The World Will Know (Newsies)

1: Stranger on the Street

"Katherine! Rebecca! Elizabeth! Slow down!" A young man called as he ran down the street early in the morning, before many people were up for work. He wouldn't have been up either, if he hadn't promised these girls he would take them out for an early morning walk, as one of them had requested. "I thought you wanted to walk!"

Laughs could be heard from the girls in front of him, and one of them turned her head to glance back at him as they ran. Her green eyes sparkled with amusement, matching the shade of her own gown. "Oh, cheer up Darcy! You knew we wanted to just run around in the mornings and do what we pleased. You knew we weren't planning on just walking."

"Becky, what if your father were to see you running around down these streets with your skirts hiked up like that?" Darcy pointed out, and the three girls immediately froze in their places. "See? I figured you'd think that. Don't worry, I'm alright with what you want to do, but either do it earlier, or not around your homes or fathers' workplaces."

One of the other girls, who looked almost exactly like Rebecca, save for her blue eyes and matching blue frock, spoke up with a sigh. "But we were having fun..."

"I know, Eliza. I'm sorry. How about you at least let me walk you around for a little bit, so we aren't outright lying to your fathers when I take you back home?" Darcy suggested.

The three girls shared a look, silently debating this idea before nodding, almost at the same time. "Alright," the third girl decided, who by process of elimination must have been Katherine.

Darcy, grateful to hear that, nodded and offered his arms to the girls. Katherine took his right one, but Elizabeth and Rebecca shook their heads. Always the considerate one, Elizabeth replied, "We'll walk together, take up less space on the sidewalk that way." With that, the twins took each other's arm, identical expressions of enjoyment on their faces.

"Alright then. Let's go. I promised your fathers that you'd be home by eight to take care of your errands," Darcy replied, and they started their leisurely stroll down the road. The twins were in front, turning their heads back towards the others to keep up a conversation as much as possible.

"What kinds of errands? Did they say?" Rebecca inquired curiously.

"You're going dress shopping," Darcy started, to the groan of young Rebecca, "then maybe a stop at the market. Kath's probably supposed to get to work or something." When he saw Katherine nod and Rebecca's face pale as if she wanted to throw up, he quickly asked, "What? Do you not like dress shopping?"

"I've got plenty of dresses already. I don't need any more," Rebecca declared.

"Well, that's apparently what your life has in store for today. I can't change it, and I don't think you'd be able to convince anyone to change it either, sadly," Darcy told her, laying out the facts of the time.

Rebecca sighed and crossed the street with everyone, shaking her head. Being a woman in 1899 was hard, and she hated the lack of freedom. She wanted to control her own destiny, like how Katherine had been able to get a career of her own. She wanted to be able to make a difference. But it was hard to do that due to the culture around her.

They were in Newsie Square by now, not that the group had really realized it. Their conversation had distracted them from most of their surroundings, until a young boy, maybe a year or two younger at most, popped out of a door in front of the twins. Rebecca and Elizabeth stepped back beside Darcy, creating a little arc of people around this newcomer.

"Well, hello, hello, hello, beautiful," he greeted, a "hello" directed at each of the three ladies. The ladies, however, had to use some strength to keep themselves from rolling their eyes at this kid.