18. Clueless

We only had been able to rest for a few days before we were up and running again. I mean running literally. It wasn't until we were all packed and on a train heading to Boston did I stop and think about what had happened.

All had been going well. We had gotten $7,000 dollars from Paul, and Mr. Quay was ready to move onto the next step of his revenge.

A few days after we pulled our con, Jim was bringing the last few things from the now empty office building, when he saw Paul McKleesh enter.

Jim ran all the way home to tell there was trouble, and now in a few hours, we were on the train.

I stared out the window, rain pouring out of the night sky and pounding down against the glass. I looked over at Madeline who was fast asleep in her chair. I was tired, but I didn't feel like sleeping yet, so I went to find the men.

They were sitting in the dining car, drinking cofee. "Hey boys," I said, sitting down.

"Hey Sugar," replied Jim.

"Why yes Jim, I would like some sugar." I grabbed a few cubes of sugar from the table and dropped them into his cup. Jim looked from me too his coffee, scowling. We all knew he liked his coffee black.

" Here." Jim set his cup down in front of me, and headed off.

"So Drake," I began, taking a sip of my drink. "Are you in love with Madeline."

Drake began to choke on his coffee and he looked over at me. "You look like you do like her, but then you never say anything to her."

"Loki, there is no chance of me evah bein with her. That's why I don' try."

"Whaddya mean you don' gotta chance? You bloody live with her!" I exclaimed, accidentally slipping into improper speech.

"Think Loki! She is proper, and I'm a criminal!"

"Yoah both criminals!"

"Yes but what would 'appen when she discovered that it was me who repoahted her fadda. That it was because of me that she had to join a group of con-artists to survive." Drake had a good point there, but I believed that Madeline and Drake should be together, so I wasn't going to give up.

"Don't tell her then."

"Loki! What kinda relationship would it be if I lied to 'er all the time?"

Images of my mother walking out the door flooded back to me. Drake was right.

We sat quietly sipping our coffee for some time.

"Drake?"

"Hm?"

"You care for her right?"

"Yeah."

"You wanna marry her right?"

"Yeah," Drake said, looking at me suspiciously.

"Then I suggest you go tell her the truth now. She's on the train and has nowhere to run, she has to listen to what you say. Tell her the complete story, and if she doesn't like it, that's the end of things. But if she forgives you, you'll all live happily ever after. So will you take a chance?"

Drake sat quietly staring into his cup of coffee.

"Alright." Drake slammed his cup down on the table and stood up. He was going to take the chance.

I must have sat in that dining room for five minutes fighting the urge to spy on Drake and Madeline. I decided to go look for Jim; he would keep me occupied until Drake was done.

I found Jim in the compartment next to the one I had come out of earlier. I could hear voices coming from with in, but I forced myself into the next room.

"Hey Sugar, how was your coffee?"

"Delightful thank you."

"It was only delightful because my lips touched the rim first."

" If anything, yoah lips made the cup taste sour." I said, turning my face from him. I didn't want Jim to see that I was smiling at his cocky attitude.

" Come now Loki, don't you think my lips would taste nice? Here let me show you." Jim leaned forwards, his lips in an over exaggerated pucker.

I squealed and shoved my hand against his face, trying to push him back. He continued to lean forward, so I gave his head one hard shove backwards, and jumped to the seats across from him.

"Jim, I have never wondered what your lips tasted like thank you." I said, wiping my hands off.

"Oh but youwill, you will." He said raising his eyebrows. He flashed a smile at me and patted the chair beside him. I grinned and sat back beside him.

"It's late, you should get some rest," said Jim, when he saw me yawn.

He set his jacket on his lap and lay my head down on it. I hadn't thought I was too tired, but I fell asleep only minutes after my head hit his lap.

I woke up some time later, not sure where I was and why I was so uncomfortable. I looked up and got a good view of the inside of Jims nose, his nostrils enlarging with every snore.

I sat slowly up and pulled my handkerchief out of my purse. I twisted a corner of it into a spike, and moved towards Jim. I was just about to stick it up his nose, when I looked at him sleeping so peacefully. He deserved some rest, I would let him sleep.

I walked out of the cabinet and peeked through the next-door window. They were both in there, and a sleep. Madeline was wrapped in Drakes arms and they both looked very peaceful.

Maddy's face was blotchy and it was obvious she had been crying, but since they were so close, it was obvious that they had over come the negative elements some how. I knew Drake would be able to get his way in the end.

It's a good thing Jim hadn't liked her instead of Drake, he may not win the argument. I quickly thought of something else. For some reason, the thought of Jim and Madeline together disturbed me.

Boston was a huge city, but it still wasn't New York. I wasn't as home sick for my home city as I was when I first started traveling.

Jim and Drake immediately went out and found us a four-bedroom room apartment for us to live in. We had all had a rough night on the train, so we all threw our bags on the floor and slept for the rest of the morning.

After that we got the place set up and then guess what? We went to bed again! We slept through the whole nights, and were ready to start living again by the next morning.

Around 9 o'clock, Madeline walked into my bedroom.

"Hey." I said, sitting up in my bed.

"Hey. Um Drake and I are going out." She said, blushing.

"Going out and doing what?" I asked.

"Nothing." Madeline was fidgeting in a suspicious manner.

"Maddy, I was dah one who tol' Drake that he bettah talk to you befoah it was to late. Can't you tell me where are you going?"

" To the church."

"To say the lords prayer I 'spose?" I asked standing up. I grinned and hugged Madeline hard. A huge smile came to her face when she saw I understood her business.

"Make sure he gets you a ring," I whispered in her ear.

"I will!" Madeline turned and ran out of the room. I lay back down in my bed and listened as the front door slammed shut.

I made my bed and got dressed. When that was done, I pulled out a piece of my paper, and a pencil. I looked out the window and began to draw the city around m.

Suddenly I felt like some one was watching me, and I looked up to see Jim leaning in the doorway.

" You better leave my room now." I said.

"No, I think I'll come in." Jim took a small step, and I grabbed my water pitcher, that I had already place by my bed.

Instead of running out of the room like I thought he would, Jim just smiled. So far, one of his arms was still outside the door, and now he pulled it into view. He was holding a water pitcher.

"I'm warning you, mine has a lot of water in it."

Jim-still grinning- looked down at his jug and then back up at me. "Mine's fuller."

Jims grinning and water pitcher made me really nervous and I knew I had to act. I jumped of my bed and splashed some of my water into his face. Jim splashed right back; this was the beginning of a full on water battle.

I don't know how long it had been, but we both looked up from our game to see Drake and Madeline standing the door, the eyes wide in surprise. They had a right to be.

Imagine coming into the house and hearing screaming and laughter. Then to find two adults running around the apartment soaking wet, and throwing water at each other...yes it would be pretty surprising.

"Where have you been?" asked Jim standing up.

" Did you make him get you one?" I asked running over. Madeline squealed and held up her left hand. She had a small silver band with a shiny stone set in it.

"Congratulations!" I said, hugging both Madeline and Drake.

"Wait a minute, congratulations? What's going on?" asked Jim, wiping back his wet hair.

"You are a slow one Jim." I said, still inspecting Madeline's ring.

"Slow about what?" asked Jim clueless.

"I'll tell you one day Jim." I patted Jim on the chest and walked into my room to get into dry clothes. I could hear Madeline telling Jim to clean up the floor this instant because she would not be doing it for him.

Shouts outs

Air: So you got your wish. There is a little more on Drake and Maddys relationship eh? Yes the newsies are coming back, just not yet. If you read 'A Matter of life and death' Loki disapars for two years and the last line of the story is "Loki was back!" So i wrote this story, planning for her to return, so you just wait:D

Koodles4you: How did you like 'your' Jim in this chapter? Puckering his lips just to pester Loki. She liked it of course, thats why she hadn't beat him up on the spot. Jims getting smarter too. Getting his own water pitcher was a smart idea.

aLeX24: I'm glad you like Loki now. She wasn't ment to be liked in my other story...but i liked her anyway. Jim was origionally suposed to be a guy that shows up once and is never mentioned again, but then i realized he would make things so much more interesting. Thanks for your review.

..And always, a special thanks to Doc Na Skywalker who gave me the idea about Jim having his own water pitcher, and to Shrieksy who always tells me her opinion personaly.