ok, to all of you who read this chapter befoer i took it donw, FORGET IT! i wasn't happy with it, so im rewriting it!

RileyHiggins(actually me on her computer under her name...)-i know, i know, i rock man

NewsieGoil1899-glad to see you've started to read my story! RileyHiggins talks about you, saying how you read every chapter and obsess over it and review and what not. honored to make your aquantence. now, you forgot your manners for awhile there, so maybe i wont actually write anything in this "chapter" ill just respond to reviews...

elleestJenn-no! dont hate Dutchy! i must make you not hate him! this chapter is dedicated to making people not hate Dutchy! even though the entire last chapter couldve been avoided if it werent for him...

Garen Ruy Maxwell-another person who yells at me and then says please! what is it with you people?

Cakes-tsk tsk...points for me however for keeping people awake wondering about my story!

alright, this time its going to be better.

"NO!" Kid Blink screamed as Mustang lost her grip and fell. He reached out a hand, but it was too late. Also, in letting go he had lost his balance. Luckily, Cowgirl returned to all four feet on the ground and he managed to scramble into an upright position. Whatever happens, stay on, even if I fall. She'll take care of you, trust me. He had to trust her. That was the only thing left to do. He made sure the reins wouldn't slip and kicked Cowgirl as Mustang had done to make her go onto the bridge. She bit the shoulder of the Delancey in front of her, causing the others to back up just enough. With Blink clinging desperately to her neck, she galloped through the mob of them. She was terrifyed, he could see her eyes were wide and realized he was in trouble. This horse wasn't gonna stop. Reaching the end of the bridge, he saw the other Manhattan newsies. Jack stepped into Cowgirl's path and some how managed to stop her.(i dont know how, work with me here!) Blink tumbled to the ground and made no attempt to get up. It was silent except for the sound of the Brooklyn newsies taking care of the Delanceys on the bridge.

"Where's Mustang?" Dutchy asked, looking around. He grabbed Blink by the front of the vest and pulled him up. "Where is she? She didn't fall. I know that wasn't her. You have to tell me that wasn't her." His eyes glanced from Blink's face to Cowgirl to the fight on the bridge. "It was one of the Delanceys. Tell me it wasn't her." It took everything Blink had to keep himself from crying.

"I wish I could," was all he could manage to mutter.

"You let her fall? No, no it couldn't have been her. It just can't. No, it wasn't, you're lying!" He punched Kid Blink but tears were gathering in his eyes and threatening to spill over. Blink's face now hurt like hell, but he knew Dutchy wasn't responsible for what he did, he was just short of insane. He dropped Blink and ran knee deep into the river and probably would have continued if Mush hadn't grabbed him. "I have to, no, it wasn't her." He all but collapsed. Mush dragged him out of the water.

"Don't worry fellas," Jack placed a hand on Blink and Dutchy's shoulders, "we'll find her. There's only so many places the river goes." Both of them shrugged away from him. Dutchy ran a hand through his hair, trying to think of where she would end up. "Don't worry, we got an expert on the river's twists and turns right here." Spot approched them, replacing his gold topped cane in his belt. "We got a problem Spot." Jack explained the situation.

"I know. I got someone going down to the lodgin house down the river. They'll find her." Dutchy stood, grabbed Cowgirl's reins and offered them to Spot. "I don want it!"

"Take her to this other lodging house. I garuntee Mustang'll want her." Spot hesitated, but took the reins and headed back across the bridge. Blink and Dutchy began to follow.

"No. You're both stayin here. They'll be fine, and they'll bring her back. Let's go." Jack lead the weary crew back to the lodging house.

Dutchy fell into his bed, but quickly sat back up. He went out and sat behind the lodging house in the field where Cowgirl stayed. For a few moments he was left alone with his thoughts until someone else stepped from around the corner. Kid Blink climbed over the fence. His one visible eye was black and blue and almost swollen shut. The rest of his face didn't look much better. He walked with a heavy limp on his left leg and his right arm was in a make-shift sling. He fell onto the ground next to Dutchy.

"I tried to grab her. I couldn't. There was nothing I could do." He pulled his hat off and leaned his head back against the building.

"I know. I didn't mean ta blame yeh. An' I'm sorry. Sorry for hitting ya too. Can see that wasn't too helpful. It's just...all I wanted was ta keep her safe. From anything that might hurt her. I told her she hated you. I know I shouldn't've, but I did. I felt like if I could keep her with me, just away from the outside, she'd be safe. I was so afraid of losing her. It's all my fault."

"Nah, it was me who got da Delanceys after us in the first place. They was messin me up bad and she saved me. But they didn't like that. I feel like I dragged her into something that shouldn't have been her problem. If she hadn't been there, though. I don't even wanna know what they'd've done to me."

"She doesn't like to see people mess with her friends. I hope they find her..." He leaned forward and let his head rest on his knees. Why did he lie to her? If he hadn't, everything would be so much simpler. None of this would have happened. She would have gone to sell with Blink that morning and kept the Delanceys away from the beginning. There wouldn't have been the terrifyed flight to the Brooklyn Bridge or that heart-stopping moment she fell off of it.

"They will. They hafta." If he hadn't messed with them that particular morning, Mustang never would've had to defend him. They never would've been chased and she probably wouldn't have been on the bridge at all. And if she wasn't on the bridge, she wouldn't fall off the bridge. He tried to think of something to ease the uncomfortable silence that hung. "Was there something about her hat?" Dutchy didn't respond, or even look as though he'd heard him. "She got upset, but took off her hat before she cried. After she put it back on, it was like it had never happened."

"She hides under it. She told me it's like a mask almost. Or it brings out a different side of her. The newsie side, that isn't afraid of anything, that's tough and doesn't let anything get to her. Without the hat, she's the girl that left her home when she was 10 to go to New York for a life of livin on the streets. She's the scared, defenseless girl who parents are dead and who doesn't know where her next meal's coming from. Not everybody sees that side of her. I did, and it scared me. Why? Cause she was always so fearless, so ready for anything. But when she took the hat off, it was like all of a sudden she had a weakness."

"It scared me too." They were silent, both their hats sitting at their sides.

ok, i like that better. i wanted more wallowing in grief and what not. also wantd to throw that hat thing out there