Chapter 9
Ashlee and Kaitlin were the first to the distribution center, although it was already closed. "They should open soon," Kaitlin remarked. "Everybody needs to sell early, and it's already light out."
Ashlee nodded, and they went to stand in line. After about twenty minutes, the newsies began to show up. She turned so that she was facing the distribution center, and no one would see her black eye, or the cut on her arm, or any of her bruises. Kaitlin followed in example, and they both bought their papers hurriedly, trying not to look at anyone.
On their way out the gates, they saw Jack and Racetrack walking straight towards them. "Let's go out this way," Kaitlin suggested pointing to the other exit.
"Hey goils!" Jack called out. "How's it rollin'?"
"Oh fine, just fine," Ashlee answered, lucky that the two newsies were still far away and could not see her black eye.
Kaitlin leaned over and whispered, "So much for pretending nothing happened, they're obviously going to notice..." she said as the two got closer. "So how are you?" she asked them, pretending nothing was wrong.
"Good headlines today," Ashlee remarked, since she couldn't think of anything else to say.
"What happened?" Jack demanded as soon as he saw Ashlee and Kaitlin.
"Nothing really, just decided to practice our fighting skills," Kaitlin answered.
"Yeah right," Racetrack said, "what the heck happened? And what's that?" he asked pointing to the note from Christian she had shoved in her pocket.
"Oh that's nothing," Ashlee responded for Kaitlin, "She's holding it for me, it's a letter to a friend back in Jersey."
Jack narrowed his eyes, "Did this have something to do with that gang you told us about?"
"Fine, we had a little run in with him, here you can read it yourself, but it wasn't bad, honest," Kaitlin said pulling out the piece of paper and handing it to Jack, who read it quickly and then handed it to Racetrack.
He glared at them, "You should have told me, I thought we were in this together!!!"
Ashlee looked down, and suddenly got interested in reading the headlines. Kaitlin sighed, "Well, we are...or were... but it was late, we weren't thinking right, and the note kind of scared us! Gosh! Christian has been following us, and watching us the whole time! He knows that you wanted to get involved! They're dangerous...maybe it would just be better to go back to Jersey and leave the Newsies out of it."
Ashlee's head shot up, "No way am I going back to that hole in Jersey. They're going to have to kill me here if they're going to do it... Anyway, Jack...they wanted us to steal from Kloppman , and I wouldn't go for it, so I punched Christian. Then chaos broke loose, and Kaitlin was preoccupied with Matt and Chris while I dealt with Christian. Not one of my better ideas, but I was pretty ticked by that time... Anyway, I think it would be better if the Newsies just let us deal with it. Christian was right, slingshots aren't going to harm "The Liberty" that much. The gang is ruthless, and unmerciful. They'll kill anyone who gets in the way without a second thought. I'm sorry we brought you into it."
Racetrack made a weird face, and protested, "You didn't bring us in! We want to help ya! So just stop bein' so darned stubborn an' let us 'elp ya! Alright?"
Jack nodded, "Yeah, aftah we sell our papes, lets go ta Brooklyn and see Conlon. I think he needs ta know what's goin' on, and what happened wid ya two last night. Which wasn't a smaht idea! Goin' ta see dose guys by yourselves."
Ashlee shrugged, "At least we let them know we're not going down without a fight."
Kaitlin nodded, "Well, we'd better get a move on or else there's going to be no good selling spots left. See you guys later. We'll be up with you again at Tibby's around noon, alright?"
Race nodded, "Alright. But ya shoah ya don't want us ta sell wid ya?"
Ashlee shook her head, "Nah, that's alright. It's better not to sell with more then one another person anyway..."
"Ok, den. We'll see ya latah. Take care, and stay away from dat Christian dude!"
"Believe me, we will." Kaitlin reassured the boys, as then headed towards Central Park.
"I'm so confused! There just seems like there's no way to beat Christian! It was stupid for us to tell the policeman about The Liberty, because spending years in jail sure is better then fearing for out lives!" Ashlee said angrily.
Kaitlin nodded, "Well we really shouldn't have joined the gang in the first place. That would have saved us from jail AND from Christian."
"True..." Ashlee said as she handed a lady one of her papers. "There just doesn't seem like anyway to beat them though. The Newsies are the only chance we have, and I don't even think that's enough. Slingshots aren't really any match with that the Liberty uses. Plus, the Liberty was trained to fight and stuff, whereas the Newsies were trained to sell papers..." Ashlee sighed, "I don't know what to do...but there's no way I'm going to back Jersey unless Christian will leave us alone and we can strangle Richie."
"Yeah I know it. Well, we'll just wait and see what Spot has to say, and maybe someone will think of a good plan or something.
Mystery nodded reluctantly.
"Well you know, we could always carry knives with us," Kaitlin said. "We'd have to get some first of course, and no telling the newsies, so we'd have to find one on our own..."
"I know, but I don't like the idea of using knives, people could get killed, but we might have to," Ashlee said reluctantly. "Personally I like fighting with out weapons."
"So do I, do you think I like knowing that there is a guy standing in front of me, who wants me dead, with a sharp knife in his hand?"
"Of course I didn't think you liked it. But ya know, that won't be a fair fight."
"I know, we were in the gang remember? We learned how to fight from them, so maybe we'll have a little bit of an advantage knowing how they fight," Kaitlin said selling a few papers to the people walking by.
"Well let's not think about it right now, we'll have plenty of time to think later, right now we should finish selling our papes."
Kaitlin nodded. "Of course, besides they're not doing anything right now."
"Well not anything we know of," Ashlee answered.
"Heya," Race said walking up to them.
Kaitlin turned. "I thought we were gonna meet up later."
"Well Jack and I finished selling so we thought we'd see how you were doing," Race answered.
"How's it going?" Jack asked.
"If you mean have we gotten into any fights, the answer is no." Mystery said and then ignoring Jack, started yelling out headlines again.
"See you later guys," Kaitlin said following Mystery, leaving them standing there.
"Ya know, maybe we should have a chat with the Manhattan and Brooklyn newsies, before meeting up with them," Jack said, "we might be able to come up with a plan, because they'll never take anything we suggest seriously."
"Sounds good, I'll get everybody and meet ya at the lodging house?"
Within 30 minutes all the Manhattan and Brooklyn Newsies, Reb, and Cactus, were together, with Racetrack and Jack explaining about Mystery's and Firefly's predicament, and about their run in Christian the previous night. When they were finished they told the group they were open for suggestions on how to get rid of this gang.
Skittery, being the grumpy pessimist that he is, shrugged, "Why are we puttin' ourselves in danger for some girls who could steal from us at any moment? Why don't we just give Myst and Fire to this Christian guy, so that he'll leave us alone?"
Racetrack came over and smacked the boy upside the head, "'Cause, idiot, they're our friends and we should help them. Newsies stick taggedah and help each uddah out, an' since Myst and Fiah are now Newsies we need to help 'em out!"
There were nods and agreements around the room, and Skittery shut up. Reb and Cactus stood up, "I think we need to teach Christian and his gang a lesson they'll understand." Reb said.
Cactus nodded, "Yeah, I think the best way to get rid of them is something they'll know about, like having a rumble. That's something they should be familiar with, being that they're gang members and such, and I think we could take them."
Suddenly the door to Tibby's opened, and Mystery and Firefly walked in, surprised to see all the Newsies all talking together. They heard the word rumble and they understood what they were talking about.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Firefly demanded.
"Uh...well...see, we decided to hold a meeting without you because we knew whatever we thought of you wouldn't take seriously." Racetrack explained hurredly.
"Did you even think that WE would like to know what's going on? It's our business anyway, it's not yours. It doesn't even concern you!" Firefly shouted at them.
Mystery laid a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder, "Calm down, Kaitlin. They're just trying to help, and Race has got a point, we wouldn't have taken them seriously. Lets listen to what they have to say."
Firefly, still red in the face, slumped down in a nearby chair, and Ashlee sat down next to her. Jack nodded to Reb and Cactus. "Well, Jack told us about your predicament, an' da only way ta get rid of 'em is somethin' their familiar with, and respect. So we were thinkin' of a rumble." Cactus explained to the girls.
Firefly shook her head, "No way! There's no way you can beat 'The Liberty' in a rumble. They've got the best fighters in Jersey, Christian makes sure of that. They've been in tons of them, and they always win. No offense or anything, but they were trained in fighting, and you guys were not. Christian's gang fights with knives! They don't care who they hurt! They'll kill anyone who comes near them without a second thought!"
Reb shook his head, "We've got connections, Cactus and I. We can get some of our gang friends to come and help out. They know how to fight, and I've seen the Newsies, they fight well. And believe me while I was in a gang I saw some pretty rough fights so I at least have an idea at what we're up against."
Mystery sighed, "Think of this, Reb. Take the best gang in New York and multiply it by 3, and you've got the way 'The Liberty' fights."
"Well you haven't exactly seen us fight," Reb pointed out.
"And we don't want to, you are going to stay out of this!" Kaitlin said.
"Kaitlin, come on, stop arguing," Ashlee said and then turned to Reb. "Alright, we'll accept your help, but if things get bad, ya get out off there. Got it?"
Cactus shook his head, "No way."
"Fine." Ashlee looked over at Jack, "Thanks," he just smiled at her.
Kaitlin sat in her chair with an angry expression on her face.
"Alright, well Kaitlin and I will go and find Christian, Matthew, and Chris.." Ashlee said standing up, Kaitlin following her. Neither of them said a word as they left Tibby's.
Ashlee and Kaitlin were the first to the distribution center, although it was already closed. "They should open soon," Kaitlin remarked. "Everybody needs to sell early, and it's already light out."
Ashlee nodded, and they went to stand in line. After about twenty minutes, the newsies began to show up. She turned so that she was facing the distribution center, and no one would see her black eye, or the cut on her arm, or any of her bruises. Kaitlin followed in example, and they both bought their papers hurriedly, trying not to look at anyone.
On their way out the gates, they saw Jack and Racetrack walking straight towards them. "Let's go out this way," Kaitlin suggested pointing to the other exit.
"Hey goils!" Jack called out. "How's it rollin'?"
"Oh fine, just fine," Ashlee answered, lucky that the two newsies were still far away and could not see her black eye.
Kaitlin leaned over and whispered, "So much for pretending nothing happened, they're obviously going to notice..." she said as the two got closer. "So how are you?" she asked them, pretending nothing was wrong.
"Good headlines today," Ashlee remarked, since she couldn't think of anything else to say.
"What happened?" Jack demanded as soon as he saw Ashlee and Kaitlin.
"Nothing really, just decided to practice our fighting skills," Kaitlin answered.
"Yeah right," Racetrack said, "what the heck happened? And what's that?" he asked pointing to the note from Christian she had shoved in her pocket.
"Oh that's nothing," Ashlee responded for Kaitlin, "She's holding it for me, it's a letter to a friend back in Jersey."
Jack narrowed his eyes, "Did this have something to do with that gang you told us about?"
"Fine, we had a little run in with him, here you can read it yourself, but it wasn't bad, honest," Kaitlin said pulling out the piece of paper and handing it to Jack, who read it quickly and then handed it to Racetrack.
He glared at them, "You should have told me, I thought we were in this together!!!"
Ashlee looked down, and suddenly got interested in reading the headlines. Kaitlin sighed, "Well, we are...or were... but it was late, we weren't thinking right, and the note kind of scared us! Gosh! Christian has been following us, and watching us the whole time! He knows that you wanted to get involved! They're dangerous...maybe it would just be better to go back to Jersey and leave the Newsies out of it."
Ashlee's head shot up, "No way am I going back to that hole in Jersey. They're going to have to kill me here if they're going to do it... Anyway, Jack...they wanted us to steal from Kloppman , and I wouldn't go for it, so I punched Christian. Then chaos broke loose, and Kaitlin was preoccupied with Matt and Chris while I dealt with Christian. Not one of my better ideas, but I was pretty ticked by that time... Anyway, I think it would be better if the Newsies just let us deal with it. Christian was right, slingshots aren't going to harm "The Liberty" that much. The gang is ruthless, and unmerciful. They'll kill anyone who gets in the way without a second thought. I'm sorry we brought you into it."
Racetrack made a weird face, and protested, "You didn't bring us in! We want to help ya! So just stop bein' so darned stubborn an' let us 'elp ya! Alright?"
Jack nodded, "Yeah, aftah we sell our papes, lets go ta Brooklyn and see Conlon. I think he needs ta know what's goin' on, and what happened wid ya two last night. Which wasn't a smaht idea! Goin' ta see dose guys by yourselves."
Ashlee shrugged, "At least we let them know we're not going down without a fight."
Kaitlin nodded, "Well, we'd better get a move on or else there's going to be no good selling spots left. See you guys later. We'll be up with you again at Tibby's around noon, alright?"
Race nodded, "Alright. But ya shoah ya don't want us ta sell wid ya?"
Ashlee shook her head, "Nah, that's alright. It's better not to sell with more then one another person anyway..."
"Ok, den. We'll see ya latah. Take care, and stay away from dat Christian dude!"
"Believe me, we will." Kaitlin reassured the boys, as then headed towards Central Park.
"I'm so confused! There just seems like there's no way to beat Christian! It was stupid for us to tell the policeman about The Liberty, because spending years in jail sure is better then fearing for out lives!" Ashlee said angrily.
Kaitlin nodded, "Well we really shouldn't have joined the gang in the first place. That would have saved us from jail AND from Christian."
"True..." Ashlee said as she handed a lady one of her papers. "There just doesn't seem like anyway to beat them though. The Newsies are the only chance we have, and I don't even think that's enough. Slingshots aren't really any match with that the Liberty uses. Plus, the Liberty was trained to fight and stuff, whereas the Newsies were trained to sell papers..." Ashlee sighed, "I don't know what to do...but there's no way I'm going to back Jersey unless Christian will leave us alone and we can strangle Richie."
"Yeah I know it. Well, we'll just wait and see what Spot has to say, and maybe someone will think of a good plan or something.
Mystery nodded reluctantly.
"Well you know, we could always carry knives with us," Kaitlin said. "We'd have to get some first of course, and no telling the newsies, so we'd have to find one on our own..."
"I know, but I don't like the idea of using knives, people could get killed, but we might have to," Ashlee said reluctantly. "Personally I like fighting with out weapons."
"So do I, do you think I like knowing that there is a guy standing in front of me, who wants me dead, with a sharp knife in his hand?"
"Of course I didn't think you liked it. But ya know, that won't be a fair fight."
"I know, we were in the gang remember? We learned how to fight from them, so maybe we'll have a little bit of an advantage knowing how they fight," Kaitlin said selling a few papers to the people walking by.
"Well let's not think about it right now, we'll have plenty of time to think later, right now we should finish selling our papes."
Kaitlin nodded. "Of course, besides they're not doing anything right now."
"Well not anything we know of," Ashlee answered.
"Heya," Race said walking up to them.
Kaitlin turned. "I thought we were gonna meet up later."
"Well Jack and I finished selling so we thought we'd see how you were doing," Race answered.
"How's it going?" Jack asked.
"If you mean have we gotten into any fights, the answer is no." Mystery said and then ignoring Jack, started yelling out headlines again.
"See you later guys," Kaitlin said following Mystery, leaving them standing there.
"Ya know, maybe we should have a chat with the Manhattan and Brooklyn newsies, before meeting up with them," Jack said, "we might be able to come up with a plan, because they'll never take anything we suggest seriously."
"Sounds good, I'll get everybody and meet ya at the lodging house?"
Within 30 minutes all the Manhattan and Brooklyn Newsies, Reb, and Cactus, were together, with Racetrack and Jack explaining about Mystery's and Firefly's predicament, and about their run in Christian the previous night. When they were finished they told the group they were open for suggestions on how to get rid of this gang.
Skittery, being the grumpy pessimist that he is, shrugged, "Why are we puttin' ourselves in danger for some girls who could steal from us at any moment? Why don't we just give Myst and Fire to this Christian guy, so that he'll leave us alone?"
Racetrack came over and smacked the boy upside the head, "'Cause, idiot, they're our friends and we should help them. Newsies stick taggedah and help each uddah out, an' since Myst and Fiah are now Newsies we need to help 'em out!"
There were nods and agreements around the room, and Skittery shut up. Reb and Cactus stood up, "I think we need to teach Christian and his gang a lesson they'll understand." Reb said.
Cactus nodded, "Yeah, I think the best way to get rid of them is something they'll know about, like having a rumble. That's something they should be familiar with, being that they're gang members and such, and I think we could take them."
Suddenly the door to Tibby's opened, and Mystery and Firefly walked in, surprised to see all the Newsies all talking together. They heard the word rumble and they understood what they were talking about.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Firefly demanded.
"Uh...well...see, we decided to hold a meeting without you because we knew whatever we thought of you wouldn't take seriously." Racetrack explained hurredly.
"Did you even think that WE would like to know what's going on? It's our business anyway, it's not yours. It doesn't even concern you!" Firefly shouted at them.
Mystery laid a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder, "Calm down, Kaitlin. They're just trying to help, and Race has got a point, we wouldn't have taken them seriously. Lets listen to what they have to say."
Firefly, still red in the face, slumped down in a nearby chair, and Ashlee sat down next to her. Jack nodded to Reb and Cactus. "Well, Jack told us about your predicament, an' da only way ta get rid of 'em is somethin' their familiar with, and respect. So we were thinkin' of a rumble." Cactus explained to the girls.
Firefly shook her head, "No way! There's no way you can beat 'The Liberty' in a rumble. They've got the best fighters in Jersey, Christian makes sure of that. They've been in tons of them, and they always win. No offense or anything, but they were trained in fighting, and you guys were not. Christian's gang fights with knives! They don't care who they hurt! They'll kill anyone who comes near them without a second thought!"
Reb shook his head, "We've got connections, Cactus and I. We can get some of our gang friends to come and help out. They know how to fight, and I've seen the Newsies, they fight well. And believe me while I was in a gang I saw some pretty rough fights so I at least have an idea at what we're up against."
Mystery sighed, "Think of this, Reb. Take the best gang in New York and multiply it by 3, and you've got the way 'The Liberty' fights."
"Well you haven't exactly seen us fight," Reb pointed out.
"And we don't want to, you are going to stay out of this!" Kaitlin said.
"Kaitlin, come on, stop arguing," Ashlee said and then turned to Reb. "Alright, we'll accept your help, but if things get bad, ya get out off there. Got it?"
Cactus shook his head, "No way."
"Fine." Ashlee looked over at Jack, "Thanks," he just smiled at her.
Kaitlin sat in her chair with an angry expression on her face.
"Alright, well Kaitlin and I will go and find Christian, Matthew, and Chris.." Ashlee said standing up, Kaitlin following her. Neither of them said a word as they left Tibby's.