I Never Planned on This (A newsies fanfiction)

Chapter eleven

Henri watched as Jack sat there, frustrated and helpless. He had no idea what to do. She felt horrible. She had been one of the people to start beating up the Delanceys. If she hadn't still been on the battlefield, being held back by Oscar, Davey wouldn't have tried to come towards her. He wouldn't have gotten his foot stomped on, and he would've been able to get away. She hated to see Jack like this. She hoped that this was just a dream, that she couldn't somehow see what was happening now.

Jack sat there and put his face in his hands. He began to make small crying sounds. Henri put her hand over her mouth as Katherine walked over to Jack and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"I...I don't know what to do, Katherine." Jack admitted. "Even if I was to try to come back to New York, Joe wouldn't listen to us if he knew I was leaving again soon. And now Davey and Henri are in The Wall...I just don't know what to do."

And then, she faded back out of her dream. Henri began to struggle against her mind. No. She wanted to stay with Jack and Katherine. While seeing Jack cry made her heart hurt, she at least felt more safe in that office with Jack and Katherine than she did inside her prison cell.

But she found herself waking up to see the dreary stone walls of her cell. She reached out her arm to see if she had really woken up, and it only met air where Jack had been only minutes before. Henri stood up slowly and shuffled over to the window on top of the door, looking out of it. She only wanted comfort right now, and she didn't care if she got beaten for trying this. She took a deep breath, and called,

"Davey?" It echoed throughout the halls. She heard running footsteps from the hallway. Instantly, she dropped from the window and in behind the door, blocking it. She closed her eyes as Kennedy stepped up to her door and looked into the room.

Please. she thought. Please, don't let him catch me. Please, I don't want to get beaten. She held her breath...and then, footsteps receded down the hallway. She couldn't believe it. Kennedy hadn't come inside. She slowly and cautiously stood up and looked out the door window. Kennedy was gone. But she also noticed something, a few doors down. A newspaper was sticking out from underneath a door. She knew that this was risky, but she took her chances yet again when a guard passed her door.

"Excuse me, mister." She said, expecting the worst. But the officer only turned to her and growled, "what do ya want?"

She thought of how to ask for the newspaper. "Um..." She began. "Well, I wanna make sure my buddies outside is okay. Wanna make sure they took down this strike so no one else got hurt." She couldn't believe what she was saying. "I think that that paper over there is from this morning. Do ya mind handing it to me, if ya ple-" she stopped in mid-sentence when she realised just who this 'officer' was. Oscar Delancey looked her square in the eye. He had a large bruise on his eye, but Henri couldn't remember her or anyone else hitting him there. He growled and walked over to the paper. He then picked it up and walked back to Henri's cell, pushing it through the window and into her hands. She stood there gawking at him in surprise.

"Anything else?" He growled. She shook her head, still gaping. He nodded firmly and began to walk away.

"Oscar?" She asked. He turned around, looking at her. "Um, thanks." She simply said. "I, uh, really appreciate it." She finished.

He nodded firmly again and proceeded down the hall.

Henri stood there for a few moments before heading back to the wall and pulling a pencil out of her vest pocket.

Dear Jack, she began, writing a note.

Now, I'm sure you've already heard, but we really need your help...