Newsies everlasting

Chapter 19

Back at the lodging house, Jesse was pacing the room with his head in his hands, desperately trying to think up a plan to reach Miles.

"Jesse, calm down," Winnie pleaded, "he's out, he'll be okay. Miles knows how to keep himself out of trouble."

"It's not just that," Jesse said, "I just can't believe Jack knows! Jack was never meant to know! I'm so stupid!" He kicked the chair, angry with himself.

"No, no you're not, believe me. This isn't your fault. He would have probably found out eventually. Besides, he can help us!"

"How?"

"I don't know yet, but I guess it means you don't have to worry about hiding the secret from him now. You don't need to lie to him anymore. He can cover for you while you're away, looking for Miles, so none of the other newsies get suspicious."

"I guess" Jesse mumbled, calming down a little.

"When should we find Miles?" Winnie asked. He didn't say anything for around three full minutes while he contemplated his options, before coming to a conclusion.

"Tomorrow."

"What?"

"Tomorrow. We need to get to him soon! And he has no idea I'm in New York so it's not like he can come and find us while we weigh up our options! We need to act fast! At least we know he'll be heading to Treegap, that's a given."

"Okay, Okay, so what do we tell the boys?"

Jesse thought for a while before responding, rubbing his temples as if to help think faster.

"What if we say your mother is ill and you need to visit her, and I'm just going for emotional support?" He suggested.

"That sounds great and all, but how can you expect them to let you go without a crutch?"

Jesse kicked the sofa, remembering that he wasn't even supposed to walk around the room by himself, let alone travel to Treegap. Until he got a new crutch, he couldn't do anything.

"What if we just leave tomorrow, and Jack can tell the others that Katherine had already bought you a replacement before you could say goodbye? We'll say we heard the news while they were selling papes, and there was only one train back home for a few days, so we had to leave without telling them. Jack can cover for us." Winnie suggested, allowing Jesse to pause for a moment to contemplate this.

"Okay, Okay, we'll have to see when the next train is, then we'll leave."

"Oh, Jesse, I hope he's okay! I'm sure he'll be fine, but I'm still stressed." Winnie began to play with a strand of thread hanging loose from a cushion, trying to hide how nervous she was from Jesse.

"Me too." He would have loved to be able to reassure her that Miles would be fine, but he couldn't bring himself to do so, considering he was stressed beyond belief. Jesse carried on pacing the room, before the front door burst open, followed by the noise of the stampede of newsies pushing their way inside. He quickly leapt onto the sofa, pretending to have been there all along. Each of the boys were smiling broadly, excited after having been to such a lavish store - only Jack, who was dragging an exceptionally pale Davey behind him, seemed to be exhausted. After he had lay Davey down on the opposite sofa, he collapsed next to Jesse and rested his head on his shoulder, shattered after trying to fruitlessly control over twenty newsies for what seemed like forever.

"Tough appointment?" Jesse laughed, though he received no response as Jack had already fallen asleep. He looked over at Winnie, who just shrugged and laughed back.

"I better go home now," she began, before standing up and placing the thin excuse for a blanket she had been sitting on over Jack, "I'll meet you first thing in the morning. I'll come to the roof top."

"How am I meant to get up there?" Jesse reminded her, pointing down to his leg.

"Oh, yeh, I'll just meet you here then" with that, she waved goodbye to all the newsies, before walking out the door into the streets of New York.

Jesse sat there, with Jack snoring on his shoulder, looking around at the boys surrounding him. Each and every one of them radiated energy, the youth in their faces gleaming with promise. They had their whole lives ahead of them. How would he cope, he thought, a century from then, knowing that each of these glowing teenagers will have decayed under age and time, and long buried in the ground? How would he feel knowing that his friends were dead when he was still an active teenage boy, once he had abandoned them in the jaws of death. He would have to live the rest of his life knowing that he had left them behind. One day, these boys would be old men, and wouldn't even be able to recognise Jesse if he were able to meet them again. He glanced at Race, then Davey, then Albert, then Jojo, and every other boy surrounding him. He finally looked at Jack, sleeping, blissfully unaware of the pessimistic thoughts swallowing Jesse's mind. In a century, Jack would be nothing more than a memory, and Jesse would have to visit his grave while he hid in his seventeen year old shell. Tears began to form in his eyes, though he tried not to make it obvious to the others.

"Hey, you Okay?" Jack had half woken up as he felt tears slowly trickling onto his face.
Jesse tried to hide his emotions and immediately wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

"Yeh, I'm fine."

"No ya ain't, c'mon, let's talk" Jack hoisted himself off the sofa, pulling Jesse up beside him, though they both knew he didn't need help. After they were out of earshot from the others, safely in the kitchen, Jesse regained the ability of his leg. After years of aiding his friend when he didn't have his crutch, Jack was still surprised when Jesse walked on his own accord, despite the fact that he finally knew the secret.

"Okay, what's wrong?" He asked, leaning against the sideboard.

Jesse contemplated lying and making something up, but he had no reason to anymore.

"I was just thinking," he began, trying to hold back his tears, "one day, you guys will all be dead, and I'll still be here, forever seventeen. What am I gonna do then?" He struggled he contain his sobbing, but managed to keep his voice down so no one else heard him.

"Hey, hey, don't ya know that wese a family? Even if we is dead, you'll never forget us, and we'll never forget you. I promise. I'll be there, in ya head, for eternity, rambling on about Santa Fe and annoying ya constantly. I ain't leavin ya, even if I'm dead."

The pair of them shared a laugh, as Jesse managed to stop his tears and regain his normal optimistic visage.

"Thanks, Jack" he smiled.

"No problem. We'll never die, as long as ya remember us. Promise ya won't forget us in a thousand years?"

"I could never forget you, Jack, ya know that" he beamed. Jesse was so grateful for the fact that he could finally open up to his friend about his immortality, and share his pain with Jack.

"Just imagine me singing about Santa Fe in ya brain for centuries!"

"Oh god, now I'm even more depressed than before!"

The pair of them fell into hysterics, dissolving the tenebrosity of Jesse's previous thoughts. Jack began belting out lyrics while Jesse plugged his ears and began kicking him with his 'broken' leg.

"Alright alright, I'll stop!" "Jack wheezed as his friend kicked him in the stomach. "C'mon, let's get some rest."