Nowhere to Turn: Part 4

By: Echo

I stayed far enough behind Frick that I was sure he wouldn't see me while I followed him. Before long we came to a warehouse where he talked to a guy outside for a few minutes before going in. I climbed up to a window and tried to listen to the conversation from there, but I couldn't hear anything. I could only see Frick talking to a rather large guy I assumed was Red. Just when I was about to find a better place to listen to Frick and Red, someone grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. "Who're you an' what're ya doin' heya?!"

I smiled at the guy and shrugged. "Nice view. Very... romantic."

He glared at me. "Who are ya?"

I shrugged again. "I don't know."

"Don't play games wit me, tell me yer name!"

I shook my head. "No, take me down there."

He grabbed my arm and shoved me back down to the ground and into the warehouse. I thought I saw Psycho standing in the shadows on the way over to where Red and Frick were standing, but I couldn't be sure. "Who's dat an' what's she doin' heya?" Red asked, sounding annoyed by the interuption.

The guy shrugged casually. "She wouldn't tell me. I caught 'er spyin' on ya from dat window up dere."

Frick was looking at me like I had lost my mind and Red just looked really pissed off. "Who are you?" He asked through gritted teeth.

I smiled sweetly. "Why should I tell you?"

He pushed me against a few boxes. "Just tell me yer name before I loose me temper."

I glared at him. "You know what? You are very rude."

He pulled out a knife and held it threateningly to my throat. "What.. is.. your.. name?"

I blinked. "Uh... Echo."

He backed off and glared at me, then looked at the guy that had found me. "Dat name sounds familiar. Where 'ave I heard dat name before?"

The guy seemed to be deep in thought for a few seconds until his face seemed to light up and he replied cheerfully, "She's Cowboy's goil!"

I rolled my eyes and muttered a few things under my breath as Red turned back towards me. "Cowboys goil? What're ya doin' in da Boury? An' why was ya lookin' in dat window?"

"I was following him," I said as I pointed at Frick. "to see what he was doing."

He glared at me. "You was spyin' on us?"

I shrugged. "Spying is such a strong word... I like to call it conveniently listening, or watching since I couldn't hear anything."

Frick finally spoke up for the first time since I had walked in. "Red, just get one of yer guys ta take Echo back to Manhattan and we can finish this thing."

Red shook his head. "No, I don't think so. She's Jack Kelly's goil, and she's stayin' right heya."

I glared at him. "Whatever. Go ahead and finish what you guys were doing, don't let me bother you."

"Watch 'er." Red said to the guy that had caught me and turned back to Frick. "Like I was sayin', da goil is mine an' ya ain't gettin' 'er."

Frick sighed. "Why don't we fight this thing out, one on one."

Red glared at him. "What're ya sayin'?"

"Oh please tell me you are kidding! You know, you two fight over Psycho, mano a mano. Geez, what kind of an idiot wouldn't get that?" I said sarcastically.

He glared at me. "Shut up!"

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, okay. Don't get so touchy."

He shot me a warning glace and looked at Frick again. "What're da stakes?"

Frick shifted from foot to foot nervously. "Well, we fight... a fair fight. If I win, you let Psycho go, if you win... you keep me."

Red laughed. "Why would I do dat?! If I loose, an' I won't loose, I loose me goil. If I win, I get you... what're you good for?!"

I sighed. "You know Frick, he has a point. All the creep cares about is girls, and since you aren't a girl, he has no use for you."

Red smiled. "Yer right. He's not... but you are."

I cleared my throat. "What? Oh no. That's not what I meant! I was just saying..."

He kept smiling. "Let's raise da stakes a liddle... I win, I get 'er."

Frick shook his head. "No way! Leave Echo out of this, this is between you and me."

Red shrugged. "Okay, den leave. Da deal's off.... but Echo stays."

I glared at him. "No, don't mind me. You two go ahead and fight! You win, I stay, Frick wins, Psycho and I both leave. You don't fight fair and I'll rip your heart out."

Frick's jaw dropped. "Are you out of your mind?!"

I shrugged. "Yeah, but even if I don't agree to be part of the deal he won't let me leave. Anyway, you can win.... I hope." I added under my breath.

Frick and Red set down a few basic rules before they started to fight. About halfway through the fight, Frick managed to get the upper hand. Things appeared to be going good until Red pulled out a knife, that's when things took a turn for the worse. I heard some commotion and saw Psycho trying to fight off a few guys to get into the fight. It didn't take me long to agree with her. The guy that was watching me tried to stop me, but tripped and hit his head. After I joined the fight, a few other guys did too, and then Brooklyn, the magician who magically transported herself into the warhouse as far as I was concerned.

Somehow, Psycho, Frick, Brooklyn, and I managed to fight the guys off enough to get out of the warehouse. After that we ran out of there as fast as possible with about twenty guys on our tail. Before long we decided to split up, and I headed for Queens. The last thing I remember after I got into Queens was getting surrounded and hit on the head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I woke up expecting to be dead, but wondering why my head hurt so badly if I was. I opened my eyes to look around and realized I was in the Lodging House... until I noticed I didn't know anyone here. "Where am I? And who are you people?" I asked when I decided I wasn't dead or dreaming.

"Are ya okay?" Asked a girl with black hair and light blue eyes.

I nodded. "I'm okay... I guess. Who are you?"

She said her name was Ice, then introduced the others. There was a girl with black hair and violet eyes called Shadow, Ice's sister. Then there was Lily, who had blond hair and blue eyes. Kit, red hair and green eyes, Velvet, brown hair and eyes, Violet, blond hair and brown eyes. Then there were three guys, Dragon, who had blond hair and blue eyes, Spade, the leader, with blond hair and green eyes, and Sparrow, brown hair and brown eyes.

"Who're you?" Shadow asked when Ice had finished with the introductions.

I spit in my hand and held it out. "Echo."

She smiled and spit shook with me. "Hey, you're Cowboy's goil!"

I sighed. "I hope."

Spade stared at me suspiciously. "Whatta ya mean, you hope?"

I shrugged. "Oh, nothing. Where am I?"

"Yer in Queens." Violet said quietly.

I looked around. "I didn't know there were so many girl newsies in Queens."

Spade shrugged. "Dere ain't."

I frowned. "Am I seeing double? Because they all look different and I count six."

Ice smiled. "Not all a us is from heya. Sometimes us goils get tagetha' for a poker game. Lily an' Kit's from Harlem, an' Velvet an' Violet's from da Bronx."

Dragon cleared his throat. "Da goils said dere was some guys chasin' ya last night an' dey chased 'em off. Do ya mind me askin' why dey was chasin' ya?"

I sighed. "Well, this new guy in Manhattan, Frick, met this girl and he didn't know who she was or anything, but Jack and Spot told him she was Psycho."

Kit looked up. "One a da Manhattan guys got hooked by Psycho?"

I nodded. "He asked her about it the next time he saw her and she told him she broke up with Red and that's why all those guys were beating up newsies. About that time I spoke up an-"

"Woah, hold it." Sparrow interupted. "You was dere?"

I shrugged. "Well, yeah. I heard every word... they just didn't know."

Ice stared at me like I was a moron. "Ya spied on Psycho?! What's da matta' wit youse?!"

I rolled my eyes. "I prefer to call it convienently listening, now will you shut up and let me tell the story?" I looked around and they all nodded so I went on and told the rest of the story.

Velvet looked at me with wide eyes. "Are ya tellin' us, ya helped dat goil?!"

I nodded. "Yeah, she's not so bad. Once you get past that attitude of hers."

Spade started to say something, but Shadow gave him a look that obviously meant she wanted him to shut up, and he did. She looked around at everyone. "It's late, lets let da goil get some sleep."

I looked around, thinking there might be a clock somewhere. "What time is it?"

Dragon pulled out a pocket watch. "It's about ten, you've been out cold since we found ya last night."

I sunk back down onto the bed. "Oh man."

"Somethin' wrong?" Sparrow asked.

I rolled my eyes. "You ever heard of Spot Conlon?"

He laughed. "Who hasn't?"

I sighed. "He is going to kill me if Brooklyn didn't get away. And I don't know if Psycho and Frick got away either. I need to find them... now."

Spade shook his head. "No, if dey didn't get away, dey don't need ya worryin' bout 'em now."

I groaned. "Gee, thanks for the encouragement. I see your point, I really do, but I need to find them before something happens."

"I already told ya, if dey din't get away, dey ain't gonna. Cowboy an' Spot is probably lookin' all ova' fer ya, so we can take ya dere tomorra'. But every guy in da Boury is gonna be lookin' fer ya too. Out dere is da last place you should be." Spade said in a commanding voice.

I shrugged and rolled over. "Fine, but if something happens to them that I could have stopped, I'll never forgive myself." I said quietly and tried, unsuccessfully, to get some sleep.


Part 5
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