Humbling Spot Conlon (A Spot Conlon Love Story)

Ch. 11: We Beat 'Em!

In the morning we went to newsie square with all the Manhattan newsies. We had been waiting for a long time. I paced around the square impatiently.

This wasn't going to work. Nobody was going to come. I started to freak out. My breaths became short as I paced faster. I couldn't sit still.

"So when's de odda's coming, Kid?" Mush asked.

"They ain't coming," Jack answered, "Ain't gonna be nobody but us." This made my hope drain more. If Jack didn't think they were coming, they probably weren't.

Les approached Jack and looked up at him, then he ran off and asked, "When the circulation bell starts ringing, will we hear it?"

"Nah." Race said, patting Les on the head. I came over too and pulled Les into a hug.

I knelt down next to him. "What if the Delanceys come out swingin'?" I asked, "Will we hear it?"

"No!" Les shouted out. We all crowded around him.

"When you got a million voices singin' who can hear a lousy whistle blow?" I heard from all around us. We all frantically looked around. There were a bunch of kids coming in.

"And The World will know."

We all cheered as they came in. There were boys of all ages and occupations. I could just barely see Spot come in right in front of the Brooklyn newsies.

A smile crept onto my face. Suddenly I was filled with a warm feeling I hadn't felt during the whole strike. I felt hope.

"The World will feel the fire and fin'lly know!" We all shouted. We cheered more. Jack put Les on his shoulders and walked towards Pulitzer's building.

I got lost in the crowd. I couldn't see what was going on, but I was pretty sure Jack had gone inside already.

I was suddenly grabbed around my waist and spun around. When I was released I whipped around and shoved Spot. He didn't seem surprised that I knew it was him.

"Don't pick me up ever again," I demanded with a glare. He just laughed.

"Do ya think Pulitzer can ignore dis?" He asked hopefully.

"No one could." I looked up at the building. Pulitzer was waving his arms around through the window. It made me chuckle that he thought that would do anything.

I waited impatiently for something to happen. Spot and I ran up to the gate as it was being opened. Jack and David came out. We all crowded around them. Jack whispered something in Les' ear before putting him on his shoulders.

"We beat 'em!" Jack shouted out to everyone. We all cheered and shouted. The first thing I thought was, how? I didn't think we could do it. I stood, mouth gaping for a moment.

I snapped out of it and pulled Jack into a hug, squeezing him tightly. Then I went around and hugged Race, Blink, Mush, Skittery, etc.

When I made my way to Spot he lifted me up into the air. I hugged him probably the longest. Spot then looked straight into my eyes. My face went red and I broke away from his gaze, going to hug Jack again.

After going in for a second hug from everyone I saw Jack frantically putting Les down so I ran over. Jack ran into the crowd. I followed everyone's eyes to Snyder. A lump formed in my throat. He couldn't take Jack away again. I wouldn't be able to handle that.

Denton stopped Jack, "Jack it's over." He pushed past Denton. "No, no, no. You don't have to run. Not anymore. Not from the likes of him anyway." This calmed me down slightly, Jack as well.

Jack reluctantly walked toward the wagon Snyder was on. A cop opened the back and some boys came out. After the rest of the boys came out, Crutchy followed. Then I saw a girl with a sad face come out. Crutchy hugged the girl before locking Snyder in the back.