Disclaimer: I do not own anything that was in the 1992 Disney movie, "Newsies". (Though I wish that I owned Jack Kelly.;-)

Princess of the Newsies

Written April 27, 2003 to --------------



This story is dedicated to the real Jack, Racetrack, Davy and all of the other Newsies that really did exist and go on strike for a little more than a week in New York City, the summer of 1899.

~The Author

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It was 1900 but had not quite been a whole year since the strike of the New York newsboys. Many people still remembered the strike, especially the newsboys themselves, or Newsies as they are oft times called...

Chapter One

From London to New York

Its enough to take your breath away. Thought Nicolette as she gazed toward the lighted buildings and streets of New York City from the deck of Edward IX, the ship that had brought her across the North Atlantic Ocean to America.

Even from so far away she imagined that she could smell the freshly baked bread from the bakeries and the flowers that the various flower girls were sure to be selling if this city at all mirrored busy London.

She stayed at the rail for a long time and only after a sailor told her that it was past 1 o'clock in the morning did she turn away from the lights and start toward her "home".

Her home at the moment, was a small section of the ship's expansive deck. She had decided halfway through the voyage that she simply could not sleep in the hold a second longer so she had moved all of her belongings, which consisted of two blankets, one very, nice medium sized, leather suitcase and a once beautiful, but now disfigured, hatbox, to her new place of lodging.

She lay down on one blanket and pulled the other up to her shoulders then rested her head on her bent arm. This is so exciting! Yet, so frightening at the same time... God, why must I face it alone? Why couldn't you have waited a little longer? It was only a few weeks more... After much more thinking and agonizing Nicolette finally fell asleep just as the sun was starting to spread a halo of fire around the feet of the Statue of Liberty.

***

Nicolette awoke a few hours later to a huge hustle and bustle. The ship was docking at Ellis Island and all of the families were scrambling to be the first in line to go down the gangway.

For the entire voyage Nicolette had been baffled because most of what she heard were the mixed sounds of German, Swedish, Dutch and the other languages of immigrants that were coming to the United States. At this moment though, she couldn't have distinguished even one of those dialects.

Suddenly half of the people gasped in unison and Nicolette turned to see what was happening. All she saw was a trunk twice the size of herself coming at her. She stood for less than a second then dove quickly to the right.

When she stood again she saw that the trunk had come loose from its ropes while being unloaded and that was why it had almost crushed her. "I didn't come this far to be killed before I even set foot in America." She muttered as she looked sourly at the workmen who were supposed to be controlling the huge object.

She went to inspect her "home" and was dismayed to find it in a state of squashed ruin. She almost wept. The suitcase was so badly damaged that she doubted anyone would ever be able to open it again and the hatbox was more flat than anything she had ever seen in her life.

She quickly decided that she would take the suitcase with her and see if a locksmith or blacksmith could pry it open so that she could see if anything from inside was salvageable. She tried to open the hatbox but it was so pressed together that she would have to leave it. That was too bad because her mother's last lace doily and her father's Sunday collar and cuffs had been in there along with other things that had special meaning to her.

"I guess I'll just have to take this as an omen of my starting an entirely new life." She told herself, still trying not to cry. She glanced over at the gangway then at the island and saw the huge crowds and lines of people. This was going to be a very long day.

***

Author's note: Please share your opinions! I hope to actually finish this story and it will help if you all tell me what to you think so that I will stay motivated. :-) Thanks for reading and don't worry, the Newsies are going to be in this! I just have to set the stage first... :-)

~Jessie