Title: Cuts Like A Knife
Author: Stress
First written: May 12, 2002
Edited and replaced: January 21, 2005
Summary: Part I of the Soul Mates Series; She thought that life couldn't get any better. She had friends and a family that loved her – she was taken care of and had no complaints. But that was before he came into her life. And, no matter how hard she tries to escape his grasp, he'll never let her go.
Manhattan
Jess regained consciousness just as she felt herself being carried into a dark building. Too scared to scream, she clamped her eyes shut, praying that it was all a dream. "The last thing I remember was being alone in that alley with that guy... Oh, no. What is he gonna do to me?" she thought to herself as her heart pounded heavier and more rapidly than it ever had before.
Though she had her eyes closed, she could hear everything that was going on around her. She could feel herself being carried up a flight of stairs while the silence of the building echoed around her. She felt the person carrying her pause as he presumably opened a door, then continued walking. Just as she felt herself being lowered onto a bed, she heard a voice cry out, "Cowboy, what do you got there?"
"Cowboy? Who's Cowboy?" It dawned on Jess that she must have been brought to the building by the boy she had seen in that alley. After all, he was twirling a lasso; Who else would you be be twirling a lasso in New York?
"Heya Race? Is anyone else here? King or anyone?" a panicked voice responded as he walked away from the bed he had laid Jess on.
"Naw, Cowboy. The only ones in the lodging house right now are me and Kloppy." Jess could hear the puzzled note in the second boy's voice.
"Well, can you get him for me? She's got a nasty cut on her shoulder and she's pretty banged up. I think I'm gonna need a bit of help."
"Sure thing. I'll be right back." Jess could hear the footsteps as the echoed down the hall and ran down the stairs.
"How does he know about me shoulder?" she wondered. She opened her eyes slightly to see her shirt was slightly disheveled in a way that revealed the hastily tied bandage from the night before. Trying not to draw attention to herself, she turned her head slowly to catch a glimpse of her rescuer, for she no longer feared him. Though she was a bit preoccupied of why he had brought him back to, what did he say - his lodging house?, she knew that he was only doing it to help her. After all, she had fainted right in front of him and he hadn't left her there by herself.
"Awww... I see that you're awake there, missy," the boy said, a smile of relief evident on his face.
Obviously her actions had not gone unnoticed. Jess blushed as she felt his eyes on her. "Yeah, I guess I am. I'm sorry, but who are you?"
The boy laughed, his brown eyes twinkling as he did so. "The name's Jack Kelly, but everyone calls me Cowboy. What do they call you, kid?"
Though she was tired, achey, homesick and had just been rescued by this... this Cowboy, Jess felt her defenses rise. "First of all, you don't look any older than me, so I don't know who you're calling 'kid'," she retorted as she automatically raised her hands to her face in case he got mad. It was a gesture she had learned from her experience with Rip; whenever she had let her temper flare and talked back to him, he had felt the need to teach her a lesson.
Jack's sarcastic response died on his lips when he saw the girl in front of him raise her arms up in defense. His eyes lingered on her black eye, swollen cheek and the cut on her shoulder. "She's been through the mill, this one." He sighed as he sat down by her bunk and guided her hands back to her side. "O.K., I'm gonna start over. My name is Jack, and I'm thirteen years old. I live hear in the Manhattan Newsboys Lodging House with all of my fellow newsies. The leader here is a guy named King, who you'll meet later," he said this all in one quick breathe, stopping briefly to take another before continuing, "And you are?"
Jess blushed again as she extended her hand to shake Jack's. "Nice to meet you, Jack. My name is Jess and I'm from Queens. Well, Sligo, Ireland and then Queens -- but now I came to live here in Manhattan for a li'l bit," she whispered as she regretted snapping at him in the first place. "This guy just carried you through half of Manhattan, the least you could do is thank him," her conscience whispered to her. Always one to listen to her good side, Jess looked up at Jack. "I'm sorry about being nasty, Jack, but once I got here, I got attacked by this guy and I just ran. I ran and ran and ran until I got to that alley where you saw me. My nerves just got the best of me and I guess I passed out. Thank you for bringing me here." She turned her head away as she felt herself going soft. "I just can't let down my guard, even if he seems nice. Remember, Rip seemed nice at first too."
Jack opened his mouth to respond and was cut off when a short kid with dark hair came running in followed by an older man with white hair and glasses. "I'm here, Jack. And I brought Kloppy with me," the short kid said as he rushed in and ran to Jack's side.
"Another stray, Cowboy?" the older man said with a smile as he brought a wet rag to Jess's forehead.
"Kloppman, Race, this is Jess. She found me when I was out today practicing me rope tricks and passed out when I looked at her. I didn't know what happened, so I brought her back here with me," Jack said, gesturing to Jess on the bunk.
Race laughed as he looked from Jack to Jess. "Didn't know you had that kind of effect on the girls, Jacky-Boy," he cracked as he dodged a playful slap from Jack.
"Shut up, Race. Anyways, Kloppy, do you think she'll be O.K.?" he asked anxiously as he wrung his hands.
Jess grew hot all over at these three guys watching her as she laid immobile in some boy's bunk. Screwing up her courage she went to tell them all that she was fine, but stopped when Kloppman gingerly toucher her injured shoulder. "I'm fi--OWWW! What did you do that for?" she cried, her eyes flashing golden.
Kloppman chuckled as he made to undo her home-made bandage. "Got into some sort of fight I see," he joked before he saw the gash. He drew in a breath when he saw the severity of the wound. "My dear, what happened here? Race, get me another wet cloth and some fresh bandages. You don't want this to get infected, do you?" he asked as he saw her face.
"Naw, but I'm fine, honest," she tried before Kloppman cut her off with a shake of his head, as Race came storming back into the room.
"Sure you're fine. In that case, how did you get that nasty shiner? And I'm sure that girls always faint for no reason?" he stated as he washed her cut with the new rag and tied a new bandage on her shoulder.
Jess winced slightly at the pressure he applied but said nothing. Everything the older man was saying was making sense, but her pride kept her from saying so.
"So, Kloppy? Is it O.K. if Jess stays here for the night? She ain't in no shape to be wandering around New York," Jack added as he pointed to the rags and her bloody bandages that were in Kloppman's hands.
Kloppman looked over at the frail child in front of him and sighed. "I dunno, Cowboy. You know the rules. No girls in the lodging house over night."
Jack shook his head stubbornly; he refused to take no for an answer. "Awww, c'mon Kloppy. I'll show her the Bottle Alley Lodging House tomorrow where all the other girls stay. Besides, it's just one night." Jack poked Race in the side, obviously looking for some help.
Race jumped at the sudden jab but came to Jack's aid. "Yeah, Kloppman. It's only the one night."
Kloppman sighed as he nodded. "Alright, boys. If King says it's fine, then it's fine with me."
The four of them all jumped as a fifth voice rang out in the bunkroom. "What's fine if I say so?" it questioned before it's owner, a tall boy with blonde hair and green eyes, entered the doorway.
Before any of the other boys in the room could acknowledge his presence, Jess jumped up in her new bed and shrieked. "It's you!" she cried as she pointed to the boy. He stopped in his tracks as all of them turned to look at Jess's fearful face. As the new boy walked over to her side, Jess gulped and turned to face him defiantly. Her strength lasted only seconds before she gave in to the overwhelming urge to pass out.
"Jess?!" Jack cried as he lurched forward to see his new charge faint for the second time that day. He gently shook her, trying to get her to awake. When it failed to work, he turned to the cause of her passing out.
"King? What did yo do to her?" he hissed, ignoring the fact that he was speaking to the leader of the lodging house, an accomplished street fighter four years his senior, with disrespect.
King, his eyes full of confusion, shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, Cowboy. I don't even know this girl." He leaned over to get a better look at the girl that lay sleeping in Jack's bunk and jumped when he recognized her. "Wait a second, I do know her. That's the girl that ran away from me in Newsies Square this afternoon. I wondered what happened to her," he mumbled as he pushed his hair out of his eyes again and threw down the suitcase that was in his left hand.
"I can tell you exactly what happened to her. She ended up running all the way to me secret spot. I guess the surprise o' meeting someone after running down all dose alleyways was just too much for her cause when she saw me she fainted. I got nervous so I carried her all the way back to the lodging house. She's all bruised and beaten and has got a gash on her shoulder a couple of inches long from a knife fight. She ain't in no shape to be wandering around New York, so I just asked Kloppy if she could stay here for the night and I'll take her to Bottle Alley tomorrow. Kloppy says it was up to you. Whaddya say, King?" he asked politely, trying to make up from his earlier rude remarks.
King glanced over at Jess once more before shrugging his shoulders again. "Sure, Cowboy, she can stay here. But, I'm gonna find out why she fainted when I walked in the door. I understand why she fainted when she saw you, but I'm actually good-looking," King said playfully as he sat down on the bunk next to Jess's, out of reach from any retaliation from Jack.
Jack chuckled as he sat on the floor next to the bunk and waited for Jess to awake. He knew from past experience that the girl didn't stay unconscious for long.