Welcome Visitor
Afternoon dresses were one of the things Audrey Alexandra Kai was adding to her list of items in society to despise. She hooked her finger into the high collar that pressed up against her chin, trying desperately to be freed of the restricting annoyance. But no matter the strength Audrey put behind the tugging, the collar of the dress refused to stretch beyond the choking embrace. Blowing a frustrated breath over her own face, the young lady plopped with little manners and less delicacy onto one of the many steps of the grand staircase of the Longfellow estate. She swept up her skirts and easily started to undo her kid boots. If she couldn't escape one fashion prison, Audrey was determined to escape another.
Being barefoot had become the latest indulgence of Miss Audrey Alexandra Kai, a freedom unlike any she had previously experienced. On the streets, in her beloved life as a newsies, Laces had never once been able to travel barefoot outside of the bunkroom in the lodging houses. Shoes had provided invaluable protection, security, and misunderstood luxury among the poorest of the poor in the life of carrying the banner. But inside the rich surroundings of Fifth Avenue, where floors were covered in nothing but riches from plush Turkish rugs to smooth marble stones bare feet were never in danger of anything but pure delight.
With the slip of a hand, only familiar to the pickpockets of New York City, Audrey suddenly had a folded piece of paper in her hands. Practically floating away from her abandoned boots, Audrey let her hands trace the folds of the unopened letter in her hands. She studied the colors of the heavy yellow paper, the streaks of unfamiliar dirt and the circular pattern of what appeared to be a thumbprint. She turned it in her hands, slowly at first and then faster, searching for the shades of gray and black that were so instinctually normal for Jack Kelly. But there was no trace of a newsboy on the folded paper; the folded paper was nothing like a newspaper, nothing like Jack Kelly. A stranger in disguise of something known for Audrey had recognized the slanted handwriting of Jack Kelly on the envelope addressed to Laces, for a second she had been convinced of familiarity. But the letter was nothing like a newspaper. It was nothing like everything she had once associated with Jack.
She turned it over in her hands a few more times, memorizing the way that Jack had folded it enough to imagine his hands delicately working over the creases. Standing at the bottom of the staircase, completely enthralled by the folded letter, Audrey began to carefully pull the letter open. A second piece of paper tumbled out of her hands as her fingers pulled down the last crease. Two whole pages of cramped writing, beautiful words colorfully weaving tales of adventure hiding the desperation of Jack Kelly begging Audrey to respond of Laces to remember. She ducked down to pick up the second page, letting her fingers dance around the edges of the paper as she studied the ugly yellow of the paper against the brightness of the white floor.
A knock at the door startled Audrey out of her reverence. She quickly snatched her letter from the floor and folded the papers back up perfectly without a pause. Without a thought to rules of society or proper manners, she opened the front door.
"Miss Audrey," A curiously amused voice greeted the young lady. Audrey blinked at the brightness of the afternoon sky, so unexpectedly attacking her eyes. A shade fell over her eyes and suddenly the young woman concentrated on the light blue shirt in front of her, under the fashionable gray afternoon coat. Upturning her face only centimeters, Audrey found the silent chuckling face of Jacob Henry Canterbury. Before any sense of propriety or appropriateness could settle in Audrey, the girl had flung her arms around the boy standing in front of her.
"Audrey," Jacob laughingly chastised as he carefully pushed her back into the mansion and himself off the highly visible steps off Fifth Avenue. At the push and the familiar voice of Jacob, Audrey seemed to remember her place and released him while stepping back a safe and proper distance from the young man.
"Miss Audrey, you didn't answer the door?" Nancy hurried past the two and closed the door.
"There was a knock." Audrey tilted her head curiously at her guest. Jacob smiled brightly, his dark eyes twinkling with their familiar mischief.
"She knew it was me." He provided to the maid playfully.
"Miss Audrey, if Mrs. Casey…" Nancy fretted for only a second before remembering the door had been open to company. "…Sir?"
"Sir Jacob Henry Canterbury, a dear friend of Miss Audrey's from the shore." The boy flashed a foolish grin at the maid.
"Tea, we should have tea…" Audrey stated unsure. She still clutched her folded letter in one hand.
"Yes, please follow me." Nancy turned to lead the young people into a parlor. Jacob held out his arm and Audrey instantly tucked her hand around it. Remembering her letter, she worked to tuck the papers underneath the sleeve encasing her right wrist so tightly.
"What's that?" Jacob whispered as he watched her try to force the bulk under the fabric.
"Nothing." Audrey shook her head, allowing a fake smile of confidence to appear upon her confused face. Jacob recognized the smile, the practiced response of any lady in his society to an uncomfortable question. He frowned at the unnatural way the expression rested on Audrey's face. But the young man was as well trained as his partner, if not better trained, and so he focused on anything but the paper still forcing it's way into hiding.
"Are you barefoot?" Jacob laughed as he caught sight of Audrey's stockings as she walked alongside him. Nancy spun around in alarm to confirm what Jacob had laughingly suggested.
"Miss Audrey!" She exclaimed.
"Nancy," Audrey mimicked back before adding, "I left them on the stairs."
"I'm not one for formalities, Nancy." Jacob winked at the maid and Nancy couldn't help but smile at the boy's boldness.
"I shall go fetch some tea, and your boots." Nancy sighed but as she walked out she whispered urgently to Audrey. "Do try to behave."
The door closed softly behind them before Jacob spoke again.
"How many people tell you to behave?" He wondered out loud as Audrey dropped his arm. Audrey shrugged and turned to stare at the young man now standing in the parlor with a frown.
"What are you doing in New York?" She demanded crossing her arms. Jacob chuckled again trying not to obviously study how the light of the late afternoon glittered around the young lady's delicate figure.
"Now you can't fib and say you aren't happy to see me." Jacob winked at her remembering the socially unacceptable hug.
"You didn't tell me you were coming in your last letter…" She reproached walking away from him to settle into a protective perch atop the back of the loveseat. After parting ways on the summer shore, Jacob Canterbury had waited exactly one week before sending his first letter from the library of Yale University to his newest friend. Since the first letter, the two young people hadn't been able to stop writing.
"Didn't know when I wrote last. Father couldn't make it out to the city to take care of some business, had me come down from school instead." Jacob explained apologetically.
"Or you are merely playing hooky and have fabricated some story to defend your wayward choices." Audrey smiled at him.
"Not all of us are as unable to behave properly." Jacob smirked as he walked across the room to lounge upon the French desk near the window. Audrey watched as the young man tucked his hand into his coat, thinking he would be pulling out his pocket watch momentarily. She had learned Jacob Henry had a nervous habit of playing with his fancy gold pocket watch. A twitch that reminded her of how Spot always lit a cigarette and Jack forever tugged at the ratty old string of his cowboy hat. All boys had their habits, rich or poor, energy had to be contained. But Jacob didn't pull out his watch but instead he pulled out a half folded morning edition of The World.
"The little waif that sold me this…" Jacob began but didn't finish his sentence before Audrey interrupted him.
"Don't call them waifs." She demanded angrily, protectively. Jacob quirked an eyebrow at the outburst confused yet again but instantly reacted to the annoyance.
"Well, they are waifs. Most of them…" Jacob explained confused.
"Are you a reformer now? Parading around pointing at all their defects instead of helping the kids of the street?" Audrey's dark brown eyes burned into the young man, her words stinging with their serious accusations.
"You are truly an extraordinary young lady," Jacob laughed holding up his hands. He had never known anyone else, man or woman in his tiny circle of the elite socialites that cared beyond talking about the working class. "…Not waifs then, the newsboy?"
Audrey nodded a satisfied smirk playing on her lips.
"The newsboy who sold me this paper assured me of the headline being a good story…" Jacob started pulling the paper open and flipped through the pages. "… Something about a nude corpse on the train tracks."
Audrey started giggling at the confused look on Jacob's face as he searched the paper for the selling headline. Few businessmen ever remembered the headline that sold them on their morning paper enough to remember a street kid had swindled them. But Jacob wasn't much like most businessmen. She slipped down from her perch and strode across the parlor with her hands out stretched for the paper.
"A good story…" Audrey slipped her hands expertly over the pages and Jacob surrendered the newspaper with a smile. Jacob had learned quickly through Audrey's letters of the young lady's quirky delight in New York's newspapers. He soon realized she actually read the papers, when she managed to procure a copy.
"Are you going to find the imaginary headline?" Jacob challenged. But Audrey wasn't paying any attention to the boy any longer, instead her fingers pressed against the ink lovingly as her eyes flittered across the pages.
"Here it is, page 9." Audrey smiled triumphantly as she held out the paper underneath Jacob's nose.
"Found dead dog near trolley track… No, no. The boy must have been talking about some other headline." Jacob shook his head.
"I doubt it." Audrey winked, pulling the newspaper back into her own bosom. She knew without Jacob explaining that he had brought her the newspaper. He had been intrigued by Audrey's love for newspapers and in his last letter had pushed for her to explain the dynamics of a good headline. He never dared asked how the young lady knew the information, knowing Audrey would never reveal it.
"Miss Elizabeth Samson wrote to Emma that you were ill…" Jacob stated nonchalantly as he reached out to rest his hand on her wrist.
"Miss Emma Canterbury wrote to Elizabeth that you might gallivant off to Europe for the winter." Audrey shrugged back still only staring at her newspaper.
For all of their ignoring of social graces, Audrey and Jacob still maintained a degree of secrecy in their communications. Both playing what outsiders would perceive as usual standards of courting between a young woman and young man. But in reality, Jacob had learned not to bore Audrey and Audrey had learned to protect herself by never sharing with Jacob. The two had settled onto the sofa, allowing their shoulders to touch as Audrey still read the paper and Jacob began clicking his pocket watch open and closed.
A soft knock alerted the young people to the arrival of Nancy. The maid entered pushing a teacart and looking oddly out of place with a pair of kid boots tied over her shoulder.
"Mrs. McCain is just about done with her visit." Nancy warned. The maid settled down on her knee to slip Audrey's boots back on.
"How long are you staying in the city?" Audrey asked, finally refolding the newspaper and tucking it underneath the book on the table in front of them.
"Until my 9 o'clock train this evening. Have to get back to school… But, I am going to be coming into the city more often." Jacob winked at her happily.
"For your father's business?"
"Yes, I am coming to an end of my formal education." Jacob nodded as he bent down to help Nancy tie up the boots. Nancy tried to keep the boy from helping, but it was futile as the maid gave up tying the shoes back up at all.
"And do you learn to tie kid boots up at the fancy university?" Audrey snickered at the boy bent over her knee.
"No, but I would imagine it's a skill taught at most finishing schools. Didn't you ever attend finishing school Miss Audrey?" Jacob mocked.
Audrey laughed as she noticed that Jacob Henry Canterbury had clumsy hands when compared to Thomas Longfellow or even Christopher O'Connell. Jacob was not a man who had learned how to lace up boots in the shadows of a secret life as a child spy.
"I could tie my own boots, I did untie them. Sir." Audrey pointed out. Jacob shook his head as he straightened back up accepting the cup of tea from Nancy. It had not escaped the young man's notice that Miss Audrey had laughed away yet another personal question concerning her mysterious past.
"Were you ill long?" Jacob ventured to ask as he promptly focused his attention on the window across the room. He knew Audrey wouldn't answer this question anymore than she would admit attendance to a finishing school.
"Where will you go in Europe?" Audrey snapped back. A hint of hurt and desperation coloring her tone in a way that made Jacob swing his head back around to stare at her.
"Maybe, I will put it wait until the summer. I hear the weather is much more enjoyable then?" Jacob lingered on the question. Mrs. Canterbury had suggested, as had all the ladies of the shore, that Audrey Alexandra Kai had been raised somewhere in Europe by some distant family but no one ever knew where or by whom.
"Didn't you go on a tour of England and France before going to Yale?" Audrey jumped to her feet, as if an electric shock had flung her into action. Jacob frowned. It had been almost five weeks, a little over a month since he had seen Audrey and she appeared to be out of sorts with his presence. He knew from the way she rubbed her right wrist with her thumb that she was distracted by whatever letter she had tucked into her sleeve. But she could not deny her excitement to see him, as her hug had proved nothing but sheer delight. Nonetheless, she was being disturbingly formal and aloof compared to her usual self.
Jacob bit down on his lower lip and sucked the honey sticking to the inside of his teacup. He nodded his response to Audrey's question of his previous tour of Europe as he thought about how to put the girl at ease again. The sound of horse hooves pounding against the cobbled streets outside sparked inspiration as he popped half a smile and dropped his teacup onto the table on top of the newspaper.
"Have you seen the new horseless carriages?" He asked as he confidently strutted towards the window.
"Yes, a few. Near the shops that Casey likes to frequent."
"My pal Frank, Franklin Escher from Brooklyn… maybe you know him? He is in my class at Yale… well his pop got one of those horseless carriages and we've been talking about riding around in it one of these weekends." Jacob rambled like an excited schoolboy, which was what he actually was at the moment.
"What kind is it?" Audrey asked intrigued. Jacob smiled widely, letting dimples form in his well rounded cheeks.
"A Thomas Touring, real beauty from what Frank tells me."
"And he's going to let a fool like you have a go at it?" Audrey mocked the light of amusement so familiar to Jacob reigniting in her eyes.
"I'm sure, I could convince Frank to let a troublesome young lady like you to have a go at it too…" Jacob pressed his finger to chin pretending to think the idea over.
"If it proves to be like horse riding, I might put money on my driving it better than you." Audrey smiled.
"You talked that horse against me!" Jacob complained.
"I did no such thing, besides why would I spend my time talking to a horse when you never went away…"
"… You have bewitching ways about you Miss Audrey…"
"Or you just can not ride a horse." Audrey suggested more realistically. Jacob pulled at his pocket watch, trying to ignore the nagging feeling of time slipping away as the light outside diminished into darkness. Finally as the laughter died out in both of them, he clicked his timepiece open.
"You'll be back soon?" Audrey barely spoke at a whisper.
"Maybe in a horseless carriage. You'll write?" Jacob reached out to retrieve the paper he had brought.
"Isn't it my pape…r?" Audrey forced herself to add the last letter of the word.
"What if I hadn't finished it?" Jacob questioned.
"Learn to read faster college man." Audrey shrugged as she snatched the paper back from his hands. Jacob laughed as he began leaving the room, without any more dismissal or farewell.
Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, there might be more delays for the next two months. And for that I apologize but you know... I will post when I can. Happy 20th Anniversary to Newsies the movie! Let me know what you think of what is going on my extended world of the newsboys who captured our hearts.