October 31, 1902
Even with his eyes closed, Jasper knew where every bird was in the building. He was lying rigidly still with his arms tensely cradling his head and his toes twitching enough to shake the chair that created the end of his makeshift bed.
Jasper listened as someone clumsily stepped onto the roof above and he slowly began to press his shoulders into the slightly cushioned, blanketed board he rested on. As his body curved upward, he stretched out his hands in either direction for one breath before curling his wrists into his hanging suspenders. In seconds, Jasper was sitting up and lacing up his boots ready to appear as if he never slept at all.
The footsteps had moved from the rooftop to stomping down the stairs in the hallway on the other side of the paper-thin wall. Jasper pushed the base of his hands into his closed eyes, rubbing out the sleep he hadn't achieved. As the door creaked opened, the young man stood up like a general ready for battle.
"You should lift your feet when you walk." Jasper sighed heavily. He pivoted gracefully, letting his arms fold over his chest immediately exhibiting expectancy.
"Forgive me if I was a bit sluggish after running…" Bitter began. Jasper arched an eyebrow and clenched his jaw, daring the girl in front of him to complain. The nest had been moved to an abandoned tenement building in the Lower East Side, Manhattan. It was the first time the Birds of Brooklyn had ever left the familiar banks of the East River and the solid confines of Brooklyn. Jasper hated being on the wrong side of the bridge and many of his birds didn't appreciate it either. But the move had been commanded, an edict directly from Critter O'Connell was never ignored.
"...Well, I was running around earlier…" Bitter grumbled.
"The coffee in the Lower East Side is just the same as the coffee in Brooklyn." Jasper chastised lightly. He knew Bitter had been running across the bridge often for foods she insisted were better on that side of the river.
"Ain't really though. Even Daisy says…" Bitter started but bite down on her lower lip as she caught the menacing glare from Jasper.
"I ain't really the waiting type, Bitter…" Jasper growled as he began rolling a cigarette in his left hand.
"Yeah, right. Of course, ain't mean to make you wait or nothing." Bitter mumbled as she slammed her shoulder against the doorframe. She watched as Jasper weaved a match through his fingers, meticulous and focused. But before the man lit the match, a faint scent of burning reached her nose. Before Bitter registered the oddity, Jasper had flown past her and down the cramped stairs of the building.
Two flights down, on the backside of the third floor stood two seven year old twin boys giggling at flicker flame in an old tin bath. A few of the other younger birds sat curled up around the room, wearing half constructed masks or costumes and delighting in the building fire. The twins didn't realize when the unnatural hush settled over their companions until a sharp pain smack the back of their knees.
"What has gotten into you fools?" Jasper roared. Using the hand not holding the plank of wood he had used to strike the twins, he picked up Ghost by the back of his suspenders.
"Go down and get a bucket of water. Quicker than quick." Jasper commanded as he shoved the ten year old the door. He was glaring down at the twins. The boys were fighting not to let the tears escape their eyes.
"What are you two doing?" Jasper demanded again as his first question had yet to be answer. Wild, the twin missing his two front teeth, dared to look up at the tall leader of the birds with dissatisfaction.
"We were lighting our Halloween fire…" Wild tried to control his sniffles.
"…To keep away the bad ghouls." West, the twin with all the freckles rubbed at his eyes. Jasper had not been soft with his whacking of the two little boys, though he had control himself to only hit them once.
"You've always let us light a fire before." Raindrop, a scruffy twelve-year-old girl, poked her head out from a nearby hammock.
"We have always been in a warehouse before, where the fire could be control and I could keep an eye on you misfits. This is a tenement building that would go up in flames like that," Jasper snapped his fingers loudly and his left wrist twitched enough for the plank of wood to look as if it might strike again. The twins scrunched their eyes closed, trying to prepare for the expectant blow but it never came.
"You didn't have to whack the kids." Raindrop ventured.
"I should whack you! You being the eldest in the room and letting these children almost burn down the new nest." Jasper suggested, now actually turning to stare at girl.
Raindrop didn't retreat back into her bed, instead lifting her head up to let her chin hover over the canvas material. She had clearly been asleep, her black hair sticking up over her forehead and her dark eyes slightly glazed.
"Don't hit Raindrop!" West begged.
"Yeah, we'll take her licks. It was our fault." Wild nodded bravely.
Jasper growled at their insolence, debating smacking the boys for good measure. But upon catching sight of Bitter now leaning in the doorframe, Jasper itched to know news again. He lifted his foot and let his boot stomped down extinguishing the flickering flame. A huff of disappointment escaped the children of the room, but none dared express their feelings out loud.
"How are we going to keep out the ghosts now?" A tough looking girl of about nine asked from the worn out carpet at the mouth of the backroom.
"Keep the windows closed." Jasper sighed weary of the conversation already. He knelt down, dropping the plank and reaching out with both his hands to clasp the back of each twins' neck.
"No more fires." Jasper hissed through gritted teeth. The little boys looked like they were about to object, so Jasper added quickly. "Or I will give you a few licks to cry about."
The twins nodded as they squirmed away from their leaders grasp. Wild and West were the youngest birds to ever join the flock. A pair of strays that Daisy hadn't been able to resist, she had convinced Jasper they would be great assets. She had argued that them being so young and small, they could be trained well and fit into cramped spaces.
"When's Daisy getting back? She said she would bring us treats." Wild questioned.
"You don't deserve any treats, almost burning the nest down." Jasper grumbled as he stood back up. Ghost stumbled back in, carrying a pail of water with both hands. He struggled to dump the water onto the glowing embers of the fire, without any help from anyone else in the room.
"You didn't let us out for our own treats, least let us have the treats the bigger kids get us." Raindrop reproached. Jasper growled again, annoyed the little girl continued to bicker with him. She had recently grown into her mouth but unfortunately Jasper couldn't blame her current compliant. The leader of the birds had forbid any of the birds not on assignment to go out for Halloween. His flock was new to living in Manhattan and he didn't want any of his birds to draw attention to themselves or their nest. Besides, Matches had reported just days ago the city police were going to crack down on miscreants which would no doubt included most of his flock.
"I brought some sweets." Bitter popped her lips as she pulled out a handful of wrapped sweets from her pocket. The trained children in the room swamped Bitter, scrambling quietly and expertly into a position to all simultaneously steal the candy.
"You had better have been paying attention to what was happening around you and not just where to get treats from." Jasper murmured as he glared at Bitter. Bitter inched into the center of the room with a swarm of children surrounding her as Jasper slipped out into the cramped hallway. All the doors on the third floor were open and Jasper listened to the sounds of craps games, teasing, musings and even some snoring. He heard the pressure of soft footsteps stepping through a window near a fire escape and he turned as Matches approached.
"You weren't upstairs." Matches shrugged nonchalantly as he noted the disapproval on Jasper's face. Jasper ran a hand over his chin, exasperated by the evening already.
"Come on." Jasper started sprinting up the stairs. The fourth floor was where the Owls usually slept. It was the quietest floor of the entire building, aside from the eerily silence of the fifth floor where only the most seasoned birds settled to always listening.
Matches followed Jasper past the makeshift bed, the leader rarely slept on and into the front room where a large table was cramped. Jasper sat down in the chair nearest the open window, glancing out into the darkness only once.
"Did she get there all right then?" Jasper prompted. Matches was tucking his toes into the backing of the chair he was perched upon, already shuffling through a deck of cards.
"Was there ever any doubt she would get there all right?" Matches popped one of his reddish eyebrows up in mockery. Jasper shrugged not chastising his old friend for the tone, or questioning.
"We never really know with that girl, she steps off a sidewalk and the direction of the wind changes." Jasper sighed dropping his head to light the cigarette he had been holding since Bitter arrived ages before.
"The three of them arrived in their best carriage. I believe Thomas and Casey were dressed as George and Martha Washington." Matches frowned at the statement before dealing out five cards to Jasper.
"And Laces?" Jasper nodded as he flicked his cards up to study his hand.
"Cinderella. Hardly recognized her…"
Every movement caught a glint or glitter from one of the sewn in jewels of Audrey's gown. From the way the girl tilted her head up, pulling down her mask slightly to observe, Matches knew she thought the costume was like a firework for every bird on Fifth Avenue. He smiled as he noted how she appeared to be moving gracefully to the front door of the Samson estate, Halloween was after all a night of deception.
"She wasn't moving gracefully?" Jasper questioned.
"That gown is heavy she was moving slowly, sluggish." Matches winked as he traded out two of cards Jasper had placed on the table. Jasper nodded, Laces had been taught by the harsh realities of the streets to move quickly not gracefully.
"So you just watched her arrive?" Jasper asked. There was an edge of irritation and disappointment that colored the leader's words, a warning that Matches had better have more information than just what the girl had been wearing to the party.
"Well I saw everyone arrive at the party, including a Sir Jacob Henry Canterbury who was dressed as a prince." Matches smiled mischievously as he threw two pennies, three caramel candies, and a shoestring on the table.
"Matches," Jasper growled as he chucked a booklet of matches, and three cigarettes onto the table.
"It's amazing how some people don't see past the edge of their very own nose." Matches frowned at the annoyance on Jasper's face but continued.
"I was sitting up in that tree across from the Samson place, the one that's just a bit too big to be in front of the third Astor cousin's home…"
Author's Note: I have just reached the first 50 page mark, so the first section of this story will be available on .com by the end of this week (with some minor corrections from the original postings on ). Aside from that I hope everyone is enjoying the story thus far, be sure to let me know what you're enjoying, wondering about, hating... you know whatever strikes your fancy. ~Laces.