Amanda sang loudly to herself as she got ready to leave the house. Who cares anyway, there was no one around to hear her belt out the words to the current song stuck in her head, "King of New York." She was dancing and singing to the music in her head as she gathered the rest of her stuff to put in her backpack for her big camping trip with a two of her friends, Katie and Marium. Just then, the phone rang. After scrambling around for a few seconds, she finally found the cordless receiver.

"Hello?" Amanda asked.

"Hiyo!" Bubbled the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Hey Katie! How's life?"

"Okie day. What about you?" Katie asked.

"I am just peachy. Are you all packed up and ready to go yet?"

"Yeah. Chocolate and my game boy, along with enough batteries to last me a month of continuous play. The essentials of life."

"Wow, your weird." Amanda told her, laughing.

"Look who's talking, 'Miss I like to make things out of duct tape while being psychotically hyper!' I don't see how you could call anyone else weird"

"True, true. Oh yeah, Marium called, she says she's dying for food so we are supposed to meet her at that teriyaki restaurant across from Thriftway." Amanda explained

"Nyan! That's far for Katie to walk!" she whined playfully.

"How about I meet you halfway to your house then we can walk past my house and get my stuff on the way there, since we need to walk past my house anyways?" Amanda compromised.

"I suppose...." Katie agreed.

"All right, ya wanna leave in 10 minutes?" Asked Amanda.

"Sounds spiffy, see ya in awhile." Katie said happily.

"OK, bye then."

"Buh bye!"

***

Amanda pulled the door open to the teriyaki restaurant, and held it open for Katie before walking in herself. Katie had walked in almost all the way turned around, talking to Amanda, and almost ran into someone standing inside the restaurant.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there." Katie told the person as they walked past them and out in to the street, barely looking at them, before turning back to Amanda to finish telling her a joke. Amanda had the weirdest expression on her face, like she was greatly confused.

"Umm… Did we walk into the wrong restaurant or something? Either that, or they have remodeled recently… I think I like the old way better."

Katie turned around and her jaw dropped. Gone were the black and white checkered floor, and the Chinese decorations all over the wall. The floor was now a scuffed wooden floor, and the red vinyl booths were traded for round tables with ancient looking chairs around them.

"They must have sealed off the loft." Katie said, pointing to the lowered ceiling.

"We must have walked into the wrong place. This is definitely not the same restaurant that I was in last week." Amanda said, turning around and opening the door.

Both girls gasped. The sidewalks and paved road were not there anymore! After walking out into the sunshine, they looked down at the street, now made of cobblestones. A man drove by, not in a car, but in a wagon, and a man walked by, staring at them. He was wearing a brown suit and bowler hat that looked like it belonged in a museum.

Both girls looked back at the restaurant they just exited, and after reading the name on the window, Amanda made a low sound that was very much like a wounded animal, that would have been quite funny if they were in a different situation.

"Tibby's!" Amanda exclaimed, anxiously smacking Katie on the arm.

"Owwie!" she moaned back. "Katies fragile!."

"Katie, Tibby's! There has never been a Tibby's in our neighborhood. Look around, does this look familiar to you at all?"

"No…" she responded slowly, "Where have I heard the name Tibby's?" Katie said, brushing her hair out of her face. "Lookie, that building says "The World Newspaper, like in Newsies." She said as she finally realized what Amanda was trying to get her to understand.

As if on cue, they both heard over the crowd, "Extra, extra, trial for known burglar set for Thursday."

They turned toward the voice to see a young man in a blue shirt, white hat, and carrying a walking stick.

Turning towards each other, Amanda and Katie shook each other's shoulders screaming excitedly.

The young man stopped talking mid-sentence as he turned around and saw them.

"How…?" Amanda asked anxiously as he started walking towards them, with a confused look on his face. "Lookie, lookie, Bumlets! He even has his walking stick!" Katie whispered excitedly.

"Are you girls in trouble?" He asked, "I heard ya screamin'."

As Katie opened her mouth the exclaim something stupid, Amanda elbowed her in the arm to silence her and answered "No. No trouble. Not unless you count being lost. By the way, where are we anyways?"

Bumlets gave her a weird look, "You'se in Manhattan. Yer not from around here, are ya?" he asked.

"Nope." Katie commented.

"We are on an adventure!" Amanda added.

"Runaways then, huh?"

"Sure, why not?" Amanda piped up.

Bumlets looked at their backpacks and asked "Do you gots a place ta stay or anything?"

"Nah, we haven't figured that part out yet… Ya got any ideas?" Asked Katie.

Bumlets scratched his head in thought before answering, "Well, we can ask Kloppman, I don't know if he would let you stay or not…."

"But he can't turn us away!" Katie objected.

"Yeah! We're too cute!" Amanda added enthusiastically.

"Okay…" Bumlets said, "but I gots ta finish sellin' me papes."

"Ooo! Ooo! I wanna help!" Amanda offered jumping up and down excitedly.

"Me too!" Katie added clapping happily.

"I guess ya could help," Bumlets replied a little taken back by their enthusiasm, "D'ya know how?"

"Over exaggerate and generally lie through your teeth?" Amanda questioned.

Bumlets laughed, "Have you'se ever done 'dis before?"

"No," Amanda replied, "but I've seen it done before!"

Katie nodded in agreement.

Bumlets split the his stack in thirds and handed them each a third. "Between da t'ree of us, we should be done in no time!" He grinned, "M'names Bumlets by da way, what do dey call you?"

"I'm Amanda, and this is Katie." Amanda answered, pointing to Katie.

"Nice to meecha." Bumlets commented, spitting into the palm of his hand and holding it out.

Katie immediately scrunched up her face and mumbled, "eww, eww… I'm sorry, but, that's disgusting! Not to mention unsanitary."

Amanda spit in her own hand without hesitating and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you too!"

Bumlets face broke into a grin. "Wait 'till the guys hear about you!" he said with a laugh. "I aint nevah met a girl dat would spitshake, dey mostly think more like Katie does."

"I can see why, ewww, ewwww!" Katie commented, reinforcing her previous opinion.

They walked farther out to the street. Bumlets was right, it didn't take them long at all to sell the remaining papers before they headed to the lodging house.

***

"Kloppman!" Bumlets called out as they walked through the door to the lodging house.

Mr. Kloppman walked out from the back room and was surprised to see Katie and Amanda, standing there, wearing pants. *Girls aren't supposed to wear pants!* He though to himself. *And the rest of their clothes are strange too… Wonder where they're from.*

"I found dese two when I was out sellin' They'se runaways wid nowhere to stay. I know dat we aint gots no girls here, but can they get a bunk?"

After thinking about it for a minute, he answered "I don't see why not, as long as they are appropriate. They also have to learn how to be newsies."

"Dey's naturals, I had papes left to sell before we came on over here, an' they helped me out."

"Do either of you girls have five cents each for the first weeks stay?" Kloppman asked them.

Amanda dug through her deep pockets to find her change purse. Upon opening it, she did a double take. Her change no longer consisted of shiny new coins. Holding one up to look at it, she noticed the date stamped on it: 1894. Nudging Katie, she showed her the nickel, and Katie quickly pulled out her own nickel from her pocket in amazement. They both dropped their money into Kloppman's outstretched hand.

"Bumlets, why don't you take them upstairs and show them around."

Bumlets motioned towards the stairs with his head, and led the way up the stairs.

When they walked into the room, Bumlets tossed his walking stick onto his bunk, "Dere's empty bunks, heah, heah, heah, and ovah dere too, but the only ones togethah are these two next ta mine." He said, motioning to the bunks in the corner.

"Ohh, I want the top, I never have had the top before." Amanda said, putting her bag on the floor. She un-hooked her sleeping bag from it, and tossed it up on the top bunk before climbing up after it.

"Okay." Katie said with a shrug before starting to unpack her own bag.

Before they were finished unpacking, Kid Blink and Mush walked into the bunkroom. They both stopped suddenly upon seeing Amanda and Katie. They just looked at each other before turning right around and walking back out and running down the stairs.

"Kloppman!" Mush called out with fluster. "Dere's girls up dere!"

Kid Blink nodded in disbelief. "Dat aint supposed ta happen!"

"Why not, they paid for their bunks." Kloppman reasoned.

"What?!?!?!?!" They both questioned in unison.

"What's da fuss about?" asked Jack, walking into the room.

Whipping around to face Jack, Mush exclaims "Dere's girls up dere!" motioning to the stairs.

"An dey's paid for der bunks!" added Kid Blink.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Katie and Amanda stared at the door and blinked in surprise.

"Oh, dat's just Mush and Blink. Well, Kid Blink, Blink for short. Dey'll be back up in just a minute. I can hear dem now." Bumlets said, referring to the sound of people coming up the stairs.

Blink, Mush and Jack burst into the room, with Jack in the lead.

"What are you girls doin' heah?" Jack demanded.

"What are you doing here?" Amanda demanded back.

"I live heah!" he quipped.

"Well, so do we." She said back.

"Why?" Jack wanted to know.

"Well, why not?" Amanda asked him.

Taken aback, Jack didn't know quite what to say, so he just shook his head before storming off to his bunk.

Mush and Blink were left standing in the middle of the floor, not knowing what to do.

"Hiyo!" Katie called out, waving to them.

"…Hi…" said Blink uncertainly. "How's it rollin?"

"Okie day." Katie responded, and was met with matching looks of confusion from the both of them.

"Hey." Amanda greeted.

"Eh, I can understand dat!" Exclaimed Mush.

It didn't take too long for the other Newsies to come filing in, with a response much the same as Jack's. It took awhile for everything to settle down, and by that time, it was about time to go to bed.

Both Amanda and Katie started freaking out when the boys began changing their clothes for bed. They covered their eyes with their hands then the both of them stood up, facing the wall to talk without looking out into the room.

"Maybe we can hang a curtain or something." Resoned Katie.

"Ohh, wait, we have a tent!" Amanda remembered.

"Can we turn around yet?" Katie asked loudly to the rest of the room.

"Umm….. yeah." Bumlets told them.

"Can we move this bunk over a bit?" Katie asked him after turning around. "We need more room next to the wall for something."

"I guess so… why?" Bumlets questioned as the two girls started pushing it over farther from the wall. Bumlets grabbed another corner of the bunk and helped them move it.

Katie opened her backpack and pulled a bag out of it. Bumlets watched in amazement as Amanda and Katie started putting up the small two man dome tent.

The girls pulled their bags of clothes into the tent then went in, zipping the door shut behind them so that they could change their clothes. They came out, wearing their pajamas and bearing their favorite stuffed animals: Katie with her dragon, Draggie, and Amanda with her frog, Herbert.

They both climbed into their beds and snuggled into their sleeping bags just in time; as Kloppman came up to turn off the lights right after.

Upon listening in the dark, Amanda could only hear soft breathing, and someone across the room, snoring. She leaned her head over the side of the bunk and whispered, "Katie are you still awake?"

"Yeah." She whispered back.

"I don't think I have ever slept in the same room with a bunch of guys before… this is weird."

"Not as weird as where and when we are!" Katie quietly snickered.

"How did we manage to get from the teriyaki place in our neighborhood to New York. And how did we manage to go back in time?" Amanda questioned.

"I dunno, but how cool is it that we met Bumlets! Bumlets, Bumlets, Bumlets!"

"He he he," giggled Amanda before suppressing a yawn. "I guess we better go to sleep, I know we will have to wake up early to 'Carry 'da Banner.' I know how cranky you get without enough sleep."

"Hey! I resent that!" Katie disagreed.

"It's true!" Defended Amanda, "Go to sleep."

"All right, all right."

***

"Auggggghhhhhh!!!!" Amanda screamed as she fell out of bed in the middle of the night. "Owwwwww!"

she said after she landed.

Katie sat up straight from a deep sleep "What was that?" she asked the room.

"That was Amanda. Amanda has never slept in a bunk bed before." Amanda told her.

"Meh. I won't fall off, ya wanna trade?" Katie offered, groggily sitting up and grabbing her pillow, getting ready to settle into another bed.

"You are SO my hero. Just let me make sure that I can still move... I think I will survive." Amanda said sitting up.

Katie had climbed up onto the top bunk and threw Amanda's pillow at her from above.

"Thanks." Amanda commented through a yawn, while climbing into her new bunk, still halfway encased in her sleeping bag.

***

They were abruptly awaken the next morning by Kloppman yelling for everyone to wake up.

"Boots! Wake up boys! it's time to carry the banner! Skittery! Sell the papes! Sell the papes! The ink is wet, the presses are rolling!!! Mush! "

"Amanda?" Katie called out from the top bunk.

"What?" she replied in question.

"I just wanted to make sure you were still here with me." she explained, with her voice muffled by the pillow she was burying her face in.

Amanda sat up, "Huh, what did you say, Katie?" she waited for an answer, and she didn't get one so she stood up and hit Katie on the head with Herbert, her frog.

Katie's head snapped up, "Wha- oh, g'morning." she groggily said to Amanda

"I thought you had the top...." Bumlets commented to Amanda.

"I did, but falling off in the middle of the night changed my opinion that it was so great to have the top." She explained.

With a laugh, Mush walked by, "Dat girl's harder to wake up than Jack!" he said pointing to Katie.

With an evil grin, Amanda walked over to the row of sinks in the washroom. Grabbing an unused washrag, she dropped it into a sink that was filling with water. After turning the water faucet off, she rang the extra water out of the cold rag, and crept over to Katie's bunk. Using the bunk under her as a step, she flung the sopping rag onto Katie's face, and ran across the room, before dropping to the floor, giggling hysterically.

Dutchy opened his eyes at the sound of laughing. one of those new strange girls was sitting in the floor, right next to his bunk, laughing. That's when he heard the other girl scream.

"Amanda!!! I will get you for this!" Katie promised, yelling across the room

Amanda... that's what her name was... Dutchy thought to himself.

Amanda scrunched herself down lower, so Katie couldn't see her, and finally stopped giggling.

She caught Dutchy looking right at her, so she grinned and waved. "Good morning!" She said cheerfully.

Dutchy smiled at her, shaking his head. "Dat's the first time in my life I have ever been woken up by someone sittin' on the floor next to my bed, laughing."

Amanda sheepishly smacked herself in the forehead before answering "I'm sorry, I shoulda been quieter."

"No, it's ok, I'd rather be woken up by the sound of laughter than being shaken awake and yelled at, which would have happened in a minute or two if you hadn't woken me up. Kloppman's still making his rounds around the room." he explained with a smile.

"Well , I gotta go get dressed, I will talk to you later, Dutchy." she told him as she jumped up from the floor and walked back over to her bunk.

Dutchy grinned as he threw back his covers. ~That girl is something else.....~ he thought to himself, getting up to get ready.