From Dawn 'Till Dusk

by dcat

Thanks to Jeanne, I believe, for tossing out the idea of some stories about the guys for 'Friendship Day.' This is a little early, I think the date was in August, but the idea popped in my head and I had to get it to paper.

I do not own the characters of Hardcastle and McCormick.

OOOOO

There was no indication whatsoever as to what the day would hold. At 6:30am, the day began like so many others did in Southern California in general and at Gulls Way in particular. Sunny, already warm, with the haze quickly rolling in and a daily date with the basketball court and the kid.

Milt Hardcastle stepped out of the main house, carrying the basketball. He'd already been debating whether or not to actually play this non-descript morning, but his need for an early wake-up call for his body ended up winning that battle, besides, McCormick had mentioned it last night before retiring off to bed.

The previous evening had been spent attempting to collect one Mark McCormick from LAX. He was returning from a trip to Northern California, where he attended a racing reunion as well as visiting with some old friends. Hardcastle insisted that he buy him the round trip airfare as an early birthday present as the kid seemed to drag his feet on taking the trip at all. He hemmed and hawed for at least a month about going by himself or 'driving all the way up north alone, as he couldn't convince the Judge to go along.' Getting him the round trip ticket was the only way Milt could convince him to go, have fun, along with a soft reminder to not cause any trouble. Milt put up the old argument about them not having to do everything together in an effort to take the ticket and go. Reluctantly, he decided to attend and then began to set up side trips and such and the trip went from a weekend to ten long days. He managed to make a few calls home to the Judge to let him know that everything was going along as planned and that he was having a great time.

The airport was the usual zoo. Milt had waited and waited. His incoming flight was delayed six times due first to mechanical problems with the plane and then finally because of some weather issues up north. When McCormick did emerge from the gate, he looked exhausted, yet happy. He briefly mentioned that he had a wonderful time, thanked Hardcastle again for the ticket and proceeded to climb into the pick-up's cab and drift in and out of sleep for the entire ride back to Gull's Way.

Upon arrival at the estate, the same basic thing happened, including doling out the 55th 'thank you' to Milt for the gift of the ticket. He finally said goodnight, reminded the Judge about the early morning basketball game, grabbed his duffel bag and headed straight for the gatehouse.

Milt stood in the driveway momentarily, as he watched the kid rumble into the gatehouse and turn out the lights. It had been ten long and rather quiet days without the kid around, though Hardcastle managed quite well in keeping busy and occupied, still, it was ten days and he was quietly pleased about getting back into their 'routine.'

There was no better way to start the 'routine' than with basketball and so here he was.

Milt got to the tiny court and dribbled a few times and launched up a shot. It bounced off wide to the left and he tiredly went to retrieve it. After scooping the ball off the ground, he noticed the light come on in McCormick's loft. The tiny beacon gave him a reason to smile.

He kept shooting and before too much time passed, out sauntered McCormick. He let out a powerful yawn and Milt responded with a "Morning McCormick."

He was 'rewarded' with a sleepy nod and a mumble about 'forgetting to set the alarm, but I heard the ball and so here I am." The Judge tossed the ball to him and he dribbled it a couple of times to get some sense of the rhythm and let go with an easy ten-footer that cleanly went through the net.

He smiled at Hardcastle and said sheepishly, "Been practicing! What can I say?" He chased down the rebound and tossed the ball back to Milt and followed it up with a longer explanation. "They had a hoop out at the track up there and me and Bill went over and played long after the reunion ended and shot around for another couple of hours. Honestly Judge, I don't think I've stopped for the last ten days. It's just been one thing on top of another. Did I remember to thank you for the ticket?" he asked again and before a semi-tired Milt could respond that yes, indeed he had and he didn't want to hear it anymore, the kid kept talking. "That was a great trip. You really should have come. I saw a ton of people that I used to race with, man that was pretty cool. I am glad you talked me into it. I ran into this guy that I met when I was 16 Judge. Name's Roger Holmes. He's 55 now, got his own little chain of auto supply stores and he's thinking of sponsoring a car in next year's circuit. Was he ever a great mechanic back in the day? And he had so much patience with all of us kids. He's one of those guys that shared everything he knew. He was amazing. I learned a lot from that guy. It was great to see him again. We got caught up right away and carried on as though nothing had changed. What a great guy, you would have liked him."

The each took their share of warm up shots, trading off back and forth, as McCormick began to regale the Judge with just some of the many highlights of his trip. Milt couldn't have gotten in a word edgewise if he'd have wanted to. Finally, tiring of the shoot-around, Hardcastle held up two fingers to ask if the kid was ready to play.

"Yeah, take her out," McCormick managed to stop the reminiscing long enough to start the game. "Only let's just play for ten today, I'm a little tapped out right now. I probably overspent a little up there, but that's what trips are for right?" He checked the ball back to Milt. "I don't want to get too much further in debt, all the breakfasts, lunches and dinners started to pile up. Oh hey, I brought you a t-shirt too, it's in the gatehouse, I'll get it for you later. I was gonna get you a Giants hat too, but I figured you'd never give up on the Yankees." He glanced up at the familiar cap atop the Judge's head, playfully batted at the brim and waited just long enough to get his 'good guess' look of approval from Hardcastle.

The game wasn't the typical gorilla-ball escapade that they would normally get into. It was a slower, more comfortable game, with Hardcastle taking the contest much more seriously than McCormick. All the while, McCormick continued to enlighten Hardcastle about the 55 year-old auto parts store owner and some of the dumb things that 16-year-old Mark McCormick had done. The Judge responded with a couple of laughs and some looks of skepticism.

Hardcastle listened closely to his exploits, but also concentrated on the game, heck it was the first one he'd had in ten days and he was looking forward to it. He ended up winning the daily ritual by a score of 21-18.

They began the walk back toward the main house for their usual hearty breakfast, McCormick falling in step behind the Judge, still dribbling the ball, then tucking it under his arm as he dug out the 10 from the pocket of his sweatpants. He stepped up his pace and handed it to the Judge. "Here ya go Judge, sorry about not giving you more of a game, I guess I'm still sort of unwinding from the last ten days. I promise tomorrow we'll go for twenty and I'll give you a better match up."

Hardcastle gladly accepted the money and folded it up thinking that the kid didn't a) realize or b) care that he had lost or c) both. Normally he'd grumble a bit more about losing, today he didn't seem to mind at all. He knew the kid was still roughly 400 miles or more away. He continued walking with McCormick now right beside him. He was about to tell him that he could understand about the easy game, but just as he opened his mouth to speak, McCormick started talking again.

"Hey, I saw EJ up there too. I only got to talk with him for about twenty minutes though. I bought him a beer. He said the track is doing awesome, the kids love it and he invited us to come out there some night. He said he'd take us to dinner."

It was through the back door, into the kitchen for breakfast.

"Reunions are great, I almost wish it had been longer. There were a ton of people that I wanted to talk with, but never got around to seeing. Sit down, will ya? I'll cook, you've had ten straight days of it now, no doubt you could take a break from Eggs Milton. I'll make us up some pancakes for a change of pace. Bet you haven't had those in awhile."

Hardcastle declined to answer the rhetorical question since the kid knew him so well or thought he did and took a seat at the table. He picked up the paper as the kid headed toward the refrigerator to find the ingredients he wanted to use to make up their breakfast.

McCormick continued with the non-stop dialogue, his energy level increasing by the moment. It made Hardcastle internally shudder, thinking what filling up his belly would do to him. He didn't wonder very long as McCormick said, "I think I'll make a double batch today. You know two days wasn't nearly enough to see all those racing folks, or in my case two and a half days, as I had to wait for Barbara to pick me up and she didn't get out of work until 11 on Sunday morning. But that was all right, because it gave me a chance to get out on the track for real. This old friend of mine, okay, well, he's more of an acquaintance, he knew Flip real well though. Anyway, he took me out to the track and let me take a few laps in one of these prototype modified's. I can't believe the improvements they've made in just under a year. Remember that fuel injector I was telling you about last year in Arizona? Well, they've improved on that. This particular car wasn't exactly the top of the line, but she moved Judge. Boy oh boy, was she fast out there. Of course I wasn't running against anybody and things always seem faster when you're out there alone. It was just great. Want some more coffee?" He didn't bother to wait for an answer, he merely grabbed the pot and filled the Judge's cup.

Hardcastle perused the paper, nodded at the appropriate times, attempted to get in a word edgewise and keep an ear on McCormick's endless vacation stories through the pancakes, sausage links, juice and coffee.

After breakfast Milt was going to wash his truck, so outside he went with McCormick in tow again. Milt barely had pulled the truck out before McCormick determined that he'd do the job, convincing the Judge to sit down and relax. Milt tossed him the keys and walked over to the shade of the garage, pulled out an old lawn chair and proceeded to watch and listen to more of the McCormick vacation tale.

"So Barbara and I are laughing hysterically and she's trying to keep her eyes on the road, tears are streaming down her face from her laughing so hard. I had to keep looking over to check the speedometer, because I figured if we got pulled over for speeding if we weren't careful and with her looking the way she did, with the makeup all running down her face like it was, they would have tossed me back in the slammer for who knows what? Honestly, I never laughed so hard in my life either."

Hardcastle sat and laughed at the whole account with him as McCormick retold of the incident.

After the truck and the Coyote had been washed, McCormick was still feeling even more ambitious, Milt mentioned that he needed to run a few errands, to the hardware store, Frank's office and finally to the grocery store, if they intended to eat lunch and dinner. McCormick promptly invited himself along and the Judge didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't necessary. Anyway, he was honestly enjoying hearing about all his exploits.

McCormick offered to drive, but the Judge had already jumped in behind the wheel, so McCormick slid in on the passenger story and began another story. "Let me tell you about the dinner. She took me to this really fancy restaurant for dinner. Well, let me back up first, I had worn the tie I brought along to the racing reunion and got Hollandaise sauce splattered on it during the dinner over there, so we had to stop at a men's store to pick out a new one, I still gotta show it to you. I forgot about that last night. I let her pick it out for me, since she knew the restaurant we were going to and what would match the shirt and coat and you know what? I got more compliments on that damn tie than I ever have in my life. It was a chick magnet Judge. Yeah, I'm not kidding you. Every woman that passed by the table had to stop and comment on it. Who knew a tie could have that much of an effect on women? That's one thing I need to remember. I suppose you knew that, since Nancy probably picked all yours out huh? All right maybe not, I've seen most of your ties."

That last comment got him a sneer and a shoulder shrug from the Judge who still was unable to get in a word edgewise, as he pulled the truck into the hardware store parking lot.

"What do we need in here?"

Milt pulled out a 5/8th screw from his pants pocket and handed it over to McCormick.

"Oh yeah right, the mirror in the upstairs bathroom. I was gonna do that before I left, but one thing led to another and I ran out of time. That's okay, I know just where they are in here, it'll only take a minute to get them. Did you remember to put the drill on the charger? I can get this thing fixed up yet this morning yet depending on how long it takes us downtown and at the store." Into the store they went, this time Milt followed Mark right to the aisle with every screw imaginable in it. He quickly found the 5/8th bin and grabbed a handful of the screws. The Judge began to pull out the 10 bill from this morning's game out of his pocket and McCormick caught the maneuver out of the corner of his eye and said, "Nah, put that away. These are on me, I think I can handle 65 cents. Besides, I said I was going to do this weeks ago."

Hardcastle was just about to comment and had his mouth opened up to speak, when an old clerk came up to them and asked if they needed help.

"Nope, thanks Pops, we got it covered," Mark smiled brightly at the old timer and led the way to the checker and then they were back to the truck where they started heading off to the next stop.

"I'm gonna fix that attic window today too while I'm at it. Might as well make a repair and replace day right? I've put that off long enough now and the stuff to fix it has been sitting out in the garage now for the last month. It won't take me long to take it out, fix that rotted wood with a new section, set it back in, caulk it up good and tight and slap a coat of paint on it." He took a breath and looked over to Milt. "You know, you're not saying a whole lot today…."

A car coming from the other direction, blew through a stop sign and missed slamming into the Judge's truck by inches.

"Holy cow! LOOK OUT!" McCormick shouted, putting his arm out to brace himself against the dash. The truck skidded to complete stop, just short of the oncoming car. "Damn, that was close Judge. I guess it's a good thing you aren't talking. If I'd been driving I think we would have gotten hit, 'cause I am not paying attention. You okay?..." Hardcastle nodded yes as he peered through the windshield noticing how close the collision had almost been. The driver of the car waved at them and took off. Milt sat for an extra second before he started up again.

The next stop was the police station, where they found out Frank was on vacation for the day. Before Harper left, he had set aside a couple of files for Milt, which were brought out by a uniformed officer.

McCormick snagged them in mid-air, "Nope, remember what just happened, you concentrate and drive and I'll read the files." Back outside in the now blazing, hot sun, McCormick squinted as he began to read. "What's in these files anyway? Don't tell me, let me guess, a new case to work on. Ten days without crime busting is long enough huh?" He followed his question with a grin and a hearty laugh. "You're easier to figure out than a ten cent novel." McCormick quieted down long enough to scan the files and nearly collided with the rear end of the truck in the parking lot while he tried to walk and read at the same time. The Judge started to point to the truck and say something, but again, McCormick jumped the gun, "Oops, see what I mean, I don't know where my head is right now."

Hardcastle would have gladly told him, given half a chance.

They both got in and began the short drive to the grocery store.

"Let's see what we have here," McCormick was now comfortably inside the truck and opening the first of the two files. "Oh, are you kidding me. This is a joke right? Connie Barrow and Blade Parker? This sounds like a bad Bugs Bunny parody. Connie and Blade? That's suspiciously close to Bonnie and Clyde. Let me guess? Yep, here it is. Modern day outlaws, what else would they be? What is this? He broke her out of out of jail and that's what started the crime spree? Where do you find these people? I'll bite, which one did you send away, I know it's got to be in here." He paused to read the file. "You sent her up? For check forgery?" McCormick laughed hysterically. "Hardcase, you kill me. You honestly gave her six months in a federal penitentiary for that. Oh wait, it wasn't her first offense, that must be why you were so tough on her huh?..." The rambling and histrionics carried on through seven aisles in the grocery store including, the meat, produce and dairy sections and all the way back to parking lot before ending with, "We are not chasing after these two Judge. I refuse to." McCormick closed up the files, after reading every word or note in each one out loud to Milt.

Hardcastle was just about to ask why, but he needn't have bothered. He closed his open mouth and waited with minimal anticipation.

"I'll tell you why. These two are obviously a couple of psychopaths. That's enough reason for me and it should be enough of a reason for you too. The cops are already after them. Can't we let them do their thing on this one? Honestly Judge, can't we just do some sort of easy going surveillance on some gray hair or maybe chase down a habitual jaywalker?"

The Judge shoved the grocery cart towards McCormick's hands and pulled the two files from Mark's hands. Then he handed over the truck keys.

"Oh see, I get it, I'm supposed to shut up and drive now huh? All right fine, I can do that." It wasn't but ten seconds, when McCormick began to give a litany of reasons as to why they shouldn't chase after Connie and Blade. The Judge was ignoring him for now, absorbed in the reading of the files himself.

Once they got back to the house it was nearing 12:30pm, so the Judge made up some roast beef sandwiches for both of them and then it was time to hear more about the trip. "The winery tours were awesome. Barb knew just where to go, the less crowded ones, to avoid the lines and the crowds. And yes, she abstained from tasting, so she drove and I tasted. Well, she had a glass at lunchtime, but that was it. And the weather was absolutely perfect. Clear and warm, but not hot at all. Did you ever see how they go about making wine? It's fascinating." He spent the next hour giving a detailed description of the process, after which, he finished his third sandwich, took a breath and added, "After that, we headed back to the city for the Giants game…."

When lunch was finished and McCormick had stacked up the plates and glasses in the dishwasher, he plucked the 5/8th's screws off the table and headed upstairs to the bathroom. "Hey, maybe you can give me a hand up here, holding the mirror while I get these things in place," he hollered down to the Judge from the stairs. The Judge gladly followed him up and was rewarded with another story from his ten day trip. This particular anecdote was about the evening Barbara took McCormick to the theater. He recalled every detail of the play for Milt and even attempted to act out a couple of scenes, which the Judge could have done without.

From the mirror re-hanging, McCormick went up to the attic to remove the partially rotted window. He proceeded to carry it out to the garage where his materials to fix it were located. The Judge, for lack having or wanting anything better to do, went along to 'supervise' so to speak.

"This really isn't in too bad of shape. I think maybe just this bottom piece of wood is bad Judge, probably where the rain run-off sits and collects. If I remove this piece and replace it, I bet it'll be as good as new." McCormick went about the task, measuring twice and cutting once and finally fitting the new piece of wood tightly into place. He began to tell the Judge about Barbara driving him over to San Quentin, where he wanted to stop to visit Teddy Hollins. That particular stop was the most reluctant thing about his trip. It had been a few months since he had heard through the grapevine that Teddy had been arrested outside of Modesto for speeding and then as the cops waited to hear any wants or priors, Teddy tried to run. He was also a suspect in holding up a convenience mart. The judge in Modesto sentenced him back inside for five to ten. It broke McCormick's heart to see his old con-artist friend back behind bars, and he knew it upset Teddy as well, as he hadn't even written to let Mark know. He found out from the friend of a friend. He knew in his heart, being so close to the prison that he had to stop and visit him. Teddy was happy to see him, promised to write again and tell him about how his latest idea was coming along. He had begun to lobby the warden for the inmates to have access to computers. His ultimate goal was to have one per cell, but he confidentially told Mark, he'd settle for a bank of them in the prison library. McCormick doubted the day that any of that would ever happen, but then again, it was Teddy's idea and even though they sounded dumb, someone usually bought into them.

The stories about Teddy filled most of the late afternoon, some from years ago, others from their visit. McCormick had tons of them. They lasted through the window caulking and right on for a coat of indoor and outdoor paint on both sides of the window.

"You can cross that one off the checklist too Judge," McCormick said as he climbed down the exterior of the house on the ladder and headed off to the garage to put his materials away. As he walked away, he called out. "Let me clean this up and I'll get started on dinner, you just relax. What the heck have you been doing around her for ten days, the place looks pretty good…"

The Judge watched him pick up his stuff in the garage and wondered how he could talk non-stop like he had been for the better part of the day. Just thinking about him made his throat ache. The kid came hustling over from the garage, tapping the Judge on the shoulder blades as they continued into the house. "Man, am I hungry, how about you?"

Inside the kitchen, he pulled the pork chops out of the refrigerator and took them over to the counter to bread them. "After a few hours of Teddy, Stan and Peg were out at the gate ready to take me to their cabin. Boy, have they really made changes to it. Not that it wasn't nice before, but they're turning it more into a second home rather than a cabin. It's beautiful. Stan's got this huge staircase that he crafted himself, you walk into the entryway and let me tell you Judge, it blows you away. They said we could use it for fishing this fall if we want. I just need to give them the dates and they'd clear out for us. I told them we wouldn't want to impose, but they insisted. Anyway, he built this staircase that you've really got to see to believe. He said it took him three months to design it and another six months to build it." He began to cook up the pork chops and while they were cooking he scrubbed up some potatoes for baking and pulled out a head of lettuce to make a salad. Milt watched in amazement as Mark moved about the kitchen with ease, all the while his mouth motored story after endless story with every minute and vivid detail he could possibly recall.

Dinner was more of the same, with a momentary lull in the action, as McCormick dashed over to the gatehouse and retrieved the previously spoken about t-shirt that said, 'My friend went to Northern California and all I got was this t-shirt,' "Don't you just love it Judge? I've always wanted to get one of those things for someone and who better to get one for than you?" He grinned from ear to ear. The t-shirt was followed by an expensive and exquisite bottle of wine from Giorgio's winery, just outside of Sonoma. McCormick boasted proudly how he had picked it out especially for the Judge and how he had come upon that particular bottle of wine. Mark wanted Milt to wait and have it for a special occasion but Hardcastle insisted that the special occasion was now, so he handed the bottle back to McCormick to open. More wine stories ensued.

"So then Stan and I, after Peg's insistence, went off for a whole day of fishing. Stan was having all the luck in the world, me, I only caught two and they were small. He landed a twelve pound trout though. That fish put up one hell of a fight too, but he sure tasted good when Peg fried him up."

They were in the den now, about to watch "Chisum" with John Wayne. "I hope you don't mind that I made extra popcorn, I haven't had any for ten days now and I'm really hungry for it, I went easy on the salt though, just how you like it. I brought you some Pinky's Fizz too. Did you really have to buy a case of that crud? We'll never get through it all and you won't let me just toss it out, which means you're stuck drinking it."

By 9:30pm, with McCormick talking through the entire movie, something finally happened, it was quiet except for the Duke's familiar drawl. Hardcastle thought the kid had fallen asleep, so he looked over at him and he was gathering himself together.

McCormick stood up from the chair. "I guess I'm beat Judge, if I stay here any longer, I'm liable to drop off on you, so I'm going to bed instead. I feel like I've been talking all day long. But I think I gave you the rundown of the whole ten days. If I think of anything else that happened, I can always tell you tomorrow right? I'm really glad you talked me into going and I'm gonna say thanks once again for the ticket. I'll see you in the morning for basketball huh?" He headed for the door

Milt smiled as he shoveled a handful of popcorn into his mouth. "'Night McCormick."

The routine was back.