Jack climbed down and stood in front of the cheering boys. Brenna had never felt so elated in her entire life. The adrenaline was coursing through her like it never had before and it was a great feeling.
"We gotta get word out to all da newsies of New York! I need some of those….what'dja call 'em?"
"Ambassadors?" David offered.
Jack began dividing up the boys, sending them to different places in New York to rally up all the other newsies all over the state.
"Say, Jack, I'll take Harlem!" Blink said.
"Yeah, I got Midtown!" Racetrack added.
"I got da Battery, Jack!" Mush sent out.
"Hey, I'll take da Bronx!" Crutchy put in.
The four boys left to go to their respective places.
"Alright," Jack said. "And Bumlets and Specs and Skittery, you take Queens! Pie Eater, Snoddy, East Side! Snipeshooter, you go with 'em! So, what about Brooklyn? Who wants Brooklyn?"
The boys immediately silenced at the sound of the place Manhattan newsies rarely ever set foot.
"Come on, Spot Conlon's territory!" Still nothing. "What'sa matta? Ya scared of Brooklyn?"
"Hey, we ain't scared of Brooklyn!" Boots shot. "Spot Conlon makes us a little nervous…"
"Oh, please," Brenna said. "Spot's just like any of us. He's just hidin' his real self underneath all dat male bravado. It's people like me who can talk him down." She imitated a hair flip, joking with them that because she was a girl, she knew how to talk to guys like him. They all laughed at her little joke. Except for David, who believed that she was just a boy pretending to be effeminate or something.
"Why can't you guys be more like Tricks?" Jack said to the boys.
"Leader's pet," Boots coughed.
"No one asked you," Brenna coughed back.
Jack laughed. "You and me, we'll go to Brooklyn. Boots, come with us. And Dave here can keep us company!"
"Sure," David said with a coy smile. "Just as soon as you deliver our demands to Pulitzer."
Jack paused. "Me? To Pulitzer?"
"You're the leader, Jack."
"He's right," Brenna said. "And da leader speaks to da guy in charge. Go on ahead."
Jack grabbed Les and took him with him. "Well, maybe da kid'll soften him up," he muttered.
All of the newsies cheered as the doors closed behind the two boys. They all dispersed as they waited for Jack to come back out.
"Hey, what is the strike?" a younger man said as he lightly grabbed David's arm. Brenna stood next to him. "What's going on?"
"We're bringing our demands to Pulitzer," David said kind of shyly. Brenna couldn't help but smile. If he was ever going to be a real newsie and now a strike leader, he had to get over that whole shyness thing.
"What demands?" the man asked.
"The newsies demands. We're on strike."
"I'm with the New York Sun. Bryan Denton. You seem like the kid in charge. What's your name?"
"David."
"David. David as in David and Goliath?"
David laughed at the reference to the old Bible story. "Yeah, and this here's Trickster."
"Where'd you get that name?"
Brenna smiled. "Where do ya think?" she answered with a gleam in her eye. I can guarantee it's not what you're thinking, she thought.
Denton smiled warmly at her and once more put his focus on David. "You really think old man Pulitzer's going to listen to your demands?"
"He has to!"
No sooner had those words left his lips when Jack and Les were roughly thrown through the doors to the building.
"Well, so's your old lady!" Jack screamed to the man who had thrown them out. "You tell Pulitzer he needs an appointment with me!"
"Yeah!" Les added as the door slammed.
The two of them walked over to the small group. "I take it it didn't go well…" Brenna said. She couldn't hide the small smile etched on her face at Jack's angry words to the man in the building.
Denton offered to take the group of them out to lunch at Tibby's in order to learn more about this strike and they gladly accepted. Any chance to get a real meal.
As they sat down to eat, Jack began explaining just what had happened when he went to go confront Pulitzer. As Jack spoke, Denton eagerly wrote down everything he said.
"So this real snooty mug says to me, 'Ya can't see Mr. Pulitzer. No one sees Mr. Pulitzer.'"
Brenna couldn't help but laugh. There was that infamous Jack Kelly mockery!
"Real hoity-toity, you know da type?" he continued.
"Real hoity-toity," Les echoed.
"So dat's when I says to him, 'Listen, I ain't in da habit of transactin' no business with office boys. Just tell him Jack Kelly's here to see him now!'"
"That's when he threw us out."
It was David's turn to laugh at his story.
"Does he scare you?" Denton asked. "You're going up against the most powerful man in New York City."
"Oh yeah, look at me. I'm tremblin'," Jack answered sarcastically.
"Alright, keep me informed. I want to know everything that's going on." He handed David a business card with his information on it.
"Are we really an important story?" David asked.
"Well, what's important? Last year I covered the war in Cuba. Charged up San Juan Hill with Colonel Teddy Roosevelt. That was an important story. So, is the newsies strike important? That all depends on you."
Brenna looked at him. "Dat was really deep," she remarked.
He smiled at her. "I'm a newspaper writer. I get paid to be deep."
"So my name's really gonna be in da papers?" Jack asked.
"Any objections?"
"Not as long as ya get it right. It's Kelly. Jack Kelly. Oh, and Denton? No pictures."
"Sure."
"Why no pictures?" Brenna asked.
"Can't have Snyder findin' me."
"Oh, yeah, I didn't think about dat. At least he hasn't given us any trouble since dat day at da ring."
"Yeah, but I know him, and he won't stop 'til I'm back in da Refuge. Well, I'll die before I go back there willingly."
The group found Boots and they all began to head across the bridge over to Brooklyn.
"I've never been to Brooklyn, have you?" David asked.
"I spent a month there one night," Boots answered. His response confused Brenna at first, but then she realized that for a Manhattan newsie staying in Brooklyn, just one night could feel like an entire month.
"Hey, check this out," Brenna said to David. She, Boots, and Jack all leaned over the side of the bridge and screamed down to the water below at the top of their lungs. They burst out laughing as they stood back up.
"So, is this Spot Conlon really dangerous?" David asked, the concern evident in his voice.
"Depends how ya look at it," Brenna answered.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll see."
A lot of Brooklyn newsies had decided to take a dip in the water which meant they were in just their underclothes. Brenna prayed the blush wasn't clear on her face. It was one thing to see the boys in the Lodging House in their underclothes. She had been seeing them that way for over two years and had gotten used to it. Seeing boys she didn't know that way made her a little nervous.
"Goin' somewhere, Kelly?" a dripping wet newsie demanded as he stepped in front of them. He eyed Brenna suspiciously, and it took all of her willpower to keep a straight face. Jack just pushed past him and continued on his way.
"Well, if it ain't Jack be nimble, Jack be quick," a voice said from above them.
"I see ya moved up in da world, Spot," Jack said, going over to him. "Got a river view and everythin'."
Spot climbed down from his perch. He and Jack spit in their hands and then shook them.
"Heya Boots!" Spot said. "How's it rollin'?"
"I got a couple of real good shooters here!" Boots handed the boy a couple of his marbles.
"Nice to see ya again, Trickster."
"Wish I could say da same, Spot."
There were very few people who could talk to Spot that way. Brenna was one of them and to be honest, she didn't exactly know why he didn't soak her.
"Aw, now don't be like dat!"
"What can I say? I'm not one to kiss anyone's feet like so many other of da boys do."
Spot smiled at her and loaded his slingshot with his new marbles. "So, Jacky-boy. I've been hearin' things from little boids." He pulled back his slingshot and Brenna giggled when she saw David flinch. "Things from Harlem, Queens, all over. They been chirpin' in my ear. Jacky-boy's newsies is playin' like they're going on strike."
"Yeah, well we are," Jack said.
"Well, we're not playing. We are going on strike," David said.
"Oh yeah? Yeah? What is this, Jacky-boy? Some kind of walkin' mouth?"
"Now, now, Spot. There's no need to be rude to da newb," Brenna said.
"He's right, though," Jack said. "It's a mouth. A mouth with a brain, and if you got half'a one, you'll listen to what he's got to say."
Spot took a seat on a crate and gave his full attention to David.
David looked at Spot nervously and Brenna could tell he was having trouble making words. She clapped a hand onto his shoulder for comfort.
"Well, we started the strike, but we can't do it alone," he finally said. "So, we're talking to newsies all around the city."
"Yeah, so they told me," Spot said. "But what'd they tell you?"
"They're waiting to see what Spot Conlon is doing. See, you're the key. That Spot Conlon is the most respected and famous newsie in all of New York, and probably everywhere else." Wow, he was really sugar-coating it. Brenna had to admit that once he got going, David really had a way with words and he knew how to hit the boys' sweet spots. "And if Spot Conlon joins the strike, then they join and we'll be unstoppable. So you gotta join, because…well, you gotta!"
Spot smirked at him. "You're right Jacky-boy, brains. But I got brains too, and more than just half'a one. How do I know you punks won't run da first time some goon comes at ya with a club? How do I know ya got what it takes to win?"
"Because I'm telling ya, Spot," Jack said firmly.
"Dat ain't good enough, Jacky-boy. Ya gotta show me."
Brenna puffed a breath of air through her cheeks as they all headed back over to Manhattan.
"How are we gonna do this without him?" David said dejectedly.
"Well, he didn't exactly say no," Brenna told him. "He said we gotta show him. So dat's just what we're gonna do. We're gonna show him dat us newsies ain't gonna back down easily."
They made it back to the Horace Greeley statue where the rest of the newsies were waiting to hear what Spot had told them.
"So, where's Spot?" Racetrack asked as they approached the boys.
"He was concerned about us being serious," Jack answered. "You imagine dat?"
"Well, Jack, maybe we ought to ease off a little."
"Without Spot and da others, there ain't enough of us, Jack," Blink added.
"Maybe we're movin' too soon. Maybe we ain't ready, ya know?" Mush said.
Brenna couldn't believe what she was hearing. And after what she had just told David too.
"I definitely think we should forget about it for a little while," Skittery said.
"Oh, do ya?" Jack asked angrily.
"Yeah, I mean, without Brooklyn…ya know…" Racetrack muttered.
"Hey, who are we kiddin' here?" Jack yelled. "Spot was right, is this just a game to you guys?"
"Spot said dat we had to show him dat we can do this strike," Brenna told them. "Is this your idea of showin' him what we're really made of? Backin' down because 'there ain't enough of us'? You guys gotta pull yourselves together!"
The boys looked at her guiltily. Jack gave her a small nudge to show that he was proud of her for talking to those boys in a way he couldn't.
After a small pause, she heard David begin to sing:
Open the gates and seize the day
Don't be afraid and don't delay
Nothing can break us
No one can make us
Give our rights away
Arise and seize the day!
The newsies gathered in front of the statue and began singing and dancing together. Brenna smiled. David was getting them fired up for the strike once more. It was just what they needed to convince Spot that they really meant what they said about going on strike.
Now is the time to seize the day
(Now is the time to seize the day!)
Send out the call and join the fray
(Send out the call and join the fray!)
Wrongs will be righted if we're united
Let us seize the day!
Friends of the friendless seize the day
(Friends of the friendless seize the day!)
Raise up the torch and light the way
(Raise up the torch and light the way!)
Proud and defiant
We'll slay the giant
Let us seize the day
All of the newsies continued to sing and dance and Brenna noticed Denton walk by and stop to watch them. At one point during the song, Jack grabbed Brenna and started doing a little dance with her. She couldn't help but laugh as they danced together, doing some admittedly ridiculous moves. Boys started doing all kinds of flips, twists, and turns, and when the song was over, Brenna knew that they were really ready to go on the strike.