Jacob looked behind him, making sure he had disappeared from view of the police. He caught himself thinking about the factory girl. Sure, she was pretty, but he wasn't thinking about her looks. He went through his memories, trying to remember where or when, if ever, that their paths had crossed. He didn't talk to girls, or really even look at them, unless they were buying a paper from him. But he felt like he personally knew this girl, from sometime before he had become a newsy. Nothing. Jacob pushed the girl out of his mind, he had more important things to think about, and made his way to Newsies Square. He looked around, trying to spot Romeo's babyish features in the midst of the other strikers. He hadn't told him yet, but he was feeling like the kid was his little brother.
"Romeo!" He called over the crowd. Jacob was surprised by how many children had already shown up. He pushed his way through, keeping his head down, for he could see policemen trying to get the kids to leave. "Romeo!" Jacob had to yell over the noise. He found Les, who was trying to climb up the gate to get into Pulitzer's office.
"Jacob," Les panted, struggling to climb the bars. "Do me a favor, help me up!" Jacob picked up the little boy, and dropped him back on the ground. "Hey!"
"Les, where's your brother?"
"He's inside with Spot and Jack, talking to Pulitzer. I wanna see what's going on!"
"You'll find out soon enough, kid." Jacob laughed. The shouts and cheers of the kid were deafening, but it seem didn't bother any of the strikers. He found Specs, Race, and Finch talking together in their own little group. "Hey, guys."
"Hey, Jacob!" Specs said, looking worried. "Have you seen Romeo lately?"
"We split up bout an hour ago. Why, isn't he here?"
"Haven't seen him." Finch said. "He's been close with ya. We thought you would know where he went." None of them noticed Les tapping their shoulders.
"Hey!" Les said. No one listened. "Hey, guys!"
"Give us a minute, kid." Race said. Les groaned.
"He'll turn up." Jacob shrugged. "He's Romeo. He probably just saw a girl on the way here." Jacob tried to push away the feeling of worry bubbling inside him. He changed the subject. "Big crowd, don't ya think?" The others nodded. The gate opened up, to see Spot and Davey run outside.
"Davey!" Les ran to his brother.
"What happened in there? Where's Jack?"
"Pulitzer wanted to talk to him alone." Spot said. Jacob facepalmed.
"You realize the last time we left Jack alone with Pulitzer, he locked him in his cellar and forced him to call off the rally, right?" Davey sighed.
"Didn't think about that." He said.
"Have either of you seen Romeo lately?" Jacob asked. The two shook his head. Les raised his hand.
"Don't know if this is of any importance, but I thought saw Romeo getting into a car with someone on my way here." They all looked at Les in surprise. Race put his hands on Les's shoulders, and gently shook him back and forth.
"You couldn't have told us that earlier!" Race cried.
"You wouldn't listen to me!" Les retorted. Davey knelt down to be at the same level as his little brother.
"Les, we're listening now. Where did you see Romeo?"
"Um, he was walking back to the square, I think he was near a jail or something."
"Like the Refuge?" Jacob was getting scared.
"No," Les said. "When I saw him, he was in Midtown."
"Midtown?" Finch asked. "What was he doing in Midtown?"
"More important," Davey said. "What were you doing in Midtown?" Les blushed.
"That ain't your business. I don't know why he was in Midtown, he just was."
"Look, the point is Les saw Romeo in Midtown." Race said.
"Did you see who he got in the car with?" Jacob asked. "Did he look happy or scared or what?"
"Um...well he was kinda dumped in the backseat. I think his eyes were rolled back in his head or something. I dunno, I was kinda far away." The boys were yearning to know more about their brother, but it was that moment that Pulitzer's balcony doors opened, and Jack Kelly strode out, grinning ear to to ear.
"Fella!" He yelled. "We won!" The boys erupted in cheers. Momentarily, Jacob began yelling along with the others, but stopped. He was still thinking about Romeo. They heard a shrill whistle. Jacob stood straighter, thinking of Snyder's whistle.
"Hey guys!" Someone yelled. "It's Crutchie!" Crutchie hobbled into the crowd, being suffocated with hugs. Snyder walked by afterward. Crutchie pulled out a pair of handcuffs, and cuffed the warden.
"It's off to jail with you, little man!" Crutchie smirked, kicking Snyder in the rear. Snyder began walking to a police car, when he spotted Jacob in the crowd.
"It's you or him, ya know!" Snyder said loudly. Everyone got quiet looking back and forth between Jacob and the warden. "If ya wanna see him again, you'll turn yourself over to the cops! The Refuge won't stay closed forever, son!" Jacob stood frozen as a policeman escorted his father away. He felt the boys stares as if they were burning into him.
"You'se Snyder's kid?" Jojo asked. Jacob took a deep breath.
"Yeah, yeah I am." He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Specs smiling at him. He looked around. None of the boys looked mad at him. They looked kind of impressed.
"No wonder they busted you up so badly at the Refuge." Race said. Crutchie cringed.
"Can we not say the R word?" He asked. Jacob wrapped his arm around Crutchie.
"I second that idea." The newsies laughed. They hadn't noticed Jack come down to meet up with them.
"With the strike settled, I outta be hitting the road." He still gonna leave?
"I don't get it," Davey asked. "What's Santa Fe got that New York ain't?
"Or better yet," Katherine said. "What's New York got that Santa Fe ain't?" Crutchie lightly hugged Jack.
"New York's got us." He said. "And we're family."
"And you got one more Ace up your sleeve." Katherine smiled.
"What might that be?"
"Me. Wherever you go I'll be there right by your side."
"For sure?"
"For sure." And the two kissed. The boys laughed and applauded the two lovebirds, but Jack and Katherine didn't really seem to mind it that much.
Jacob smiled. He was tired of running. He had been trying to run away his whole life. He doesn't have to run anymore. He is safe. He is calm. He is home.
Guys, I'm sorry to say that this is the last chapter. I know I kind left it on a bad note with the whole missing Romeo thing, but I am writing the sequel story as you are reading this, so it will continue where I left off. It will also be told in multiple points of view, and the girl you saw previous chapter will be playing a role in the new story. But anyways, I hope you enjoyed my first Newsies fanfic. Please review, and read my other stories. The next story will be up soon, so I hope to see to readers on it. Newsies forever, second to none!