Letters in the Refuge

Chapter 1

(^^ A picrew of Johnathan)

Hi! So, I wanted to do something a bit different than the millions of fanfics about a girl newsie in the midst of a bunch of boys. And what better way to break the norm than to put a boy amongst boys, am I right? XD Anyway, I hope you like it!

Man, I hate street rats. Kids who were so awful their parents either threw them out, or died probably trying to put up with them. But the street rat I hate the most is without a doubt that Sullivan. I find it really funny that the kids here fantasize about him, and about how he rode off on Roosevelt's carriage. Though I have no doubt that he did catch a ride on the governor's carriage-that boy is the reason I get most of my beatings-it's kind of hilarious how these worthless street vermin worship him like he's their king or something.

"Psst. Letters!" Tenpin calls, whispering so he doesn't get caught being up at this time of night.

That's another thing I hate. That name. Letters. I know that in order to blend in with the street rats that get thrown in here I have to have a name like that, but it's just plain annoying to be named after your work. My name is Johnathan McCann, not Letters the letter boy.

"Letters!" Tenpin whisper-shouts again. "You's up?"

What the heck is up with that kid? I stir, pretending to wake up. "I am now. Whaddya need?"

"Cross-eye Tom is here to see Pockets," he says. "Can ya go get 'em?"

"Isn't he just gonna break out in a few days anyway?" I ask. Pockets is notorious for breaking out of the Refuge. But Snyder never beats me too bad over him, because he's not very sneaky at pickpocketing, and always ends up back in here one way or another.

"Jus' wake 'im up, Letters. Let the kid see 'is pal 'fore 'e breaks out," Owl says from two bunks away. Man that kid gets on my nerves. I swear he never sleeps. That's why they call him Owl, dummy, I think.

"A'ight, I'll get 'im up," I groan. I climb down from my bunk. The Refuge isn't that full right now, and while that means that there's more street rats out there causing trouble, it also means that I get my own bunk for the time being. I walk over to Pockets' bunk that he shares with Ghost, and shake him awake. "Pockets, ya got someone 'ere ta see ya," I tell him once he's awake enough to hear me well.

"Who is it?" he asks.

"Cross-eye Tom," I answer.

"Well tell 'im I'll see 'im when I bust outta 'ere in a few days," he says, and rolls over, going back to sleep.

I hold back a growl. Dang kid just wasted my precious time and sleep. Not like I didn't have time to spare, and I probably wasn't going to sleep anyway, but still. I roll my eyes, and lightly stomp over to where Tenpin is at the window. "Pockets says e'll see ya when 'e breaks out in a few days," I tell the cross-eyed street rat on the fire escape. "Now you'd better get outta 'ere b'fore Snyda catches ya."

Tenpin nods. "Seeya, Tom!" he quietly calls after the kid.

Finally. Maybe now I can get some sleep. Probably not though. Jeez, I'm turning into Owl.

(that morning)

"Wake up, ya lousy bums!" Coleman screamed, banging his bat on bunks as he marched around the room. "All of you pieces of trash better get up, er Snyda's gonna soak ya till ya can't move!" Everyone flinches and scrambles out of bed, lining up at the ends of the bunks.

And that's why Coleman is my favorite bull. He's never afraid to scream at street rats, or beat them up. "You too, McCann," he yells, though a little quieter, and bangs the bat on the end of my bunk.

Just then, Snyder comes in and walks slowly around the room, eyeing us all as he goes. Everyone gets scared looks on their faces, and keeps their eyes on the ground. Storms makes the mistake of glancing up and looking Snyder in the eyes. "Yer commin' with me, little goily," he growls, grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the room.

Then Storms' twin, Snaps, makes the even bigger mistake of snapping at Snyder. "No she's not! Yer gonna have ta git through me, 'fore ya drag 'er outta 'ere!" she tells him.

Dumb girl. Thinks her mouth can save her precious twin. Storms is Snaps' biggest weakness, and Snaps is Storms' biggest weakness. Soon as I told Snyder that, he put them in the same room faster than you could say "twins", and bam! Now as soon as one gets pulled out and beaten, the other one tries to stand up for them resulting in them getting soaked as well.

"Grab the other one and follow me," Snyder says to the new guard. "And Coleman, take McCann."

Coleman grabs me roughly by the arm, and follows Snyder, the new bull, and the twins out the door, locking it behind him. As soon as we're out of eyesight of the twins though, he lets go of me. "Delanceys 're already there. Be quiet though. There's a new kid that's got impeccable hearing in a cell along the way."

I nod, excitement building inside me. If Oscar and Morris are already here, that must mean they have exciting news. And if they've got exciting news, then that means that Snyder probably won't beat me as much for not having as much information as he wants.

Sure enough, when I walk into the empty office next to Snyder's, the Delanceys are already sitting there, smirks on their faces. "Hey, Oscar. Hey, Morris," I say, announcing my arrival. "What's the big news?"

"What makes ya think there's big news?" Morris asks jokingly.

"Well why else would you two be here before me?"

"You got a point," Oscar says. "Ya wanna hear?"

"Do I ever!" I say, sitting down in an empty chair.

"Well," Morris starts, "you know those newsies?"

I roll my eyes. "How could I ever forget." Sullivan's a newsie, and most of them have been in the Refuge before, quite a few in my cell. They've gotten me beaten for escaping more times than I can count.

"Pulitzer decided to raise the price of their papes," Morris says.

"About time."

Oscar butts in, not wanting to let his little brother tell all of the story. "Well, the newsies got mad, so they decided to go on strike."

I almost choke on my spit. "They did what now?" I manage to get out. That idea is ridiculous. It doesn't even sound like a newsie came up with it. I start laughing, but not too loud. Don't want the new "mighty ears" kid to hear.

"You heard me," says Oscar. "The newsies are goin' on strike. They got a new kid yesterday that apparently has got some brains. A family too. But as soon as they found out the new price, New Kid suggests they go on strike, so they do."

I snort. "Now they've got some stuck-up family-kid doing all their thinking for them. This is almost too good to be true!"

We laugh about how dumb the newsies are for a few minutes. Then Snyder walks into the room. We stand up, ready to give information. "McCann!" he snaps. "Whaddya got fer me?"

I shuffle my feet, preparing for the beating that's most likely coming. "Pockets says he's planning on breaking out in a few days," I say, knowing full well that the information was somewhat useless. "And that kid, Cross-eye Tom, came to see him last night. Pockets didn't want to get out of bed though, so they didn't talk to each other. Guess you beat him hard enough," I add on for good measure, hoping to flatter him even the tiniest bit.

Slap. "Not good enough," he barks. "Try harder next time," he says, and punches me in the stomach. I double over in pain.

It's not my fault the dumb street rats aren't up to no good right now, I think.

"What about you two?" he asks the Delanceys. "You better have good information, or all three of you 'll be hurtin' fer days."

"Oh, believe me we do!" Oscar says, smirk growing on his face.