I was grinning as I turned to face the five of them as we stepped into the dark hallway from off of the stage. "We did id! De rally! I can't believe ids really happenin!" I bounded forwards and hugged Angel as she was the closest to me, then I continued on and gave everyone else hugs too. "Ye all did all so great! Thank ye so much fer doin dis, ids so great of ye guys te do dis!" I laughed because I was kind of at a loss for words because of my adrenaline and excitement from the stage and the crowd. I grabbed Race and placed a smacking kiss on his lips.
"Hell id do dis every day a de week if de odds wera a kiss from you!" Race said chuckling.
I laughed and smiled at him, "Well I know, but id does take quite a bit of organizing an planning te get all de newsies gathered like dis, but ye guys just went ahead an did it wid not anodda thought about de woik involved."
"Hey wera newsies, we do woik fer a livin! At least all a dis is fun woik an fer a good cause" Angel said.
"Yea don even think anythin of id Doodles, we'da done de same fer any of oua friends, besides we all need a little break an fun from de woik day now an den." Jack said with a smile, "Ids defiantly been awhile since we've done something like dis, dose were de days..." and he faded out thinking about the rally for the newsie strike.
"Yea since ye were wid Sarah," Bailey said and snorted.
Jack shot her a disgusted look, "Alright, alright, maybe dose weren't de days..." and we laughed at Bailey's satisfied nod and smile.
"Well me? I'm fully appreciatin de dress code fer de night," Spot commented not trying to hide the fact he was giving Angel the once over and whistled. He flashed his famous cocky grin, "We done good boys."
"Hea hea!" agreed Race and Jack heartily.
"I still cant believe how ye guys look," Race said, "I mean cmon we thought ye were hot when ye all wera dirty, sweaty, smelly, an wearin oua cloths!" Jack and Spot laughed as all three of us girls hit Race.
"Smelly eh Race?" Bailey said indignantly, "Yer not exactly a bucket o roses yerself!"
Still laughing at us he went on, "Now yer clean, ye smell…ehh alright, an are defiantly not wearin oua cloths!"
"Yea an I defiantly would say dats a damn good thing," Jack said eyeing Bailey's dress, "Dey defiantly look a lot betta on youse!"
"I dunno Jacky-boy," Race said in a conspiratorial manner nudging him in the side, "Spot might not look half bad…"
"Hey!" Spot exclaimed realizing what he just said, "I'll soak ye ye lousy bum!" and jumped on Race playfully.
Laughing Angel pulled him off, "Ye might not wanna mess up yer nice clean cloths dere."
"Or we might hav'ta dress ye up in one a dese!" I finished for her indicating my dress.
"Alright, alright, dats enough jokin at my expense," Spot said holding his hands up in defeat and chuckling. "Wea missin de show while wea standin hea an discussin my excellent physique!"
We all snorted and I said, "Shall we go watch de show den?"
"We shall!" said Race, mocking me and a very bad hoity-toity English accent. He took my hand, kissed it as I giggled, and began to lead me to the doorway.
As all six of us made out way down the dimly lit hall I didn't think much could spoil my feeling of happiness that the rally was underway and it had begun smoothly, without me doing anything stupid. I still could hardly fathom and was amazed by it still, the bond that I had made with these five people in the short time that I had known them all. Indulging in my romantic side, which I tended to do a lot, I thought to myself "I suppose it just must be fate that all these things happened and maybe mom's death was just leading me on to better things. I feel so connected with them all, they are the closest friends I have ever had and my first love." I looked over at Race. I knew at that moment that I could never ask for or ever want anything more than I had right then. "I could stay with them all for the rest of my life and for happily ever after," I thought, "Race is my happily ever after."
We had just reached the entrance to the hall and before we entered in through the doors Spot stopped Race and Jack.
"Ye goils go on ahead I need a woid wid me boys," he winked at us, "save us seats?"
"Sure," Angel said, "don be too long, you'll miss id!" And the three of us, still in a celebratory mood, didn't question them on what that was all about. We passed through the doors into the crowd, leaving the three of them alone.
"Whudds dis about Spot?" Race asked him curiously.
"Well I thought mebe it'd be a good idea if we checked te see if any of de Crypts have been lurkin around, ye know ask Medda's guards an all." Jus te be sura. I don wan anythin goin wrong wid dis."
"Good thinking Spot," Jack said seriously, "I dunno, I'm still worried dat deyre gonna try something, its betta te be on oua guard."
Race nodded at him, "Yea betta not te tell the goils anythin yet until somethin serious goes down. Dey'll jus worry."
At that all us girls would have been indignant, but of course as guys they always think they can handle everything.
Race led the way to the front entrance where he knew that there should be at least two guards there. It was the least likely place that the Crypts would try to get in from, if they did try, because it was right on a busy street. When they reached the door Jack cautiously pushed it open and they walked outside. It was all dark now and there were just street lamps and the lights of Irving Hall to illuminate the street. There were still people, carts and horses milling through the road as usual. They walked out and saw the two men that Medda had set up there leaning against the wall on either side of the double doors.
"Everythin goin alright out hea? Any sign of em?" Jack asked the men.
"Nope, everythins been goin smooth out hea." The man on the right nodded at them.
After a nod to the men they went back inside and began to make their way to the back entrance into the hall which was behind the stage.
As they went Race noticed that they were being silent and around them hung a curtain of apprehension. This would be the time for the Crypts to try something big and they all knew it. If there was going to be a fight it was going to happen here while they were all gathered together. He really hoped that nothing would happen and everything would go as they wanted but somehow he really doubted that they would get that lucky.
The back way was almost completely dark as they approached the door that led into the ally behind the building. They could slightly hear the noise of the crowd and the music that came from the stage behind them. Just as Spot reached for the handle of the door there was a rustling and a noise behind them. The three of them jumped and turned fast on the spot and saw…nothing.
Looking around frantically, heart beating Jack saw it, "Aw damnit, look id was jus a mouse!" They looked and they saw the fleeting tail of a mouse running into a hole in the wall and all felt slightly dumb at their moment of fright.
"Hahaha, youse shoulda seen de look on yer faces!" Race hooted with laughter. "Ids a good thing dat de oddas didn't see de big, tough leadas of de Brooklyn and Manhattan newsies scared by a widdle mouse."
"Aww shuddup Racetrack, ye didnt look any less pathetic den we did jus den," Spot said abashedly.
Race shrugged, "Mebe, but do we really expect any a de Crypts te actually be lurkin in de corner? Dey wouldn't a been able te get in durin de day, someone woulda seen em."
"Yea, hopefully not, but id cant hurt te check, now can it?" Jack said and Race nodded at him, serious again.
"Ye can neva tell wid dese bastards…" Race then spoke on something that had been bothering him. "Why de ye think Shadow's still goin afta Doodles? I don eva rememba de Crypts eva continuin goin afta anyone like dis, she told us she neva knew a dem befora de night when her mudda was killed."
"I was wonderin de same thing," Jack agreed with him, "Ids a little strange de lengths deyre goin te get te her, id doesn't make any sense."
"Id could be dat dey don't got anything betta te do…or dere could be anodda reason," Spot said reasonably.
"Yea, but whudd reason would dat be? Ids gotta be a bigga reason den him jus murderin her mudda, Doodles wouldnta gone te de bulls about id anyhow. Murders on de poor woikin class hardly eva get solved or looked inte if deyre jus random burglers or thugs." Race said thinking, "Deyres gotta be some reasonin behind Shadow's motives."
"Yea but wea not gonna figure it out just by standin around back hea, we might as well check te make sura deres no trouble den get back te de rally." Jack said.
"I agree! Whudd fun would dis all be if we missed de whole show?" Spot said.
"Yea lets get on wid it," Race agreed putting the problem of Shadow's motives in the back of his mind.
Spot pushed open the door that they were standing in front of and peered out into the dark allyway. The men guarding the door looked around at them. "Everythin's goin fine hea," They assured the three of them.
"Alright, thanks, if deyres any problems come find one a us," Race said and nodded to the man. They made their way back to the front of the hall feeling a little more assured.
Jack turned to Race and Spot before they went to enter into the doors and the crowd beyond them. "I guess dats all, jus stay on yer guards and I'm sura id'll all woik out."
"Yea lets enjoy de show!" Race said with a smile.
"An oua goils! Cen ye believe dem?" Spot exclaimed with a sly smile and a whistle.
Talking companionably to one another they opened the doors and were surrounded by the noise of music and cheering that was the rally.