Shout ins:
Artemis-chan: Thank you! Hey, ho, I'm back! Yeah, the other newsies finally noticed. It would have been sooner but, ya know...they're slow.
Spot: We'se hoid dat, Legsie! And I'se is gonna soak ya sorry bum!
Legs: (holds up can of angry newsie repellent)
Spot: You don't fight faiah, you know dat?
Legs: (shrugs) I'm a writer. Enough said. (Goes back to story)
Yeah, poor Race, we're all a little concerned...
Racetrack: (muttering darkly in corner) Kill them. Kill 'em all.
Spot: Uh, Race?
Racetrack: Take 'em and squeeze 'em till they die.
Mush: (looks scared) C'mon, Race, it's me. Yoah old pal Mushie? Huh?
Racetrack: Smash 'em undah me foot till they become smithahreens like they desoive ta be.
(Newsies crowding around Race gulp nervously)
Legs: Ignore him. He's planning the demise of the cockroach population.
Jack: Race, what cockroaches?
Race: (glares) Da ones in South America, of cohse!
Blink: Uh, what do...(scratches head) What does South 'Merica gots ta do wid you?
Race: Foist it's deah...den it's HEAH. If we don't stop 'em, deyse gonna take ovah New Yohk City!
Da woild as we know it is gonna be destroyed in a great wave of misery!
Sapphy: Thank you. I'm glad you like the drama, my darling. :D
Legs: Race, Sapphy says to go home, there's something wrong with you.
Race: G-g-go home? I (panicked sorrow stretches across his face) I- I'se don't got any home! I'SE HOMELESS!!!!!!!!!! (breaks out into heart-wrenching sobs) I'se got nowheah ta go...what will I do...
David: (coughing) Speaking of drama...
feisty2: Yes, it was sad. I was rereading that chapter going...ok, was I on CRACK? I'm like...all over the place...hahah funny! Ohhh, teeeeaaarsssssssss....burn, baby, burn! More teeeeeeeeeearssssss...oh, I'm sleeeeeeeeepy...heheh.
Yes, Race's poor friends have no idea where he is. I wonder if they ever will...
Oh, and guess who's character is featured in this chapter...hmmm...
Moonlights Sundance: Thanks for always reading. And RIGHT THIS SECOND I AM STOPPING EVERYTHING TO READ YOUR STORY! :D love you, of course. (Hugs)
AngelicOne: Thank you! CANDY! YAY! (Does frightening ritual dance to scare candivorous wild newsies away) (candivorous: can-DIV-or-Us, invented by Legs, "a creature who lives only on candy")
Shot Hunter: Happy way belated birthday. How is being 20? Thanks for reviewing so faithfully. Tell Krissy and her husband I love them both. And for Trips, Skittery isn't sure he's ready to commit to a long term relationship, yet, but he's interested in casual dating. ;) Many hugs
Bella7: Thank you for your lovely review! :) I can't wait to see what you think of this chapter. Jack sends kisses.
Race: (snorts) What he do-put 'em in a box and tie it wid a yellow ribbon? 'Eh? (nudges other newsies who start laughing)
Jack: (holds up fists) Dat's it, Higgins.
Race: Oh, you wanna fight me? Ya wanna fight, Cowboy? 'Eh?
Legs: GUYS! Can you keep it down? SOME of us have stories to write. Sorry bout that, Bella. They're getting restless. Too many days in the house.
Shorty Carter: Thank you for reviewing. Woooo! BROWNIE TRUCK! Mmm...yummy fudgy goodness...(shoves brownies in mouth) Um...show anyway t'anks foh yoh wuview...
Spot: (wacks Legs on the back, causing her to spew half-chewed brownies across desk) Didn't yoah muddah nevah tell you'se ta not tawk wid yoah mouth full, huh, Legsie goily?
Legs: (darkly) I hate you.
Raven: Hey, are you conscious again? Thank you for your review! Yeah, Spot the philosopher...(fantasizes dreamily)...
(Play harp music) Spotacles appears in the midst of a throng of Greeks, clad in a simple blue toga, his slingshot tucked into his rope belt. People crowd around to watch him speak of profound things of this New York and the next. And then, out of nowhere, the Delanceys appear, bearing on a stack of papes, a cup full of hemlock. Spotacles reaches out, smirking at the crowd, and picks up the cup...
Spotacles: Mmm...I'se is thoisty...
(End fantasy abruptly, music cuts out)
Spot: whoa, Whoa, WHOA! Hold on deah...I'se don't DRINK it...right?
Legs: Why, of course, you do.
Spot: WHAT? DID I LOSE MY MAHBLES?
Boots: Nah, Spot. Dey'se is right heah.
Spot: Legs, I'se is gonna soak ya good!
Legs: A violent Spotacles...this is a twist.
Brownie/Melody: Thanks. Yes, emotion...that's me. One big emotional mess. Heheh. Here's more. :)
NicNac: Thank you, my lovely one! Spanish soap operas actually kind of scare me. They're...really...graphic and...frightening...(cowers in corner) Yeah, I don't like hospitals, either. Lots of bad memories lodged there. Anyhow, here's brownies, hugs, and a new chapter! :)
CiCi: Lol, didn't think about that one. Spot in the future...(starts to fantasize again)
Spot: Oh, NO, ya don't!
Thanks, Cici. :)
Nevaeh: How do you pronounce your name? I keep trying but I'm not sure I have it. I just think that's so cool. My name's pretty boring compared to THAT. (Sigh) Oh, well.
Thank you for reviewing, as always. Have a brownie. :D
snipah higgins: I swear, I did not intentionally forget you! Forgive me, my darlingest! I didn't mean it! I did put lots of you in the story, though. And...and you're in this chapter, too! That's good, right? (Sad face) pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaassssssssseeeeeeeee forgive me!
Kristan: Yeah, Seventh Heaven has gone nuts. I don't really watch much tv so I haven't kept up with it. It's ok. Simon kind of bothers me for some reason. Thanks for liking this even if it's crazy. :D
Have some brownies. They're good.
Rosie Higgins: Such a sweet review! Thank you! (Feels all warm and fuzzy) Really, I needed that. (Sigh of happiness) A happy ending? (chuckle) Um, you're going to have to decide if the end is a happy one. I think it is but it could be sad if you are looking at it from certain characters' points of view. Strong hint: I have never written a story where I intentionally rip apart the relationships I create. I don't intend to start now. How depressing that would be! Have a hug. :)
shinigami nanoda: hahah, evil twins...THAT would be interesting. And kind of pathetic. Lol. Remind me not to do that. Thank you! Your reviews are always so fun to read.
PsYcHoJo: It is rather sad. But Skittery has another kiss for you...and a brownie...(gasp)
Jessica Knight: You know, I thought about "Forever Young" when I was writing this. It kind of sounds like that. Actually, no. He's not aging. Thank goodness. :) Here's more. Love you, of course! Call me.
Spazjoslyn: I can't believe you DIED. Wow. This story is having quite an effect. Well, I updated, finally. RIP, my darling. And tell your ghost to review! (Hands plate of brownies)
imaginelet: Yeah, Kate and Skyford...This should be interesting. Thanks, babe. Have brownies, too. :)
fivefold: Wow. Thank you. Quite complimentary...your review. Read the hint in Rosie Higgins's shout in. That should be comforting. I can't confirm or deny an ending, though. (Sigh) I think you'll all like it. At least, I hope you will. And I got your review regarding registering. I tried to register another pen name under a different address and I had a hard time, too. Not sure what to do about it except write to fanfiction.net. They can help you. :) Hope you get your thing set up soon! I'll read what you write...just let me know.
MethosMacLeod: Thank you! (Hugs)
Disclaimer: If I was wealthy enough to acquire Newsies, I certainly wouldn't be working in retail-which is one major thing that keeps me from all of you and from this story! Waaaaaaa...Disney owns them.
I do own Tanya, Mike, Jenny, Mrs. Farthing, Katherine, and the song "Shadowfall." I created/wrote them all. If you want to borrow any or all of them for some inexplicable reason, just let me know.
The band members are owned by their respective authors.
Kate belongs, as always, to Kate Lawrence.
Kristen is Shot Hunter's. (Her baby is mine, however...heheh. Just kidding)
Forsoothe and forlorn...the day I was borne...
"You piece of crap!"
Britt looked up from her drums, her hazel eyes wide, "What's wrong?"
Allesandra glowered, "This retarded hunk of junk won't stand up!" She gestured towards the keyboard in front of her.
"Try locking the legs," her friend suggested.
"I did!"
"Try again," Jessica ordered, not looking up from her guitar, "Heather, do you still want to change the Gb to an A minor?"
Heather didn't answer.
"Hey, you with the writer's cramp!"
She looked up, "Huh?"
"Gb. We makin' that an A?"
"Uh...yeah, yeah."
"Alright, then. You almost done."
"Uh, one more line. Hold on."
Allesandra shifted impatiently from foo to foot, "Come ON."
Heather set her pencil down, "Kay, done." She handed the hastily scrawled lyrics to Jessica who set them on the floor in front of her.
The girls turned to look at Britt who smiled and started, "One, two, three, four..."
Jessica hugged her guitar and blew hot breath across the sound equipment as the bass rifts started. She broke in, with every word gaining intensity...
"So shadow fall
Into the night
So out of sight, so out of my mind
So they say...about forever..."
She looked at Heather, who crashed back into her bass guitar with a twang, and Allesandra leaned into her mic,
"So shadow fall
Shadow rise
Only for a lifetime can you hide in your disguise"
Jessica felt the beat pounding into her head and she sang slower and more deliberately,
"And there's still forever...
There's still forever...
And you have so far to go
...before shadowfall."
****
"No, Mom, she's...yeah, she's gonna be okay, I think. The doctors said...they said, it looks like a concussion. She's still...yeah." Tanya felt her voice breaking, "Mom? I love you, too. Alright...see you when you...yeah, ICU at St. Martin's. Okay. Bye, Mom."
Tanya glanced sideways at the clock on the wall. Almost midnight. Around her, people swarmed anxiously to nurses' sides, congregated in groups, or slumped into forgiving sleep.She saw Racetrack's heavy eyes fighting to stay open, as he stood beside her, leaning against a high counter. The disinfected attitude of the place, phones ringing, doctors shouting, babies crying...how very detached she felt from it all. Numb...and unreal. As if none of it were really happening. She leaned her head against the newsie's shoulder, "Are you as tired as I am?"
"Prob'ly," he told her, pulling them onto a hard bench beside a plastic planter.
****
Kristen wished that the person growing inside her had the same ideas about sleep that she did. That is, that the activity usually occurred during the night.
Instead, she found herself leaving the safe warmth of her husband's arms and wandering the small flat. She would sleep the afternoon away, but tonight, oh, tonight was a night to be awake...ha, awake.
Kristen ached to fall back against the cool pillows, snuggle closer to Bumlets, and close her eyes. The minute she tried, though, a solid kick issued from her middle. Babies certainly were an awful lot of trouble.
****
"Before shadowfall..."
****
Katherine sighed. It was late. Far past the hour decent people retired in. And yet, here she sat on the fire escape, the flowers perfuming their way down to her from the window box. She hoped Jack Kelly had no midnight rendevous with Sarah planned. How embarrassing that would be.
Something in the house stirred and Katherine stiffened. Oh, dear. She had woken someone up.
****
Kate stumbled back out onto the deck, her face the picture of confusion.
"See?" she heard Skyford chuckled to Snipes, "She's back already." His wicked gray eyes were on her again and Kate felt herself spinning, rushing, swooping back to that morning at the docks. November, the first, in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-three...
"Best of luck, Mr. Brooks," she heard her thirteen-year-old self say.
The boy of eighteen laughed at her serious expression but stopped abruptly as he caught sight of Kate's parents, "Why...thank you. Miss." He added the last after a moment's pause, his strong mouth twisting into the most scandalous half grin.
She smiled back, shyly, her eyes swelling again with that ever present adoration.
He continued smiling politely, his eyes following the movements behind her. As Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence turned to address the ship's captain, Skyford seized his brief chance and bending lower than he thought possible, planted a kiss on her cheek. "When I see you again, you'll be old and wrinkled," he told her, "And not at all worth the trouble of kissing."
"I will not!"
"No, but you'll be married and I won't be allowed to kiss you anymore."
"I will not!"
"You will not what?" he asked, his tone condescending and playful.
"I will not get married!"
"I should like to see that," he grinned. "You, Kate Lawrence, not get married...ha. And didn't I tell you? I'm the king of England!"
"You watch and see. I won't get married. I don't want to get married!"
"Ahh, but what will you do with that pretty face of yours, instead? Go on the stage?"
"I will!"
His eyes shone with understanding, but he went on,"What will your parents do?"
"I don't care."
"I know."
"Goodbye, Skyford."
"Goodbye, Kate."
She would not cry. She was an actress and no one could make her cry. The ship grew smaller, fading out into the growing fog. She pulled her shawl closer and stood up straighter. Without a tear, she walked back to her mother and father who stood waiting upon the cobblestones.
"No one is sorry he's gone, I'm afraid," Her mother's voice sounded tired and distant.
"Fine boy," harrumphed Mr. Lawrence.
"He's not even half Lawrence. Really, Alfred, is a third cousin such important family to have stayed five months?"
"But he IS a Lawrence."
"Yes, I suppose."
The family fell into silence. A silence that would stretch another two years...until the bankruptcy notes began to arrive and Alfred Lawrence suffered a severe breakdown of nerves...and the boat came and carried Katherine Lawrence out of London, across the ocean, and onto the American stage.
****
Jessica hummed for a moment before starting the second verse, her voice carrying out into the hushed club...
"So shadow rise
In bloody glory
So find, so follow
Above it all...lead..."
****
Kristen shook her head, resignedly, as the sun crept into the corner of the New York horizon. So much for sleep.
****
"So shadow fall
Shadow rise
Only for a lifetime
Can you hide in your disguise..."
****
Katherine contemplated running down the stairs and out into the street. Then no one would know she had been the cause of the disturbance.
A boyish voice banished the thought.
"I dinna mean to wake anyone up," she told him, apologetically.
"It's alright," he told her, "I was awake, already."
He sat down, without looking at her and stared down through the alley to the moving morning shadows.
David looked nothing like Danny, Katherine decided. He was rather short. Danny had been six feet. David had curly hair, Danny had straight. They both had blue eyes, though. She liked blue eyes.
Danny and she used to run races through the tall grass. Danny would let her win and then tell her so. Danny always went slow enough on the long walks to school so she could keep up. He would pretend he was only tired or taking a rest. She knew better. Danny was never tired. He was the strongest, handsomest boy in all of Ireland, she used to say. And Danny would pick flowers and leave them on the woodpile after school, thinking all the while, that she didn't see him do it.
"Do you miss it?"
"What?" Katherine asked, startled. Surely, he couldn't read her mind...could he?
"Do you miss it- the theater?"
"Oh! Oh, the theater...I, I don't..." Katherine thought about if for a moment. Dark, cold memories seem to cloud her suddenly. She shook her head, "No. I do not miss it."
"Really? Not at all?" David looked surprised.
She shook her head again, more firmly, "At all."
****
"And there's still forever...
There's still forever
And you have so far to go...
Before shadowfall."
****
"I wondah what Jack t'inks," Racetrack mused, "Dey'se got no idea wheah I went!"
"You know what's weird?"
"What?"
Tanya went on, so tired she didn't think, "They're all dead now." Realizing her words too late, she looked up.
Racetrack looked like someone had punched him in the stomach.
"Oh, Race, I didn't..."
The newsboy shook his head, "Nah, yoah right, Tanya. Deah all dead." He stood up, his back to her and then he spun around. "So what am I still doin' heah, huh? Huh? Why me? And if I'm heah, am I not deah? Did I stop livin' in nineteen hund'ed and staht ovah in da twenty-foist cent'ry? Is me muddah not me muddah anymoah?" Something else seemed to occur to him, "Am I ME, anymoah, Tanya?"
"I-I don't know. I mean, yeah, you're you...right? I mean, how could you not be you? Look at you! You're...you," she finished lamely.
He rolled his eyes, "Boy, people in dis cen'try ah pretty stupid, 'uh?"
Tanya sighed, "Tomorrow morning we need to get to a library. We've got to figure this out fast."
"Why?"
"My mother's flying home."
****
"So shadow dance
In spite of ache
So never walk, so never run
Still, you must be hot or cold...
So shadow fall
Shadow rise
Only for a lifetime
Can you hide in your disguise
And there's still forever...
There's still forever
And you have so far to go...
Before shadowfall..."
****
a/n: so that's it for now. 'Nother chapter done. Review and I know it feels kind of slow and weird just now. I have a plan. Really. (Searches for plan) love you all, Legs
