*Note- Sorry it took so long to update, my Great-grandma passed away, so we went to her funeral (out of state) :-(

            As I laid in my bed that night, I pondered all that had happened.  Why me? Why did he care for me? I'm not pretty, I'm not thin, and I'm NO lady.  It was just…. 'Why?'

I fell asleep late that night, tears gently cascading down my face and forming a puddle on the pillow.  I sobbed into the pillow until I fell asleep.  I didn't sleep for very long.  The dreams I saw in my sleep were worse than a thousand ghosts raising up from their graves.  There I was, locked inside of a blazing room- my old bedroom.  The fire crept up the curtains as I screamed bloody murder, but no one heard my cries for help.  I finally kicked open the door and ran into the hall.  The flames and other cries engulfed me.  I heard the torturous screams of my parents and baby sister.  However, I couldn't reach them; I couldn't move.  In the pitch black that followed, I saw the silhouette of my brother on a horse.  I saw him come off the horse, and as I tried to scream to him, I woke up.

            Jack heard me and snuck into my room.

            "Are you all right?" he inquired.

            "It's just….. aw, ya think it'd be silly."

            "Tell me." He said, sitting down on the edge of my bed.

            "A nightmare. I've had the same one since my family died.  My parents were killed in a fire, but my older brother saved me.  He found me and took me out to the barn knowing that I was the only other one who had a chance to survive.  Ryan spent the next six months as a stable hand and rode in rodeos just so that we would have a place to live an food to eat.  One day, he was riding in a rodeo when the horse spooked.  He fell off and the spooked horse backed over him.  That was when I was sent to my aunt's. That was what it was about.  I can't believe I'm so cowardly."

            "Let me tell you a story about this goil I met a week or two ago," he said. "She came to me in pink ruffles, so Is dismissed her as just ano'er of 'em naïve little goils. But when I tried to scare her off, she showed me that she was different.  She cut her hair and sold her pretty little dress just to fit in and for me to except her.  When I saw her, I thought of how smart and persistent she was.  However, I also had to know that she was tough.  A goil newsie would almost certainly get into plenty of trouble.  So's I cornered her and tried to see if I could scare 'er. She did what I thought no goils would do.  She soaked me and soaked me good.  Nah, I thought, she aint no wuss.  She'll fit in here well…as long as she don't ever try ta soak me again.  That goil wasn't afraid to stand up for herself.  She had enough courage ta do what few others dared, and stand up fer herself.  She aint no coward.  You can't control nightmares, and you can't be brave ALL the time.  That don't mean yer a coward."

            "But that aint all, Cowboy.  Racetrack tried to kiss me, but I wouldn't let him.  He got mad and stormed back in."

            "Give 'im time.  He really cares for ya goil.  Ya might give 'im a chance." Jack replied.  "Well, yous better be gettin' ta sleep.  I'll stay here in case you have another nightmare." He said as he came up and sat behind me with his arms around my shoulder. "I can't bring back your family, but maybe I can be like one to you." 

            I slowly drifted to sleep with the warmth of his encircling arms.  Sleep came easily to me afterwards.  A drape of black silk seemed to cover my eyes and keep my soul from being disturbed by the memories that haunted me.

            A sliver of light peeked through my window as I awoke to the sound of a knock on my door.  "Oh no! Race always wakes me up!"  I thought as I realized that I had fallen asleep in Jack's arms, him laying asleep right beside me.  I thought that maybe if I sat still enough he would leave.  But then he knocked again, this time waking Jack.  To my dismay, after the third knock, Race walked in.

            "JACK! How could you?! Oh, Santa Fe, I hate you, you are a disgrace to us newsies, leading us on and sleeping around!  Don't count on any of us! You've broken us up and now YOU are the one to be left out! Come on, Cowboy, I don't blame you for this disgrace."  Racetrack said disgustedly as he walked out the door.