Kitten with a whip Read online

  "This was your first time, then?''

  "Oh, yesi And I was only there a couple days before I took oflF."

  "You seem like a pretty smart youngster." He fiddled with his orange juice nervously. "Didn't you know you'd get caught if you stole?"

  "I knew it was wrong." She squinted at him petulantly. "I already told you all this. My old man made me. It was either that or get the Hving dayhghts beat out of me. When he's high he uses his fists and I can generally dodge the old clown. But he was sober and that meant the belt. When was the last time you had a. belt bent across your tail, David?"

  He was astounded. "At your age, you still get whipped?"

  She nodded, trying to smile, trying to make a joke out of it. "I could show you the marks but I know you're not that kind."

  He looked at the telephone again, this time angrily. "It just isn't right," he muttered. "Tell me, when you broke out last night, what did you have in mind? Where were you eoing?"

  "I aon't Know. I just had to cut out of there. I couldn't take any more of that food and the crummy clothes and the crummy girls I was in with." She stared down again at the shapeless brown nightgown. "So I wind up without any clothes at aU." She reached beneath the table. There was a ripping sound, and her hands came up with a piece of hem the size of a handkerchief. "Here, David. Souvenir of a mixed-up kid." She was no longer trying to smile.

  He rolled the cloth between his fingers, trying to think straight. "Suppose . . . suppose you'd been able to wear some of Katie's clothes and I nadn't waked up. What would you have done?"

  "I don't think that far ahead." Jody was silent for a

  moment. "Mom had a brother back in Kansas. Wichita. I guess I'd have tried thumbing my way there, and hoped that they wouldn't find me." Sne shook her head with frustration, and her unkempt brown hair swirled. "I just don't knowl Why all these questions, anyhow? You work for the paper or something?^

  "Take it easy. I don t like nosy people, either. But I m trying to think if there's some way I might be able to help you."

  "Forget it." She laughed sharply. "Sitting here in this nice modem house, seeing all your conveniences right out of the magazine ads . . . well, I think I'm learning that I'm past helping. I'll keep on going the way I've always gone and end up lousy. Somebody pressed a button the day I was bom and that was it."

  "No, Jody. Nobody ought to think that, ever."

  "No—nobody nice like you. Thanks a lot, David, but I'd never have made it out of town if I'd been bom with wheels. I've got no money, no clothes—oh, why even talk about it? Nobody gives a damn about what happens to me. Not even me." She covered her face with her hands. She didn't sob but sat completely rigid. Her body looked suddenly breakable.

  In the silence, David drew a deep breath. "Goes to show you," he said softly. "Never be too sure about anything. Jody?"

  "Yes?^ She didn't uncover her face.

  "Maybe I give a damn."

  Chapter Two

  The wobds hung in th^ air like smoke after an explosion. In an instant of panic, David Patton imagined he could reach out and grab them, take them back. What did he think he was doing, anyway? This wasn t any of his business, oflFering to help a fugitive escape the law. Then Jody slowly uncovered her face and he saw the glow of dawning hope in her eyes and he was all right.

  She had to Hck her Hps before she could speak. "You re kidding?" she whispered, half in disbeHef and half in pathetic gratitude. "You mean that?"

  "Ill do what I can." His voice was steady and decisive; he was sure of himself again. And or her. The poor kid had a right to escape the trap of her present ife. "How much that'll amount to I don*t know yet,

  3Ut—"

  "Oh, thank you, thank youP Impulsively, she reached across the formica top of the table and seized his hands. Her own hands were small and very soft, much like Katie's. Her fingernails were bitten short, too, and even her grasp was childlike and familiar, the tender pressure of complete trust. David regretted having to disengage her foigers. "If I had to go back to that place, I think I*d mp, honestly! Oh, no wonder Tve had this weird good feeling about you from the first minute I saw youl*

  He chuckled and said, "Calm down, young lady. Make sure you understand that about aU I can do is see that you get on your way again. And right away—because you certainly can*t stay here. The neighbors might see you and my wife is due Monday and—well, you understand?"

  She nodded gravely, her large amber eyes fixed on his. "I wouldn't want you to get in any trouble, David."

  "Not that I'm worried about myself, really."

  *T promise, even if they pick me up and pressure me, I*Il never say one word about you. No matter what they do to me."

  Her face was more alive than he had yet seen it and her expression was so earnest, so grateful, that he was touched agaiQ. He even felt a httle proud of himself, that he could make someone so happy. This time he was the one who reached across the table and benevolently patted her hand. "You re going to be all right, Jody."

  "You know what? I m beginning to beheve it."

  He pondered a minute, 9ien said briskly, "Let's see now, the obvious first move is to do something about getting you some clothes."

  Timidly, Jody suggested, Tour wife . . . something she's about reaay to throw away, anyhow ...,?"

  "Well, maybe. Come on." He led the way through the house toward the master bedroom, Jody padding along barefoot at his heels.

  "Ml this carpeting," she marveled. "It sure feels good on the feet."

  "Yeah, we're pretty proud of it ourselves. That was our big investment for this year, right after we got the new washer-dryer paid for. Wall-to-wall carpeting throughout. Oh, it's a lot of fun to put a house togetjier, Jody. Youll find out someday."

  "I wonder."

  They reached the bedroom. It was stuffier than ever. David sHd open the closet door on his wife's side and studied the racked dresses that hung there. Virginia had taken a good many of her everyday and street frocks with her on the trip; what remained, generally, were party dresses or winter suits.

  "BoyI" Jody fingered through them wistfully. Her hand came to light on a sheer white negUgee, edged in a band of gold cloth. 'Tou must be rich, David.'

  He laughed at the notion, too ridiculous to bother denying. Like everyone he knew, his facade of prosperity hid a mountain of debt, a luxurious false front built out of mortgages, time payments and a good credit rating. Virginias wardrobe was handsome out it wasn't the result of an unlimited clothing budget. Rather, it was due to careful shopping and good management and always buying the best.

  Confronted by the dresses, like so many ghosts of his wiEe, he realized gradually that he could scarcely present

  any of them to Jody. Virginia would notice sooner or later and wonder about the mysterious disappearance. He wouldn't care to lie to his wife—not if she asked him straight out—but just how would the truth soimd? Well, there was this girl who slept here one night and didn't have any clothes . . . Yes, dear—do go on . . .

  David rumbled shut the closet door. Jody looked at him, surprised. "IVe got a better idea. I dont think any of Virginia's things would fit you very well. She's bigger than you are—size twelve, I think—and besides . . ."

  "I could take them in."

  "No, well get you some new things, a dress of your own. Wouldn't you like that better?"

  I guess . . .

  He got out his wallet and checked his supply of money. He was carrying quite a bit, cash he'd drawn out of the checking account for the gay times of his *l)achelor" week.

  Jody said hesitantly, "You mean, buy something at a store."

  "Yeah. Oh, don't worry. I'll buy it for you. I've got pretty fair taste."

  *1 can tell that, but . . ." She seemed reluctant to follow him out of the bedroom.

  "What's the drawback?"

  Jody grimaced. "! was hoping you*d be the one to think of it but I guess you're not the kind." She plucked the nightgown out from her waist. 'Tfou know I don't have anyming on und
er this rag. Some girls may like to go without bra and pants but I don't."

  "Oh." He managed a cramped smile. *1 guess I can handle it without blushing too much. Maybe you'd better write down your sizes." He got her a pencil and a sheet of Virginia's stationery from the bedstand, then went out to the Hving room bookcase where he always left his car keys. Jody had her Hst ready when he returned.

  "I put down size nine," she told him. "That's what I take generally but an eleven will do."

  "Okay. Uh—you want to wash your feet before we go? What with new shoes and all . . ."

  Her face tightened in a hurt look. "I absolutely in-

  tended to." She marched o£E to the bathroom and shut the door and locked it.

  While she was splashing away, he examined the list. Her writing was an uneven scrawl, half printing and half script. He wondered just how far she had gone in school. It was hard to tell; her speech was Hterate enough for her age group, and she seemed pretty quick witted. David, his masters behind him ana one leg up on his Ph. D., reminded himself that inteUigence and formal education didn't necessarily correlate.

  Jody came out of the bathroom and extended a clean foot. Care to inspect? To me, they look good enough to eat."

  He grinned at her. "You re the touchiest creature IVe ever run into."

  She grinned back. *1 know. Sometimes Im a real smoky bitch."

  The garage was built onto the house so it was only a quick scamper across the slab back porch for Tody to make the station wagon without being spotted by neighborly eyes. And that hazard was reduced by the hedge and the young trees that were finally beginning to put out enough growth to give the Patton house ana quarter acre a snare of privacy. The station wagon was turquoise and cream, last year's model, only two years more to pay.

  "You sit on the floor behind the front seat," he instructed the girl. "Keep down so nobodyTl know I Ve got a passenger."

  Jody giggled. 'Isn't this just like a movie?"

  "You concentrate on staying out of sight," he said, starting the engine. He flicked the switch on the dashboard that raised the garage door by remote control and was rewarded with Jody's awed whisper of, "Hey nowl" As he backed down the driveway ne could see O'Hara across the street, tying up some new growth on his trellis. He turned to wave his pruning shears at David and took a step forward as if he wanted to talk. David merely waved oack and stepped on the gas. His heart was throbbing with excitement and he buckled at the thought of CHara's face, had he caught a glimpse of what he was smuggling out of the nei^borhood.

  It wasn't so funny when he saw a flash of brown hair in his rearview mirror. Over his shoulder, he snapped, "What are you up to? Squat down, I told you."

  "It's like an oven down nere,'* Jody complained. 'Who's to see me?"

  "Everybody and his brother is out today. You don't know how this bunch likes to gossip." But by now they were down the hill and turning onto the freeway and David wasn't reaUy worried. At sixty miles per hour, faces became just a blur, even if anyone should be interested enough to dare take his eyes off the traffic. When they reached the tumoff that led to Citrus Grove and its four blocks of shops, he warned Jody again. "Now, remember—stay out of sight. It's for your own good."

  "Yes, David," she said obediently.

  He drove around the small town for a few minutes, hunting a parking place removed from the flow of pedestrians. He found a spot on a side street, under a drooping pepper tree. The sticky leaves would do the station wagon's paint no good but it was relatively cool there and somewhat screened by the feathery branches.

  As he got out, a green prowl car bearing the sheriff's emblem came cruising slowly by and he froze awkwardly, holding the door half-open, one leg in the street, one leg stiU in the car. But the deputies gave him only a casual glance before rolling on. David shook with relief. For the first time in his lire, he reahzed, he had stood in fear of the pohce. He didn't like it, the cold sweat, the bottom-dropping-out-of-everything moment, the reversion to childhood and its terror of punishment. The law was implacable and impersonal just as the spanking in the bathroom had been in those dim days, and it made him smaller and helpless to be wholly in the wrong. No, he didn't like the feeling at aU.

  Jody whispered, 'What gives? What's gone wrong?"

  As a matter of fact, what was the penalty for harboring and aiding a fugitive and conspiring to obstruct justice?

  "Nothing," he said, and his voice was steady. He might not like it, but he always finished what he started. "You keep your head down, kid, I'll be back as soon as

  can.

  He strode away from the car before his resolution

  took a turn for the worse. In a short tiine, half an hour at most, the impulsive episode would all be over and he would once again return to being David Patton, law-abiding citizen. And what he was doing wasn't wholly wrong, after all. There was, he reminded himself vigorously, sometimes a higher morahty than that contained in tne statute books.

  By habit, he entered the small department store where his wife did a certain amount or her shopping. The air conditioning embraced him like a rain or ice water. Saturday morning had crowded the store with intent counter-caressing housewives, those stranded without a car through the week, and high-pitched chatter and racing chfldren and the ring or cash registers. David drifted toward the rear of the store where he saw the dress racks. Almost surreptitiously, he began to examine the size nines.

  At once, a gray-haired saleslady was at his elbow, a sweet-faced creature with a put-upon look. "May I help you find something?^

  *Tm looking for a dress. Well, I guess that's obvious. Size nine?''

  "This is what we have right here. Any particular color in mind?"

  "Oh, it doesn't matter. Something cool. Maybe blue."

  The saleslady eyed him kindly, long tolerant of men buying women s clothes. "I personally think this one is very nice. It's dacron, needs no ironing."

  It looked all right to David, with its white piping and two Uttle pockets in front, and the no-ironing factor should appeal to a girl on the run. "Okay. Thatll probably do.

  "Of course, if you'd like something a Httle more dressy, this one here—"

  "No, I think the first oneTl do fine." His hands were beginning to sweat despite the air conditioning; he had a feeling of being watched by every customer in the store. As the saleslady removed the blue dress from its hanger, he lowered his voice. "I need some other things too. Lingerie?"

  "Of course. If you'll just step over this way . . . Do you know your wife's size?"

  Threading after her through the store, David dug

  out the paper on which Jody had scribbled her measurements. The saleslady listened, nodding. "Quite a small girl, isn t she?"

  "More or less. And TU need a pair—make it a couple pair—of socks to match the dress. Those ankle-high things, size eight. Do they still caU them bobbysox?''

  "Davel" The bubbly feminine voice rang out behind him and he whirled around. "What are you doing here?'*

  His heart began thudding heavily again, as if giving its last few beats. He swallowed. "Hi, Peggy," he managed to say.

  Of aU the people he had to run into, his wife's sister-in-law was probably the worst, a cheerful chubby matron, a few years older than he, who existed on the latest reducing compounds and the latest talk. She was the very one who could be counted on to spread the word. Guess who I ran into today in Citrus Grove, buying undies of aU things . . .

  "Doing a Httle shopping?" Peggy asked, her busy eyes running over the dress and the other items which the saleslady was spreading out on the counter before him. "A surprise for Virginia, Til bet."

  "Sort of," David muttered.

  "WeU, don t worry. I'll keep your secret," Peggy said with a laugh. "When does she get back from Frisco? Monday, according to the note she wrote Hugh. It's certainly nice that their mother's feeling so much better, isn't itr

  "It's still Monday." He half-turned away from her to nod approval at the lace-trimmed slip the saleslady was holdi
ng up. It was part of a pale blue set with brassiere and panties to match. It was undoubtedly expensive, but at the moment David didn't care. All he wanted was to finish buying and escape.

  Peggy showed no signs of departing. She fingered the blue (u-ess appraisingly. "Um, very smart. Was this on sale?" Then she raised her eyebrows. "Oh, for goodness sake, Dave—size nine? Virginia'll never squeeze into that in a miUion years. She's been a twelve ever since I've known her."

  He couldn't think of a reply. The saleslady was regarding him questioningly, saying, "I believe we have uiis same dress in a larger size . . ."

  '^o, it's all right She can always exchange it if it doesn't fit."

  "But, Dave, you can believe me—*

  "I want this one," he said, fuming at her interference, so well-meant, so hellishly timed. Will you wrap this stuff up for me, please?"

  Peggy shrugged good-humoredly. She never took offense. "You ana Hugh are just alike, buy the first thing that hits you in the eye. It's gotten so I won t let Hugh shop for me on a bet ..."

  Sne kept on chattering at his side. He refused gift-wrapping, learned the total bill came to twenty-six something, and began to deal money out of his wallet. "Hey, you carry a wad like a gambler, don't you? Hugh never carries more than ten, a five and five ones. I think it's some land of fetish . . ."

  At last his package was ready. He said to say hello to Hugh, said it was good to see Peg again, promised they'd all get together real soon. With tms final He, he made his escape. One thing he knew—he had to keep the two women apart until this incident had faded from Peggy's mind. Thank God she had a short memory.

  Still perturbed, he made one more stop, at the shoe store on the comer. There, after some inner debate, he decided that high heels wouldn't be practical in Jody's circumstances. He found a pair of low-heeled shoes, blue loafers that matched the dress, and bought those. Then, furtively, he returned to the pepper tree where he had left the car.

  Jody was lying on the rear seat on her stomach. David could see her bare feet sticking up, playing with each other, as soon as he ducked into me ticldisn shelter of the tree. She was reading one of Katie's comic books, moving her lips. She had hitched the nightgown up above her knees and her thighs were lush and honey-colored. Cant blame her, David thought, it's hot in the car. But he slid behind the wheel without looking at her again.