The Grave Digger

Chapter 11: The War

Race should have been paying more attention. All he heard was Bones yelling his name, and he was pushed down into the street. He heard her scream, as if in agony, and he turned around. It was horrific, there was blood everywhere, and she looked as if she had been completely crushed by something. He scrambled over to her, screaming, "Bones!" and crying. He cradled her to his chest, as the trolley driver stepped out, and gasped at the sight. Race was so angry. "Don't jus' stand dere, call a doctah! You did dis ta her!" he screamed at the man. People were starting to surround the scene, and someone did get a doctor from somewhere. Race was cradling her, rocking back and forth, as if it would keep her alive. The doctor said he would have to take her to the hospital, but that Race could ride along.
When they got there, she was rushed into surgery, but Race had to stay outside of the hospital. Chuckles was selling nearby, and ran over to him. "Wha' happened?" he yelled, terrified, as he approached Race. He was still bawling, and couldn't stop himself. "I was crossin' da street, an' I didn' look, an' she push me outta da way, an' she got hit by a trolley," he said through tears. Chuckles sat down and hugged him, crying as well. "It's all my fault, I shoulda been payin' more attention," Race cried. "No, it's not your fault, Race. I promise. It ain't your fault." Chuckles didn't know what else to say. Bones had saved Race's life, but at what cost? For her's? He was really good friends with Race, but if he could honestly choose between them, he would have chosen Bones. But Race was her best friend, the only one who could calm her down, win a bet against her, or, occasionally, beat her at poker. He held a special place in her heart, and Chuckles knew that. But none of that would matter if Bones died. They had just entered a war with Queens, and this was not what they needed at the moment. They couldn't lose this, and Chuckles knew that no one else wanted to be King in her place. Except maybe Spaz, but he would be terrible. Bones had led them through many a toil, and they were not ready to lose such a great leader. Chuckles would give anything for her to be okay. And he promised, if there were a God up in that heavenly sky, if she lived, he would pray everyday, and would even save up for a bible.
Race made a similar promise. He prayed for her to be okay, and he promised God, if she were to be okay, he would become more devout in his faith, and would maybe even bring a few of the other newsies into it, even Bones. He couldn't lose her. She was his best friend, for a time, his only friend, and he couldn't bear to think about having to go through life without her. She was always teaching him new things, telling him jokes, and even when she talked his ear off, he loved her. He could listen to her voice all day, and wished he could hear it now.
Bones was completely dazed when she woke up. She was in the lodging house, at least, she thought she was. Her vision was blurry, and her hearing was cloudy. Her whole body was in anguish, and the pain was nearly unbearable, she nearly lost consciousness again, but she pulled herself through, and groaned. Someone ran over to her, and cupped her face in their hands. She couldn't tell who it was, but she knew she never wanted them to move. The feel of their warm hands on her cheeks was soothing, and she felt some of the pain went away. She tried moving her hand, and she slowly tugged their arm. When they moved their hand, she slipped her fingers into theirs, and squeezed as hard as she could.
Race was talking to Spot when Bones woke up. He visited her every day. They had to move her to the lodging house, because they couldn't afford for her to stay in the hospital. When she groaned, he ran over and cupped his hands around her cheeks. He felt so bad, but he was so happy she was alive. He hardly felt it, but she tried to pull his arm down. He didn't know why, but he complied. She laced her fingers through his, and he guessed she tried to squeeze his hand, maybe to take the pain away, he didn't really know. He wanted to hug her, cradle her as he had done days before. But he knew she was in pain. Spot walked next to Race, and sat down on the floor. All the other newsies were on the docks, they were making sure Queens didn't attack. No one wanted to tell her, but they were expecting Queens to besiege them any day now. They had even grabbed some of the Manhattan newsies, and some of the Richmond newsies, to stay on the Brooklyn side of the bridge. Race and Spot had gone over to Richmond the day after Bones was hit. She had been planning to, and they knew that they should keep business going as usual. They also went to the Bronx, but they wanted to stay out of it. Race and Spot snapped their heads to the door as it creaked open, holding their breaths. They let them go when they saw it was only Jack. "Nuttin' yet. How's she doin'?" Race took a deep breath, but Spot answered. "She's sorta awake, bu' she's in pain. Ya can tell." Race ran his free hand through her hair, small clumps falling out in his fingers. He knew it was because she couldn't afford enough to eat, that was also the reason she hadn't grown since she was seven. Jack kneeled next to the bed, putting his arms next to her body, and rubbed her shoulder. "Hey, Bones, can ya talk?" He asked, softly. "Yes," she choked out, clearly in pain. "Don't if it hoits. I jus' wan' ya ta be okay." She tried to nod, but it just looked like she bobbed her head, but he knew she understood. Jack stood up, kissed her forehead, and left.
Bones must have fallen asleep, she was so dazed she hadn't been able to focus. It was all surreal. But when she woke up, she was in so much pain, she started to cry. She couldn't help it, it just started, and she couldn't stop. Warm, fat tears ran down her cheeks. Her voice faltered, and stuck in her throat, coming out as what she thought was an ugly cat screech. Her hearing was still cloudy, but her vision had cleared up. Race came running over to her. He was the only one in there. He cradled her, just as he had when she was hit, and she cried, and cried in his arms. He kissed her forehead, and rocked her back and forth. Her crying was so soft, and she reminded him of a sad angel, or a puppy. Race kind of wished she hadn't become king, then she could come to Manhattan with him, and this might never have happened. And she wouldn't have to worry about this war with Queens. Spot led them fine enough, and they had won the battle last night. But he knew that Brooklyn needed her, and she was an amazing leader. Spot had only been doing exactly what she would have done. He had a way of being able to think like someone else if he hung around them enough. It was useful, but only if he's around a good person, such as Bones. But he couldn't do it much longer. They had taken a serious blow, and Brooklyn was completely shut down. No one could get in or out until the war was over, and that included messengers. Chuckles had sent someone to Jersey, and they had come back and told them Jersey was coming. But Jersey hadn't gotten there yet, and nobody was sure how long they'd last. Bones had stopped crying, and tried sitting up. Race didn't think she'd be able to do it, but she did. "How ya feelin'?" he asked, rubbing her back. "A liddle sore, bu' I'll live." He knew she was lying, but he didn't say anything. "Is ev'ry one okay?" Race nodded, and she took a deep breath. She stood up. She was in so much pain, she nearly blacked out, but she didn't show it. She didn't want Race trying to stop her. She went to push a strand of hair behind her ear, but something wasn't right. "Hey Race?" He turned to her. "Yeah?" She put her hand up to where her left ear should have been, "I think I'm missin' summin'." She smiled, in turn making him smile. He could see through her pained smile, but he knew she wouldn't say anything. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder, and they set off to the pier.
Bones stepped onto the docks, and everything went silent. Then Jack started clapping, and everyone followed suit. She smiled, her arm still around Race's shoulder. She and Race walked to a little bench, and she sat down. People kept coming to her, and asking how she was. A few were surprised, they had always thought Bones was a huge guy, but were glad she wasn't. After everyone settled down, and the attention had gone away from her, Chuckles and Spot came up to her, with something in their hands. "Hey, Bones, we found ya summin'. We knew it might be hard fo' ya ta walk on ya own, an' we knew ya wouldn' wan' a crutch, an' we were thinkin' 'bout that, when Spot came across dis," Chuckles held out a beautiful gold-tipped cane. She studied it. "Please tell me ya didn' buy it, it woulda cost a fortune." Spot shook his head, "no, I's found it in da garbage." She raised an eyebrow. "Dere is no way in hell someone threw dis away." Spot bit his lip, the way he always did when he was lying, and said, "dey did. I promise." She kept looking at him accusingly. "Spot, I always know when you's is lyin'. How much was it, I gotta pay ya back." "No, I promise, it's fine. We's all chipped in, from everywhere, an' we's all wan' ya ta get betta'." She smiled, and thanked him.
She took the cane, and pushed herself on top of a few stacked crates. "A'ight. Ev'ry one, shuddup." Everything went silent, once again. She looked so tall on top of the crates, and the cane made her even more intimidating. "So, I knows I been outta it fo' a bit, bu' dat don' mean nuttin'. It jus' means we's gotta woik even harda' den bee-fore." For the next half hour, she talked. And talked. Everyone listened intently to her impassioned speech. They would not give up.
The war went on, and it was terrible. Newsies would go missing, or be horribly wounded, but none died. Bones was grateful for that. And although she still felt pain, she had healed nicely. She was still getting used to only having one ear, and having to walk with a cane, but she was getting there. After the war went on for a month, Magnet told her she had a visitor. From Queens. She stationed Ace, Spot, Chuckles, and Marble to hide around her, in case he tried anything. But she told Magnet to send him to her. To her surprise, it was Ollie himself. He stepped up, his hands out next to him, showing he had no weapons. She scanned him with her eyes, and slightly nodded, signaling for her newsies to back off. "I came ta surrender. I promise. Dis has been goin' on long enough, an' I can' afford any more inju-ed Newsies, an' I guess da same goes fo' you." Bones walked towards him, and although she was tiny, she was intimidating with her cane. "An' why should I let ya surrendah? Some o' your boys killed one o' mine." Ollie looked scared. "I knows dat, an' I swear I'll punish 'em. An eye fo' an eye?" he asked, meaning if she killed one of his boys, if they'd be equal. "No, no one desoives dat, I ain't killin' none o' ya Newsies. Dey've been through enough. I'll let ya surrendah on one condition." Ollie was confused. "What?" She smirked. "You let ev'ry one know dat Brooklyn won. Oh, an' if dey don' knows I'm a goil, dey ain't gonna." Ollie smirked, too, as he walked back to Queens, feeling accomplished.

AN: I made a book trailer! I put it at the top. I know it's probably not good, but it's the first book trailer I've ever made.