Newsie is a Beast
Chapter 1:
Once upon a time on a dark street in Brooklyn walked a young man. He kept to the shadows trying to hide his disfigured face. It was ugly. He was ashamed. He hadn't been home since it had happened... just a week ago. He couldn't let them see. It was best he leave town. He would only frighten most of them anyway.
He stood near a building corner, waiting for a carriage to pass. When all was safe, he stepped out onto the street.
"Spot... is that you?" a voice called out from behind him.
"No, it's not Rae. Go back home." he said, lowering his head to hide his face.
"Yes it is, otherwise you wouldn't have known my voice. Where have you been? The entire lodging house has been looking for you."
"I'm leaving Rae. Tell everyone goodbye for me."
"Just one minute mister, where do you think you're going?!" She followed him as he walked ahead of her down the street, around the corner, down the next street. "Get back here! I deserve some explanations!" She finally caught up with him and grabbed his arm. She turned him around and gasped in horror.
Shoving her back, Spot threw his arms over his face. "I told you not to look!" he yelled gruffly and turned, hurrying away.
"Spot!" she yelled, running after him, tears falling down her face. "Wait up!"
"Get away from me, Rae! I'm a freak!"
"Spot, I thought our friendship meant more than that. If you think I'm going to run screaming because of a few scars you better think again. True friends don't desert one another in times like this."
Spot kept his back to her. "It's not that.... Well, not exactly. I'm... I'm ashamed of this, Rae. This is not how I want to be feared. I want to be feared because people think I'm strong and smart, and I'm respected. Not because I look like... a monster or something!"
"Leave town if you feel you must, but I'm going with you."
"You are NOT coming with me." He shook his head firmly. "You have a life here. And friends. I don't want you leaving them just because I'm leaving."
"What do I have to say to get it through that think skull of yours? I'm not turning my back on you like I can guarantee everyone else will. If they can do that to someone they claimed as a friend, they are no friends of mine."
"That... wasn't helping much, Rae," he grunted.
"I'm going with you Spot and you can't stop me."
He sighed. "No, I guess I can't."
"Any idea where we're going to go?" she asked, staring into his eyes.
"Somewhere else?"
"Where? Surely you've thought this through?"
He rubbed the back of his neck, casting his eyes away. "Uh... not exactly..."
"Why don't we hope a train and find a small town somewhere. That would be the best place to hide out. Maybe we can find an abandoned house."
"Yeah, like that'll happen. Some house is just going to be ... magically abandoned." He waved his fingers around for effect and then his shoulders slumped as he sighed. "Nothin' ever goes my way."
"It's worth a try, Spot. Let's just go to the station and hop a train and just see where it takes us."
He thought on it a moment, sighed again, and nodded in consent. "After all, how much could it hurt?"
"Good." she said, heading for the station. "Do me a favor."
"What?" He trotted after her, nervously casting his eyes right and left, on the lookout for anyone who knew him.
"Stop callin' yourself a monster and a freak. I've known ya since we was kids. Ya ain't no monster."
"Well I look like one," he muttered.
"You may look like one, but ya ain't one." she said, grinning at him.
He made a face as they crossed over the train yards. "There's a train there..." He pointed across the yard. "And an open car..."
"Great!" she said, sprinting across the yard and climbing into the car. She settled into the hay spread in the car. "Wake me up when you decide ya wanna get off."
"Oh, so leave that up to me... I'm more tired than you!"
"Aw, shut it, Conlon." she said with a yawn.
"Women," he replied, burrowing into the hay a few feet away from her.
* * *
Rae was suddenly brought out of her sleep when the train pulled to a stop. "Shoot." she yelled, jumping to her feet. "Conlon, if ya don't get up now, ya got a one way ticket to the local jail."
Spot mumbled incoherently, limply waving his hand at her and rolled onto his other side.
Rae glanced around the car before her eyes settled on a bucket of water. Grinning, she picked it up and stood over Spot. "Good morning, Sunshine." she said cheerfully just seconds before she dumped the water on him.
Lurching awake, arms flying, curses firing, he glared at her. "That was COLD!"
"The cell you'll be staying in if the bulls catch us will be even colder. LET'S GO!" she said, dropping the bucket and heading for the door.
Spot scrambled to his feet and went after her, muttering something about "stupid bulls", and almost jumped out of the car when he ran into Rae. "Hey! What was that for?!"
"Shut it! The bulls are heading right this way!"
"Then let's get a move on it." he said, pushing her.
"You think we can out run them? They aren't fat slobs. These guys look rough."
He snuck a peek out the door. "Ok, so I don't think we can outrun these guys. What to do? What to do?"
"Hide in a dark corner and pray for our lives?" she replied. Spot rolled his eyes. "Then why don't you come up with something better?"
He looked around. "Come here." he said, pulling her behind some crates that had been left in the car. He sat down and pulled her down beside him. "Now be quiet."
"I know how to hide, Conlon," she whispered, shaking her head.
"I could have sworn I saw something in here." one of the bulls said.
The other one climbed in. "Well, it can't hurt to take a look."
Rae stuck the tip of her thumb in her mouth and bit down on it, as she glanced over at Spot.
Spot took careful aim with his slingshot and cleanly shot a marble out the door.
The cops whirled. "What was that?" the one in the car asked, climbing back out. The other shrugged. "Let's go check it out."
Rae sighed with relief after they had gone. "Thank you." she whispered.
"Hey. I ain't Spot Conlon for nothing." He grinned, sticking his slingshot back into his pocket.
Rae ignored his comment and jumped from the car.
Scrambling from the car, he followed, landed a bit unsteadily, but managed to catch himself before he fell. "Let's get goin' before they come back."
Rae nodded and ran for the nearby woods. Once in the safety of the woods she turned to him. "I noticed a road that way. Shall we see where it leads or just wander through the woods?"
"We may as well follow the road. 'Less we wanna get killed by some wild animal..." He sighed rather unhappily.
"We can still stay in the woods and follow the road if ya don't wanna be seen by anyone."
Nodding, he motioned for her to go ahead. "Lead the way."
They wandered through the woods for some time before Rae stopped and pointed across the road. "Look!" she said.
Spot followed her finger and saw two neat stacks of bricks on either side of a rusty gate. "Want to go see what's back there?" he asked.
"Got nothin' better to do." Together, they slowly pushed open the heavy iron gates and walked through them. "Wow..."
Just out of sight from the road stood a three-story house. The paint had faded to the point that you could no longer tell the original color and the yard was overgrown with brush and brambles. A large porch graced the front of the house and four large columns stood guard as if daring them to approach the house.
"Well..." Spot swallowed hard and tilted his head. "Looks like we found that abandoned house you was talking about."
"I wasn't really expecting to find it though. At least not one that looked like this." she said, almost as if in a daze.
"Well... we did..." He gazed around, inquisitive, awestruck. "Who'd just leave a house here?"
"I don't know. Let's do take a look around." She slowly climbed the porch steps and opened the door. Just inside the door was a staircase leading up to the upper floors. The wallpaper in the entry and in the rooms off of it was faded, cracked and peeling. White sheets covered the furniture, making small white mountains in the otherwise drab room.
Curious, Spot crossed the room and pulled a sheet off one of the pieces of furniture, coughing at the cloud of dust that exploded off of it. "Well, someone ain't been doin' their job."
"I don't think anyone has been doin' anythin' in here for a few years, Conlon." she said.
"I reckoned that already," he grumbled. He continued to inspect the first floor. "Well... I think we have a new home."
All of the doors on the first floor were open except for one. They slowly made their way toward it and Spot turned the knob. It was locked. Making a face, he gently tapped on the door. "Hey... is someone in here?"
"I don't think so." Rae said kneeling down to examine the lock.
"Think you can pick it?" he asked, crouching next to her.
"'Course I can. Just give me somethin' to pick it with."
Spot glanced at the door again. "Um... do we really wanna know WHY it's locked?"
Rae thought for a minute. "Yes. I do. If we're gonna be staying here, I want to know."
"What if it's dead bodies?" he asked mysteriously, waving his fingers in front of her face. "Or worse... the living dead!"
She rolled her eyes and elbowed him. "Just give me something to pick this lock!"
Spot winced, rubbing his side, and rifled through his pockets. "I don't have anything... Aren't you girls supposed to have hairpins or something?"
Rae sighed and reached to pull a pin from her hair, causing small strand of hair to fall into her eyes. She glared at him before turning to pick the lock. When the lock finally clicked, she turned the knob and opened the door. Spot followed her in.
A large desk filled the middle of the room and two of the walls were covered in bookshelves full of books. A third wall was covered in windows looking out into what used to be a garden.
"Wow..." Spot passed Rae and touched the dusty desk. "Doesn't look like anyone's been here in... years..." He looked out the window. "Kinda weird... the silence, I mean."
Rae walked around to the back of the desk and sat in the chair. "I know. It's kinda freaky." She opened the top drawer and began to dig through it.
He pulled himself away from the window and began pulling books off the shelf. "Wow... I haven't even heard of any of these.... not that it's any surprise... Whatcha lookin' for?"
"Something. Anything. Maybe some clue as to who owned this house. Or what happened to them."
With a vague nod, Spot opened up the drawer next to her. "Holy... look at that!"
Rae's eyes widened in shock and she gasped. "Is that what I think it is?"
Spot pulled out a handful of wrapped bills, waving it under his nose. "It looks like money, feels like money, SMELLS like money... I'm going with it IS money!"
Rae pulled out another handful and began to count it. After a moment she stopped. "Spot, we're rich!"
Spot had already pulled out another handful. "You bet we are..." Awestruck he plopped onto the edge of the desk. "I... I never saw this much money in my entire life!"
"What are we going to do with all of this? We can't just leave it lying around." she asked, leaning back in the chair.
"Well..." He waved a stack around absently. "We can live off of it... We're going to need SOMETHING to live off of, anyway. I mean... figuring that the owners of this place just don't show up one day."
"So we just leave it in the drawer until we need it." She said, placing the bundles in her hand back in the drawer. "Let's go finish looking around the place and then we'll make a list of things we need. I'll go back to that small town and pick them up."
With a nod, Spot followed her suit. "I figure... I figure we could live the rest of our lives on that."
They walked back out into the entry and toward the stairs. Rae carefully placed her foot on the first step. "I hope this thing holds." she whispered.
"If it doesn't, I'll be sure to throw you a proper funeral," he teased.
"Thanks a lot, Conlon." she said, rolling her eyes. She ignored the uneasy feeling that the steps were going to cave in and ran the rest of the way up.
He followed, glancing uncertainly at the steps when they creaked loudly beneath his feet. Yes, it did sound like they were going to cave. Shaking his head, he pushed the worries aside and entered the nearest room on his right.
The room was massive. Nearly as big as the bunkroom back in Brooklyn. A huge four-poster bed set between two large windows.
"I think I found my room," he said with a grin. He pushed aside a heavy curtain and rubbed the dirt off the window to look out it. Land, green land, spread out far, lined with luxurious trees. "And I thought Central Park was nice..."
"HEY SPOT! Come check this out." Rae yelled from the other side of the house.
Dropping the edge of the curtain, he ran into the room across the hall. "What?"
She was standing at the window of another massive bedroom. It was easy to tell that this room had been a woman's room, from the lacy curtains to the dresses in the open wardrobe. He walked over to the window and looked out. "I could have sworn I saw movement out there at that old barn."
"Maybe it was just an animal?" he suggested.
She shivered. "I hope so. This house is starting to give me the creeps."
Spot nodded off-handedly, heading towards the armoire and rifling through it. "Hmm... some very nice clothes... what is this? I've never seen girls wear-"
"Spot Colon put that down, that's women's underclothes!"
He dropped it and grinned. "Well, well... some pretty fancy stuff you girls wear."
"Shut it. Shut it now."
He laughed and shut the drawer. Rae stormed over to him and grabbed his arm, pulling him from the room. "Let's finish exploring."
Spot's chuckles faded away finally as they reached another door. Opening it, he discovered another flight of stairs. "There's more?!"
"It too dark to go up there. Go find a lamp or something." she whispered, staring into the darkness at the top of the stairs.
"Why don't you?"
She gave him a look.
"Oh, all right... where should I get one from?"
"Try checking that library."
Spot left and returned a moment later to find Rae standing in the exact same place he had left her. Lighting the small lantern he had found he led the way up the steep and narrow stairs. On the top floor they found several small rooms with sparse furnishings. Each room contained a single bed, not much better than a co, a small bedside table where a lantern sat and a small dresser.
"Reminds me of the lodging house... only single rooms, instead of one whole room... Who do you think slept up here?"
"Considering how wealthy it appears this family was I'd say the servants slept here." Rae answered. "But there's no clothes or anything up here. Not even bedding...but in those rooms downstairs..."
"You think the servants went on strike?" He tried to crack a grin but it was of no avail.
She sent him a look. "Let's just go back downstairs. I'll grab some money and we can head to town and get something to eat."
"With this face?"
She put her hands up to her mouth. "I'm so sorry, Spot. I forgot." she whispered.
He sighed. "It's okay... I almost forgot myself." Rubbing the back of his neck, he said, "Well, should we have a look around outside?"
"I guess we could go take a look at that barn." she said, hesitantly.
"I'm sure it was just an animal you saw..." He jerked his head towards the staircase. "Well, let's go."
They walked to the barn and threw open the doors. Light quickly flooded the dark interior and Spot thought he saw movement in the shadows in the far corner of the barn.
'A dog?' he wondered. Motioning to Rae to follow, who looked far more content to wait outside for him, he headed deeper in. "Someone in here?" he asked uncertainly, hoping to hear the whimper.. or growl even.. of a dog.
He was shocked to find not a dog, but two small children huddled up together, staring up at him in terror. He quickly stepped back and turned his head. "Rae, get over here, now!"
"What is it?" She peeked in. "What are you yelling about..."
"Just get over here. I need your help!" he ordered.
The two children yelped in terror.
Rae scrambled in. "What's going on...?" She paused next to him and, as soon as her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she saw them.
She gasped. "What are you two doing in here?"
"We just... we just..." the girl started to gasp and she burst into tears.
"We're sorryyyy," the little boy next to her wailed.
Rae knelt down in front of them and pulled the little girl into her arms. "Shhh! What are your names?" she asked, her tone much softer than before.
"You... you ain't gonna hurt us?" she sniffled.
"No, sweetheart. We wouldn't hurt you." she said, stroking the girl's matted and tangled hair.
"We was... we was just sleepin' here... We didn't mean no harm..." the boy rambled. "We didn't know someone lived here."
"Where are your parents, kid?" Spot asked, from where he stood, hidden in the shadows.
"We... we don't know sir. Please don't make us go to the orphan place."
Rae sent a nervous glance in Spot's direction. "We won't make you. We have plenty of room here. You can stay with us."
"You mean it?" the little girl asked hopefully.
"I sure do." Rae said, hugging her close.
"Who.. who are you? Did... you live here before?" the boy asked.
"We just got here today." Spot answered gruffly, upset that Rae had told these children that they could stay.
Spot grabbed her arm and drug her out of the barn. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" he yelled. "There is no way those kids can stay!"
"And why not!" she yelled back. "It's obvious they have no where to go!"
"I don't want to have to deal with them screaming and crying every time they see me. It just won't work."
"They'll get used to you. Kids adjust!" Rae folded her arms over her chest. "You're so concerned about your dumb image."
"You would be too if you looked like this." he stated.
She rolled her eyes. "I don't."
He growled in frustration and stormed back toward the house.
After rolling her eyes again, she headed back into the barn where the children were huddled. "Come on. Would you like to come in the house?"
"We heard you yelling..." The girl replied, looking at Rae with wide eyes.
"I'm sorry sweetheart." Rae said, kneeling in front of the small children. "He's just mad at me."
"Is it 'cause of us?" the boy asked. Beside him, his sister was about to fall asleep.
"No." Rae whispered gathering the tiny girl in her arms. "It's more than that." The little boy latched onto her hand and Rae led them over to the house. "What are your names?" she asked him.
"I'm Andy." he said. "My sister's name is Ann."
She smiled. "I'm Rae. The boy with me was Spot. He's a lot nicer than he sounds."
"Are you sure?" Andy asked nervously.
Rae laughed gently. "Of course I'm sure. I've known him most of my life."
Andy nodded.
"Are you hungry?" Rae asked as she opened the back door to the house.
Vigorously, he nodded again. And then he shrieked in terror and hid behind Rae.
"What's the matter?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at him. She turned back around and saw Spot standing in the kitchen. And he didn't look pleased. Andy started to cry.
"See? See? I told you! I told you it'd scare them!"
"If you don't stop yelling, you'll scare them more, Spot Colon," she scolded.
She handed him the sleeping girl and turned to pick up the crying boy. "It's alright Andy." she cooed, rubbing his back.
Andy sniffled. "Who is that?! And why is he here? Is he mean?"
"That's Spot, sweetheart. And he's not mean." she said, sending Spot a look.
Spot carefully approached the boy and knelt down before him. "Hi kid. I'm Spot Conlon... I met you in the barn."
Andy cocked his head to the side and stared at Spot curiously. "What happened to your face?" he asked.
"I got in an accident, kid, in a factory," he explained.
"Oh. Ok." Andy said. He looked up at Rae who was now holding Ann again. "When can I eat?"
Rae gave Spot a pointed look, as if to say "See, I told you so" and took Andy's hand. "As soon as we find some food in this house! Or go to town to get some..."
"I'm not going into town Rae Kelly!" Spot said, following her as she carried the sleeping child upstairs.
"No one said you had to, bonehead." Rae shook her head. "I'm pretty sure I can buy food on my own."
"Then snap to it. The kid and I are getting hungry."
Rae arched a brow. "If I wasn't holding Ann here, you would SO be dead right now. For future reference I am NOT your serving woman."
"I KNOW THAT. But you don't expect the kid to walk all the way back into town to get some food do you?"
"Of course I don't expect it. But don't tell me to snap to it!"
"If you would go then I wouldn't have to say it."
Rae sighed, frustrated. She needed sleep. Sleep was good. Sleep was away from Spot. Good good good.... Heading into the parlor, she put Ann down on one of the couches, took a couple of bills from the study and walked up the stairs.
"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?" Spot yelled as she headed for the room that she had claimed earlier.
"YOU DON'T EXPECT ME TO GO TO TOWN LOOKING LIKE THIS DO YOU?" she yelled back, slamming the door to her room.
She shook her head. "Jeez! Men these days!" She quickly looked through the dresses hanging in the wardrobe and picked out what appeared to be the plainest. She slipped out of her clothes and into the dress. Standing in front of the mirror she stared at herself in shock. She liked what she saw. She could get used to this. The pale green dress fit her perfectly. She pulled her hair down from it's braid and allowed it to fall it's full length to her waist. Picking up a hairbrush from the dressing table she quickly brushed her hair. Throwing the brush back on the table she decided to leave her hair down and left the room.
Spot looked up and stared as Rae walked into the room. "Wow... Rae, you look like a girl!"
"Great!" Rae said looking at the ceiling. "I would get stuck with Mr. Brilliant."
Spot rolled his eyes. "Aw, shut it Rae."
Rae shook her head. "I don't know how long I'll be gone, so don't worry about me. Just keep Ann and Andy out of trouble. Or just maybe you can get them to take baths and clean up a bit." she suggested.
He pointed to the children. "They're dead asleep."
"See what you can do with them when they wake up." she said, heading for the door.
"Aye, aye captain." He saluted her.
She rolled her eyes and closed the door.
* * *
Rae blinked and glanced around. This was not the type of town she was expecting. She had intended on seeing another New York: ugly, dirty, and smelly. But instead, this town she reached was small, beautiful, and GREEN! With a smile and a slight bounce in her step she set out to find the nearest grocer's.
'No homeless orphans on the street, no horse poo, no bulls chasing around even fleas; I must be in heaven!' she thought, walking into the store. She walked around the store trying to decide what items they would need. She had not had much luck cooking in the past, but she was determined to try again.
"Can I help you?" a clerk asked.
"Yes... do you have anything... simple... to cook?"
The clerk burst into giggles, catching the attention of a woman nearby. "Now, Tom, be nice to the lady." she said.
"Thank you." Rae replied smiling at her. "I...My brothers and sister and I just moved here and I've never had to do the shopping before. I have no clue what to get."
The woman smiled. "Of course. I know just the things."
Rae sent a murderous glare in the clerk's direction before following the woman around the store.
Once finished with her purchases, Rae was lucky to find a ride back to the old house with a farmer. She had him stop before he actually got to the gate and she waited in the woods until the farmer had driven out of site before heading toward the rusty gate and the old house.
She kicked the door, unable to knock because her hands were full, and hefted off half her load to Spot when he finally opened the door.
"Where have you been?" he demanded. "We are starving!"
Rae sighed. "It's a long walk. If you're so hungry, go get the food yourself next time."
"No... no..." He took the remaining bags from her and headed into the house.
"Then stop whining. Where are Ann and Andy?" she asked as she began to unpack the groceries.
"They should be playing in the parlor."
"Did you manage to get at least one layer of dirt off of them?"
"Ann, yes. Andy..." He grinned. "We boys thrive off of dirt."
Rae rolled her eyes. "Once I get this house clean, that dirt better stay outside."
"This is my house more than it is yours. Remember, you chose to tag along." Spot examined a loaf of bread.
"Maybe I should have left you wandering the streets of Brooklyn, hiding from all of creation."
"Maybe you should have." He shoved the loaf into a cupboard and continued to unload the groceries.
She laughed suddenly. "Why do we fight again?"
"Because we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves if we didn't." Spot grinned and lobbed an apple at her.
She caught it. "Guess not." She turned and placed in it a bowl that she had pulled from the cupboard. "I guess I'll get started cooking. Go keep Ann and Andy busy while I fix dinner."
Arching a brow, he said, "Should I get the fire department?" before leaving the room.
She picked the apple back up and threw it at him just as he closed the door. The apple hit the door and went in a million directions.
Spot, hearing the apple smack on the door and Rae grunt in frustration, laughed and headed over to Ann and Andy.
Some time later he was playing a game with Ann and Andy when he thought he smelled something burning.
"'Scuse me," he told them, scrambled to his feet, and ran to the kitchen. "Rae, I was only kidding about the fire department! You didn't actually have to set the dang house on fire!"
She was nervously wringing her hands and watching the pan that she had thrown in the sink burn. "I didn't mean to burn it."
"Well put it out, why don't you?!" He threw some rags in the tub the children had washed in- or pretended to, anyway- and then threw them onto the pan.
"I tried to" she whined. She suddenly burst into tears and ran from the room and up the stairs.
Spot sighed and threw another wet rag onto the smoldering mess. He watched it for a moment, brooding. He'd never seen Rae totally lose it like that before. Granted, maybe he hadn't gone about dealing with the fire situation in the nicest way possible, but that was how he was! He harrumphed. Now he had to explain himself to.... himself!
Satisfied the fire was out and done, he left the kitchen, told the children he would return momentarily, and headed up the stairs. He knocked on the door of her room and when he didn't hear an answer he slowly opened the door. He saw Rae sitting on the floor in front of the window, her face buried in the pillows on the window seat.
Rae's shoulders jerked, startled, but she didn't lift her head. "Go 'way Spot."
"Alright. Who are you, and what have you done with Rae?"
"Just go 'way and leave me alone." she muttered.
He shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I'm staying 'til I get an answer from you."
"I'm just frustrated alright? Go away."
Spot persisted anyway. "About what."
"You and that stupid clerk at the store."
He folded his arms over his chest. "What did -I- do?! And what stupid clerk?"
"You were making comments about me burning things and he just laughed."
Spot rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't know anything about that clerk, but I know that YOU were the one who was griping about burning things. How was I supposed to know it was your sore spot?"
"I don't know, ok." She sat up and dried her tears. "What are we going to eat? Because if you think I'm going back into that kitchen you can just think again."
"Bread and fruit- you bought those and they don't need to be cooked." He shrugged. "Face it Kelly. One of these days you'll have to go back in there because one of these days some man will want to marry you and you'll have to cook for him."
"Who would want to marry me?"
Spot wiggled his eyebrows. "I know a certain southern fellow back in New York would."
She snorted. "He sure has a funny way of showing. Running back home without telling anyone."
He rolled his eyes. "You sure are hard to please, aren't you?"
She glared at him. "Just go eat your bread and fruit and leave me alone."
"One day you'll see I'm right, Kelly. I always am." Turning, he strutted from the room.
She didn't know how long she sat there brooding, but the smell of slightly burnt food brought her from her thoughts. Curious now- it didn't smell as burned as when she had cooked- she ventured down the stairs. She passed Ann and Andy who were playing a game of memory in the parlor and walked into the kitchen. "Tell me I'm dreaming." she said, stopping in the doorway. She rocked back onto her heels and burst out into a fit of giggles. "Spot Conlon.... What.... what are you WEARING?!"
"What does it look like?" he said, glaring at her.
She leaned against the wall, giggling harder. "It looks like a frilly white apron! Why on EARTH are you wearing it?!"
"The girl threw a fit, so I put it on to shut her up."
Rae continued giggling. Spot waved his fork at her threateningly. "Knock it off!"
"It really suits you Spot." she said, giggling harder, if that was even possible. "You should wear it more often."
He rolled his eyes. "Only in your dreams, Kelly, only in your dreams."
"You'll have to wear it when we go back to Brooklyn. I'm going to have to write the boys about this one. Maybe I'll tell them to come see the sight for themselves."
Spot grabbed her arm as she headed out the door. "You do and you die!"
"Oh yeah? I'm not afraid of you, Spot."
"You better have the courage to back that up, Kelly."
"Of course I do, apron boy. I'm not afraid of you."
"Those are fighting words."
Rae burst into giggles again. "Uh uh.... I don't think it would be fair."
"Oh you don't?"
"No." She shook her head giggling harder. "You'd win 'cause I'm laughing too hard at your apron to fight!"
He glared at her. "Come eat kids!" he yelled, still glaring at her as they ran past them.
Ann and Andy plopped down immediately at the table and waited to be served. As soon as Spot had dumped food onto their plates, it was gone. Spot was the first to sample his food with enough patience to swallow it carefully. His face paled and he pursed his lips. "Well.... I've had worse... I think..."
Rae took a bite. "At least it's better than my burnt food." she offered.
"Well, you're right about that."
"Can we have more?" Andy and Ann chirped simultaneously, holding out their plates.
As Spot dished more food onto their plates Rae stood and carried her plate to the counter, having not taken more than a few bites.
"I told you it was disgusting," Spot muttered, nodding towards the plate.
"It was fine. I just lost my appetite." she said with a sigh. She looked at the two thin children. "How long do you think it's been since they last ate?"
Spot looked at them, smirking as they piled more food onto their plates themselves. "A week... maybe two? Who knows..."
Rae nodded. "I'm going upstairs to make sure the beds are ready to be slept in and to find them something else to wear to bed."
Spot glanced back at them. "Good luck at calming them down. With all that food in them, I reckon they'll be running around for the next few hours..."
She groaned and sank to the floor. "It's dark out. Time for them to sleep."
"You try to tell them that."
Ann and Andy had left the table and were chasing each other around the house, screaming wildly. The screaming was beginning to get on his nerves.
Rae rubbed her forehead for a minute. "Ann, Andy, come here." she said, somewhat roughly.
Ann stopped and yelped when Andy crashed into her. Obediently- albeit somewhat nervously- they scurried over to Rae.
"It's time to go to sleep." she said slowly. "Got it?"
Silently, they simultaneously wiped their noses and nodded. "Yes ma'am," they whispered.
"Good." she said standing. Looking at Spot, she said. "If you clean the kitchen I'll get them to sleep."
"Sure, leave me with the mess." But he did so anyway, because that was just what he had been intending to suggest.
Rae led the twins upstairs and into the room that Spot had claimed. Digging around in the drawers of the dresser she managed to find to rather plain shirts. "I think these will work, kiddos." she said.
Ann and Andy looked at one another and then her. "Really, Miss Rae?"
She laughed. "Yep." She led them into her room and sat on the window seat. "Let get you two changed."
Nodding, they changed and headed over to her. "Where are we gonna sleep, Miss Rae?" Andy asked, scratching his head absently.
"Well. There are two empty rooms, so you can each have your own room or you can share one." she answered.
"Own rooms," Andy replied, trying to sound brave.
"Noooo!" Ann wailed. "I don't want my own room!"
Andy looked from Rae to his sister. He sighed and hugged her. "Ok, Ann. We'll share."
With a smile, Rae took their hands and led them down the hall. "Now, if either of you need anything, come get Spot or me, okay?"
"Okay." They said.
Rae lifted first one and then the other into the big bed and pulled the quilt over them. "Goodnight, sweethearts." she said, placing a kiss on each dirty forehead.
"Night Miss Rae," they replied simultaneously. Moments later, Andy snuggled down and fell immediately asleep. After glancing at him and then Rae, she wiggled deeper beneath the blankets and closed her eyes.
Rae smiled slightly as she blew out the candle and left the room. She walked down the stairs and stuck her head in the kitchen. "Spot, they're sleeping. I'm going to bed."
Spot nodded. "All right then. I think I'll be going to bed once I'm done with this." He held up the pan that she had burned her earlier attempts at cooking in.
She sent him an apologetic look before heading back up to her room. She slipped out of her clothes and into one of the clean nightgowns before crawling into the big bed. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.