When Brenna awoke, her chest was pretty sore from sleeping in the bandages since her body wasn't used to her doing that to herself. But she was really excited for the rally to take place that evening. She just hoped Jack had done okay during the night.
He ended up returning to the Lodging House a short while after they had all gone through their morning routine.
"Jack!" she called, resisting the urge to throw her arms around him. "Are you okay? Where did ya go?"
"Whoa, calm down, Tricks. I'm fine. I went to da Jacobs' house. But it was pretty late so I just stayed on the da fire escape. Sarah was kind enough to give me breakfast this morning."
"I'm just glad you're okay."
"I told ya I would be. And uh…" He pulled her closer so that only she heard him. "Sorry I wasn't here to, ya know, help ya out."
"Jack, it's not your fault. I'm fine, really. What we need to worry about is getting ready for da rally!"
They spent all day getting the word out to the newsies all over New York. Jack insisted that David bring Sarah along to join in on the fun.
When the rally finally began, Irving Hall was packed with probably hundreds of newsies from all over the state.
Brenna sat down with Sarah at the table closest to the stage. Sarah looked so beautiful. She had really dressed up for the occasion. Brenna couldn't help but feel a little jealous that she got to look so pretty. Jack, David, and Spot hopped onto the stage and Jack waved his hands for a few seconds in order to get everyone to quiet down.
When they all finally shut up, he screamed, "Carryin' da banner!" The entire place filled with raucous cheers as they stood up from their seats. Brenna had never seen so much fire in the newsies. They definitely had what it took to win this strike.
"So, we've come a long way, but we ain't there yet and maybe it's only gonna get tougher from now on! But dat's fine, we'll just get tougher with it. But also—also, we gotta get smart and start listenin' to my pal David, who says stop soakin' the scabs!"
"What are we supposed to do to da bums?" Racetrack asked. "Kiss 'em?"
"Oh ho ho," Brenna fake laughed. "Hilarious, Race."
"Any scab I see, I soak 'em. Period," Spot said. The newsies cheered in agreement.
"No, no!" David yelled over their cheers. "That's what they want us to do! If we get violent, it's just playing into their hands!"
"Hey, look. They're gonna be playing with my hands, alright. 'Cause it ain't what they say, it's what we say. And nobody ain't gonna listen to us unless we make 'em!"
The newsies cheered once again agreeing with Spot.
"Ya got no brains!" Jack yelled over the commotion. "Why we startin' to fight each other? It's just what da big shot's wanna see. Dat we're street rats! Street rats with no brains. No respect for nothin', including ourselves! So, here's how it's gonna be. If we don't act together, then we're nothin'! If we don't stick together, then we're nothin'! And if we can't even trust each other, then we're nothin'!"
Brenna stared at him. Where had that come from? Jack was never known for speaking so…well, powerfully.
"Tell 'em Jack!" Blink yelled from his perch on one of the box seats.
"So, what's it gonna be?" Jack shouted.
The newsies in Irving Hall muttered their agreements with him.
"So, what about you, Spot?"
"I say dat what you say…is what I say."
The two boys spit shook while the rest of the newsies cheered for them, happy that Spot finally agreed to do the strike with them under their terms.
The curtain behind the boys parted revealing none other than Medda. All of the boys cheered and stood up. Brenna looked around and rolled her eyes. Men.
Medda smiled and began to sing an old favorite that all the newsies knew, and therefore they sang along with her.
High times, hard times
Sometimes the living is sweet
And sometimes there's nothing to eat
But I always land on my feet
So when there's dry times
I wait for high times and then
I put on my best
And I stick out my chest
And I'm off to the races again!
"Hello, newsies!" Medda said happily. "What's new?"
She continued to sing and dance with all the newsies. Brenna couldn't help but laugh at their silly movements.
During the chorus, Jack sang directly to Sarah. Then he quickly stood up and pulled Brenna up from her chair. He danced with her for a little bit then he brought her over to Medda where the three of them all started dancing together.
I put on my best!
(I put on my best!)
And I stick out my chest!
(And I stick out my chest!)
And I'm off
(And I'm off)
And I'm off
(And I'm off)
And I'm off
To the races again!
Medda got on a little swing and then jumped off on her final note. The newsies lifted her above the crowd as they cheered wildly for her. Medda gave Brenna a little kiss on the cheek when they set her back down, fully realizing that she probably was feeling a bit weird in this crowd of boys. Brenna smiled at her and hugged the woman.
She saw David come onstage and say something to Jack, but she had no idea what he said because he was drowned out by the cheering. She realized what was happening when she followed where he was pointing. After such a wonderful night, Snyder had decided to crash their party. Again.
"Medda, thanks! I gotta run," Jack said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Snyder blew a whistle and cops and Cribs flooded into the building from all different directions.
"Oh, I really hate dat man," Brenna groaned.
David and Jack grabbed Sarah and Les and hurried them over to the exit.
"Go! Go!" they urged.
Jack turned to Brenna. "Ya gotta get out of here!"
"Well I'm not leavin'!" she screamed. "Not after all of this!"
Jack didn't have time to argue so he, Brenna, and David hopped all over the place trying to escape from the cops. They ended up back onstage behind Medda's swing. Snyder followed them onstage and started approaching them menacingly.
David got on the swing. "Push me!" he ordered. Jack and Brenna gave him a huge push and his feet collided with Snyder's face. "Get out of here! Go!"
Brenna grabbed Jack's hand tightly and the two of them ran all over the stage only to be met with cops and Cribs at each turn. Jack turned and hopped onto one of the box seats and reached for Brenna's hand to pull her up. A couple of Cribs latched onto her feet, but she was through losing to them. With all the force she had in her, she loosened her foot just enough to kick the Cribs as hard as she could in the face. It gave Jack just enough time to pull Brenna up on the box seat with him. She grabbed his hand once more and ran out to the lobby.
"Blink!" she called as she ran up to the boy. He grabbed the both of them and they all ran outside. To Brenna's horror, cops sat on their horses providing no escape route. They turned to go back in and try to get out through the back. One of the cops grabbed Jack, but Blink tackled him. Brenna winced as the cop whacked him with his stick but knew that she could not stay. Grasping Jack's hand even tighter, they managed to get back into the lobby. The two of them fell backwards at the bottom of the stairs. One of the horses bucked up and almost landed on their legs. Brenna looked at Jack. "Run!" she urged. Reluctantly, he took off up the stairs.
Brenna got up and watched as Jack ran up the stairs…and got punched in the face by one of the Cribs.
"Jack!" she screamed. Suddenly, she felt an overwhelming pain on the back of her head. Black spots danced across her vision before she collapsed. Her last thoughts were of Jack.