Wedding Rearrangement: 3/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
The man sounded skeptical. "It's not over by that big swamp, is it?"
"Potter's Slough? Naw. You take the Whittaker cutoff ..."
Lois listened while Clark gave painstaking directions to the intrepid newsman and waited as the motor came on again. Gravel sprayed and she heard the roar of the engine diminishing. When the sound had died away completely, she emerged from the barn. "Isn't the owner of that place going to be a little confused when a newsman shows up there, looking for your father?"
"No," Clark said blandly. "The Garrison Hog Farm went out of business ten years ago. Besides, I sent him over toward Whittaker's Bog."
Lois began to laugh. "I thought Superman never lied," she sputtered.
"Superman didn't lie," Clark said innocently, but she noticed that the corners of his mouth were trying to turn up. "That was Jake. But now we'll have to decide where we're going to hide out tomorrow when the guy shows up again looking for my blood."
"We could bury him in your mom's garden," Lois suggested.
"No, I think I'll give Rachel a call so she'll be ready when Mr. Maher gets back into town," Clark said. "And we'll have to warn Dad. Now that Maher's found the place, the others are going to find it too."
**********
And now, Part 3:
"Jake, huh?" Jonathan Kent grinned and glanced out the window at the gravel road leading to the highway that passed the Kent farm at some distance from the house. "Don't worry. If your friend shows up again, I'll deal with him. But I thought I taught you better than that, son." He shook his head more in sorrow than in anger. "Why in heaven's name didn't you send him out to Porcupine Gulch?"
"It seemed like kind of a long way," Clark explained. "I wasn't sure he'd go for it. Besides, I didn't want searchers to find his bleached bones there next summer."
"I suggested we bury him in Martha's garden," Lois offered.
Jonathan snorted. "Not a good idea. We want the garden to keep producing vegetables. I'm not sure he'd make good fertilizer; you remember the Intelligencer, don't you, Clark?"
Clark made a face. "It's kind of a local version of the National Whisper," he explained to Lois. "And almost the same quality."
"Still," Jonathan said, "he may not give directions to the other reporters. He isn't going to want a bunch of competition."
"He'll probably do it just for the nuisance value," Lois said. "What are we going to do? "
"Well..." Martha, who had remained silent up until now, spoke up. "If Maher comes back asking for Jake, you can watch me do my best imitation of Maw Clampett. By the time I'm through with him, he'll be over at the hospital, getting his stomach pumped."
"Mom, you can't poison him!" Clark said. "A joke's a joke, but --"
"I don't intend to," Martha said, placidly. "I'll just serve him some of my beef stew that I'm going to make for dinner tomorrow. It won't be my fault if he thinks it's 'possum tails and skunk livers.' Or not much, anyway."
Lois managed to limit the guffaw that threatened to break loose to an odd-sounding choke. She had no doubt that Martha would do exactly as she said. If any reporters did manage to find the Kents, she had a strong suspicion that they were going to regret it. Two days on the Kent farm had definitely changed her opinion of country folks. She'd be willing to match them up against the residents of Metropolis -- or any other city -- any day of the week and bet heavily on Jonathan and Martha.
"And I'll deal with any questions about Jake," Jonathan said. "Don't worry about that. You, however, need to be somewhere else," he added firmly. "I'd suggest you take Lois sightseeing in some of the nearby towns -- or go to the library over in Pepper. Nobody's going to be looking for you there."
"That's an idea," Lois said. "Do they have computers in the Pepper library -- and who the heck names a town Pepper, anyway?"
"I have no idea," Martha said. "If it were me, I'd have named it Zucchini."
Clark cast her a sharp glance, and it took Lois a moment to realize, from the innocent expression on her face, that Clark's mother was joking.
"Actually," Clark said, "they named it Pepper because a big part of its agriculture production a hundred years ago was different kinds of peppers. For some reason the climate there is ideal for growing peppers -- or was -- so that was what they named the town."
"Oh," Lois said. "How come I never heard about it before?"
"Well," Clark said, "its main crop isn't peppers anymore. The Dust Bowl conditions kind of wiped out their pepper industry. They still grow some peppers but not nearly in the quantity they used to. Their cash crop is mostly wheat."
"Oh," Lois said. Clark, naturally, would know such trivia. Superman must have the time for a tremendous amount of reading, considering his super speed and photographic memory. She wondered what other talents he hadn't thought to mention to her. Getting to know all there was to know about Clark was going to be a lifetime job. The thought made her smile.
"You can look up the history in their library if you want to," Martha said, bringing her thoughts back to the current problem. "I agree with Jonathan -- it would be better for you two not to be around if Mr. Maher comes back, especially if he lets it be known that he's found the farm. I think you should pack up your stuff and head for Pepper, or one of the other towns around here. Maybe check into a motel or camp out by Callahan's Creek or maybe even at the lake for two or three days. I know the idea of camping probably doesn't set too well with you right now, but if you take along enough supplies, and so forth, it won't be anything like the walk through the mountains. Just be sure you have a cell phone with you."
"We don't have any. Perry wanted to get them for us so we could report from the field," Lois said unhappily. "Unfortunately, that was about the time Lex started his campaign to bankrupt the Planet so he could buy it, so we never got them."
"That's all right," Martha said. "You can borrow mine. You can call us if you need to and we can call you when we're sure the coast is clear again. We've got plenty of camping gear. We used to take Clark there on weekend camping trips. There's a camping area out there for families to camp and swim and hike and so forth. And you can always camp on the beach, too."
Clark looked doubtfully at Lois. "What do you think?"
"Well --" Lois considered the idea dubiously. "I kind of overdosed on camping out the last few days, but if we've got all the supplies we'll need --" The thought of the mob of frenzied reporters, all trying to claw their way to her at the Ranger station -- not to mention the assassin who had tried to kill her -- tipped her decision in favor of the expedition. "I guess we could manage it for a day or two."
"And, Jonathan pointed out, "Clark will have plenty of time in the sun. Maybe a few good tanning sessions will be enough to recharge his powers."
"What does the sun have to do with it?" Lois asked.
"I seem to absorb sunlight," Clark explained. "If I'm using my super powers a lot at night, I start to feel tired sooner than if I'm doing the same thing in the daylight. Dr. Klein, at STAR Labs, thinks Superman's powers come from sunlight. He was going to run some tests but then I got distracted by the things that have happened in the last few weeks and we didn't get around to it."
"Oh," Lois said. "Speaking of your powers, how are you feeling now? He lifted the engine block for your old tractor," she added, to Jonathan. "He's definitely stronger than he was yesterday."
"Yeah," Clark said, "but it was heavy. My powers are coming back, but awfully slowly. The other time, with Trask, they came back all at once."
"That time," his father said, "you were exposed to the stuff for a few minutes at most. You weren't stuck in a cage made of Kryptonite for hours on end, and you didn't get sick from the radiation --"
"We don't *know* that's what made me sick," Clark said.
"Don't quibble," Martha said. "Can you think of anything else that would be likely to make you that sick?"
"Well --"
"Exactly," his mother said, in what Lois had come to recognize as her "no argument" tone of voice. "You've never been sick a day in your life except this once. I think we can assume the Kryptonite caused it."
"Yeah, probably. I'm just worried that my powers won't come back all the way," Clark said. "I didn't realize how much I missed being Superman until they were gone."
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Martha said briskly. "Don't be a pessimist, honey. All we know right now is that you're starting to get some of your powers back. In the meantime, let's get the camping gear out and pack everything you'll need in your rental car. I'll fix lunch so you don't have to stop for food. The less you're seen anywhere around Smallville the better -- at least for two or three days."
**********
Pepper looked very much like Smallville, Lois thought, except it was actually smaller. Clark drove slowly down Main Street, past the greenery of a wide lawn surrounding an incongruously small City Hall, while Lois took in the tiny, farming town.
A pre-adolescent boy swooped past on a bicycle, cutting in front of the car so close that Lois inhaled sharply, half-expecting the thump of the bumper impacting with the bicycle and its rider. Clark swerved, simultaneously applying the brake. The tires squealed in protest at such treatment, but the boy escaped death by inches. The child never glanced back but rode on, apparently unaware of the incident.
"It's a wonder to me how they ever manage to grow up," Lois said. "What are the odds that a kid can pull something like that over and over and somehow never get killed? It's a good thing you've got fast reflexes."
"I think they're getting better," Clark said after a pause.
"Your reflexes?"
"Yes. They're better than they were, but they're not back to normal."
"Give it time," Lois said quietly, putting a hand on his where it rested on the gearshift. "Your mom is a smart lady."
"I know," Clark said. "I guess after my hearing started coming back yesterday, I just kind of expected to be back to normal by today."
"Well, just because things don't work out like you expect, it doesn't mean they won't come out okay," Lois told him. "And I'm not trying to play Pollyanna, either. You don't know any more about this than I do, really. If you're no stronger or faster tomorrow than you are today, *then* you can begin to worry, but I think you've been improving ever since you got over that fever. Remember when we were walking through the forest, that night before we found the helicopter? You could see, even though I couldn't. I think your powers were beginning to come back, and have been slowly but steadily getting better ever since. It's just happening gradually."
Clark appeared to think that over and slowly nodded. "You could be right," he said after a moment of strict attention to his driving. "I didn't think about it, but maybe ...."
"Good," Lois said. "So, where are we going right now?"
"Well," Clark said, "I thought we'd go over to the library. You said earlier that you wanted to get to a computer."
"I did, didn't I?" Lois said. "I don't know if it'll do me any good. I know Henderson's looking for 'The Mrs.' I probably don't stand a chance. I just wanted to see if Lex was married before. He said I was the only one, but he lied about everything else, so why not that?"
"Why don't you call Jimmy?" Clark suggested. "If anybody can ferret out something like that, it's him."
"That's a good idea. Is there a pay phone around anywhere?"
"Sure. There's one at the service station."
**********
Jimmy Olsen was working on the assignment given to him by his editor when the phone on his desk rang.
A little surprised, he picked up the receiver. "Olsen."
"Jimmy?" Lois Lane's voice said.
"Just a minute." Jimmy lowered his voice instinctively. He knew that Lois and Clark had gone to Smallville, since he had been the one to make arrangements for Perry to rent the car for them in his name, but his boss had stressed that he was to keep the information to himself. That psychiatrist, Arianna Carlin, had asked him casually about Lois and Clark, and Jimmy had told her all kinds of unimportant things about the two of them, but claimed ignorance of their whereabouts. He glanced cautiously around, locating the woman. She was in her office -- the smallest conference room the Planet had, which had been quickly converted for her use. He could see her typing something -- probably that column of hers that had replaced the jumble puzzle in the paper.
Cat was no longer here, of course. She had taken a job with the Star right after the bombing of the Planet, but the new guy, Ralph whatsisname, was lounging by the water cooler. In Jimmy's opinion, Perry had made a mistake hiring him to replace Jerry, who had reported on local politics for the paper. He spent most of his time gossiping and hitting on the women in the secretarial pool. Jimmy didn't like him. He'd even tried to extract some gossip about Lois from Jimmy, and Jimmy had politely told him to mind his own business. He didn't want Ralph to find out that Lois had called. It would be all over the Planet building inside of fifteen minutes.
But the guy was out of earshot as long as he kept his voice down. Keeping a discreet eye on the traffic near his desk, Jimmy cupped his hand over his lips and the receiver, although no one seemed to be paying him any attention. Sometimes it was a good thing to be nearly the bottom man on the totem pole. "Lois?" he asked softly, "is that you?"
"Yes, it's me," Lois said. "I was wondering if you could do something for me."
"Sure," Jimmy said.
"The thing about 'The Mrs.' gave me an idea. Do you think you could do some research into Lex's background and find out if he'd ever been married before?"
"Not a problem," Jimmy said. "In fact, I was just starting it when you called. The Chief had the same idea that you did."
"He did? Good!" Lois's voice paused. "If you need to get hold of us for the next couple of days, phone Clark's parents. They'll get the message to us."
"Is something wrong?" Jimmy asked quickly.
"Not exactly. One of the reporters looking for us finally found the farm, so Clark and I are going camping for a few days. I have a cell phone and Clark's parents can get hold of us if you need them to."
"Oh," Jimmy said. "Okay. I'll let Perry know."
"Great," Lois said.
"Uh -- are you and CK all right? You had a pretty rough time of it."
"We're fine," Lois said. "We'll have something important to tell you when we get back next month."
"All right," Jimmy said. The speculations that remark conjured up were definitely something to spark the imagination. He hadn't missed the fact that CK had had a heavy crush on Lois since the day he was hired. Jimmy had been upset that Lois and Luthor were getting married, but CK, he thought, had been just about as bummed out as a man could get. He was pretty sure that was what had made Clark so determined to prove that Luthor was the criminal that all of them suspected he was. Maybe things weren't as one-sided as he'd thought they were, after all, now that Lois had come to her senses. "You two have a good time," he added.
"Well, I'm not so sure about this camping thing, but at least the media hasn't caught up with us yet," Lois said. "Call the Kents if you find anything, would you?"
"Will do," Jimmy told her.
"Thanks. Bye."
"Bye," he answered.
**********
"Something important?" Clark said, raising his eyebrows at her.
"Sure." Lois checked the change slot, on the off chance that there might be loose change in it. To her gratification, she discovered a quarter, which she dropped triumphantly into her pocket. "I don't want to tell everybody, but I think Jimmy and Perry deserve to know that we're getting married, after all they've done to help us out. I think Perry might have been rooting for us all along. He's said a few things that made me think he wasn't that happy about me marrying Lex."
"Well --" Clark grinned sheepishly. "I've kind of wondered about that, myself."
"You know," Lois added, as they got back into the rental car, "one of the things that made me decide on this camping trip was the idea of me getting you all to myself for a couple of days -- without anybody around."
"We had that in the mountains," Clark pointed out.
"Yes, but we weren't engaged then," Lois said, clinching the argument.
"That's true," Clark agreed. "Maybe it will be a good sort of experiment, finding out how we do together as an engaged couple."
"Maybe," Lois said. "Where is this camping spot that you and your parents used to go to when you were a kid?"
"Over by Domino Lake," Clark said. "It's not that big a lake, but it's the only real one in the area. Smallville Lake is about half the size -- sort of like a big pond, and it's got a picnic area but no camping facilities. There's some woods with both a camping and picnic area at Domino Lake -- people bring their campers and tents and stuff. There's running water and restrooms, and little concrete pits where you can build campfires -- and lots of privacy if you want it. There's swimming, and hiking trails --"
"Sounds pretty civilized, compared to where we were," Lois commented.
"Yeah," Clark agreed. "There's bound to be a few other people around, but they'll be in their own campsites, and we don't have to socialize if we don't want to."
"That's fine with me," Lois said. "The people I've been around recently haven't made me want to be a social animal again for a while -- except for your parents," she amended. "At least they haven't mobbed me or tried to kill me."
Clark laughed. "I'm glad of that," he said. He started the engine. "Shall we be on our way?"
"Let's." She fastened the seat belt. "There's not any poison ivy around there, is there?"
"A little," he admitted. "We'll just have to be careful."
"You mean *I'll* have to be careful," she said.
"I'm not so sure of that," he said. "Who knows whether I'll react to poison ivy now."
"Did you ever break out from it before you got your powers?"
"No, but I was careful to stay away from it."
"Believe me, it's not possible to stay completely away from it if it's anywhere around. All you can do is try your best, wear stuff that covers you up mostly and wash a lot. If you're lucky, you don't get it."
"I thought you never went camping."
"I was a Girl Scout."
"Oh." He glanced sideways at her. "Is that why you knew how to start fires while we were stranded?"
"No. I read about using a magnifying glass to start a fire in General Science. I had to take it in my freshman year at Metro High."
"Oh," he said. "I guess I probably did, too -- but I didn't think about it. I'm too used to using my heat vision."
"Well, it doesn't matter," Lois said. "This time we have matches and lighter fluid, and a bunch of other stuff. Do you know how to pitch a tent?"
"Sure," he said. "Didn't they teach you in Girl Scouts?"
Lois shook her head. "No. The tents were already pitched for us when we got there."
"Oh. Well, I guess I can teach you," Clark said with a grin. The smile faded as he glanced sideways at her. "Have I mentioned today that I've been in love with you from the day we met?"
"No." She felt her cheeks warming. "Were you really?"
He turned back to watch the road. "Yes. Everyone knew it, too -- even Luthor. He knew that Clark Kent loved you -- and he knew that Superman did, too. I guess I'm lucky that he didn't put two and two together."
"That's for sure." Lois regarded her hands, clasped in her lap. "I wish I'd seen it before -- I wish I'd *let* myself see it before. It would have saved us so much trouble if I'd been smart enough to know how I felt that afternoon in the park. I could have turned Lex down and saved you all of this."
Clark slipped a hand over her clasped ones. "Stop beating up on yourself," he said.
"I'm not --"
"Yes you are," he said. "You've been blaming yourself for what happened to me, and for all the rest of it, ever since you found out the truth. None of it was your fault. Luthor was determined to have you, one way or another. Knowing that Superman wanted you, too, just added spice to the contest. You didn't blow up the Planet, you didn't cause it to go nearly bankrupt and you didn't lock me in a Kryptonite cage. Luthor did it -- all of it. You mustn't hold yourself responsible for his behavior. From what we've learned since, that was just his standard way of doing business. Besides, you're the one that's going to repair as much of it as can be repaired. No one can ask for more than that."
She looked up from her clasped hands. Clark was staring at the road and his jaw was set in the way she had seen Superman do countless times. Clark did it too, although somehow it had seemed different on him. Still, she should have seen it before; should have seen that the superhero that she loved was the quiet, unassuming, amazing man who worked next to her at the Daily Planet. She'd armored her heart against love for so long that she'd had to settle on an unattainable super man or a billionaire instead of the farmboy from Kansas. She should have known that there was nothing ordinary about the farmboy, either -- especially when it dawned on her that facing the life of a socialite without him was going to be unbearable. Why had she thought that such pale things as liking and respect for the man that she had believed Lex was could take the place of the love that she felt for Clark? With or without Superman's powers, Clark was something more than special, and she could only be grateful that when she had finally realized it, it was not too late after all. And she owed that to Clark as well.
It took barely five minutes to travel from the heart of Pepper to its outskirts. The buildings of the town were left behind and she saw that they were driving between fields of waving yellow grain. In the distance she could see a small building that was much too tiny to be a house, and beyond that, some kind of machine with big tires and some kind of windmill or something in front of it crunching through the tall stalks. No doubt, if she asked Clark he could tell her what it was, but she didn't. She sat back in the seat, trying to imagine an area with a lake and campground in this wide, flat country where Clark had grown up.
It was barely half an hour before Clark turned off the main highway onto an uneven gravel road and Lois realized that, for all the land's apparent flatness, they were going downhill. The gravel road dropped steadily until Lois could no longer see the grain fields. A short time later, it crossed a narrow river on a bridge that made her hold her breath until they safely reached the other side and then ran along beside the river for as far as the eye could see.
Which, she realized, wasn't far. The narrow line of trees growing beside the creek began to widen until the road was wending its way between trees that grew on either side of the road. They must be entering the camping area, Lois thought.
A dirt road crossed the gravel one and Clark turned onto it. The trees were thicker, although they were nothing like the enormous pines that they had seen during their hike through the mountains of Colorado. Clark slowed the car down further, and Lois sat up straighter, looking around.
Little paths barely wide enough to accommodate the car branched off the dirt road and at last Clark turned onto one or them. They went on another ten minutes, jolting and bumping along the so-called road that would have been better called a footpath, Lois thought, crossed another, slightly better-maintained bridge and finally it came to an end in a small clearing. Clark pulled into the clearing, parked the car by one side of it and cut the engine.
"We're here," he announced.
**********
tbc
