Chapter 3
The sun was beating down between the red brick buildings, casting deep shadows in the side alleyways. The temperature was suffocating, now that it was close to noon, and the humidity did nothing to help the situation.
The air tasted thick; like dust and sweat and summer.
"Well welcome to New York I guess." Offered Sadie in a hushed tone. It was spring when we left!
Leila looked about ready to pass out, again.
This is too much! Thought Ella as she shaped her lips into one straight line and let her expression drop into something resembling severe unhappiness.
"Maybe we should…I don't know…move somewhere…I mean that cop might still be looking for us and…" Ella was looking for some excuse to get away, maybe this was all some big joke, like they just took the wrong train and it led to some freaky re-enactment town freak-ily real!
The girls had run through the crowds of shouting people, through a few alleys and didn't stop until they were blocks away from the train station. They were now standing in the middle of a bustling street.
Sadie sighed and nodded her head in agreement with Ella's idea, and without another word they all started to move.
Walking bewildered through the cobblestone and dirt city streets the four girls did their best not to draw too much attention. They wandered through side streets, main streets and alleys. Sometimes they would decide they'd gone too far and doubled back to the familiar main street.
Once Sadie stopped to ask directions and after getting snubbed, and the attention of another cop she thought better of it and they continued to wander.
The sounds that surrounded them were loud and numerous, shouting, chatting people, crying babies and the every day cacophony one would expect in a city.
Sadie began pointing out all of the different languages that were being spoken, Ella in return pointed out that only meant they were in a freak town sponsored by the U.N. and they had to find some way to get home…or at least to modern day New York, fast. Leila only agreed and Erin, well Erin was seemingly lost again.
Erin was studying their surroundings in a sort of shock and awe.
The girls turned down another street and the smell of various foods stands wafted casually through the air…and that's when everyone heard Leila's stomach.
Her eyes went wide, and then her features turned on the defensive," What I'm hungry!" she shouted so loud a couple of business men turned and stared.
Ella, who was becoming more and more self-conscious to the stares, turned and glared at Leila, who started to open her mouth to speak, but Sadie interjected.
"Yeah, it has been a while since we've eaten" She said, trying to calm the mood. "I think anyways, what time is it? It feels like we've been walking for hours!"
"Who knows," Ella said flatly. Sadie and Leila stared mouths slightly opened. Ella always knew the time. Erin didn't notice, she was still preoccupied by the surroundings.
"What? My watch frickin' stopped!" Ella shouted defensively.
"Whatever…let's just go find someplace to eat." Leila huffed, starting to walk off.
"Wait we can't just walk into someplace and…" Ella said.
"Why not?!" Leila snapped, turning on her heels to face Ella.
Shoot this is not what we need right now! Thought Sadie, though the sympathy placed in the thought was, for the most part, for her self. She sighed as Ella stood up straighter, becoming a half-inch taller than Leila, as she returned the hungry girl's glare. And it begins…
"Well…just look at us! We don't blend" Ella argued.
"What's wrong with the way I look?" Leila asked defensively.
"It just doesn't fit that's all" Ella snapped.
"Hey at least I wore a skirt!" Leila said accusingly.
"Yeah, well if it had been up to you, you would be flouncing around in some short, pink who-knows-what skirt! The only reason you ended up in that long thing is 'cause your mom made you change!"
"That's not the point at all…I'm not the one in jeans!" Leila injected as much venom into her voice as she could.
Ella just rolled her eyes, and as if on queue Leila followed suit, sighing.
"So what? We'll say we're immigrants or something," Sadie interjected, trying to bring the peace before it all got too far out of hand.
It was bad enough people stared because of the way they looked, they didn't need their actions drawing attention to them too, "I mean, this town is filled with them…especially now…from the looks of it…so it shouldn't really be that hard to pull off right?" Sadie added.
"City" Leila corrected sharply.
"What?" Sadie said.
"It's not a town, it's a city"
"Oh well I don't think that really matters right now Lei"
"Yes! Yes it does, towns are quite and peaceful and polite and cities are noisy and crowded and train men chase you into the street!" She threw her hands up in the air to emphasize her point.
"You mean policemen?" Ella corrected, her voice anything but helpful.
'Shut-up El" Leila snapped.
Ella's mouth opened, but sound came from another place quicker.
"Well we could go over there." Erin said, planting her body in between the three girls and pointing casually towards a restaurant named Tibby's. "But first, first we have to fix ourselves"
It was the first thing Erin had clearly said to them since leaving the train.
"Wait what?" Sadie's head had begun to throb from the arguing, not to mention the ceaseless racket coming from the street around them.
"Our outfits, they need improvement…then we can pass…as immigrants, what you were saying before…" She motioned at their clothes.
So, she was paying attention this whole time…huh…well it's not like Lei or El heard anything…no Sadie stop! Think peace, peaceful thoughts…
"Alright fine" Ella huffed yanking Sadie into a shadowed alley nearby. Leila sighed, exasperated, as she too entered the hide-a-way from the hustle and bustle.
The three girls began by opening their suitcases, examining the contents, picking out pieces that might blend better, and then turned to examine each other's clothes.
Ella huffed again as Leila rolled her eyes at what she'd picked out, and then a light bulb went off in her head.
Wait where's Erin…"Hey you guys, where's E?" Ella asked, starting to frantically look out to the street and the crowd.
They abandoned their bags and rushed to the edge of the street. They all looked around; she wasn't back in the alley, or on the street where she had been standing.
It was Sadie who eventually spotted the girl, Erin was walking at a quick clip towards the street corner, where a boy with a crutch was holding a bunch of papers, waving one in the air and shouting a headline quite loudly.
"There she goes again! Gawd what's with her?" Sadie started running to catch up. Ella just shrugged, Sadie will handle this, and turned back to her bag, removing a striped three quarter length shirt from her bag, which she would replace her Legolas imprinted black tee.
Leila went back to her bag too. She didn't speak as Ella changed; she just raised her eyebrow.
"What?!" Ella snapped, "I was going to change on the train"
"Sure, if that's the best you have," was the mumbled response, which sent Ella's face into a severe scowl.
If it hadn't been for Sadie returning, now accompanied by Erin, another fight was bound to erupt. Instead the two got to listen to the tail end of Sadie reprimanding Erin, which was not a common thing to hear.
"…newspaper carrying boys!" Sadie shouted. Erin winced.
Well theirs one point I completely missed, maybe lei understood. Ella looked over to Leila.
Huh, I guess that was something important…maybe El understands. The two exchanged questioning glances, but since they only received what they gave, they gave up and focused on their clothing once again.
"I mean you were about to give your money to him!" There attention shot back to Erin, who was now looking a bit pale.
"It was only a penny, and I only wanted a paper" Erin squeaked defensively.
"Ugh, fine, just stop wandering…it's bad enough these two won't stop fighting…now you won't stop wandering off…to find…a paper?" Sadie scrunched her face in confusion.
"Hey! We weren't fighting, just having a strong conversation." Ella gave somewhat of a nod of agreement with Leila's comment.
"Seriously you guys, this is not cool! Gawd it's, just so, so …" Sadie let out a long sigh and prepared to start up again. "We have to stick together and…"
The sound of boys shouting came close to the alley stopping Sadie mid-sentence.
The boys passed, seemingly not noticing the girls partially hidden by shadow. All efforts were then turned to there clothes; Sadie's lecture forgotten, or at least postponed.
Ella had changed her shirt, and was now looking through Sadie's bag for a somewhat suitable skirt.
"Sorry El, I only brought jeans" Sadie confessed.
"Well what were you going to wear to the fancy dinner…yah know" She said waving her hand through the air, "Thingy"
"Oh I'm already dressed…yeah I thought we were getting off the train and going strait to the dinner so…" Sadie motioned to her tan skirt, which fell just below her knee, and a green button up collared shirt.
Ella exhaled, kneeling next to Leila, they both started to carefully sift through layers of fabric, both in search of something different.
Ella threw her hands in the air, "I give up, this," she motioned to her striped shirt and jeans, "Will have to work"
Leila, too, sat back, nodding her head in agreement. Her legs were partially covered by a denim pencil skirt and her top was a basic blue cotton thing.
"Well," Erin turned to assess them, and shrugged. We wont blend no matter what we pull out of our bags, but people wont stare as much now, I hope.
She then knelt over her suitcase preparing to change out of her jean jacket and pants…when she heard feet shuffling, the sound came closer, and then a worn black boot slammed the lid of her suitcase shut. What the hell?! She removed her hands just in time, avoiding injury. She threw her eyes to the face the foot belonged to.
"Hiya sweet face," came the not so charming, somewhat oily male voice.
Jolting back Erin jumped into the huddle of girls that was now formed behind their scattered bags.
"No need to woiry ladies, me an' my friends here jest thought we'd give yah a hand." A small smile crept onto his thin lips. "Theirs no need ta be so jumpy."
His friends holy shit! In place of an escape path Ella's eyes only found old crates and a brick wall.
One, three, five, five to four…shit. Erin thought.
Oh great, this is exactly what we needed, a bunch of thugs in a darkening alley in a strange city! Sadie thought.
Five to four, not too bad odds, they're strong though…but at least there are four of us… Erin thought, planning some form of defensive attack.
Oh! My! God! Leila gasped and then she fainted, just barely missing hitting her head on the ground; Sadie grabbed her on her way down.
Damn, it just keeps on getting better! Ella scowled.
Ok, three to five…well, no, two to five, Sadie is out, Leila just fell on…what am I thinking, our odds blow! My gawd we don't even have weapons, just crates…but maybe they have nails! ... no wait… Erin started looking around frantically.
Ella scanned the whispering pack of males. His friends are huge, holy shit!
"C'mon doll, don't'cha want our help?" the gruff voice was unfitting for the owner's age, which at best guess was sixteen.
"Yeah sweet face you look a little troubled." Again, the boot man spoke.
"Uh no, no we don't need your help." Sadie said, now kneeling on the ground, supporting Leila.
Erin shook her head in agreement and turned to look at Ella, who balled her hands up into fists.
Two of the boys started to approach. One brought his face only inches from Erin's, she glared icily into his beady eyes. He smirked.
The other boy went right up to Ella, brushing her face with his ruff hand, and smirking.
Don't touch me! Her hand pulled back and released onto his face, knocking him off balance.
Oh hell. Erin followed suit by kicking the boy in front of her between his legs, and as he fell to his knees she kicked his head like a soccer ball.
Ella was struggling with the other boy, who had grabbed her left arm and was trying to push her back into the crates. As they moved she let a heavy right hook hit his face. For her thin frame she was strong.
A third boy ran and grabbed Erin, slamming her into the cold hard brick. She gasped for air. She could feel the bruise on her head forming already.
The fourth boy grabbed Ella's other arm. She was pushed to the ground into the crates. She let out a wail.
The fifth boy who had previously been standing at the end of the alley looking out for any police or unwanted do-gooders abandoned his post, slithering over to Sadie and her unconscious friend.
"Gahhh get off of me!" Ella flailed furiously against the four arms pushing her against the rotting wooden crates on the ground and grasping at the buttons on her shirt.
No longer slithering, the fifth boy pulled at Sadie. Leaving Leila unconscious on the alley floor.
"Euf," Erin gasped again as her head hit an iron fire escape. "Sadie watch out!"
It was a warning issued too late. The broad shouldered fifth pushed Sadie up against the crumbling brick.
"Get the f-aaaaah," Ella let out a wail as she was roughly moved from her lying position against the dirty, grimy alley stones to being bent as the boys tried harder to relieve her of her shirt.
"Euf," Erin struggled, one boy tried pulling on her jeans while the other pulled at her spring cardigan.
"What the hell…why…eh…stop! Just stop!" At that Erin was pushed harder against her attackers, kicking the one at her waste square in the mouth. They pushed her back, harder, into the iron. On huffed harder than before.
"Delancy…she, she hit my leg!" He complained loudly.
The snake of a man who had been wrapping himself around Sadie delivered a single hard smack to the side of her face before abandoning her to help his friend.
He then delivered a similar, if not identical, blow to Erin's left cheek, the force throwing her down to the ground. The three boys surrounding her laughed.
Sadie was crawling back to Leila, who was still unconscious; Ella was struggling furiously to stop her attacker from unbuttoning her shirt. And then a whistle blew, and someone started shouting.
"It's the bulls! Run for it!" It was one of the boys who'd been struggling with Ella.
All of a sudden, as quick as they had come, they fled out of the alley. Leaving rumpled dresses and tresses in their wake.
Sadie watched them turn to the right at the end of the alley at a sprint and hit the main street at a run. She watched as three smaller figures stopped in front of the alley, there laughter echoing against the cold brick.
It was hard for Erin to make out their faces. She blamed the large bump forming on the side of her head. Wincing she leaned all of her weight against the brick, resting her throbbing left arm against the iron of the fire escape.
All Ella heard was laughter and all she saw was a dusk blue sky speckled with a few bright stars. It was almost as if they were just sitting there, in the sky, taunting her, challenging her. But to what she wasn't sure. At least THOSE look the same.
The laughter then turned into jovial conversation.
"Man did you see them!" more laughter, "They really thought the bulls was afta them!" the shortest one was speaking.
"Yeah, I really didn't think it would woik, but it did!" the middle sized shadow turned to the tallest, who was holding some sort of long crutch-like object.
Sadie looked over to Erin, receiving a shrug as her head fell back resting on the brick like the rest of her body. Her eyes then moved to Ella, who had sat up and turned to gaze at the strange figures as well, but Sadie again received a shrug in response to a question she didn't need to utter.
The tallest figure had begun to laugh again, more subdued this time. "That was great!"
"Man I'm telling yah, we'se gotta do dat more often!" The short laughed.
He turned, looking casually into the alley, his eyes met Sadie's and bulged. His arm swiftly shook the taller figure.
"Skitt, Skittery…look!" His stubby finger pointed directly at the girls.
Skittery turned, looking at them, his mouth dropped open. "Holy shit"