Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It took the newsies a few days to travel to Corinth with Hercules and Iolaus. For the entire trip, Jack had a look of pure joy—like a little boy that was told that he could take all he wanted from the candy counter in a general store—plastered on his face. The things that he had dreamed about in accordance to Santa Fe—larger sun, sky, etc—were nothing

compared to the beauty that he saw here. Race's eyes grew larger each time he saw a passing traveler ride by on a horse. Due to the rigorous schedule at the Academy, he hadn't yet gotten a chance to go riding.

"Don't worry," promised Iolaus, "once we get to Corinth, we'll have nothing to do all day because Jason will be swamped with meetings and that sort of thing. Then you can go riding all you want."

The newsies loved sleeping outside. Even from the rooftops on clear summer nights the stars had never been as bright as they were here. Mouse stared up at the sky and picked out the different constellations,

inwardly reeling at the concept that many of the stories behind the star patterns hadn't even happened yet, at least, not in the time that she was currently in. In fact, Hercules himself hadn't accomplished almost all of the feats that he would one day be famous for. The entire concept was mind-boggling.

They reached Corinth by noon the next day. Jason greeted them at the Palace gates, giving Hercules and Iolaus both a hug. "I'm sure the both of you have already heard this a million times, so I'll make this short, but I've missed you. I'm glad you're safe. And that's enough with the formalities—let's party!" True to his word, Jason threw a party. He was

a young king, so no one questioned his right to. The newsies had never been in a palace before, the closest any of them had gotten was Jack in Pulitzer's home, so to be royal guests at the king's own party was an amazing experience.

***

They spent their days at the palace doing whatever they pleased. Spot never left Ebony's side. They would always be seen together laughing and sometimes even kissing in little nooks and crannies of the palace. One day after watching Spot giving Ebony a shoulder rub Scamp lost it. "Ack! I'se gonna kill him!" she shouted heading towards the unsuspecting

couple.

"Hold on there, kid!" Iolaus said pulling Scamp back. "What's wrong?"

"Them," Scamp said pointing towards Spot and Ebony.

"Oh someone jealous?"

"No! Why should i'se be jealous?" Scamp asked bitterly. "Lemme go."

"You're jealous because you're head-over-heels for Spot." Iolaus said letting go of Scamp's arm. Scamp looked at him in shock and opened her mouth to protest. "And don't say you aren't cause i know you are."

"But i'se aren't! Right now i'se hate Spot's guts! Besides he'd never go for someone like me," Scamp muttered. "But you'se still wrong!" Scamp shouted as she stalked out of the room.

***

Dark tempers such as Scamp's did not dominate the atmosphere at Corinth, however. Race was in seventh heaven. Iolaus had chatted a bit with Jason, and the young king then gave the newsie free reign over the stables. Every day for hours Race could be found galloping through the fields just outside of Corinth. The Italian was a natural at riding horses—all the time spent at the tracks had led to observation of the jockey's technique.

Many of the newsies went riding with Race as well, learning how to from him and Herc and Iolaus. Jack was out with Race most often, though. The delighted little boy's look hardly left his face as he went racing through the fields, cowboy hat perched upon his head. And so it was every day that the newsies were in Corinth.

***

Ebony ran up to the room that she shared with Clover after dinner one night, telling everyone that she was tired from the day and wanted some sleep. That was partially true—she was tired—but she would not be able to get any sleep, her mind was too full. Ebony was about to stalk over to the window when there was a knock on the door. Sighing, Ebony trudged over and heaved the door open. There stood Spot.

"Hey. How ya doin'?"

"I already told everyone, Spot, I'm fine. I'm just tired." A soft smirk on his face, Spot reached out and took Ebony's hand,

"Yeah, Ise heard ya. I was just thinkin' that ya might like a nice stroll through moonlit gardens…Jason said we could if we want." Ebony pulled her hand back,

"Not now, Spot. Go hang out with your friends. You've been ignorin' them lately for me."

"But—" Spot began to protest as Ebony waved goodbye and shut the door. Returning to the window, she gazed out over the peaceful city of Corinth, mind restless. Spot didn't love her. He didn't even like her "that way." Spot was fooling himself—using her as a distraction for his own confusing feelings, and also as a way to infuriate Scamp. This wasn't a shock to Ebony—she'd always known that Spot never liked her in any way besides possibly friend.

The thing was, she didn't care. Ebony wouldn't lie to herself—she didn't like Spot "that way" either. What they'd had—it was just something not real—both of them physically attracted and then further drawn to each other due to the bewildering emotions that they both were experiencing but were scared of. Ebony rubbed her fingers over the smooth stone of the window. She knew what she had to do.

***

The following day, Ebony dumped Spot. She hated to use the old cliché, 'this isn't working, let's just be friends', but it actually fit in this case. Not surprisingly, Spot didn't take it very hard. However, he acted more upset around everyone else, especially Scamp, but everyone save Scamp knew why.

From then on, Ebony, along with the others, devoted their energies to one thing: getting Spot and Scamp to stop fighting.