Switchblade's Story-Ch.6

Disclaimer: I own Switchblade, Piston, Kathleen, Adrian, Slice, and Colt. Rounder, Chip, Cake, Steel, and Famous are Saturday's, and everyone else belongs to themselves. Yeah, so…please read and review!

"Now he's jammed up. He's jammed up bad."-"Gone In 60 Seconds"

That night, we had a big-ass party, to celebrate the reunion of old friends, and the making of new ones. We invited some of the Manhattan newsies (yes, Jack came too, I was rather surprised we managed to get along), and we had a really good time. Rounder ate about 5 pounds of sugar, and started running around the Manhattan lodging house yelling, "THE EVIL PENGUINS ARE COMING!! THE EVIL PENGUINS ARE COMING!!"

That was extremely amusing; as I'm sure you could guess. Then, of course, we had to keep him away from the alcohol. We tried hiding it under Bumlets' bed, but he found it anyway.

Did I mention he's enamored with Jack Daniels? Oy vay. He drank about four shots, then proceeded to try to swing dance drunkenly with Izzy, who was a little tipsy herself. 'Zoot Suit Riot' is quite amusing when your best friends are drunk and swing dancing.

I just sat and drank it all in. It was so wonderful to just sit and watch everyone having fun, no cares, no worries. I didn't know my world was about to be shaken to its' very core.

I didn't know everything would come crashing down around me.

The next morning I was in the middle of a very nice dream involving actual money to buy good food for me and Kathleen, when I was shaken rudely awake by Adrian.

"Wha…What's wrong, dude?" I asked sleepily.

"Kathleen's gone, Blade" he said, his big brown eyes fixed on me.

"Eh, she's probably crawling around the place" I said, my mind not really functioning because of the after-effects of the alcohol.

"No, babe, she's not. Me, Chip, and Rook searched the whole place. She's gone, Blade."

My heart stopped and my blood ran cold.

He reached into his pocket and handed me an envelope. "This was left in her crib", he said, not looking at me.

I took it from him with trembling fingers and opened it. The very sight of the lettering made my skin crawl, and I knew instantly who it was from.

"My dearest Elizabeth"- it began.

"I see you have discovered your daughter is missing. Rest assured, she is being taken good care of. You will want her back immediately, I suppose. You can have her back as soon as you like, on the following conditions: Quit the strike immediately, and never look back. Also, convince your compatriots in Brooklyn and elsewhere to do the same. It is for their own good. After this, I will not give them another chance, and my men will not be kind. They either surrender, or they will be crushed. Think well on this, Elizabeth. How badly do you want your precious daughter back? I await your answer.

With kind regards,

Joseph A. Pulitzer"

As I read the letter, my hatred of the man I had never liked grew with every word. My hands were shaking, and I was biting my lip so hard to keep from crying, that a little blood had slipped down my chin.

"What happened, Blade?" Famous asked, coming up beside me.

I couldn't speak. I just handed her the letter. She read it, and her face turned whiter with each passing line, making her hair seem almost comical by comparison.

"That bastard" she said, then let loose a couple of choice words in Italian she must've picked up while dating Racetrack.

"What're you gonna do, Blade?" asked Rounder, looking subdued for once, a far cry from his usual cheerful self.

Wiping a few tears away, and very feebly smiling, I replied, "What I always do when my ass needs saving, Rounder. Go ta Brooklyn."

And I left without a word, taking Famous with me. She wanted to see Spot again, for some reason. ( Read 'Irish Banana' by Saturday if you don't get it.)

45 MINUTES LATER

"SPOT! SPOT! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" I yelled. I didn't care that it was 7:00 a.m. on a Sunday, and all the Brooklyn newsies were probably sleeping.

I was a mama on a mission.

"SPOT!" I yelled again, and probably would've gone on yelling until I got an answer, until a hand was clapped over my mouth. It was Colt, one of my egocentric cousin's many cronies.

"Jesus, Blade, what're ya tryin' ta do, wake the whole damn House? I'll get Spot for youse, ya don't gotta yell."

He removed his hand, and I smiled half-heartedly at him. "Thanks, Colt. I really gotta talk to Spot, it's kinda important. Thanks."

He winked, then disappeared upstairs to fetch mi solo primo favorito. (Bonus points to someone who can translate that for me, LOL)

"Whaddya want, Elizabeth?!" he asked, looking rather pissed off. I didn't really care at the moment.

I shoved the letter in his face. "Kathleen is gone. Pulitzer's goons stole her during the night. I want her back, Spot! And you're gonna help me, and so is Jack. I am going to kill him if he's touched her at all."

As Spot read the letter, his eyes got smaller and smaller, until they were just little glittering slits in his head.

He looked almost…diabolical. Whoa. Weird.

Then, out of nowhere, he grabbed my hand, grabbed Famous with his other hand, and we tore out the door, and were on our way to the Manhattan Lodging House, to tell Mr. High-And-Mighty what happened to his baby girl.

END CHAPTER

Yeah…so…kidnappings, intrigue, striking newsies…what more could you want?

Jack!muse: Maybe an actual PLOT?!
Me: You're just made 'cause I wrote you as an arrogant asshole.

Jack!muse: Up yours!

Me: Oh, that's mature

Anyways…on to shoutouts!

SHOUTOUTS:

Saturday: What exactly is the Clint Eastwood themesong? Yes, freshman year is VERY evil. Thankfully, mine was two years ago, so I can laugh at all the puny freshman who are suffering now. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!

ROUNDER: A-HEM!

ME: Except Izzy, of course.

ROUNDER: (beams)

I'm glad you think I portrayed your boys well. Believe me, they were…interesting…to work with. But mucho divertido nontheless. Love ya, thanx for reviewing!

Ducks-go-quack-00: Wow, I have two pages of reviews for this story. However, most of them were really long-ass reviews, so I guess I can understand that. Anyways, thanx SO much for reviewing!

Eagle Higgins-Conlon: Yes, your spelling sucks. But that's OK, so does my best friends'. Anywho, your make-out scene will come eventually, when I have more time to write. But, since I don't now, it's gonna be a little later. Anyways…too tired to write more, thanks for the review!

LINCOLNEASTHIGH SCHOOL WON BEST COLOR GUARD AT COLUMBUS!! GO US!!!

That is my ranting for this evening. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review!