Leigh was only a block and a half from home when she noticed the footsteps echoing her own. At first she didn't think anything of it. This was Kansas. Nothing ever happened here, especially not at five in the morning. Even Dorothy and Toto had to get picked up by a tornado and dropped somewhere else for adventure to come their way. Of course, this was Kansas City, not some backwater town. There was crime in the city. It was also five o'clock in the morning, and she was a lone woman walking down a dark street that -- while a residential area of old houses with families -- was also only a couple of blocks from the downtown core where the homeless and druggies tended to concentrate. A shiver of unease crept up Leigh's spine as she became aware that the footsteps behind her had picked up speed and were drawing nearer. She'd walked this route hundreds of times over the last five years and never once felt uncomfortable... and didn't like that she now was. Telling herself to stay calm, she tried to recall what she'd been taught to do in self-defense class, but, of course, now that she needed it, her brain was blanking on her. Wasn't that always the way? She felt her muscles begin to tense as the footsteps continued to draw nearer, and feared if she didn't do something soon,