Hehe, sorry it's been taking me longer to update.  Life is busy! Gaaah!

Derby ~ Hehe, I'm glad you like it!!  Isn't Spot wonderful?  ~:~starry eyed~:~

Kate ~ Thanks so so much for your review!  But Sugar has a looong way to go before she reaches the maximum of her meanness, hehe! 

Chelci ~ Yeah, the dead body thing was gross.  Haha, sometimes I wonder why I come up with these things.  Thanks so much for the review!  Hehe, that was one of my favorite lines, too,  personally!

Frenchy DeWolfe ~ I'm glad you like my story!  I think your name is really neat.. hehe.  Thanks for the review!!

Kaylee ~ I agree, the dead body thing was freaky! XD!  I hinted at you and Race in this chapter.. nothing exciting yet but I'm trying!

Broadway ~ Sugar is mean.. but as I've said before she's going to get a LOT meaner!  Hehe, I'm glad you like my story though.. merci for the review!


New York City
Manhattan
That Same Day
1900

       "How much to stay for one night?" came a breathless voice. Kloppman stood up from searching for some books under the front desk. He came face to face with a young girl. There were tears in her eyes and she was breathing heavily. But even though the tears had done their work in making the rims of the girl's eyes puffy and red, Kloppman noticed that they were almost as soul shaking as Spot Conlons.

      "A nickel per night. That includes a dinner but no breakfast. You get it from the nuns," he answered. He wondered what the girl was doing here at such an odd time. Most newcomers came late in the evening or early in the day. But he shrugged it off. To each their own.

      "A.. a nickel," the girl mumbled, scrounging around in her pockets. A deep low sigh fell from her lips as she pulled five pennies out. She dropped them in front of the man, looking up at him. "I'd like to stay here for the night."

      Kloppman smiled and was pleased to see the girl smile back. She looked so pretty when she smiled. The old man nodded, collecting the pennies.

      "Thank you," the girl turned, headed for the door.

      "Wait!" Kloppman yelled for her, causing the girl to twirl around again. "What's your name so I can tell the others?"

      "My name? Well, you can call me Uhm," the girl smiled again then stepped out of the lodging house.

      Kloppman blinked. What a strange name for her. She didn't seem like the one to be nicknamed 'Uhm'. In fact, there was a courage and a strength in her eyes that he didn't see in most newsies. Kloppman put the pennies into his register then went back to looking for his books, glad to have a new newsie.

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           She walked into the dinning hall late. The food had already been served and everyone was already in their seats. The moment she entered, the room fell silent. Selece felt her heart pound as what seemed like a thousand eyes stared at her. She wanted to crawl into a hole, let the earth eat her up or at least go somewhere else.

      "Who're you?" came a voice. It sounded sort of harsh causing Selece to wince.

      But she mustered up her courage and let out a small, "Uhm."

      "Yeah? Continue?" came the voice again. Selece nervously scanned the room, trying to pinpoint the boy speaking but she couldn't find him. They were all blurring together.

      "Skittery, shaddup," came another voice, nicer this time.

      "I'm just askin' 'er name. Not my fault she dun know how ta speak."

      "Hey! Guys! You think she's gonna be all right?!" came an urgent voice. This one sounded younger then the previous.

      "I think so, Boots."

      Selece felt as though the room were spinning. Everyone was speaking but who was everyone? She could feel their eyes on her but she couldn't see them.

      "Hey, you ever gonna speak, goil?" this boys voice cracked as he said 'goil'.

      "Uhm," whimpered Selece again. And then she could feel her legs giving out. A light feeling came over her as she toppled to the ground. The last thing Selece heard before the darkness overtook her was a scared yell "I knew she wasn't gonna be okay!"

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Poke...

Poke...

Poke...

      "Hey, goil, you up?"

      "Uhm, yes, yes I am," murmured Selece though her eyes remained closed. She could feel the poking continue.

      "Kloppman said you just fainted 'cause you was weak and you hadn't eaten nuttin."

      "Yes," Selece murmured again, wishing this kid would leave her alone.

      "Whacha do to become so weak?"

      Selece furrowed her brow. Since she was so weak, the kid could use some common sense and stop bugging her, couldn't he? "I ran to Manhattan from Brooklyn. Now, whacha do to become so stupid?" she growled out, turning her back to the boy.

      "Hey! Yer rude!"

      "Oh, uhm," Selece began. She didn't mean to say that. She hated making enemies for no reason.  Spot must've been rubbing off on her without her noticing. "No, uhm, I'm sorry. I was just being a grump," she opened her eyes, sitting up on the bed she had been lying on.

      The little boy sitting on the floor by the side of the bed lit up with a smile. "Dat's all right. Me name is Snipeshoota. What's yers?"

      "My name is Uhm."

      "Oh, so you really did answer Skittery's question at dinner! SKITTERY! C'MERE!" the boy named Snipeshooter screamed. Selece's eyes nearly bulged out of her head; he sure had some lungs.

      A tall, curly haired  boy rushed into the room. "What?! What is it?"

      "'Er names Uhm."

      The one named Skittery glanced over to Selece. He looked her up and down before shrugging, "Oh, sorry. Thought you just didn't know no otha words."

      "Yeah, no, I do," Selece spoke, finding herself bolder then she ever thought she was. She shrugged, "I did a total cliché entrance, aye? That whole fainting thing.. complete act."

      Skittery blinked then suddenly burst out in laughter. Snipeshooter followed suit, a crooked grin on his young face. Drawn by the loud laughter, a boy who needed a crutch to walk hobbled in. There was a bright smile on his face as glanced from one person to another, "What I miss?"

      "Nuttin', Crutchy. Meet Uhm," Skittery said, recovering from his fit of laughter. He motioned towards Selece who raised her hand in a wave. Crutchy nodded back.

      "Well, I'm gonna go tell Cowboy she's up," Crutchy said, hobbling back out. He called out a name a few times but Selece didn't care to catch it.

      "So, Uhm, who you runnin' from?"

      Selece glanced to the little boy. She slid from the bed, kneeling down besides him. "Do you promise to keep a secret?" The boy nodded and Selece smiled. She always loved kids that were younger then her. They were always so sweet. "Okay, I was runnin' from," she leaned in, whispering to the boy.

      "HEY!" Skittery shouted as he was left out from the secret sharing.

      Snipeshooter's eyes were wide. "WOW! What didja do?"

      "Where she runnin' from? Where she runnin' from?" insisted Skittery as he knelt next to Snipeshooter. He stared earnestly at Selece who simply smirked.

      "Brooklyn! She pissed off Spot!"

      "And she's still alive?" Skittery asked. They both turned to stare incredulously at the girl who merely shrugged.

      "Yeah but if he comes, I'm not here." They both nodded. Selece couldn't help but grin. For the first time in her life, she had started out on the right foot. She had actually made friends; at least she hoped they were now her friends.

      It was almost like.. her mother had given Selece a part of her. Her mother had given Selece her courage. It made the girl warm inside and she didn't care about what happened earlier that day. Not now anyways. She knew that if she was upset about it now, she might lose her friends and her mother wouldn't like that.

      "Made Spot Conlon angry?" came a merry voice. All three occupants of the room jerked their heads up to glance to the doorway. A handsome boy leaned against the doorframe, a grin plastered to his face. Selece took note of the cowboy hat and knew he was the Cowboy the boy Crutchy had went to get. She also took note of the soup the boy held in his hands.

      "Dat ain't hard to believe."

      "No, uhm, not at all!" Selece said, smiling to Cowboy. Cowboy then entered the room and joined the kneeling party.

      "Kloppman said you needed dis to get betta," the boy said, handing the bowl to her.

      "Yeah, thanks," Selece said, taking the soup and hurriedly beginning to eat it.

      "Hey, hey! She dropped stuff!" came a voice. Selece heard loud footsteps coming up the stairs and glanced to Skittery with a questioning look in her eyes.

      "Swifty," he answered her unanswered question just seconds before the boy dashed into the room.

      "Heya, Swifty! Dis goil ran all da way from Brooklyn! Betcha she's fasta then ya!" Snipeshooter called out to the boy.

      Swifty headed to the group, whacking Snipeshooter's hat down over his eyes before he knelt down also. He held out a heap of clothes to Selece. Selece blinked a few times before she realized they were her clothes she had gotten that morning. She had carried them around with her but must have dropped them when she fainted. She looked up to smile at Swifty. "Thanks, I needed those."

      "No problem, goil. You just better not be faster den me," Swifty spoke, shaking his finger in her face.

      "So, whacha do to anger Spot?" asked Jack, looking quite interested.

      Selece froze. "I'm going to go put these on," she held up the clothes. "I'll be back," she murmured, standing up leaving the males blinking about the unanswered question. She dashed to the bathroom, noticing that it was in the same room as the bunkroom. She shrugged and slithered into the stall.

      "Hey, where's that girl?" came a female voice. It sounded beautiful to Selece's ears. She hadn't heard another girl speak except for Sugar and Ant for a long time.

      "She went ta change," came what sounded like Jack's response.

      "She leaped dere. Purdy fast, doncha think, Swifty?" came Snipeshooter. "Ow!" Selece smirked, assuming Swifty had just whacked Snipeshooter.

      "Hey, Jack, you think it was that girl Spot was talking about?" came the girl again.

      "Nah, she ain't shy like he said," Jack replied.

      "Da one he was getting all upset over?" came Skittery's voice. Selece blinked, realizing she had been listening to their conversation and not even changing. She hurried up, pulling off her dirty clothes. She glanced at the clothes she had grabbed at the apartment and her face paled. The pants were all right.  They were a cute plaid pair her mother had bought for her just a couple weeks ago. But the shirt was a dirty white one she hadn't worn in years. It was going to be a tight fit.

      "Yeah! Da one he liked!" Snipeshooter said excitedly.

      "Snipeshoota! Where is he?" came an angry voice. Selece pulled the shirt over her head, gasping at how short it came up on her stomach. This wasn't happening. She wanted to cry. She wanted to just stay in the bathroom until she died.  Even her mother didn't wear shirts this short! 

      "Racetrack!"

      "You stole my cigar again! You think I dun know it's you?" Selece heard a lot of banging. Probably a fight. This was her chance. She could run over to that over girl and ask her if she had a shirt to borrow. There was no way she was putting her old shirt on. Her mother had laid on that. 

      Selece creaked the door open, spotting the other female. She looked sweet.  Selece could see herself making friends with her. Quickly the girl dashed out but her plan didn't work. The new boy who Selece figured must be Racetrack stopped attacking Snipeshooter to stare at her.

      "She's gonna sell alotta papes. Dats fer sure," he remarked.

      "Uhm," Selece could feel that same shy feeling overtaking her.

      "Yeah, we know yer name by now," snickered Skittery. The other boys in the room couldn't help but laugh at that, causing Selece to look down. She then quickly dashed from the room and down the steps to the main room.

      "Uhm, you shouldn't be runnin' around like that. One bowl of soup isn't going to make ya 100 percent," Kloppman said. Selece always felt more comfortable around her elders then her peers. With a low cry, she dashed to Kloppman and wrapped her arms around him. The old man was taken by surprise but when he realized this girl was hurting he began to stroke her silken hair with his hands, murmuring softly to her.

      "'Ey Kloppman, I missed da soup, didn't I?" came a voice as the door to the lodging house opened and a boy walked in. Selece groaned inwardly. She didn't want to meet anyone new. "Whoa, whose she?"

      "Blink.. meet Uhm. Uhm meet Blink," Selece pulled away from the grandfatherly man, wiping away her tears. She looked over at the boy named Blink, noting the patch that must have given him his name. She nodded a hello.

      "Nice ta meet ya, Uhm," he held out his hands. Selece lowered her eyes, shaking his hand but keeping one arm wrapped around her bare midriff. Blink took notice of this and asked quietly, "Want me ta get ya a vest?"

      Selece's head jerked up as she stared at Blink. Slowly she nodded and murmured a thank you. He grinned; showing her it was no problem before racing up the stairs.

      "That was Kid Blink. He's been here forever. A real ladies man," Kloppman chuckled causing Selece to giggle a little. "Best friends with Racetrack who is anything but a ladies man.  He did manage to find himself a girl, though.." Kloppman trailed off with an exasperated roll of his eyes.

      "Ta da!" yelled Blink as he jumped off the third step. He held it out to Selece who took it. She slipped her arms through it then buttoned the vest up. A giggle escaped her, as she knew how dumb she must look. "You new, right? Sellin' tomorra? You can sell wit' me if ya want."

      Selece looked up at him, eyes shining. "Sure!" They shook hands again. A friendship. A real friendship had been formed.

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Spot laid on the top bunk, straining to hear her breath again. Hoping that he'd look down on the bottom bunk and there she would be. But she wasn't. Selece had run off and Spot doubted she'd be coming back too soon. He groaned, angry with himself for making her go there.

      What he worried about though was the body having been moved. He knew it wasn't Sugar because she couldn't have gotten there before them. His guess was it was the murderer. And he also guessed the murderer knew the womyn had a daughter that would be returning. Maybe it was better that Selece had left for she definitely wasn't in Brooklyn anymore.  His newsies had been on the alert for her and not one had even so much as caught a glimpse of her.

      But he wanted to see her. He didn't know why. Spot found himself missing her comments and her silly actions. He couldn't remember missing anyone like this before and she had only known him for what.. a day?

      "Heh, she's neva gonna last 'ere. She shoulda picked Manhattan!"

      Sugar's words echoed in his head. Manhattan? Manhattan was known to have the nicest newsies. The most open newsies. Spot jerked up in bed, his eyes wide. That's where she was! Manhattan! With a satisfied smile, the boy laid back down planning on going to Manhattan the next day.

                                                                                               Will Spot go to Manhattan?!

Will Selece and Blink sell a lot of papes?!

And what about Sarah?!

Find out next time in..

                                                                                                                       THE..

     STORY..

         OF..

UHM!!!!!!!!