"So you actually thought it was a good idea to point a loaded gun at police officers!? I want to know what in god's name you were thinking!?" a very upset Dwight bellowed to his young charge inside the cell at the police station.

"I'm sorry, Dwight, I really am. I just...I just was upset..." Jesse apologized, feeling quite guilty about the whole affair now, "Rae and Randolph are innocent, and I couldn't bear to watch them be arrested unfairly..."

"So your answer was to endanger people's lives!?" Dwight barked at him, "Somebody could have gotten seriously hurt or worse there!"

"I know, Dwight; I wasn't thinking. I was upset seeing them being wrongfully accused, and what had happened to Willy's family..."

"Well you'll have plenty of time to think now, buster. I talked to the D.A., and that guard's pressing serious charges against you and your friends here," Dwight gestured at Jake and Judy, "And you know what, I'm not going to help you this time. Pulling a gun goes beyond my ability to defend someone. I've tried for years and years to get through to you, but apparently, it was a waste of my time. Good luck, kid; you're clearly going to need it now."

"I'm sorry, Dwight, please don't go," Jesse pleaded to him, but his social worker stomped down the hall, visibly steamed, and slammed the door hard behind himself. "I blew it," he mumbled softly, "He's right; I could have killed someone...what was I thinking!?"

"You were upset," Judy tried to comfort him, "We all were. I might have made the same mistake if I were in your shoes. Seeing the whales like that...and with that guy looking suspicious, I understand why you and I and Jake all snapped."

"He's definitely hiding something," Jake agreed, "Now how do we prove it was him?"

Before either of his friends could answer, the door to the jail slammed back open. "So here you are," a very angry-and from Jesse could see, once more very drunk-Mr. Perkins stormed up to the cell, "You'd better have a good explanation for what happened there on that boat, because I sure as hell didn't raise you to punch a guy out!"

"I..I lost control, that guy knows something about what happened to Kago and his family...!" Jake tried to explain.

"Not interested! You're going to pay big for this one-and you still haven't paid for mouthing off to me last week!" his father raged, looking angrier than Jesse had ever seen the man before-and for which he could understand the fearful look on Jake's face now, "Let's go," Mr. Perkins ordered him, waving for the guard nearby to unlock the cell, "We're going home, and you're grounded until you're eighteen!"

"I'm not going with you, you drunken loser!" Jake remained defiant, "I'm living at the Greenwoods until you clean yourself up...!"

"I catch you anywhere near this rotten street punk again," Mr. Perkins jerked a contemptuous finger at Jesse, "then both you and he get it! Because you put him up to it, didn't you!?" he accused Jake's friend, "I've seen your record now; you dragged my son down into a life of violence, didn't you!?"

"It's not my fault Jake can't stand being with you anymore!" Jesse shouted back at the man, "If you didn't scare him half to death every time...!"

"Shut your filthy trap! You're worthless, and don't you forget it!" Mr. Perkins threatened him. "Let's go, now!" he dragged Jake away down the hall. No sooner did he disappear out the door with his son than an equally angry "Anita the Assassin" entered the cellblock. "Hold the door," she informed the guard, who was started to swing the cell's door shut again. "You disappoint me to no end," she snarled coldly at Judy, "Not only did you lie to me about being tutored all these weeks-I just checked, and nobody by the name your teacher gave me actually exists-not only did you keep going back to go looking at whales after I told you not to, not only did you keep hanging out with this piece of human filth," she also gave Jesse a contemptuous finger, "But attacking an innocent man..."

"He's not innocent, Mom; he has something to do with what happened to the whales!" Judy protested, "Just like Robert Dial isn't innocent either; you have to...!"

"Shut up!" her mother ordered her angrily, "I've had it with you disobeying me and treating me with contempt, young lady! First thing next week, you're going to finishing school out of state, away from any corrupting influences, and you're not coming back until all the foolishness has been stomped out of you for good, and you're willing to be the proper young woman you're supposed to be! And as for you," she rounded on Jesse, "You're going to jail for the next thirty years if not more; I'll motion to prosecute you at trial, and I'll bury you-and that idiot lying teacher of yours and hers, whom I'm going to have charged for lying to me as well-so thoroughly it'll be years before you see the light of day again!"

"Bring it on!" Jesse dared her, "I'll bring you down too-and Dial...!"

"You say one more bad word against Robert Dial, and I'll have you buried further with slander charges!" she threatened him, "Get up, we're going!" she ordered her daughter.

"No. I'd rather rot in jail then go with you!" Judy shot back coldly.

"GET UP, NOW!" her mother furiously hauled her to her feet and dragged her kicking and struggling down the hall. "I HATE YOU!" Judy screamed at her.

"I DON'T CARE!" Mrs. Corwin roared back coldly at her. She slammed the door hard behind herself and her daughter. Jesse hung his head miserably, feeling more alone now than he ever had.

The door opened again now. "Jesse," a grim-looking Glen and Annie had arrived.

"I'm sorry, guys; everything had just gone wrong, and I just...I just lost it," Jesse apologized to them, "I let you down, I let everyone down."

"Well, we'll have a long talk at home over everything," Glen told him firmly with a stern look, nodding for the guard to let Jesse out. Once his foster son was outside, though, he put an arm around him, telegraphing that while he didn't approve of what had happened, he did at least understand. And for that, Jesse was grateful. Still, he thought glumly to himself as he walked out of the jail with the Greenwood, he still felt alone, and wondered if he'd now ever see any of his friends again...


NOVEMBER 16TH

"I used to dream. I used to glance beyond the stars. Now I don't know where we are, although I know we've drifted far...!" wailed the tune on Jesse's bedroom radio, reflecting his glum, depressed mood. He lay slumped on the bed, where he had spent most of his time in the last ten days when not in school. Neither Jake nor Judy had shown up for class on any of those days-nor had Mr. Banks, who had apparently been so affected by what they'd seen that he'd needed a sabbatical, for which Jesse couldn't blame him. The replacement teacher had been about as boring as they'd come, which meant that the only class he'd really liked was being ruined.

And what of Willy, he had to wonder? There was still no confirmation that he had been killed in the massacre, which at least had to be something positive. But where was he now? Had he escaped in time, only to now be wandering along without a family on the high seas? Or was his body down at the bottom of the cove, never to be found? Either possibility made him feel sick to his stomach, almost as much as explicitly seeing Willy's dead body. Part of him now felt guilty about the slaughter as well, as he had started feeling responsible. If they hadn't gone to the institute that night, and the guard was involved, maybe he never would have seen Willy and the other whales, and they'd all still be alive now...

His sigh deepened at more lyrics from the radio that hit too close to home at the moment: "...what about crying whales? We're ravaging the seas...!" His gaze fell out the window, where snow was now falling at a brisk pace. He had heard the TV downstairs say earlier that a major snowstorm was about to hit the Pacific Northwest that evening. He didn't care; indeed, for the last ten days, he hardly cared about much anyway.

His bedroom door swung softly open. "Jesse, it's Lauren Shuler on the phone for you," Annie stuck her head in, "You OK to talk with her?"

"Guess so," Jesse nodded softly. Annie handed him the phone. "Hello, Jesse. How are you holding up?" Shuler asked him sympathetically on the other end.

"Terrible," Jesse confessed miserably.

"Sorry to hear that. I do have good news and bad news, and I guess then I'll start with the bad news: the state decided it's not going to retry Mr. Dial. They felt they had more important cases they needed to handle at the moment that they could win more easily. I begged and pleaded for them to give it another go, but they held firm with their decision."

"You tried," Jesse mumbled sadly, depressed that Dial would now get away with it, "And the good news?"

"I was able to get Rae and Randolph released. The police found their fingerprints weren't on the weapons on the boat, so there's no further cause to hold them. They'll have to stay in the area, but I think you should be glad to know, they're probably in the clear now."

"Just find whoever did kill those whales, please," Jesse begged her, "I need to know. Bring in the institute's guard; I think he knows something..."

"I'll work as hard as I can for it. And so you know, I may be a state prosecutor by title, but I'd be more than willing to defend you if the guard still wants to press charges for what happened. Clearly you didn't mean to hurt anyone, and there were extenuating circumstances."

"Thanks, I appreciate it, Mrs. Shuler."

"Stay strong, Jesse; it's always darkest right before the dawn," Shuler encouraged him before hanging up. "So, good news?" Glen leaned over his wife's shoulder.

"Kind of," Jesse told him and Annie the new news. "I'm glad they're not going to arrest Rae and Randolph, but knowing Dial's probably laughing all the way home now..." he muttered in disgust.

"I'm sure it hurts," Annie put a hand on his shoulder, "But the overall point, Jesse, is, he still failed. He didn't kill Willy, he didn't get the insurance money, and even if he doesn't serve any time, his whole career's ruined for good, and Willy has you to thank for that."

"I guess so, Annie. But it still hurts. Especially since Willy..." Jesse put his face in his hands, "I just wish I knew for sure if he was alive or not. Not having closure, not knowing for sure..."

"We know," Glen bent down to his level, "If there's no answer, Jesse, that's just the way it'll be. So, you hungry now?"

"No, Glen. Not right now."

"You haven't eaten well in days..."

"I'm not hungry, Glen. I just want to be alone now."

"All right, if that's what you want," Annie said before her husband could press the point further. She gave her foster son a hug. "Just let us know if you do need a meal or anything."

She and Glen left the room. Jesse slumped back down on the bed, depressed and miserable. His life had crashed and burned quicker than he had imagined it ever could. At least he still did have the Greenwoods-something he'd never thought he'd have believed he'd be thinking just months ago-and despite having grounded him for the rest of last week, they had been mostly understanding over what had happened. Still, that did not make up for the loss of all his other friends. Especially Willy...

He lay still on his bed for what seemed an eternity. He had no willingness to do anything else. Then, suddenly, something caught his attention: something seemingly thumping off the window. He paid no heed at first, but then it struck again, and over the howl of the wind outside, he thought he heard someone calling his name. He rose up out of bed, puzzled, and stared at the clock: quarter after eleven. What was going on that someone would be calling him at this hour...?

He looked towards the window, right as a rock struck it, and a call of, "Jesse!" rang out clearly from outside. Jesse threw the window open. "Jake? Judy?" he frowned to see them outside in the snow, "What are you doing here now?"

"We're running away," Jake said solemnly, "Judy and agreed that we can't live in our houses anymore with my dad and her mom as psycho as they are. We're heading on out. Come with us."

"You guys sure?" Jesse frowned.

"I'm not going to finishing school and being warped into something I don't want to be no matter what my mom wants," Judy said firmly with a scowl, "My dad said when he called for the first time after he left that I was welcome in New York with him any time. We're going there. Come on."

"I don't know about this," Jesse was hesitant. The old him would have left without a second thought, but now it didn't seem right. "How will you get there, do you have enough money, what about...?"

"We'll find a way! Now you promised that you'd be there for us, just like we'd promised we'd be there for you! Are you going to keep your word!?" Jake demanded loudly.

"Shhhh!" Jesse hissed, not wanting them to wake the Greenwoods up. He thought quickly about the best way to handle this. "Give me a minute here," he told the other children, shoving the window shut. One avenue stood out in his mind as perhaps the best one to take; it was risky, but it would at least buy time to try and talk some sense into Jake and Judy.

He slipped his sneakers and an extra sweater on, then tiptoed out the door and downstairs, hoping he would not wake Glen and Annie. Inside the kitchen, he took a pen and a spare piece of paper and quickly wrote down on it:

Glen, Annie,

Jake and Judy wanted to run away, and they asked that I go with them. I think they're making a mistake, but I went with them to try and make them see that it's a mistake. I'll try and call the first chance I get. Hopefully I'll be back soon.

Jesse

He laid it on the table where it could be easily found. He then slipped his coat on and exited out the front door. He bustled over to Jake and Judy. "You're absolutely sure about this?" he pressed them.

"No turning back now," Jake nodded firmly, "We can make it together from now on, just the three of us. Come on, there's got to be a late night bus heading east downtown."


"And do you have any idea where we'll be going to!?" Jesse continued to press his friends as they trudged through the snow downtown, headed for the bus terminal, "And does your dad have any idea you'll be coming!?" he grilled Judy.

"He said I'm welcome at any time. Right now, let's just get as far away from here as we can tonight," Judy said firmly, "First thing tomorrow morning, I'll call him, and if we're lucky, he'll come over from New York and pick us up."

"And do we have enough fare to get as far as you want?"

"We have enough to get out of state and out of my mom's grasp," she insisted, "Once we're far enough away, Dad'll come for us, and then she'll have to fight him for us."

"And what if we need food or other supplies before then...?"

"You're asking a lot of questions," Jake frowned at him.

"I'm sorry, guys, but I, I just can't do this," Jesse came to a stop and shook his head, "And I don't think you should do this either."

"I'm not living with my dad anymore, not going to live in fear of his next angry outburst!" Jake insisted furiously, "And Judy's not living with her mom and being controlled anymore! Now you promised...!"

"To be your friend, Jake, and I'm telling you as a friend, this is wrong," Jesse insisted, "This isn't going to solve anything, and it's clear you and Judy don't have a real plan here."

"We have enough of a plan! Now are you with us or not, Jesse!?"

"I just...I..." Jesse put his hands to his head, deeply torn. One side of him did want to be with them, but the other did not want to leave the Greenwoods and the newer, happier life he'd found with them behind. Then again, it would help him to get away from the memories of Willy if the whale was indeed gone...but that would be letting the Greenwoods, Dwight, and everyone else down. Why couldn't this have happened back in the spring, he rued, when he would have easily chosen to leave without a second thought...?

"Well, which is it!?" Jake demanded an answer. Before Jesse could give one, however, he happened to notice a familiar figure ahead of them in the snow. "There goes Wade!" he exclaimed, seeing Dial's main henchman entering a travel agency office next to the bus terminal, "What's he doing going in there?"

"That's Wade?" Jake frowned after the man.

"Yep, that's Wade Lackey. He came with Mr. Dial to our house when he and Mom went over the basics of his defense strategy," Judy nodded firmly, "Something's probably up if he's going to a travel agency. Come on, let's see what he's up to."

"Right," Jesse needed no impetus to investigate Wade, whom he now always viewed with suspicion after he'd watched the man overseeing the breaking of Willy's tank. He led the others up to the travel agency and slipped in the door. They took cover behind a large sign advertising a trip to Ireland, unseen by Wade or the clerk behind the counter. "...like to purchase two passports for a trip to Mexico," the man was telling her. "My brother, uh, Charlie and I, we want to get away-away from the cold weather here, and the Mexican coast seemed like a good idea, so we just want to make sure everything's in order so we can go."

"Can I have a name?"

""Um, Ed Richards," Wade gave a false name, "And my brother Charlie Richards. Here's our paperwork," he handed over documents that Jesse suspected were forged. The clerk, however, gave a nod. "Let me go through this then, Mr. Richards, and we'll see if we can get you those passports."

She walked away from the counter to look over the documents. Wade's cell phone rang at this point. He walked away from the counter and activated it. "Yeah?" he asked nervously, walking towards the sign the children were hiding behind, not seeing them with it reaching all the way to the floor, "Yeah, I'm getting the passports now. Looks like it'll check out, and then we just need to the first flight to Mexico that we can."

The voice that rang out on the other end of the phone was low and garbled to Jesse's ears, but it sounded very much like Dial's to him. "I'll call the airport right away after this clears. Hopefully we can get the first one after this snow lets up," Wade shot a glance out the window, where the snow was starting to pick up, "Where are you now? OK, I'll bring them there when I'm done. You know when they'll be shipped out? I see. Well the sooner they are on their way, the better; I get worried with them up there, especially if that kid were to find out..."

"All right, Mr. Richards, everything checks out with this," the clerk called from the counter, extending out two passports towards him.

"Thanks," Wade bustled over and took them. "OK, I'm on my way," he continued his call as he started towards the door, "They are? Great. We just need to make sure we can get all the cash through security. Right. Be there soon." He hung up and started dialing another number, "Yeah, I'd like two tickets for the next available flight to Mexico..."

He exited out the door. "Something's up," Judy frowned suspiciously after him, "Fake passports, tickets to Mexico, apparently large amounts of cash involved, concern that Jesse'll find him out..."

"I know," Jesse was frowning as well, "And I think it was Dial on the other end of the line there. They're scheming something together...and maybe it concerns Willy, if he's still alive..." he realized. "Tell you what, let's forget about leaving for now," he told Jake and Judy, "Let's follow him and see what's going on."

"Fine by me," Jake agreed, scrambling over to the window and watching Wade climbing into a car across the street, still on the phone with, presumably, the airport. "If he can lead us to Willy, Kago, and the other whales..."

"I know. Let's go, while we still can," Jesse checked to make sure the clerk wasn't watching, then bustled for the door. He and his friends stepped out into the snow and started towards Wade's car...

"Jesse!" can a sudden angry shout, followed by a hand coming down hard on his shoulder. "Dwight!?" Jesse gasped to see his social worker standing behind him with a deep scowl, "What are you doing here!?"

"Having a coffee across the street-and just happening to see you and these two sneaking around in that office and seemingly following that guy," Dwight pointed sharply at Wade's car-fortunately unseen by Wade, who was facing the other way and still on the phone anyway, "Are you up to something illegal again!?"

"Look, Dwight, I don't have time for this right now...!" Jesse protested; Wade could leave at any minute, and if he did before they could catch up, any leads they'd have would be lost.

"Oh yes you do!" Dwight snapped, "You're running away again, aren't you!? Were you casing that guy to rob him too!?"

"That's Robert Dial's assistant Wade; he might lead us to Willy...!"

"Nice story, but no dice this time. I'm calling the cops," Dwight furiously dug out his cell phone.

"I think he's leaving!" Judy pointed to Wade, now starting his car's engine.

"You're not going anywhere, Jesse!" Dwight warned him, grabbing his shoulder when he tried to pull away.

"This is about Willy, Dwight! He could be in trouble! Now let go of me...!"

"Oh no, you're staying right here and facing the music this time, buster...!"

"LET GO OF ME, DWIGHT!" without realizing it, Jesse kicked Dwight where it really hurt. Dwight yelped and doubled over in agony. "Sorry, I really am!" Jesse apologized to him. "Hurry, quick!" he told Jake and Judy. The three of them raced across the street, hunching low to avoid being seen by Wade, now backing up in preparation to pull out into traffic. "Jesse, get back here right now!" came Dwight's furious-and helium-level-voice. He raced after his charge and his friends, but Jesse and the others leaped under the car and grabbed hold of the undercarriage right as Wade pulled out, and soon, Dwight was left well behind. Jesse thought for a moment he heard someone else yelling his name as well, although with the snow and exhaust smoke swirling everywhere from where he was clinging, it was hard to know for sure. "I'm coming, Willy-I hope," he mumbled to himself, hoping the whale would be wherever Wade was going.