Ch. 6
When the girls reached Manhattan, it was nearly dawn. Their encounter with Blink had lasted most of the night, and the rest of the night had been running. They hurdled into the boys lodging house just as they were waking up.
Surprised to see girls barge into their room some of the boys whistled and yelled cat calls, but the girls ignored them. They needed to tell someone about Blink, but who? Jack was in Santa Fe, far from anything the vile New York City streets held, Blink was corrupt, Spot was back in Brooklyn. They could only think of two people.
"Mush! Race!" Spunk yelled and she threw herself at her boyfriend and friend. "Blink's been... Blink's a... You'll never believe..." she sputtered.
"Come on girl, spit it out!" Race shouted.
"Blink's a scab! And he tried to kill us!" she screamed.
Race stared at her for a second, eyes wide. Mush just closed his eyes. His face began to slowly turn a horrible shade of puce.
"He's the one that got us arrested. He's the one that set us up and told us started the rally!" Trolley jumped in.
"He's been betraying us all along! He's a traitor! We can prove it!" Kane exclaimed.
"I'll kill him." He said softly. Then he shouted it. "I'll kill him!"
"Oh, no, please don't! He may be a scab but I still love---" Kane started.
"You just said it yourself. He's a traitor. If you're a traitor of the newsies, you gotta pay the price." Race pulled up his suspenders and made for the door, but Kane stood in his way.
"We promised him that we wouldn't tell anyone about it!" she cried.
Race just pushed her out of the way into a table. "You just shut up and stay here!" He and Mush stormed out of the door.
Spunk pulled Kane up off of the ground. "You'll have to forgive him. He's only mad because of Blink. And we really didn't promise him anything about not telling. Besides, he tried to kill you!"
The other boys in the lodging house had gotten themselves together and began storming out of the door to follow Race and Mush. Once all of the boys had gone, Spunk looked at the two girls and said, "We're following them. Come on!"
They went across the lane to the girls lodging house and informed the girls on what had happened the night before and the girls were just as angry as the boys had been. They all followed Spunk, Kane and Trolley until they caught up with the boys. The girls had to walk extra quickly to keep up with the boys strenuous pace.
A few hours later as the sun almost all in the sky, they reached Brooklyn. On the docks sat the Brooklyn newsies. Spot Conlon the leader was waiting for them.
"Mornin Manhattan-ers." He said with a smirk. "What brings you here on a fine morning like dis?"
"Where's Blink?" asked Mush.
"I dunno. Shouldn't he be with your uh, angry mob there?" He fiddled with his cane."
"Spot, don't get cocky. Where is he!" Race shouted. The crowd of newsies behind him murmured in agreement.
"We'll lemme tell you the story first." Spot sat on one of the wooden poles on the dock and began to speak. "Last night I was in da lodging house when I hear a commotion outside. So ya see, being myself, I go out to investigate, and I see 3 goils and a scab standin on the dock." He paused.
"Yah, pick up da pace. We ain't got all day!" Someone shouted from the back of the mob.
Spot snorted in disguist and continued. "So this scab I saw was harassin these poor newsie goils. Its enough to see a scab harass a newsie, but these were goils were talking about heah! So anyways, I walked out of the lodging house and I see these three runnin away from the scab." He nodded towards Spunk, Kane and Trolley. "The scab was in the water. When he was gettin out, I hid behind this pole with a brick from the wall over there. Then I jumped out and smacked him with it in the head! I looked down at him, and I realized that he was one of da Manhattan newsies and either Manhattan was turning scab, or this one went bad." He laughed. Kane let out a shriek of terror. "Don't worry. No serious harm done." Kane sighed with relief. "Yet..." Spot laughed again. "I brought him back to the lodging house and the Brooklyn boys took him for all he was worth."
"Just tell us what happened Spot." Mush asked.
"Fine, I'll get to the point. They beat him up bad, took all his cash, and now hes about as strong as a whipped mule. Don't think any of us will be hearin from that dirty rotten scabber any time soon." Spot jumped down off of the pole and walked back to the lodging house.
"Where is he?" screamed Kane, in tears.
"Uh, I think they took him to St. Connor's hospital down on 4th." Spot shouted back.
"Ok, shows ovah! Go back to Manhattan!" Race pushed the crowd back. They slowly began to go back to their lodging houses, but Race, Mush, Trolley, Spunk, and Kane silently hopped a carriage out of sight to St. Connors.
When the girls reached Manhattan, it was nearly dawn. Their encounter with Blink had lasted most of the night, and the rest of the night had been running. They hurdled into the boys lodging house just as they were waking up.
Surprised to see girls barge into their room some of the boys whistled and yelled cat calls, but the girls ignored them. They needed to tell someone about Blink, but who? Jack was in Santa Fe, far from anything the vile New York City streets held, Blink was corrupt, Spot was back in Brooklyn. They could only think of two people.
"Mush! Race!" Spunk yelled and she threw herself at her boyfriend and friend. "Blink's been... Blink's a... You'll never believe..." she sputtered.
"Come on girl, spit it out!" Race shouted.
"Blink's a scab! And he tried to kill us!" she screamed.
Race stared at her for a second, eyes wide. Mush just closed his eyes. His face began to slowly turn a horrible shade of puce.
"He's the one that got us arrested. He's the one that set us up and told us started the rally!" Trolley jumped in.
"He's been betraying us all along! He's a traitor! We can prove it!" Kane exclaimed.
"I'll kill him." He said softly. Then he shouted it. "I'll kill him!"
"Oh, no, please don't! He may be a scab but I still love---" Kane started.
"You just said it yourself. He's a traitor. If you're a traitor of the newsies, you gotta pay the price." Race pulled up his suspenders and made for the door, but Kane stood in his way.
"We promised him that we wouldn't tell anyone about it!" she cried.
Race just pushed her out of the way into a table. "You just shut up and stay here!" He and Mush stormed out of the door.
Spunk pulled Kane up off of the ground. "You'll have to forgive him. He's only mad because of Blink. And we really didn't promise him anything about not telling. Besides, he tried to kill you!"
The other boys in the lodging house had gotten themselves together and began storming out of the door to follow Race and Mush. Once all of the boys had gone, Spunk looked at the two girls and said, "We're following them. Come on!"
They went across the lane to the girls lodging house and informed the girls on what had happened the night before and the girls were just as angry as the boys had been. They all followed Spunk, Kane and Trolley until they caught up with the boys. The girls had to walk extra quickly to keep up with the boys strenuous pace.
A few hours later as the sun almost all in the sky, they reached Brooklyn. On the docks sat the Brooklyn newsies. Spot Conlon the leader was waiting for them.
"Mornin Manhattan-ers." He said with a smirk. "What brings you here on a fine morning like dis?"
"Where's Blink?" asked Mush.
"I dunno. Shouldn't he be with your uh, angry mob there?" He fiddled with his cane."
"Spot, don't get cocky. Where is he!" Race shouted. The crowd of newsies behind him murmured in agreement.
"We'll lemme tell you the story first." Spot sat on one of the wooden poles on the dock and began to speak. "Last night I was in da lodging house when I hear a commotion outside. So ya see, being myself, I go out to investigate, and I see 3 goils and a scab standin on the dock." He paused.
"Yah, pick up da pace. We ain't got all day!" Someone shouted from the back of the mob.
Spot snorted in disguist and continued. "So this scab I saw was harassin these poor newsie goils. Its enough to see a scab harass a newsie, but these were goils were talking about heah! So anyways, I walked out of the lodging house and I see these three runnin away from the scab." He nodded towards Spunk, Kane and Trolley. "The scab was in the water. When he was gettin out, I hid behind this pole with a brick from the wall over there. Then I jumped out and smacked him with it in the head! I looked down at him, and I realized that he was one of da Manhattan newsies and either Manhattan was turning scab, or this one went bad." He laughed. Kane let out a shriek of terror. "Don't worry. No serious harm done." Kane sighed with relief. "Yet..." Spot laughed again. "I brought him back to the lodging house and the Brooklyn boys took him for all he was worth."
"Just tell us what happened Spot." Mush asked.
"Fine, I'll get to the point. They beat him up bad, took all his cash, and now hes about as strong as a whipped mule. Don't think any of us will be hearin from that dirty rotten scabber any time soon." Spot jumped down off of the pole and walked back to the lodging house.
"Where is he?" screamed Kane, in tears.
"Uh, I think they took him to St. Connor's hospital down on 4th." Spot shouted back.
"Ok, shows ovah! Go back to Manhattan!" Race pushed the crowd back. They slowly began to go back to their lodging houses, but Race, Mush, Trolley, Spunk, and Kane silently hopped a carriage out of sight to St. Connors.