Folks, the plot bunny has bitten me. Normally, you'll get fluffy romances from me but this one will be a little different. The angst elements will be as tuned low as possible because we're dealing with children here but apart from that there is little romance to be found in that one. So sorry for this but I still hope that you enjoy this and next time I will return to some peaceful and romantic story but right now: Welcome to murderous Midsomer! Ah, yes, it is a loose sequel to Cully's Question but you don't necessarily need to read it to be able to follow that one although I would like you to :)
Anyway, have fun with The Ones You Love!
Chapter One:
"... And then Josh said they came running into the living room, these coppers...", Cully was so excited that she hardly noticed her dad entering the kitchen. Her mother was listening attentively to her daughter telling a story from school and barely turned towards her husband. Tom Barnaby, however, wrinkled his brow disapprovingly and asked sharper than usually: "Who said coppers?!"
"Dad!", Cully jumped from her chair and hugged her father but he was not distracted: "Cully, who told you this story?"
"Josh came to school today and told us how his older brother was imprisoned yesterday. He said..." Cully trailed of insecurely when she saw the look on her father's face. Carefully, Joyce intervened because she noticed the storm brewing on her husband's face: "What happened, Tom?"
Tom Barnaby straightened and sat down at the kitchen table heavily. It had been a hard day but there was no need to worry his family. So he just said: "Dan Murrew has been arrested today. He will be convicted for theft and shoplifting..."
"Oh!", was all that Joyce said and turned to the dinner boiling away on the stove. This was a matter her husband and daughter had to sort out between themselves.
Cully had been telling stories about Josh Murrew from school over and over again. He was her best friend and the two of them had been in some mischief together, nothing serious of course but Tom had been worried about this for the last few months. When Cully had announced that she would either marry her dad or Josh he had been seriously hurt but told himself to not be silly. Of course, one day he would have to let Cully go but he simply didn't like the fact that his daughter was friends with a boy from a good-for-nothing-family. Joyce had accused her husband time and again of being snobbish because Josh's family was neither rich nor particularly socially accepted but Tom had archly reminded her that his own background was also not exactly picture-perfect and that had been the end of it.
"Well, Cully, if you call your dad a copper, you cannot marry him in a few years", Tom just explained to her with a smile that tipped her off that he was joking. He would never let her know how much it had hurt him to hear her talk about his colleagues and by extension about him in this derisive term and her tone had deeply shocked him. And he knew very well that this was all Josh's doing. Of course he understood that the young boy was angry and scared to see his older brother handcuffed and taken away but that was not his problem at the moment.
"Yes dad. Sorry dad", Cully replied meekly and hugged her father again. Tom smiled over Cully's head at Joyce and thus dinner that evening was a quite peaceful affair. By the time Cully was safely tucked in, she had again turned trustfully towards her father and looked up at him with her eyes that were far too awake for bedtime and told him: "Dad, I know that you are the best copp... eh police man around. I love you, dad!"
Tom smiled down at his daughter and gave her a kiss. Then he said despite himself: "Don't worry about Josh and his brother. It will be alright. But you know that when you do something wrong, there will be consequences..."
"I know dad...", Cully said but then she sighed: "But sometimes the things that you are not supposed to do are so much fun... like climbing that apple tree at Mrs Barnhurst's..."
Just a few weeks ago, Josh and Cully had gone up said tree and were stuck on one of the upper branches. It was quite an effort to get the two kids down again and Cully had to surrender some of her pocket money as a consequence.
Despite himself Tom had to smile – oh yes, his daughter was already too wise for her age. But he had to admit that she was right. He leant in and whispered in a conspiratorial tone: "Sometimes the trick is to not be detected..."
Cully looked at him surprised and when he broke into a grin she laughed with him and Tom was relieved to feel that today was not the day that he would loose his precious daughter.