No Matter What

Introduction

It was a hot Saturday morning in New York, typical for the month of July. Amanda Hearst was just waking up. Normally, she wouldn't dream of being up at 7 a.m., but, by her father's will, she was accompanying a family friend, Katherine Pulitzer, to write a news report on the growing newsies strike. Any other time, Amanda's day would have been filled with dance and voice lessons, but according to her father, 15-year olds should have more "practical" hobbies, which apparently meant reporting for newspapers.
She carefully took out her curlers, put on her white button-down shirt, purple jacket, and matching purple skirt, and got ready to seize the day the best she could.
On the other side of town, Davey Jacobs and his nine-year old brother Les headed towards Newsies Square. Davey and Les had only been newsies for a week, but Davey had already earned a reputation as "The Walking Mouth", for very openly speaking his mind about Pulitzer. Les was also well-known, being the youngest newsie.
Davey was well-educated, smart, and kind. He had done very well in school, but his father had broken his arm at work, so Davey quit school with Les to work. Les was a sweet, funny young boy. Both Davey and Les had dark black hair and pale skin. They were also better dressed than most of the other newsies, mainly because they had families, and no one else did. They both eagerly joined the strike when they became newsies, not knowing how big it would become.