Courage

Chapter 19

AN: I LOVE CRUTCHIE. I LOVE CRUTCHIE BEING STRONG AND INDEPENDENT. CRUTCHIE IS WONDERFUL.

It took Crutchie a long time to get to the Lodging House, longer than it normally would have. As he walked, he registered just how much pain he was in - his legs felt as though they were fighting against him with every step, trying to give in and collapse underneath him. And his back... Crutchie didn't even want to know what his back looked like, based on the intense burning sensation he felt. He was sore everywhere, and worst of all, he was alone. Jack wasn't with him, because Jack was back in the Refuge by himself.

By the time he'd reached the Lodging House, he was exhausted, but he had to ignore that - he had to figure out what was going on with the strike, and explain where Jack was, which was going to be even more painful, but it had to be done. And he was the one who had to do it.

He reached up to knock on the door, but he'd barely tapped it when the door swung open,  revealing a shocked Finch on the other side. The other boy's face broke into a smile when he saw Crutchie.

"Pulitzer works fast, don't he?"

That didn't make much sense. Puzzled, Crutchie opened his mouth to respond, when Race appeared next to Finch, also grinning.

"Crutchie!" He pulled the boy into a hug, and Crutchie couldn't stop himself from flinching, at which point Race immediately pulled away. "Hey. You okay?"

"I'm fine, Race." Crutchie smiled convincingly. "Are you gonna let me in, or do I just gotta spent the rest of the day standing out here?"

Race still seemed hesitant, but he gestured for him to come in, and when he did, he found himself walking into a room full of newsboys, as well as Katherine, who stood when he came in.

"Thank God, he let you out!" Again, that didn't make much sense to Crutchie. "Where's Jack?"

It was like the entire atmosphere shifted with that question. The boys were quickly realizing that their leader wasn't there, and that was the last question Crutchie wanted to answer, yet it was the one he knew he had to answer. He stared at the floor for a moment, feeling awkward.

"They uh... they didn't let him out."

This brought an uproar upon the Lodging House, all the boys shouting out protests of anger and confusion, until Race had to spread his arms out in order to get their attention.

"Hey! Let him talk, huh?" Crutchie noticed that while Race was trying to play Jack's part of the leader, he too was distressed by this news.

He shrugged. "Don't have that much more to say, really. They let me, Davey, and Les out, but the Spider said that Jack was an escaped convict, so he has to finish out his sentence."

"We're gonna break him out though, right?" Henry was looking at him questioningly, and Race answered that question.

"We's gonna try."

"Just be careful, boys." That was Katherine. "We don't need any more of you getting caught."

Crutchie nodded, looking at Katherine. He wasn't quite sure when she'd gotten so involved with this whole thing, but she was obviously an important asset. The sight of her brought another important matter to his mind.

"So, fellas, how's the strike going?"

This brought another uproar, but this time all the exclamations being shouted at him were good.

"Katherine got us on the front page of The Sun!"

"Spot Conlon came to our rally. Spot Conlon!"