The boys arrived home a few minuets after darkness had decided to swallow the city. Placing her cross stitching upon the nearby night stand she stood to investigate as to who had arrived, for she desired to go home, and she couldn't until someone took her place watching over Les.  However, it could not be any person, it needed to be someone who had already been in contact with the kid; she had a feeling that whatever the kid had would be contagious.

                Peeking her head out of the door, she was actually glad to see Jack's face. Opening the door a bit wider, she slipped out and strolled towards the leader's form.

"Since you and your friends are here now, I do believe it is time for me to depart towards my house." She took a rather deep breath before continuing, for what she would say next she dreaded, yet she knew it was the only sane thing to do. "However, I was wondering if you could spare someone to escort me home, for I do not wish to, ah, acquire undesired company."

Jack snorted at the phrasing of her last statement.

"Yeah, I'll have Mush take you to your house Nettle, but you won't be staying there. I have a feeling that you will be with us for a while in order to nurse Les, and I know that none of my boys can afford not to sell the morning edition. Mush wasn't able to eat lunch today because of you. So, I've already talked with my girlfriend Elena and she said she had a room you could rent for half price. It's only a block from the Lodging house, so you can walk back and forth without an escort, except for the evenings, but that doesn't cost one of my boys a meal."

Ravenna was practically seething. Who did this man think he was? She had to admit that Jack's plan made logical sense, yet where was her say in what was going to happen? He might have been a man, but she was still higher in social status than he was, he had no right to order about like one of his minions. Turning on her heel to leave, Jack clucked his tongue.

"You might not like the idea Nettle, but it's either that or you walk yourself home. Your decision."

Ravenna's mouth dropped, a very unladylike thing to do. The little twit was strong arming her. If she didn't agree with him she would surely be sentencing herself to death or some event close to it. Her golden orbs were smoldering.

"I don't have much of a choice do I Jack? I hope your girlfriend knows what a pompous arrogant git you are. Now call whoever it is you want to escort me home. I need to gather a few articles of a personal nature as well as money to pay for the room."

At that moment Ravenna's favorite gypsy found his way into the lodging house. Jack smiled when he spotted his friend.

"Hey Mush, I have a favor to ask you. I need you to escort Nettle to her home and then to Elena's. She's going to be staying there for a few days so we can avoid this morning's events."

Mush sighed at Jack's request but did not argue, though why that was Ravenna wasn't sure. Mush seemed much more capable of winning should a fight ensue between the two, yet Mush simply seemed willing to follow Jack's lead. Curious, very curious. She would have to find out a bit more about why everyone seemed to treat Jack as a demigod.

The two walked in silence for most of the way towards her house. Her conscience was driving her crazy over the fact that she had caused him to go without lunch. Though as to why it was doing so, she was not quite sure. He was a gypsy, one who was responsible for the destruction of her family, even though he might not have been directly responsible. Why she should care as to whether or not he ate was beyond her comprehension, yet it seemed that her mind would not give her peace until she apologized. She mumbled something along the lines of "I'm sorry" but he face did not seem to express that he had heard her confession. Inhaling deeply, she gave voice to the words one more time, only louder.

"I'm sorry."

Mush's expression went from one of deep concentration to deep confusion.

"Excuse me?"

Ravenna sighed, why did she always have to be stuck with the dense newsies?

"I said I was sorry."

Running a hand through his unruly curls it was his turn to sigh.

"I understood that, but I don't know why you said it, let alone to me. I was under the impression that you wanted nothing to do with me. Apparently you have something against Roma, or as you so endearingly refer to us as: gypsies."

His voice was clipped, not in the least bit inviting a conversation, yet Ravenna felt that she had to explain a few things to him. She was not about to bare her soul to the man next to her, but she would clear up a few issues.

"I was apologizing for the fact that you had to go without food because of me. Jack informed me that you could not eat lunch because you had to escort me to my house and I am sorry that I was childish enough to make the journey longer than necessary because I was angry at Jack. As for you being a gypsy, well let's just say I have plenty of reasons not to like them, end of discussion."

Mush did not appear to be satisfied with her answer, yet he refrained from further questions. Her apology seemed to satiate him for the moment, and that was all that Ravenna was concerned about. She was not worried about building a lasting friendship with the man beside her, just making sure she did not have a bitter enemy. She would be happy if the two never spoke again, but for some reason her conscience would not allow her to have her escort hate her. As to why, she was still unclear.

The two finished their walk in silence and Mush waited outside the house again while Ravenna spoke to her butler. She informed him that she would be spending a few nights at a friend's and not to expect her home for a few days, perhaps a week. She then went upstairs and packed a few essential clothing items into a valise, retrieved her hand bag which contained the money she had taken from the bread box the day earlier, and gathered her new pet from her maid. She simply did not seem to be able to leave her new pet for a few days. She didn't care what the boys said, Ferocious was going to help nurse Les back to health with her.

Once outside she handed her valise to Mush and carried Ferocious herself. Again, silence was the only thing between the three traveling companions as they walked the streets of Manhattan. Noise assaulted their ears from things going on around them, yet the two did not speak. Upon reaching the Dancing Bear Inn Mush opened the door allowing Ravenna to enter before he did.

The Dancing Bear was rather crowded, for it doubled as an inn and tavern, meaning that business didn't end until the wee hours of the morning. A rather medium height woman was working behind the bar, and a smile lit her lips as she spotted Mush. Leaning over to whisper something to the teenage boy standing next to her, she patted his back and placed her serving towel upon the bar top when the boy nodded his head in agreement. The woman began to weave her way through the patrons towards Mush and herself.

Ravenna carefully studied the woman whom she assumed was Jack's girlfriend. She had a rather square face that was framed by wisps of her beautiful cherry wood locks that had escaped from the loose braid which fell down her back. Her eyes appeared to be a rather brilliant green color that was surrounded by an outer layer of brown; they reminded Ravenna of cat eyes. The woman hugged Mush upon reaching him and smiled.

"It's nice of you to visit Mush, what brings you here?" The woman had a rather light and musical Italian accent which was a pleasant surprise to Ravenna. She had always enjoyed learning Italian, and being able to speak it for a few minuets a day with the Inn owner would be a delight; perhaps Jack's idea would not be so bad after all.

The woman turned her cattish eyes towards Ravenna and offered a rather sly smile before returning her gaze to Mush.

"And who is this you lady caro?"

Blood rushed to Mush's cheeks causing them to become a rather deep shade of pink.

"It's not what you think Elena. She is the girl Jack told you about."

Elena's eyes lost a bit of their sparkle at the news Mush had told her.

"Ah, I see. That's a shame caro, you two would have made a coppie belle."

This time it was Ravenna's turn for blood to rush to her cheeks. She would never have dreamed to pair herself off with Mush, he was a gypsy. She had to admit, he was rather pleasant to look at; his shirt did a nice job of stretching itself to cover his muscles and his eyes reminded her of the rich chocolate she loved to have drizzled over her ice cream. She mentally shook herself from her reverie. What was she thinking? This was a gypsy; not only a gypsy but a gypsy who very strongly reminded her of one of the men who killed her family. She could not go around wondering if his lips seemed as soft as they appeared to be or what it would feel like to run her fingers though his hair. He was the enemy, and she would be better off remembering that factor. 

"Mush is not someone who I would have courting my miss." A smile lifter her pink lips as she offered her hand to the woman in front of her.

"I am Ravenna Worthington."

Elena shifted her cat eyes between the two for a moment as if to catch what the two had not ventured to say aloud before her smile reappeared and she gently, yet firmly, shook Ravenna's hand.

"I am Elena Leone, the mistress of The Dancing Bear. The boy tending the bar is my brother Anthony. Come, I will show you to your room."

Ravenna smiled in agreement as she was made aware of Ferocious' presence by a small digging of nails in the tender part of flesh between her index finger and thumb.

"Ouch!" Ravenna cried as she shifted her pet from one palm to the other and sucked at the small drops of blood that had decided to pool.

"This is my pet Ferocious. It appears that she does not wish to be left out of the conversation any longer."

As if to prove Ravenna's point Ferocious let out a small meow and licked the hand that Ravenna was holding her with.

A small cry of delight escaped Elena's lips as she spotted the black and white kitty

"Oh! A Kitty! May I hold her?"

Ravenna nodded in agreement and passed the temperamental furball to Elena.

"Ché gatto prezioso" Elena purred in her native tongue.

"È quando desidera essere" Ravenna could not help but replying.

"You speak Italian?" Elena seemed utterly delighted.

"Yes, I do, well at least a little. I cannot say I am fluent but I have spent 4 years studying the language.

The time factor did not seem to bother Elena, she seemed to be delighted to find another Italian speaker.

"You do not know how happy I am to hear that. The only people who I can speak Italian with are my mother and brother, and usually that is only when we are yelling at each other. It is always wonderful to find another person to speak it with."

"I uh, hate to interrupt but there is a poker game going on at the lodging house, and well, I want to earn back some of the money Race won from me last Thursday."

Elena waved her hand in Mush's direction dismissing him. She was too excited about finding another Italian speaker.

"Ok Mush, I'll see you later. Tell Jack good night for me will you?"

She had turned in Mush's directions at this time and a rather evil glint was in her eyes causing Mush to take a step back and shake his head.

"Oh no, I'm not doing that again Elena. The boys were merciless for an entire week after you made me do that last time. I am not going 'tell Jack goodnight' for you again. You want him to be tucked in bed you can walk the block to the lodging house and do it in person."

Mush had been walking backwards the entire time and had ended up backing himself up into the wall. He crossed his arms in front of his chest in an attempt to emphasize his resolve, but Elena moved in for the kill.

She ran a finger up Mush's arm and gave him what Ravenna called the puppy dog eyes, because they were the eyes that all homeless dogs gave her when she was walking down the street. It was a look that she could not say no to and one that usually meant she had just found herself a new pet.

Mush let out a long sigh of defeat to which Elena grinned.

"Fine, I'll tell Jack good night for you, but this is the last time, you got it?"

Elena nodded her head and winked at Ravenna before quickly shoving Mush out the door before he changed his mind. Upon arriving back to Ravenna she smiled.

"I only wish I could be there to see Mush tuck Jack in for the night."

Ravenna nodded in agreement.

"You've done that to him before?"

Elena merely grinned her answer.

"Didn't Jack get mad at you?"

Elena's grin widened.

"He didn't speak to me for an entire week."

The two women burst out laughing; their smiles remained on their lips as they gathered Ravenna's belongings and headed up the stairs to her new room.