Chapter Two
Ray stood outside of a small general store. She was a tall girl, thin from starvation. Her skin was dark, complimented by her long, jet black hair.
"I work hard, come on, I need this job!" She said, impatiently raising her voice.
"No. Boys only, no girls!" The storekeeper huffed and closed the door in her face. Ray frowned, "thank you very much!" She muttered.
A young boy walked past Ray, waving a newspaper and yelling. Ray watched him walk down the street,
"A newsboy" she said to herself.
She continued to watch the boy as he sold his last paper to an old lady, then walked into a building. Ray walked across the street, there was a sign on the building that read "Newsboys lodging house".
It's worth a try she thought, walking in. An old man stood just inside,
"You want something?" He asked, peering at her through his glasses.
"Yes, I need a room." Ray answered hesitantly.
"You a newsie?" He asked.
"I will be tomorrow!" Ray replied.
The old man turned, "Follow me," He said, as he walked up the stairs. Ray followed. The dark stairway creaked loudly as they made their way to the second floor. As they approached the top Ray heard yelling and loud thumps, she looked questioningly at the old man.
"Boys must be playin' around, you have to go through their room to get to the girls'."
Ray cocked an eyebrow, great! She thought to herself.
"Ah, they're rough, but not mean, you'll take a likin' to 'em. I'm Kloppman by the way." He said slowly, muttering to himself in between words.
Ray was about to introduce herself, but Kloppman opened the door to the boys' room. Ray peered in and saw four boys tumbling between several bunks. One bunk was overturned.
Kloppman walked into the room and yelled, "Hey Jack, save it for your enemies why don't ya!"
Jack threw Johnny against a wall.
"Alright" he cried, holding up his hands, "you win."
West rolled onto the floor at Race's feet, clutching his stomach, "I give up!" He cried once he caught his breath. Jack and Race laughed.
"Hey dat went longer den yesterday, I think Johnny's getting' betta!" Race laughed.
"We'll just have ta get betta with 'im, huh Race!" Jack said, clapping his hand on Races's shoulder.
Just then Race saw Ray, "What have we here?" He asked smiling. Jack turned, wiping his bloody face on his sleeve, he nodded his greeting. Ray looked from one boy to the other. One was taller, and had a confident air about him. His dirty hair fell sloppily in his face. Ray noticed the red bandana tied around his neck, and the dirty shirt, open partly to reveal a bare chest. Her eyes moved to the other, short and smug. He wore nicer clothing and his hair was combed back. His baby face made him look much younger than he probably was, but the bloody hands hanging at his sides changed that. As Ray examined them they watched her as well. The first thing Jack noticed was her eyes, her right eye shone a brilliant green, while the left one was deep and as black as the tangled hair that fell down her back. Race and Jack stood starring. Kloppman stepped forward, "Jack and Race," he muttered, pointing to them. "And back there's West 'n Johnny."
Ray tried to hide a smirk when she saw them sitting on a bunk, grudgingly collecting the money for Race and Jack.. She looked back to Jack and Race "Hey" she said simply, nodding.
Kloppman lead her through a door to the next room. It was empty.
"We don't have any other girls right now!" He said.
Ray walked in, Kloppman stayed in the doorway.
"Thanks," She offered. Kloppman nodded and closed the door.
*~*
Later that day Ray walked along the street. It was packed with people buying and selling, their voices blending into a steady, marketplace-hum. A fancy cab drove by, sending people and chickens scurrying out of the way. Ray looked up at the houses lined across the street and saw women hanging their laundry. She smiled and breathed in the cool air and walked briskly across the street to a small fire on the corner. She stood with a few other people at the fire, holding out her hands to the warmth.
Jack walked up beside her and joined the gathering.
"So dis yer foist time in Manhattan?" Jack asked, rubbing his hands together. Puffs of vapor left his mouth with every breath.
"Yeah" She replied, "I lived in the orphanage in New York."
"So you'll be wantin' a tour before tomorrow." He smiled.
They walked along the streets; Jack showed her places he liked to go and filled her in on being a newsie.
"Hey Jack," a boy said, walking out from an alley way and joining their walk.
Jack turned to Ray, "Dis is Kid Blink." He said, jabbing his thumb towards his friend.
"Blink," he corrected, reaching over to shake Ray's hand.
"Ray," she replied.
Blink was a little shorter than Jack, with blond hair and an old patch over his eye. The patch peaked Rays ever-present curiosity. But she said nothing.
"I thought you were wid Mush, where's he at?" Jack asked.
Blink turned around, "He was right behind me, who knows."
"What, worried about me?" Mush laughed, appearing out of nowhere.
Ray examined the new boy. He was strong and stout, with curly black hair and a kind looking face.
It's beginning to turn into a party. She thought to herself, as she was introduced to Mush.
Soon Ray found herself sitting with the boys in what they called a park. It consisted of a few trees, and a little bit of grass, the only grass you could find in Manhattan. One bench stood in the corner under a large, old looking tree. They sat under the tree, exchanging casual conversation.
"By the way, ya neva told us yer name!" Jack commented looking at Ray.
But before Ray answered she saw a cop walking quickly toward their group, she jumped to her feet and got ready to bolt.
"Come 'ere kid!" The police man yelled.
Ray started walking backwards, she tripped over a root and fell, catching herself she scrambled up and started running. Ray sprinted into the street, the police man followed her close behind. Several buggies were pulled up short, horses whinnied and people yelled. Jack started after the police and the rest followed.
Ray came to an alley, it was a dead end. What now? She thought desperately.
"You're going back to the orphanage ya little rat!" The police man yelled, close behind. Ray climbed up the side of a short building and flung herself on to the roof, the police man cursed. "You can't stay there forever!" He yelled, his face was red and his breath came short and quick. "More are comin' we'll get you back!" The police man stood looking up, Jack and the others ran at him, knocking him to the ground, and holding him there.
"Run!" Blink yelled.
Ray jumped off the roof and ran. Not knowing where she was going she simply kept running. As she was looking back she stumbled into someone.
"Hey watch it!" He said stepping aside.
"Sorry… Spot?" Ray peered at him.
"What? Who are you?" He looked at her like she was crazy.
"It's me, Ray, remember, you used to call me sunshine!" She said smiling, "Of course that was about two years ago."
"Yeah, I rememba," He said after a minute. Spot looked much the same as he had two years ago. He stood relaxed, with an "I own the world" expression on his face. His hair was carelessly tossed back out of his face, and his eyes shown light blue and brilliant. He held his usual cane and slingshot in his hand.
"So how's da orphanage treatin' ya?" He asked. They both spit in their palm and shook hands.
"It isn't treatin' me anymore, I got outta there! Escaped this morning." Ray replied.
"So you finally busted the joint huh; took ya long enough." Spot bent down to pick up the slingshot that he had dropped when she bumped him. "The bulls after ya yet?"
"Yeah, that's why I was running, but I think I'm safe now, some friends helped me out. Why are the police so anxious to find one orphan girl anyway?" Ray wondered, they began to walk together.
"Dey say it's for our own good, but dey just want to clean us off da streets so all dem rich folks can strut around widout lookin at us." He said, spitting in disgust.
"Dat yer mutt?" He asked looking behind them.
Ray turned around, there was a huge, sleek black and white dog following them.
"No, he's not mine. Come 'ere boy." She crooned to the dog and he trotted over. Jumping up on her he put his large paws around her neck and licked her face.
"Well looks like he's yers now!" Spot said, patting him on the shoulder.
"So ya already got a pal. Figures!" Spot laughed, "neva took ya long to make friends, or enemies for dat matta!"
Ray smiled. "True, yeah their names are Jack, Mush and Blink, they're great!"
"You know dem? Jacky boy's my friend, small woild! But I was talkin' about the dog!" He laughed.
Ray chuckled. "Well I guess I'll keep him. I'll work on a name." Ray said, and started going through names that would fit the big dog.
Where are ya stayin'?" Spot asked, interrupting her train thought.
"The newsboys lodging house." Ray replied.
"Well den, I'll escort ya home" He said jokingly, as if it were an un-welcome duty.
Ray laughed, "Sure."
They walked in almost complete silence, broken only a few times, usually by Spot shooting a tin can off a roof with his slingshot, or telling her something he had accomplished. But she did not mind, that was just the way he was. Finally they came to the lodging house. Spot nodded his goodbye. Ray smiled at him then walked up the stairs.
All the boys Ray had met earlier were in the room, including about 50 others she had not met yet.
She told Blink about meeting up with spot. "What happened to you?" She wondered.
Mush replied for Blink, "well that copper was pretty easy to get away from; fat old man could barely run for more then ten seconds." They all laughed.
"Well thanks a lot!" Ray said to them all.
"Hey, is dis yer dog?" One of the boys Ray had not met yet walked over.
"I guess he is now. He just started following me!" Ray replied.
"Dis is a Harlequin Great Dane, he's a beauty! Expensive bread of dog dis is. Have ya named 'im yet?" The boy asked, running his hands across the dog's muscular shoulders.
"A Harlequin great Dane?" Ray smiled, "I think I'll call him Harlequin!" She snapped her fingers and called to the dog "Come on Harley!"
Harley trotted over playfully.
"He's already taken to 'is new name!" The boy laughed, "Dat's a real good find ya got there! I'm Bumlets by da way."
"Nice to meet you." Ray replied, then walked toward the door to her room. Before she went in she turned around and looked at everyone, "oh, and my name is Ray." She said, walking in and closing the door behind her.
Ray walked to a bunk and flopped down on it. She opened her small pouch. It didn't contain much; she dumped it out onto the bed. A small piece of fool's gold, a picture, a nickel and a cup lay in front of her. Shoving the nickel back into the bag, she picked up the fools gold and smiled. Her father had given it to her when she was six, and she thought for many years that it was real. Instantly her smile vanished when she picked up the picture of her parents.
"Not a day goes by that I don't regret what I did to you!" She murmured. Her chest tightened and her throat closed, she bit her lip, holding back the sea of feelings inside of her. She put the picture away, afraid to let her feelings out. Then she
turned her attention to the cup. She picked it up and turned it over and over as she had done so many times before. The last conversation she had with her mother flickered into her memory. "Take this, find a man named Edward Delancy, he lives in New York, tell him you are Elizabeth's daughter. I pray that he won't hurt you, you were once very special to him"
Ray turned the cup upside down and studied the engraved initials on it, the initials were E.D. She held it up next to the initials tattooed on her arm, A.D. "I guess I'm related to him." She said out loud. "But why would I have these initials on my arm? My name's Ray Philips." She had had the tattoo since she was a baby, and had no idea where it came from. Although she'd pondered several possibilities, she could never really know for sure. Her only hope of knowing was to find Edward Delancy. Unfortunately, her mother had not told her where in New York to look.
"Well, we'll start in the morning, you and me." She said, patting Harley on the head. She put her things back into her bag, then got under the covers and patted her hand on the bed, "Come on Harley, you might as well!" The big dog jumped up and the bed creaked and groaned loudly as he settled himself next to Ray, resting his head on her shoulder and flopping one leg over her stomach. Ray was glad for the warmth. "Good night boy." She said, and then drifted off to s