Author's Note: I apologize for the amount of time it took to post up such a short epilogue, but it's completed at last! Thanks so much for all your reviews!

Epilogue

Jenny snuck out of her room at three o'clock in the morning, carrying a faded trunk that contained all her worldly possessions. She wouldn't need much where she was headed and she could always buy more things, if she managed to keep herself from going hungry. She crept down the hall, struggling with the weight of her trunk, and made her slow, careful way down the stairs, cringing every time the carpeted wood creaked beneath her boots. She was lucky Mrs. Johnson was a heavy sleeper, but there was no guarantee that one of the girls wouldn't wake up and catch her. Kitty would think that Christmas had come early if she found Jenny sneaking out.

She reached the bottom of the stairs and wordlessly joined the boy who waited for her in the parlor. Moonlight shown through the window, casting a faint glow upon his red suspenders, and he nodded his head in acknowledgement before taking her trunk and heading for the front door. Jenny followed him outside with as little noise as possible and stood on the doorstep of the brothel, breathing in the fresh night air.

She was free.

"You sure you wanna do this?" Spot Conlon whispered.

"Yes," Jenny whispered back, her eyes shining despite the early morning hour. "Take me away from here."

"It's a long way to Brooklyn, ya know."

Jenny didn't care. She had spent far too long trapped in Mrs. Johnson's house, catering to the whims of strangers, and she was willing to travel a hundred miles if it meant she could escape. She looked at the brothel one last time, then followed Spot down the dark, quiet street, feeling like she had been caught in a dream.

Spot had arrived in Manhattan yesterday, probably to check up on his fellow newsies, and he spent the night in Jenny's company. He seemed to know an awful lot about her situation, though nobody knew about her final goodbye to David two weeks before, and she ended up telling Spot more than she meant to. She couldn't continue her current life after David had shown her that other paths were possible. She couldn't stay in Manhattan after affecting the lives of David, Jack, and Sarah, knowing all the trouble she had unintentionally caused.

After learning about her desire to leave the brothel, Spot made the impromptu decision to take her back to Brooklyn with him. The newsboys lodging house could use a maid, since the owner was always complaining that the boys made a mess, and Jenny quickly agreed to the idea. Now she was sneaking around with Spot in the dark, heading off to her new life across the bridge. A life without the brothel, long sleepless nights, and rivalry with other girls. A life without David Jacobs, but she would forget David soon enough. A boy like him deserved better.

"What's the lodging house like?" she asked Spot as they turned a street corner.

"Quiet durin' the day," he replied. "Crowded and noisy at night. You'll be doin' most of your chores in the day, though the boys will be willin' to pay ya for a little extra work."

"I'm done with that kind of work," Jenny said flatly.

"That was a joke," said Spot.

That was also the closest he would come to apologizing. Jenny supposed she would have a lot to get used to, now that she had trusted her fate to Spot Conlon, though she suspected his gold-tipped cane and cocky manner were nothing more than props, no different than the flashy dresses and false smiles of the brothel.

"When we reach the bridge, there ain't no turnin' back," Spot told her. "I ain't takin' you back home."

"What home?" Jenny said with a wry smile. She had never had a home, never had a family that actually wanted her, and now she was traveling towards the unknown with a newsboy she barely knew. She found it strangely fitting.

The early morning wore on and most of New York continued to sleep, while a boy in red suspenders and a former prostitute headed for the Brooklyn Bridge. Jenny didn't know if her life would change for the better or the worse, but she was ready for that change and kept her eyes ahead, following Spot through the darkness.

She wouldn't look back.