Spot picked himself up off the ground and ran to Chase's side. Chase spit on the ground to get the taste of Oscar Delancey out of her mouth.
"Spot?" her eyes weren't focusing.
"Yeah, it's me." he said grabbing her hand. She felt too warm.
"I don't think I'll be able to make it back to Brooklyn."
Spot gave a brittle laugh.
"That's ok," he said. "You'll be fine. I don't think Kloppman will mind if you stay at the Manhattan lodging house tonight."
Chase smiled weakly at him.
David let Mark Gallagher take Story, he still had to go find Jack and he knew Medda and Mark would make sure Story got the attention she needed.
Mark saw another girl, lying on the ground outside the theatre. Two boys were kneeling by her.
"What happened to her?"
Spot jumped in front of Chase defensively. But the man asked them for help, Story was hurt too, and he wanted to help Chase. Spot stayed by Chase's side with the man, who was Medda's husband, apparently, and a famous baseball player.
Mush went to pick up Story and help Mark carry her to his house when he was stopped by a police officer, who was rounding up the rest of the newsies and taking them to jail.
Spot was about to go help him when another officer grabbed him and dragged him away.
"Chase! Chase, you're gonna be ok!" he called out as he fought the officer until he was shoved into a black carriage.
David ran outside, following the crowd when Jack was taken by the police. He saw Mark sitting on the ground next to Story and another girl; he couldn't tell if she was Spark or Chase.
"Will you help me get them inside?" Mark asked.
Without answering, David picked up Story. A dark bruise covered the whole right side of her face and she was still bleeding.
Chase went unconscious from the pain as Mark carried her to the door of his and Medda's house. Her leg was broken badly and she had a high fever. They needed the doctors now.
Story went in and out of consciousness through the night. Almost every time she woke up, she vomited. And she couldn't keep her head up for long. She would get dizzy and then pass out again. Later she would vaguely remember someone by her bedside holding her hand…
About 30 boys had been arrested at the rally. And they were all crammed into a small jail cell. None of them were able to get any sleep. Jack was put someplace else. The bulls were probably afraid he would try to make a plan and escape like he did at The Refuge.
Mush sat in the corner of the cell. Spot sat by him too. But he never said a word. A couple times, Mush thought he heard Spot cry. He couldn't tell though, Spot had his face in his hands. And when Mush did hear Spot's muffled sobs, he couldn't help but cry too. But he didn't try to hide it.
A few hours later an officer came to get the newsies and take them to the trial.
Spot snapped back to his usual, intimidating self at the trial. He didn't want the bulls to see that he was beaten. That didn't stop him from worrying about Chase though. It appeared that neither the judge or the bulls cared if any of them were in bad condition. They just wanted to send all the newsies to The Refuge to get the trial to move along.
"Are any of you boys represented by council? No? Good, that will move things along considerably." Judge Monahan said, echoing Spot's thoughts.
"Hey, your honor, I object!" He glared at him.
"On what grounds?"
"Oh the grounds of Brooklyn, your honor." Spot smiled for real that time.
"I fine each of you 5 dollars, or 2 weeks confinement in the House of Refuge." said Judge Monahan.
Mush and Spot joined in with the other newsies' laughter, but they shared a nervous look. None of them could pay for that.
"Alright. Move along move along."
Denton, Les, and David came into the room.
"Your honor, I'll pay the fines. All of them." said Denton.
"Hey, you fellas alright?" David asked. "Where's Jack?"
"Look, we've got to meet at the restaurant. Everybody. We have to talk." Denton told them.
"We'll meet the guys there," said Mush. "We should—we should probably check on the girls."
"I gotta see Chase." Spot's voice wavered a bit. "I d- I don't think she's doin' too well."
Denton helped Spot and Mush get to Medda's house. They rode in the carriage. Spot couldn't ever remember riding in a carriage this nice before. But he was too anxious to take it all in.
Spot and Mush went to the door and talked to Mark, but that was as far as they would dare to go. Spot was worried his generally calm exterior would crack permanently. He hadn't cried this much in forever. Plus, Chase wasn't conscious. That would make him feel worse.
"H-how are they doin'?" Spot asked shakily.
"They're doing fine." Mark said. "right now they just need some rest."
Mush and Spot got back into the carriage with Denton and they headed to the restaurant.
"Thanks for bailing us out." Mush said when they got inside. But then after that both he and Spot were too preoccupied to comprehend anything that was going on.
A million thoughts were going through David's mind. He didn't know what to think about anyone. Betrayal. That's what he felt. He felt betrayed by Jack because he lied to him about his past. He felt betrayed by Denton because he didn't get the story in print. Most of all, he felt betrayed by the press. It was a stupid thing to feel, but he felt it. The power of the press was supposed to give him a voice. It said that in the Constitution of the United States. It was his right. All of the newsies' rights. And it was unjustly taken away.
David couldn't dwell on that now. There was only one answer he could get at the moment and he was going to get it however he could.
"Why didn't "The Sun" print the story?" He asked Denton.
"Because it never happened." Denton said.
Racetrack and Kid Blink spoke up next.
"What do you mean it never happened? You where there!"
"You wrote it!"
"It's not in the papers, it never happened. The owners decreed it not be in the papers, therefore I came to tell you fellas goodbye." Denton couldn't look any of them in the eye.
"What happened? Did you get fired or something?" David asked, concerned.
"No, I got reassigned back to my old job as "The Sun"'s ace war correspondent." Denton said with a smile plastered on his face. "They want me to leave right away. The owner thinks I should only cover the really important stories. Wish me luck fellas. At least half of what I wish for you."
That wasn't a good enough answer for David. He was angry.
Denton turned to him. "They don't always fire you. I would be blackballed from every paper in the country. I'm a newspaper man. I have to have a paper to write for." His voice softened and he looked almost sad. "This is the story I wrote about the rally. I want you to read it at least."
David crumpled up the paper as soon as he saw Denton leave. Still feeling betrayed. He knew who his real friends were.
"We get Jack out of the Refuge tonight. From now on, we trust no one but the newsies." And he led the boys outside to come up with a plan.