near the window and sat.  Kay glanced out the window and laughed.  On the wall of the building across the courtyard someone had spray-painted “Your taxpayer dollars will pay to clean this wall”.

“That’s been there a while,” Agent Jones told her.  “They’ve spent more money trying to decide who should pay for removing and refinishing the wall than it’s going to cost to do the job.”

“Isn’t the government just the government?” Kay asked.

“Oh, no.  The bookkeeping is very precise, and the funds that are used for anything must be approved.  There’s a fund for maintenance and a fund for improvements and renovations, and both departments push it back to the other.  Maintenance doesn’t have to be pre-approved, but improvements and renovations do,” Agent Smith explained as he wound spaghetti around his fork.  He shoved it in his mouth, then slurped the last strand of spaghetti into his mouth.

Kay watched him with raised eyebrows, then handed him a napkin for the line of spaghetti sauce that ran down his chin.  He quickly dabbed it off and laid the napkin down.  “Thanks, Mom,” he said churlishly, then grinned.

They finished eating, dumped their trash and put their trays on the stack, then headed to the parking lot.  The drive to the airport seemed quicker than it had this morning.  Agent Smith called ahead and let the pilot know they were on the way, and the jet was ready for take-off when they got there.

Once in the air Agent Smith put his seat back and slept.  Agent Jones looked over at Kay.  “Wanna play ‘War’?” he asked, holding up a deck of cards.  She smiled and nodded her head.  He lowered the seatback tray and she slid across the aisle.  They played the card game for the rest of the flight.

As the plane’s wheels touched the runway Agent Smith woke up.  He watched them for a minute, then asked, “who won?”

“I did,” they said at the same time.

“Did not!  Look, my stack of cards is taller than yours!” Kay said indignantly.

“Yes, but I won more of the battles when we both laid down the same number!” Agent Jones insisted.

“That doesn’t count!” Kay said.

“Does too!”

“Does not!”

“Children, children!” admonished Agent Smith.  “Pack it up and let’s get going!  We have to get this lady home to her family!”

“So, what happens now?” Kay asked as they climbed into the pick-up truck for the ride back to the farm.

“We wait.  The pictures will be reviewed by upper staff and the President and his wife.  Gino and Andrea will give their report,” Agent Smith said.

“If you’re approved then you’ll go for the training to learn how to be the First Lady,” added Agent Jones.

“Can you at least give me a ballpark idea of how long that takes?” she pressed.

“Usually about a week, but don’t hold me to that.  And you didn’t hear that from me,” Agent Jones said.  He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope, which he handed to her.

“What’s this?” Kay asked, turning it over in her hands.

“Your pay for today,” he replied.

“My pay?  I get paid for today?  But… I didn’t do any work today!” she said in amazement.  She tore the envelope open.  A check for $10,000 stared up at her.  “Oh, come on!  No wonder we have such a huge national deficit.  This is ridiculous!”

“We can’t take it back.  Donate it if it makes you feel better,” Agent Smith said with a shrug.  “Or tear it up and flush it down the toilet.”

Kay sighed.  She never thought she’d feel so good and so bad about having a large sum of money.

When the truck stopped in front of the house, Kay jumped out.  The kids came running from the back yard, and Dan came out of the house.

“Whoa, Mom!  You got shades like they do!” “Nice sunglasses” “Can I wear them?” shouted the kids.  Kay had forgotten the mirrored sunglasses.  She pulled them off and handed them back to Agent Smith.  He shoved them in his shirt pocket and climbed back into the truck.  With a wave, they were gone.

“What did you do today, Mom?” “Did you have to scrub any toilets?”  “Is it true that they have toilet seats made of gold?”  The kids jumped around her as she walked to the porch.  Dan held his hand to her and they sat on the porch swing, where they had started the day.

“Let Mom breathe for a minute, okay?  She looks like she had a hard day at the office!” Dan joked.

Kay smiled.  “Well, it wasn’t a lot of work, but the flight made me feel tired--”

“FLIGHT?” the kids yelled.  “You went on an airplane???”

Kay groaned inwardly.  That was dumb, she thought, trying to think of a way out of that one.  “Well, um… they wanted me to clean the airplane, but they had to take it for a test flight, so I got to work while they were flying.”  ‘Lame, lame, lame!’ she chastised herself.

“But Mommy…If the plane didn’t pass it’s test does that mean it would have crashed with you on it?” her youngest child, 3-year old Amanda, looked at her with wide eyes, her little lip quivering.

“Oh, sweetie!” Kay said, pulling the trembling little girl into her arms.  “It wasn’t that kind of test!  They had put new, um… lights on the plane and wanted to see if the men in the airport tower could see them.”

“You mean the flashy lights we see when they fly over sometimes?” she asked.

“Yeah!  Those ones!” she said.  “And the airport people said they could see them a long, long ways away.”   It went against everything in her to make up lies for her kids.

‘But some lies are for the good, aren’t they?’ she argued with herself.  She decided not to resolve the issue right now.  “I’ll go start dinner.”

“Oh, no, we made dinner for you!” said David, the 15-year old.  “Come on, you’ll love it!”  The kids excitedly led her into the house.  She sniffed the air and tried to guess what it was.

“Meatloaf!” Samantha cried.  “And potatoes and corn!”

“Wow, it smells delicious, and it looks great.  I’m starved,” Kay said as she sat down.  A few minutes later she said, “mmmm, and it is delicious.  You did a good job.  Thank you, kids!”

The kids smiled and basked in her praise.  After dinner she and Dan went for a walk again, and she told him about her day.

A week later the phone rang.  Kay had been on the phone with someone who was going to call her right back, so she didn’t check Caller-ID before picking up the phone.

“This is Agent Smith,” a flat voice said in her ear.  “You’re in.  Be ready tomorrow.  Bring whatever personal things you’ll need for a few days, and a couple changes of clothes for your off-time.”

Kay opened her mouth and tried to think of what to say, but the phone clicked in her ears as the connection was ended.  “Oh!” she said out loud as she hung up the phone.

“What?” asked her 17-year old son, Danny, as he walked by.

“Nothing.  Wrong number.  It just surprised me because I was expecting Gloria to call.”  Kay grimaced as she thought, ‘I’m really becoming a liar!’

Kay walked out to the barn and found Dan and told him about the call.  He hugged her and reassured her that he still supported her decision.

“Yes, but I’ll be gone a few days this time.  Are you sure you’ll be okay?” she worried.

“We’ll be fine.  Besides, after this training time you might not get a ‘job’ for months.  Didn’t they say it was only occasionally?” Dan said.

“That’s true.  Well, I better go pack a few things, and I’ll tell the kids at dinner,” Kay said.  She headed back to the house.

The next morning the old pick-up truck turned into the driveway again.  Agents Smith and Jones stepped out and stood by the truck, mirrored sunglasses facing the house.  Kay had already hugged the kids and Dan, and made sure they were all at the breakfast table in the rear of the house when the agents came.  She couldn’t stand an emotional good-bye.  She might change her mind and not go.

Overnight bag in hand she walked to the truck.  Tossing it casually in the back she hopped into the truck.  Agent Smith pulled out a pair of sunglasses and held them up.  She took them and slapped them onto her face.  “Let’s do it!” she said firmly.

They retraced the route to the airport.  The same pilot helped her aboard and they took off into the cool morning air.  An hour later they landed and walked to the black car that was waiting nearby.

They didn’t go to the same building this time.  She couldn’t really tell where they were, but they pulled up to a guard booth and a uniformed guard with a big gun on his belt bent down and peered inside the car.  Satisfied, he walked back to his booth and he and another guard each typed in a set of numbers.

They drove through the gate and into an underground parking structure.  Exiting the car they took an elevator down another floor, then walked along a hallway for what seemed like a few blocks.  There weren’t any doors along here and Kay was wondering where they were going.

Finally they stopped by an elevator door that was so well concealed she hardly realized it was there until Agent Smith punched a button.  They went up, then stepped into a dimly-lit hallway with a red carpet.

Up a short flight of stairs, then they stopped by a desk.  Both men showed their ID and laid their hands on a palm scanner.  The woman behind the desk went to a locked cabinet and removed a small wallet-type folder and handed it to Agent Smith.

Agent Smith turned and handed it to Kay.  “It’s your ID,” he said.  She flipped it open and there was her picture on one side, and one of the pictures of her disguised as the First Lady on the other side.  Another flip and there was all of her information.  She wondered where they got it from but was scared to ask.

“We need to do a palm scan, thumbprint, and retinal scan,” the woman said.  She waved Kay to come around the end of the desk.  She showed Kay how to lay her hand on the screen, then had her look into the a machine for the retinal scan.  Last, she had Kay press her thumb firmly on a pad connected to the computer.

She punched a few keys on the computer, then looked up and said, “Okay, you’re good to go.  Have a nice day!”

Kay followed the agents past the desk and into a warm, bright hallway.  Elegant paintings adorned the walls, and potted plants were clustered around a cushioned bench under a window.  They passed a lounge area with a few people sitting in it, some who seemed familiar to Kay but she didn’t have time to study them and figure out who they were.

“Holy crap!” Kay said, suddenly coming to a standstill in shock.  The agents stepped back and stood on either side of her, alarmed.

“What?  What is it?” they asked.  They held her elbows while she stood there, hyperventilating.

“That’s…” she squeaked.  “That’s… the Oval office!”

“Yes it is,” Agent Smith affirmed.

“We’re in the White House?” Kay asked incredulously.

“Yes.  You need to meet the President and First Lady before you get started on your training.

Kay struggled to breathe again.  “The President?  And First Lady?” she croaked.  Her head felt light.

“Do you need a minute?  You know, they’re really nice people.  Just pretend they’re… new neighbors or something,” Agent Smith reassured her.

Kay shot him a look.  “None of my neighbors come even close to being like the president and First Lady!  Trust me!” As a hasty afterthought she added in their defense, “But they are good people.”

The door abruptly opened and three men in suits stepped out.  Two of them walked away down the hall, and the third one ushered Kay and the Agents into the Oval Office.

Seated behind the most famous desk in the world was the president of the largest free nation in the world.  President Henry Jackson rose from the chair and walked around the desk.  His wife, First Lady Madeline Jackson, stood from her chair to the side and walked over to her husband.

Holding his hand out, the president said, “Hello, Kay.  I suppose you know who I am.”

Kay almost choked.  ‘Oh, my lord!  He knows my name!” she thought.  ‘Well, of course he does, you dummy.  Now shake his hand!’  She reached for his hand, smiled, and said, “Yes, Mr. President.  It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

‘Wow, I can’t believe it!  I actually spoke without tripping over my tongue’ Kay crowed to herself inside her head.

The President introduced her to his wife, then turned to the two agents.  “Fred!  Jack!  How are you doing?  Is this gal keeping you rogues in line?”

Kay heard the names and filed them away in her mind for future reference, then was drawn away by the first lady.

“I’m pleased to meet you,” Madeline said.  “You seem so young, and certainly prettier, than I am, but the make-up people are amazing.”

Now Kay felt tongue-tied.  She let the First Lady lead her to the comfortable chairs to the side of the President’s desk and they sat, partially facing each other.  Madeline’s small-talk soon put her at ease and she found herself answering comfortably.  Agent Smith was right, she thought.  They’re just people; the sort you’d like to have for neighbors.

“So, you have six children?  I think that’s lovely.  I’d like to see pictures of them some time,” Madeline smiled.  “We wanted at least three, but we just ended up with two.”

“Henry junior and Jennifer.  I’ve seen their pictures,” Kay said.  “They look like kids anyone would be proud of.”

“Yes, they’re good kids.  Good to us, too,” she said.  She leaned forward.  “I’d like to think I can trust you, since you’ll be posing as me.  I’ll share a secret with you.  We’re going to be grandparents!  Henry junior’s wife is expecting.  I’m so excited!”

“Oh!  That’s wonderful!” Kay said.  “Congratulations!”

“I can hardly believe it.  We’re not telling the press for a couple more weeks to give the kids a bit of privacy,” she said.  Then she was off on another subject.

A staff member rolled in a cart with coffee, tea, and an assortment of cookies and little cakes.  Kay allowed herself to be served a cup of tea, and she selected two cookies.  She noticed Madeline watching her, and wondered about that.

“Don’t be self-conscious.  This is a two-way street.  You’re supposed to imitate me, but,” Madeline said in a reassuring voice, “I like to watch my doubles and imitate them as well.  It makes it doubly-likely no one will catch on.”

“Oh!  That makes sense.  How thoughtful of you to think of that,” Kay said.  She was impressed that someone as important as the First Lady wouldn’t just assume everyone would do as she did without thought to making it easier for others.  She liked Madeline all the more.

After a while Agents Smith and Jones stood and cleared their throat.  “Ready to move on?” they asked Kay.

Kay nodded, brushed the crumbs off her fingers, and stood.  She turned back and offered her hand to Madeline.  “Nice to meet you!  Thanks for tea.”

“You’re welcome,” Madeline said.  “I’m sure we’ll meet again soon.”

The President shook her hand again too, then they left the Oval Office.  Kay didn’t even notice the route they took when they left, but after what seemed like miles of walking they went through a door into the sunshine.  They crossed a courtyard and went down an alley, then into another building.

The room they entered looked almost like a theater, without seating for an audience.  There were different “sets” lined up along one side.  Some were arranged to look like various dinner situations, others like cocktail parties.  Kay figured these were for practicing for real social engagements.  She wondered if she’d have to pretend to know what it was like to be expecting a grandchild, after the public was told.

A tall, skinny woman with gray hair and spectacles walked toward them.  Her glasses were so classic and old-fashioned that they could only be described as spectacles, and they suited her wonderfully.  She immediately made Kay think of a beloved school-teacher she’d had in grade school, and she felt warm.

“Kay, this is Mrs. Lorraine Hodgekins.  Lorraine, Kay.” Agent Smith handled the introduction.  He and Agent Jones stepped back and sat near the door.  They both began digging through the newspapers and magazines on a table in front of them, so Kay figured she was going to be here for a while.

Then she figured the newspapers and magazines had been there a while  when she heard Agent Jones say to Agent Smith, “First one to find something newer than 2009, wins!”

Agent Smith snorted.  “Last time you won, you offered me a dollar-burger from the value menu at McDonald’s!”

“It was good, though, admit it!” Agent Jones said, defending himself.  “Okay, this time we’ll make it two burgers.”

Lorraine smiled as she and Kay watched them for a moment, then she took Kay’s arm and led her to a small booth.  A video screen was at one end, and two comfortable chairs faced it.  The cubicle-like walls that surrounded them shut out the sounds from around the rest of the room and kept her focused.

“We start with videos of our original.  I’ll freeze it at times and we’ll discuss features of her movements, her facial expressions, and details about how she talks.  Then we’ll go up on the runway and practice,” she said, indicating the stage-like carpeted walkway next to a wall covered with a video screen.

“What about my voice?” Kay asked.  “I don’t think my voice sounds much like the First Lady.”

“Actually, my dear, I think it is quite similar,” Lorraine assured her.  “It’s really not all that important anyway.  Surprisingly, most people don’t notice unless there’s something pronounced about a person’s voice.  They’re more likely to pick out little nuances like body language and facial expressions.  Especially members of the press.”  She said ‘press’ with a sour curl to her lips.  Kay smiled.

For the next hour they watched videos that showed the First Lady at several events.  Lorraine pointed out things about the way Madeline walked, how she held or moved her arms when talking and when listening, and certain tilts of the head or timing of smiles.

‘I’ll never be able to pass myself off as this woman!’ Kay thought to herself.  She frowned and leaned closer to the screen.

“See, that frown on your face as you leaned in to the TV, that’s exactly what Madeline does when she’s concentrating!  I didn’t see you doing that when we first started,” Lorraine pointed out.  “You’re already assimilating some of Madeline’s body language.”

“So, should I watch these tapes before each time I go out as her?” Kay asked.

“Actually, yes.  Some of it anyway.  It’s a good refresher.”  Lorraine stood.  “Let’s go to the runway now.”

Lorraine had Kay stand at one end of it and the screen lit up with a video of people talking and sipping at drinks.  “Okay, watch.  Here comes Madeline with the President.  See how they touch people lightly on the elbow as they talk to them?  They’re taught that.  It’s not a natural behavior for most people.”

Kay watched.  Her arm twitched as she imagined herself as Madeline; as being inside Madeline, looking out of her eyes.  Lorraine pointed toward their feet and told her to watch how they walked.  “I don’t see anything.  What am I looking for?” asked Kay.

“Very good.  There’s nothing remarkable about how most people walk.  Just let your feet and legs carry you where you need to go.  The majority of body language with a personal stamp happens above the waist,” Lorraine explained.

Back and forth Kay walked on the platform, so absorbed in the life-size video playing alongside her on the wall that she actually turned in toward some people and reached to lightly touch their elbow.  All sense of self-conscious went away.  She was focused on the world in the video.

Lorraine wandered over by Agents Smith and Jones, who had laid down their magazines and were watching Kay.  “This is amazing!” Lorraine commented.  “She’s really getting the hang of this.”

“I think she missed her calling.  She should have been an actress,” Agent Smith said.

“There’s more to acting than imitating.  Let’s see how she does when she has to think for herself,” said Agent Jones.  He rose and walked over to the stage.

“Oh, Mrs. Jackson, it’s nice to see you tonight.  How are the children?” Agent Jones spoke to Kay in a droll tone of voice, then raised in imaginary glass to his mouth as he looked into her eyes.

Kay stuttered.  “I- I- um, I-, uh, it’s nice to see you too.  The children… Hey, this isn’t fair!”  He didn’t have the sunglasses on and she was flustered at seeing his eyes, and she couldn’t process the question.

“The children are always well, or doing fine, or busier than ever, or anything vague and positive.  But we’re not to that part of the coaching yet,” said Lorraine.  She swatted at Agent Jones.  “Back to your chair!”

He pretended to cringe as he turned to leave, and ran with a yelp when he saw the daggers coming from Kay’s eyes.  He fell into his chair laughing.

“Boys!” said Lorraine, rolling her eyes.  “Come on, let’s stop for lunch.  It’ll still be lesson time, since I’ll be telling you what Madeline likes to eat, and how she eats it.  Fortunately, she is known for constantly varying what she eats.  She doesn’t seem to have favorites.  She likes everything.”

“Ahhhh, sometimes she almost seems like a soul twin!  I like just about everything too, and I hate having the same thing all the time,” sighed Kay.

“And she sure can eat!” added Agent Jones, earning himself another look from Kay.  The four of them went out the door together.

Over the next few days Kay was kept busy watching more videos, practicing walking, sitting, and talking, and reading through lists and descriptions of just about everything related to the First Lady and who she was as a person.

She was coached repeatedly about Madeline’s childhood and life, and given Madeline’s memoirs to read, which had yet to be published, but had been written with the help of a ghost writer.  Publishing would come after they left the White House, in either three or seven years, depending whether Henry Jackson was re-elected.

One day they took her to a room with mats on the floor.  A burly man in a black sweat suit stood at one end as though he was about to perform a ritual.

“This is Igor,” Agent Smith said, indicating the man.  “He’ll teach you some basic defense and escape maneuvers.”

“Defense and escape?  No no no no no, what are you getting me in to?” Kay asked, her mouth suddenly dry.  “I thought this was all safe and everything.  Why would I need to know defense and escape?”

“Sometimes fans of the president or first lady are jostled or abused inadvertently, and sometimes they’re not exactly fans, especially about unpopular policies,” explained Agent Smith.

“And then there’s the media,” offered Agent Jones.  A look from Agent Smith silenced him.

“Do I have to do this?  I’ve watched my kids do Tae Kwon Do for the last six years.  Plus, I’ve been breaking up their fights for something like 15 years.  Does that count?” Kay asked.

They shook their heads and pushed her to the center of the mat.  Igor was a good teacher and she soon relaxed.  He taught her some joint locks and ways of escaping from them if someone did them to her.  Most of what he taught her was various escape methods.  Apparently she wasn’t to be the aggressor, just to get out of the situation.

Agent Smith and Agent Jones reassured her that they had no intention of leaving her unprotected or letting anything happen to her, but that sometimes crowds had a way of separating them.  She needed to know how to manage a situation if one arose.

Finally, she was made up as the First Lady and taken to have lunch with the woman herself.  Kay knew instinctively that they were back in the White House when they emerged onto the red carpet once more.

They walked into a small dining room where three people were already seated.  One of them was Madeline, wearing the same dress and hairstyle as Kay.  The other two were identical males.  Two President Henry Jacksons stood and gave her a slight bow, a small smile, and held out their hands.

Kay stepped forward and shook hands with both.  She looked in amazement from one to the other.  They looked back with identical looks of amusement.  ‘Wow!  Good training!’ Kay thought, impressed.

Madeline slipped her arm through Kay’s elbow and walked with her to a mirror above a tall vase of flowers.  “Look” she urged.

Staring into the mirror Kay didn’t think either reflection was herself.  When she tilted her head, it was very strange to see that head in the mirror do the same, because she couldn’t feel herself inside of it.

“I wish I could be made up as you so I could know what it feels like,” Madeline said wistfully.  “I feel a connection with you.  I know you’ll do me justice, taking my place.”

Kay no longer thought about it as just a cop-out for rich and famous people, to have a double.  She’d seen the First Lady’s social calendar, and she was definitely over-booked.  She never knew they ran the First Lady so ragged.  She wondered what her first “event” would be.  She already knew which ones she would have picked off the calendar if it had been up to her.

She also knew which ones she hoped she didn’t have to go to.  But it wouldn’t be up to her.  She had jokingly asked about it.

“If you get to be close to Madeline, you might find yourselves discussing it, but in the meanwhile, you’re not to bring it up with her,” Agent Smith had cautioned her.

The two sets of ‘twins’ and their secret service agents were seated at the tables.  Waiters brought in food, and everyone ate in silence.  Kay kept sneaking peeks at the two presidents.  They sat on the opposite side of the table, and Kay had lost track of which one was the real one, if she’d even known in the first place.

It was possible that the first one that had walked toward her and took her hand was the double.  It may have been planned that way.

They weren’t eating in unison or trying to parrot each other.  In fact, at the moment they were having a conversation with each other.  She saw Madeline watching them with idle interest and leaned toward her and said, “That’s a new twist on talking to yourself, isn’t it?”

Madeline laughed.  “It is!  And they’re so good that right now, I’m not even certain which one is my husband!”

The door opened and an aide walked toward their table.  “Mr. President?” he said, holding a clipboard.

Both heads turned and looked at him.  “Yes?” they said as one.

“Quit that!  You know I hate it when you do that!” he said.  “You’re giving me an ulcer.”

“Okay, okay.  What do you have, Gerry?” one of the ‘presidents’ said, getting serious.  The aide handed him the sheet of paper from the clipboard.  The president studied it, then said gravely, “I’ll take care of it right away.  Excuse me, please.”

The aide turned and left the room ahead of him.  When the door closed behind him, the president that had stood turned back and handed the paper to the other one.  “Here, Henry.  I guess I still have to let you tend to the real stuff.”

The other one rose, took the paper, and left the room.  Madeline and Kay started in surprise.  They had both been fooled.

Kay stood and turned to Madeline.  “Kay, it’s been lovely meeting you.  I hope you’ve enjoyed learning how to be me.  If you have any questions, please let me know.”

Madeline took up the game right away.  “Thank you, Madeline.  I think I’m ready.  It’s been great getting to know you, and to be you.”

Kay walked toward the door as if she was about to leave.

“Not so fast, Kay!  You didn’t fool me!” said Agent Jones.  “I know you’re not really Madeline.”

Kay faltered.  She stopped and looked uncertainly at him, then at Madeline.  The real Madeline stood and looked at Kay.

“He didn’t really know.  He was testing you.  Never let anyone undermine your confidence.  You have to be so convincing that even you believe you are me,” she said.

Kay marched over and stood in front of Agent Jones.  He stared stonily back into her eyes, then pulled out his sunglasses and put them on his face.  Kay might as well be staring at a wall then.

She took hold of his tie and pulled it toward her and said, “Watch it, Jack!”  Even with the sunglasses on she could see the shock on his face as she called him by his first name.

He recovered quickly and said, “Jack who?”  Kay just smiled and walked back to the table.

“If you children are done playing, I believe we have a plane to catch!” said Agent Smith.

“You mean I’m going home?” Kay asked.  “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?  Does that mean I’m ready, or that I’ve failed altogether and you’re sending me home?”  She was flustered.

“You’re ready.  For now.  Before each assignment you’ll be given specialized tutoring.”  He opened the door and stood waiting.

Kay said good-bye to the real Madeline, then hurried to the door.  Agent Jones followed and pulled the door shut behind them.

Dressed in her own clothes again, Kay climbed into the black car for the ride to the airport.  She had the mirrored sunglasses on and was giving both agents a bit of the brush-off.  They ignored her.

Once the jet was in the air Agent Jones pulled out a deck of cards.  “Rematch?” he asked.

“You like losing?” Kay asked saucily.

“I thought you were the mother of six kids, not one of the six kids!” Agent Jones retorted.

“Children!  Behave!” Agent Smith said.  “Let’s play something three can play.  Toss those.  How about ‘Uno’?”

“Ewwww, Uno?” said Agent Jones.

“Yeah, ewwww.  Bring those cards back, Jack.  Let’s play poker!” Kay said.

“Quit calling him Jack,” warned Agent Jones.

“Okay, Fred,” she said.

Chapter 3

The first Assignment

Kay stirred the pungently-scented mess in the kettle on her stove while mentally calculating how many jars, and which size, she was going to need for canning the salsa she was making.  The house smelled wonderful.  She wondered if she had time to make homemade tortilla chips so they could sample the salsa.

“Mom!  Mom!  The guys with the sunglasses are back!” called Brandon as he came in the front screen door, letting it slam behind him.

‘Back?’ thought Kay in shock.  ‘No phone call or anything… just back?’  She turned the heat down and rested the wooden spoon against the side of the kettle.  With a sigh, she wiped her hands on the apron and headed to the front door.

The old Dodge pick-up truck was just stopping in front of the porch.  Two faces with mirrored sunglasses stared at her through the windshield.  She stared back.  ‘No.  You show up unannounced, you can get out of the truck and come to me!’ she muttered to herself.

After what seemed to be a brief consultation they got out of the truck.  Walking around the front of it they leaned against the hood and folded their arms.

“Go back in the house!” Kay told the kids, gently but firmly.  They reluctantly went back in.  She walked down the steps and across the yard.  “You didn’t call this time.”

“Sorry about that.  This came up quickly.  Madeline is sick.  We need you to attend a presentation at an art gallery this evening, and a luncheon tomorrow,” Agent Smith said.

“Why can’t the government just say ‘hey, Madeline is sick’ and get her out of those things?” Kay asked.  “Isn’t she allowed to be fallable?”

“In the interest of not offending the foreign dignitaries that have traveled halfway around the world to attend these events with the First Lady, we prefer to simply have you fill in for her and avoid such a thing,” Agent Smith supplied.

Kay looked from one to the other.  “Simply?  What makes you think it’s so simple for me to drop what I’m doing and trot off to cultural and social events at your whim!”

“What could be more important than helping your country?” asked Agent Jones.

“Canning the huge kettle of salsa that is simmering on my stove as we speak, and you better hope it isn’t scorching!” Kay said scathingly.

“For what we’re paying you, couldn’t you just buy Salsa?” asked Agent Smith.

“Or pay someone to can it for you?” Agent Jones suggested.

Kay stared at them.  Suddenly she smiled.  She pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open.  Holding it to her head, her eyes never leaving them, she said into the phone, “Mom?  I’ll pay you $100 if you’ll come over and run my salsa through the canner tonight.”

Minutes later Dan and the kids were waving good-bye to her from the front porch while Kay rode away with the agents.

“$100?” Agent Jones said, shaking his head.  “Cheapskate!”

“Hey!  If I offered her more she’d be suspicious.  How would I explain it if I told her I’d pay her a thousand dollars if she canned my salsa for me?” Kay said, defending herself.

“Still… $100.” Agent Jones clucked.

“My grandmother canned.  I didn’t know anyone still did,” said Agent Smith.

Kay looked at him and thought she detected a bit of sadness, or perhaps just sentiment.  It was the first peek she’d ever had into the personal life of either agent.  “Some of us do,” she said softly.

The flight this time wasn’t fun and games.  As soon as they were airborne they slapped a folder in front of Kay.

“How good are you at matching names and faces?” Agent Smith asked.

“Terrible,” Kay admitted.  “I hardly recognize my own family in a crowd.  Why?”

“Because you only have one hour to match names and bios with these faces,” he replied.

“What?” Kay howled.  “I can’t do that!”

“Better give it your best try.  These are people you’re about to meet, and they think you already know them!” he told her.

“Fortunately for you, none of them know her very well.  However, most of them will expect her to at least remember who they are,” added Agent Jones.

“This is a small event, so there aren’t as many people you need to memorize,” Agent Smith said.  He flipped the book open.  “See how it’s laid out?  There are four photos of the person.  One is a posed ‘still’, and the other three are candid shots from other events.  The idea is to let you see them at different angles to make it easier to recognize them.”

He moved his hand down below the pictures and pointed.  “Here’s their basic information.  It’s not all that important… age, birthday, height, weight.  The important stuff is under it.  It’s the little details they’ll assume you know.  Madeline wrote that part herself, since… well, she would know.”

Kay read the info on the first person.  It was actually quite interesting.  She slowly worked her way through the book, then went through it a second time.  Then Agent Smith took the book away.  He tossed a loose picture on the lap tray, face down.

“Turn it over,” he instructed.  She turned it face up, and he continued.  “Who is that?”

Kay looked at the face.  She noticed the ears on the woman’s head.  They were slightly heart-shaped, which she had used to make a recognition connection, and she said “Lisa Hartford.”

Agent Smith was surprised but didn’t snow it.  “And you know her how?”

“She was a friend of my mother’s.  When I was a child she would visit with her daughter, who was several years younger than me but we still played together.  Her daughter was killed in a plane crash in 1987,” Kay recited.

“Very good!” he complimented her.  “This one?”  He slapped another picture on the tray.

“Avery Johnson,” Kay said.  “He served in the military with my brother, and they came to our house on leave once.  He asked me out to dinner and pestered me endlessly for another date, and I didn’t want to go out with him any more.  He still flirts sometimes, but backed off after I married Henry.”

“How did you memorize all that so quickly?’ asked Agent Jones.  “I thought you were bad about matching faces and names.”

“You didn’t ask how good my memory is about things I’ve read.  It’s pretty decent,” Kay said proudly.  “Plus, I used association.  See?  This woman’s ears are heart-shaped.  Her last name is Hartford.  I just had to remember what information went with Hartford.”

“What about this guy?  What association did you see in him?” Agent Smith asked, pointing at Avery Johnson’s picture.

“Oh, he looks like he thinks he’s big and important, so I figured he’s impressed with his own ‘Johnson’…”  Kay’s voice dwindled in embarassment.  The two agents guffawed and bent over laughing.

The plane landed and a black car whisked them to the make-up building, where Kay was recreated into Madeline, and once again whisked away in a black car.  When the two agents walked up the stairs with her at the Art Museum she looked at them questioningly.

“The First Lady is always shadowed by the Secret Service,” Agent Smith whispered discreetly. Kay nodded.

She was ushered into the reception room by faceless attendants.  A waitor glided up to her and held the tray at a respectful distance and waited for her to either select something or dismiss him.

For a moment her mind went blank, then she remembered what Madeline had said.  “Have you any seltzer water?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am.  I shall return immediately with it,” he said reverently, then glided away.  A moment later he was back, a lone glass in the middle of a round, brown tray.

Kay thanked him, took glass, and turned away.  She walked further into the room and spotted Allison Gentry, another of the faces from the folder.

“Allison!  How was France?  Did Carlos get back in time to go with you?” Kay asked as she lightly brushed the woman’s elbow with her hand.

The woman turned and looked at Kay.  “Oh, Madeline, France was wonderful this time of year!  I bought 7 new coats!  Thanks for letting me in on that wonderful secret about off-season shopping!” she gushed.  “No, Carlos didn’t go with me, but I talked my neice into going along.  We had quite a wonderful time!”

Kay remembered Andrea telling her that each of these women had their special word.  With Allison it was “wonderful”.  Everything would be wonderful when this woman talked.

As Andrea transformed Kay into Madeline earlier this afternoon she filled her in on these little nuances.  Apparently Madeline’s word was “lovely”.  Everything was lovely.  It’s a lovely day, Isn’t that a lovely sweater, Oh that would be so lovely, How lovely of you to come.

Someone lightly touched her elbow and she turned.  Another woman was standing there, and Kay panicked trying to remember who she was.  It just wasn’t coming to her.  Agent Smith stepped forward.

“Mrs. Oleander, I don’t know if you remember me,” he began, “but your son and I were on the rowing team together at Harvard.  How is William these days?”

Kay shot him a grateful look.  He had triggered her memory and gotten her over the awkward moment.  Mrs. Oleander looked annoyed that a mere Secret Service agent would address her in public.  Agent Smith had stepped over the line for her, Kay realized.

“He’s doing fantastic, as always.  Excuse me!” she huffed, turning her back to him and dragging Kay long by the elbow.  “Can you believe how forward these agents are becoming?” she bristled in Kay’s ear.

“Oh, I think it’s lovely that he was thoughtful enough to ask after your son!  What a lovely young man William must be for an agent to have fond memories of their college years together,” Kay said demurely.

The other woman was taken aback for a moment, then said uncertainly, “yes.  Yes, I suppose.”  After a moment she wandered off, and Agent Smith returned Kay’s grateful look.  She gave a barely imperceptible nod of her head and went in search of others to test her memory on.

After a period of socializing and mingling everyone drifted toward their seats.  Kay remember where they told her she was expected to sit, and she went there and sat down.  Third seat from the left, front row.

She was comforted to see Agents Smith and Jones standing discreetly along the wall nearby.  Mirrored sunglasses still on their faces, of course.  More agents lined up next to them and across the room.  She assumed they were all here with other important people.

Someone sat on the seat to her right.  She turned and saw the wife of the Vice-President.  Or, she wondered, was it a double?  She had been instructed to never ask, never hint about it, and never indicate that she was aware doubles were ever used.  She was to maintain that she was, indeed, Madeline, at all costs.

During the presentation Kay had a hard time maintaining an interested look on her face.  Coming from a life where people actually worked hard to sustain life, she thought a lot of the artsy stuff was a waste of time and resources.  She wondered how Madeline really felt about it.  No matter.  She was told to look interested at least, if not outright fascinated.

Afterward there was a brief time of refreshments and farewells, then she was whisked to a private room by the agents.

“Okay, you’re about to run the gauntlet.  The media will be thick out there.  Keep walking, but don’t rush.  Look around and smile, but don’t make eye contact, and don’t answer their questions, no matter how nice they are, or how pushy they are,” Agent Smith instructed.

“Be careful of the ones they ask for shock value,” cautioned Agent Jones.  “Those are the ones that get your picture on the front page!”

Kay looked back and forth between them.  “Do I have to do this?” she asked wearily.  Right now she wouldn’t trade places with the First Lady for anything… but then, she had already traded places with her by signing a contract to be her double.

“We’ll be right there with you, one on each side, escorting you to the car.  We can run a lot of the interference for you.  Just move along with us,” Agent Smith said.

“Okay.  Let’s do it,” she said, standing up and pulling her jacket together.

They left the private room and headed for the main entrance.  As they stepped outside flashbulbs popped all around them.  Questions were shouted from both sides and Kay looked blindly around, trying not to appear wild and crazy.  She forced a half-smile to her lips and let the agents move her through the crowd.

Before she realized it they were pushing her head down and ensconcing her on the seat of the car, and the doors closed.  Blissful silence filled the car, and Kay slumped against the back of the seat.  The car moved through the crowd, which separated to let the car leave.

Another round of flashes went off behind them.  Kay turned her head and watched as yet another woman was helped from the building to a car amidst the crowd of reporters.  She couldn’t live that way, she thought.

“Kay?  How are you doing?  Do you need anything?  Food?  Something to drink?” Agent Jones asked in concern.

“I could use a hamburger,” Agent Smith said.  “Those horror-derves they serve at these things wouldn’t fill a parakeet.”

“Shall I ask the driver to swing through McDonald’s?” asked Agent Jones.

“You guys really eat at McDonald’s?” asked Kay.

“Of course!  Doesn’t everyone?” said Agent Smith.

“Well, sometimes we go to Little Caesar’s for a ready-to-go pepperoni pizza!” pointed out Agent Jones.

“Remember that time we went to Taco Bell?  We should do that again some time,” said Agent Smith.  Both started laughing.

“What’s funny?  What happened at Taco Bell?” Kay asked.

“They kept reassuring us that all their employees were legal!” Agent Jones choked out between laughs.

“Great!” groaned Kay as she sat back between them.  “Even the Secret Service men have brains that never made it out of Junior High!”

“Back to the castle, driver,” Agent Smith called.  To Kay and agent Jones he said, “we’ll wake up the chef and he can make us a snack.  In fact, I’ll call ahead.”

They went through a gate and parked in an underground garage.  Kay was pretty sure it was the one they were at last time.  Moments later when they stepped out of the elevator onto a red carpet, she knew where they were.

“The chef?  Did you mean the President’s chef?  The White House Chef?” she asked.

“Of course.  What did you think I meant?” he asked.  They led her straight to the kitchen where they all enjoyed a late-night snack of cheeseburgers and fries in the White House kitchen.

Kay was trying to take it all in but she was nodding off to sleep.  They walked her to another part of the building and she couldn’t even remember if they got on the elevator at all.

They entered a suite of rooms.  Kay was to sleep in a room that was guarded by the secret service agents.  It had a bed on each side of the room, and an intruder would have to go between them to get to the door to Kay‘s room.  Once they were in bed invisible laser lights would sound an alarm if anyone walked through.  Kay wondered why a ‘double’ would get such protection.

But she didn’t wonder long.  She fell into deep sleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.

The next morning Kay dressed in her own clothes and sat in a chair by a window, reading a book she found on a shelf next to the window.  Seconds later she laid the book on the small table next to her and got up and paced the room.  She came back to the window again and pulled the sheer curtains aside.

She recognized the yard from movies and pictures.  It was the backyard of the White House.  No one was out on the lawn.  On the other side of the iron fence she could see the street filled with morning traffic, and people walking on the sidewalk.  Buildings went off every direction.

As exciting as it all seemed, she preferred the quiet and tranquility of their farm in the country.  She wondered if she’d hear birds if she sat on the White House Lawn.

There was a knock on the door and she hurried to open it.  Agent Smith filled the doorway.  “Come on, let’s get breakfast.  Agent Jones isn’t quite human until he gets his coffee and doughnut.”

Kay eagerly followed him out of the room, and the three of them left the suite.  Breakfast was served Continental style.  She dished up scrambled eggs and sausage, and popped a couple of waffles in the toaster.  Walking by a tray of doughnuts and sweet rolls she grabbed a cinnamon roll.

After setting her tray on a table next to the two agents she went back for a glass of orange juice and a cup of coffee.  Agent Jones sat down with a cup of coffee and two doughnuts.

Kay watched him for a moment, then casually asked, “Did you walk a beat or drive a patrol?”

“I did a beat for a while, then--” he began.

“Jones!” Agent Smith warned.

Agent Jones looked from Agent Smith to Kay and back.  He cleared his throat and took a bite of doughnut, chewing slowly.  After a sip of coffee he asked Kay, “how did you know?”

“Well, duh!  The coffee and doughnuts!  Everyone knows that’s what cops live on,” she said.  “Sorry,” she said, as an afterthought.

“I knew an officer once that didn’t even like doughnuts,” Jones said.

Agent Smith sighed.  “Finish your breakfasts.  We have work to do.”

“What’s the schedule for today?” Kay asked between bites.

“You have a couple hours to pass this morning, so we‘re going to go over pictures and bios for the luncheon, as well as specific protocol to this event, and step-by-step of what and where you should go.  We have a diagram of the floor plan and seating arrangements, so you shouldn’t have many surprises.  Then at 10:30 you need to go over to Gino and Andrea for your makeover.  Oh, and Madeline wanted us to bring you by before we head over there,” said Agent Smith.

“Madeline wants to see me?” Kay asked.  She hoped that was a good thing.

They threw their trash away and stacked the trays.  As she followed the agents through the maze of hallways and elevators, and even a flight of stairs, she wondered how long it took to become so familiar with all the routes.

Finally they stopped beside a door.  “This is Madeline’s sitting room,” said Agent Smith.  A Secret Service agent was seated on a chair in the small foyer near the door.  He spoke quietly into a microphone attached to an earpiece, and the door opened.

A woman in a uniform motioned for Kay to come in.  “She’s resting over here near the window,” the woman said.

Kay entered the room and saw Madeline sitting in a chair identical to the one she herself had been sitting in this morning.  The same table sat next to it, and matching bookshelves stood beside the window, which was covered with the same type of sheer curtains.

“Good morning, Kay,” Madeline said in a tired, scratchy voice.  Kay walked over and sat in the chair facing her.  Madeline’s eyes were puffy and red, and her hair was a mess.  “Jilly, we’ll be all right.  Why don’t you go have your breakfast while Kay and I talk.”

The woman nodded and left the room.  When they were alone, Kay spoke.  “Good morning.  You don’t look so good, Madeline.  I mean, no offense or anything.”

“None taken,” she smiled sadly.  “Remember I told you I was going to be a Grandma?  Well, it’s not to be.  Henry’s lovely wife, Gracie, lost the baby yesterday morning.  It turns out she was carrying twins, and they’re both gone.”  She stifled a sniffle.

“Oh!  I’m so sorry,” Kay said compassionately, putting a hand on the First Lady’s arm.  Madeline reached up and squeezed Kay’s hand, then left hers over Kay’s.

“I was already coming down with a cold, and we could have treated the symptoms and I would have gone to the museum last night, but when I heard about the babies---” her voice broke and a tear slid down her cheek.  “Well, I just couldn’t.  I’m grateful we never told the press.  Now the kids can mourn privately.

“How are they doing?” Kay asked gently.

“They’re crushed, but optimistic about having the chance again in the future to start a family.  I think it hasn’t completely hit them yet,” Madeline said.  “You know, they had me tell you about the pregnancy to see if you would leak it to the press.  To test your discretion.  If you had, then when the press released it we would have simply confirmed it.”

“But I would have been out of a job, right?” Kay asked.  Never had it even passed through her mind to tell anyone.  She hadn’t even told her husband.  She had felt it was such an honor to be trusted with the news that she wouldn’t have ever considered violating that trust.

“Yes,” was all Madeline said.

“Who would have believed me anyway?” Kay asked ruefully.  “No one knows I’m your ‘double’, and in real life I don’t even look like you, as you can see looking at me right now.  The media and everyone else would have assumed I was some kind of nut case!”

“They would have at first.  Once it was officially released they would have been back to find out what else you know,” said Madeline.  “It’s really in your own best interest to not even let the media get a foot hold with you.  You’ll never get rid of them if you do.”

“I’m starting to see that.  I couldn’t believe the mob outside the museum last night,” said Kay, shaking her head.

“You know what I wish?” asked Madeline.  She laid her head against the back of the chair and looked dreamily at the ceiling.  “I wish Gino and Andrea could make me up as you, and I could go live your life for a day!”

“I wish I could take you home with me for a couple days!” Kay said enthusiastically.  “I’d love to introduce my kids to you, and show you our house and the garden, and sit on the porch with you and listen to the birds in the trees!”

“How lovely it sounds!” Madeline said.

The uniformed woman returned, and Agent Smith told Kay they needed to leave.  She bade farewell to Madeline and asked her to pass on her condolences to Henry, Jr. and Gracie.

Moments later Kay was seated in the beautician’s chair and Gino and Andrea were happily re-creating her as Madeline.  Her hair was pinned down and a coiffed wig placed on her head.  She was given a silk pantsuit to wear.  It was black with thin white stripes, and a white blouse underneath.  A red scarf finished it off.

“Okay, off we go,” Agent Smith said when they were done.

“With a heigh and a ho!” said Agent Jones, who received a look of reprimand from Agent Smith.

“Jack, grow up!” Kay said.  To lessen the edge she smiled slightly and touched his elbow.

“Oooh, ick, she touched me!” said Agent Jones, dramatically pulling his arm back and wiping it off.

“In a minute I’m going to ask her to hit you!” growled Agent Smith.

They climbed into the black car and the driver nosed the car out into the traffic.  They had told Kay the driver’s name was James, which was interesting to her because they also told her the pilot’s name was James.  She wondered if it really was a coincidence or their names really weren’t ‘James’.

The luncheon was a fund raiser for a group that promoted literacy among minorities.  They raised money to teach them to read, and to buy books for this cause.  Madeline was known as someone who loved reading, and who’s passion was education and children.

James pulled into a circular drive and stopped in front of a carpeted sidewalk.  Valets were on hand to help Kay out of the car, even though Agents Smith and Jones were used to doing that.

“Mrs. Jackson,” they acknowledged respectfully.  She knew the protocol of her assumed station and raised her chin in response, and walked briskly toward the doors, leaving the agents to follow slightly behind and on each side of her.  There was no need to protect her from mobs here.

Recalling the diagram, and knowing that the real Madeline had been here dozens of times, she walked confidently through the foyer and turned left down a hallway.  They took the elevator to the top floor, and Kay led the way to the banquet room.

She took a quick breath of air when she saw the magnificent view of the Potomic River and the city surrounding it, but refrained from exclaiming and gawking.  Seeing her reaction and how well she controlled it, Agent Smith subtly moved closer and murmured, “yes, it’s pretty awesome!”  Agent Jones gave a barely perceptible nod of agreement.

Kay circulated and greeted people.  She tried not to mix them up, digging through the hastily-memorized bios of these people.  Sometimes she made leading statements so they would say something to trigger her memory.

She got thrown off guard a couple times when people asked questions she didn’t know the answer to.  One time she managed to ‘suddenly remember’ something she wanted to ask them, and the question to her was forgotten.  The next time she wasn’t going to be able to gloss it over.  Her mind raced and she was about to panic.

Feeling a faint tickle in her throat she gave a cough, then exaggerated it into a coughing fit.  She choked out as proper an apology as she could, and excused herself to find something to drink to ease her cough.

“Oh, dear, Madeline, I do hope you’re not coming down with something!” the woman said.

Kay waved her hand back and forth in acknowldegement and dismissal and kept up her pretend coughing fit as she hurried over to the table covered with drinks and hors d’oeuvres. She took a glass of water and sipped from it.

“Nice save, Bonzo!” whispered Agent Jones.  She shot him a squirrely look.  A small group of women approached, so the agents discreetly edged back a little, then moved to stand along the wall.  Kay was a bit insecure without them by her side, but she continued to move among the other guests.

She was grateful when everyone began moving to the tables and sitting.  She already knew who would be seated around her, and had paid special attention to their information.  This actually was turning out to be kind of fun, she thought.

The food left a lot to be desired, in her opinion.  Plates of salad and raw vegetables were placed in front of them.  The salads were rich with shredded cheese and chopped boiled eggs among the greens and vegetables.  Bowls of croutons were placed on the tables, but most of the women avoided them.

Kay pulled one over by her plate and scooped three spooonfuls of them onto her salad.  The woman across from her asked, “Madeline, are you not on the South Beach diet any more?”

“No, I wasn’t finding it effective,” Kay answered.  She forked a spoonful of lettuce and croutons into her mouth and crunched away at it.  After she swallowed she dabbed at her lips with her napkin and said, “I’ve been studying the Paleo diet and thinking of giving it a try,” referring to one she’d heard of lately on the internet and actually knew nothing about.

“Oh!  I’ve been reading about that,” said another woman.  Soon the women around her were happily discussing that diet plans, and Kay was left alone to munch her rabbit food and bread crumbs.

She almost rolled her eyes when they came around and served everyone a bowl of fruit salad for dinner.  It had about a tablespoon of whipped topping on top of the mound of fruit.  Most of the women carefully lifted it off and discarded it on the side, but Kay ate hers without comment.

Kay was relieved when it was finally time to go.  They went straight to the airport and the other James was ready with the jet.  Once in the air she changed back into her own clothes, washed her face and combed out her hair.  She carefully hung the silk suit on a hanger and left it in the changing room.   The agents would get it cleaned and return it to Madeline.

“Tired?” Agent Jones asked as she slumped in the seat across the aisle from him.

“Yes.  And hungry.  For real food, that is,” she said.

Agent Smith returned from the changing room.  He was wearing blue jeans and a blue t-shirt.  “Come dig around in the cabinet.  There’s all kinds of food in there.”

Kay followed him to the small galley.  “What happened to the overalls?”

“These are more suitable.  Those guys in ‘Undercover’ thought it was a hilarious joke to send us out in those,” said Agent Smith.

Kay stood in front of the open cabinet and gazed in wonder at dozens of varieties of snack cakes, cookies, chips, nuts, pocket pies, jerky sticks, and microwavable soup cups.  Agent Smith directed her to the refrigerator.  Several choices of sandwiches were available, and microwavable cheeseburgers and chicken patty sandwiches.

“Help yourself,” he said.  He pulled out a burger, slashed the wrapper, and tossed it in the microwave.  While it cooked he popped open a can of cola and tore open a pocket pie and started to eat it.

“Eating your dessert before dinner, Fred?  Shame on you!” teased Kay.

“Don’t call me Fred,” was all he said.

“Okay, Fred,” Kay said. At his look she said, “Oops!  I meant Agent Smith.  Why is it still such a big deal?”

“It just is.  Keeps things clean,” he said.  Kay looked puzzled but didn’t say anything.

“It’s classified,” said Agent Jones mysteriously, coming out of the changing room.  He was wearing blue jeans and a green polo shirt.

Kay found that funny and laughed.  She pulled a ham and cheese sandwich out of the fridge, then reached back in for a root beer just as she was closing it.  A chocolate fudge snack cake rounded out her lunch.

By the time they finished their food and cleaned up the mess, the plane was landing.  Kay was delivered back home in the old pick-up truck.  She asked them to let her out at the end of the driveway and she walked alone in the late afternoon sunshine.

No one heard her come.  She climbed the steps and sat on the porch swing and listened to the birds singing in the trees around the house.

Chapter 4

Adventure Afar!

Three weeks passed with no call or visit from the Secret Service men.  Kay relaxed back into every day life as though being “Madeline” was just a dream she’d had.  She saw Madeline and the President on the news and was glad to see Madeline looking better.

She could detect the sorrow lines, but only because she knew Madeline was grieving.  To others, she probably just looked tired, which was normal for someone in her position with such a busy schedule.

The European Union was having a conference, and one of the events was a women’s conference.  She saw that the First Lady had been invited, as well as the wives of world leaders from around the globe.  It was to be held in Switzerland, while some of the other meetings and events would take place in Paris and Frankfurt.

After lunch one day Kay walked out to the mailbox to get the mail.  Her youngest daughter, Amanda, walked with her.  They held hands and swung their arms, laughing and singing silly songs.  Just as Kay pulled out a handful of mail the old pick-up truck pulled up next to her.

“We need you,” Agent Smith said, after he rolled down the window.

“Now?” Kay asked.  “For what?  I didn’t see anything on Madeline’s schedule before the European conference.”

“I know,” he said quietly.

Kay stared quietly at him.  She wondered if he meant what she thought he meant.  Glancing down at Amanda, she looked back at Agent Smith and said, “you can’t mean…”

He nodded his head and sat quietly.  Agent Jones looked ahead, out the windshield.  They were both very serious and, she thought, a bit troubled.

“Would you like to come up to the house for tea and pie?” she asked.  “Do you have time?”

They looked at each other.  “Yes, we can enjoy some tea and pie while you pack,” Agent Smith said pointedly.

Kay cringed.  She hated the short notice, especially if they were going to send her to Europe.  A twinge of excitement coursed through her though.  Europe!  Imagine that!

The truck drove up the driveway and Kay followed with Amanda.  “Can I pour tea for them?” the little girl asked when they reached the kitchen.

“I was hoping you would!” Kay said enthusiastically and gave the little girl a hug.  She plopped ice cubes in two tall plastic cups, then set them on the table.  Amanda carefully carried the pitcher of tea from the refrigerator, her tongue between her teeth.

She filled both cups, then gave a huge sigh of relief and returned the pitcher to the fridge.  Kay set two pie pans on the table.  “Peach or apple?” she asked.  They looked back and forth between the pans.  Kay cut them a slice of each.

“How many days?  How much stuff do I need?” she asked.

“Mommy!  Are you leaving?” Amanda asked.  Her face screwed up like she might cry.

Kay crouched down near her and looked at her.  She patted the little girl’s back and said, “Yes, Mommy has to go do some of that substitute work for a few days.  You’ll have fun with Daddy and the kids.”

“I’ll miss you very much,” Amanda said, wrapping her arms around Kay.

“I’ll miss you very much, too,” Kay said.

“I’m going to run and tell the kids!  We can start figuring out what we want Daddy to let us do when you’re not here this time!” she said happily and trotted out the back door.

“Well!  How about that!”  Kay was miffed.  She stood back up and joined the agents at the table.  Now that they were alone, she narrowed her eyes and said, “are you sending me to that European conference thing?”

“Yes,” Agent Smith said simply.

“And we need to leave A-sap,” said Agent Jones.

“Why am I going?  What’s wrong with Madeline?  Is she sick again?” Kay asked.

The agents were silent and uncomfortable.  “She’s not sick.  She just can’t go.”

“Why not?” Kay demanded.

“It’s classified,” Agent Smith said.

“Oh, of course it is.  I think that’s just convenient for you, isn’t it.  What a handy line for anything you don’t feel like explaining!” she said.  “Will I be safe?”

“Yes,” said Agent Smith.

“We would never let anything happen to you.  We’re taking two additional agents for your personal protection, and there will be extra security everywhere,” elaborated Agent Jones.

“Okay,” she sighed.  “I’ll grab some things.  I need to say good-bye to Dan and the kids.”  Darn them for showing up like this.  She had mixed feelings about covering for Madeline at an event like this.  More was probably going to be expected of her than pleasant social conversations and choking down salads.

She managed to have a few minutes alone with Dan as she packed her things, and she quietly shared with him where they were taking her.  He sensed her apprehension and held her for a moment.  “I’m sure you’ll be okay.  They’d never put you in harm’s way.”  He had to stifle the urge to cross his fingers, out of sight of Kay, of course.

The kids expressed their worry about her being gone, mixed with excitement about being left in Daddy’s care.  She’d have to investigate more closely and find out what went on while she was gone.  They seemed to have fun, but the house was always clean and everyone healthy and intact when she returned.  Now she worried that maybe they liked it better when she was gone.

She shoved that thought away and finished the good-byes and hugs.

The agents were quiet during the drive to the airport.  Kay opened her mouth a couple times to make a bright statement to cut through the tension in the air, but it seemed inappropriate, so she just sat between the two and watched the fields roll by.

Holding her arms they whisked her from the truck toward the jet.  She pulled her arms away gently.  “Hey!  You act like I’m in custody or something.  I’m coming willingly, so lighten up.”

“Sorry,” said Agent Smith.

“It’s just that it’s urgent that we hurry,” supplied Agent Jones, apologetically.

Kay picked up her pace, practically running, with the agents half-running to keep up with her.  James helped her in, allowed Smith and Jones past him, then pulled the door shut.  Seconds later they were streaking through the air.

Gino and Andrea were spread out over the back row of seats, one on each side of the aisle.  Andrea was sound asleep with a magazine on her lap and didn’t stir, but Gino opened his eyes and gave her a wave before going back to sleep.

“Oh!” Kay said.  “They’re coming with us.”  She felt like an idiot tripping over her tongue in her surprise to see them.

“Sure.  Unless you’re ready to do your own make-up and wardrobe?” Agent Jones asked, jokingly.

“Oh no, I’m glad they’re along.  I never thought about that part of it,” said Kay, relieved.

“We have a lot to go over on the way to Zurich,” Agent Smith said, his brow furrowed.  “Would you like something to eat or drink before we start?”

“We’re going straight to Switzerland?” Kay asked.

“Yes.  We have everything we’ll need.  We’ll stop for fuel in Greenland,” Agent Jones informed her as he pulled the tab on a can of grape pop.  He grabbed a can of root beer and handed it to her as he sat in his usual seat, across the aisle from her.

Agent Smith sat in front of him, sideways, so he could talk to Kay.  He handed her a folder of pictures and bios, which was standard procedure at the start of any operation involving a ‘double’.  This folder was much thicker than the previous ones had been, and Kay’s heart skipped a beat.

Madeline had confided to Kay that before events, she usually looked over the profiles of people she was going to see, just to brush up her memory.  There were so many events she had to attend, and so many people she had to remember, and it was unforgivable, in their eyes, if she floundered.

If Madeline could do it, she could do it, Kay thought.  “Should I start looking through these now, or do you have some kind of briefing for me first?”

“Go ahead and start studying them.  We have calls to make and Intel to download,” Agent Smith said, pulling out a cell phone.  Agent Jones already had a laptop computer open in front of him and his fingers were tapping away on the keys.

Kay sat back and opened the folder.  A few of the faces were familiar, but most weren’t.  This time it was a mixture of men and women.  Everything was coded as to who was the most important for her to be able to recognize, and the things that were most important for her to know about them was highlighted.

She was absorbed in reading when the plane hit some turbulance.  Without looking up her hand shot out and grabbed the can of root beer as it started to tip over.

“Lightning-fast reflexes there, Green Hornet!” teased Agent Jones.

Kay smiled at him.  “I’m a mom.  I can see a cup about to spill from 30’ away and get there in time to grab it!”  He smiled back at her, then returned to his work.

A few hours later they landed in Greenland to refuel.  Everyone stood and stretched, so Kay did the same.

“Want to grab a few minutes of fresh air?” Agent Smith asked.  “It’s your only chance before our long leg over the Atlantic.”

“Of course she wants to!” said Gino, coming up behind Kay.  “She has to set foot on the ground so she can claim she visited Greenland!  How’re you doing, sweetie?”  He put an arm around her shoulder.

“Grab your jacket, girl,” said Andrea.  “Cause it’s never warm in Greenland!”

The five of them stepped down from the small jet and walked around on the pavement nearby.  There was a thin layer of snow on the ground next to the runway, and the breeze was bitingly cold.  Kay thought she could smell the ocean.

She shivered and joined the others in doing jumping jacks.  It felt good, she thought, to be outside in the brisk air.  It was weird, though, to think that she was actually in Greenland on a tarmac doing jumping jacks with Secret Service agents and make-up artists.

All too soon James called out, “saddle up, folks!  Let’s move ‘em out!”  With groans they filed back into the plane.  James shook hands with the fuel men, then secured the door and climbed into the cockpit.

Kay saw that there was another man in the cockpit with James.  Agent Jones noticed Kay’s gaze and said, “We giving a ride to a hitch-hiking Air Force pilot.  He’ll co-pilot with James.”

“Is that what you usually do,” she queried.

“Yes, if we can.  There isn’t always one available, but it helps our pilots when we can get another pilot along for part of the trip,” he said.

“Should I keep reading these files?” Kay asked, indicating the folder on the seat next to her.

“No, go ahead and give it here,” he said, reaching for it as she handed it to him.  He flipped it open.  “Pop quiz!  Who is Dremmel VonDuskey?”

“Let me see the picture,” she said.

“Nope, can’t.  What if someone mentioned him when he’s not around.  You still need to know at least the pertinent information.  I’ll give you a hint.  “Dremmel” is also a type of tool, so if you know that, you could associate that Dremmel VonDuskey is the tool that built this peace pact this conference is centered around,” said Agent Smith.

“He’s a tool all right,” muttered Agent Jones under his breath.  Agent Smith shot him a look, which bounced off an innocent face.  “What?”

Kay reached over and grabbed the folder.  She saw the face that went with the name and the rest filled itself in for her.  She slammed the folder shut and recited the rest of the information, including his wife’s name, home city and country, and most of the key points of his career.

“Here, you can start looking this over, but it’s not something you’re expected to know ahead of time.  It’s the layout of the conference grounds, where the meetings will be, where social events will be held, where the hotels are, where you’re room is,” Agent Smith said, handing her a few sheets of paper with maps printed on them.

She spread them out and looked at them.  Everything was carefully labeled.  Next he handed her a schedule.  “This tells what day and time things are going to happen.  The ones that apply to you are highlighted.   They’re the ones you’re expected to attend, however if you see something that interests you, we’ll see about getting you in.”

With furrowed brow Kay studied the schedule, and lined it up on the maps.  It wouldn’t be hard to find her way around, so that part was a relief.  There were a few photographs of the various buildings.  Kay marveled at the architecture, so European in appearance.  She closed her eyes and tried to picture herself really standing there among them.

When she opened her eyes again it was dark outside.  The two secret service agents had pillows and blankets and were leaning against the wall of the aircraft, sleeping.  A folded blanket and pillow had been placed on the seat next to Kay.

She turned around and looked back at Gino and Andrea.  They were sitting together, watching a movie on a laptop computer, each wearing earphones.  Kay was trying to decide what to do next when Gino looked up and saw that she was awake.

He nudged Andrea and they shut off the movie.  They walked up to the front of the plane and motioned her to join them.  “Feel like some practice, and a bit of exercise?”  She looked at them blankly.

“We’ll go over some self-defense and escpape manuevers,” Gino said.  “You’re good at the joint locks but slow on the spins that could help you escape.  We don’t have room to practice running but we’ll give you some pointers on how to do it so you’ll actually get away.”

“And I need this why?” Kay asked, narrowing her eyes.  “Is this conference that dangerous?  Why would they let the First Lady go to something like that?”

“There’s always an element of danger when you have a famous face,” he answered.  “Europe isn’t as safe as the United States for the First Lady, obviously.  Switzerland is one of the safer places, however at an event like this, there is always the chance that a terrorist cell, or someone else looking to make a statement, will attempt something.  It’s just best to be prepared.”

“Besides, it’s a good way to get the blood flowing on this maddeningly long flight,” said Andrea, as she did a few stretches.

Before Andrea could blink Kay had ahold of her, twisting Andrea’s arms in one of the joint-lock maneuvers.  “You’re right,” she panted.  “I feel better already!”

“Okay, let her go, and we’ll practice your reflex movements if you should spot someone about to grab you,” said Gino.

“Hah!  I’m not letting go,” Kay said triumphantly.  “Let her show me some escape maneuvers right now!”

Seconds later Kay was laying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling of the inside of the plane, and Andrea was standing to the side pretending to inspect her fingernails.  Kay got to her feet and said, “Okay, I want to know how to do that!  I never saw anything like that at my kids’ Tae Kwon Do classes.”

They worked for a while in the limited open area between the rows of seats and the small galley area.  Soon she noticed Agents Smith and Jones were awake and watching.  They added tips and advice to the discussion.

Soon they were advised to be seated and fasten their seatbelts for landing.  “Are we to Switzerland already?” Kay asked.  She must have slept longer than she thought earlier.

She slid over to the window and fastened the seat belt, then sat looking out as they landed.  When they were finally outside it was still dark but there were lights everywhere.  She stood turning in a slow circle, drinking it all in.

She only had a few seconds before they dragged her into a rounded, European-style black car.  All five of them crowded into it and it took off as the doors slammed shut.  She held on as the car turned this way and that, and she was alternately leaning on someone and being squashed by someone.

The car suddenly shot into a parking structure and it was dark.  There were walls on each side, like a tunnel.  They stopped next to a door and everyone climbed out of the car.  When the door opened, Kay saw that it was an elevator.  They entered it and Agent Smith and Agent Jones each typed in a code.  It began to rise.

The elevator opened into a long hallway with dim lights in cases along the floor, every ten feet.  On each side were numbered doors, so Kay decided they must be in the hotel.  They stopped in front of one and the agents each typed in a number again.  The door didn’t open.

Again they typed in their numbers and the door didn’t open.  “Third time’s the charm,” Agent Jones said cheerfully, and they typed their numbers in again.  They were bathed in a green glow followed by a bright flash, then the door made a click.  Agent Smith pushed it open.

“Ah, the mind games our superiors play.  We always have to enter the code more than once to gain access but it’s not supposed to be predictable.  Yet it’s always three times,” Agent Jones said.

“Why?” asked Kay.

“Mostly for security.  If  someone is holding a gun to our head and the access codes won’t open the door, sometimes they quit right away and drag us off and kill us.  That way whoever we’re protecting is still safe,” he said cheerfully.  “Assuming they’re in the room and not out here with us.”

“Kill you!” Kay said, horrified.

“Yes, kill us,” he shrugged.  “That’s our life.  Protecting people like you.  We come into this prepared to lay down our life.”

Kay couldn’t imagine choosing that kind of life, exciting as the rest of it was.

The room they entered opened into a suite of several rooms.  Kay was shown to a room where she would stay, and they left.  “You have a few hours, if you want to sleep.  Just ask us for anything you want,” Agent Smith said as he shut the door.

Kay walked over to the window.  It was heavily tinted but she could still see the lights of the city.  Her head was roaring from the flight, so she walked over to the bed and spread out on it.  Seconds later she was asleep on the velvet bedspread.

She still felt groggy a few hours later when they woke her.  They hurried her to another room in the suite where Gino and Andrea had set up the clothing and make-up stands.  A tray of food was placed next to her as Gino began working on her hair.  Andrea was working on her face, choreographing her steps with Gino’s, and to Kay’s amazement, they never collided or stepped on each other’s toes.

Kay picked up a muffin and snitched a bite when she got chances while they worked on her.  As if it wasn’t chaotic enough, Agents Smith and Jones stood just out of reach of Gino and Andrea and briefed her about her first appearance.  She had to ask them to repeat things several times.  Then they disappeared, seemingly by dissolving and just not being there.  Kay blinked.

Gino and Andrea helped her to her feet and started pulling clothes off of her.  She started to protest but before she knew it she was wearing a blue satin knee-length dress, stockings, and black pumps.  The trademark scarf was casually draped around her neck and a pocketbook appeared in her hand.

They spun her to face the mirror.  “Look at yourself, so you know what you look like.”  Kay did, and nothing was unexpected.  Satisfied, they pulled her to the door and she found herself standing in the foyer of the suite.

Agent Smith was speaking quietly into a small microphone attached to his collar.  Agent Jones stood next to him, a grave look on his face.  They nodded to her and opened the door.  Two more agents waited in the hallway.  Surrounded, as though standing in a box, Kay was escorted to the elevator.

Kay fought the impulse to talk to the new agents; to joke with them and ask their names.  They all had serious looks on their faces, and even in the dimness of the poorly-lit building, all four wore sunglasses.  She wondered if they would see something in time, with such dark glasses on.

Then she remembered that while wearing the pair they gave her, she could see amazingly well.  Not only was everything more defined, but she was able to move her eyes around and watch things without worrying about anyone seeing where her eyes were looking.

They exited the elevator and the car was there, waiting, as though it had never moved.  For all Kay knew, it hadn’t.  It’s a good thing Gino and Andrea aren’t along, Kay thought, as she and the four Secret Service guys climbed into the car.

With a touch of mischeviousness she leaned forward and said, “Driver, what is your name?”

The driver looked startled.  His eyes met hers in the mirror.  He cleared his throat and said, “James, Ma’am.”  He threw the car in gear and it moved forward.

“James… nice name,” Kay muttered as she sat back.  Next to her, Agent Jones nudged her ever so slightly and she saw the slight smile of amusement he sent her way.

They left the parking structure and nosed their way through the traffic.  The cars were mostly modern, smaller ones, and none of the big American-made cars or pick-up trucks she was used to seeing in the farm country she lived in.

They moved smoothly from street to street and pulled into a circular drive.  Security staff was lined up shoulder to shoulder the whole length of the drive.  A checkpoint had been set up and they stopped at it.  Faces peered in from both sides and compared pictures in their hands with the faces in the car.  Heavily accented voices questioned each of them.  The agents answered with clipped single words.

When asked, Kay answered, “Madeline Jackson, wife of Henry Jackson, president of the United States of America”.  The guard on the driver’s side leaned in and held a small rectangular box to her face and asked her to repeat it.  She knew it was a microphone and that it would send her words to a computer that would analyze the voice and speech pattern.

She had rehearsed with Madeline so many times that she knew she could do it, but she was nervous.  She closed her eyes and relaxed, then spoke into the little box.   The guard pulled it back, pushed a few buttons, then waited, staring steadily into her eyes.  She remained calm and looked back at him.

A beep came from the little box.  The guard looked at it, then stepped back and waved them through.

“If you can pass that, you can pass anything.  Congratulations!” Agent Smith praised her.

Inside the building she was ushered into a small waiting room.  There were a few other women in there, including the wife of the Vice President.  She might have surprised the woman with how warmly she said hello, but it was such a relief to see a familiar face that she couldn’t help it.  She greeted the other women as well.

One of them, the wife of a military general, squeezed her arm gently and said, “It’s okay to be nervous.  We all are!”  She leaned in and said quietly, “I’m a double too.  The ’bad guys’ suspect that, so we’ll be safe.  They won’t try to hurt us, since we’re all ‘nobodies’.”

“Mildred!  Hush!” said another of the wives.  Real or double, Kay couldn’t tell, but then they were all hand-picked because of that.  She was shocked, though, because she’d been instructed to never mention doubles or admit she was anyone but Madeline.

It was only a short wait and they were ushered through a door into a large room.  It was a grand room, with fountains and flowers, and skylights that let in natural light.  Tables were placed around the room with refreshements, and waitors circulated to make sure everyone had something.

Men and women walked around, introducing themselves to new people and catching up on the news with old acquaintances.  Security personnel stood unobtrusively in the shadows of the huge columns and planters scattered around the room.

People began to drift into the huge auditorium.  Henry Jackson, or his double, found Kay and escorted her to their seats, and soon they watched as the speaker of the world conference came out and took his seat.  A hush fell over the room and the man leaned forward and began to speak, officially opening the conference.

Chapter 5

Boring!

“It was mind-numbingly boring!” Kay exclaimed when Agent Smith asked what she thought of the opening speeches.  “How much more of that do I have to sit through?”

Both agents laughed.  “Fortunately, the First Lady is mostly scheduled for social events!”

“Thank goodness, I think,” she said.  “I’m not so sure I’m all that good at those, being kind of socially inexperienced, but at least they’re not as boring.”

“Tomorrow you have the women’s luncheon at Mountain Lodge in Les Crosets.  We’ll go by helicopter, and the Vice President’s wife and her men will fly with us,” Agent Smith said.

“Helicopter?” Kay asked, enchanted.  She hadn’t imagined she’d get to ride in a helicopter!  “Is it the real Veep-wife or a double?”

The agents just smiled mysteriously at her, so finally she gave an exasperated shrug.  “What do I have to do the rest of the day?”

“Well, dinner tonight, but it’s informal.  Just mingle, and sit with the president during the meal,” said Agent Smith.

“It’s acceptable for the First Lady to leave shortly after the meal.  Madeline often does,” supplied Agent Jones.

“Can I go sleep off some of my Jet-lag until then?” Kay asked, stifling a yawn.

“Of course.  We’ll wake you when it’s time to get ready,” Agent Smith said.  Kay left the room and collapsed on her bed.

Dinner was uneventful.  Kay had a hard time staying alert, even after her nap.  She mostly smiled at people and stood on the edges of groups that were actively engaged in conversation so she could look sociable but not do much talking.

By the time she finished the main courses of the meal she was nodding her head.  She was seated next to the prime minister of England, and he smiled compassionately at her.

“It takes me a day or two to catch up myself when I travel abroad,” he said kindly.

“Yes,” Kay said, returning his smile.  “I think I’ll excuse myself.”  She turned to speak with the president, seated on her other side.  He nodded and reached for her shoulder in the customary light hug that had been shown so many times by the media between Henry Jackson and Madeline.  She responded as Madeline would, by tipping her forehead against his, then rose from her chair.

Agents Smith and Jones un-melted from their positions against the wall.  At the door the other two secret service men fell in step with them and they left the room.

Once Kay was alone in her bedroom her weariness left.  She sat in the dark room looking out the window.  The city looked much like an American one, but there was a different feel to the air.  Like a different beat, or smell, or something.  The mountains were exciting to look at, but she hadn’t been to the mountains in the United States before and had nothing to compare them to, except pictures or movies she’d seen.

She thought about her husband and children, wondering what story they were telling people about her absense.  The rumor mill had already spit out fabrications about marital trouble between them.  Nothing could be farther than the truth, and she felt bad they were all subjected to such malicious gossip.

They had banked the money she had been paid, and spent very little.  They worried that people might wonder about her mysteriously being gone and then suddenly having a lot of money to throw around.  But it was nice to know the money was there, in the bank.

Kay pulled her duffel bag onto her lap and unzipped the outer pocket.  Behind the flap she slid out a picture she had hidden there.  She gazed at the faces of her family until she fell asleep in the chair.

Chapter 6

Mountain Lodge

The jingling of the phone woke her with a start.  She looked around in confusion, then jumped up and went to grab the phone.

“Are you awake?  It’s time to get ready,” said Agent Jones’ voice in her ear.  “Hope you got enough sleep, because this won’t be a nap-time event like the opening speeches!” he joked.

Kay smiled.  “Okay.  Just give me a few minutes and I’ll be out.”  She used the bathroom and washed her face with cool water so she’d feel more alert.  She left her room in her bathrobe since they would have her outfit in the make-up room.

Agents Smith and Jones were in the hallway outside her door.  They handed her a doughnut and a cup of coffee, then led the way to where Gino and Andrea were waiting.

The make up artists began their transformation on Kay.  She made a few light jokes and they smiled wanly, but Kay detected a seriousness in the air.  Agent Smith was facing the far wall talking on his cell phone, and Agent Jones was looking out the window.  She got the feeling it wasn’t idle viewing.  He seemed to be looking for something.

“Is everything okay?” she asked when Gino stepped back.  Andrea was putting lids on bottles and pretended to be very busy.

“Worried about them?” Gino asked, nodding at the agents.  “They’re always tense at these foreign shin-digs.  They have different protocol to follow, and more repercussions if something goes wrong.”

“Goes wrong?” Kay asked with furrowed brow.  “I feel like there’s something no one is telling me.”

“Well, it’s probably nothing specific,” Andrea said lightly.  “They just worry.”

Agent Jones turned from the window and walked over to Kay.  He stood in front of her and looked earnestly into her eyes.  “Kay, I promise you, we’ll be watching everything and most of all, doing whatever it takes to keep you safe.  We’re not going to let anything happen to you.”

Snapping the phone shut Agent Smith turned back to face the room.  “Are we ready?  It’s time.”

“Isn’t it kind of early?  I thought the luncheon was at 1:00.” Kay said.

“We want to get you to the chalet before the press are there to mob you.  Some of them will be there, camped out waiting, so you won’t get out of a bit of media harassment,” said Agent Smith.

“And it’s kind of hard to sneak in there with a helicopter,” joked Agent Jones.

“Here’s your touch-up kit,” Gino said, handing her a small case which she slipped into her handbag.  Impulsively Gino reached out and gave her a hug.  Kay returned the hug, then turned to Andrea and hugged her.

She followed the somber secret service men out of the room.  They were immediately shadowed by the other two secret service men, who had waited outside the room during the dressing and make-up session.

They rode the elevator to the basement level parking garage, and through the private corridor to their car.  As they exited the building cameras flashed, though Kay knew they wouldn’t get any pictures of her through the darkly tinted windows.

At the airport they drove through a separate gate into a compound with a high privacy fence.  Another car like theirs was already there and Kay spotted the Veep’s wife’s double waiting with her secret service men.  She walked over and stood with her.

“Madeline, it’s lovely to see you!  What a beautiful day, isn’t it?” she said, giving Kay a peck on the cheek and a light hug.

‘Wow, she’s nervous too!’ realized Kay.  Out loud she returned the greetings and also commented on the lovely weather.  There were three helicopters parked on the pads, rotors slowly turning as they waited.  The women were loaded onto separate helicopters and the secret service men divided themselves among all three helicopters.

Agent Jones dodged toward the helicopter Kay was in and plopped into a seat.  Apparently he was going to make sure he was nearby to protect her.  Agent Smith was pointing the rest of the men to which helicopter he wanted them on.  He seemed to be the highest ranking one among them.

At the last minute Agent Smith jumped aboard the helicopter Kay was on and sat next to the pilot.  With a jolt of surprise Kay recognized James, the pilot of their jet.

Kay felt herself leaning forward, then swinging in a sweeping motion as the helicopter lifted off the pad and flew over the fence.  She squeezed her eyes closed and held onto the seat until curiosity got the best of her and she opened her eyes.

It was very different from flying in an airplane.  It wasn’t altogether unpleasant if you didn’t try to make it feel like an airplane.  She watched the scenery pass below, enjoying the view at a slower speed and lower altitude than the jet.

They followed a road than ran along a river.  She spotted several official-looking cars as well as vans that belonged to news crews.  Eventually they came to a gate where most of the news vans and other cars were turned back.  Several had pulled off the road and were setting up cameras.

They waited while one of the other helicopters landed at the resort and unloaded it’s passengers.  They were second, and then the last one landed and unloaded.  They walked together on a stone path lined with flowers.  It was Fall and many of the flowers had lost their petals.  Yellow and brown leaves speckled the walkway.

“Where do the helicopters go while we’re here?” asked Kay.  “Surely they don’t go all the way back to the city.”

“No.  There’s a field over there, north of the resort, where the helicopters wait.  Only one remains here, for immediate use if the need arises,” Agent Smith said.

“The others can be here in seconds,” Agent Jones reassured her.  She couldn’t see his eyes through the mirrored sunglasses, but she’d gotten to know him well enough over the weeks to know that his eyes would be expressing a sincere desire to put her at ease.

They stepped through the door and their eyes adjusted from the bright sunlight to the interior lighting.  Skylights lined the ceiling of the hallway, and the forest-green carpet almost glowed in the light.

Virginia, the VP’s wife, moved over to walk with Kay.  She gave Kay a nervous smile, which Kay returned.  Yup, a double, she told herself.  ‘Well, we’re in this together and we’ll get through it.’

She drew Virginia along with her as they circulated among the other women.  She’d spent hours pouring over the bios and was comfortable talking with them.  There was one woman she just could not place.  She decided to tackle it head on.

“Hello, I’m Madeline Jackson.  How are you?” Kay asked warmly, holding her hand toward the woman in a friendly gesture.

The woman looked at her with coolness and folded her arms. “I know who you are.”  She turned and walked away, tossing her dark hair over her thin shoulders.

Kay was stunned and wondered what the real Madeline would do now.  She looked at Virginia and asked, “who is she?”

“I don’t know.  I don’t believe I’ve met her before and I don’t remember seeing her dossier in my folder,” answered Virginia’s double.  “She sure either doesn’t like you or doesn’t like what you represent.”

“What I represent?  Oh, you mean me pretending to be Madeline and representing her?” Kay asked in a hushed voice so she wouldn’t be overheard.

“No!” hissed Virginia.  “America.  Some of these foreign dignitaries and their wives, and others in their party, hate America and they don’t even pretend socially to like us.”

“So we just move on and talk to someone else,” Kay said, remembering Lorraine’s instructions during her training.  “I think I’ll make eye contact first and watch for response before getting too close to anyone else.”

“Now you’re getting the hang of it!” Virginia, or rather her double, said.  Kay wondered how long she had been performing as the vice-president’s wife.

They greeted a few more women and were received warmly by them.  They all spoke English, even if it was with a heavy accent.  Kay found them very charming, and she loved the colorful outfits some of them wore.

“Ting! Ting! Ting!” Kay looked around.  The sound was coming from a spoon tapped on the side of a glass.  The unfriendly woman was tapping on the glass to get everyone’s attention.  She had a smile on her face, but it didn’t seem to reach her eyes.

Kay saw Agent Smith hold his phone up and she realized he was taking a picture of the woman.  He punched a few buttons on it, then raised it to his ear.  He snapped the phone down and spoke into a small microphone on his collar and, looking grim, began moving forward with Agent Jones at his side.  They headed toward Kay and were intercepted by the agents that had accompanied the strange woman.

In one quick moment the room went from peaceful and pleasant to a room full of panicking people and gunshots.  The unknown woman stood with a smile on her face while the phony secret service men subdued the crowd and ushered the real secret service men out the door.

Kay had been intent on watching Agents Smith and Jones, and had started toward them when her arms were grabbed.  She was nearly yanked off her feet and dragged along by two men.  They hurried her from the room and tossed her to the floor.

Virginia was already there, sitting on the floor with her arms around her legs, wide-eyed and scared.  Kay pulled herself over next to Virginia.  Two other women were tossed in there with them and they huddled near Kay and Virginia.

Kay heard more gunshots, then they ceased.  Minutes ticked by as her heart thudded loudly in her chest.  She crawled to the door and reached up to the knob.  Easing the door open a crack she saw a man with a rifle standing just outside the door, back to her.

Beyond him the room was in shambles, chairs tipped over and food and drinks spilled everywhere, but the room was empty other than the man guarding them.  Kay looked around for something to clunk him over the head with.  Virginia saw her and figured out what she was thinking, and she shook her head no.

Just then the guard turned and saw Kay peeking through the door.  He kicked the door hard and knocked her over.  The door was shoved open and he rushed in and reached for her arm.  Kay pulled away and scurried back to the other women and sat in front of them.

He scowled at them and snarled in a foreign language.  They couldn‘t understand the words but they could feel the man‘s dislike for them in the tone of his voice.  He left the room, turning out the light as he went.  When he shut the door the only light came through the crack under the door.

The women were in a small room full of shelves and cabinets.  Dishes and wine glasses and cutlery were stored there.  Kay had noticed a flashlight in a bracket at the end of the shelves near the door.  She slipped over and ran her hand up the wall until she found it.  Pulling it free she rejoined the other women quickly.

Facing away from the door she shielded the flashlight to hide the beam of light and clicked it on and off briefly to make sure it worked.  It did.  It was bigger than she would have liked and she couldn‘t figure out how to conceal it.  None of the women had pockets or bulky clothing.

Kay spotted several aprons hanging on a hook.  She lifted one down and yanked the tie string off the waist of the apron.  Pulling up her pant leg she placed the flashlight against her lower leg and ran the string around her leg and the flashlight a couple times, then tied it snugly, but not tight enough to stop her blood from circulating.  She yanked the string off the other side of the apron and added it to the first one to help hold the flashlight in place.  Then she hung the tie-less apron back on the hook.

She had just sat back down when the door flew open.  The guard looked them over and mumbled some curses, then yanked the door shut again.

Moments later they heard commotion in the dining room again.  This time there was no yelling or firing of guns, just urgent conversation.  Then they heard a cry of anger and a rush of voices followed by a sudden silence.  When a voice began speaking he was speaking in English and the one-sided nature of the conversation implied it was a phone call.

“Get your military back or we will kill the women.  No!  Do not attempt to rescue them or they will die now!” he shouted.  The women cringed and huddled closer together.  One woman wiped tears from her cheek.  “When I look out the window they better be gone.  No, I’m not that stupid. If I was standing at the window right now you would have one of your snipers shoot me.  Do not insult my intelligence.”

The call seemed to have ended.  The man was speaking a foreign language again and the others answered him.

“They are talking about making a video,” one of the women whispered to the others.

“You understand what they’re saying?  What language are they speaking?” Kay whispered back.

“Only bits of it.  I don’t know it well.  They’re speaking Farsi,” she replied.

“Who are you?” Kay asked.

She looked at the floor for a moment, then said quietly, “My husband is prime minister of Israel.  I’m here against his wishes, but I talked him into it.”

“And you?” Kay asked the fourth woman.

“My Father is prime minister of England,” she said, still wiping tears.

“Mrs. First Lady, it is you they want to speak on a video,” the Israeli woman said.  She leaned toward the door and listened for a few minutes.  “They’re arguing over demands but I can’t figure out what they want.  They are talking too fast and too many are talking at one time.”

“Me?  If they’re from the middle east, why not you?” Kay wondered.

The door burst open and three men stood in the doorway.  The leader seemed angry that it was dark, and the guard jumped over and flipped the light switch.  Everyone flinched from the brightness.

The leader walked into the room and yelled at the women, indicating they should stand.  He looked carefully at each of them.  When he stopped in front of the Vice President’s wife he started yelling.  Her face was stricken with fear.  The other men seemed to be explaining something to him.

“Who are you?” he bellowed at her.

“Virginia Anderson, wife of Vice President Jeffrey Anderson,” she said in a shaky voice.

The leader erupted in rage and an argument ensued among the men.  The Israeli woman whispered, “you are not who they were supposed to get.  I can’t figure out who they were after, but you’re not the one, and they are discussing killing you.  He is also threatening to kill them and their families when this is over.”

This news brought a fresh batch of tears to Virginia’s face.  The leader looked at the group of women in disgust, then stalked out of the room.  The others followed and the guard pulled the door shut, leaving the light on this time.

Kay looked around the room, taking in the shelves, cabinets, and drawers.  She opened a cabinet near her and looked inside.  Pans.  She wondered if a couple of them could stand behind the door with pans and smack the terrorists in the head and knock them out.  Then they could make a break for it.

If it was just the guard who came back in, they could probably take him out.  If it was all three of them it would never work.  She closed the cabinet and looked in some of the others.  She raised up on her knees and peered into drawers.  Most had utensils for cooking, but one had cutlery, including steak knives.

She wrapped her fingers around a few of them and lifted them out of the drawer.  Sinking back to the floor she handed one to each of the other women.  Lifting her pant leg she slid the knife, point down, into her sock.  Now she had a flashlight on one leg and a knife on the other.  Two of the women did the same with their knives, but the Israeli woman pointed at her bare feet in the sandals she wore.

Kay looked over the woman’s clothing and was trying to think of another place to hide the knife without risking injury to the woman.  Before she could think of something she heard the men returning.  She grabbed the knife and threw it behind the door.  When the door opened, the knife was out of sight.

“Come,” the leader ordered, grabbing her arm and yanking her to her feet.  He motioned for the other women to follow.  They crossed the dining room and walked down a hallway, then turned into a small lounge.  A video camera on a tripod stood at one side of the room.  A man they had not seen before was doing something with the buttons on the camera.

Kay was made to stand against the plain white wall at the other side of the small room.  The other women were shoved to the floor by her feet.

“You will read a statement to your husband and America,” the leader said, shoving a piece of paper into her hands.

She looked at it and saw scribbled writing on it.  Her brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of the writing.  She picked out the words ‘great satan’ and ‘evil’, and the word ‘must’ was written in large letters in several places, and underlined.

“I can’t read this,” Kay began.  He erupted in furor and knocked her to the floor.  She threw her hands up to protect herself and yelled, “wait, wait!  I’m not refusing!  I can’t understand what it says!”

He stared at her for a long moment, his bushy eyebrows making him look even more sinister.  “You don’t have to understand it.  Just read it.”

“I can’t read it if I can’t make out the words,” she insisted.  He grabbed the paper from her and peered at the writing, then crumpled it and threw it to the floor.

“You do not need the paper.  I will tell you what to say,” he said, kicking her in the side.  “Get up.”

Kay stood shakily.  “Okay.”

“You will tell America and your husband, the President,” he spat on the “P”, “that they are the evil that has spread it’s poison and polluted the world.  Tell them that they are to pull out all of their people, civilian and military, immediately from the peaceful countries of Afghanistan and the middle east; all the lands of Allah.”

“If we don’t hear from our brothers that this is beginning to happen by the end of today, we will kill these women, one every hour.  Then we will kill you!” he said.

“No!” Kay said in shock and horror.  He grabbed her shoulder with one hand and pulled a gun from his waist with the other and shoved the barrel in front of her face.  “I mean,” Kay gulped, “that I can’t say all that, um… unless I have a moment to think and put my thoughts in order.”

He glared at her, then said, “You have one minute.”  He shoved the gun back in his belt and stepped over to talk to the video camera man.

Kay closed her eyes and tried to think of a way out of this.  They must escape!  The faces of her husband and children drifted into focus in her mind.  She thought about never seeing them again, and the pain was so strong her legs almost buckled under her.

“Madeline,” a voice whispered by her feet.  “I don’t want to die!” It was Virginia.  Kay looked down into the woman’s scared and pleading eyes and her anger flared.  They weren’t going to die.  They’d get out of this.

“You are ready?” the leader asked as he returned to stand by her.  “You speak now for the camera,” he ordered.  He pulled the gun from his belt again as though to force words to come from her mouth.

‘Now or never,’ were the words that rose without warning from somewhere inside of Kay.  She had dragged her kids to Tae Kwon Do for years, sitting quietly on the sidelines watching them learn and practice.  She’d never attempted to try any of it herself.  But she’d done it in her mind a hundred times at their classes.

Her foot flew up and made contact with the man’s hand that held the gun, then her hands grabbed his shoulder and neck, and snapped.  The man slid to the floor.  The camera man’s mouth was hanging open.  He shook himself out of his daze and came toward her.

Kay grabbed the gun from where it landed on a stand with a vase of flowers and brought it down on top of the man’s head, and he, too, slid to the floor.  “Come on, come on, come on!” she called urgently, pulling on Virginia’s arms.

The women scrambled to their feet and followed her down the hallway.  They found the stairwell and raced down the steps.  Finding themselves in the basement they ran back up one flight.  An alarm sounded as they pushed open an emergency door and raced across the lawn toward the bushes at the outer perimeter.

Yelling and gunshots came from above them, and moments later the gunfire was returned from the bushes.  Kay figured the men on the roof were terrorists, and hoped that the shooting coming from the bushes was the good guys.

Suddenly Virginia let out a yelp and started limping.  Kay dragged her along and the other women held onto her and helped.  Men appeared from both sides and headed toward them.  They were wearing suits and sunglasses, and Kay realized they were their secret service men.

Two of them grabbed Virginia and lifted her and ran for safety.  Agents Smith and Jones appeared on each side of Kay and took her arms and raced with her.  Agent Jones got a funny look on his face but didn’t let go of Kay.  They rolled behind the stone wall in front of the bushes.

“Agent down,” Agent Smith spoke into the microphone on his collar, and out of nowhere two medics appeared and pulled Agent Jones arm up.  Blood was soaking his shirt and jacket from his armpit to his waist.  He wore a bullet proof vest but a bullet had entered under his arm and tore through his chest.  It was clear he was bleeding out.  The medics gave a slight shake of their head to Agent Smith.

Agent Jones looked at Kay and tried to speak.  She leaned her face near his and he whispered weakly, “My name… really… is Jack Jones.”  He slumped on the ground.  One of the medics gently closed Agent Jones’ eyes.

Wiping angrily at the tears on her face Kay spotted Agent Jones’ sunglasses on the ground nearby.  Picking them up she put them on his face, then kissed his forehead.  Agent Smith grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet.  “We’ve got to go!”

They ran toward the helicopter as several more secret service men and police fired at the terrorists, trying to give them cover.  Agent Smith tossed her into the helicopter and pulled himself in.  It rose and turned, heading away from the resort.

There were thuds and plinks as bullets hit the helicopter.  Once there was a flash of light and Kay thought the helicopter was going to crash, but it just shuddered and kept flying.

“Smith,” said James from the pilot seat.  Agent Smith leaned into the cockpit area and saw that James had been hit in the neck by a bullet.  He was dying, but had given everything he had to hang on long enough to get the helicopter out of there.

Kay sensed something from the look on Agent Smith’s face and she leaned over and looked.  Agent Smith turned to the others on board and asked, “anyone fly choppers?”  They shook their heads.

“Well, someone’s got to,” said Kay, sliding into the other seat.  “James, show me what to do.”

James struggled to sit forward and look through the windshield.  Agent Smith held his shoulders so he wouldn’t have to use up his energy.  James scanned the countryside, then pointed at a small rocky clearing above a canyon.  He moved the controls and the helicopter headed toward it.

Kay watched everything he did, trying to memorize which controls made the helicopter do what.  James kept blacking out but got the helicopter over the clearing and began the descent.  50’…40’…30...James’ head slumped and the helicopter dropped to the ground before Kay had time to think.

A roaring filled her head when she opened her eyes.  The helicopter was on it’s side and James and Agent Smith were on top of her.  James was dead, but as she watched, Agent Smith was breathing, although his eyes were closed.  She pulled herself out from under them.  The world spun sideways, then back upright.

Looking into the back of the helicopter she saw a ball of worms.  It became arms and legs trying to untangle, then separated into individual people.  There should have been voices, she thought, but all she heard was a roar.

A man leaned toward her and pointed toward the opening and reached for her arm.  She pulled back and pointed to Agent Smith.  He shook his head and pointed at her.  She wasn’t leaving without Agent Smith.  She turned and put her arms around him and pulled him to a sitting position.

Agent Smith winced but didn’t open his eyes.  Kay tried to lift him, and finally the man who was trying to get her to leave reached over the seat and helped her pull Agent Smith out.  They dragged him to the opening, then the man jumped down and slid Agent Smith over his shoulder and carried him to where the others had gathered on the grass at the edge of the clearing.

He had just set Agent Smith on the ground when the helicopter exploded.  Everyone jumped and huddled together.  The sound made Agent Smith open his eyes and he laid there staring at it in wonder.  Kay sat next to him, and he pulled himself to a sitting position.  They leaned against each other.

One of the men was the medic who had come along to care for Virginia on the way to the hospital, and he inventoried the injuries.    There were some broken bones and concussions, but mostly bruises and shock.  There wasn’t much he could do to make them more comfortable.

They started discussing what to do.  “We need to make some kind of shelter for the injured,” one of the men said.  A cold wind was whistling down the canyon, and despite the sunshine they all shivered.

A new sound was followed by a streak of gray in the sky.  They jumped, then watched as it turned and came back.  It was a military fighter jet.  They cringed and huddled together as it passed over lower than it had before.

“It’s military!  But who’s?” Agent Smith said.  “It’s going by too fast to see what’s on it.”

“We need to move to cover until we know,” said one of the other agents.  Everyone scrambled to their feet, helping those with worse injuries.  They scurried as fast as they could hobble and limp.

The uphill side of the clearing met with trees and brush.  It was flat for about 20’ before the mountainside went steeply uphill.  They worked their way through the brush until they were against the slope.

Above them, the jet continued to make passes, circling the plume of smoke rising into the sky.  After a while they heard the “thrum, thrum, thrum,” and then “whop whop whop” of a helicopter approaching.

“We’re saved!” cried one of the women.  She started back through the brush toward the clearing, but was pulled back by the others.

“Wait!  Let’s make sure they’re friendly.  I don’t trust anyone right now,” said Agent Smith.  The others agreed.  They stayed huddled together, hearts pounding and senses acutely aware as they waited.

Two helicopters hovered above the clearing where the wreckage lay.  One moved in closer and ropes dropped.  Six men in uniforms slid down the ropes and crouched as they walked closer to the smoldering pile of twisted metal.  They spread out around it, peering into through the smoke.

The unit leader spoke into his radio.  “Only one body, obviously deceased.  No sign of anyone else.  It’s too hot to go in but I’m pretty sure no one else is in there.”

“Search the surrounding woods.  Maybe they started to hike out.” said the voice on the radio.  The man on the ground glanced up at the helicopter above and gave a signal of acknowledgement.

He motioned with his arm and the men approached the woods.  They looked for signs on the ground and pointed to scuff marks in the lichens on the rocks.  There was only a narrow band of forest before the terrain became steep, so he figured they were in that small strip of tree cover.

If they could get that far, he wondered why no one came out to greet them.  Goosebumps prickled on his neck.  “Stay alert,” he said quietly to the others.  “They may have an unfriendly with them who is holding them back.  He may be armed, and there may be more than one.”

They held their rifles across in front of them as they entered the brush, one cautious step at a time.  They were watched closely by the troops in the two heavily-armed helicopters hovering above.

“They’re coming into the woods,” Kay whispered.  Agent Smith nodded and pulled Kay behind him.  She peered over his shoulder.  A moment later she said,  “They’re American. I see their helmets.”

“Yes, I see it now too,” he said with relief.  The others started murmuring with joy and started forward.

“Wait!” ordered the medic.  “We don’t want them to shoot at us!”  Everyone stopped and looked at him.  He called toward the soldiers, “here!  We’re over here!”

Moments they were surrounded by the soldiers, and then they emerged from the trees.  Virginia had lost a lot of blood from her gunshot wound and was going into shock.   One of the soldiers carried her.  The other soldiers helped the rest of the wounded.

Soon another helicopter with a red cross on the side landed on the ledge.  Everyone was loaded onto it and the soldiers were pulled by ropes up to their own helicopter.

Kay sat near Virginia and asked her how she was doing.  Virginia smiled weakly and said, “I’m a tough old bird!  I’ll be fine, now that these fine young men got us out of there.”

“Who are you really?  You’re a hero, and people should know,” Kay said.

“No, my dear.  ‘Doubles’ are unsung heroes!” she said.  “Besides, I’m not a double.  I really am Virginia!”

“Really?  I’m sorry.  I just assumed you were a double,” Kay stuttered. “You’re a brave woman.”

Agent Smith and Kay were checked over at the hospital.  They wanted to keep Agent Smith over night to keep an eye on the bump on his head, but he refused.  Kay was fine except for some bruises.  They told her she would be stiff and sore for a few days, and offered her something for the pain.

Kay, as Madeline, was required to give a statement to the press.  She stood at the podium, supported by Agent Smith on one side and another agent on the other, and spoke.  “I’m thankful for your concern and prayers, and to the heroic men and women who fought these terrorists and who came to our aid after the helicopter went down.  My heart goes out to the families of those who lost their lives.  I ask the press to please let them grieve in privacy.  Thank you.”

As Agent Smith held her arm and escorted her from the stage the voices of the press followed her.  “Mrs. Jackson, what did--” “Tell us about the--” “Who did--”.  She kept her head bowed until they were through the door.

“What’s next?” Kay asked in the elevator.

“The ‘First Lady’ is being allowed to return home after her dangerous escapade.  You’ve given the nation a new image of Madeline, you know!  She’s going to have a tough time living up to it!” smiled Agent Smith.

“Oh dear.  Do you think she’ll be upset with me?” Kay worried.

“No,” Agent Smith said.  Kay need not have worried.  When she reached her room there was a vase of beautiful pink and cream roses and a note from Madeline, although it was signed ‘Kay’.  Kay smiled, thinking that was a nice touch for Madeline to do that.

The note called her ‘brave’ and a ‘hero’ and was full of other praise.  Kay thought she just did what anyone, including Madeline, would have done.

A few hours later they were on the small jet, headed back to Washington.  The glaringly obvious absence of Agent Jones and the pilot, James, made it a somber event.  Two Air Force pilots were in the cockpit.  Gino and Andrea sat quietly in their favorite seats in the back row.

“Agent Jones shouldn’t have died,” Kay said quietly.

“It was his job,” said Agent Smith, sitting across from here, in the seat Agent Jones used to occupy.  “But he would have done it anyway.  That’s the kind of guy he is. Was.”

Kay tried to stifle the sniffle but it came out anyway.  “I’m so sorry.  Jack Jones, rest in peace,” she said, then fell silent.  After a while she said, “So, is your name Fred Smith?”

He smiled.  “No.  It’s Fred Schwaller.  Smith just seemed to go better with Jones.”

“You two were a good team,” said Kay.  “It just felt right.  I’m going to miss him.”

“Yeah.  He’s going to be a tough act to follow,” Agent Smith said.

“So they’ll assign you a new partner?  Will I still get to work with you, or will they stick me with two strangers?” Kay asked apprehensively.

Agent Smith’s eyebrows shot up.  “You mean you want to continue?  You haven’t had enough?”

“Of course I want to continue!” Kay said.  “But only if I still get to have you.  And Gino and Andrea, and Lorraine.  Poor James.  Was his name really James?  How come the pilot and drivers were all named James?”

“It just worked out that way,” he shrugged.  “Think what you will, but their names really are, and were, James.  Weird coincidence, I know.”

Chapter 7

The End of a Long day!

They were weary of mind and body as they walked the red carpeted hallways of the White House the next morning.  A small reception was laid out in one of the dining rooms.  Henry and Madeline Jackson were there, as well as an assortment of secret service men.

Madeline headed straight to Kay and hugged her.  Kay wiped tears as she told about Agent Jones and James.  “I know.  I’m sorry,” Madeline said.

A toast was made to the memory of Agent Jack Jones, who was also publicly honored for his bravery.  A toast was made to Kay, but as the vice president’s wife had told her, doubles were unsung heroes.  Other than her husband, the only people who knew of her heroic feats were in this room.

Speaking of her husband, when she turned from Madeline, Dan was standing behind her.  She dissolved into tears and flung herself into his arms.  He looked strained by worry over her ordeal, and a bit amazed at being in the White House with the President and real First Lady.

They sat quietly in the comfortable couch near a window and she let her head rest against Dan’s shoulder.  People stopped by and shook their hands and wished her well, and eventually most of the people left and the staff was cleaning up.

“Ready?” Agent Smith asked.  She nodded her head and pushed herself wearily out of the chair. “Madeline would like to see you before we leave,” he said.

They walked toward the First Lady’s quarters.  Just as they reached the door it opened and Gino and Andrea stepped out.  Kay looked at them in surprise.  They greeted her warmly and hugged her, silly smiles on their faces.  Kay wondered what was up.

When Madeline’s assistant ushered her in she found out what was up.  There in Madeline’s chair sat… Kay!  Or at least a woman who looked like Kay would in about ten years.

“What…?” Kay asked in disbelief.

“Well, I figured if they could make you look like me, they should be able to make me look like you!  What do you think?” Madeline said, standing and turning in a circle.

“It’s amazing!  But why would you want to look like me?” Kay said.

“I was thinking of taking you up on your offer to visit.  I just figured it would be easier if I didn’t come as the First Lady!” she said.

Kay grinned.  “I love it!  And yes, I’d love to have you come visit!  But what about your secret service men?  Wouldn’t that be a giveaway?”

Madeline grinned back at her.  “Meet my ‘nephews’!” she said.  The door opened and two men in their twenties stepped into the room wearing blue jeans and t-shirts.  They looked uncomfortable, and one of them pulled sunglasses out of his back pocket and slapped them over his eyes.

“Perfect!” Kay laughed.

Epilogue

Kay chopped the knife through a carrot, neatly cutting it into slices for canning.  A bowl full of peeled carrots sat on the table.  Her 3-year old daughter, Amanda, played with the peelings that were piled on a newspaper on the table.

It had been weeks since she got home and she had settled back in among her husband and kids.  She gave them extra hugs all the time.  They’d broken down and spent some of the money finally, buying the linoleum for the dining room, a new rug for the living room, and took the whole family to Disney World.

The older kids were at school and her husband was out in a field somewhere planting winter wheat.  It was almost Thanksgiving time and she felt especially grateful to be safely at home.  She was tempted to start putting up Christmas decorations but decided to stick with tradition and wait until after Thanksgiving.

The sound of a truck motor interrupted her thoughts.  She laid down the knife and stood, then picked up the knife again and put it on the counter, out of her daughter’s reach.

“What is it, mommy?” the little girl asked.

“I dunno,” Kay said.  She walked to the living room and looked out the window.  A familiar old pick-up truck was coming up the lane.  She walked out on the porch.

Two men wearing mirrored sunglasses stepped out of the truck.  One was familiar, and he walked toward her.  “Kay, how have you been?”

“Good, Fred.  How about you?” she asked.

“Good too,” he answered.  Then turning to indicate the man with him, he said, “meet Agent McElbey.”

“McElbey, huh?” Kay said, nodding her head.  “Now, that doesn’t sound like something you could make up!  Nice to meet you!”

“Are you up to attending a dedication at a children’s museum?” Agent Smith asked.

Kay stood there for a moment.  Then she felt her husband walk up behind her and put his arms around her shoulders.  “Go!” he said, squeezing her in reassurance.

She climbed into the truck and the agents got in on each side of her.  As the truck turned onto the county road to head toward the airport Kay reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a pair mirrored sunglasses.

Placing them on her face she sat back and looked forward, through the windshield, beyond the scenery toward the adventures that lay ahead.

The end.

Other books by Susan Gregersen:

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Takeover

A Funny Thing Happened When We Took Back America

The Long Ride Home

The Rally Point

A Tale of Two Preppers

Over the River and Through the Woods

Back Across the Pond

Twilight in the Desert

Poverty Prepping: How to Stock Up For Tomorrow When You Can't Afford

to Eat Today

Food Self-Sufficiency: Reality Check

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