The shrill sound of a policeman's whistle bounced against the buildings in the otherwise silent night. It was accompanied by the fast, steadily approaching beat of horse hooves on cobblestone, causing all four of the boys to freeze mid-swing. Blood had been flying, and even as it pounded in their heads they could hear, smell, taste their impendingarrest.When Kenny and Frankie turned to look down the street for the direction of the sounds, Skittery and Crutchy made a run for it. They disappeared into the pitch-blackness of a back alley, with Skittery throwing his arm around Crutchy and dragging him along as fast as he could go.
When they finally reached the lodging house, Skittery collapsed against the bricks, holding his sides and panting. "Shit," he mustered, drawing a nod from Crutchy. Wiping blood from his face with the sleeve of his shirt, he nodded to the fire escape. "We're late."
"Gimme a hand up the fire escape, wouldja?" Crutchy rubbed at his jaw, then felt the inside of his mouth. "Damn. Son of a bitch knocked a tooth loose." And he shrugged, starting up the fire escape with his friend's assistance.
As Skittery helped Crutchy through the dormitory window, he watched everyone's faces go from angry to confused to concerned in a matter of seconds.
"Penny, Elise, dinner... walking home... McKennon... bulls," Crutchy said, hobbling across the room. "Tired." And he fell into his bunk without even bothering to undress.
Skittery, however, headed to the washroom to clean some of the blood off of himself. He was followed by Jack.
"So, those McKennon fellas did this to the two o' you?" Jack asked, receiving a nod from Skittery as he bent down to splash water on his face. "They follow you homefrom Brooklyn?"
"Seem to have. Don't know if they saw Penny and Elise go into the lodgin' house, though."
"An' what if they did?" Jack leaned a shoulder against the door frame, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I have a feelin' the bulls got 'em. They'll be in the Refuge for a couple'a weeks, at least."
"What do the bulls have to hold 'em on, if they was just a couple'a beat-up guys standin' in the street?"
"Since when do the bulls have to have a reason to keep a kid in the Refuge?" Toweling his face off, Skittery winced as he touched his nose. "Shit. I think it's broken." After that, he pushed past Jack and went to bed.
"So, Ireland," Sketch, with Whim by her side, sidled up to Penny as she sat by the window, finishing the repair on the crazy German woman's smock. Penny looked up, a little confused as to why one of the Brooklyn newsies was talking to her. "Sorry, Penny, right? Okay. We're dyin' to know. What was you and Skittery talkin' about that was so secretive?"
"Oh, um," Penny set the smock down, moving her legs so the other two girls could sit down. "It was... Nothing. Not important," she said, though her blush gave her away.
"I bet I know what it was!" Whim piped up, her sweet, dreamy voice giving way to excitement. "He asked you to be his girl, didn't he?"
Penny felt her cheeks go even darker.
"Oh, my God!" Whim grinned, clapping her hands. Romance made her happy.
"Skittery, huh?" Sketch grinned when Penny nodded. "Well. Who'd'a thunk it."
A rough knock came to the door, and Spot Conlon stepped in. Short as he was, he emanated power as he raised his voice. "You girls're way too loud. An' it's well past your bedtime," he said, nodding in the direction of a group of younger girls. "The rest o' you oughta be gettin' to bed, too." And he grinned in Penny's direction, all-knowing, thanks to his "little birdies."
"Goodnight, Spot!" The little girls chirped as they clamored into their beds loudly. The fearless leader of Brooklyn nodded, then disappeared out the door.
"Well, goodnight, Penny," Sketch said, getting up and heading over to make sure the younger ones were all in bed.
Elise smiled at Penny from her bed as she came over and started looking through the drawer of the nightstand. "What're you looking for?"
"Candle," Penny replied, finding one and sticking it in the holder. "I've got to get this smock finished. I'll come to bed when I'm done. You go to sleep."
"Okay." And she did, very quickly, her hand resting compulsively on her stomach.
Penny sat in the girls' washroom, mending the smock and thinking to herself. She was a newsie's girl now, protected by any newsie in the city, and she knew she could very easily fall in love with Skittery. If she hadn't already. But she couldn't help but wonder if she'd made a good decision.
He could keep her safe, but could she do the same for him?
A/N: I really, REALLY hate the document manager. I had this done at like, three this afternoon, and here it is, one-thirty in the damned morning, and I JUST NOW got it to upload. Rawr. Anyhow. I love this chapter... we get to see a little deeper into Penny, and find out the outcome of the big fight. I didn't want to do a huge fight scene. I think it's tasteless and boring. But now we have to wonder, are the McKennon brothers out of their hair for a while? Are they in the Refuge? Did they get away from the policeman? We'll find out soon enough, my lovelies. This chapter is really short, I know, but I don't care. So there. :) Anyhoo, thanks for reading, pleeeeeeease review, and enjoy! -Layne
P.S. I'm still looking for other female characters. There may or may not be a big part for them to play coming up here. I haven't decided. -Layne