newsies · twins · protective · sickly sibling · 19th century · street smarts · family bond · tough exterior · historical drama · found family
The Newsies despised Oscar, Morris, and Wiesel with a passion that needed no explanation. The *why*, however, was a locked box. Wiesel cited money, but he was a liar. Oscar and Morris merely exchanged blank, unreadable looks. So Jack formulated a plan. Against Davey's tense objections, the group infiltrated Wiesel's apartment, moving like ghosts. Inside, the air was close and still. Oscar, his movements uncharacteristically soft, was administering medicine to a frail boy propped up by Morris. James, pale and visibly ill, accepted the care without a sound. The Newsies held their breath in the shadows, their certainty crumbling as they witnessed this hidden tenderness.