Courage In A Crutch ~Newsies Fanfic~

Chapter Five

Spritz P.O.V

I wake up next to Crutchie.

He is slumped down, snoring.

Adorable.

"Pssst! Crutchie!"

I lean closer to him.

"Nahh, mom. Five mor' minutes."

He playfully pushes me away.

I laugh.

Suddenly, Blink runs in, out of breath.

"Blink? What's the matter?"

He barely manages to stutter...

"Pulitzer and Hearst raised the prices."

Me and Crutchie are on our feet now.

"What???"

The three of us rush downstairs to find Jack, head in his hands, looking restless.

"Ah damn. I knew it'd happen."

He sounds as if he hasn't slept in days.

"Jack!"

He looks up, his face streaked with dirt, sweat, and other things.

His hair is not as neat as usual, it is mangled, and ruffled everywhere.

Dark circles are under his eyes, and I can't help but frown.

Poor Jack.

Jack stands on a crate.

"Pulitzer and Hearst, they think we're nothin'. Are we nothin'?!?"

We all shout back.

"NO!"

I notice the girl from last night hiding behind Jack.

Brooklyn, I believe.

I stroll outside in the alley where it all began.

I can almost hear the rain and scuffle of boots.

A stray dog peeks from behind a trash can.

I lean down and pet him.

"How'd we get here, huh?"

A dastardly cackle echoes around me.

"How sweet."

I whip around to see Snyder.

Ugggh.

I lift my clenched fists.

"Now, now. I'm not here for that this time."

He slowly creeps closer.

"I'm here to deliver a message. You have two brothers, and a cousin. All newsies."

He hands me a photograph.

As soon as he appeared, Snyder had vanished.

I glimpsed at the photo in shock.

A tall boy, with dirty blonde hair.

Davey.

A small boy on me and Davey's shoulders.

Les.

And my elbow on the shoulder of a blonde boy with an eyepatch.

Blink.

How did I not know about this?

It's unbelievable!

Such a bad day today, geez.

Not that I hate them, it's just a lot for me.

I need to tell them, too.

I sigh.

The dog has scampered out of sight.

A light rain begins to fall.

I trudge back towards the house.

The streets are empty.

I am, like always,

Alone.

((Short, but relevant. This'd be a bad chapter to miss. <3))