"Got it," said Tony as he turned the brass knob with his hand and pushed the door open. It wasn't fairly hard to get inside. They had all slowly walked to the houses that they belonged to. Every minute or so, there would be three or four newsies that would disappear from Medda's. The people around them paid no attention whatsoever, thinking that they were just off to play cards or go home.
Anthony, Mush, Sapphy, Strider, Hammer and six other Brooklyn newsies gathered around the backyard of the Diodetto house. The branches and leaves of the trees swayed as the breeze flew past them and effectively giving them a place to hide. It would've been too obvious if they were seen in front. They would've been caught right away. Luckily, Hammer had informed them that there was a small backyard placed right beside the house.
"So where are we supposed to go from here?" asked Mush as he stepped inside the Diodetto house. Even though the darkness enveloped them, Mush could still make out outlines of expensive and beautifully crafted furniture placed about the room. His eyes scanned the room, seeing pans and pots placed on a stove placed next to a spotless sink that had knobs and a faucet made out of silver. Shelves were placed all around the room, lining each wall. In the center was a big wooden table upon which plates, forks, and spoons were located. Although objects were left here and there, it was the most that the newsies had seen of a kitchen.
Hammer advanced forward, leading the newsies across the kitchen. "Upstairs," he said as he waved his hand to signal them. They walked through the kitchen and came towards another area, which appeared to be the dining room. The huge oak table sat in the middle of the room surrounded by six cushioned chairs.
"I wonder what it's like to eat here…" whispered Strider as she touched the edges of the chairs with her fingers.
"Come on… the stairs are up that way…" said Tony as he urged the other newsies to follow him.
Anthony inhaled a breath of air as he scanned the room. Memories and thoughts came flooding back towards him. Him and Nugget sitting on the beautifully cushioned chairs as they waited to be served with breakfast. He remembered running around the kitchen, playing tag with Nugget. This was all too much for him.
As they clambered up the steps, Sapphy's eyes fell upon the portraits and paintings that lined up against the wall. There were endless pictures and paintings of the Diodetto family. She let her mind wander as she walked up the stairs, her eyes gazing upon the people portrayed in the paintings. A painting of a girl hung on the wall, her blonde hair flowing past her shoulders as she stared back with her blue eyes. A small smile swept across her face as she clutched the porcelain doll in her hands. She then turned her attention towards a painting that held the Diodetto family. She looked at the silhouette of a man, which she took to be the father. His jaw was tightly set, his gaze was dark and serious, and his shoulders rigid as he stood next to his wife, her dark black hair swept up in a bun and a loving smile forever captured by the artist's painting. She couldn't help but think how two people who looked so different could be together. Her eyes moved on towards the painting on two children, sitting down beside their parents. She saw the familiar face of the girl, still smiling and clutching her doll. But what caught her attention was the little boy. His dark black hair mopped his head and black eyes looked back at hers. The way he smiled back, the way his face was shaped… it all seemed familiar to her. She knew she had seen him somewhere before. But who was he?
~*~
"You're taking it if I say so," said Spike as he pointed at Blink, his dark brown eyes glaring. He wanted to take what they can. Opportunity was finally upon them and the Manhattan newsies couldn't help but think that this was wrong. What harm was there in taking a few things?
"Spike!" retorted Blink as he held out the object to Spike's face. "What are we going to do with a stuffed toy bear?"
Spike shook his head. He grabbed the stuffed bear and placed it in his bag. "There. That wasn't so hard was it?" He sighed as he walked towards the other newsies around the room. The moon shone up from above, giving them what light they needed. A bed was placed one side of the room, placed with numerous pillows and blankets that was needed for warmth. Toys and playthings cluttered the room, causing some newsies to occasionally look down on the floor. Even though Spike knew that there wasn't much to take in a little girl's room, he didn't want to take his chances. He knew that there were necklaces, rings, and jewelry hid inside the house. His hands itched to touch the sparkling diamonds and rubies he had seen on the ladies' fingers. He wanted to find them.
"There isn't much here, Spike…" said a Brooklyn newsie as he stuffed a blue-colored dress into his bag. "Nothing much to take. When are we going to the master bedrooms? You know that that's where all the good stuff's hidden!"
Spike nodded and called the surrounding newsies towards him. "Let's go… we've got more things to see." He pushed the door and walked through the unlit hallway, groping here and there, making sure not to stumble and fall. His eyes finally fell upon the one room they hadn't searched. He placed his hand on the cold brass knob, turned the handle, pushed the door and saw what came of their dreams of wealth.
~*~
Spot ran his fingers through his dark brown hair as he searched the room with prying eyes. He had wanted to take something that would give him enough money to survive on the streets. He didn't want to be selling papers from morning until night everyday. Sure, he was getting better and he had his wits and charm to help him, but it would've been better if he had just money.
He opened shelves and drawers as he reflected on what he would do and what he would buy. But his thoughts kept on coming back to what he had heard yesterday night. Spike wasn't being himself. Anybody could notice that if they were there. Something in the back of his mind nagged him as he thought of what Spike was up to. He had never saw him like that. He had told Jack, warning him if anything was to happen. He trusted him. But what about Spike? He was their leader, somebody that looked out after them. He wouldn't let anything happen.
Suddenly, he had heard the sound of scuffling feet from outside. He knew that there were some newsies that were lookouts, but they wouldn't be making that much noise. Spot walked towards the window and looked out towards the side of the Alaster house. He could see shadows of the moving newsies from the other windows. He scanned his view once more, squinting his eyes and prying his ears in search for anything unusual. Finally, his eyes fell upon a lower window on the first floor. Somebody, with his broad shoulders and tall stature, crouched down and climbed out of the window. Spot's instincts told him to run and call someone, but he remained there, watching the unknown shadow. Spot kept his gaze and saw the shadow look about him, checking to make sure if anybody was watching, but not seeing Spot's watchful stare. The person turned on his heel and started walking towards the Diodetto house.
~*~
Crutchy sighed as he leaned on his crutch and looked up at the five houses before him. They stared back at him, their enormous windows and doors, towering above the small newsie that depended on his crutch. They should've been here by now. They shouldn't have taken that long. The newsies agreed to come back an hour and a half later, no more, no less. Spike and Boxer agreed that whoever would be late would be literally be dragged out of the house. They couldn't risk getting caught. The boys should know that.
"So where are they?" asked Dutchy as he paced nervously around the sidewalk. His hands clutched his hat, gripping it uneasily.
"Don't worry…" said Snoddy as he shuffled his cards once more. "Just give them time… we already sent them the signal. They wouldn't ignore us…"
Crutchy nodded. "You just gotta wait…"
Minutes passed by, and still no newsies came. Crutchy trusted Boxer and Jack to bring the Manhattan newsies back safely. But it was just taking too long. What was going on? Suddenly, a sound of running footsteps rang throughout the air. Crutchy and the boys looked about them, hoping that it was the newsies. Dutchy closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the Brooklyn and Manhattan newsies walking towards them. They held their bags, full of belongings, close to them, afraid of what might happen.
"What took you so long?!" asked Snoddy as he stood up and walked up towards Jack.
Jack shrugged and replied, "We couldn't decide what to take. Besides, it was hard to get around since it was so dark! I could barely see!"
Spike moved forward, his thick black brows covering his face and crooked nose gave him the look of somebody bound to attack. But he kept his composure and nodded at Boxer while he looked around the gathering group of newsies. "Is everybody here?" bellowed Spike.
Spot looked around, hoping to find that everyone was there. They were about to pull it off. Taking all these things from all those rich folks was just too easy. But suddenly, alarm grew within him as he noticed that he couldn't see Strider or Sapphy, two of his closest friends. Spot rubbed his eyes and looked around once more. They had to be here. They were just hiding, right? He glanced at Jack, who in doubt, also noticed that some other newsies were missing. This wasn't right. This wasn't how it was supposed to be.
~*~
"Hammer!" whispered Tony as he called out to the crouched figure in front of him, still looking through the shelves and drawers. It had taken them a while to notice that the signal was on, seeing as that there were trees growing everywhere. They had all felt the presence of being there too long, but they still moved on. There was no signal, therefore they searched even more.
"Just one more thing… there… found it!" said Hammer as he held up a silver ring with a small deep-red colored ruby placed in the center. He shoved the ring into his bag and followed Tony down the stairs and met the other newsies.
"We came in from the back door of the kitchen, right?" asked Strider as they all briskly walked towards the kitchen.
Tony nodded and walked towards the same door that they had gone through. Sure, they were going to take a while, but at least they were going to get out. Tony remembered picking the lock and leaving it unlocked just in case they needed a quick escape. His hand felt the brass knob beneath his hand, and with all the strength he had, he turned the knob to open the door. He had wanted to get out so badly, to finish what they were doing. But his spirits were crushed when the door remained where it was. It hardly moved. Tony shook his head. He was just hallucinating. The darkness was getting to him. He turned the handle once more, almost shaking the door of its hinges, but the door didn't open.
Tony turned around and looked at the bewildered faces of the newsies before him. His breath quickened as he realized what had just happened. "It's locked. We can't get out."
"What?" bellowed Sapphy as she walked up towards Tony. "What do you mean its locked?!" She moved beside Tony and turned the handle. It didn't move. She turned to face the newsies. "How are we going to get out?"
"How did you open the door? What did you pick it with? If you have that, then you should be able to open the door again!" exclaimed Hammer with frustration. Clearly, these Manhattan newsies weren't using their heads.
"I picked it with one of those small sewing needles… but I found it outside and I lost it already. Come on, I mean who would keep a sewing needle in his pocket?"
Anthony sighed and looked around. They weren't supposed to stay here for that long. He had wanted to get out so badly, to run away from the memories that haunted him. The faster they got out, the better. "Do you think the Diodetto family would be here this early?" asked Anthony as he walked up towards Hammer and Tony. "We can always try the front door…"
"It's worth a try…" mumbled Tony as he lead the newsies towards the front door. Two small windows were placed on either side of the door, with laced draperies hanging from the sides. To the left was a coat rack, filled with hats and various objects. To their right was a small door, unknown to the eyes of the newsies.
Mush moved forward and put his hand on the doorknob, hoping to find that it would open. "Locked," he said. But he didn't stop from there; he moved towards the windows and pushed the open with all his might. Mush groaned and shook his head. "The windows won't budge either."
"Shh… do you hear that?" said Anthony as he quieted the others. He knew this sound. He had stayed at the races long enough to know what it was. "Horses," he whispered. But no one heard his whispers; their attention was towards Mush who walked up towards the front door once again to try the knob yet again.
Anthony opened his mouth for a second time to warn them. Why wouldn't they listen? But Mush's fingertips were almost there. His finally rested on the brass knob, but unknowingly and surprisingly, the brass knob clicked and moved sideways, turning by itself. Anthony and Mush felt the cold rush of air blow by past them as the door opened to the face of Anthony's father.
~*~
Whee! Aren't you happy that i updated? ^^ And it was a quick update too! On towards SOs!
Shout-outs
Amy Elisabeth (lilypotter86@yahoo.com) : lmao, i left ya hanging! heheh, its okie. i was really surprised by your email... i had no idea that you were reading my ff! but hey that's alrite. ^^ i still luv you! lol. oh yeah, and what's your nn? i wasn't really sure since you didn't really say it on your email... :P
Strider: heheh, that's what i aimed for! excitin' stuff! heheh! him and sapphy? *winks* you'll see. oh yeah... and send me your stories!!!!
Sagey: aww, thankies! i write better when i'm more relaxed... which hardly happens recently. but hey, i've still got something dont' i? and i'll email you my shtuff for your santa fe ff as soon as i can. do you really need it ASAP? anyways... *hugs* come online more often!
Sapphy: hahah, i ended making Hammer sound like a dog... *gives Sapphy permission to hug older newsies*
fivefold: aw i feel so bad... lol. i haven't been updating for a while cuz we have a play going on right now and our rehearsals are usually two and a half hours long, so that doesn't give me much time to write. including school and yearbook, it doesn't really help. but i've already got everything outlined... all i gotta do is write!
Spazjoslyn: say hi to your balrog for me! i've read the first two books of lotr, but i never got to reading the third one since i still needed to look for it at bookstores. lol, i'm just too darn lazy. *nod* i'll try my best not to hurt anybody's feelings!