Chapter 10

Olivia couldn't look away, or even close her mouth. All she could bring herself to do was blink. She wouldn't even go back into the car, no matter how petrifying it was to keep holding on to the engine. She took short breaths, worrying that if she took a deep one, she wouldn't be able to hold back her tears. Jonathan is dead. She could hardly think anything else. The sight was too much to absorb, so she tried to take in one bit at a time. This usually seemed to help after tragedies, but she hadn't been through very many tragedies in her life, so she wasn't sure it would be any comfort now. But she also wasn't sure if anything else would be any comfort, so she continued. Jonathan is dead. Fidget is dead. They're dead because they fell off of the train and I'm not sure what happened to make them fall off of the train, but they fell off of the train, and now they're dead. Jonathan is dead. Olivia hadn't thought of it this way since Basil fell off of Big Ben and she, her father, and Dr. Dawson all believed he was dead. She had been almost out of sorts then, but having observed how her father's organization got him out of minor ordeals in his business gave her the idea that perhaps organizing her thoughts would be some help. But it was hardly any help now. Besides, when Basil had fallen, he hadn't really died. Jonathan had really died now.

Her thoughts were broken when the train arrived at the station and came to a stop. She didn't forget for a moment what had just occurred, but she could at least bring herself to get off of the train and find Dawson's colleague. And Basil. Olivia had almost forgotten why they had been on the train to begin with. She tried to compose herself and ignore her shaking and stepped down from the engine to meet Dawson on the platform.

Dr. Dawson could also hardly believe what the two had just seen. Jonathan was always a good child, and he would certainly be grieved and missed dearly. But at the moment the important thing was to find Basil, so he tried not to be even more grief-stricken when he saw how Miss Olivia was trembling and obviously holding back tears. She was clearly more dejected than he was, but it couldn't possibly help to hide it. Her previously pinned-up hair was tangled and disheveled, and she hardly looked at the doctor. "Now, now, my dear," he tried to comfort the young lady. "It'll be alright. You'll see."

Olivia must have heard this said a thousand times before, but she knew that Dawson meant well. "I know," she said softly, then straightened herself out and brushed off her dress, which had been spattered in some places in coal dust. "I know. Now, where did you say your colleague would be?" Dawson described the neighbourhood's location and pulled out a map from his briefcase, but Olivia could hardly focus. She was so torn apart about Jonathan that she couldn't imagine how badly Basil would be grieving. From what she'd heard, he and his nephew had always been rather close. Of course, Basil would make it a point to try and hide any emotion, but that never got by Olivia.

Since they hadn't had much luck on a cab or a train, Olivia and Dr. Dawson decided they would find his colleague's house on foot, and with more wariness, now that the sky had turned dark, but especially now that they had lost a comrade. Olivia didn't try as hard to cover up her anxious trembling. It was no use trying to hide it from Dr. Dawson. Even if she did, he had known her for too long and knew all about her anxiety, which Basil had deduced a few years before was caused by the events of the Flaversham case and all of the danger she had been put in thanks to Professor Ratigan and his scheme. As the two were walking, Olivia kept trying to come to terms with what had happened. They wouldn't have fallen off of the train if they were never on the train, and the only reason they were on the train was because I suggested it, she silently realized. Three people are dead because of me. She hadn't thought of her mother much since Basil went missing, but now it seemed that she had caused another tragedy. Her very existence had caused two more deaths, even if one of them was a filthy scoundrel. Because of me.

Jonathan stood up with a bit of difficulty. He had grass stains in some spots on his trousers and jacket. It was a miracle he hadn't broken any bones. In fact, it was a miracle that he was still alive. Just a fall in the right direction, he thought. "And distance," he muttered under his breath as he saw Fidget stand up shakily. Noticing that the bat's revolver was only a few feet away, Jonathan tried to think of what Basil would do in this situation. He hesitated, not used to resorting to violence, or even threats. But as soon as Fidget spotted the gun as well, they both rushed for it at nearly the same time. They did get into somewhat of a scuffle, but in the end, Jonathan managed to pry the revolver away from the old bat. "Ratigan's alive too, isn't he?" he demanded, nervously pointing the gun at a frightened Fidget. "Alright, he is!" the bat replied, clearly fearing for his life. Of course Jonathan had no plans to kill him, but he found that he could use this fear to make some progress. He pointed the gun straight at Fidget with more confidence. "Now how is it possible that he survived a fall from Big Ben into the River Thames?" "We've found I can hover..." Fidget responded without a hint of mocking in his voice. Jonathan didn't need to press him for any more details regarding his boss. "One more thing, Fidget," he said angrily. "Where is my uncle?" "I don't know." Jonathan pointed the revolver closer to him. "I'm tellin' the truth! Whatever happened to him, we had nothin' to do with it! We know 'bout as much as you!" Jonathan was puzzled, but he pulled the gun away. If Ratigan had nothing to do with his uncle's disappearance, what could have happened? "Well..." he tried to summon the right words, but he was at a loss for a moment. "Well...then why have you been trying to stop us from finding him?" Jonathan tried hard to think of any possible reasons."Look," Fidget said. "All we know is he disappeared. And if he's gone, Ratigan wants him to stay gone. Doesn't want 'im in the picture. He'd get in the way." "In the way?" Jonathan repeated with his thoughts broken, realizing that Ratigan must have had something disgusting planned. "In the way of what?" He pointed the gun back at Fidget, who stiffened up.

And so ends chapter 10 of this exciting saga.

Oh, come on. You didn't really think I was going to kill off Jonathan, did you?