1882
The door to the dilapidated building opened as the sun made it's way over the Manhattan sky. Boys of all sizes ran out the door, making quite a commotion.
"Who left the door open?" came a voice from inside the building.
The last two little boys who had come through the door looked at each other and scurried to hide behind a nearby crate.
An older man came to the door and looked down the alley. "Those fool boys," he muttered, starting to shut the door. He stopped when he heard a soft cry. Glancing down he saw a basket on the doorstep and knelt down. "What do we have here?" he asked, moving the blankets aside. "Well, now…" he said, lifting a baby from the basket. He turned and went inside, closing the door.
The two little boys looked at each other. "Think we're gonna keep it, Smudge?"
"I don't know, Chase. Let's go ask Cap," Smudge said, jumping to his feet and running down the street with his friend.
Cap looked up as his two littlest newsies came running into the distribution center.
"Can we keep it, Cap? Huh? Huh? Can we please keep it?" they both asked.
"Keep what?" Cap asked, looking down at the two seven-year olds.
"Kloppy found a baby," Chase said.
"Can we keep it please?" Smudge asked.
"A baby?" Cap asked. Chase and Smudge nodded eagerly. "Well, boys, that's up to Kloppy to decide."
"Let's go ask him, Smudge," Chase said.
The two turned to run back toward the lodging house, but Cap caught the back of their shirts. "Not so fast midgets."
They looked up at him over their shoulders.
"Do you two want to eat today?"
They both nodded.
"Do you want to have a bed to sleep in tonight?"
Again they nodded.
"Then you have work to do, don't you?"
Making faces the two boys slunk over to the window to get their papers.
"Can we go back now, Cap? Please?" Chase begged as it neared dark.
"How many papers do you have left, Chase?" Cap asked.
"Five," he whined.
"What about you Smudge?" Cap questioned the other little boy at his side.
"Three," Smudge answered.
"Then you better get the lead out of your pants and sell them, huh?"
Groaning they walked down the block attempting to sell the last of their papers. They came running back twenty minutes later empty handed.
"Can we go now Cap?" Smudge asked.
"Race you back," Cap said, running down the street, the two little boys close on his heels.
Cap let the two smaller newsie run into the lodging house first. "Where's the baby, Kloppy?" Chase asked.
"Sleeping," the old man, answered. "Like all babies do."
"Can we keep it, Kloppy?" asked Smudge.
"I'm thinking about it, Smudge. Now you and Chase go wash up for dinner."
The two boys ran from the room.
"What do you think, Cap?" Kloppy asked, handing the young teen a letter.
Cap scanned the note than had been left in the baby's basket. "I've been watching you for some time," he read. "I know you'll take good care of my daughter. Her name is Rae Kelly and she's six months old." He looked at the old man. "Are you gonna keep her?"
"I haven't decided yet…I want to think about it some more."
Unable to sleep, Cap slipped downstairs later that night. He walked over to the heating stove in the main room and sat on the floor next to the baby's basket. Kloppy had left the baby there to sleep, because it was the warmest place in the old building. Cap watched as the dancing flames cast shadows on the face of the sleeping baby.
"You and I have a lot in common, little baby," he whispered. "My momma didn't want me either. Only she didn't leave me here…she left me out on the streets to fend for myself."
The baby fussed a little and he reached over and gently rubbed her cheek. She quieted down almost as soon as he touched her.
He smiled. "I don't care what it takes, little baby. I'm gonna make sure that you never feel unloved. We'll be a family…just you and me." He bent down and pressed a gentle kiss on the baby's forehead, before slipping back upstairs to his bed.
Little did he know that Kloppy had been standing in the doorway to the kitchen listening to his little speech. The old man glanced up and smiled sadly. "You'd be proud of him, Emily," he whispered.
Timmy wandered the streets, selling papers by day and sleeping in doorways or on steam grates by night. As the weather grew colder, young Timmy developed a cough. He began loosing energy and sold less and less papers. His cough helped him sell his papers quicker, but because of his drained energy he could not sell more. Instead he chose to lie on the steam grate that he called home.
One bitterly cold day he sold his last pape to an old man and his wife. As he walked past the couple they turned to watch the sick newsie. Each wanting to help the boy, but not sure how to approach the lad. He had only gone a few feet when he collapsed in the snow. The old man hurried to the boy's side and carefully lifted him from the ground. He and his wife hurried around the corner toward the building they called home. The sign on the corner of the street read: Duane Street.
Little Timmy's fever raged for several days. His fever kept him unconscious. The old man and his wife took turns sitting by his bed.
"How is the little boy this morning, Emily" the old man asked, coming into the room on the fourth morning.
"His fever seems to have gone down, Marty. I wonder if his family is looking for him."
"If he has any family, I'm sure they are."
"We've been trying to figure out with this old building, Marty. Why don't we make it into a house for the newsboys that live on the streets? If this little boy doesn't have a family, then he can be our first boarder."
"That's a wonderful idea. But first, let's get this little boy well."
On the morning of the fifth day, Timmy's fever broke. He opened his eyes and saw the old couple smiling down at him. He tried to speak but began to cough violently. The old man helped him sit up and the old woman helped him drink some water. When he was finished he sank back onto the pillows.
Emily smoothed his hair out of his face. "What is your name?"
"Timmy." He said weakly
"Do you have a family that would be worried about you?"
Timmy shook his head.
"Well, you do now."
Cap woke the next morning to the two youngest newsies shaking him.
"Are we keeping the baby Cap?" they both asked as soon as his eyes were open.
"Kloppy's gonna think about it…now go back to sleep!"
"But it's time to get up…Kloppy said for us to wake you up," Chase said.
Smudge nodded. "He said he weren't gonna yell at us from downstairs…'cause the baby is still sleepin'."
"I'm up! I'm up!" Cap groaned, rolling from his bed. He walked into the washroom to get ready for the day as Chase and Smudge followed him, chattering about the baby. Ten minutes later Cap made his way down the stairs, his two ever-present little shadows following close behind, still chattering. "How is she this morning, Kloppy?" he asked, bending over the baby's basket.
"She's doing good, as far as I can tell. She only woke once last night."
"Are we gonna keep her Kloppy?" Chase asked.
The old man smiled. "I'll let you know tonight when you get back from selling your papes."
The two little boys groaned.
Cap laughed softly. "Come on, you two…the sooner we get out there, the sooner we finish."
When the three boys returned that night the baby was in the front room crying. Cap walked over and gently picked her up. She quieted down instantly. "That's my girl," he said, sitting in the rocking chair. Chase and Smudge crowded around him.
Chase covered his face with his hands and then moved them. "Boo!" he said.
The baby looked at him and smiled.
Chase grinned. "She likes me."
Cap laughed. "I would say so."
Smudge reached over and she grasped his finger, quickly pulling it toward her mouth. Cap stopped her before she got the finger all the way to her mouth. "No, sweetie. That's gross." He looked at Smudge. "Your hands are filthy. Both of you go wash them, now."
The two boys tumbled from the room. Kloppman came in as they left. "Should we keep her Cap?"
Cap looked down at the baby. "I know what it's like to be abandoned…I can't really explain it, but I don't want her to have to feel what I felt…to go through what I went through…"
"I suppose we'll keep her then."
He looked up. "You mean it!"
Kloppman smiled and nodded. "I mean it."
1883
It was the end of a long day of selling and Cap made his way back to the lodging house with Chase and Smudge. He was exhausted, but there was a slight bounce in his step. Rae was nearly a year old now and quite active. She usually kept them all entertained in the evenings before her bedtime. When they walked into the house, she was trying to climb up the stairs. "I'm right here, imp," Cap said, walking toward her. She turned and grinned at him, reaching up for him. Cap lifted her into his arms and she snuggled close to his chest. He kissed the top of her head. They had become a family these last six months. All of the boys loved and doted on Rae, but none of them made her face light up the way Cap did. When she was tired the only one she would allow to put her to bed was Cap. When the others got home before Cap, she would crawl over by the door and wait.
Scribbles walked over to them. "Brooklyn has a little girl…"
"What!"
"They let a little girl join."
"She have a brother in Brooklyn?"
"No."
"What do you know about her?"
"Phantom saw her one morning standing outside a toy store…she was still there when he walked by that night. So he took her in."
"Dunwoody let a girl stay?"
"You know that Phantom runs the Brooklyn lodging house."
"How old is she?"
"Seven. Same as Smudge."
"She got a name?"
"The Brookys call her China Doll."
Cap nodded. "Think she'll make it as a Brooky?"
"She may look like a doll…but she's tough."
"Good job, Scribbles."
"Thanks, Cap'n."
"Oh shut up…" Cap walked across the room and sat down at the poker table with Rae in his lap. She squirmed out of his lap and stood, hanging onto his leg. When he got his cards, she let go and clapped her little hands for just a second before falling. She looked up at him and grinned. Cap tossed his cards on the table. "Alright…who is teaching her to play poker?"
No one answered.