Brewin' in the Boroughs

Chapter 21

"How have you been Katherine?" Bill asked politely from his seat at the long dinner table. "How is your career faring?"

"Very well, thank you Bill," Katherine responded. "But that's-"

"Yes, I should think it was. I've seen several articles written by you recently, and I have to say that they're very good," Darcy agreed.

"I'm glad you think so, but that's not what I wanted to talk about."

"Okay, what did you need to talk about? Are you alright?"

"Yes Darcy, I'm fine." Katherine suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. She knew the boys were trying to look out for her, but she could've done without the interruptions. "I'm perfectly fine, but some other people aren't."

"And may I ask who you'd be referring to?" Bill wondered.

"The children in the city," Katherine stated.

"What children?" Darcy asked. His brown eyes squinted up behind his spectacles as he tried to figure out who Katherine could possibly be speaking of. "All the children around here are fine."

"Are you being serious?"

"Well I guess Mr. Hale's daughter did get sick, but I thought she was better now."

Katherine stared at her friends for a second and shook her head. "There are other people in this city besides us. You do know that, don't you?"

"Of course we do!" Bill insisted.

"Do you have any idea what's going on with any of those kids?" Both boys shook their heads. "They're dying!" Katherine hissed quietly. "Haven't you read the papers lately?"

"People die sometimes Katherine, especially those who are less fortunate. It's just a fact of life," Darcy said sympathetically.

"They're being killed! Jack told me about it."

"They're being killed?"

"That's what I said," Katherine muttered.

"That's terrible! Who's doing it?"

"Some newsboys from the Bronx," Katherine shrugged.

"What do you want us to do about it Katherine?" Bill asked.

"I don't know, but there has to be some way we can help them. Maybe if we get a story written about it. Then people will know and they'll try to stop it, and-"

"Wait just a second," Darcy interrupted. "I don't think that's such a good idea. How will the boys survive if we do this? People will be scared of them and will stop buying papers. Then our dads will lose money and the boys won't have any either."

"Darcy's right," Bill agreed. "Besides, you talked about how bad the police were during the strike. If we reported anything about this they'd have an excuse to hurt all of them."

"Do you have any other ideas?"

"Look, maybe it's best if we just stay out of it and let them figure it out for themselves," Darcy suggested.

"So that's it?" Katherine asked in shock. She'd expected more from her friends. Katherine stood up from her chair and glared at the boys. "You're okay with just letting them die?"

"That's not what we said! I just don't think we should throw ourselves into the middle of something that has nothing to do with us."

Katherine shot Bill one last hard look before sweeping away from the table and towards the front door. "I'm going to help them, whether you're helping me or not."