They worked together for a couple of hours until something woke Albert. They got fresh water and let him take over and settled on the cot. Jack sat up but insisted Kat lie down, using his leg as a pillow. He untied her braid and combed her hair with his fingers, an act that soothed her to sleep.

She felt as though she'd just fallen asleep when she was being shaken awake by a very worried Albert. "Kat! Jack! Wake up!" his voice was urgent, but low, not wanting to wake the other newsies if it wasn't necessary.

Jack sat up right away. "What's the matter? What's wrong?"

"It's Crutchie!"

As gently as he could, Jack moved out from under Kat's head and went to the bed. What parts of Crutchie that weren't bruised were flushed bright red. He was restless, with his arms and legs twitching and his head moving from side to side. He was mumbling something Jack couldn't quite understand. Jack pressed a hand to Crutchie's forehead and quickly drew it back. "Jesus! He's burnin' up!"

"Yeah. It started 'bout thirty minutes ago I guess? When the clock struck is when I noticed it at least, and he's just started the mumblin' and twitchin'."

"Watch him," Jack ordered and turned to the cot. "Kat," he shook her shoulder. "Kat, wake up. Crutchie's gotten worse."

She sat up and gave a sleepy yawn. "What's happened?" she asked in a sleep-heavy voice.

"Crutchie's burnin' up."

Alarmed, she scooted off the cot with a hand from Jack. She felt Crutchie's skin on his head, arms, chest, and legs. Jack was right, Crutchie was definitely burning up.

She looked at both guys. "Jack, I need Greta—don't yell in panic and beat down her door—just let her know I need her. Wake Charles, too, and send him to get Dr. Morrison again." He nodded.

"Albert, wake the others—gently, like I just told Jack, OK?—we don't need any panicking here—stay calm and cool-headed. I'll need the large tub set up in the kitchen and filled with water. Don't heat it up, just get it straight from the sink. Have someone get as many towels from upstairs as they can, then all of you come back here to help move Crutchie to the kitchen."

Both guys set about their assigned tasks while Kat resumed placing cool cloths on Crutchie's forehead and chest in the hopes that they would help.

Greta soon arrived, a pair of trousers in hand. She and Jack got Crutchie dressed while Kat and Annie checked on the progress of things in the kitchen. Doc and Charles showed up just as the boys got Crutchie moved to the kitchen on the oilcloth sling.

"Lower him into the water, but only his body, leave his arms and legs out," Doc instructed. "Hold him there." He and Greta poured water over Crutchie's shoulders and chest.

Kat felt so useless, not able to do anything to help. She and Annie stood to the side and watched Doc and the others work with Crutchie. Charles stoked the fire and stove, setting up water to make coffee. Jack moved to where the girls stood. He gave Kat a hug, then pulled Annie into his embrace, too.

When Crutchie began to shiver, Doc had them move him to the table. "The pants have got to go," he commanded. "They'll keep him too cold and wet. A towel will work to preserve any modesty that needs preserving."

Charles placed himself between Jack and the girls to remove Crutchie's pants and moved away only after Greta had dried him and covered him with a towel.

"This table needs to be closer to the fire," Greta instructed. Kat and Annie moved the benches and chairs out of the way so that the newsies, Charles, and Jack could lift the heavy table and place it so that Crutchie could feel the fire's heat. Greta looked at her daughter, "Blankets."

Annie ran from the room to gather them.

Greta looked at Kat. "He needs his ma."

Throughout the night, Crutchie alternately shivered with cold or complained about being too hot. When he was hot, they lowered him into the tub. When he began shivering, they moved him to the table beside the fire. It was when he was coldest that he called out for his mother. Kat would sit on the table with Crutchie's head in her lap, soothing away his fears. Doc, Greta, and Charles sat on a bench near Crutchie's feet, snagging cat naps between times when Crutchie got too hot. At the other end of the table, the newsies had formed a loose circle with the other bench and some chairs. They were quiet, but didn't seem inclined to sleep until they knew Crutchie was going to pull through.

"Ma?"

"I'm here."

"You OK?"

"Yes, sweetheart, I'm fine."

"Oh. That's good, cause you fell after Pa hit you and you never got up. The cops took him away, but I hid so they couldn't take me, too. Can I come be with you, ma? I miss you so much."

"Oh, sweetheart, I wish you could."

"But I'm all alone here, Ma." Tears ran down into his hair. "No one can see me 'cept you. I'm so lonely."

"I'm with you, honey. Always."

The next time he spoke with his mother, there was a sense of hope in his voice that hadn't been there before.

"Ma, I met a boy today."

"Did you?"

"His name's Jack. He gave me a whole nickel!" He spoke with reverence about his newly acquired wealth. "Do you think he'll be my friend?"

Kat looked up at a startled Jack and smiled. "I'm sure he will, sweetheart, you're such a likeable boy."

"He let me wear his coat today. I was so cold."

"That was nice of him."

"Will he be my friend? Maybe someone as good as him won't want a friend who can't walk good."

"I think he'll like you just fine."

"I hope he'll be my friend…" his voice trailed off as he fell asleep once more.

All eyes turned to an embarrassed Jack. "Yeah, I was his friend. Still am," he said defensively.

"We knows that," Race rolled his eyes. "Wanna add some more details for us?"

"Nothin' to tell. He was cold and hungry. I got him a coat and some food. We's friends."

"What's my story?" asked Specs.

Jack looked at him. "Whacha mean?"

"How do you tell the story of how we met?"

"I don't."

"But if you was to tell it…"

Jack huffed impatiently. "You was a rotten thief, so's I taught ya how to sell papes so ya didn't have to steal no more."

Specs chuckled. "There's a lot more to it than that."

Everyone turned to Specs.

"It wasn't nothin'," insisted Jack.

"It was everythin'," Specs refuted.

Jack said nothing, just stared at the floor.

Specs addressed the small group staring at him. "My sister'd just died and I wasn't goin' back home, but I had no idea how to live on the streets. It was summer, so I wasn't cold, but I was hungry. Been on my own 'bout a month or so, I s'pose; when you're alone, scared, and hungry, a week seems like a month, so's I don't know how long it really was before Jack found me.

I was in a alley, tripped over something tryin' to get away from some guys who thought beatin' up kids was fun when Jack walked in there, scared 'em off somehow. Don't know how 'cause he was smaller than all of 'em, but they up and left and there I was, all alone with just one person bigger than me that I didn't know.

"Got a name, kid?"

"Octavius."

"Gotta do better than that or you'll always be gettin' busted. Let me think on it. Hungry?"

I nodded and he took me to Jacobi's and got me lunch. I knocked over my water, spilled my soup, and dropped my spoon on the floor.

"You blind, kid?"

"Nope."

"How many fingers you see?"

I looked at Jack's hand, his very blurry hand. "Four?"

"Jesus!" he muttered. He pointed to a sign by the door. "Read that."

I did. He held up his hand again. "How many?"

"Um, three?"

"Two," Jack told me. "Both times. Two fingers. How'd you get this far only seein' stuff far off?"

I shrugged. "I walk into things a lot. Trip over stuff. Don't matter. I'm used to it."

"Ya wanta go to jail?"

"No!"

"Well, I seen ya around here and there and ya ain't a very good thief. You won't never be a good thief if ya can't see what you's tryin' to steal. You'll end up in jail if ya don't find somethin' else."

"What else is there?"

"You can sell papes."

"What's papes?"

"Newspapers. Bein' a newsie is a good job for a boy. No one asks ya no questions. If ya shows up, ya buys papes to sell. If ya don't show up, no one cares, but ya won't make any money, neither. But ya gotta be able to read the papes before ya can sell 'em."

"But I ain't never sold nothin' before."

"I can show ya what to do. Where ya been sleepin' nights?"

"Uhm…"

"Come on, we'll get you in at The Lodge. They's always gots empty beds. Might be they can help with your eyes, too."

Jack put a nickel and five pennies on the table as we left. "First thing ya gotta know is where to eat. You's can always eat supper at The Lodge. It's six cents a meal, and the food's fillin' but not always the best. And if you miss suppertime, you miss the food. The Sisters'll give you somethin' to get started in the mornin'. It ain't much, but it's free. Lunch is on your own if you can afford it. Jacobi is great. Newsies can gets soup and bread and either seltzer or milk for a nickel. If you gets water to drink, it's just four cents. I always leaves him an extra penny for his troubles. And he's always good for a free glass of water. There's other places, too, and I'll show 'em to ya when we sees 'em."

"Uh, what's The Lodge?"

"Newsboys' Lodging House," Jack explained as we turned a corner. "More'n newsies stays there, so I don't know why it's called the Newsboys' Lodging House, but it's a place to sleep that's not on the streets. It's six cents a night plus you hafta go to the school classes, and if ya can't get there before the doors close for the night, you's out on the street."

"And they'll let me in?"

"Yeah. We'll ask Old Bill–he's the guy in charge–'bout what to do for your eyes. He's real smart."

So he took me to The Lodge and Old Bill found a Sears & Roebuck catalog. He helped me take the test to figure out which glasses I'd be needin'. He said the folks who run The Lodge, for special stuff like this, they pay half and did I have my half? My share came to about twenty cents. I didn't even have a penny. But Jack paid it. I was shocked. I figured he must be really rich because he'd already bought my lunch.

"No big deal," he scoffed. "Just stick with me 'til they gets here. I'll teach ya how to sell papes then you can pay me back once you's on your own."

And that's just what he did. Crutchie and him, and Race, too, taught me the tricks to get people to buy papes, how to save enough to eat and buy the next day's papes, and where to buy good clothes real cheap. He really only had one rule: don't steal. "We has a hard enough life without gettin' the Bulls always starin' and watchin' and waitin' for a reason to arrest us. The Refuge is not where you want to be."

"When the glasses finally got there, they worked! It was kinda scary at first 'cause I was so used to not bein' able to see stuff up close. I think Crutchie was the first one to call me Specs, but it was tons better than Octavius, so I didn't care."

Everyone laughed.

Kat looked at Jack, who was studiously ignoring everyone by concentrating on Crutchie. She had known he had a soft, caring heart under the gruff demeanor he'd developed living on the streets, but she'd had no idea that his closest friends had actually been "adopted" by him.

She leaned over to kiss his cheek. "You are incredible," she whispered in his ear.

He blushed, and the corners of his mouth tipped up slightly, but his focus remained on his friend.