"Della, can you please call Paul's office and have him here?" Perry Mason asked his secretary.
Della Street nodded and reached for the phone, then stopped,
"Isn't it Wednesday?"
"Oh, that's right; he doesn't come in until sometime this afternoon. It can wait," Perry went back to work.
"Where does he go every Wednesday?" Asked Della.
"I don't know. Never asked him."
Perry shrugged it all off, but Della was now curious. Paul entered her office later that afternoon.
"Hi, Beautiful! Is Perry waiting for me?" he smiled.
"Yes, he is waiting, but I wanted to ask you something."
"Yeah?"
"Where do you go every Wednesday morning?"
Paul kind of looked at her, and Della regretted asking him. Finally he smiled again and said,
"I will pick you up at your place next Wednesday at seven a.m. sharp and you can see!"
"Really?" She was surprised.
"Yep!" He winked and went into Perry's office.
For a whole week Della tried to get a clue out of Paul Drake about where they were going, but whenever she brought it up, the detective clamped his lips shut and would not say anything. When Della asked Perry for Wednesday morning off, he agreed, then asked,
"Where are you going?"
"I don't know," she responded.
Perry gave her an odd look.
Wednesday morning brought Paul knocking on Della's apartment door precisely at seven o clock.
"Good morning, Beautiful!" he smiled.
"Hi, Paul. Now will you tell me where we are going?" Della locked her door behind her.
"Nope."
The drive was about half an hour. They drove away from the city, into a nicer, residential type area. Paul stopped the car just outside the gates of a large estate.
"This is where you go?" Della was shocked, wondering whose house this was and would they be all right with her being there.
"Yep," he grinned, then honked the horn.
Out of nowhere, a whole herd of boys came running towards the car.
"Unlock the gate for me, will ya, Henry?" Paul called out the window to a taller lad.
The gates swung open, and Paul drove slowly up the driveway to house. He opened his door and all the boys tried jumping on him at once.
"Hang on a minute, fellas!" Paul laughed, "I brought a visitor with me."
Several dozen eyes turned to look at Della, who smiled at their sweet faces. One of them remembered his manners and hurried around to open her car door.
"Why thank you, sir," she accepted the grimy little hand.
Paul waded his way through the sea of boys until he got to Della's side.
"This is a friend of mine, Miss Street. She wanted to know where I go every week, so I decided to bring her along so she could meet all of you!" He told them, then he said to Della, "Meet the boys of Edward L. Boys Home!"
"Hello!" She waved.
"Now come forward and introduce yourself, then we can go play," Paul instructed.
There were close to two dozen boys that shook Della's hand: Rupie (short for Rupert Steven Michael, so she was informed), William, Andrew, Andy, Lewis, Mike, Bill, Billy, Johnny, Cecil, Tom, Pete, Eddy, Walter, Jacob, Bud, Gabriel, Nicholas, Henry, and Lucky. A man wearing a clerical collar came out of the house while all the introductions were being made.
"Hello, Paul!" The minister smiled, "Did you bring a friend today?"
"Yes, I would like you to meet Della Street. Della, meet Louis Averil, the man who runs the place."
"How do you do?" Della shook his hand, not exactly sure what to call the man.
"Can we play football now, Mr. Drake?" Cecil asked.
"Only if I get to be on your team," Paul took off his jacket and tossed it onto the porch railing.
They boys and Paul went off into the spacious yard to play there game. Della and Louis Averil were left alone on the porch.
"Is this a school or a boy's home?" Della finally asked after several silent moments of watching the game.
"A boy's orphanage. I run the place. My sister Joyce helps me teach and take care of the boys. They are wonderful, and we love taking care of them."
"Does Paul always come?"
"Every Wednesday, Paul comes and plays games with the boys. He is a large financial supporter of our home."
"How wonderful," Della was surprised at the news.
"All of the boys adore him. He and Henry are particularly close because they both had similar experiences," Louis Averil explained.
Della had never knew Paul had a difficult past. You would never know it to look at him. She watched as the detective was pushed to the ground and the football was wrestled from his hands.
"Is there a kitchen here, by chance?" Della asked.
"Yes there is."
"I was wondering if I could make a treat for the active boys?"
Louis Averil smiled and lead the way.
Almost an hour later, the front doors to the boy's home opened and all of the residents trooped in, panting and out of breath.
"What have you been up to?" Paul asked Della, even though he could see full well what she had been doing.
"Making cookies for you all," she replied, passing around a platter of the warm cookies.
"Gee, thanks, Miss Street!" Bud said with his mouth full.
"Thank you, Miss Street!"
"Eat up, boys, it's time for your lessons!" Louis Averil directed.
"Are we leaving?" Della whispered.
"Not yet," Paul replied, "I always read for the first part of their lessons."
Paul and Della followed the boys into the large front room. Henry brought Della a chair, then went to sit by Paul Drake. All the boys sat cross legged on the floor. Paul opened Tom Sawyer and began to read aloud. After a few minutes, the smallest boy, Lucky, scooted backwards until he was right beside Della. She gave him a warm smile and he immediately crawled into her lap and snuggled into her shoulder. Della hugged him close.
Paul finished reading the chapter, then said it was time to leave. The boys all bid him goodbye. Lucky looked up at Della.
"Will you come back next time?" He asked.
"I would love too!" She kissed his little cheek.
"We'll see you next week!"
Della settled back in the car seat and thought about all the sweet boys.
"Do you think I spend my Wednesday mornings wisely?" Paul asked as he drove away.
"Oh, yes! Thank you for taking me!"
"Do you want to come back next week?"
"Yes!"
"Do you think Perry would?"
"I think I can talk him into it," Della smiled.
I know, I know, it is not the murder mystery one, but this idea randomly popped into my head and I thought I would share it.
I will try to post more to my other story, but I have not been doing to well. I will hopefully write more soon!
Please leave a review, letting me know what you think!