Part Three: Swifty’s Mission


Swifty sat down on his new bunk; he had traded places with Mush so he could stay with the sick newsies. He was nervous, for a good number of his friends were sick, including his girl. After a long while, the doctor came over to Kloppman to tell him the newsies’ conditions.

"They have a virus that has been flying around New York." The doctor told him. "The good news is that it can be treated with medicine and they will be fine in a few days."

"What’s the bad news?" Swifty asked, coming up from behind Kloppman.

The doctor sighed. "The bad news is that the medicine needed is in New Jersey. I used up the last of it in Midtown."

Swifty felt faint. New Jersey? He thought. The medicine needed is in New Jersey?

"Then, what’ll happen to them?" Kloppman asked.

"I had some friends gather up five men to fetch the medicine and bring it back here. The journey takes about three days to get there, and about three days to get back."

Swifty could feel relief sweeping through his veins, but there was still some doubt. What if they can’t bring it back in time? He asked himself. What if something goes wrong? I should go with them! But wait, if I leave, what’ll happen to Chase? Will she need me more here or out there? Those darn whatifs! I’ll go with them!

Swifty rushed to his bunk and packed his clothes up. He knew that he would need to layer up if he went out there, for the snow was deep and there was a chance that blizzards would come. When all his things were packed, he rushed over to Seven’s bunk to tell her what he was going to do. She was half asleep, but when she saw Swifty, her face brightened.

"Derek." She said.

"Hey." Swifty said.

"What’s wrong?"

Swifty sighed. "The doc said dat he can treat yer sickness, but da medicine’s in New Jersey. ‘E said dat some guys were gonna get it. I’m gonna go with ‘em."

"You what?"

"I’m goin’ with ‘em. I can’t help but worry dat dey won’t come in time an’ dat someone’ll get woise or die. I don’t want dat."

Seven shut her eyes for a brief moment. "That’s very brave, but what if da guys won’t let ya come?"

"I’ll make ‘em let me come."

Seven smiled weakly. "Promise me something." She placed her hand on his heart. "Promise me you’ll come back alive."

Swifty nodded, took her hand and kissed it. "I promise I’ll come back alive, an’ wit da medicine."

"Good."

Swifty bent down and kissed Seven quickly. When he drew back, he squeezed her hand once more.

"I need ta go now. If dose guys are here now, I’d bedder tell ‘em I’m going."

"Okay."

"I’ll come back. That’s a promise I won’t break."

Seven smiled again and Swifty kissed her once more before he left the bunkroom. When he reached the lobby, he found a group of five men talking with Kloppman and the doctor. Four of them were large and well-built, and the fifth was also well-built, but he looked like he was no older than Swifty.

"So the medicine’s in Clifton?" A man with a deep voice asked.

"Yes." the doctor answered. "And you need to hurry. If you don’t get it back in about a week, things can go very wrong for these newsies."

"We’ll get it," the young one said, "we’ll bring it back."

"Um, excuse me." Swifty said timidly. "I wanna go with you."

Everyone turned to look at him, and Swifty fought the redness that was slowly creeping to his face.

"Why would you want to go?" One asked.

"Because my goil is up der, an’ I wanna make sure dat the medicine gets here."

"You have our word." The young one said.

"Please," Swifty pleaded, "she’s da only thing I got, an’ I don’t wanna loose ‘er."

"Let ‘im come," said one.

"No," the young one said, "we’ve got too many already."

"Well," the tallest one said, "we could use some more help. I guess we can let him come."

Swifty sighed with relief. "Thanks." He said.

Kloppman walked over to Swifty, and he could see the worry written all over his face. "You sure you know what you’re doing?" Kloppman asked.

Swifty nodded. "Yeah. I don’t want anythin’ ta happen ta Chase."

"Then you go. But mind you, them blizzards can jump up out of nowhere, so watch your back."

"I will."

"What’s your name, boy?" The man with the deep voice asked.

"Swifty."

The man nodded. "I’m Jefferson, but you can call me Jeff, and the men behind me are Jones, Whittier, Collins, and the boy is Stamblyr."

Each one nodded at the mention of his name, but Stamblyr didn’t seem too happy that Swifty was coming.

"Shall we go now?" Collins asked.

Jeff nodded. "Yes. We can’t waste any more time. Swifty, are you coming?"

"Right behind ya."

Swifty said goodbye to Kloppman and told him to tell Tweetheart to take care of her sister for him while he was gone. Kloppman said that he’d tell her and Swifty followed the others out. I wish this hadn’t happened on Christmas, Swifty thought. There were seven horses out, and the five men mounted theirs.

"Take your pick, boy." Jeff told him. "You gotta have a horse to ride, cuz it’s a long walk to Clifton."

Swifty nodded and looked at the two horses. The first one was a chestnut color with a large white stripe running down its face and white stockings, but there was a fire in its eyes that somehow told Swifty not to ride that one.

He looked at the second one to see if he should ride it. This horse was a dapple-gray color and had gentle brown eyes. Swifty decided to ride the gray one, so he put his pack on it and mounted the horse.

"You know how to mount a horse." Whittier observed.

Swifty nodded. "Yep. Had a horse when I was little, but I had ta sell it."

"You picked a good horse." Jones told him. "That chestnut’s got a fire that’s hard ta keep a hold on."

"All right, men," Jeff said, "we’ve got a long journey ahead of us. Let’s get goin’!"

Swifty clicked his tongue and the horse started to trot. As they were about to turn the corner, Swifty looked back at the lodging house. He looked in a window and let out a sigh.

"I’ll come back, Chase." He whispered. "I’ll come back."

* * *


"’I never lie, sir.’" Tweetheart read.

"Devin," Seven said, interrupting her sister’s reading, "I’m thirsty."

Tweetheart set a marker in the book. "Okay, I’ll be right back."

She went to the washroom and filled up a little tin dipper to the brim with water. She returned to Seven’s bunk and let her drink. When she was finished, she rolled onto her side and sighed a little bit.

"Chase," Tweetheart said, "are you okay?"

Seven rolled back over to look at her sister. "I miss Derek."

"He’s only been gone for a few hours. He’ll be fine, and he’ll be back in a few days."

Seven covered her face with her hands. "I’m so scared. I’m afraid dat ‘e’s gonna get into trouble out der an’ nobody’ll be der ta help him."

"It’ll be all right, Chase." Tweetheart said soothingly. "He made a promise to you that he would come back. Didn’t Tony make him promise to take care of you?"

Seven nodded and could remember that fateful day. "Yeah. He said that if he didn’t take of me that he’d rise from his grave and kill him."

"I believe that he’ll keep that promise till he dies."

* * *


Swifty watched as Jeff and Whittier set up camp for the night. It was very cold, and it was getting very dark. Jones was trying to light a fire while Stamblyr and Collins tied the horses up. Swifty stayed by his horse, and he stroked its soft nuzzle. The horse tossed its head gratefully, and Swifty couldn’t help but smile.

"Don’t get too attached to the animal," Stamblyr said, interrupting Swifty’s thoughts, "it’s only going back to Jeff’s joint when this is over with."

Swifty rolled his eyes. Stamblyr was such a pain, and Swifty couldn’t figure out why they picked him to get the medicine. Swifty just wanted them to get the medicine and head back to New York so his friends, and Seven, would get better.

To Swifty, it looked like Stamblyr didn’t give a cow’s rear end to the newsies and was only doing this for profit. Finally, Jeff and Whittier got camp set up, and Jones got a fire started. Collins brought out a can of beans and Whittier drew a sack of corn dodgers from his saddlebag.

Swifty sat down by the fire as the beans cooked and Whittier passed some corn dodgers out. Swifty ate one, then he turned and looked at the gray horse. He tossed a corn dodger at his feet and the horse bent down and ate it. Stamblyr only snorted and Jeff chuckled a little bit.

"I can see you’ve taken a likin’ to my horse." Jeff observed.

Swifty shrugged. "He reminds me of my horse when I’se little. I hadta sell it cuz my stepdad lost his job."

Jeff nodded. "I see. So, you work as a newsie?"

"Yep. It’s good work, not to mention a lot of fun. Ya get to hang around yer friends, and sometimes, girls."

Jones chuckled a little bit. "I take it your girl has the virus, right?"

Swifty sighed. "Yeah. She said that she wasn’t feelin’ too good for the past few days but she convinced me it was nuttin’. Just like I did a year ago."

"What happened a year ago?" Collins asked.

Swifty was silent for a moment. "I was out in the snow without a coat, an’ I was all wet an’ I was three miles from Manhattan, an’ when I got back, the newsies told me ta see a doctor, but I told dem I was just fine. I ended up being sick, an’ the doctor din’t think I was gonna survive, but I did."

"It must’ve been a scary experience."

"It was. The only good thing is dat my goil stayed by my side the whole time. She only left once, an’ dat was ta get some fresh air or somethin’."

"She must be pretty special." Whittier said.

"Oh, she is. I luv ‘er more than anythin’ in this woild."

The beans were done, so Jones passed them around and everyone ate in silence. After they were finished, everyone retreated to the tent to get some sleep. They had a long day ahead of them.

* * *


"Derek, Derek…" Seven moaned.

Tweetheart rushed to her sister’s side and shook her gently. "Chase! Chase, wake up!"

Seven stirred a bit before opening her eyes. When she saw her sister, she closed her eyes again and covered her face with her hands.

"Chase," Tweetheart coaxed, "you were dreaming. The doc said dat you’d be a liddle delirious because of the virus. Everybody’s like dat."

"I want Derek." Seven whimpered.

"Ya know dat ‘e’s gettin’ da medicine for ya. ‘E’ll be back in a few days, an’ you’ll be fine."

"I miss him. I want ‘im right ‘ere wit me." Seven sniffled, wiping a stray tear from her face. "’E’s de only think dat’ll make me bedder."

Tweetheart sighed. "Don’t worry. Jus’ get some sleep an’ you’ll see Swifty sooner dan eva."

Seven rolled over onto her side and tried to get some sleep. A few minutes later, Tweetheart saw that her sister was sound asleep. God, she prayed, please, please let Swifty be safe out there and let ‘im bring the medicine home.

* * *