Chapter Nine

NOTE: The ending is slightly confusing but all will be explain in the next chapter. Nod

It was the day of the banquet. I was spared the torture of going to school that day. Needless to say that got me in a great mood. My mother let me sleep in and sit in bed until I could bare my room no more. I changed out of my pajamas and went downstairs for something to eat. As I reached the bottom of the stairs my mother walked in carrying the dress and suit and looking quite pleased. She put them on the table after showing me and went off upstairs.

"Are you excited Ms. Dacey?" Lisa asked while I ate in the kitchen. She was already making lunch.

"Yes, very." I said finishing the sandwich and taking a last sip of milk.

"I hope you have a good time." She said then shooed me out while she finished making lunch for my parents.

I sat around the house for a bit. I beat Matthew, a servant at chess, though I suspected he let me win. Then my mother made me go take a bath and wash my hair later. The water was cold but when I was done I felt a lot cleaner. My hair shined brightly and my skin was free of dirt smudges. There was five hours until we were to leave for the banquet, Blink was to come in two hours to get washed up and dressed. My mother wanted him to take a bath badly. I didn't much blame her.

The time moved slowly and I swear at one point the clock stopped. Father Time was mocking me, the nerve. Finally, when there was a knock at the door I rushed over and beat all three servants to it. I flung it open and found Blink standing fiddling with his hat and looking very nervous. But to my happiness he looked relieved to see me and I invited him in.

"Good afternoon Blink." My mother said grabbing him by the arm before he could reply and pushing him upstairs to the bathroom.

I sighed and waited at the bottom of the stairs for him to finish. He came out of the bathroom twenty minutes wearing some of my cousin's clothes. He shook his blonde hair like a dog and smiled broadly. Blink pulled me up from where I sat and looked around before giving me a quick kiss. I'm pretty sure he was making sure my parents weren't around. It was now two hours before we were to leave. I took Blink's hand and we ran around the house looking for my mother. We needed to get dressed soon.

"Blink, here is your suit. If you have any questions ask Dacey's father." Mom handed him the suit and Blink walked over into a guestroom.

"Now Dacey." She lead me up to my room and helped me put on the dress. The whole business of a fancy dress was a pain. You can hardly breathe let alone carry on a normal conversation.

Once the dress was on I admired it in the mirror for some time. It was beautiful and probably my favorite dress I had. I span around and my mother smiled then beckoned me over to my bed where she sat. She messed about with my hair for a bit until she found it suitable in a bun.

"Come downstairs in a minute. We need to teach Blink how to dance." She said laughing to herself for reasons I didn't know.

I stood up and rummaged around in my closet for shoes to wear. I hated my special 'banquet' shoes. At the end of the night I always came home with feet aching. I held them in my hand and flounced down the stairs and into the living room. Blink was standing in the middle of the room while my mother messed with a tie around his neck. Blink looked as if he were being readied to be hung.

"Dacianna, come here." My mother motioned me over to a very nervous Blink. "Honey, what dance do you think we should teach him?" She asked my father who was sitting in a chair studying a speech.

"I suppose the fox trot." He said gruffly.

"What about the waltz, do you remember that Dacey?" My mother asked.

I did remember the waltz. Father had taught it to me years ago. He used to spin me around and around while we danced in the backyard. It had never been suitable to dance that in public though. The thought of young men swinging around their young women about and holding them so closes had never appealed to the upper class until recently. I was surprised my mother had even suggested the dance. It was a lot more fun than the foxtrot.

"Yes, I do." I said, going over the steps in my head.

"Very good." She said clicking her tongue. Then without warning she pushed me towards Blink, who turned slightly red. "Put your hands, there and there." She said taking Blink's hands and placing them in the correct spot. "Now count. One two three. One two three."

I stood there awkwardly and tried not to laugh at Blink's face, which was screwed up in concentration. His hair had been combed but it was coming untidier with every head motion. In a matter of minutes my mother had taught Blink the movements of the waltz. She was a good teacher.

"And go."

We moved to the sound of imaginary music. Blink was watching his feet and counting silently, but his lips were moving. I looked to where my father was sitting. He had put down his papers and was watching. Blink and I managed to dance for ten minutes to straight. Needless to say when there was a knock at the door signaling it was time to go we were immensely relieved.

"Very good Blink. You're a quick learner." My mother said while she gathered her purse and latched onto my father's arm.

I grabbed my shoes and grabbed Blink's arm to make him move. He seemed frozen with fear. We walked into the second carriage. Father had arranged for our own. Blink helped me in and then climbed after me and closed the door.

"Don't worry Blink. We'll only dance once." I said smiling. He honestly looked relieved.

Blink kept brushing his hand over his head, he told me it felt bare without his ever-present newsie hat. Blink fidgeted around in the carriage sliding around on the seat across from me.

"Whose gonna be there?" He asked out of the blue when were almost there.

"Uh. My father's friends, co-workers, other rich people, and I do believe he mentioned the governor dropping by." I said absentmindedly.

"I'se met him before." Blink said rubbing his head.

"Who?" I asked looking up curious.

"The governor." He said proudly. "It was 'cause of strike business, you'se know"

"Oh. He's very nice." I said nodding. Then the carriage stopped moving and I'm pretty sure Blink stopped breathing at that point as well.

The driver opened the door and Blink hopped out and took my hand helping met to step out. I had to pick up my dress to keep it from getting in puddles on the sidewalk. My mother and father were waiting for us by the door. There were several reporters and other people gathered around. Blink drifted off away from me for a moment and got attacked by a reporter; I took his hand and pulled him out of the mess before any damage was done. He was rather shaken up as we walked through the door behind my parents. My father and mother were directed up to a long table on a stage where other fairly important people were sitting. Blink and I were escorted to a table in the front of the large banquet hall.

When we were seated Blink looked around and watched the hall fill up quickly.

"Your dad knows all these people?" Blink asked.

"Probably not." I mumbled waving back to girl about our age. To my horror she and her date walked over where we sat.

"Good evening, Dacey." Mary said looking at Blink who was shredding a paper menu.

"Hello Mary. This is my date Blin-"

"James, I'm James. Nice to meet you." Blink said interrupting me. I glanced over at him but he just smiled innocently. James? That was my mother's doing.

"Nice to meet you too, this is William." Mary said. "Mind if we sit here? My parents are such a bore." She asked.

"Well, actually we..." I began but was interrupted again by the artist formerly known as Blink. ((HAHA! –Cough- Yeah. Um.))

"Wouldn't mind at all." Blink said pulling my chair closer to his to give the other two more room. I looked back over at Blink and he just gave me another innocent smile.

There was a long silence that followed this. I elbowed Blink quite a few times to make him stop clicking his tongue.

"Welcome." A voice rang out from the stage. Everyone quieted himself or herself as my father spoke. "Welcome to a celebration of friendships, a celebration of life and a celebration of New York City!" There was thunderous cheering. "Now, I know everyone's hungry, so let us eat!"

There was more cheering and a lot of waiters swooped around taking orders. I had to order for Blink because he was rather confused by what half the things on the menu were. Mary and William gave us odd glances. When the food came I had to casually point out which piece of silverware to eat every course with. Blink found it all very frustrating, but I found it hilarious. When it was clear everyone had finished eating my father got up and made a short speech about the future of the city and then let everyone do what the pleased. People frolicked around joking and laughing with each other. Blink and I watched from our table as Mary and William went off.

"I neva knew eatin' could be so hard." Blink said stabbing a piece of lettuce with his fork.

"You get used to it after awhile." I replied watching everyone dancing about.

The truth was I really did like to dance, but I didn't want to drag Blink onto the dance floor when I knew he didn't want to. He had already gone through all this trouble and nonsense to go with me to the banquet I didn't think I had the right to make him do anything else.

I started drawing on a paper menu that was left behind and that led Blink and I to play ticktacktoe. He won four times before I had given up all hope and I declared him the king of ticktacktoe. Shortly after that a waltz song came on. I let out a little 'huff' noise and Blink looked over at me and stood up. I glanced over at him. He held out his hand.

"Care to waltz?" He asked doing his best to keep a straight face.

"Surely." I took his hand and we walked over the dance floor.

We didn't talk while we danced, Blink was too busy counting. I could hear him saying 'one two three' under his breath as we moved. For just learning how to dance Blink did a very good job. He didn't step on my foot at all and I was very pleased. Once the song ended everyone moved to the edge of the floor as my mother and father walked out. They beamed at Blink and I. I waved back but Blink was paying attention to something else in the corner of the building. A minute later I turned to say something to him but he was gone. I looked around and found him snooping over to some man who was standing alone in the back of the crowd.

The man's hand was in his jacket and he was holding onto something metal. Blink was standing right behind the man when the guy pulled the object out. It was a gun. I screamed as the man aimed for my father in the middle of the dance floor. He was oblivious to what was going on. There was shot fired and I screamed again. I looked at my father but he was fine. He was standing. The man had missed his target. I didn't have time to think. After the first shot another one quickly rung out. People started to flee after the second shot. I stood still but that proved not to be a good idea. I was trampled over and kicked in the head once I had fallen to the ground. I fought to keep my consciousness as I was stepped on, but I couldn't manage. All went black.