Daryl awakened with the dawn, intent on getting an early start and making the most of the daylight in his initial sweep for Leah's parents. He most certainly did not expect to find Leah herself already up when he emerged and busy performing some kind of acrobatics that involved hanging upside down from the railings running along the upper level of the prison.
"Hey!" he couldn't help but exclaim, "Quit that! You're gonna fall and break something!"
"Hi Daryl!" She beamed up at him as she righted herself onto solid ground obediently. " I didn't think anyone would mind if I practiced my gymnastics here."
" Course I mind! I didn't rescue you only to have you hurt your fool self doing something stupid."
Her little face took on a solemn cast and she said softly "I'm sorry Darryl. I won't do it again. Please don't be mad at me."
"Shoot, I ain't mad kid. You just had me worried is all." And he smiled at her to prove it.
"Good." She said visibly brightening. Her eyes alighted on his bow strapped to his back. "Are you going out now? Are you gonna look for my parents? Can I come? Please?"
"Yeah I'm goin' and no, you sure ain't comin' along. I can do this much faster on my own."
She looked crestfallen and Daryl felt bad. Why did it affect him so much to see her sad? He cast about for something to cheer her up. "Hey, you can help out with the baby more today I'll bet. Don't that sound fun?"
"I guess. But I'd rather go with you."
Daryl felt pleased to know she preferred his company to the baby she clearly enjoyed. He patted her on the head fondly and said "I'll be back in time to tuck you in again, okay?"
"Okay Daryl" Leah said and without warning she flung herself at him with such force he almost lost his balance. She clung to him around his neck tightly, head buried in his shoulder. "Thank you" she said with a quaver to her voice now.
"Hey," he said softly as he awkwardly wrapped his arms around her bony little body, afraid he might hurt her unintentionally, "Hey, don't you go cryin' on me now. There's no need for that. You're a strong, brave girl and now you're in a safe place where you can rest easy with people who'll take care of you. And I'll be back, I promise, just like I promised I'd look for your family. And I always keep my promises little Monkey."
She pulled back so she could look him in the eye, clearly trying to hold back tears and look brave. "Okay Green Arrow."
Then giving him one more fierce hug she dropped down lightly to the ground. She trailed him to the door where he told her in no uncertain terms to go no farther. She obeyed but remained at the door waving to him until he rounded the corner en route to his bike.
Rick and he had mapped out a very methodical search area last night covering any known lakes within the distance Leah might have come. Assuming her family would have stayed close to the original site once the herd had passed on in the hope that she'd return, this approach made the most sense. Armed with Leah's description of the family vehicle ("Dark blue with a container strapped to the roof") and her parents names, Abby and Tom, Daryl roared out through the gates feeling surprisingly optimistic about his chances of success.
The first lake was a bust and the second was ultimately as well though he had to waste time clearing it of a cluster of Walkers first before he could even search it properly for any signs of people having been there. By the time he thoroughly searched the third one on his list it was time to turn around if he wanted to be true to his word and be back in time for Leah's bedtime. Besides, it was far better searching in the full daylight. He tried not to think about how disappointed she would be when he came back with no news of her family. Then again, he hadn't found their bodies either or their vehicle abandoned so he would try to make her see the positive side. Also on the positive side he managed to bag a careless rabbit at the last lake on top of two squirrels from earlier so meat was on the menu tonight.
As he rode through the gates he found himself growing ever more apprehensive about having to tell her he'd struck out. "Shit, I hope she don't start to bawl." he murmured as he parked his bike.
Daryl headed straight to the kitchen to drop off the fresh game which was received favorably by Carol and Beth, both busy fixing supper. Carol didn't even ask him if he'd had any luck, she simply said "Well, it's just the first day of searching. There's still hope."
"Yeah. But that don't make it easier tellin' Leah that her hero came up short. Speakin' of Leah where is she?"He had been scanning the kitchen for her and concluded she wasn't around.
"That child has an incredible amount of energy and she just couldn't be contained in here anymore." Carol replied shaking her head. "So I sent her to fetch water for Judith's bath."
Daryl's eyebrows rose. "Are you sure she can haul that bucket back full of water?"
"I told her not to fill it anymore than she could handle. Let's see how much that turns out to be."
"I'll go check on her." Daryl grunted, "Gotta tell her sooner or later." He made his way out to where the big water cisterns were kept and spied her from the door slowly making her way back, clearly trying hard not to slosh any water out of her bucket as she walked. Her face was intent on the bucket so she didn't notice him at the doorway. He was just about to call out when the last person in the place he wanted to talk to Leah approached from right. Carl.
He planted himself directly in her path with arms crossed."Just let me carry that. You're too little to do it. You'll probably spill most of it by the time you make it back."
Daryl's first instinct was to step in but he was curious to see how Leah would respond and he also wanted to give her a chance to fight her own battle.
She kept right on going sidestepping him saying emphatically "No thank you. Carol gave me the job and I can too do it."
"That's my girl" Daryl thought to himself, "don't let him bully you."
Carl looked like he wanted to say something else but Leah caught sight of Daryl just then and with a delighted grin cried "Daryl!"
"Hey kid" he said as he walked up to her. She looked up at him expectantly and his heart sank. Not wanting to make her ask the question he shook his head right away and said "No sign of them today but that just means I didn't get to the right lake yet, is all. I'll try more tomorrow I promise."
Her face fell and she nodded silently. She placed the bucket on the ground bending her head down to look at it and her hair fell forward obscuring her face. A few sniffles emerged and her shoulders shook a bit. Daryl waited apprehensively for the full blown crying to erupt but it never came. After a minute or so she looked back up at him and said in a tight voice "Okay. Maybe tomorrow you'll find the right lake." And she picked the bucket back up and proceeded forward again slowly.
Well, if she wasn't going to dwell on the disappointment of today's search he sure wasn't going to make her so he just offered to carry the bucket for her in a more pleasant way than Carl had but she declined his help as well. So he slowed his pace down to match her slow progression.
After a few moments it became clear she wasn't capable of talking yet so he filled the silence by telling her about the addition of rabbit to the menu tonight.
"You killed a bunny?" she asked, disbelief evident in her voice. Her eyes had gone wide as she peered up at him for a moment before focusing on the bucket again. "I'm not eating a bunny."
Daryl was astounded by her reaction. "You eat other animals dontcha?"
"Yeah, but not bunnies. They're cute and my friend Ellie has a pet bunny named Muffin that I love. So I'm not eating a bunny." she concluded, a stubborn edge to her voice now.
Daryl was flummoxed. The kid had been starving for a week and here he brought home some real meat for dinner and she wouldn't eat it because her friend had a pet rabbit with a stupid name? This wasn't going to fly.
"Listen here Leah, you need to eat some meat, your body needs that to grow. You ain't ate well for a whole week. Now you can get strong again, this will help."
"No way." she said tightly. "I'm not eating a bunny."
Starting to lose his patience now with her irrational stubbornness he said forcefully "You sure are. It ain't up for debate. Got it?"
She mumbled something under her breath and then went silent the rest of the way back to the kitchen. When they entered Carol looked up and Daryl saw her brows crease worriedly when she saw Leah's face. She thanked the little girl and sent her over to Judith while she approached Daryl.
"She took it pretty bad when you told her you hadn't found them yet huh?"
"No, that went okay. She's upset because I'm gonna make her eat a bunny." He grimaced as he realized he'd used Leah's childish term. "I mean rabbit."
Carol laughed softly. "Oh now you're starting to see the tougher side of parenting .Yeah, kids don't always want to eat what's good for them. So now you're the bad guy."
Catching sight in his eyes of what must have been the alarm he felt at the possibility Leah would really see him that way Carol added "Don't worry. It won't last. You'll be back to hero status soon enough. Just let her mope for awhile and after supper we'll see if she changes her tune."
Daryl received the silent treatment from Leah throughout supper but she did indeed eat whatever meat was placed on her plate without further objections at least. She studiously refrained from making eye contact with him even after the meal was done and when Carol herded her off to bed Daryl felt disappointed but not surprised that she didn't ask for him to come tuck her in. He sighed inwardly and was just resigning himself to being satisfied with having ensured she ate properly when Carol returned and said with a smile "She's asking for you to come tuck her in and she sounds very contrite .Told you so."
Daryl had never heard that word contrite used before in his life but he could make a pretty good guess that it meant something like sorry so he didn't bother to ask Carol for a definition and made his way toward Leah's cell feeling ridiculously victorious. When he reached the door to her cell he paused and called out softly "Hey."
"Daryl?"
"Yeah?" He walked in slowly and crouched down by the bed like he had the night before.
"Don't be mad at me please? I'm sorry I made trouble about the bunny. It was really yummy. Thank you."
"I'm not mad." He said gruffly, only half telling the truth.
"Really? Promise?" She sounded so pitiful Daryl patted her on the head and said more gently "Promise. Just don't give me no more problems about what I bring for you to eat next time okay?"
She did not reply, furrowing her brows instead, and Daryl guessed maybe he was pushing it a little so he tried another angle.
"Can we at least drop the word "bunny"? They're rabbits okay?"
"Okay Daryl." She sounded half asleep now. "Just rabbits…"
She soon drifted off but he stayed with her for awhile after again. As he crouched there watching her even breathing he couldn't help but think once more that maybe, just maybe, he was getting the hang of this parenting thing.