Part Four: Trials
Swifty moaned as he felt someone nudge him with their boots. Rolling over, he pulled the blanket over his head.
"It’s too early, Kloppman." He mumbled.
"Swifty, I ain’t Kloppman. Now get yer lazy butt off the ground and get up. We got a long ride ahead of us."
Swifty rolled onto his back and tried to open his eyes. Frost laced his eyelashes and he wiped them away to open his eyes. When he could see clearly, he saw Jeff towering above him with a mug of coffee.
"C’mon boy." Jeff said. "You want yer girl to get well, don’t ya? Just get up!"
Swifty threw his covers off and felt the cold air attack him like a swarm of bees. It was so cold that he felt frozen for a brief second. He shook his cold away and got to his feet. He left the tent while Jeff gathered up the blankets and took the tent down.
Collins handed Swifty some corn dodgers and a cup of coffee. Swifty consumed his corn dodgers hungrily and forced his coffee down, hoping it would warm him up. Whittier brought the horses up, and the gray horse tossed its head when Whittier released his reigns. Swifty took another corn dodger and stuck it in his pocket.
When Jeff had everything packed, he mounted his horse, as well as the others. Swifty pulled out the corn dodger, held it out in the palm of his hand and let the horse eat it before they left. He mounted the horse, and he looked over to see Stamblyr shoot a disapproving look his way. Swifty ignored it and held tightly to the reigns. After a while, Jeff rode beside Swifty, and Swifty began to feel a little nervous.
"I can see you’ve taken a likin’ to my horse." Jeff said.
Swifty shrugged. "Well, as I said, it kinda reminds me of me old horse."
"Well, that horse is a good one. Raised him from a colt, and he’s in good shape."
"How old is he?"
"Four."
"He got a name?"
"No, but you can name ‘im. In fact, you can have him."
Swifty’s eyes popped. "Really? I can ‘ave ‘im?"
Jeff nodded. "Sure. Pretty good offer too, horses like that ain’t cheap ‘round these parts."
Swifty smiled. "Thanks. I always wanted a horse again."
"No problem."
Jeff then rode ahead, and Swifty began to think of a name for the horse. Finally, he came up with one, and he leaned toward the horse’s ear.
"I think I’ll call ya ‘Smokey.’ Ya like dat?"
The horse’s ears went forward, indicating to Swifty that it was a yes. He grinned and leaned back.
"Smokey it is. We’re gonna get along just fine."
* * *
Tweetheart sat in the lobby of the lodging house, thinking to herself. She was worried about so many things; Seven, Swifty, and her grandmother. Grandma hadn’t written them in a while.
Kloppman was passing around cups of coffee and tea to the newsies with Tweetheart, and no one said a word. The silence was fierce to Tweetheart, and she almost wished that she were sick too. She jumped a mile high when David let out a loud yawn. When he saw that he had startled her, he raised his hands in defeat.
"Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you." He said.
Tweetheart sighed. "Ah, it’s okay."
"It’s so boring." Boots complained. "Half da newsies are sick, da udder half is eidder takin’ care of ‘em or dyin’ from boredom."
"It’s too much like last year, except it was wit Swifty." Tweetheart thought out loud.
The silence took over again. The only sounds hear were those of shoes tapping on the floor and the slurping of the hot drinks. The sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs broke the silence, and everyone looked up to see who it was. It was Race.
"’Ey Tweetheart," Race called, "Seven wants ya."
Tweetheart set her cup on her seat and left the fireplace. She followed up the stairs behind Race and entered the bunkroom in silence. When Race opened the door, she was met with the sounds of coughing from the sick newsies, unlike the silence in the lobby. Tweetheart walked over to Seven and Jack’s bunk and found Bumlets reading Seven’s book out loud to them.
"As she spoke," he read, "Mrs. March came and took her place among them, looking as if her holiday had not been much pleasanter than theirs."
"Hey Bumlets," Tweetheart said, interrupting him, "I’ll take over for ya."
Bumlets nodded and stuck a bookmark in the book. "Okay. I’ll jus’ head downstairs fer now an’ get some coffee."
Tweetheart nodded and took the book out of Bumlets’ hands. As he left, she sat down in his chair and looked at her sister. Her tanned skin was now white and deathly pale, and Tweetheart was almost afraid to look at her.
"You okay, Chase?" Tweetheart asked.
Seven shook her head. "No." she said, her voice quiet. "I feel terrible, an’ I miss Derek."
"I’m sure you do. Ya know, he ain’t even my boyfriend an’ I miss ‘im."
"Hey," Jack mumbled from the top bunk, "don’t get any ideas."
Tweetheart chuckled a little bit. "Don’t worry, I won’t. If I did, Chase would murder me."
"Hey!" Seven exclaimed, shifting in her bed. "Don’t say dat. Well…it is true, I would kill ya if ya did think of takin’ ‘im."
A few of the sick newsies began to laugh a little bit. Tweetheart had to smile, for none of them had laughed since they had discovered that they were sick. Gathering herself together, Tweetheart let out a sigh and clutched the book in her hands.
"Well, ya want me ta keep readin’ to ya?"
"If ya do," Pie Eater said, "speak loud cuz I wanna hear it."
"Yeah," Mush popped in, "talk loud so’s we can hear ya."
Tweetheart smiled. "Okay. Let’s see where Bumlets left off."
"I like da character Laurie." Jack commented.
"I think da character Beth kinda resembles you." Seven said. "She’s real shy, an’ she’s real sweet."
Tweetheart blushed. "Thanks. Well, let’s get to da story." She opened the book and cleared her throat. "’Are you satisfied with your experiment,’" she read, "’or do you want another week of it?’ she asked. ‘I don’t!’ cried Jo decidedly…"
* * *
Swifty let out a large yawn and watched as the steam of his breath billow out like a small cloud. Rubbing his eyes and shaking his head, he attempted to shake his tiredness away. To keep awake, he decided to think about Seven. He knew that once he came back, she’d be well and everything would be back to where it was before.
He looked at the other riders. Everyone looked tired, except for Jeff, and everyone also looked bored. Swifty was beginning to wish that he could’ve stayed with Seven, but he didn’t really trust these men into bringing the medicine back in time. As they traveled on, Swifty noticed a dark cloud up ahead.
"Snowstorm’s a comin’." Jeff pointed out. "It don’t look like a blizzard, but be prepared for anything."
Swifty pulled his coat tighter around him and wrapped his scarf around his face. Leaning toward Smokey’s ear, he whispered, "Snowstorm’s comin’. Bedder be careful."
Smokey tossed his head in reply. Swifty leaned back and watched as the cloud slowly came upon them. The sky turned dove-gray, snow whirled around them, and harsh winds blew and tried to knock the riders off their mounts. Swifty clung tightly to the reigns as Smokey fought the snow and wind and kept steady on the trail. Swifty was glad that this wasn’t a blizzard, for he knew what those suckers were capable of doing.
As the storm raged on, Swifty noticed that the trail was now somewhat harder than the snow. It then occurred to him that it was ice. Guessing that the rest of the riders knew, he didn’t say a word. As they slowly made their way across the ice, Swifty thought he heard crackling sounds, like corn when it got too close to a stove and turned into popcorn.
He then heard a shattering, and it made his heart stand still. There was a brief moment of silence, and Swifty let out a sigh of relief. All of the sudden, he heard a loud creaking, then shattering, and finally, a splash.
"Get over here!" Jeff screamed frantically.
Swifty turned to see Jones and Whittier dismounting their horses and rushing to aid Collins, who had fallen through the ice. His horse had jumped out and seemed fine, but Collins was hanging onto the ice for dear life. Swifty immediately jumped off of Smokey and rushed to help. Stamblyr grabbed a rope and tossed it to Collins. He grabbed it and Stamblyr held onto the rope and pulled.
Jones rushed to help, but it was so cold and the storm was so strong that the water on Collins’ clothes were turning into ice and only making him heavier. Swifty grabbed the rope and pulled, but they needed more help. Jeff and Whittier were trying to round up Collins’ horse, so Swifty came up with an idea.
He whistled and Smokey came over. Grabbing the end of the rope, he tied it to his saddle and mounted Smokey. Gently tapping Smokey with his heels, Smokey went and pulled. With Smokey pulling and helping Jones and Stamblyr, Collins was pulled out in no time. Jeff rushed over and threw a blanket around his friend. Whittier grabbed the horses and pulled them off the iced riverbed and the men followed.
When they were off the ice, Jones started a fire and got some hot water going. When the water was toted, Jones added the coffee grinds and handed a cup to Collins, who took it with shaky hand and sipped it quickly to get warm. Swifty plopped down on the snow and set his forearms on his knees. He had never been so frightened in his entire life.
"Hey Swifty," Jeff said, knocking Swifty out of his thoughts.
"Yeah?" Swifty asked.
"Your quick thinking helped get Collins out. If you hadn’t tied the rope to yer horse, you probably wouldn’t have gotten him out in time."
"It weren’t nuttin’." Swifty said.
"Thanks Swifty." Collins told him.
Swifty felt a little relieved, then he saw the look on Stamblyr’s face. He was obviously jealous. What is with that guy? Swifty thought. There’s nothing to be jealous about! If we all hadn’t been trying, we never woulda got Collins out!
When Collins was warmed up and ready to continue on the journey, Swifty mounted Smokey and they got started. But as he glanced back at Stamblyr, he could still see that look of jealousy on his face. Swifty just ignored it and kept his eyes on the trail ahead.
* * *
"Laurie bent and whispered three words in Jo’s ear, which produced a comical change. She stood and stared at him for a minute, looking both surprised and displeased, then walked on, saying sharply, ‘How do you know?’"
Tweetheart let out a little sigh and shut the book. She set it on her lap and Seven blinked at her.
"Why’d ya stop?" she asked.
"I’ve been reading for a while, and I need a break." Tweetheart answered. "I’ll find someone to read for ya. Actually, no. You need some sleep, like da doctor said. You ‘aven’t ‘ad a nap today."
"So?" Seven asked. "I’m not tired."
"Jus’ do it." Tweetheart looked up. "You too, Jack."
Jack frowned. "I don’t wanna."
"Shut yer mouth an’ go ta sleep or I’ll put ya to sleep."
Jack sighed. "Oh, awright."
Tweetheart took the book and went to her room. When she arrived, the first thing she saw was the rose that Swifty had given Seven yesterday on Seven’s bed. It was wilting, for it hadn’t been in water.
Tweetheart set the book on her sister’s bed and went outside to fetch a vase. She went down to the lobby and brought a vase back up. She filled it up with water and returned to her room to stick the rose in it. When she set it on their nightstand, she felt a little sad. It was beginning to wilt when Seven was sick and Swifty was gone. Is it a sign? Tweetheart wondered.
Sighing, she left the room and went back down to the lobby. Before she went downstairs, she checked on Seven and Jack and the other sick newsies. Most of them were asleep, so she went on her way. When she reached the foot of the stairs, she was met by David, who was there to see if everyone was all right.
"How are they?" David asked.
Tweetheart sighed and plopped down on the bench. "Doesn’t look good. They need dat medicine and fast."
Kloppman came over and sat down next to Tweetheart. "Don’t worry, Tweetheart." He said gently. "I’m sure Swifty and the others are fine, and that they’ll be home soon."
* * *
Swifty jerked his head up. He was so tired, and it was very cold outside. He couldn’t fall asleep now, not while he was getting the medicine. Collins was still shivering a little bit, but he seemed to be all right. Swifty returned his attention ahead of him and saw that the sun was going down, meaning that night was coming and that it was going to get colder.
Pulling out an extra coat from his bag, he pulled it on and pulled it tightly to stay warm. He watched as the colors painted on the sky slowly turned to a navy blue and then to a blackish-blue color. As soon as the moon came out, Jeff lit a lantern and held it up for all to see.
"We need to stop soon." he said. "We don’t have much longer to go, so we might arrive at Clifton anywhere from tomorrow at noon or before dark."
Swifty sighed with relief. The sooner they got the medicine, the sooner they could get home, and the sooner Seven and his friends would be well. Don’t loose hope yet, Chase, Swifty thought, I’m almost there, and I’m coming home.
* * *
Seven awoke with a start. Her dreams were getting stranger and wilder by the day that she could hardly get some sleep when her delirium kicked in. She sat up and pressed her fists against her eyes. Tweetheart, sensing that something was wrong, rushed to her sister’s side.
"Chase, what’s wrong?" she asked.
Seven sighed. "I can’t sleep. My dreams are so wild dat I can’t even close my eyes without seein’ somethin’ weird."
Tweetheart nodded. She understood, but she also knew that her sister was thinking about Swifty. Tweetheart was worried about him too, and she hoped that he’d come back soon. She reached over and took her sister’s hand.
"I miss Swifty too." She said.
"I wish he woulda stayed here with me." Seven whispered. "I don’t know what I’m gonna do without him."
Tweetheart watched as her sister bent over, pulled her knees up and hid her face in her knees. It was hard for her to keep her tears back, and Tweetheart knew it. When Seven started to cry, Tweetheart was suddenly hit with a thought.
She stood up and picked up one of Swifty’s shirts that he had left behind and handed it to Seven. Seven just looked at it for a second, and then she looked up at her sister with a confused look on her face.
"What about it?" she asked.
"It’s his." Tweetheart answered. "Take it."
Seven reached up with shaky hands and took the shirt from Tweetheart’s hands. She looked at it for a second, then held it close to her face and breathed in the scent. It was filled with many different scents; the smell of tobacco from being around cigars, and the smell of oaks, pines, willows, maples and many other trees from Central Park where he normally sold his papers with Seven. She smiled and held it close to her.
"I feel like he’s here, right now." Seven whispered.
Tweetheart smiled. "Good. Now try to get some sleep, okay?"
Seven nodded. "Okay."
Tweetheart watched as Seven lay back on the bunk and held Swifty’s shirt close to her face as she closed her eyes. She seemed much happier now. Tweetheart watched for a little while, then retreated to her room. It had been a long day, and tomorrow would be much longer.
* * *