We entered Tibby's and looked around at the crowd searching for Jack or Spot. I then spotted Spot in the center of a group telling some story that seemed to be funny as everyone ws laughing while Spot smirked, seeming to be enjoying all the attention. I motioned to Bailey and Angel and we pushed our way through the crowd of laughing boys. Spot was about to speak again when Angel tapped him on the back. He turned around and told us to wait one second then turned back around.

"God he's so dense sometimes," Angel said annoyed.

She tapped him again but this time he just held up a finger and didn't even turn around. Angel finally got frusturated and yanked him around and kissed him on the mouth to get his attention. It worked. While all around the newsies were hooting and hollering Bailey and me looked on with amusement.

"Will ye listen to me now?" Angel said exhasparatedly breathless as she stoped the kiss.

"Umm...." He seemed to be at a loss for words. "Hey whudds wrong?" he said finally noticing we might have something important to say. "Doodles! Whudd are ye doin hea? Yer supposed ta be at..." he made sure no one else was listening in, "Christina's" he then whispered.

"Ye know ye probaly don need te keep it a secret no more," Angel said. "De people we were tryin te hide it from know so oua friends might as well."

"Whudd de ye mean...?" Spot said wary.

"Weelll..." I said drawing it out, "Deyre was a slight problem wid dat."

"Whudd?" he asked us looking at each of our concerened faces in turn.

"De Delancy's," Bailey bagan, "Dey followed us yestaday. So dey barged in on us durin her fightin lesson," she said nodding at Angel.

"WHUDD?!" Spot yelled making Tibby's go quiet for a few seconds. "Dey did whudd!! I'm gonna kill em! Are ye guys ok? Whudd did dey do?" he coninued in a quieter voice.

"Well, we fought em...actually Angel broke Osca's nose. Den me an Bai took care o Morris. So dats not de problem," I told him.

"Ye done me pround," Spot said to Angel who laughed. "But if dey weren't de problem whudd was?"

"De problem was dat de Crypts were on deyre way cause o course de Delancy's told em where I was hidin," I finished. "But thankfully we got away before dey showed up and told Christina whudd had happened. But we needed to find ye and Jack. Oh I know Race is at the tracks but were gonna havta find him as well so he doesn't head back ta Brooklyn t'night."

"Yea," Spot said in agreement.

"Do ye know where Jack is?" Bailey asked him.

"Umm no I haven't seen 'im fer awhile."

"Well do ye know where he might be?" I asked. "I think he probaly should know 'bout dis too."

Spot nodded thoughtfully and was silent for a second.

"Oh, do ye think he might be at Medda's?" Bailey suggested.

"Good idea," Spot said, "I fergot 'bout dat, I think he might be deyre wid Dave an Les."

So we headed off together for Medda's with Spot promising the other newsies to finish 'showing off' (as Angel put it) later. We arrived a few short minutes later having filled Spot in on the finer details on the walk. He was impressed with what we told him about teaching Angel to fight and her use of her new skills. She was pleased and Bailey and me teased her about it since she hadn't been all that enthusiastic about learning in the first place.

We walked into the side door of Medda's and looked around. From the music coming from the stage nearby we could tell that a show must be going on. Then the music stopped and there was applause and hoots coming from the audience. As we walked towards the vicinity of the stage Medda came towards us. I had seen her in the show I had watched with Spot, Angel, and Race on the first day I had come here but I had never actually met her in person. She was dressed in her stage cloths and makeup and smiled when she saw us.

"Vell if it isn't Spot, Bailey, Angel, but who's dis?" she asked seeing me.

"Oh I'm Doodles," I told her, "I was actually hea a week ago an saw ye, but I guess ye didn't see me."

"Nice to meet you" she said. "And what can I do for you?"

"Is Jack around?" Spot asked her. "We need te see him"

"Yes he's with David and Les in the audience."

"Thanks Medda," Angel said as we walked to find Jack.

We saw him immediately as we walked in and saw he was talking to Dave and Les. He saw us and smiled then saw me and looked confused just like Spot had when he had first seen me at Tibby's.

"Hey whudd's goin on?" he asked us. "Is everythin ok? Doodles whudd are ye doin hea?"

So Jack made Dave take Les to get more candy and we told him everything. His reaction was about the same as Spot's had been.

"So yer tellin me de Delancy's broke in an threatened youse tree goils?!" he seemed as though he was barely containing his anger.

"Yea Jack. But we told ye we took care o dem an it's fine," Bailey tried to calm him down.

"No it's not fine. Man Race is gonna flip out when he heas dis. Are ye sure ye's alright," he asked us all.

"Yea, don worry," Angel said comfortingly.

"Ok, as long as yer all fine...but don't worry, when we," he indicated Spot who nodded darkly and I think he meant Race as well, "get oua hands on dose bastards..." he punched his fist into his hand and made a fierce face. "Ok, where'd David an Les go? I need te tell em I'm leavin." He said considerably calmer.

"Right," Spot said and we walked back to the side door. David and Les were there and Dave looked impatient.

"Hurry up Les,"he said annoyed.

"But I want mora candy," Les asid pushing Dave away cause he had tried to grab his arm.

The clown who was holding the tray filled with a variety of candy as well as popcorn, laughed at them. "Fill up,"he said merrily to Les who did just that.

"Dave?" Jack said to get his attention.

Dave turned and looked at him then for some strange reason he looked at me with this funny expression on his face and stared for a moment.

"Earth te Davy..." I said in a sing song voice, waving my hands in front of his face.

"Oh...uh whudd did ye wan?" he asked Jack after tearing his eyes away from me.

I looked at Angel and Bailey as Jack told him that we had to go. They both raised their eyebrows as if to say "whudds wid dat?" I shrugged at them than looked back to Dave and Jack.

"Ok... I guess I'll see ya tommorow," Dave was saying.

"See ya!" Les said happily, his mouth bulging with licorice.

"Bye," all five of us said together and we walked out.

Exactly one second later Dave flew out the door again and ran up to us. "Doodles, can I talk te ye?" he said decisivly as though he had come to a decisoin and was making himself say what he was about to say.

"Dave we really don have time righ—"Spot started to say but was cut off by Dave.

"But—"Dave said and was cut off by Jack.

"Dave deyre's really sumthin urgent we gots te take care a" Jack said.

"Please?"

"Ok, ok just fer a second," I sighed and after an exchanged look with Bailey and Angel I walked a little ways from them. I wanted to see Race and make sure he was still happily unaware of everything that had happened meaning no one had followed him this morning. For some reason I had this nagging feeling that I needed to hurry to him and make sure he was ok.

"Ok," Dave started up. "Well Doodles yer a really nice goil an I think that we could really connect and talk te ye. Soo...do ye kinda see where I'm goin wid dis?" he trailed off.

I kinda did but I didn't want to belive he was gonna ask me out. I had only talked to him once and he seemed ok but kind of annoying at times when he acted like a goody-two shoe. But that was just my opinion. "And another thing," I was thinking to myself, "does he know about Race? Maybe he doesn't or maybe he thinks I'll dump Race to go out with him? Fat chance!" I thought and felt a little ashamed by being so mean but hey they were my thoughts.

"So whudd de ye say?" he was saying.

"Oh! Whudd did ye say?" I asked him coming out of my thoughts.

"Will ye go out wid me?" he said I supposed for the second time.

"Well...geez...uh Dave ye know I can't... Don't ye?" I still wasn't sure if he knew about Race and me.

"Why not?!" he said than cursed to himself.

"Umm...I'm sorry," I said and felt bad for him. "Don't ye know I have a boyfriend?"

"Whudd? No one told me dat," he looked embarassed. "Who is he?" he asked miserably.

"Race..."

"Man...I didn't know. Can ye make sure he doesn't beat me up?" he said sounding worried.

"Yea...whuddeva," I said trying not to laugh at him because I had just though that Angel could probaly fight better than him. I felt kinda bad about that after I had thought it but David was way too easy to make fun of. "Yea well I gotta go. Sorry..." I said and I walked away from him.

I walked back up to the four of them embarassed.

"Whudd was all dat about?" Bailey asked me curiously.

"Guess Dave's gettin a little lonely...man, ye guys really need te find him a goil," I said to Jack and Spot in particular.

Angel gasped getting my meaning about the lonely comment. "He didn't just ask you...?" she ended on a question.

I nodded my face turning slightly red. First Bailey then everyone else caught on and thier reactions made me laugh.

"Oh my god!" (Bailey)

"Geez de walkin mouth really did it dis time." (Jack shaking his head)

(Laughter from Spot)

"Yea, yea," I said. "I jus can't believe he didn know 'bout me an Race," I said still somewhat in disbelief. "I mean I thought half de population of New Yawk would know 'bout dat by now. Especially wid youse foua newises basically bellowin it out like a fresh headline."

"Oops well I guess it jus didn't come up," Jack shrugged, "Who wants te bet dat Race'll freak?"

Spot raised one of his arms but was still laughing and couldn't talk. They slaped hands and us three girls rolled our eyes at them.

"Wow, deyre bettin on Race dis time, not wid 'im." I laughed.

"Lets go," Bailey said impatiently to them. So we headed off for Sheepshed to find Race.