Sounds Part 2 of 5:

Dissonances

Holiday plans gone down the drain

Chapter 1

Sonoma County, Ca., December 1993

Just before lunch on St. Stephen's day, Mark Sanger arrived at Ironsides' estate. For once his daughters had gone to a youth camp, and his wife Diana had volunteered to be the camp cook. Mark was happy to join his oldest and dearest friends without the pressure of a pending case.

To Danny, Judge Sanger sounded like a greyhound bus and he was proud that his Dad didn't seem the least bit intimidated by the impressive Afro-American.

Since almost everybody had eaten a little too much of Katherine's and Eve's wonderful Christmas delicacies – except for Danny who hadn't tasted anything unknown but stuck to bread instead, and Ed, who had excused himself and retired onto the couch - it was agreed that they take a walk through the vineyards. Ironside with his arm in a sling* needed more help than usual to move around.
Mark merrily resumed his old job as Ironside's wheelchair pusher. "Diana will be delighted when I return slim and fit after New Year, having worked so hard," he said with a smirk.

A little fresh air would do them good, and that way Ed, who was still suffering from a headache and dizziness as a result of his concussion, would get his much needed rest.

Yet with an autistic child things never go as smoothly as planned.
To everybody's surprise Danny refused to put on his jacket. "No, I won't go out!" he shouted. "Daddy stays here and so will I!"

It was one of the hundred times a day his parents had to decide if it was better to let him have his will or to force him into doing something which might help him overcome his weaknesses. This was also one of the reasons which made living with him so challenging.
Eve thought that he was too much of a couch potato. A child needed some fresh air every now and then, and he had been so happy after jogging through the vineyards with Ed two days before. Therefore she decided to insist this time.

Danny ran into the living-room, intent on hiding under the settee. But on it his father was resting. With his sore head he wasn't keen on a confrontation with his son right now, but there was no way around it. He had to back up his wife.

"Danny," he said, not loudly, but firmly.

The boy shook his head. Stubbornly he uttered, "I don't want to leave you."

Ed understood his fear after what had happened on Christmas Eve. But the boy clung to him too much as it was, and if he gave in now it might get increasingly difficult to help Danny to become independent, apart from the fact that he needed to respect his mother's orders as well as Ed's.

What could Ed say to convince the twelve-year-old? It had to be something fitting into Danny's weird kind of logic. Meanwhile Ed had become quite good at finding justifications that Danny could accept.
"Since I can't go with your mother I need you to protect her," he argued. "Please take care of her for me, will you?"

This was a reason which could not be refuted: obviously Danny could not leave his mother without any protection. Therefore he complied.

The Ironsides' vineyard had developed wonderfully. Not without pride Robert and Katherine explained the secrets of viniculture to their guests. Danny wanted to know how much working time the cultivating of one grapevine took in one year. Ironside gave him a ballpark figure and the boy calculated the time needed for every vineyard they saw.

They ran into their old neighbor Bruce Lambert. He was now sober, but he had forgotten to change his clothes. They still carried the smell of alcohol.
Danny held his nose and stood stock-still. Eve knew that he was hyper-sensitive, but this behavior was really offending. "Danny, I don't want you to behave like this!"

The boy was confused. The sound of the man didn't fit to his smell at all. He sounded like ripe apples but smelled like... Schnapps.

The child turned his back at Lambert but didn't take his hand off his face. "But he stinks!"

For once even Ironside was at a loss for words.


Ed woke up because he heard some voices coming out of Ironside's study which was situated next door to the living-room. How long had he slept? Where his friends back already? He looked at the antique hall clock. Only twenty minutes had passed since they had left. And no, they weren't back – he didn't recognize the two men's voices he was hearing.


The next incident occurred because of Ellen Crawford's little dog.
As soon as the autistic boy saw it, he ran away through the vineyards.

"Danny, stop!" shouted Eve, but he didn't seem to hear her. She had to follow him.

"Mrs. Crawford, I'm so sorry. Our young guest is afraid of dogs. Please forgive him," explained Ironside.

The elderly lady was astonished. Why should anybody be afraid of Christmas, her little darling?!

Katherine tried to explain the Asperger's Syndrome to Mrs. Crawford – with modest success – but at least she could convince her that Danny was harmless.

Mark wanted to run after the kid too, but Ironside signaled him to stay. The boy would just get more upset. As it was, he stumbled over a wire, skinning his knees. Finally Eve managed to calm him down, but he almost cried.

"I promised dad to protect you and now I ran away... I'm so sorry..."

"Is this a normal Sunday afternoon for you?!" Mark asked later, when Danny, who had followed the traces of a truck, was out of earshot. His twin daughters had never been nearly as difficult.

"It's an example of a quiet Sunday afternoon. But usually Ed does the running and the calming down."

"Is it easier for him?" Katherine wanted to know.

"No, I don't think so – not much anyway, although Danny is more inclined to obey him. But Ed wants to protect me from wearing myself out. He has a great way with Danny, but afterwards he is as drained as I am, and the worst part is the nights, when Danny has bad dreams. He is still traumatized from the accident his biological parents had and the years he spent in the children's home. Then only Ed can calm him down."

Ironside understood better and better why Ed Brown was so shattered. Eve was a patient and dedicated mother, but there remained too much work for him. This labor-intensive child had a fixation on him. Together with his job as Chief of Detectives with little or no support by his superior, this resulted in a tremendous amount of pressure. Ironside had been a workaholic himself all his life, and in a way he was proud that Ed had become so much like him. But more than enough was too much...


"Here's the computer!" said one of the voices in Ironside's study.

"What about the stereo?"

"Let's take it too, it looks like an expensive one."

"I'll see if there is anything of value in the kitchen..."

This had to be burglars. Ed sat up abruptly, which was not a good idea, as he soon noticed. His head spun like a carrousel.

What could he do? His gun lay upstairs in the guestroom where he had left it on Christmas Eve before going to the mass with his family, and he had no way of getting there unnoticed. He had no weapon whatsoever.
He didn't delude himself: If they came into the living-room – which they most probably would – he would be in no shape to defend himself. He had to call for help, yet Ironside's phone was in his study.

Ed Brown was usually not one to run away, but right now he couldn't see an alternative. Maybe Eve had left their rented car open the other night after driving him home. She'd had other things on mind then than to lock car doors. The key to the ignition was in her purse though...

Somehow Ed managed to get off the couch. Fortunately only two steps away there was a massive table where he could hold onto fast. Moving along the table led him to the window. Ed opened it and climbed out.

The intruders had arrived in an old pick-up truck which was standing next to the window. He considered using it to flee, but decided that it would cause too much noise. Maybe he could get away unnoticed with the Chevy Blazer they had rented in San Francisco, which was parked further away. He trudged through to it, fighting against the lightheadedness.
He almost sighed with relief when he reached the driver's door, which was unlocked indeed. He pulled himself onto the driver's seat. Bending down to hot-wire it was next to impossible. He managed to pull the string of wires out, but he had to close his eyes because dizziness threatened to get the better of him... and then someone grabbed his shoulder and yanked him out of the car.
Ed would have collapsed, but for the attacker's firm grip. The detective was shoved against the car. He saw stars, but nevertheless he hit his adversary as fiercely as he could, and his aim was not too bad. Yet there was not enough strength behind his blow to fight the criminal off, just enough to make him angry. It didn't take much for the attacker to knock him out.


* See part 1 of "Sounds": ff story "Christmas Carols"