Around lunchtime all the Duane Street newsies were gathered in Tibby's, all
murmuring "what they'd heard" about Jack's big meeting. Boots, panicked,
had even hightailed it to Brooklyn to fetch Spot. Rumors were flying and
when Jack pushed open Tibby's door with Les at his side he was greeted with
half a dozen different questions:
"Why you leaving us, Jack?" "What sort of job did you get?" "Who left you the money?" "Who killed Davey?" "Did you really soak both Delancys dead?" "Why are you marrying Sarah?"
At this last question Jack gave several odd looks to the excited newsie. As Spot pushed his way to the front he asked, "So Jackie-Boy, whats this I hear about you leaving your boys in my hands?" Jack finished the spitshake with him and quirked his eyebrow up. "I don't know what you're hearing Spot, but all the same I'm glad you're here, maybe you can help me."
Jack jumped up on a table and waved his arms for the newsies to settle down. Finally he stuck two fingers in his mouth and gave a loud, piercing whistle. The room fell silent and Jack cleared his throat, "Thank you all for coming, now, despite what you have heard, the reason I'm here is to ask all of you for help for some friends of ours." He put his hands on Les' shoulders and brought him to the attention of everyone present. "Davey was soaked last night by a couple of guys..." at the shouts of anger, Jack whistled again, "guys who you will leave to my capable hands." There were a few chuckles in the audience. "However," he continued, "Les would like you guys to keep your eyes open for a girl who helped the two of them last night. If you see her, just come tell me." Bringing Les up on the table he said, "Tell them, Les."
"She's real short, brown hair, brown eyes, and a good fighter," Les said breathlessly.
Racetrack cracked, "You want us looking for every girl in New York? Les you got to give us something more."
Les thought for a moment, then blurted out, "She's got two scars, one right here," he said, holding his fingers between the corner of his eye and his hairline, "and the other one here," he drew a finger from the back of his hand across to the middle of his forearm. He eagerly looked out at the sea of newsies for a gleam of recognition. None of the guys seemed to recognize the description and they went about ordering their lunches. Les looked so crestfallen that Race and Kid Blink started a small food fight to distract his attention.
Jack was just about to join in when he felt a hard tap on his shoulder, he turned to see Spot standing behind him solemnly. "Let's take a walk, Jack," he said, and Jack nodded, curiosity piqued. They walked a little way towards Horace Greeley when Spot suddenly turned and whipped his cane across Jack's chest, holding it there. "You don't want to find this girl, Jack."
"Why not?" Jack exclaimed, "She saved Davey!"
"I don't know why," Spot replied, "this girl lives by the rules of the street and to do something like this is bound to be bigger than you know."
"Who is she?" asked Jack, confused.
Spot sighed, "You ever heard of Ice?" he asked grimly.
"Bits and pieces," replied Jack, "He's a loner, a decent fighter, and mainly in Brooklyn, although he's been know to pop up everywhere."
"Yeah, well," replied Spot with a half-grin, "he is a she, more specifically, he is your she." Spot pushed his hat back and ruffled his hair, "Awhile back I caught her, unknown to me and dressed as a guy, working down by the docks and when my boys approached "him" for his name, he ignored them. So naturally they told him to fight."
Jack remained silent, Spot kept a tighter reign on Brooklyn than he did on Manhattan so "naturally" was a different opinion for him. He turned his attention back to Spot's story.
"He shows up on time, not earlier or later, without any help from my boys, and still doesn't speak, even to me!" Spot looked offended at the memory. Jack contained his grin. "Anyways, I get a little angry and tell him he's going to fight me. Still no reaction from him. And this being when I didn't have such a good control of my temper, you understand, so I start out pretty hot. This guy isn't real good, an' he's far from bad, but he's hard to hit, him being so small an' all..."
Jack broke in, "You didn't lose, did ya Spot?"
"Of course not!" Spot looked shocked that the thought had even occurred, "But the point is, Jack, she didn't say a thing the whole time, not in anger, not in pain, nothing. She stayed completely cool the whole time."
"So what happened?" Jack asked .
"Well, when I found out he was a she, I stopped soaking her, but even then she still wouldn't say a word. She wouldn't let us help her either, just got to her feet and struggled away. She works around Brooklyn , doing whatever, never heard about her being with anybody. My guys leave her alone 'cause she don't start nothing with us, but she's a strong fighter, been on the streets as long as anyone can remember." Spot shook his head, "All I can say, Jack, is leave her alone, she doesn't want anybody."
"Maybe this is what she needs to help her," Jack said, "you said yourself that saving Davey was out of character for her, maybe she just needs help! We can't just give up on her!"
"There is no "we" in this," snapped Spot, "You heard how I met her, now here's another story for you." He spit the words out harshly. "You heard about what happened to my guy, Clack?" Jack shook his head and Spot continued. "Clack got into some trouble with a couple of rum-runners for sneaking into their stash and one night they caught up to him. They dragged him into an old building and soaked him good. She'd been sleeping in the building and watched the whole thing, just watched it!" Spot shouted angrily. "Then she gets a couple of my guys to come after the runners have left and 'remove him from her building'. I found her there later, asked why she hadn't done anything and all she says to me is "Never get involved if it's not your fight and always be able to take what you earn."
Jack nodded, recognizing two rules by which street kids lived. He raised an eyebrow at Spot who had calmed from his tirade and finally shrugged his shoulders sighing. He said, "My boys and I leave hear alone, she leaves us alone. But I got to warn you Jack, you guys owe her now and if this girl ever decides to collect, you're in big trouble" With that parting shot, Spot stuck his hat jauntily on his head, felt for his slingshot in his back pocket, and walked away; whistling and cane swinging.
Jack was completely floored. Les' "angel" had turned out to be anything but, he'd already sent his boys out with her on their minds, and, worst of all, he was getting that niggling feeling that he, out of the entire world, could help her. "No" he told himself viciously, "you will not get involved with this one. Play by her rules, the rules she lives by and so do you!" He mentally flayed himself all the while he chased down Spot and got a list of her most common haunts. As he walked back to the distribution center he vowed to forget them and as he walked down the streets of New York to each and every one he ordered his feet to turn around. After finding them all devoid of his quarry Jack finished selling his papers and returned to the Lodging House. That night he told himself he'd tried, thus fulfilling his promise to Les and could therefore drop the whole search. Until Snaps told him he'd seen her working in the gardens of a park about six blocks away. The next day Jack justified breaking his solemn vows to himself by saying he might as well make all his effort worth it.
Snaps pointed towards a girl with a burn crossing upwards over her temple and corner of her forehead digging rose gardens for the Mayor's park "beautification" project. She seemed completely concentrated on the job in front of her, but when Jack was six feet away she said calmly and without missing a beat in her digging, "What do you want?"
Jack sighed, this should be interesting, "Ice?" he asked.
"What do you want, Cowboy?" the girl replied coldly, still ignoring Jack for the roses.
"You saved two of my boys the other night "
She finally looked up, "So?"
"So why?" Jack squatted down, level to her, and spoke softly, "I know your rep, why'd ya do it?"
Ice looked Jack in the eyes, cold and unyielding meeting warm and open, "You and your boys owe me one." Seeing Jack tense she continued, "so now I'm calling it in, all of you leave me alone. Don't get involved with me, don't confront me. Deal?"
Jack grinned wryly and shook his head, "Wish it were that simple, but you made enemies because of us, which means we got to look out for you."
"I can look out for my..." She began
"And," Jack interrupted, "There's a ten-year-old boy who wants to thank the "angel" who saved him two nights ago. So" he said firmly, "You come and see him, just once, and I'll tell my boys to leave you completely alone, even with the Delancys."
Ice looked up at him and he could see her mind working. "No deal." She said finally, "and if your boys do interfere, I'll just soak them after I'm through with whatever situation they've interfered in."
"But then you'd be up against Manhattan as well as the Delancy brothers and your policy is invisibility. You soak my guys and you've got a whole lot of enemies, probably Brooklyn as well." Jack felt extremely satisfied with himself, having maneuvered her between his rock and hard place as he stood, intending to finish this deal and leave.
She smiled a cold, humorless...no, less than humorless: dead, smile and replied, "Except for the fact that you owe me. And if you become my enemy after refusing my request which would discharge your debt...your honor on the street becomes worthless." She gave a snort, standing to reveal just how short she really was. She was about 5 feet tall, not even as tall as Jack's shoulder. Yet she exuded an aura of confidence. Not arrogance that no one would try to take her on, just confidence that she could emerge alive from a fight if they did. Jack snapped his attention back to what she was saying. "....not even Brooklyn would stand with you." She finished and crossed her arms over her chest. Jack was floored. Again. She was right; he'd forgotten the reason this whole mess started. They owed her.
He sighed, "Fine, we won't protect you." They spitshook on it and she went back to digging. Luckily for Jack, she'd turned away too quickly to see a cocky grin cross his face. He left the park as quickly as he could and sped over to Brooklyn. He'd said they wouldn't protect her, but..
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"Why you leaving us, Jack?" "What sort of job did you get?" "Who left you the money?" "Who killed Davey?" "Did you really soak both Delancys dead?" "Why are you marrying Sarah?"
At this last question Jack gave several odd looks to the excited newsie. As Spot pushed his way to the front he asked, "So Jackie-Boy, whats this I hear about you leaving your boys in my hands?" Jack finished the spitshake with him and quirked his eyebrow up. "I don't know what you're hearing Spot, but all the same I'm glad you're here, maybe you can help me."
Jack jumped up on a table and waved his arms for the newsies to settle down. Finally he stuck two fingers in his mouth and gave a loud, piercing whistle. The room fell silent and Jack cleared his throat, "Thank you all for coming, now, despite what you have heard, the reason I'm here is to ask all of you for help for some friends of ours." He put his hands on Les' shoulders and brought him to the attention of everyone present. "Davey was soaked last night by a couple of guys..." at the shouts of anger, Jack whistled again, "guys who you will leave to my capable hands." There were a few chuckles in the audience. "However," he continued, "Les would like you guys to keep your eyes open for a girl who helped the two of them last night. If you see her, just come tell me." Bringing Les up on the table he said, "Tell them, Les."
"She's real short, brown hair, brown eyes, and a good fighter," Les said breathlessly.
Racetrack cracked, "You want us looking for every girl in New York? Les you got to give us something more."
Les thought for a moment, then blurted out, "She's got two scars, one right here," he said, holding his fingers between the corner of his eye and his hairline, "and the other one here," he drew a finger from the back of his hand across to the middle of his forearm. He eagerly looked out at the sea of newsies for a gleam of recognition. None of the guys seemed to recognize the description and they went about ordering their lunches. Les looked so crestfallen that Race and Kid Blink started a small food fight to distract his attention.
Jack was just about to join in when he felt a hard tap on his shoulder, he turned to see Spot standing behind him solemnly. "Let's take a walk, Jack," he said, and Jack nodded, curiosity piqued. They walked a little way towards Horace Greeley when Spot suddenly turned and whipped his cane across Jack's chest, holding it there. "You don't want to find this girl, Jack."
"Why not?" Jack exclaimed, "She saved Davey!"
"I don't know why," Spot replied, "this girl lives by the rules of the street and to do something like this is bound to be bigger than you know."
"Who is she?" asked Jack, confused.
Spot sighed, "You ever heard of Ice?" he asked grimly.
"Bits and pieces," replied Jack, "He's a loner, a decent fighter, and mainly in Brooklyn, although he's been know to pop up everywhere."
"Yeah, well," replied Spot with a half-grin, "he is a she, more specifically, he is your she." Spot pushed his hat back and ruffled his hair, "Awhile back I caught her, unknown to me and dressed as a guy, working down by the docks and when my boys approached "him" for his name, he ignored them. So naturally they told him to fight."
Jack remained silent, Spot kept a tighter reign on Brooklyn than he did on Manhattan so "naturally" was a different opinion for him. He turned his attention back to Spot's story.
"He shows up on time, not earlier or later, without any help from my boys, and still doesn't speak, even to me!" Spot looked offended at the memory. Jack contained his grin. "Anyways, I get a little angry and tell him he's going to fight me. Still no reaction from him. And this being when I didn't have such a good control of my temper, you understand, so I start out pretty hot. This guy isn't real good, an' he's far from bad, but he's hard to hit, him being so small an' all..."
Jack broke in, "You didn't lose, did ya Spot?"
"Of course not!" Spot looked shocked that the thought had even occurred, "But the point is, Jack, she didn't say a thing the whole time, not in anger, not in pain, nothing. She stayed completely cool the whole time."
"So what happened?" Jack asked .
"Well, when I found out he was a she, I stopped soaking her, but even then she still wouldn't say a word. She wouldn't let us help her either, just got to her feet and struggled away. She works around Brooklyn , doing whatever, never heard about her being with anybody. My guys leave her alone 'cause she don't start nothing with us, but she's a strong fighter, been on the streets as long as anyone can remember." Spot shook his head, "All I can say, Jack, is leave her alone, she doesn't want anybody."
"Maybe this is what she needs to help her," Jack said, "you said yourself that saving Davey was out of character for her, maybe she just needs help! We can't just give up on her!"
"There is no "we" in this," snapped Spot, "You heard how I met her, now here's another story for you." He spit the words out harshly. "You heard about what happened to my guy, Clack?" Jack shook his head and Spot continued. "Clack got into some trouble with a couple of rum-runners for sneaking into their stash and one night they caught up to him. They dragged him into an old building and soaked him good. She'd been sleeping in the building and watched the whole thing, just watched it!" Spot shouted angrily. "Then she gets a couple of my guys to come after the runners have left and 'remove him from her building'. I found her there later, asked why she hadn't done anything and all she says to me is "Never get involved if it's not your fight and always be able to take what you earn."
Jack nodded, recognizing two rules by which street kids lived. He raised an eyebrow at Spot who had calmed from his tirade and finally shrugged his shoulders sighing. He said, "My boys and I leave hear alone, she leaves us alone. But I got to warn you Jack, you guys owe her now and if this girl ever decides to collect, you're in big trouble" With that parting shot, Spot stuck his hat jauntily on his head, felt for his slingshot in his back pocket, and walked away; whistling and cane swinging.
Jack was completely floored. Les' "angel" had turned out to be anything but, he'd already sent his boys out with her on their minds, and, worst of all, he was getting that niggling feeling that he, out of the entire world, could help her. "No" he told himself viciously, "you will not get involved with this one. Play by her rules, the rules she lives by and so do you!" He mentally flayed himself all the while he chased down Spot and got a list of her most common haunts. As he walked back to the distribution center he vowed to forget them and as he walked down the streets of New York to each and every one he ordered his feet to turn around. After finding them all devoid of his quarry Jack finished selling his papers and returned to the Lodging House. That night he told himself he'd tried, thus fulfilling his promise to Les and could therefore drop the whole search. Until Snaps told him he'd seen her working in the gardens of a park about six blocks away. The next day Jack justified breaking his solemn vows to himself by saying he might as well make all his effort worth it.
Snaps pointed towards a girl with a burn crossing upwards over her temple and corner of her forehead digging rose gardens for the Mayor's park "beautification" project. She seemed completely concentrated on the job in front of her, but when Jack was six feet away she said calmly and without missing a beat in her digging, "What do you want?"
Jack sighed, this should be interesting, "Ice?" he asked.
"What do you want, Cowboy?" the girl replied coldly, still ignoring Jack for the roses.
"You saved two of my boys the other night "
She finally looked up, "So?"
"So why?" Jack squatted down, level to her, and spoke softly, "I know your rep, why'd ya do it?"
Ice looked Jack in the eyes, cold and unyielding meeting warm and open, "You and your boys owe me one." Seeing Jack tense she continued, "so now I'm calling it in, all of you leave me alone. Don't get involved with me, don't confront me. Deal?"
Jack grinned wryly and shook his head, "Wish it were that simple, but you made enemies because of us, which means we got to look out for you."
"I can look out for my..." She began
"And," Jack interrupted, "There's a ten-year-old boy who wants to thank the "angel" who saved him two nights ago. So" he said firmly, "You come and see him, just once, and I'll tell my boys to leave you completely alone, even with the Delancys."
Ice looked up at him and he could see her mind working. "No deal." She said finally, "and if your boys do interfere, I'll just soak them after I'm through with whatever situation they've interfered in."
"But then you'd be up against Manhattan as well as the Delancy brothers and your policy is invisibility. You soak my guys and you've got a whole lot of enemies, probably Brooklyn as well." Jack felt extremely satisfied with himself, having maneuvered her between his rock and hard place as he stood, intending to finish this deal and leave.
She smiled a cold, humorless...no, less than humorless: dead, smile and replied, "Except for the fact that you owe me. And if you become my enemy after refusing my request which would discharge your debt...your honor on the street becomes worthless." She gave a snort, standing to reveal just how short she really was. She was about 5 feet tall, not even as tall as Jack's shoulder. Yet she exuded an aura of confidence. Not arrogance that no one would try to take her on, just confidence that she could emerge alive from a fight if they did. Jack snapped his attention back to what she was saying. "....not even Brooklyn would stand with you." She finished and crossed her arms over her chest. Jack was floored. Again. She was right; he'd forgotten the reason this whole mess started. They owed her.
He sighed, "Fine, we won't protect you." They spitshook on it and she went back to digging. Luckily for Jack, she'd turned away too quickly to see a cocky grin cross his face. He left the park as quickly as he could and sped over to Brooklyn. He'd said they wouldn't protect her, but..
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