Chapter Eighteen: In Which the Newsies Won!
Word Count: 1,295
Manhattan, 1899
Mush was nervous.
He was nervous for a number of reasons. One of them being the crusade.
As of right now, the only newsies that were even present were the Manhattan newsies. Many of their allies hadn't shown up yet, and Brooklyn, Queens, and the other boroughs hadn't either. Mush wasn't too sure they would at all, and evidently the other newsies felt the same.
That is, the other newsies except Elmer, who was entirely confident that everyone who agreed to be there would be there.
And then there was Cassie.
Mush had made his decision on how he felt about Cassie – it hadn't taken as long as he thought it would. But now that he had decided, he realized that he could have made it a lot sooner.
He was also nervous because not only was Jack meeting with Pulitzer, Crutchie was still in the refuge and the bulls could always come from nowhere to break up this rally like they had the first one.
There was a lot to be nervous about.
Being nervous, though, wasn't going to help anything. What would Cassie do? Well, there she was. He could ask her.
"Uh, hey, Cassie," he said. He felt another wave of anxiety wash over him. This was just reminding him again of everything he was nervous of, including what he was going to tell her. She turned from her conversation with Elmer.
"Hey, Mush," she replied.
"Do you...think the others are gonna show up? It's just us right now, and if the bulls show up, well…we're in trouble."
"You're right," she said. "But maybe they're just trying to be fashionably late."
"All of 'em?"
She shrugged. "You know how Brooklyn likes to make an entrance. And I'm willing to bet all the other boroughs are just waiting on the bridge to see Spot and his boys marching down."
He laughed softly. "No, yeah, you're probably right."
She smiled.
"'Sides," Elmer cut in, "someone's gotta show. It ain't just newsies we invited, remember?"
"So what do we do while we wait?" Mush asked.
Elmer shrugged. "Just...wait. Talk to people, tell stories – and try not to worry too much. Then we's just gonna get worked up over nothin' and everyone's gonna freak out."
"Noted."
As Cassie turned around to finish her discussion, Mush contemplated just telling her then and there. But that would be rude, wouldn't it? She's in the middle of a conversation, he told himself. Later.
In an effort to distract himself, he approached Katherine, who looked more uneasy than he'd ever seen her. She was usually so confident and composed, and hadn't this been her idea anyway? Not entirely sure how to go about starting a conversation with her, he decided to be frank. "Are you okay? You ain't lookin' so good."
"You want the truth? I have no clue how today is going to turn out and it really scares me. I mean, Jack's not here, the other newsies aren't here, the workers aren't here."
"We're here, though. And we's been strikin' for weeks. If Jack doesn't finally change Pulitzer's mind, I dunno what will. And that article you wrote seemed pretty convincin', too."
Katherine laughed, but it wasn't one of true amusement. "Thank you, but tell that to my father. I haven't swayed his opinion yet."
"Well, I'se sure - "
"Mush! Katherine! Look!" Blink shouted, pointing animatedly into the distance. "They showed up!"
And, lo and behold, hundreds, maybe thousands, of workers carrying signs and copies of the paper about the crusade came marching in, chanting. At the head of the group was Brooklyn (of course), and then the rest of the newsies and then the other workers.
They were loud, and it was brilliant.
Everyone marched up to the window of the World building, shouting and singing and chanting, until Jack finally emerged on the balcony, followed by Pulitzer.
The crowd instantly quieted.
"Newsies of New York City…" said Jack, "we won!"
The celebration and cheering that rang through the air was practically deafening. Mush laughed and hugged at least four people.
"And now," Jack continued, "I'd like to introduce my very own personal pal, Governor Theodore Roosevelt himself!"
Sure enough, the governor walked out, smiling and waving. When the applause died down, he said, "Each generation must, at the height of its power, step aside and invite the young to share the day. You have laid claim to our world, and I believe the future, in your hands, will be bright and prosperous!" He turned to Jack. "Your drawings, son, brought another matter to bear. Officers, if you please!"
The governor nodded and blew a whistle. Mush turned around.
"Hey look, it's Crutchie!"
And there was Crutchie, hobbling out with a couple of officers behind him. "Hiya, fellas! Didja miss me?" Everyone shouted their affirmations as Crutchie beamed. "Oh, and look what I got for youse! A gift, straight from the refuge!"
The other two officers stepped forth, restraining …Snyder?
"Oh, it's Snyder the Spider!"
"He ain't lookin' so tough no more!"
Despite literally being arrested, Snyder kicked at the crowd, who jumped back.
"Your drawings have made an eloquent argument for shutting down the refuge. Be sure that Mr. Snyder's abuses will be fully investigated." The governor waved a hand. "Officers, take him away."
"Please, your highness," said Crutchie, raising his hand. "May I do the honors?"
Governor Roosevelt made a gesture to show that Crutchie could, and the newsie gleefully took the handcuffs and made to put them on The Spider.
"You have got to be kidding me."
"Yeah, and you'll be laughing all the way to the pen, little man!" Crutchie grinned as the officers started carrying Snyder away. "So long, sucker!" Crutchie laughed, punctuating his exclamation by smacking Snyder on the bum with his crutch. The crowd cheered.
"If one of your drawings convinced the governor to shut down the refuge, what might a daily political cartoon do to expose the private dealings behind our own government's back rooms? What do you say, Teddy? Care to let this young man's artistry shine a lantern behind your closed doors?
Jack waved a hand. "Hey, don't sweat it, Gov. With the strike settled, I should probably be hittin' the road." He started walking off, but Davey caught up to him.
"Don't you ever get tired of singing the same old tune? What's Santa Fe got that New York ain't? Tarantulas?"
Katherine walked up, too. "Better yet, what's New York got that Santa Fe ain't?"
"New York's got us," chimed in Crutchie, "and we're family."
"Did I not hear something about the strike being settled?" Pulitzer boomed.
The newsies (and even some of the other workers that had showed up to the crusade) got into a line to start buying their papers again. It looked like the union was expanding.
Katherine and Jack lingered behind, so Mush got in line behind (but more next to) Cassie. "Can you believe it?" she asked excitedly. "We really won!" She hugged him again. "I mean, it's gonna be weird selling again after all this time, but - "
"Guys!" shouted Les, pointing.
They all looked over to see Jack and Katherine kissing. This was met with whooping and oohing and cheering, and Mush found himself looking at Cassie.
She was clapping and smiling, almost wistfully. "Ya did good, Jack," she said quietly.
Mush realized he was staring, and blushed and turned around to look at Jack and Katherine, who were no longer kissing by now.
"Well, Jack," asked Davey, "are you in or are you out, huh?"
Jack held up what looked like a couple of quarters and made his way over to the box. He slapped them on and everyone present cheered.
They had won the strike.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this penultimate installment of By Words the Mind is Winged! Many, many, many apologies for the lateness of this chapter, and an extra apology for the shorter length! I've been casted in my school's production of Mary Poppins the Musical, and while I love rehearsals, they're very time consuming, so in my free time I have to do things like homework rather than write fanfiction. The next chapter is going to be the last one (kind of sadly), and it may or may not take as long to put out as this one – hopefully it's the latter. Thanks for dealing with me this long, and I hope you can bear with me just a little longer lol. --mouse :)