I Never Planned on This (A newsies fanfiction)

Chapter twelve

Les sat at the kitchen table, his hands and head laying on the wood. He hadn't been outside for days. Not after what happened to Davey, he wasn't allowed to leave the house except to get the mail. With his father's leg better, he had no reason to be selling papers anymore. He was scheduled to go back to school in two weeks.

After Davey got taken to The Wall, Les's parents wouldn't let him out of the house. More than anything, Les just wanted to be outside again, with the Newsies. Race, Albert, Finch, surely somebody would be able to make him feel better. Word around town was that the Newsies were considering disbanding the union.

Les sat there, staring at the wall, bored out of his mind, until he heard a tap at the window. Curious, he drew back the curtains to see Spot Conlon standing there. She was waving, and pointing towards the window's lock. Les pulled the lock undone, and slid the window open. Spot stood there, smiling at him.

"Mind if I, uh...?" She motioned to the kitchen.

"Oh," Les said, looking over his shoulder, then looking back at Spot and nodding. "Yeah, sure." He let out a hand to her and helped her in through the window.

"I would've used the door, but..." She laughed. "I didn't know if your folks were home or not. I hasn't seen ya in a while." She said.

"Nah, they're out running errands." Les said. He led Spot to the kitchen table, where she sat down. "Can I get ya anything? We have orange juice." He said.

"Sure." She nodded.

Les opened the icebox and took out a bottle of Orange juice. He then stood on one of the cupboards, getting two glasses down. He poured himself and Spot each a small glass of orange juice, and placed it back in the ice box, coming back to the kitchen table and handing Spot her drink.

"Thanks." She said, smiling, as she sipped her drink. It was awkward as they sat there in silence, drinking their orange juice, before Spot spoke again. "So, Les, we've noticed we haven't seen ya in Newsie square lately." He looked at her. "Do...do ya wanna talk about it?"

He shook his head. "Not really." He quickly covered with, "No offense."

"None taken." Spot answered. "We sent a few more kids to look for 'em in The Wall." She said. Les immediately looked her straight in the eye.

"Any luck?" She nodded.

"We're a bit closer. I can feel it. They found Henri yesterday." She said.

"Does she know anything about where Davey is?"

Spot shook her head. "Sadly, no. She was the one to ask the Newsies if they knew where Davey was. Said it shouldn't be too tricky to find him since he's the only other prisoner there." She sighed. "Problem is, none of us has ever been in The Wall. We don't know where the prisoners are kept, where the cells are for the boys and where the cells are for the girls. They started checking the other side of The Wall. They assume that if Henri was on that side, the boys' side is more likely to be on the other side of the building." She put her finger to her chin, tapping it and thinking. "Ya know, when the kids visited Henri last, they said she mentioned Oscar Delancey actually giving her a newspaper."

Les almost choked on his orange juice. "You're kidding..." He said, wiping his mouth. Spot shook her head. "Why would he let her have a newspaper?"

Spot shrugged. "Probably saw it as harmless. Henri did say that she made up and excuse, but also said that it didn't look like Oscar bought it."

Les set his now empty glass on the table, thinking himself. "What would Oscar Delancey be doing at a juvenile jail?" He thought aloud.

"Word around town says that they're hiring teenage boys for guards." Spot said. "Maybe he got the job." She set he now empty glass on the table as well, wiping her mouth. "Almost forgot what I came here for." She said, and looked at Les. "The fellas were wondering if you'd like to come help them look today. We could cover more ground with more people. Who knows, you may be able to help us find Davey." She suggested.

Les instantly nodded. "Of course!!!" He exclaimed, getting up and putting both glasses in the sink. "I'd love to come help look!!! I'll have to write a note to my folks first, though." He said. Spot waved her hand, smiling.

"Take your time." Les climbed up the stairs to his room, two at a time. He then grabbed a small notepad from his desk and a pencil, and quickly scribbled out,

Mom and Dad,

I've gone to look for Davey with the Newsies. Don't worry, they'll keep me safe. I'll be back before dinner.

-Les

He then tore the note off of the notepad and proceeded down the stairs, to where Spot was still waiting. He laid the note on the kitchen table and followed Spot out the window, closing it as he left and racing after her towards The Wall.