Runaway 3

Cordelia VanCamp, a.k.a. Knicks, sat quietly in her home in the library's window seat, gazing out on rainy 5th Avenue dreaming of days gone by. She smiled as she remembered the few years ago the first time she met her friends, the newsies of Manhattan and Spot Conlon. Her memories echoed in her mind, happy and sad. She did daydreaming like this often when there was a lot on her mind. A knock roused her from contemplation. Turning she saw her mother in the doorway.

"I thought you'd be here Cordelia. I've been looking for you. Supper is going to be served in five minutes, David is finally here, and oh! What a lovely dress, dear! I didn't know you had that, and it's green; David's favorite color. It was a wise choice to wear that." Cordy looked down at the pale green silk dress she wore and pulled at the skirt. Even thought it made her waist look very small, it was uncomfortable and how, not to mention if she had remembered green was David's favorite color, she would have worn her ugly yellow silk that made her look sick. Smiling at this thought, Cordy sighed and followed her mother to supper.

As they entered the dining room, Cordelia stopped in her tracks to stare at the young man talking to Mr. VanCamp. Mr. David Jacobs. Just the sound of his name in her mind made her shudder. He had come to New York City from Chicago to go to a fine university. He had met her father while working at Mr. VanCamp's bank. The young man was now courting her and the prospect of his intentions being permanent loomed on the horizon. Her parents adored him. She absolutely detested him. Now he wore a starched collar, the ugliest bowtie in creation, and a dark suit that made him look like a stiff paper doll cutout. A wave of disgust washed over her and she almost left the room, but the two men noticed mother and daughter had arrived and they all sat down to eat. David helped Cordelia into her seat and sat next to her. He flashed his teeth and blue eyes at her.

"His eyes," she thought. "If that was all I had to look at, it wouldn't be so bad." Mr. VanCamp said grave and the clinking of silverware became prominent until David opened his big mouth.

"That's a beautiful dress you're wearing, Cordelia." The girl suddenly found her beef very interesting. Through the entire meal she ignored young Mr. Jacobs to her hearts content and to the great annoyance of her parents.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~*

After supper David escorted Cordelia to the front parlor. Since the rain had stopped, a maid had opened the windows. She sat on the couch nearest the window to catch the delicious breeze. Mr. Jacobs rattled on and on about how his job was going so well. Blah blah blah. Cordelia faced David, but her heart was elsewhere. The busy sounds coming from the street filled her mind, but a lone crackling cry of "Extry! Extry!" held her completely spellbound. Images of her newsy friends washed over her and she slowly rose to her feet.

"-and Mr. Collins at the bank, the very vice-president himself is thrilled with my work! He- Cordelia, what is the matter?"

"I want to go out. I need some fresh air." She made a great show of clutching the chair back and acting like she was about to faint. It worked like a charm.

"Cordelia! Oh- perhaps you should lie down."

"No! Please, fresh air. Fetch my coat."

"Alright. If you insist." By the time he got back, Cordy was practically on pins and needles from impatience to get out. They took Cordy's father's carriage. Since David didn't have one of his own yet.

As they started off Cordelia looked for the newsboy, but he was nowhere to be seen. She sighed and sank back into the seat. They soon reached the aprk and they meandered along the paths. Suddenly they came to a bench almost totally surrounded by huge lilac bushes.

"Oh, let's stop here!" Cordy begged and sat down on the bench after David had wiped it dry with his handkerchief. It was perfect. A breeze blew through the lilac blossoms washing her with their scent. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to block out the figure next to her.

"Oh, Cordelia!" David spoke out.

"What?" she asked a little annoyed at being bothered.

"Oh! Will you be alright? I- an old friend is right over there and they're walking away and-"

"I'll be fine! Go ahead," and she closed her eyes once more sighing. David ran over to the figure standing under a tree counting some newspapers.

"Racetrack!" The newsboy turned around in astonishment.

"Davey?? Is dat you?" They laughed and then spit in the palms of their hands and shook. Racetrack was almost speechless. "Davey! I t'ought you were livin' in Chicago!"

"Well I was, but my father made a great deal more money at his new job than he thought he would and wanted me to come back here and go to a respectable university. Now I'm working at a large bank and am courting the president's daughter!" Racetrack laughed and hit David on the shoulder.

"Nice woik, Davey boy! Really movin' up in da woild, huh?" David grinned and then looked back at the cluster of lilac bushes surrounding the hidden bench.

"Well Racetrack, it's great to see you. I have to get back to the young lady, but will you tell everyone I said hello and that I'll stop by sometime?"

"Sure! You take it easy!" David hurried back to the bench where Cordelia sat drinking in the rich lilac scent while Racetrack went back to counting his papers and change.

"I'm so sorry Cordellia. I talked to my friend, but I – OH! My professor is right over there and I really need to-"

"Fine, David. I don't mind at all!" It was nice being asked her permission, but it was much nicer having David leave her alone. Cordy delicately picked a lilac blossom and tucked it into her hair and smiled. Closing her eyes once more, Cordy smiled and sighed happily. She thought of her friends from Manhattan. Somehow Mr. Conlon kept popping into her head. She smiled. It was so much easier to think in this delicious clean weather after a nice rain. The breeze fluttered the ruffled hem of her green silk and gauze dress. This was the most peace she had felt in a long time.

Just then Racetrack walked by, halting to see who he could swear was their very own Knickerbockers! He looked closer at the beautiful portrait she created sitting on the bench, eyes closed with a smile on her lips surrounded by lavender lilac blossoms. He almost hated to break the silence.

"Ain't dis da most beautiful sight I evah laid me eyes on," the familiar New York accented voice whispered in awe.

Cordelia's eyes snapped open and there stood the most wonderful thing she could have wished for. It was as if her thoughts had made him appear! She almost burst into tears.

"Racetrack!" she squealed, jumping up and hugging him tightly.

"I t'ought it was me good friend Knicks. I didn't recognize ya at foist. Oh, gosh, Knicks! Don't squeeze me so tight! I ain't da young fella I used ta be."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" She pulled back to see her old friend grinning. "Oh! It's just so good to see you! I've been wishing to see you again! I miss all of you so very much!" Suddenly David's voice carried briefly on the wind. A familiar sudden impulse hit her and made her stomach fill with butterflies. She clutched Race's arm with a frantic look. "Racetrack, you've got to get me out of here. I can't take it anymore!"

"What?"

"I-I can't talk about it now."

"Well, whaddya want me ta do?"

"Just get me away."

"I don't know, Knicks. Yer in a pretty good place now. I wouldn't want ya to be livin' like us newsboys do."

"Cordelia!" David called.

"Oh, my goodness! You've got to get out of here! I can't let him see me with you!"

"Who?"

"My beau!"

"Yer beau?" Racetrack looked puzzled, not piecing together the fact that David could possibly be connected to this situation whatsoever.

"Yes, now please go! I'll find a way to talk to you somehow."

"Awlright. I'll see ya around, Knicks." He brushed her cheek with a brotherly kiss, smiled and slipped away. Cordy had just enough time to regain her composure before David appeared again.

"Oh, good. You're ready to go? The carriage is waiting." She sighed and followed David unhappily.

*~~~~~~~~~~*

A few days later Cordelia and David arrived at the VanCamp home from another outing in the park. Cordy had been unable to spot Racetrack or any other newsy for that matter, making the trip a waste. Inside, her parents were in the study and automatically Cordy went to the library. David followed her nervously. Cordy sat at the couch by the window and as the sun sank smells of the coming dusk filled her nose and she sighed. David knelt in front of her and took her hands, immediately drawing her attention.

"Cordelia, it would be my – my honor if you would be m-my wife." This was totally unexpected to the young girl and her mouth hung open. She had expected at least another two weeks of agony before this horrible day would come!

"I-I, oh, David. I don't know! I-" Images of her father and mother entered her mind. They would be so happy if she said yes, but what about what she wanted? She didn't love David! Quite the contrary! What should she do? "How could I marry such an idiot?" she thought to herself. "We have nothing in common; not to mention he has no passions or feelings. Just dull, dull, dull. And what kind of feelings for me? Just more money in his pocket! He doesn't even love me!" She looked down at the anxious young man and swore she saw dollar signs in his eyes. No, she couldn't. She wouldn't marry this man. "No." David looked taken aback.

"No??"

"No, David. I can't and won't marry you."

"What is the meaning of this?" Cordelia looked up to see her mother and father in the doorway. Mr. VanCamp looked very sternly at his daughter. She realized they had been standing at the door the entire time! "Cordelia Irene VanCamp! You had better have a good explaination as to why you just declined Mr. Jacob's proposal!" The daughter stood with her mouth open as if to say something, but David interrupted, getting to his feet.

"Cordelia, I'm sure you're tired. Please think about it a little more." He left, sadly closing the front door behind him. As soon as it clicked shut, Cordy cried out,

"I don't love him, father!"

"Love? You have just rejected a perfectly eligible young man with a very promising future! I know he will take good care of my daughter and you will LEARN to love him!" Mrs. VanCamp spoke up quietly.

"Cordelia, listen to you father and wipe that look off your face. We want what is best for you and Mr. Jacobs is a very honorable young man."

"This is not what I want! This is what you want. I don't care if he'll be the bank's president someday! I don't care about him at all, and I never will!" Her father's face flushed.

"You will marry him, and that is the last time I am telling you!" he boomed out. "This is my house, I am your father, and you will do as I tell you!" Cordelia, with her face white from anger, scowled to hold back the tears. She brushed pass her parents and up to her room.

"Cordelia, think of what you're doing!" her mother shouted worriedly. It was wasted on deaf, defiant ears.

*~~~~~~~~*

Angrily, Cordelia stuffed her belongings into a large satchel.

"I hate him!" she yelled as she stuffed a skirt into the bag. She was running away from this nightmare. Suddenly all her rebellion took over and she looked for her "newsies cap". She was going to march straight out the door with her hat on, knowing how furious it would make her parents. She looked frantically in drawers, under her bed.

"Where's my blasted hat?" she shouted angrily. "Forget the hat," she thought. "I'm leaving anyway. With or without it." She shut the satchel, ready to leave. On second thought she grabbed her allowance money. It was quite a lot saved up from a few weeks. Finally ready to go, she stomped down the wide staircase for the last time. Strangely her parents were not in sight. All the same Cordelia VanCamp marched proudly out the front door, slamming it behind her, out of the 5th Avenue townhouse, and didn't look back.

*~~~~~~~*

Without really even thinking about where she was walking she found herself heading to the favorite diner of the newsboys, Tibby's. She'd taken the carriage by there a few times just so she could glimpse her friends inside and now she knew the way by heart. It felt good to be free from worrying about what her parents thought. She never had to worry about going back home ever again. As Tibby's rose to her view, her stomach growled, and she remembered the first time she had run away at the young age of 12. It seemed so long ago. It looked crowded, but she stepped in anyway, the doorbells jingling. All the Manhattan newsies were there. Even some she didn't recognize. It looked like a celebration of some sort, for she knew they didn't end up in Tibby's that often. As soon as her gaze fell upon the laughing Spot Conlon her face darkened. No one had noticed her come in because they were half laughing, half groaning at some joke Racetrack was telling. Cordy's eyes never fell away from Spot. Her lost cap came back to her mind and in the mood she was in, placed blame on him. He had to have it. She suddenly remembered, quite awhile ago, the note he had left her telling how she had dropped her cap. She had completely forgotten. Until now.

"All right, Mr. Conlon. You've got my blasted hat, haven't you?" she said loudly, attracting everyone's attention, and silencing the room. At first no one recognized her in her fancy clothes, but Race stood up.

"Knicks! I didn't expect ta see ya so soon! And you came awl da way ovah here by yerself! We -"

"Well?" Cordy interrupted in the dim light. No one threatened, let alone embarrassed Spot Conlon! Suddenly his face clouded over in confusion.

"What da heck are ya tawlkin' about?" Cordy stood there stiffly, anger draining out of her. Her chin suddenly trembled and her eyes spilled over with tears. She collapsed into an empty booth and squeezed her eyes shut. Snipe laughed until someone kicked him.

"Are you okay?" Race asked her.

"Yes. I'll be fine. I just need to sit down for awhile." Quiet talk resumed as Cordy collected her composure, suddenly embarrassed at causing a scene in public and in front of her friends too. Everyone stared at her in concern. Spot spoke up, still a little ruffled.

"You want yer hat? Well, come and get it." He left the diner and the handful of the Brooklyn newsies that were there did too. Pretty soon Tibby himself kicked the newsies out. It was getting late. Knicks picked up her heavy satchel and trudged after the group leaving. Race waited for her to exit Tibby's and took her bag.

"Thank you," she whispered. His kindness gave her a lighter step. They walked in silence with the rowdy guys teasing Jack about some girl. Race burst out all of a sudden.

"Aww, come on, Knicks! You consider me a friend, right? Whatsa mattah?"

"Racetrack, let's not talk about it now. I'm upset and tired and right now I could soak someone." She blushed, realizing she just used an unfamiliar word in her upper class vocabulary. Race kicked a rock dejectedly and it bounced until it hit a curb. Then a smile lit his face. Had she said "soak"? He laughed and slapped her back lightly.

"It does me heart good ta hear you tawlk like dat, little Knicks." She sniffed proudly, embarrassed once more.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Racetrack laughed, trying to hide how heavy her satchel really was. Once they reached the Newsboy's Lodging House, Cordy realized how late it was. Both her and Race were requested to join the poker game, but they declined. Race told the fellas he was going to get Knicks settled someplace. He led her to the Newsgirl's Lodging House of Manhattan. It was very much like the boys, but obviously filled with girls. At this time most were asleep to get up early the next morning. The man, not Kloppman's friendly face at all, greeted them. Race mentioned she needed a bed for a week.

"That'll be $2."

"Two dollars?" Race scoffed. "I don't t'ink so. Let's go, Knicks."

"All right. I figgered I couldn't fool a street rat. 70 cents and it's yours." He looked the scowling Italian up and down.

"Yer not plannin' on staying da night are ya? If ya got a problem you can look outside at da sign on da buildin'." Cordy butted in.

"Of course he's not staying. He has his own place." She put the money on the counter and the man got up to show Knicks the room. He looked at Knicks up and down, but in an entirely different way than he had looked at Race. The girl turned to the frowning boy. "Well, Mr. Higgins, thank you so much. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah." He leaned to whisper into her ear. "If you need anythin', any help, any time, day or night, please let any of us guys know. Okay?"

"You don't need to worry about me," she whispered back. Race left reluctantly. He felt as if something was not right, suspicion written all over his face.

"Come on!" the man growled. He led her upstairs to a room full of bunk beds, and hammocks with sleeping girls. Only a few were empty. He showed her a bed. "Wake time is 6 a.m., sweetheart," and he closed the door. She was left all alone in a dark dingy smelling room with unfamiliar people. Knicks dropped her satchel at the side of her bed and collapsed into the lumpy bed.

*~~~~~~~*

The next morning Knicks awoke to loud whispering. She sat up. Her satchel lay open with her clothes strewn all over the end of the bed. Girls in ratty nightgowns, mussed hair, and dirty faces examined Cordy's clothes by pinching them with two fingers, sniffing them, feeling them. Suddenly they realized the rich girl was awake and staring. Most of the newsgirls young and old alike sneered. One with long dark hair in two plaits stood tall over Knicks' bed.

"Run away, rich goil?" Another with a short dirty blonde mass of matted curls swore at her.

"What's da headline gonna be taday?" She continued in a high pitched voice, holding a pair of Cordelia VanCamp's drawers to her waist, prancing around the room. "My daddy makes too much money, so I took his money and ran!" Everyone laughed cruelly and the drawers were tossed onto the floor. Just then a deep voice called from downstairs.

"Five minutes, goils!" Everyone rushed to the bathroom leaving Knicks in a pile of clothes. Then just as fast, they were down the stairs and off to sell papers. When Knicks thought she was alone, she slowly started to pick up and fold her clothes into her satchel. She was having a terrible start to her knew life as a newsy. A scuffling sound made her look up. A tall skinny girl with a braid of wildy curly red hair, a cap, and some cut off shorts with a baggy shirt and a roughly patched coat stopped and stared at Cordy.

"I took too long in da bat'room. Dey always leave me. I'm Firecracker," she smiled. "You must be dat new rich goil." Cordelia sighed.

"Yes, I don't think they like me too well. By the way, I'm Cordel- I mean Knicks."

"Nice to meetcha, Knicks. Don't mind dose goils. Dere nice, really. Ravi wit' da short blonde hair is a liddle snot. Smalls had dat long dark hair, she's da leadah here. She's rough, but once ya get used ta her, she's awl right." A voice belonging to the afore mentioned Smalls called from the street.

"Fire! Dey ain't gonna have any papes left if ya don't hurry it up!"

"I gotta go," the girl turned and clattered down the stairs. Knicks sighed and sank onto her bed.

"Was this whole thing a good idea at all?" she questioned to herself. "Well, this is what I've always wanted to do. Can't back out now." She bent down and pulled from her satchel her only money in the whole world. On an impulse she counted it to make sure it was all there. It was. Exactly $53.67. She looked around the room now that it was daylight. It was grimy, with peeling wallpaper. Wind whistled in the cracks around the half broken windows. She heard some scurrying in a dark dusty corner. It was disgusting here! "And I'm living here?" she asked herself out loud.

"What, you don't like it here?" a voice sounded from the open doorway. Startled, Knicks stood up quickly, all her money fluttering and clinking to the floor. It was the man from downstairs. He smiled. "Any way I can make it more comfortable for you?" The big grizzly man advanced toward her.

"N-no thank you, sir." He stoked her hair and rested his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure, sweetheart?"

"Let go of me," Knicks whispered, trembling.

"Aww, sweetie, let Uncle Terry take care of ya."

"No, let me go!" He gripped her arms tightly, a wild look in his eyes that frightened the girl. He tried to kiss her, and she struggled making him tear her dress. "No!" she screamed. "No! No!" Frantically, she bit his arm and stomped on his foot with all her strength. When he let go with howls and curses of pain, she dashed out of that terrible room, down the stairs and out onto the street, tears streaming down her face. She stumbled down the sidewalk, avoiding people and into an alley. She tripped and fell into a heap of rotting garbage. Scared, cold, and with none of her belongings except the clothes she wore, she curled up and sobbed the morning away.

*~~~~~~~*

"Knicks! What're ya doin' here?" She looked up to see an astonished Boots. "Oh, my -" he stopped in shock. At his reaction the poor girl started to cry again, making Boots react quickly. He dropped his papers, and helped her up. "Oh, Knicks, what happened?" He put his arm around her and helped her out of the alley. She tried to talk around her tears.

"I - slept at the - house - and my clothes and money are gone...a man - tried to...tried to -" She stopped and sobbed uncontrollably, trembling. Boots was horrified.

"Let's getcha ta our place. Yer gonna be okay. You hear me?" She nodded weakly. "We won't let no one hurt ya. Yer gonna be okay," he murmured softly the whole way back to the Newsboys Lodging House. Boots took Knicks up to the bunkroom and tucked her in a bed with all the blankets he could find. And while Kloppman tried to get the girl to eat, Boots ran to find Racetrack and Jack. With Jack found they went to find Race. They found him in Central Park sellin' his papes.

"Race!" Boots ran up to him breathless.

"What?" he looked a little annoyed.

"It's - it's Knicks!"

"What? What happened?"

"She's real bad off." Jack and Boots looked sad.

"Where is she? What happened?"

"She's at our lodgin' house. Da guy at da goils lodgin' house tried ta -" Before Jack could finish Racetrack had abandoned his papes and rushed off. The two boys followed. Race appeared at the door to see Kloppman still trying to feed Knicks the hot soup. Kloppman looked up.

"Look at her. Still curled up and won't eat a drop." The young Italian kneeled at the side of the bed. The girl looked at him with haunted eyes. He took her hand.

"Knicks! My liddle Knicks! What did he do to ya?" His face was suddenly pale and pained. Tears trembled in the girl's eyes.

"Do - do I have to go back?"

"No!" he cried. "Nevah, nevah." He laid his head onto her hand. "It's awl me fault. It's awl me fault!" Jack and Boots appeared at the door, surprised at the scene.

"Race is a little more emotional den I've seen him before," Jack remarked in a whisper to Boots.

"Kinda makes ya t'ink."

"Yeh."

"He's head ovah heels, Jack."

"It would seem dat way," and cleared his throat. Race looked up. A fire lept into his ashen face. At first he spoke in a whisper, but it rose into a shout.

"Dat bastard. I'll soak him so bad. I'm gonna kill dat fat %*@$!" He lept to his feet.

"Yer right, Race. Let's soak some scab!" cried Jack and Boots with sudden anger and raced out of the room. Knicks stared into space and whimpered quietly.

*~~~~~~~*

Knicks slept fitfully the whole day and wouldn't eat a thing. She wondered sleepily where all the newsies were. Then just as it got dark all the Manhattan newsies trudged in. The younger boys chatted excitedly as they filed into the bunkroom. Then in came the older boys. There was not one of them that didn't have some sort of bruise, scratch, fat lip, swollen eye, or bloody nose; all except Racetrack. He marched in with a sullen satisfaction. By this time Knicks was sitting up in bed and looking and feeling much better after the rest and peace.

"Oh! What happened?" she cried. Snitch told the whole story while the wounded boys found a place and gingerly sat down. Race sat next to Cordy's bed and smiled at nothing in particular.

"See when Jack, Race, and Boots left here they came and found all of us boys. They told us what happened and boy were we mad!" Snipeshooter piped up.

"Yeh, and we went to da Goil's -" Snitch kicked him.

"Shaddup. I'm telling it. So, as soon as we got everyone together we headed to da Newsgoil's Lodgin' House."

"So dere we were, 100 of us and -"

"Shaddup already, Snipe! So we goes stormin' inta dere and come ta find out da guy in charge dere had a few buddies over fer poker. You shoulda seen da look on dere faces! Dey stood up and boy were dey huge!" Snipe sniffed.

"Dey wasn't dat big."

"So we starts cussin' at 'im and before we know what's happenin' Race flies at da guy, Terry his name was, and then da rest of us joined in. Dose big guys gave us a pretty heavy soakin', but you shoulda seen THEM."

"But is everyone okay?" Cordy looked around at the black and blue, bleeding boys with a worried look.

"Oh, yeh." Snitch replied cheerfully, sporting a black eye himself. "But Race here - not a scratch."

"It was da most amazing t'ing I evah saw," Jack said respectfully, checking out his bloody nose with a broken mirror.

"Yeh," Snitch continuted. "Boy was he fightin' bad. Dey couldn't touch 'im. Da sad t'ing is..we found out dat what dat guy tried ta do ta you, he's gotten away wit' dat wit' dose uddah goils at da lodgin' house. A few of dem walked in when we was fightin' dem and dey pitched in a bit. Dey weren't too fond of dat Terry guy demselves."

"Oh, my goodness. You boys are so brave! Thank you. I'm just sorry all of you got hurt." Boots spoke up.

"We got a few of yer t'ings back." He held up her satchel. Upon inspection they had salvaged most of her clothes, but the money was gone. Obviously gone to a poker game. Seeing her fancy clothes Jack spoke up carefully.

"Knicks, dose clothes ain't fit fer da street life. Somethin' like dis could happen to ya again if you go wanderin' da streets in dose fancy dresses. If you like you can borrow some of our clothes until we can getcha a proper dress."

"All right," Cordy blushed thinking of the first time she ran away in some boy's clothes. She'd never worn pants since. The thought of wearing pants at her age was so scandilous that she blushed furiously. Just at this time Fire and Smalls from the Newsgirls' Lodging House walked in arguing about something they had heard from a newsgirl. Smalls spoke up.

"Jack! Is it true? We hoid dat dere was a brawl at da goil's lodgin' house!" All the boys started speaking at once and this time Snipe got to tell the story, in which the details got stretched a bit, but no one said anything. Knicks interrupted, astonished.

"Firecracker, Smalls, you know these boys?" Everyone laughed. Most newsies in Manhattan were acquainted in one way or another. Fire looked concerned.

"Knicks! I'm so sorry dat happened to ya! Someone shoulda said somethin' to ya, but awl of us are pretty scared of Terry. He beats us if we tell on him to da new goils." Smalls spoke up.

"Who took her over dere?" Race's face crumpled and he hid his face in his hands.

"It's awl my fault!"

"No, Racetrack! You couldn't have known! It's not your fault!" Knicks got up and hugged him. The room was silent and staring.

"Are you seein' what I'm seein'?" Kid Blink asked Mush.

"Uh- yeh I t'ink so."

"Who woulda thought..Race and our little Knicks." Cordy hugged Racetrack tight, hearing what Blink and Mush had said and wondered if it was true. All she had ever considered Race as was a friend, almost a brother. She blushed imagining the difference. Shaking her head she pulled away. Smalls cleared her throat.

"Knicks, I hate ta say it, but you look like crap." Knicks laughed. "I'm sure I do." Jack jumped to his feet, holding a dirty handkerchief to his still bleeding nose.

"I'll get ya some clothes." Cordy took the shirt, pants and suspenders that Jack handed her and went to the washroom. She closed herself in a stall and stared at the clothes. What was she to do? She'd never been without her corset in her life! After 15 minutes and Knicks still hadn't appeared Fire wandered in.

"Knicks, ya didn't flush yerself ta Jersey didja?"

"No."

"Well what's da problem?" The embarrassed girl whispered her problem and Fire laughed her head off. "Don't ya worry about it, Knicks. Da boys won't know da difference. No one will even notice! Just hurry and get dressed, we're heading ta Tibby's and we're gonna treat ya to a meal!" Cordy, with pink cheeks, dressed and wandered out of the bathroom. She was sure that everyone was going to stare, but they didn't. Most were engaged in their own conversation. Only Racetrack walked up to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"Now dat's more like it! Just like I remember ya from dat foist time Jack found ya!" Knicks blushed.

"It's been so long," she replied awkwardly.

"Long since what?" Boots spoke up.

"Since- since I wore pants!" she wailed hiding her face and almost crying. Everyone started laughing.

"Don't worry, Knicks!" Smalls laughed. "You look great! Just like a true newsy!" This made the girl feel better, but she was glad when the attention was taken from her and focused on the trip to Tibby's. She was also pleased that Smalls was being nice to her, much different from their first meeting. The group was talking very noisily when it entered the diner, and didn't see the trouble heading their way. Racetrack was telling some off color joke which everyone was moaning at, when they heard the voice.

"Dere dey are, dose little street scums!" and 3 huge men, including Terry from the girl's lodging house stood towering over them. Snipeshooter who wasn't paying attention almost crashed headlong into one of Terry's comrads. Cordelia froze in fear, and the group of newsies were silenced.

"Well look at we got here," Race started, but Jack told him to shut up. One of the big goons, Moe, spoke up smashing his fist into his palm.

"Looks like we got some business ta take care of before supper." Some of the boys moaned, recalling earlier injuries. Then just as Moe lunged the newsies scattered, running out of Tibby's and into nearby alleys and hiding places they knew all too well. Knicks stood, paralyzed with fear. Flashbacks of that morning came to her and she just couldn't move.

"Knicks!! Knicks, get outta dere!" In the rush, Racetrack had been shoved out the door, but he fought though the crowd of escaping newsies to get to the girl. He grabbed her, dragged her out of the diner, and she stumbled behind him until he dragged her behind an empty barrel and some crates. The huge men were nowhere to be seen, but Cordy nonetheless was shivering from fright. Racetrack hugged her tight. "Knicks, my little Knicks, it'll be okay. I ain't gonna let dem get ya. Calm down. It's gonna be okay." He stroked her hair, and she sobbed into his vest. Racetrack stared into the alleyway, swearing he wouldn't rest until these men were brought down.

After about half an hour, the newsies of Manhattan slowly trickled back to the lodging house. Once they were all gathered, they started a plan of action. Jack, as always, would lead.

"I say it's numbers that are important." He spoke importantly. "The more people we've got ta fight, da more places we can hoit dem. I know most of da goils from da lodging house would be glad ta join in, dey hate Terry's guts." Snipeshooter spoke up.

"What about Brooklyn?" Jack looked at him, annoyed.

"Dis ain't none of Spot's business. If we can't take care of t'ree goons, what's dat sayin' ta Spot, huh Snipe?" Snipeshooter scowled and left the room. As the plans were being layed, Cordelia grew angrier and angrier. The ways of the streets were to fight, but the ways of society was money. And she knew exactly what to do. Jack was right in the middle of a battle plan when Cordelia spoke up.

"I'm going home." Race looked up, shocked.

"What? But you said you couldn't go back!" The hard look on the girl's face softened.

"Just trust me. I have a plan, and I think it'll work. I don't want you boys to fight, but if that's what you feel you have to do, then do it, but I have some connections, and I'm going to use them." Jack stared at Knicks, interested in finding out if her plan was better than his.

"What's that?" Cordy lifted her head and smiled.

"Boys, it's called money."

To Be Continuted……….