"how did he know storm was here?"
"I don't know! Just bring her." Alex was already on her feet before Jack could call her, Emily still in her arms asleep.
"I'm coming." She muttered walking quickly past them and out into the cold air.
"your Storm?" the boy asked. "why didn't you say that when I opened the door earlier?
"its complicated." She replied striding towards the lodging house. Once there she burst into the room startling a few young boys. "where is he?" she demanded.
"upstairs mama." Joe called from the top of the stairs. She raced as quickly as she could up to where he was.
"hold your sister for me."she muttered handing Emily to him and walking into the old bunkroom. She saw Kloppman laying on the floor with blood pooling all around him. "I'm here Kloppy, what do you want me to do?" she said kneeing down next to him, instantly the blood started to sock through her trousers.
"I'm dying."
"No your not, you're a fighter. You've been able to control hundreds of noisy, childish boys and keep them out of the refuge most of the time. You can fight this, we need you." She felt tears in her eyes but fought against them." this place was the best thing that happened to me, it wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."
"who did this to you?" Jack growled above them.
"they came from behind." He wheezed.
"go talk to the boys. I'll stay with him." Alex told the crowd that had followed her from the apartment.
"Storm." He wheezed.
"I'm not storm anymore." She smiled weakly.
"You will always be my Storm, the girl that survived living with boys and you were one of the worst, the amounts of times I had the bulls round looking for you."
"you know I was a girl? And you didn't throw me out?"
"how could I through my niece out into the streets?"
"niece? I'm not your niece, father didn't have any siblings."
"your grandmother on your mothers side had an affair with a rich man who hypnotised her with his money, I was the result of that. Your mother didn't know about me until after she had married your father." A uncle I had never knew Alex thought. "I'm giving you the lodging house, I want you to run it after I'm gone."
"No I can't, I don't know how." She stuttered before he gave one last long wheeze and fell silent for ever. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO." She howled, "no no no no no no no no no no no no." she heard footsteps on the stairs but ignored them. Tears fell like a river from her.
"Is he gone?" Jack came running in followed by Blink who ran straight to her and wrapped her in his arms.
"he was my uncle." She sniffed. "he's given me this place."
"you own this place?" Jack asked
"he's your uncle?" Blink said in surprise.
"Who killed him?"
"the boys say that someone jumped through the window looking for someone and Kloppy tried to get them out and he was stabbed, the killer ran into the night. No-one recognised him." Jack explained.
"what did he look like then?"
" tattered black coat, black hat, black scarf over his mouth. It could have been anyone."
"We need to find them. I want my uncles killer found" she muttered angrily walking out of the room as the doctor arrived. " he's dead." She told him as she walked past.
"Ma why do you have blood all over you? Did you hurt someone again, I don't want to move again." Joe whined handing Emily to her
" No , we're not moving again, what did I say about talking about what happened to your father. An old friend died so I was sitting with him." She assured him
"Sorry ma, are you leaving again?" he asked as he gave Emily back.
" No, I'm going to stay here. I'm running this place now."
"so we can stay together?"
"Yes darling, I'm not leaving you." She said crouching and hugged him with her one spare arm.
"So your going to run this place." Race said sounding impressed.
"I'll do my best." She smiled sadly. "But I may need some help."
"of course we'll help darling." Blink said walking down stairs with the doctor. The rest of the night was a blur for everyone, Kloppman's body was taken away and Alex moved into his room.
Alex sat on the roof staring out at the man made landscape, she was really scared, she had looked after eight people before but a whole house of boys was going to be a challenge and the fact that she had a relative that loved her made her emotions explode with confusion.
"Are you ok?" she turned and saw through the tears that she hadn't realised had been falling, Blink stood by the ladder looking worried.
"I'm fine." She sniffed wiping the tears off her face. He walked over to her.
"No your not." He held her hands in his in between them. "you've had a huge shock today." He murmured. "you found out you had a uncle the same day he died and you were lumped with looking after twenty kids all under the age of seventeen."
"he was the only person who truly loved me." She muttered looking down at their hands.
"no he wasn't." he pulled her closer. " I love you." Holding her tight against him.
"I love you too." She smiled. "I'm terrified though, Im not safe here Patchy, im bringing a huge storm crashing down on all of you and now that I'm in charge of the LH all the boys are in serious danger."
"why? You dad is dead?"
"yer that's the problem." She admitted. "I don't know why I came to find you, I was just going to drop the kids off here then run." Tears started to fall again.
"Baby what are you talking about?" he slowly lead her towards the beat up bed in the middle of the roof.
"I killed him." She whispered.
"You what?" he asked surprised.
"I had had enough of him abusing me so one day I went for a walk into the woods near our house and that night I cooked him mushroom soup, his favourite but this time it wasn't made from the ones from the market."
"so you poisoned him?"
"i wanted to make him ill, to teach him a lesson."
"but he died." she nodded.
"so it was an accident, why are we in danger?"
"Pa's step son, his new wife's sons from another marriage. they came to stay with us after they were thrown out of their uncles when he was arrested. they loved pa and pa loved them like they were his flesh and blood."
"so they are after you, they wont know where you are." she shook her head.
"they lived in Manhattan when we were a newsie. we hated them" she muttered.
"the Dalanceys?" she nodded
"the dalanceys are my step brothers and they are after me and the kids because we were the only ones who hated him. Oscar, Morris, Alan and Charlotte all loved pa and there after us.