William woke early the next morning, before the rest of the newsboys had stirred. He threw off the thin sheet that was covering him, and swung his feet over the side of the bunk, sliding down to the floor as quietly as possible. Pulling his shirt on and tiptoed to the door, grabbing his shoes on the way. He silently climbed down the stairs, and made his way out to the street, stopping briefly to put his shoes on, before running down the street.

"William!" A girl, about 15 years old stepped out from an old brownstone, just as William ran up. "Are you ok? How did everything go last night?"

William smiled, "I met this kid named Racetrack! He plays poker, and he taught me how! He even said I was good! And guess what else, Maddie, Jack Kelly was there!!! And he was really nice!"

Maddie laughed, tousling her little brother's brown hair. She hadn't seen her brother so excited in a long time. It was good to see him smile. "Maybe this lodging house thing will work out after all."

"I want to sell with the guys. Can I?" William had calmed down again, and the question came in his usual serious way.

Maddie bit her lip, "I don't know Will… I'd rather you came to the factory with me."

"I'll be careful. You know I will, I'll stay with Racetrack, I know he won't mind. And I can meet you at the factory before the last bell rings. I promise."

"Ok," She said sighing, "You win. But I want to meet Racetrack first."

William nodded his agreement, smiling, and walked with his sister to the distribution office, slipping his small hand into hers.

They reached the distribution office twenty minutes before it would be open, and Maddie leaned against the iron gate, her arm around William's thin shoulders. "Listen, Will, you know I trust you, but I promised Mother I'd take care of you, no matter what. You have to swear to me that you'll be careful."

"I will."

They stood in silence, each contemplating the past, until the first group of newsboys could be seen coming down the street. William looked up at Maddie, a sparkle in his eyes that hadn't been there before. "Look, there's Racetrack."

Racetrack noticed them at the same time, "Hey William, where'd ya go this morning?"

"I had to meet my sister, this is Maddie."

Racetrack looked up right into a pair of beautiful blue eyes. The girl herself was pretty, not in a way that the girls at Irving Hall we beautiful, and mature, but in a simple way. Racetrack smiled at her, and reached for her hand, kissing it, "It's always nice to meet a lovely lady."

Maddie fought a smile, and raised her eyebrows at him. "Nice to meet you." She said, putting her hand on William's shoulder.

William looked up at Racetrack, "Could I sell with you today?"

Racetrack ran his hand through his hair. He didn't really want to be babysitting today. He had a tip on a horse at the track, and he was dying to get down there. He looked down at William, who was studying him those piercing blue eyes, he sighed, and looked up at Maddie waiting patiently for his answer. "Alright, kid," he said, "Go get you're papes, and I'll meet you back out here. Here, buy me twenty will you?" He asked, digging a dime from his pocket and handing it to William.

William turned towards the gate, and took his place behind the last boy in line. Maddie watched him disappear through the gate, before turning back to Racetrack. She offered a small smile, "Thanks for taking him, he won't be a burden, I promise. But you should know. William's… special."

Racetrack regarded her curiously, "What do you mean?"

"I mean he's different from the rest of us. He's smart. And I don't mean in a normal school way. I don't know how to explain it… He's always been like that."

"Yeah, I kinda noticed last night. I told the kid a list of poker hands, and he repeated em right back to me. I don't know any other newsboys that can do that, and he's, what, seven, eight maybe?"

"Eight. Yeah, he used to come home after school and recite whole poems… ones that he'd just read for the first time. I always thought he would be something special."

Racetrack cracked his knuckles absent mindedly, thinking about what Maddie had just said. A kid with a memory like that could really come in handy. Maybe having him tag along could be a good thing.

William was coming back out to them, struggling to hold a stack of newspapers that were almost as big as he was. "Hey, Maddie," He said as he approached, "You better hurry, you're going to be late. Mr. Hannon won't be happy."

Maddie gasped, "I've got to go, I'll see you later William, 5 o'clock sharp! Don't be late!" She took off running down the street, glancing back at them before disappearing into the early morning crowd.

Racetrack looked down at William, "You ready kid?"