I had grown up in the Oklahoma territory. I had long light brown hair and green eyes. My parents had died and I had come to New York to meet my best friend Brooklyn. Unfortunately, I had ended up being chased by two creeps that obviously liked beating up people. They probably would have done more than try to beat me up if they had known that I was a girl. But they couldn't tell with my hair up in my hat.

I heard voices behind me, "Morris, the kid went this way!" Okay, maybe I hadn't lost them. "Oh yeah Brooklyn, New York is just the greatest place on earth. Especially when you are getting chased around by these two idiots!" I mumbled to myself.

After a while I was convinced that I had lost them but kept running, just in case. All of a sudden I ran into a wall and fell down, stunned.

"Hey! Why don't ya look wheres youse goin'?!" An angry voice said.

I looked up. 'Well, this is a handsome wall.' I thought. He wore a cowboy hat and a bandanna and had a strong New York accent. I scolded myself mentally for that thought and quickly reminded myself he might be a friend of those other two guys.

I stood up. "Why don't you watch where you're going?" I replied defensively.

I got up. My old friend is coming today. She was going to meet me on the bridge at noon. Chris is, was from out west. She had only heard me tell how great New York was in my letters, poor thing.

I wasn't watching where I was going and ran right into Oscar and Morris Delancy. "Hey watch where yous goin' Brooklyn!" I didn't have the patience for them so I kept running. I run fast. They run faster. I saw a fist.The next thing I remember is Cowboy helping me up.

"Yous got a nice shiner."

"Thanks" I hurried to the Bridge.

When I got there I didn't see her but I did see Spot. "Hey Spot have you seen a kid that don't look like she belongs here? She'll probably be dressed like a guy." He hadn't.

"Oh wait, I saw the Delancys chaisin' one off data way." He pointed toward Manhattan.

"Chris, oh no!"

I came up behind Jack. Chris was picking a fight with him. OhH boy. Not Good. Not good at all. I waved my arms wildly. 'No, Chris not a good Idea!!' Spot came up behind me. "That her?" he asked.

"Yeah"

"Hi Brooklyn!" Chris yelled.

Jack spun around to face me and Spot "You know him?" he asked

"Yeah, I know her"

Jack gave me his what-in-the-world look. Chris took off her hat. "Well, pardon me miss." Jack bowed slightly. I don't think he noticed that Chris was already in love.

"Hey, Chris come on I need to get to woik.”

"Did you say that was Jack? As in the Jack that led the strike? Was that who that guy was?" I asked as we walked away.

She smiled. "Yeah, that was Jack. Just don't start planning your wedding yet."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Who was that other guy?" I asked.

She smiled again, this time she had a dreamy, far-off look on her face. "That's Spot Conlon, the leader of Brooklyn. He took me in and showed me around. I told you about him, remember? We're kinda together now." she said.

I laughed. "Oh really! Kinda together! And you're telling me not to start planning my wedding!" She glared at me and then started laughing.

We walked for two or three more blocks and Brooklyn stopped and pointed to a building. "That's the New York Sun. I buy papes from them and sell them to the public."

I watched a guy walk out of the building. "Hey Denton, any good headlines?!" she asked him. He smiled. "Not since the strike."

"Denton, this is my friend Chris. Chris, this is Brian 'Our Man' Denton."

"Nice to meet you." He said politely, and walked away.

I stared at Brooklyn. "So you introduce me properly to Denton but not Jack, the best-looking guy in New York. Gee, thanks."

She laughed. "You bumped into him before I could introduce you."

"That's not my fault Brookle." I said, knowing that she hated being called that.

She glared at me. "It is too your fault!"

I tried, unsuccessfully, to defend myself. "Hey! It isn't my fault! I wouldn't purposefully bump into him! Well, I would. But that's not the point! I was being chased and didn't see him!"

"Yeah. Right. Sure. I believe you Chris." She said sarcastically. She thought for a few seconds. "You were being chased? By who? Was it two guys that were really rude and smelled bad, a little taller than you or I, brown hair, named Oscar or Morris?"

I thought back. "Yeah, that sounds like them. One was named Morris. I didn't hear the other one's name."

She nodded and frowned. "Yep. That was definitely them. The Delancey brothers. Stay away from those two, they're trouble." Even though she didn't say anymore, I knew what she was thinking. She was thinking that I wasn't ready for New York. She was wrong, if anything, New York wasn't ready for me. I could take care of myself and I knew it, even if she didn't.

Brooklyn was talking to me but I was too caught up in my own thoughts to listen to her. She was saying something about the Brooklyn Bridge and meeting Spot. I thought about it for a while and got an idea.

"Hey Brooklyn. Maybe we should split up for a little bit. You go meet Spot and I go..... sightseeing. We can meet on the bridge later."

She considered my offer. "Well, I guess it would be okay. As long as you don't get into any trouble." She said cautiously.

I laughed. "Trouble? Me? Don't even think it!" I said sarcastically as I walked away and put my hair up in my hat.

After a while I went to get a present for Racetrack. 'Ahh perfect, a cigar shop!' I walked in, slipped a box of the finest Cuban cigars into my jacket and walked out.

I heard a whistle. 'Oh man they caught me!' I ran down the street, and into couple of guys smoking cheap cigarettes. I looked back, the bulls weren't the only ones chaisin' ' me. Oscar and Morris had joined our little parade! I went up a fire escape and through an open window. It wasn't until after I had shut and looked the window that I noticed the screaming woman behind me. I turned around. "Who are you? What are you doing in my house? I'm callin' the police!" I said the first thing that came to my mind. "Darn."

A little boy came out from behind his mother. It took all my strength not to laugh at the expression on his face.

"If you just be showin' me da door..." her yellin' interrupted me. "I'm calling the police!" she informed me of this about three times before she actually moved. "Okay we've established that yous callin' da bulls." This didn't comfort her at all, in fact it only made her even more upset.

There was a knock at the door. "Hey lady, good news ya don't hafta call da cops da bulls is already here!" This calmed her down enough for her to let them in. But she stated screamin' again. "Great I jest got her ta shut up!" the little boy had sat down and covered his ears. I laid the cigars down on the table beside the chair I had sat in. The police checked me for the cigars and then turned to ask the still screaming lady some questions. I picked up the cigars and some mislaid money and left before the bulls turned back to ask me questions. Unfortunately the woman noticed the missing money. She started screaming again. I ran.

I ran right into Jack. "Hey Brooklyn I was jest lookin for you!"

"I'll talk later I gotta meet Chris at da bridge"

"Dats why I was lookin fer you! Chris was wonderin' about you." Jack looked behind me. "Brooklyn, how do ya always seem ta git yourself inta lotsa trouble?"

"Jest talented I guess."

A few minutes later I headed to the bridge.

I wandered around New York aimlessly for a few hours. I started thinking about Colorado and the sunsets there and wondered what the view was like here. I decided to climb to the top of the building I was standing by and see for myself. As I was walking down the alley, some one grabbed my arm.

"Hey Morris, this kind of looks like that kid we chased around Manhattan this morning, don't you think?" One of the guys from earlier today.

The other one nodded. "Yeah, dat is da kid, Oscar."

"I thought so. So kid, ya ready to finish our little fight?" Oscar said menacingly. I saw Morris standing right behind him. Two to one. This was a little unfair. Not to mention I didn't like the idea of fighting... I decided to make a run for it. "Let go of me you creep." I said as I punched Oscar with my free arm. He fell and I took my chance and ran.

I hadn't gone ten feet when I ran into some one and fell down. I sat up and rubbed my head. I looked up and saw that the person I had run into was Jack. He was now standing over me with a concerned look on his face.

"Are ya okay?" He asked.

I gave him a weak smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to learn to look where I'm going when I'm running."

He held out his hand to help me up and then turned to the Delancey brothers. "Even you two should have enough manners not ta start fights with goils."

"We ain't fighten any goils. That's a guy Kelly." Morris said with a stupid grin on his face. Jack jerked the hat off my head and let my hair fall down just as Morris finished his sentence.

"Youse two betta get outa heya while ya still can!" Jack yelled.

Oscar glared at us as he and his brother backed away. "This ain't ova' yet Cowboy!"

Jack looked at me and laughed. "I've seen ya twice and both times ya ran into me. Do ya usually meet people this way?"

I blushed. "Well, no."

"What were you doin' in this alley in the first place?"

I stared at the ground. "Well, I wanted to see the view...... from the top of the building."

He smiled. "You choose a good building. This one has a great view. Follow me." He took my hand and led me to the top of the building. I smiled as I reached the roof, it really did have a great view. I closed my eyes as a soft breeze blew my hair in my face.

"I hear you're from out west." Jack's voice broke into my thoughts. "I always wanted to go west. What's it like there?"

I leaned against the building and took in the view as I gathered my thoughts. "It's beautiful out there. I used to watch the sunsets. No matter what I was doing I always took the time to watch the sun sinking behind the hills, the sky turning orange, then pink, and then purple. The clouds lined with silver. After the sun went down you could watch the stars come out. On a clear night you could see every star in the sky, shining like diamonds. On a rainy spring afternoon, you could step outside and actually smell the flowers blooming. It was like you could smell each individual flower by itself, but all of them at one time. And once, after a storm, I saw a double rainbow. It was so bright, you could see every color like it had been painted on a canvas. It was so breathtaking you just wanted to stop time." I stopped talking when I saw Jack staring at me. I looked down at the ground and could feel my face turning red.

He smiled. "You sound like you really loved it. Why would you want to leave?"

I stared at the ground. "Brooklyn was staying with my family and I. We were really good friends. Then my mother got sick and died. Brooklyn left that night, but she would always write to us. We stayed in contact with each other for two or three years until my father was killed last month. I really did love it there. But I had lost my parents and the only friend I had left was here in New York. I had no where else to go."

I remembered the day my father had been killed as I told Jack what had happened. It had been cloudy. My father and I had gone to town and he had to go to the bank on business. He went inside but had told me to wait outside. A few minutes later I heard gunshots as four guys ran out of the bank. I ran inside and saw my father on the floor, bleeding. He saw me and tried to smile. I dropped to my knees. "You'll be okay dad." I said close to tears. He shook his head. "It's my time to go. I'll always be with you, watching over you." He handed me my mother's locket. "Keep it with you always. I love you princess." He died only seconds later and I felt like some one had ripped my heart out of my chest. I remember now that I cried until I didn't have any tears left.

I bit my lip, fighting the tears back. I wouldn't let myself break down. Jack walked over and put an arm around me. "I know how you feel." I looked at him. I knew he must be telling the truth by the look in his eyes.

He laughed nervously. "Ya ain't like a lot a da goils in New York. They're all so proper. Brooklyn is da exact opposite of proper. But she'd neva' stand dere an' describe a sunset like you just did."

I laughed. "Yeah, I usually wouldn't do that. I guess I just forgot where I was. Brooklyn is... Brooklyn is going to kill me because I am late!" I said as I remembered meeting her at the bridge and started running toward the fire escape.

"Hey Chris! Where ya goin'? "

I spun around as I realized I had forgotten Jack. "I was supposed to meet Brooklyn at the bridge. I forgot."

Jack smiled. "I wouldn't worry, Brooklyn won't be too mad... she probably won't even be dere."

We walked off the building towards the Brooklyn Bridge. We got there eventually, not without me taking a few wrong turns though.

"You're lucky I found ya Chris. If I hadn't you would be pretty lost by now." Jack said as we approached the bridge.

I smiled. "I have a theory that if you walk in one direction until you find something familiar, you'll get to where you want to go eventually."

He looked at me skeptically. "Dat's an interestin' theory. No offense, but I don't think it'll woik too well in New Yawk."

I smiled and shrugged. "Why should I be offended? It wouldn't work in Colorado either."

We stopped in the middle of the bridge. I looked around and saw that no one was there. "It looks like we'll have to wait on Brooklyn for a while. So what are you plannin' to do here in the city?" Jack asked.

I shrugged again. "Same thing that Brooklyn is doing."

He stared at me. "Youse gonna be a newsie?!"

"Yeah. How long did it take you to figure that one out?" I said sarcastically.

"But ya can't be a newsie. Youse a goil!"

"Oh, you noticed! That took brains. Why does it matter anyway? Brooklyn is a newsie and she's a girl. Or did you even know?"

"Well yeah! Brooklyn's a girl. But dat's different. Brooklyn's.... well she's..... she..... you....." He stuttered.

I smiled. "You give up? You really should, you don't have a chance."

He laughed. "I give. But if you're gonna to be a newsie you have to have a nickname. Can ya think of one?"

"Uh..... no. I'm not to good at that kind of stuff. I'll come up with one eventually. Where is she?!"

Jack looked around. "You stay heya, I'll look for Brooklyn. An' don't worry 'bout your name. Da guys'll come up with one."

I watched him walk away. I stared off the bridge and waited for him to come back. I stayed like that, all alone, for about ten minutes.

"Hey goil! Where's Brooklyn?"

I turned around and saw Spot standing a couple feet away. "Goil? I have a name you know. And I don't know where she is. I thought she was with you."

He stared at me coldly. "No. She was gonna get a present for one of the guys in Manhattan. It's 'is boithday tomarra'. Youse Chris, right? Da names Spot Conlon." He spit in his hand and held it out.

"I know who you are." I said as I spit in my hand and shook with him. For a moment he seemed suprised but quickly hid it.

We managed to get a semi-interesting conversation going. But, I was a little uncomfortable around Spot, and even though he didn't show it, I had a feeling he was just as uncomfortable around me. Not long after I actually met Spot, Jack walked up with Brooklyn.

Part 2
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