Santa Fe

Chapter 4: The World Will Know

The next morning, Abby was woken up by David. She was talking in her sleep. She was having a bad dream about Jack.

"Abby wake up," David said.
"Huh? What," she asked.
"We have to get to work. Sarah has already left and Les is finishing up his breakfast. You were talking in your sleep a lot. You said something about losing Jack," David answered.
"Oh. I did have a dream about him going to Santa Fe and leaving me behind in New York. He and I were also together in that dream," Abby said.
"Aren't the both of you together now," David asked.
"No, Dave. He only said he loved me yesterday. He hasn't asked me to be his girl yet, and I haven't told him I love him yet. It's sort of complicated," Abby replied. "Can you please get out so I can get dressed?"
"Oh. Sure," he answered before leaving Sarah's room.

Abby quickly got dressed and headed out to see David drinking a glass of water and Les finishing breakfast.

"Good morning, Abby," Les said.
"Good morning, Les. Ready to sell some papes," she asked.
"Yeah," he replied before putting his plate in the sink.

"Come on. We've got a big day ahead of us," David said while opening the door to his apartment.

The three of them headed to the World distribution center to see all the newsies angry.

"They jacked up the price! You hear that Jack? Ten cents a hundred! You know, it's bad enough that we gotta eat what we don't sell, now they jack up the price! Can you believe that," Kid Blink asked.

"This'll bust me. I'm barely makin' a livin' right now," Skittery said.

"I'll be back to sleepin' on the streets," Boots said.

"Abby! Thank God you're here," Jack said as he hugged her.
"What's going on," she asked.
"They jacked up the price of papes," Kid Blink  answered.
"No! They couldn't," Abby exclaimed.

"It don't make no sense. I mean, all the money Pulitzer's makin', why would he gouge us," Mush asked.
"Because he's a tight wad, that's why," Racetrack replied.

"Pipe down! It's just a gag. So, why the jack up, Weasel," Jack asked.
"Why not? It's a nice day. Why don't ya ask Mr. Pulitzer," he suggested.

"They can't do this to me, Jack," Kid Blink said.
"They can do what they want. It's their stinkin' paper," Racetrack said.

"It ain't fair! We got no rights at all," Boots said.

"Come on, it's a rigged deck. They got all the marbles," Racetrack said.

"Jack, we got no choice, so why don't we get our lousy papes while they still got some, huh," Mush asked.
"No! Nobody's goin' anywhere. They can't get away with this," he answered while sitting down next to Abby and lighting a cigarette.

"Give him some room! Give him some room! Let him think," Les said.

"Jack, you done thinkin' yet," Racetrack asked.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! World employees only on this side of the gate," Weasel shouted.

"Well, listen. One thing for sure, if we don't sell papes, nobody sells papes. Nobody comes through those gates until they put the price back to where it was," Jack said as he put out the cigarette.
"You mean like a strike," David asked.
"Yeah, like a strike," Jack answered.