Thank your for the 3 people that R&R'd on the first chapter. I have fixed the chapter and hope it satisfies. :) R&R
I do not own Newsies. :(
"Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart."
The carriage ride was particularly bumpy. The boys have never been in a carriage before and they were quite fascinated, despite the things that were going to happen. They were in the carriage with two other bulls so they didn't talk at all.
Jack was nervous. He had never seen Pulitzer's house before. He was thinking that he'd rather face two months in the refuge then go to Pulitzer's house.
Mush looked out the window. Despite the consequences, all he could think about was whether they were all going to live to see noon today. That, and thinking about apologizing to Rose.
Racetrack was the calmest one out of the three of them. He was rather having fun with himself, playing with the nearby bull's coat, which had strings attached to it.
"Stop it." The bull said, looking at Racetrack and breaking the silence.
Racetrack shrugged. "Just wanted to have fun before I die is all."
And with those words, the carriage stopped. The boys all got out of the car, and there to meet them was a huge mansion.
Pulitzer's house was a mansion, but as tall as a castle. There were grand steps leading to the door. In the middle was a fountain with benches surrounding it. If you looked beyond the house, you could see fields and fields of well kept gardens and courtyards, with miniature mazes.
Racetrack whistled. "He spoils imslef, - Pulitzer."
Jack nodded. "Welcome to hell, boys."
Kylene was busy playing with her hands when she heard the door open. She looked at her father and he had a scowl on his face as he made his way to the door. She then looked at the direction of the door and saw three boys who were all dressed in fancy attire, but they were clearly not comfortable in it. The one on the right had the buttons on his vest all wrong. Kylene looked at his face and wondered if he was Italian. He definitely looked that way. He had a small face, curly hair, and he was pretty short. The one in the middle had a red bandana around his neck, which Kylene didn't think went well with the suit that was too short for him, but who was she to judge? He held himself up in a way that made you think he wanted you to feel intimidated. The one on the left definitely interested Kylene more than the other two. She knew this one didn't try to hard to please her father. He was wearing a simple outfit. Cut-offs, a white t-shirt, and a hat. He looked like he had a nice personality, and he made her want to go up to him and introduce herself. He had such a nice face, it was clear that he took some stuff seriously, not like the other two. She guessed they were all newsboys. From the looks of it, they were newsboys that her father wanted to get rid of.
"Ahh, boys you made it." Her father said, breaking the silence.
"Well, we were supposed to, weren't we? Ya threatened us." Said the one with the red bandana.
Kylene sighed. She knew that her father would get mad just at the thought of being questioned by his actions. This bandana boy really needed to be quiet, unless he wanted to owe her father more than he bargained for.
"Now you listen to me, Kelly!" Explained Pulitzer, drawing attention from the nearby servants as well. Pulitzer realized that other people were listening in and he decided to take this matter upstairs. He had a good speech planned just for the boys, and he didn't want it to be heard by some servants. "Let's take this upstairs shall we?" He asked, in a seething tone. "Kylene, tell the servants not to come up by my study for a few hours. They are to remain on the first floor." He said, turning to Kylene, who was awestruck at the way the boy in the bandana made her father yell, and he wasn't even in the house for a minute.
Kylene nodded, looking at the three newsboys before she left. The Italian looking one looked bored. She met his eyes and they both looked down. She suddenly felt embarrassed at her father. They both knew that they, the newsboys, were going to get a mouthful. She then looked at the one in the bandana. He looked like he wanted to have a go with Pulitzer, no matter the cost. She suddenly felt great respect for him. He looked proud and smug. She never had the guts to talk back to her father and this boy had. And as far as she knew, he only knew her father for a short while. She then let her eyes linger on the last boy, the one with the nice face. He wasn't looking at Pulitzer, or his fellow newsboys, but at her. He smiled at her. Suddenly, her stomach began to have butterflies. She didn't even know this boy and he had already made her feel dizzy. Not wanting to draw attention to herself, she merely nodded at him.
"Are you waiting for an invitation to leave the room, Kylene?" Her father asked, looking at her with an angry expression.
"No, father." She answered, turning around and not daring to look back at the three newsboys who she knew would interest her.
The boys were led up to a room in which Pulitzer called his "study". The room had a huge desk in the center, much like his desk in his office back in Manhattan. There were also many shelves filled with books. Despite the size of the room, it was relatively boring, with only one chair in the middle, not counting the one Pulitzer usually sat in. The boys noticed that there was a photograph on a nearby shelf, the only pleasant thing to look at in the entire room. The photograph consisted of a younger Pulitzer, a five-year-old Kylene, and a woman the boys had never seen before.
"Whad's dat, Joe?" Jack asked, pointing to the picture.
"Never mind that, now I just wanted to ask you boys what you feel is the right punishment for your actions."
"Say, is dat ya? Ya look mighty young; ya didn't have a beard then." Jack said, clearly trying to distract Pulitzer.
"I SAID NEVER MIND THAT!" Pulitzer yelled, causing all the boys to jump.
Racetrack looked at Jack and they suddenly had a plan. "So Joe, is dat yer daughter, she looks like an angel." He said, taking the picture in his hands and examining it.
"PUT THAT BACK, NOW!" Pulitzer seethed. They all looked at the picture, not daring to look at Pulitzer, who was all red with anger.
Jack ignored Pulitzer's warning. "Hey Race, lemme see dat!" Jack said, taking the picture from Racetrack, who held on to it as tight as he can. "JACKY BOY I'm lookin' at it!" He answered, not giving Jack the picture. "Race, let go!" Jack said, pulling with all the force he could muster. He didn't expect Racetrack to let go, but he did, leaving the picture to smash into the wall.
Jack cursed as he saw that the picture frame, which was made of glass, broke, and the picture itself was ruined, being torn from the impact. Mush, who was standing silently during the whole tussle, suddenly looked at the ground, afraid of what Pulitzer was going to do to them.
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE, NOW!!" Yelled Pulitzer, who was about to strangle all three of the boys, but they were too quick for him. They left the room and ran as fast as their legs could take them.
Pulitzer looked at the photograph and picked it up off the floor, careful not to damage it any further. He looked at the doorway and suddenly remembered what led him to that damaged photo. He then crumpled the photograph and threw it in the wastebasket. He needn't need it any more. Pulitzer let his anger subside, but before he left his study, he grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and wrote:
To be punished: Jack Kelly, Mush Meyers, and Racetrack Higgins.
Kylene was busy helping a kitchen maid with baking when she heard footsteps running down the grand staircase. She quickly washed her hands and made her way to the main hall.
"Ya shouldn't have done it, Jacky-boy!" Screamed the Italian newsboy as they ran to the door.
"Nah, he deserved it." Said the bandana wearing newsboy, who Kylene figured to be Jack.
"Ya really screwed up, Cowboy." Cried the newsboy Kylene favored.
They apparently did not see her as they ran out of the house and into the nearest carriage. Kylene wondered what these three newsboys did to her father and she suddenly made up her mind that she would find out.
"At least we're off dah hook, fellas." Jack said, breaking the awkward silence between the boys.
"It's your fault that we're walkin' home, Cowboy." Racetrack said, glum after the encounter with the carriage driver.
"Yeah, Kelly. If ya didn't get Pulitzer all riled up, then we wouldn't be in this mess. And we'd have a carriage to ride in, instead of walkin' home."
Jack sighed. Arguing with his two companions was pointless. All they ever did was blame him. He thought about a different approach that would sure make them start talking again.
"So. Whad ya think of Pulitzer's daughter?" He asked, casually. Racetrack kicked a nearby rock. "Well, she ain't look a thing like her father I can tell ya that."
Mush nodded, lips shut. He didn't want to tell the others about what he thought; he knew what they would say. It was always the same thing.
Jack took off his coat and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "So, whad ya think, Mush?"
Mush looked at Jack. "About what?" He asked, completely oblivious.
Racetrack chuckled. "Yeah right, act like ya don't know, bonehead. We saw dah way ya looked at her. Just answer dah question and get on wid it."
"Get on wid what?" Mush asked, stepping on a dry leaf. "Why dah heck are we talkin' about Pulitzer's daughter?"
"Stop changin' dah subject, Mush. It's hot, we're bored, and there's nothin' to talk about. Just bring some goils in dah subject; we'll be talkin' for hours."
Mush sighed, giving up. "Ya, she's not bad, eh?"
Jack scoffed. "You're hopeless. We all know dat ya got your eyes on her, but it ain't nuthin, ya hear? All dah relationships ya have been in end in disastah. There is not one relationship where ya have stayed wid dah goil without ya ending it. I mean c'mon Mush, ya know its just anotha fling. Yar betta off not talkin' about her, anyway."
Racetrack laughed. "Jack, ya really don't know when to shut dah hell up, do ya? Yar gunna get new shinah, soon enough." Racetrack thumped Jack on the head, referring to the fact that Mush was red with anger.
Jack shrugged. "No one told me ta lie, now did dey? It's dah truth."
"Lettie, just going to the market in Manhattan. I'll be back around three. If my father asks, just tell him. I'll be back." Kylene doubted that her father would even ask, but it didn't matter, she was hoping he wouldn't, he didn't care. She just hoped that she could catch a glimpse of the elusive newsboys she saw the other day.
Kylene went into a carriage and fixed her hair. "Manhattan, by the market." She said, looking at the carriage driver. The clop clop clop of the horses hooves led the carriage out of the drive way. Kylene laughed. "So, John, what's got your underwear in a twist?" The relationship between the young lady and the old carriage driver always interested Kylene. She had known the carriage driver since she was a baby, but her father never approved of her talking to servants or "low class people" as he would put it, but Kylene didn't care. John was like a father she wished she had, she remembered thinking about putting her father in the same room as John, in hope that they could talk and her father would start acting like John, but it never happened.
John clicked his tongue. "It's nothing, Miss Pulitzer."
"Miss Pulitzer? John, what's the matter?" Kylene asked, curious.
"Nothing, Miss Pulitzer, I always feel tired these days. Why are you heading to Manhattan?"
Kylene sighed. "Please do not call me Miss Pulitzer, John. Please, it's redundant to hear that all the time. I'm sorry."
John laughed, in a tired voice, he said, "Sorry Kylene, things aren't looking up for the family right now."
Kylene nodded, not wanting to go in the subject of his family. They hit a bump and the entire carriage went up. Kylene chuckled.
"So why're we going to the market?" John asked, bemused as Kylene blushed.
Kylene smiled. "Just going to see some stuff. I'll be back around three. Are you picking me up? Or is Jake?" She added with disgust, talking about her least favorite driver.
John laughed. "Don't I always? See ya later, kid." He said, tipping his hat as Kylene left the carriage.
