Here it is, the final chapter. I hope you enjoyed this story!
I held my breath for a second. Ned was ready to shoot at any moment, but I had to stand my ground. I couldn't let anything happen to Flora or Isabella. "Where's the treasure?" Ned demanded again. "I'll shoot if you don't answer. I'm no fool."
"But you are!" I shouted. "This is it. This is the treasure. It's nothing more than a sweet present. There's nothing here of value to you. Nothing here that would satisfy your or your father's bitterness." I hoped my words would make him back down. This treasure he had dreamed of was only valuable to one person and it wasn't him. "You're lying!" he screamed. "Tell me the truth!" Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in my shoulder and I stumbled backwards a bit. I screamed and grabbed my shoulder. My hand became sticky with blood. He had actually shot me.
"Luke!" Flora yelled as she was about to rush in front of me. "Don't move," I commanded. "I can't let you get hurt!" Flora started to cry, but stayed in her spot. I didn't know what to do now. It looked like Ned didn't believe me. In my head, I only had one solution. In a few seconds, I was going to tell the girls to run away. If Ned shot at them, I would take the bullets and pray that they could make it away safely. It was our only choice. "This is it," I thought to myself. I was about to tell the girls to run away when suddenly, twenty men ran into the clearing.
"Put that gun down!" a loud voice boomed, echoing through the clearing. Ned dropped the gun and raised his hands in the air. He turned around and found himself facing a significant number of Scotland Yard officers. I gave a sigh of relief. Inspector Chelmey had really come through for me. He was the source of the voice. A few officers walked over to Ned and arrested him on the spot. As he was being taken away, he gave me an evil glare. If looks could kill, I'd definitely be dead. I touched my hand to my shoulder again and it was still bleeding. The pain was becoming too intense. I felt like falling over. I felt a pair of arms wrap around me. "Luke!" Flora shouted. "Stay with me. You're fine." Her arms were comforting, so much that I almost passed out.
"I'm fine," I told her. "I just need a bit of treatment and need the bullet to be removed." Isabella pointed to something on the ground and screamed. It was a bloody bullet. "Oh," I said, trying to fake a laugh. "I guess the bullet won't be a problem."
"This is all my fault," Isabella cried. "I'm so sorry. I can't ever forgive myself for this."
"Both of you relax," I said calmly. "I'm perfectly fine."
"You should still see a doctor," someone said behind me. It was Inspector Chelmey with Barton standing quietly behind him, eating something. "That's a nasty wound. You probably chipped some bone." Thanks, Inspector, but you're not really helping. "We'll get you checked up back in London," he reassured me. "Wrap it in this for now." He handed me some bandages. Flora helped me wrap them around my shoulder and pin them. I was surprised at Chelmey's kindness. Maybe some of his wife rubbed off on him. "Now where are those hostages?" he asked.
Flora and I looked at each other in alarm. We had almost forgotten about the Professor. "Follow us, Inspector!" I shouted, grabbing Flora, with Isabella coming behind us. The three of us ran into the house with a couple officers behind us. We came to the basement door, which was locked. Now was one of those times when I wish Emmy was still around. "I guess I'll break it down myself," I said, getting ready to kick the door. "Be careful," Flora said. "You're hurt." I winked at her, trying to make her feel a bit better. I gave the door a hard kick and it caved in. It was a bit easier than I thought it was going to be.
Flora, Isabella, and I started to walk down the stairs. I told the officers to wait upstairs for a few minutes. The basement was dark and damp. In the basement's far corner, there were two figures slumped against the wall, bound and gagged. "Professor!" "Papa!"
The three of us quickly started untying the two bound men. They both seemed to be unconscious at the time. The first person to come to was the mayor. I noticed that he visibly looked old, whether that was from age or from being held hostage I couldn't tell. His hair was graying and he looked tired. When he came to, he looked at the three of us in bewilderment. "W-what?" he stammered. His voice was hoarse. "Isabella?"
"Papa," Isabella cried, wrapping her arms around him. She held him tight and he did the same to her. "Papa, I was so worried. I-I was so afraid." She was sobbing now, but didn't stop holding her father. "Isabella, I'm so sorry," the mayor said. There were tears in his eyes. "I left you alone for so long. This is all my fault. I'm so sorry. Are you okay? It looks like you're hurt. What are these bruises?"
"It's all okay, Papa," Isabella smiled. "Because now we're together."
"Bring him upstairs," I told Isabella. "He needs some food and water after being down here so long. Let him talk to the police too. Flora and I will stay down here with the Professor." Isabella nodded and helped her father stand up. His legs were weak and he barely managed to stay up. Slowly, he was able to hobble to the stairs and out of the basement. Now it was just Flora, the Professor and I. The Professor still seemed to be unconscious.
"Luke," Flora whimpered. "I'm worried. The Professor hasn't woken up yet. Do you think... do you think he might be..."
"No," I said firmly. "Give him a minute. He's the great Professor Layton. He's been through worse than this." Flora held the Professor's hand and tried whispering to him. "Professor, it's me. It's Flora. Please wake up." Flora looked ready to cry when the Professor's eyes slowly opened. "W-who?" he mumbled. He seemed to be in the same condition that Isabella's father was. The Professor was able to sit himself up a bit and he turned towards Flora. "Flora? How did you?" He couldn't finish his words before Flora was giving him a hug. She was crying now to.
"P-professor! I was so worried about you! You didn't come home and I was so scared!"
"I'm sorry for worrying you," the Professor smiled, as he embraced Flora. "That wasn't very gentlemanly of me." Flora pulled back from the hug and looked the Professor in the eye. "No, it wasn't," she smiled. The two of them looked like father and daughter. I'd never seen Flora happier than right now. "But how did you find me?" the Professor asked. He seemed to have recovered a bit of strength now that he was awake. He appeared to be able to hold a steady conversation. Flora pointed at me in response to the Professor's question. The Professor's head turned to me and he looked a bit confused.
"You couldn't have forgotten me already, Professor!" I pouted. "I know I'm a bit older, but that's no excuse." The Professor seemed dazed. "Could it be?" he asked. "It really is you."
"Luke Triton, in the flesh," I smiled. "I called Luke out to come help me," Flora explained. "If anyone could help you, it was him. He came right away. He was really worried about you, sometimes even more than me." I turned away from them, a bit embarrassed. The Professor started to stand up with Flora helping him. "You're injured!" he exclaimed. I looked down at my shoulder. Some of the blood had soaked through the bandages. "This? I'll be fine. You need more help than me, Professor." I noticed that he didn't have his signature hat on. It was lying a bit away from him on the floor. I walked over and picked it up. "What's a gentleman without his hat?" I asked, handing it to him. He took it from me and put it on his head. "I see you have yours," the Professor said, pointing to my hat. "I'd never leave home without it," I grinned.
The three of us headed towards the basement stairs. The Professor went up first and was surprised to find that the police were there. They helped him up and gave him some tea and food. He took a seat beside Isabella's father as the police questioned them. While they were being questioned, Flora pulled me aside. "Are you sure you're fine?" she asked. "Yes, I'll be fine until we get to back to London. I promise to go to the hospital then," I tried to reassure. "Luke," she said quietly. "Yeah?"
"Thanks for what you did back there. I know that you were going to risk your life to protect Isabella and me. You got hurt protecting us."
"It was really no big deal," I said as I started to turn a bit red. Her comments were a bit embarrassing. "Well, I just wanted to thank you," Flora smiled. "And do this." Flora reached her arms around me, catching me a bit off guard. She leaned forward slowly and kissed me.
A Few Weeks Later...
I set the newspaper down on the table with a satisfied thump. "Did you see?" I asked Flora, who was making us some tea. "Looks like Ned got what he deserved," I told her. "He was sentenced to jail for life for kidnapping and attempted murder." Flora gave a sigh of relief. "That makes me feel good. By the way, did you tell the Professor about university yet?" She set down my tea and took a seat next to me. "No," I smiled. "I was planning on telling him today."
"I'm so excited," Flora said. "We'll be going to school together." Flora would be attending Gressenheller as well. "Did you tell him the other thing?" Flora wondered. I turned a bit red. "I'll let him figure that out on his own," I replied sheepishly. "Honestly, he's probably figured it out already."
"You're right," Flora agreed. "He's always one step ahead of us. That's the Professor after all."
"What am I?" the Professor asked as he walked into the room. "Nothing!" Flora and I said in unison. He gave a laugh and sat down. He took a sip of the tea that Flora had prepared for him. "This is quite excellent, Flora," he complimented her. "Thank you, Professor," Flora smiled. "I do my best." Flora sat down next to me and grabbed the paper. "Anything else interesting?" she asked. "There's something about the new opera that that friend of yours is starring in. I've heard it's really good."
"There's also something about great vacation spots," I added. "Look! Monte d'Or is on it!" Flora and I kept looking through the paper when the Professor started to laugh. "You both seem nervous. You wouldn't be hiding anything from me, would you?" Flora and I were silent. "Well," I said. "I wanted to surprise you, but I guess you figured us out. I'll be attending Gressenheller this fall. I supposed to come to London in a few weeks to get ready, but I ended up coming a bit early when Flora wrote me."
"I already knew that," the Professor smiled as he set down his cup of tea. "Dean Delmona knew you were coming and couldn't keep it a secret. He told me right away." So much for my surprise. "There's nothing else you want to share?" the Professor questioned. Flora and I looked at each other and turned red. "Okay," the Professor smiled. "You don't have to tell me." He stood back up and grabbed his coat from the rack. "I have to head to the University to pick up a few things. You two stay out of trouble." I heard the door shut and I gave a sigh.
"He knows, doesn't he?" I asked, my face bright red. "Yep," Flora said. We both looked at each other a bit embarrassed. "If he already knows," Flora giggled. "Then I guess it would be okay to do this again." She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. Then she grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight. "Can you believe it took us this long?" Flora said. "What do you mean?" I asked. "You've always been dense," she explained. "I've liked you since I left St. Mystere. I was always nervous about saying anything though. You were always so attached to the Professor. I thought you liked him more than me!"
"Well... maybe," I said. Flora hit me on my bad shoulder. "Ow," I yelled. "I'm kidding!"
"Good," she said. "A gentleman should never be rude to a lady."
Later that day, the Professor came home. Flora was reading a book and I was working on a puzzle that I had found. I was surprised when I heard him open the door because instead of hearing one step of footsteps, I heard two. The Professor entered the room and beside him was a young boy, who could only have been 10 years old at most. His hair was red and he was skinny. He looked a bit scared and was hiding behind the Professor.
"Who's this?" Flora asked, pointing at the boy. "This is Alfendi," the Professor said. "He'll be living with us from now on."
"Really?" Flora exclaimed. "He's so cute!"
"I've already properly adopted him," the Professor said. "He has a lot of learn and I hope you both can help teach him a few things."
"You bet, Professor!" I shouted. Flora nodded her head in agreement. The Professor asked Alfendi is he wanted to play with Flora. Alfendi nodded and walked towards Flora. She took him into the other room to play. "I didn't see that coming," I told the Professor. "I didn't know you wanted any more people around the house."
"When I met the boy," the Professor explained. "There was just something about him. I had the same feeling I had when there's a puzzle around." I raised my eyebrow, a bit confused, but I went with it. "Well, he seems like a good kid," I said. "It'll be nice to have him around."
"I was hoping you and Flora could watch him whenever I'm gone," the Professor said. "It would be a big help and good practice for the future."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing, my boy. Nothing at all."
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