Chpt. 15

"Ah." I

said softly after a pause. There was another long pause before I sighed, "What's goin' on tamarra, Jesse? No bull, just tell me."

"Parade, Blink's decided that da bulls ain't gonna tell us what ta do no more."

"Real smart..." I muttered as I rubbed my face with my hands. I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes in an effort to stop their burning. "Why are we doin' this, Jesse?"

"Fer our rig..."

"I know why the others are doin' this, but what about ya 'nd me? What 'bout Print 'nd Spit 'nd hell, Fiction. We ain't got much time left here Jesse, we can't be newsies forever."

"Don'cha think we know that? Think bout dis fera sec wit me Vel, dis is our legacy. We could get run over by a carriage er struck down wit T.B. tamarra 'nd it'd be like we never lived, but this, the strike, all of it. Maybe our name's won't go down in history, but our cause sure as hell will. Dis isn't fer us, Vel, dis is fer kids Belle's age, younger. If we stand up ta Pulitzer 'nd his cronies den we're seein' da way clear fer all kids ta tell these factory workers what's what. We ain't expendable labor, we all deserve a chance ta live 'nd play witout havin ta worry bout where we're gonna sleep fer da night if nutin happens in da world. Ya understand dat?" I was quiet as I let Jesse's words sink in, finally I sighed again.

"What time 'er we meetin' tamarra 'nd where?" Jesse's tired face broke into a shiny grin,

"Before sun-up, while everyone's still headed fer work, 'nd our startin' point's on da far side a da Brooklyn Bridge." I groaned at the time, and the place because the bridge was so far away that I would have to get up much earlier then that just to get there. Being a newsie hasn't lessened my dislike of early mornings, if you can call them mornings at all. Jesse laughed at me, I glared back at him, "Go on ta bed, Vel, yer no used ta us exhausted. Besides," he added with that infuriating grin of his, "yer kinda cranky in da mornin'." He dodged a blow I aimed at his head, then ducked back into Blink's room to continue sleeping. Forcing my dissapointment down, I headed off to my own space, my rag blanket under the window where it was coolest during the hot New England summer nights.

 

Standing on the bridge the next morning, I wished I'd been able to bring my blanket with me. The mist and fog off the river was cold as it soaked through my clothes and making me even colder; I actually growled a little, low in my throat as I looked up towards the front of the large crowd of kids to where I knew at least Kid Blink stood. My arms were wrapped around myself in an effort to keep what little body heat I had in close to me, the broken piece of fencing that served as my sign was leaning against my leg. There were I swear more then a thousand kids here today, maybe more and we were all crammed in tight next to one another, partially for warmth, partially from the fact that we were petrified of being caught out here without a permit by the police. I didn't know any of the other children, many of whom barely came up to my hip, that were crowded around me but they seemed to know that I must have been in charge because I was older. So far I'd been asked over ten questions, none of which I could properly answer. I actually started tapping my foot impatiently as I scanned the crowds for Jesse, but he was most likely up front with the rest of the "leaders". Thankfully I noticed Spit and Print loitering close-by, so I picked up my sign and sauntered over.

Print had his arm wrapped around the waist of a petite little auburn haired girl with a small pixie face wearing a light blue dress and a little sun bonnet.

"Who's dis Print?" I asked, smiling at her; Print drew himself up proudly and drew the girl closer to him.

"Dis is my goil, Anna May Dougles. I was talkin' wit her last night 'fore we ran inta each other, den she thought about everythin' I said 'nd she decided dat she'd do whatever she could ta help us." I didn't let my shock show on my face, but if I wasn't careful my jaw was going to unhinge and hit the pavement beneath our feet.

Author's Note

sort of a small chapter, but i want to see if anyone picks up on why Vel's so surprised. if you get it, let me know that you know before going to the next chapter 'nd seein if yer right.

Reviews

[Corey Lunare-]

Anna May...the name sounds firmilair at first and then i thought about it n wasn't that the girl that Fiction was kinda....pardon my lack of a better term, doing? I think it was at least. Ima goback to the last chapter to make sure tho. I am perdy sure. This sure isa change in plot all of a sudden. wonder what Vel's going to do now! Great job Dream! until next time, Lunare