From New York to New Mexico and Beyond

Chapter ten

Be prepared for a long chapter!

Finally. The boys were settled, the last burnt piece of egg had been eaten, the paper plates and plastic forks disposed of, and it was finally quiet except for the sound of s'mores being devoured. "Ghost story time!" Les whooped. Everyone around the campfire started at the sudden noise. "Okay, fine." Davey sighed reluctantly. "But if we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it in an orderly fashion--"

"Whoever's marshmallow explodes first gets to tell the first story!" Race interrupted, stabbing an especially fat marshmallow with his stick. Everyone else followed his lead.

"Almost got it...there!" Katherine cried triumphantly as her marshmallow popped off the stick and oozed onto the wood. "And my writer wins!" Jack put his arm around her. "Okay, Ace, you make up stories for a living so...this better be good. No pressure." Katherine grinned, "oh don't worry, it will be." She cleared her throat and the boys leaned in expectantly.

"Once upon a time, there was a girl who was a dancer in a small traveling circus. Everywhere this circus went, strange events would happen in that town...but when the police would go to investigate, the circus and everyone in it would be gone, as if they had never even existed, until it would mysteriously turn up in another town. One night, just before she was due onstage, this girl received a note. No one knew what it said, but it seemed to have a strange effect on her. Without a word to anyone, the girl walked out of the tent, past the crowd and away from the circus. When her cue came to go onstage and she didn't appear, they sent search parties out to look for her. Several people reported a circus dancer seen walking across the field, but after a thorough search, there was still no sign of her. Until the next morning when she was found by the stream, on the opposite side of town from the field...murdered. Stabbed to death. The note that she had received was never found. No one had any clues as to who the murderer was. Now her boyfriend, who was also in the circus, naturally started to demand some answers. But he was asking too many questions to the wrong people. One of the clowns from the circus, Leonard 'Boom Boom' Hildes, heard him talking to the police one day about his suspicions. The girl's boyfriend was suggesting that he knew who the murderer was, and 'Boom Boom' did not like what he was hearing. The clown knew who the killer was and with the police already on the grounds, the circus couldn't get away. Not fast enough. So he did what he had to do. The only thing he could do. He grabbed his clown necktie and walked towards the poor, unsuspecting boy. 'Boom Boom' tapped the young man on the shoulder. The poor lad turned around, not knowing his soon-to-be fate. Then before he could scream, before he could call for help, before he could run, Mr Leonard 'Boom Boom' Hildes took the necktie and..."

"Ahem!"

The fire and excitement in Katherine's eyes went out like someone had thrown a bucket of ice water in her face as she looked around the group to see who dared to interrupt her story. Her gaze landed on Davey who was jerking his head towards the boy at his feet. Les sat on the ground near the campfire, his eyes bulging out of their sockets, biting his finger so hard she was surprised there wasn't blood. His other hand hovered by his brother's fingers, in case he needed to grab hold of something. Katherine looked back at Davey, conveying that she had received his message. The other boys were watching her in confusion, wondering why she had paused.

"He took the necktie," she continued uncertainly. "And...and...handed it to the boyfriend...guy...person..." she faltered, floundering for a new, less gruesome finish. "And...he said... 'hey pal, could you get this dry cleaned? I need it by Thursday.'" Her voice squeaked. She prayed the boys were taking this as a joke. One look at their bewildered expressions showed that they probably weren't. "A-and so...the uh...the boy took the necktie...the completely un-scary clown necktie...to the dry cleaners and...um...the circus stopped being creepy and..." she desperately scanned the group of confused boys gathered at her feet, looking for one boy who didn't look like they had just lost all faith in her. "The end?" She finished lamely. She looked to Jack helplessly, hoping he'd give her an out. Jack's eyebrows were raised and his expression clearly showed that he could not believe he had just wasted five minutes listening to that story. She gave a subtle gesture to the other boys in their group, hoping he'd catch on and side with her.

He didn't.

"That has got to be dumbest thing I have ever wasted my time on." He announced. "And that's saying a lot. Katherine sighed. Well this was Jack Kelly after all, she didn't expect him to sugar-coat anything or pick up on subtle hints.

"Who's next?" Race asked, obviously extremely disappointed.

Katherine grudgingly gave up her seat at the head of the group, feeling dejected. The ending of that story was her masterpiece as far as spooky stories go. But when she met Davey's eyes and he mouthed "thank you," to her, she felt a little better. After all, you can never please everyone at once.

Did anyone else see Newsies in theaters? I'm sorry this story is so on and off, but I saw Newsies twice while it was out and had to do something with all these fansie emotions