It was as quiet as a mouse in the old orphanage. The clock struck three am and everyone was asleep... everyone except for Maura and Kelly.

They quietly crept from their covers and gathered their most important belongings.

"Are you sure we should do this?" said Kelly.

"Yes…unless you want to rot in prison with the rats," said Maura.

"Ok…Lets just do this before that lard ass hears us!"

They went to the window and shimmied down the thick vines that covered the orphanage. When they reached about halfway down the vine, Maura lost her grip of the vine and dropped into the dead bushes.

"Maura! What's wrong with you! You moron," Kelly yelled.

When Kelly reached the ground, she walked over to where Maura was laying.

"Owww," Maura moaned as she looked up at Kelly. "You idiot." Kelly said. She helped Maura up and they returned to the same loose board in the fence as before. They climbed threw and started on their journey.

"Manhattan...Here we come..."

When they finally reached Manhattan, their legs ached and they needed rest.

They were now standing in the center of the city by the old Horace Greenly Statue.

"My legs hurt," Kelly said. "Mine too. Let's stop for awhile." Maura said.

"Do you think anyone will come out looking for us?" Kelly asked.

"I dunno. Hopefully they won't find us here. Anytime you see the bulls, just run" she replied.

They walked over to the large statue of Horace sitting on a chair. They climbed on its base.

"Well I guess we can sleep up here for the night," Maura said.

"I call the bottom," Kelly replied.

Maura climbed on top of the statue's lap and Kelly slept by his feet on the base.

"Well this is comfortable!" Maura said, sarcastically.

"Yeah, this'll do wonders on my back. Well, good-night."

"Night."

The sun was shining brightly as Miss. Mulberry entered the dormitories to retrieve Maura and Kelly. She had two officers with her to take them away.

"Get up you lazy bones! Get in Order" Miss. Mulberry yelled at the girls as she stormed in the room.

The girls had worried glances as they arose from their slumber. They had noticed that Maura and Kelly had gone and were afraid of the consequences they would have to face. The girls stood at the foot of their beds. Miss. Mulberry barked orders as she passed.

"You! Straighten your shoulders! You! Comb your hair back!"

When she approached Maura and Kelly's beds she saw that they were not present. Her dark eyes widened.

"Where are they?!" she screamed.

"They were missing since this morning," one of the girls said.

"That's it. You will all search high and low. I want them found!"

"I've never seen them around here before," said one of three boys who stood over the Horace Greenly statue.

Hearing voices around them, Kelly and Maura began to wake-up. Their eyes slowly opened.

"You took me bed, doll!" said one of the boys a little too closely to Kelly's face.

They boys loudness caused her to jump up and stumble off the base.

"Ow! Damnit!" she cried as she lay on the cobblestone street.

"We sorry, Miss! We didn't mean ta' scare ya like dat'. I'm Snipeshooter and dese' are me pals Boots and Les. Here, let me give you a hand," said the boy as he held out his hand to her.

"Thanks. I'm Kelly and this is Maura," she said.

Maura jumped down from the statue and shook all of the boys' hands.

"So…what are you goyls doin out here in da streets?" Snipeshooter asked.

"Uhh…we got kicked out of our school so we decided to come here to find jobs," Maura lied.

"Well we's can get you a job as a newsie with us." Boots said.

"What the hell is that?" Kelly asked as she and Maura exchanged crooked grins.

"Ya Kiddin' me right? You'se have never heard of da' Newsies? Well we sell papes for Mr. Pulitzer."

"Ooh… so you sell newspapers, I get it!" Kelly said.

"Yeah…so anyway. You can get us a job?" Maura asked, ignoring Kelly's last comment.

"Yeah. We'll take you to Cowboy. He can help you." Boots replied.

"Wait…who's that?! I'm lost," Kelly asked as she looked at Maura with a confused look.

"Cowboy is the Newsie leader. He is like the boss. His real name is Jack Kelly. Last year he led the Newsie strike against Pulitzer! He can help you with the job," said Les.

"Well I think I think we wanna meet this famous Jack Kelly…so take us to him boys!" said Maura.

The three boys led the girls down the street to a large building that read "Lodging House".

To Be Continued

Please Review!!