A/N: A few things... If you want to follow the continuity of the story go back to chapter 6 of "Underworld" and read from where Les says, "It's almost Christmas.". This first stalking scene was used in both "Underworld" and "The Turn", just in different places. It is present in chapter 4 of "Underworld" on Halloween instead of Christmas like it is here. The scene is almost exactly the same for both but there are a few differences here that you might catch.
"Yous ready to go?" Spot addressed Chase, Spark, and Story.
"Yeah, hold on a second." Spark said, jumping up from her seat at the poker table. And running into Mush's arms as they kissed.
Story and David stood up together, barely breaking eye contact for a second.
"Bye, Davey." Story said, hugging him.
"Bye, Story." He said. They stayed like that for a moment. Skittery grit his teeth, trying not to get too jealous, although that was inevitable.
"Come'ere, Hon'" Spot said, helping Chase up.
Chase raised her eyebrow at Spot. The two of them had been trying to come up with affectionate nicknames for each other, but none of them seemed to fit. All of her ideas made Spot sound like a pansy (at least to him) and Spot liked calling her either Chase (he was the one who gave her her newsie name) or (rarely) Roselia. But he felt like her given name was too pretty for him to throw around in everyday conversation.
She smiled as she took his hand. At least he was trying.
"Coming, Dear."
"All this love in here is killing us!" Racetrack quipped. "And get a room, will ya?" he smacked Mush on the back, who was in mid-kiss with Spark.
"Race!" Spark yelled. "Mind your own business."
"Don't mind him," Mush retorted. "He's just jealous he doesn't have a girl."
The room erupted with "Ooooh"s from the other newsies.
"Don't need a girl when I have Lady Luck." Said Racetrack.
"Hmmm, are you sure she hasn't left ya? Because you owe me two bucks." Spark said, crossing her arms, a triumphant smile on her face.
Before Racetrack could think up a good comeback, Story grabbed her sister's hand.
"We better go."
"One more kiss." Mush said.
"Tomorrow, you'll see each other tomorrow." Chase said, exasperated.
Mush stuck his tongue out at Chase and then pecked Spark on the lips one last time.
"Bye guys!"
"Finally, we're outta there." Spot exhaled dramatically. Chase pulled his hat over his eyes. "Hey, if I fall you'll fall." He readjusted his hat and pulled her closer.
"At least we'll fall together." Chase laid her head on his shoulder as they walked.
The four of them continued in silence after that. Chase was trying to figure out why Spot and Jack were keeping secrets from her. Spot was thinking about what he could give Chase for Christmas. Story was wondering when David would kiss her. And Spark's thoughts were on Mush and the two dollars Racetrack still owed her.
Spot snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a sound. A repetitive tapping sound. He checked to see if his cane was dragging on the ground, but it wasn't. It sounded like footsteps. Like someone was following them. He glanced over his shoulder but it was too dark to see.
"What is it, Love?" Chase asked.
"Nothin'… Cupcake."
"Cupcake? Is that the best you can-"
"Shhh!" Spot stopped her. "Did you hear that?" he whispered. But the sound was gone.
A/N: So this part is also present in "Underworld" but instead of translating Alfred Borden's diary Chase, Story, and Spark are teaching the little girls how to read.
After selling all of their papers the next day, Story, Spark, and Chase went back to the girls' lodging house in Brooklyn. Chase wanted to get started on translating the diary for Jack.
"So there's no indication as to what the code is?" Story asked.
"That's the point of a cipher. It's supposed to be impossible for people to crack." Chase said.
"But this is from his father," Spark chimed in. "if he wanted Jack to read it, shouldn't it be simple to figure out?"
"That's what doesn't make sense." Chase bit her lip "Can I see the letter again?"
Chase had read the letter dozens of times, hoping there would be a clue or something. She really wanted to help her friend out.
The three girls sat up at a knock at the door.
"Who is it?"
"Who do ya think, Sweetness?" Spot said as he opened the door. He was followed by Mush and Racetrack, who was shaking his head.
"Yous two gotta stop with all this lovey dovey talk."
"You wanna leave?" Spot glared at him.
"Nah, I'm ok." Racetrack said. "Hi'ya ladies. We's goin' to Sheepshead, any a yous wanna join us?"
"Are you askin' me if you want me to beat your sorry but again? I accept." Spark hopped off the bed and messed Racetrack's hair. She then stood on her tiptoes and kissed Mush.
"I think we're gonna go to Manhattan to play poker later." Spot said to Chase.
"Ok," she said. "We'll be over there later."
"You sure?"
"Yes, Sugar. I can walk on my own now."
The others rolled their eyes.
"We're gonna be late." said Racetrack, pushing Spark, Mush, and Spot out the door.
Chase and Story pored over the letter from Jack's father, trying to make out a secret message in the wording. It was no use. The diary would be useless for Jack if they couldn't translate it.
About an hour later, there was another knock at the door.
"What is it, Sweetheart?" Chase practically snapped. She wasn't getting anywhere.
"Sweetheart? I didn't know we were that close. Shouldn't we go on a date or somethin' first?" it was Jack.
"Oh, I thought you were Spot." Chase blushed.
"I know." he smiled.
"What brings you to our humble lodging house?" Story giggled.
"I came to bring Chase something'." Jack handed her a stack of lined paper that was tied with newspaper string. "Davey thought it would help you with the translatin'."
"Aww, tell him thanks for me."
"I don't get a "thanks" for walkin' it all the way over for ya?" he said, faking offense.
Chase scoffed. "We'll I'm doing this for you. Isn't that thanks enough."
"I suppose." he said. "How far did you get?" he was anxious to read the passages in the diary and find out about his father's past.
"Not very far at all." Chase answered. "I'm sorry. I'm trying my best, but I still can't figure out the code."
"I know you'll get it. Thanks for doin' this for me." He hugged her.
"You're welcome."
"Oh, Story, Davey says he misses ya." Jack reported.
"Tell him I'll be at the lodging house later." A dreamy smile played on her lips.
"Ok. I'll be sure to tell him." Jack was happy his friend found a girl too. He didn't know how David would react when he found out about Jack and Sarah together. Thankfully, he wasn't that upset. It was a bit odd to have his best friend and his sister together but it didn't ruin their friendship. Jack wanted the same happiness for David. And Story was a nice girl.
"I must be missing something!" Chase exclaimed, frustrated. She covered her face with a pillow and screamed.
"Maybe yous should take a break." Jack suggested.
"No. I'm not giving up until figure this out."
"It's really not that important-"
"Yes it is!" said Chase. "This is about your father. I'm doing this for you. You've done so much for me: the strike and you convinced Medda to give me a job."
"She woulda given you a job anyway. She loves you."
"That's not the point."
Jack smiled at her. She was just as good at arguing as he was. They really were similar. If he didn't know any better, Jack would have thought she was a long lost sister of his. But Jack didn't have any other siblings. His mother passed away right after his father was arrested.
"Why don't you look at the letter?" Story said.
"And how would that help any?"
"That's a good idea." Chase said, sitting up. "Maybe there's something in there that only you would understand. Something your father said all the time…?"
"I barely talked to my father when he was at home." Jack's eyes were fixed on a spot on the wall. "I'll give it a shot. Hand it over."
Jack read the letter through three times. Nothing was unusual. He read it out loud, he read it backwards, he read it upside down. Nothing. But then he spotted it.
"Uh, Chase?"
"Hmmm?" She and Story were starting to drift off to sleep.
"I'm not exactly sure how these ciphers work, but do you see that?" The "m" in mother was written slightly darker than the other letters. It was almost undetectable.
Chase sat up. "That could be something. Story, write that down."
"And there's another one. The 'a' in 'asking'."
Chase read over his shoulder. "Keep going! I think we're onto something."
By the time they finished, they found 5 letters that stood out on the paper.
MAGIC
"We found our code word!" Chase exclaimed. She kissed Jack on the cheek, excited.
"This mean we're closer to figuring out the cipher?" Story asked.
"Yes, I have a feeling this is the base of the code your father used, Jack. He did leave you clues!"
Jack was relieved. They were finally getting somewhere.
"I'm goin' back to Manhattan. Yous wanna come with me?"
"I can't stop now, we're so close!"
"I'll drag her out later." said Story.
"Alright then, yous girls be safe out there. Don't leave too late."
"We walk to Manhattan at night all the time." Chase said. "We'll make it there alive."
"Promise?"
"Yeah."
After they figured out the code word, finding the whole code was easy. Chase and Story were on their way back to Manhattan in less than a half hour.
"So has David, you know, kissed you yet?" Chase asked.
"No," said Story. "He's taking it slow. I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Is this because you haven't had your first kiss yet?"
Story blushed. "Maybe."
"Well it's really not that great." Chase cringed. Her first kiss was with Oscar Delancy, completely against her will. It was awful.
"You can't tell me it's not that great. You and Spot kiss all the time and Spark and Mush, they can barely keep their lips to themselves."
Chase laughed, it was true, and then she stopped. There was a sound. The sound of footsteps nearby. She got a chill, remembering a similar situation the night before.
"Do you hear that?" she whispered.
Story's eyes widened as she nodded. They looked behind them, but the streetlamps were too dim to light the whole street.
"Maybe it's nothing. A police officer or something?" But as Chase said that, the footsteps sped up. The person was running toward them.
"Let's go!" Story exclaimed.
The two girls sprinted down the street. Aware that the person was still following them and getting faster. Chase hoped they were going in the right direction to the Manhattan lodging house. Story grabbed her hand as she went to make the wrong turn.
"Thanks," They turned the corner and saw the lodging house in the distance.
The two girls slammed into a group of people, knocking them to the ground.
"Hey, watch it you lousy- Oh, hey Chase." it was Racetrack. The girls had bumped into Race, Spot, Spark, and Mush as they were returning from the Sheepshead races.
"What were yous guys doing?" Spot asked as he attempted to get out from underneath Story.
"Um," Chase bit her lip, she didn't want Spot to get any more protective than he already was.
"We were having a race." Story chimed in.
"Um, yeah. I thought it would be a good idea to see how fast I can run now that the brace is gone." Chase smiled nervously, hoping Spot would believe the lie.
"Is that a good idea? I don't want either a' yous to get hurt again." Mush said as he helped his sister up.
"Well I have to start sometime." Chase laughed nervously as the boys helped her up.
The other boys were ready to accept this answer but Spot looked at her skeptically. There was something she wasn't telling him.
"What's goin' on, Chase?" He didn't bother thinking up a nickname.
Chase's eyes widened as her knees gave out and she fell against Racetrack. "Nothing- nothing's wrong."
He hadn't seen her this shaken in a long time. "Was it the Delanceys?" He took out his cane and looked down the street. Spot had been restraining himself from killing Oscar Delancey every time he saw him. But he was still waiting for him to slip up. Then he could murderer him and drop his body off in the bay. Spot had an extremely dark side to him.
Chase shuddered at the mention of their name but she looked up and touched Spot's face. "It wasn't them. I promise."
"You'd tell me if it was, right?"
"Yes."
