Chapter 19

Danny plodded home from the apartment block, unsure whether she wanted to go back there again. Dave frightened her now that he seemed to be talking nonsense. At first it had been fun, but now she wasn't so sure. He'd changed from being the nice man she'd found in that room. Then she'd treated him as a cross between a plaything, a friend and a pet. He was good to talk to, didn't tell her off and seemed to need her. In all, Dave made Danny feel important and in a way she liked to have an older man to talk to. It made her feel like she still had her Daddy around.

Now however, she was a little bit scared of Dave. He didn't seem to know she was there any more and even though she'd given him her popsicles and had brought the cushion and the Band-Aids for him, she knew it wasn't enough. He needed something else, but she didn't know how to get it for him.

As the little girl turned the corner of her street and started to walk towards her house, however, her face creased into a frown. There was a familiar car drawn up outside her front door and for a moment she felt like she wanted to run away. But where to? Her usual hiding place now held the unconscious man and she didn't want to share with him any more. He complicated her life. Sighing deeply and with her little heart pounding in her chest, she made the decision that she ought to go home.

With a feeling of foreboding, Danny walked slowly up the street, swinging her backpack from her hand. Life wasn't fair. Life wasn't fun any more and now she was going to get into trouble. Big style.

The little girl pushed open her front door and immediately heard grown up voices in the living room. Gently, she pushed the door closed, trying to muffle the click of the catch with her hand and on tiptoe, she walked up the hallway and turned to go up the stairs. She climbed the first three, skipped the fourth, which she knew squeaked and headed on upwards. She was almost at the top and was breathing a little easier when she heard the living room door open and her Mom's voice called her.

'Danielle. Where have you been? Come down here now, my girl.'

Danny turned on the top stop and peered down at her Mom, one hand clinging to the handrail as though it would somehow keep her safe. The adult face looking up at her wore a frown so deep that she could have hidden in the furrow between her Mom's eyebrows and the lips had pursed into an unbecoming thin line, showing just how angry her parent really was. With a sigh, the little girl started down the steps slowly, wondering if the "sorry Mom I feel sick" routine would work this time. At the foot of the stairs, she was taken sternly by the arm and propelled into the living room to be met by an equally stern looking teacher.

'Danielle?' the lady said severely.

'Hello Miss.'

Her Mom sat down opposite the teacher and Danny hovered uncomfortably between the two adults, not really wanted to sit beside either of them. She looked down at her shoes and her toes curled up inside them as she twiddled with a loose thread on her shirt.

'Care to tell me where you've been today?' her Mom asked.

'At school?'

'Uh uh. Don't give me that young lady. Miss Imada says you haven't been at school for a few days now.'

The teacher fixed Danny with a glare. 'We've all been very worried about you Danielle. We didn't know where you were and that made us all worry.'

'I was fine' the little girl said sullenly, not at all convinced that they were worried about her at all. Angry that she wasn't there, yes. Worried? – she didn't think so!

'Let us be the judge of that. You should have been at school Pumpkin, why won't you go? Where were you?'

Danny looked up, surprised. Damn! Her Mom was using the "Pumpkin" technique and Danny could never resist it. Her Daddy always called her Pumpkin when he sat her on his knee and read stories to her from the newspaper and she always responded to it so easily.

'I don't like school Mom. The others pick on me.'

'That's because you hit them honey. You have to stop that.'

'Well, tell Johnny Ackroyd to stop yellin' at me an' I will stop hittin' him' Danny responded angrily.

The teacher sat up straighter. 'I'll speak to Johnny. But in the mean time, we need to know where you've been. There are a lot of bad men out there. They could hurt you.'

Danny hitched a breath, wondering if they'd found out about "her" man. Dave wasn't a bad man. He was good. He hadn't tried to hurt her once! 'He never tried to hurt me' she blurted out. 'He was my friend.'

The two adults exchanged worried looks. Gently, her Mom took a hold of her arm and drew Danny to her so that the girl was standing between her knees, resting back against her Mom's leg.

'Who was your friend honey?' she asked gently but urgently.

'No-one.' Danny tried to twist away, but she was held fast by an adult hand.

Gently Danny's Mom ran her hand through her daughter's chocolate coloured curls, thinking just how much like her Father she was. Tough, streetwise, loyal and just a little bit vulnerable. 'It's ok Danny, you need to tell us honey. Who was the man? Where was he? What was he doing?'

Danny looked at her parent. She seemed genuinely worried for Danny and suddenly the little girl felt that maybe she'd done something really dumb. She knew she shouldn't have ever gone to the apartment block. Her Mom had told her about that so often that she knew she'd be in trouble. And she also knew that she should never have talked to strange men. The cop had come to school and had talked to their class about not talking to strangers. He'd told them that it was bad and that nasty things could happen to them.

Dave wasn't a bad man, though. Danny was sure of that. He'd never done anything to try to hurt her. The little girl licked her lips, her heart beating wildly in her chest. She could either tell her Mom and Miss Imada about Dave and risk being punished because she'd broken so many rules. Or she could tell them the truth, stop feeling bad, and maybe help Dave too. It was so difficult for the ten-year-old. So many conflicting thoughts ran through her head, balancing punishment and being grounded for a very long time against telling the truth and maybe getting some help for the man.

Danny was not a coward though. She told fibs on occasions and she fought with others when she couldn't find the words to explain how she was feeling, but she was ultimately a good and caring little girl. She struggled with the thoughts racing through her head, but each time she shied away from the thought of her Mom's punishment, a vision of Dave, sick and sleeping and cold on the floor of that room floated into her head and finally she knew what she had to do.

Squaring her little shoulders, Danny took a deep breath.

'There was this man. He's called Dave and I found him' she told the two adults, pausing to test their reactions. When they didn't start to shout immediately, she carried on, feeling more confident as she went.

'I didn't want to go to school. Johnny Ackroyd was being mean so…..so I went to my hiding place.'

'Oh Danielle, not the apartment block!'

Danny flinched, but nodded and carried on bravely. 'I went there because I didn't want to go to school and when I got there, there were some men.'

'How many men?' her Mom asked, her hand up to her mouth.

'There were two nasty men. They didn't see me coz I hid. And then there was Dave. They beat him up Mom and they hurt him. I watched them go and then I looked after Dave.'

'Dave who? Who is this Dave?'

'Dunno, but he's nice. He didn't try nuthin. He liked me.' The little girl looked pleadingly at her Mom and the teacher, willing them to understand.

'And um….where is he now?' Miss Imada asked. 'Where did he come from?' Did he say who he is?'

'He didn't really say much. He was kinda sleepy all the time. But I took him some stuff. I looked after him. I took him a cushion and some Band-Aids that we had in the cupboard. An' I gave him my popsicles to drink.'

'I'm sure you looked after him Pumpkin, but you didn't say who he was.'

'I don't know who he was Mom. He was just nice.'

'And where is he now Danielle?' Miss Imada asked quietly.

Danny looked at the floor. 'He's still there. He kept asking for someone called Hutch or Hush… he couldn't talk too much.'

'Danny, why didn't you tell us?' her Mom asked. 'Why didn't you get some help?'

'Coz I knew you'd be mad at me' Danny said softly.

'You're sure this isn't just some story Danielle, because if it is…..'

'No Mom. Honest. I aint lyin', he's real. He's real and he's hurt.'

'Do you know where he came from? I mean, do you think he needs help?'

Danny shook her head. 'He didn't say. Oh! But he gave me this. I drew a picture for him and he wrote something on the back. I didn't look at it. Here.' The little girl held out the crumpled picture and Miss Imada took it and opened it out, putting her hand over her mouth in shock.

'How long have you had this Danny?'

'A day or two' the little girl said defensively. 'Why?'

The teacher held out the picture, showing Danny's Mom the back. There, scrawled in an uncertain hand and splattered in the corner with something that looked like blood were the words.

ASK FOR SGT HUTCHINSON. STARSK NEEDS HELP 555 6458

The teacher and Danny's Mom exchanged glances. 'We need to telephone' Miss Imada said.

'But what if the men are still there? I don't want them coming after Danielle, or me. You know what the gangs are like around here.'

The teacher sighed, weighing up the options. 'If a man's hurt we can't just leave him. Trust me. I'll ring the number, but I won't say who I am. They can't trace anything back here.'

Immediately, Miss Imada reached for the telephone as Danny looked on, tears now forming in her eyes. 'What Momma? What did I do? Did I do it wrong?' she asked quietly.

Her Mom stroked her hair and shushed her. 'It's ok Danny. You were very brave. We think Dave might be a policeman. Miss Imada is ringing the number. But whatever happens Pumpkin, promise me you'll never go into the apartment block again huh?'

'Don't tell on me Mom. Please don't tell on me. I didn't do nuthin wrong. I never meant to hurt him, honest' Danny pleaded.

The woman looked at Miss Imada and shook her head.

'It's ok honey. We don't need to tell them who found him. Let's just hope he's ok huh?'

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Hutch led on the bed, half way between sleep and wakefulness. He was too tired to sleep and too wired to rest. The episode with Sue had made him feel raw, angry and powerless. Her smiling face as she told him that his partner had lost faith in Hutch to rescue him was the last straw and he saw it now in his half wakened state, her eyes shining with vindictiveness.

But then other visions came to the forefront of his mind. Days spent on the beach with his partner. Weekends spent at Dobey's cabin in the hills. The look of sheer terror on Starsky's face when the snake fell out of the refrigerator. The boyish smile that creased the handsome brunet's features as he held the tiny kitten in the basement where they'd followed Larry. All those things were pure Starsky. They were the essence of his brunet partner and Hutch's heart ached for the smaller man, his loss almost palpable in its intensity. Hutch sighed, remembering snippets of conversations long gone.

'You owe me a three course meal at a restaurant of my choice……'

'Starsk, get down…..'

'Massive damage……the body can only take so much…..'

'What'm I doin' Starsk? What am I doin'……'

'Starsk? Are you awake? Oh my God. You're awake! Nurse he's awake…..'

A fond smile played over Hutch's lips as he remembered the jig he'd danced in Starsky's hospital room, the nurse holding on to her hat to keep from losing it. And now…..

Gimme a sign Starsk. Please buddy…..just throw me a line here.

Hutch jumped a foot off the bed as the telephone by his bedside rang, jangling his nerves and seeming like a message from the other side. Snickering at his own crazy thoughts Hutch took a breath and snagged the receiver, putting it to his ear.

'Yeah' he said noncommittally.

'Is that Sergeant Hutchinson?' a female voice asked down the phone.

'Yeah, that's me. Why?'

'Um, is that Sergeant Hutchinson as in a police sergeant?'

Hutch's patience snapped at the crazy questions. 'Yeah, what is this, some kinda survey?' he grunted.

'I'm sorry Sergeant. You don't now me. This is going to sound crazy but, does the name Starsky mean anything to you?'

Hutch stiffened, his whole attention now on the telephone. 'Talk to me. That's my partner. What do you know about Starsky?'

'I think you should get down to the abandoned apartment block on Lincoln Way. And call an ambulance.'

Without waiting to ask further questions, Hutch slammed down the phone, his face pale and his hand shaking uncontrollably. At the door, Huggy wondered if the blond was having some kind of reaction to the poison he'd been treated for earlier.

'Hey Blondie, are you ok Bro. You look like you just seen a ghost.'

'I ah….I think I just heard from one' Hutch stammered. 'I um…..I gotta ring for an ambulance. I…'

'Ambulance? Why? Are ya sick? What can I do?'

'No, no. Not me. It aint me that's….. Hug that was a call about Starsk. Someone says he's at the old apartments on Lincoln.' Hutch looked hopefully at his black friend.

'You can't be serious. Who? Who called?' Huggy asked, walking into the room.

'I dunno. A woman. She didn't giver her name. Damn! She just said he was….. Hug, we have to go. I have to get an ambulance to meet us there.'

'Oh now hold on Blondie. What if this is a trap? What if he aint there? What if….' Huggy wondered if perhaps Hutch was undergoing some sort of auditory hallucination, although he too had heard the telephone ringing, but he was stopped mid sentence by the blond's hand upraised.

'Do you wanna play fast and loose with Starsky's life, coz I don't. If there's any chance…..any chance at all that he's there, I'm not gonna stop to think. C'mon Hug. How much have we shared over the years? And would he do the same for us now?'

'Yeah, but….'

Hutch staggered up from the bed. 'Huggy, just ring the fuckin' meat wagon and follow me out. I'm gonna go to the apartment block. If ya wanna come, fine. If ya don't…..'

The black man reached for the telephone. 'I'll be there in thirty seconds' he answered.