Jack didn't get back to the lodging house until late that night. After Spot left he had wandered around thinking about their conversation. Spot had gone out with hundreds of girls, but he had never gotten upset about messing it up. Jack thought he might actually love Marble, and he had no idea what to do or think about it. Spot was his best friend and it was the first time he had ever confided in him, but she had never shown any real interest in him and he was afraid Spot would get hurt.
Sometime during the night Ashes joined him and jumped on his shoulder. He had gotten used to the cat showing up. Jack scratched the kitten under the chin, still thinking, while he walked up the steps to the bunkroom.
Even though it was late he could still hear talking coming from inside the room. When he opened the door it was dark and everyone was sleeping, but the window to the fire escape was open. The voices and laughter were drifting down from the roof.
He listened to them as he climbed the stairs, "No, really, it's a rabbit. Just turn your head to the side a little and squint."
"I's still don't see da rabbit. I think it looks lika wagon."
"A WAGON!!?. What are you, mad? It's a little bunny rabbit!"
Marble and Race were laying on the roof side by side staring at the stars arguing while Blink and Mush were sitting on the edge of the roof laughing.
Ashes jumped off of Jack's shoulder and bounded over to lay on Marble's stomach, "Heya handsome."
"Hi an' yous ain't too bad ya self ya know."
Marble tilted her head upside down to look at Jack, "I meant the cat." He just shrugged and smiled and she went back to her argument, "See over there is it's ear and there is the poofy cotton tail."
"An' dats da wheel a da wagon."
"There is no wheel. It's a bunny. Bunnies have no wheels!"
"Dey been at dis evah since we's got back." Blink laughed as he spoke and shook his head, "I tried helpin' but I t'ink it's a tree." Two hats came flying across the roof at him, one hitting his chest and the other his face.
"Oh, Jack I's jist 'membahed sumpthin'. Davey came by earliah and he tol' us dat tommera deres a big ol' celebration in Central Park. I forgit why, but it seemed poitty important."
"So yous guys goin'?"
"A course, dere's gonna be great sellin'." Mush and Blink looked at each other then headed towards the fire escape, "an' tons a goils."
Jack was about to leave when Marble called, "Jack, you're smart, what does this look like to you?"
He looked at the cluster of stars that she pointed out for a while, "Poisonally, I's say it's a bunch a stars."
Race and Marble slowly sat up and turned to stare at him. They jumped up at the same time and chased him down the fire escape and into the bunkroom.
* * *
Central Park was full of children. Ranging from toddlers barely able to walk to teenagers looking for a quiet area to 'talk'. They were filling the entire park, making adults avoid the place as much as possible. And there were newsies. Everywhere you turned in the park there was a person holding papers calling outrageous headlines, and they were selling out. They had come from all over New York to take advantage of the crowded event. A small pond was surrounded with newsies who had already finished.
"So Jacky-boy, yous enjoyin' ya self?" Jack woke up and looked out from under his hat to see Spot strolling over, basking in the adoring looks of girls of all ages and classes. Any sign of the nervous, insecure boy from last night was gone, but Jack looked at him differently now. His flirting somehow seemed more like a cover up than a desire to get one of the many girls after him.
"I was poifectly happy 'till some little punk woke me up."
Spot grinned and sat down in the grass next to him, "Yous real pleasant when ya foist wake up, ya know dat."
Jack would have had a witty comeback, but a splash and a piercing screech cut through the noise in the park.
Marble was pulling herself out of the pond screaming, "Mush, Dublin, when I catch you you're DEAD!!"
The two boys ran for their lives from the dripping figure by the water, but they made a mistake. They ran around the pond instead of away from it.
Marble caught Dublin first, his size made him slower. She reached out, running full speed and grabbed his arm, then twisted around and swung him into the pond. He came up sputtering, but she was gone, chasing after Mush. When she was right behind him she tried to grab him also, but she slipped on the wet grass by the water and slammed into him.
They both fell into the water, splashing everywhere. The three newsies in the pond started splashing and dunking each other until they realized that the boys by the water were all laughing at them. When they saw all of the dry, happy people around them they couldn't resist. All three of them rushed out of the water at the same time and started pushing people in.
Most of the boys scattered but some were too slow and got drenched. When things had calmed down Racetrack, Specs, Blink, Snipeshooter and Dutchy had ended up in the water along with Frick and Frack, boy and girl twins from Brooklyn.
There were also dozens of boys who had managed to stay out of the pond, but still got soaked from the splashing. Two of them were Spot Conlon and Jack Kelly. They sat dripping for a minute then Spot wiped the water off of his face and picked up a dirt clod. He hefted it for a second then whipped it at the newsies in the water, hitting Blink directly in the face. In an instant there was dirt, mud and scummy water flying everywhere. When the chaos finally ended there were fewer newsies by the water, but they were all much dirtier.
Boots, Skittery, Bumlets, Snitch and Twitch were the unlucky few who hadn't gotten away before Jack and Spot had started the mud fight. The ten newsies in the water pulled themselves out after rinsing most of the mud from their bodies and the seven still outside tried wiping the dirt off of their clothes with their hands, but finally gave up in defeat. All seventeen of them started walking to the Lodging House.
A large open circle traveled through Central Park with the muddy newsies in the middle. Nobody wanted to get too close to the laughing teenagers, especially when every few minutes Marble or Frick would shake their heads, sending a spray of muddy water out from their long hair.
As they neared the entrance to the park Ashes came running through the group and jumped for Marble's shoulder. In midair he twisted around, landing on his feet hissing at the mud people around him then ran off down the street, leaving a laughing group to follow him back to the house. When they were only two blocks away Marble and Frick took off running for no apparent reason so the boys just ignored it and kept walking. When they got to the lodging house they found the bathroom door shut blocked from the inside and all of the windows covered with sheets.
They tried opening it and Marble called out, "We're busy and if you try opening that again you're gonna die."
Fifteen very dirty boys were left to stand around for almost twenty minutes before the girls gave up the bathroom. They came out clean, but with their clothes still wet and plastered to their bodies. As the boys slipped past them they all reddened a little when they realized that both girls were wearing white shirts.
Once the door shut both girls started laughing as they flopped down onto Marble's bed. Marble grabbed one of Spec's books and started reading out loud, to pass the time. The boys came out one by one and sat down on beds and the floor to listen.
Skittery came out and jumped up onto his bed, "So what're we reading?"
She glared at him for interrupting her, "A book."
Frack walked out of the bathroom, "It any good?"
His sister gave him a dirty look, "Why don't cha shut up an' listen."
Once Marble was satisfied that no one else was going to talk she reopened the book. After a while Bumlets, Boots, Snipeshooter, and Twitch got bored and went back to the park but everyone else was too absorbed in the story to notice.
It was getting dark outside when they heard an explosion. Everyone jumped up and rushed to the window. The sky lit up and there was another huge crash, "Fireworks!"
The newsies ran back to Central Park. People were laying on blankets all over the ground and sitting up in trees. They made their way back to the pond where they had been earlier. The newsies were all back and spread out on the ground staring at the sky. The group had all settled down on the grass when the realized that Marble wasn't with them. They took a minute to decide that she had probably stayed at the house to watch from the roof.
It was getting late when David and Les joined the newsies. Almost instantly Les started complaining to Jack about the noise and the heat and the crowd and everything else he could think of. He had been running around all day and was too tired to do anything but whine. After about ten seconds of his whimpering Jack had had enough and sent him to the lodging house to go to sleep.
"Jack, are you sure it's a good idea to send my little brother there by himself?"
"It'saright, it ain't dat far an' Marbles dere so's he won't be alone."
Dave wasn't completely satisfied but this was better then listening to Les complain for another couple of hours.
* * *
When Les got to the lodging house he started looking around for someone to talk to. He didn't think that Jack would send him here all by himself but the only one he could find was Ashes. He was up in the bunkroom when he noticed the window to the fire escape was open. He went out side and climbed onto the roof. A firework went off as he got to the roof and he was momentarily blinded, but when his vision cleared he saw Marble sitting with her feet hanging off of the roof. Her head was tilted back and she was staring at the sky, singing to herself.
"I love the light I love the changing season,
I love without much thought to reason
I'd give it all if I could make you see
I love the man you were meant to be.
I love the man you are in me
I love the man who waits beside you
I love the man who hides behind you
I love the shadow though he disappears
I love the afterglow reflected through the tears.
I love the shadow in my tears.
Ooohhhh I love the dreams you can't remember,
Ooohhhh lost in the early waking hours,
I love the season of forever
I live without the light of laughter.
I live without an ever after
I'd give it all if I could make you see
I love the man you were meant to be.
I love the man you are in me"
Les watched her sit there quietly for a while then he said, "You sing really pretty, you should do it more."
Marble jumped up and spun around when he spoke. She had a strange look on her face and her eyes were shining. Les gasped when he saw her and she bolted past him down the fire escape.
* * *
"Jack. Jack!" Les had finally found Jack in the huge crowd of boys by the pond.
"Heya Les. Whacha doin' heah? I's thought yous went ta da lodgin' house."
"I did, but I came back."
"I's can see dat, why?"
"I'm looking for Marble."
Dave joined them, "Wasn't she at the house?"
"Yeah."
"Well den why a yous heah?"
"She left."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Why don't you tell us what happened."
"Well, I got there and there was nobody around."
"Wait, didn't you say she was there?"
"Yea, I'm gettin' ta that. Ya see she was up on the roof so I couldn't find her at first but then I noticed the window."
"What about da window?"
"It was open. So anyway I went up there and she was up on the roof."
"Ya tol' us dat alroidy."
"Yeah Les, what was she doing on the roof?"
"Singin'."
"What!" Spot seemed materialize right out of the crowd next to them.
"She was singin'."
"Yous sure?"
"Yes."
"What was she singin'?"
"Why does dat mattah?"
"It jist does Jacky-boy," he turned back to Les, "Now what was she singin'?"
"I dunno."
"What were da woids?"
"Um I dunno, something about being in love I guess."
"Thanks kid." Spot ran out of the park looking excited and anxious.
"Maybe someone should follow him and find out what's going on."
"Good idea Davey, I'll go an' find someun' ta do it."
Jack started pushing his way through the crowd, "Oh! Jack wait, Jack!"
He turned back around, "Yea Les?"
"She was cryin'."
"She was WHAT!?"