Warning: This story contains adult language, graphic violence, attempted
rape, attempted suicide, and sexually explicit themes. Reader's discretion
is advised.
Rating - R.
Disclaimer: I do not own Newsies or any of the Newsies characters. Apollonia, Giselle, Checkers, and other miscellaneous characters are all mine.
Chapter 30: The Games Are Over
Approaching an old, abandoned house on the outskirts of Santa Fe, the band of ruffians rode their rented wagon up to the new hideout with ease. The men were inside playing card games while smoking and drinking as much Tequila as they could muster. They men looked on curiously as Banner carried their prisoner to a room in the back.
Entering an unoccupied and dreary room, the men gently placed the dark- haired beauty on a pallet on the floor. They looked upon her with pride and lust in their eyes.
"Well, Banner, we will know in a moment if indeed she is Sullivan's woman." Wainwright said.
"If she is, she may prove to be useful. If she isn't, she may prove to be useful in bed. Either way, we will figure out how to dispose of her once we have this Kelly/Sullivan character."
"Snyder said that she would be the perfect wager in dealing with this whole thing. And once the plans are set in motion, we get to see the showdown of our lives." Both men laughed ominously while they left Apollonia alone, lying unconscious.
Snyder stood on the patio of the old house smoking a cigar. He was met with the sound of his henchmen's footsteps steadfastly walking up behind him.
"Well, we got her, Snyder.
"Good. Sullivan should be here within a couple of hours. There's no telling where that fucker is now. Probably off getting drunk in some low-class bar in town."
"Who knows, but I know if I were him, I wouldn't be out in town when I got a woman at home that looks like that!" Wainwright stated while pointing in the direction of Apollonia's location. Banner concurred.
"I must say, he's has nice taste in whores."
"I don't think she's a whore. She looks respectable."
"They're all whores. Even if she was a nun, she'd still be a whore."
Snyder ignored the two as they argued over the respectability of Apollonia and every other woman in creation. He had other things on his mind. Normally, he would not have spent so much time evaluating his methods of how he would make a past enemy suffer; he would have just let it go. But the sadist in him would not let this stray. His flagitious demeanor had to have the last say. After months of searching, finally, the day had arrived. All he had to do now was wait.
~
Jack strolled into the cantina slowly. He scrutinized the faces of all of the people in the bar. He displayed a stern expression. He even looked as if he would pull out a rifle and blow everybody away without a care. He walked through the place, carefully studying every man that was present. Most he had never seen before. Some didn't speak English.
Once he reached the barstool, he stood still. The bartender quickly acknowledged him.
"What do you want to drink, Señor?"
Jack just stood there, giving the impression of being lost in thought, which he was. The bartender made the decision to walk away and tend to another customer. Suddenly, the voice of a man to his right caught his attention.
"She's still alive." He said.
He looked over to find a man with brown-gray hair and a well-worn jacket drinking his beer without a care. He recognized him. He was one of the men at his ranch. He helped build the fence near the stables. Jack walked over to him, wanting to know if he knew what he was talking about.
"What's dat ya say?"
"Your woman, she's alive."
"How do ya know dat?"
The man took a gulp of his beer and belched quietly to himself. Jack looked at him with an unyielding air.
"I wanna know who's after me." The expression on the old man's face dropped to a frown. He started to rise from his chair, but Jack pinned him down.
"You know, don'tcha?"
The man glanced around. The cantina was nearly full, and the patron on the other side of him was too involved with his liquor to be a bother. He dropped back down and whispered into Jack's ear.
"I ain't supposed ta know, but it's Snyder. He's got your woman."
"Where?" Jack demanded.
"At this old house on the edge of town, the Martínez house, past the Ponderosa." He took another swig from the bottle while Jack looked at him intently. Wiping his mouth with the arm of his sleeve, the older man turned back to Jack.
"It's not too hard ta miss. Bring your guns. He's got an army wit him." The man quickly gulped down his cerveza and bolted. He was on his way to a dry goods store when he noticed these three men talking about some young guy they wanted to catch. They were leaving that little restaurant on the corner as they conversed. He remembered hearing Snyder give Jack's description to another person in passing while holding a piece of paper. The description of long blonde hair threw the man off, because Snyder could have been talking about Tristan or another Anglo, but the mention of hazel eyes told him that Jack was the man Snyder was looking for. He heard Wainwright call out Snyder's name, thus identifying him as the leader of the pack.
Fire burned within Jack's eyes. The prospect that Apollonia was in Snyder's clutches was unbearable. He wasn't about to let this son-of-a-bitch ruin his life once again. And this time Snyder had something in his possession that would make Jack crazed with anger if he were to harm her in any way. He made his way out of the cantina without a single word.
~
Apollonia woke up to strange surroundings. She hadn't known what to think when she'd been abducted and knocked out cold. She didn't remember being brought there by the two roughnecks who rendered her oblivious to the situation. Apollonia stood up slowly, examining her surroundings. Her head was still throbbing from being hit. She carefully made her was to a chair sitting in the middle of the room. How did this happen? What is going on? She thought. She couldn't stand being in that dusty room all by herself. She gradually made her way to the door, but unfortunately it was locked. "Figures." She said to herself. Scanning the room once again, Apollonia did not know what to do. She knew that Jack would notice that she was not home and would come looking for her. But how could he come looking for her there? She didn't even know where she was. All she could do for the time being was wait. She sat back down, folding her arms, bowed her head, and prayed.
Snyder knew the Martínez house to be an isolated stronghold, a perfect locale for carnage without drawing any attention from the Santa Fe authorities. He knew that leaving the picture of Jack and the rest of his newsie comrades at his house would give him an idea who it was that was that was looking for him and would definitely ensure that he would come looking for Apollonia, and that was the perfect setup to draw him into his trap. She was the key attraction because no one in Santa Fe, outside Jack's own friends, knew about Apollonia, what she meant to him, and what a valuable pawn she was.
He sat in the dark, musty room, thinking, smiling to himself on how justice was about to prevail. He looked crazily at his weapon as he kept releasing the barrel, spinning it around, and shoving it back in place. He waited a long time for this moment. He was finally going to put Francis Sullivan in his place. Oh, how he longed for the time to pass so that he could see his face. That young Irish punk was going to get what he had coming for the longest, he thought.
~
Tristan made it to Belvedere for a friendly visit. Approaching the newly refurnished residence, he looked forward to spending quality time with his friends' ever since their beautiful ranch was completed.
What he found wasn't a friendly place. Belvedere was in disarray. He saw a ransacked living room with its dueno sitting in the middle of it all. Jack's face was red and sweaty. His shirt was halfway open and he was in a state of complete disgruntlement while he put bullets into his gun repeatedly.
He slowly stepped to his friend, not wanting his wrath to descend upon him. "Jack, amigo, what the hell happened?"
Jack just looked at his Tejano friend with a furious look. "They got her."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"MY FUCKING FIANCEE! THEY GOT MY WOMAN! AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT DA FUCK TA DO!!!!!!"
Tristan raised his hands up to calm him down. Jack stood up hastily and threw the half-filled bottle, smashing it into a million pieces.
Tristan quickly intervened. "Jack, pull yourself together, damn it! You're pissed! Don't let you're anger ruin your better judgment."
Jack quickly sobered up at his friend's words. He was right. The rage in Jack's system was controlling his mind. Eating away at his brain and washing away all remnants of rational thinking. Jack calmed down his nerves as he inhaled steadily to bring down his irritation. Tristan patted him on the back and instructed him to sit down and tell him everything. After delivering the lengthy story about his past, from beginning to end, Tristan's mind started flowing with ideas. He paced back and forth trying to develop a plan of attack.
"Alright, Jack here's the deal. I know a couple of compadres that will definitely help out with this thing. Besides, they owe me a favor. I will get in contact with them while you clear your head. We'll meet you back here."
Jack responded with a nod of the head. He held up his colt revolver up, pointing the barrel skyward. "Ya know, I just bought this thing last month, for protection. But I didn't think dat I would be using it anytime soon."
"Well, you've already proven to me that you're a hell raiser. Now let's see if you're a six shooter." Jack just looked at him with intense eyes.
"I'll come back with the posse and I'll have as much artillery as I can bring so that we can take these fuckers down. Deal?" He said, extending his hand out to Jack. Jack shook his hand in return.
~
Apollonia sat alone in the gloomy room in complete solitude. Her stomach started churning as her morning sickness started to visit her once again. She did not want to throw up right then and there while being held prisoner. She quickly looked around the room for a container of some sort to throw up in. Luckily, she found an old bucket in a corner of the room.
She recollected on the fight she had to put up when two strong men came in and besieged her. She remembered her struggling for her life, without causing any injury to her unborn child. She rested her hand on her stomach. She knew that her baby was alright. It would kill both her and Jack if she suffered a miscarriage. She already lost one love. She didn't need to lose another.
It was like a nightmare that she could not awake from. It was just as bad as the nightmarish reality of Spot's death. Suddenly, she heard keys unlocking the door. She knew that it was the culprits who brought her there. Slowly, the door opened.
~
Five men, all hard and dangerous in appearance, crowded the stable as they waited for Tristan to return with Jack in tow. All of the men looked like seasoned criminals who had just broken out of prison. As soon as Tristan and Jack showed themselves, one of the men spoke up.
"Dónde están los ladrones?" Jack looked over at Tristan.
"He asked 'Where are the thieves?'"
"At da Martínez house. Ya heard of it?" Tristan nodded.
"A la casa de Martínez." Tristan said to the man who asked the question. All of them spoke English and Spanish except for one. He knew very little English.
Jack was curious as to how Tristan knew these outlaws. Someone once tried to set fire to his ranch and steal his livestock. The bandits caught the culprits and shot and wounded them, prompting Tristan to send the arsonists to jail. He befriended the brigands and they, in turn, told Tristan that if he ever needed them, not to hesitate to call.
Tension filled the men readying themselves to deliver hellfire and brimstone to Snyder at an abandoned house on the outskirts of Santa Fe. The moment had arrived. Hopefully, they would all make it back to Belvedere by midnight.
"All right, men, listen up." Jack called out, interrupting their preparation to use their firearms. "This is it. You know what we're up against. And you know what the odds are."
"Our plan is to kill these sons-a-bitches, get Apollonia, and get the hell outta there. We know that sounds simple enough, but we know that these guys are nothing more than cutthroat mercenaries for sale to the highest bidder, who happens right now to be Snyder." Tristan added.
"That sounds fine in theory, but I'm telling ya, everyone is a target for ya except Snyder. He's mine."
Tristan smiled as Jack stated his remark sternly. The men gave Jack their undivided attention the entire time. "Questions?" asked Tristan. No one spoke up. Jack scanned the faces of all four men to see if there was any sign of them backing out. All was well. Jack picked up his pistols, rapidly placed them in their holsters, and paused.
"Let's roll."
~
Outside, the cavalcade of horsemen quietly rode up on the Martínez house. Jack's hostility began rising as they got closer to the hideaway. His heart began hammering harder in his chest. Tristan glanced over at his friend, hoping that he kept his cool. The anticipation of rescuing Apollonia was steadily intensifying. The run-down place was large and broken down. Its broken roof was in dire need of repair. Without a hint of suspicion, Jack knew Snyder was waiting patiently for him to arrive.
Tristan soon caught sight of some men coming out of the house. They all appeared to be heading to the stable that was in a diagonal direction from the house. None of the men were Snyder. Jack gave Tristan the signal to attack the brood of unlawfuls as he rode his horse around to the back section of the hideaway. Suddenly, Tristan and his posse charged at the unsuspecting criminals without warning.
As the commencement of hostilities was underway, Jack dismounted his horse and proceeded to make his way into the house. Its darkness made it hard for him to maneuver his way, but he was determined to find his love and save her from his ultimate nemesis, Snyder, the Devil Incarnate.
He walked into a back door with ease, quietly and carefully trying to find Apollonia and rescue her. He looked into one room that was totally empty, free of furniture. He then walked to a room where the door was ajar. Still nothing. As he walked further down the dark corridor, he was met with an unfamiliar voice.
"Sullivan?" The voice said. Jack stopped in his tracks as he saw a tall figure step out of a room and into Jack's line of fire. Wainwright just stood there, taking a match out of his pocket and setting it afire to light a cigar.
"Where is she?"
"Around." Wainwright taunted. He wanted to fuck with Jack for a few minutes before allowing him to see Snyder.
"No doubt, Sullivan, you know that I was favored earlier by the fine presence of your woman. Her nearness and, shall we say, warmth made the dusty ride from Santa Fe so much more pleasurable for me. So engrossed were we with her many physical charms and her enlightening conversation that regrettably the ride was over before we were finished with her." Wainwright taunted.
"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed her. I always do. But I never have ta put a gun to her head ta get her ta share her charms with me." Jack knew Wainwright was lying about his supposed sexual encounter with Apollonia, but he decided to play along.
"Well, you must've known that Snyder was going to catch up to you. Although, I must admit that it was like finding a needle in a haystack looking for you but, hey, finders keepers."
"So, not that you've found me, what the fuck are ya planning ta do?"
"It's very simple. We are going to let Snyder deal with you."
"And what about my Apollonia?"
"Oh, don't worry about her. She'll be fine. But not before we all fuck her brains out in one way or anot...."
Straight away, Wainwright's head was no longer in once piece. With bone fragments and pieces of brain splattering the room, the wall was now decorated with the miscellany of a human being. Jack looked on at the now warm-blooded corpse lying on the floor. Slowly, while placing his gun back in its holster, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, going into the one room where he knew Snyder could be.
Outside, the skirmish had already come to a complete halt. Tristan and his men had managed to wipe out the entire band of bandits. One by one, Tristan walked over and observed the mess. All were dead, Rumill, Walsh, Flynn, and Brandt. All victims of a deadly shooting or worse. Flynn had several bullets that riddled his body. Brandt had his throat sliced in one, quick motion. One of the outlaws was very handy with a knife. Both Rumill and Walsh had the most damage done to their bodies. With the handy use of a machete, Rumill's torso was savagely cut into, slivering his lungs and heart. Walsh's body was also butchered rather gruesomely. Pieces of his bloody heart were on the ground. Once they finished their deadly conflict, they all retreated to the far side of the land on Tristan's command and waited for Jack.
Jack entered the closely guarded quarters that were now totally unsupervised due to the melee that had just occurred outside. He walked down the hallway, waiting to see his longtime adversary. With every step he took, he knew it could be very well his last time seeing nighttime.
In due course, he slowly walked into a dimly lit room. After all this time, Jack was met face to face with the enemy. Smiling an evil grin, Snyder was waiting for him patiently. His day of retribution had finally arrived. The tall, handsome newsie that cost him years in prison was going to pay. He stood behind his beautiful captive, who was seated in a chair with her arms behind her back.
Jack's eyes looked into Apollonia's, asking her if she was alright. He was grateful to see that she was in one piece and alive. But how long was she to stay alive depended on what was to happen next.
"Well, well, well, Sullivan. At last, we meet again, this time under very different circumstances. I must say that you have shown a great deal of courage for your encouraging New York's working class filth to stand up for their rights. Not to mention your connections to Teddy Roosevelt to have me put behind bars. But that's all behind me now because I believe that there is a question of payback."
He said this as he walked towards Jack, pulling a bullet from his pocket and placing it into the barrel of his gun. Jack looked on in a mixture of fear and anger as Snyder did this. Snyder's mind was cool and calculating. He looked at Jack with a sinister smile on his face as he prepared to play a game of Russian roulette with his pistol. However, he wasn't aiming the gun at himself or Jack. He looked over at Apollonia who was scared stiff as she sat quietly in the dark, poorly lit room.
"As the old saying goes, an eye for an eye." After uttering this axiom, he cocked the pistol. "She's got such lovely eyes." He then aimed the gun at Apollonia and pulled the trigger. Apollonia flinched as she heard the gun click as Snyder tried to shoot her.
"That's it, Snyder! Let her go! Ya don't need her. This is between you and me!"
"Wrong, Sullivan! That's where you're wrong! You have been a thorn in my side from the minute you stepped foot into my refuge. You've been deceiving, disobedient, and disrespectful. You were never in any position to question my authority and you still aren't, Sullivan. And now it's time to pay."
"You're authority was a joke, Snyder. Ya lined your pockets with da money da city gave ya ta keep us street rats healthy and all ya did was spend it on yourself and women. Ya knew dat what you were doing was wrong. But the minute someone stood up to ya, ya got antsy. I ain't afraid of ya, Snyder. I never was."
Snyder just looked at Jack with hatred in his eyes. "You are such a coward, Sullivan."
"I stood up ta da likes of Pulitzer and Hearst and won. You're calling me a coward and you're up there shooting at an unarmed woman. You gotta a lot of nerve, Snyder. Or should I call you by your nickname, Fatherless Faggot."
His hand reached back and swiftly grabbed the gun hidden in his belt behind his back as he advanced towards his archenemy. Snyder lunged into Jack, causing his gun to go off. The gun fired a shot into the wall, missing Apollonia by a few inches. Jack quickly released his revolver to allow for a man-on-man brawl. Snyder swung his arm up and intercepted Jack's oncoming strike, punching him in the stomach. Jack hurled over briefly before grabbing Snyder's wrist and kneeing him in the groin, causing Snyder to drop his weapon. Apollonia watched as the gun slid across the floor. She tried to wrench free her bound wrists, but to no avail.
Jack and Snyder fought mercilessly in the shadowy quarters. The struggle was meaningless. Snyder was a middle-aged, heavy set, out of shape codger hell bent on revenge and Jack was a young, powerfully built, virile New York City cowboy. Jack had to survive by his wits living on the streets of New York. A young stud with a muscular body and dealing with countless physical encounters should have told Snyder that a fight against Jack spelled suicide for him.
Unbeknownst to Jack, Snyder reached into his boot and retrieved a small pocket knife. With one, cool slice Snyder slit Jack's shirt open. Jack felt the cold metal slice into his flesh; the crimson blood wetting his shirt. The cut was not fatal, but Jack could not feel the pain due to his adrenaline pumping full force. He looked down at the wound and then back at Snyder, his deadly eyes fixated on Jack. He smiled evilly at the young stud, thinking himself triumphant over inflicting pain on an adversary he so longed to destroy.
Without admonition, Jack snatched a nearby broken, wooden chair and swung it at his opponent. The decrepit piece of furniture came crashing down on Snyder's body. He yelled out in a mixture of pain and anger. He then crawled to the area where his gun had been hiding. He grabbed it and pointed it at Jack. Jack, already standing in position, had retrieved his firearm.
Snyder pointed his gun at Jack, staring widely at him, hoping that Jack would be brave enough to commit the crime of murder. They stood there eyeing each other, daring the other to pull the trigger and end the other's life.
"Come on, Sullivan. You don't have the guts to kill me. But if you think you do, shoot. Go ahead; show me that you're just another pretty face and menace to society and a waste of fucking skin, just like your father."
Jack stopped calculating and stood in a cool silence as he watched his archenemy standing there. He didn't smile, he didn't frown. It almost looked as though he might turn around and leave.
Suddenly, Snyder heard an earsplitting blast. Lethargically, he realized his hands were holding his chest. Looking down, he was confused at the blood oozing through his fingers.
He was falling. Apollonia sat in utter horror at what she had just witnessed. His shirt was torn by the bullets. The flames from the gun had ignited the material as a wisp of smoke rose gruesomely from the charred fabric. Snyder's flesh was shredded.
A second shot rang out and this time he felt it. An explosion of pain shot through his body, centered in his stomach. Blood gushed from the wounds as it spurted upward internally and spewed from his mouth. Slowly he opened his eyes and saw Jack approaching him, with a serious look on his face. As if in slow motion, he slammed into the ground, his eyes glazed over in shock. Jack leveled the gun at him, pressing it between his eyebrows, and a third, and final shot pealed out.
Slowly he moved his eyes to gaze at Apollonia. She was trying to calm herself with her head bowed down. A lone tear slid down her cheek onto her lips. He sauntered over to her as Snyder lay dead in the midst. He was a ghastly and hideous sight. The streams of blood were coming steadily out of Snyder's head and body, as were Apollonia's tears from her eyes. Jack quietly knelt down before her and hugged her tightly. "It's over. It's all over." He kept whispering to her in a hushed tone.
Disclaimer: I do not own Newsies or any of the Newsies characters. Apollonia, Giselle, Checkers, and other miscellaneous characters are all mine.
Chapter 30: The Games Are Over
Approaching an old, abandoned house on the outskirts of Santa Fe, the band of ruffians rode their rented wagon up to the new hideout with ease. The men were inside playing card games while smoking and drinking as much Tequila as they could muster. They men looked on curiously as Banner carried their prisoner to a room in the back.
Entering an unoccupied and dreary room, the men gently placed the dark- haired beauty on a pallet on the floor. They looked upon her with pride and lust in their eyes.
"Well, Banner, we will know in a moment if indeed she is Sullivan's woman." Wainwright said.
"If she is, she may prove to be useful. If she isn't, she may prove to be useful in bed. Either way, we will figure out how to dispose of her once we have this Kelly/Sullivan character."
"Snyder said that she would be the perfect wager in dealing with this whole thing. And once the plans are set in motion, we get to see the showdown of our lives." Both men laughed ominously while they left Apollonia alone, lying unconscious.
Snyder stood on the patio of the old house smoking a cigar. He was met with the sound of his henchmen's footsteps steadfastly walking up behind him.
"Well, we got her, Snyder.
"Good. Sullivan should be here within a couple of hours. There's no telling where that fucker is now. Probably off getting drunk in some low-class bar in town."
"Who knows, but I know if I were him, I wouldn't be out in town when I got a woman at home that looks like that!" Wainwright stated while pointing in the direction of Apollonia's location. Banner concurred.
"I must say, he's has nice taste in whores."
"I don't think she's a whore. She looks respectable."
"They're all whores. Even if she was a nun, she'd still be a whore."
Snyder ignored the two as they argued over the respectability of Apollonia and every other woman in creation. He had other things on his mind. Normally, he would not have spent so much time evaluating his methods of how he would make a past enemy suffer; he would have just let it go. But the sadist in him would not let this stray. His flagitious demeanor had to have the last say. After months of searching, finally, the day had arrived. All he had to do now was wait.
~
Jack strolled into the cantina slowly. He scrutinized the faces of all of the people in the bar. He displayed a stern expression. He even looked as if he would pull out a rifle and blow everybody away without a care. He walked through the place, carefully studying every man that was present. Most he had never seen before. Some didn't speak English.
Once he reached the barstool, he stood still. The bartender quickly acknowledged him.
"What do you want to drink, Señor?"
Jack just stood there, giving the impression of being lost in thought, which he was. The bartender made the decision to walk away and tend to another customer. Suddenly, the voice of a man to his right caught his attention.
"She's still alive." He said.
He looked over to find a man with brown-gray hair and a well-worn jacket drinking his beer without a care. He recognized him. He was one of the men at his ranch. He helped build the fence near the stables. Jack walked over to him, wanting to know if he knew what he was talking about.
"What's dat ya say?"
"Your woman, she's alive."
"How do ya know dat?"
The man took a gulp of his beer and belched quietly to himself. Jack looked at him with an unyielding air.
"I wanna know who's after me." The expression on the old man's face dropped to a frown. He started to rise from his chair, but Jack pinned him down.
"You know, don'tcha?"
The man glanced around. The cantina was nearly full, and the patron on the other side of him was too involved with his liquor to be a bother. He dropped back down and whispered into Jack's ear.
"I ain't supposed ta know, but it's Snyder. He's got your woman."
"Where?" Jack demanded.
"At this old house on the edge of town, the Martínez house, past the Ponderosa." He took another swig from the bottle while Jack looked at him intently. Wiping his mouth with the arm of his sleeve, the older man turned back to Jack.
"It's not too hard ta miss. Bring your guns. He's got an army wit him." The man quickly gulped down his cerveza and bolted. He was on his way to a dry goods store when he noticed these three men talking about some young guy they wanted to catch. They were leaving that little restaurant on the corner as they conversed. He remembered hearing Snyder give Jack's description to another person in passing while holding a piece of paper. The description of long blonde hair threw the man off, because Snyder could have been talking about Tristan or another Anglo, but the mention of hazel eyes told him that Jack was the man Snyder was looking for. He heard Wainwright call out Snyder's name, thus identifying him as the leader of the pack.
Fire burned within Jack's eyes. The prospect that Apollonia was in Snyder's clutches was unbearable. He wasn't about to let this son-of-a-bitch ruin his life once again. And this time Snyder had something in his possession that would make Jack crazed with anger if he were to harm her in any way. He made his way out of the cantina without a single word.
~
Apollonia woke up to strange surroundings. She hadn't known what to think when she'd been abducted and knocked out cold. She didn't remember being brought there by the two roughnecks who rendered her oblivious to the situation. Apollonia stood up slowly, examining her surroundings. Her head was still throbbing from being hit. She carefully made her was to a chair sitting in the middle of the room. How did this happen? What is going on? She thought. She couldn't stand being in that dusty room all by herself. She gradually made her way to the door, but unfortunately it was locked. "Figures." She said to herself. Scanning the room once again, Apollonia did not know what to do. She knew that Jack would notice that she was not home and would come looking for her. But how could he come looking for her there? She didn't even know where she was. All she could do for the time being was wait. She sat back down, folding her arms, bowed her head, and prayed.
Snyder knew the Martínez house to be an isolated stronghold, a perfect locale for carnage without drawing any attention from the Santa Fe authorities. He knew that leaving the picture of Jack and the rest of his newsie comrades at his house would give him an idea who it was that was that was looking for him and would definitely ensure that he would come looking for Apollonia, and that was the perfect setup to draw him into his trap. She was the key attraction because no one in Santa Fe, outside Jack's own friends, knew about Apollonia, what she meant to him, and what a valuable pawn she was.
He sat in the dark, musty room, thinking, smiling to himself on how justice was about to prevail. He looked crazily at his weapon as he kept releasing the barrel, spinning it around, and shoving it back in place. He waited a long time for this moment. He was finally going to put Francis Sullivan in his place. Oh, how he longed for the time to pass so that he could see his face. That young Irish punk was going to get what he had coming for the longest, he thought.
~
Tristan made it to Belvedere for a friendly visit. Approaching the newly refurnished residence, he looked forward to spending quality time with his friends' ever since their beautiful ranch was completed.
What he found wasn't a friendly place. Belvedere was in disarray. He saw a ransacked living room with its dueno sitting in the middle of it all. Jack's face was red and sweaty. His shirt was halfway open and he was in a state of complete disgruntlement while he put bullets into his gun repeatedly.
He slowly stepped to his friend, not wanting his wrath to descend upon him. "Jack, amigo, what the hell happened?"
Jack just looked at his Tejano friend with a furious look. "They got her."
"What? What are you talking about?"
"MY FUCKING FIANCEE! THEY GOT MY WOMAN! AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT DA FUCK TA DO!!!!!!"
Tristan raised his hands up to calm him down. Jack stood up hastily and threw the half-filled bottle, smashing it into a million pieces.
Tristan quickly intervened. "Jack, pull yourself together, damn it! You're pissed! Don't let you're anger ruin your better judgment."
Jack quickly sobered up at his friend's words. He was right. The rage in Jack's system was controlling his mind. Eating away at his brain and washing away all remnants of rational thinking. Jack calmed down his nerves as he inhaled steadily to bring down his irritation. Tristan patted him on the back and instructed him to sit down and tell him everything. After delivering the lengthy story about his past, from beginning to end, Tristan's mind started flowing with ideas. He paced back and forth trying to develop a plan of attack.
"Alright, Jack here's the deal. I know a couple of compadres that will definitely help out with this thing. Besides, they owe me a favor. I will get in contact with them while you clear your head. We'll meet you back here."
Jack responded with a nod of the head. He held up his colt revolver up, pointing the barrel skyward. "Ya know, I just bought this thing last month, for protection. But I didn't think dat I would be using it anytime soon."
"Well, you've already proven to me that you're a hell raiser. Now let's see if you're a six shooter." Jack just looked at him with intense eyes.
"I'll come back with the posse and I'll have as much artillery as I can bring so that we can take these fuckers down. Deal?" He said, extending his hand out to Jack. Jack shook his hand in return.
~
Apollonia sat alone in the gloomy room in complete solitude. Her stomach started churning as her morning sickness started to visit her once again. She did not want to throw up right then and there while being held prisoner. She quickly looked around the room for a container of some sort to throw up in. Luckily, she found an old bucket in a corner of the room.
She recollected on the fight she had to put up when two strong men came in and besieged her. She remembered her struggling for her life, without causing any injury to her unborn child. She rested her hand on her stomach. She knew that her baby was alright. It would kill both her and Jack if she suffered a miscarriage. She already lost one love. She didn't need to lose another.
It was like a nightmare that she could not awake from. It was just as bad as the nightmarish reality of Spot's death. Suddenly, she heard keys unlocking the door. She knew that it was the culprits who brought her there. Slowly, the door opened.
~
Five men, all hard and dangerous in appearance, crowded the stable as they waited for Tristan to return with Jack in tow. All of the men looked like seasoned criminals who had just broken out of prison. As soon as Tristan and Jack showed themselves, one of the men spoke up.
"Dónde están los ladrones?" Jack looked over at Tristan.
"He asked 'Where are the thieves?'"
"At da Martínez house. Ya heard of it?" Tristan nodded.
"A la casa de Martínez." Tristan said to the man who asked the question. All of them spoke English and Spanish except for one. He knew very little English.
Jack was curious as to how Tristan knew these outlaws. Someone once tried to set fire to his ranch and steal his livestock. The bandits caught the culprits and shot and wounded them, prompting Tristan to send the arsonists to jail. He befriended the brigands and they, in turn, told Tristan that if he ever needed them, not to hesitate to call.
Tension filled the men readying themselves to deliver hellfire and brimstone to Snyder at an abandoned house on the outskirts of Santa Fe. The moment had arrived. Hopefully, they would all make it back to Belvedere by midnight.
"All right, men, listen up." Jack called out, interrupting their preparation to use their firearms. "This is it. You know what we're up against. And you know what the odds are."
"Our plan is to kill these sons-a-bitches, get Apollonia, and get the hell outta there. We know that sounds simple enough, but we know that these guys are nothing more than cutthroat mercenaries for sale to the highest bidder, who happens right now to be Snyder." Tristan added.
"That sounds fine in theory, but I'm telling ya, everyone is a target for ya except Snyder. He's mine."
Tristan smiled as Jack stated his remark sternly. The men gave Jack their undivided attention the entire time. "Questions?" asked Tristan. No one spoke up. Jack scanned the faces of all four men to see if there was any sign of them backing out. All was well. Jack picked up his pistols, rapidly placed them in their holsters, and paused.
"Let's roll."
~
Outside, the cavalcade of horsemen quietly rode up on the Martínez house. Jack's hostility began rising as they got closer to the hideaway. His heart began hammering harder in his chest. Tristan glanced over at his friend, hoping that he kept his cool. The anticipation of rescuing Apollonia was steadily intensifying. The run-down place was large and broken down. Its broken roof was in dire need of repair. Without a hint of suspicion, Jack knew Snyder was waiting patiently for him to arrive.
Tristan soon caught sight of some men coming out of the house. They all appeared to be heading to the stable that was in a diagonal direction from the house. None of the men were Snyder. Jack gave Tristan the signal to attack the brood of unlawfuls as he rode his horse around to the back section of the hideaway. Suddenly, Tristan and his posse charged at the unsuspecting criminals without warning.
As the commencement of hostilities was underway, Jack dismounted his horse and proceeded to make his way into the house. Its darkness made it hard for him to maneuver his way, but he was determined to find his love and save her from his ultimate nemesis, Snyder, the Devil Incarnate.
He walked into a back door with ease, quietly and carefully trying to find Apollonia and rescue her. He looked into one room that was totally empty, free of furniture. He then walked to a room where the door was ajar. Still nothing. As he walked further down the dark corridor, he was met with an unfamiliar voice.
"Sullivan?" The voice said. Jack stopped in his tracks as he saw a tall figure step out of a room and into Jack's line of fire. Wainwright just stood there, taking a match out of his pocket and setting it afire to light a cigar.
"Where is she?"
"Around." Wainwright taunted. He wanted to fuck with Jack for a few minutes before allowing him to see Snyder.
"No doubt, Sullivan, you know that I was favored earlier by the fine presence of your woman. Her nearness and, shall we say, warmth made the dusty ride from Santa Fe so much more pleasurable for me. So engrossed were we with her many physical charms and her enlightening conversation that regrettably the ride was over before we were finished with her." Wainwright taunted.
"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed her. I always do. But I never have ta put a gun to her head ta get her ta share her charms with me." Jack knew Wainwright was lying about his supposed sexual encounter with Apollonia, but he decided to play along.
"Well, you must've known that Snyder was going to catch up to you. Although, I must admit that it was like finding a needle in a haystack looking for you but, hey, finders keepers."
"So, not that you've found me, what the fuck are ya planning ta do?"
"It's very simple. We are going to let Snyder deal with you."
"And what about my Apollonia?"
"Oh, don't worry about her. She'll be fine. But not before we all fuck her brains out in one way or anot...."
Straight away, Wainwright's head was no longer in once piece. With bone fragments and pieces of brain splattering the room, the wall was now decorated with the miscellany of a human being. Jack looked on at the now warm-blooded corpse lying on the floor. Slowly, while placing his gun back in its holster, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, going into the one room where he knew Snyder could be.
Outside, the skirmish had already come to a complete halt. Tristan and his men had managed to wipe out the entire band of bandits. One by one, Tristan walked over and observed the mess. All were dead, Rumill, Walsh, Flynn, and Brandt. All victims of a deadly shooting or worse. Flynn had several bullets that riddled his body. Brandt had his throat sliced in one, quick motion. One of the outlaws was very handy with a knife. Both Rumill and Walsh had the most damage done to their bodies. With the handy use of a machete, Rumill's torso was savagely cut into, slivering his lungs and heart. Walsh's body was also butchered rather gruesomely. Pieces of his bloody heart were on the ground. Once they finished their deadly conflict, they all retreated to the far side of the land on Tristan's command and waited for Jack.
Jack entered the closely guarded quarters that were now totally unsupervised due to the melee that had just occurred outside. He walked down the hallway, waiting to see his longtime adversary. With every step he took, he knew it could be very well his last time seeing nighttime.
In due course, he slowly walked into a dimly lit room. After all this time, Jack was met face to face with the enemy. Smiling an evil grin, Snyder was waiting for him patiently. His day of retribution had finally arrived. The tall, handsome newsie that cost him years in prison was going to pay. He stood behind his beautiful captive, who was seated in a chair with her arms behind her back.
Jack's eyes looked into Apollonia's, asking her if she was alright. He was grateful to see that she was in one piece and alive. But how long was she to stay alive depended on what was to happen next.
"Well, well, well, Sullivan. At last, we meet again, this time under very different circumstances. I must say that you have shown a great deal of courage for your encouraging New York's working class filth to stand up for their rights. Not to mention your connections to Teddy Roosevelt to have me put behind bars. But that's all behind me now because I believe that there is a question of payback."
He said this as he walked towards Jack, pulling a bullet from his pocket and placing it into the barrel of his gun. Jack looked on in a mixture of fear and anger as Snyder did this. Snyder's mind was cool and calculating. He looked at Jack with a sinister smile on his face as he prepared to play a game of Russian roulette with his pistol. However, he wasn't aiming the gun at himself or Jack. He looked over at Apollonia who was scared stiff as she sat quietly in the dark, poorly lit room.
"As the old saying goes, an eye for an eye." After uttering this axiom, he cocked the pistol. "She's got such lovely eyes." He then aimed the gun at Apollonia and pulled the trigger. Apollonia flinched as she heard the gun click as Snyder tried to shoot her.
"That's it, Snyder! Let her go! Ya don't need her. This is between you and me!"
"Wrong, Sullivan! That's where you're wrong! You have been a thorn in my side from the minute you stepped foot into my refuge. You've been deceiving, disobedient, and disrespectful. You were never in any position to question my authority and you still aren't, Sullivan. And now it's time to pay."
"You're authority was a joke, Snyder. Ya lined your pockets with da money da city gave ya ta keep us street rats healthy and all ya did was spend it on yourself and women. Ya knew dat what you were doing was wrong. But the minute someone stood up to ya, ya got antsy. I ain't afraid of ya, Snyder. I never was."
Snyder just looked at Jack with hatred in his eyes. "You are such a coward, Sullivan."
"I stood up ta da likes of Pulitzer and Hearst and won. You're calling me a coward and you're up there shooting at an unarmed woman. You gotta a lot of nerve, Snyder. Or should I call you by your nickname, Fatherless Faggot."
His hand reached back and swiftly grabbed the gun hidden in his belt behind his back as he advanced towards his archenemy. Snyder lunged into Jack, causing his gun to go off. The gun fired a shot into the wall, missing Apollonia by a few inches. Jack quickly released his revolver to allow for a man-on-man brawl. Snyder swung his arm up and intercepted Jack's oncoming strike, punching him in the stomach. Jack hurled over briefly before grabbing Snyder's wrist and kneeing him in the groin, causing Snyder to drop his weapon. Apollonia watched as the gun slid across the floor. She tried to wrench free her bound wrists, but to no avail.
Jack and Snyder fought mercilessly in the shadowy quarters. The struggle was meaningless. Snyder was a middle-aged, heavy set, out of shape codger hell bent on revenge and Jack was a young, powerfully built, virile New York City cowboy. Jack had to survive by his wits living on the streets of New York. A young stud with a muscular body and dealing with countless physical encounters should have told Snyder that a fight against Jack spelled suicide for him.
Unbeknownst to Jack, Snyder reached into his boot and retrieved a small pocket knife. With one, cool slice Snyder slit Jack's shirt open. Jack felt the cold metal slice into his flesh; the crimson blood wetting his shirt. The cut was not fatal, but Jack could not feel the pain due to his adrenaline pumping full force. He looked down at the wound and then back at Snyder, his deadly eyes fixated on Jack. He smiled evilly at the young stud, thinking himself triumphant over inflicting pain on an adversary he so longed to destroy.
Without admonition, Jack snatched a nearby broken, wooden chair and swung it at his opponent. The decrepit piece of furniture came crashing down on Snyder's body. He yelled out in a mixture of pain and anger. He then crawled to the area where his gun had been hiding. He grabbed it and pointed it at Jack. Jack, already standing in position, had retrieved his firearm.
Snyder pointed his gun at Jack, staring widely at him, hoping that Jack would be brave enough to commit the crime of murder. They stood there eyeing each other, daring the other to pull the trigger and end the other's life.
"Come on, Sullivan. You don't have the guts to kill me. But if you think you do, shoot. Go ahead; show me that you're just another pretty face and menace to society and a waste of fucking skin, just like your father."
Jack stopped calculating and stood in a cool silence as he watched his archenemy standing there. He didn't smile, he didn't frown. It almost looked as though he might turn around and leave.
Suddenly, Snyder heard an earsplitting blast. Lethargically, he realized his hands were holding his chest. Looking down, he was confused at the blood oozing through his fingers.
He was falling. Apollonia sat in utter horror at what she had just witnessed. His shirt was torn by the bullets. The flames from the gun had ignited the material as a wisp of smoke rose gruesomely from the charred fabric. Snyder's flesh was shredded.
A second shot rang out and this time he felt it. An explosion of pain shot through his body, centered in his stomach. Blood gushed from the wounds as it spurted upward internally and spewed from his mouth. Slowly he opened his eyes and saw Jack approaching him, with a serious look on his face. As if in slow motion, he slammed into the ground, his eyes glazed over in shock. Jack leveled the gun at him, pressing it between his eyebrows, and a third, and final shot pealed out.
Slowly he moved his eyes to gaze at Apollonia. She was trying to calm herself with her head bowed down. A lone tear slid down her cheek onto her lips. He sauntered over to her as Snyder lay dead in the midst. He was a ghastly and hideous sight. The streams of blood were coming steadily out of Snyder's head and body, as were Apollonia's tears from her eyes. Jack quietly knelt down before her and hugged her tightly. "It's over. It's all over." He kept whispering to her in a hushed tone.
