Newsies' Little Sister

Chapter 10 - Up In The Sky

A/N Right, a few weeks ago, I was stupid enough to give myself a concussion. A very heavy object landed on my head from 3 feet up and I passed out. I wasn't allowed to look at screens until a few days ago. Thanks to everyone who didn't unfollow because of the non-existent updates! Also, this is going to be hella long btw!

TW: Abuse, swearing

Emmeline's POV

I sat up on the rooftops for a while, about 20 minutes; and feeling the strong wind on my face, I stood up and pulled the dirty rag that I stole out of my hair to let it loose. It flew in all directions, whipped into my face and streaked behind me like a kite.

I let out a long sigh and blocked out the entire world. Blocked out the noises of the city, blocked out the faint sounds of the train yards, blocked out the shouts from the streets below. It felt so good to be free for the first time! I laughed at the feeling and stepped closer to the edge of the building. It hurt a bit, y'know, breathing. But I'se had worse...much worse.

As I stepped forward again, I felt the pain in my ribs and on my face diminish slightly. And it was replace by a rush of adrenaline I felt like I could take on the world.

And no, I wasn't scared of falling. Not one bit.

~ Time Skip - 30 minutes before ~

Mush's POV

"Shit! This hurts like a motherfucker!" I was sitting on the main room floor, holding my right ankle tightly. It was twisted in a weird angle, and I had pain shooting all the way up my leg. I lifted my head and looked around. Snyder, Oscar and Morris were making their way back through the lodging house, shooting everyone bad looks. I shuffled back quickly as Snyder aimed a kick at me. He missed but I had to jump back sharply, resulting in more pains going up my leg.

We all watched them leave, and as soon as they were out the door, everyone turned to me. They were all looking at me like I knew what the hell happened! I had no idea what Em had gotten herself into, but I knew it wasn't good if she'd managed to rope in Snyder and the Delancey Brothers... Or maybe it was our parents...Maybe they had made a deal with Snyder. I knew, from Elmer, that she had learnt some skills. Like pickpocketing, but I didn't think Snyder would have any use for her. So why come looking? A thousand thoughts whirled around my head and I completely zoned out until...

Davey and Jack came and knelt beside me and had a look at my ankle, snapping me out of my daze.

"yeesh! That's gotta hurt..." Jack commented and looked away, grimacing slightly. 

"Oh really. Hadn't noticed." I replied with as much sarcasm as I could bring to my voice, despite all the pain.

"I don't think it's broken, just badly sprained. I'm going to have to wrap it up." I nodded. "Hey Jack, have you got bandages, or some strips of cloth? Anything to wrap his ankle up?"

"Uhhh, yea. I'll go get some." Jack stood up and walked away.

"And Mush..."

"Yea?"

"Don't walk on it for a few days." I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up a hand to silence me. "I'm serious." I didn't dare contradict Davey when he was in full mum mode.

There was an awkward and confused feeling in the room and nobody spoke. Not even Race. I figured it was everyone thinking about that had happened not 10 minutes ago. In the silence, we all heard Jack's footsteps go up the stairs and into the main dorm.

Jack's POV

I went into the main dorm to get the bandages for Davey and Mush. They were all kept in a box in a cupboard near the bathroom stalls. On the way there I thought about why they were looking for her and about what Snyder had said to her. That she'd cost them a lot of money... I knew they were corrupt, but this was an all time low...