onward! you thought the last one was my fianl chapter, and it probably could have been, but no! i must write this one, for the sudden reason that i feel like writing another one that is both romantic and really weird. so, here it is.
disclaimer-nope dont own newsies, but i DO own Mustang and Cowgirl, and i wish i owned the horse cowgirl is based off of...but i dont...yet...i wish
Mustang and Dutchy sat together, leaning against the wall of an alley and lazilly throwing rocks across it. The sky was very cloudy and beginning to get darker. Every once in awhile, thunder would rumble quietly. When it did, Mustang would wimper a little and move a little closer to Dutchy. Thunderstorms were one of the few things she was afraid of, and she wasn't just afriad of them, she was terrifyed. After a slightly louder clap of thunder, she began hypervenalating, face buried in Dutchy's shoulder.
"Do you want to go back to the lodging house?" he asked gently, running his fingers through the blonde hair that had fallen from under her hat. She nodded, not looking up. He stood and helped her to her feet. "Why didn't you just say that?" She just stared at the ground. She had a reputation. One that would be, well, dropped off the Brooklyn Bridge and drowned if she told him, and all the others, how much storms scared her. Dutchy just laughed and put an arm around her shoulders. It started raining gently, and Dutchy turned his face to the sky as they walked. The rain slowly picked up into a down pour and Mustang stared at him.
"What?" he asked, looking away from the sky and back at her. He could hardly see, his glasses were covered in water.
"Are you trying to drown yourself or something?"
"Oh come on, don't you like the rain?" He did. He loved it. He wasn't sure why, and didn't know if he ever would, but he would trade any sunny day for one in the rain.
"Rain comes with storms, and I don't like storms." Thunder rumbled in the distance, and she shuddered.
"So you've never danced in the rain? Not even when you were little?" She shook her head, which was soaking wet, and drops of water flew from the ends of her hair. "Well, come on then!" He took her hand and spun her. She smiled and chose to play along, how bad could it be? However, as they twirled through the muddy streets, she no longer flinched at every roll of thunder. As Dutchy sang and they spun about, shoes squelching in the mud, she wasn't afraid. In fact, the low rumbles seemed to be keeping time to Dutchy's song. They seemed to arrive just as he needed them to, more like background music than anything else. Suddenly, there was a huge crack of thunder and she screamed and jumped into her arms.
"Ok, I danced in the rain. Can we please go inside now?" He laughed and took her hand and they ran back to the lodging house. Cowgirl stood in her feild, looking furious. Mustang hopped the fence and lead her by the mane inside behind them.
"Kloppman's not going to like a horse in his lobby."
"Well, I'm not leaving her outside, so he'll have to get over it." Cowgirl looked quite content to lay down on the wooden floor. She had learned to be calm in storms because Mustang was so afraid of them. Dutchy gave Mustang a quick kiss, tucked some of her wet hair behind her ear, and headed upstairs. She jumped at a clap of thunder and ran into her room.
Dutchy lay awake, listening to the rain. He wasn't sure why, but ever since he had become a newsie, he had loved the sound the rain made against the roof of the lodging house. Probably because as a child, his family had loved to sit on the front porch and watch storms. It had never seemed scary at all. Some families had gone to expensive dinner shows, but his had been happy to watch the lightning dance to the low rumble of thunder and the steady rain. That was before his father had died, before his older brother ran away, before his mother left him at the orphanege. He remembered laying awake during storms while the other children were crying and listening to the gentle rythems. It was the only thing he carried with him through everything. From his home when he was five to that accursed orphanege to being a newsie. The only thing that had always been the same. He knew he had changed, but he had never stopped loving the rain. His thoughts were interupted as the room lit up like day. The crack of thunder was deafening. Most of the other newsies were jolted awake; there were sevral scattered shouts and curses, but the most obvious sound was the piercing scream that was perfectly clear even though it came from downstairs. Dutchy sprang out of bed and ran down the stairs. Cowgirl seemed jumpier than she had been earlier and stood at Mustang's door, kicking it and pawing at the ground. Blink came down the stairs a second after Dutchy and went over to the horse. He managed to calm her down a little and move her away from the door. Dutchy shouted a "thanks" over another crash of thunder and slowly opened the door. He looked around and saw a large heap of blankets on the ground next to Mustang's bed. There was another loud clap of thunder and the heap gave a squeal and began to sob. Dutchy pulled back a brown blanket to reveal Mustang lying on her side, curled up, sobbing hysterically with her eyes squeezed shut.
"Mustang!" He fell to his knees beside her. She opened her eyes and looked at him for a moment, then pushed herself up onto her knees. Another clap of thunder and she flung herself at him. She clung to him and resumed sobbing. "Shhhh, what's wrong? It's just a storm." He hugged her and realized she was shivering. "What's the matter?"
"I t-told you m-my p-parents died in a f-fire," she stuttered between sobs, "It was l-lightning, l-lightning started i-it. And I d-didn'y t-tell you, b-but I h-had a dog t-t-too, when I l-left Santa F-fe." He words were almost indistinguishable. "And th-then after a f-few d-day, there w-was th-this huge st-storm. We w-went in a c-cave, but B-br-bramble, he g-got scared and r-ran into the f-field-" There was another crack of thunder and Mustang fell into a fit of sobs. "I j-just held onto C-cowgirl, I was s-so scared. The n-next morning, when w-we left, I had t-to walk p-past him, and-" She spent a moment holding tight to Dutchy as more thunder rolled. He didn't want to know, but he knew she had to say it. Had to tell someone. Her voice was just a whisper when she started again. "H-he was still a-alive, and I h-had to t-take a knife a-and- I couldn't j-just let h-him s-suffer anymore-" Another crash of thunder cut her off and she gave up into hysterical tears. Dutchy held her and tried to whisper to her over the pounding rain. He had no idea those things had happened. When the thunder cracked again, it was with a new respect that he listened.
Suddenly, a loud bang alerted them to the fact that Cowgirl had broken down the door. Her feet were planted firmly and she looked differnet. It took a moment for Dutchy to relize there was blood dripping down her front rightleg. It was frightening, but somehow beautiful. The sparkling red that reflected the lightning looked so perfect agaisnt her deep reddi-brown coat. Mustang got up to attend to her, but the horse had slipped into panic. She had never, never, feared her horse, but as Cowgirl reared up, pawing the air, Mustang backed away with wide eyes. Cowgirl backed out of the room, Mustang and Dutchy following cautiously. What had happened was obvious as they saw the lobby. Kid Blink sat against the desk, rather white faced. His right arm was cut and bleeding rather badly. Looking at the bloody corner of the desk, the source of this was apparent. Dutchy watched as Mustang seemed to forget some ofher fear and knelt beside him. She looked at his clenched fist and saw it held horse hair. The blood on Cowgirl wasn't hers, but his. He must have grabbed her mane after running into thecorner of the desk, but she pulled away from him.
"What happened?" she asked, wrapping a blanket she had unconciously still been holding around his arm.
"Cowgirl spazzed. She threw me against the desk, and I tried to grab her. I held on to her for a minute, but she pulled away. Knocked me over, and kicked down the door." Mustang looked over at her horse who was watching her, eyes wide in fear. Some of the other newsies came down the stairs. No one was entirely sure what happened next, but in about thirty seconds, Cowgirl was gone. The front door was open, Racetrack was laying on the ground, looking rather shocked, and hoofbeats were fading into the rainy night. Mustang jumped to her feet, every trace of fear gone.
"You lot, take care of Blink. Racetrack, get up. Dutchy, get my hat." The thought to disagree never even occured. Soggy hat on her head and Dutchy at her side, Mustang stepped out into the stormy night as a fork of lightning lit up the sky.
wow, im very happy with that. one or two more chapters. then its over. i promise.