MANHATTAN – JULY 1914

It was mid-July of 1914, and all the papers were covering was the trouble in Europe. Headlines concerning the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, and the Austria-Hungary's subsequent declaration of war on Serbia. The crisis in Ireland. The crisis on the stock exchange. Murders. Trials. Anarchist meetings in Union Square. Madame Henriette Caillaux. Frank Cirofici, Harry Horowitz, Louis Rosenberg, and Frank Seidenshner. The weather forecast: hot winds, humidity, and thunderstorms expected.

It was no use trying to be jubilant. Even if in private things were going swimmingly, current events were so dismal that the city seemed to buckle under the misery.

"The sun is hot today," Jacob Kelly remarked out of nowhere, squinting up at the sky, jolting Henry Krause from The New York Times article he was currently engrossed in. The overnight train from Santa Fe had granted the two of them little sleep, and therefore, Jacob was running on bounds of energy brought about by exhaustion, while Henry was completely drained of 'slap-happy' epinephrine.

The two sat on a bench at Grand Central Station, as if waiting for someone.

"Isn't the sun usually hot?" Henry asked, cracking a smile as he continued to scan the newspaper.

"You know what I mean," Jacob said, rolling his eyes. He peered over Henry's shoulder. "What are you reading?"

"A newspaper," Henry replied without looking up.

"No shit," Jacob mumbled. "I meant the article."

Henry sighed. "It's talking about the destruction caused by a bomb at 1626 Lexington Avenue. Looks like the device killed four people and injured a lot more. Says that anarchist conspirators were making the bomb which they intended to put outside John D. Rockefeller's home in Tarrytown."

Licking his lips, Jacob craned his neck to read past Henry's obscuring arm. He read a few words to himself and then slumped back on the bench, having lost interest. Instead, he looked around the busy station, eyeing small café's and shops propped up for tourists and travelers alike.

One sign in a café read: 'Come on in and have a meal just like at home. Eat, drink, and be merry. Throw your boots on the floor and relax with the waitresses.'

Jacob laughed aloud at that, nudging Henry, and pointing at it. Henry read it quickly and shook his head, going back to his paper. "Funny," was all he mumbled.

"Mama wouldn't even let me throw my boots on the floor at home, let alone at a restaurant," Jacob mused, bouncing his knee impatiently. "We should grab a bite there. I'm starved."

"The boots are one thing, but I doubt your mother would want you relaxing with…waitresses."

Jacob shrugged. "They really do things differently here."

Henry hummed at this, barely looking up. "That's New Yorkers for you. They've got no moral fiber," he mumbled. "And if they had, it would have its tits out."

Jacob laughed and then stopped abruptly when he saw the sharp look Henry gave him, ducking his head away. Henry had to raise the newspaper to conceal his own smirk, shaking his head.

The younger boy sighed, looking at the newspaper again. Out of nowhere, he gasped, pointing to a separate story on the page. "Look! Escaped: 700 Hand-Raised Man-Eating Alligators!"

Henry furrowed his brow, briefly pulling himself away from his current read to find the story. "It doesn't say that anywhere," he said, skimming for the title. "Oh, wait. 'How an old alligator burrowed her way out of zoo and led incubator hatched youngsters into bathing beaches of summer resorts?'" Henry laughed, smacking Jacob on the head with the paper. "You made that story seem ten times more interesting."

"Seven-hundred times more interesting," Jacob corrected him with a smile.

Nineteen-year-old Henry and twelve-year-old Jacob had made the trip into the city to meet up with their New York 'cousins' whom they'd only see once every summer. In fact, the trip was so routine and had always gone off without a hitch that Jack and Sarah had given into Jacob's begging to travel alone with Henry.

They relented only after Henry swore that he'd look after Jacob and make sure nothing happened to him. They were to go for the week and made plans to stay with Jack's sister Sophie in her apartment. It was a safe, clean place, with a spare room for Henry and Jacob to crash in.

Jacob had been initially excited to go alone with Henry, as this made him feel like a grown-up and like he was part of the 'older kid crowd.' But as soon as the train had pulled out of the Santa Fe Station, and he saw his parents waving goodbye and holding his four-year-old sister Rosie, he felt a touch of home sickness already.

But Jacob trusted Henry to watch out for him, and he was delighted to have the older boy's attention all to himself. He was everything Jacob wanted to be when he got to be Henry's age. He talks about grown-up things like parties and drinking and cheap thrills, and when Jacob doesn't understand, he promises to explain what he means later, but never does.

"Lilly don't try to shoot off a firecracker in your mouth," a girl's voice echoed behind the two on the bench. "If you must shoot off your mouth, do it in the approved manner by calling someone mean names. It is far less dangerous."

"But Misha said he saw a man do it," Lilly contested.

14-year-old Misha shrugged, lighting the cigarette in his mouth. "Yeah, at the circus, Lil. Not on Mulberry or something."

Jacob smiled, turning around just in time to see little Lilly– now fourteen – stick her tongue out at her 16-year-old sister, Amelie.

"Oh, that's very mature," Amelie said, rolling her eyes as she nevertheless elbowed Lilly in the side.

"Ow!" Lilly wailed, clutching her ribcage. "Bitch."

"That's no way to talk to your older sister," Henry said, recognizing them immediately and throwing his paper down. He got up and came around the bench, grabbing Lilly and swinging her around as she laughed. "Though I guess I'll pardon your French just this once."

"Took you 13 years to come up with that," Amelie said with a smirk, folding her arms as she glared at him.

"I thought it was funny," Henry shrugged, breaking into a teasing smile which forced Amelie to match it with one of her own.

"You're such an idiot," she laughed.

"I've missed you, too, Amie. Pa showed me the paintings you made for us. That watercolor of the city is something else, kid." Henry folded her into a more proper hug, mussing her hair playfully. "Wait a minute, have you gotten shorter, or have I gotten taller?"

Amelie smacked his shoulder playfully, grinning as he dodged a second shove. "Not my fault you're a tree."

"Mikhail," Henry said, pulling in a reluctant Misha for a hug. The younger boy awkwardly wrapped his hands around Henry. "Are you smoking?"

"Nah, I'm just holding it for a friend," Misha said flatly.

"Mm-hm," Henry said with a doubtful nod, plucking the cigarette from Misha's mouth and slipping it in his own to take a drag. "Your folks know?"

Misha rolled his eyes. "My old man said he'd rather I smoke cigarettes than the stuff he used to smoke."

"Yeah?"

Amelie grabbed the sides of Jacob's face, squeezing them lovingly. "You're so old! Lilly, look at him! You're adorable!" She giggled, giving his forehead a little kiss, making him blush.

Jacob blushed even deeper when Lilly gave him a quick hug as well, suddenly feeling overwhelmed from all the attention.

"Hi, Jake," Sadie said in her usual hoarse voice, giving him a bashful smile.

"Hey, Sadie. Happy late birthday," Jacob replied. "Did you do anything special for it?"

"Dad pierced my ears for me," Sadie said, pushing her long hair behind her ears to reveal two little earrings. "I've been begging him for years. He finally gave in since I'm thirteen now, and his girlfriend picked out the earrings for me."

"Wait, not Helen, right?" Lilly asked her. "I always thought she was strange."

"No, she doesn't come over anymore," Sadie said, sounding a bit self-conscious. "The other one."

"Lola?" Lilly asked, still confused as to whom she was referring.

Henry exchanged a look with Amelie.

"No, she's in San Quentin or something, remember?" Sadie sighed, scratching her arm. "Catalina. From Cuba. Dad really likes her."

Misha smirked. "Yeah, I really like her to. She's got a nice..." Sadie looked at him expectantly and Henry raised an eyebrow. "Personality."

Jacob pointed to her earrings. "They look neat, but did it hurt?" he asked.

Sadie nodded. "It was like a little pinch, but it wasn't bad."

Henry bent down to examine her ears, pretending to be shocked, which made her giggle. "Sadie, you poor thing. My God, what has your father done to you? I'm gone for two years, and you've mutilated your ears!"

Sadie looked up at Henry shyly through her eyelashes, covering her laughs with her hand after he winked. He scooped her up, throwing her over his shoulder like a little sack of potatoes as the group began heading for Sophie's place to drop off the newcomer's bags and get settled.