A Twist Of Fate
Lizzies place
It was a hard fit but she did it. She brought her family to her home. The twins were resting on a small cot like bed she managed to get. Stephen tended to Mac. The first thing she did after she left Meddas theater was go to the refuge. Snyder had already returned from Pulitzers office where he delivered the good news about what they did together. The strike was sure to end without Jack the leader in charge of the newsies. Lizzie took the money she got Pulitzer, a princely amount to what she made at her last job, and got food for her reunited family. She also managed to get them some things they needed, a place to sleep and some new clothes, and a book or two. She planned on teaching her family to read. If they can read, they can make it far in this world. She was blissfully happy.
But if she was so happy, she thought, then why am I so unhappy too? She asked herself. Everytime she looked at her family she couldn't help thinking about Jack and how she betrayed him at the theater. She sighed, and tried to wipe a stray tear from her face. Never mind him. She got her family back. She could forget all about him if she wanted to, she thought. But I can't, she thought. Not after what I did.
Stephen came up to her with the baby.
"I don't know how to change him." He said.
"I'll do it." Lizzie said. "Lord knows I'll be doing it for a while." She said holding the baby. She made a cootchie coo noise while she looked for something to use as a diaper. "We must have some more of them diaper things. We just bought them!"
"Babys put out a lot of gross things Lizzie." Mary Kate said from her bed.
"I know. You feed them and it goes straight through." Lizzie sighed. She looked at the baby. "You eat more than all of us combined!"
Mac smiled and gurgled. Lizzie wiped some baby drool off of his face. He smiled again. "Mama."
Lizzie stopped cold and looked at the baby. "I guess I am." She said thinking of what she said to Jack that night at the restaurant. "I guess I am."
Davids home
David was eating dinner with his family when he heard the knock on the door. He looked at his family.
"Are we expecting anyone tonight?" His father asked.
"No." David shook his head. "Jacks back in the refuge by now. The gang and I think we know how to get what we want." He touched his pocket. "We gotta see Benton before he leaves on his war correspondant job."
"I think someone ought to get the door." Davids mother said.
"Oh right." David said, he had started to forget that someone had knocked inthe first place. He opened the door to see Lizzie, and she wasnt alone. She held what looked like a two year old in her arms. Three other children were with her. "Les you can have the rest of my dinner. I just lost my appetite."
"Please let us come in." Lizzie said. "We've come all this way..."
"And you can go back. I don't care about seeing you right now." David said.
"David thats not very nice." Sarah started to say.
"Not nice? This is the one who ratted out Jack at the rally." David said.
"So you're the one." Sarah said.
"I am." Lizzie said. "And I'm very sorry."
David scoffed.
"I am." Lizzie said. "I did it for them." She said referring to her family. "But I can now see that I was wrong to do what I did no matter why or what I did it for. I was wrong. Now I'm hoping I can help you make it right."
"What can you do?"
"I can help you do anything you want. Get Jack out of the refuge." She offered.
"Impossible. It's hard to get in there now, Snyder had security around there beefed up since Jack went back according to Crutchy."
"Tell me what I can do." Lizzie said.
"I can tell you what we can do right now. Before we do anything else we have to get the guys and a gameplan. Pulitzer thinks we will break down since we have no leader. He's wrong." David said.
"All right." Lizzie said. "I have to leave my siblings somewhere."
"We'll look after them." Davids mom said.
"Its a good idea. Pulitzer or Snyder don't know where we live. They'll be safe." David agreed.
"All right, we're ready to go help you." Lizzie said.
"Whos we?" David asked as Les asked his mother if he could go. He got a no answer.
"Look out the window. What makes you think I came alone?" Lizzie said with a smile on her face.
David looked at her. She gave a come hither motion with her finger to the hallway they looked out the window. She pointed. Davids eyes widened.
"What in the hey?" He muttered. He could not believe what he was seeing, the street was full of girls, all of the ones from the paper that morning.
"Reinforcements." She said. "They're all helping. I got all of them here." She said. "I was hopng you would help or I would have really caught heck. I wasnt about to make them all go home."
"Good golly." He said. "Let's go. When we get there you can tell me about what happened that night Pulitzer had his people take you from your home."
"Pulitzer offered me a very simple deal. I would get enough money to live for a while, and my family back if I handed over Jack to the bulls." Lizzie said. When they got to the boarding house, the guys naturally didn't to see her. After a little coaxing from David, they decided to listen to her side of the story. "The thought of me getting my family back overrode any other thought I had in my head. If I had a chance to think it over all of my instincts would have told him to fly a kite."
"Why didn't you?" Mush asked.
"All I wanted was my family back." Lizzie said. "I saw a easy way out of my problem and I took it." She said. "But when I was home with my family, I held my little baby brother. He called...me mama." Lizzie said starting to sob. "Then I thought of my mom and dad, and I knew that they wouldnt be proud of what I did." She said. "Thats what made me decide to stop working for Pulitzer, right that moment." She said. She gestured to some of the girls who had come in. "I then gathered up all the girls, and they for reasons only they know, decided to join me."
"I was mad at you." Mush said. He looked at Rosie. "I think I still am a little but if you guys can help us, then I guess we can be less mad for a while."
"Thats great, but what do we do?" David said.
"Do what Lizzie said." David said. "Get Jack out."
"But I thought you said..." Lizzie said.
"We have enough people to stage a full invasion of the refuge and get Jack." David said. "I didn't trust you enough to let you on in what we really planned to do."
"Ah." Lizzie said. "So what do we do?"
"Easy." David said. "You make a special trip to visit old Snyder, and we do the rest."
The refuge
Lizzie walked into the refuge. She looked around. Once she saw that one one looked, she motioned and three guys snuck by. Lizzie then took the stairs to Snyders office. He sat in there with his dinner. He was halfway through it. Crutchy waited patiently on hand wiht his dessert. It lokoed like some apple crumble thing. It looked so good. Lizzie could tell Crutchy was having a hard time not thinking about how good it would taste right now.
"Elizabeth, fancy seeing you here." Snyder said.
"I just came by to see if you could use me again." Lizzie said.
"Not right now." He said. "Crutchy, get another dessert for this fine young lady."
"Okay Mr snyder." He said going to the door. He slowly went down the stairs. Lizzie smiled and sat back in her chair.
The front door
Even though Crutchy had sent word of more security at the refuge, from where David stood, he could see none of it.
"Lunch break?" Racetrack cracked.
"This late at night?" David asked.
"Sure, they could have also gone home." Mush said. "Rich people can afford to do anything anytime anywhere."
"Wow." Racetrack sighed. "I wanna be one of them."
"Yeah, youd be at the track all day though." David said.
"Hey, what better place to be?" He asked.
They saw Crutchy go by with Lizzies apple crumb desert. He paused briefly at the front door. He saw David and the gang crouching in the darkness. He gave them a sign. All was clear, no one else was there to stop them.
"Let's go." David said.
"Wait a minute." Mush said. "We don't even know where he is."
"Thats true." David said. He suddenly wished he put more thought into his plan. "Its possible Snyder put him in a room by himself there. What would we do about that?" He asked.
"Hmm." Racetrack said. "Ah ha." He said he found a clip on the ground. "Can anyone pick a lock?" He laughed.
The dessert tasted as luscious as it looked. Lizzie ate every bite of it. She smiled slightly after swallowing the last bite.
"This was great." She said. She checked the time. She had been there about fifteen minutes. She ate her food very slowly so that the others would have time to find Jack and get him out. She had no idea if they had done so yet. Snyder got up out of his chair. Lizzie rose with him.
"Where are you going?" She askeed him.
"Home. I don't stay here all night." He said.
"Could you first show me where the little girls room is?" Lizzie asked. Snyder looked at her. "The bathroom."
"It's this way." He said going to the door. He pointed down the hall and to the left. As he did so, David and the boys slinked past behind his back at the other end of the hall. "I can trust you to show yourself out."
"Ohh, thank you. You can trust me." Lizzie said. She went down the hallway and turned the corner. She then stopped right around the corner so she could see Snyder. He locked the door to his office and went down the opposite hallway. She shadowed him for a couple of feet. She watched him go down the stairs. She heaved a big sigh of relief when she realized she been holding her breath. She was about to go in the direction she sad David go in when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She stifled a sound of shock from her mouth when she saw who had touched her. It was David.
"What took you so long to get back out here?" David said.
"Snyder offered me a dessert." She said. "Apple crumb."
"Wow." She heard Mush say. "Did you eat it all?"
"Yeah. Sorry." She shrugged. "It was too good to waste."
"Okay, all we gotta do is break Jack out of here." David said. "Where is he?"
"I think I might know." They heard behind them.Racetack,Mush, David and Lizzie turned to see Jack with a mop bucket. "What is SHE doing here?"
"We're here to break you out." David said.
"I know but with her of all people?" Jack said putting the bucket down.
"I'm on your side now." She said.
"And you werent before?" Jack said. "What a shock."
"I was made an offer by Pulitzer I couldnt refuse." Lizzie said. "I had to take it. I know now I was wrong"
Jack continued to scowl at her.
"Shes all right Jack." David said. "She got the other newsie scabs to help us out here."
"Is that right?"
"It is." Lizzie said. "If I REALLY didnt care I could have left you here to rot." She said. "Thing is I really do care. Thats why I'm here."
"What are you doing out?" David said. "We thought you would be locked up."
"I have mopping duty. Special duty every day for a month." Jack said.
"I don't think Snyders office is gonna get mopped tonight." Mush said.
"Yeah." Jack said looking again at Lizzie. He still couldnt decide if he was glad to see her or not yet. He still couldnt trust her even though she clearly had the support of his friends. "So whats the plan?"
"Now that plan a is gone, we have plan b." Racetrack said.
"Whats that?" Jack said.
"I'm still thinking it over." David said.
"I think I got one." Lizzie said. "Where is the back door in the place."
"The kitchen, why?" Jack asked.
"I got an idea." Lizzie said.
Jack looked at her skeptically, but listened as she told her idea. It was very simple.
"We just go out the back." Lizzie said. "How tough is that?"
After sneaking down a series of hallways and stairs, the gang found themselves at the kitchen of the refuge. They slipped out the back door without being seen by anyone, including Crutchy. They had decided not to let him know about the plan, so he could say he didnt see them leave, and have people believe him.
"Where to now?" Lizzie asked Jack as they made their way out to the main street.
"Plan c." David said.
"How can you have a plan a and a plan c without a plan b?" Lizzie asked them.
"I guess we never thought we would make it this far." David said. "Jack look at this." He said giving Jack an article he had folded up in his pocket. He read it over. It was what Benton was going to put in the paper had he had the chance.
"See this Lizzie, this is what I meant what I said in the theater. We're not the only ones this is about." Jack said letting her read it.
"We oughta get word out about this." Lizzie said.
"True. But how?" David said. "Pulitzer is not letting anyone publish anything about the strike."
"Everyone he knows about that is." Jack said. "Come on."
Jacks idea invovled a visit to Benton, the reproter for the Sun. If he was still there, and not gone on his new war assigment yet, they still had some hope. Luckily evough he was still home, in the midst of packing.
"Do you mean what you say in this?" Jacks said holding out the article.
"Yes, I do." He said.
"More people have got to read this. More people, will get to see our side of the story here." Jack said.
"How can I do that?" Benton said. "I don't think anyone will let me write anything on whats really going on here. Theres no way."
"There is." Jack said. "I wanna show you something in old Joes basement."
Things began to happen pretty quickly. Before Lizzie could get her head on straight, she was helping the guys print out their own newspaper. There was only one story in it, the truth behind the newsies strike, also there was a few mentions about Snyder and his real business at the refuges in town. Lizzie called in her girls.
"We may be giving these out for free," She said to them. "But the effect this story will have will be more than worth it." The girls gave out the papers to everyone who could read. And if they couldnt read, a few people volunteered to read it to them. It took most of the night to print the paper, and distribute it. The next day, the true effect of their efforts would be seen.
The next day
Jack and Lizzie sat among their friends on the large fountain outside. They had been waiting a long time. The papers would be out soon. Since all the girl newsies had quit, Pulitzer had been forced to go back to the other scabs he used prior to them.
"Do you think it worked?" Lizzie asked. Lizzie had gone to Davids house with David to get her family. She wanted them to be there to see what might be her moment of glory. They also got Les while they were there.
"I hope so." Jack said. "If not, I'm plum out of ideas."
A second or so passed. A distant noise could be heard. Les was playing with Stephen. They both got up and looked.
"Lizzie look!" Stephen said.
"Jack! David!" Les said.
Everyone looked in the direction the two boys pointed in. A large crowd of people came their way. From where Lizzie was standing, she could see the crowd was made up of every job she could imagine. Well every job that someone their age would do, messangers, other newsies, and others she couldnt really identify.
"It worked." Lizzie said to Jack. "It worked."
"Now if only old Joe will listen." Jack said.
"You." Jack saw someone at the front door point at him. "Pulitzer wants to see you now."
"Okay." Jack said. "Come on Lizzie."
Pulitzers office
Pulitzer looked at the newspaper the newsies had put out. "Now everyone knows." He said. "They will expect us to fold to their demands."
"Will we?" One of his assistants asked.
"Yeah, will ya?" Pulitzer heard Jack asked. He approached Pulitzers desk with Lizzie behind him.
"I will never surrender to the likes of you." Pulitzer said.
"Maybe not him, but what about the readers?" Lizzie asked. "Sales have been way down according to my pal David. Are you willing to lose more readers just to keep your silly pride?" She asked.
Pulitzer seemed to consider this. "We can possibly work something out."
Outside
Jack walked out the front door of the building. He saw Les. He whispered something to him and patted him onthe back. He picked him up and put him on his shoulders.
"We did it!" He shouted. The huge crowd on and around the statue erupted in cheers. Jack turned to Lizzie and shook her hand. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For having that change of heart at just about the right time." Jack said.
"Your welcome." Lizzie said.
"I hope you'll still be around, your all right."
"Thanks." She said. Lizzie gasped as she looked down. Her brothers and sister ran up to her. David handed her her baby brother. David smiled at Jack, then stopped. He looked off into the distance. He could see something and it scared him.
"Run, Jack, run." David said.
"What?" Jack said.
"The bulls! And Snyder!" David said.
"Oh no." Lizzie held onto Jacks hand.
"I gots to go." He said turning to run. He ran smack into Benton.
"It's all right Jack." Benton said.
"I gotta go."
"You don't have to run, not anymore, not from the likes of him."
Jack looked at Lizzie. She sniffed a little bit. They both looked at the wagon as it approached the square. The back door on the wagon opened. A bunch of kids ran out of it. The last one out was Crutchy.
"All right Crutchy!" Mush called out. "Welcome back to the world!"
Lizzie watched as they led Snyder into the back of the wagon. She saw Crutchy say something to him, but she couldnt hear what. He closed the door on him. The wagon then left as Crutchy made his way up to Jack.
"Aw you should have seen him Jack. He burst in carrying his walking stick like a sword. He had a whole bunch of lawyers with him." Crutchy asid.
"Who?" Jack asked.
"Your friend, you know! Teddy Roosevelt!" Crutchy said pointing to him. He sat in a wagon shaking hands with all the kids and waving at them.
"You know the governer?" Lizzie said. "And you talk about me not telling everything about myself."
"He saw your paper. He knew he had to do something. He svery grateful to you all, especially Jack, Lizzie and David." Benton said. "He will give you a ride to anywhere you want to go."
Jack gave this some thought. the opportunity of a lifetime, to go to Santa Fe! "Will he go to the train station?"
"Anywhere you want to go." Benton said.
"Not for me." Jack said. "For Lizzie."
Lizzie turned and looked at him. "For me?"
"Sure, to Santa Fe." Jack said.
"Why me?"
"You said it yourself. An opportunity for a whole new life." Jack said. "I want you to go. Maybe one of these days I will join you."
"I don't want to go." Lizzie said tears in her eyes.
"Yes you do." Jack said. "Don't give me any back talk. Pulitzer gave you enough money so you can start a whole new life there." He said to her. "Go, all right?"
"Okay." Lizzie said. She and Jack made her way up to the Teddy Rooevelts carriage. She brought her family with her. Teddy had the doors to the carriage opened up. She helped her family get in. Finally she got in, holding her youngest brother.
"You take care of yourself Jack Kelly." Lizzie said. "I expect to take you up on on that offer someday." She said.
"I'll be out there sooner than you know." Jack said. "I got some unfinished business here."
"Okay." She said. She smiled although a tear hung from her eyes. She was just starting to really like him, and now she was going away. Life is so strange, she thought. The door to the carriage was closed. The crowd parted so the horse could go through. Lizzie waved to Jack with her free hand, she held her brother in her other hand. He waved back.
Jack watched her till she turned the corner, and vanished. He heaved a deep sigh and went inside the gates. David got his 50 papes and was on his way downstairs.
"So whats the headline?" Jack asked.
"Headlines don't sell papes, newsies sell papes!" David said. "No matter who they are."
"Right." Jack said. "Let's get to work. I got someone I want to visit in a while."
David smiled at him and nodded. Jack got in line and wait for his papers. He was gonna visit Santa Fe someday. He now had one more incentive to get there sooner. He smiled to himself and got back to work. Someday, Lizzie, Someday.
The end
Lizzies place
It was a hard fit but she did it. She brought her family to her home. The twins were resting on a small cot like bed she managed to get. Stephen tended to Mac. The first thing she did after she left Meddas theater was go to the refuge. Snyder had already returned from Pulitzers office where he delivered the good news about what they did together. The strike was sure to end without Jack the leader in charge of the newsies. Lizzie took the money she got Pulitzer, a princely amount to what she made at her last job, and got food for her reunited family. She also managed to get them some things they needed, a place to sleep and some new clothes, and a book or two. She planned on teaching her family to read. If they can read, they can make it far in this world. She was blissfully happy.
But if she was so happy, she thought, then why am I so unhappy too? She asked herself. Everytime she looked at her family she couldn't help thinking about Jack and how she betrayed him at the theater. She sighed, and tried to wipe a stray tear from her face. Never mind him. She got her family back. She could forget all about him if she wanted to, she thought. But I can't, she thought. Not after what I did.
Stephen came up to her with the baby.
"I don't know how to change him." He said.
"I'll do it." Lizzie said. "Lord knows I'll be doing it for a while." She said holding the baby. She made a cootchie coo noise while she looked for something to use as a diaper. "We must have some more of them diaper things. We just bought them!"
"Babys put out a lot of gross things Lizzie." Mary Kate said from her bed.
"I know. You feed them and it goes straight through." Lizzie sighed. She looked at the baby. "You eat more than all of us combined!"
Mac smiled and gurgled. Lizzie wiped some baby drool off of his face. He smiled again. "Mama."
Lizzie stopped cold and looked at the baby. "I guess I am." She said thinking of what she said to Jack that night at the restaurant. "I guess I am."
Davids home
David was eating dinner with his family when he heard the knock on the door. He looked at his family.
"Are we expecting anyone tonight?" His father asked.
"No." David shook his head. "Jacks back in the refuge by now. The gang and I think we know how to get what we want." He touched his pocket. "We gotta see Benton before he leaves on his war correspondant job."
"I think someone ought to get the door." Davids mother said.
"Oh right." David said, he had started to forget that someone had knocked inthe first place. He opened the door to see Lizzie, and she wasnt alone. She held what looked like a two year old in her arms. Three other children were with her. "Les you can have the rest of my dinner. I just lost my appetite."
"Please let us come in." Lizzie said. "We've come all this way..."
"And you can go back. I don't care about seeing you right now." David said.
"David thats not very nice." Sarah started to say.
"Not nice? This is the one who ratted out Jack at the rally." David said.
"So you're the one." Sarah said.
"I am." Lizzie said. "And I'm very sorry."
David scoffed.
"I am." Lizzie said. "I did it for them." She said referring to her family. "But I can now see that I was wrong to do what I did no matter why or what I did it for. I was wrong. Now I'm hoping I can help you make it right."
"What can you do?"
"I can help you do anything you want. Get Jack out of the refuge." She offered.
"Impossible. It's hard to get in there now, Snyder had security around there beefed up since Jack went back according to Crutchy."
"Tell me what I can do." Lizzie said.
"I can tell you what we can do right now. Before we do anything else we have to get the guys and a gameplan. Pulitzer thinks we will break down since we have no leader. He's wrong." David said.
"All right." Lizzie said. "I have to leave my siblings somewhere."
"We'll look after them." Davids mom said.
"Its a good idea. Pulitzer or Snyder don't know where we live. They'll be safe." David agreed.
"All right, we're ready to go help you." Lizzie said.
"Whos we?" David asked as Les asked his mother if he could go. He got a no answer.
"Look out the window. What makes you think I came alone?" Lizzie said with a smile on her face.
David looked at her. She gave a come hither motion with her finger to the hallway they looked out the window. She pointed. Davids eyes widened.
"What in the hey?" He muttered. He could not believe what he was seeing, the street was full of girls, all of the ones from the paper that morning.
"Reinforcements." She said. "They're all helping. I got all of them here." She said. "I was hopng you would help or I would have really caught heck. I wasnt about to make them all go home."
"Good golly." He said. "Let's go. When we get there you can tell me about what happened that night Pulitzer had his people take you from your home."
"Pulitzer offered me a very simple deal. I would get enough money to live for a while, and my family back if I handed over Jack to the bulls." Lizzie said. When they got to the boarding house, the guys naturally didn't to see her. After a little coaxing from David, they decided to listen to her side of the story. "The thought of me getting my family back overrode any other thought I had in my head. If I had a chance to think it over all of my instincts would have told him to fly a kite."
"Why didn't you?" Mush asked.
"All I wanted was my family back." Lizzie said. "I saw a easy way out of my problem and I took it." She said. "But when I was home with my family, I held my little baby brother. He called...me mama." Lizzie said starting to sob. "Then I thought of my mom and dad, and I knew that they wouldnt be proud of what I did." She said. "Thats what made me decide to stop working for Pulitzer, right that moment." She said. She gestured to some of the girls who had come in. "I then gathered up all the girls, and they for reasons only they know, decided to join me."
"I was mad at you." Mush said. He looked at Rosie. "I think I still am a little but if you guys can help us, then I guess we can be less mad for a while."
"Thats great, but what do we do?" David said.
"Do what Lizzie said." David said. "Get Jack out."
"But I thought you said..." Lizzie said.
"We have enough people to stage a full invasion of the refuge and get Jack." David said. "I didn't trust you enough to let you on in what we really planned to do."
"Ah." Lizzie said. "So what do we do?"
"Easy." David said. "You make a special trip to visit old Snyder, and we do the rest."
The refuge
Lizzie walked into the refuge. She looked around. Once she saw that one one looked, she motioned and three guys snuck by. Lizzie then took the stairs to Snyders office. He sat in there with his dinner. He was halfway through it. Crutchy waited patiently on hand wiht his dessert. It lokoed like some apple crumble thing. It looked so good. Lizzie could tell Crutchy was having a hard time not thinking about how good it would taste right now.
"Elizabeth, fancy seeing you here." Snyder said.
"I just came by to see if you could use me again." Lizzie said.
"Not right now." He said. "Crutchy, get another dessert for this fine young lady."
"Okay Mr snyder." He said going to the door. He slowly went down the stairs. Lizzie smiled and sat back in her chair.
The front door
Even though Crutchy had sent word of more security at the refuge, from where David stood, he could see none of it.
"Lunch break?" Racetrack cracked.
"This late at night?" David asked.
"Sure, they could have also gone home." Mush said. "Rich people can afford to do anything anytime anywhere."
"Wow." Racetrack sighed. "I wanna be one of them."
"Yeah, youd be at the track all day though." David said.
"Hey, what better place to be?" He asked.
They saw Crutchy go by with Lizzies apple crumb desert. He paused briefly at the front door. He saw David and the gang crouching in the darkness. He gave them a sign. All was clear, no one else was there to stop them.
"Let's go." David said.
"Wait a minute." Mush said. "We don't even know where he is."
"Thats true." David said. He suddenly wished he put more thought into his plan. "Its possible Snyder put him in a room by himself there. What would we do about that?" He asked.
"Hmm." Racetrack said. "Ah ha." He said he found a clip on the ground. "Can anyone pick a lock?" He laughed.
The dessert tasted as luscious as it looked. Lizzie ate every bite of it. She smiled slightly after swallowing the last bite.
"This was great." She said. She checked the time. She had been there about fifteen minutes. She ate her food very slowly so that the others would have time to find Jack and get him out. She had no idea if they had done so yet. Snyder got up out of his chair. Lizzie rose with him.
"Where are you going?" She askeed him.
"Home. I don't stay here all night." He said.
"Could you first show me where the little girls room is?" Lizzie asked. Snyder looked at her. "The bathroom."
"It's this way." He said going to the door. He pointed down the hall and to the left. As he did so, David and the boys slinked past behind his back at the other end of the hall. "I can trust you to show yourself out."
"Ohh, thank you. You can trust me." Lizzie said. She went down the hallway and turned the corner. She then stopped right around the corner so she could see Snyder. He locked the door to his office and went down the opposite hallway. She shadowed him for a couple of feet. She watched him go down the stairs. She heaved a big sigh of relief when she realized she been holding her breath. She was about to go in the direction she sad David go in when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She stifled a sound of shock from her mouth when she saw who had touched her. It was David.
"What took you so long to get back out here?" David said.
"Snyder offered me a dessert." She said. "Apple crumb."
"Wow." She heard Mush say. "Did you eat it all?"
"Yeah. Sorry." She shrugged. "It was too good to waste."
"Okay, all we gotta do is break Jack out of here." David said. "Where is he?"
"I think I might know." They heard behind them.Racetack,Mush, David and Lizzie turned to see Jack with a mop bucket. "What is SHE doing here?"
"We're here to break you out." David said.
"I know but with her of all people?" Jack said putting the bucket down.
"I'm on your side now." She said.
"And you werent before?" Jack said. "What a shock."
"I was made an offer by Pulitzer I couldnt refuse." Lizzie said. "I had to take it. I know now I was wrong"
Jack continued to scowl at her.
"Shes all right Jack." David said. "She got the other newsie scabs to help us out here."
"Is that right?"
"It is." Lizzie said. "If I REALLY didnt care I could have left you here to rot." She said. "Thing is I really do care. Thats why I'm here."
"What are you doing out?" David said. "We thought you would be locked up."
"I have mopping duty. Special duty every day for a month." Jack said.
"I don't think Snyders office is gonna get mopped tonight." Mush said.
"Yeah." Jack said looking again at Lizzie. He still couldnt decide if he was glad to see her or not yet. He still couldnt trust her even though she clearly had the support of his friends. "So whats the plan?"
"Now that plan a is gone, we have plan b." Racetrack said.
"Whats that?" Jack said.
"I'm still thinking it over." David said.
"I think I got one." Lizzie said. "Where is the back door in the place."
"The kitchen, why?" Jack asked.
"I got an idea." Lizzie said.
Jack looked at her skeptically, but listened as she told her idea. It was very simple.
"We just go out the back." Lizzie said. "How tough is that?"
After sneaking down a series of hallways and stairs, the gang found themselves at the kitchen of the refuge. They slipped out the back door without being seen by anyone, including Crutchy. They had decided not to let him know about the plan, so he could say he didnt see them leave, and have people believe him.
"Where to now?" Lizzie asked Jack as they made their way out to the main street.
"Plan c." David said.
"How can you have a plan a and a plan c without a plan b?" Lizzie asked them.
"I guess we never thought we would make it this far." David said. "Jack look at this." He said giving Jack an article he had folded up in his pocket. He read it over. It was what Benton was going to put in the paper had he had the chance.
"See this Lizzie, this is what I meant what I said in the theater. We're not the only ones this is about." Jack said letting her read it.
"We oughta get word out about this." Lizzie said.
"True. But how?" David said. "Pulitzer is not letting anyone publish anything about the strike."
"Everyone he knows about that is." Jack said. "Come on."
Jacks idea invovled a visit to Benton, the reproter for the Sun. If he was still there, and not gone on his new war assigment yet, they still had some hope. Luckily evough he was still home, in the midst of packing.
"Do you mean what you say in this?" Jacks said holding out the article.
"Yes, I do." He said.
"More people have got to read this. More people, will get to see our side of the story here." Jack said.
"How can I do that?" Benton said. "I don't think anyone will let me write anything on whats really going on here. Theres no way."
"There is." Jack said. "I wanna show you something in old Joes basement."
Things began to happen pretty quickly. Before Lizzie could get her head on straight, she was helping the guys print out their own newspaper. There was only one story in it, the truth behind the newsies strike, also there was a few mentions about Snyder and his real business at the refuges in town. Lizzie called in her girls.
"We may be giving these out for free," She said to them. "But the effect this story will have will be more than worth it." The girls gave out the papers to everyone who could read. And if they couldnt read, a few people volunteered to read it to them. It took most of the night to print the paper, and distribute it. The next day, the true effect of their efforts would be seen.
The next day
Jack and Lizzie sat among their friends on the large fountain outside. They had been waiting a long time. The papers would be out soon. Since all the girl newsies had quit, Pulitzer had been forced to go back to the other scabs he used prior to them.
"Do you think it worked?" Lizzie asked. Lizzie had gone to Davids house with David to get her family. She wanted them to be there to see what might be her moment of glory. They also got Les while they were there.
"I hope so." Jack said. "If not, I'm plum out of ideas."
A second or so passed. A distant noise could be heard. Les was playing with Stephen. They both got up and looked.
"Lizzie look!" Stephen said.
"Jack! David!" Les said.
Everyone looked in the direction the two boys pointed in. A large crowd of people came their way. From where Lizzie was standing, she could see the crowd was made up of every job she could imagine. Well every job that someone their age would do, messangers, other newsies, and others she couldnt really identify.
"It worked." Lizzie said to Jack. "It worked."
"Now if only old Joe will listen." Jack said.
"You." Jack saw someone at the front door point at him. "Pulitzer wants to see you now."
"Okay." Jack said. "Come on Lizzie."
Pulitzers office
Pulitzer looked at the newspaper the newsies had put out. "Now everyone knows." He said. "They will expect us to fold to their demands."
"Will we?" One of his assistants asked.
"Yeah, will ya?" Pulitzer heard Jack asked. He approached Pulitzers desk with Lizzie behind him.
"I will never surrender to the likes of you." Pulitzer said.
"Maybe not him, but what about the readers?" Lizzie asked. "Sales have been way down according to my pal David. Are you willing to lose more readers just to keep your silly pride?" She asked.
Pulitzer seemed to consider this. "We can possibly work something out."
Outside
Jack walked out the front door of the building. He saw Les. He whispered something to him and patted him onthe back. He picked him up and put him on his shoulders.
"We did it!" He shouted. The huge crowd on and around the statue erupted in cheers. Jack turned to Lizzie and shook her hand. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For having that change of heart at just about the right time." Jack said.
"Your welcome." Lizzie said.
"I hope you'll still be around, your all right."
"Thanks." She said. Lizzie gasped as she looked down. Her brothers and sister ran up to her. David handed her her baby brother. David smiled at Jack, then stopped. He looked off into the distance. He could see something and it scared him.
"Run, Jack, run." David said.
"What?" Jack said.
"The bulls! And Snyder!" David said.
"Oh no." Lizzie held onto Jacks hand.
"I gots to go." He said turning to run. He ran smack into Benton.
"It's all right Jack." Benton said.
"I gotta go."
"You don't have to run, not anymore, not from the likes of him."
Jack looked at Lizzie. She sniffed a little bit. They both looked at the wagon as it approached the square. The back door on the wagon opened. A bunch of kids ran out of it. The last one out was Crutchy.
"All right Crutchy!" Mush called out. "Welcome back to the world!"
Lizzie watched as they led Snyder into the back of the wagon. She saw Crutchy say something to him, but she couldnt hear what. He closed the door on him. The wagon then left as Crutchy made his way up to Jack.
"Aw you should have seen him Jack. He burst in carrying his walking stick like a sword. He had a whole bunch of lawyers with him." Crutchy asid.
"Who?" Jack asked.
"Your friend, you know! Teddy Roosevelt!" Crutchy said pointing to him. He sat in a wagon shaking hands with all the kids and waving at them.
"You know the governer?" Lizzie said. "And you talk about me not telling everything about myself."
"He saw your paper. He knew he had to do something. He svery grateful to you all, especially Jack, Lizzie and David." Benton said. "He will give you a ride to anywhere you want to go."
Jack gave this some thought. the opportunity of a lifetime, to go to Santa Fe! "Will he go to the train station?"
"Anywhere you want to go." Benton said.
"Not for me." Jack said. "For Lizzie."
Lizzie turned and looked at him. "For me?"
"Sure, to Santa Fe." Jack said.
"Why me?"
"You said it yourself. An opportunity for a whole new life." Jack said. "I want you to go. Maybe one of these days I will join you."
"I don't want to go." Lizzie said tears in her eyes.
"Yes you do." Jack said. "Don't give me any back talk. Pulitzer gave you enough money so you can start a whole new life there." He said to her. "Go, all right?"
"Okay." Lizzie said. She and Jack made her way up to the Teddy Rooevelts carriage. She brought her family with her. Teddy had the doors to the carriage opened up. She helped her family get in. Finally she got in, holding her youngest brother.
"You take care of yourself Jack Kelly." Lizzie said. "I expect to take you up on on that offer someday." She said.
"I'll be out there sooner than you know." Jack said. "I got some unfinished business here."
"Okay." She said. She smiled although a tear hung from her eyes. She was just starting to really like him, and now she was going away. Life is so strange, she thought. The door to the carriage was closed. The crowd parted so the horse could go through. Lizzie waved to Jack with her free hand, she held her brother in her other hand. He waved back.
Jack watched her till she turned the corner, and vanished. He heaved a deep sigh and went inside the gates. David got his 50 papes and was on his way downstairs.
"So whats the headline?" Jack asked.
"Headlines don't sell papes, newsies sell papes!" David said. "No matter who they are."
"Right." Jack said. "Let's get to work. I got someone I want to visit in a while."
David smiled at him and nodded. Jack got in line and wait for his papers. He was gonna visit Santa Fe someday. He now had one more incentive to get there sooner. He smiled to himself and got back to work. Someday, Lizzie, Someday.
The end