Chapter 35 Update and Sneak Peek

I wanted to let you know that there won't be a chapter posting today.  Sorry.  I just finished the first draft yesterday.  There's still work to be done on it before it will be ready to post next Thursday.

In the meantime, AgentInWaiting was kind enough to beta the first couple of pages so we could whet your appetite.  You can read it after the break.

Sarah stared out the window and watched the green countryside flash past as the train sped southeast toward Vienna.  Her eyes remained fixed on a farmhouse, tiny in the distance, until it disappeared from view.  As she took in the scenery, she turned over in her mind the family meeting they’d had that morning before leaving for the train station.  The older kids at first had rolled their eyes and given Chuck a hard time about another one of his lame family meetings.  Their teasing quickly ended when they read the serious look on his face.  They’d sobered immediately and once the kids were seated, Sarah stood next to Chuck, their hands firmly laced, as he told them that while their aunt had been held captive, she’d learned that their grandparents had died a few years before.  He gave them a few details of when and where it happened, a little on how and none on who had been behind it. The older kids had been stoic, the only outward evidence of inward turmoil were glassy eyes and clenched jaws.  Martie and Megan, obviously unsure how to respond, sat quietly, their gazes darting from face to face as they tried to decipher all that was going on and how they should react.

In the end, it had been Lizzie, who spoke up first, telling Chuck that while she was sad that she would never get to know her grandparents, she was mostly sad for Chuck and the loss he had to be feeling.  Tears welled in Sarah’s eyes again, just as they had then.

Blinking back the wetness, she gazed on a puffy white cloud hovering above a tree-covered hill and returned her mind to the report she was in the middle of writing for Director Graham.  Laptop open in front of her, she couldn’t help but think back on not only the events in Prague, but over everything that had taken place during their trip across Europe during the previous two weeks. Between catching a Fulcrum agent and his anarchist associate in London, securing a rogue bioweapon in Paris, gaining intel about Benoit from Carina in Amsterdam, making a serious decision about expanding their family in Berlin and being kidnapped and rescued in Prague—all the while sightseeing and competing in Call of Duty tournaments—they’d certainly been having an eventful time. Given that they were on tap for another mission in Austria, it was almost a given that the “eventful” parts of their trip wasn’t likely to change any time soon.

The sound of rapidly clicking keys coming from Chuck’s computer stopped suddenly and she felt him bump her shoulder.  “Earth to Sarah,” Chuck said in monotone.  “Come in, Sarah.”

His words pulled her from her musings and drew her attention back inside the train car.  Smiling at a chuckling Lizzie directly across from her, she said, “Sorry.  I got to thinking about some of the rather unusual adventures we’ve had over the past two weeks.”

Lizzie shuffled the playing cards on the table and shrugged.  “With seven kids, we’re kind of an unusual family.”  Megan, seated next to her big sister, looked up at Lizzie and nodded.  One by one, Lizzie dealt the cards out until they each had seven, set the rest of the deck on the table, and turned the top card face up next to the remaining stack.

“How’s it going without Spy Barbie and crew?” Sarah asked, trying to shake her pensive mood.  The Great Barbie Embargo had begun the night before and would continue until just after the tournament on Friday.  Megan had been so tired the previous evening that she didn’t even miss her dolls.  Sarah hoped that would be the case for the next couple of nights as well.

Megan raised a shoulder slowly and let it drop with a sigh.  “It’s okay.  I miss her, but having Lizzie to play with helps.”  They’d been on the train for about an hour, with another three and a half to go before they reached Vienna, and the two sisters had already played innumerable hands of cards.  They had started off playing Go Fish, moved on to Old Maid and were now launching off into another highly competitive round of Crazy Eights.

Sarah’s warm smile to her eldest niece was returned with a slight dip of the chin.  “It’s better than sitting next to Fred,” Lizzie said in a voice that was louder than strictly necessary.  Chuck snorted when Megan’s eyes—never leaving the cards she scrutinized in her hand—widened and she slowly nodded in agreement.

“Hey! I heard that!” came the response from several rows back.  At the train station, Chuck had paid extra to upgrade their seats, so the family and team had an entire compartment to themselves.  As a result, they felt free to communicate with each other as they wanted and not fear being overheard.  Not that other people being around would have stopped Fred, however.

Ignoring her brother, Lizzie said, “I kinda miss Spy Barbie, too, squirt, but I’m sure she and Joe and Dani are safe in Uncle Casey’s duffel bag.”  She took a card from her hand and laid it down on top of the upturned one on the table.

“I still can’t believe he agreed to that,” Sarah said.

“Are you kidding?  I bet he played with them last night,” Chuck said, winking at Megan when she looked at him, her mouth gaping open in surprise.  “I wonder how Barbie sounds, with a soprano growl.”

From the same area where Fred’s comment had come, a decidedly non-soprano voice snarled, “Bartowski...”

Any reply Chuck was going to make was forestalled by his wife putting up her hand.  “Yes, Casey?” she called out.

Chuck eyes twinkled at Megan with glee when only muttered grumbles were heard and he whispered, “Saved.”  Megan giggled into the hand clamped over her mouth.

“You know, even though Spy Barbie’s not here, that doesn’t mean we can’t hear a spy story or two,” Lizzie said, sending a sly look Sarah’s direction.  “Right, Aunt Sarah?”

Face glowing with excitement, Megan bounced in her seat.  “You could tell us all about your favorite mission.”

“My favorite mission,” her aunt said, putting a finger to the side of her face.  “Let me think.”  She tilted her head, raised her gaze to the ceiling and squinted, pretending to think hard.  “Mm-hmm.  That’s the one.”  Looking back down to Megan, she continued, “I’d have to say my favorite was when I was sent to Colorado to take care of seven brothers and sisters and protect their uncle, a code nerd who worked for the Agency, from some bad guys.”

“Sounds terrible,” Chuck deadpanned.  “How’d that work out for you?”

“Meh,” she said with a shrug.  “Okay, I guess.  Better than I expected I suppose.”

Megan looked up at her sister.  “Are they teasing?” she asked.

“Yes, they’re teasing,” Lizzie answered, bopping Megan’s nose with her cards.

“I thought so,” Megan said, clearly please with that she had figured it out.

“Nice try at earning brownie points, Aunt Sarah,” Lizzie said, rolling her eyes, “but your mission to Beaver Creek doesn’t count.”

“Sure it does,” Chuck said.  The warmth and humor in his eyes and his crooked smile made her stomach do a flip.  “But how about instead of ‘favorite’ we hear about your ‘most memorable,’ except for Beaver Creek, of course.”

One mission sprang immediately to mind, but she wasn't sure if it was appropriate...