Chapter Five: The Run Aways
A few days had past since the murders of James and Lillian Evins. The twins were adjusting to there new lives. Every thing seemed to be going well or so they thought that every thing was going well.
Eric and Hayden had been running off and getting into a lot of trouble. They wondered around the docks. Hayden pulled out his slingshot, "Have you ever thought about being a newsie?" He picked up a small round pebble from the ground and loaded his slingshot.
"Yeah, if we were newsies we could say gonna and not be corrected." Eric said as he pulled out his slingshot. The two of them had bought the slingshots with some money that Eric had gotten for his birthday. Mr. Conlon had found out that the two of them had bought the slingshots and confiscated them. Mr. Conlon said that only 'street rats' carried them around, "And we could us are slingshots."
The boys had snuck into the study the night that Mr. Conlon had taken the slingshots from them. They searched high and low for their slingshots. They had finally found them in the big desk drawer, "We can go any where we wanted to." Hayden added, "Plus we can get dirty and not get yelled at for it."
The two boys aimed their slingshots towards the windows of and abandoned factory, "Count of three." Eric said, "1…2…3" They released the slingshots. The two stones came in contacted with the windows and they shattered. As soon as they hit the sound of whistles and running feet filled the quiet street.
"Cheese it!" Hayden shouted as the two of them took off down the street. They weaved in and out of people on the streets, knocking over groceries, packages, and people. They ducked into a near by alley. Eric plopped down on the ground behind some crates. Hayden stood on his toes and looked over the crates. He ducked down quickly when the bulls ran past the alley. Then he leaned against the wall and slid to the ground next to Eric. The two of them didn't say anything till they caught their breath.
"That was fun!" Eric said finally.
"Yeah…." Hayden nodded in agreement, "Hey I was wondering if you want to come with me tonight?" Hayden asked.
"Where are you going?" Eric asked looking over at his best friend.
"To be a newsie." Spot said in a where-else-would-I-be-going tone. Eric looked at Hayden as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing, "So?" He drew out the 'so'. Eric thought about it. The thought of freedom and going where ever they wanted appealed to him. Hayden was looking at Eric waiting for his response.
"Alright, I'll go with you." Eric finally said.
"Great, I have a friend name Liam Doyle he's da leader of the Brooklyn newsies, but first…." Hayden stood up and looked around the alley. When he didn't find what he was looking for he ran out of the alley. Eric stood up and followed him.
