Chapter One

"Carry da banner! Come on! Carry da banner! Whad you doing? Up!" the old man named Kloppman called as he went around waking all the Newsboys up. Racetrack Higgins, stiff and sore from having to walk all the way back from Sheepshead Bay in the rain the night before, rose from his bunk and stretched out his arms and back. Looking over a few rows to the top bunk where his friend Skittery lay still sleeping, Race sighed and shook his head. Putting on his pants and suspenders, he walked over to him and smacked him alongside the head.

"Ey ya bonehead poke up! Time ta go! Get a move on!" Race said as Skittery moaned and mumbled a few choice words at him.

"Yeah, I'm up. I'm up." he finally said sitting up and rubbing his eyes. Race studied him carefully and noted that there wasn't something quite right with him that morning. Normally he would get up the first time Kloppman would smack him, but this time it took two people to wake him. Finally shrugging it off, Race headed into the washroom with the other newsies to get ready for another day of work. The washroom was already a loud and crowded chaotic scene when Race slid his way between two younger boys and up towards his friends.

"Ey Jack, did you sneak out last night ta go see Kidah?" Race asked walking up next to Mush and across from Jack to comb his hair and wash his face. Jack looked at him strangely and shook his head.

"No, why?" he asked.

"Cuz when I came in last night, I saw somebody sneak down da fiah escape and run off towards da Bronx, so I jist tought maybe it was you off ta see Kidah." Race answered as he slicked back his hair. He looked at his other best friend Mush and asked, "It wasn't you was it?"

"Naw, I stayed in last night. It was rainin'. No fun ta take a goil out when it's rainin'." He said before walking off to finish getting ready.

"I tink youse was jist seein tings Race." Crutchy joked as he hobbled past him. Race looked at him and gave his famous impersonation of Spot Conlon, leader of the Brooklyn Newsies.

"Oh yeah? Yeah?" Race laughed stealing the towel from his crippled companion. "I know whad I saw, an' I saw somebody sneak out an' head ta da Bronx." He said wiping his face in the towel before Skittery could steal it from him. Everyone shrugged and continued with their daily routine. Just as everyone was heading out of the washroom, Skittery was heading in. Blink, Mush and Race all stopped to see what was going on with Skitts.

"Ey ya Skitts, hows it rollin?" Blink asked pulling out his first cigarette of the day. Skittery eyed it longingly then turned to the sink.

"It's rollin." He answered plainly, washing his face. He looked in the mirror and cringed. His eyes were red and still a little puffy. He splashed cold water on his face hoping the redness would go away. It did but only barely.

"So Skitts, whad ya plannin on doin taday? Sides from sellin dat is." Mush asked.

"Nothing. None a yer business." He said before heading into a stall. Mush and Blink looked at each other and then at Race who just shrugged.

"A'right well, if ya wanna come wid us aftah ya get done sellin, we're gonna go hang out in da park and flirt wid all da pretty ladies dat pass by." Mush offered. Race looked at them and laughed.

"You'll be flirtin'…I ain't gotta. I gots me a goil. Da best damn goil dis side a da Italian Alps." He said proudly in reference to his girlfriend Corky. Blink smacked him alongside the head and laughed.

"We know Higgins." He joked as they got into a mock fist fight.

"Well den don forget it!" Race laughed. Skittery walked out of the stall looking like his normal self and sighed.

"You guys are idiots ya know dat?" he asked walking past them.

"Yeah."

"We pride ourselves on it."

"It's a gift." They all answered. Skitts shook his head and grabbed his hat.

"So you gonna come floit wid all da goils latah or whad?" Mush asked as they all walked out of the lodging house and into the sunlight. Skitts thought for a minute and then shook his head no.

"Can't, got stuff I gotta do." He answered shortly.

"Moah important den floitin wid goils?" Mush questioned in shock. Race smacked him behind the head and looked at Skitts strangely.

"Whad kind a stuff?" he asked

Skittery shot him an evil glare but answered him anyways.

"Stuff! A'right now leave me alone!" the others watched in confusion as Skitts took off to the DC on his own that morning.

"Something ain't right wid 'im taday. He ain't usually like dat." Blink said as they headed off to go buy their papers.

"Maybe he's in anothah one o' his bad moods." Mush thought out loud. Race shook his head.

"No…not even in his worst moods would he act like dat. Deres sometin' else. An' I'se gonna find out whad it is."