Date:         Thu, 15 Aug 1996 14:20:28 EDT

This little story is in honor of Susan Garrett for her birthday.
Hi! Happy Birthday!


Nick & co. are the property of J.P. & co. I am only borrowing
them for one night this time.

Pocahontas once belonged to herself. Now I am sure that
Disney owns her, at least they think they do, so in order to
cover myself, I'll mention them..

This is set somewhere in the second season.


Jenny's Surprise
part 1/2
by Kathy Whelton


    The sound of the phone ringing dragged Nick from the oblivion
also known as sleep. He pried one eye open. 1:00 pm,
this better be good. The answering machine clicked on.
    "This is Nick Knight, I'm either in bed or incommunicado..."
     "Nick, Nick it's Schanke. Pick up the phone. PICK UP THE
PHONE NICK."
    Nick rolled over on the couch and put the receiver to his ear.
    "What is it Schanke? This better be good."
     "Man, oh man. I'm glad you're there. I need to ask you a
little favor, buddy."
     Nick sighed."What can I do for you Schank?"
     "Well it's like this, Myra and I are supposed to go to her
cousin's wedding this evening. It's a formal thing, you know.
No kids. Anyway Jenny's babysitter canceled at the last minute
and we haven't been able to get anyone else. Myra's gonna be
real ticked if we miss this wedding. So we were wondering...
I know your off tonight. Would you watch Jenny for a couple
of hours, please."
    "....I don't know Schank. I don't know much about kids."
     "She's an angel Nick. She won't be any trouble, I promise."
    "OK, OK." Nick thought to himself, how tough can taking
care of an eight year old girl be?
     "Thanks so much buddy, I owe you. We'll drop her off in
about an hour."


     Slightly less than an hour later Nick opened the elevator
door to Don and a rather sullen looking Jenny Schanke.
     "Myra's waiting in the car. It is really coming down out there.
She didn't want to get her hair wet."
    Jenny stood there, her Pocahontas backpack on, firmly
glued to her father's side.
    "Well I better run." stated Don Schanke, prying his daughter
off his arm. "You two have fun. We'll be back by 9:00, 10:00
at the latest."
    "Dad..." Jenny started, then closed her mouth.

     The elevator door slid shut.


     "So, Jenny, what would you like to do?" Nick plastered
his cheeriest smile on his face, even though he had no business
even being conscious at this hour. He and Jenny had always
gotten along when he had visited the Schankes. This was probably
just one of those kid separation anxiety things.

   Jenny took three fast steps backward as he approached.
   "You stay away from me, Nick...whatever your name really
is. I know what you are. I have the crucifix I got for my
First  Holy Communion, and I'm not afraid to use it." Jenny grabbed
quickly at a small gold cross around her neck.
    Maybe this wasn't one of those kid separation anxiety things
after all.
   Nick kept the smile stuck on his face, maybe he could humor
her out of this. "What is it exactly that you think I am?"
    "Well you are a vampire, of course."

Comments welcome
Kathy  103045.2473@Compuserve.com

Jenny's Surprise
part 2/2
by Kathy Whelton

     Nick continued to smile, hoping to keep up the facade a little
while longer. "What in the world would ever make you think I
was a vampire?"
     "OK," Jenny acknowledged. "I can understand why you
would want to play it this way. Let's say I've had my suspicions
about you since you were first partnered with my Dad. But
if want me to spell it out, I'll spell it out."
    "Please do." was Nick's reply.
     "Well let's start with a biggie. The allergy to sunlight, how
lame is that?"
      "There are people allergic to sunlight. I..."
       "Yeah, right. Whatever. Then there is the food thing. You've never
eaten anything, anytime you have been to our
house. You pretend to eat. There is a lot of things you can say
about my mom, but she is a good cook."  Jenny paused, waiting
for a response. When she didn't get one, she continued.
    "All this was enough to get me wondering, so I started
listening to my parents talk in bed."
     "You listen to your parents in bed?"  the surprise evident
in Nick's voice.
     "Sure, most of the time you just hear all that icky, mushy
grownup stuff. But it can be a great source of info, you know
Christmas presents and such. Well, anyway I started to pay
attention to what my Dad was saying about you. Every morning
he would have another Nick story. He could never understand
how you would get from one place to another so fast, or the
things the perps sometimes said about you. He really admires
you, you know."
   Nick let the comment pass.
    "I thought when you got arrested for that murder earlier this
year you were done. Steel shutters on the windows. Blood in the
refrigerator, for Christ's sake. How dense can people be?"
    "Adult human beings are notorious for their tunnel vision, they see
what the want to see." Nick responded quietly. "If something
doesn't fit into their concept of reality, they don't believe it."
    "Well I guess so.Anyway, when you got out of that I did a
little more checking. I hacked into your personnel files at Police
Headquarters."
     "You did what?" Nick asked incredulously.
    "I got into your personnel file.Then I checked with the Chicago P.D.
After that I looked you up with the Bureau of
Vital Statistics. Your identity fell apart like a house of cards,
you should really do something about that."
    "Thanks," Nick responded morosely. "I will."

     "Which brings me to the point of this conversation."
      "Which is what,  may I ask?"
       "I want you to buy me a computer." Jenny stated with a self assured
grin on her face. "In return for my silence, I want
you to buy me a computer. A state of the art laptop, not like
that old thing of yours. Jenny gestured to the kitchen table where
Nick's computer sat. My Mom and Dad say they
can't afford one, and the computers at school are so outdated
it's not funny."
    "You seemed to have managed all right with them." Nick
speculated.
      Jenny shrugged. "And don't try to tell me you can't afford
it. I've seen your bank account. Who keeps 1.2 million in a
checking account anyway?"
    "Do you mind if I think this over a bit?" Nick asked.
     "Sure, no problem. Shouldn't you be asleep or something
anyway?"
     "Funny you should mention that. I was asleep before your
Dad called."
     "Well you stay on your side of the room, and I'll stay on
mine. We will get along just fine."  Jenny had a few other things
in her Pocahontas backpack, but she didn't want to have to use
them unless she got desperate. "And don't be thinking about
trying anything, I can't be hypnotized."

     Nick walked over and flopped on the couch. He wasn't
about to get any sleep with Jenny the Vampire Slayer in the
house, but he could use some quiet time to think. This could
get messy, especially if she really was a resistor. Perhaps if
he gave it some time, she would start to let her guard down,
that could only help his cause. He heard Jenny start up his
computer. Soon she was gleefully tapping away.
     A couple of hours passed, Nick had rested, turned the TV
on, turned the TV off. Jenny was still fully engaged with the
laptop. Nick decided it was time to confront the situation. It
wouldn't do to have Schanke and Myra come back early
and have this still unresolved. Nick rose and headed over
to the kitchen table. Jenny was still engrossed with the keyboard.
She barely seemed to notice him.
     "Look, Jenny...." he started.
       Then suddenly she looked up, but not at him. "Did you
hear something?"
       "I don't know, maybe a plane."  he really hadn't been
paying attention. "Jenny, we need to talk."
        There it was again, louder this time. The sound of thunder
in the distance. "They did say something about a line of
thunderstorms on the TV." Nick informed her.
       With the sound of the next thunderclap Jenny jumped to
her feet, sending the chair flying out behind her. There was a wild look in her
eye.                                               The self-assured blackmailer
was gone, all that remained was the
eight year old girl.
    Nick pretended not to notice. He casually walked back and
sat on the couch. He could hear the sound of her heart beginning to race.
     "There is room here on the couch if you want to sit down."
       She hesitated until the next peal of thunder and then, with
almost supernatural speed, she was beside him.
     "It's all right Jenny, you're safe. Nothing is going to hurt you."
Nick spoke in low, reassuring tones. Slowly she inched closer
to him. Cautiously he slid his arms around her. Her little body
shook, almost uncontrollably. Nick gathered her to him, gently
rocking her. He began singing softly to her, something in French,
something he remembered his mother singing in the dim
past.
Gradually the storm abated and with it Jenny's terror.
     After resting in his arms for a while, Jenny looked up. She
brushed the remnants of tears from her eyes.
     "I seem to have made a complete fool out of myself." Jenny
stated in a rather small voice.
    "Don't be silly, I'm just glad I could help."
     "You don't have to give me the computer." she paused." I
was afraid,... afraid of you. I thought my asking for it would make
me look tough." Jenny looked down. "I was worried about my
Dad, you know, being with you all the time."
   "I know, Jenny. I understand." Nick lifted her chin gently and
met her eyes. "I care a great deal about your dad, I care about you.
I would never do anything to hurt either one of you."
     "Honest?"
     "Honest." Nick smiled. "Now with that out of the way, let's
find you something to eat." Nick stood and walked to the
kitchen. "We seem to have the makings of some hot cocoa here,
and how about popcorn for supper."
   "Hot cocoa and popcorn for supper, cool!"
    Nick said a silent prayer of thanks that Natalie's culinary
tastes were roughly the same as that of an eight year old girl.
    "And as a special treat I believe I have a copy of Pocahontas
here somewhere."
    "Pocahontas!" she eyed him suspiciously. "How did you
know that was my favorite?"
    "Well,  I'm not going to tell you all my secrets."
    They snuggled on the couch together to watch the movie. Just as the
closing credits were running, the phone rang.
    "Knight."
     "Nick, old buddy. I have a bit of a problem here. There is
local street flooding because of the heavy rain. I don't think we
are going to make it back. Can Jenny stay with you?"
     "Well it's fine by me, Schank, but I think you should ask
Jenny. She's right here." Nick handed the phone to Jenny.
      "Jenny honey, the bridge is out here by Auntie Jean's, I'm
afraid you'll have to spend the night."
     On the other end of the line Don Schanke was trying to
figure out what he had said that was quite so funny.
    After several minutes Jenny finally regained her composure.
     "Sure Dad, no problem. Uncle Nick and I are doing just
fine. Don't worry about me,  I'll see you tomorrow."
      Jenny turned and looked at Nick. "Now about that 478 million
in the Brabant Foundation."


The End
Comments welcome
Kathy 103045.2473@Compuserve.com