It was 1994 in New York, America, and Newsies swarmed all over da city, sellin' papes, improvin' da truth, and havin' fun while doin' so. It was hard times these, but da Newsies found various ways to keep their spirits up…
"Tickets to da Grande show Paree! Paree!
Buy a pape ta get in free! Oh me! Oh me!
Free tickets to da Grande show Paree! Paree!
Buy a pape and find 'em free! Buy a pape an' go an' see!"
Two newsies, sister and brother were singing back to back, grinning, and selling their papes like hot potatoes. Those two usually sang to sell papes, and to gain a fair amount of money while doing so, even they were very small. As of yet, they didn't belong to any burough. They just slept on the streets, and sold papes wherever they woke up. One day it would be Manhattan, the next Queens. They went all over. Where ever the selling was good.
Soon all their papes were gone, and as the last one was sold, the Delancy brothers came around the corner, looking like a couple of wet cats, for all there was. They were sopping wet, and upon seeing them, the young boy nudged his sister and laughed.
"'Ey, Lenna!" he laughed, and his sister turned around, looking where her brother was, and on spotting the wet Delancys, she grinned and started to laugh as well. "-look at dose muttonheads! Looks like dey got a good soaking!" at his joke the two of them cracked up, holding their stomachs, doubled over, and so did the people who were close enough to hear, and saw what they were talking about. The Delancys spotted the two of them, and strode angrily over, glaring harshly at them.
Near the statue of Horace Greely, a couple of Manhattan Newsies turned around from something they were looking at on the ground, and started to watch. Jack Kelly, Boots, Dutchy, Bumlets, Davey and Race were there, to name a few.
"Ooooo! Look out Maxy! Da wet cats are comin' foah us!" Lenna crowed with laughter, and Maxy all but fell on the ground and started rolling over and over in laughter, clutching his sides. They were both dressed as Newsies, in other words, Lenna was dressed like a boy, so you could see her stamp her foot, laughing. Then a shadow fell over her a split second before a balled fist rammed into the side of her head. Not that they weren't expecting that, but it still hurt. Lenna now lay on her side on the ground, grimacing and gently nursing the injured side of her head before sitting up. Maxy was in a better place to fight, compared to his sister. Even though he was only about six, he braced himself against the ground, and kicked upwards with both feet. One kick missed as Oscar dodged backwards, but his other foot connected with Morris' groin. He doubled over and groaned, giving Maxy enough time to jump to his feet, and to thump him on the back of his head. He went down like a sack of flour.
Oscar saw that, and his rage mounted up, seeing red, and he swung a fat fist at Maxy's head, standing behind the little boy. Maxy ducked, hearing Oscar's fist whistle through the air, and he felt it skimming just over his head, making a slight breeze. Maxy kicked behind him, and Oscar grabbed his leg, wincing, as Maxy spun around, glaring. The boy didn't have enough time to move though, and Oscar grabbed his neck, and slammed him up against a wall, and on the other side of the street, the boys saw this, and tried to cross the street without being run over by a carriage. Maxy gulped and gasped, holding tightly onto Oscar's hand, trying to get the older boy to loosen his grip, his eyes wide with fear and badly masked pain. The other boys were in the middle of the street now, and Maxy was starting to turn red.
There was a sudden twang of snapping rubber, a whistling, and Oscar turned his head sharply towards the sound just in time to get a stone right between his eyes, breaking the bridge of his nose with a crunch. He dropped Maxy, who slid limply down the wall, gasping and holding his throat. Oscar cursed fluently in pain, holding the bridge of his nose, and glaring at Lenna, who still had her slingshot out, though she was holding it to the ground, looking at Oscar hazily, as if not quite seeing him.
"You little beast!" Oscar swore angrily at the little six-year-old girl who could barely sit up due to the pain in her head. "I'll get you for that one day…!" he shouted at her, retreating, grabbing one of his brother's feet with one hand, and dragged away through the dust.
The girl sat there for a few seconds, before crawling carefully, trembling over to her brother who was still slumped against the wall. Maxy turned his head very slightly to look at her with his big sea-green eyes, which his sister had as well.
"Sorry…" he apologized to his sister without need. "I didn' think dey'd be dat strong…" he trailed off. Lenna smiled softly at him, still trembling, before looking up at the four older Newsie boys from across the street, whose shadows had fallen over them. They made no move other than to crouch down around them, so the two kids didn't take them as a threat. They were crouching around the two in a sort of semi-circle, and were looking at them with concerned and awed expressions.
"Are ya two alright?" The one with black hair, a roundish sort of face and dark eyes asked them, his warm eyes looking at them both in turn. Lenna nodded and then winced badly because it hurt to do so, and Maxy stared at him as though asking: 'Why should I tell you?'
"Dat was one heck of a fight! Where'd you learn dat? You're good." The big one with the cowboy hat told them. The two just sat there and smiled a bit when he complimented them.
"Is your neck okay?" the one with very tight brown curls and blue eyes asked Maxy, who winced in return as his hand touched a really sore spot. "Is your head?" he asked, looking at Lenna now.
"No." she whispered, after pausing, seeing no point in lying any more. The boy winced in sympathy for her.
"Do ya need some help? Do ya want it?" The blonde one with glasses asked them both. Maxy looked like he was going to refuse it, but Lenna cut across him with her small, slightly pained and faint voice.
"Yeah. We need it. Please…" she said, taking the offer of help, as her eyes clouded over, and she fell limply as she fainted from the pain in her head. She had fainted lightly against the boy with the black hair who had first asked if they were alright. He caught her, and held her with alarmed eyes, after checking her face to see if she was ok.
Maxy's eyes widened in alarm, and he practically bounced off the wall to his sister when she fainted.
"Lenna!" he spoke frightened in front of the boys for the first time, and they heard that his voice was small and squeaky, so he couldn't be very old. He checked his sister's face as well, and once he saw that she was alright, he sat back on his heels, and noticed that every eye was on him. He gulped. He wasn't used to this.
"I suppose dat we do need your help aftah all…" he surrendered to the boys in a way, giving up to his and his sister's needs. A few of them gave him soft, reassuring smiles, and stood. Maxy stood with them, but once he gained his feet, he staggered into the cowboy's legs, tired from the fight, The cowboy just smiled down at him, picked him up under the arm pits, and set him on his shoulders.
"Thanks…" Maxy thanked the cowboy quietly, under his breath, not liking to be thought of as weak. Cowboy just smiled, and introduced himself as Jack Kelly, the boy carrying Lenna as Bummlets, the one with curly brown hair as David, and the blonde one as Dutchy as they all walked back to the Manhattan Newsboy's lodging House to get some help.