Our Boys

The Plasters

While the others talked and Deji phoned the police, Cal racked his brain for a way to get closer to Ethan without scaring him. Food obviously wasn't going to work. What else did children like? He didn't have any toys; his bag was pretty much filled with unimportant small stuff he'd thrown in over the years and was rarely actually needed...hang on...yes!

"Hey there Ethan, looks like you got yourself a scraped knee. Would you like a plaster to make it feel better?"

The little boy looked down at his knee and rubbed a grubby finger across the scrape. Lifting his head, he saw the dark haired, pale man holding out a small, paper wrapped strip. He remembered plasters; they took the stings out of the pain. And Josh never said anything about taking plasters from strangers. Besides, he knew the man's name was Cal so he wasn't really a stranger.

Slowly, step by step, Ethan edged closer to the beckoning prize, his hand reaching out to grab it.

"Do you want me to put it on for you?" Cal made the offer in a soft, encouraging voice and actually felt a little sick in his stomach as Ethan nodded eagerly. The child was still so innocent and trusting, either he hadn't been on the streets long or his friend had done a good job of keeping him sheltered.

"There, all done. Feels better, doesn't it?"

A silent nod was his only answer but as Cal sat back on his heels, he could see Ethan was fingering another small scrape on his right elbow.

"Oops. Looks like that spot needs a plaster too."

Simon returned as the fourth plaster was being carefully applied. The crumpled fast food bag lay forgotten on the ground and the young man couldn't help the upward twitch of his lips as he watched the interaction between his friend and the small child.

"Well, did we get them all?"

"Uh-huh." Ethan bobbed his head happily. "Can I have a plaster for Josh?"

"Yeah, of course you can." Cal held out another strip but Ethan eyed it critically.

"Have you got a bigger one?"

"Uhm, yeah." Ethan dug in his bag for the largest sized strip. No doubt the boy was thinking that an adult just naturally needed a bigger plaster. "Here you go."

Still Ethan hesitated. "Don't you got nothin' bigger?"

A slight tingle of alarm caused the muscles in Cal's neck to tighten. Glancing over at Simon, he received a nod that told him to follow his instincts.

"Well, how about this?" Taking a short trip to where he'd spotted an old compulsory medical box attached to the shopping centre wall, he prized it open, relieved to find a large gauze inside.

"Yeah!" Ethan snatched the gauze when he returned and began trying to open the plastic.

"Um, you know Ethan, that's a kind of special plaster. You have to put the sticky part on separate."

"Oh." The child frowned at the paper wrapped pad. Suddenly a beaming smile lit his face as he arrived at the obvious solution. "You can put it on Josh just like you did for me!"

"Sure Ethan, I'd be happy to. Is Josh somewhere close by?"

Simon hurriedly backed away and called the other boys to let them know what was happening. "The boy is going to lead us to his friend. Deji, what's the word from the police?"

"Fucking too busy to come here themselves. They want us to take him to the hospital to be checked out and they'll pick him up to talk to him there. Unless we feel in danger they don't have anyone free to come out."

Well, even though they were dealing with a kidnapper, he was obviously very injured, so Simon felt safe enough.

"Fine, Deji, go and call a taxi and go and meet it by the entrance." Simon saw that Ethan was starting to lead Cal to the pile of crates and quickly made his way back. Tensing in apprehension, he moved to follow them, with JJ following him, but from the side instead of directly behind. If Josh suddenly showed, he wanted to make sure he had a clean line of sight.

"Over here. This is where me and Josh live. I don't really like small spaces but this is cool cause we don't never get wet and we can pretend it's a cave and sometimes we're pirates but it's more fun to be ninjas. Sometimes we're cowboys but Josh don't like that game too much cause he says we need horses but we don't got none do you have a horse?"

Cal had been watching closely each step the child took, wincing inside every time he saw a bare foot come down near a piece of broken glass or bit of rusted metal. It took him just a moment to realize that Ethan had actually asked him a question and hadn't simply stopped talking when he finally ran out of breath.

"What? Do I have a horse? No, but my friend Simon has a lot of them. They came with his old farmhouse he and JJ bought two years ago."

"Real horses? With saddles and everything?" The boy's eyes were impossibly wide as he stopped to look around for the scary man. "Does he let you ride 'em?"

"Sure. But I'm usually a bit scared. I'm sure he'd let you ride one."

"And Josh?"

"If Josh asks very nicely." And Hell freezes over.

"Yay!" Ethan trotted the last few feet to the pile of rotting, wooden boxes and disappeared around the side. Cal lengthened his own stride but when he cleared the same corner, there was no sign of the child.

"Ethan?"

"Cal." Simon called from his position near a pillar. "Down and to your left."

Bending over, Cal spotted the small opening in the mound of boxes. "Ethan? Are you in there?"

"Yeah. C'mon."

"I can't, I'm too big to...ah. I'm too big." Cal's initial hint of alarm was on the verge of turning into panic. "Ethan? Is there a bigger opening somewhere?"

The child's head reappeared and he looked up at Cal. "Nu-uh. It has to be small to keep the trolls out. You wait here and I'll get Josh." He backed away before the man could object and once more vanished from sight.

Cal stood and began studying the crates, trying to peer down through the small gaps left by the haphazard arrangement. As he looked closer, it became apparent that the placement wasn't quite so random as he had first thought. In fact, it looked like an outer layer of broken boxes had been tossed on a very neat stack of whole ones. Cal's speculation on who might have built the shelter was interrupted by the muffled sound of Ethan's voice.

"Josh. Josh? Wake up. I got you a special plaster that'll make you feel better. Josh?"

Watching Ethan crawl into the small opening, Simon had arrived at the same conclusion as Cal. The 'Josh' that they had been so ready to hand over to the police on charges of kidnapping, was in all likelihood nothing more than a child himself. Relaxing slightly, Simon moved forward to stand near the stack of boxes and was just in time to see Ethan reappear.

The little boy crawled free of the crates and stepped slowly over to where Cal was quietly kneeling on the ground. His head bowed and his whole body radiating his unhappiness, Ethan held out the smudged and crumpled bandage to the man.

"Here. I don't think Josh wants it."

Cal accepted the gauze pad and tried to speak but found his mouth had suddenly gone terribly dry. Licking his lips, he was finally able to ask, "Did, did Josh tell you he didn't want it?"

"No. He wouldn't wake up. I think he's dreaming of angels just like my mummy." Ethan looked closely at Cal's face. "Why're you crying?"

"I...I..." Cal couldn't answer him. What could he say? I'm crying because a child I never met is lying dead in an abandoned shopping centre? I'm crying because you've lost both your mother and your best friend and you don't even know it? I'm crying because right now I feel so fucking helpless I just really want to scream.

Simon watched and listened to the scene. His own eyes damp as he heard JJ's choked sobs behind him. No, he thought. No. And with a new found drive he marched forward.