"This is a lot of kids." I murmured under my breath, staring through wide eyes at all the boys that had somehow crowded into Queens lodging house after work today. Spot and Jack stood to my left, while Sage stood on my right.
"Always one to point out the obvious," Spot ducked as I attempted to smack him with my hat. "But it is a lot of kids."
Sage had gone as pale as a ghost. She stared out at the crowd, eyes wide. "I'm not so sure I want to do this."
Sage had decided earlier that she was going to tell everyone she was a girl. She had told me that if they weren't going to respect her as a girl, they didn't deserve her respect as a boy. The only people who knew now were Jack, Spot, and I.
"It's okay to be nervous. You're risking everything you built up to. But hey, you're always welcome in Manhattan." Jack spoke up.
Sage went a shade whiter and I leaned out past Spot. "Thanks, Jack," I gave him a sarcastic look before turning to Sage. "You'll be fine. It will go great, and none of us will judge you if you back out."
"How did you do it?" Sage asked lowly. "How do you stand there so comfortable?"
My hat was off and my long hair hung down my back. "I grew up with Manhattan and Queens knowing I was a girl. Brooklyn found out at the strike, and your brother was the most shocked out of anyone."
"Spot didn't know?" Sage looked over at her brother. Spot shook his head. Sage smirked. "Even with all your birdies?"
I started laughing at Sage's comment.
"I swear the two of you were the devil's pair waiting to happen." Spot muttered.
"Just you wait, what if James shows up!" Sage laughed.
"Who's James?" I questioned, giving the two siblings a curious look.
Sage shrugged. "Our little brother. He was only two when I ran away. Three when Spot did," She snapped her suspenders. "Kind of spoiled rotten by our mother and father."
"Sorry for not mentioning it to you until now. I never really got on well with him." Spot murmured, so low that I was the only one to hear him.
I smiled. "No problem. Any more siblings I should know about?"
Spot pretended to count on his fingers. "No. Just Sage and James."
"Should probably get this going." Jack stated, staring out at the group.
I stuck two fingers in my mouth and whistled. Hard.
The boys all froze. A young boy from Brooklyn called Cobra shouted. "Think you just blew my eardrums Crown."
"Least you're not standing next to her!" Spot replied, looking at the young boy. Another kid from Brooklyn, Lucky, hit Cobra over the head.
Spot gave me a small nudge forwards. I took a step forwards.
"Stand up sis!" Race shouted from his place at the back of the crowd.
"Shut up!" I yelled back but stepped onto a chair and onto the table mostly used for betting. "All better?"
Race grinned and gave me thumbs up from the back of the crowd. I gave him a silent thank you for loosening up the crowd.
"Hello, newsies of New York!" There were a couple of shouts from younger boys, which were quickly silenced by older ones. "Welcome to Queens."
"So lately we have been in a turf war. You boys have risked your life's over a couple of bad deals and that's not fair. But Thorn has got a couple of bad kids on his side, and is still in Manhattan, keeping a bunch of you from your home. We are open to ideas as to how to get them to leave. While you demise plans, there is something else to deal with," I gestured to Sage. "If you please."
Sage paused for a second, before making eye contact with me, and with a slight nod, she stepped on the chair and onto the table.
"I've been keeping a secret from The Bronx and if you are to come with me instead of Thorn, you deserve to that your leader is in fact female." Sage blurted out, tugging her hat off and exposing her brown curls.
All was silent for a moment as Sage stood, the boys taking it in and processing. She looked over at me and I smiled, giving her a wink.
A shout broke through the crowd. "HA! I TOLD YOU EMBER! YOU OWE ME!"
It was a boy I didn't know from The Bronx. At his shout, the boys all broke into excited chatter.
"Good job keeping it a secret." I mouthed. Sage stuck her tongue out, evidently glad that nothing awful had happened.
"How could a girl lead us?" A voice shouted.
Sage froze, not expecting to be questioned. Luckily, boys from the other turfs cut in.
"Queens has been doing fine for the past three years!"
"What's wrong with a girl?"
"Why couldn't a girl lead us? She has for the past while!"
"If you have an issue with it, go back to Thorn."
I smirked at Sage. "That went well." The colour was slowly coming back to her face.
"Why don't we just kick Thorn out of Manhattan? It can't be that hard." Albert shouted. A bunch of shouts rang out in agreement.
"No! No! No!" I shouted over the crowd. "We cannot go around beating up kids. We all stand together," I sighed. "Look. This turf isn't much. But it's all we got. If we let people take it, we have nothing. Now, we need to let them know what we think. But we can't hurt them, unless they don't want to then, Albert, you are free to beat up as many as you want."
Albert grinned at me from his spot next to my brother.
I hopped off the table as there was more excited chatter. Jack came up to me and leaned over. "We best go now, before it gets dark."
I nodded and gestured to Sage to follow Spot, Jack, and I. She slid off the table and followed us through the crowds, many boys patting her on the back and sending encouraging messages. I quickly tugged my hat back on
We got outside and started walking, Jack and Spot walking in front of us.
"See, I told you it wouldn't be bad." I told Sage, as we headed toward Manhattan.
"You were right. I'm surprised nothing bad really happened."
"You know, you probably weren't the only girl in hiding. There are probably two or three more in each turf, hiding their gender, and you probably just inspired them to tell the newsies that they are girls. I bet by the new year, a few newsies are going to become girlsies." I said to Sage.
We got into Manhattan as the sun was falling beneath the horizon, and all was quiet as we walked up to the Manhattan lodging house. A couple of boys were lounging in the evening sun on the steps like cats. They perked up however when we approached.
"What do you scum want?" One asked.
Spot stepped forwards, a scowl on his face, about to bad mouth him, but I stepped forward and placed a hand on his chest, pushing him back, giving him a quick look. He nodded, knowing that his quick temper was not needed, and stepped back to Sage, who muttered something to him.
"We want to speak with Thorn." I stated.
The boy who kind of looked like a polecat tilted his head and said "No."
"Thorn knows he's outnumbered. Bring him down here." I said.
"Why should we listen to you?" The other spoke.
I rolled my eyes. "You know what, never mind."
Jack opened his mouth to protest but promptly shut it as I slipped past the boys and into the Manhattan lodging house.
"Crown! Where are you going?" Spot shouted.
"I'll be back in a moment." I replied.
I walked into the lodging house and past the several Bronx boys that were lounging around, they all stopped and stared at me as I ran up the stairs and into the bedroom, where Thorn was talking to a couple of other boys.
"What do you want?" He spat.
"You're coming with me." I grabbed his arms and twisted them behind his back, pushing him out of the room.
"Let go of me!" He shouted, twisting and pulling.
I ignored him and marched him down the stairs, through the room of boys, who stared slack-jawed at me. I pushed out the door into the setting sun and let go of him and shoved him down the stairs.
His two outdoor boys, Spot, Sage, and Jack stared at me.
"Wasn't too hard," I shrugged. "Really shouldn't have been able to do that Thorn."
Spot smirked slightly as I came down to stand next to him.
"Look. We just want to talk." I stated.
Thorn scowled at me. "Why should I talk to you?"
"Because you have no choice." Sage stated.
"What would it take you to leave everyone in peace and go away?" I asked.
"More than you could ever offer." Thorn replied.
I sighed. "You have one chance to get out of this peacefully. Otherwise, all those boys in there are going to be fighting within the next week. So what will it take?"
