Out in the Rain
1879
"I wanna know."
____________________________
" I'm gonna tell you two the same ting I tol' youah boy Chase," Jersey remarked as Spot and Books pounded their way into the Queens Lodging house.
"You cain't do dis t'me," Spot countered, yanking his hat off and wiping his forehead, "I'se Brooklyn," he replaced the hat. Jersey didn't really care, for he was now rather annoyed with Brooklyn. They'd already sent someone for the story, but the bumbling fools wouldn't take no for an answer. And another thing, why now? She'd been there for three years and there were no complaints. Why were questions surfacing now? The easy answer: Spot.
" I don't cahah if youah da Queen a' Englan' I aint tellin' ya nuttin!" Jersey walked out into the streets of Queens, shrugging in the cold and making sure to avoid patches of frost.
"Spot, I tol' you dis was a bad idea," Books began, only to be cut off with a death glare. Spot was already halfway out of the lodging house. He'd stalk Jersey all day if he had to.
(_____________________________)
Back in Brooklyn, however, things were running much more smoothly. Spot Conlon had more than his share of woman friends and so no one questioned the leaders absence; Books was rumored to have visited his old man.
Silver wasn't taking any of it in. She'd caught Chase coming in late that morning and remembered she hadn't seen him at the distribution office.
"Tell me Chase," she warned after cornering him that afternoon. He'd been walking to Chicago's, the pizza place; and she'd snuck up on the poor boy, backing him up against a wall. Silver was nearly six inches taller than Chase and about six years older.
"Where's Spot'n Books? Where'd dey go?" she questioned, placing the heel of her hand on his collarbone to keep him in place.
" I swore 'em I wouldn't tell Silvah, ma'am!" he squeaked, she pressed a bit harder, "I gave 'em me woid! Dey'd kick me out if I tol ya!" Silver pondered this, he was younger.and almost reminded her of Hawk.
"I'll see to it dat you stays right 'ere, but only if ya spill," she reasoned, loosening up on his chest.
"Dey..dey went to Joisey," he'd hoped she thought he meant the state, but she wasn't fooled.
"What'd dey want from him?" Chase sighed pitifully, knowing his cover was blown.
"Dey wanted youah story."
(________________________________)
"Will you stop stalkin' me like dat?" Jersey questioned, exasperated.
"I'll stop stalkin' when you staht talkin'," Spot remarked, chuckling at his own joke.
He'd followed Jersey all the way down town, and to the circulation center. Jersey had gotten his papers and headed on his way to the corner where he usually sold. He was very touchy about the corner, and with good reason. That corner was where Hawk died. No one who valued their life sold on or even looked at that corner the wrong way. Spot took a rest from asking and made the mistake of making like he was about to spit. Jersey dashed over and clasped a hand around Spot's slender throat.
"You even tink about spittin' on dis heah cohnah' an' I'll see datcha don't nevah spit again," Books quirked a brow at the sudden change in his friend. Walking hesitantly, he placed his hand on Jersey's outstretched arm.
"Now, Joisey.breathe an' coun' ta ten," Jersey reluctantly pulled his arm back and Spot indignantly rubbed his neck.
"D'you mind tellin' me what da hell dat was?" he questioned, leering at Jersey. Suddenly a tall athletic looking boy turned the corner at break- neck speed, throwing on the breaks just in time. The boy had auburn colored hair and pale blue eyes. Jersey immediately recognized him as one of Jack's boys.
"What'cha need Ah'cha?" Archer paused to catch his breath.
"Fiah.Manhattan, at da lodgin' house.people been hoit!" he forced out between pants. Spot sent Books back to Brooklyn to get more help while he, Archer, and Jersey ran to Manhattan.
________________________________ 1897
"Goin' down in flames"
__________________________________
Flames licked the windows and doorframes of the Manhattan Lodging House. Many injured newsboys sat tending those worse off then they.
"Jersey! Spot!" Jack had yelled as they reached the site. It was worse than the two of them could have imagined. The territory of Brooklyn arrived soon after. The Manhattan fire squad had been called and they were containing the blaze, but the newsies were much more interested in tending to their own.
A small figure stood mere feet away from the building, staring at the roaring inferno. Her silvery eyes transfixed on the sight of orange-yellow flames licking over black-gray charred timbers. Jersey and Spot headed towards the figure yelling. Realizing who the figure was, both boys ran even harder. Small pieces of debris fell around her.
"Emerald! Get away from there!" The second Jersey heard the words leave his mouth, he regretted them with a passion. He'd heard from spies that she'd changed her name to Silver, and hoped fiercely that it hadn't registered with Spot.
" Dere you goes again!" Spot roared as they led her away, casting naught but a sidelong glance at Jersey after the 'Emerald' incident, "Makin' moah trouble foah' ya'self!"
"I aint makin' trouble!" she said indignantly, turning towards the two, trying desperately to ignore what Jersey had said. "What? You tink I stahted dis fiah?" She balled her hands into fists at her side as the two followed her into the street.
"Lissen, I aint got nuttin against Manhattan, oah any a' Jack's boys," She calmly defended herself as they stood in the center of the road, watching the destruction from a 'safe' distance.
"I b'lieve 'er Spot," Jersey remarked shaking the ash from his golden locks.
"You," Spot turned to Jersey, sending him a glare, "stay outta dis. She's my newsie now.aint'cha Emerald?" he demanded, grabbing her wrist as she made a move to turn and run.
"So what? You knows me old name, doesn't mean I started nuttin!" she remarked, tugging away.
"Dat don't mean you don't know who did. You came ta Brooklyn wid nuttin, you was runnin' from sometin'!" the accusation was made, clear and sharp. Jersey stood back, watching helplessly. He couldn't defend her, and he couldn't tell her story for her.
"Oah.someone."
I cant tell him anything. She thought.
All she could do was run.
______________________________
1879
"In the end."
_________________________
"Alright, you'se boys have been dropped in here until we can find anodda lodgin' house," Spot stood atop a crate, speaking to several boys from Manhattan an' since I'se nice." this comment was met with more than a few sniggers.
"I'se gonna recommend sellin spots. Boots, you take the coahnah right off da bridge; Skittery, undah da biggest oak in da pahk;" he rambled off place after place and all was well until he came to two blonde individuals.
"Dutchy, Blink.you two take da coahnahs across from da Dinah," Silver rocketed out of her seat.
"Dats my spot! You cant give dose bummahs my spot!" she protested, stalking to the front of the room and glaring up at Spot.
"No, see, I'se da leadah, I does what I please," Spot countered, making the two before him chuckle.
"C'mon sweet face," Blink began, bending down to eye level, " You could always come sell wid us.me," he raised a brow " and den, aftah, we could." he trailed suggestively only to find a knifepoint at his forehead. Emerald never pulled her knife until it was a matter of her life. Silver was another story all together. She'd pulled the blade as fast as one could blink and placed the cool metal against his forehead.
" We could.but den, see, I'd have ta kill ya," she remarked.
"Now, now Silvah," Spot warned, pushing the knife from Blink's forehead,
"I'se still not in real good standin wit'choo. You'll sell wit me, we got talkin' ta do " twirling the knife about her finger a couple of times and then sheathing it, she sent Blink a final death glare. He merely blew kisses at her.
(___________________________________)
Spot and Silver had decided to race, being the competitive souls that they were. Spot won.
"You owes me! Tell me who you tink stahted dem fiahs!" Spot commanded as the two walked into the diner at midday.
"Dat aint true!" Silver protested in a fierce whisper as he shoved her into a booth.
"I didn't nevah say I agreed to dat bet, you just made it youah self!" her eyes were ablaze with hatred as he grabbed hold of her wrist, as he so often did when he wanted her attention.
" I know you got's an ideah, and you aint movin' one inch until ya tell me who, you owes me Silvah' I'se byin you lunch!" he smirked knowing he had her.
"If I tol' ya once, I'se tol ya a thousand times; I don't owe you nuttin!" and with that, she thrust the heel of her free hand into his nose and leapt over him heading for the door.
______________________________. Somewhere in the Bronx
3:00 Am
"The phantom."
___________________________
" Lissen you bastahds! I don't cahah how close ya came to bein seen! Dats yer own fault!" a young man yelled and swore at a bunch of thugs, who'd been shocked into a sulky silence.
"Boss, Phantom.we saw her," one of the boys commented, briefly looking up at the yelling boy, presumably Phantom. His eyes were a cold gray color, and his silvery blond hair hung in dirty tangles to his shoulders. On his face was a jaggedly cut harlequin mask; from which he derived his name. He was at least 5'10, with narrow shoulders and a slender frame. He wasn't necessarily the brawniest. But speed and mind were weapons he had made feared throughout the city.
"Wha.how did she look?" he questioned, caught slightly off guard.
"She.she's coitanly grown.odda dan dat, she aint changed much," the startled boy finished.
"Hm, good work.who was she with?" Phantom's sudden change of heart sent sighs of relief through the boys.
"She was with Joisey an' Spot,"
Ah.she's in Brooklyn. With him.
The disgusted thought echoed in his brain as a plot formed from the ashes of the Manhattan lodging house.
End Note: Okay, chapter three, up and running! Fudge covered newsies to anyone who has or does review! Extra thanks to my beta!
"I wanna know" Phil Collins, 'I wanna know"
"Goin down in flames" Three doors down "Goin down in flames"
"The phantom" That's from a song in the musical "Phantom of the opera"
Okay, stay tuned for the next super, sexy swingin' chapter!
1879
"I wanna know."
____________________________
" I'm gonna tell you two the same ting I tol' youah boy Chase," Jersey remarked as Spot and Books pounded their way into the Queens Lodging house.
"You cain't do dis t'me," Spot countered, yanking his hat off and wiping his forehead, "I'se Brooklyn," he replaced the hat. Jersey didn't really care, for he was now rather annoyed with Brooklyn. They'd already sent someone for the story, but the bumbling fools wouldn't take no for an answer. And another thing, why now? She'd been there for three years and there were no complaints. Why were questions surfacing now? The easy answer: Spot.
" I don't cahah if youah da Queen a' Englan' I aint tellin' ya nuttin!" Jersey walked out into the streets of Queens, shrugging in the cold and making sure to avoid patches of frost.
"Spot, I tol' you dis was a bad idea," Books began, only to be cut off with a death glare. Spot was already halfway out of the lodging house. He'd stalk Jersey all day if he had to.
(_____________________________)
Back in Brooklyn, however, things were running much more smoothly. Spot Conlon had more than his share of woman friends and so no one questioned the leaders absence; Books was rumored to have visited his old man.
Silver wasn't taking any of it in. She'd caught Chase coming in late that morning and remembered she hadn't seen him at the distribution office.
"Tell me Chase," she warned after cornering him that afternoon. He'd been walking to Chicago's, the pizza place; and she'd snuck up on the poor boy, backing him up against a wall. Silver was nearly six inches taller than Chase and about six years older.
"Where's Spot'n Books? Where'd dey go?" she questioned, placing the heel of her hand on his collarbone to keep him in place.
" I swore 'em I wouldn't tell Silvah, ma'am!" he squeaked, she pressed a bit harder, "I gave 'em me woid! Dey'd kick me out if I tol ya!" Silver pondered this, he was younger.and almost reminded her of Hawk.
"I'll see to it dat you stays right 'ere, but only if ya spill," she reasoned, loosening up on his chest.
"Dey..dey went to Joisey," he'd hoped she thought he meant the state, but she wasn't fooled.
"What'd dey want from him?" Chase sighed pitifully, knowing his cover was blown.
"Dey wanted youah story."
(________________________________)
"Will you stop stalkin' me like dat?" Jersey questioned, exasperated.
"I'll stop stalkin' when you staht talkin'," Spot remarked, chuckling at his own joke.
He'd followed Jersey all the way down town, and to the circulation center. Jersey had gotten his papers and headed on his way to the corner where he usually sold. He was very touchy about the corner, and with good reason. That corner was where Hawk died. No one who valued their life sold on or even looked at that corner the wrong way. Spot took a rest from asking and made the mistake of making like he was about to spit. Jersey dashed over and clasped a hand around Spot's slender throat.
"You even tink about spittin' on dis heah cohnah' an' I'll see datcha don't nevah spit again," Books quirked a brow at the sudden change in his friend. Walking hesitantly, he placed his hand on Jersey's outstretched arm.
"Now, Joisey.breathe an' coun' ta ten," Jersey reluctantly pulled his arm back and Spot indignantly rubbed his neck.
"D'you mind tellin' me what da hell dat was?" he questioned, leering at Jersey. Suddenly a tall athletic looking boy turned the corner at break- neck speed, throwing on the breaks just in time. The boy had auburn colored hair and pale blue eyes. Jersey immediately recognized him as one of Jack's boys.
"What'cha need Ah'cha?" Archer paused to catch his breath.
"Fiah.Manhattan, at da lodgin' house.people been hoit!" he forced out between pants. Spot sent Books back to Brooklyn to get more help while he, Archer, and Jersey ran to Manhattan.
________________________________ 1897
"Goin' down in flames"
__________________________________
Flames licked the windows and doorframes of the Manhattan Lodging House. Many injured newsboys sat tending those worse off then they.
"Jersey! Spot!" Jack had yelled as they reached the site. It was worse than the two of them could have imagined. The territory of Brooklyn arrived soon after. The Manhattan fire squad had been called and they were containing the blaze, but the newsies were much more interested in tending to their own.
A small figure stood mere feet away from the building, staring at the roaring inferno. Her silvery eyes transfixed on the sight of orange-yellow flames licking over black-gray charred timbers. Jersey and Spot headed towards the figure yelling. Realizing who the figure was, both boys ran even harder. Small pieces of debris fell around her.
"Emerald! Get away from there!" The second Jersey heard the words leave his mouth, he regretted them with a passion. He'd heard from spies that she'd changed her name to Silver, and hoped fiercely that it hadn't registered with Spot.
" Dere you goes again!" Spot roared as they led her away, casting naught but a sidelong glance at Jersey after the 'Emerald' incident, "Makin' moah trouble foah' ya'self!"
"I aint makin' trouble!" she said indignantly, turning towards the two, trying desperately to ignore what Jersey had said. "What? You tink I stahted dis fiah?" She balled her hands into fists at her side as the two followed her into the street.
"Lissen, I aint got nuttin against Manhattan, oah any a' Jack's boys," She calmly defended herself as they stood in the center of the road, watching the destruction from a 'safe' distance.
"I b'lieve 'er Spot," Jersey remarked shaking the ash from his golden locks.
"You," Spot turned to Jersey, sending him a glare, "stay outta dis. She's my newsie now.aint'cha Emerald?" he demanded, grabbing her wrist as she made a move to turn and run.
"So what? You knows me old name, doesn't mean I started nuttin!" she remarked, tugging away.
"Dat don't mean you don't know who did. You came ta Brooklyn wid nuttin, you was runnin' from sometin'!" the accusation was made, clear and sharp. Jersey stood back, watching helplessly. He couldn't defend her, and he couldn't tell her story for her.
"Oah.someone."
I cant tell him anything. She thought.
All she could do was run.
______________________________
1879
"In the end."
_________________________
"Alright, you'se boys have been dropped in here until we can find anodda lodgin' house," Spot stood atop a crate, speaking to several boys from Manhattan an' since I'se nice." this comment was met with more than a few sniggers.
"I'se gonna recommend sellin spots. Boots, you take the coahnah right off da bridge; Skittery, undah da biggest oak in da pahk;" he rambled off place after place and all was well until he came to two blonde individuals.
"Dutchy, Blink.you two take da coahnahs across from da Dinah," Silver rocketed out of her seat.
"Dats my spot! You cant give dose bummahs my spot!" she protested, stalking to the front of the room and glaring up at Spot.
"No, see, I'se da leadah, I does what I please," Spot countered, making the two before him chuckle.
"C'mon sweet face," Blink began, bending down to eye level, " You could always come sell wid us.me," he raised a brow " and den, aftah, we could." he trailed suggestively only to find a knifepoint at his forehead. Emerald never pulled her knife until it was a matter of her life. Silver was another story all together. She'd pulled the blade as fast as one could blink and placed the cool metal against his forehead.
" We could.but den, see, I'd have ta kill ya," she remarked.
"Now, now Silvah," Spot warned, pushing the knife from Blink's forehead,
"I'se still not in real good standin wit'choo. You'll sell wit me, we got talkin' ta do " twirling the knife about her finger a couple of times and then sheathing it, she sent Blink a final death glare. He merely blew kisses at her.
(___________________________________)
Spot and Silver had decided to race, being the competitive souls that they were. Spot won.
"You owes me! Tell me who you tink stahted dem fiahs!" Spot commanded as the two walked into the diner at midday.
"Dat aint true!" Silver protested in a fierce whisper as he shoved her into a booth.
"I didn't nevah say I agreed to dat bet, you just made it youah self!" her eyes were ablaze with hatred as he grabbed hold of her wrist, as he so often did when he wanted her attention.
" I know you got's an ideah, and you aint movin' one inch until ya tell me who, you owes me Silvah' I'se byin you lunch!" he smirked knowing he had her.
"If I tol' ya once, I'se tol ya a thousand times; I don't owe you nuttin!" and with that, she thrust the heel of her free hand into his nose and leapt over him heading for the door.
______________________________. Somewhere in the Bronx
3:00 Am
"The phantom."
___________________________
" Lissen you bastahds! I don't cahah how close ya came to bein seen! Dats yer own fault!" a young man yelled and swore at a bunch of thugs, who'd been shocked into a sulky silence.
"Boss, Phantom.we saw her," one of the boys commented, briefly looking up at the yelling boy, presumably Phantom. His eyes were a cold gray color, and his silvery blond hair hung in dirty tangles to his shoulders. On his face was a jaggedly cut harlequin mask; from which he derived his name. He was at least 5'10, with narrow shoulders and a slender frame. He wasn't necessarily the brawniest. But speed and mind were weapons he had made feared throughout the city.
"Wha.how did she look?" he questioned, caught slightly off guard.
"She.she's coitanly grown.odda dan dat, she aint changed much," the startled boy finished.
"Hm, good work.who was she with?" Phantom's sudden change of heart sent sighs of relief through the boys.
"She was with Joisey an' Spot,"
Ah.she's in Brooklyn. With him.
The disgusted thought echoed in his brain as a plot formed from the ashes of the Manhattan lodging house.
End Note: Okay, chapter three, up and running! Fudge covered newsies to anyone who has or does review! Extra thanks to my beta!
"I wanna know" Phil Collins, 'I wanna know"
"Goin down in flames" Three doors down "Goin down in flames"
"The phantom" That's from a song in the musical "Phantom of the opera"
Okay, stay tuned for the next super, sexy swingin' chapter!