Hi there!
I'm a very big fan of the musical Newsies. I just began writing one day and decided I'd post what I had…. Please let me know what you think, if I should keep uploading and finish or not. Thanks! Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 1
The streets of New York City were bustling with people trying to get home after a day of work. As the sun began to set, a cool breeze began to blow, relieving the homebound people from the summer heat and lifting the overall mood. In the midst of the hustle were two boys headed back from a profitable day of selling papers. Eighteen year-old Crutchie used his namesake crutch to hobble along next to nineteen year-old Jack Kelly, talking excitedly about the day.
Jack smiled as he listened to his friend chatter on. It was good to see him in such high spirits after what he had been through. Just a few months ago, the newsboys of the city had won the strike against Pulitzer and Jack had gotten his best friend back. Crutchie's bruises had almost disappeared, taking the memories of Warden Snyder and the refuge with them. Jack knew, though, that it would be a long time, if ever, before Crutchie was completely recovered from his experience in that terrible place.
"...And then Ise told him... Jack? Are youse okay?" Crutchie asked, noticing that his friend seemed to be miles away. Jack looked over at his friend and smiled. "I'm okay," he replied, "Just thinkin'." Crutchie returned the smile and allowed a comfortable silence to envelope the two as the continued down the street.
The sky became a darker shade of blue and the streets began to clear until it seemed like the two friends were the last people out that night. As they passed a nearby alley, Crutchie paused, the sounds of a scuffle reaching his ears. He strained his eyes to see down the alley in the fading light. He made out three figures but two of the figures seemed to be soaking the smaller one. Crutchie glanced over at Jack, who grimly began making his way down the alley. "Looks like Romeo decided ta take on the Delancys again," he muttered.
Crutchie rolled his eyes with a small grin as he followed Jack down the alley. Suddenly Jack stopped without warning and Crutchie walked right into him. Crutchie peered around him to to see why he had stopped so quickly. He gasped at the view in front of him. A girl was cornered by the Delancys. Although it was obvious she had taken some hits, she was fighting back hard against the brothers, scratching, biting, limbs flailing. The Delancys looked worse than she did. Crutchie chuckled as Jack began clapping. All three stopped and faced the newcomers.
"Well, Oscar, looks like youse gonna need some fightin' lessons from da new kid," he laughed. "It must be so disappointin' for youse to lose to someone half your size, and a goil none the less. Youse two is losin' yer touch." Oscar growled and started toward Jack while Morris held the girl against the wall. Jack punched Oscar hard in the face and caused him to crumple to the ground. As blood began to flow, Morris ran over to help is brother and Jack said, "Get outta here before I soaks both of youse."
The Delancys glared at Jack before shooting daggers back at the girl. "This isn't over," Morris yelled, as he helped his brother out of the alley. The girl sighed and leaned against the wall in exhaustion. "Thanks," she said with gratitude. "Youse looked like youse was holdin' up pretty without us," Crutchie said as he looked over the girl. The girl was about seventeen and had shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes. She was dressed in a light-weight dress that was ripped in several places. She was covered in dirt and had multiple bruises and cuts on her arms and legs; her face showed the beginnings of a black eye and a broken nose. "Well, I wouldn't have lasted much longer," she said. "What did the Delancys want with youse?" Jack asked. The girl allowed herself to slide to the ground and closed her eyes as she sat against the wall. "My godfather hired those buffoons to bring me back after I ran away a few months ago. This was my first actual run in with them, though." She opened her eyes and slowly got up. "I guess I'd better be hitting the road, who knows how long it will be before they come back. Thanks again." She started toward the entrance of the alley. Jack and Crutchie watched her go. She had almost reached the entrance before she started wobbling and fell against the alley wall. The two boys ran over to her and helped to support her. "Do you have somewhere to go?" Crutchie asked kindly. The silence that followed answered his question. Jack wrapped an arm around the girl's waist and helped her to stand. "Youse can stay with us tonight," he said. "My name's Jack and this here's Crutchie." The girl smiled weakly, "I'm Jess."
Night had fallen as the trio slowly made their way to the alley behind the Newsboy Lodging House. Jack helped the girl climb a ladder to the roof and Crutchie followed, taking one step at a time. When he reached the top, he saw Jack helping Jess to an extra mat that was near Crutchie's. Crutchie hobbled over and gently handed her a wet rag to clean her face and wipe away the blood. She smiled gratefully. "Sorry about the lack of amenities. We'd let youse use the shower downstairs but seein that youse a goil..." Crutchie trailed off. "I understand. Thank you," Jess replied. Jack walked over to his mat and sprawled out. "So if youse don't mind us askin', why did you run aways?" he asked.
Jess grimaced. "My godfather. He was awful. He came home every night drunk and would take his anger out on me." Crutchie frowned. "He should be put in jail for that." Jess shook her head. "Believe it or not, he was. I wasn't the only one he beat. Apparently he would find kids on the street and hurt them. He was jailed for that, but, if you would believe it, he was released for good behavior after a few months." She rolled her eyes and continued dabbing at her bloody nose. Jack snorted from his mat on the other side of the roof. "That sounds like da police force we all know and love." Crutchie made a face. "They're da woist," he stated.
"Anyway, when he was released, I knew I couldn't stay, so I left," Jess finished. "Thank you for letting me stay here tonight. I'll head out tomorrow." Crutchie looked over to Jack, and he nodded. "Youse don't have ta leave," Crutchie began. :youse can come work with us and stay with us so youse have less chance of runnin' into ya godfather." Jess looked up with surprise. "Really?" she asked. Jack smiled. "Of course! We wouldn't want it any other way!"
Jess laughed with delight. "Thank you so much!" Crutchie smirked. "Don't thank us yet," he stated. "Youse gonna have ta change ya appearance." Jess stopped and slowly turned to him. "What exactly do you guys do?" she asked hesitantly. Jack laughed. "We're newsies. He just means youse gonna have ta dress like a boy ta hide ya appearance from the Delancys and probably the other guys."
Jess relaxed. "I'm okay with that," she laughed. "I actually always thought that being a newsie would be a fun job." Crutchie began looking through his and Jack's extra clothing and gave Jess a large striped shirt, some pants, a vest, suspenders, and some boots. "Youse also gonna need a nick name," Jack said as he laid on his back looking at the stars. Jess flopped onto her mat and began poking at her black eye. "Hmm..." she muttered. "Don't poke ya eye, youse gonna make it woise," Jack called. Jess turned her head and stuck her tongue out at him. Crutchie laughed. "What about Alleycat?" he asked.
Jack sat up. "Not bad." Jess looked over at Crutchie. "What's the story behind that name?" Crutchie chuckled. "Well, when we found youse fightin', youse reminded me of a cat fightin' other cats." Jack laughed out loud. "It's perfect!" Jess rolled her eyes, grinning. "Alleycat it is." She yawned and stretched. Crutchie smiled. "We should all sleep," he said. "It'll be a busy day tomorrow." He looked over to see Jess was already sound asleep. Jack was half asleep as he turned over on his mat. Crutchie got up and hobbled over to Jess and draped a blanket over Jess' small body. "Goodnight," he said, before he drifted to sleep.