41

THINGS SAID AND NOT

After feeding Santiago they went out and fed the other animals. As they crossed the pasture to the bobcat enclosures, Wendy said, “You see what I see, Danny?”

He looked from Buzzsaw Bob to Lucky. “I see them standing on the top of their den boxes watching each other.”

“Like Romeo and Juliet,” Wendy chuckled. “It’s the bobcat version of making eyes at each other from a balcony. Dr. Singh gave BB a vasectomy about ten days ago. As soon as the new enclosure is finished I’ll put them together.”

“I can help!” Danny offered eagerly.

“Good. All that’s left to do is to put in a feeding slot and build the new den box. We can drive to town and get the materials tomorrow.” Wendy cast Danny a grateful glance. “What a relief to be able to leave home without worrying about getting grabbed by those awful guys!”

• • •

When Kyle got home he told Wendy and Danny that “those awful guys” were locked up, and not likely to get out for a very long time. “They’re being charged with aggravated assault,” Kyle explained at supper. “Besides that, there’s the money from the bank robbery that they tried to spend in Florida, plus some firearms violations. Put it all together and I think we’ll have a solid case against them.”

“Not to mention the threatening phone calls,” Wendy added.

Kyle frowned. “They’ve denying that, of course. But we might find someone to testify to the fact that they were asking around for your phone number. Maybe Danny’s parents — Danny, do you know when they’re coming back?”

Danny stared at his plate. “I think they’re not coming back.”

“Not coming back?” Wendy echoed.

“Why do you think that?” Kyle asked a calm way which told Wendy that even though he wanted information, he was trying hard to sound like a friend, not a cop interrogating a suspect.

“They were fighting about it,” Danny mumbled. “After he got the money. The rent was way behind and my mom wanted to use it for that. He said to hell with the landlord, they should go somewhere new and start over. She said they didn’t have enough money. That’s why they wanted me to take mine out of the bank. He said in Las Vegas we might win big, and could go wherever we wanted after that.”

Danny pushed the food around on his plate awhile before adding, “But I didn’t want to go with them.” He looked up, meeting Kyle’s gaze squarely. “I’m going to South America to work on ocelot conservation. As soon as I’m old enough.”

“He’s got a plan,” Wendy said quickly. “For after he finishes high school.”

“Oh,” Kyle said. “But in the meantime?”

No one said anything. Radar hopped up on the chair with his toy. Danny squeezed its paw, but nothing happened.

“Dead battery,” Danny said. “Sorry, Radar, your leopard has sung itself out.”

Kyle looked across the table at Wendy. “You know, Wendy, Frank and his wife have a couple of foster kids. I could check with them about —”

“No!” Danny yelled. He jumped up so fast his chair fell over backwards with a crash that sent Radar scrambling into Wendy’s lap for protection. “NO!”

And then before anybody could speak, Danny was out of the room and out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Wendy ran to the living-room window just in time to see him jump on his bike and pedal away into the darkness. “Oh no!” she exclaimed, and grabbed her keys from the wall hook.

“What the devil got into him?” Kyle asked. “What did I say?”

“Foster kid. He thinks you mean to have him put in a foster home.”

By the time Wendy got the RAV started, Danny was out of sight, but she knew he couldn’t have gotten far. Sure enough, a short distance beyond the end of their driveway she saw him in her headlights, hunched over the handlebars, pedaling like he was training for a triathlon.

She drove a little way past him, stopped, and got out. He came up on her so fast that for a minute she thought he was going to swerve around her and keep going. But she held out her hand, and he stopped.

“I am not going to a foster home!” he yelled. “I don’t care what the cops or anybody say!” His eyes flashed angrily. “I’ll run away! Right now! Right this minute!”

“You got it wrong, Danny! That’s not what Kyle meant. He meant he was going to check and see if you could stay with us.”

“That’s not what he said!” Danny muttered between clenched teeth.

“But that’s what he meant,” Wendy insisted. “I know —”

“How do you know?” Danny demanded.

Wendy hesitated, wondering how she did know. Then she understood, and also thought of how to explain to Danny in a way he’d understand. “You know how with animals, Danny, the ones you get to know really well, like the llamas? It gets so you can pretty much tell what they’re thinking, right?”

Danny wasn’t looking at her. She didn’t know if he got it, so, just to be sure, she added, “It’s like that when you’re married to somebody. You have an idea of what’s in their mind without them having to say it.”

Danny was silent. But she noticed that his hands were not gripping the handlebars of his bike quite so tightly.

She laid a hand on top of one of his. “If we could get ourselves certified as foster parents, and you wanted to stay with us, you probably could. Especially if your parents don’t come back. Maybe even if they do.” She gave a small laugh. “Of course, I’m not old enough to be your mom. Couldn’t I be your foster sister, though? And Kyle could be your foster brother?”

Danny kept his head down. For several minutes she could not tell what he might be feeling. When he finally lifted his face, Wendy saw, in the red glow of the RAV’s tail lights, that there were tears on his cheeks. He mounted his bike and began to pedal. Circling slowly, he headed back to the farm.