I Never Planned on This (A newsies fanfiction)

Chapter ten

The Newsies looked at each other, speaking amongst themselves. Henri didn't know where Davey was? How were they supposed to find him? They looked back at Henri.

"What happened once youse guys got here?" Asked Specs. "When didja last see Davey?"

Henri crossed her arms, tapping her right pointer finger on her left arm, thinking.

"Once we made it to The Wall, the dragged us both inside. Davey got his foot beaten pretty bad by Morris, he had to lean on my shoulder to keep his balance." She explained. "They took us down this hallway, and Kennedy suddenly stopped. He grabbed me by my wrist, and yanked me from Davey, while those two officers proceeded to take him down the hall. Despite our struggles, they shoved me into this luxurious room." She finished rather sarcastically, then shook her head. "I haven't seen Davey since. But, he shouldn't be too hard to find. He's the only other prisoner here as far as I know." She said.

"Yeah, it's been really easy just to find you." Romeo remarked, rolling his eyes. Specs elbowed him.

"That's all she knows, she's only trying to help." She scolded him. She looked over her shoulder, noticing that the sun was beginning to set. Her happiness from finally finding one of the two instantly faded. It was getting dark. They would need to get back to the fire escape soon. And that would mean leaving Henri here. She looked back at Henri, who was smiling sympathetically.

"I know." She said. "I know you have to go. It's okay. I'll see ya later."

Specs and the others sat there for a few minutes. They didn't even know how they could see Henri again, they couldn't remember how they could find her cell.

"Hey, Romeo." Splasher said. "Do ya have an extra newspaper bag back at the rooftop?" She asked. Romeo nodded.

"Why?"

"Because if ya have an extra one, you can leave yours here, like near the window, so we can remember which window is Henri's." Romeo smiled.

"Splasher, you're a genius!!!" He exclaimed. He swiped his bag off of his shoulder and around his neck. He layed it folded under the window. They stood there for a few minutes before they heard the warning bell before the gate closed. They snuck one last glance at Henri and then ran off.

Henri stumbled back over to her spot against the wall, wincing at the pain in her back. She slowly sat down and leaned against the wall. She looked back towards the window. The same stars from a few nights prior. But tonight, it was different. Although she knew she and the other Newsies were looking at the same stars, she couldn't see the constellations or the beauty of them. Clouds began to form, covering the stars up. She sighed and looked back down at the floor. She then rested her head against the wall and closed her eyes.

She was back in Newsie square, and the fight was going on again. This time, Crutchie and Les were the ones in trouble, and Henri and Davey were safely on the fire escape. They watched in horror as the Delanceys thrust punch after punch on the two. They both clambered down the fire escape and jumped on the Delanceys. Henri jumped on Oscar's back, digging her nails into his shoulders and pulling back, in an attempt to get him off of Crutchie. He stumbled back and Henri jumped off right before he would have fallen on top of her. She then ran to Crutchie, but not before Wiesel got to her first.

He grabbed her by her vest, stopping her in her tracks. Crutchie was on her hands and knees, crying out in pain. And then, the wagons pulled up. Henri watched as Crutchie, Davey, and Les were thrown into the wagons. And then, Kennedy turned to face her, Wiesel still holding her in place.

Her dream changed. She saw Jack and Katherine, Jack was leaning forward in his seat, his hands in his hair frustratingly. Katherine was pacing around the room. On the table next to Jack, there was a note. It was written in handwriting that was obviously Race's. Henri saw Jack pick up the note and hand it to Katherine. With shaking hands, she took it, and read it, her hands refusing to stop trembling.

"Dear Jack," she stuttered. "We're in trouble. I know that's really not what you want to hear, but it's true. I'm sure you know about The Wall opening recently. Well, just when things were looking up for us (when we got the rest of the Newsies on our side), it turned into a sort of battle. The Delanceys just started to attack us, who knows why. They started beating up Henri and Buttons, and then a few more of us got involved. When Oscar used Henri and JoJo's full names, it became chaos. In all the commotion, only Davey noticed The Wall's wagons pulling up. We began to panic, running for the fire escape. But a few stragglers were still caught by the Delanceys. Davey decided to go down and be a hero, and he and Henri...ended up getting taken. We had a few Newsies check out the windows to see if they could find them today, so far, no luck. We have no one to help us, Jack. So...if you get this note, please send someone down." Katherine's voice was breaking by now. "Signed, Race." She finished. She looked up from the note and at Jack. "Jack," she started. "What are we supposed to do? The kids are in trouble."

"I wanna know why they were rallying the fellas." Jack said. "It could help us come up with a reason as to why the Delanceys started to attack the Newsies. As terrible as they are, I don't think that they would beat up the Newsies unless they was doing something that would really annoy them." He sighed. "I just don't understand what could have happened."

"Jack..." Katherine said in a small voice, picking up a newspaper. "This...this came in from Race two days ago. I didn't have time to open it until this morning." She handed him the paper and he looked up at her, slowly stretching out his hand and taking the paper. There, in big bold letters, it read The World: New Newsie Price: Sixty Cents Per Hundred.

Jack stared at the paper in disbelief and read the article that followed. He looked back at Katherine. "No way." He said.

She nodded sadly. "I'm afraid the Newsies went on another strike, and this time, two got caught." She gave him another paper that read New Juvenile Jail, The Wall, Captures its First Two Prisoners. She pointed to the pictures given of the 'prisoners'. "Henri and Davey." She said.