Six Years From Now

Part Three: The Newsies

"Hey, Joe, look who's here! You're niece just waltzed in," he said flippantly.
Pulitzer looked as if he just got a sudden headache. "Thank you, Jack. Winnie, please come in."
Jack left. "Good luck," he said.
"It's nice to meet you. Katherine should be here in a moment," Uncle Joseph said, returning to the paper he was examining.
Winnie took a seat even though she wasn't asked to. She expected him to say more, but he didn't. So she decided to make him socialize with his niece.
"Mother's fine, thank you." she spoke up. "She's been wondering about you, too."
He looked up over his spectacles. "When I'm working I expect no interruptions," he informed her.
"When I'm working I expect no interruptions," Winnie mimicked under her breath.
The clock ticked. Winnie awkwardly sat in silence, watching Uncle Joseph read. Finally the doors opened behind her. A young woman with red hair similar to her own walked in.
"Good afternoon, Father," she said.
"Yes, Katherine," Pulitzer mumbled.
Katherine rolled her eyes and pulled Winnie into the hall, where Jack was waiting.
"It's nice to meet you, Winnie. I'm Katherine, and this is Jack."
"We've met. It's nice to meet you, Katherine," Winnie said. "Thanks for saving me from your father."
"My pleasure. Now, let's get your things put away and we can introduce you to the boys," Katherine said excitedly. "The Jacobs are coming to the boardinghouse, too."
Winnie smiled. "I'm excited to meet everyone."
After they dropped her things off at the Pulitzer's house (which was enormous compared to the Foster's), they went to the boardinghouse to meet the 'newsies,' as Jack told her they were called, when they came in from selling papers.
The first in was a boy called Buttons. After that, two others nicknamed Mush and Specs came. Soon a wave of newsies arrived. Winnie could hardly keep track of all their names- Tommy Boy, Albert, Elmer, Romeo, Jojo, Kid Blink, Finch, Henry, Mike, and Ike were just a few. Racetrack was among them, and he winked at her. Soon three siblings, not newsies, apparently, introduced themselves to her. The oldest was Davey, then Sarah, and the youngest was Les.
"How many more are there?" Winnie whispered to Katherine.
Katherine scanned the crowd. "Just one- Jack, where's Crutchie?"
He shrugged. "Hey, has anybody seen Crutchie?"
Most boys shook their heads, but Davey said, "I saw him near Queens when I was driving the ice wagon."
"He's probably flirting with the girls," someone shouted.
"What girls? Who's Crutchie?" Winnie asked.
"Most of the newsies at Queens are girls," Katherine said. "And Crutchie is Jack's best friend- but don't tell that to Race."
"Aw, lay off," Racetrack said. "Everyone knows I'm Jack's bestest pal."
"Sure you are, Race," Jack said unconvincingly.
Just then they could hear the door open. "There he is!" someone yelled.
"Where?" Winnie couldn't see. Jack dove through the crowd to retrieve Crutchie.
"How're things going in Queens?" Jack asked him as he dragged him forward.
"Same as always, Jack," Crutchie said. "Them girls never-" He broke off when he saw Winnie.
She stared.
He stared back.
"Jesse?" she whispered.