Once In a Blue Heaven
Part 1
The silent New York night was abruptly interrupted by a bunch of hootin' and hollerin' by a groups of boys. They goofed around on the street, playfully fighting and singing the song Medda had sung at her show that night. It was a very exciting time at Irving Hall that night. The boys didn't care if they woke up all of Manhattan, they were too hyped up to calm down.
"An', when does goils started kickin' 'cross da stage……" Kid Blink said, smiling, thinking of the big show stopper.
"Dat was da best part, bro" Kid Trey - Blink's long lost twin brother - remarked, with his arm around his brother's shoulder.
Racetrack lit up a cigar. "Medda sure knows how ta put on a show."
"Don' I know dat" Jack grinned, elbowing Mush in the side.
Mush sighed. "Yeah." His mind was on the girl who smiled and winked at him.
They were walking pass a certain building that only a few people lived at - or so they thought. Blink glanced up to see something very interesting. A shadowed figure was sitting in front of the window. Another figure appeared then another one. He squinted his eyes to get a better look at them, but the glare from the lamp drowned the features of the figures out.
"Hey fellas. Look up dere" he told the other.
"Wha'?" Trey commented, looking up at the window Blink was pointing at.
"Dere's someone lookin' at us" Mush said, after coming out of his 'dream' state.
"Who da heck would look down at us?" Race remarked, with a drag of his cigar.
The boys burst out into laughter except for Mush. He looked at them confused. "Wha'? Wha'd he say?"
Jack threw an arm around his naïve friend. "I'll explain when ya's older Mush."
That received another round of laughter. Mush got serious. "Youse guys are tryin' ta play a trick on me again, ain't ya?"
"Wese jist havin' a little fun wit ya" Race remarked, playfully punching Mush on the chin.
~*~
Jewel looked up from her book she was reading, and peered over at the window. Coneflower had been sitting there for over an hours now. Ever since she'd started watching the newsboys that sold by their corner, Cone would just sit by the window and stare out of it. She would still do other stuff with her room mates, but staring out the window was a new hobby for Coneflower lately. Jewel shock her head and went back to her book.
"Hey" Copper said, as she walked pass Cone. Cone didn't seem to notice, so, Copper clamped her hand on her shoulder. "Hey!"
Cone flinched, and turned to Copper with a deadly expression. "What are you trying to do - kill me?"
"No! I just want you to get your face away from that window and back in here" Copper replied, walking over to her bed and sitting down.
Cone slumped. "What are you saying?"
Clink bounced on her bed, making the floor shake. "You are always looking out that window now! Haven't you even noticed?!"
Cone shrugged. "Not really. Why? Is there a problem with me wanting to look out there?" She offered a pretty good come back.
Pearl snorted, slipping her brown hair into a pony tail. "When you're always looking out that window, yes!"
"We're just trying to help you, cousin" Damsel said, standing up and walking over to the window - where she leaned up against the wall. "You know that."
Cone bit her lip. She had been spending a lot of time staring out the window, but no telling when those newsboys were going to walk by.
"You know what Mr. Snyder would say…" July started, standing on her bed, and posing in a stiff stance. "You have to keep your head out of the clouds and in the books where you belong!"
All the girls burst out into laughter. Patch held her side. "That was just like him, July!"
Everyone composed themselves a few minutes later. Ace looked around. "Where is Mr. Snyder anyway? He would of been up here by now?"
"Yeah" Clink shouted, jumping off her bed. "…To. Tuck. Us. In." She was dripping with sarcasm. This received some more giggle fits from the girls. Making fun of 'Mr. Snyder' was the highlight of their day.
"Where is ole' bushel britches anyway?" PT asked.
"No telling! I don't know! And, I don't care!" Copper said, shaking her head.
The girls were quiet for a few minutes. It was almost time for 'lights out'. Jewel closed her book and laid it on the night stand. "I'm going to bed now" she announced.
"Night Jewelies!" came from everyone in the room.
"Good night" Jewel said back, laying down underneath her cover. "And, Cone….don't stay up too late looking out that window."
Cone smirked, and threw a look at Jewel who smirked back.
Patch stood up from the desk against the wall, and walked over to the window. "What is so interesting about looking out the window?"
"Yeah, especially at night!" Damsel added.
Cone blushed. "Well, you never know when something interesting might walk pass the window." She turned back to her position. Good thing she did, because a group of boys were walking by as soon as she looked. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open. "Look!" she shouted. Even though it was dark, Cone could still recognize the newsboys who sell by their corner. "It's them!"
Patch and Damsel peered out the small window, excited. The boys were cutting up and were very loud - the girls could heard them through the glass.
Cone grinned widely, proud of herself. "I told you - you never know when something interesting might walk pass the window." She was pelted by a half a dozen pillows. "Hey!"
"Now you can go to sleep, Cone" Pearl said, raising her head from her second pillow.
Cone made a face, and threw everyone's pillows back to them. She frowned the whole time.
July observed this. "Uh…Cone, you saw what you wanted to see. Why are you still down?"
Cone planted her rear on her bed. "I have to wait till morning to see them again!" She fell backwards, as everyone groaned.
"Y'know Coneflower, you are hopeless child" Patch remarked.
"If you go to bed sooner, you'll get to see those newsboys sooner" Clink suggested, hopping into bed herself.
"Great idea, Clinker! G'night everyone!" Before they knew it, Cone was in bed. But, they weren't going to have peace just yet.
A solid sound of footsteps was traveling toward the door of the girls' room. All the girls groaned, and pulled the cover over their heads - well, the ones who were in bed. Patch, Damsel, and July hurried to get in bed before the footsteps made it to their door, but it was too late. The heavy wooden door creaked open, and a tall, round, balding man stood there. The girls' cringed at the sight of him. The man walked in slowly, looking back and forth at each girl. He made it to the end of the room where Patch, Damsel, and July was. He glared at them seriously.
"Hi Mr. Snyder" July greeted. She wasn't afraid of him or his whip, but it wasn't good to tick him off.
"Hello July. What are you girls doing up so late?" he asked.
Damsel keep her eyes down at the floor. She didn't want to look Mr. Snyder in the eye - she was his height or maybe taller. "We were just talking, sir."
"Yeah, that's all" Patch added, innocently.
Mr. Snyder glared at them with his disappointed fatherly glare. He glanced over at July, who's night gown was disapproving. He grabbed the strings on the front of her gown and tugged on them tightly. July could hardly breathe as Mr. Snyder tied her strings on her gown.
"Much better" he said, after tying a bow. July curled her lip, and wanted to kill him about now. "Now!" Mr. Snyder turned to face the direction of the door. "You three will do twice as many chores and school work tomorrow."
The trio groaned, but keep it to themselves. If Mr. Snyder would hear they're complaining, he'd give them even more work.
Mr. Snyder grinned. "So will everyone else in this room…everyone will get twice as much work tomorrow." He started to walk to the door. "I know you girls are still awake. Don't even try to convince me you aren't. Except for Jewel, she always goes to sleep early. Goodnight ladies." He stepped out and locked the door behind him. Once they knew Mr. Snyder was out of hearing reign, they all sat up ready to complain about the next day.
"Awe geez, I don't feel like doing even more work tomorrow!" Copper protested, sitting up in her bed.
Cone stared at the ceiling. "He is such a hard rear. I wish we would just get out of here."
July sauntered over to her bed, loosening her strings on her gown. "If you will remember the great escape last year, it was a disaster!"
"Yeah, Mr. Snyder sniffed us out like a bloodhound" Ace added, shifting to another position.
"Well, we need to do something about this situation we're in." Cone sat up, leaning on her elbows.
"Like what?" Clink asked, putting out the candle by her night stand.
Cone shrugged. "I don't know yet, but I'll think of something."
Everyone in the room sigh frustratedly. The girls had been knowing each other for a while now. Each one had become orphans some way or another, and had been hand picked by Mr. Snyder himself to live in a boarding house type place - where he would teach them edicts and junk. The girls hated living there. They had to do tons of school work and chores. Mr. Snyder and his housekeeper, Lila, were the only ones watching over the girls. Lila was an okay person, but needed to take a few manner classes.
The girls were all great friends. Since they had been knowing each other since they were kids, they were pretty close. Except, some of the girls were becoming more than just a 'kid' now, and they were going to be 'auctioned' off by Mr. Snyder to some of his rich 'friends' sons. Patch was the oldest and she didn't want to be married to someone she didn't love. It was wrong. All the girls knew they had to do something.
They had tried to escape the year before, but Mr. Snyder caught them before they could even turn a corner. July commented that he must have psychic powers. It was a hardship, but something good was going to come the girls way soon.
~*~
Cone was at her usual post late in the afternoon. She knew the newsboys would be walking by at anytime. She waited for a few more minutes while everyone else was doing their work. She was slacking off, and would get in trouble if she didn't do her work, but she didn't care. This was going to be the day she did something or, at least started to do something.
Cone glanced down for a moment until something familiar caught her eye. She saw three of the newsboys walking down the street. She ran over to the more visible window and flung it open. Everyone in the room watched her thinking she was crazy. Cone slipped two fingers in her mouth and blew hard. A loud, echoing whistle rang throughout the buildings.
The three boys -one with brown curly hair, another with an eye patch, and the last looked just like the boy with the eye patch - spun around to see where the whistle came from.
"What in the world are you doing?" asked Patch, walking up behind Cone.
Cone smirked. "Just having a little fun." She pointed to the boys below.
Patch's mouth dropped open when her eyes fell on the boy without the eye patch. "Whoa." She had never really got a good look at the newsboys before.
Cone whistled again, finally catching the attention of the boys. She grinned when they stared straight at her. "Hey babas!" The boys looked confused as Cone slammed the window shut and closed the curtains. The room burst into laughing. Ace, Clink, and Copper were watching from the fire escape window. They fell on the floor in giggle fits, seeing the confused expressions on the boys' faces.
"Cone, I can't believe you just did that!" Pearl got out, trying to hold her giggles back.
Cone went back to the window to peek out. The boys were gone. She snapped her finger, and murmured, "Drat!"
"Awwww….." Patch whined. "They left."
"I wonder if they'll ever come back to this corner after what you did?" Copper asked, jokingly.
"Of course we will" Cone replied, peering at her.
~*~
Mush, Blink, and Trey sauntered into the lodging house with grins on their faces. Girls had whistled at them for a change.
"Now we know how girls feel when we whistle at 'em" Blink remarked, leaning against Kloppman's desk - fishing out six cents for the night's stay.
"Yeah, it feels great" Trey laughed.
Mush sighed. "Da goil who was hanging out da window was kinda pretty."
Blink slapped him on the shoulder. "You say dat 'bout every girl ya see, so, stop droolin'." Mush slapped his friend back.
"Dat goil behind 'er was pretty too" Trey said, thinking of Patch.
Blink rolled his eyes. "Ise can't believe me bro an' me best friend have gone off da deep end." He trudged upstairs. Mush and Trey shrugged to each other, and followed Blink to the bunk room.
"Heya fellas!" Jack greeted, sitting on his bed.
"Cowboy, ya already in bed? It's jist gettin' dark out" Trey said, going over to his own bed.
There were a few newsies scattered around the big room.
"Ise jist restin'. Can't I do dat?"
Blink shrugged. "We don't care ." With that, he received a pillow in the face.
Mush jumped up on his bed, slipping his vest off. A starry-eyed expression on plastered on his face.
"Say Mush" Racetrack called, from across the room. "Meet a goil today?"
Blink snorted. "We found a lot of goils."
"Pretty goils at dat" Trey added, clamping onto his brother's shoulders. Blink spatted him off.
"Oh really?" Jack asked, interested.
"Yeah. It was those goils dat were lookin' at us in da window last night" Mush replied.
"But, dis time, we got ta see 'em real good an' one whistled on us an' stuff" Trey finished, excited.
"Yeah." The starry-eyed look fell across Mush's face as he thought about the mystery girl.
Jack rolled off his top bunk. "So, dere were two dis time?"
Blink shock his head. "Dere were five."
"Five what?" they all heard a voice from the fire escape window.
"Goils!" Trey answered to Spot, who was quickly climbing through.
"Five!" Race yelled. "Wha' is dat place?"
"I don' know, but I wish I lived dere too" Blink remarked, finally admitting he liked the girls who grabbed their attention.
Trey gabbed his rips. "So, ya gonna join in on our fun, ay?" He didn't get a return back.
"Why are we talkin' 'bout dis?" someone asked from the corner of the room. Everyone turned to see Skittery frowning.
"Wha' youse talkin' 'bout?" Jack asked.
Skittery's mouth twisted. "Well, wha's da use a talkin' 'bout an' wonderin' when wese could jist go ovah dere an' see wha' dere story is."
Silence fell over the room for a moment then Trey's face lit up. "Let's do it!"
"Yeah, wese got nuttin' else ta do" Jake, all the sudden, jumped in.
Jack grabbed his cowboy hat. "Okay. C'mon."
The guys who were in the room - Jack, Mush, Blink, Trey, Race, Jake, Spot, Skittery, and Bumlets - started down the stairs.
"Wese goin' out fer a while, Kloppy" Jack yelled, as they filed out. Kloppman groaned and shock his head in fatherly disgrace.
Rounding a corner, they saw a familiar figure walking up to them. "Davey!" Jack shouted.
"Jack! Hey everyone!" Davey greeted back. All the guys said 'hey' and stopped. "What's going on?"
"Wese gonna go check out something" Jack replied, grinning.
Davey cocked his head. "Check out something?"
Jack threw an arm around Davey's shoulder. "Jist come wit us. You'll see."
The nine newsies strolled through the New York streets heading for the building housing the mystery girls. They arrived there a few minutes later to see a light on in that certain window.
"Dat's it." Mush grinned, pointing to the window.
"Now wha' do we do?" Bumlets asked.
"I don' know" Jack replied, blankly.
"But, Cowboy, youse an intrinsic part a dis" Trey shot back, pushing Jack's shoulder.
"Intrinsic……didn' know ya could use big woids like dat, bro." Blink smirked. Trey smacked his brother's shoulder this time.
Race snorted. "Why don' wese jist go up dere an' knock on dere window?"
All the guys thought for a moment. "But, what if they called the bulls on us?" Davey asked, frankly.
"Dey da ones whos been lookin' at us an' whistled at us too" Blink said. "Dey won't!" Davey shrugged and went along with it.
"C'mon fellahs" Jack said, walking off to the fire escape. They all followed him, kind of hestitatly. It took no time for them to climb the fire escape stairs. Jack was the first up, and was preparing himself to knock on the window.
"Do it, Cowboy" Race murmured, from over his shoulder.
"I will. Jist give me time. I don' go around on peoples fire escapes all da time."
"That's not what my sister said." Davey smirked.
Jack pretended to back-hand Davey, but went back to the subject at hand. He raised his knuckle, and knocked………
The knock was softer than Jack expected it to be. They waited for a moment. No one asked.
"Jack, do it again" came from someone in the back. Jack knocked softly again until Spot got impatient, and banged on the glass.
"Dat's how ya knock on a window if ya wanna get someone's attention, Jacky-boy" Spot said, irritated.
"Now da whole building is gonna know something is up, Spot" Jack retorted, slapping Spot on the shoulder.
Race stepped between them. "Will youse two jist stop." Jack and Spot glared at Race, who was looking very innocent.
With all the commotion, none of the boys noticed that the window had opened and a girl was watching them amusingly. She smirked. My plan worked - she thought to herself.
"Hi" Cone greeted. The nine boys - or at least the ones who could see the window - looked over at her. "Can I help you?" For once the boys were speechless. Not because Cone was the most beautiful thing they ever saw, because someone answered. She stared wondrously at the boys.
"Uh…" Jack stuttered. "Do ya live heah?"
"Yeah, why?" Cone answered and asked, bluntly.
"Wese jist wonderin'. We'll go now." Jack turned and started walking down the fire escape, leaving everyone else just standing there - speechless.
"Hey, wait a second!" Jack turned back around. "Your not going to come in to meet my friends?"
"Friends?" Race asked.
"Yes, my friends. Now, come on! We need some company." Cone disappeared into the room while the boys exchanged dazed looks. They basically shrugged it off, and climbed into through the window. All the boys eyes widened in shock when they saw all these girls in white, knit night gowns just sitting there staring at them.
"Where did youse goils come from?" Race asked, his cigar almost falling out his mouth.
"Our parents……if we had any" Clink commented.
"Oh no, we have a mentor" Cone cackled, holding back a giggle.
Spot stepped up. "Question - why are youse goils heah?"
"Can we at least introduce ourselves first?!" July yelled out.
Spot glared at her with his intense eyes. The girls and boys knew that there was about to be a show down. Spot stepped up to July a little more. "Oh yeah…yeah…den whatcha name?"
July crossed her arms. "July, for your information."
"Ise Spot Conlon" he smirked.
Jack rolled his eyes and didn't pay anymore attention to them. "So, wha's all ya names?"
"I'm Coneflower, but everyone calls me Cone" Cone being the first to reply. She looked over at Mush, who was blushing, and thought - what was his problem. "And, these are my friends - Clink, Patch, PT, Copper, Jewel, Ace, Damsel…" Cone leaned in toward the boys "…she's my cousin. You know July, and Pearl is over in the corner."
Jack looked over to where Cone was pointing, and saw a brown headed girl sewing ((don't worry Pearl, I'm not portraying you as Sarah)). He smiled at her when she caught his eye.
"Now who are you?" asked Cone, openly, really wanting to know. I mean, she'd been watching these guys for a while now, and was more than ecstatic that they were in her room.
"Ise Jack Kelly and dis is me newsies - Racetrack, Kid Blink, Kid Trey, Mush, Skittery, Davey, Jake, Bumlets, and you know Spot too. Now, tell us, why are youse goils heah?"
Copper pulled her legs up on her bed. "That seems to be a very popular question, and we'd like to know the answer to that too."
Davey looked dazed. "You don't know why your here?"
"No!" Ace spoke out.
Patch frowned. "If we knew the answer, we'd tell you."
"Yeah" agreed Damsel.
Blink spoke up. "What do ya do den?"
All in unison, the girls replied. "We do chores, school work, and sit in this room day in and day out bored out of our minds."
"Did that answer your question?" Clink piped up from across the room.
"You don't get to go outside?" Mush asked, in disbelief.
"No" Cone retorted bluntly. "But, we do get to go to these huge rich parties at ballrooms that we have to dance at, but we enjoy that part."
"You like to dance?" Mush asked, his beautiful brown eyes lighting up.
Cone smiled. "Yeah."
Mush stepped up her and offered his hand. "Da lady wanna dance?" Cone didn't say anything, but just took his hand and they started waltzing around - just forgetting about everyone else in the room.
Davey frowned as Copper kind of secretly scooted over beside him. "I wish I knew how to dance."
"I'll teach you!" Copper blurted out. "I love to dance too. Come on."
"Uh…okay." Copper grabbed Davey's hand and pulled him to a vacant side of the room, because the room was really big.
Since everyone else was slowly scattered throughout the room, Racetrack and Skittery strolled over to Ace and PT. They were sitting across from each other whispering when the two boys walked.
"Heya! Ise Race, and dis is Skittery." Race took out his pack of cards and was shuffling them.
"Yeah, we remember. I'm Ace and this is PT" Ace told them.
"Youse goils know how ta play poker?" Skittery asked, grinning.
"No" PT said, shrugging. "What's poker?"
Race and Skittery exchanged nonchalant glances before sitting down next to the girls.
Jack was curious about the girl in the corner. They're eyes had met, and it made Jack want to talk to her. He walked up, planting himself on the bed next to the girl's chair.
"Pearl, roight?" he asked.
"Yeah, Jack right?" Pearl asked, looking up from her sewing.
"Yeah, so, whatcha makin'?" Jack looked at the bunched up piece of cloth that Pearl had laying on her lap.
"A dress. It's for Jewel's birthday, but she doesn't know it's for her" Pearl whisper, leaning closer to Jack - showing him who Jewel was. "So, don't tell her."
Jack shook his head, smiling. "I won't." They peered over at Jewel for a moment, who was back to reading her book.
Bumlets stared around to notice a girl all alone reading a book. "Is dat a good book?"
Jewel glanced up to see Bumlets standing over her. "Yes, it is. Ever read it?" She showed him the book cover.
"No" Bumlets replied. "Ise don't get ta read many books."
"Come sit here and I'll read you some" Jewel scooted over to let Bumlets sit next to her on her bed.
Mush spun Cone around a few times then started to waltz again. "You are such a good dancer" Cone told him.
"Thank you" Mush replied, blushing. They danced a little over to where Copper was trying to teach Davey how to dance.
"Now, take one step forward and then step back" Copper informed Davey. He stepped forward as Copper stepped back then he stepped back as Copper stepped forward. "That's it!"
Davey smiled. "I did it right?"
"Yes! Now lets do it again so I can teach you how to turn me." Copper latched onto Davey, and started their lesson again.
Mush and Cone danced over to where Spot and July were stilling 'arguing'. Cone rolled her eyes. "July, would you stop that."
July glared over at her. "I'm too busy to hear your command, Cone." Cone shrugged and danced off with Mush. "Now, where were we?" July asked, pulling her attention back to Spot.
"You said that you are better than me" he replied, fiddling with his cane stuck in his belt.
"Oh, yeah. I am better than you because you are a big jerk" July started up again with the insults.
"You only think ya bettah den me, but ya jist denin' dat ya aren't!" he smirked, right in her face.
July stared him straight in the eye, all the 'good-natured' anger welling up inside. But, suddenly, they jumped in each others arms and started kissing.
"Get a room!" Race shouted, from his poker game. He shook his head going back to the game. "Now, where were we?" he asked.
"Um…I was beating your butt at this" Ace smirked, holding up her cards.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know" Race said, glancing down at his cards.
"Good thing we ain't playin' fer money" Skittery remarked at Race.
"You play this game for money?" PT asked, surprised.
Kid Blink and Kid Trey sauntered over to the girls they had recognized from the window earlier that day. "Can we join you?" Trey asked, smiling.
Patch couldn't say anything. She was even surprised the two boys had come over to her and Damsel.
"Of course, you can" Damsel said. "Sit down if you want."
Blink sat by Patch and Trey sat by Damsel. They all just sort of stared at each other till Blink said something. "Is dat all you goils do is do chores and school woik?"
Damsel nodded. "Yeah. It's a very boring life. How about you?"
"We jist sell da papes an' goof around" Trey answered.
Patch sighed. "Sounds more fun than our lives."
Trey smirked. "So, do youse goils always spy on unknowing newsies?"
Damsel and Patch exchanged glances and started giggling.
"Wha's so funny?" Blink asked, looking mostly at Damsel.
"Oh, nothing" she replied.
Jake felt a little lonely with all the guys going off in different directions until he spotted a girl jumping around on her bed. "Heya! Ya haven' fun?"
Clink stopped jumping and fell to the bed. "Yeah. I do it all the time, but sometimes I get in trouble for it."
"Ise Jake, an' ya…." He got cut off.
"Clink" she said, shaking his hand. "Or Clinker or Clinkerpoo. They have all kinds of names for me."
"I like that name" Jake told her, taking off his bowler.
Clink watched as he handled his bowler, fidgety. "Can I see that?"
"Sure." He handed his bowler to her. Clink fiddles around with his bowler for a minutes, handing it back to him.
"I love that hat" she told him. "Come on. Let's jump." She pulled Jake up and they started jumping on the bed.
After a few minutes of dancing, Cone and Mush got tired and was resting on her bed. "So, who is dis poison who keeps ya locked up heah?" he asked.
Cone slumped. "A really mean man named Mr. Snyder."
Mush's mouth dropped open. "Snyder…." He murmured slowly.
Cone nodded. "Yeah. He's really strict. I sometimes wonder why the heck he keeps us here all locked up."
"Mr. Snyder" Mush murmured again. He looked like he was about to fall over.
Cone looked at him in concern. "You all right?"
Mush stared up at her, nodding. "Wait one sec. I'll be roight back." He ran over to Jack and told him who was keeping the girls locked up there.
Jack almost fainted. "What?!" he yelled, standing. "But, Snyder is suppose ta be in jail!" That's when he caught everyone's attention.
"What 'bout Snyder?" Race asked.
"He's da one who's keepin' da goils heah" Jack answered him.
"But, he suppose ta be in jail" Davey throw out.
"Snyder in jail?" Cone snorted. "He's been here every night for the pass several years we've lived here."
"Maybe we're talking about a different Snyder?" Copper inquired.
"Round, almost bold, has dis really scary father look to 'im?" Jack described.
Cone's eyes grew big. "That's him! Which reminds me, he's going to be coming up here soon."
"We bettah get outta heah den" Jack told them. He turned to Pearl. "It was nice ta meet ya, Pearl." He turned to everyone. "C'mon boys."
The boys all said their 'goodbyes' to the girls then climbing out the window. They had to literally pull Spot away from July. Mush was the last to climb out the window. Cone sat there as he did.
"Will you come back, please? I haven't had this much fun since forever" Cone said, giving him pleading eyes.
Mush sighed. "Like I can't stay 'way from ya now dat I know ya."
Cone smiled. "You better mean that."
"Would I lie ta ya?" Mush said, looking taken aback.
"We'll see" Cone remarked, slapping his hat down over his eyes, and closing the window. She turned back to everyone in the room, and sighed. "That was fun!"
Part 1
The silent New York night was abruptly interrupted by a bunch of hootin' and hollerin' by a groups of boys. They goofed around on the street, playfully fighting and singing the song Medda had sung at her show that night. It was a very exciting time at Irving Hall that night. The boys didn't care if they woke up all of Manhattan, they were too hyped up to calm down.
"An', when does goils started kickin' 'cross da stage……" Kid Blink said, smiling, thinking of the big show stopper.
"Dat was da best part, bro" Kid Trey - Blink's long lost twin brother - remarked, with his arm around his brother's shoulder.
Racetrack lit up a cigar. "Medda sure knows how ta put on a show."
"Don' I know dat" Jack grinned, elbowing Mush in the side.
Mush sighed. "Yeah." His mind was on the girl who smiled and winked at him.
They were walking pass a certain building that only a few people lived at - or so they thought. Blink glanced up to see something very interesting. A shadowed figure was sitting in front of the window. Another figure appeared then another one. He squinted his eyes to get a better look at them, but the glare from the lamp drowned the features of the figures out.
"Hey fellas. Look up dere" he told the other.
"Wha'?" Trey commented, looking up at the window Blink was pointing at.
"Dere's someone lookin' at us" Mush said, after coming out of his 'dream' state.
"Who da heck would look down at us?" Race remarked, with a drag of his cigar.
The boys burst out into laughter except for Mush. He looked at them confused. "Wha'? Wha'd he say?"
Jack threw an arm around his naïve friend. "I'll explain when ya's older Mush."
That received another round of laughter. Mush got serious. "Youse guys are tryin' ta play a trick on me again, ain't ya?"
"Wese jist havin' a little fun wit ya" Race remarked, playfully punching Mush on the chin.
~*~
Jewel looked up from her book she was reading, and peered over at the window. Coneflower had been sitting there for over an hours now. Ever since she'd started watching the newsboys that sold by their corner, Cone would just sit by the window and stare out of it. She would still do other stuff with her room mates, but staring out the window was a new hobby for Coneflower lately. Jewel shock her head and went back to her book.
"Hey" Copper said, as she walked pass Cone. Cone didn't seem to notice, so, Copper clamped her hand on her shoulder. "Hey!"
Cone flinched, and turned to Copper with a deadly expression. "What are you trying to do - kill me?"
"No! I just want you to get your face away from that window and back in here" Copper replied, walking over to her bed and sitting down.
Cone slumped. "What are you saying?"
Clink bounced on her bed, making the floor shake. "You are always looking out that window now! Haven't you even noticed?!"
Cone shrugged. "Not really. Why? Is there a problem with me wanting to look out there?" She offered a pretty good come back.
Pearl snorted, slipping her brown hair into a pony tail. "When you're always looking out that window, yes!"
"We're just trying to help you, cousin" Damsel said, standing up and walking over to the window - where she leaned up against the wall. "You know that."
Cone bit her lip. She had been spending a lot of time staring out the window, but no telling when those newsboys were going to walk by.
"You know what Mr. Snyder would say…" July started, standing on her bed, and posing in a stiff stance. "You have to keep your head out of the clouds and in the books where you belong!"
All the girls burst out into laughter. Patch held her side. "That was just like him, July!"
Everyone composed themselves a few minutes later. Ace looked around. "Where is Mr. Snyder anyway? He would of been up here by now?"
"Yeah" Clink shouted, jumping off her bed. "…To. Tuck. Us. In." She was dripping with sarcasm. This received some more giggle fits from the girls. Making fun of 'Mr. Snyder' was the highlight of their day.
"Where is ole' bushel britches anyway?" PT asked.
"No telling! I don't know! And, I don't care!" Copper said, shaking her head.
The girls were quiet for a few minutes. It was almost time for 'lights out'. Jewel closed her book and laid it on the night stand. "I'm going to bed now" she announced.
"Night Jewelies!" came from everyone in the room.
"Good night" Jewel said back, laying down underneath her cover. "And, Cone….don't stay up too late looking out that window."
Cone smirked, and threw a look at Jewel who smirked back.
Patch stood up from the desk against the wall, and walked over to the window. "What is so interesting about looking out the window?"
"Yeah, especially at night!" Damsel added.
Cone blushed. "Well, you never know when something interesting might walk pass the window." She turned back to her position. Good thing she did, because a group of boys were walking by as soon as she looked. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open. "Look!" she shouted. Even though it was dark, Cone could still recognize the newsboys who sell by their corner. "It's them!"
Patch and Damsel peered out the small window, excited. The boys were cutting up and were very loud - the girls could heard them through the glass.
Cone grinned widely, proud of herself. "I told you - you never know when something interesting might walk pass the window." She was pelted by a half a dozen pillows. "Hey!"
"Now you can go to sleep, Cone" Pearl said, raising her head from her second pillow.
Cone made a face, and threw everyone's pillows back to them. She frowned the whole time.
July observed this. "Uh…Cone, you saw what you wanted to see. Why are you still down?"
Cone planted her rear on her bed. "I have to wait till morning to see them again!" She fell backwards, as everyone groaned.
"Y'know Coneflower, you are hopeless child" Patch remarked.
"If you go to bed sooner, you'll get to see those newsboys sooner" Clink suggested, hopping into bed herself.
"Great idea, Clinker! G'night everyone!" Before they knew it, Cone was in bed. But, they weren't going to have peace just yet.
A solid sound of footsteps was traveling toward the door of the girls' room. All the girls groaned, and pulled the cover over their heads - well, the ones who were in bed. Patch, Damsel, and July hurried to get in bed before the footsteps made it to their door, but it was too late. The heavy wooden door creaked open, and a tall, round, balding man stood there. The girls' cringed at the sight of him. The man walked in slowly, looking back and forth at each girl. He made it to the end of the room where Patch, Damsel, and July was. He glared at them seriously.
"Hi Mr. Snyder" July greeted. She wasn't afraid of him or his whip, but it wasn't good to tick him off.
"Hello July. What are you girls doing up so late?" he asked.
Damsel keep her eyes down at the floor. She didn't want to look Mr. Snyder in the eye - she was his height or maybe taller. "We were just talking, sir."
"Yeah, that's all" Patch added, innocently.
Mr. Snyder glared at them with his disappointed fatherly glare. He glanced over at July, who's night gown was disapproving. He grabbed the strings on the front of her gown and tugged on them tightly. July could hardly breathe as Mr. Snyder tied her strings on her gown.
"Much better" he said, after tying a bow. July curled her lip, and wanted to kill him about now. "Now!" Mr. Snyder turned to face the direction of the door. "You three will do twice as many chores and school work tomorrow."
The trio groaned, but keep it to themselves. If Mr. Snyder would hear they're complaining, he'd give them even more work.
Mr. Snyder grinned. "So will everyone else in this room…everyone will get twice as much work tomorrow." He started to walk to the door. "I know you girls are still awake. Don't even try to convince me you aren't. Except for Jewel, she always goes to sleep early. Goodnight ladies." He stepped out and locked the door behind him. Once they knew Mr. Snyder was out of hearing reign, they all sat up ready to complain about the next day.
"Awe geez, I don't feel like doing even more work tomorrow!" Copper protested, sitting up in her bed.
Cone stared at the ceiling. "He is such a hard rear. I wish we would just get out of here."
July sauntered over to her bed, loosening her strings on her gown. "If you will remember the great escape last year, it was a disaster!"
"Yeah, Mr. Snyder sniffed us out like a bloodhound" Ace added, shifting to another position.
"Well, we need to do something about this situation we're in." Cone sat up, leaning on her elbows.
"Like what?" Clink asked, putting out the candle by her night stand.
Cone shrugged. "I don't know yet, but I'll think of something."
Everyone in the room sigh frustratedly. The girls had been knowing each other for a while now. Each one had become orphans some way or another, and had been hand picked by Mr. Snyder himself to live in a boarding house type place - where he would teach them edicts and junk. The girls hated living there. They had to do tons of school work and chores. Mr. Snyder and his housekeeper, Lila, were the only ones watching over the girls. Lila was an okay person, but needed to take a few manner classes.
The girls were all great friends. Since they had been knowing each other since they were kids, they were pretty close. Except, some of the girls were becoming more than just a 'kid' now, and they were going to be 'auctioned' off by Mr. Snyder to some of his rich 'friends' sons. Patch was the oldest and she didn't want to be married to someone she didn't love. It was wrong. All the girls knew they had to do something.
They had tried to escape the year before, but Mr. Snyder caught them before they could even turn a corner. July commented that he must have psychic powers. It was a hardship, but something good was going to come the girls way soon.
~*~
Cone was at her usual post late in the afternoon. She knew the newsboys would be walking by at anytime. She waited for a few more minutes while everyone else was doing their work. She was slacking off, and would get in trouble if she didn't do her work, but she didn't care. This was going to be the day she did something or, at least started to do something.
Cone glanced down for a moment until something familiar caught her eye. She saw three of the newsboys walking down the street. She ran over to the more visible window and flung it open. Everyone in the room watched her thinking she was crazy. Cone slipped two fingers in her mouth and blew hard. A loud, echoing whistle rang throughout the buildings.
The three boys -one with brown curly hair, another with an eye patch, and the last looked just like the boy with the eye patch - spun around to see where the whistle came from.
"What in the world are you doing?" asked Patch, walking up behind Cone.
Cone smirked. "Just having a little fun." She pointed to the boys below.
Patch's mouth dropped open when her eyes fell on the boy without the eye patch. "Whoa." She had never really got a good look at the newsboys before.
Cone whistled again, finally catching the attention of the boys. She grinned when they stared straight at her. "Hey babas!" The boys looked confused as Cone slammed the window shut and closed the curtains. The room burst into laughing. Ace, Clink, and Copper were watching from the fire escape window. They fell on the floor in giggle fits, seeing the confused expressions on the boys' faces.
"Cone, I can't believe you just did that!" Pearl got out, trying to hold her giggles back.
Cone went back to the window to peek out. The boys were gone. She snapped her finger, and murmured, "Drat!"
"Awwww….." Patch whined. "They left."
"I wonder if they'll ever come back to this corner after what you did?" Copper asked, jokingly.
"Of course we will" Cone replied, peering at her.
~*~
Mush, Blink, and Trey sauntered into the lodging house with grins on their faces. Girls had whistled at them for a change.
"Now we know how girls feel when we whistle at 'em" Blink remarked, leaning against Kloppman's desk - fishing out six cents for the night's stay.
"Yeah, it feels great" Trey laughed.
Mush sighed. "Da goil who was hanging out da window was kinda pretty."
Blink slapped him on the shoulder. "You say dat 'bout every girl ya see, so, stop droolin'." Mush slapped his friend back.
"Dat goil behind 'er was pretty too" Trey said, thinking of Patch.
Blink rolled his eyes. "Ise can't believe me bro an' me best friend have gone off da deep end." He trudged upstairs. Mush and Trey shrugged to each other, and followed Blink to the bunk room.
"Heya fellas!" Jack greeted, sitting on his bed.
"Cowboy, ya already in bed? It's jist gettin' dark out" Trey said, going over to his own bed.
There were a few newsies scattered around the big room.
"Ise jist restin'. Can't I do dat?"
Blink shrugged. "We don't care ." With that, he received a pillow in the face.
Mush jumped up on his bed, slipping his vest off. A starry-eyed expression on plastered on his face.
"Say Mush" Racetrack called, from across the room. "Meet a goil today?"
Blink snorted. "We found a lot of goils."
"Pretty goils at dat" Trey added, clamping onto his brother's shoulders. Blink spatted him off.
"Oh really?" Jack asked, interested.
"Yeah. It was those goils dat were lookin' at us in da window last night" Mush replied.
"But, dis time, we got ta see 'em real good an' one whistled on us an' stuff" Trey finished, excited.
"Yeah." The starry-eyed look fell across Mush's face as he thought about the mystery girl.
Jack rolled off his top bunk. "So, dere were two dis time?"
Blink shock his head. "Dere were five."
"Five what?" they all heard a voice from the fire escape window.
"Goils!" Trey answered to Spot, who was quickly climbing through.
"Five!" Race yelled. "Wha' is dat place?"
"I don' know, but I wish I lived dere too" Blink remarked, finally admitting he liked the girls who grabbed their attention.
Trey gabbed his rips. "So, ya gonna join in on our fun, ay?" He didn't get a return back.
"Why are we talkin' 'bout dis?" someone asked from the corner of the room. Everyone turned to see Skittery frowning.
"Wha' youse talkin' 'bout?" Jack asked.
Skittery's mouth twisted. "Well, wha's da use a talkin' 'bout an' wonderin' when wese could jist go ovah dere an' see wha' dere story is."
Silence fell over the room for a moment then Trey's face lit up. "Let's do it!"
"Yeah, wese got nuttin' else ta do" Jake, all the sudden, jumped in.
Jack grabbed his cowboy hat. "Okay. C'mon."
The guys who were in the room - Jack, Mush, Blink, Trey, Race, Jake, Spot, Skittery, and Bumlets - started down the stairs.
"Wese goin' out fer a while, Kloppy" Jack yelled, as they filed out. Kloppman groaned and shock his head in fatherly disgrace.
Rounding a corner, they saw a familiar figure walking up to them. "Davey!" Jack shouted.
"Jack! Hey everyone!" Davey greeted back. All the guys said 'hey' and stopped. "What's going on?"
"Wese gonna go check out something" Jack replied, grinning.
Davey cocked his head. "Check out something?"
Jack threw an arm around Davey's shoulder. "Jist come wit us. You'll see."
The nine newsies strolled through the New York streets heading for the building housing the mystery girls. They arrived there a few minutes later to see a light on in that certain window.
"Dat's it." Mush grinned, pointing to the window.
"Now wha' do we do?" Bumlets asked.
"I don' know" Jack replied, blankly.
"But, Cowboy, youse an intrinsic part a dis" Trey shot back, pushing Jack's shoulder.
"Intrinsic……didn' know ya could use big woids like dat, bro." Blink smirked. Trey smacked his brother's shoulder this time.
Race snorted. "Why don' wese jist go up dere an' knock on dere window?"
All the guys thought for a moment. "But, what if they called the bulls on us?" Davey asked, frankly.
"Dey da ones whos been lookin' at us an' whistled at us too" Blink said. "Dey won't!" Davey shrugged and went along with it.
"C'mon fellahs" Jack said, walking off to the fire escape. They all followed him, kind of hestitatly. It took no time for them to climb the fire escape stairs. Jack was the first up, and was preparing himself to knock on the window.
"Do it, Cowboy" Race murmured, from over his shoulder.
"I will. Jist give me time. I don' go around on peoples fire escapes all da time."
"That's not what my sister said." Davey smirked.
Jack pretended to back-hand Davey, but went back to the subject at hand. He raised his knuckle, and knocked………
The knock was softer than Jack expected it to be. They waited for a moment. No one asked.
"Jack, do it again" came from someone in the back. Jack knocked softly again until Spot got impatient, and banged on the glass.
"Dat's how ya knock on a window if ya wanna get someone's attention, Jacky-boy" Spot said, irritated.
"Now da whole building is gonna know something is up, Spot" Jack retorted, slapping Spot on the shoulder.
Race stepped between them. "Will youse two jist stop." Jack and Spot glared at Race, who was looking very innocent.
With all the commotion, none of the boys noticed that the window had opened and a girl was watching them amusingly. She smirked. My plan worked - she thought to herself.
"Hi" Cone greeted. The nine boys - or at least the ones who could see the window - looked over at her. "Can I help you?" For once the boys were speechless. Not because Cone was the most beautiful thing they ever saw, because someone answered. She stared wondrously at the boys.
"Uh…" Jack stuttered. "Do ya live heah?"
"Yeah, why?" Cone answered and asked, bluntly.
"Wese jist wonderin'. We'll go now." Jack turned and started walking down the fire escape, leaving everyone else just standing there - speechless.
"Hey, wait a second!" Jack turned back around. "Your not going to come in to meet my friends?"
"Friends?" Race asked.
"Yes, my friends. Now, come on! We need some company." Cone disappeared into the room while the boys exchanged dazed looks. They basically shrugged it off, and climbed into through the window. All the boys eyes widened in shock when they saw all these girls in white, knit night gowns just sitting there staring at them.
"Where did youse goils come from?" Race asked, his cigar almost falling out his mouth.
"Our parents……if we had any" Clink commented.
"Oh no, we have a mentor" Cone cackled, holding back a giggle.
Spot stepped up. "Question - why are youse goils heah?"
"Can we at least introduce ourselves first?!" July yelled out.
Spot glared at her with his intense eyes. The girls and boys knew that there was about to be a show down. Spot stepped up to July a little more. "Oh yeah…yeah…den whatcha name?"
July crossed her arms. "July, for your information."
"Ise Spot Conlon" he smirked.
Jack rolled his eyes and didn't pay anymore attention to them. "So, wha's all ya names?"
"I'm Coneflower, but everyone calls me Cone" Cone being the first to reply. She looked over at Mush, who was blushing, and thought - what was his problem. "And, these are my friends - Clink, Patch, PT, Copper, Jewel, Ace, Damsel…" Cone leaned in toward the boys "…she's my cousin. You know July, and Pearl is over in the corner."
Jack looked over to where Cone was pointing, and saw a brown headed girl sewing ((don't worry Pearl, I'm not portraying you as Sarah)). He smiled at her when she caught his eye.
"Now who are you?" asked Cone, openly, really wanting to know. I mean, she'd been watching these guys for a while now, and was more than ecstatic that they were in her room.
"Ise Jack Kelly and dis is me newsies - Racetrack, Kid Blink, Kid Trey, Mush, Skittery, Davey, Jake, Bumlets, and you know Spot too. Now, tell us, why are youse goils heah?"
Copper pulled her legs up on her bed. "That seems to be a very popular question, and we'd like to know the answer to that too."
Davey looked dazed. "You don't know why your here?"
"No!" Ace spoke out.
Patch frowned. "If we knew the answer, we'd tell you."
"Yeah" agreed Damsel.
Blink spoke up. "What do ya do den?"
All in unison, the girls replied. "We do chores, school work, and sit in this room day in and day out bored out of our minds."
"Did that answer your question?" Clink piped up from across the room.
"You don't get to go outside?" Mush asked, in disbelief.
"No" Cone retorted bluntly. "But, we do get to go to these huge rich parties at ballrooms that we have to dance at, but we enjoy that part."
"You like to dance?" Mush asked, his beautiful brown eyes lighting up.
Cone smiled. "Yeah."
Mush stepped up her and offered his hand. "Da lady wanna dance?" Cone didn't say anything, but just took his hand and they started waltzing around - just forgetting about everyone else in the room.
Davey frowned as Copper kind of secretly scooted over beside him. "I wish I knew how to dance."
"I'll teach you!" Copper blurted out. "I love to dance too. Come on."
"Uh…okay." Copper grabbed Davey's hand and pulled him to a vacant side of the room, because the room was really big.
Since everyone else was slowly scattered throughout the room, Racetrack and Skittery strolled over to Ace and PT. They were sitting across from each other whispering when the two boys walked.
"Heya! Ise Race, and dis is Skittery." Race took out his pack of cards and was shuffling them.
"Yeah, we remember. I'm Ace and this is PT" Ace told them.
"Youse goils know how ta play poker?" Skittery asked, grinning.
"No" PT said, shrugging. "What's poker?"
Race and Skittery exchanged nonchalant glances before sitting down next to the girls.
Jack was curious about the girl in the corner. They're eyes had met, and it made Jack want to talk to her. He walked up, planting himself on the bed next to the girl's chair.
"Pearl, roight?" he asked.
"Yeah, Jack right?" Pearl asked, looking up from her sewing.
"Yeah, so, whatcha makin'?" Jack looked at the bunched up piece of cloth that Pearl had laying on her lap.
"A dress. It's for Jewel's birthday, but she doesn't know it's for her" Pearl whisper, leaning closer to Jack - showing him who Jewel was. "So, don't tell her."
Jack shook his head, smiling. "I won't." They peered over at Jewel for a moment, who was back to reading her book.
Bumlets stared around to notice a girl all alone reading a book. "Is dat a good book?"
Jewel glanced up to see Bumlets standing over her. "Yes, it is. Ever read it?" She showed him the book cover.
"No" Bumlets replied. "Ise don't get ta read many books."
"Come sit here and I'll read you some" Jewel scooted over to let Bumlets sit next to her on her bed.
Mush spun Cone around a few times then started to waltz again. "You are such a good dancer" Cone told him.
"Thank you" Mush replied, blushing. They danced a little over to where Copper was trying to teach Davey how to dance.
"Now, take one step forward and then step back" Copper informed Davey. He stepped forward as Copper stepped back then he stepped back as Copper stepped forward. "That's it!"
Davey smiled. "I did it right?"
"Yes! Now lets do it again so I can teach you how to turn me." Copper latched onto Davey, and started their lesson again.
Mush and Cone danced over to where Spot and July were stilling 'arguing'. Cone rolled her eyes. "July, would you stop that."
July glared over at her. "I'm too busy to hear your command, Cone." Cone shrugged and danced off with Mush. "Now, where were we?" July asked, pulling her attention back to Spot.
"You said that you are better than me" he replied, fiddling with his cane stuck in his belt.
"Oh, yeah. I am better than you because you are a big jerk" July started up again with the insults.
"You only think ya bettah den me, but ya jist denin' dat ya aren't!" he smirked, right in her face.
July stared him straight in the eye, all the 'good-natured' anger welling up inside. But, suddenly, they jumped in each others arms and started kissing.
"Get a room!" Race shouted, from his poker game. He shook his head going back to the game. "Now, where were we?" he asked.
"Um…I was beating your butt at this" Ace smirked, holding up her cards.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know" Race said, glancing down at his cards.
"Good thing we ain't playin' fer money" Skittery remarked at Race.
"You play this game for money?" PT asked, surprised.
Kid Blink and Kid Trey sauntered over to the girls they had recognized from the window earlier that day. "Can we join you?" Trey asked, smiling.
Patch couldn't say anything. She was even surprised the two boys had come over to her and Damsel.
"Of course, you can" Damsel said. "Sit down if you want."
Blink sat by Patch and Trey sat by Damsel. They all just sort of stared at each other till Blink said something. "Is dat all you goils do is do chores and school woik?"
Damsel nodded. "Yeah. It's a very boring life. How about you?"
"We jist sell da papes an' goof around" Trey answered.
Patch sighed. "Sounds more fun than our lives."
Trey smirked. "So, do youse goils always spy on unknowing newsies?"
Damsel and Patch exchanged glances and started giggling.
"Wha's so funny?" Blink asked, looking mostly at Damsel.
"Oh, nothing" she replied.
Jake felt a little lonely with all the guys going off in different directions until he spotted a girl jumping around on her bed. "Heya! Ya haven' fun?"
Clink stopped jumping and fell to the bed. "Yeah. I do it all the time, but sometimes I get in trouble for it."
"Ise Jake, an' ya…." He got cut off.
"Clink" she said, shaking his hand. "Or Clinker or Clinkerpoo. They have all kinds of names for me."
"I like that name" Jake told her, taking off his bowler.
Clink watched as he handled his bowler, fidgety. "Can I see that?"
"Sure." He handed his bowler to her. Clink fiddles around with his bowler for a minutes, handing it back to him.
"I love that hat" she told him. "Come on. Let's jump." She pulled Jake up and they started jumping on the bed.
After a few minutes of dancing, Cone and Mush got tired and was resting on her bed. "So, who is dis poison who keeps ya locked up heah?" he asked.
Cone slumped. "A really mean man named Mr. Snyder."
Mush's mouth dropped open. "Snyder…." He murmured slowly.
Cone nodded. "Yeah. He's really strict. I sometimes wonder why the heck he keeps us here all locked up."
"Mr. Snyder" Mush murmured again. He looked like he was about to fall over.
Cone looked at him in concern. "You all right?"
Mush stared up at her, nodding. "Wait one sec. I'll be roight back." He ran over to Jack and told him who was keeping the girls locked up there.
Jack almost fainted. "What?!" he yelled, standing. "But, Snyder is suppose ta be in jail!" That's when he caught everyone's attention.
"What 'bout Snyder?" Race asked.
"He's da one who's keepin' da goils heah" Jack answered him.
"But, he suppose ta be in jail" Davey throw out.
"Snyder in jail?" Cone snorted. "He's been here every night for the pass several years we've lived here."
"Maybe we're talking about a different Snyder?" Copper inquired.
"Round, almost bold, has dis really scary father look to 'im?" Jack described.
Cone's eyes grew big. "That's him! Which reminds me, he's going to be coming up here soon."
"We bettah get outta heah den" Jack told them. He turned to Pearl. "It was nice ta meet ya, Pearl." He turned to everyone. "C'mon boys."
The boys all said their 'goodbyes' to the girls then climbing out the window. They had to literally pull Spot away from July. Mush was the last to climb out the window. Cone sat there as he did.
"Will you come back, please? I haven't had this much fun since forever" Cone said, giving him pleading eyes.
Mush sighed. "Like I can't stay 'way from ya now dat I know ya."
Cone smiled. "You better mean that."
"Would I lie ta ya?" Mush said, looking taken aback.
"We'll see" Cone remarked, slapping his hat down over his eyes, and closing the window. She turned back to everyone in the room, and sighed. "That was fun!"