Don't Take Much To Be a Dreamer (Sequel to "I Never Planned on This")

Chapter six

Jack came into the diner more down in the dumps than usual. Something was obviously bothering him, the Newsies could tell, but he was also trying so hard to hide it. He called Crutchie, Davey, Henri, and Mush to the side for a minute, and Crutchie actually thought that maybe he would tell them what was up, but no. He told them that he had spoken with Seitz, and that he and Bunsen would be at the kids' school today. He said that he told them to be there, and to help get Katie, Allen, and Les back to the diner should there be trouble.

The four could understand why. Ever since the fire in The Wall, when the Newsies saved Oscar from the falling debris outside, the Newsies and the Delancey brothers hadn't been best friends, exactly.

Despite Oscar helping Henri and Davey while they were locked up, he denies the simple act of even handing Henri that newspaper when she had requested it. It was back to old times, when he and Morris would shove the Newsies around for fun. Yeah, good to have Oscar back...

After Jack had finished talking to them, they left to go pick up the kids, and left Jack and the other Newsies in the diner.

As they walked towards the school, it was silent except for the trolley bell, the noises of machines, and street dogs yapping. Crutchie turned to the others.

"Whatta ya think Jack was so worried about?" She asked. "he looked really concerned about something." She said.

Mush shrugged. "I noticed, too. Whatever it is, it ain't something good. He usually tells us if something's up, I mean unless it's really bad. That's when he don't want us to worry, and tries to work it out himself. It eventually turns into an even bigger problem, when he then has no choice but to tell us what was wrong in the first place, and we somehow make everything okay again before dinner." She concluded.

"That's quite the system you've got there." Davey remarked, laughing a bit, but then he looked serious again. "I noticed, too." He nodded. "I have a bad feeling that it happened at work." He said, and the other Newsies nodded in agreement.

"He wasn't really himself at the diner." Henri recalled. "What do ya think happened?" She asked. Davey, Mush, and Crutchie all shrugged.

"Beats me." Crutchie admitted. "We should ask him once we get back."

The others nodded and proceeded along the sidewalk.

They were just a few blocks away from the school when they were stopped by the Delancey brothers.

"Well, well, well..." Oscar said, clicking his tounge. "Newsies off the job?" He asked. "What are ya doing here?"

"We should be asking you the same." Davey remarked, rolling his eyes. "I thought that Weasel still had papers to hand out."

"He did." Morris answered. "But he let us off for a few hours. We're free for now." He said, an evil smile snaking across his face.

"Well if you'll excuse us..." Henri said, trying to step around the Delanceys. Oscar instead shoved her on the sidewalk, causing her to land funny on her left foot, the one that she nearly broke from being in The Wall. She brought in a sharp breath of pain, and Mush began to help her back up, allowing her to lean on her right shoulder for support. Crutchie and Davey stood there angrily.

"What's your problem?!" Crutchie snapped. "Is picking on hurt and crippled Newsies just more fun?!" She asked, ready to fight. Davey put his hands on her shoulders.

"Crutchie, remember why we're here." He reminded her, but he had a bit of a growl in his voice himself, and he was speaking through clenched teeth. He swatted his hand to the side, as if telling the Delanceys to move out of the way. "You've no reason to be here bothering us."

"Who says we need a reason?" Morris asked, about to try to make his way back towards Henri and Mush, but Davey stood his ground in front of the other three.

"Step aside, Morris." Davey said firmly. "We've no time to get into a fight today."

Morris looked him square in the eye for a few seconds, before lifting his foot and digging his heel harshly into Davey's right foot, the same one that he had injured in the day he and Henri had been taken to The Wall.

Davey staggered a bit out of shock, but again stood up somewhat straight, refusing to let Morris to Mush and Henri.

"Gonna take more than that." Davey growled through clenched teeth, obviously in pain but trying not to show it. When Morris and Oscar didn't move out of the way, he looked at Crutchie, motioning towards her crutch. She nodded and leaned against Mush as well, lifting her crutch from the ground at the same time.

"You bring this on yourself." Davey simply said, and Crutchie handed him her crutch, which he then used to swipe at the Delanceys, hitting them and knocking them to the ground. He then handed the crutch back, and all four of them swiftly walked past the brothers and down towards the school, too injured to do any more than a fast walk.

Upon coming to the school, they noticed hardly anyone else was there. Had they really been stalled for that long? They were relieved to find Bunsen, Seitz, and Hannah standing near the school with Allen, Katie, and Les.

Walking up to them, Davey could see Hannah's face fall into a worried look.

"Davey?" She asked as he and the others came up to them. "What happened? Your shoe is busted, and your sock is red." Davey looked down to see that Hannah was right. He also saw a bit of blood seeping from his shoe onto the concrete ground. He began to feel a bit lightheaded. But he just put on a fake smile and said, in a voice that he was trying to make sound as least shaky as possible,

"I'm fine, Hannah. Don't wor-"

But he didn't finish his sentence. He just fell over, blood seeping from his foot to form a bigger puddle on the ground. Henri, Mush, Crutchie, Allen, Katie, and Les began to scream his name in a panic.

"Oh my goodness!!!" Hannah screamed of fear. She got down onto her knees and took Davey's head in her hands. Bunsen and Seitz only stood there in fear, until Hannah literally screeched at them, "Don't just stand there!!! Get help!!!" She exclaimed.

They quickly nodded and raced away from the school, yelling for help.

Davey blinked a few times, Hannah's worried expression and the Newsies and Kids' yells the only thing he remembered before he blacked out.