Courage

Chapter 6

AN: This is going to be my last chapter for a while, and I apologize for leaving you with this.

Davey felt weak, and he didn't like it. It had been about two days since Snyder had beaten him, and the only thing he could focus on was the pain that was coming from his back, and the fact that he hadn't had anything to eat since they'd gotten to the Refuge. He knew it wasn't right for him to be acting like this, especially when he was surrounded by boys who had gone weeks without food, boys who had been hit with a belt more times than they could count, and they weren't complaining. But Davey didn't have any idea how to handle something like this.

"It's cause we're all used to it by now, Davey." Crutchie had said when Davey expressed his feelings. "We've been here a while, and we don't like it, but we know how things work around here."

Davey hated the fact that this place was so horrible that Crutchie said 'we', even though he'd only been here for about a week. He silently prayed that the newsies would win the strike as soon as possible, so that they could work on getting the Refuge shut down.

He'd been hoping that Snyder would leave Les alone. Surely beating up a nine year old kid was below even his standards. Surely Snyder couldn't be that cruel.

As it turned out, nothing made sense in the Refuge.

Davey and Les were sitting on one end of the bunk, talking quietly while Crutchie was asleep on the other end (Crutchie had been sleeping more than Davey thought was natural, but he couldn't bring himself to wake him up). It was like any other day in the Refuge, boys talking and trying to entertain themselves, each one of them hoping that they wouldn't be the next subject of the Spider's anger. Unfortunately, it seemed that it was now Les's turn.

Snyder stormed into the room - it seemed that he couldn't enter a room without storming into it - and all the boys jumped slightly. Crutchie jerked awake and gripped the bedpost, while Davey wrapped an arm tightly around his brother.  It only took Snyder a minute to locate the boys he wanted and began to head straight toward the Jacobs boys.

Without warning, he grabbed Les and yanked him out of his brother's grasp and down to the floor before Davey had time to register what was happening.

"Davey!" Les was clearly panicking, and Davey tried to get down from the bunk and follow them, but Snyder gave him a terrifying glare.

"You're not coming with us. Just him."

"Leave him alone." Davey didn't know where his confidence was coming from, but he guessed it was purely from an urge to protect his brother.

Snyder just ignored him and walked out, pulling a crying Les behind him.

oOo

As Jack stood in the basement of The World building, his nerves were steadily growing. Almost all of the boys had filed into the cellar, and they were distributing the papers among each other as Katherine's friends, Darcy and Bill, constantly worked the printing press. Meanwhile, Katherine herself was on her way to Medda's, and then to see the governor. They were taking a lot of risks tonight, and Jack just hoped they were all worth it.

After what seemed like a very long time, nearly all the boys had enough stacks of papers, and Jack had just received a second stack himself, when he thought he heard something from up the stairs. Maybe some kids from one of the other boroughs was late? He couldn't imagine who would be here in the middle of the night.

"Hey, fellas, be quiet." He hushed the boys, who'd been quietly chattering on about this and that. They all fell silent when Jack told them to, and he listened. What he heard filled him with a sense of dread.

"Gee, Oscar, I wonder what all these street rats are doing in the cellar of The World, don't you?"

The Delancey brothers were standing at the top of the stairs.

"Yeah, Morris. And I think it'd be real nice of them if they left all those papers here and got out."

Nobody moved a muscle. Jack could feel his boys staring at him, silently asking him what to do. He knew the Delancey's probably had the police outside, called them about a bunch of kids trespassing. They'd all get arrested if they didn't leave. After all, they'd still have the governor on their side - hopefully.

"We said drop your papers and get out." Oscar repeated, and Jack nodded, though every instinct he had told him not to. But he had to think logically right now.

"C'mon boys. We'll figure something else out."

All the other newsies hesitated, but they all slowly set their papers down and headed back up the stairs, wondering what their leader was thinking.

When Jack tried to follow them, a Delancey each grabbed one of his arms, stopping him. He tried to yank out of their grip.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Morris laughed cruelly. "We've got orders from Snyder to lock you up."

Those words sent a chill through Jack's body, and he instantly started fighting, desperately trying to get away, but they held on tightly.

"Nah, none of that Kelly. We caught you fair and square."

Jack continued to struggle, but he'd been right about one thing, the cops were waiting outside. He knew there was no way to get out of this. He was tossed roughly into a carriage, and he knew he was going back to the Refuge.