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Chapter : 42
Three Finger Cove Book 9: Darrin
Copyright © 2024 by Chowhound. All Rights Reserved.


Published: 6 Nov 2025


From the Previous Chapter:

Before long the Covers all headed to the house where ‘dad’ Ken asked them to wash their face and hands and to make sure their clothes weren’t too dirty and then to meet him at the garage.

Once everyone had used the facilities, had on fairly clean clothes, washed their face and hands, and were present in the garage, ‘dad’ Ken told Bill to drive the van over to Four Corners and hope that he could find a parking space. All the boys laughed at Billy if, whether or not, he could find a parking space.


Darrin didn’t understand why his ‘brothers’ were laughing at Billy and his trying to find a parking space at Four Corners. What the new teen Cover didn’t know was that the Four Corners Amusement Park was so popular that parking was at a premium there.

But what none of the Covers knew, except for ‘dad’ Ken, that is, was that Mr. Ken had the Parking For Restaurant and Diner Customers Only signs erected recently and there were actually vacant parking spots available when Billy drove over to the Diner.

“Dad,” began Robert, “when did you have those signs put up?”

“I think I told you, son, that I was thinking of doing something like that a few months back,” began the teen’s dad. “So, when we built the additional parking spots, where the old Miniature Golf Course was, it gave me the impetus to go ahead and put up those signs to see if people would actually abide by them. Do you see in the small print where it says, ‘Violators Will Be Towed’? We actually haven’t towed anyone yet,” chuckled ‘dad’ Ken.


The seven Covers walked into the Diner and the wait staff greeted the owner and showed them to a corner booth where the seven could comfortably be seated. The waitress knew the older boys by name, and she greeted them as she passed out the menus and took their drink orders.

Mr. Ken reintroduced Phillip, as he hadn’t been there all that often, and Darrin, as his newest addition, to her as she took their drink orders. She greeted them and explained that much of what they served in the restaurant can be ordered in the Diner, as well as the standard Diner foods, and for the boys to take their time looking over the menu.

Darrin was amazed at the extensive menu that indeed included what was being served that day in the restaurant. He also saw the prices and he wondered what he was allowed to order.

Charles saw his newest ‘brother’ looking over the menu and pausing at an item and somewhat staring at the cost. So, Charles told Darrin not to worry about what the meal cost and that if it was something that he wanted then he should just go ahead and order it.

‘Dad’ Ken confirmed what his son, Charles, just said. The man told his new foster to order anything he saw on the menu and that the steaks here were just as good and juicy as the ones right next door. The teen’s ‘brothers’ all chimed in and told him that it was true.

Darrin then heard his ‘brothers’ order Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes and green beans, meatloaf with the same, spaghetti and meatballs, chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and corn, ham steak with mac n’ cheese, and then Mr. Ken ordered chicken and dumplings with broccoli and carrots. The teen then wondered why none of them ordered a steak.

The waitress was waiting on Darrin, who was still thinking about what everyone else had ordered, and his ‘brothers’ were telling him to order something. So, the new Cover just looked down the menu and picked crispy chicken tenders with mac n’ cheese and corn muffins.


After everyone had ordered, ‘dad’ Ken asked the boys what they had decided to do about their Halloween costumes. Phillip quickly spoke up and said that they found the twins old costumes and he was going to wear Kyle’s Mad Hatter costume complete with a huge hat, white gloves, a zany bow tie, knee high pants and two different colored socks. Darrin then added that he was going to wear Charles’ classic grim-reaper costume with the black and silver colored scythe.

‘Dad’ Ken thanked the boys for finding the old costumes and putting them to good use. He then asked Matthew and the older boys if they were also going out ‘begging’ for candy on Tuesday. Matthew said that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to or not. Billy said that he would like to go and accompany his ‘brothers’, if that was OK with him. Billy then told Matthew that he should try on Kevin’s costume to see if it fits him and if it didn’t, he could try on Robert’s.

Darrin then told his foster dad that while he was talking to his friends and asking them if they were going out Trick-Or-Treating, he kind of asked them to go out with him and Phillip, if they decide to, not knowing that Billy wanted to go along, too.

Mr. Ken smiled and said that he remembered a few years back that there was a large group of boys and their friends who did the same thing. Robert then quickly spoke up and said that it didn’t end the way they all had hoped it would.

“Yes, be that as it may, if there is a big group of boys then I have no problem with that. But … since it is a school night, I would ask you all to start by six thirty and be back home by eight o’clock, or so. Also, Gene and George … they will be accompanying you, as well,” advised ‘dad’ Ken.

Darrin asked who Gene and George were and he learned that they were two huge twin security men who worked for Jules Diamond Security and were watching Robert and the twins and the other boys the night that those four men tried to kidnap the twins and Robert. The teen Cover also learned that the twin security men caught two of the would-be kidnappers by themselves and held them for the Sheriff’s Deputies.


As the Covers ate, Darrin asked his ‘brothers’ what would he see up at the amusement park. The boys began telling him about the rides and the games and the plush animals that some of them had already won there. He also learned that some of Robert’s friends were working there, and they might see them there tonight, which brought up the question as to why Robert didn’t have a job there too, since his dad owned the place.

That question was a sore spot with Robert, so ‘dad’ Ken took it. The man then told his new foster that with as much traveling that they do, he didn’t want Robert working there and then having to ask to be off because his dad, the owner, was taking him on a trip. Mr. Ken further addressed the issue by saying that no employer wants an employee who he can’t rely on to work regular and consistent hours for him. Darrin thanked his foster dad for clarifying that for him and then went back to finishing his meal.


When the Covers finished eating, they all walked up to the amusement park. The boys commented on the progress being made on the railroad station and they asked their ‘dad’ how soon it would be finished. ‘Dad’ Ken told them that it wouldn’t be ready until sometime in the spring, when the train was also completed and ready to carry passengers.

Mr. Ken then went over to a Ticket Booth and bought ride tickets for all of them. He passed the tickets out to the boys and told them to go and ride and have fun. Of course, Robert and Charles asked their dad to ride a few of the rides with them, too.

The Covers looked at the lines and decided to ride the Tilt-A-Whirl first, because the line wasn’t all that long, so they got into that line queue. It was while they waited their turn that Nelson Sanders, the park’s operations manager, came up to Mr. Ken.

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen you here, Mr. Ken,” offered Nelson.

“Yes, I’ve been quite busy as of late. I seem to get that way the closer I get to the Holidays. Oh, let me introduce you to my newest foster, Darrin. That is why we are here tonight. My ‘boys’ … they wanted to make sure he knew what the Four Corners Amusement Park was all about. So, here we are,” explained the owner of the park.

“Mr. Ken … you know, as the owner, you can go to the head of the line,” teased Nelson.

“Nelson … you know my standing about that. Neither I, nor my family, will use my owner status to go ahead of the people in line. They paid their money, as we do, and if they can wait in line, we can do the same,” defended the park’s owner.

“Yes, sir, I know your reason for doing that, and I applaud you for doing so. But … as the park operations manager … I have certain privileges and authorities and … and I can advance certain VIPs to the front of the line,” said a smiling Nelson Sanders to the man who essentially signs his paycheck.


The people who came to the amusement park regularly knew who Nelson Sanders was. And when he announced that he had VIPs he was advancing to the front of the line they stepped aside and allowed the Covers to get on the next ride.

Many of the people in line also knew who Mr. Ken was and that he owned the park and was standing in line just as they were. So, they didn’t mind that Mr. Sanders advanced him and his party to the front of the line as they didn’t see him, or Mr. Ken, do it all that often.

Nelson followed the Covers to the next three rides, but he only did the VIP treatment one more time, and that was on the Speedway. That was because that particular ride always had a long line, because it was so popular with the parents and grandparents who could take the smaller children and grandkids on it with them.

Darrin also got to ride the Octopus and the Scrambler that night. ‘Dad’ Ken, besides riding the Tilt-A-Whirl with his sons, Robert and Charles, also rode the Scrambler with them. And it was on that ride that his sons placed their dad on the end and they both laughed the entire ride knowing their dad was being scrunched the entire time.


It had been quite some time since the Cover boys, themselves, had been to the Four Corners Amusement Park, as well. And now that they all had experienced the rides, they told their ‘dad’ it was time for Darrin to try the midway games. So, that was where they headed to next.

‘Dad’ Ken had the extra money he needed, so he gave each of the boys $35.00 in order for them to play each of the midway games. Darrin was surprised at the amount of money he received and he asked his foster dad if he meant to give him that amount of money.

Matthew answered for his ‘dad’ and told his ‘brother’ to just wait and see how much each of the games cost if he wanted to play the max number of times. ‘Dad’ Ken just nodded and smiled and replied, “What he said.” Then he laughed.


The six Cover boy’s first stop was the Balloon Blast Water Balloon Race Game. They each paid to play two games, which cost $5.00 of the money they had, and they waited for the bell to sound, signifying the start of the game.

At the start of the game, they each tried their hardest to shoot water into the target to see who could get the column of water to the top first. The six Covers were also playing against ten others who also paid their money. After about twenty seconds the bell sounded indicating that one person had their column at the top. None of the Covers had won. But they had one more game in which they could possibly win. Again, none of them won.

As the Covers walked over to the Balloon Darts, they told their newest ‘brother’ that this was the easiest game to win at. That was until they arrived at the game and saw that there were new Rules posted that said that the player needed to pop all three balloons to win a prize.

“Dad” called out Robert, “when did Mr. Nelson change the rules to win at Balloon Darts?”

“Son, at the beginning of October, after some discussion between him, Mr. Ben and myself, we made a few other changes to the games that you will also probably see. But in a nutshell, having to break only one ballon to win a prize was just way too easy, which is why it was changed to having to break all three balloons. We were losing money on this game, son, which is why we changed it,” finally whispered the teen’s dad.


The six Cover boys each paid their $5.00 to play two games each and Darrin was made to go first and he won a prize as the dart board was full of balloons. But as each of the remaining Cover boys went, only Phillip and Charles won a prize on their first try.

The person working the Balloon Darts game reset the dart board by installing more balloons for the players to target. This time around Billy, Robert, Darrin and Matthew all won a prize.

Darrin was feeling really good after winning two small prizes and was boasting about it as he and his ‘brothers’ walked over to the next midway game, the Ring the Tower Bell. At this game Robert’s friend Trevor was working and they greeted one another and Robert introduced his new ‘brother’, Darrin, to him.

“Ok, let’s see how well you can do on this one,” Billy challenged Darrin.

“Well, let me see how this is done, so one of you go first,” spoke up the new teen Cover.

Phillip told everyone that he’ll never get the bell to ring, so he’ll go first. The youngster paid Trevor his money, choose the smaller of the two hammers and got in position to swing it against the striker to hopefully send the weight to the top of the twenty-foot scale.

Phillip swung with all his might, but the weight only went up to the number fifteen on the scale. Billy went over to his younger ‘brother’ and whispered something to him, which made the eleven-year-old smile.

Phillip took his second swing at the striker, but this time instead of trying to hit it with all his strength, he strategically hit it somewhat on the end instead of square on the middle and the weight went to the number eighteen. When his ‘brothers’ saw that they all cheered that he’d done so much better his second time around. That put a smile on Phillip’s face.


The boys then decided to go in ascending age order, so Matthew went next and he did just as well as Phillip. Darrin was next and he did as well as Matthew with his highest score tying Phillip at eighteen. Charles was next and he hit nineteen first, and then he rang the bell on his second try. The teen had a big smile on his face as he came away from the device.

Robert was next and he rang the bell on his first try, but missed on his second. Everyone then focused on Billy who also took the lightest hammer to swing. He looked around at his ‘brothers’ before swinging the hammer at the striker. He rang the bell on his first try. He also rang the bell on his second try and he received a round of applause from his ‘brothers’ for doing that. The Covers who rang the bell received prizes.

The Ring Toss on the Glass Bottle was the next game for the Covers to play. As they walked towards the game, they could hear the tinkling of the plastic rings bouncing off the glass bottles. Matthew told Darrin that this was the most difficult of all the games and that he’s never seen anyone win there. And true to his word none of the Covers won at that game that night either.

The last game the Covers had money left for was the Ball in the Cup game. Robert immediately noticed something different about the layout of the cups on the playing field and he asked his dad about it. The teen’s dad smiled and reminded his son that back in early October, when there were eleven of them at the park, they had thrown 275 balls and had won only two small prizes.

Dad Ken further told his son, and thus the other boys, that he had Mr. Sanders add four more red cups and three more blue cups to the field and to keep track of how many additional winners they have. The boys smiled that they now had a slightly higher chance of winning.

Logan Anderson was working that game and Robert introduced him to his new ‘brother’ Darrin. The Covers then gave Logan their last $10.00 for a bucket of 25 whiffle balls to toss on the playing field in the hopes of the ball landing in either a red, blue or the only gold cup, which got the thrower the grand prize.

The six Covers had 150 wiffle balls between them to try to land one of them in one of the now seventeen winning cups. ‘Dad’ Ken stood back and watched to see if adding the extra cups would help them win something.

Darrin was the first one to have a ball of his land in a blue cup, earning him a medium prize. Logan quickly cleared the ball so the other players, besides the Covers, could possibly land their ball in that same cup.

The wiffle balls were being tossed by all the players and they bumped into all of the other players’ balls and they sometimes knocked a possible wining ball away from a colored cup causing groans to emanatefrom the player whose ball was deflected.

In the end, Billy won a small prize and so did Charles. Matthew also won a medium prize making four prizes in all and that was the extent of the wins at the Ball in the Cup Game for the Covers.


With the rides all ridden and the games all played, Mr. Ken rounded up his small army of boys and had them head to the van. Once there he had Bill drive over to Mr. Ken’s Kreamy Kone so they could all get two scoop Sundaes. And then, before they left, they got two scoops of vanilla ice cream in a cup for both Chief and Sarge.

Darrin and Matthew had the ice cream cups for their resident pets when they entered the Kitchen Nook and both had asked the pets to ‘Sit’ before placing them on the floor. And both pets didn’t go after the delectable treat until Matthew gave them the command to ‘Eat’. Both resident pets went after the cold concoction with gusto and chased it all over the floor until the cup was empty and a smile was on their muzzle.


The Covers then retreated to the Study where ‘dad’ Ken covered who had appointments and what was going to happen at The Cove in the coming weeks.

“Darrin … you have an appointment with Doctor Doug on Tuesday and a dentist appointment right after that. Then I take it you and Phillip, along with at least Bill and Gene and George, will go out ‘begging’ for candy Tuesday night beginning about six-thirty. Please let me know if any of your friends are going to accompany you.

“Charles … your friend Richard … he is scheduled to testify on Tuesday, but I won’t know if it is in the morning or the afternoon until tomorrow. I’ll let you know when he is to be at the courthouse, and then we’ll go there so you can support him, while he is on the stand.

“Darrin … I have in my scheduling book that you also have a dental cleaning and polishing after school on Thursday, the second of November. Mr. Wayne or Mr. Dennis will stop by the school to pick you up for that.

“As you all know, next Sunday … it will be our ‘Family Day’ and none of your friends can come to The Cove. We’ll go out for breakfast first, then we’ll go to the shooting range and send some 9mm and .22LR rounds down range and then we’ll try to find a different restaurant to have a nice dinner afterwards.

“Also, as you know by now, we are going to allow Chief to have another litter of puppies. That means that Sully, the sire who mated with Chief before, will be coming over to mate with her again during the day the week of six November.

“The following weekend, beginning Friday the 10th of November after school … Phillip and I … we will go on our long-awaited three-day trip. Then, when we return on the 12th, I will turn around and head off to the IAAPA Exposition down in Florida with Mr. Ben.

“Following that, Ms. Kate and her boys are due to arrive Friday afternoon the 17th. And remember that Jules and Eleanor’s wedding and reception are on Saturday the 18th and your friends aren’t allowed to come over to The Cove on that day either. Plus, Phillip’s band … they will be playing that day as well.

“I think that covers everything that I have on my list. Does anyone have anything that they want to discuss?” now asked ‘dad’ Ken.


“Dad”, began Robert, “is there more to the band, you know, about them breaking up? And what about this new kid, Marshall somebody, that I heard the band members talking about?” asked the teenager.

The teen’s dad sat there thinking how he wanted to respond to the question. The man then offered, “Son, boys … there are always two sides to a story. The one you are being told and … the one that is the truth. The truth is that the band … there is a good chance that it will eventually break up when Phillip goes back to living with his mom, because they will need to find a place to practice and a new band leader. That, though, will depend solely on the boys themselves.

“As for Marshall Gray, he is a classmate of Phillip’s, who also plays the drums. Jeffrey Jenkins … he is supposed to give him the name of his drum instructor at school tomorrow. Here’s the thing, though. I mentioned to the parents that, to me, I felt that the band was too big. I also told the boys that most bands have only four and sometimes five members, but they have eight.

“I explained that if Marshall turned out to be as good as Jeffrey, then they could possibly break into two bands. Of course, that wasn’t what they wanted to hear. That was when I told them that I was ready to hire them to play at Four Corners Amusement Park, but not all eight of them.

“I think I told them that I didn’t need an eight-piece band for three straight hours, but that I wanted four boys to play for ten to twelve minutes every half hour for three hours on Friday and Sunday and four hours on Saturday nights, and that they would be paid an hourly rate.

“I also told them that they needed to learn at least ten Christmas songs, which I was willing to buy the sheet music for, and they needed to be ready by Thanksgiving week, which is something that I didn’t tell them.

“They would have to work out who plays which night and then again, Mr. Nelson …he might want them to play more hours during the day on Saturday and Sunday. He doesn’t even know that I am wanting to hire Phillip’s band members to play there. I’ll tell him tomorrow at the office,” explained ‘dad’ Ken.

“Why didn’t you tell him tonight when you saw him, ‘dad’?” asked Phillip.

“Well, son, tonight … it wasn’t the right time nor the place to drop something like that on him. At the office tomorrow, when he and Mr. Ben and I can sit down and discuss this … it will be in a more neutral environment and the three of us can work out the details and any foreseeable problems, he and Ben might know of from working at amusement parks that I am not aware of,” answered the foster dad.


“Dad,” began Charles, “there are only six band members who play an instrument. How could they form two bands, even if this Marshall kid is good enough. He only makes seven and they would still need another instrument in order to form two-four member bands, along with one singer each,” argued the teen.

“You got me there, son, but … but a good keyboard player … he could make up for a missing guitarist until they could find someone to fill the gap. I guess Easton …he would just have to ramp up his playing ability, if the boys were to split into two groups, which after what we heard during the barbeque, they aren’t about to even think that way,” reasoned the teenagers dad.

“How much are you going to pay them,” asked Darrin.

“Nelson Sanders, the parks operations manager, … he would set the pay scale, Darrin. I suspect the boys would be paid what the starting hourly pay is for the other boys who are working there. But don’t quote me on that. Mr. Sanders … he decides those things. I only pay his salary,” chuckled Mr. Ken.

“Boys … we aren’t going to solve this between us. It will get solved between the band members themselves, as time moves along. Now … does anyone else have anything they want to bring up, or ask?” again, queried the boys’ ‘dad’.


Darrin looked around at his ‘brothers’ and seeing that none of them were going to say anything he decided to speak up. “Mr. Ken … I want to thank you for treating me … well, for taking me to the Four Corners Amusement Park tonight. It has been quite some time since I’ve been to anything like that and I truly enjoyed myself. The Speedway ride was interesting, for sure. I’ve never seen anything like that before. And I did enjoy riding the others, as well.

“As for the midway games … I’ll keep my wining plush toys on the dresser as a reminder of tonight’s fun, and one day I’ll ring one of those glass bottles; you’ll see. And you know what else, Mr. Ken? It was fun having a bunch of boys to compete against. I never had ‘bragging rights’ before, even if they didn’t last longer than the next game booth,” laughed the teen Cover, with his ‘brothers’ ribbing him about his ‘bragging rights’.

“And you see that, Mr. Ken. I never had that with my older brother, my real older brother. We … we were sort of close, but we … we never had that … that banter, that ribbing, that … that brotherhood like just now, that you might call it.

“Mr. Ken … living here these past two weeks it … it has been amazing. I never knew people lived like this, you know, in a big, no huge house, who had a woman who prepared meals that … that you’d probably only find in fine restaurants, and pay big money for, a man who managed the estate while you went off to the office and another man who … well, who took care of us boys for, well, for you,” offered a smiling Darrin Rossman.

“They say, ‘safety in numbers’, but in numbers … I’d also say understanding, fellowship and best of all … love. And that last one … it is felt here the most. When one of us is feeling down the others … they are there to pick us up. And they do that by using the ‘group hug’, which feels … which feels so awesome to be hugged by not just one, like your dad or mom, but by four or five of your ‘brothers’, who you know have your back.

“Mr. Ken … you need to bottle what you have, or what you are doing here. It sure has made a big difference for me,” finished Darrin, who had tears streaming down his face from the emotional speech he’d just made to the man, who he felt had saved him from a life of despair after losing his entire family just a few short weeks ago.

Billy, Robert and Charles all saw the tears falling from Darrin’s eyes and the three got up and went to their ‘brother’ and pulled him up and out of his chair and began their ‘group hug’. The two youngest Covers, Matthew and Phillip, soon joined in and Mr. Ken sat back and watched his ‘boys’ do their magic when one of them was hurting, or needed to feel ‘loved’ and safe.

The group hug was held for a good minute, or maybe a bit longer, and when the boys broke it up, some of them, too, had a few tears in their own eyes, as what Darrin had said had resonated in them, as well.


After all the boys had settled down in their own chairs, ‘dad’ Ken looked out at them and spoke, “Darrin … I want to thank you for telling me, well, us, about how you felt about your experience tonight. I am glad that we were able to give you such an opportunity to see and personally partake in what the Four Corners Amusement Park has to offer.

“It was also nice to hear that you consider yourself as a ‘brother’ to the other boys and you feel them, now, as your ‘brothers’, too. Your description of having them to compete against and being able to have ‘bragging rights’, I think you explained it right, as a time-honored tradition between all siblings. And tonight … you fit right in there amongst them and you did get the ribbing from your ‘brothers’, as you said.

“Darrin … I also want to thank you for what you said about your living here. I never heard anyone explain it that way you had and … and I could tell it came from your heart, as you were telling us what you thought about The Cove and the people in it.

“Then it was what you had to say … not only about how there is ‘safety in numbers’, but how you further expanded it to say that with numbers … that with numbers came a number of other things paramount of which was … LOVE! You said how love … how it was felt the most here at The Cove and you gave some examples, which, in the end, your ‘brothers’ … they showed you that you had hit the nail on the head by coming to you, when they saw your tears and they pulled you into a group hug and held it until they felt you were ready to be on your own again.”


“Dad’ Ken ended the meeting right then. He told the boys to go up to their rooms and that he’d be up there in short order to say goodnight to them. As the boys walked up the stairs, Ken Thomas sat back in his chair and wondered about what just transpired in his Study. None of his other foster boys had ever expressed himself as Darrin had tonight.

The foster dad wondered if the teen had some emotional stressors going on inside of him for the teen to be so expressive, when none of the other boys had ever done so. He figured he needed to call Doug Jennings tomorrow and tell the doctor his thoughts and see if the child psychologist can make anything of it, while talking to the teen during his sessions.


‘Dad’ Ken started in Bill’s room that night, as was his habit. The foster dad asked Bill for his thoughts on what Darrin had to say tonight. The oldest Cover teenager thought about the question for a few moments and then asked Mr. Ken if he was thinking of sending Darrin away.

Mr. Ken smiled and told Bill that he wasn’t thinking anything of the sort, but was interested in getting the teen’s take on how the new Cover was fitting in. Billy gave a sigh of relief and told his foster dad that Darrin was still getting used to everything and that it took him almost a month to feel settled and he should just let his ‘brother’ blend in some more.

In Robert’s room, the teen’s dad asked him the same question. The man’s son told his dad just about the same thing that Billy had told him. Robert told his dad that the new Cover needed more time to get used to being a Cover and living at the ‘huge’ house, which brought a laugh out of Robert.

“Charles … what do you think of the way Darrin is becoming a Cover and handling everything associated with living here?” asked the teen’s dad.

Charles told his dad that Darrin was just overwhelmed with everything he’s been shown and having to deal with by living in the ‘lap of luxury’, teased the laughing teenager. The teen then added that the new teen still needed to get used to everything associated with The Cove and that he hasn’t seen even half of what there is to come with the Holidays and the trip.

In Matthew’s room, ‘dad’ Ken asked the pre-teen how he felt Darrin was acclimating to The Cove. The youngster told his ‘dad’ that he felt he was doing well. Matthew thought that the new teen needed more time to get used to living there and being exposed to everything like the Holiday Parties and their trip. The pre-teen felt that going out Trick-Or-Treating will give Darrin something new and different from staying inside the estate all the time, too.


When ‘dad’ Ken knocked on Phillip’s doorframe, the youngster had to stop from playing his guitar, which was something he seemed to always be doing when he was in his room.

“What song was that you were playing?” asked ‘dad’ Ken.

“Oh, I was trying to play a Christmas song I looked up on the internet. There is a site that has Free PDFs that I downloaded the song from. That’s OK, isn’t it?” asked the young Cover.

‘Dad’ Ken assured the boy that if the site said that they were free then it was OK to download them. The man then asked Phillip how he thought Darrin was doing as he became a Cover.

Phillip was a bit shocked that his ‘dad’ would ask him a question such as that, so he asked him why he was asking him about Darrin. ‘Dad’ Ken told the boy that he was just wondering if his new ‘brother’ was having any problems becoming a Cover, and Mr. Ken used the fact that the teen teared up so easily, while he was talking that evening.

Phillip told his ‘dad’ that while Darrin was saying what he did about safety in numbers and that numbers also meant other things and then he said ‘love’ the boy admitted that he teared up, too.


‘Dad’ Ken grabbed the boy into a hug and the boy just about melted into the man’s arms. It was evident that Phillip needed some loving right then and the foster dad was there to give it to him.

“Phillip … what’s this all about?” asked the foster dad. “Does this have something to do with your mom and you eventually going home to live with her?”

The young Cover looked into the man’s eyes and said, “Sort of. I … I love it here and … and all the things that I get to do. I know when I go back to living with my mom, I’m … I’m going to miss all this and then there is the band.” And with that said the youngest Cover broke down and cried, hard.

Phillip’s crying brought his ‘brothers’ running to his bedroom. They all saw their ‘dad’ hugging their ‘brother’ and they all wondered why he was crying so hard. Even Darrin was there not knowing why his foster dad was trying to console Phillip.


“Dad … is there anything that we can do?” asked Charles.

“Yes, son, there is. Your young ‘brother’ … he needs a brotherly group hug. Boys … do your magic!” announced ‘dad’ Ken, as he pulled away from Phillip

The five Cover boys immediately gathered around their youngest ‘brother’ and they hugged him, like they had Darrin earlier, and they hugged him until they felt he had shed all his tears and was good to go for the rest of the night.

“Thank you for coming to me. ‘Dad’s’ hugs … they felt good and all. But …but with all of you around me I … it made me feel safe and really loved by all of you. Thanks!” announced Phillip.

The boys all patted the boy on his back before they returned to their own bedrooms. Mr. Ken then made sure Phillip was going to be OK, before he made his way to Darrin’s room.


Mr. Ken knocked on Darrin’s doorframe to see if he was accepting any visitors. The teen smiled at seeing his foster dad at the doorway and told him to come in.

“Darrin … just so you know, and that you don’t think I am going behind your back … I’ve been asking your ‘brothers’ how they have felt about your integration into being a Cover. And I want you to know that they all feel that you are coming along very well, and they can’t wait until you are exposed to the Holiday Parties and our trip. They figure that will be the point at which you’ll either be fully integrated or you bail,” laughed the foster dad.

“Bail? Why would they think that I would bail?” the teen wanted to know.

“Those are my words, Darrin; not theirs. I say that because … well, you came to us at the busiest time of the year for The Cove. And if you can survive these next two months, you’ll stay with us for sure. You heard all of the things that we are doing just in the next few weeks. And it will get even busier the closer we get to the actual Holidays.

“You’ve proven yourself to be a team player, Darrin, and you’ve assimilated into the group of boys with ease. Let’s move forward and look to the Holidays and remember … there are many moving pieces and you’ll be expected to pull your weight. Now don’t forget to drain your dragon before going to bed,” teased the foster dad, before giving the teen a hug.

And as Mr. Ken walked down the hallway towards the stairs, the resident pets, Chief and Sarge, came walking by and then they stopped for a behind the ear scratch and a belly rub, before continuing their way to Darrin and Matthew’s rooms. where they will sleep that night.

After getting ready for bed and upon sitting on the edge of his own bed, Ken Thomas replayed in his mind what he saw and heard that evening. He knew then that his decision to call Doctor Jennings tomorrow was the right one.

The owner of The Cove was the last person in the house to turn off the lights and slip under the covers and before long the entire household was fast asleep. The Covers all slept well that Sunday night.


The saga of Three Finger Cove continues. Let Chowhound know you are reading his story: Chowhnd at Gmail dot Com

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Three Finger Cove Book 9: Darrin

By Chowhound

In progress

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57