The Grave Digger

Chapter 10: The Accident

Bones ignored Rebel the whole evening. She was terrified. He slapped her, and it hurt. He had never done that before. Never. She didn't think he would ever be like that. She never wanted to talk to him again. How had she not noticed? Was she that blind? But she couldn't think about it. She was playing poker with Race, and she had a straight flush.
That night, Rebel put his minuscule amount of things in a bag, and left. He was going to miss all of them, but he knew he couldn't stay. He was getting too old, and he had always dreamed of being in the navy. That was why his nickname was Rebel, and why he came to Brooklyn when he ran away, rather than staying in Manhattan. He walked out of the lodging house, walked past the docks, and headed back to the navy yard. And never once did he look back.
Bones woke the next morning before anyone else, and thought about hers and Rebel's fight. Maybe it was her fault. As scared as she was, she was going to apologize when he came down. So, she waited. And waited. But he never came down. All the other newsies had, and not one was Rebel. Nor had any said a word about Rebel. She went up to Spot and asked if he'd seen him. "No, he wa'n't up dere when I woke up." So she asked Chuckles, and he just shook his head. She kept asking around, and kept getting the same answer. She felt her heart sink. This was her fault. She should have done something before. And now, all the Newsies would have a reason to get rid of her. She lost one of them. But she didn't tell a soul about their fight. By the time she and Chuckles went to his regular spot, she knew she needed to take some time, and clear her mind.
Chuckles noticed how silent Bones was. She was never quiet. She always talked his ear off in between hawking headlines. Rebel's disappearance had really taken its toll on her. The only time she talked was shouting out the headlines. He was worried, and he thought she just needed a break. When it was starting to get really late, Chuckles noticed how little people had bought from her, and took half of her newspapers. He sold all of them in no time, but noticed no one would buy from Bones. As they walked back, they ran into Spot and Race. Noticing how many papers she had left, Race took one for himself and a few for the other Manhattan Newsies, and handed one over to Spot. He always did this when Bones had a hard day, which was pretty often, and it helped her keep appearances up. She sighed, and wrapped one arm around Race's shoulder, at least, as close to his shoulder as she could reach, he was nearly a foot taller than her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and they walked in comfortable silence. When they got to the bridge, Bones just waved. She didn't want to say anything, and Race understood that. That's how he felt when Mud had just left. He hadn't told Bones yet, but he knew he had to at some point. He'd wait until it was their turn to sell together. Hopefully, she'd feel better then.
Later, Bones pulled Spot aside. "I need ta take a break. I think I'm gonna go ta Long Island fo' a bit. Clear my mind. I need you ta take charge. I'll only be a few days, bu' don' tell no one. Not even Chuckles." Spot nodded, and walked away. She took a deep breath, and watched all the Newsies pile into the lodging house. And then she took off.
She never spoke of her trip to Long Island. She just left, and suddenly reappeared sometime during the next week. No one asked, but they all wondered. The trip had cleared her mind, and she no longer cared about Rebel. Most of the newsies forgot about him. They couldn't even tell you what color his eyes were after a few days.
A month passed, and then a year, and Bones stopped really caring after a while, but she never forgot. She never would. But she had other things to worry about. Some newsies from Queens had snuck into Brooklyn somehow, although it was speculated a few of the guards had let them in, and soaked one of the younger newsies, a nine year old boy. He was sent to the hospital, and Bones was furious. She needed to talk to Jack. He had been the unspoken leader since Mud left, and she needed to make sure Manhattan had their back in case this escalated into a Newsie war. They could be really bloody, and the last time they had one, Brooklyn lost their king. That's how Paddy became leader. And she didn't want to go into a newsie war, she knew it would be bad for Brooklyn's and Queens' friendship. What if sometime Brooklyn needed help from Queens? But if that boy died, she was ready to do whatever it took.
Bones had been saving money all week so she could get over to Manhattan, and talk to Jack about this. She knew that Tibby's had the best milkshakes, and she wanted to treat Jack, make sure he was still on her side. She just hoped Queens hadn't talked to Richmond or the Bronx yet, so she could get them on her side, too. So, one day at noon, Race was heading home early from Sheepshead, and she told him to let Jack know she was coming over there. About an hour later, she grabbed her stash of money she had hidden, and made her way across the bridge, alone.
She stepped out in front of Tibby's, where Jack was standing with one of his newsies. She knew that recently, a bunch had joined with him, and she tried to remember their names, but this one she definitely did not know. She looked him up and down, and nodded. She noted he had an eyepatch, he was about her age, and he fidgeted with his fingers when he was nervous, which he most definitely was at that moment. "Jacky Boy, how bout we talk about this ovah milkshakes? I'll pay."
After they were settled in, Bones brought up the subject. "I'm guessin' ya hoid abou' one o' my boys gettin' soaked." "Yeah, I did. Ya find who dunnit yet?" She took a deep breath, and replied, "dat's why I's here. Some o' Ollie's boys snuck in, an' they dunnit." Jack nodded, messing with his milkshake. "How's da kid?" Bones looked down. "Not too good. He's still in da hospital, an' it ain't lookin' like he'll make it. But dat's what I's gotta ask you. If dis kid don't make it, I'm declarin' a newsie war on Queens. Ten-chins been real high since Jan-yarry, an' it ain't lookin' good fo' neidah o' us. So, if I declare war, I's gotta know if 'hattan's got our backs." Jack was impressed. She had put a lot of thought into this, and he knew that she wouldn't declare war out of nowhere. In fact, he knew she hated any kind of conflict or fight, at least, any that could get bloody. And this definitely could. He thought about it, staring out the window, when, out of nowhere, he saw Spot running towards the restaurant. Spot saw him, and motioned to Bones, as if he needed her. Bones noticed Jack's furrowed brow, and turned around. When she saw him, she jumped up, and ran out to talk to him. Jack couldn't hear what they were saying, but noticed how irritated Bones was, and how worried Spot was. Finally, she dragged Spot inside and they sat down. "Jack, you know Spot. Well, he's jus' tol' me. Da kid didn't make it." She turned to Spot, "go back, an' tell 'em, dis means war."
Jack was a little scared. These could get out of hand. But he would always have Bones' back. She'd do the same for him. So, after Spot left, he agreed, and they shook on it, with a spit-shake. As she stood up to leave, she said, "bye Jack," but waited a few seconds before whispering in the other kid's ear, loud enough for Jack to hear, "bye, Blink." Blink jumped, and Jack and Bones both laughed.
The next day, Bones was selling with Race. They did pretty well, and Race lost another bet, as always. By the time they started back, the sun was starting to sink. They laughed all the way to where they were supposed to cross the street to get to the bridge and the docks. But Race didn't look as he was crossing the street, and Bones did. A streetcar was hurtling his way, and was about to hit him. She yelled, "RACE!" as she pushed him out of the way. She screamed out in pain as she was hit, and the last thing she saw before losing consciousness was Race, bending over her body, hugging her close to his chest.