Disclaimer: I still don't own the newsies. D:
The sun was just beginning set when a herd of newsies stormed into the lodging house. It was pouring rain and the newsboys were soaked to their socks.
"Dangit, Jack. Why did it hafta rain? I had only ten more papes left! Just ten!" Kid Blink ranted while plowing up the stairs next to Jack.
"No one's stopping you from selling," Jack replied with a smile. Blink rolled his eyes and then passed him on the stairs. When Jack entered the bunk room, many of the newsies who had extra clothes were changing into a dry set.
"Where's Racetrack?" Boots wandered over and asked. Jack was slipping on a fresh shirt.
"Probably still at the track. He left after lunch," Jack answered. Boots looked disappointed.
"Drat. And dis was da poifect time to teach me how to play poker." Boots pulled off his dripping wet hat and twisted it.
"Hey, even I can teach you dat," Jack pointed out before plopping down on his bunk with a dime paperback in his hand.
"But Racetrack's the best! I gotta learn from him to beat all you'se guys," Boots protested, taking the book out of Jack's hand.
"You're still reading dese ol' things?" Boots said, scrunching up his nose. Jack snatched it back.
"Only on rainy days," he replied, jutting out his chin. Boots laughed and then walked away while shaking his head.
The newsies continued their evening in a bored manner as the rain pounded the rooftop and the window pane was blurred with droplets. Occasionally, a roar of victory would arise from the circle of newsies playing poker, but other than that, the noise level was low. The dreary weather seemed to bring down everyone's spirits.
Just as Jack was turning another page of his book, the lodging door room burst open. Nearly half the newsies jumped at the sudden sound. In stormed a soaking David.
"Sarah's missing!" he cried, his breath ragged. Silence filled the room for a moment as the newsies looked questionably at David who was trying to catch his breath. Jack sat up in his bunk in alarm. He didn't notice Nathan slip into the room behind David.
"Missing? What do ya mean, Dave?" Jack asked, coming over the boy.
"She...She went out for a walk earlier this afternoon and hasn't returned..." he panted, leaning against the wall. Obviously, he had ran all the way.
"I tried looking for her, but I can't find her without getting lost myself," David added. He was trying to squeeze the water out of his shirt now. Jack turned around to his newsies.
"We gotta send out a search team. All over Manhattan. Maybe even Queens," Jack announced to the newsies.
"Jack- In da rain?" Snipeshooter asked, standing up from the poker circle.
Jack's eyes went wide with realization. "She's out der in da rain?"
David nodded. "Please, she needs your guys' help!" he asked, looking desperately at the newsies now.
Jack's pulse raced as the feeling of doom settled in his stomach. He reached for the doorknob, but someone caught his wrist. He looked up and was surprised to see blue-eyed Nathan standing there.
"I'm going with you," he said. Jack could see the concern in the boy's eyes too.
"No. You couldn't keep up," Jack spat and then flung open the door. So what if Nathan did really care for Sarah, Jack wasn't about to become 'search buddies' with him.
As Jack padded down the stairs, he heard Nathan following him over the loud voice of David organizing search teams.
"Nathan, look, we'll cover more ground if we split up," Jack tried to reason when he hit the streets.
"Fine," Nathan agreed. "I'll go down here and search south Manhattan."
Jack laughed. "Not wid your clothes. I'll take south, you take north." Nathan gave him a disgusted look and then started walking away.
"Don't get lost!" Jack cried after him with a chuckle. It would be a shame if he got lost in the process of finding someone else. And he might not have that big of a search party going for him.
Jack turned on a heel in the opposite direction. The rain still pounding down and the thunder still making its music, he set out for what he hoped to be a short hunt.
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Nathan drew his thin coat closer to his body as he marched down a narrow alley. He cupped his hand above his forehead in effort to stop the rain from preventing his vision. His eyes searched the alley. No one was here. Not even a homeless adult or starving child. Nathan reasoned that even they were smart enough to run for cover when the rain fell.
Nathan trudged down alleyway after alleyway, his eyes always hopeful for the sight of Sarah lying in one. His ears heard the distant sound of newsies shouting her name over and over again. As he plodded on, he began to lose track of time and feeling. His toes had grown numb because of the sopping wet socks and shoes that covered them. His teeth were chattering and he was sure his lips had turned blue. None the less, he pushed on, driven by a feeling in his gut. He didn't know what that feeling was, but he had told Jack Kelly it was love. He had told his father it was just interest. And he had told David it was a petty attraction. But what had he told his heart? No, what was his heart telling him?
His cold feet paused for a moment and he clenched his fists. "Sarah!" Nathan called, lifting his face to greet the rain. Only a rumble of thunder replied. He dropped his head and plowed forward.
The next time Nathan stopped in his searching, he pulled out his silver chain watch with a shaking hand. A whole hour had passed and Nathan could still hear the newsboys calling out for Sarah. His shoulders sagged in defeat. He couldn't look down another alleyway without collapsing or developing pneumonia.
So, it was with chattering teeth and feet that seemed no longer existent that Nathan left the alley maze and turned onto a main road. He walked slowly in the direction that he hoped the Jacob's place belonged.
He hadn't found Sarah and that was that. He didn't have the lungs of a newsboy to call out something for hours or even the street endurance to walk for hours. He wasn't like that. He was Nathan, son of a wealthy businessman. Let Jack Kelly or some other newsboy find Sarah. At least he had a big warm house and delicious meal waiting for him at home.
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It was Mrs. Jacobs who opened the door to his long and slow knock. She gasped at the sight of him, but Nathan didn't hear her as he staggered into the warm room.
"You didn't find her?" she asked when he plopped down at the kitchen table. He shook his head and began peeling off his shoes and socks. Mrs. Jacobs sighed with obvious disappointment.
"Here, come sit by the stove," she said, gesturing towards the center of the room where a stove stood. He gratefully transferred to sitting by the object of heat, sticking his feet out in front of him while squeezing water out of his shirt.
"I looked all over north Manhattan, Mrs. Jacobs. I couldn't find her anywhere," Nathan said. He felt as if he had to defend himself or give a reason of why he hadn't returned with Sarah. He heard Mrs. Jacobs putting away dinner dishes that had never been used.
"Thank you for helping, Nathan. That was generous of you to brave the rain for Sarah," she replied quietly. Nathan grimaced. Generous?
"I just hope one of those newsies find her. Heaven knows where that girl is," Mrs. Jacobs rambled on. "David told her it would rain, but she didn't listen. She hasn't been doing a lot of that lately. Listening. And I know it has something to do with Jack. I'm not stupid. He doesn't come over anymore like he used to."
Nathan turned around to look at her as she spoke. "He used to come over a lot?"
Mrs. Jacobs, having put away all the dishes, came over by the fire and sat down in an old rocking chair.
"Yes. All the time. It all started during the strike. Since then, David and Jack have become good friends and I know Sarah really likes him...but now I'm not so sure," she said, pushing the chair back and forth with her feet while staring into the fire. Nathan leaned back on his hands. Mrs. Jacobs then turned and smiled at Nathan. "Its so hard to keep up with my teenagers these days."
Nathan was looking down at his toes. So, there was a lot going on before he came to visit the Jacobs that night. A whole lot more. He didn't know Jack and David were friends...and how deep did Jack and Sarah's relationship really go? 'Well, it isn't my fault I didn't know all this. Heck, Sarah didn't say anything about Jack whenever we talked,' Nathan thought to himself stubbornly. It wasn't his fault everything was turning out the way it was. Jack didn't have to blow up the way he did and David didn't have to take everything so seriously.
Eventually David, Les, and a couple other soaked newsies arrived at the apartment. Mrs. Jacobs was again disappointed but didn't lose hope, for David said that Jack and a few other newsies were still looking. Nathan decided to wait. He wanted to see that Sarah was found and safe. The newsies, however, returned to the lodging house, stating that they had to get up and sell papers in the morning. Mrs. Jacobs and David saw them to the door with a big thank you.
"Well. If Jack doesn't find her...I don't know what'll happen," David said with a sigh and plopped down on the bed. Mrs. Jacobs didn't say anything but continued with her furious knitting.
But Nathan looked up, surprised, when Les suddenly said with conviction, "Cowboy will find her."
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The sun had set a long time ago. The rain had lightened up a bit, but it was still coming down. Jack began to wonder if it would ever stop. He ran a hand through his long and dripping hair and leaned against an alley wall. Jack had been searching for hours without finding so much as a clue as to where Sarah was. No longer did he hear the faint calls of his friends. Had they given up or did someone already find her?
Jack's head hit the brick wall with exhaustion. The small raindrops cooled his face when he tilted his head upward and closed his eyes. As he stood there, he began to listen to the sound of the rain. The gentle noise it created as it hit the rooftops and cobblestone calmed Jack's frantic thoughts. Instead of imagining Sarah beaten up in some lonely alley, his thoughts began to drift back to the memories of the times Jack had spent on the rooftop with Sarah. It wasn't long ago that he had been conversing with Sarah about everything from the simple (or rather complex) ideas of life to the entertaining Greek myths.
Jack slid down the wall and sat on the ground, putting his head in his hands. Now that he thought about it, it really was his fault. Everything. It was his fault he couldn't hold Sarah in his arms anymore. It was his fault that he couldn't talk with David like old friends anymore. It was his fault that Les, who had looked up to him as a hero, would cower in David's shadow whenever he was around. Oh how fast his world had crumbled the night a little jealously had sparked a big temper.
He looked up as he heard someone begin to cry softly. Jack stood, looking around the alley warily. 'Bonehead. Sitting in an alley at night. Yet another stupid move,' he scolded himself. Jack sank deeper into the shadows and waited for whoever else was in the alley to pass. But the sound of weeping continued with the rain and no one made an appearance.
Jack, dismissing all thoughts of vicious street thugs, emerged from the shadows to locate the sound of bitter crying.
As he peaked silently around a corner, Jack was shocked to see Sarah huddled against the wall, her pale arms clasped around her knees. The moonlight revealed not only rain, but tears streaming down her face.
"Sarah..." Jack exclaimed in a half whisper. He ran to her side and knelt down next to her, causing her to jump. When she turned to look at him, a weak expression of relief lit her face and she flung her arms around his neck. A thousand different thoughts flew through his mind, but only one reached his tongue.
"I'm sorry," he murmured in her ear. She pulled back slightly to search his eyes. A smile slowly spread across her lips. She lifted a hand to push away the bangs from his eyes. Jack caught her hand and kissed it lightly while looking up at her face.
"Please forgive me," he begged. Sarah's hand dropped and she looked down.
"No, Jack. Forgive me... I was being stupid taking things so seriously," she said quietly.
"Well, I'll forgive you if you forgive me," he said with a smile. She looked up, grinning.
"Deal."
He laughed and then looked to her ankle. "Are you okay?"
"No, I think I twisted it or something. But it's hard to stand."
Jack nodded with a furrowed brow and then offered her his arm. "Come on, let's get you home."
A/N: Awful ending. Bite me D: I didn't like it either. And sorry this one is kind of short!
Sorry it took so long to update. I've just been busy writing and plotting for some other stories; got distacted.
Thanks for the reviews!