Downstairs

[Racetrack Higgins]

[[New Day]]

Racetrack walked in stride with Kid Blink toward the Brooklyn lodging house. Because he went from Manhattan to Brooklyn almost daily (or had, before all this crap started and he'd had to split his earnings and stay on lockdown) he knew the quickest way to the bridge. He kept thinking about Sweets and the other kids trapped in--wherever they were. He still had no idea about what Sweets had said, but would keep quiet. He asked Blink, "What do we gotta tell Spot, now?" He had been absent for a lot of the conversation, trying to scrounge up something for Sweets to eat.

When they reached the Brooklyn lodging house, Racetrack was unsure whether to knock or not, before realizing that anyone from Brooklyn wouldn't bother knocking if they came to Manhattan so screw them he was going in. He opened the door and glanced around...the downstairs was mostly empty, save for a few stray Brooklyn boys Race didn't know by name. They regarded him with suspicion until he said, "We're comin' from Jack Kelly." The boys looked at each other. One of them (Duster? Doppler? Docker? Somethin' like that) stood and said, "I'll tell 'im you're here, a'right?" He left to where Spot was, leaving Race and Blink to wait and be stared at by the other two boys who still sat in the main room. For Crissake, didn't they have something better to do...? Race thought as he tried to find something fascinating about the staircase.

[Fighter Mallory]

Fighter strode in the front door cursing under her breath and wiping dirt off of her pants. She’d tripped running away from a vendor who’d been chasing her because she’d stolen some rolling papers from him. It wasn’t her finest moment but she’d still gotten away and that’s all that mattered. Pulling a pre-rolled cigarette from her pocket she glanced up, finally noticing the two Manhattan boys. As she lit her cigarette she gave them a smirk and nodded, "Nice walk, fellas?"

Running a hand through her hair she walked over a took a seat with her fellow lodgers before blowing out a puff of smoke. She wondered what news they had. She knew for a fact no Manhattaner liked coming here. Course she knew why as well. Most people just steered clear of their borough unless they had an incredibly important reason for being there.

[Kid Blink]

On the way to Brooklyn, Blink filled Race in on what had been said while Race was off fetching food and water for Sweets--that Sweets had escaped from a factory where all the kids were being kept, and that she could remember how to get back, and that Jack sent Bumlets and Specs to inform Queens and the Bronx of Sweets's return, and that they were to ask Prince and Dodger to put someone in charge of their kids and come to Manhattan PDQ, and that he and Race were to do the same on their mission to find Spot, or Smalls and (aw, shit) Lucky if Spot wasn't locatable.

Blink let Race take charge once they got to the Brooklyn lodging house. Of the two of them, Race was generally on much better terms with the Brooklyn newsies than Blink, seeing how the best track in New York was in Brooklyn and Race was a frequent visitor, where as Blink was generally here just to steal the Brooklyn boys' women. Apparently Jack was trying to get Blink killed today.

After Race sent one of the Brooklyn boys in search of Spot, a girl came in the house. Blink recognized her a bit, had seen her around once or twice. She was exactly the kind of girl that could get him in trouble in Brooklyn, save for the fact that (thank god!) Blink had learned her name before approaching her. A Brooklyn girl with the nickname "Fighter" was not a Brooklyn girl Blink wanted to try to tangle with.

"Just here to pass leader info," he said by way of answering her, his tone clearly ending that with a "we're not here to make trouble" note.

[Fighter Mallory]

Fighter laughed at Blink's trepid tone and nodded her head. If they had business with Conlon it was none of her business and if he wanted them to know he would tell them himself. She may have lost a little of her faith in him when he pulled the disappearing act on them but it had been restored when he came back. For some reason Conlon would have her loyalty until the day she died. She supposed it was because of the type of person he was and the fact they had become pretty good friends since she'd come here. She knew he would respect her as long as she respected him. Taking another drag of her cigarette she glanced between the two. "Let me know if I can do anything."

[spot]

Spot had just come from the showers when he heard a knock on his door. A ratty and frayed towel resting around his neck, the Brooklyn leader grabbed a button up from the end of his bunk and shrugged it on. Tossing the towel aside, Spot opened his door. Apparently some of Jack's boys were here, undoubtedly to give him the rundown he'd already gotten from Birdie.

Spot trotted down the stairs, lazily buttoning his shirt. As he neared the bottom, he saw Racetrack and Kid Blink, standing out like sore thumbs. In fact, Racetrack was staring so intently at the staircase, you'd think it was staring back. Letting his hands fall at his sides, Spot dropped down the last step.

Cocking an eyebrow, he glanced between the two, "What can I do you for, boys?" He could just be upfront and tell them he already knew about Sweets and the potential meeting at Medda's, but that wasn't really in Spot's nature. He was willing to hear a bit more before completely dismissing Kelly's plan. Hell, maybe he'd be pleasantly surprised.

[Fighter Mallory]

*NEW DAY* (For Gwennie & Davey)

Fight had left Davey outside the house and come in to look for Gwennie. Glancing around the downstairs she didn't see her so she headed towards the kitchen but didn't see her there either. Standing at the bottom of the stairs she called up, "Gwennie you up there?" She didn't want to spend too much time looking for and leave Davey outside to fend for himself. She figured the girl would answer her and head down anyway.

[Gwennie]

Gwennie was lying on her bed when she heard Fighter call her name. Her eyes shot open and she jumped out of bed. It still hurt move suddenly or to run but that's exactly what she did. The bruises had already faded a lot and the ones on her face, which weren't really as bad as the others, were almost completely gone so he knew she would heal whether she rested or not. That was what the grown ups said to do and she had tried, really, but resting was just too boring to do for a really long time and she'd already been inside too much so she had absolutely no qualms as she raced down the stairs and threw her arms around Fighter's waist. "Hi Fightah!" she chirped happily looking up at her friend.

[Fighter Mallory]

Fighter smiled as Gwennie came running down the stairs and wrapped her tiny arms around her waist to give her a hug. "Hey'ya Gwennie..." Leaning down she smirked, "You shouldn't be running. How you feeling?" She waited for an answer and patted the girls head before standing. "Davey came for a visit, thought we'd like to get some ice cream." She smiled at Gwennie knowing the girl would love to eat some ice cream. Hell any kid would.

[Gwennie]

Gwennie made a face "I know, but walkin' is boring an' it don't even hurt no more almos' at all" she lied, smiling hopefully. Usually she didn't like to lie because it was bad but being hurt was really boring and she just wanted it to be over. She could live with it actually hurting but when people knew, they didn't let her do anything. She wasn't even allowed to move around and explore while she was selling anymore. she was just supposed to stand in one spot all day. It was no fun.

Her eyes at the mention of Ice cream and she had to stop herself from jumping up and down as she knew it would earn her another reprimand. "Oh boy! Ice cream!" she cried elatedly. "Are we goin' now?" she asked, her voice brimming with enthusiasm. This was the first neat thing she had been allowed to do in forever and didn't think she could wait for it for very long.