I woke up the next day with the thoughts of yesterday still roaming around
in my mind. I was still ticked off at Brina for thinking that we should
report Kid Blink, Racetrack and Jack for hurting me. We had accidentally
bumped into one another and Kid Blink and Racetrack hadn't deliberately
hurt my arms when they grabbed me. They were just surprised that I had
punched Jack. I pushed back the comforter on my bed and changed into a pair
of trousers, a green shirt and suspenders. I never wear dressers since I
feel very weird in them.
I grabbed my pocket watch off of my nightstand and quietly went downstairs for breakfast. I knew that Brina would not yet be up since she liked to sleep in when she could. Downstairs, I realized that I was up even before Samantha. I grabbed some toast and decided to go for a walk. For the first time I had woken up, I looked at my watch and realized that it was 5:30am!
"No won.wonder no ones up."
I slipped out of the house after leaving a note and headed out. The sun wasn't up yet so I stuck to the lighted streets. I saw a giant building that said Medda Larson: the Swedish Meadowlark. I continued to walk and came to the World building.
"This is interesting. I won.wonder if any Newsies are around."
I walked a bit farther and came to the distribution office. I saw one Newsie that looked a bit familiar sleeping on the steps. I walked up to him and saw that it was a friend of Kid Blink's. I tapped him slightly on the shoulder
"Are you okay?"
I whispered not sure if he had awaken when I walked up. He stirred and slowly woke. He lifted his cap up and when he saw me, a glint of recognition formed in his eyes.
"You're Katelin right?" I nodded.
"I should be the one asking if you're okay."
I stood there and gave the boy a questioning look. He stood up and dusted himself off.
"Kid Blink came to the Lodging House last night and mentioned that he had accidentally hurt you."
"Oh. Do you know wh. where he is? Is he at th.the Lodging House?"
The guy shook his head no. I then assumed that he had already left to sell papers.
"No one stayed at the lodging house last night. Racetrack, his girlfriend Fastdancer and Kid all went over to Midtown last night with Dodger. I ended up sleeping out here and Specs and Skittery went over to Brooklyn for the night."
This confused me. Why would all these guys go sleep somewhere else if they had the lodging house? I guess the guy noticed my confused look.
"Well I think you may want Kid to explain why we didn't stay at the lodging house. I'm actually going to go sell in Midtown today so I can take you over there."
I nodded as in 'yes' and we headed off in the direction.
"By the way, my name is Mush." So that's what his name was. (I couldn't remember from the day before since my anger sometimes gets the better of my mind.)
"How did you g.get that name?" Mush then went into telling me how he got it as we walked.
~*~*Flashback 2months before the strike~*~*
Mush's POV
"You boy! Get to serving these ragamuffins their mush." I grabbed the big bowl of oatmeal and started to go around the tables at the refuge serving the rest of the people their food.
'Just what I wanted to do with my life, serve food for others. I've got to get myself out of here before I go bonkers.' I thought to myself as I went from person to person. I had only been at the refuge for 3months and since I didn't make any fuss, I get to have the delight to serve people. Just my luck. I saw Kid Blink across the room staring out the window mouthing something.
'I wonder what he's doing.' As I got closer I saw the top of a cowboy's hat. 'What the?' Kid Blink saw me getting close so he motioned his hand to the person outside to get away.
"Hey Jacob. How are you doing?" I put some of the oatmeal in his bowl and noticed a look of nervous in his eyes. 'What is going on?'
"I'm doing fine Kid. What were you just doing looking out the window?" The look on Kid's face went sort of pale. It then went back to it's regular colour and he asked,
"Can you keep a secret?"
I nodded and sat down at the table. This was always my last spot since I too sat there. I scooped the oatmeal into my bowl and listened to Kid.
"Well I'm getting out of here tonight." I sat that with what I guessed was shock all over my face.
"What do you mean you're getting out tonight? You still have 3 months left on your sentence."
"I'm tired of being here. The food sucks and I have to fight someone every night for a decent mattress. I have a friend on the outside whose gonna help me so I can get back to being a Newsie."
"Can I come too? I'm tired of handing out this mush."
"Okay. But you'll need a new name."
Kid Blink looked at me for a few minutes and then laughed.
"I've got the perfect name for you. Mush." He then started laughing and soon I did too. We saw Snyder come into the room and quickly closed our mouths and ended up waiting out the rest of the day until nightfall came.
When it finally did, Kid and I were dressed in our regular clothes rather than the raggedy shirts they gave us to sleep in. As soon as all the lamps were put out, we got out of our beds and quietly went to the roof. Up there was a dark figure with a cowboy hat on.
'That must be the person I saw earlier.' We walked over to him but no one said a word. The guy led the way out of there and we left the refuge.
~*~*End of Flashback~*~* Mush's POV
"So that's how I got called Mush, because I served it. I wish I had something different but all the guys seem to like it the way it is."
I then realized that we were at the Midtown Lodging House and looking at the clock nearby, it told me that it was 6:00am.
"They'll be out soon. Midtown gets up later than us Manhatteners. We have to get up at 5:30am all thanks to Kloppman. Knowing Kid and Race, they'll be up last. They're more of nighthawks than a day birds. There are only two people who know how to get them up in the morning. One's Fastdancer and the other's Dodger. C'mon. If we get up to the window, we can see them wake the two sleeping beauties.
With Katelin following me, I led the way up the fire escape so we could look in the window. We peered over the windowsill and saw Dodger do her thing just in time. We saw her go up to where Kid was sleeping and pulled the blanket away from his feet. She then took a feather and tickled him until he got up. Fastdancer did the same to Racetrack and he ended up hitting his head against the top bunk. I burst out laughing and so did Katelin. She had a very melodic laughter that just made me laugh even harder at the sight of her being happy.
"C'mon, let's go meet them at the doors."
~*~*Katelin's POV~*~*
I followed Mush down the fire escape and by the time we got around to the front door, Kid Blink and Racetrack were coming out followed by two girls who were laughing. From what I could tell, Racetrack and Kid Blink were irritated by the fact that they were woken up by the one thing they hate, feet tickling. The two girls I presumed to be Fastdancer and Dodger calmed down enough to say,
"Aww poor Newsies. Don't like to be woken up do you?" Then they started up all over again. They then noticed Mush and I and walked over as Kid Blink and Racetrack lit their cigars and cigarettes.
"Youse must be Katelin. It's nice to meetcha. Me name is Dodger." She took off her cap to show raven black hair cut just below the ears and bowed very low. She came back up and I saw laughing emerald green eyes.
"Oh ignore her. She's normally like that when we get Blink and Race. My name is Fastdancer. I'm Racetrack's girlfriend." I noticed that Dodger had a different accent than the rest of the Newsies I had met but decided not to mention anything yet. Dodger looked over to the boys for now Mush was over there smoking too.
"Boys! Fastdanca and I are goin' to take Katelin 'ere to breakfast. We'll meetcha lata in Manhattan." The boys nodded and Fastdancer, Dodger and I started walking. I decided now that I would ask about her accent.
"I wa was wondering. Wh why do you ha have a different accent Dodger?" She looked at me and smiled.
"I'se ain't from around 'ere. I'se from Canada." As we walked, Dodger got into her story.
~*~*Flashback Dodger Age: 15 (1898)~*~*
Dodger's POV
"'Ey kid. Git outta me way!" I said as I pushed my way past a person. I was very pissed off for my boss accused my good friend Elizabeth of slacking off but ended up firing me. I stormed my way to the train station since Katharine and Jonathan would beat me if I came back home without my paycheck.
"I'se sick n' tired of dem 'ittin' me. It's time I'se left." I didn't even bother to go and get things I just went straight for the train yards. I bought a ticket for New York with the money Elizabeth had given me before the damn boss tossed my butt out. I boarded and the train then it lurched into motion heading for my new home.
"No more Skyler McClure, goil who gits beatin' n' 'it every single day. It's time for Skyler McClure, new and improved." I said to myself as I stared out the window. Within 3 hours I arrived in Manhattan New York. As I walked down the streets I tried to think of what to do.
"Well foist I'se gotta cut dis 'air of mine. I'se ain't gonna git a job lookin' like a goil." I took my pocketknife out of my back pocket and did a quick cut job on my hair. I then tucked it behind my ears and put my cap back on. As I walked on, I bumped into several guys. With me being still in a bad mood, my mouth put me in a hot spot.
"Watch were youse goin'. I'se walkin' 'ere." I pushed between them and thought that I had gone with clear sailing when I was grabbed from behind by use of my suspenders.
"I don't think so. You're the one who bumped into us boy." I looked at the guys and saw that there were 4 of them. One looked like a pathetic cowboy look alike. Another one looked as though he was an Italian bookie. The one to my far right had curly hair up under his cap and the last one had a patch over his left eye.
"Listen. I'se sorry but I'se in a hurry so I ain't got time to chat so good- bye." I started to walk again but was grabbed from behind again. This time it was my shoulders. Flashbacks of Jonathan doing that hit me fast and I reacted the way I normally did. With my fast right and left hooks. As it turned out it was the cowboy who grabbed me and was now on the ground holding his gut. The other 3 came at me.
"You are in for a soaking now boy." At least they think I'm a boy, that's a good thing. They all came at me at once and then all 3 were lying next to the cowboy on the ground.
"I'se 'ope youse learned youse lesson. Now I'se gotta go." I walked off towards the park maybe seeing one of those traveling theatres.
"Wait up." I turned and saw the 4 boys struggling to get to me. It was a funny sight but I would stifle my laughter until later.
"What do youse want? Another butt kickin'?" They shook their heads, which was a good thing since I didn't have the energy to.
"Den what do youse want?" The one with the eye patch spoke first.
"We were wondering if you would like to join the Manhattan Newsies. You have the guts to face us and we're the toughest of them. What do you say?"
I looked at them and thought that it couldn't hurt. But then I remembered that if Katharine and Jonathan were to figure out that I was in Manhattan, they could get there easily.
"I'se love to, but it ain't safe for me 'ere. I'se do wanna be a Newsie but dis is too close to where I'se from." The cowboy came up to me.
"Well we could take you to see Whiz, he should take you in. Oh and no hard feelings about the punches. Where did you learn those?"
"It's whatcha learn from bein' beatin' since da age of 5. Oh and da name is." I didn't get to finish for the Italian one cut me off.
"No names. Not now anyways. We need a Newsie name for you if you're gonna be one." The 4 boys gathered together or did as best they could and conversed for a bit. They finished and then looked at me.
"In the little punch up back there, did any of us hit you?" I shook my head that no they hadn't. "Alright then, we're going to name you Dodger since you dodged all our shots."
"Alrighty then. Shall wese git goin' cause I'se wanna make some money for da foist night." The boys were about to say that normally the first night was free but I cut them off.
"I'se know da foist night is free, but I'se never getting' anythin' for free. Let's go." The boys just shrugged their shoulder's and showed me the way to Midtown where Whiz was the leader.
~*~*End of Flashback~*~*
Katelin's POV
"N' dat's how I'se got me name Dodger. Da boys lata figured out dat I was a goil but as it turned out, Whiz was me cousin so I'se was allowed in." By the time she had finished her story, we had arrived at the local restaurant, Molly's and had finished half of our breakfast.
"Mush told me th that you are th the only one who knows h how to wake up Kid Blink. H how is that?"
"Oh Kid Blink n' I went out until 1901 when me cousins Katharine and Jonathan tracked me down to Midtown tanks to does lousy bruddas, Morris and Oscar Delancey. I ended up runnin' for a while and dis ended me n' Kid's relationship. I actually jist got back last month but don't worry. 'Im and me are only friends. I'se actually 'ave started a relationship wit Specs."
I took a sip of my juice when Dodger then said,
"Youse like Kid don't ya?" I swallowed my juice and looked at her with wide eyes.
"Oh don't worry. I'se won't tell him. It took me a year before tellin' 'im. 'E's jist too cute to talk to." I looked down at my plate and blushed. I then said in a whisper,
"Thanks." Fastdancer opened her mouth for the first time since our introductions.
"You sure do talk quiet. You need a Newsie name even if you don't sell papes. Kid told us how you're involved with the Sun and all. I think the name Whisper will work since that's all you do when your around people. I know I know a lot about you but that's cause Kid told us a lot last night."
Dodger butted into the conversation.
"Whisper's good. Whisper, youse gonna hafta watch Fast 'ere. Once she starts talkin, sometimes she doesn't stop. Unless Race is 'ere so they end up lip lockin'." Fastdancer reacted to this by taking up a role and threw it at Dodger.
"Well it's true." She looked at her pocket-watch and saw that it was getting late. Her face got serious and she said that it was around 10:00am.
"Wese had betta git goin' to Manhattan. Da boys should be dere by now n' wese 'ave some business to attend to." She got up from her seat and headed to the door with Fastdancer and I in tow.
As we walked, Dodger walked ahead of Fastdancer and I. She hadn't said anything since we had left Molly's and neither had Fastdancer. I looked to her and asked,
"Um h how did you get your name?" Fastdancer looked at me and started with her story.
~*~*Flashback Fastdancer Age: 14 (1898)
"Oh c'mon Spot, you've got to let me join. Father is getting more and more drunk everyday and one of these days if going to hurt me even more then usual."
"Jasmine, you know I can't let you join. The boys would think that I was going soft if they saw me let a girl in let alone my own sister."
"But what would you rather me do? Be a Newsie or dance for father just so he won't hit me?" Spot got the look in his eyes that I knew was never good.
"Well I would rather you be a Newsie but the business is too rough for you. You could seriously get hurt."
"Yeah well so could you James Conlon." I used his real name and that meant that I meant real business.
Sighing he finally gave up.
"Oh all right. You can be a Newsie but you need a name just so father doesn't come and try to find you."
"Well why not Fastdancer? One time when father was very close to passing out from being drunk, he said that I danced too fast for him. It made him too dizzy." Spot looked at me and agreed.
"Alright then. Fastdancer it is."
~*~*End of Flashback~*~*
"That's how I came around to the name Fastdancer. You might actually meet my brother later if we stop by Brooklyn." We were almost close by my house in Manhattan.
"Um can we stop b by my h house. I am not s sure if t the Monroe's got my message."
Fastdancer called up to Dodger saying that we were going to stop off at my place. She came back to where we were and the 3 of us turned down my street. Once we arrived at the house, I saw that Brina was on the steps with a worried look on her face.
~*~*Brina's POV~*~*
I had gotten Katelin's message about leaving but it was coming close to 11:00am and she still wasn't back. I don't have the feeling that she's in trouble so that's a good thing. Looking down both sides of the street, I saw her coming down with two people. At first I was worried that it was Kid Blink but the walk was different.
"Oh my gosh, it's Katelin." I ran down the steps to meet up with her.
"Oh Katelin I'm so happy to see you. I was worried that you were still mad at me." I guess I kept talking when the one on Katelin's left then interrupted me.
"Uh, excuse me but wese are jist 'ere to make soire dat no one is worried about Whisper 'ere. Wese goin' up to da Manhattan Lodgin' House to do some business. Oh and youse are one big chattabox." Katelin started laughing and then whispered something in the other's ear.
"Youse right. Dat is a poifect name. I'se christen youse, Chattabox."
"What do you mean you christen me?" The other girl piped up.
"Well we gave Katelin here the nick name Whisper since she is very quiet. You talked a lot and Whisper here says that you are a chatterbox as Dodger here says." The girl she pointed out to be Dodger bowed at the mention of her name.
"I'm Fastdancer. You can ignore her little dramatics. She gets like that sometimes when she's either mad or in a really good mood. She's both at the moment. Would you like to come along with us?"
"Yes sure. Only if Kate.I mean Whisper can forgive me?" I looked at Katelin in hopes that she would. Katelin nodded and we all went off to do the business they had talked about.
A/N: Hey all! I hope you guys like this chapter. I'm sorry if I haven't updated the other one yet. That one's a bit more complicated to write. Well I just want to mention that I need one and I mean ONE girl to be Mush's girlfriend. Everyone else is taken care of. Oh and about the accents. All those that are the Newsies or Katelin and Brina have regular speech. The only one who doesn't is Dodger. That is so it can distinguish between where she was brought up. All cut outs to those who review! And I'll review yours.
I grabbed my pocket watch off of my nightstand and quietly went downstairs for breakfast. I knew that Brina would not yet be up since she liked to sleep in when she could. Downstairs, I realized that I was up even before Samantha. I grabbed some toast and decided to go for a walk. For the first time I had woken up, I looked at my watch and realized that it was 5:30am!
"No won.wonder no ones up."
I slipped out of the house after leaving a note and headed out. The sun wasn't up yet so I stuck to the lighted streets. I saw a giant building that said Medda Larson: the Swedish Meadowlark. I continued to walk and came to the World building.
"This is interesting. I won.wonder if any Newsies are around."
I walked a bit farther and came to the distribution office. I saw one Newsie that looked a bit familiar sleeping on the steps. I walked up to him and saw that it was a friend of Kid Blink's. I tapped him slightly on the shoulder
"Are you okay?"
I whispered not sure if he had awaken when I walked up. He stirred and slowly woke. He lifted his cap up and when he saw me, a glint of recognition formed in his eyes.
"You're Katelin right?" I nodded.
"I should be the one asking if you're okay."
I stood there and gave the boy a questioning look. He stood up and dusted himself off.
"Kid Blink came to the Lodging House last night and mentioned that he had accidentally hurt you."
"Oh. Do you know wh. where he is? Is he at th.the Lodging House?"
The guy shook his head no. I then assumed that he had already left to sell papers.
"No one stayed at the lodging house last night. Racetrack, his girlfriend Fastdancer and Kid all went over to Midtown last night with Dodger. I ended up sleeping out here and Specs and Skittery went over to Brooklyn for the night."
This confused me. Why would all these guys go sleep somewhere else if they had the lodging house? I guess the guy noticed my confused look.
"Well I think you may want Kid to explain why we didn't stay at the lodging house. I'm actually going to go sell in Midtown today so I can take you over there."
I nodded as in 'yes' and we headed off in the direction.
"By the way, my name is Mush." So that's what his name was. (I couldn't remember from the day before since my anger sometimes gets the better of my mind.)
"How did you g.get that name?" Mush then went into telling me how he got it as we walked.
~*~*Flashback 2months before the strike~*~*
Mush's POV
"You boy! Get to serving these ragamuffins their mush." I grabbed the big bowl of oatmeal and started to go around the tables at the refuge serving the rest of the people their food.
'Just what I wanted to do with my life, serve food for others. I've got to get myself out of here before I go bonkers.' I thought to myself as I went from person to person. I had only been at the refuge for 3months and since I didn't make any fuss, I get to have the delight to serve people. Just my luck. I saw Kid Blink across the room staring out the window mouthing something.
'I wonder what he's doing.' As I got closer I saw the top of a cowboy's hat. 'What the?' Kid Blink saw me getting close so he motioned his hand to the person outside to get away.
"Hey Jacob. How are you doing?" I put some of the oatmeal in his bowl and noticed a look of nervous in his eyes. 'What is going on?'
"I'm doing fine Kid. What were you just doing looking out the window?" The look on Kid's face went sort of pale. It then went back to it's regular colour and he asked,
"Can you keep a secret?"
I nodded and sat down at the table. This was always my last spot since I too sat there. I scooped the oatmeal into my bowl and listened to Kid.
"Well I'm getting out of here tonight." I sat that with what I guessed was shock all over my face.
"What do you mean you're getting out tonight? You still have 3 months left on your sentence."
"I'm tired of being here. The food sucks and I have to fight someone every night for a decent mattress. I have a friend on the outside whose gonna help me so I can get back to being a Newsie."
"Can I come too? I'm tired of handing out this mush."
"Okay. But you'll need a new name."
Kid Blink looked at me for a few minutes and then laughed.
"I've got the perfect name for you. Mush." He then started laughing and soon I did too. We saw Snyder come into the room and quickly closed our mouths and ended up waiting out the rest of the day until nightfall came.
When it finally did, Kid and I were dressed in our regular clothes rather than the raggedy shirts they gave us to sleep in. As soon as all the lamps were put out, we got out of our beds and quietly went to the roof. Up there was a dark figure with a cowboy hat on.
'That must be the person I saw earlier.' We walked over to him but no one said a word. The guy led the way out of there and we left the refuge.
~*~*End of Flashback~*~* Mush's POV
"So that's how I got called Mush, because I served it. I wish I had something different but all the guys seem to like it the way it is."
I then realized that we were at the Midtown Lodging House and looking at the clock nearby, it told me that it was 6:00am.
"They'll be out soon. Midtown gets up later than us Manhatteners. We have to get up at 5:30am all thanks to Kloppman. Knowing Kid and Race, they'll be up last. They're more of nighthawks than a day birds. There are only two people who know how to get them up in the morning. One's Fastdancer and the other's Dodger. C'mon. If we get up to the window, we can see them wake the two sleeping beauties.
With Katelin following me, I led the way up the fire escape so we could look in the window. We peered over the windowsill and saw Dodger do her thing just in time. We saw her go up to where Kid was sleeping and pulled the blanket away from his feet. She then took a feather and tickled him until he got up. Fastdancer did the same to Racetrack and he ended up hitting his head against the top bunk. I burst out laughing and so did Katelin. She had a very melodic laughter that just made me laugh even harder at the sight of her being happy.
"C'mon, let's go meet them at the doors."
~*~*Katelin's POV~*~*
I followed Mush down the fire escape and by the time we got around to the front door, Kid Blink and Racetrack were coming out followed by two girls who were laughing. From what I could tell, Racetrack and Kid Blink were irritated by the fact that they were woken up by the one thing they hate, feet tickling. The two girls I presumed to be Fastdancer and Dodger calmed down enough to say,
"Aww poor Newsies. Don't like to be woken up do you?" Then they started up all over again. They then noticed Mush and I and walked over as Kid Blink and Racetrack lit their cigars and cigarettes.
"Youse must be Katelin. It's nice to meetcha. Me name is Dodger." She took off her cap to show raven black hair cut just below the ears and bowed very low. She came back up and I saw laughing emerald green eyes.
"Oh ignore her. She's normally like that when we get Blink and Race. My name is Fastdancer. I'm Racetrack's girlfriend." I noticed that Dodger had a different accent than the rest of the Newsies I had met but decided not to mention anything yet. Dodger looked over to the boys for now Mush was over there smoking too.
"Boys! Fastdanca and I are goin' to take Katelin 'ere to breakfast. We'll meetcha lata in Manhattan." The boys nodded and Fastdancer, Dodger and I started walking. I decided now that I would ask about her accent.
"I wa was wondering. Wh why do you ha have a different accent Dodger?" She looked at me and smiled.
"I'se ain't from around 'ere. I'se from Canada." As we walked, Dodger got into her story.
~*~*Flashback Dodger Age: 15 (1898)~*~*
Dodger's POV
"'Ey kid. Git outta me way!" I said as I pushed my way past a person. I was very pissed off for my boss accused my good friend Elizabeth of slacking off but ended up firing me. I stormed my way to the train station since Katharine and Jonathan would beat me if I came back home without my paycheck.
"I'se sick n' tired of dem 'ittin' me. It's time I'se left." I didn't even bother to go and get things I just went straight for the train yards. I bought a ticket for New York with the money Elizabeth had given me before the damn boss tossed my butt out. I boarded and the train then it lurched into motion heading for my new home.
"No more Skyler McClure, goil who gits beatin' n' 'it every single day. It's time for Skyler McClure, new and improved." I said to myself as I stared out the window. Within 3 hours I arrived in Manhattan New York. As I walked down the streets I tried to think of what to do.
"Well foist I'se gotta cut dis 'air of mine. I'se ain't gonna git a job lookin' like a goil." I took my pocketknife out of my back pocket and did a quick cut job on my hair. I then tucked it behind my ears and put my cap back on. As I walked on, I bumped into several guys. With me being still in a bad mood, my mouth put me in a hot spot.
"Watch were youse goin'. I'se walkin' 'ere." I pushed between them and thought that I had gone with clear sailing when I was grabbed from behind by use of my suspenders.
"I don't think so. You're the one who bumped into us boy." I looked at the guys and saw that there were 4 of them. One looked like a pathetic cowboy look alike. Another one looked as though he was an Italian bookie. The one to my far right had curly hair up under his cap and the last one had a patch over his left eye.
"Listen. I'se sorry but I'se in a hurry so I ain't got time to chat so good- bye." I started to walk again but was grabbed from behind again. This time it was my shoulders. Flashbacks of Jonathan doing that hit me fast and I reacted the way I normally did. With my fast right and left hooks. As it turned out it was the cowboy who grabbed me and was now on the ground holding his gut. The other 3 came at me.
"You are in for a soaking now boy." At least they think I'm a boy, that's a good thing. They all came at me at once and then all 3 were lying next to the cowboy on the ground.
"I'se 'ope youse learned youse lesson. Now I'se gotta go." I walked off towards the park maybe seeing one of those traveling theatres.
"Wait up." I turned and saw the 4 boys struggling to get to me. It was a funny sight but I would stifle my laughter until later.
"What do youse want? Another butt kickin'?" They shook their heads, which was a good thing since I didn't have the energy to.
"Den what do youse want?" The one with the eye patch spoke first.
"We were wondering if you would like to join the Manhattan Newsies. You have the guts to face us and we're the toughest of them. What do you say?"
I looked at them and thought that it couldn't hurt. But then I remembered that if Katharine and Jonathan were to figure out that I was in Manhattan, they could get there easily.
"I'se love to, but it ain't safe for me 'ere. I'se do wanna be a Newsie but dis is too close to where I'se from." The cowboy came up to me.
"Well we could take you to see Whiz, he should take you in. Oh and no hard feelings about the punches. Where did you learn those?"
"It's whatcha learn from bein' beatin' since da age of 5. Oh and da name is." I didn't get to finish for the Italian one cut me off.
"No names. Not now anyways. We need a Newsie name for you if you're gonna be one." The 4 boys gathered together or did as best they could and conversed for a bit. They finished and then looked at me.
"In the little punch up back there, did any of us hit you?" I shook my head that no they hadn't. "Alright then, we're going to name you Dodger since you dodged all our shots."
"Alrighty then. Shall wese git goin' cause I'se wanna make some money for da foist night." The boys were about to say that normally the first night was free but I cut them off.
"I'se know da foist night is free, but I'se never getting' anythin' for free. Let's go." The boys just shrugged their shoulder's and showed me the way to Midtown where Whiz was the leader.
~*~*End of Flashback~*~*
Katelin's POV
"N' dat's how I'se got me name Dodger. Da boys lata figured out dat I was a goil but as it turned out, Whiz was me cousin so I'se was allowed in." By the time she had finished her story, we had arrived at the local restaurant, Molly's and had finished half of our breakfast.
"Mush told me th that you are th the only one who knows h how to wake up Kid Blink. H how is that?"
"Oh Kid Blink n' I went out until 1901 when me cousins Katharine and Jonathan tracked me down to Midtown tanks to does lousy bruddas, Morris and Oscar Delancey. I ended up runnin' for a while and dis ended me n' Kid's relationship. I actually jist got back last month but don't worry. 'Im and me are only friends. I'se actually 'ave started a relationship wit Specs."
I took a sip of my juice when Dodger then said,
"Youse like Kid don't ya?" I swallowed my juice and looked at her with wide eyes.
"Oh don't worry. I'se won't tell him. It took me a year before tellin' 'im. 'E's jist too cute to talk to." I looked down at my plate and blushed. I then said in a whisper,
"Thanks." Fastdancer opened her mouth for the first time since our introductions.
"You sure do talk quiet. You need a Newsie name even if you don't sell papes. Kid told us how you're involved with the Sun and all. I think the name Whisper will work since that's all you do when your around people. I know I know a lot about you but that's cause Kid told us a lot last night."
Dodger butted into the conversation.
"Whisper's good. Whisper, youse gonna hafta watch Fast 'ere. Once she starts talkin, sometimes she doesn't stop. Unless Race is 'ere so they end up lip lockin'." Fastdancer reacted to this by taking up a role and threw it at Dodger.
"Well it's true." She looked at her pocket-watch and saw that it was getting late. Her face got serious and she said that it was around 10:00am.
"Wese had betta git goin' to Manhattan. Da boys should be dere by now n' wese 'ave some business to attend to." She got up from her seat and headed to the door with Fastdancer and I in tow.
As we walked, Dodger walked ahead of Fastdancer and I. She hadn't said anything since we had left Molly's and neither had Fastdancer. I looked to her and asked,
"Um h how did you get your name?" Fastdancer looked at me and started with her story.
~*~*Flashback Fastdancer Age: 14 (1898)
"Oh c'mon Spot, you've got to let me join. Father is getting more and more drunk everyday and one of these days if going to hurt me even more then usual."
"Jasmine, you know I can't let you join. The boys would think that I was going soft if they saw me let a girl in let alone my own sister."
"But what would you rather me do? Be a Newsie or dance for father just so he won't hit me?" Spot got the look in his eyes that I knew was never good.
"Well I would rather you be a Newsie but the business is too rough for you. You could seriously get hurt."
"Yeah well so could you James Conlon." I used his real name and that meant that I meant real business.
Sighing he finally gave up.
"Oh all right. You can be a Newsie but you need a name just so father doesn't come and try to find you."
"Well why not Fastdancer? One time when father was very close to passing out from being drunk, he said that I danced too fast for him. It made him too dizzy." Spot looked at me and agreed.
"Alright then. Fastdancer it is."
~*~*End of Flashback~*~*
"That's how I came around to the name Fastdancer. You might actually meet my brother later if we stop by Brooklyn." We were almost close by my house in Manhattan.
"Um can we stop b by my h house. I am not s sure if t the Monroe's got my message."
Fastdancer called up to Dodger saying that we were going to stop off at my place. She came back to where we were and the 3 of us turned down my street. Once we arrived at the house, I saw that Brina was on the steps with a worried look on her face.
~*~*Brina's POV~*~*
I had gotten Katelin's message about leaving but it was coming close to 11:00am and she still wasn't back. I don't have the feeling that she's in trouble so that's a good thing. Looking down both sides of the street, I saw her coming down with two people. At first I was worried that it was Kid Blink but the walk was different.
"Oh my gosh, it's Katelin." I ran down the steps to meet up with her.
"Oh Katelin I'm so happy to see you. I was worried that you were still mad at me." I guess I kept talking when the one on Katelin's left then interrupted me.
"Uh, excuse me but wese are jist 'ere to make soire dat no one is worried about Whisper 'ere. Wese goin' up to da Manhattan Lodgin' House to do some business. Oh and youse are one big chattabox." Katelin started laughing and then whispered something in the other's ear.
"Youse right. Dat is a poifect name. I'se christen youse, Chattabox."
"What do you mean you christen me?" The other girl piped up.
"Well we gave Katelin here the nick name Whisper since she is very quiet. You talked a lot and Whisper here says that you are a chatterbox as Dodger here says." The girl she pointed out to be Dodger bowed at the mention of her name.
"I'm Fastdancer. You can ignore her little dramatics. She gets like that sometimes when she's either mad or in a really good mood. She's both at the moment. Would you like to come along with us?"
"Yes sure. Only if Kate.I mean Whisper can forgive me?" I looked at Katelin in hopes that she would. Katelin nodded and we all went off to do the business they had talked about.
A/N: Hey all! I hope you guys like this chapter. I'm sorry if I haven't updated the other one yet. That one's a bit more complicated to write. Well I just want to mention that I need one and I mean ONE girl to be Mush's girlfriend. Everyone else is taken care of. Oh and about the accents. All those that are the Newsies or Katelin and Brina have regular speech. The only one who doesn't is Dodger. That is so it can distinguish between where she was brought up. All cut outs to those who review! And I'll review yours.