*DISCLAIMER* (Pretty important stuff... please read.) With the exception of Caroline "Diamond" Murphy, all of the characters in this story are the property of the Walt Disney Company. Yeah. That about covers it.
Yay, yay, yay! Enjoy Part Two, requested by popular demand!
PART TWO- EARLY SPRING, 1900
"Lord in Heaven above, I reckon I ain't never gonna understand you, Caroline Elizabeth Murphy." Aunt Emma shook her head at her niece. "You mean to tell me that you're goin' back to those ruffians?"
"Grandma said it was okay," Diamond insisted.
Diamond had spent well over a year in Virginia at that time, almost a year and-a-half. Just two weeks earlier, Diamond's maternal grandmother passed away. She rembembered distinctly the last words Grandma said to her:
"Caroline, honey," Grandma had said, "I heard they're gonna make you stay after all is said an' done, but I gotta feelin' you don't want to do that."
"I'd really like to be with my friends in New York," Diamond had admitted.
Grandma smiled warmly but weakly at her grandaughter. "Darlin', if there ain't nothin' I've learned from eighty-nine years on God's green earth, it's this: Listen good an' hard to what your heart tells you to do, baby-doll. You'd best get to New York."
Diamond quoted these words to Aunt Emma, who smiled tearfully.
"Very well," she conceded. "I suppose Mama would have wanted it that way."
With a quick goodbye to her stuffy but nonetheless caring aunt, Diamond boarded the crowded train. Her heart raced to know that she would soon be with her very best friends after a year and six months. Diamond just hoped that they hadn't forgotten about her.
Diamond caught her reflection in the train window. If they hadn't forgotten about her, they certainly wouldn't recognize her. During her time in Richmond, Diamond was commanded by her Southernly refined extended family to dress and act as they deemed appropriate. She had exchanged her baggy, dingy, but altogether comfortable boy's clothing for form-fitting blouses and elegant, lacy skirts. Her hair, which had previously run amok under her cap, was now tightly pinned to the top of her head.
If there was anything else it was that Diamond was an adult now at seventeen. Her family in Virginia reminded her every day, it seemed: "You're a bona fide woman, Caroline Elizabeth. It's high time you set aside childish things and thought on more grown-up matters."
Diamond looked sort of regretfully at the landscape out the window. It made her sad, thinking that she couldn't be a girl anymore and enjoy the things she once had. But she was seventeen-- a grown-up. It was time to move on.
Wasn't it?
****************************************************
Diamond never thought she'd remember her way around New York. Nevertheless, as she strolled out of Grand Central Station, everything came back to her-- every alleyway and street corner. Being a newsie for five years really taught a person that.
Although she recollected everything about Manhattan's infrastructure, her heart sank when she found none of her old friends. Not even her best friend, Jack Kelly. Diamond had always been able to locate her best friend, if anyone else, but she turned up empty-handed.
Disappoined and disheartened, Diamond failed to watch where she was going as she sharply rounded a corner, plowing right into someone.
The "someone," a boy, reeled back and regained his gold-tipped cane that he'd dropped in the collision. He locked eyes with Diamond, raising his hat, as was expected in the presence of a lady... but not Diamond.
"My utmost humble 'pologies, miss," he said to her.
Diamond recognized him right away. "No trouble... Spot." She added his name with a knowing smirk.
Spot Conlon immediately froze, turning to face her. "You talkin' to me?" he asked, puzzled.
"Is there any other Spot Conlon? I thought there was the one and only."
He was still confused. "Yeah... I'se the one an' only, all right." He squinted at her, smirking flirtatiously. "So how'd such an angel as yerself hear 'bout the notorious Spot Conlon?"
Diamond was taken aback, and for more reasons than one. To begin with, she and Spot were always like brother and sister. The mere thought of him hitting on her made her laugh. She was also quite hurt that he hadn't recognized her.
"Since when do ya make passes at yer sister?" she chirped, regaining her old, bawdy New York accent. "It's me... Diamond! Don'tcha recognize me, Spot?"
Spot's eyes were now the size of his prized marble shooters. "Diamond?" he hissed in disbelief. "That can't be you..."
To prove it, Diamond displayed her trademark diamond ring on the chain around her neck. No matter how frilly her new clothes were, she never took it off. She'd never, ever remove something that was once her mother's.
"Is this proof enough for you, Spot?" she challenged him. Many newsies were scared of Spot Conlon, but Diamond had always stood up to him. It was for that reason that they were good friends. They'd been a dynamic trio: Spot, Diamond, and Cowboy, of course.
A grin crossed his face as it sank in. "Well, well... never thought I'd live to see this." He indicated her fancy dress.
"You got... taller," she shot back at him. "Sure is 'bout time!"
He scoffed, pulling his "sister" into a hug. "Normally, I soak punks who say that to me." They pulled apart. "You sure changed."
"I'm an adult now, Spot." She shrugged. "I had to grow up." She paused, trying to change the subject. "So, where is everyone?"
"Don'tcha 'member, Diamond? It's Sunday," he reminded her. "All the boys are holed up at the lodgin' house." He jerked a thumb in the direction of Duane Street. "That's why I'se down here. Jus' got done payin' a visit. Boy, bet Jacky-boy'll be glad to see you again. He's been through a lot, 'specially past week or so."
"What happened? Nothin' serious, was it?"
He waved a hand. "Nah, nothin' like that. But his girl jus' broke it off with him. She started hangin' all over some hoity-toity scabber from Long Island." Spot heaved a sympathetic sigh. "Jacky's real torn up about it."
"Well," Diamond said after a pause, "I should head over there."
"Remember how to get there?" he teased.
She smirked, turning on her heel. "Yes, Spot. I do, thank-you-very-much."
"See ya 'round!" he called after her as she progressed down Duane Street.
The Newsboys' Lodging House hadn't changed at all, much to Diamond's happiness. Before she even entered, she heard the bawdy noise of newsies chatting and yellin with each other. Once she pressed the door open, she saw Kloppman's familiar, grandfatherly face at the front desk. Not recognizing her either, he straightened himself up when she approached him.
"What can I do fer ya, miss?"
"Kloppman..." she pressed, "it's just ol' Diamond!"
He laughed. "We-ll! Wouldja look at you, honey! All dressed nice... the fellas ain't gonna stand for that, y'know."
"Are they upstairs?" she asked eagerly.
"Ain't they always?" He shooed her upstairs. "Go on, now!"
Diamond meandered through the bunks and dirty clothes, feeling much like she had when she'd first arrived at the lodging house over six years ago. Not a single one of them realized that the nicely dressed young woman that walked around was Diamond Murphy. It just couldn't have been. Diamond Murphy never wore a skirt in her whole life. They all gawked at her.
"I'll see yer five cents, an' raise ya five!"
"You sure you wanna do that, Race?"
"Cowboy, ain't no way you could beat this hand! Read 'em and weep!"
Diamond navigated through the bunkroom and found Racetrack, Kid Blink, Mush, Skittery, and Cowboy congregated around the poker table. When she approached them, everyone's mouths hung open except Cowboy, who didn't notice she was there since he was seated with his back facing her. They collectively cleared their throats nervously.
Racetrack immediately whipped off his hat. "Anythin' we can do fer ya, doll-face?" He set his cards down.
Diamond wrinkled her nose. "Doll-face?" she repeated back to him. "Actually, I'm lookin' for a certain Jack Kelly."
"Jack!" Mush hissed, elbowing Cowboy in the ribs. "Somebody ta see ya..."
It didn't take him a split second to realize that the well-dressed, pedigreed lady was none other than his best friend, Diamond. No matter how different she looked, Cowboy knew his "kid sister" in an instant. He stood up, nearly knocking over the chair.
"Diamond?" he asked with a skeptical smile. "Is my buddy in there?"
She breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally! Someone who knows it's me!"
With a laugh, Jack pulled his best friend into a bear hug. They pulled apart and got a good look at each other for the first time in a year and-a-half. Diamond knew that she'd changed a great deal in that time, but Jack had, too. He now towered over her probably five or six inches now. His shoulders had widened a little, his chin a bit more pronounced. But that boyish glint in his eye hadn't left since he was twelve.
"I didn't even know you was even comin' back!" he exclaimed, still in shock.
She nodded. "I'm back for good now." She paused. "You didn't give away my bunk yet, did you?" she added with a smile.
"Are you kiddin'?" he answered, not being able to keep the grin off of his face. "Look at my li'l sis... dressed up like a princess!" he remarked.
"I got it all in Richmond," she replied. "But apparently no one knows it's me under all this lace!"
Cowboy got a good look at Diamond's fancy attire. From her tightly pinnned hairstyle to her white ruffled blouse to her tapestry skirt to her fancy button-down boots, she sure had changed. Diamond looked nothing like the little, sniffling girl he found six years ago. She looked like a real lady of privilege. But somehow, Jack didn't like this change. He missed the carefree-dressing Diamond, where the only elegant thing she wore was her mother's ring around her neck.
"No best pal of mine ever wore her hair up an' all that," he said sort of sadly. "Where is Diamond Murphy, huh?"
"I grew up, Cowboy," she insisted. Why was it that everyone had a hard time understanding this? She was seventeen now. Why wouldn't she be grown up?
"Yeah," he said with a regretful smile, "guess ya did. You, ah... you need any help settling in?"
She shook her head, dumping her bags on her old bunk. "No thanks, I'll just pull things out of my bags when I need them, I guess." Diamond pulled out a lacy white nightgown. "Now, if you fellas will excuse me, I'd better get to the washroom and change."
****************************************************
By the time Diamond had fully changed out of her previous outfit and into her nightgown, brushed her hair out, and washed her face and neck, the boys had already settled into their bunks and had fallen asleep. She was about to retreat to bed herself, but before she did, she bypassed the door leading to the roof. It almost beckoned her to come back to the rooftop that she'd been absent from for so long. Taking special precaution not to wake everyone, Diamond pressed the door open and tiptoed up the stairs to the roof. The night sky was very cloudy, leaving almost no visible stars or moon.
She was startled to hear a voice in the darkness:
"Star light, star bright, first star I see t'night: I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish t'night."
"Cowboy?" she hissed.
Apparently, Jack was as surprised to see her as she was to see him. "Diamond! What're you doin' up here?"
"I always came up here," she answered. "Remember? We spent a lot of time talking on this rooftop... and making wishes." She gave him a knowing glance. "I heard you say the poem."
He looked embarrassed. "Yeah-- well--"
"You still come up here, then?"
"Yeah, ev'ry night," he replied. He paused, turning to face her. "I sure did miss you while you was away."
"What have you been up to all this time?"
Cowboy then told his best friend all about the newsies' strike that had taken place only a few months earlier. He told her about the unfair price jack-up, how he led the crusade, and how they eventually bounced back. He even told her about the time he spent in the refuge but managed an escape. {*A/N: Yay for short summaries of the movie!*}
"We sure coulda used you then," he continued. "Diamond Murphy never took nothin' offa no scabbers."
She smiled. "Leading a strike, Cowboy? It must have made you pretty famous."
He shrugged. "Not really."
"Spot told me about that girl," she hinted, unsure as to what Jack's reaction would be. He never did like to talk about relationship problems with her or anyone else.
She was surprised to only see him heave a sad sigh. "Yeah... Sarah. Well, I'm glad Spot told you 'stead of me." He paused. "I didn't really wanna talk 'bout it."
"I'm really sorry though, Cowboy."
"'S all right. Ain't your fault."
In the dark, cloudy distance, a brilliant flash of lightning struck down, followed a few seconds later by a loud clap of thunder.
A gasp escaped from Diamond's throat. "Well, maybe I oughta turn in before it storms..." She began to edge out the door.
Jack smirked at her. "You was always scared of thunderstorms," he teased. "Looks like some t'ings don't change."
"I'm not scared," she said defensively. She foiled herself when another roll of thunder made her shriek.
Jack had to laugh. "Whatever you say. Let's get inside, huh?"
The two of them were successful in not waking up everyone as they climbed into the the two vacant top bunks that were side-by-side.
"Hey," Cowboy said quietly as he pulled the ratty blanket over him, "do ya remember what you did when there was thunder an' lightning like this a long time ago?"
Nothing came to her mind. "No; what happened?"
"You was real little," he continued, "still ten. It was your second or third night at the lodgin' house-- can't remember which. So anyhow, there was this really bad storm-- kinda like this one-- and you were whimperin' like a puppy--"
A sudden, loud thunder clap sent Diamond in retreat under her sheets.
"Yeah, a lot like that," he said with a grin. "Well, so you got so scared that you bounced in the bunk with me, and ya fell asleep right away." He smiled at her sleepily. There was an awkward silence.
Diamond felt her cheeks burn. "I'm too old for that, now," she reminded him, as well as herself, it seemed. She poked her head out from under the blankets.
Jack propped himself up on his elbow. "Hey, y'know how I jus' told ya 'bout the strike?"
"Uh-huh?"
"Guess who gave me a ride in his carriage right after."
"I don't know..." She then added sarcastically, "Teddy Roosevelt."
Jack said nothing, just gave her a knowing glance, raising his eyebrows.
Diamond scoffed, rolling over on her back. "Is that another one of your 'improving-the-truth' gags, Cowboy? You nearly had me for a second."
Cowboy looked directly at her-- something he never did when he lied. "He did, Diamond. I swear." He crossed his heart. "I ain't never lied to my best friend, and I ain't plannin' on startin' now."
She rolled back on her side. "Teddy Roosevelt gave you a ride in his carriage?" she asked, still skeptical. "Why?"
"Well, after we beat Joe Pulitzer an' the rest a those bums, he got word of it," he answered. "Yeah, he was real proud of me for standin' up for our rights an' all that. So he offered to send me to Santa Fe."
Her eyes widened. "Santa Fe?" If she remembered nothing else about Jack, it was that he'd always wanted to go there. "Cowboy, that's amazing! But wait... why are you still here?"
"I still got things to do here," he answered. "Maybe I'll go someday." He paused. "Y'know, I really missed havin' you around. 'Specially during the strike an' all. Like I says before, we coulda really used your help. All us boys missed you, Diamond."
"It's good to be missed," she admitted, now practically ignoring the raging storm outside. "Things have changed so much..."
"Hmm," Cowboy murmured sleepily, shoving the pillow under his head.
"I've changed so much," she continued. "I mean, I came to Richmond wearing boys' pants an' suspenders an' shirt... Aunt Emma didn't stand for it. 'No daughter of Elizabeth Ann Murphy carries on like she were her son instead!' she told me. Sure, I saved my old clothes-- I hid 'em, but I saved 'em all the same. But all anyone said to me was that it was high time I grew up and put all of that aside. I hated the idea at first, but now I think I'm starting to believe them. What do you think, Cowboy?... Jack?"
All Diamond got in reply was light snoring from Jack's bunk, where he lay curled up and fast asleep. She sighed in exasperation. Cowboy was always prone to falling asleep in the middle of their late-night conversations. Following suit, Diamond hugged her pillow tightly and closed her eyes, ready to fall asleep.
"G'night, Jack. See you in the morning."
Yay, yay, yay! Enjoy Part Two, requested by popular demand!
PART TWO- EARLY SPRING, 1900
"Lord in Heaven above, I reckon I ain't never gonna understand you, Caroline Elizabeth Murphy." Aunt Emma shook her head at her niece. "You mean to tell me that you're goin' back to those ruffians?"
"Grandma said it was okay," Diamond insisted.
Diamond had spent well over a year in Virginia at that time, almost a year and-a-half. Just two weeks earlier, Diamond's maternal grandmother passed away. She rembembered distinctly the last words Grandma said to her:
"Caroline, honey," Grandma had said, "I heard they're gonna make you stay after all is said an' done, but I gotta feelin' you don't want to do that."
"I'd really like to be with my friends in New York," Diamond had admitted.
Grandma smiled warmly but weakly at her grandaughter. "Darlin', if there ain't nothin' I've learned from eighty-nine years on God's green earth, it's this: Listen good an' hard to what your heart tells you to do, baby-doll. You'd best get to New York."
Diamond quoted these words to Aunt Emma, who smiled tearfully.
"Very well," she conceded. "I suppose Mama would have wanted it that way."
With a quick goodbye to her stuffy but nonetheless caring aunt, Diamond boarded the crowded train. Her heart raced to know that she would soon be with her very best friends after a year and six months. Diamond just hoped that they hadn't forgotten about her.
Diamond caught her reflection in the train window. If they hadn't forgotten about her, they certainly wouldn't recognize her. During her time in Richmond, Diamond was commanded by her Southernly refined extended family to dress and act as they deemed appropriate. She had exchanged her baggy, dingy, but altogether comfortable boy's clothing for form-fitting blouses and elegant, lacy skirts. Her hair, which had previously run amok under her cap, was now tightly pinned to the top of her head.
If there was anything else it was that Diamond was an adult now at seventeen. Her family in Virginia reminded her every day, it seemed: "You're a bona fide woman, Caroline Elizabeth. It's high time you set aside childish things and thought on more grown-up matters."
Diamond looked sort of regretfully at the landscape out the window. It made her sad, thinking that she couldn't be a girl anymore and enjoy the things she once had. But she was seventeen-- a grown-up. It was time to move on.
Wasn't it?
****************************************************
Diamond never thought she'd remember her way around New York. Nevertheless, as she strolled out of Grand Central Station, everything came back to her-- every alleyway and street corner. Being a newsie for five years really taught a person that.
Although she recollected everything about Manhattan's infrastructure, her heart sank when she found none of her old friends. Not even her best friend, Jack Kelly. Diamond had always been able to locate her best friend, if anyone else, but she turned up empty-handed.
Disappoined and disheartened, Diamond failed to watch where she was going as she sharply rounded a corner, plowing right into someone.
The "someone," a boy, reeled back and regained his gold-tipped cane that he'd dropped in the collision. He locked eyes with Diamond, raising his hat, as was expected in the presence of a lady... but not Diamond.
"My utmost humble 'pologies, miss," he said to her.
Diamond recognized him right away. "No trouble... Spot." She added his name with a knowing smirk.
Spot Conlon immediately froze, turning to face her. "You talkin' to me?" he asked, puzzled.
"Is there any other Spot Conlon? I thought there was the one and only."
He was still confused. "Yeah... I'se the one an' only, all right." He squinted at her, smirking flirtatiously. "So how'd such an angel as yerself hear 'bout the notorious Spot Conlon?"
Diamond was taken aback, and for more reasons than one. To begin with, she and Spot were always like brother and sister. The mere thought of him hitting on her made her laugh. She was also quite hurt that he hadn't recognized her.
"Since when do ya make passes at yer sister?" she chirped, regaining her old, bawdy New York accent. "It's me... Diamond! Don'tcha recognize me, Spot?"
Spot's eyes were now the size of his prized marble shooters. "Diamond?" he hissed in disbelief. "That can't be you..."
To prove it, Diamond displayed her trademark diamond ring on the chain around her neck. No matter how frilly her new clothes were, she never took it off. She'd never, ever remove something that was once her mother's.
"Is this proof enough for you, Spot?" she challenged him. Many newsies were scared of Spot Conlon, but Diamond had always stood up to him. It was for that reason that they were good friends. They'd been a dynamic trio: Spot, Diamond, and Cowboy, of course.
A grin crossed his face as it sank in. "Well, well... never thought I'd live to see this." He indicated her fancy dress.
"You got... taller," she shot back at him. "Sure is 'bout time!"
He scoffed, pulling his "sister" into a hug. "Normally, I soak punks who say that to me." They pulled apart. "You sure changed."
"I'm an adult now, Spot." She shrugged. "I had to grow up." She paused, trying to change the subject. "So, where is everyone?"
"Don'tcha 'member, Diamond? It's Sunday," he reminded her. "All the boys are holed up at the lodgin' house." He jerked a thumb in the direction of Duane Street. "That's why I'se down here. Jus' got done payin' a visit. Boy, bet Jacky-boy'll be glad to see you again. He's been through a lot, 'specially past week or so."
"What happened? Nothin' serious, was it?"
He waved a hand. "Nah, nothin' like that. But his girl jus' broke it off with him. She started hangin' all over some hoity-toity scabber from Long Island." Spot heaved a sympathetic sigh. "Jacky's real torn up about it."
"Well," Diamond said after a pause, "I should head over there."
"Remember how to get there?" he teased.
She smirked, turning on her heel. "Yes, Spot. I do, thank-you-very-much."
"See ya 'round!" he called after her as she progressed down Duane Street.
The Newsboys' Lodging House hadn't changed at all, much to Diamond's happiness. Before she even entered, she heard the bawdy noise of newsies chatting and yellin with each other. Once she pressed the door open, she saw Kloppman's familiar, grandfatherly face at the front desk. Not recognizing her either, he straightened himself up when she approached him.
"What can I do fer ya, miss?"
"Kloppman..." she pressed, "it's just ol' Diamond!"
He laughed. "We-ll! Wouldja look at you, honey! All dressed nice... the fellas ain't gonna stand for that, y'know."
"Are they upstairs?" she asked eagerly.
"Ain't they always?" He shooed her upstairs. "Go on, now!"
Diamond meandered through the bunks and dirty clothes, feeling much like she had when she'd first arrived at the lodging house over six years ago. Not a single one of them realized that the nicely dressed young woman that walked around was Diamond Murphy. It just couldn't have been. Diamond Murphy never wore a skirt in her whole life. They all gawked at her.
"I'll see yer five cents, an' raise ya five!"
"You sure you wanna do that, Race?"
"Cowboy, ain't no way you could beat this hand! Read 'em and weep!"
Diamond navigated through the bunkroom and found Racetrack, Kid Blink, Mush, Skittery, and Cowboy congregated around the poker table. When she approached them, everyone's mouths hung open except Cowboy, who didn't notice she was there since he was seated with his back facing her. They collectively cleared their throats nervously.
Racetrack immediately whipped off his hat. "Anythin' we can do fer ya, doll-face?" He set his cards down.
Diamond wrinkled her nose. "Doll-face?" she repeated back to him. "Actually, I'm lookin' for a certain Jack Kelly."
"Jack!" Mush hissed, elbowing Cowboy in the ribs. "Somebody ta see ya..."
It didn't take him a split second to realize that the well-dressed, pedigreed lady was none other than his best friend, Diamond. No matter how different she looked, Cowboy knew his "kid sister" in an instant. He stood up, nearly knocking over the chair.
"Diamond?" he asked with a skeptical smile. "Is my buddy in there?"
She breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally! Someone who knows it's me!"
With a laugh, Jack pulled his best friend into a bear hug. They pulled apart and got a good look at each other for the first time in a year and-a-half. Diamond knew that she'd changed a great deal in that time, but Jack had, too. He now towered over her probably five or six inches now. His shoulders had widened a little, his chin a bit more pronounced. But that boyish glint in his eye hadn't left since he was twelve.
"I didn't even know you was even comin' back!" he exclaimed, still in shock.
She nodded. "I'm back for good now." She paused. "You didn't give away my bunk yet, did you?" she added with a smile.
"Are you kiddin'?" he answered, not being able to keep the grin off of his face. "Look at my li'l sis... dressed up like a princess!" he remarked.
"I got it all in Richmond," she replied. "But apparently no one knows it's me under all this lace!"
Cowboy got a good look at Diamond's fancy attire. From her tightly pinnned hairstyle to her white ruffled blouse to her tapestry skirt to her fancy button-down boots, she sure had changed. Diamond looked nothing like the little, sniffling girl he found six years ago. She looked like a real lady of privilege. But somehow, Jack didn't like this change. He missed the carefree-dressing Diamond, where the only elegant thing she wore was her mother's ring around her neck.
"No best pal of mine ever wore her hair up an' all that," he said sort of sadly. "Where is Diamond Murphy, huh?"
"I grew up, Cowboy," she insisted. Why was it that everyone had a hard time understanding this? She was seventeen now. Why wouldn't she be grown up?
"Yeah," he said with a regretful smile, "guess ya did. You, ah... you need any help settling in?"
She shook her head, dumping her bags on her old bunk. "No thanks, I'll just pull things out of my bags when I need them, I guess." Diamond pulled out a lacy white nightgown. "Now, if you fellas will excuse me, I'd better get to the washroom and change."
****************************************************
By the time Diamond had fully changed out of her previous outfit and into her nightgown, brushed her hair out, and washed her face and neck, the boys had already settled into their bunks and had fallen asleep. She was about to retreat to bed herself, but before she did, she bypassed the door leading to the roof. It almost beckoned her to come back to the rooftop that she'd been absent from for so long. Taking special precaution not to wake everyone, Diamond pressed the door open and tiptoed up the stairs to the roof. The night sky was very cloudy, leaving almost no visible stars or moon.
She was startled to hear a voice in the darkness:
"Star light, star bright, first star I see t'night: I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish t'night."
"Cowboy?" she hissed.
Apparently, Jack was as surprised to see her as she was to see him. "Diamond! What're you doin' up here?"
"I always came up here," she answered. "Remember? We spent a lot of time talking on this rooftop... and making wishes." She gave him a knowing glance. "I heard you say the poem."
He looked embarrassed. "Yeah-- well--"
"You still come up here, then?"
"Yeah, ev'ry night," he replied. He paused, turning to face her. "I sure did miss you while you was away."
"What have you been up to all this time?"
Cowboy then told his best friend all about the newsies' strike that had taken place only a few months earlier. He told her about the unfair price jack-up, how he led the crusade, and how they eventually bounced back. He even told her about the time he spent in the refuge but managed an escape. {*A/N: Yay for short summaries of the movie!*}
"We sure coulda used you then," he continued. "Diamond Murphy never took nothin' offa no scabbers."
She smiled. "Leading a strike, Cowboy? It must have made you pretty famous."
He shrugged. "Not really."
"Spot told me about that girl," she hinted, unsure as to what Jack's reaction would be. He never did like to talk about relationship problems with her or anyone else.
She was surprised to only see him heave a sad sigh. "Yeah... Sarah. Well, I'm glad Spot told you 'stead of me." He paused. "I didn't really wanna talk 'bout it."
"I'm really sorry though, Cowboy."
"'S all right. Ain't your fault."
In the dark, cloudy distance, a brilliant flash of lightning struck down, followed a few seconds later by a loud clap of thunder.
A gasp escaped from Diamond's throat. "Well, maybe I oughta turn in before it storms..." She began to edge out the door.
Jack smirked at her. "You was always scared of thunderstorms," he teased. "Looks like some t'ings don't change."
"I'm not scared," she said defensively. She foiled herself when another roll of thunder made her shriek.
Jack had to laugh. "Whatever you say. Let's get inside, huh?"
The two of them were successful in not waking up everyone as they climbed into the the two vacant top bunks that were side-by-side.
"Hey," Cowboy said quietly as he pulled the ratty blanket over him, "do ya remember what you did when there was thunder an' lightning like this a long time ago?"
Nothing came to her mind. "No; what happened?"
"You was real little," he continued, "still ten. It was your second or third night at the lodgin' house-- can't remember which. So anyhow, there was this really bad storm-- kinda like this one-- and you were whimperin' like a puppy--"
A sudden, loud thunder clap sent Diamond in retreat under her sheets.
"Yeah, a lot like that," he said with a grin. "Well, so you got so scared that you bounced in the bunk with me, and ya fell asleep right away." He smiled at her sleepily. There was an awkward silence.
Diamond felt her cheeks burn. "I'm too old for that, now," she reminded him, as well as herself, it seemed. She poked her head out from under the blankets.
Jack propped himself up on his elbow. "Hey, y'know how I jus' told ya 'bout the strike?"
"Uh-huh?"
"Guess who gave me a ride in his carriage right after."
"I don't know..." She then added sarcastically, "Teddy Roosevelt."
Jack said nothing, just gave her a knowing glance, raising his eyebrows.
Diamond scoffed, rolling over on her back. "Is that another one of your 'improving-the-truth' gags, Cowboy? You nearly had me for a second."
Cowboy looked directly at her-- something he never did when he lied. "He did, Diamond. I swear." He crossed his heart. "I ain't never lied to my best friend, and I ain't plannin' on startin' now."
She rolled back on her side. "Teddy Roosevelt gave you a ride in his carriage?" she asked, still skeptical. "Why?"
"Well, after we beat Joe Pulitzer an' the rest a those bums, he got word of it," he answered. "Yeah, he was real proud of me for standin' up for our rights an' all that. So he offered to send me to Santa Fe."
Her eyes widened. "Santa Fe?" If she remembered nothing else about Jack, it was that he'd always wanted to go there. "Cowboy, that's amazing! But wait... why are you still here?"
"I still got things to do here," he answered. "Maybe I'll go someday." He paused. "Y'know, I really missed havin' you around. 'Specially during the strike an' all. Like I says before, we coulda really used your help. All us boys missed you, Diamond."
"It's good to be missed," she admitted, now practically ignoring the raging storm outside. "Things have changed so much..."
"Hmm," Cowboy murmured sleepily, shoving the pillow under his head.
"I've changed so much," she continued. "I mean, I came to Richmond wearing boys' pants an' suspenders an' shirt... Aunt Emma didn't stand for it. 'No daughter of Elizabeth Ann Murphy carries on like she were her son instead!' she told me. Sure, I saved my old clothes-- I hid 'em, but I saved 'em all the same. But all anyone said to me was that it was high time I grew up and put all of that aside. I hated the idea at first, but now I think I'm starting to believe them. What do you think, Cowboy?... Jack?"
All Diamond got in reply was light snoring from Jack's bunk, where he lay curled up and fast asleep. She sighed in exasperation. Cowboy was always prone to falling asleep in the middle of their late-night conversations. Following suit, Diamond hugged her pillow tightly and closed her eyes, ready to fall asleep.
"G'night, Jack. See you in the morning."