Rae was curled up in an old ratty chair in the main room of the lodging house with her nose buried in a book. How she could manage to read in the near deafening noise was beyond most of the boys, but they weren't about to quiet down for her. Not with the way that she had been acting lately. "Down right bitchy." was the way they described it when Kloppman wasn't around. The old man would have thrown a fit if he had heard the way they were talking about Rae.

Because of her attitude of late, most of her friends had been avoiding Rae. Not that it bothered her in the least. It seemed that all she could think about lately was Cap and the fact that he hadn't returned from Chicago, thus proving that he didn't love her as he had said. If he loved her, surely it wouldn't have taken him two years to come home, not when the World's Fair had been over for almost a year. She hadn't even heard a single word from him since he sent them all a package. Right now, most of them had their attention focused on the younger of two sisters who had followed Skittery home a week before...or, rather, ten-year-old Lorna had followed Skittery and six-year-old Fiona had followed her older sister. And, it was easy to see why Lorna had been trying to lose her sister. Fiona was prissy and demanding; when she didn't get her way she threw a fit until she did. Now she had all of the boys jumping to do her bidding, and if she wanted something, she got it. Lorna, on the other hand, seemed to find trouble even more than Rae had when she was younger.

Rae ignored the younger girl and, because of this, Lorna had become her shadow; at least, when she wasn't off looking for trouble. As long as Lorna didn't bother her, Rae didn't mind. Even though the girls wouldn't give their last name, Rae had managed to find out that there was a sister between the two girls and a much older brother they had never met. They all had the same father, but Lorna and her sisters had a different mother. Their father had never married her mother. According to Lorna he never paid any attention to them anyway. At this point Rae had told the girl that she talked too much. But that hadn't stopped Lorna from talking.

Rae looked up when she heard the front door open. There stood Jack Kelly, who had been in the Refuge for nearly a year. It appeared that she was the only one that heard the door open and noticed the newsie standing there. "Hello Jack," she said, and almost instantly the room grew quiet, except for Fiona's constant whining. The room was soon filled with noise again as the newsies crowded around the boy wearing a tattered old cowboy hat standing in the doorway, greeting him as they would a long lost relative. Only he hadn't been lost. He had gotten himself arrested. Their reaction to Jack's return frustrated Rae and she stormed upstairs to the room that had once belonged to just her but she now shared with Lorna and Fiona.

Why should he be treated so well? Weren't they mad? He left! Well, sure, involuntarily, but he was the one that pulled that stupid stunt, trying to get food and all that when he was just a little hungry, and they were giving him some hero's welcome! Yeah, some hero he was, getting caught taking a loaf of bread. He was sure to go down in history for that bit of courage.

She paced around the room in anger for several minutes before her curiosity got the better of her and she crept to the top of the stairs. She sat on the top step and gazed down into the main room. Jack stood in front of the fireplace with a captive audience sitting around him, listening as he told the story of his escape from the Refuge. Even prissy Fiona was sitting quiet; hanging on Jack's every word. Jack had always been a story teller, although most of his stories weren't true. Like the one he told about his parents being out west looking for a place to live. She had overheard him tell Cap that his mother was dead and his father was in prison.

The longer she sat at the top of the stairs the more unsettled she grew. She couldn't stay here in the only home she had ever known. It hadn't felt like home since Cap had left and it wouldn't feel like that again until he returned. But she knew now that he would never return. He had been gone long enough to prove that to her. The wonderful memories of her years growing up in this old building were slowly starting to drive her crazy. It wouldn't be long before she ended up out at Bellevue.

When Jack started saying something about the governor helping him escape from the Refuge, and it was then that Rae stood and went back to her room. She had to leave Manhattan first thing in the morning and knew exactly where she had to go. Brooklyn. That is...if Spot would let her stay.

Rae walked slowly toward the old house that the Brooklyn boys called home. She knew Spot would know that she was coming long before she made it down to the docks, but she didn't care. She and Spot hadn't spoken to each other in nearly two years. Not since the day that Cap left. It was probably better that he found out that she was coming before she showed up on his doorstep. In fact, she wasn't sure that she would be welcomed in Brooklyn.

Even though she hadn't spoken to her old friend, she had kept track of him through other newsies. Spot had risen to second-in-command in Brooklyn and had become quite respected from what she was told. He was quick to soak anyone who crossed him and there were rumors that he had killed one of the Brookys, as the Brooklyn boys tended to call themselves. Spot had also come up with an elaborate system of spies all over the city, making the Brooklyn newsies the best informed newsies in the city. It was often said that he knew things before the borough leader knew them.

When she got to the old house Spot was leaning against the porch railing. "What are you doing here, Kelly?" he demanded. He had known of her arrival within five minutes of her stepping off the Bridge.

"I...I need a place to stay, Spot..." she said, kicking at the dirt. She knew that he was expecting an apology, but she wasn't ready to give it to him. Not until he apologized.

"Why should I give you a place to live Rae? You haven't talked to me in two years. In fact, the last time we talked you insulted me," he told her plainly, his voice cold.

"If memory serves you called me a stupid orphan..." she snapped in reply.

"You needed to face the facts. Cap lied to us. He gave me away and he was leaving you behind. Tell me this...did he ever come back?" Without answering, she turned and walked away. He waited until she had turned the corner at the end of the block before following her. "Does Kloppy know that you are here?" he asked as he caught up to her.

She shook her head. "No. And I don't want him knowing where I am. Or any of the boys." He grabbed her arm and turned her to face him. "You have to tell me why, Rae, if you expect me to talk to Cork about you staying." She jerked her arm free. "Because Cap didn't come back...and the memories were starting to drive me crazy. I just want to forget." Rae blinked back the tears that filled her eyes. She wasn't going to break down in front of him.

"I'll talk to Cork, but he might say no. He's always been against girls staying at the house," Spot told her honestly.

"It's not him. It's the Children's Aid Society," she said, crossing her arms. "The only reason I got to stay at Duane Street was because Kloppy lied and told them I was his granddaughter."

He snorted. "Sounds like him. But what about the two little girls that I heard were there now?"

"Those two little brats are annoying...and it's only temporary, Kloppy said. 'Til they find their brother and sister. But he's not trying very hard to find them. You know, Kloppy," she replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, I do," he said with a nod, knowing full well the man would take in all of Manhattan and part of Brookyln too, given the chance. Shaking his head, he slung his arm around her shoulder. "Come on, let's go talk to Cork."

"Do you think he'll say yes?" she asked as she walked with him toward Cork's selling corner.

"He will...Since he doesn't want to take care of the sick little brat that I brought home."

"You brought home a kid? What's his name?" Rae laughed, unable to help herself. Spot? Take in a kid? Right.

Sending her a look and jamming his index finger into her ribcage, he retorted, "Her name is Moira...she stole my wallet and she reminds me a lot of you."

"Why does that not surprise me?" She asked, slapping his hand. Their argument years before had been stupid. She knew it, but she had been too proud to apologize to him for it. They had both said things that they didn't mean and now it was all forgotten. They had been that way when they were little. They would argue, not speak to each other for a few hours and then all would be well again. This time they hadn't spoken to each other for two years.

When they got to where Cork was selling papers, she waited while Spot went to ask Cork's permission for her to stay. Though she couldn't hear their words, she knew they were arguing about her staying. At one point, Cork raised his hand and it looked as if he would strike her friend. She knew that it wouldn't be the first time he had done so. She remembered the way he looked the first time she saw him after Cap sent him to Brooklyn. His whole face had been covered in bruises.

Spot finally walked back over to her and grabbed her arm once more. "He said you could stay," he said gruffly as he led her back down the street.

She pulled her arm free. "You don't sound too happy about it." She wouldn't stay if he didn't want her to stay. She could always find somewhere else to live. It couldn't be that hard, could it?

"Don't worry about it," he growled.

"Spot..."

"Drop it, Rae!" he snapped, pulling her down the street again. He didn't want Cork to see him fighting with Rae. Not right after Cork had agreed to let her stay.

She glared at him briefly. "Fine...I guess I have to take care of that brat you mentioned..."

He nodded, raking his fingers through his hair, his nerves easing slightly. "Yeah, that's what he said. Trent said she should be well enough to start selling in a few days."

Her eyes narrowed. "Trent...that wouldn't happen to be the guy that used to go by Smudge when we were little, would it?" Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. If it was indeed the man that she had known her whole life, he wouldn't hesitate to tell Kloppy and the others where she was. Trent had been given the chance to attend medical school in exchange for serving the poor people of the city for ten years, but part of the deal had been not letting his old friends know where he was. However, he still managed to bring Kloppy some money once a month.

"As a matter of fact he is," he said with a slight laugh. "But don't worry, he won't tell Kloppy that you are here."

"He better not," she replied, walking toward the house. When he caught up with her again she asked. "You gonna tell me what Cork said to you?"

He shook his head. "Nope. That's between me and him." The look in his eye told her not to press the issue more...and for once she didn't.