Um... I have no excuse. I just haven't gotten back to this in like...forever. Well, happy 2021 guys! At least we're out of 2020. I really don't have anything

June 5th, 1893

At close to 3 in the afternoon, the train had slowed to a stop inside the Exchange Street Station, the first of their many stops to get to Chicago. The amusement of the train and seeing how far out of the window the newsies could hang wore off fast, as all of them weren't used to being stuck inside a metal container for nine hours. Jack, Davey, Spot, and Katherine had tried to keep control of the situation for the rest of the ride, but Kathrine noticed the strain on them too.

Davey seemed to be the only one as calm as Katherine, he had previously told her that he had been on a few trains before for school. But Jack and Spot were used to their boroughs, open wide territory where they had control over, even in a crowded city like New York. Suddenly going from all of that open space to cramming sixteen newsies into one train car was a drastic scenery change, and none of them were really ready for it.

The rest of the train ride to Buffalo had consisted of Katherine and Davey keeping the one stranger couple that was unfortunately seated with them occupied as Jack and Spot all but dragged Race down back into his seat, keeping Mike and Ike from jumping out of the windows for the third time, stopping Mush from bursting out of the back door and climbing onto the roof of the train car, and holding Elmer and Romeo from physically fighting one another. Crutchie had tried to help out and occupy the rest of the newsies with some card games to keep them from causing more destruction, but even he could only do so much.

At the last hour of the trip, Jack was making second choices about bringing everyone along and Spot looked like his head was going to explode. Spot had held back on physically threatening the rest of the newsies, but if Albert mocked his voice one more time…

To say the least, everyone was glad when the train pulled into the station and the doors hissed open. The newsies held still for half a second more to let the slightly terrified couple practically sprint off the train before rushing off themselves. Jack tried to keep a straight face and stay neutral as he was the last one to step off the train, but he couldn't help but sigh in relief when he touched the ground again, breathing in the smelly, fresh air. The hot burning scent of coal cooking in the engine rooms of the trains made the air stuffy around them, but it was more freeing than the trapped air in the train car.

Jack knew what he had been getting to when he wanted to go to Chicago. He knew that it was a long trip, and even though he had never been on a train before, he was willing to take the chance. It couldn't have been that bad, right? But Jack never imagined the tightness of the train car, how slight claustrophobia set in as they rode. He never had never missed the penthouse more. When Katherine had opened the window he got a taste of that freedom and it was satisfactory for a while, but watching the world blow by from a window wasn't Jack's idea of home.

The relief was evident on all of the newsies' faces as they hit the main part of the station. Relief changed to amazement and wonder and a little bit of panic at the number of people at the station. By no means was it the biggest station they had seen, but the sheer amount of people coming in and out of the station was triple the size of the crowd they had seen at the station in Manhattan. Buffalo was smaller than Manhattan, but the Exchange Street Station connected New York to numerous other major cities across the country, so thousands and thousands of people came through it every day.

Jack and Davey left to find the ticket stand and get the tickets for the ride to Chicago. The afternoon was already edging into the evening, so they were riding on a sleeper car that would finish the trip to Chicago through the night. This would be the longest stretch of the train ride, but if everything went according to plan, the newsies would sleep through most of the trip and wake up in Chicago. As the resident genius, Davey said they would be pulling into Chicago around seven in the morning. Theoretically, they would be well-rested and ready to grab their hotel and start exploring the fair.

Theoretically.

Katherine and Spot had herded the newsies to one of the food spots in the station, buying some late lunch snacks and getting some sandwiches ready for dinner. The newsies dug into the food, and a few tried to sneak inside of Katherine's bag for the rest of the sandwiches. They got the sleeper car, but Jack didn't know if they could afford the meals on the train, so they would be better prepared to have some food on hand. The conversations carried on easily between all the newsies as they waited a little longer for their train to come into the station, hanging around the tables the small cafe had set out for customers.

Jack talked with Race and Katherine while keeping an eye on the rest of the boys, making sure they were mostly staying out of trouble. Spot had sat down with Les, Crutchie, and Specs under the guise of "keeping an eye on things", but he was locked in a competitive battle of seeing who could stack the most salt shakers. Crutchie somehow seemed to be winning.

The rest of the boys were huddled up around a single table, sitting on top of the chairs and the table in an effort to be a part of the animated conversation happening. Passerbys would take no notice of it, but the slowly growing heated conversation was on the sleeping arrangement for the soon to be a train ride. Specs didn't want to be next to Elmer because he kicks, but Elmer didn't want to be with Mike and Ike because they took up too much of their own bed. Romeo would share with pretty much anybody, but only if he got a pillow all to himself. Davey was the most logical, helping everyone sort out who was sitting with who without conflict.

Well, mostly.

"Wait, wait," Mush called out, his brow furrowed at the near mathematical equation it took to sort out the sleeping arrangements. "Where's Conlon sleepin'?" Davey opened his mouth for a retort but shut it equally as quickly as Spot looked towards them, having heard his own name. He quickly looked away and dropped his voice to a whisper.

"Spot's getting his own bed."

A train whistle cut through the conversation of the train station and Jack looked up at the giant clock at the head of the station. That was their train.

"Alright, fellas, let's head out!" Having heard the conversation the group was previously he turned to Katherine with a wink. "Last one there has ta share with Spot!"

The rest of the newsies turned, looked at one another, then took off at a dead sprint towards their train. Spot growled as he passed Jack, mumbling even more threats as he passed the couple. Crutchie cautiously approached Jack and Katherine, his sack shrugged on one shoulder as he limped to them. His eyes longingly watched the other newsies sprint ahead, wishing he could join them.

"Even me, Jack?" Crutchie asked quietly. He didn't hate Spot, actually, he thought he was pretty cool. But the fact that he was so behind in the competition - and didn't even have a fair shot at winning - made him feel worse than he already did. Jack looked down at the boy who used to be so small, barely up to his shoulders, who was now just an inch shorter than he was, and smiled.

"No, not you's Crutch. You's good." Crutchie put on another smile that was more genuine than the last. Jack slung his arm over Crutchie's shoulders, his other hand lacing through with Katherine's. Unlike last time, everyone made it to the train on time, and Jack could hear the complaining from Henry from across the station as he was the last one to the station; therefore destined to sharing a bed with Spot. Spot didn't look any happier, he wasn't exactly pleased to hear his spot to sleep was being put up to a competition.

By the time they all got on the train and it started moving, some of the original magic had worn off. Jack had the same feeling of awe as they took, but it was quicker to wear off. The initial magic had changed into anticipation for the trip that was just a sleep away. Jack couldn't wait to get to Chicago. He could survive one more train ride to get there. They all needed sleep, and hopefully, they could get that on the ride there.

They had their own sleeper car - no other unlucky couple forced to deal with them - and at first glance, it looked much like the car they had ridden to Buffalo in. Comfortable chairs made rows in the car and windows gave a look to the outside, but here there were pull-down beds close to the ceiling that would allow them to sleep as it got closer to night time. The conversations the newsies were having earlier continued as they only counted six actual beds - enough for two or three boys to squeeze onto, while the rest were left with the chairs. Jack had pulled down one of the beds to test it and shook his head in amazement. They were in the cheapest sleeper car on the cheapest railroad Jack could find, and somehow the beds there were still better than the ones they had at the lodging house.

As minutes ticked into hours and the sun slowly dipped into the horizon, Jack had spent his time drawing. He had brought some scraps of paper along, a few old copies of newspapers he had found discarded on the ground to draw on, a few of his pencils wrapped together with a piece of string. He hadn't drawn on the first train, he had taken too much time trying to keep all his boys under control to really relax enough to draw. But here, the newsies were finally starting to keep themselves entertained that involved activities other than breaking the train around them, so he was free for a few moments.

Until the next big disaster, of course.

But watching the sunset as New York disappeared behind them, that was something Jack couldn't miss. So he took out his pencils and stared out the window, separating the blur of colors into distinct objects: trees, rocks, the skyline of the city, the sun setting to the west of them. He didn't have any colors, but he didn't need any. He shaded the darker parts, separating the trees from the rocks, the outline from the sky. The sunset started lighter than the rest, just around the outline of the sun, and got darker as it shifted into the sky. He left little white spots in the dark shading, showing the stars above them. When he finished he held up the little slip of paper against the window, comparing the drawing to the real thing. The orange light of the fading sky shone through the window and through his paper, tinting the entire drawing orange as if that had been his intention this entire time.

"It's beautiful," Katherine surprised Jack and he whirled around, instinctively hiding his drawing. He took a breath, knowing that this was Katherine, she knows you draw, she likes your drawings, before holding it out slightly for her to see it. She inspected it, holding it up much like he did to see the colors on the paper.

"It's nothin', really," Jack blushed slightly, always surprised at the compliments that she gave him. It was nothing new at this point, it just caught him off guard each and every time. People liked his drawings. That was a new concept.

"This is not nothing. I do, however, know how it would look better…" Katherine suggested with a hidden smile, handing the paper back to Jack. Just then he noticed that she was holding one hand behind her back, hiding something.

"And what is that?" Jack chuckled, eyeing her suspiciously.

"I just think it would look better in this," Katherine said, pulling her hand out from behind her back and holding out a package wrapped in brown paper. Jack raised one eyebrow, but she waved him on. "Just open it."

Jack untied the ribbon around the package and carefully tore the paper away. By then the rest of the newsies had taken interest and filtered in around the couple, watching them carefully. Jack's mouth dropped open slightly and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he pulled Katherine's surprise free from the wrapping.

In his hands was a new, soft, leather-bound sketchbook.

"Katherine…" Jack's voice was barely a whisper as he held the sketchbook in his hands. He was frozen for a minute. This couldn't be right. This was too nice. He could destroy it. It could get dirty. He could ruin it. He didn't deserve something like this.

"It's yours, Jack. I think it's about time you stopped drawing on random pieces of paper and used something real." In response, Jack grabbed her hand and pulled her down for a kiss, all the words he couldn't say made known there.

"Thank you," he whispered when they pulled away, his words genuine. So much more could be said, but he didn't have the words to verbalize them. Katherine was the one with the words. Jack could draw a picture. So that's how he decided to thank her. The rest of the newsies dispersed back to their old conversations, voices buzzing around the train car like white noise. Jack filtered all of it out, and he focused on one thing.

Katherine.

She sat across from him, elbowing resting on the railing of the window and looking out at the sunset. The orange that had lit his paper so it almost seemed as if it were colored lit up her face, throwing perfectly placed shadows on one half of her face, while perfectly lighting the other half. Jack gently untied the string holding the cover together and turned to the front page. The white paper was fresh and crisp, cleaner than anything Jack had ever owned in his entire life. And just beside that perfectly white paper, Katherine had written a note on the inside cover.

You've got one more ace up your sleeve.

Wherever you go, I'm there right by your side.

You gave me something to believe in.

For sure.

"Fo' sure," Jack mouthed silently, running his fingers over Katherine's words inked into the leather. Just underneath she had signed her name, neat and perfect with a heart just in front. Just like he had always seen. Jack looked up with a smile on his face as Katherine continued to stare out the window. This was the perfect inspiration for the first drawing in his new sketchbook.

By the time Jack had finished the portrait of Katherine the sun had long disappeared below the horizon. The stars came out as the moon took the place of the sun and Jack turned a new page, stuffing his other drawings into the back of the book to keep them safe. Jack continued drawing until one of his pencils had run down to its end and the lights turned off on the train. He used the little light the moon provided to sketch the night sky, keeping all the stars in line with the constellations they saw from the open land.

One by one, each of the newsies filtered out to bed, doubling up on the beds and settling in for the night, thoroughly wiped out from the day. As Jack finished his final sketch for the night, reality started to filter back in around him. In the background, he heard Specs telling a story, one of the books he had read a long time ago that he miraculously remembered. Jack kicked his feet up on the bench and listened to his smooth voice telling the story of the knight going on grand adventures, meeting up with friends, and saving the princess.

When the story finished, it was replaced with quiet humming. Albert had taken over humming a lullaby he had heard as a kid and sung it again here, his voice quiet but calming. Not long after she recognized it, Katherine joined in, their voices harmonizing as the newsies slowly fell asleep. Jack knew the song, almost all the newsies did. Jack had distant memories of his mom singing the song to him as he went to sleep. While the newsies didn't have a mother, almost all of them had fond memories of Albert helping them fall asleep after a particularly long day or after a bad nightmare. There was something about a lullaby that brought out the kid in even the toughest adult.

As Jack felt his own eyes grow heavy, he turned back towards the window. Just outside the moon shone brightly against the surprisingly calm waters of Lake Michigan, the reflection of the night sky making the lake shimmer. Gentle waves crashed against the dark shore, and with the train rocking, Jack could almost pretend he was on the lake, rocking back and forth. Jack swore that in the morning he would draw the lake with the nighttime. He leaned back on his bench and gripped his sketchbook a little tighter.

And for the first time in a long time, Jack fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Hopefully, since this is kind of long it makes up for my disappearance, but I don't know. Sorry again. Original writing is taking up a lot of my time, but I've found a little break so I think I'm going to try to get back on here a little more. I'm going to try and finish out this story completely by the end of this month, but you know me, I might not actually get to it. If I don't, I give you guys permission to yell at me.