MinnieG-Thank you! I figured Ally's English wouldn't be perfect just yet and I thought Race's reaction fit perfectly. I don't know why, but when the idea popped into my head it was always Race and Ally that it would happen to. I never really thought it would happen to anyone but Race. Anyway, I'm glad you liked the chapter. (By the way, I take requests so let me know if you have an idea you want to see.)
So sorry for the long wait. I was at band camp last week and this week I was busy visiting friends and job hunting and being a beach bum and I was just so lazy. But here's another chapter!
"Oh let's look in here!" Carey shouted, pointing to another music shop on the streets. She tapped Laura's arm and pointed to the store she wanted to look at. "Maybe they'll have a good bow for your violin."
Laura's violin bow had broken just a few days ago and was currently being held in it's owner's hands, a thick piece of ribbon tied around the cracked wood at the center. The ribbon kept coming untied as Laura played and the horsehair was coming out, so the two girls had managed to drag their boyfriends out on a mission to hunt down a new bow.
"Dis one don't look any different," complained Crutchy, whose bum leg was starting to hurt. It was early December and his leg always started to bother him when snow came. "'Sides, Ise started ta get hungry five stores ago."
Carey dragged him in the store by the ear. "Just one more store."
"Dat's wat you said three stores ago," complained Blink, freeing his arm from Laura's grip and leaning his head on her shoulder. "Us men need some food."
Laura and Carey shared an amused glance. "Men are such babies," Laura signed. "They start crying the second they need food."
"Hey, Ise resent dat!" Crutchy said indignantly. "Ise ain't cryin, Ise just statin da facts!"
"Hey Crutchy, maybe we's can hunt some food!" Blink called. He had wandered over to a rack of bows and picked one up. Holding it like a hunting bow, he pointed it in the direction of his friends and pretended to shoot. Crutchy laughed as the girls rolled their eyes.
"Wat about dis one?" Crutchy asked, randomly holding up a bow.
"Yes, dat's perfect for hunting," Blink nodded, carefully examining it with his good eye. "Nice for big game."
Laura let out an exasperated sigh. Grabbing the bow, she set it back on the shelf. "That's for a cello. It won't work for a violin."
The boys looked at each other. "A cello? Wat's a cello?" They asked in unison.
"It's an instrument in the same family as the violin, except that it's bigger," Laura explained.
"Violins have families?" Crutchy asked, looking confused. "How do dey make babies?"
"Is da cello da papa?" Blink deadpanned. Carey laughed so hard she started crying as Laura buried her face in her hands. The shopkeeper shook his head at them, staring at them with a mixture of amusement and annoyance.
"Maybe you boys should go wait for us at Tibby's," Carey suggested when she had caught her breath. "You're getting too silly to be of any use."
"Hallelujah!" cried Crutchy, doing a little jig.
"Thank you!" Blink yelled, throwing his hands up. They quickly kissed their respective girlfriends before running off. Laura shook her head in amusement at the boys before turning back to the bows.
On Christmas morning, Laura and Carey woke up early. They planned to exchange presents before making a Christmas dinner for the newsies. Laura had just started unwrapping a present from Carey when the door flung open.
"Laura! Laura! Oh, hello," said Crutchy, his face flushed. He shook the snow from his curly brown hair and hobbled over to a chair.
"Laura-oh, you're already up." Blink wandered in after his friend and sat next to Laura. He turned to Crutchy. "Didja give it to her?"
"I was about to." He pulled something long and wrapped in brown paper out of a sack and handed it to his cousin. Laura looked at it curiously. "Dis is for you. It's from all da newsies."
"Open it, open it!" Blink said eagerly, looking very impatient.
"You boys are-" Carey began, moving to sit on Crutchy's lap.
"-are such babies," Crutchy interrupted. "Open it!"
Laura untied the string around the middle of the package and slowly peeled off the tape. As the paper fell off, it revealed a shiny new violin bow. Laura gasped as she picked it up and examined it. Setting it down, she jumped up and threw her arms around her cousin. "Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!"
"Hey, Ise helped pick it out too!" Blink said. "And Ise-"
Laura ran back to Blink and threw her arms around him, planting a big kiss on his cheek. He blushed but pulled her into a hug. "Thank you! This is wonderful!" She got up and ran to her room.
"How did you know what bow to get?" Carey asked of her boyfriend.
"Kloppman helped," he said. "We took her bow one day and brought it to Kloppman and he helped us find one."
"But youse gotta come play for him," Blink added as Laura reentered the room with her violin. "He said dat's da only payment he wants."
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Carey asked. "Let's go!"
Laura woke the newsies up by playing a lively version of Hark the Herald Angels Sing before helping to cook a Christmas dinner for everyone. They all spent the night stuffing themselves and singing every Christmas carol they knew. Just before falling asleep, Laura thought to herself "This was the best Christmas ever."