The boys were lazing around the lodging house about an hour later. Mush, Kid-Blink and Race seemed nervous to the others there. Kid kept on fingering the eye-patch he wore and the other boys kept glancing nervously over their shoulders towards the door.

"Whats the matta, boys?" Jack asked sitting down next to Kid. Jack had kept a low profile since he had found out about Sarah. They had arranged a few secret meetings since he had discovered her pending marriage and were trying to find away to stop the marriage altogether.

"ah.. nothing Jack, don't worry bout it." Kid replied, afraid of the reply he would get when he told the truth. "You, uh, don't know Spot is… do ya?" He asked hoping he would be in Brookyln.

"Yeah, hes upstairs with Rachel. Alright Kid… I know ya lying to me, c'mon whats up.. you can tell me." Kid glanced nervously at the boys, and they nodded at him. Knowing the truth would have to come out eventually.

"Ok… but you gotta promise me ya not gonna tell Spot alright?" Jack nodded, now looking nervous himself. "We were going down to Central Park… we'se were planning to cut through and go to Tibbys. Well we passed that ally, next to the Dakota… you know da one Osca uses… he was with Catherine. We'se weren't sure if he was hookin up wid her… or if he was hurting her. But we left and she saw'd us. But she hasn't come back yet, and we saw about an hour ago… we'se is just getting nervous about it… dats all."

"Aw hell boys… you gotta look past her bitchiness and think of her being our allies sista. Damn it, if she's hurt you boys are gonna…"

"Holy shit…" someone murmered from near the door and the four boys turned around. Catherine walked in, head held high. Her cheek was purplish-pink and her lip was bleeding. Her face, all in all, was not that hurt. But the boys knew, from their experience with Oscar Delancy was that the damage was worst under the clothes. Bruises would cover her body the next morning. She walked past them all knowing they were staring in shock.

"Damn… she can't go upstairs" Race whispered to Jack. Jack just stared at him.

"Goddamn idiots" he muttered " He's gonna find out about it sooner or later."

The boys waited with baited breath as she walked up the stairs. About two minutes later they heard a yelp and then.

"What the hell happened to you?" an angry Spot screamed. Two seconds later he came running down the stairs.

Back upstairs Rachel had taken Catherine by the hand and led her into the bathroom. She told her to undress while she went downstairs to get the hot water. Spot was screaming at Jack when she got downstairs and she motioned to Kid-Blink to help her bring the water upstairs. He snuck out around Jack and went into the Kitchen. They hosited the boiling water up the stairs. Rachel did not object as Kid continued into the bathroom with the tub.

Catherine stood with her back to them. He shirt was off and her skirt was slung around her hips. She turned her head as she heard them come in and didn't even blink at Kid. Kid stared at her, he was stuck not only by her beauty, the graceful curve of the small of back, but also by the heavy bruising that covered almost every inch of her perfect back. Her hair was loose and the curls covered her shoulder blades. Catherine stared at him with a vacant expression. She didn't know how to feel about him. He had not come to her aid when she needed it most, but yet she had deserved that. And when he looked at her... a feeling that she had never felt before encompassed her mind.

"You should go…" Rachel said to him and he stepped backwards, his eyes still focused entirely on Catherine and left the bathroom. Catherine glided over to Rachel.

"They were there… they saw the first hit…" she said softly

"What!" cried Rachel.

"I was in an ally with Oscar. I told him to leave me alone. He slapped me, I saw the boys and said something that made him mad and he slapped me again. I thought the boys were coming. They weren't … they left me. He hurt me. She slipped the skirt down her hips and fell to the floor. She stepped into the tub, steam rising from the water. She slowly eased herself into it and allowed Rachel to wash her aching back.

"How could they leave you? How could they do that? Those are not the boys that I know…" Rachel seemed heartbroken by her friends response to the treatment of Catherine. "I'm so sorry Catherine… I'm just so… shocked. I'm sorry." She continued to wash her back in silence and was astounded by how many bruises covered the once milky white skin.

Catherine changed into one of the nightgowns left over by Sarah and walked down the boys beds to the door at the other end of the hall. Angel was playing with her doll when she came in and looked at Catherine with no shock in her eyes.

"Oscar?" she asked knowingly. Catherine was so affected by this little girls indifference to the cruelty of the world that she immediately felt a lump grow in her throat. She wouldn't cry though and instead nodded her head and crawled into the bed.

When Rachel returned back downstairs she discovered that Spot had stormed back to Brooklyn in a towering rage. She sighed and turned on Kid, Race and Mush. They were sitting in a row on the settee with their hands folded across their chests.

"Why?" Rachel asked, feeling the tears coming to her eyes. "How could you leave her there… she didn't deserve that." She took a big breath and held the tears back. "You are not the boys that I thought I knew… not at all.