Hollywood Secret Garden

Chapter 400

December 1984, 12, just after Christmas, London.

"It's 2 pounds and 34 pence in total, and I'll charge you 3 pounds for 66 pence, right, Kate?" The skinny young man in a supermarket uniform handed the change to the short-haired girl wrapped in thick clothes in front of him, showing his teeth at the same time. With a smile, although the face is covered with freckles, it still looks cute.

"Thank you, Willie." The short-haired girl took the change and shrugged, picked up the paper bag and walked towards the exit.

"Christmas... Oh, it should be Happy New Year, Kate." The middle-aged woman who cleaned the house smiled and greeted the girl, and the few employees who came in and out of the city gate did the same. It can be seen that she comes here often and is popular. good.

After pushing the door open, a gust of cold air came oncoming, Kate shrank her neck involuntarily and put on the hat and lowered it. Her hair was cut very short and her dress was originally very masculine, so she looked more like a Tomboy.

Great, I have another 66p, but not close to £100, maybe I can borrow it from my father first?The little girl tilted her mouth and thought, although she is not beautiful, she is quite cute, but the height of over 11 years makes this cuteness a bit weaker.

Well, it's settled, and it's only 8 pounds that can be earned back soon.After walking two streets, Kate made up her mind, which made her steps much lighter.When she reached a T-junction, the little girl couldn't help but stop, looked at the familiar food store across the street, hesitated and walked over.

"Hey, Uncle Claude, can you give me a hot drink?" Kate said with a smile, leaning her head to the takeaway window.

"It's you again, little guy, don't you want smoked fish cakes today?" The chubby middle-aged man who asked to start working was heard inside, with a bright forehead and a kind smile on his face, just like a bald Shande without glasses. Sergeant Colonel.

"I don't need it today, a cup of hot drink is enough." Even so, the little girl couldn't help swallowing secretly, in order not to let the smell of the food tempt her, and to avoid impulsively making the pocket money she had so easily accumulated disappear. She turned her head away with great willpower, and then she froze.

Sitting on a bench at the corner of the street was a little girl who looked no more than 4 years old. Her golden-brown curly long hair hung softly on a red down jacket. Her exquisite facial features made her look very cute, like Barbie dolls walking out of the store.

But the strange thing is that she always stared at everyone who might approach on the street with a cold and fierce look, even though one of her legs was crossed on the bench, and the hand on her ankle clearly told others that her feet were She was sprained, but the aura of not getting close to strangers exuded from her body remained undiminished. There were a lot of snowflakes on her body, obviously she had been sitting for a while.

"Hi, Kate, your hot drink, this time it's apple juice." The chubby Claude pushed the cup out of the takeout port.

"Ah? Oh, thank you." Kate came back and quickly paid the bill and took the cup, then looked at the little girl over there, and couldn't help asking: "Uncle Claude, do you know who is sitting over there?" Whose child is it?"

"Which one?" Claude looked through the glass window, "It's that girl? I don't know it. I sat there a few hours ago. When Salit came on patrol, I asked her. It is said that her mother asked her to Wait for her here."

"Is that so?" Kate took a sip of the steaming apple juice and looked at the little girl again. After thinking about it, she felt something was wrong. Since she was waiting for her mother, how could she not have waited for hours?Could it be that her mother...

Kate felt that she seemed to be thinking too much, but after thinking twice, she still walked over. In any case, a 3 or 4-year-old girl should not appear on the street without the company of an adult.

"Hey, how are you?" Kate tried her best to make her tone softer, the closer she got, the more she could realize how attractive this little girl was, the beautiful and lovely appearance made people unable to think of adjectives for a while, really What I want to say is that the Barbie doll is made of exquisite porcelain. Even though she maintains an indifferent expression and fierce eyes all the time, she still has a very special attraction when combined with her pale face.

"I don't mean anything malicious, I just want to ask if you need help..." Before Kate finished speaking, she was interrupted by the other party in a cold tone: "Help? It's a good excuse, but can you use other things? Many That's what bastards say."

Although the soft and immature accent is very pleasant to hear, the sarcasm made Kate swallow the words behind. She never thought that such a beautiful and lovely little girl would say such words. After taking a deep breath and calming down , she rolled her eyes, turned around and left: "You nasty little brat, you're neither polite nor educated!"

But after walking dozens of feet, she couldn't help but stop again, maybe... that kid wasn't so bad?Maybe she just felt abandoned?Maybe she's just scared?Kate felt that she was a little weird. In fact, if the person who said that to her just now was a child of the same age, she would have slapped him. She doesn't have such a good temper. Little one...just because she's 3 or 4 years old?

Well, it looks like it does, after all it's not a good thing to let a 3 or 4 year old roam the streets.

Kate, who was thinking this way, finally made up her mind, but she couldn't help but frowned when she turned around. A skinny old man with a slightly hunched back was standing in front of the bench, gesturing to the little girl with his hands. Knowing what he was talking about, he could only vaguely hear a few words. Although he was smiling, it looked obscene no matter how you looked at it.

Kate knew this guy, "Old Drunkard" Rockaway on Cradley Street, an old guy living on government relief, doing nothing all day a few streets nearby, and heard from his parents that he liked drinking in taverns After a few drinks - as can be seen from his nickname and big rosacea - he is still a good guy in general, but it's just not pleasing to the eye now, especially when she sees the little girl waving viciously When the little arm wanted to push away the hand he extended, and it looked like it was going to bite at any moment, she felt that she had to protect the little girl.

"Kriss! Who told you to run around!" There was a loud roar, which startled the two people on the side of the bench, one big and one small, and then Kate walked over angrily. He leaned down and stared at the little girl: "Are you deliberately causing trouble for me?! Mom is right there on the street. If you don't come back with me immediately, you won't feel better if I die!"

After finishing these few sentences in a row, she snorted heavily and straightened her body, wrapped the paper bag with her hands on her hips and looked at the little girl, she must give me an explanation, but the little girl seemed stunned, and it took a long time to finish Baba said: "I... I'm hungry..."

"God!" Kate covered her forehead, looked at the food store not far away, and then said angrily: "So you came to Uncle Claude? Well, I know his smoked fish cake It was delicious, but..."

At this point, she seemed to realize that there were other people around her, and she couldn't help frowning and looking at Rockaway: "Who are you?"

The old man shook his head when he came back to his senses, muttered a few words, then turned and left, while Kate still pretended to be puzzled and continued to ask, "What's going on? Chris, who is he?"

It wasn't until Rockaway's back became smaller that Kate was relieved, and then she also noticed that the little guy beside her was also relieved, which made her laugh softly. The uneducated child on his face was just as scared as she had guessed before.

The little girl, who could hear the peculiar taste in her laughter, stared and couldn't help but want to speak, but her stomach let out an unsuitable "goo", and her delicate little face suddenly stepped down again, This made Kate laugh even louder.

"Slow down, no one will compete with you." Kate said teasingly, and then passed the cup in her hand to her, "This is a hot drink. I don't know which flavor you like, so I ordered orange juice."

The little girl with food residues on the corners of her mouth turned a deaf ear to her words. Even with her bulging cheeks, she still took big mouthfuls of smoked fish cakes, and didn't lift the lid until she stuffed the last bit into her mouth and drank hot water in small sips. Here comes the orange juice.

Seeing her wolfing down Kate's heartache from spending the saved money was relieved a lot, she drank the cold apple juice in her hand: "How was my performance just now? My father is an actor, and I and He learned a lot of acting skills."

The little girl glanced at her, put the empty cup on the bench, then took out a tissue from her clothes bag and carefully wiped her mouth and fingers, then collected the used things and put them in the cup Gai Hao rod held his hand and raised his head: "What are you going to do next? Call the police? Or ask for my home phone number and let them take me away? If it's the former, I'll knock you out immediately , and take all your money and run away; if it's the second, I'm sure I won't cooperate. So if you want to help me, lend me some money - I forgot it, it's bad - and at the same time Leave the address, and I will repay you 10 times in the future."

Kate endured it very hard. Although the little girl's tone was not as prickly as before, and she revealed seriousness, she still laughed: "You will knock me out? This is too surprising. Do you know judo or karate? ?”

"I know Chinese Kung Fu," the little girl's tone was still very serious, but she turned her head and thought for a while before she said, "Well, it may be difficult for me to sprain my ankle, so if you call the police, I'll tell him You sexually harassed me!"

"Sex...sexually harass you?" Kate was stunned and blushed at the same time. Although she was only 11 years old, she knew what this sentence meant, but it was still hazy, but this kind of words came from a child who was only 3 or 4 years old. It's just so confusing.

"An 11-year-old girl sexually harassing a 3 or 4-year-old girl? Is your head flooded, Barbie?!" Kate growled in a low voice, gnashing her teeth.

However, the little girl jumped up as if she had been stung by something: "Don't call me Barbie!"

She completely forgot that her feet were not in good condition, and as soon as she stepped on the ground, she lost her balance and fell down. Fortunately, Kate supported her immediately, but the little girl didn't seem to appreciate it and struggled violently. Open Kate's hand: "I hate it when people call me Barbie! How do I look like a Barbie! You can call it so smoothly, that means you really like Barbie? Oh, this is really great, I can actually Meet someone who loves Barbie dolls..."

Speaking of this, the little girl lost her voice for an instant, then opened her mouth wide, looked at Kate in a daze, and then stuck out her tongue and licked her lips after a long while: "Are you... a woman?"

Kate, who was frowning when she heard it, suddenly coughed violently, and stopped after a while. She didn't know whether to laugh or looked at the little girl strangely: "You think I'm a boy?"

"Isn't it... isn't it?" the little girl shrank her neck and asked weakly.

"Listen, you brat, you don't like being called Barbie, but I don't like it either—" Kate uttered every word clearly, and in the end she almost gritted her teeth with a black face, " I don't like being treated like a man!"

The little girl leaned back, closed her eyes for a few seconds and opened them again, her bright emerald green eyes became much calmer, she nodded solemnly: "Okay, this is my mistake, I I sincerely apologize here, thank you for your help, I will make it up to you when I have a chance, goodbye."

As she said that, she turned around and limped towards the distance. The feeling of punching nothing made Kate, who was about to get angry, calm down. Thinking about what she said before, it can basically be deduced that this little girl came from home privately. Running out, this is really too bad, maybe I should call the police to force her back, but she will definitely not give in so easily, listen to what she said before, but... well, maybe...

"Wait," Kate suddenly grabbed her little arm, "If you want, how about coming to my house?"

"To your house?" The little girl's surprise was not feigned.

"Yes, go to my house, since you and Zi ran away and refused to go back, and do you have any money..."

"That was a mistake, I didn't plan to run away from home today, things are not ready..."

"Okay, but anyway, it's dangerous for a little girl like you to be outside alone, I don't know how you got here, but you have to understand that children under the age of 7 must be led by a parent Street, if you continue to wander around casually, even if the police don’t ask you for questioning, you will be in a lot of trouble!” Kate said really, “My home is nearby, I promise neither my parents nor I will ask you What, how about we talk about something else after you think about it?"

"You promise?" The little girl looked at her without blinking.

"Swear to God, I promise!" Kate held up her right hand.

"Okay, excuse me then." The little girl bowed slightly and suddenly became polite.

"By the way, what's your name?"

"You've called me by my name before."

"Chrissy?"

"Yes, how about you?"

"Kate, Kate Beckinsale."

Kate didn't know if it was the right decision to bring this little girl home. Although she didn't get in touch with her very often, she always felt that she was very strange. Silly talk and a maturity that is completely out of date for his age in the end, and a different kind of elegance at dinner time.

Yes, very elegant, with an indifferent smile on her face, and she was polite and impeccable in answering her parents' questions, as if she had been specially trained in this area. It really makes people wonder what her family does.The most amazing thing is that she occasionally interjects a sentence or two on the topics of the adults. Seeing the expressions on her parents' expressions, she seems to be right, but when she asks again, she has a blank look, and she can't see it at all. Find out whether she hit it by mistake or deliberately concealed it.In short, after getting along for a night, Kate felt that her head seemed a little insufficient. Well, although she was very smart, she was only 11 years old anyway.

Forget it, just like Dad said, take her photo and secretly go to the police station tomorrow to ask if there is any relevant missing person notice, it is impossible to let such a small child run around.Kate walked out of the bathroom with this in mind, and then she was slightly taken aback. The light in the bedroom was turned on very darkly. The little girl named Chris was wearing her old pajamas and sat on the head of the bed with her knees hugged, her head hidden in the shadows. I can't see the expression clearly, but there is a feeling of pity that people want to hold in their arms.

Kate pursed her lips and sat down next to her: "Why, homesick, Barbie?"

As soon as she opened her mouth, she knew it was going to be bad, and the other party raised her head angrily: "I don't have one, fake man!"

Kate, who wanted to apologize at first, suddenly became angry, especially the cold eyes that seemed to say "you are", which made her a little crazy, but the other party was so small and unable to move, she had no choice but to be vicious Said: "Maybe the reason why you ran away from home is that your parents often dress you up like a Barbie doll. As a toy, you can't resist. It's really pitiful."

"Shut up, my parents never treated me that way!" Chris frowned.

"Then why did you run away from home? Then why don't you like being called Barbie?" Kate shrugged.

"That's because I..."

"Because of you?"

But there was no answer for a long time, and Kate, who sensed something was wrong, raised her head and found that Chris had a dazed face, as if something had been pulled from her body.

"Chris, Chris? Are you okay?" Kate, who was startled, quickly patted her face.

Chris looked at her blankly, her eyes seemed to lose focus, and the next second she took a quick breath, as if trying to suck all the air away.

"What happened? Don't scare me, okay?!" Kate exclaimed and held her shoulder.

"Give me pen and paper!"

"what?"

"Pen and paper! Pen and paper! Pen and paper, whatever."

With a little panic, Kate stuffed a notebook and a pencil into Chrissy's hand. The little girl didn't say anything. She opened the notebook and started to draw quickly. At the beginning, she drew in a decent way—drawing All of them are tables and stools in the house. Although there are some things that are wrong, they are still very similar in general-but the more messy it gets towards the back, and in the end it is almost completely drawing circles in a notebook. The initial bewilderment turned into solemnity, and became extremely sad. When drawing circles, he bit his lips tightly, and tears seemed to burst out of his eyes at any time.

"Stop! Chrissy, stop!" Kate, who was watching all this anxiously, called out immediately, and finally waved open the notebook, and then hugged the little girl into her arms.

"Okay, it's okay, it's going to be okay, understand, I'm here, it's going to be okay." Kate stroked her back, comforting her constantly.

At first the little girl struggled a few times, but gradually calmed down with Kate's comfort, and finally hugged her tightly.

"Okay, let's go to sleep, you won't be sad when you fall asleep." Kate comforted in a low voice, then turned off the light and put the little girl on the bed.Kate knew that she must be crying, but she knew from the fact that she bit her lip tightly and refused to make a sound, she definitely didn't want others to know, so Kate turned off the light before putting her down.

Unbelievable kid.Kate sighed softly, covered her with the quilt and lay down next to her, when Chris's voice sounded faintly: "Kate, I'm going back tomorrow, can I still come to your house in the future?"

Kate froze for a moment, then laughed: "Of course, welcome anytime."

"Thank you, my name is Angela, Angela Mason."