Disclaimer: I still don't own Newsies. Pity… 'twould be much more slashy goodness involved if I did.
Shoutouts!
Yank: You apologize for not giving me your own email addy since you didn't know it? ^_^ (just playing, but that's what you said) suddenly remembers! I forgot that you wanted me to email you guys… pfeh. I'm sorry! **runs off to email Chip now**
Chip: **returns** Glad you're back with us sweetheart! You didn't miss much though. Enjoy!
Kristan: Hi sweety. We gotta go do something. Miss you and luffle you! Write your own damned story!
Maddie: Well, glad you found the chapter! We really are so bad. ^_^ Infact, we're terrible. I miss everyone. I think that the Christmas party was partly responsible for the end of this fic. Hehehehehe. Maybe I'll put up a Christmas thing after… **ponders** XD I am so coming to your school if you do the play Newsies. Buy me my damned ticket now! Hehe… did you know that you can hug more than 76 guys at Kennywood in less than three hours? XD ya, you can. ^_^ Much fun.
Christine: Luffle you honey!
Cassie: Damn, child, you were incredibly too hyper when you reviewed. No more sugar for you.
Pyrotic: Sorry for the lack of LuLu, but I think I may post a lulu chappie later on her take of things. But not now. Maybe for her birth-i-day. Hehe.
Christine (the first time): You look up at their face instead of wherever else you may have been looking. Silly.
Brownie: Yay Chicago! Hehehehehehhehe **pictures Sexy Newsies in Chicago** ::purrs:: **is suddenly inspired for a new ficcie** ::cackles maniacally:: er, sorry. That was your review for last chapter… ummmmm…….. I love my little campers. They make life fun. Camp would suck after a while without them, because all the councilors would have nothing to do but fight with each other.
Storm: No, but some crazy camper had been threatening everyone with a spoon at dinner recently… ^_^
Artemis: Sorry, you're last! I skipped your review accidentally. _ sorry! Luv you anyway! Um…. I have absolutely nothing to say to you. Sorry! Hope you finished your history pape, although that was like, a month ago. Love you!
Chapter 28: Goodbye
Friday
Race, Spot and Gryffin appeared in Trail's End a few minutes later. The two boys went off to supervise the rest of the kapers as Gryffin rounded up her staff. Blink took Snipeshooter aside to do something else before Gryffin had a chance to start talking to the staff members who had not been involved. A few moments later (as I sad, nobody liked Vash, and therefore they didn't care much) the staff members switched places.
"Okay, guys," Gryffin said, looking around at the people she had come to care about the most. "They don't know anything about it yet. Apparently they haven't found him. Everyone just has to keep on like they don't know anything. And for the record, Jack is pissed."
"He would, the scab," Race spat. Every head turned to him. Nobody had ever remembered Race saying anything bad about his leader. He had always been completely loyal to Jack. Though, with Race dating Spot, his loyalties were bound to be questioned eventually.
"He'll get over it. We'll get on. We always do," Blink said with a sigh.
Kristan did not say anything. The scene from last night played itself continuously through her head. Vash's already swollen face looked up at her from the muddy waters. She had always looked up to Spot, but now… now… God. Now everything had been turned to shit.
"Yeah. So just remember what everyone else knows about him, and don't say anything more. It'd be best if you could just not say anything at all. Our story is that we were all over looking for Nike. He had come with us, but then nobody saw him again. We figured that he went back to Mary Lodge and went back to sleep. Dave found Nike. He called us down to the bank, near where he found her and pulled her out of the water. We stood around for a bit, talking and going 'oh are you okay?' and stuff like that. Then, we took Nike up to the cabin, made sure she was alright, and went back to Trail's End. We went to sleep, and that's the end of that. Do you all got that story?"
The circle nodded. It would have to be repeated to Dave, Nike and Snitch later… but it would have to wait. Right now, all they needed to do is hope. Unfortunately, that was running thin.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jack sat on the fence around the riding ring at the barn. Luna was next to him, vaguely watching the campers as they groomed their horses.
"Luna, could I ask you'se somethin'?"
Luna nodded, not looking at Jack. It was her independence that kept Jack at a distance to begin with. If he never got close to her, then he couldn't hurt her. Luna didn't want to be hurt again. If she never needed anyone else, then they couldn't accidentally get close.
"I… I'se was jus' thinkin', an' you know, I likes it heah. Lotsa da guys do. An'… an' I was thinkin' bout axin' Happy if… if maybe we could stay foah da rest a da summah."
"So?" Luna's expert eyes scanned the children to stop them from getting hurt or from hurting her horses. She cared for the latter much more.
"Well so I'se wonderin' what you'd tink 'bout dat. Do ya tink dat ya could put up wid me all summah?"
Luna shuddered visibly. It was a moment before she turned to look Jack in the face.
"I'd like you to stay, but don't you ever repeat it. And don't you ever, EVER forget that I'm in charge. And that I always will be."
"I wouldn' have it any oddah way."
Luna turned and strode away. She was trying so hard to conceal her feelings that she was nearly fuming. Jack half-smiled before he put on his hat and made his way toward Mary Lodge at a very fast pace.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"So when are you leaving?" Gryffin asked Blink in the hay room. The girls had finished their kapers on time, and were now grooming their horses. Gryffin and Blink lay entwined in the hay. Many of the other couples had given up their charade for the day as well. Most were taking advantage of the few hours they had left with their new friends. Jack and Luna were not talking to each other with more ferocity than usual. Jack had gotten fed up with her and walked out of the barn in a huff. Nobody was sure of where he went, but he was Jack, so nobody really pressed the matter either.
"I dunno when we're leaving. Jack hasn't told us, but I guess it'll be right after the campers go."
"Oh."
It was all she could say. The hundreds of different emotions surging through Gryffin's body were starting to numb her brain. Maybe it wasn't that Kid Blink was cute or well built or could make her melt with the sound of his voice. (by the way, damn you Artemis) Maybe it wasn't his pelvic thrust or the fact that he was an awesome kisser. It was more because of the happiness she felt when he was around or the comfort she felt with his hand on her waist. How she almost knew that he would do his best not to let anything hurt her. It was the sense of trust and companionship that she had never felt with someone of the other sex before. That is what made saying goodbye hurt. It made her feel as if the place where her heart was had turned into a black hole, and her body was collapsing from the inside.
For most of the staff, this wasn't just the end of some fling just to get some. They were loosing friends they had just begun to know. And it hurt.
"What are you going to do when you get back to New York?" Gryffin asked Blink, playing with his hair.
"I dunno… I guess I'm gonna keep wit bein' a Newsie. I mean… I don' have anythin' ta work for otherwise. Maybe I'll get a real job, you know, doin' somethin' more important."
Gryffin smiled. People constantly said that the girls at camp needed to grow up and get real jobs. ::insert singing of Good Charlotte here:: But Gryffin wasn't leaving. Sometimes, a little child play was all one needed to keep them young at heart.
"Will you come visit me though? In New York?"
"Yeah, sometime. I would love to go. I've never been to the City. Only if you write to me though."
"You've never been to the Big Apple? Gawd, I have ta show you'se around den. You'd best not plan on leavin' for a month."
"You got it. What about letters?"
"I'm sure that this camp'll be getting so many letters from New York that they won't know what to do with them all."
"Yay! We'll need the address for the Lodging House too."
"Anything you want, sunshine," Blink said, kissing Gryffin on the forehead. She pushed Blink away from her, laughing.
"You know? Sometimes I can't believe that a dirty little street boy like you can act so incredibly sweet."
Blink playfully pushed Gryffin away from him. She got up off of the bales of hay and walked out of the barn to see how the girls were doing with their horses.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jack stood with Happy in her office, his hat in his hand. He waited, silently for her to reply.
"I suppose. I can see no harm in it."
"Thank you ma'am," he said, replacing his cowboy hat with a small nod to the Camp Director. He walked out of the office with a smile playing around his lips.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Six o'clock. The campers were gone. The staff members were slowly congregating on No Sock Island. The pool was locked. The camp was silent. Nearly all of the staff was assembled, but PB rang the bell anyway. Snoddy carried her backpack over to the picnic tables. They groaned under the weight of so many people.
Bags were cluttered around the groups of teenagers. The girls had their things they needed for the weekend. The boys had the few things they had brought with them to camp. Artemis lay curled on Snitch's chest. Gryffin sat next to Blink, her eyes on the ground. Kristan sat between Spot and Race. Spot was actually starting to be nice to her. Swifty and Rain were in the changing room saying good bye. Spark-yo and Happy crossed the field from Mary Lodge, and stood in front of the pool to go over their usual end of session scphiel.
Gryffin still wasn't paying attention. Happy said something about the garbage, and not cleaning often enough. But she didn't particularly care at the moment. According to the amount of noise, nobody else did either. Spark-yo got up and told the staff what a wonderful job they did this session, and how many campers had cried about the fact that they had to go home. She said how much the campers had liked having the boys around and that it made a big impact on the feel of the camp.
Gryffin snorted out loud. Artemis, Snitch, Kristan and Blink all turned to look at her.
Spark went on with her notes anyway. She had finally caught the girl's attention.
"And today they found Vash. He's passed away."
There was a moment of shocked silence. Gryff looked up, so as to not be suspicious. The silence was followed by shouts of "how!?" and "what happened?"
"Vash turned up near Mouse's field. He drowned in the Connie. He had been dead for almost a day. The police said that they found him early, all considering. There will be no more going in the Connie, until the flood has gone down. The current was just too strong, even for a lifeguard. The police are keeping this quiet though. They understand what a bad reputation we would have if everyone found out that a staff member drowned in our creek. Nobody is to speak to the campers of this, and nobody is to speak to the press about it. If anyone needs any help, there is a specialist over in Mary who will help anyone who wants to talk about it. That's all I have. Anything else?"
Jack stood up and visibly took a deep breath.
"I jus' wanted ta tell you'se goirls dat dis has been one a da best times in my life. I'd sure hate ta say goodbye now, aftah only one week of knowin' you'se. So, I have some good news for ya all. Da Newsies are stayin' foah da rest a da summah!"
The boys heads jerked up to stare at Jack. He smiled. All at once, Gryffin, Artemis and Nike rushed toward him. A moment later, they were followed by a mixture of the rest of the staff and the News Boys. If this had been a movie, some artsy director would begin playing music in the background now. The camera, which would have been fixed on Jack's beaming face, would sweep back slowly, first showing Arty, Gryffin and Nike, then the other main characters in the story. If one looked closely, one would notice that Swifty and Rain were near the back of the group, kissing. And that Race was feeling Skittery's butt. And that Luna, who sat sternly on the bench slightly away from everyone else, was smiling to herself. The shot would get bigger and bigger, showing all of No Sock Island, and panning upward to an arial view of everything. The whole camp would be visible. It would pause, just at the boarders when all could be seen. Then, in big bold print, the title NEWSIES MEET REDWING would be stamped across the screen in big, bold, newsprint looking letters. But this isn't Hollywood. This is just a story. A story like all other stories, born of hope and dreams, brought to life on paper. The laughing, smiling conglomeration faded away, and they all lived happily ever after, till the end of their days.
End Twenty Eight
End Newsies Meet Redwing: Gryffin's Story
A/N: Wow. The End! I am going to write an Epilogue, to say what happened over the rest of the summer, but I dedicate this chapter to Timmone and my brother Robbie, because somehow, watching the Lion King made me write. ^_^ Yay!