Title: The Mayor's Daughter

Author: Leah (swingin_newsy@yahoo.com, newsies_cheesecake@yahoo.com)

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I own no one in this with he exception of Samantha, Anna, Anne, The Mayor, Dice, Mouse, Doll, Benji, Cap, Salty, the King Brothers and her cousins, aunt and uncle. Everyone else belongs to Disney. So ha! now you can't sue me! I own this plot and I claim rights to this story! Any MST must be sent to me so I can read it. I could always use a laugh!
Wait! Dice technically belongs to my best friend, Tuck!

Summary: Samantha Marie Palmer is tormented by dreams of past events. Then, she is forced to marry a man more evil then words. She isn't aloud to hang out with her friends, either. When she runs away, can a certain Brooklynite help? (fluffy)

Beta Credit To: Morning Dew

Author's Note: This story is definitely better the second time around... But anyway, I want you all to know that the story is finished, I'm just really slow at typing. So adding anybody else in might mess with my plot. Sorry, sphinx.

Chapter 3: Snap! OOH!

Samantha awoke with a start the next morning. She was all alone, and she didn't know where she was. All of her thoughts from the previous evening were blurred, and most of what she could make out was a boy that she didn't notice. She was in an uncomfortable bed covered in a wool blanket. Next to her on the floor was another blanket, but it wasn't wool. It was very thin. 'Who would use a blanket that thin in the fall?' she thought. 'It's November.' Then she started to think. 'Maybe someone who would need ransom money!'

She was a little unsettled until she saw a note at the foot the bed, in Racetrack's handwriting. She let out a sigh of relief as she picked up the note.

Sammy,

     We went to pick up some food. Medda gave us some money to spend on you. We picked up some of your stuff from Medda's too. We'll be back soon, babykins.

Racetrack

P.S. We think you should take a bath. Skitts is coming over.

Samantha's heart skipped a beat when she found out Skittery was coming. When she got out of the bed her feet got entangled in the covers and she fell to the ground face first thinking, 'Not again!' She covered her face with her arms instinctively just before she hit the ground.

"OW!" she yelled as she hit the ground. "I haven't encountered splinters since the farm," she said, picking herself up and walking over to a room she thought was the bathroom, but it was a closet. She looked around the room until she saw another door. She stumbled over to it, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. This time it was the right door. She went in and found a bath already run for her with a bag full of clothes next to it, along with a towel.

"Thanks guys, but I think I can handle filling a tub," she sighed. 'I think,' she thought.

She took her bath quickly, not sure how long they'd been gone, or when they'd get back. As she was getting out, she heard a knock at the door and she jumped, bumping into a small table, knocking it over.

The knocking stopped, and she got dressed, very quickly. She was cleaning up the mess she had made when a boy with sandy blond hair and green eyes opened the door. He had a cane with him.

She was still holding a wooden box when he started advancing on her. Sam was rooted to her spot with fear. She didn't know this boy, and he looked really mean. He snatched the box back from her, and set it on the table.

"What are ya doin' heah?" the boy asked menacingly. "Who are you?"

"I...I..." Sam stuttered. She didn't know exactly what to say. Even if she could, she'd be too scared to say anything.

The boy grabbed her wrists and pulled her out of the room. "Tryin' ta steal sumthin', huh?" he said. "Not in Brooklyn." He started putting more pressure on Sam's wrists, and twisting them.

"Stop it!" Sam said. "I'm not trying..."

"SALTY!" Spot yelled as he opened the door. "STOP IT!"

Salty let go, and backed away, confused, dropping sam to the floor. Skittery let out a faint chuckle from the doorway, and then gasped as Mush hit him in the back of the head, and Race elbowed him in the stomach. Spot pushed Salty out of the door. "I'll deal wit' ya latah," he said, as Salty made a pained expression and ran back towards the lodging house.

Race pushed Spot out of the way and kneeled down next to Sam. Mush pushed Skittery and Spot out of the way to get a better view, almost dropping the bag of food.

"Are you okay, babykins?" Race asked, fussing over her. He started examining her arms with a worried expression. Spot looked slightly revolted thinking 'Babykins?' He moved over to the busted sofa he'd swiped from outside and sat on it as it made a groaning noise. Skittery was pretending to barf as he closed the door, and Mush elbowed him in the ribs.

"Race!" Sam said, pulling her arms out of his reach. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Race said. "It looked like it hurt."

"I'm fine! But I'm hungry. So what did you get?!" Sam said excitedly, standing up. 'They always choose good food,' she thought happily.

"Well," said Mush as Race got to his feet. "We got rolls, buttah, sausage an' apple juice. Ya fav'rite!" Mush finished, smiling at the food as he dumped the boxes onto the bed and sat down on it himself. Skittery immediately took 3 rolls and a sausage.

"You sure do know the way to a girl's heart Mush," Sam said, picking up a roll and buttering it with her finger.

"Didn't ya heah?" Skittery said, leaning against the door. "Mush is a dog now." He chuckled at his little joke, but no one else did.

"Be nice Skittery," Sam said, sucking the butter off her fingers.

"Aw, shuddup!" he said, shoving the sausage into his mouth.

"Skittery! BACK OFF!" Race said angrily, taking 2 of the rolls away from him.

"Yeah!" Spot said. "She ain't done nuttin' to ya!" Spot didn't much like her yet, but that didn't mean he was going to let people be mean to her.

"Oh! And you would know. Right, Spot?" Skittery retorted vehemently.

"SKITTERY! You know she ain't done nuttin' to ya!" Mush yelled, looking murderous.

Race's face was getting red, and said, "Watch it or ya gonna find yaself on da ground bleedin' from ya ears!"

"Boys," Sam said, stepping in between Skittery and Race. "Calm down. Everything's all right. Just take some food and eat. Try the rolls," she said to Spot. "They're delicious."

Immediately everyone in the room calmed down, as Sam handed each of the boys a roll, and started to finish her own.

'Why does she let Skittery be mean to 'er?" Spot thought. 'How can she be so calm? Does she nevah stick up fer herself?' he thought as Sam sat on Mush's lap. She was giggling at something Mush had just said, that Spot hadn't heard. He shook his head and smiled a little as everyone in the room started eating.

"How old are ya?" Spot asked, trying to start some conversation.

"17," she said. "I turn 18 in about seven months. Why?"

"I got lots a questions ta ask," was Spot's reply.

"Shoot," she said patiently, eager to answer any questions he had.

"Where ya from? You ain't from New Yawk," he added.

"Actually, I am," she said, biting into a sausage. Then, speaking with her mouth full, said, "I mean, I was born here, and I lived here about six years when I was little. But my dad sent me off to a farm in Virginia just before I was about to turn seven. I hated him for it. I still do, but what's done is done, I have to move on..."

"Sorry for askin', but why did he send ya off ta Vaginia?"

"My mother died and my father was too much of a coward to keep me with him because I look 'just like her.'" she said coolly. "He took me back when he started running for Mayor. So now I'm a tool to promote his image. If he'd lost, I'd be back on that farm with Aunty Sara and Uncle Tom, and I could go play by the river with my cousins. Little Agatha loves the river over there. Personally, I wouldn't go near it. That's what John was for." She smiled a bit as she ended. Spot thought, 'What a drama queen.'

She took another bite of her sausage and said, "Where are Blink and Jack?"

"Oh, Jack? He's comin'. He had some trouble wit' Sarah. And Kid is supposed ta be on 'is way," Skittery said in a bored voice.

"So where'd ya meet dese guys? Bein' the Mayah's Daughtah, and all..." Spot added.

"I sat next to Race during one of Medda's shows, and when both of us went backstage to wait for her, we started talking and he was the first person my age I was allowed to talk to who wasn't a stuck up little snob," she finished, taking a sip of her apple juice.

"No mattah what, ya always manage ta drink like you was home," Race said. "Even if ya eat like a pig."

"Don't say pig," she said. "Pig's are evil. They are part of the devil's army."

"How'd ya meet Medda?" Spot asked, looking a bit less suspicious, way more confused and feeling slightly more at ease.

"She was a friend of my mother and father. She was a bit upset with him when he sent me to Virginia, but now that I'm back they get a long much better. Being the daughter of teh Mayor does have some perks, you know," she replied with sneaky smile, emphasizing the word "some."

"What's bad about it?" he asked, taken aback.

"Reporters, snobbish sons and daughters of rich people, and sometimes I can't even talk to Race or Mush," she gave Mush a little hug when she said his name. "or any of the other boys in public. It's unfair."

"I'm...here..." Jack panted opening the door. "What did...I miss?"

"Hey, Jack," Sam said softly, smiling.

"Hey, Sammy. You bettah?" he asked, walking over to give her a hug.

"Can't ya tell," Skittery said in a joking tone. "Twitchy's fine"

"Skittery!" Jack said, stopping in his tracks, and turning to face Skittery, outraged. Mush and Race were noticeably angry and Mush almost stood up, but Sam just tried to calm him down. "Why ya gotta do dat? Put 'er down all da time?"

"It's okay Jacky," Sam said, standing up. "Now do I get my hug or what?" she said, getting away from the subject of Skittery.

'Twitchy?' Spot thought, utterly confused.

"Ah! C'mere you!" he said, holding out his arms.

"Hey, Race," Spot whispered, as Sam hugged Jack like a brother. "What's da deal wit' Skitts? Why's 'e bein' so mean?" he asked.

"She likes Skittery. He don't like her, so he's really mean abo't it," Race whispered, lighting a cigar. "So," he asked, raising his voice to a normal level. "Who pays for ya house?" he asked, looking around.

"I don't really know, Race. But whoevah it was, would'a paid fer a place fer all da Brooklyn Newsies. But dey like stayin' up late and bein' noisy. Dat's why i took da oppatunity," he said. "I'd sure like ta thank dat poi'son.

"You're welcome," Sam said, sitting back down on Mush's lap.

"What?" Spot said, with the utmost confusion a person can possibly have.

"Yeah, I convinced Daddy to pay for better housing for Newsies and actual housing for poor children. Manhattan wouldn't take it, Harlem wouldn't take it, and neither did Long Island. You took it and some girls and boys in Queens took it. One of the Bronx lodging houses took it, but we're repairing their old one, too. The children whom can't work get some food rations," she finished sweet as sugar.

'I don't think she meant to sound that sweet," Spot thought, befuddled. "Well, um..." he said uncomfortably.

"Don't bother," Sam said as the door opened, and Blink walked in. "Blinky!" she shrieked. She jumped off Mush lap and ran to hug him.

"Sammy!" he said as she ran into his arms. It looked as if they were siblings who hadn't seen each other for years.

"Sorry, I'm late fellas. I had a run in wit' Spike," he said, still grasping Sam close to him.

'Blinky forgot his vest,' Mush thought, knowing what would happen next.

'His suspenders are exposed,' Sam thought happily. When Blink let go, she ran up behind him, and snapped his suspenders, over and over again saying "Snap! OOOH! Snap! OOOH! Snap! OOOH!" She stopped and said "Does it hurt yet?"

"Yes! Now stop!" Blink shouted, trying to get at her, still facing the guys.

"Okay! SNAP! OOH! SNAP! OOH!" she giggled.

Then, Blink turned around, and quick as lightning, started to tickle her.

"ATTACK!" Mush shouted as he ran over to join Blink in what they call "The Tickle Mission." The room was filled with the sound of laughter from almost every person in the room. Skittery didn't laugh. He just walked out the open door, appalled.

"Ev'ry time!" Race said exasperated.

"Well it is enta'tainment!" Jack chuckled.

"Dis goil's off her Trolley," Spot said shaking his head.

"Thank...you..." Sam gasped between giggles. "Stop...it!" she managed to get out through fits of laughter.

"C'mon Blink! At least close da door!" Race said.