"She deserves a party or somethin'," Skittery said one night while watching her write yet another page of the Letterpress. All of them were sitting on the bunks in the girls' room.

"Yeah," Stargazer agreed. "First of all, I think she's earned a nick."

The affirmative vote was immediately unanimous on that suggestion, and everyone went to work thinking of a good nickname for Jacqui.

"Somethin' t' do wit' writin'," Jack said.

"How 'bout 'pencil'?" Race suggested.

"She might take that as meanin' we think she's shaped like a pencil," Midnight said, whacking Race with a pillow.

"Just a t'ought," Race mumbled, tossing a stray button at Midnight.

Mush laughed and said, "What about 'World'?"

"Oh, very funny," Blink said, smiling and shoving Mush off of the bed.

"I think 'Scribe' would be good," Skittery said, suddenly turning to the group.

"What's a 'scribe'?" Notes asked on her knees, putting her elbows on a bed next to Snipeshooter, who immediately hopped off and walked to the opposite end of the room.

"A long time ago," Skittery explained, "scribes were these guys who wrote stuff for kings. Whatever happened, they wrote it down."

"Like old reportahs, huh?" Snoddy asked.

"Yeah."

"I like it," Bumlets said.

"Me too," Midnight agreed.

Jacqui was just finishing her story when she became aware of several pairs of eyes watching her. She looked up to see Skittery, Jack, Race, Blink, Mush, Bumlets, Crutchy, Timmy, Snoddy, Swifty, Midnight, Notes, Boots, Snipeshooter, Stargazer, Flame, Sapphire, and Tinker.

Jack stepped forward. "All th' newsies've decided that you've earned a nickname. Y' done a lotta hard work," he said with a smile, "and y' deserve somethin' for it."

"'sides," Snoddy added, "things was gettin' kinda confusin' wit' two Jack Kellys."

"So," Skittery concluded, "from now on, your official newsy name is Scribe."

Jacqui couldn't believe it. She jumped up and threw her arms around Skittery's neck. "This is great," she said, pulling away and smiling at all of them. She didn't realize it, but she still had one arm around Skittery. She also didn't realize that he had his arm around her waist.

"I guess now that y've got so much of th' pape done, y' can leave now," Stargazer said with disappointment.

"You kiddin'?! No way I'd leave now! Uncle Bryan wouldn't trust me with anyone else," Jacqui responded, laughing. She had picked up the Manhattan accent easily within the first few days, and no one who heard her now would believe that she had ever lived anywhere besides the lodging house. Suddenly noticing how close she and Skittery were, she added, "There's things here I can't just up an' leave."

"Ahem…yeah, things," Stargazer said knowingly, bringing quiet snickering from the rest of the group.

"Oh, grow up!" Midnight laughed, whacking Bumlets in the back of the head. He just smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

"SURPRISE!"

Everyone spun around to see Medda Larksen standing in the doorway. Jack immediately walked over and kissed her. "What's my fav'rite redhead doin' slummin' in this parta town?"

"Well," she explained, "Bryan told me about all the work Jacqui had been doing with the newsies, and I thought that sounded so wonderful, she deserved a party. So, I decided that since there was nothing booked at the theater for tonight, all of you could come celebrate." Looking at Jack, Medda whispered, "Don't worry, I already asked. Sarah's going to be there." Jack smiled, kissed Medda on the cheek, and rejoined the group. "See all of you there," Medda called as she descended the stairs. Walking past the front desk, she smiled and told Kloppman, "You'd better be there too."

"Gotta keep an eye on that gran'daughter of mine somehow," he said with a friendly nod.

All of the newsies dressed up in the best outfits they had. Jacqui helped Notes with her hair. "I never had it curled like this before," she told Jacqui, looking in a mirror.

Jacqui smiled and finished up the last curl. "It looks really nice on you," she responded. "Th' curls make it look lighter. It brings out a real pretty red."

The boys waited downstairs while the girls finished up. Tinker was the first to come down, her hair being the shortest, and, therefore, easiest to take care of. She joined the group and waited impatiently for the rest of the girls. Sapphire and Flame came down together, Timmy running down ahead of them. "C'mon!" he said excitedly. "I'm hungry!"

"Y're always hungry," Crutchy said, ruffling his jet-black hair.

Midnight walked down the stairs followed closely by Stargazer. Swifty took one look at Stargazer's lace-trimmed, ash-blond hair and embraced her. Noticing Kloppman eyeing him from behind the desk, he exchanged a small smile with Stargazer and quickly stepped back into the group.

Notes surprised everyone when she walked out. She was dressed in a plain green blouse over which she wore a ruffled green gingham jumper. Her light brown hair fell in loose curls over her shoulders. Snipeshooter was leaning against the wall, kicking at a bug on the floor, when Boots elbowed him and pointed up the stairs.

"What?" Snipeshooter asked annoyed but still looking up. When he saw Notes, his eyes grew as wide as saucers, and his chin nearly hit the ground.

Seeing his reaction, Notes calmly descended the stairs, walked over to him, and took his hand. Inside, though, she was screaming ecstatically.

Not wanting to make the other girls look bad, Jacqui had chosen to bring the most modest dress she had, but it was still beautiful. It had a high collar that was lace from the neck to the shoulders. A deep rose cotton slightly puffed out and then tapered down the arms, trimmed in a scalloped satin at the wrists. The bodice tapered to the waist, and the skirt fell in two layers to the floor, both layers trimmed in lace. All of the lace was the deep rose color of the bodice. Jacqui had still felt bad about bringing that dress, but the other girls had made her feel better. They said they knew she wasn't trying to be any better than them, and they loved the chance to see her in the dress.

Skittery had been leaning on the railing, waiting for Jacqui. Now she was finally descending the stairs. Looking up with a smile that almost melted Jacqui to the ground, Skittery walked up to meet her, took her hand, and led her past the group and out the door. The rest of the group followed, some of them pairing up - Swifty and Stargazer a bit more cautiously than the others - and headed for Irving Hall.

"Jack!" Les ran over and hugged him the second Jack walked in the door.

"Heya, Les, how's it goin'?"

"Sarah's over there," Les said, pointing to a table and dragging Jack towards it.

"See y' guys latah," Jack told the others.

"Yeah, right," David said teasingly, joining Jacqui and Skittery. "Hey, guys," he continued with a smile.

"Hi, Dave," Jacqui responded. The three found an empty table, where they were soon joined by Specs and Elizabeth.

Almost without thinking, Skittery asked, "What're you doin' here?"

"Nice t' see you too," Specs responded. Turning his attention to Jacqui, he said, "So, life at th' lodgin' house any better than it ever was?"

"Nope," Jacqui laughed, "but I think I'm trainin' Skit t' behave 'imself a little better. He's not in a bad mood so much anymore."

Skittery looked at both of them, annoyed, and replied, "I'm never in a bad mood - and I hate bein' called 'Skit'."

Jacqui and Specs just exchanged smiles, and the five of them continued in conversation. The entire night was filled with songs and surprises. "Uh, I gotta go get somethin'. 'Scuse me," Jack said, suddenly getting up from where he was sitting with Sarah, Les, and their parents. As he walked past the table where Bumlets, Snoddy, Tinker, Midnight, Crutchy, Timmy, and Sapphire were sitting, he grabbed Bumlets' arm, yanking him out of his seat. "'Scuse me…" Bumlets told them as Jack dragged him off. When they were backstage, Jack asked, "Y' got that song done?"

"Huh?"

"I heard y' workin' on it th' othah night, th' real pretty one…"

Bumlets rolled his eyes and kicked at a stage prop. "Geez, Jack, I didn't think anyone heard it…"

"Is it done?"

"Well, yeah, I guess so…"

"Could ya sing it t'night?"

"WHAT?!"

"Sh! Y' wrote it for Midnight, right?"

"Um, yeah…"

"I know Medda'd let ya do it heah…"

"But…"

"I need a good way t' ask Sarah t' marry me, and I ain't no good at comin' right out and askin' stuff like that, so if y' did th' song first, maybe I could…y'know…"

"So y're finally gonna ask 'er, huh? Good for you!" Bumlets said, smiling.

Jack just whacked him on the shoulder and said, "Y' gonna do th' song or not?"

"Yeah, sure, I'll do it."

"Thanks," Jack concluded with a smile.

Jack explained everything to Medda, and she had no problem allowing Bumlets to do the song. She found an old guitar in the theater and handed it to him. All eyes turned to the stage as he began. "Um, I started this song a few weeks ago…and a friend of mine wanted me t' do it t'night, so I figured I might as well…so for him…and for you, Midnight…here it is."

None of the newsies had realized that any of their friends could have written such a touching song about love and friendship, but his was one of the sweetest they had ever heard. Midnight was surprised when he had mentioned her name, and now she was fighting not to start crying in front of everyone.

When the song was over and the applause had died down Jack jumped up on the stage and thanked Bumlets. "Don't let it go t' your head," he joked. "Y' still gotta sell papes t'morra!" When everyone stopped laughing, he continued, "Um, I'm kinda glad Bumlets did that song, 'cuz I don't think I coulda done this any othah way. I think mosta you know how I feel about Sarah, so I ain't gonna try t' hide that. But I been tryin' t figgah out how t' do this. So, um, Sarah," he said, turning to her, "if your folks don't mind, and of course if y' want to," and getting down on one knee, "will y' marry me?"

A broad smile crossed Sarah's face as she leapt from her chair and walked over to Jack, kissing him, bringing loud cheering from the surrounding newsies. "Were you really expecting anything but a yes?" she asked.

Returning her smile, Jack responded, "I just didn't wanna be too cocky." Then, turning to her parents, Jack said, "I know I ain't got much t' offah Sarah, but I love 'er a lot, and theh's no way you'll evah see me treat 'er bad or nuttin'."

"There was never a doubt in our minds," Mayer responded reassuringly. "We were just waiting for you to ask her."

"That means you'll be my big brother! And Davey's!"

"That's right, Les," David said with a smile as he approached them and hugged Jack and Sarah.

"You'll be gettin' anothah brothah, too. Hey, Blink," he called, "Ovah heah!"

Blink walked over, smiling. "Mind if I kiss th' bride-t'-be?" he asked, giving Sarah a kiss on the cheek before Jack could answer.

"Everyone," Jack said, "meet Joey Sullivan."

"Heya," Joey said with a shyer smile than the one he had approached with. The two brothers explained the whole story while the Jacobses listened with keen interest.

"Wow, neat! I have two new big brothers!" Les exclaimed.

With that, the entire family - Sullivans and Jacobses - sat down and immediately began plans for the wedding.

Jacqui had long forgotten about getting to the bottom of Skittery's story; little did she know that she would before the night was out, and little did she know just what would happen when she did.

The party went on late into the night; when it was finally over, all of the newsies headed back to the lodging house. When they walked in, a man who appeared to be some sort of a lawyer was waiting at the desk. He immediately picked Skittery out of the group. Skittery seemed to recognize the man and grew tense. "Oh, good," the man said in a relieved manner. "I didn't see your name. I was afraid I'd come to the wrong place."

Annoyed that someone had been looking in the ledger while he was gone, Kloppman approached the man and asked, "What business have y' got with him?"

"I've brought the first part of his inheritance," he explained, handing Skittery a check.

Skittery just shoved it back at him. "Keep it," he responded.

"You don't have to hide anything anymore," the man told him. "You have followed your grandfather's clause perfectly. You've earned this."

"I don't want it," Skittery snapped defensively.

Putting a hand on Skittery's shoulder, Jack asked, "Kloppman - and all th' rest of us - still wanna know what's goin' on."

"Allow me to explain. This," he said, pointing at Skittery, "is Alexander McAfee."

"Y' mean, like th' McAfee apartments? My folks usta live there," Snipeshooter said.

"Those were owned by Alexander's father. When he died, that left Alexander - the only grandchild - the sole heir to his grandfather's multi-million dollar fortune."

"Awright, Skittery!" Race exclaimed.

"Will ya let th' man talk?" Jack scolded.

"Yeah!" Blink chided, whacking Race in the chest. "Get some manners, huh? Geez!"

"Sorry," Jack apologized, turning back to the man.

"Of course you are," he said disdainfully. Skittery glared at him angrily, but no one seemed to notice, and the man continued with his explanation. "Alexander was a rather spoiled child and, as a result, quite difficult to get along with.

"However, the elder Mr. McAfee had grown up poor. While on his deathbed, he realized that his fifteen year old grandson was concerned, not with his grandfather's death, but with how he would spend his inheritance. So he added a condition to his will - before Alexander could claim the inheritance, he had to live as his grandfather once had. He could tell no one about his background, or his future fortune. If Alexander would do this until his eighteenth birthday, his grandfather felt he would be worthy of the inheritance."

Skittery felt Jack's hand slip off of his shoulder. One glance at the other newsies showed him a storm of mixed emotions; anger, confusion, and pain burned in all of them.

"That's th' first time," Jack said almost maliciously, "anyone's become a newsy t' get millions."

"I know it was wrong…"

"There's othah guys who really needed us!" Jack snapped, whipping around to face him. "And all you wanted was some stupid inheritance."

"OK!" yelled Skittery. "OK. That's why I came here in the beginning, but it didn't take long for that t' change." Bringing his temper under control, he continued, "After a month, the money didn't mean anything anymore."

Jack muttered something under his breath at this remark, but Skittery ignored him and went on. "For th' first time in my life, I was around people who really cared about me, people who were there when I needed 'em. And for th' first time in my life, I wanted t' be there for someone else, not just me. I suddenly understood what my grandfather had tried to teach me all those years."

"If th' money didn't mean nuttin' to ya anymore, why didn't ya tell us about it? It didn't mattah if y' broke th'…th'…"

"…clause," Skittery concluded dryly. "Look at 'em, Jack - I knew it would just hurt 'em. Besides, it never seemed t' be th' right time. Then, with th' strike and everything, I just forgot about it, I guess."

"Yeah? Well, he told ya that y' don't have t' act anymore. Y' fooled us poor kids real good, Alex. Yeah, you earned that money, and now y' got it, so just take it an' go."

"Jack…"

"Get outta heah, OK?!"

Skittery took one last look around the lodging house at all of the boys - and girls - who had been his family for three years. He turned and slowly started to walk out the door, but Blink stopped him. "Wait, Skit." Blink walked over to Jack, who was leaning on the front desk. He could see that Jack's breathing was shaky, and he knew his brother was more confused and hurt than angry. "Jack, if he doesn't wanna leave…" he began gently.

"He nevah trusted us enough t' tell us anything about this - why should he trust us enough t' stay now that we know he lied t' us?"

"Oh, get off it, Jack!" Blink shouted angrily. "It ain't like this ain't happened before! I remember somethin' almost th' same happenin' t' another newsy. All his friends trusted him, and they thought they knew everything about 'im. Then one day this guy shows up, this guy who knew 'im better than they did. Without even askin' 'im, he just blurts out this kids life story - in front of all 'is friends - destroyin' everything they believed." Lowering his voice to a whisper, Blink said, "They didn't give up on you, Frank. Doesn't Skit deserve th' same chance?"

Jack remembered how he had felt at the trial the day after the rally. He knew Blink was right - Skittery must be feeling the same pain and confusion right now. He stood, giving Blink a grateful smile. Approaching Skittery, he said, "Look, I know y' wanna stay, but I ain't gonna letcha…"

"Don't worry. I'll have my stuff outta here t'night."

"Would ya let me finish? What I was gonna say was I ain't gonna letcha give up that money y' worked so hard for."

Skittery looked at the newsies, then at the man, thinking. "Michaels," he said decidedly, "please open two accounts: one in my name, and one for the Jonathan McAfee Home for Abandoned and Neglected children, to be erected on the best site you can find. Place that check in the second account. Sell the Dublin estates, and use the funds to do any repair work that is needed at this lodging house."

"But…"

"Michaels," Skittery warned authoritatively, "as you said, I have earned this."

"Of course, but surely you want the estates for yourself…"

Smiling, Skittery responded, "I'm taking care of the only estate I've ever enjoyed! Now, as I said, the money from the sale is to be used to improve this lodging house, and any remaining funds are to be put towards the improvement or erection of other lodging houses in the state."

Everyone listened in awe to this sudden change in their friend's manner of speaking. He never had sounded quite like them, but now he spoke like a full-fledged gentleman.

"Don't you want to use any of the money for yourself?" Michaels asked arrogantly, looking down his nose at the newsies.

"Just enough to get an apartment, if Jacqui agrees to marry me."

Jacqui just stared at Skittery, unable to speak. "Y' don't have t' worry about embarrassing me if y' say no," he told her, laughing and gradually returning to the casual street accent with which he had become much more comfortable. "I've gotten worse in fronta these guys."

"No?!" Jacqui finally managed to squeak. "I've been practicing 'yes' since Uncle Bryan sent me the strike article!"

He put his arms around her waist and kissed her. Michaels nearly jumped when the room filled with shouts and applause. Notes held tighter to Snipeshooter's arm, which he quickly yanked out of her grasp.

"Thanks for settin' me straight," Jack whispered to Blink.

"Anytime, big brother," Blink replied with a smile. "Anytime. By th' way," he added, "I get t' be th' leader at th' lodgin' house now that you're leavin', right?"

Just at that moment, Race asked, "Hey, anybody seen my watch?"

"Sure," Mush responded, "lotsa times. Real pretty gold."

"Ha ha, very funny," Race said, shoving Mush against the wall.

"Hey, why'd y' do that? I didn't take your stupid watch!" Mush yelled, shoving Race back.

"It ain't a stupid watch!"

"Mush ain't never taken nuttin' before," Pie Eater said, getting in-between the boys, "so 'e woudn't start now."

Race responded, "Who ast you?"

This only succeeded in lighting a fuse which, in Pie Eater's case, was very short to begin with. It was almost a replay of the scene a little over a month before in the bathroom - Pie Eater had Race on the floor in two seconds, and Snoddy and Mush were trying unsuccessfully to pry them apart.

As they watched the scene from a safe distance, Jack leaned over to Blink and responded, "The lodgin' house's all yours, little brothah. All yours."