so, do you have a new out take on the story now that you know that stuff? probably not. but now know theres a reason i bother throwing in little stuff like "mustang took her hat off" or whatever. youll notice mustang will never cry with her hat on. yeah...just makes me feel special, ok!
The next morning, Kid Blink woke up before the others, not having slept well the night before. He'd been bothered by dreams of gunshots and pools of blood and just couldn't sleep. He slipped off his bed, careful not to wake Racetrack as he climbed down his bunk. He pulled on a pair of pants and climbed through a window onto the fire escape. He sat down and leaned back against the wall. The sky was over-cast, but it didn't look like it would rain.(yes, my weather is random, get over it) As he sat, looking for shapes in the clouds, he heard someone singing. It was a tune he recognized as a Christmas song, but didn't really know the words. He did know that the words he was hearing now did not sound very Christmasy.(leave me and my lack of real words alone)
"Greensleeves was all my joy, Greensleeves was my delight, Greensleeves was my heart of gold, who but my lady Greensleeves." He scooted forward and looked between the rails to see Mustang brushing the coat of a brown and white horse. He rubbed his eyes just to make sure he wasn't seeing things and climbed down the fire escape.
"What're you doing up this early?" She turned and the horse lifted his head.
"I could ask you the same question." She went right back to brushing.
"Ok, bad question. How bout this one: where'd ya get the horse? I didn't think they just grew outta the ground, but hey, I could be wrong." She smiled and walked over to the fence where he was standing.
"Dutchy and I found him in an alley yesterday. You know me, I couldn't just leave him there. His name's Dunder." To her delight, Dunder looked up at the sound of the name.
"How'd you get him to do that?"
"Magic." She walked to meet the horse that was limping towards her. "I've been saying it to him all morning. It doesn't mean anything to him yet, it's just a sound that he connects with a treat." She pulled a piece of carrot from her pocket and fed it to him.
"Take it you're not gonna be riding him through the streets any time soon." She shook her head. Niether spoke for a moment. "Dat song you were singin earlier. I've heard it before, but not wid dos words. Where'd you learn it?"
"I've known it a real long time-" She was cut off by the sound of Kloppman's shouting and newsies waking up. She stroked Dunder's nose, jumped the fence, and headed up the fire escape, followed by Blink. Mustang sold with Dutchy that day and everything was fairly uneventful, save her constant avoiding of Central Park. She opted out of selling in the afternoon to care for Dunder.
"Mustang, he's just a horse. If you don't have enough money to pay your rent, it's not gonna matter what shape he's in, cause you're both gonna be on the streets." When she had first come back, he had done everything he could not to let her out of his sight. Now, when she had lost Cowgirl, she seemed vulnerable all over again. She closed her eyes. The words weren't intended to be harsh, but somehow they seemed that way.
"First off, I'll be fine, don't worry about it. And he's not just a horse, just like Cowgirl wasn't just a horse. You think he needs me, and he does, but what you don't see is how much I need him. Cowgirl left a hole in my heart too big for a human to hardly make a difference, but a horse...well, a horse might start to fill it."
"That's pretty deep." He pushed some hair over her shoulder and behind her ear.
"It's gotta be one of the corniest sounding things I've ever said, it better be deep," she laughed, hugging him. "I'll see you later." She turned and walked back to the lodging house. As she came closer to the field, she froze. She could hear someone else's voice. Slowly and as silently as she could manage, she crept to the corner. Jack was standing at the fence, playing with Dunder's ears. The horse watched him and seemed to be listening as he whispered. Mustang was tempted to say something, but willed herself to stay and listen for a moment.
"I guess being found by her is da best thing that could've happened to ya. Still, I never even thought of where you would have gone. Just thought one a dem would find ya and take ya back to da show. Guess I wasn't thinkin too much dat night. You must know how it is, not havin anyone ta turn to."
"Not that I think talking to a horse is a waste of time, but why are you talking to him?" Jack turned to see Mustang step out from behind the building. Dunder looked up and nickered, the girl with the food was back. As she stood next to him, she could tell she had walked in on a rather personal moment.
"Do you know how he got in dat alley?"
"No, just figured it was a neglectful owner or something. I did wonder about the western tack though."
"He used to be part of a wild west street show. I stole him. The day before the strike started." She was staring at him. "I never even thought of where he'd go when I let him go." She had been feeling sorry for him, but that ended. Her shocked stare turned to a glare.
"So, what? You just let him walk the streets! Do you have any common sense at all? Do you know what some people do when they find stray horses? Do you know how much horse meat is worth?" She pushed him and he held his hands up. "Horses aren't homing pigeons Jack!" She waited for a minute, but when he didn't say anything, she punched him in the gut. "You can't just let them wander the street! Do you know how many horses that are just wandering around get hit by carts? Or get loose reins caught in a wagon wheel? Too many! And they die! And they die cruel deaths, after laying on a street for hours! Nobody cares about them!" She kneed him in the face and he sraightened up, nose dripping blood. "I've seen it all happen before! I've seen a horse that starved to death laying on the side of the road. And you know what happened to it? It got run over!" She punched him in the face. "Just get away from me!" She pushed him and he turned and ran. She knew he could have soaked her. She knew he could have beat her into the ground with one hand tied behind his back. She wasn't weak, but he was Jack. She had to wonder why he didn't fight back. Still fuming, she turned to Dunder, fists still clenched.
"I'm sorry, I just can't stand what some people dare to do to horses." She pulled a piece of dried apple from her pocket and fed it to him. "Don't know why I told you that. I just know what could have happened to you. I've always said that if I knew who had left those poor things to their fates, I'd teach them a lesson. Guess I did, huh?" She climbed over the fence and lifted Dunder's rear left hoof. Using a dull knife she had taken from Tibby's, she carefully removed the stones and mud that were packed in. The cause of his limp was a chunk of wood, presumalby from one of the barrels in the alley, stabbed into his foot. As she gently pulled at it, there was a yell from the street and Dunder spooked, kicking out. He pulled his hoof from Mustang's hold and hit her in the side of the head with it. She landed on her side and rolled onto her back. As everything faded to black, she felt the wood in her hand and heard the sound of panicked hoofbeats galloping around her.
wow. i really like that chapter. was recently inspired to make mustang not cry so much be rereading everything that's been so far written about her. sorry if i got a bit too graphic with the what can happen to horses bit, but most of its true, i did a research paper on it.lemme know what you think.
yes, im a loser and had nothing better to do on new years day than update my story. at least i didnt update on christmas...
