Chapter 34
Sunny, along with many other newsies, ran along the street screaming Bink's name countless times. But they had been searching for so long, and the possibility of finding him was getting worse and worse. Still, nobody lost hope. They kept on searching.
Bristles had been watching Sunny ever since they started the search of the lost newsie. She seemed to be hit the hardest by the incident, and Bristles' could tell by the look on her face that Sunny was not going to stop searching for Blink, even if it was for the next few years.
"Blink…Blink! Why are you doing this to me?" Sunny cried out, sounding like she was half exasperated, half about to break down. She had been screaming ever since they left, and it seemed that no matter how hard, she tried, she couldn't reach Blink. With no results whatsoever from her desperate hollering, she began to lose hope. Standing still as all the other newsies walked past her, she began to cry and said "Blink, please don't do this, just show up and say 'Sunny, I'm here, I'm ok!'" Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned to see Bristles standing behind her, who had been watching her the whole time.
"Sunny, I think that there's something about you and Blink,"
The black-haired newsie widened her eyes with surprise, and started rubbing her eyes with her sleeve.
"No, I'm just worried about him, like everyone else,"
Bristles smiled at her as if not knowing what to do with her. Sunny would just never admit it.
"I know that you like Blink. I see how your face is when you and him are together talking. Don't try to deny it, because I know. I still love Spot, and Hope loves Race. Do you think I don't know what love is when I see it? But Sunny, promise me one thing,"
"…yes?"
"Please don't give up on Blink. Please. You can't let him die. He really will, if you let yourself believe it. He loves you too, you know. But if you let him go, he'll be gone forever,"
Sunny smiled with tears in her eyes, and said, ", Bristles, why ya hafta be so smart all the time?"
Bristles laughed and said, "Cuz I'm your friend," then gave Sunny the biggest hug that she could ever give to anyone. When they separated, Sunny looked at her, her face no longer sad, but filled with hope and comfort.
"K, Sunny, let's go," Bristles took a few steps before she realized that Sunny was still standing there, her face twisted into something that Bristles could not make out at all.
"Sunny, what's wrong?"
"Bristles, he's here somewhere,"
"Wha…?"
"Blink. I know it. He's around here. BLINK!"
Sunny screamed as loudly as she could, then listened hard, and so did Bristles. To her biggest amazement, Bristles could hear a voice replying to Sunny's calling. She took a quick look at Sunny, whose eyes got huge and she started running down an empty street.
"Sunny, wait!"
"BLINK!" Sunny screamed as she ran. There was no response this time and she had stopped running. Bristles ran up next to her and watched as Sunny looked around frantically for the patch-eyed newsie. Suddenly, she regretted telling Sunny not to lose hope, cause with Bristles' support, her hope would probably never fade again.
The street was empty and nobody but the two girl newsies were standing there. Bristles started pulling Sunny's arm gently, telling her to go, suddenly Sunny stopped completely and her mouth opened and her eyes practically bulged out of her eyes. Bristles turned and looked at the direction she was looking at.
What Bristles saw could have made her die of surprise and happiness. Blink was walking down the street, along with an old man that was helping him walk. Sunny went crazy and ran down the street toward him, crying and yelling. Blink looked up, and when he saw Sunny, he let go of the man and started walking toward the girl newsie, tears streaming down his face.
It seemed like forever before the two reached each other, and when they finally did, they embraced as if haven't seen each other for a thousand years. Sunny was crying and yelling at Blink, saying that if he ever did that again, she'd soak him. Blink just stood there, holding her, tears running from his eyes. Bristles watched them, and as she turned, she actually saw all of the other newsies standing behind her, watching the two reunited newsies.
Everybody had been watching Blink and Sunny, but nobody seemed to notice the old man who had been with Blink. Nobody except Bristles. He eyed the scene from a distance, then started to leave.
"Wait!"
He turned and looked at the girl, and his face looked like he had just seen a ghost.
"You-you're Katarina?"
She looked surprised. "How did you know?"
The man gazed at her for a very long time, then finally said, "I thawt dat Blink was pullin my leg, but he was right, you would be here,"
"But, who are you? It seems like I've met you before…"
"Oh, you have, Kathi, you have,"
"Kathi?!?! How do you know my nickname?!"
The man took a look at her, and walked off, but not before saying, "ask Blink about the man who saved him, will ya? Dat might clear a few things up. But in the meantime, I'll be goin. It's been more than great ta see you, Kathi, and I just wanna tell you that I've loved you and your mother for a long time…"
Before Bristles realized what he meant, the man fled. She chased him, but he turned a corner, and when Bristles reached the corner, he had disappeared. Bristles looked down the street longingly, then turned around and headed back to where her companions waited for her.
By the time she had reached the others, Blink and Sunny had stopped hugging (finally) and all the newsies were standing together, looking at Bristles.
"Hey, what was dat all about, Bristles? Leavin us standin heah like dat!"
"I was catchin up with some old times," Bristles replied, and all the newsies looked like she was crazy, but when Blink heard her phrase, he understood perfectly. She smiled at him, and they all headed back home.
By the time they had reached the Lodge House, Sunny helped Blink upstairs so that he could get some rest, but as soon as he lay down and was alone in the bunkroom, Bristles walked in and sat on the bed next to him.
"Alright, Blink, tell me. How did you end up being with my father?"
