All Too Well

♚ Chapter Six ♚

Freckles waved her tooth at me. "Violet!" She grinned, showing off her toothy smile. "I lost a tooth!"

"I see," I smiled sweetly.

"I'm going to put this tooth next to me so the tooth fairy will come and give me a coin! Once I get the coin, I'll buy us fresh bread the next morning!"

"You go and do that."

I ruffled her hair and Freckles leaned in to my touch, smiling. She ran off and Joker came by me. He leaned against the brick wall. His coat sleeve hung limply, showing that he was missing an arm. He sighed, "That kid is going to be disappointed the next morning. Just like with Santa Claus."

"Next time," I rolled my eyes. "Don't come in half a bread and bruises."

I stared at Freckles as she presented her tooth to Jumbo. He ruffled her hair as well, giving a small smile at the young and enthusiastic kid. These were one of the rare moments when Freckles was happy. They never lasted long. She was happy one minute, then gloomy the next. Every time she was happy, I wanted to make it last as long as possible. This time was no different. I was brainstorming ways that I could obtain just one coin for her so that she would think it was from the tooth fairy.

"You love her like a sister, don't you?" Joker asked quietly.

"Yeah," I didn't shift my gaze to Joker as I continued brainstorming.

"I know what you're thinking; you gotta find a coin for her somehow. Well, I tell you this; you're not finding that coin alone."

"Huh?" I turned to face Joker.

"We'll all go look for a coin," he smiled.

"Oh my gosh, thank you!" I hugged Joker.

It took all night for Joker, Jumbo, Peter, Wendy, Beast, Dagger, and I to find a coin. We worked in the dead of the night with various chores, desperate to earn a coin. We barely made it back in time to trade out Freckles' tooth for the coin. We all arranged ourselves accordingly on how we slept at night on a old blanket that we used as protection from the hard, paved ground; Freckles slept on the left side as I laid beside her, Jumbo's back was against mine as he held his arms protectively around Peter and Wendy, Beast had her back to the children, and Joker and Dagger slept sideways on the top and bottom ends of the blanket.

By the time I laid down next to Freckles. I heard her scream. I craned my head to the side to see her grasping the coin. "I got a coin!" She squealed with joy, jumping up and down from her resting spot. "I got a coin! Now I can buy all of us bread!" She ran off to the bakery, but Joker grabbed her collar. She gave him a confused look and he smiled, wagging his finger at her, a silent gesture not to run out in the streets alone.

She got the message and laughed as she wanted for Joker to get up and lead her over to the bakery. Minuets later, she ran out with a fresh loaf with Joker staggering behind her. She broke the loaf to several pieces for us to share. "This bread is great!" She smiled between bites of bread.

"'Ee can thank the tooth fairy for that," Joker said. He winked to the rest of us.

"Huh," Freckles wondered, putting her hand over her mouth. "If I take out the rest of my teeth, will I get a pile of coins?"

"No!" We all shouted. Freckles blinked at our sudden outburst.

"Freckles, we don't want you to be a grandma so soon," I laughed.

"You're right," she grinned as she leaned on me, enjoying her bread.

*~*~*~*~*~

Someone shook me awake. I groaned and buried my face into the pillow, desperate to get more sleep. The abduction last night was exhausting, and all I wanted to do right now was sleep.