(A/N): Hey hey! Here's the next chapter! Enjoy! :)
Chapter 4
After Mike's pancakes were all devoured and sticky, syrupy fingers were wiped off, it was finally time for the guys and little Beatrice to start heading off towards the police station on the mission to find her parents. The small girl soon reminded them that she was still wearing the same dirty dress and tights that she had been the night before, but Peter soon came up with a solution to that. Pawing through his closet, he pulled out a small sweater with a teddy bear on it, a pair of worn out blue jeans, and a sky blue bow. Luckily they were just her size.
"It's a good thing that I accidently packed a bunch of my sister's old clothes from when she was a kid when we first moved in here," He beamed. "We can finally put those to good use."
As the rest of the Monkees got dressed, Beatrice wandered around the living room area. She noticed, now that it was a lot brighter, that there was a large alcove by the window stock full of instruments. Drums, guitars, maracas, tambourines.
"The guys must be musicians." Bea concluded as she continued to ponder about. But soon, four pairs of shoes stomping down the staircase interrupted her thoughts. Davy came over to her and took her small hand in his.
"Ready to go?" He chirped. She nodded quickly as she skipped alongside him, Mike holding the door open as everyone exited. The five of them walked out the front door and into the brisk Saturday morning air. It was pretty chilly at this time of year, even in California, but nobody seemed to mind.
"Hello boys!" Beatrice turned her head at the sudden cry and soon saw a little old woman waving to them from her front porch. She sat on a rocking chair in her bathrobe, casually reading a gardening magazine and sipping a cup of tea.
"Hello Mrs. Filchok!" Micky called back. Mrs. Filchok came scurrying over, eager to greet her neighbors with a warm smile. It was then that she noticed the small child latched onto Davy's arm.
"And who is this little one?" She asked sweetly, kneeling down to the girl's level. Mike placed a hand on her shoulder and beamed.
"Well, this is Beatrice. She's been staying with us for a little bit." He said as he adjusted the little green hat on his head. Mrs. Filchok nodded.
"Well, you're a very pretty youngster, aren't you?" She said, causing Beatrice to blush. The elderly lady grinned, showing aging dimples before turning back up her walkway and into her chair.
"Goodbye fellas! Have a wonderful day!" She called back.
"You too!" Peter replied as they continued on. Mike pulled open the door to the famous Monkeemobile and hopped in the driver's seat. There was barely enough room to fit the four boys by themselves, so Beatrice sat propped up on Micky's lap as he whispered jokes into her ears and let her rest her tiny head against his chest the entire ride to the police station.
"So, Beatrice, when is the absolute last moment you remember seeing your mom?"
Deputy Roger Terrance sat with his legs propped up on his desk, a cigarette in between his teeth, as he stared curiously at the small girl who was sat down in front of him. She sat with one hand clutched in Peter's, the other in Mike's as she thought back to the night before. Davy and Micky stood awkwardly in the back of his office as they looked from person to person with anticipation. Beatrice swallowed thickly.
"Yesterday afternoon. She told me that she was going to use the bathroom and that she was going to come back. I was left in front of the lamppost in front of the library. And then she never came back."
"Do you by any chance remember what time it was?"
"No."
The child sniffed slightly, not wanting to let the tears that she had been holding back for the past half hour free. When the Monkees and she had arrived at the station earlier that morning, Mike was the first to explain how the two had met and what their intentions were. The officer, who had rusty red hair, a sprinkle of freckles across his nose, and thick wire framed glasses resting on his face, had been listening intently to the kid as he asked her question after question, trying to pry into her memory for any hint of where her mother may have gone. He could tell that she really didn't know anything about what happened after that, but she was very clearly upset. Mike placed a comforting hand on her back and started to rub soothing circles into it.
"Well, Beatrice, I thank you for your cooperation. If you don't mind stepping into the hallway for a little bit, I'll talk to your, um, caretakers here and ask them a few more questions. I've got a coloring book here and some crayons to keep you entertained for a while." Deputy Terrence smiled, handing her the supplies and ushering her to the door. Beatrice turned back, looking at the boys with questioning eyes, but when Mike gave her his famous reassuring grin, she knew it was okay. Deputy Terrance shut the door behind her and turned to the four Monkees.
"Well, I must admit that I was very surprised to see you four arrive here with her," He started, pacing around the room, taking a puff of his cigarette and blowing it out into the room. Mike let out a hacking, wheezy cough as the smoke drifted into his lungs.
"Why would that be?" Micky asked, slapping Mike on the back as he struggled to get his breathing under control. Terrance was completely oblivious to that as he took another drag, flopping back into his chair and turning to face them.
"You said the kid's name is Beatrice Walker, eh?" He said, pushing his glasses up a notch on his nose.
"That's right." Davy replied. Terrance nodded his head.
"Yeah, we've seen her around here a lot before." Peter's eyebrows shot up at 23905719283 mph.
"What? Is she a bad kid? From what we've seen so far, she's a little angel."
"No no no, that's not it. Beatrice is super sweet; you have nothing to worry about," Terrance said, spinning around in his chair. "She's been here a lot because of her mother." Mike's face twisted with deep concern.
"Her mother?" He wheezed out. "What's she done?" Terrance let out a sigh, as he ran a hand through his wispy red locks.
"Amanda Walker is a bit of an alcoholic," He explained. "We've gotten many calls from their neighbors in the past couple of years reporting child abuse." All four Monkees went dead silent.
"Child abuse?!" They all cried at once. The deputy nodded sadly.
"Beatrice's father passed away in a pretty brutal freak accident when the kid was about four. That's when Mandy began turning to liquor and booze for support instead of being there for her child. From what their friends tell us, Mrs. Walker would come home every night after leaving little Bea alone all day, and she'd just be so drunk and so filled up with alcohol, she'd lash out on the kid. Mandy didn't know how to express her grief after losing her husband, and she had no idea that the child was still upset too, so she just let out all of her feelings through violence and hatred. According to her teacher at school, Beatrice would come in with a few bruises every now, but every time she was asked what happened, the kid would say that she fell off her bike. After getting so many reports of violence, we finally had Mandy locked up in rehab for about two years until she was well again. Beatrice stayed with her grandmother, who according to reports, passed away this past March. That was about the same time they let her mom out. Amanda really genuinely changed. She had given up alcohol and was ready to move on with her life. She was ready to become a caring, understanding mother. The case got taken to court, and the judge decided that it would be safe for Beatrice to move back home and live with her. And it was fine until now. We didn't get any calls, and Bea's teacher didn't report any injuries or signs of depression, so we assumed that everything was fine. And it was, up until yesterday. My guess is that Mandy is back to her own ways. I mean, why else would she let the kid out of school? She probably got wasted and forgot about her. Until you came along Mr. Nesmith. You saved her. She's been through so much hatred and loss in the short seven years that she's had, and you've really made up for it with all the love and support you fellas have given her in the past 24 hours. We can't thank you enough."
None of the Monkees moved. They sat there, frozen, the only sounds in the room being the ticking of the clock and what was left of Mike's light wheezing. A few tears rolled down Peter's cheek as he took in what Deputy Terrance had just said. Micky held his head solemnly and Davy just stared at the police officer in disbelief. Mike sat with his face in his hands.
"Oh golly," He finally managed at last, dabbing at his eyes. "I had no idea she'd been though all that."
"She's had a rough time of it." Terrance remarked.
"Well, we can't send her back with her mum! We can't!" Davy sprung up from his seat. "She's a monster!"
"Well, we've got to find her, so we can lock her up in again. I just don't know what we're gonna do with Beatrice though. She's got no other family, and I just don't feel right leaving her in foster care or anything like that. We've got until the end of the day to make our decision of what to do with her, but for the time being, I'd really appreciate it if you guys just watched her for a little longer." Terrance replied. The guys nodded their heads furiously.
"Of course! We'll do anything to help her!" Micky exclaimed.
"Great. For today, I'll have the whole squad on the hunt for Mandy Walker. All I'm asking you fellas to do is to keep your eye out for the kid, and make sure she's happy and distracted. We'll work on what to do once we find her mom." Terrance said, walking over the door and pulling it open. Beatrice came bolting in, smiling widely, the gap in between her two front teeth showing. She skipped over to Mike.
"Hi!" She stated cheerily, holding up a sloppily colored in picture of a dog. "Look what I made!"
Mike just lifted the small girl onto his lap and embraced her in his arms. He held her small head in his hand and just kept her close to him as the rest of the Monkees joined in on the group hug.
"We're gonna have lots of fun today, kid." He said, as she wrapped her small arms around him.
"That's a promise."
(A/N): I hope you enjoyed and it wasn't too terribly sad. :P I've got tons of ideas for lots of fluffy chapters in the future, so stay tuned! Please review! :)
