July 1899

After a week back in Manhattan, Skittery and Adelaide fell back into their old routine, minus one very important part - Tumbler. Every day, Adelaide bought them breakfast from a bakery on Houston Street while Skittery bought papers and headed uptown. They had a bench they would meet at and enjoy their breakfast before they sold papers, and then walked up to Washington Square Park for lunch.

But it was different from how it used to be, and not just because Tumbler was gone. They weren't as close anymore. Adelaide hadn't told him anything about what happened with Ralphie in Brooklyn. As it was, she needed to be careful, because Brooklyn never took a death of one of their own lightly.

They still hadn't figured out a way to go and get Tumbler. It would take them months to save up, and Adelaide refused to part with Skittery for any length of time again.

A nearby clock tower chimed, and Adelaide frowned. Usually Skittery was there by then.

"Aide!"

She know that voice. Her heart soared at the sound. She turned and saw Tumbler sprinting down the street towards her.

"Mikey!" she screamed and ran over to him. They collided in a hug with tears on both sides. She closed her eyes, relishing the feeling of holding him once more.

"I thought I'd never see you again," she sobbed into his hair.

"Me too." She heard the tears in his voice, muffled by her shoulder.

She pull back, her hands on his shoulders and got a good look at him. "You've gotten so tall. How did you get back?"

"We ran away," Tumbler grinned.

"We?"

Tumbler turned around and she followed his gaze. Skittery was walking down the street holding a large stack of newspapers, and a couple paces behind him walked a young girl about Tumbler's age.

"Emma, come 'ere," he said, gesturing for her to hurry up.

Skittery and Emma crossed the street and met up with them. Skittery grinned at Adelaide and put his arm around her, setting the newspapers on the bench.

The little girl walked up to Tumbler's side. She didn't look up at Adelaide or Skittery. She kept her eyes trained on the ground. Her blonde curly hair was tied back in a messy braid with curls coming out everywhere. Her gingham blue dress was filthy.

"This is Emma," Tumbler said, proudly. He stood up straighter and took Emma's hand.

Adelaide raised an eyebrow and glanced at Skittery, who just grinned.

"I see. Hi Emma."

"Hi," Emma said, still staring at the ground.

Adelaide looked from Emma to Tumbler, raising her eyebrows for an explanation.

"She was on the same farm as me," he said, sticking his chin out, as if to defy her to say anything against his actions. "She'd been there since she was a baby."

"And you...helped her escape?"

Tumbler nodded proudly. "I had to get out of there and get back home, and I wasn't gonna leave her there."

Despite the concern over another person to worry about and another mouth to worry about feeding, Adelaide smiled anyway. Tumbler was growing up into the person she always hoped he would. She looked up at Skittery.

"He wanted to come see you last night, but they came to the lodging house late," Skittery said. "Kloppman let her sleep in the attic last night, since I promised we'd find you and get her set up at the Elizabeth House today."

Adelaide looked back at the two. Tumbler put his arm protectively around Emma's shoulders. Emma still hadn't looked them in the eye. The only time she looked up is to look at Tumbler.

"Well, welcome to our little family, Emma," Adelaide smiled. "You ever sell newspapers before?"

Emma shook her head.

"You know how to read?"

Emma hesitated before shaking her head again. Adelaide's heart strings tugged. Emma had been on that farm since she was a baby and they never taught her how to read? Adelaide figured there was little need for reading in order to milk cows and collect eggs.

"Well, it's never too late to learn," Adelaide grinned. Adelaide handed Skittery his breakfast and broke hers in two, giving half to each kid. Skittery broke off half of his and handed it to Adelaide.

"Alright, everyone," said Skittery. "We got a hundred and fifty papes here. Some dirty cops got killed last night and a tenement in Harlem burned down, so there's plenty to go around." He handed Tumbler and Emma each a stack of papes. "Stay on Houston, and don't wander too far from one another. We'll meet back here when we're done and go to lunch."

Emma took her papers, still not looking up. She muttered a small, "thank you."

"You two be careful, okay?" Adelaide said. She pulled Tumbler to her once more. She wanted to sell with him today and never let him out of my sight ever again, but she knew they would sell no papers that way. That, and Emma needed him more than Adelaide did. "I just got you back. I can't lose you again. Be careful."

"We will Aide," said Tumbler. "I ain't gonna let nothin' happen to Emma."

She pulled back and grinned at him. He was a good kid. She planted a kiss on his forehead and nodded.

"Come on, Emma," he said, taking her hand once more. He led her down the street. "Ya see? she told you they were great."

"I don't think they like me," Emma said quietly.

"They like ya just fine. You just gotta look 'em in the eye when you talk to them."

Soon, they were swallowed up by the crowd, and Adelaide could barely hear Tumbler's voice screaming about a Harlem fire.

"You okay?" Skittery pulled her close to him.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Just realizing how fast he's growing up."

"Now everyone's back home," said Skittery.

"I just wish…" Adelaide sighed. "Just wish the last six months hadn't happened."

"Me too. But they did. And all we can do is just keep pushing on."

Adelaide wished it were that easy.

"Well," she put on a smile and picked up a stack of newspapers. "It's time to get to work." She walked a few steps away, calling out a headline and selling a few papers. She turned and winked at Skittery. "Last one selling buys lunch."


"So Emma," Adelaide said as the four of them sat down on a bench in Washington Square Park with their sandwiches. "Where are you from?"

"Ohio," said Emma, staring at the ground.

"Were you born there?"

Emma shrugged.

"How long were you on the farm?"

Emma shrugged.

"She'd been there for as long as she could remember," Tumbler chimed in. "It's okay, Emma. You can talk to them. They ain't gonna hurt you."

"So you two really hit it off, did you?"

"Yep." Tumbler grinned. "Soon as she got on the farm, Emma here was the one to show me around and show me how to do all the chores on the farm. They put us together coz we is the same age and were gonna do the same chores anyway. Except they had me do some hay haulin' too."

"What else did you do on the farm?"

"Milked the cows, got the eggs from the chickens, fed the chickens, cows, sheep, and pigs. Helped Mrs. Bradley carry the vegetables in from the garden."

Adelaide raise her eyebrows. "Sounds like a big farm."

"It was," Tumbler nodded, taking a bite of his sandwich. "There was lots of other kids there too," he added, his mouth full of food.

"Really?" Adelaide frowned. "How many?"

Tumbler shrugged. "Six or seven."

"Were they all Mrs. Bradley's kids?" Skittery asked.

"No," said Tumbler, swallowing his food. "I don't think they have kids of their own. I think all the kids on the farm came from the orphan trains."

Adelaide glanced over at Skittery, who had the same concerned expression as she.

"Well, you're both here now, and that's what matters, right?" Skittery grinned, turning back toward the kids.

"Yup!"

"Emma, aren't you hungry?" Adelaide asked. The girl's sandwich had sat, uneaten, on her lap the whole time.

Emma glanced over at Tumbler.

"It's okay, Em," Tumbler nodded. "They won't make you pay for it."

"Of course not. Any friend of my brothers is a friend of mine."

"Now that you know how to sell, tomorrow you can buy your own food," Tumbler grinned. He turned back to Adelaide. "Hey Aide, can she stay with you tonight?"

She nodded. "Of course. There's a free bunk right next to mine."

Emma looked up at her for the first time since they had met. Her big, blue eyes looked curious and scared. "I won't be with you?" she looked at Tumbler.

"No, ya can't stay with me, coz it's an all boys house," said Tumbler. "But Aide is great. It's an all girls house."

"It's gonna be okay," Adelaide tried to give her an encouraging grin.

Emma nodded and took slow, small bites of her food.


Later that night, Emma and Adelaide were in the washroom of the Elizabeth House for Girls.

"Sprinkle some of these soap flakes in the basin," Adelaide handed Emma a box. "I'm going to go get some hot water, so your first bath here doesn't have to be a freezing one." She gave Emma a wink.

Emma silently took the box and Adelaide heard the flakes hitting the bottom of the basin as she walked out of the washroom. Emma hadn't said a word to her since Tumbler and Skittery dropped them off. She had clung to Tumbler the entire walk there, as if letting go of him would seal her fate, and she would be lost in the big, bad city.

Adelaide had paid a little extra and Miss Emily let her boil some water for Emma'a bath. Adelaide grabbed a towel, and grabbed the first pot and carried it into the washroom and dumped it into the basin.

"Start pumping some water into the basin," she told Emma. Emma nodded and began to expertly pump the cold water up.

Adelaide went back and forth to the kitchen twice to get the other two hot pots of water. By the time she came back, the basin was full of lovely warm water.

"Hop on in, and I'll go get something for you to sleep in." Adelaide went upstairs and grabbed an extra nightgown for Emma. It would be way too big on her, but it was clean.

When Adelaide got back to the washroom, Emma was sitting in the tub, suds all around her, hugging her knees to her chest.

Adelaide draped the nightgown over a hook on the wall and knelt next to the tub, behind Emma. She grabbed a washcloth and dipped it into the warm water and scrubbed her back. Emma flinched, but the more Adelaide scrubbed, the more Emma's muscles relaxed.

Adelaide handed Emma the wash cloth. "Lean back and get your hair wet." Emma obeyed and continued to scrub herself while Adelaide worked some soap into a lather and massaged it into Emma's hair.

Once Emma had scrubbed herself from head to toe, she put her head under the water pump and Adelaide pumped some water onto her to rinse her hair.

Adelaide handed Emma a towel and she stood up and dried herself off.

Adelaide walked over to the counter and grabbed Emma's dirty clothes and threw them into the water as Emma donned the nightgown Adelaide had brought down for her.

As soon as her night gown is on, Emma hung up her towel, and she walked over to the tub and began to wash her dress.

"No, no," Adelaide said. "I'll do it. You go upstairs and rest, okay?"

Emma looked at Adelaide for the second time that day and turned and walked out of the washroom.

Adelaide walked up to the bunk room after washing both of their clothes and hanging them on the line out the window to dry.

Emma was sitting on her bunk, with her hands folded in her lap.

"Everything okay?" Adelaide asked.

Emma nodded, not looking at her.

"You know, you didn't have to wait for me. You could've crawled right in and gone to sleep."

Emma got off the bed and knelt by her bed, folding her hands in prayer. She was silent for a few moments before she got up again and crawled into the bed.

"You comfortable?" Adelaide asked, covering her with the sheet.

She looked up at her and nodded.

"Your dress and underthings will be dry and ready for you in the morning."

"Thank you," Emma said in a small voice.

Adelaide sat on the edge of the bed and watched her for a few beats. Emma pulled the sheet up around her neck tighter.

"Emma, you're safe. Miss Emily locks the front door every night, and this house is safe. No one is going to hurt you."

Emma just nodded.

Seeing this small, scared girl reminded Adelaide of herself when Tumbler and she first got kicked onto the streets - scared, innocent, and untrusting of the world. Emma had probably seen more hurt in her nine years than Adelaide had seen in her life.

"Tumbler's my brother, and I love him dearly," she told her. "I've gone to great lengths to protect him, and I'll do the same for you. I know it's probably going to take a while for you to trust me, but I'm here for you."

Emma nodded again.

"Good night," Adelaide gave her a soft smile and crawled into her own bed.

She took a deep breath and exhaled, relaxing. She smiled, thinking over the day. Only 24 hours before, she had gone to sleep thinking she would never see her brother again, and they were finally a family again. Someone turned the lights off and she found herself drifting off to sleep, truly happy for the first time in a year.

She was barely still conscious when she felt the sheet lift and a little body crawled into bed next to her. She opened her arms and Emma snuggled in next to her. Adelaide breathed in the scent of her freshly washed hair and kissed the top of her head.

"Sleep well, sweet girl," she said as they both drifted off to sleep.