And then it came to him. Clever Hawker might be, but not so clever that he knew a certain conversation—one he had had with his friends Quill and Maggot at The Whole Hog—had been heard by a certain friend of Robin’s. Mouse! In Mouse’s words, Hawker had said, “One day’s he’s goin’ ter let down his guard an’ lead you ter wot I’m lookin’ fer.”
Let down his guard! That was exactly what Hawker was working toward—Robin letting down his guard. He must never have believed Robin’s tale of Danny being kidnapped while he, Robin, sat on the steps sleeping. But why did all this niceness start right after Hawker’s meeting with that man, Mr. Highcrofft? There was no question that Hawker had been sunk in unhappy thought after the two men had met. What was Mr. Highcrofft’s connection to all this? But most of all, why had Robin had that feeling of dread when he looked into the man’s eyes, not once, but twice?
This was not only more puzzling. It was more terrifying. Robin knew that he was now going to have to be more careful than ever. Oh yes, very, very careful indeed!
Chapter XVI
A Final Wish
“Get your coat on. You’re comin’ with me,” Hawker said to Robin in the late afternoon of the following day. “Today’s the day I’m gonna let you off the hook. Just a bit o’ a try out, you might say. And no monkey stuff, or the deal’s off. You get my meanin’?”
“Oh yes!” said Robin eagerly. But he knew exactly what Hawker was up to.
“Off the hook.” There was no “off the hook” about it. Robin had the hook imbedded in his throat as much as any poor fish caught in the ocean. And Hawker was just as carefully playing out his line with Robin at the end of it. As for “no monkey stuff,” why that was exactly what he really wanted, just being clever in warning Robin against it.
Where they headed when they left the apartment was, not surprisingly, Hawker’s great entertainment center, The Whole Hog. And there, also not surprisingly, were Quill and Maggot waiting for him.
“You remember my friends Quill and Maggot here,” said Hawker jovially when they arrived at the table where the two were sitting. “Say ‘hello’ to the boys, Robin.”
“Hello, sirs,” he said politely.
“Ain’t he the little gentleman? He’ll go far, I tell you,” said Hawker, winking at the two men as they exchanged grins. “And such a good boy too, that I’m lettin’ him off the hook for a while tonight. But just for a hour. A boy can go visitin’ a lot o’ places in a hour. Sorry about losin’ your pa’s watch for you, Robin, but here’s mine for tellin’ when the hour’s up. See how I’m trustin’ him now, boys, with my own watch?” The still grinning “boys” nodded together like two toy monkeys on a single string. “Now you go along, Robin,” Hawker said, waving him off. “And mind you … a hour! Next time, maybe it’ll be for longer.”
Dodging the crowded tables and chairs, Robin made his way back to the front door. But as he went, he managed to turn his head slightly so he could still see the table where the three men were sitting. And with no surprise he saw Quill sliding from his seat. He was going to be following Robin again! Well, Robin knew exactly what to do about that.
Strolling at the slowest possible speed, stopping at every single store window and staring into it for minutes on end, he paraded up one side of the street, and down the other, consulting Hawker’s watch at every gas lamp. An hour was an hour, and he had no intention of going one minute over it.
The whole time he was parading up and down the street, Robin was quite aware of Quill darting in and out of stairwells and doorways right behind him. Once, Robin darted into a stairwell himself, enjoying seeing Quill, passing it, frantically looking for him. If this whole game were not so deadly, Robin could have been having a good time. And of course, he had the pleasure of imagining Quill’s disgust at having Robin return promptly to The Whole Hog after having chased him no place but up and down the street.
But Hawker had no intention of giving up, and so the next late afternoon, the same game took place. And the third afternoon as well. Robin wondered how long these chases would continue before Hawker would give up and accept that Robin might have been telling the truth, and really did not know where Danny was. Then what? Would it mean returning to the old cruel treatment and being imprisoned again? Would it mean no school, but going into a factory instead? And would he ever find a way to escape to St. Something? To the boys? To Danny?
Then on the fourth afternoon, just as the street lamps were being lit, with Quill still dogging his footsteps, Robin was startled to see Maggot running toward them. Quill stepped out of the shadows to meet him. No longer making any pretense of hiding, the two men ran toward Robin. They were both panting, their eyes glaring, and their faces pale as dough.
“Come with us!” Maggot said, gasping for air. “Hawker’s in terrible trouble. There’s been a fight. He’s been took to your home. He’s askin’ to see you.”
“B-b-but how did it happen?” asked Robin, feeling his knees grow weak under him.
“Can’t use my breath talkin’,” said Maggot. “You’ll find out soon enough. But we got to hurry. From what I seen, there ain’t much time left. And you got to show us the way to your home, boy, ’cause we ain’t never been there before.”
Not much
