Kitten with a whip (2 page)

She oidn't meet his eyes. "It figures. I can't get much farther in this gunny sack, anyhow."

"I know it seems a shame but. . . ," David hesitated. "Look, why don't you go into the kitchen and get yourself sometning to eat while I get dressed? You must be hungry after walking half the night."

"Oh, I don't eat much as a rule. But I'd sure like a cigarette."

"There's a carton on the breadbox. Help yourself."

He turned to leave the bedroom. Jody said, "Wait." She glanced at him shyly. "I'm not as bad as I act. I mean, I sure appreciate your being so nice to me. Most guys in your spot woula have tried to cHmb me. Even my old man tried once. So thank you, and I'd really like to know your name."

"I'm David Patton."

"David." She repeated it imder her breath a couple of times. "That's a shiuy name. I read a love story once about a David. ^So tender and sad. But it came out all right."

He smiled at her. "Good." He went into the bathroom and got out his electric shaver. Here among the sunHt tiles of the bathroom, thinking to the tune of the humming shaver, he couldn't make two minutes ago seem quite real. There was a fogHke quahty about the whole sojourn in the dim bedroom, yet he had actually stood there and talked to a pretty escaped prisoner, a criminal. Criminal, hell! he thought instantly. She was just a pitiful kid, bom with two strikes against her and a broken bat in her hands. With a Uttle scrubbing and some decent clothes, she'd be a typical teenager, probably cuter than most. Like Katie when she reached that age. The big diflFerence being that Jody Drew never had a chance. Instead of a fixed-up room of her own, she had a barracks

or whatever they call them in reform school these days. Sure, he thought, shes a juvenile delinquent, but not because she doesn't want to be something better. It's a dirty shame, David decided—and he was echoing something he'd read or heard, because he hadn't done much thinking on the subject hhnseli—that with all the technical and social advances of our modern society, it still cant bother to take care of a poor kid like that. Instead it slaps her in jail and if she isn't a criminal when she goes in, why, she s one when she comes out. It just isn't right.

He dressed in the tropic-weight slacks and sport Suit he wore around the house and went out to the kitchen. Jody was sitting at the breakfast table, leafing through the morning paper. She had found the cigarettes, gotten an ashtray out of the dishwasher, and had poured herself a glass of orange juice.

"The paper was on the front porch, right by the door," she explained a bit timidly. "I sneaked it in without anybody seeing me. I had to see if there was anything about me." Even this west side of the house was heating up and she had hitched the heavy nightgown above her knees for coolness' sake. David's eyes flicked instinctively to the slim tanned curvature of her legs, deUcate through the ankles, a more alluring swell to her calves than he had expected. He turned away to pour some orange juice for himself. It wasn't quite a twinge of guilt that he felt during the instant he found hknself surveying her smooth young flesh, but he did prefer to thkik of her as the "poor kid" he had been pitying in the bathroom.

Tody added, "All I found was a big nothing, though."

'jThe paper's printed around midnight."

"Oh. I didn't cut out of the Hall until one or two o'clock."

"What does it say about the weather?"

"Hot."

"Well, we knew that, didn't we?" They both laughed, and David sat down.

Jody said, "Gee, you smell good. Is that shaving lotion, David? I've got a smoky passion for things that smell good. Whenever I get an extra buck, I always buy myself some cologne."

The wall telephone, yellow to match the kitchen.

hung on its hook over her head. David gazed up at it contemplatively. "Well . . . whatTl they do to you? For running away, I mean."

"I don't know.' Jody shuddered. "Some kind of solitary, I suppose. You know, like in prison pictures? I don't really know much about what goes on at the Hall/'

"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 under 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.