Mr. & Mrs. Bennett
After Danny had shown up on their doorstep, covered in blood, face all swollen and black on one side, and every inch of him shivering from the cold, he nearly collapsed inside their house. Mr. Bennett had managed to get the overgrown man-child to the sofa to warm up before the fire—and the boy hadn’t moved from the spot for the last fifteen minutes.
Mr. Bennett crouched in front of the fireplace, gripped a fire iron in a fist twisted up by arthritis, and poked at the logs to keep them burning. Droopy jowls quivered and shook with every prod of the fire iron. He still had a full crop of gray hair, but unsightly hairs sprouted up all over the rest of his head as well—on the ears, on the tip of a bulbous nose, patches of it creeping out from his nostrils. And while most of him seemed to be shrinking, his earlobes just seemed to be getting bigger. He wore thick-rimmed glasses—the same pair he’d worn for the last twenty-some years.
He glanced over at Danny, who savored the warmth from the roaring flames in the fireplace, liking the way it made his face feel and how the heat soothed his throbbing jaw. Danny sat mesmerized, watching red embers hiss and spit off the logs. The embers glowed for a few moments in a pile of ash before they slowly faded to a dull gray. Danny held a mug of hot tea in his hands and tried to sip it, but his mouth hung open and most of the warm liquid ran down his neck.
Mr. Bennett set the fire iron on the stone hearth, struggled to his feet, then took a seat beside Danny on the sofa. Before speaking he watched his wife skitter around the house looking for a blanket and some rubbing alcohol to clean up some of Danny’s wounds.
Mr. Bennett clasped his leathery palms together and wore a heavy expression on his face and jowls. “Danny, if you didn’t do nothing wrong, then you got nothing to be worried about. You just need to tell the sheriff the truth about what happened. Nobody’s gonna put you in jail for something you didn’t do.”
Danny’s head still felt funny, and Mr. Bennett’s voice sounded far away, like he was speaking through a tunnel or something. Danny looked at Mr. Bennett’s kind face and shrugged his shoulders, then took another sip of tea and grimaced as he swallowed. He began to speak, saying the words slowly and as clear as he could, and tried his best not to move his jaw too much. “But they think I hurt Mindy. I wouldn’t do no such thing, Mr. Bennett. She was my friend. Besides—” A flare of pain shot through his jaw and stopped him short. His whole body jerked and he waited for the sharp ache to ease up some before continuing on. “Mindy was dead when the deputy and Carl came out of the trailer.”
Mrs. Bennett hustled back into the living room, her face flushed red with worry. Her gray hair was pulled into a bun, and her hands trembled a little as she put a warm blanket over Danny’s lap. She might be a little thick around the middle, but she moved with a lively spring in her step. A hardy woman with strong country hands used to digging in the garden, chopping firewood along with her husband, and plucking the feathers from a chicken when they were in the mood to fry one up for dinner. She gave her husband a look, and they spoke without saying anything.
Mr. Bennett nodded and turned back to Danny. “Okay, Danny. Just drink your tea up, and we’ll get things sorted out.” He gave Danny’s knee a quick pat, and then he stood and hobbled into the kitchen on arthritic knees.
Mrs. Bennett was right at his heels. Her hands were cupped around the folds in her neck and her fingers twisted around an old mother-of-pearl necklace she favored wearing.
“You better call Lester and get him up here,” she whispered, sneaking a peek back toward Danny in the living room. “That deputy of his is nothing but trouble. I bet he did something to that Knolls girl.”
“Hold on, now. Danny’s not exactly the best source for reliable truth. You know how he is. Maybe he did do something by accident and is getting the facts all mixed up in his head.”
“You really think so, Sherman?” Mrs. Bennett asked.
Mr. Bennett didn’t really believe that Danny would hurt anybody. Especially Mindy. “Well, no, I don’t know for sure, but we’ll just have to let Lester figure all that out.”
Mrs. Bennett nodded reluctantly and watched her husband pick up the phone. He dialed a number and waited while the phone rang and rang on the other end. After ten rings he put the phone back in its cradle.
“Not in the office. Must be out looking for him. I’ll take Danny back to town after a bit. Let him drink that tea and get back a little strength.”
Mrs. Bennett’s eyes widened with a worrisome thought. She gave Danny another look before saying anything. “You don’t really think Danny would have done anything to that poor girl, do you?”
Mr. Bennett didn’t answer right away. He poured himself a cup of coffee and blew on it for a minute. “Danny’s always been quiet and kept to himself, and to be honest, I just don’t know what he might be capable of doing. He’s been carrying a world of hurt and pain around for a long time now. Can’t be easy to live that kind of life.”
Mrs. Bennett wanted to disagree with him, but she wasn’t absolutely sure. “You think you should take him to town? I don’t think he did anything to that girl, but I don’t know if I want you alone with him.”
Mr. Bennett tugged on his jowls, thinking on that for a second. “Can’t let him stay here. Besides, his jaw is a mess. Looks to be broken pretty bad, and I think he’s got a fever, which probably means he’s got an infection, too. The boy needs to see a doctor.”
His wife nodded. “Guess you’re right.”
They both nearly jumped out of their skin at a violent thudding on the front door. Three heavy knocks. They gave each other a look as whoever it was pounded on the door once again—harder this time.
“Probably the sheriff now.” Mr. Bennett shuffled back into the living room and toward the door. As he passed by the couch, he noticed that Danny sat upright and rigid. The man’s eyes were glued to the door, and he had an uneasy look about him.
“It’s all right, Danny.”
Danny shook his head. “I don’t know, Mr. Bennett.”
“You got nothing to worry about. You’ll see.” Mr. Bennett swung the door open, and Sokowski’s wide shoulders were framed by the entranceway. A few paces behind him, Carl stood with weak shoulders bent south. Both men had rifles slung over their backs.
“Got us some police matters here, Sherman,” Sokowski said.
Mr. Bennett took a quick step back. “I was thinking that you were the sheriff.”
“Nope. I ain’t.” Sokowski glared past Mr. and Mrs. Bennett toward Danny, who sank a little deeper into the sofa. “We’re here for Danny.” Sokowski’s eyes were a mess of bloodshot, and he breathed out a strong wave of booze. He never took his eyes off Danny as he bumped up against Mr. Bennett and stepped inside the room.
