It took the half the newsies about two days to realize they just kicked out Lucky. The other half took about five or six days to feel sorry, instead. They knew that they messed up and now felt guilty that they made her leave. Jack had turned back to his happy self, with occasional bad days. Most of the Manhattan newsies attempted to get the seven in Brooklyn to come back and they succeeded with a few. Skittery, Crutchy, Mush and Specs went back to Manhattan while Jake, Blink and Racetrack stayed. They didn't want to go back just yet, even though they really did miss Manhattan.

Itey, Bumlets, Dutchy and Pie Eater volunteered to try and find her but Jack thought it be best not to.

"She's gon'; I'se tinkin' she ain't commin' back"

Swifty had tried to find her but after searching a few town and cities around Manhattan, he assumed she went farther than he was going to try. After all, Manhattan was his home; he wasn't leaving it soon.

Pup had told Jack about Tips nodding at Dodger and Dodger at Tips one night when they were playing poker, and Tips hasn't been seen in Manhattan since. They all guessed he went back to Bronx.

Bronx had stopped trying so hard to take Manhattan for themselves after Tips was gone. The Manhattan and Brooklyn newsies figured that they had enough to handle already, so they just gave up. So far everything was just assuming and that was bugging some of the boys; they wanted to know something. Not just guess that Lucky was gone for good or that Bronx was done with Manhattan, so some of them set out to go looking for Lucky or to spy on Bronx, without Jack's consent of course. Luckily they haven't been spotted by the Bronx newsies yet.

Jack missed Lucky. He wouldn't admit it, but the others could tell. One way they noticed is that he found a replacement for her.

A young girl, fifteen years of age, named Elizabeth Rosella Winterberg had run away from her house on Fifth Ave. She was running away because her father wanted her to marry another man. She had been found by Jack and he took her in. She was a pretty girl, slender, long, ebony curls, and pale skin. The problem with her was that she was not in any way suited for the life of a newsie. She was a dainty and delicate girl, whom one could compare to a red rose. She had taken the name Princess, which suited her, and she easily showed her dislike for living with a bunch of rowdy, gambling, dirty boys. However, she stayed for a while, much to everyone's amazement, but she went back to her hoity-toity life when her father begged her to return, promising that she would not have to marry the man he chose. Some of the newsies were relatively glad she left; no offence to her meant…well, not much.

After Princess left, there was no one in the attic again. It was currently being used as a storage place for whenever things needed to be put away. It was getting very dusty.

Qeqeqe

It was nearing winter so outside was pretty cold, especially for kids with little more than the clothes they wore in the summer. Snow had fallen and all of Manhattan was covered in a sparkling, white blanket. Right now the guys were at Tibby's eating lunch. The restaurant was filled with the laughs and voices of the newsboys. Spot had decided to hang out in Manhattan for lunch and was sitting in a corner booth with Les, Jake, Bumlets, and Jack. Denton had arrived and was joining the boys for lunch, which they kindly let him, seeing that he offered to pay for their meals. Everyone was having a good time and enjoying the snow before it got to be too much and too cold for them. The headlines had been good lately so they didn't have to work extremely hard to make up headlines that worked. There still were the old headlines that no one would listen to, though.

" 'as anyone seen Boots?"
The building got quiet when everyone thought about the last time they saw the kid. David looked around at the blank faces and sighed.

"Did he get caught by the cops?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," Itey piped up, " 'e was runnin' las' time I'se saw 'im."

David groaned and hit his head on the table, "Just what we need; to bust someone out on a night like tonight!"

Choruses of "Why?" and "What 'bout tonight?" echoed through the building.

"A blizzard is supposed to hit this area of New York tonight; it may even last through tomorrow."

"So, dat means no sellin'… right?"

David nodded, "If it's bad enough."

Mush grinned, "Normally I'se wouldn't be sayin' dis, but... YES!"

Many cheers and a few groans followed his exclamation. The idea of a day off was almost too good to be true.

Huhuh

That evening, before night fell and before the blizzard hit, the newsies snuck to the Refuge. Jack led the small party as he put the rope over the gate and climbed over. After everyone made it, Jack led the way to the barred windows. He was lowered down, tapped the window, and hissed, "Boots!"

A smile lit up Boots' face as he gathered his things to leave. They had just gotten the loose bars undone and Boots climbed out the window, as the new warden entered.

"Jack!" Boots cried, "Pull me up, pull me up!"

They pulled him up and the whole group ran as fast as they could. They got to the gates, unlatched them, and ran for their lives. After they had gotten a decent way away, they all paused to catch their breath and slow down. Suddenly Jack burst out laughing. The others didn't get what was so funny, but his laughter was contagious and soon the bunch of newsies was laughing, with tears rolling down their cheeks.

"Tanks Jack," Boots stopped to take in another breath, "tanks for commin'."

"Anytime, Boots, anytime!"

Just then it started to snow harder.

Mumumu

Just assume that they could hear the weather predictions on the radio, and that the Jacobs have a radio. I don't know how (or even if) they could tell what was coming. I know they didn't know about the 1900 storm in Galveston, but maybe other things like rain and blizzards.