Tanks for being patient for this chapter! It took me forever to get it fiinished and typed up cause school started and all that loveliness. But now it is here! And I'm so happy with it! I hope that you all like it as much as I did writing it! I can't make any personnal messages to my reviews but I just want to thank you all! Tanks to: hows it rollin', just-your-average, Newsiegoil01, Dodger Murphy, LongCleeve, elleestJenn, mistymixwolf aka Perch, madmbutterfly713, newsiefreak9er9er, and Tears in a Bottle. Tanks to you all! And girls will rule the newsie woild! Girl domination will prevail! Mwahahahahahaha! Come with ready equipment to take over newsiedom! Girls Rule! runs out of room smiling evilly. the newsies cower in the dark corners of the room
Skittery: She's scary! Goils can't rule newsiedom! It's our kingdom!
Chapter Seventeen
The seven troublemakers decided to brave the cold weather rather then brave the furious boys and make themselves scarce. Opting for spending the day at the docks, even though it was colder then anything and it had snowed the night before. They were there now, each relaxing anyway they wanted to in the nippy air.
Tripper had found a long enough crate for her to lay on completely with only her feet hanging off the edge. She laid on her stomach, totally engrossed in one of the books borrowed from Accent's store in her one hand and a half eaten apple forgotten in the other.
Accent had also decided to bring along a book to read. She sat in the shade of several crates with her book open on the peer in front of her. She let out a small laugh as she turned the page to continue on the scene.
Across from the bookworms were two large blankets spread out for those not willing to sit on the wood dock. Missy and Sweeps took full advantage of the blankets and had fallen asleep even in the cold weather. They hadn't gotten much sleep after their late night escapades and were very thankful for the chance to get caught up on their lack of sleep. Hawk, Shooter, and Kitten sat on the edge of the dock throwing stones into the bay. They laughed at Shooter's miserable attempt to skip a not so flat rock.
Hawk grinned at the two before glancing at the others. "Wondah if dere lookin' for us at all." She laughed at the picture of how the boys must have looked like that morning.
Accent glanced up from her book and grinned at Hawk. "Coise dey're lookin' fer us! Jack wouldn't let a bunch o' goils git away wit what we did! Neiddah would Spot fer dat mattah." Her usually well structured sentence was broken by a strong Brooklyn accent.
The girls laughed and described what they thought happened that morning. As they laughed and chatted, not one of them noticed the rather large group crossing the Brooklyn Bridge and heading straight for the docks.
Tripper closed her book and rolled onto her back, closing her eyes against the bright sunshine and cushioning her arms under her head. "I would pay real money ta have seen da lads aftah they found me note!" She gave a merry laugh only to find that she was laughing all by herself.
Confused as to why her comrades hadn't joined in, she peaked her eyes open only to find herself staring up into the devilish grin of non-other then Jack Kelly.
"Hiya Trippah!" An evil went up around the circle where the boys had moved to cover all possible exits and keep the other girls from making any breaks for freedom.
"Hiya Jacky-boy." Tripper's face was pale as she was 'helped' into a sitting position by Jack's not to gentle hands.
Jack grinned at her before taking the now vacant space beside her. At his closeness, Tripper was able to see the greenish tint to his skin and the red flashing through his hair. Her shoulders began to shake as she held in her mirth. She couldn't help but feel like she wasn't going to win over her laughter. A snort escaped through her nose as she quickly lost the struggle to keep her laughter inside. The girls were just as confused as the boys as they watched Tripper's face slowly turn to purple-red from laughing so hard.
"Um, Trippah? What da heck are youse laughin' at?" Shooter threw a small rock to get her friend's attention.
Tripper sucked in a deep breath trying to get control of her giggles. She had calmed down only to look at Jack and lose it all over again. This time, she started laughing so hard that she fell from her seat and started rolling around on the dock. Now everyone was staring at Jack wondering what in the world was so funny about him.
Sweeps was the first to finally realize what Tripper was laughing at. Her shoulders started shaking silently, and then she took a good look at Blink and Spot. Blink's usually bright blonde hair was tucked up in his cap and his skin looked about the same color as pea soup. She let out a loud guffaw before quickly clamping a hand over her mouth to keep in more. Her face turned a beautiful purple color as she struggled to breath and keep from laughing at the same time.
Now the other girls were looking around intently at the boys who slowly understood why each girl was suddenly breaking down into giggles. Misty and Sweeps clung to each other to keep from rolling on the ground like Tripper when they saw Mush's olive colored skin.
The three at the edge of the pier had to grab onto the newsies' legs nearest them to keep from falling into the cold water of the bay. Race, Blink, and David stood over them glaring as their girls would look up at them and collapse on their sides shrieking with laughter.
As Jack sat frowning at each of the shrieking girls in turn, his frown grew into a smoldering scowl. Jack had had about enough of this. "Pick dem up! We's gots revenge ta be getting' too!"
The boys' evil grins instantly silenced the girls' laughter on their lips. As if thinking the same thing, all the girls made a wild dash for their freedom. But, the girls didn't get very far before strong arms circled their waists and either picked each of the girls up or slung each of their screaming bodies over the strong shoulders.
Sweeps started crawling through and around the many legs while the boys yelled and reached down to catch her. Being small in size, she easily evaded their grasping hands and made it through the maze. Once she was free, she scrambled to her feet and tried to make a fast break for the market place. A confident grin spread across her face as the market place came into view.
Just as she was starting to feel safe, a pair of feet came stampeding up behind her. Sweeps glanced over her shoulder to see Snoddy's grinning face right behind her.
"Hi dere Sweeps! Wheah do ya tink yer goin'?" His left hand shot out to grab her wrist and pulled her into his arms. "Oh, I remembah! You was comin' wit me now weren't youse?"
Sweeps gave him her best glare wishing she could slap his irritating smirk right off his face. Before she could come up with a smart remark, Snoddy had her in his arms.
"Let me go! Let go Snoddy!"
Snoddy laughed and just tightened his grip on her small frame before heading back towards the dock. "Nah, I tink I's jist gonna take youse wit me. Den we's jist got ta wait till da uddahs git back wit dere goils."
Sweeps shot a hot glare at his grin and sullenly crossed her arms over her chest. "Dat's jist poifict ain't it?" Her sarcasm wasn't lost on Snoddy as he turned back towards the docks.
Shooter and Misty started scrambling up one of the many piles of boxes and crates in an attempt to escape Blink and Mush. Soon, the girls reached the top and could go no where else.
"Now what goilies?" Blink grinned devilishly as he and Mush slowly closed in on them.
Shooter glanced at the advancing boys and then at the water several feet below her. She looked over at Misty whose eyes were now a silverish color as she scrambled around trying to find an escape route. Shooter shrugged when Misty met her gaze with a worried look.
"What can we do?" She moved higher to get away from Blink's grasping hands.
Misty looked at Mush's face and held her hands up above her head with a heavy sigh. "Surrender." She grimaced at the fact that she was giving up.
Accent had been able to dodge the sticky fingers of Jake and Snitch before dashing behind a pile of rotting boxes. Laughing with shuttering breaths, she leaned her forehead against the broad side of a box and took in several deep breaths to calm her fluttering heart.
The sound of another body leaning on the box beside her brought Accent's eyes to meet the smirk of Spot Conlon. He leaned against the box, arms crossed over his chest as he gave her a triumphant grin. Pushing himself off the box, he slowly sauntered towards her.
"What's da mattah Accent? Ain't youse happy ta see me?" His cool voice sent shivers up her spine.
Her face drained of color when she followed the flicker of his gaze behind her to find Snitch and Pie copying Spot's earlier stance. "Nah, I's jist don't wanna be caught!" She flattened herself against the box, glaring at the boys as they closed in on her.
Spot grinned evilly and shook his red and green head, "Sorry, but dat ain't happenin'." Accent gave out a shriek as Spot threw her over his shoulder and shielded his face from her flailing feet. "Dang goil! Stop yer kickin'!"
Snitch grabbed her ankles, tied them together with one of his suspenders, and grinned at her fuming face. "Dere, now Spot ken take care o' youse wit out poisonnal harm."
Hawk, Kitten, and Tripper charged through the wall of newsies blocking the dock's exit and scattered in three different directions. Hawk ran down the road toward the Brooklyn Bridge. Heavy footsteps behind her on the cobbled street kept her tired legs churning.
A groan escaped her lips as a dairy cart pulled out into the street and blocked her path. With one or more boys at her back, and a cart at her front, there was no room for escape. She slowed her pace to keep from running into people and searched franticly for an opening to squeeze through. Just as she spotted a small place to get by the cart, a hand took a tight grip on her arm and spun her around to face Racetrack's cocky grin.
"Hiya Hawk. Tell me, what part didja have in da prank?" Race lost the playfulness of his grin, as it became evil and scheming.
"I's not sayin' a ting Race!" Crossing her arms stubbornly, she gave Race a defiant glare.
Race shrugged then scooped Hawk up in his arms. "Den youse jist gotta join da uddah goils, huh?"
Hawk struggled against his grip but to no avail. With a groan, she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted sullenly as Race carried her back toward the docks.
Kitten ran and till her legs were about to fall off, and her lungs screamed for air. She stopped to breathe in the shadows of a small alley. As she stood there 'dying,' fast footsteps started getting closer and closer to her hiding place. Though it nearly killed her, Kitten pulled in a deep breath and held it till the person ran past her alley. She had just begun to get her breath back when a hand shot out of the darkness behind her and covered her mouth. She let out a muffled scream and wriggled against the arm that snaked its way around her waist.
"Easy! That hurt Kitten!" Warm breath tickled her ear as David's voice exclaimed from her punch in his gut.
"Dave? What are youse tryin' ta do? Scare me ta death!" She gave him another punch to show her annoyance.
"Nope," She could hear the grin in his voice, "I's just catchin' you is all."
Her eyes went big as he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder in one quick movement. "David Jacobs! Youse put me down dis minute!" She let out an angry screech as his bouncy step took them back toward the docks.
Tripper took a straight-ahead route knowing she had pushed Skittery to the ground when she had burst through. That gave her a tiny head start, but she wouldn't be able to keep it for long. Skittery was fast, and he knew Brooklyn a lot better then she did. She slid around a corner and down what she thought was a side street. She slid to a halt as she reached the end of the street. It was a dead end!
She spun around to go back the way she had come, only to come face to face with a lopsided grin on Skittery's dark face.
"N-now Skittery," she slowly started backing up with her arms held out in front of her, "it was just a joke!" Her Irish brogue shone through her words cause of her nervousness.
"Jist a joke? Jist a joke! I's gots red tinted hair an' green skin! Me hair still wants to stand on end!" He moved her farther into the alley.
Tripper's eyes slowly widened with every step till her back was against the wall. "What are ye gonna do?"
Skittery smirked, "Wouldn't youse like ta know!"
Suddenly, movement behind Skittery caused Tripper to focus on the shadowy figure coming down the alley. Her eyes were filled with fear, and her face went deathly pale.
The last thing Skittery heard or saw was Tripper's face suddenly filling with fear, and her desperate cry, "Skittery!" before something hit him over the back of the head, and his world went black.