Across the Times
By: Nightingale
Rating: PG13
Gin walked up to the counter at the local library. An older man who was rather short turned to her.
"Can I help you" The short man with glasses on his nose and graying hair faced her fully. Gin smiled sweetly as she placed her small bag on the floor between her feet.
"I want to know where I can find information on the newsie's strike of 1899."
"Newsie's strike huh. Don't hear much of a request for that topic."
"There's a first for everything" smiled Gin
"Well think I'll help you look."
"I would be so grateful"
With the help of the older man who she had come to know as Arthur she found three books neither of them extra big and two of them fiction. Arthur was leading the way through the aisles expertly with Gin following glancing at the books in her hand.
"I guess this wasn't a very big deal was it" commented Gin thinking twice about taking this as her topic
"Are you kidding? These kids had the city at a stand still. They had Pulitzer on his knees."
"Pulitzer? It went all the way to him"
"Him and Hurst they were the top dogs with the newspapers and these boys got them."
"Wow it was big, but why is there no information…no books. I mean there is so much more to the story than in these books."
He kept going as if he hadn't heard her comment
"There'd have to be."
"Are you really into history"
"I could live studying it."
"Then I'll let you in on some more facts. What's even more interesting than the strike itself is the territory war that occurred shortly after."
"Territory war? As in the western territory? I thought most of that had ended by the end of the 1800's"
Arthur stopped and faced her.
"No these boys. The newsies had their own territories and each abided their own leader. It was like separate little worlds that all coexisted in New York. It's not gonna be found in any of those books though. Hell if any of those big time writers were gonna spend time writing about some street rats."
Gin looked back to the books in her hand.
"That's a shame."
Gin noticed he began to walk again kept walking. She followed in silence until the thought struck her.
"Wait...how do you know about it" she asked Arthur's eyes twinkled as he turned to face her again.
"There is one journal which I had read. It was one of the newsies themselves that had wrote it. I believe that he was from Brooklyn. They helped Manhattan you know. Together they defeated Harlem.
"I'd love to read it" she said excitedly
"It was destroyed in a fire though."
"Oh"
"You seem rather interested in such a small book."
"Reading that would tell me exactly how they really lived. What exactly happened during the strike and the territory war afterwards. It's too good to believe I guess."
"Why are you asking about this thing anyway"
"Well I'm a bit of a writer and I love history like that. Stuff that barely anyone knows about."
"You really love history"
"Yes"
The man glanced at the books in her hands then back to her face.
"What" she asked after his glances began to worry her.
"Maybe I can help you out."
"What do you mean? How can you possibly help me with this"
"Well I'm a bit of a history fanatic as well. I had to get that journal from somewhere and it wasn't from a store."
"What are you getting at"