"She's so beautiful. Who did ya say gave 'er to ya?" asked Jack.
"A girl I met in the Lodging House. She just left the baby there with the note. The police said she'd probably be put in the refuge. I didn't want her there. I don't think she deserves it," said Faith. "Can I ask you a question now? Why do you always leave?"
"Wadaya mean?" asked Jack.
"Whenever I come...you...you leave. You left me at the train station, you left me in the Brooklyn lodging house, and...and you left me in the refuge. Ever since I ran away everything's become so hard!" screamed Faith. She started to cry. Jack while holding the baby tried to hug her. He was afraid to squish the baby.
"Comon'. You got me. And da newsies. It'll be fine," said Jack trying to comfort her as best he could. After dinner, Faith went back to the lodging house. It was only her third night there but it was her last.
She had a dream that night. She dreamed she was having a baby. She saw a newsy. Like the last dream she had had before, it was the same newsy. It wasn't Jack. His hair was too light. The one in the dream
had dark hair. She woke up with a jolt when she heard the baby start to cry. She grabbed the baby and a blanket and climbed onto the fire escape to make her fall back asleep. She sat there rocking the baby. She looked down and a white bump sat at the foot of the fire escape. She went in to get the basket for the baby. Faith put the baby back into the basket and went out to check the bump out. She slowly and cautiously walked down the stairs not to scare or frighten whatever it was. She picked up the bump which was actually a basket. There were two kittens that climbed out. She saw something move underneath the blanket. It was shaped like a doll. She opened it. It was ANOTHER baby! She didn't want another baby. The baby had blonde hair. Unlike, Rachel, who had brown hair. She checked. It was most definitely another girl. She took the baby out to rock to sleep. Faith hadn't become attached to this baby so she could bring the baby back to the orphanage in the morning. She noticed a paper with writing. It looked like chicken scratch. She opened it. It had a name written on it. It looked like Samantha. Samantha Olivia Lillith. She was a beautiful baby. The rest of the note read:
Dear reader,
You now are the parent of beautiful blonde baby. Hair eyes will reflect the love that you give her. As she grows and gets older please give her more and more wisdom.
Samantha Lillith
Faith couldn't beleive that someone would through a live person away like a piece of garbage. She put the baby back in the basket to keep her warm for the night. The cold air blew Faith's long, dark hair in all directions. She sat there as the night progressed. Rachel lay in her basket in the lodging house. Faith didn't have the courage to leave the baby in the garbage so she brought her into the lodging house. The trio sat up all night on the fire escape waiting for someone to come back looking for Samantha. Maybe it was a cruel trick. But noone came. It was like Samantha was just left in the garbage and forgotten about. Faith sat there wondering what would become of the three. Faith looked in Samantha's basket and the three cute kittens sat at the foot of Samantha's basket just waiting something to happen. All night they waited. Faith recite every poem from the book close to ten times. They entered the lodging house as the sun rose from its place beyond the hills(or at least as far as she could see). The people in the lodging house, all thought to be newsies rose from their beds like the evolution of mankind. The night had been so boring. Hours of waiting. Faith gathered her things and was on her way. The lodging house unselfishly refunded her for the nights she did not stay.
The day was a perfect day for a picnic. She took the babies in one large basket in one hand with a basket of food in the other. She mounted herself at the top of Fairgo Hill overlooking the beautiful Perry Pond. A boy walked over to try and sell a newspaper to her. Once again most obviously a newsy. He looked around 14. He had curly hair and had a good tan.
"Miss? Will you by me papes. 'Dis is me last one and Ise lost," he said without the slightest hesitance or shyness. He looked at Faith like a sad little puppy. Faith gave him a penny then shouted, "WAIT!"
"Yeah, lady?!" yelled the boy.
"You know Jack don't you. You know Jack Kelly. You were in that picture on the newspaper he showed me. You...you're...Mush right?" she asked looking at him.
"Yeah, Ise was just goin' ta see 'im. He's at da races wid Racetrack," the boy replied.
"Well, I'm having a picnic and you're more than welcome to come and eat some," she offered.
"Oh, Ise couldn't intrude. But if ya insist only for a minute 'cause Ise gotta be goin' ta see Jack," he said. They sat and talked a while. Faith had her long hair in two long braids. Mush had his curly hair just hanging over his eyes enough to block the sun. They talked about the babies, the newsies, weather, Faith's old family, but when it came up Mush didn't want to talk about his family.
"Ise don't gotta family," he said more hesitantly than he had all day.
"Everyone has a family. I mean..." she started
"Yeah, but I DON'T," he screamed angrily. " Ise gotta go. Seeya later."
"Mush! I'm sorry. But...I'm just sorry. Please forgive me," she begged.
"Okay, Ise sorry too. I mean I had no right ta get all mad like I'se did. Youse right," he admitted.
"I'm not looking to be right, I'm looking for forgiveness. So will you forgive me?" she asked.
"Okay!" he said as he waltzed over and her a hug.
As he walked to the races he thought about how much he liked her. She was so kind. No wonder Jack liked her. HEY! he thought. Thats it! Jack is trying to keep her all to hisself. He doesn't want me to like her! He doesn't want me or anyone else to like her. Ya know what. I'll ask her to marry me. He slowly entered the races. Angrily, with his hand in the tightest fist he had ever made, he walked over to the rial. He was mad. Really really mad! He grabbed Jack by the back of the coat when Jack turned around Mush hit him so hard he got knocked into thetrack. Jack and Mush got banned from the races forever and they fought all they way home.
"So, dis is bout Faith? Youse like 'er too?" asked Jack.
"You two can't like 'er. She's gunna marry me!" yelled Race. Thats about when Crutchy limped over.
"Wad a you guys yellin' bout?" he asked.
"FAITH!" they all yelled at Crutchy.
"Why ya talkin' bout me goilfriend?" asked Crutchy.
"We needs ta find out once an' fer all who she likes," said Mush.
"Lets do it in da mornin'. Ise tired," said Jack. They piled into the lodging house to go to sleep. But one newsy was missing. BLINK!
Faith was walking home when she got stop by two men. They were named Oscar and Morris. Faith had no idea they were trouble.
"Yes, will you come into our office ,ma'am," started Oscar in front of her apartment building.
"Whatfor?" asked Faith.
"We need you to sign some things to get your keys. Come this way," said Morris.
"Oh, okay," she said walking into the alley.
"Now we gottcha. Get over here," they yelled as she started to run away. But they caught her. "We gottcha and we ain't lettin' go!"
"HELP!HELP!HELP!" she screamed. Kid Blink realized she was Jack's friend. He ran into the alley and threw a punch at Oscar. Oscar grabbed Blink's hand as Morris put his brass knuckles on. Faith, who was in the back of the alley watching in horror, ran up and kicked Morris... well, you know where. Oscar tightened his grip on Blink's neck. Faith ran over to Oscar threatening to kick him...well, you know where. He let go of Blink, grabbed Morris, and left. Since the Delanceys did all their dirty work in the alley, they had no proof to file a lawsuit against all the people that beat them up. Faith ran to the babies to make sure that they were okay. Then when she realized they were fine, she ran to see how Blink was. He looked like he was hurt very badly.
"Oh my! Are you going to be okay?" asked Faith.
"Yeah, Ise fine. How bout you?" asked Blink.
"Oh I'm fine. Would you like to come in to have something to drink?" asked Faith.
"Okay!" accepted Blink.
They went into her apartment. She put the babies down in the crib she bought from the carpenter down the street. She got their bottles out of the ice box that the people at the store called a refrigerator. She gave them to the babies. She covered them with her old quilt. She got the tea out of the cabinet and put the kettle on the stove.
"Sorry about the apartment. I just moved in today.So, you're Kid Blink, right?" asked Faith."I'm Faith Hart."
"Yup, youse got a nice house!" he said anxiously awaiting the tea. He hardly ever got tea." So what are we havin' ta drink?"
"We can have iced tea. It'll take a couple minutes."
Blink was even more excited. He was getting iced tea! He'd never even tried iced tea before. They sat and talked about almost everything that they could think of. Before they knew it, it was almost 3 am.
" Everyting was loverly but Ise gotta go. Ise need ta get up at 6. I'll seeya tomorrow," he said as he walked out the door.
"Blink! Come here!" she yelled. He walked back over. She gave him a hug."Bye!"
She closed the door after she was sure he was out of sight. Blink liked her alot. She was so nice to the two babies. She treated them as though they were her own. She seemed to love them as though they were her own two. She was so pretty and sweet. He knew he'd marry her. Blink was so excited about his poker game with Spot after work today. He was tired too. He fell straight into bed. Faith got changed into her nightgown and got into bed. She had another odd dream. She was old that. Same newsy was there. He was old too. He had a cane. He was a nice old man. She pictured them. There was a box in front of them. It was a big box. It had pictures on it. The pictures kept changing really fast. It had sounds. They both seemed to be enjoying it. On the top of the box it read "TELEVISION 1959" and the two old people were laughing their heads off. Faith woke up imediately. She did the math and figured out that she was 77 in her dream. She slept about 4 hours then the babies woke up. She rocked them to sleep and unpacked the rest of the stuff.
