Disclaimer: This is a non-commercial work of fanfiction. Anything recognizable from Newsies belongs to Disney and not to me.


Chapter 78: Always Up For An Adventure

Davey had been working on writing a script for his reading group's performance of The Jungle Book for the past several weeks, and it had proved to be a more time-consuming undertaking than he'd expected. At first, he'd simply thought that they'd take a chapter and break it into sections, each newsie taking a turn at reading his part. That idea had necessitated immediate revision when he'd remembered that not all of the boys were comfortable reading - they knew enough to get by in their profession, of course, but there was a reason why he was reading to them at lunchtime, after all.

His second approach had been to simplify the story so that it would be easier to memorize, then to assign parts to each of the boys with himself acting as narrator so that he was handling the longer passages. He'd solicited the boys' opinions as to what part of The Jungle Book they wanted to present to the lodging house, and they'd all agreed on the story of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, which suited Davey just fine - it functioned well as a stand-alone tale, it was short and easy to follow, and snakes featured prominently in the installment, which was always a plus in his book. More importantly, it was the story of a young and unimposing hero triumphing over a much larger foe, which seemed to be a fitting theme for the newsies.

He'd written up a rough draft of a script and had shown it to the boys over lunch during their usual weekly meeting in Newsie Square. They'd been enthusiastic to get started, and at first, things had gone smoothly - the simplified version of the story had proven easy enough for the boys to memorize, and after a few days, they could rattle off the entire tale from start to finish as they sat eating their lunches. At that point, Davey had figured that they were in good shape.

But then he'd realized that something was missing. And as he'd observed the newsies, sitting in their little circle, he realized suddenly what it was: the kinetic element. It seemed unnatural to have such energetic, expressive boys - who were used to tussling and gesturing on a near-constant basis - tamely sitting on the floor or standing in a line when they could be moving instead.

And that was when Davey had hesitantly brought up the idea of adapting their project yet again to incorporate some acting. His suggestion had been met with enthusiasm, and even though this change meant that their performance would no longer be a dramatic reading in the strictest sense and would be more like a skit, the boys had been happy to make the adjustment, and they had immediately begun working together to figure out how they were going to act out the story as they read. Leaving the dramatics in their capable hands, Davey promised to focus on adapting the script so that it would flow better with the additional element of acting involved, and when it had been time to part ways for the day to go back to selling, each of them had left feeling satisfied and eager to fine-tune their project for the upcoming lodging house shindig which was quickly approaching.

Davey had been compelled to briefly put his revisions aside to focus on preparing for the etiquette lesson with Jack, but now that he'd completed that task and was finally alone on the rooftop, he could give the reading his full attention. He'd already worked out an augmented version of the script, incorporating some simple stage directions in alongside the dialogue, but he wasn't sure if the finished product would sound the way it read, so he wanted to try it out first so that he'd have time to make any adjustments necessary before presenting the revisions to the boys.

Of course, the fact that the boys weren't here meant that he would have to read all of the parts aloud himself. He felt a little foolish doing so, but there was no one watching, so he figured there was nothing to lose.

Flipping to the first page of the script and trying his best to get into character, Davey began reading. The words - which he'd looked over several times in the past few days - rolled off of his tongue, and he found himself settling into the cadence of the narrative fairly easily, only stopping every once in a while to scribble down some notes or to change a few words before eagerly returning to his oration. He thought that it would have felt forced and unnatural, but surprisingly it wasn't, and his self-consciousness fell away as he lost himself in the story, making his way back and forth across the rooftop and regaling an invisible audience with the tale of a brave young mongoose who would stop at nothing to protect his family from a cobra's vengeful plot.

Finally, he came to the part of the narrative where Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was facing off against Nagaina, his last remaining foe. It was the climax of the plot and one of the most intense exchanges in the story, and Davey unknowingly raised his voice and his hands as he uttered the protagonist's defiant words of challenge.

"Yes, you will go away, and you will never come back, for you will go to the rubbish heap with Nag. Fight, widow! The big man has gone for his gun! Fight!"*

No sooner had the words left his mouth when he heard a noise behind him, and he quickly turned around to see Sadie standing at the top of the stairs, staring at him with a rather shocked expression on her face.

Davey dropped his hands, feeling his ears burning as he did so.

"Sorry!" he exclaimed. "I didn't hear you come up. I thought I was the only one - I mean, I was just - I was practicing for something. For something I'm doing with the newsboys." He held up his sheaf of papers, realizing belatedly that the gesture actually did very little to explain things. "It's a script," he elaborated. "We're performing an excerpt from The Jungle Book at a lodging house gathering coming up. It's a story that takes place in India, with animals as the main characters, though they act and talk like humans, which is why I was talking just now - as one of the animals - er, characters, I mean."

The landlord's daughter gave him a wary look. "So...you're not actually planning to fight any widows?" she asked slowly. "With guns? Or anything else?"

"No!" Davey could feel himself blushing harder as he continued to ramble in a futile attempt to explain himself. "No, I'd never do that! It's part of the story - there's this mongoose, and he's fighting a cobra who's trying to threaten his family. He calls her a widow because her mate is already dead, which is what started the whole problem in the first place, because the snakes want to rule the garden, but they can't as long as people are still living there, so they decide to kill off the humans, but the mongoose intervenes and kills one of the snakes first. But then, that snake's mate decides to to get revenge by going after the family who adopted the mongoose, so there's this big showdown where the snake is within striking distance and she's hissing and poised to bite with her hood up - that's what cobras do when they're angry or scared - but the mongoose gets there just in time, and that's when he starts egging her on to fight - literally egging her on, actually, with one of her own eggs, because it's the only one left, and...well, I...I guess that's the gist of it." He stopped himself abruptly.

"Sorry." He gave the landlord's daughter an embarrassed look. "You didn't need to know all that. I just wanted to give you some context so that you knew I wasn't losing my mind." He forced a smile, then gestured to the empty basket at her hip. "You look like you're up here to get some laundry."

Sadie nodded, still apparently at a loss for words.

"Could you use some help?" Davey asked. There was nothing he could do to make the situation any less awkward, so he might as well be courteous and offer his assistance. The sooner they moved on from the unfortunate matter of the mongoose and the cobra, the better.

"If you'd like to join me, you're certainly welcome to," Sadie said, walking over to the nearest clothesline and bending down to set the basket beside it. "But I'm half-inclined to ask you to keep on reading instead. I should like to know how the story ends and whether or not our heroic mongoose manages to triumph." She straightened up, giving him a smile that was half-impish and half-inviting.

So much for moving on.

"He does," Davey said, trying to be as succinct as possible. "He kills the cobra and protects his family. It all ends happily."

"Hmm. I'm pleased to hear that." Sadie plucked a shirt from the clothesline. "I do prefer happy endings, unrealistic though they may be." With quick, deft movements, she folded the shirt up neatly, then tucked it into the basket. "This lodging house gathering sounds rather interesting," she said as she reached for another article of clothing. "Are all of the newsboys taking part in this performance of The Jungle Book?"

"Just four of us," Davey replied. "The boys I read with at lunch." He'd mentioned them before to Sadie during one of their tutoring sessions. "It was their idea, actually. I just helped adapt the text."

"It's wonderful that you've gotten them so excited about reading," Sadie remarked. "I remember you telling me that many have no opportunities or no inclination to receive a formal education. I can appreciate the last sentiment, but it does seem unfortunate that those who do have an interest in learning aren't able to pursue it because of their circumstances. I'm sure they appreciate you sharing your knowledge with them, even if it's only through reading."

"I'm actually tutoring one of them, too," Davey disclosed as he unpinned a couple of socks from the clothesline. "We just started last week, but I'm fairly sure it's going to be slow going, despite the fact that he's motivated to learn." He gave her a smile as he paired the socks and set them into the basket. "I've always appreciated your tutoring, but I think my respect for you has grown even more over the last few days - I've realized that teaching someone else isn't as easy as you make it look."

"You lie, Davey Jacobs," she said, shaking her head. "You know tutoring isn't easy for me."

"I didn't say it was easy - I said you make it look easy," Davey corrected. "And I don't say things unless I mean them." Sadie gave him a miffed look, but he knew the subtleties of her face well enough now to catch the faintest beginning of a smile.

"If there's any apparent ease on my part, it's due to the extraordinary intelligence of my pupil rather than any gifting I possess," she deflected, bending down to set another folded-up shirt into the basket. "You'd probably do just as well with a mongoose or a snake as your tutor, truth be told."

"Now that is a lie, Chare, and until you take it back…" Davey reached down to pick up the basket, "your laundry hamper is going to stay right...up...here." He adjusted his grip, hefting the basket over his head and out of reach.

"Davey!" Sadie looked shocked. "That's not fair!"

"I'll put it down when you admit that you're a good tutor and that you're brighter than you give yourself credit for."

The landlord's daughter huffed in response, and to Davey's surprise, she actually made a jump for the hamper and nearly managed to upend it, but he dodged out of the way in time.

"Nice try," he grinned at her.

"Everything's going to get unfolded!" Sadie protested, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes and attempting to tuck it back where it belonged.

"I'll sort it out," Davey assured her, "once you've agreed to my conditions."

Sadie huffed again. "I can't believe you're doing this," she muttered, abandoning the endeavor to fix her hair and crossing her arms instead, looking both incredulous and put out. "You were supposed to be helping me, not making my job harder."

"I am helping you. I'm helping you see the truth of what a good tutor you are."

"I was expecting help with the laundry, not - "

"Sadie," Davey interrupted, "can you please hurry up and agree to my terms?" He gave her a pleading look. "This basket's getting heavy." He was used to lifting a substantial amount of weight thanks to his work as a newsboy, and the clothes hamper was only half full and not really that burdensome, but it was an awkward position to hold for long, and his arms were beginning to get tired. "Please, Chare," he repeated. "I don't want to be dragging tomorrow when I go out to sell my papers."

"You should have thought of that beforehand," came her lofty answer. But he could see her expression softening, and a moment later, she capitulated.

"I'm a good tutor and brighter than I give myself credit for," she said reluctantly.

Davey set the basket down with a smile. "That wasn't so difficult, was it?" Reaching over to re-situate some of the clothes that had taken a tumble, he added, "I know you don't believe me, Sadie, but I'm going to keep telling you this until it sinks in. There's more than one way to be smart. I may have an easier time in school, but you're almost always a step ahead of me when it comes to our bantering, and you've outwitted me more times than I can count."

"You're just too polite to bandy back," she insisted.

"Not too polite. Too slow," Davey corrected her. "I give it my best shot, but I can admit when I've been beaten." He stood up, having neatly re-arranged the hamper, then joined Sadie at the clothesline where she was unpinning the last few towels. "I'm pretty sure you might actually be more book smart than you think, too, but I'll leave that argument for another day." He held out his hands for the last towel, which she passed to him, and he folded it up and placed it in the hamper.

"Can I help you carry this down?" he asked. "I should probably be getting back myself."

"I wouldn't want to cut your practice time short," she protested.

"I'll have time to go over the script some more later." Davey picked up the basket and his sheaf of papers. "Besides, it's the least I can do after startling you with my monologuing."

She laughed as they started towards the stairs. "I'll admit that you did take me by surprise. It reminded me of the time I overheard part of your speech to the newsboys - I had no idea at the time that you had such a fiery, passionate side to you!"

"It doesn't come out very often," Davey admitted.

"Perhaps that's why it's so effective. Someone who blusters constantly just becomes a dull roar in the back of everyone's minds, but when a quiet person speaks up, people listen." Sadie smiled. "In fact, I think it's only fair to tell you that I wish I could see your performance of The Jungle Book in its entirety now, despite the fact that you've told me how it ends!"

He wasn't sure if she was serious or not. "You don't really mean that...do you?"

"Of course I do!" she exclaimed. "You gave me quite a riveting performance just a few moments ago, and while it was only a snippet of the whole, I can imagine how interesting the rest of the reading must be, especially with the rest of the boys joining in. From the way you've described them, they sound like delightfully colorful characters, so it would be fascinating to see all of you in your element, though of course I wouldn't want to intrude upon your gathering..."

It was the second time she'd expressed an interest in meeting the newsies, and Davey found himself wondering (also for the second time) how he might bring about such an encounter. He couldn't remember if Jack had specified whether or not guests were invited to the lodging house shindig, so he'd probably have to ask about that first - but now that he thought about it, maybe that wouldn't be ideal, unless Katherine was going to be there too. Even that scenario could raise some awkward questions; Katherine was a part of the newsies, and she was Jack's sweetheart, besides. Sadie was a complete outsider, and she was only Davey's neighbor, certainly not his girl. Bringing her to the lodging house for a night that was specifically devoted to the newsie family would be asking for trouble. He was sure that the boys would welcome Sadie without ceremony and that they would all end up enjoying each other's company...but he was also equally certain that the newsies would tease him mercilessly about the landlord's daughter afterwards or - heaven forbid - maybe even in her hearing, and that was a predicament to be avoided at all costs.

However, if Sadie really wanted to meet some of the boys, maybe she could come to one of his reading group's rehearsals. Elmer had just been mentioning the other day that they ought to do a practice run in front of an audience, but they'd been stumped there because they couldn't think of anyone to ask who wouldn't already be at the shindig. The boys hadn't wanted to spoil the surprise, so in the end they'd given up on the idea, but if Sadie was willing to stand in, they could get some feedback from an impartial outside source, and she could get a glimpse of the newsie life and see their performance without setting foot in the lodging house. In fact, this would probably work out well, as Elmer, Jojo, and Tucker were unlikely to do any teasing. Elmer was a jokester, but he took things at face value, Jojo was too focused on his own concerns to pry into other people's business, and Tucker said relatively little on the whole, so Davey knew that if he stated clearly from the get-go that Sadie was just a friend and neighbor and nothing more, they'd believe him. And as long as they didn't run across anyone else from the lodging house, his two worlds could intersect for a short time without the risk of any unwanted implications.

"There might be a way to make that happen," he said, inwardly satisfied with his problem-solving. "Meeting the newsies - and hearing the rest of our reading, I mean. If you'd like to see one of our rehearsals, the boys and I can move our meeting spot somewhere closer to school that day. You could come during lunch, if you wanted."

"Are you sure I wouldn't be inconveniencing you?" she asked.

"Not at all. The boys have been wanting to practice in front of an audience, but we couldn't think of anyone to ask who wasn't from the lodging house. You'd be doing us a favor."

"Well then, I happily accept your invitation," Sadie smiled. "Let me know which day works best for the reading and where to meet you, and I'll be there."

As she finished speaking, they arrived at the front door of the Beckers' apartment, and Davey was about to hand over the laundry basket and say goodbye, when a thought suddenly crossed his mind and he found himself impulsively bringing up a topic that he'd been ruminating on for the past several days. "Speaking of reading," he said, "are you doing anything on Sunday? In the afternoon?"

"I'll be at a birthday dinner for James Miller," Sadie answered. "Margaret's throwing a small surprise gathering for him, and I promised I'd be there all afternoon to help her prepare. But next Sunday I'd be free."

That was the day of the lodging house shindig, and he'd promised his reading group they'd get lunch at Jacobi's before doing one final run through before their performance that night.

"I've got something going on with the newsies," he answered apologetically. "I don't suppose the Sunday after that would work?"

Sadie shook her head. "I'm sorry - I'll be going to see a show with some friends. And the next two weeks after that I have other engagements."

"That's all right," Davey said quickly. There really wasn't any rush to do what he had in mind, and he'd known beforehand that Sadie had an active social life, so he really shouldn't have been surprised - or disappointed - that she wouldn't be available at the time he'd hoped for.

"Why do you ask?" the girl queried, giving him a curious look.

"Oh, no reason." Now that he thought about it, maybe it was a good thing that their schedules hadn't lined up. Sadie would likely find his proposition boring, though she'd be too polite to say so. In fact, maybe the whole "doing something sensible" thing had only been a joke after all - she hadn't made good on her threat to make him do something ridiculous, so in all likelihood he was taking it far too seriously and ought to just drop the matter.

"Davey," the girl's voice broke into his thoughts, "you know I'm not going to let you get away with such a vague answer."

He forced a smile. "It was just a thought I had, and it seemed like a good idea at the time, but I'm realizing now that I didn't think it through very well, and it's probably better to leave it there. It was ridiculous, anyway."

She gave him a disbelieving look. "You're Davey Jacobs," she quipped. "You don't have ridiculous ideas. That's my job, and I'd be obliged if you wouldn't encroach upon it." The words were teasing, but her smile was kind. "Now, what was it that you had in mind?"

"Well…" Davey rubbed the back of his neck. "I was just going to ask if there was any chance that you might want to...I mean, if you would mind very much if I were to..." he glanced at her hesitantly, "...to read to you sometime? As a way of doing something sensible," he added quickly. "Not schoolbook reading, like what we do in our tutoring sessions. Or dramatic reading, like what I'm doing for the performance. Just regular book reading. For fun." The idea sounded even more dry to him now that he'd spoken it aloud, and he dropped his gaze, already regretting the decision to speak up. What was he thinking, presuming that a girl like Sadie, who had any number of friends and options for social engagements, would want to spend her afternoon reading, let alone reading with him?

"You don't have to say yes," he amended quickly. "Like I said, it's not a very good idea, and you'd probably rather - "

"Actually, that sounds like a lovely idea."

His train of thought spluttered at her unexpected interjection. Wait...what?

"We can meet at my family's apartment," Sadie continued. "We have a sitting area that's perfect for reading, and then you can meet Lilly and my mother too. Oh! And I'll bake something for us to eat," she added. "Then you can try it - as something ridiculous, you know. We'll both cancel our debts at the same time."

Was she actually...excited about the idea?

"You really want to?" he asked, still incredulous.

"I'm always up for an adventure, Davey. Perhaps we'll visit the Indian jungle?" She gestured to his script. "Or did you have another place in mind?"

"You'll have to wait to find out," he answered with a grin. "It'll be more fun if it's a surprise."

"Well, I hope you'll feel the same way about trying my baking," Sadie answered drolly. "I'm only agreeing to let you entertain me, but you're running the risk of terrible indigestion!"

"Your baking is completely adequate until proven otherwise," he assured her. "If anything, the burden of proof falls on you to make something awful enough to substantiate all of the claims you've been making. If it turns out to be perfectly edible, you may have to give me lessons on how to exaggerate - so that I can improve my paper selling technique, of course."

"But you never say things unless you mean them," she reminded him cheekily.

"You're right," he agreed. "See what I mean, Chare? Always a step ahead of me."

They shared a smile.

"I know I initially asked you about Sundays," Davey said, bringing them back to the logistical matters at hand, "but our schedules don't seem to match up, so maybe we could try for a Saturday instead? If that wouldn't be too inconvenient for you, of course."

"I'll check with my parents," Sadie answered. "Saturdays are usually family days, and my sister Judith will be coming in a few weeks for a visit, so we may be busy preparing for her arrival, but I'll certainly let you know of my first availability."

"That sounds good," Davey agreed. "And there's no hurry, really." Realizing that he was still holding the laundry basket, he quickly offered it to her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to hold you up."

"There's no need to apologize." Sadie took the basket, setting it on her hip. "You've made this chore much less tedious than usual; it's not every day I go up to the rooftop to fold laundry and come down having secured not just one but two social engagements to look forward to in the near future."

Her smile was warm, and Davey felt the unexpected (but no longer unfamiliar) rush of happiness that occasionally came over him when she was being particularly sweet for reasons he just couldn't understand.

"I hope you'll enjoy it," he said, still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that she'd agreed to the idea after all. "Both of the readings, I mean."

"I'm sure I will," Sadie asserted. "Thank you again for the invitation, and for your help today as well."

They parted ways then, the landlord's daughter making her way inside with the basket of laundry and Davey finding himself alone in the hallway once the door had clicked shut behind her. He turned away and began to walk slowly towards the stairs...but when he got there, a surprising impulse seized him, and instead of taking the steps the way any sensible person would, he tucked his sheaf of papers under his arm, then hopped onto the handrail and slid down, letting his momentum carry him swiftly to the bottom of the flight where he landed in a near-tumble of exhilaration with what he was sure had to be the biggest, silliest-looking grin on his face.

He knew that there was no reason to be acting so foolish or so excited, but if he took the liberty of acting just a bit ridiculous for a moment, well...there was no one around besides himself to see.


A/N: *The excerpt that Davey quotes is taken from The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling (found on Project Gutenberg).