The pounding of the gavel echoed around the courtroom. Kid Blink gaped at Judge Monahan. How could he expect any newsie to have five dollars? And no way would they be spending any time in the refuge! He felt a hand slide down his arm and intertwine with his fingers. Alicia smiled at him when he looked up.
"Your honor, I'll pay the fines," a voice said from the entrance. "All of them." Alicia, Blink, and the rest of the newsies looked over to see Denton. David ran up and asked Racetrack where Jack was, and Denton told the group to meet in the restaurant.
"Pay the clerk, move it along," Judge Monahan instructed. At that moment, Jack walked in, shouting, "Heya, fellas!"
"Hey, Cowboy!" Racetrack called. "Nice shiner!" The newsies were shunted out the door, and they laughed about the night for a bit as they played around outside. Blink was chatting with Racetrack and Mush when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned to see Alicia with a half-embarrassed, half-fearful look.
"What's gonna happen to Kelly?" she asked. Blink smiled and held her hand.
"Probably nothing big," he replied. "My guess is a fine or the refuge, like us. He'll always bust outta the refuge, and Denton can pay the fine. Even if Pulitzer himself came in that courtroom, Jack would never abandon us."
She was looking at the ground. "I hope you're right."
"'Course I am," he scoffed, grinning. "I know Jack." When she still looked unsure, he took a step forward and hesitantly kissed her cheek. A blush slowly spread across her face as she kept looking down. Blink chuckled, and kept holding her hand as he brought her to their restaurant.
Once they were there, the mood dropped considerably as David told them Jack's sentence, and Denton relayed the news of his leaving their side.
"We get Jack out of the refuge tonight," David declared, once Denton had left. "From now on, we trust no one but the newsies."
"Yeah!"