Yes! Look at me! I updated!!! I'm so special… Sorry for not updating before, I didn't have time over the weekend and I was extremely tired last night and Monday night. But now I'm updating. Yay for me! And now for SO's

Megs – I'm updating! Look!

Stress – Specs came back finally. Thanks for having your minion watching for him. And yeah… I know I gave Disney a lot of credit… *shrugs* oh well…

Lucky – Yup, Travis is the smart one… ^_^ Thanks for the review!

Rumor – Glad to see you back! And I'm pretty sure you could be madder at Mush later… just wait and see…

Dommer – Disney being the company… Thanks for reviewing the last three chaps! ^_^

And now, onto the story!

Twists of Life

Chapter Eight

The library was a large gray stone building with wide steps leading up to the double doors. As the five friends stepped through, the air turned several degrees cooler and the light dimmer. They paused to adjust their eyes before looking around.

"Well, I think we should ask the librarian about microfilm. That would probably be easiest." Travis said, heading over to the information desk. The rest followed him and they were all soon set up at two machines, each with a couple reels of microfilm next to them.

Aaron and Claire were at one machine, while Star and Gabe were at the other and Travis went in search of a book to read while he was waiting. For several minutes they were all silent, concentrating on the words scrolling before them.

"Guys! Here's something!" Star looked up from her machine. "It's an article about the newsie strike." Aaron and Moth crowded in next to her and Gabe and they all started reading. The article told about the raise in the price of papers and mentioned several names, including Mush, Racetrack and Kid Blink, but told the four teenagers nothing they didn't already know.

The next one to spot something was Aaron, who found an article titled 'Interviewing the newsies – An inside look at street life in 1900'. Scanning it, two names leaped out at him. Moth and Ducky. Reading it, they discovered that Moth and Ducky had joined after the strike, as did the rest of the girl newsies. The article described Moth as 'tall, with blonde hair and purple eyes', leaving no doubt in any of their minds that there was a connection.

Ducky was described as 'a few inches shorter with red hair and bright green eyes', being a perfect match for Star. Both Ducky and Moth were asked about boyfriends, to which they answered affirmatively, but not mentioning names.

The four searched the rest of their reels, writing down any interesting points and having a good time, until reaching 1903 when they came across an obituary.

 Claire 'Moth' Masterson, of Manhattan

died in England, Tuesday, May 17th, 1903,

after being trampled by a runaway carriage.

She was born May 12th, 1884 in Sheridan,

Oregon. None of her family is left alive.

~*~*~FLASHBACK~*~*~

Moth walked down the sidewalk, enjoying the sights of England. She had just gotten off the boat from New York, having just saved enough for the trip. It had been a year since she'd last heard from Mush, she suspected his father was preventing him from writing her, so she had no idea where to start looking for him. After pondering this for several minutes, she had decided to start in the last place she's gotten a letter from him. Even if he didn't live there still, the current residents might know something.

Watching the people, Moth noticed a young couple with a baby. As she watched, the man smiled at his wife lovingly and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He looked hauntingly familiar to Moth, and as he turned, she saw why. It was Mush, but he was dressed in rich clothing made from expensive material. His hair had been tamed into short waves and he carried a shiny black derby in his hand.

Moth shrank back, lest he see her in her shabby rags. She looked for an escape as he walked nearer and decided the safest place would be the other side of the street. She stumbled off the curb, half blinded by tears and feeling her heart break. Dimly she heard shouting and looked up to see a horse barreling towards her with a carriage in tow, bouncing wildly. Moth regarded the horse with a sort of detached horror, not able to make herself realize the danger she was in.

As the horse trampled her into the ground, she called a single word, putting all her heartbreak, fright, sadness and betrayal into it. "Mush!" Those near enough to hear her later remarked that tears came to their eyes at the amount of raw emotion in that single word.

~*~

Aaron heard the cry and wondered why the name sounded familiar. Suddenly he realized it was his name he'd used when he'd been a newsie. No one had called him that for over a year, since he got the last letter from Moth. He sought out the source of the cry, his eyes orienting on a crowd in the middle of the street. He was suddenly gripped by fear for a reason he didn't understand and he left Madeline, pushing his way to the middle of the crowd.

He stared at the girl on the ground for several moments, refusing to believe what he saw. It couldn't be Moth, why would she be in England? But that was the same face and hair and the same birthmark on her left temple. He couldn't see her eyes, because they were closed, but he no longer had any doubt. She must have come here looking for him. She'd had no way of knowing he was married, since his father still monitored all his actions to keep him from going back to New York and his old life.

Aaron smoothed the hair on Moth's forehead and planted a light kiss there, letting his tears fall freely on her face. He noticed she still wore his ring and a stab of guilt went through him. He slowly stood and turned to Madeline, who had come up beside him. The look in her eyes was sympathetic, telling him she understood how much pain he felt and that she wasn't jealous that he still cared for Moth. Aaron wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair as his shoulders shook with grief.

~*~*~END FLASHBACK~*~*~

Claire, Aaron and Star all had tears streaming down their cheeks and Gabe looked shaken and pale. Solemnly and silently, they went back to their search for information.

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It seems I have a thing for runaway carriages… weird… I hope you all liked this chapter… well… not the… yeah… you know what I mean… and yes, it was sad, I wasn't planning to put this part in so soon, but it happened… oh well… review please! I'll love you forever!