Learning Magic
Chapter Seven
Disclaimer: I don't own newsies, so, yeah. Fun.
I was out the rest of the day. I was too angry with Jack to go back that night. Instead I curled up in an alley and fell asleep. I had the dream again. About almost being run over by a trolley, but was saved by a mysterious voice. I woke up the next morning, sweating. I stood up quickly, wanting to get out of the alley.
Brushing some dirt off my dress, I made my way around the town, ending up in front of the Newsboys Lodging House. I grumbled to myself, as I walked in. Jack was sitting at a small poker table, alone. The rest of the boys were already out selling, but he just sat there. His cheeks were tear stained, and his eyes were red and puffy. My anger towards him evaporated, and the nice, kind, gentle part of me came out. Having dealt with so many little children, I was used to comforting them when they had problems, or when they were crying. Still, I didn't think of Jack as little kid, like Alexander or Kristin, but I felt compelled to comfort him.
"Jack?" I started slowly, pulling up a chair and sat next to him. He looked at me, sadly.
"I, I, I hurt me best friend." He said slowly, biting his quivering lip. I nodded, not really knowing what to say. "I didn't mean ta do any damage, I'se was jus' mad. I thought he hoit ya, an' an'..." He trailed off. I could only nod.
"How is he? I mean, I left an' da doctah was heah." This made him wince.
"An' he needed a doctah, a doctah. They is expensive already, but, I'se was da one dat made him need a doctah." He told me, his voice cracking. "Gawd, Race has always been dere fer me. An' I let me temper overruled me judgement an' now he can't leave da lodgin' house fer a couple days, an' he's bummed bout it." He stopped to take a breath and then continued. "Dere's a big ol' race comin' up at da tracks dat he's been lookin' forward ta goin' to fer months. He ain't allowed ta go." Jack stated plainly. "I'se didn't mean ta hoit him." He continued. Now he was rambling and I didn't really want to hear any more of it. My nice comforting side of me had retreated and I was becoming angry with him. If he was so upset, why wasn't he upstairs talking with his 'best friend?' It made no sense to me, but I continued to listen to him, trying to be supportive.
"Uh, Jack, I'se tired, didn't sleep last night. I'm gonna go catch some Z's." I lied to him. I wanted to see how Race was doing. I patted Jack on the back and walked quickly to the stairs, peering behind me to see if Jack was going to follow me. He wasn't. He was just sitting there, staring out into space.
Quietly I walked up the stairs and went into my room. Racetrack wasn't there. He must've been moved to his bunkroom or something. I walked down the hallway and went inside the first room. He wasn't there either. I walked to the next one and found him laying on his good side, playing solitaire with himself. Upon my entering, he looked up and smiled a little bit.
"How'se ya feelin?" I asked him. He shrugged, but winced as he did this. "Not good." I answered for him. He smiled his reply, not wanting to risk pain again. I sat down next to him, trying not to move the bed with the new weight that was added.
"Heya dollface." He said quietly, a bit sadly too. I smiled at him, looking at his game.
"Ya winnin'?" I asked him.
"Aced da game hours ago." He told me quietly. I nodded to him. I wished I could ace card games as easily as he did. I wondered if Jack had talked to him yet about how terrible he was feeling right about now.
"Ya wanna teach me how ta play?" I asked, giving him something to do. He shook his head slowly.
"Don't really wanna talk, if ya know what I mean." He said. I nodded, a little confused at what he meant by this, but I didn't ask him again. We sat there is silence for a couple of minutes. He stopped playing his game and just stared out into space.
"You'se okay?" I asked him. He nodded slightly, wincing again. "Gawd don't do dat!" I said to him, a little sternly. Too sternly. He must of already been in a bad mood, because he snapped at me right away.
"Don't ya be tellin' me what ta do! You'se didn't have ya ribs cracked by your best friend! Ya don't know how fucking bad it hoits! Ya have no right in tellin' me wha ta do an' wha not ta do.!" He yelled at me, biting his lip.
"Ya bring it ta yaself ya know!" I shouted back, trying to calm down. I knew I shouldn't be mad at him. He was right. "Sorry." I mumbled quietly. His eyes got wide when I said this.
"Yeah me too." He whispered. "So wha' did ya t'ink of last night?" He asked me, smirking.
"It was greatly needed." I said simply, referring to me crying so much. His face fell somewhat, but he kept his smirk on his face. "What horse was ya gonna be on at da big race?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Miss Bessie Lou." He said proudly. "Numbah Eight." He smiled, turning back to his card game. I nodded, and looked outside, it was still mid-morning. "
"Is dat race taday?" I asked him. His face became solemn, and his eyes sad.
"Yep." He said, depressingly. I nodded at him, an idea already forming in my mind.
"Uh, I'm gonna go get somet'ink ta eat, ya hungry?" I asked him. He shook his head no, this time not wincing. I smiled, it was an improvement.
"See ya doll." He said to me. I nodded and left the room.
Running down the steps, I was thankful that Jack was still sitting at that table.
"C'mon ya big dope, we'se got our selves a race ta win!" He stared at me, wide-eyed.
"Wha' da hell are ya talkin' about woman?" Jack said, a little playfully, and a little confused.
"I'm talkin' bout Racetrack's race. We'se is gonna go an' bet on his horse. When it wins, we'se is gonna bring him da money fer it. So in a way, it's like repaying him." I hinted, hoping he would come with me. He sat in a shocked silence for some time, then nodded and stood up.
"Whateva ya say." He said, almost like he was defeated in an invisible war that hadn't even taken place. I smiled widely and dashed out of the lodging house.
We hitched a ride on the back of some rich mans carriage, since it would take forever to walk there. The whole ride down there, the smile never left my face. I was so happy, and I wasn't really sure why. It was lucky Jack was with me, he had been to Sheepshead Bay, I hadn't and I had no idea when we were close or not.
Jack hopped off the carriage and instructed me to do the same. I did and together we walked to the entrance of the Sheepshead Bay horse racetrack. I was awed with how many people were here. I wondered if it was always this crowded.
"Dis way doll." Jack guided me through the hoard of people until we came to a board. The board that had all the odds of the race on it. Jack studied the board, deciding which one we would bet on. I of course already knew which one we would pick. Jack had other ideas though.
"How'se bout numbah t'ree? It's got da best odds." He said to me. I shook my head. He seemed surprised.
"Numbah eight. Race said he was gonna bet on numbah eight." I said firmly. Jack just gaped at me, and looked back at the board.
"It's gots da third best odds." He told me. I just stared at him, telling him that we were sticking with number eight and that was that.
"Racetrack obviously sees something in this numbah eight." I told him. He nodded. We left the crowd around the odds board and walked at to the betting window and placed our bet on Miss Bessie Lou, horse number eight.
"Now what?" I asked Jack, for the actual race didn't start for an hour or two.
"We sit an' wait I guess." He told me. "Race always makes individual bets an' stuff, but I just bet all da money we'se brought at da window." He shrugged, leading me to the stands. We sat down, and sat in an awkward silence for awhile before I opened my mouth again.
"I wanna go see Miss Bessie." I said randomly. He gaped at me.
"Ya mean go down ta da stables an' actually like see her?" He asked, dumbfounded. I nodded, standing up and started the walk to the stables. "Wait, doll, I don't t'ink jus' anyone can do dat." He said, standing up and running after me.
"Why not? Besides, if we ain't allowed, we'll just sneak in." I laughed and continued my walk. He didn't argue, but I knew he was following me. On the way there, I heard some people talking about, 'that Higgins boy.' From what I got from the conversations, Racetrack was a celebrity here. Probably because he'd bet against all of these people at least one time. They were all wondering where he was, and why he wasn't here. No one had the answer. Except for me and Jack, but we didn't say anything to anyone about it.
No one was 'guarding' the stables, so me and Jack walked right in. There was trainers, and jockeys roaming all over the place. We were unnoticed.
"Which one's Bessie?" I asked. It was a funny name for a horse, not very original actually. Some horse's names were, Lightfoot, and Over The Edge. But, I liked Bessie. Over The Edge, who would name their horse that?
"How'se is I supposed to know?" Jack asked, shrugging. Just then, a girl, who looked my age, was walking by. She turned around quickly and looked at us both.
"You are looking for Miss Bessie Lou?" The girl asked us. We both nodded. I was taken aback by her. "Follow me please." She told us, turning around so her brown hair twirled around. Jack shot me a skeptical look, I returned it. She was a slender girl, whose hips swayed back and forth when she walked. There was a certain something about her, something that made her radiant. She stopped in front of the last stall, smiling widely.
"Here she is." She beamed, running her long fingers through the horses golden mane. She was a beautiful horse, that was for sure, and she looked fast. "Have you bet on her?" The girl asked us. Jack nodded.
"Fer a friend of course. I don't usually come ta da races." He added quickly, almost like he didn't want to be associated with the racing world. She nodded.
"You picked a good horse to win." She said proudly.
"I'm sorry, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. I'm Magic Howell, and dis is Jack Kelly." I said politely. She smiled.
"I'm Shooter O'Brien." She told us. "I'm Bessie's trainer, and my friend, Archie Amherst, is the jockey. She stood there, thinking about something for a few moments. "You two said you bet on Miss Bessie Lou?" She asked. Again we nodded. "What brings you back here?" She continued to ask.
"Bessie Lou of course." Jack answered, a little flirtatiously. Shooter giggled. I noticed that one of her eyes was green, and one of them was purple. She had a scar by her left eye, and she had an odd birthmark on her lower right arm. I almost wondered if she was from a fairy tale, she looked so, unnatural. She didn't look real. She was too pretty, her eyes didn't match, it just didn't seem possible that she was human.
"Well, I better go get her ready for the race." Shooter said, smiling at Jack. He smiled back, but I knew it was a fake smile.
"Good luck Shootah." Jack said, waving to her as she took Bessie Lou out of her stall and walked away. I shook my head.
"I think I would've enjoyed dat if Miss Priss wasn't dere." I told him, walking out of the stable area with him. He nodded in agreement. We made our way through the crowd yet again, this time it wasn't as crowded. Most of the people were in the stands, since the race was about to start.
We found two seats at the top of the stands, that's all that was left. Apparently the good seats were at the bottom. I wondered where Racetrack usually sat when he came here.
"We'se could've got down dere if ya didn't want ta go see dat damn horse!" Jack yelled over the noise at me. I smiled at him, glad that he was happy again. I realized then that I didn't like being angry at the world, and it was fun to have a life and have friends.
"Lookie dere!" Jack said, pointing to the starting blocks. The horses were all lining up, about to start racing. The crowd stood up as the horses were released from the blocks. Me and Jack followed suit, screaming and cheering for the number eight horse. She was doing terrible. I groaned, Jack threw his hands up in the air, announcing defeat. "A week's worth of sellin' ya good fer nuttin horse!" He shouted at the horse. His words were drowned out in the screams of the other people there.
"C'mon ya lazy bum!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. No wonder Race came home hoarse sometimes. They were rounding the second to last turn when she made a comeback. My eyes got wide as I watched the scene unfold. It was nerve racking. They rounded the last turn, the second place horse took a dive and knocked over the third place horse. Leaving now, just the first place horse and Miss Bessie Lou. There were others, but they didn't matter now. My eyes shifted to the two horses that were down, and their riders. One of the riders was crushed under one of the horses, and then other rider was sprawled in the infield. I missed the finish. I looked at the crowds reaction. They were cheering. But for whom? I turned to Jack, who was staring anxiously. It had been a photo finish. I joined in with his anticipation and waited until the crowd fell silent as a man with a megaphone stepped onto the track. He held the vital information we were all dying to hear. He instructed all of us to sit down, we did. Then as soon as all of the murmurings had subsided, he raised his megaphone and said, "Over The Edge, has lost to Miss Bessie Lou." I jumped out of my seat and cheered my loudest, Jack did the same, as well as more then half the crowd. Boy was Racetrack going to be so surprised at this. Jack spread his arms wide open and I jumped into them, giving him a giant hug. He was beaming, either about the race or about me, I couldn't tell.
"Shall we go collect our winnings?" He asked me, smiling widely. I nodded happily, walking out of the stands and to the betting window, where a crowd was hovering over the window. The clerk at the window was overwhelmed, but called for silence.
"I have got 65 bets on Miss Bessie Lou. When you get to the window, tell me your name and I will give you your winnings." She explained loudly. Jack got in line, since he had bet with his name, and I stood off to the side. I heard two older men walking away, talking about none other then Racetrack.
"I wonder wheah dat Higgin's boy is. He was runnin' his mouth all week bout taday. Can't believe he would miss dis race." They walked out of earshot and I chuckled.
"Lookie at dis!" Jack said proudly, holding out some money. I smiled at him, wanting to get home as fast as possible.
"C'mon!" I said, taking his free hand and pulled him through the diminishing crowd. We walked some of the ways, before we decided to jump onto a trolley and ride it until Brooklyn, where we would walk the rest of the way.
Finally, we were home. I took the money from Jack, not even thinking about asking him to present the money to Race with me, and ran inside and up the stairs. A couple of the boys were home, and gave me surprised looks.
"Whoa doll. Wha's da problem?" Race asked, a little amused at my rush. I held out the money, grinning, catching my breath. He stared at it, wide eyed. "Wheah'd ya get dis?" He asked, his voice cracking. I smiled wider.
"Me, an' Jack, we'se went ta da tracks, an' Miss, Miss Bessie Lou won!" I said, in between the large breaths I took. He stared at me, dumbfounded.
"Ya what?" He asked, taking the money lightly. I just nodded my answer, smiling smugly. He counted out the bills, and looked up at me, smiling widely. "Ya didn't have ta do dat dollface." He smiled.
"Call me Magic." I said softly.
"I didn't know ya liked dat name." He said, a little surprised. I shrugged.
"It's what everyone else calls me, it's fine." I grinned, turning to leave.
"Hey, Magic?" He called after me, I turned around and looked at him. He smiled genuinely at me. "T'anks again." He said, faltering a little bit. I smirked and then left the room. Happily, I skipped down the hall and down the steps. Boy, was I in for a surprise when I got down there.
a/n
Ooooo! Long chappie Go me! I wanted to update yesterday, but stuff happened and I didn't get a chance to finish it :( Hope you liked it though. It was kinda a filler chapter. See, Jack ain't such a bad guy after all. And, Magic is popping out of her deep and dark shell. Which, isn't always good ;)
Shoutouts!
Shooter - Heh. I gave you a small cameo. Hope you liked it! Thanks for writing that story.. FOR ME! I'm stunned! Hope you liked this chapter. Yes, indeed, we do rock! Hard! LoL! IUWD!!
Dimonah Tralon - Hey! Thanks for reviewing! You don't have to soak Cowboy anymore! He's a good guy. Well, in this chapter! Hope you liked this one.
Sparks Kelly - Thank you for reviewing. I'm glad you like the story! I updated like you wanted! Yay for me! Yeah, Jack was a mean butt munch, but he redeemed himself in this chapter! Good boy!
AngelFish7 - Yay! A new reviewer throws you a cookie :) Thanks so much! I'm glad you like this story! It makes me happy! Hope you liked this chaper!
Anidwen - Thank you for the review! Hope you liked this chapter! I'm glad you love this story! I do too!
BlackWiltedRose - Saved the best for last! Glad you like this story! We updated on the same day! I didn't send you this before hand because I wanted to get it posted right away. Thanks sooo much for reviewing! Have fun on vacation! I'll try not to update too much ;)