New York Radical
By: PrinceOfNewYork
Chapter 12: Out of the Picture
Summary: At the turn of the century, New York City is a busy town. Sometimes the important things get lost in the madness. As life goes on in the sweatshops and the child labor many people start to forget about friends, love, and family, but sometimes reminders are all too painful.
Disclaimer: Most of these guys are all mine! However there are a few, that are not, and they are the property of Disney. Also, some are properties of close friends of mine. These friends have accounts on this site under the names of AmbrLupin, and Oberon O'Neil. Beyond that, they are mine. If you need or would like to know which character belongs to whom, don't be afraid to ask.
A/N: The third (and final) installment of the NYR trilogy. So, I hope you enjoy it, don't be afraid to review, and ask as many questions as necessary. Thank you all, and enjoy!
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Avalanche hadn't anticipated himself ever being in this position before, ever. Never, in his wildest dreams, did he imagine that he would be the one holding back Red, while Prince was the one in danger. Let alone with the assistance of five policeman and Rylet, which was useful, for none of them would have been able to do it alone. For once, though it would seem, Avalanche was the one thinking rationally in this situation. Usually that job was reserved for young Prince. However, since she was not in attendance, and for good reason, the duty fell to Avalanche. In all honesty, he didn't have much experience in rational thinking. He sort of lived his life on the fly, and worked his way through problems as they came up. Unfortunately, he hadn't planned on Red being the one causing the problems.
"Mary!" Red called again, and again. He needed to chase after her; he needed to get her off that horse, and into his arms. He wouldn't have her gone forever, not when he could get her back.
"Collin," Avalanche said attempting to calm him down. He kept his tone gentle and understanding. And no matter how hard Red fought, Avalanche wanted to go get Prince more than he did, but he also understood that this had to be handled delicately and correctly. This was now legality, a zone Avalanche knew nothing about. And he was not about to go rushing in where he didn't know what he was doing, despite his haphazard personality.
"No! Alex, what are ya thinkin'? Let's go!"
"Collin, no," he said still trying to hold him back.
"No? What do you mean no?" Red didn't understand where Avalanche was going with this. They needed to get Prince back now!
"Listen to me," Avalanche said getting a little angrier with his elder. Red wouldn't stop struggling long enough to listen so Avalanche had a plan. He released his hold, leaving it to the other six people to hold him for a moment, as if six people couldn't hold him. He took a few steps back, needing a running start, and then ran directly at Red, taking him out at the waist and sending them all to the ground. Rylet and the policemen instantly stood up and prepared to catch Red should he try to scramble up and follow the Warden once more.
"Get offa me!" Red yelled as he fought with Avalanche to get up.
"No, listen!" Avalanche yelled right back. The next part he said very quietly so that Red would be the only one to hear. "He is her father, she is his daughter… if we wanna do this and get her back, we gotta do this right! Let's go home, get a plan together, and then go and get her."
Red continued to struggle for a moment, and then, slowly, what Avalanche said sunk in. He started to think about things like living to fight another day. And unfortunately, it made sense. He slowly calmed down and sighed. Laying on his back in the cold, he raised his hands up to his head. How could he let this happen?
Avalanche stood up slowly and waited for Red before. But right now, there was no speaking to the old Brooklyn leader.
The uniformed men looked to Avalanche, having not heard the things that he had said to Red, the police didn't know what the boys were planning. For what it was worth, neither did the boys. One policeman stepped slightly forward and said, "If ya know what's good for ya, stay away from that girl and the Warden."
Rylet frowned and felt the need to speak up. "Pardon me, but, why did the Warden come here tonight? Did someone tell him to?"
The policeman looked at the boy and didn't perceive him as a threat. "Dunno," he said honestly. "He just said we were going to go catch some kidnappers, and he had a personal interest in the girl. When we asked why, he said that he'd finally found his daughter. He didn't say how." But they had not thought to ask either.
Well that was discouraging. Rylet sighed slightly. He had been hoping for a little bit more than that. "Thanks," he said quietly.
The policeman nodded and then turned to his comrades, gave a nod, and the five started back for the police station, their job done for the time being, and they felt fairly accomplished about it too.
"How…" Red said quietly. "How could this have happened? We worked so hard… for so long… and we lose her when we're both here?" He was ashamed to be quite frank. With his hands covering his face he remembered how he had spent days and weeks in hours running around Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, but never Queens, trying to lead the Warden as far away from the young girl as possible. He had done everything to protect her, and Avalanche had done the same. She would never know it, but she possibly owed her newsie life to the two men. And it had all gone in one night of fun. It just wasn't fair.
"C'mon," Avalanche said as he extended a hand down to Red. "We can't just sit here in the street dwelling on it. Might as well go home and start workin' out what to do."
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It was just as Prince had imagined it. The boys were in an awful state. The first thing Avalanche and Red did was explain Prince's situation to Rylet and Wit. They told them everything. Who she really was, where she was from, and why the Warden was really looking for her. It shocked the two younger boys, but in all seriousness, it made them want to get her back more. If she ran away from that life and didn't want to go back, they would help her, but first they needed a plan. Each of them found some where to be and think for a little bit, as they tried to come up with battle plan.
"I shouldn't have let her stop… I should have forced her to keep running," Rylet said quietly as he hung his head. Rylet was sitting in a chair beside the couch that Wit was lying on, so Wit was the only one who could hear him. "I shouldn't have let her stop…" he seemed to think and say the same things over and over again.
"Rylet?" Wit said trying to get his attention. "It ain't your fault… Prince stopped on her own right? You did all you could… didn't ya?"
Rylet closed his eyes and shook his hanging head. "I should have made her keep going, she'd be safe now if I had…"
Wit could only sigh and close his eyes out of fatigue of the sickness. If only he hadn't been sick, he would have been able to go with them that evening, and he could have helped. He could have helped lead policemen away or been another distraction or something. As it was, here he lay, on the couch of the Queens lodging house, running a fever, and in no state to take over a leadership position. If only he'd been able to go, maybe Prince would be there now. She may have been vowing to never wear a dress again, but at least she would be there.
It took every ounce of courage and strength that Red had not to run out into the street, and all the way to Manhattan to Warden Snyder's house right then and there and kill the man, take his Mary back and never let her go ever again. He held her hat in his hands just staring down at it. One of the most important things to her, and he was the one holding it. The thing that he helped hide her identity for so many years was in his hands. She should have it; she would need it, wouldn't she? She wouldn't feel like Prince without her hat, she'd feel like some little rich girl, and she wouldn't feel like herself. And if she felt like Prince and not like… Miss Snyder, or whatever else she was probably being called, then maybe she'd have the courage to beat down her father and run away again. And Red would go with her, wherever she wanted to go, he'd run all the way to Philadelphia, or Boston, or Virginia, or Moscow if that's where she felt safe and far enough away from her father. Red just wanted her safe and with him. He missed her, and it was at that moment, he realized what he had been feeling all along. He more than cared for young miss Mary Ann, he loved her.
All he could do was send thoughts her way… 'Don't worry mavourneen, we'll come get you soon.' He wrung the hat in his hands as he tried not to be angry at everyone who had held him back from saving her while he had the chance.
Meanwhile, the old Queens leader looked older than ever, and felt older than he ever thought possible. He leaned against the wall of the Queens lodging house, hands in his pockets, hat on his head, and eyes fixated on a street lamp outside the window. He wished Prince was here, this was the stuff she was always good at, puzzles, problems, ideas, plans, Avalanche had always lived life second to second, he wasn't a planner like Prince was. It devastated him that he'd let her slip away like that, but he wouldn't show it for a second. He wasn't good at showing any emotion that wasn't happy or in a good mood, or excited about life. So he stared blankly, eyes unreadable, out the window.
"So…" a young voice said breaking the silence. All four boys' heads snapped over to the small blonde standing at the bottom of the stairs. Jem looked scared as he saw everyone in the lodging house downstairs all upset and quiet. Many of the boys in the bunk room upstairs were wondering where their leader was, since everyone but her had come home. "…where's Prince?" he asked.
Avalanche features softened, and he instantly went back into leader mode. It was second nature. No one else here was going to be able to do it, at least not as quickly as he did. Red had the capability, but the man was Brooklyn, and small children who were used to having a girl around to take care of them may not have been his strong suit. Wit was of course second in command, but the boy had too many questions flying through his own mind at the moment to be able to answer anyone else. So, the duty fell to him. "She's not gonna be around tonight kiddo," he said as he walked towards Jem and crouched down to his level.
"Where is she? When will she be back? We're supposed to sell together tomorrow," he said proudly, obviously excited.
Avalanche smiled and even chuckled a little. The three boys were amazed at the masks that this man could put on like it was nothing. "Prince went on a little trip. But she said, dun worry! She's gonna get ya a present," he promised the child. Avalanche would make it so. "And she'll be back in a few days. That's why I'm here. Wit's sick, so Prince wanted me to be leader for a few days."
"Oh… Okay!" Jem said with a smile. "Then I'll sell with you tomorrow!" he proclaimed as he hugged Avalanche.
"Uh…" Avalanche wasn't sure he could still sell in New York, but with the kid, maybe he could at least keep an eye on him-
"No," Rylet said as he walked over, he also had a surprisingly gentle tone. "You're gonna sell with me, okay?" he asked. It startled everyone that Rylet stepped forward and said such a thing.
Jem looked at Rylet and let Avalanche go. "Oh, okay! Good night!" he waved to them all then ran up the stairs.
Rylet had never really been one for talking much. Prince was one of his greatest friends, and confidants, and so in her absence, he had to think how she would act. He had to forget about his reservations, ignore his timid nature, and try to find the courage that the female leader seemed to hide under her hat and draw from when necessary. Once Jem had gone upstairs, and Rylet heard the door close behind him, he turned to the others. "Wit's too sick to do much," he said as though it weren't obvious, "I manage things around here until he's okay to handle this place again on his own. In the mean time," he said with a little harsher tone, "I want you two to do all you can to get her back here as soon as humanly possible…" he said as his eyes intensely looked from Red to Avalanche. If no one else was going to step up into Prince's role, Rylet would handle things. He usually wasn't a leader, and was usually very quiet, but right now, Avalanche and Red would work day and night to ensure Prince's safety, he knew it. Wit was near useless running a fever, and Queens would be left to the dogs if someone wasn't leading. It had to be him. Rylet reached this decision emotionally however, not like Prince who would have realized it rationally. All the same he felt prepared to take over for now. His bright blue eyes had a certain spark in them that Wit hadn't seen before. It made him sure that Rylet would be able to handle the job.
Avalanche looked down at the dark haired boy and nodded a few times. "You got it kid," he said. He then turned to Red. "We're gonna need some help…"
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"Okay," Avalanche said now standing in a different lodging house and it was now 24 hours later, and they weren't going to let her stay in that house any longer. In the last 24 hours, Avalanche had slept one of them. Red woke him up early that morning so they could walk to Manhattan to take a look at the house before the streets got too busy. The hour he did sleep was restless and could hardly be called sleep. "Red and I went and took a look at the house this morning. This is what we got." Avalanche laid down a crudely drawn sketch of the Snyder household. They weren't the best artists, not to mention they had to sort of draw it out of sight.
"And which window do we want?" Jack asked, rope looped around his shoulder, and cowboy hat, for once, on his head.
"This one," he said pointing one to the right of center. "That should be Prince's room."
"Now, no one's gonna be able to get on the roof," Red said, "But we think we'll swing the rope around this here," he said pointing to a sort of point in the top of the roof, similar to that of a castle tower, pointing up towards the sky. They figured they could loop the rope around it, and create a sort of pulley system. "Then all we gotta do is get her attention, she can come out the window, we'll ease her to the ground, and then get the hell outta there." And that was their brilliant break out plan. Red, was also running on very little sleep, only getting maybe an hour or two himself, so this was the best they had.
"Then I take her back to the Bronx," Ace said with a nod leaning over the table from a kneeling position on a chair, knowing his place and reason for cooperation in all this. "She'll be safe there until we can find a way to get that jerk out of the picture."
No, they didn't really have a plan for after they got her out of the house. But they figured Prince just sitting there in that place, for her, was worse than prison. They all wanted her out and safe, and they wanted it now. And they were all willing to help. Besides, the truth of the matter was, once Prince was out of the house, she could probably come up with a plan to take her father down, and then she'd be truly free in no time.
Spot had even offered his services. He didn't see how he could be much help going along on the rescue mission, but no kid deserved to be in a house they didn't wanna be in, he understood that. He decided should any of them get caught, in trouble, or worse that he would help defend the boroughs, and keep things in order around New York. The last thing any of them needed at this point was a gang fight, or a territory war while they were down a leader. Even if she wasn't Spot's favorite person, he understood the situation rather well.
"Alright. And after we get her out, what happens?" Avalanche said wanting them all to have a clear picture.
"Scatter," Jack said. "I come straight back to Manhattan…
"Prince, and I go to the Bronx…" Ace added.
Red nodded, "I'll be meeting you there later, I'll be taking a detour through Brooklyn to keep Spot informed."
"And I go back to Queens," Avalanche said, "and get ready to talk to the Warden, if he comes looking for her again."
Red and Avalanche had had a discussion about this already. The unfortunate logic was that Prince would be safe with Red, and Avalanche had the quick ability to talk the Warden out of anything and the suave nature to lead him off the path. This was only unfortunate because Avalanche wanted to go to the Bronx with Prince to watch out for her and keep her safe himself. All the same, Avalanche's quick mind and tongue would be able to talk their way out of almost anything. Besides, Red would be sure and keep her safe no matter what.
Each one of them nodded, it seemed they all knew exactly what was going to happen, and they were ready to execute their plan.
As they filed out of the Manhattan lodging house and headed for the Snyder residence Red and Avalanche were in the back while Jack and Ace lead the way, making idle chatter. Everyone knew where they were headed.
The two older boys glanced at each other. Neither of them needed to say a word, neither of them had the words to say, but they were both thinking the same thing. Each was reassuring the other that she was going to be fine. As soon as she was out of that house, and back with them again, she would be safe, and it would be like none of this had ever happened. Now all they had to do was get her down, and life was good again. The two boys slowly smiled at each other. This was going to work.
"Let's hurry," Avalanche said as he started walking faster, and Red followed him. Soon they over took Jack and Ace who hadn't realized that the pace had picked up, so they walked faster to keep up. Soon all four of them were smiling and running in the direction of their friend. This was going to work.
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A/N: Once again, my apologies for the lateness. I shall try very hard to remember to come back on Monday and not be late. We're a little over half way through by now, just to give you an idea of how much is left. See you soon!
