Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2018 11:16:19 +0100
From: Reickard Masters <succme@zoho.com>
Subject: Brother's Mate 31

Brother's Mate

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Chapter 31

"David!" Alexander exclaimed, "What? ... How? ... Uh, why are you here and
what's happened to you? Come in. Mum, Dad, you'd better come here."
Alexander called out as he let a dirty, wet and cold David into the house.

"I'm sorry; I didn't know where else to go," David said, shivering; with
his bottom lip quivering indicating that he was close to tears.

"It's okay. We'll help you, but what's happened?" Alexander asked again as
his parents and Callum all walked into the hall.

"I ran away. I couldn't take it anymore. I hate them!" David wailed and
this time the tears did start to flow.

Without even thinking about it, Alexander put his arms around David and
held him close. The others just stood and waited until the sobs died
down. This gave John and Rose time to think.

"You need to get out of those wet clothes. Alex, take David up to the
bathroom and while he's showering get him some of your clothes to
wear. Then bring down his dirty stuff and we'll get it in the washer." Rose
said.

"Once you're showered and warmed up a bit, we'll need to have a talk." John
told him as Alex and Callum led David towards the stairs.


"Cal will you stay with David and help him in the shower while I get him
some clothes and then I can take over, please?" Alexander said.

"I'm sure David doesn't need my help to shower." Callum said.

"Yes, but I think he needs your support while I'm not with him." Alexander
said, and Callum realised that he didn't want David to be left alone in the
emotional state he was in.

"Okay but be quick." Callum said and directed David towards the bathroom
following a step behind him.  Once inside the bathroom Callum moved over
towards the shower and as he did so he suggested to David; "Start getting
those clothes off while I get the water temperature right and then when Al
comes in you can finish undressing and get in the shower."

David's teeth were chattering enough now that Callum could hear them and he
quickly got the water on and warming up. "I'll not have it too hot to start
with, you can turn the heat up as you warm up under the water and don't
worry about how long it takes and how much hot water you use. Just get nice
and comfortable again."

Callum turned around to see a totally naked David standing there with the
bathroom door still wide open. His lips were blue and his eyes were wide
open and looked a little glazed over.  "Right, I think you'd better get
into the shower now." Callum held out a hand and David just took it and
allowed himself to be picked up and lowered over the edge of the bath into
the warm spray. "Just let it spray on you for a while. I think you'll start
to feel better soon."

"Th-th-thank you." David was shivering so much he couldn't get his words
out properly but just stood there and Callum began to massage one of his
hands, noticing the tips of his fingers were also a bit bluish.  He had
heard somewhere that this could be symptoms of hyperthermia so when
Alexander came in the room with a bundle of clothes he told Alexander to
strip off and get in the shower with David and rub his other hand.

When some colour returned to the fingers he had been rubbing Callum told
them both that he was going to talk to his parents and would be back
soon. He also told Alexander to slowly increase the hot water to help warm
David up but not to do it too fast or it would feel like it was burning
David. He closed the door as he left the two naked boys alone in the
bathroom.

Callum took the stairs two at a time leaping the last four in one bound and
found his parents in the lounge. He explained to them what he had observed
and his thoughts that David was badly chilled and might need to be taken to
the hospital.

"I think I had best make a phone call and get some advice." John said and
reached for his mobile which was on the side table. He punched in a few key
strokes and then pressed dial to call the number Mr. Castleford had given
him. John relayed to him what had happened and what they knew so far and
Callum's fear that David might need to be taken to the hospital. Then he
listened for a bit and just said, "Thank you." And then hung up. Callum and
Rose were looking at him with huge question marks in their
expressions. "Mr. Castleford is coming round here and doesn't want us to
question David any further until he gets here. Cal run up to Alex and tell
him that please."

Callum took off immediately and dashed up the stairs, two at a time once
again. When he opened the door he saw David sitting in the tub with the
water still spraying down on top of him and Alexander kneeling in front of
him rubbing his feet. Alexander looked up and said, "Oh good, just in time,
please can you add a bit more hot now."

Callum walked over to the taps and as he did so told Alexander and David;
"The lawyer who was here the other day is coming over and has asked that we
don't ask David any more questions until he gets here, so talk, but not
about anything to do with this situation. Talk about your grannies perhaps
to help keep you under control." Callum looked pointedly at Alexander's
crotch where he was sporting a full erection. David however was still limp
with a blue tinge on the end of this cock. This time Callum gathered up
David's wet clothing and took it out with him as he left the two boys alone
again.

He carried the clothes downstairs and told his parents that he was taking
them through to the laundry. "I think you'd better just leave them in a
basked until Castleford gets here. He might want to see the state they were
in when David arrived." John called after him. Callum acknowledged that he
had heard and soon joined his parents back in the lounge.

Mr. Castleford arrived about ten minutes later and David was still in the
shower with Alexander. After a brief chat, Callum was sent off to find out
how the two were doing and if David was able to leave the warmth of the
water and come down to talk to them all. Callum was happy to see that this
time David was standing again and had his hair full of frothy shampoo with
Alexander massaging it in. Alexander still had a stiffy and David was still
limp but there were no signs of bluish extremities now and David did look
more aware. Callum explained what the situation was and Alexander stepped
out of the way so that David could get back under the water. Then when
David was washed off the two younger boys stepped out of the tub. David
into a towel that Callum was holding out for him and Alexander onto the
floor where he could reach for his own towel. While Alexander dried himself
Callum helped David to dry off and then held out clothes for him to put on.
The three boys then went back downstairs to the lounge.

Rose wrapped David in a little fleecy blanket she used when watching
television and helped him to sit down on the sofa. Alexander sat down next
to him and put his hand on David's leg to comfort him. David then had to be
helped to get his arms out of the blanket so that he could take and hold
the cup of hot chocolate Rose had got ready for him.

"David, this man is Mr. Castleford who is helping us with our problem and I
thought it was best to get him to advise us with what to do concerning
you. He is a lawyer and we'd like you to be totally honest with him so that
he can give us the best advice on how we can help you." John said. "Will
you let him help us and you?"

David looked at Alexander who nodded his head and smiled in return. This
was enough and he looked back at John and nodded his head. "Good, I think
you'd best take over now Grant."  While they had been waiting for the boys
to come down from the bathroom Grant Castleford had suggested that it might
be easier if they used Christian names to help make it seem less formal for
David.

"Thank you John.  David, I want to make sure you know that I want to help
you as best as I can. But to do that I might need to ask you some questions
which will be hard to answer. If you feel you can't answer a question then
tell me that is how you feel and I will understand. Okay?" Grant Castleford
began and paused to allow David to respond. David just nodded his head
again.

"Now I asked the Ashbournes not to ask you anything more about how you came
to be here because I want to hear it first hand from you. Take as much time
as you need. Can you please tell me why you came by here so wet and cold?"
Grant continued.

David again looked at Alexander who again nodded his head and
smiled. Callum who had been standing, sat down on the other side of David
and put his arm around his shoulders to comfort him. David began, "I ... I
... uhm ... I didn't know what to do." And he stopped.

"Well I think you did the right thing coming here when you needed help. But
why did you need that help? What has happened to get you like this?" Grant
gently encouraged David.

"I ... I've ... run away." David whispered the last two words.

"David, will it be alright if I use my tape and record this meeting,
please? I'll need to say some formal stuff first and then we can just talk
and pretend that this thing isn't here." Grant asked as he pulled a small
recorder out of his briefcase and held it up for David to see. Again David
nodded his head.

Grant put the recorder on the coffee table in the middle of the lounge and
began to record his introduction. He announced who he was and where they
were and the date and time. He then added a list of all who were present
using first and surnames for each one. He finished his introduction by
saying the purpose of the meeting was to interview David who had claimed he
had run away. "Now I must ask that when any of you talk you speak clearly
and preferably at a normal volume so that it can be picked up clearly on
the tape. David can you confirm that you have given permission for us to
tape record this meeting please?"

"Yes, it's okay." David said in a wavering voice.

"Thank you David; now you said before we started to record that you arrived
here at the Ashbournes' home, cold and wet, because you had run away and
didn't know what else to do. Is that correct?" Grant asked.

"Yes. I didn't know where to go." David said and the distress could be
clearly heard in his voice.

"David, please can you tell us why you ran away?" Grant asked.

"I couldn't take it anymore. I've done nothing wrong but I'm being treated
like I have." David said.

"In what way are you being treated like you've done something wrong?" Grant
asked.

"My mother won't let me go outside. I have to stay in my room while I'm at
home and am only allowed to come out to eat or go to the bathroom. And if I
try to come out any other time I get beaten."

"Do you know why she is doing this?" Grant asked.

"She says it's because I'm too young to look after myself and if I go out
anywhere the perverts will get me and make me do things that are wrong. I
won't. I told her that, but she won't believe me. She took me to the doctor
to be checked that I didn't have a disease because of being with Al and the
others." David said.

"Do you know what disease she was having you checked for?" Grant asked.

"Not really but I had to get naked and let the doctor look at
everything. Then he took some blood." David said. He held out his arm to
show the bruise where the doctor had not been too gentle with getting the
blood samples.

"How does she beat you?" Grant asked.

"I have to pull my pants down and bend over a chair and then she hits me
with a paddle." David said.

"He's got some bruises on his bum." Alexander said.

"How did you get to see his bum to see these bruises?" Grant asked.

"I was helping him in the shower. He was so cold he couldn't hardly stand
and I was rubbing his hands and feet to take the blue out." Alexander said.

"She's always calling me a dirty boy too because she made me tell her that
I had been naked in front of the other boys. I'm not even allowed to go
without a shirt on at home." David said as if last few bits had not been
said by Alexander.

"What made you decide to run away?"

"Yesterday I woke up early and needed to go to the toilet, but my bedroom
door was locked and I couldn't get out so I started to call out. Mum came
and unlocked the door and shouted at me for making too much noise so early
in the morning. I told her that if she hadn't locked my door I wouldn't
have needed to shout out." David started, and now it all came tumbling
out. "She said I was being cheeky and she would beat some sense into
me. She grabbed my ear and pulled me through to the lounge where she told
me to take my pyjamas down and bend over a chair. Then she took a belt and
began to hit me. I couldn't help it and started to pee which she saw. She
grabbed my hair and began to rub my face in the wet carpet and then told me
that was the way to train a dog not to pee on the carpet. Then she hit me
some more and told me to go to the bathroom and get cleaned up and then to
come back to the lounge and clean up my wee. When I had done that she took
me back to my room and pushed me inside and told me to think about how bad
I'd been and when I was ready to apologize then I would get some food. I
heard the key turn in the lock and I just lay down on my bed and cried.  I
fell asleep and must have slept for some time because I was really hungry
when I woke up and I called out that I was hungry but no one heard me. I
tried the door but it was still locked. I called and called but nothing
happened. I went back to sleep again and when I woke up I called out some
more but still nothing happened. Then I heard a car and the front door
opened so I called out again. My mother asked me through the door if I was
ready to apologize and I said I couldn't apologize for something I hadn't
done. She unlocked the door and walked in. I was still in my pyjamas and
she asked me why I had not got dressed. I said I had nothing to get dressed
for. She grabbed me by the ear and pulled me through to the lounge again
and made me push my pants down and bend over a chair again. Then she hit me
with the paddle until I started to cry and ordered me to go back to my room
and think about how I should talk to my mother and how I should behave with
her. When I was ready to say sorry then she would let me out. The door got
locked again and I heard her leave the house again. A bit later, after it
got dark my dad knocked on the door and said he was sorry mum was acting
like that but if I just said I was sorry she would let me out. I asked him
what it was that I was supposed to be sorry for and he couldn't tell me, so
I asked him why he didn't let me out and let me have something to eat
because I was very hungry. He said that would make mum angry with both of
us. Mom came home and asked me if I was ready to say sorry but I refused
again so she gave me another beating and locked me back in my room telling
me that I was not going to get any supper now. So I put on some clothes and
climbed out the window. It was very difficult and I had to be very careful
not to fall to get to the pipe and slide down it. Then I went away and
found somewhere to sleep. I walked around all day trying to think of what
to do until it started to rain and I tried to find somewhere to get out of
the rain. Then when the rain stopped I came to Al's house. I'm sorry to
cause this trouble."

"Wait a bit. When last did you have something to eat then?" Rose asked.

"I don't know. I guess it was supper last ..., no day before yesterday."
David answered.

"Oh, you poor boy. I'll go and get you something, you must be starving."
Rose said standing up.

"Just a little bit at first Rose and nothing too heavy. His stomach is
going to need to get used to having a bit of food again." Grant said. As
Rose began to leave the room Grant continued, "Right young man. I believe
you've told me the truth and because of that I'm not going to try and get
you to go back to your home. But also the Ashbournes' cannot let you stay
here more than tonight. I'll be contacting a special person first thing
tomorrow and will also be informing the police tonight so that they know
what's happening in case your parents report you as missing. I promise you,
I'm going to try and do the best for you that I can, but because this also
becomes a bit of a conflict of interest for me in another case, I will have
to hand it over to the authorities who deal with this sort of
incident. John will you be alright with keeping him overnight?"

"Of course, he's stayed overnight here before so I'm sure he'll feel safe
here. Is that okay with you David?" John asked.

"Yes. Thank you." David said.  "Yeah, you can stay with me in my room."
Alexander said. For the first time that day David smiled as he looked at
Alexander.

Grant turned the tape off. "David, I know you and Alexander have done some
stuff together. I must ask both of you to make sure you don't do anything
like that tonight. That way, if something comes from David staying here
tonight he can truthfully say that he had nothing of that sort happen to
him. It will be much better that way."

"Okay. I promise I'll not let David have any fun." Alexander said.

This got a grin from Grant. "Thank you Alexander. You keep that
promise. Now I feel it is time for me to go and get on with sorting this
matter out. Good night all."

The others all chorused their greeting but John followed Grant through to
the hall way, "Goodnight Grant and thank you for your help with this. Send
me the bill and I'll pay it."  "There'll be no bill. My payment will be the
satisfaction of seeing that woman sorted out." Grant said and stepped out
the door. With a little wave he was gone.

Rose had heated up some soup and made some toast fingers for David and once
David had polished them off she suggested Callum and Alexander take him
upstairs to get the room ready with an air mattress while she got on and
prepared their tea.

Grant Castleford acted fast. He got hold of the police and informed them of
David's whereabouts and also of the abuse he had suffered seemingly at his
mother's hand which was not stopped by the father. As he made his report to
the police he thought he got a hint that the policeman he was talking to
knew more than he was letting on. He did. Grant was talking to the same
police detail who had visited the Ashbournes when the false accusations
were levelled against them by Susan McAllister.  As a result he asked Grant
if the Ashbournes had briefed him to bring a case against the woman. Grant
said that he was not working for the Ashbournes but for the school their
children went to. He then got hold of a person he knew in the social
services who dealt with cases like this and told her all that he knew
including where he had arranged for David to stay for the night. He asked
her to contact John directly in the morning once she had got plans in place
for the care of David.

Despite having had soup and toast a little over an hour beforehand, David
managed to eat a moderately sized serving of the dinner Rose prepared for
them, pleasing Rose no end. The three teens sat with John and Rose for a
bit in the lounge watching the tv and David dropped off to sleep leaning
against Alexander. Rose suggested to Alexander that he wake David up and
the two of them go off to bed, telling Alexander he could read or something
until he wanted to go to sleep himself but to let David sleep. She was sure
David had not rested well the night before with a hungry stomach and being
cold and miserable. The two younger boys headed upstairs while Callum
remained with his parents for a bit longer.

Once he was sure David would not hear him Callum asked, "How can a mother
treat her own son like that? I mean I'm not Al's father but even when I
thought the worst of him I would still have looked out for him."

"That my son is a mystery even the best psychologists struggle to
understand. I can't imagine treating any child like that." Rose said.

"That's why I've accepted the risk of letting him stay here for the
night. At least he will be safe and warm and know he's loved." John added.

"Do you really mean that? You love David?" Callum asked.

"Yes, I believe I do. Not in the same way that I love your mother or even
the way that I love both you and Alex. But he's a nice kid who's been dealt
a bum hand. Look at how much he appreciated us giving him that little
birthday party a while back. I just hope the scars of this don't spoil him
for his life." John said.

Rose got up from her chair and sitting on the arm of the chair that John
was in she put her arms around him and said; "and this is why I love you so
much. You're the most caring person I know and I wouldn't want any other
man for my husband and to be the father of my children."

"I couldn't do it without your love and support too, darling. You know
we're a team and always will be." John replied.

"And I'm so glad you are. I think Al and I have got the best parents in the
world. Thanks for being my mum and dad." Callum joined in the praise.

Quite where that conversation would have got had the phone not started to
ring is anyone's guess. Callum got up to go and answer it but John stopped
him. "I think you'd better let me answer the main phone for a bit, at least
until this mess is sorted out." He advised, getting up and leaving the
room.

John picked up the receiver and simply said, "Hallo." He was being careful
not to give anything away.

"John, I'm glad you've answered the phone. This is Derwent. David's gone
missing and when I contacted the police they told me they knew where he was
and that he was safe but they couldn't tell me because there have been
allegations of child abuse. Now please don't tell me where he is if you
know. I don't want to prejudice anything. But if you are able to get a
message to him I would appreciate it. I've been a witless fool and a
coward. I hadn't realised just how bad Susan had got with David until she
came home and discovered he had got out by a very dangerous route. It was
only when she refused that we go looking for him because he would come
crawling back the next day when his stomach told him he was hungry. And yes
I stuck with her on that I'm ashamed to say. Well she then began to tell me
all that had been going on the previous few days and I got more and more
worried. Please can you tell David that I'm going to leave Susan and find
somewhere else to stay and that I would like him to come and live with me
because I really do love him and I don't exactly agree with all that Susan
has been doing and saying. I think we're in for some hard times because it
wouldn't surprise me if we are taken to court over some of it. John, please
tell me that you can get a message to David." Derwent sounded quite
distressed and John felt some of his pain.

However, John also felt that Derwent should have taken a stronger stance
against his wife and tried to help David more so he decided to make him
sweat a bit. "Well I'm not sure if I can get a message to him and I'm not
that sure that he's going to want to listen to any message from either of
his parents. I don't know the whole story but I think he must be going
through hell right now. The very people who are supposed to love him the
most and look after him are the ones who've let him down the most. Treated
him like a baby but wouldn't give him a thirteenth birthday party."

"I know. I've been absolutely terrible by letting Susan make all the
decisions and not standing up to her when I've thought she was going
overboard with everything. If I lose David, it'll be because I deserve it,
but I do really love him and I want to try and make some amends for what I
haven't done to help him but should have." Derwent was clearly remorseful
and very low himself. John recognised that it takes hitting rock bottom to
make a man admit to someone he doesn't know that well how bad he's been.

"I'll do what I can, but it's in the hands of the authorities now and both
you and Susan will have to take the consequences for your actions." John
relented.

"Thank you John. At least I know David's safe and away from his mother."
Derwent said.

"Goodbye Derwent." John ended the call without waiting to hear if Derwent
would say goodbye too.

Back in the lounge John said, "That just makes me sure. From now on, until
things are settled neither of you two boys are to answer the land line
phone. Your mobiles are still yours but leave it for your mother or me to
answer the main one. Cal, do you think you can go and see if Alex is still
awake and tell him that too, please?"

"Sure dad." Callum realised that his father wanted to tell Rose some of the
conversation he'd had with Derwent. Callum checked in on Alexander and
David and saw that David was fast asleep but just in case he asked
Alexander to come out the room. Alexander got out of bed revealing that he
was naked and the two of them moved down the passage a bit to get away from
David. Callum then spoke in a low whisper explaining what had gone on with
the telephone call and what John had asked of them.


Alexander might have been the youngest in the family but he was also wise
enough to know that his dad did not put this kind of restriction in place
for no good reason and so he broached no argument knowing that most of the
calls he'd want to take would come to his mobile anyway. However being
safely out of the room now there were some questions that Alexander had,
and he decided it was a good opportunity to go downstairs and ask his
parents those questions. But he was not prepared for the first question he
got asked before he could get any of his questions in.

"Alexander, why are you naked downstairs when we have a guest in the
house?" John asked him.

"He's sound asleep and won't know I'm downstairs naked." Alexander
answered.

"That makes no difference. The rule still stands whether the guest is
asleep or not. Even if the guest was blind the rule would still stand."
John said.

"Sorry, actually I forgot I was naked. I was already in bed when Cal asked
me out of the room and then I wanted to ask you guys something and didn't
even think about it." Alexander explained. Then getting an impish look on
his face he added, "But it is a secret that he's here tonight so maybe he's
not really here and then it's okay."

"Nice try, young man, but it doesn't cut. Now ask your question and then
get back upstairs and into your room and remember to put something on
before leaving it again." John said. By that he showed Alexander that he
had been given a reprieve.

"What's going to happen to David?" Alexander asked.

"We really don't know. The social services will sort all that out. I'm
guessing he's going to go into care and will be placed with foster parents
initially at least." John said.

"Couldn't we foster him?" Alexander asked.

"Somehow, I don't think we would pass the test to become a foster family. I
think letting you boys go naked would count against that to start with."
John said.

"Please will you ask them to let David stay with us?" Alexander begged.

"Firstly, your mother and I need to discuss that. Then Callum would also
have to agree to it and then the authorities would have to agree to it as
well. I don't think we have much hope." John warned Alexander in the hope
that Alexander wouldn't get his expectations up too much.

"And now it's time to take your naked self up to bed. We're not going to
get anything further done tonight anyway." Rose told him.

Alexander moved to her and gave her a hug wishing her good night and then
did the same with Callum and John before running up the stairs and going
back in his room. Climbing into his bed he left the covers down while he
took care of his daily need and used some tissues to clean up the
mess. Then he settled down and soon was as sound asleep as David.

Tomorrow would be another day.



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Thanks

Rick