"And now, the show you've all been waiting for, the 1900 revue!"
Martie, Ben and T arrived just as the show was starting. It was a fantastic show, and the turnout was enormous. The girls on stage grinned and laughed as they danced and performed for the enthusiastic crowd.
When it was over, a large group of newsies gathered at the stage. One showgirl came down and was greeted by them. She was very pretty as she smiled and hugged her friends. Only 3 newsgirls weren't taken by her charm.
Martie knew them; they came to Manhattan often to visit Dave and the other guys. Kaa, Davey's girlfriend, saw Martie and spit in her hand. Martie did the same and they shook.
"So, Kaa," Martie pointed at the beaming showgirl, "who's dat?"
Rook, a shorter girl who had been eyeing Ben and T warily, scoffed, "Dat's Annie. As you can see, most people like her, but--"
"She talks too much." The third girl, Ember, piped up. "She's always spreadin' some rumor or another."
"Oh?" T cocked his eyebrow. "What's she saying this time?"
Rook scowled. "Why should we tell you?"
Kaa stopped her. "Rook! Chill out. Well, she's somehow decided that there's dis gang, the Kappers, and dat about 4 years ago, some girl killed one of their gang members, Mello. So, she says dey found dis girl in Manhattan, and now they're gonna kill her."
"What?" Ben almost yelled. "When?"
Ember shrugged. "We dunno. Apparently, dey's waitin' for someone to show up 'fore dey do it, but we don't know who."
"An' we don't know where." Rook mumbled.
"Well," Martie looked at the clock on the wall. "It's gettin' late. I suppose we'd better leave."
"Hey Martie." Rook grabbed her arm. "You know how I feel about guys. If it comes around to a fight, I'll be there."

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It was 1 o'clock when they finally got back to the lodging house.
They tiptoed upstairs, and they all went into the rooms. They were asleep before 5 minutes had been lost to time.
Martie dreamt again, like so many nights before. BUt when she woke from this dream, instead of feeling terrified, Martie felt lost and betrayed. SHe couldn't explain it; she couldn't even remember what the dream had been about. She only knew taht any feeling of hope she had had was gone.

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In the morning, Martie joined Ben, T, and Itey in front of the lodging house. Nobody said anything; they had all had a terrible night.
When they arrived in Midtown around 10 o'clock, the first one to see them was Goosey, Itey's girl. Like Itey, she had curly hair and was on the short side. "Hey Itey."
Itey grinned and kissed her. T rolled his eyes at the couple; apparently he wasn't much of a romantic.
WHen they finally pulled apart, T jumped into his question as though he was afraid that they would start again. "Do you know anything about what's been happening lately with a gang called the Kappers?"
Goosey's jaw dropped open. "Yes, well, no, not me. But I heard Rio and Lightning talking about it yesterday. Ah, come here."
They walked into the hulking building and into a side room. A fan was being powered by some strange contraption that was hooked up to... a potato? Martie and Ben exchanged puzzled looks.
"Ya like dat?" Lightning was standing near it. "Melissa rigged it up. She may be young, but she's got a good brain."
"Goosey asked, "Where's Rio? We need to talk about the Kappers."
Rio stepped into the room. "What do you need ta know? Dey's up ta somethin', and we'd be glad to help you stop 'em." She peered up at Ben. She was skinny and small and only came about 5 inches above his elbow.
T explained, "Well, we think that they've got a girl named Anita--"
Goosey's eyebrows shot up. "Anita? That girl wouldn't hurt anybody!"
"Yeah we know." Matie sighed. "That's why we'se gotta move fast. She ain't much of a fighter."
Lightning fiddled with her hair. "They'se up in Buffalo. But dat's 3 days away, even if you can ride some of the way."
"And if you can't?"
"Better make it 5 and a half days."
"Well," Ben offered, "at least we know where they are."
Rio cleared her throat. "Ah, Buffalo's a big place, shorty."
T nodded. "It's enormous, a lot bigger than Manhattan. I don' know how we're gonna find them."
Goosey gasped and everyone spun around to look at her. "I just remembered something... well, someone. C'mon, we're goin' to Queens."

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