Author's Note:
Well, I have a bit more to come, but you see, I kind of moved to a new continent since I last updated. So getting an entire life packed up, moved, and settled into a new place in another country (not to mention a few fairly big family emergencies and some work drama) have kind of taken priority. But Katja has always been there in my mind (and on my hard drive). She made the trek with me, was with me through the family stuff, and is ready to return to her dear readers from her new country. I beg your forgiveness for my long absence!
There is more to come. I obviously have some story lines to wrap up (don't worry, the plot lines are somewhat mapped out), and in true Katja fashion, they never wrap up neatly. That isn't how life works. In addition, there is a lot of clean up and minor rewriting/tweaking that has happened in my spare moments-mostly when I didn't have time to actually write but just wanted to spend some time with Katja-that will at some point mean a complete reposting of this story.
Anyway, thanks for your faith and patience. Also, if you are someone who writes but haven't updated in awhile, it's never too late. Your characters are waiting.
Cat and I made our way to Manhattan pretty quickly. We left the dog with Red so we could ride the trolley to the bridge. It's typically faster than hopping passing carts. Once across the bridge we hopped carts when we could and walked quickly when we couldn't. Often the carts are a touch slower than a slow jog, and running by myself, I can make the trip in less time than cart hopping, but Katja was nowhere near strong enough to make such a run, especially after yesterday's exhausting time in the water. Nevertheless we made it to Manhattan quickly, and I went straight for the area near Tibby's where Muriel and I had run into Snoddy a few days ago.
It took only moments to spot Snoddy and Muriel. She was standing beside a bootblack, selling to the boy's customers, and he was across the street and down a bit, far enough away not to compete but close enough to keep an eye on her. I nodded to myself appreciatively when he spotted me and came jogging over long before Muriel even noticed us.
"Spot, back so soon?" Snoddy asked, concern evident on his face. "Hey, Katja," he added, tipping his hat to her.
"There's trouble. You should both go back to the lodging house," I said, and he instantly blanched.
"Is it because of this?" he asked, gesturing to the headline.
"Yeah," I answered. "He knows she's in Manhattan." I lowered my voice a bit. "Probably going to put a hit on her. The Jackson Hollow guys and the others know not to take the hit and why, but my bet is the Eastmen don't." I didn't think it was possible, but Snoddy's face lost even more color at the mention of Manhattan's most notorious gang. We walked over to Muriel as we talked, our eyes scanning and Katja's hand firmly in mine.
"We should get backup," Snoddy said, his voice tight.
"At least until word gets out," I agreed.
"Snipeshooter can run for us," he said, gesturing to the kid running toward us.
"Snipe, get the biggest boys you can find over here as quickly as possible," I said as he approached. "Make sure Itey is one of them." He nodded, then turned and bolted through the crowd in that strange way of his. Most people don't know it, but Itey, like the Mouth, is Jewish. The Eastmen are a primarily Jewish gang, and Itey's older brother Samuel had been a member since their mother had disappeared a few years earlier. The gang members knew Itey, and he could more easily ensure that things didn't become violent if that's the way this went.
"We'll wait here until we have a group," I said, surveying the street. It wasn't too busy, but there were enough people around that I felt confident a hit would not happen here. The open alley behind us was a concern. As long as nobody came down it, our position was secure, but anybody attacking from that direction could hit and run pretty easily. I turned to peer down it. Nobody there, but that could change in an instant. I'd have to watch it as well as the street, but I'm pretty good at those things. I glanced at the bootblack. Younger kid-maybe nine-and cute, but obviously not a fighter. He seemed to sense that something was up, though, and approached Snoddy briefly. He kept glancing warily at me, and I knew my reputation preceded me, but I ignored him. No need to let on that I'm soft, and to be honest, I was too preoccupied to worry much about the kid right now. He wasn't going to be much help, and judging by the way Snoddy sent him away gently, he was thinking along the same lines.
It wasn't long before Blink approached, a question in his face as he walked toward Snoddy and Muriel. He spotted me and his face clouded, then cleared and lit up when he saw Katja behind me. He was trotting toward us now, giving me a questioning and concerned look. I moved toward him, intending to clue him in, but a yell from the other direction caught my attention.
"Spot!" It was Mush. Soft, sweet, but handy in a fight Mush. "Snipe said to get over here yesterday. What's going on?"
I was about to answer him when I heard a shriek behind me. I turned to find a bewildered Blink standing beside a thrashing, panicking Katja. He had obviously tried to greet her with a hug. Dammit, I hadnt thought about that. I stepped quickly toward her, shoving Blink aside roughly. I didn't mean to be rude, but he was in my way. I grabbed her wrists, backed her to the wall beside the bootblack's stand, and lowered her to the ground as she fought me. I could tell she didn't recognize me and that she was reacting out of pure panic. As soon as she was sitting I released her, and she covered her head with her hands and curled into a tight ball as she had on previous occasions. I gave her a moment to realize nobody was touching her before moving in to talk to her again.
"Easy, Katja. You're okay. Relax. Breathe for me, baby. It's just me, Katja. You're alright. Just breathe," I said, muttering the words softly as I bent down to her. I saw her take a deep breath. Good, that part means I can touch her. I reached my hand out.
"I'm going to-"
"SPOT, LOOK OUT!" I heard Blink yell, and I turned swiftly to my right as I rose. The fact that I turned right and not left saved my life as a knife grazed my left ribs, drawing blood. I carried my momentum further around and into a punch, connecting even as I registered the shape of a bearded man in front of me. I moved to follow it up quickly but was forced to instead block the knife as the man's left hand came at my right side. I managed to grab the wrist in my own left hand, squeezing the tendons and forcing the knife out of the man's hand. The whole thing had caught me so off guard that it took me a momet to gain the upper hand in the fight. Unfortunately it took just long enough for two more figures to appear, and suddenly I was fighting three men-all of them good. It was all I could do to avoid the knife the man in a vest held and to keep the other two from reaching the knife that beardy had dropped, but even as I dodged punches and threw a few of my own I was desperately trying to come up with a move that would give me the upper hand-or at least a chance go even the odds a bit.
Then Kid Blink was there. I registered that he had joined the fight, but I was hardly able to look at him as the vest-man's knife came whizzing back at me. I blocked it yet again, though it grazed my forearm as I did so, then spun suddenly in the opposite direction, driving my left elbow into the man's solar plexus. That gave me the moment I needed to disarm him even as I was facing the direction of the danger from the other two goons. Make that one-Beardy was currently engaged with Blink. Using the now disarmed right arm of vest boy for leverage and continuing the turn to my left, I swung the still gasping man around me, using his body as a weapon, sending him reeling into the third man. As the two crashed to the ground, I followed up with a few heavy punches to the would-be assassin's face, and he was out cold.
CRACK! Even as I turned to face the third man, whom I had seen scrambling to rise as I knocked out Vesty, he crumpled to the ground. I saw Katja, a board she had obviously grabbed from the alley behind us held high over her head, standing above him with a strange look on her face. What the-
The sounds of the fight still going on behind me brought me back to the present, and I turned to see my original attacker getting the upper hand on Blink, who was bleeding heavily from a cut above his patched eye. I leaped on the man, and within moments, he, too, was down. My gaze swung around wildly, trying to register the danger and take in what had happened. I saw Snoddy and Mush with another man unconscious between them, though Mush looked rough. I was pretty sure his left arm was broken, and he stood awkwardly, his weight all on his left foot. The entire brawl had taken only a minute or two, and at that moment Jack and Itey came running up with Snipeshooter. Itey took in the scene quickly, and, turning to me, spoke urgently.
"Snipe, Snoddy, you stay. We got this. Blink, you guys are hurt and too obvious. Get out of here before the bulls come. Go!" He grabbed the board from a stunned Katja, giving her a gentle shove toward the alley from which the attack had apparently come. I grabbed Muriel's arm, pulling her along toward the alley behind Katja. I could hear Jack and Blink behind me, helping Mush as we hurried down the alley. Katja reached the next street and hesitated before stepping into the open. I grabbed her hand with my left arm, still clutching Muriel with my right. I turned them right, led them down a block, then crossed the street and ducked into the next alley, turning briefly to make sure the boys were still behind us. I grabbed the fire escape ladder, pulling it down.
"Climb onto the roof. Quickly," I panted, motioning both the girls up the ladder. Katja stopped, her hand on the ladder, and looked at me, near panic in her eyes.
"I'm right behind you, Cat. I have to help Mush," I said, forcing my adrenaline down as I gave her the most reassuring look I could manage. She took a deep breath and started to climb. Good girl. Muriel followed. I turned to the boys, wondering how on earth we could get Mush up a ladder with only one working leg and one arm.
"This is going to hurt," Jack said to Mush, and he grimaced. He knew that.
"Hold onto the ladder with your good arm," I said. I climbed up ahead of him, and once he was securely on the ladder, Blink and Jack pushed it up to the first landing as I pulled. He winced as the ladder jolted to a stop, and I steadied him on the landing, sending the ladder back down for the other boys. We repeated the process until we reached the sections with the stairs.
"I got him," Jack said, motioning me to go ahead as he supported the injured boy. I nodded, turning and sprinting up the stairs to the roof. Katja stood there, her eyes wide with fear as they looked down the fire escape at us. I heaved up over the side of the roof, then stopped to look at them both critically.
"Are you alright?" I asked, a bit breathless from the effort of the last ten minutes. I looked at both of them, trying not to fixate on Katja.
"I'm okay," Katja gasped, and I saw Muriel nod her agreement. "But you're hurt. We need to-" I cut her off with a wave of my hand. We needed to deal with the situation. I wasn't hurt.
"We need to make sure you are safe, and we need to get Mush up here," I said, a bit more sharply than I had intended. The girls fell silent as I turned and helped Jack and Blink boost Mush up the last ladder and onto the roof. The boy grimaced as he ended up on the rooftop and sunk to the ground, his uninjured leg finally giving out in exhaustion. Muriel stepped toward him in concern.
"Mush?" she whispered, touching the shoulder of his uninjured arm lightly.
"I'm okay, Mouse," he ground out. "Just worried about you."
"I'm not hurt," she said, kneeling beside him and taking his hand in hers. He gave her a strained grin, then closed his eyes and leaned his head back into the wall behind him.
"Blink," I heard Jack say behind me, and I turned to see him looking critically at the blood caked on the blond boy's face.
"It's a lot of blood, and I am going to have a wicked headache, but it's not serious," he said before Jack could ask. Jack nodded once to himself before turning to me. I ignored him and turned to look again at Katja, stepping toward her.
"Are you-" I started, but I was once again cut off.
"You're bleeding," she said, her voice high and tight. She was on the verge of losing control, I realized.
"I'm fine," I said, though I looked down and realized why she was so worried. The cut to my ribs had bled more than I had realized. It was going to hurt like the dickens tomorrow, I knew. At the moment, though, I didnt feel it at all; I had too much adrenaline in my system. "Really. It looks worse than it is. It's just a scratch, but it just bled a lot. I'll feel it tomorrow, but it's fine," I said. She was looking at me with a wild look, and I could see that she was struggling for some sense of order. I stepped toward her and took her hand.
"Look at me," I commanded in that take charge tone. She obeyed, as I had known she would, and I held her gaze. "I'm fine. I am not hurt," I said firmly and calmly. She nodded, her eyes still wide. "But I need to know that you are okay. I need to know that you aren't hurt and that you are calm." She nodded, and I could see her take a deep breath. I steeled myself for an emotional reaction, but I saw only resolve. Well, this was interesting. My little Katja was showing a trace of spirit. But I didn't have time to ponder it as Jack broke in.
"Spot," he said, his tone soft but urgent. I tore my gaze from Katja's and looked at him.
"Right," I said, and I turned to Blink.
"You guys okay here for a few minutes?" I asked, and Blink grinned crookedly, then winced as the movement of the skin on his face irritated the cut above his eye.
"Go," he said, and, squeezing Katja's fingers briefly, I pulled away from her and moved with Jack over to the other edge of the roof.
"Twenty minutes," I heard Jack say, and we moved off.