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Chapter

9

Joseph's

News

I could remember the first day I met Joseph

Kinnick like it were me first memory. Back then, me arms and legs were brittle

as bone, and fur more matted and patched than an old rug. It had only been only

a few months since the Incident, a few months since the orphanage, and me days

were spent wandering New York all alone.

I knew Edward and Hansel had to be somewhere

by then, seeing how they just got off the ferry to start a new life in the

city, but after the Incident, I didn't wanna get them hurt.  I couldn't be greedy of their kindness when

they had to look out for themselves and each other like brothers.

I walked along Henry Street with nothing but

me papa's pocket watch, an old newsie's cap I found in the trash a week prior,

and torn clothes even a burlesque dancer wouldn't wear. I didn't know what the

pretty vixens did, but I saw plenty of 'em in alleys to guess at age eight. The

smell of the city already ingrained itself in me by then, and me nose was

awestruck by the smell of fresh bread. And what smelled like the same cookies

'good cubs' earned at the orphanage.

I remember turning around a corner and seeing

a two-story building with words me eight year-old mind saw read 'Bakery', and

the amazing smells me mind couldn't process took over. I ran over to the glass

and stared inside at the marvelous foods,, my tail wagging as I went inside

from the rain. It was so warm.

Behind the counter was an older wolf wearing

an apron, he had very gray fur and was reading a newspaper about something

called the 'Homestead Strike' and it 'escalating further with workers'. I could

not recall much, other than the look in the wolf's eyes as I tried to grab a

bagel.

"It costs two cents," he spoke in a low

rumble. "Ya got anything?" Speechless, I shook me muzzle, and I felt my paws

tremble at how much I was starving. As I turned, me right eye caught the wolf's

ears perking and me ears heard a low sigh. "Hey, you look awful, kid. How about

I start a small tab, and ya can pay fer it over time?"

With nothing but the pitter patter of the

rain outside, I slowly turned to the guy behind the counter and saw a hint of

concern in his eyes, and I nodded before he tossed me a fresh muffin. And when

the food slid down me throat, I attempted to purr in delight like those cats

did. Instead, I got meself a low burp, that made him chuckle.

"I'll take that as a 'thank you' then," He

placed the newspaper down and looked to me curiously. "Ya got a name, boy?

Mine's Joseph. Joseph Kinnick." A smile formed over his muzzle, and I saw his

tail wagging behind the counter.

I looked, and simply said, "Peter, sir. Peter

Gray."

Now, instead of the kind gentlewolf, I was

facing the annoyed gentlewolf.

Now, me and Joseph were facing each other in

a table in the Bakery. Lance was sitting with James nearby eating some

complementary bagels while Joseph towered over me as in sat in the most creaky

and wooden chair of the bunch. Fursons and gentlewolfs walked by the place

uninterested, the smell of freshly baked bagels and bread overwhelming the

dining room like a whiff of perfume.

As Joseph looked down at me, me muzzle went

from side to side, and I saw the window of the bakery. Why hasn't Joseph turned the 'closed' sign to 'open' yet? I

wondered.

"How many times have I told you not to get

into fights, Peter?" Joseph spoke to me in a rough whisper. From how his wife

Rose scurried up and down the stairs, I guessed little Johnny was sleeping or

something. The thought of him sleeping and cuddling in his cradle formed a

small smile on me muzzle, but it was short-lived when Joseph asked me again,

"Are you listening, boy?"

I jumped. "Too many times if ya asked me," I

sighed with crossed arms and a curled tail. Me gray fur bristled when Joseph

groaned. "And besides, why should ya care if I get into fights anyway?"

The old wolf looked to me blankly. "Ya knew

if you and yer friends came over here, I'd be your Lincoln against the

Confederacy with that coyote, didn't ya?" he asked loudly. I heard footsteps

above me ears and a crying noise, which caused a frown to appear under his

crossed eyes.

Rose hurried down with little Johnny in her

cradling arms and scowled at me and Joseph like we stole Governor Roosevelt's own

glasses. "Honey, I thought I told you to please keep it down?" the she-wolf

softly growled at us, her arms still cradling the cub. She craned her neck and

whispered something soothing.

"I am truly sorry Rose," Joseph eyed me while

scratching the back of his head. "I was just telling Peter that I've told him

not to bring fights near the bakery. And not involve his friends in those

fights with Flint's son."

I heard Rose gasp and saw she was looking at

me oddly. "You have a bruise, Peter. Are you alright?" she asked.

Rose was talking about the one Gavin gave me

on the left side of me muzzle, and it tingled whenever I pressed one of me

fingers to it. "Ah it's fine, Rose. Ain't like I jumped offa Brooklyn Bridge

right?"

Joseph glared at me shortly, and I folded me

ears in silence. Even Lance and James paused in uneasiness, with Lance's tail

flicking uncertainly with his expression. I didn't know what to expect either.

"Peter, all of that roughhousing, me rescuing

ya from trouble With Mr. Flint's son, it...it..." Joseph stumbled with words and

placed his mighty right paw on the table, and me fur trembled at what he was

gonna say. "...it's unacceptable and..." He erupted a very low growl, soon

surprising me when it turned in chuckling.

"...it makes me wonder about Johnny when he's

yer age."

Like that, a smile bigger than the city shone

through me canines, and me tail wagged deviously. Joseph was sometimes harsh to

me with me tab, telling me lesson after lesson, but the one thing I always

forgot from the baker was that he could be more generous than a Brooklyn nun on

Christmas.

"Ah, for a split second I thought ya was

gonna skin me alive, Joseph," I chuckled with perked ears. "Guess I

underestimated your kindness, Joseph."

 "I

hope Gavin didn't rough ya up too much though, Peter?" Rose asked while sitting

next to Lance and James with little Johnny in her arms. "You have a bruise on

your right cheek."

"Eh he'll be fine, honey," Joseph sighed

while sitting down with a smile of nostalgia. "When I was his age, I got meself

into some fights worse than him."

"That's cause you lived in Harlem," the

she-wolf mumbled with a soothing tone. "And the boys you fought weren't related

to Francis Flint."

Francis Flint was known to be what some

called 'a pain in the...', followed by a dozen words that caused mothers to cover

their cub's ears. I hadn't met the older and (some say towering) coyote, but I knew he worked in the same factory that James'

father worked at. Mr. Lawton once told me that he once met Francis, and the

coyote sneered so much that it was his permanent expression.

No wonder Gavin's

afraid of him,

I giggled to meself.

I turned to see James asking if he could hold

Johnny in his arms, and to Joseph's slight reluctance, she gently handed the

small cub to him from her paws. "Now be careful, hold him softly by the head

and lower back. Don't place your palm on the base of his tail either...there you

go dear..."

I slowly walked over to them and couldn't

keep meself from smiling at the young human holding the adorable wolf cub in

his small and blue blanket. Johnny got most of his cute cheeks from Joseph,

while God gave him Rose's emerald eyes and lighter fur. The young cub wasn't

even half a year old and I knew he'd go on to do great things with his

playfulness. And that playfulness was shown when Johnny started nibbling on James'

thumb like it were made o' sugar.

He looked at the baby with a soothing smile. "E-Easy

there little buddy..." James chuckled. I inched meself closer and smiled at the

giggling in the young cub as me friend held him. "Ain't he a young tyke, Mrs.

Kinnick? He kinda reminds me of Annabelle, save for the ears, the tail..."

Suddenly he made a foul face and quickly handed Johnny over to Rose. One whiff

of the scent gave me a hint. "...and whatever you're feeding him."

"Yeesh! Forgive me, but what do you feed him, ma'am?" Lance flinched

at the smell like I was and covered his nose with a curled tail. "He smells

awful."

I covered me own muzzle, and sneezed at the

smell of corn and mashed beef. "Woah! Excuse me boys," Rose carried the

squirming little Joseph in her arms (a good distance from his smelly tail) and

brought him to the base of the wooden and creaky stairs, but stopped a moment

to look at Joseph. "Frankly honey, I dunno if I'll be able to handle his

brother or sister."

As I was drinking a cup of water to get rid

of the foul taste from me mouth, I choked a gulp and perked me ears at Joseph.

"What did she say?" I turned to the stairs, but she was gone. "Did she just say

what I think she said?"

Joseph, sitting himself down on the chair

across from me with a wagging tail, gave me an early Christmas smile. "That's

right, Peter Gray," he clapped his paws together in a happy laugh. "Rose is

pregnant!"

I felt a spray of water erupt from Lance's

mouth, covering me in his spit. As I shook the moisture offa me fur and wiped

the water from me paws onto the table, I gave him a lasting stare at his smug

muzzle. "Did ya really have to do

that, ya raccoon?" I asked.

"Nope, but I couldn't resist."

After James stopped giggling, he turned to

Joseph next to me. "So you're gonna be a father again, Mr. Kinnick, sir?" he asked

while taking another bite of his bagel. Shrugging, I took one for meself. "Is

this the reason you're in a good mood today?"

"Yep."

I widened me eyes in a huge expression at

Lance, who gave it back. We both looked each other dumbfounded, like we

silently asked, "That's his 'good mood'?"

"What do you think it is? A boy or a girl?"

Lance asked Joseph curiously. I saw the hint of annoyance from his next

question, and prayed for the exact same answer. "Or maybe twins like my

brothers?"

Joseph flicked his tail and flinched.

"Honestly," he jutted out to us. "I hope that he, or she, is the last one." I

noticed the wolf lifting his muzzle to look behind him and all around the four

walls. "If I get another young cub after this one, I dunno if I'll be able to

afford getting me wife pregnant again."

James suddenly asked, "How are they made, Mr.

Kinnick?"

          I choked on a piece of bagel and

laughed at the embarrassing look on Joseph's muzzle. "W-Well James," I cleared

me throat and began with, "A baby is made when-ow!"

Joseph stomped me footpaw under the table and

spoke, "Say one word and we'll see if Gavin'll be the only furson nearby to

give ya a blinker."  He even showed his

canines in a smirk.

"But I was just saying that when two fursons

get together, the man-" he stomped on me footpaw again, and I winced. "Ow!"

          While Lancie giggled like a loon

nibbling on a bagel, but James tilted his hairy round head confused. "Mr.

Kinnick, what's he talking about?"

          Joseph looked at the young human boy

and nervously smiled. "He ain't talking about anything, James," he said in a

forced tone, tail flicking like a piece of furry rope in the wind. "If he was,

Peter Gray here will have to pay me a dollar per bad word he said in..." I perked

me ears and widened me eyes.

          "So how's Rose feeling with the baby

anyways Joseph?" I cheekily asked with a wagging tail. Whenever he did that,

the wolf was as serious as police officer after an urchin stealing food.

          Without hiding his grin, Joseph nodded

delightfully. "Why yes, young Peter," he said. "She's a tad nervous for having

a second cub, but it'll be nice for little Johnny to have a brother or sister."

With a slight shrug and wiping some settling dust from the ceiling, he

continued, "especially since these times are so-"

          "The time!" Lance suddenly sprung from

his chair, green eyes wide. "Peter, what time is it? Hurry!" I reached into me

right pocket and took out me father's pocket watch, telling the crazy raccoon

that it was half past four. "Dang it! Dang it! Dang it! Mum wanted me back half

an hour ago! She's gonna kill me and skin me like a sheep!"

          Me and James sprung up like

jack-in-the-boxes. "Then it's time for me to go too!" James chirped in. "Thank

you so much, Mr. Kinnick; the bagels are wonderful." He smiled at the wolf and

joined Lance as I saw his tail walk outta the door in a hurry.

          "No problem!" he shouted back. As I

was about to eat the last bagel, Joseph said something that made me wanna throw

him in the oven on the other side of the room. "After all, the bagels go onto your tab."

          And it wasn't the bruises on me that

were sore.