Chapter Nine: I Don't Believe You

Christmas came and went, and nothing very exciting happened. Spring's warm air finally started to melt the ice and snow on the ground, and everyone began spending much more time outside.

"Hey, Ellie, catch!"

Ellie turned her head just in time to see a ball sailing towards her, and was hit square in the forehead with it. More out of shock than anything else, she fell over backwards and landed on her back. Her friend, Claire, rushed over to her side.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to throw the ball when you weren't looking, I threw before I really looked at you…" Claire frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," Ellie replied, watching the clouds as they passed overhead. She fell into silence.

"Do you… want to get up?" Claire asked tentatively.

"No… I'm good." She tilted her head and stared at the cloud directly above her. Claire glanced up in the direct she was looking.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Claire raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm good. But you gotta look at this cloud! It looks like a dead squirrel!" Out of pure curiosity, Claire flopped down on the ground beside her friend and stared into the sky as we.

"Wow… you're right, it does!" Claire grinned. "Cool." They spent the next half-hour in the parking staring at clouds, until two shadows covered them.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Ellie asked, staring into the faces of David and Jack. She tried to conceal her giggle. "Get it, what's up, 'cause you guys are up to us?" The two girls burst into fits of giggles in unison.

"Ellie, you're so silly," Claire stated, patting her friend's head affectionately.

"Thank you, m'dear."

"You're welcome, m'lady."

The girls continued to giggle insanely, until David grabbed Claire, Jack grabbed Ellie, and they hoisted them to their feet.

"I think this fresh air's goin' to your heads," David observed. "they say it's good for the mind, but when it comes to you two…"

Ellie looked surprised. "I have a mind? Have you found it?"

"No… why?"

"Because I lost it a while ago and I can't find it…" She looked over at the trees as if searching for something. "Nope, not there…" She turned to the road. "Nuh-uh…" She looked down at her feet. "Nothin'."

"I think I'm confused…" Claire muttered, checking her own pulse. "No, wait… maybe I'm not." Ellie snorted and doubled up with laughter. Jack and David exchanged dubious glances.

"Why don' we's have some lunch?" Jack asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Jack?" Ellie giggled, pointing to a spot over his eyes. "Have I ever told you that you have really cool eyebrows?" Claire looked at her friend with a look of astonished realization and giggled harder.

"Yeah, he does!"

-x-x-

After the boys had escorted the girls into Tibby's they calmed down considerably, but not entirely. Ellie kept looking over in David's direction who was sitting next to Claire, and then at Claire herself, and burst out laughing. Claire, likewise, would look from Ellie, who was sitting next to Jack, to Jack, and double up in a fit of giggles.

"What's up with you two?" David asked finally, when Claire laughed so hard milk sprayed out her nose and she caught the majority of it in her hand.

"Spring has sprung!" Ellie announced loudly, throwing her arms up in the air so quickly that she almost hit Jack in the head. "Whoops, sorry, Jackie, didn't mean to do that!" She patted his head affectionately and leaned her head on his shoulder for a moment.

"Are ya shoi ya not jus' drunk?" Jack asked, staring at her as she lifted her head from his shoulder. "'Cause Race got drunk las' Christmas, an' he acted jus' like ya two are…"

Ellie shrugged. "I don't feel drunk…" She felt her own forehead and turned to her blonde friend. "Claire, do you feel drunk?"

"If this is what it feels like to be drunk, then I think we should do it more often!" Claire giggled. Even Ellie stared at her this time.

"But we didn't have anything to drink…" Ellie stated slowly, staring at her glass of water. "I think we've just been out in the air too long. It happens, sometimes." She nodded matter-of-factly.

-x-x-

As they strode out into the bright street, a loud commotion farther down the street caught their attention.

"What's that?" Claire asked, straining her ears to try and hear what was going on.

"I think it's coming from the bank…" David observed. Almost immediately after these words left his mouth, Jack set off in a sprint in the direction of the bank. Ellie rolled her eyes and glared at David.

"You had to say that, didn't you?" she exclaimed, following quickly behind Jack. She wasn't nearly as fast as him, and even David overtook her quickly, eventually passing her. She and Claire got to the boys at the same time.

There was a quickly growing crowd gathered around the bank. The alarms were all going, and the police were quickly approaching.

"What happened?" Jack asked a nearby old lady.

"The bank has been robbed!" she cried, just as one of the second story windows broke and someone fell to the pavement below. They recovered quickly, however, and sprang to their feet, running as quickly as possible down the street.

"Holy-!" Ellie wasn't able to finish her exclamation because of David.

"Look, he's running away!" Jack, upon hearing this proclamation, chased after the burglar.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Ellie stated, rolling her eyes. "He's at it again!"

"Well let him, let him!" Claire shrieked.

"But every day!" [AN1] Ellie ran in the direction Jack had run.

By the time they got to Jack, though, there wasn't much help they could lend to him. He had the burglar pinned against the wall, both his arms behind his back.

"Betcha ain't thinkin' ya so smart now, are ya, tough guy?" Jack growled in his ear.

"Jack, don't goad the guy…" Ellie's command was half hearted, as she had just run more than she was used to, and Jack was being more impossible than usual today. The police rode up on their horses.

"Thank you for your assistance, young man," the police man thanked him, climbing off his horse and putting the man in handcuffs. "Would you please accompany us down to the station?"

"Uh…" Jack turned to run, but Ellie grabbed his shirt sleeve with practiced ease.

"They can't arrest you, moron, you haven't done anything wrong," she whispered exasperatedly, turning him back around.

"Shoi, fellahs, lead on…

-x-x-

Forty five minutes later, however, as they sat inside the police station, Ellie began to doubt her own logic. No one had spoken to them since they had arrived, aside from the police officer who had told them to sit in the waiting area until someone came and spoke to them. They had been waiting nearly the entire forty five minutes.

"You don't think they can arrest us for obstruction of justice, do you?" she asked nervously, staring at the clock on the wall. "I mean, we-" She gestured to herself, Claire, and David. "Didn't do anything. You can take all the, uh… credit for it, Jackie."

"Shut up!" Jack muttered, turning to her. "Ya ain't helpin' the situation much, ya know dat?"

"Sor-ry…" Ellie sulked as a tall police man walked up to them.

"Are you the kid who caught that burglar?" he asked, staring down at Jack.

"It was all him!" Claire stated, a little more loudly than needed and pointing directly at Jack.

"Well, on behalf of the New York Police Department, I'd like to thank you, and present you with this money reward." He handed Jack an envelope thick and heavy envelope. "We've been trying to catch that man for a month; he's robbed five major banks. Thank you, son."

"Well, we helped a little bit!" Claire exclaimed, realizing that they were losing their chance to get money.

"It was all Jack," David stated, keeping Claire in her seat by pressing down, hard, on the shoulder closest to him.

-x-x-

"Wow! Free money!" Claire watched in awe as Jack counted through his money as they exited the police station. "That's a lot of money. There must be twenty bucks in there!"

"Yeah…" Jack grinned dreamily and stared at it. "Yeah, there is." Claire continued to stare at the money with round, shining eyes, until Ellie nudged her.

"Why don't you stare at David, or something?" the brunette suggested sarcastically. For the rest of the walk home, Claire kept quiet and didn't stare at anything, besides the sidewalk.

"This is my stop," Claire stated as they approached a small apartment building. "Bye, guys." She eyed David for a moment, and then turned her head slightly to stared pointedly at Ellie. She was suddenly afraid of being killed by fire beams coming out of Claire's eyes.

Ellie put on her best innocent (but still slightly frightened-looking) smile. "Hey, Jack, why don't we walk ahead? I think I… saw something down there," she finished lamely, grabbing his shirt sleeve and dragging him down the street. "We'll see you later, David!"

"What are we goin' ta look at?" Jack asked eagerly.

"Nothing," Ellie replied in an undertone, and paused until they had walked out of David's hearing range. "Claire just made me promise to find some way for her to be alone with David. This is just me being a good friend."

"An' what a good friend ya are," Jack replied, grinning at her.

"You're making fun of me!" she exclaimed, staring at him.

"No, I'm not." His smile was so innocent that there was no way it could have been real.

"Yes, you are!" she stated, nudging him in the side. The mock fight ended and they walked along in silence for a little while. "What are you gonna do with your cash moneys?" she asked finally. "Buy me something purdy?" She grinned.

But Jack only shrugged and began to count the money again. "I dunno… I guess I'll have ta think abou' it."

-x-x-

Jack lay on the roof of the lodging house that night, watching as the stars slowly crept in and filled up the sky. His reward money had brought up the old plan of going to Santa Fe. There was definitely enough money to get him there, and some to start off with.

"So that's what they call a family,
Mother, daughter, father, son.
Guess that everything you heard about is true.
So you ain't got any family.
Well, who said you needed one?
Ain't ya glad nobody's waiting up for you? When I dream, on my own,
I'm alone, but I ain't lonely.
For a dreamer night's the only time of day.
When the city's finally sleeping,
All my thoughts begin to stray.
And I'm on the train that's bound for Santa Fe.
And I'm free, like the wind,
Like I'm gonna live forever.
It's a feeling time can never take away.
All I need's a few more dollars,
And I'm outta here to stay!
Dreams come true, yes, they do
In Santa Fe...

Santa Fe, are you there?
Do you swear you won't forget me?
If I found you would you let me come and stay?
I ain't gettin' any younger, and before my dying day,
I want space, not just air,
Let 'em laugh in my face, I don't care.
Save a place, I'll be there. So that's what they call a family.
Ain't ya glad you ain't that way?
Ain't ya glad you got a dream called Santa Fe?
"

He didn't notice the figure standing in the small doorway leading up to the roof, though, because when she spoke, he hit several body parts in his effort to turn around.

"I don't believe you," Ellie stated plainly.

"Ellie?" Jack squinted in the pale light that came from the staircase leading up to the roof. "What are ya doin' up heah?"

"One wonders, when one hears someone talking to themselves and singing on the roof…" Ellie replied dreamily, leaning her head against the doorframe and staring up at the sky. It looked like someone had spilled a million shimmering diamonds on a piece of the darkest blue velvet possible.

"Ya hoid me singin'?" Jack asked uneasily, feeling as if he had missed a step on the stairs.

"Yes, I did." Ellie nodded gravely. "And I don't believe you."

"Why don't ya believe me?" Jack asked slowly, the smile quickly melting from his face. Ellie finally left her post at the doorway and sat down on the ground next to Jack.

"Because you're not alone, Jack," she declared softly, her eyes boring into his. "You and I… we're a lot alike. More so than you know, I think." She sighed and leaned back on her elbows, staring at the night sky once more. "We're both dreamers." She shrugged, as if it was one of those things that wasn't so great, but you couldn't really control it. "We always dream for something more; something more exciting, something more self-fulfilling… but the thing you need to realize is that you need people who love you, just as much as you need your dreams to come true. You need a family, just as much, if not more than, Santa Fe."

"I ain't got a family, Ellie," Jack replied, his voice suddenly sharp and cold. Ellie glanced at him sharply. "My muddeh's dead, an' me fathah's in jail."

"I'm not talking about biological family," Ellie said, shaking her head.

"Den who's my family, Ellie? Huh? Tell me: who's my family?" he shouted, getting to his feet.

"Your friends!" Ellie retorted, getting to her feet as well. "David, and Racetrack, and Les, and Boots, and all of them… they're all your family, Jack! Family is the people who love you, and home is where your family is. Santa Fe isn't your home, Jack, New York is!"

"An' what abou' you?" he asked, lowering his voice. "Are you my family?"

"Yeah, I'm your family," she replied, running a hand through her sleep-tossed hair. "Of course I am." She suddenly became shy and looked down at her feet, which she had clumsily thrown her shoes onto in her hurried attempt to find out who was singing.

As she looked shyly into his eyes, he had the sudden, overwhelming urge to kiss her. But, before he could act upon this impulse, she turned and staggered down the stairs back to her room.

It's never going to happen, Jack, a little voice at the back of his head said. She's to difficult. Just get over her.

"I won' get ovah 'er," he growled under his breath, slowly descending the stairs back into the lodging house. Although he immediately climbed into bed, it was a long time before he finally managed to slip off to sleep…

AN1: In case you didn't recognize this quote, it's from Young Frankenstein. I need to do that, just in case someone goes psycho and decides to sue me.

Author's Note of the Chapter: Ah, it feels good to have Internet back… I really, really, really need you guys to review this, because I'd let to get a general realistic view of how many people actually read this story. Just to know.