Two people quietly jumped off the boxcar as it pulled into the train yard. The taller of the two motioned the other to stay low as they raced over railroad tracks and headed for a safer place to talk. They found it on a park bench.
"You okay?" a deep male voice whispered in the silence.
"Yeah nothing broken, I just need to catch my breath." A softer, feminine voice answered.
"So we're here now, just like Crale wanted. Now what?" the male voice questioned.
"You're asking me? I guess find some sort of job, in a city this big there has to be newsies." She answered, her voice catching a bit.
"Well if we want to do the newsie thing, we are defiantly going to find a group of them, not just one person." He said in a soothing tone.
"Okay, as long as I don't have to say I'll date any of them." Her voice was so low even he had to lean closer to hear it.
"So what is our story going to be, siblings isn't going to work this time."
"I guess we can say that I am the younger sister of your best friend. And that we are waiting for him to show up." A questioning tone was in her voice but it was said as a statement.
"I guess that works. No one is going to believe that we are the friends and we are waiting for my older brother." The guy was a bit cockier then.
"No they ain't." Ami leaned against Craig.
"Ames why can't we say you're my girl." Craig felt Ami shiver and wrapped his arm around her.
"First get your arm off me if you want to keep it. Second I am not anyone's girl. You know why and I ain't going to change my mind." Ami pulled away from Craig but he held on.
"Okay, okay sorry. Just stay put I was trying to warm you up. You're as close as me and Crale are gonna get to a sister so I thought that…"
"I know you thought that might protect me, but don't you think it would be weird if Crale comes in looking for his brother and his best friend and we don't tell people about him?"
"I guess you're right, like always. Brat." Craig reached up and pulled lightly on one of Ami's braids.
Ami reached up and pulled not so lightly on Craig's hair. "Stop that."
"I will, when you stop wearing your hair in these braids, you're 17 don't you think you're just a bit too old for braids."
"I'll stop wearing braids when you cut your hair and wear a suit."
"Never going to happen. Plus if you stopped wearing your hair in braids my old coveralls would look pretty silly."
"Yes they would. They look silly any way."
"Well yes, but you look cute not just silly. I can't see you jumping on and off trains in a skirt, you did bring one in that pack of yours right?"
"Yes I brought a skirt. I hate wearing it though."
"I know but if you don't wear it sometimes, you'll never get a guy."
"You try wearing a skirt, it's uncomfortable and restraining."
Craig interrupted her, "Yeah, yeah you told me before. Now come one we need to sleep."
About two hours later Ami and Craig woke up, it was getting lighter and they were getting cool from the dew and the slight breeze in the park. "So, Craig are we going to just stay here tonight, or are we going to try to get aquatinted with the city?"
"Well Ami New York isn't Omaha or Lincoln, I guess we should at least go look around. Oh what are we going to say our names are again?"
Ami sighed, "You're Swan, and I'm Kit, and Crale is going by Cray. Remember?"
"Yeah I remember now. Well it is getting lighter, we are going to want to get moving. I bet this is going to be a fine day. Come on Kit."
With that both of the train hoppers got up and left Central Park in search of jobs. Neither knew what was going to happen that day or for the rest of the summer.