Author's Notes: It's been quite a long time since this story has been updated. This chapter was written a while ago and I'm still not too sure about it. But since I've started writing the next chapter, I finally decided to post this.
Disclaimer: I do not own the movie Newsies, or any of the characters from it. Disney laid claim to them before I had the chance. Several OCs appear in this chapter whom belong to their respective owners.
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Chapter Four
Girl, Interrupted
"Wow!"
"See?"
"What?"
"You are a hero from Santa Fe! The crime-fighting, gang-busting Lady of the West saves the day once again!" Alec announced.
"Wow!" Clue repeated in awe.
Ellie smiled half-heartedly. She remained tight-lipped while they ducked and sidestepped their way through the bustling streets, refusing to think about her encounter with the ungrateful (and crazy and rude and grouchy) man.
"This," Alec proclaimed, "is where we have lunch."
"And dinner," added Clue.
"Tibby's Restaurant, huh?" Ellie read the storefront as they walked into the restaurant. Alec immediately asked for a ham sandwich, sliced diagonally.
It's a bit… dull, she thought, following the children to a booth table by the window. The restaurant was quiet with a few customers hunched in the shadows of the room. The occasional clink of utensils seemed more like a clatter in the silence. A waiter sat alone in the back, his right arm hanging limply over the back of the chair, his left hand's fingers tapping on the table as though he were waiting for something.
"We've never sold our papes so fast before. See?" Alec said.
"See what?"
"We're great partners!"
A waiter appeared with Alec's ham sandwich. He set the plate on their table along with two glasses of water. Alec and Clue each grabbed a slice of the sandwich and hungrily chomped into their lunch.
"Partners--? What, no, I just--" How could she explain that she couldn't have just abandoned them? She had to tell them now that she had to go back to Queens. "Alec, Clue. I have something to --" She was interrupted by the chiming of the bell above Tibby's door. A raucous laughter poured in through the entrance, immediately followed by its source: a large group of newsboys. They hurdled inside in duos and trios, slapping each other on the back in friendly greeting. The waiter who had been lounging in the back sprung to his feet. He whistled and bobbed his head to his own tune as he headed towards the kitchen.
"Over here!" Alec waved to the group that had just entered. The newsboys all turned towards the child's voice. She groaned inwardly. He seriously wasn't inviting all those boys over... was he?
"Hey Alec! What you got there, huh? A full meal?" laughed a boy donning a worn eye patch. He did a double take when he saw Ellie and quickly reached for his cap. He smiled and bowed his head slightly, embarrassed by his loud entrance in front of a lady. In fact, after tracing his line of vision, all the newsboys did the same; they took off their caps in unison and stared at her with a mixture of surprise and awe. You'd have thought the Queen of England waltzed in by the way they were gazing at her. While they're attention on her was unnerving, Ellie thought they were acting ridiculous. They looked dumbfounded – their eyes wide, their mouths hanging open. Ellie returned their wide-eyed stares, looking around unsurely.
"Yeah, sold all me papes today, Kid Blink! What took you guys so long?" Alec asked with a rascally grin.
"Getting' smart with me, Alec?" he questioned, his tone much softer than before. "You gonna introduce us to your friend?" he whispered, barely audible.
The head-bobbing waiter reappeared from the kitchen. He froze and his mouth visibly dropped when he saw how quiet the restaurant was. The moment was short-lived.
Clue spoke up. "Guys, this is the lady I was telling you about today - Pegasus."
The newsies exhaled a murmur of realization. After a beat, their faces lit up and they began to introduce themselves and ask questions. Through the clamor, Ellie managed to pick up "Santa Fe" and "Lady of the West." News certainly traveled fast.
They all gathered around the two children and Ellie, pulling seats to their table as they continued their introductions. She was sure the confusion appeared on her face – Pie Eater? Bumlets? His name is, what… Snipeshooter? When she guaranteed them that she would not remember any of their names, they broke out in laughter. In the midst of all the chatter, the group did not hear the bell tinkering nor did they notice a second (smaller) group of people enter the restaurant.
"… I can't believe – thanks," said a tall, slender girl as the young man in front of her held the door open. "—I can't believe he actually bought that headline from you. 'Experts say something went wrong in Colossal Train Crash'? What is that?"
He smirked. "It's what I like to call 'rousing curiosity,' Stressie."
"Actually, I called it 'rousing curiosity,'" David injected, following the pair.
"Davey calls it 'rousing curiosity.' I call it a 'God-given talent,'" Jack said with a mischievous hint of laughter in his voice.
Stress punched him in the arm playfully, laughing. "Talent, sure."
David held the door for Mush, who walked in smiling at Jack and Stress' antics. He in turn, held the door for Race, who paused outside the entrance to take one last puff of his cigarette. He tossed the leftover stub over his shoulder.
"The hell, Race."
The cigarette had hit Skittery directly on the chest before limply dropping to the ground. His head fell to a slant as he glowered at Race.
Race spun around, surprised. "Hey, where'd you come from?" He put out the fallen cigarette with his shoe and strung his arm around Skittery's slumped shoulders. Race was all too familiar with Skittery's fickle moods. Right now, he practically stunk of grouchiness and Race was not going to be the one to set the bomb off. "Sorry 'bout that," he chuckled good-naturedly.
"Hey! You guys celebratin' something without us?" asked Jack. He slid his way to the center of the group. His brown eyes fell on Ellie. He frowned. Where have I seen her before? "Uh…"
"Hey, Blink," said Mush, making his way towards his friend.
As Jack's eyes were on Ellie, her eyes fell upon Mush. Where have I seen him before? "Um…"
"Afternoon, fellas! – oh. Afternoon, Miss," Race added, nodding his head in Ellie's direction. He guessed that she was one of the newsies' girl, so he tried to figure out who was the lucky newsboy. His arm was still around Skittery's shoulders in a futile attempt to contain the gloom emanating from his friend. Skittery though, upon hearing "Miss," managed to scavenge his manners and took off his cap. He glanced at the girl and his mouth fell open.
But Ellie did not notice. She stood up suddenly and concentrated on Mush, who attempted to smile politely. Then finally, "… Brat's friend?"
The next several moments were filled with confusion.
Mush froze. "Bodyguard?"
"Girl?"
"Crazy man?"
Jack snapped his fingers. "Ellie Vivien?"
"Yes?"
"Pegasus," Alec and Clue corrected.
"Who?"
"Wait - Newsies Strike Fund?"
"Yeah! Well, the name's Kel-"
"But… 'Lady of the West,' right? " Blink asked.
"Yeah!" said Clue.
"What?"
"Dutchy?"
Everyone turned towards Dutchy, who sheepishly grinned and shrugged. "Sorry."
"What the hell is goin' on here?" Race said, looking from one person to the next.
A bewildered silence hung in the air. Skittery was sure as hell not going to talk about his incident earlier. Jack was baffled as to how both Mush and Skittery seemed to know the same girl he had met months before. He stared at the two boys and waited for some sort of explanation, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He saw Skittery crossing his arms as well, but in a guarded manner; he apparently found his shoes very interesting. Stress, wide-eyed, looked around the group for any source of clarification for she, like the rest of the gathered newsies, was completely lost. Mush was the first one to break the cloud of befuddlement.
"I didn't get to introduce myself last night," he said, extending his hand with a friendly smile. "I'm Mush."
More rejected dwarf names, she thought. "Ellie," she introduced, accepting his hand. "And I know your name isn't 'Newsies Strike Fund," she said with an apologetic smile, turning to Jack.
He chuckled. "The name's Jack Kelly."
Clue, who had taken another bite of his sandwich, said with a stuffed mouth, "Datsh Cowboah. He dold ush oll 'bout Shanda bay."
"Don't talk with your mouth full, kid," said a grinning Jack.
Blink had immediately figured out the connection between Mush and Ellie. "So," he began, "you're the lovely lady who saved our pal here last night."
From the sighs of oh's that filled the restaurant, everyone knew about the events that took place the night before. Everyone except David that is, who frowned even more from confusion.
The newsies knew Mush was madly in love ("Again?" Blink had asked incredulously). So much in love that he had trekked all the way to Queens to see his girl – his "Chess," he called her. They had been seeing each other secretly for weeks; when she went to social parties in Manhattan, she always managed to sneak out just to see him. None of the newsies had ever met her – the two lovebirds were too busy spending time with each other that Mush never remembered to introduce the fine miss to his friends. Mush had fallen hard for this one, they knew, and who could blame him? She was in a class of her own, a world apart from theirs. The type of lady for whom they could only respectfully remove their hats and, clutching it to their chest, watch her walk away. Mush, the newsies agreed, was a lucky man to have Chess.
But luck had not been on his side the previous night. Mush and Chess had been caught by the Queens gang, the same gang that was currently making headlines. The group was led by Blade, a girl Mush had met one summer night right before the newsboys strike. He thought she was sweet at first and ignored his friends' suspicions. Why is she always carrying a knife with her, they asked. It's just for protection, Mush had defended. Mush had treated Blade like no person had ever treated her before. She was in love, and he thought he loved her. That was until he (literally) fell flat on his face when he first laid his brown eyes on Chess. And Blade never forgave him for leaving her for "Miss High Society." She accused him of being a traitor to her and to the strike – "fighting" for a cause that he was planning to abandon.
For weeks, Blade had been trying to win Mush back. But when she pulled a knife on his Chess, Mush knew she had snapped.
If Ellie knew what the newsies thought about Francesca she would have choked on her drink. She glanced at Alec and Clue, then at the older newsboys.
"Well, I've got to get back," she said. Perfect timing - she'd been waiting to entrust the kids in someone else's hands. "It's been nice meeting all of you."
"Wait," said Race. He placed both hands on Ellie's shoulders and sat her back down. "You can't leave without tellin' us how you gave Blade and her gang the slip."
"Yeah!" said a clearly enthused five-year old boy named Fidget. "Tell us how you gave them the slip." His twin sister, Midget, placed her elbows on the table in interest.
"She was so great. She wasn't afraid of nothing. The way she talked back to her… it was like she didn't even know who Blade was," Mush praised.
"Ha, yeah…" Ellie laughed uncomfortably under the guise of a grateful smile. "It was… nothing," she managed, uneasy from the intent looks of anticipation she was receiving. "I just… ran," she said hesitantly, "really fast."
Blink looked at her skeptically. "There's gotta be more than that."
"No, that's about it--"
"She escaped on this huge, black police horse!" Alec said.
"Huge horsey?" asked Midget, her eyes widening into large green saucers.
"Huge horsey," Alec confirmed with an expert nod.
"All the way from Queens?"
"A police horse?"
"I really should get go--"
She was cut off by Jack when he suddenly straightened his stance. His gaze was intent, and he stretched his neck to the right as he listened for the familiar sound. There it was again, he heard the call loud and clear this time - the distant ringing of the circulation bell, a sound Ellie was not accustomed to paying attention to.
"Damn," Jack muttered. "It's time for the afternoon rounds, boys."
"And girls," Stress reminded.
"And girls," Jack added. He turned to Ellie. "You're finishing your story later, right?" It was not actually meant to be a question. He and Stress zigzagged their way through the empty chairs and out of Tibby's.
The boys tipped their hats as they stood from their seats and the sound of chairs scraping the floor filled the restaurant. Ellie confusedly looked around as the crowd began to dissipate out the door of the restaurant.
"The afternoon edition of the papers," Alec explained.
"Ah."
"Time to sell the papes!" Clue announced, grabbing Ellie's hand and dragging her to the door.
"Wait. Wait," Ellie said, stopping. She had her own unresolved agenda to get to and she had to get going now. No longer was she going to keep delaying her own troubles just because these kids were on their own. Besides, they were always alone; they knew how to take care of themselves. Right? Right. Just turn away. Say goodbye and walk out that door.
But then Alec and Clue tilted their heads way back and gazed at her with those expectant, wide eyes. They looked so vulnerable. And after a couple of seconds, she thought, well, maybe it could wait a little longer. And Ellie realized, quite uneasily, that within the span of several hours these two young children had her in the palm of their hand. How had she let that happen?
She sighed. "Where are we going?"