Inside his living room, with the lamp beaming a soft light, David was sitting on the sofa in complete silence and thought. After a sudden and poignant confrontation from Lola regarding all he had been doing about Bernie, he was now wondering endlessly what to do now. Everything Lola had said to him tonight was once again crawling deeper and deeper into his mind as he fought to come to the next conclusion. He had tried and done everything he could so far to see what Bernie would make of it, and at this point, it was almost certain that it really was a lost cause.
David swallowed hard as his eyes fell upon a portrait of Lawrence standing on the table. He slowly took the portrait and held it in both hands, then gently ran his fingers along the frame before sighing lowly and placing the frame on the table again. There, David continued to sit with his arms folded in and his head bowed.
"What do I do now, Dad?" he asked softly, hearing only silence in the following moments.
Back onboard the Sea Emperor, Bernie was sitting by himself below the ship's decks, slowly swaying back and forth in his hammock, feeling very discouraged and almost desolated as he too was struggling with sheer indecision. After two whole weeks of unpaid labor and little to no acceptance from those around him, four days being locked in the brig, and now with the most Hell he had ever experienced now, Bernie truly felt it was all in vain. His time as a parolee was not optimistic anymore. It had turned into something truly unforgiving and unwelcoming. He began to wish he never agreed to this probation order. He wanted almost nothing more to do with it now…except for one little something…or someone. The only one Bernie ever trusted and looked up to in all of this.
"Ohh…Ohh, Golly! Ms. Lola! She is my last and only friend!" Bernie whimpered desperately. "I have to see her one more time! She's all I've got left at all! I HAVE to see her one more time! Hang all curfews! Hang all probation rules! I'm gonna see her!"
Bernie crept quietly upstairs and on deck. He couldn't see anyone else around. But as he looked ahead toward the village, he could see one house with its lights still on. Bernie left the Sea Emperor and started wandering through the village, making sure no one else was around to see him. Soon, he came to the house with the lights on and looked closely. Sure enough, through the top window, seemingly packing a few things, Bernie saw Lola's silhouette. Her body language seemed most stressed out and undecided as she kept pacing with handfuls of belongings and clothes until she disappeared from the room. Bernie almost thought of knocking on her door, when he suddenly heard an engine not far off. Quickly, he hid behind another house's wall and waited.
Only a few hundred yards off, Donald and Douglas were huffing slowly down the line to look for Lola. After witnessing her confrontation with David, they had talked things out and came to the decision to tell Lola the whole picture from start to finish.
"Courage, man. Courage!" Douglas whispered to his brother.
"Aye, Douggie. This is it. But what of Davey?" Donald whispered back. "Shouldn't we come forward to him about this tonight? As he demanded, any lad or lass who has any knowledge surrounding Bernie must come forward to him or the Gov."
"Well, we may be talking about Bernie," said Douglas. "But he wouldn't be wandering around right now. His curfew would nae allow it. Perhaps in the morning, we'll tell David."
Donald swallowed nervously, but agreed, not wanting to argue now.
"Now, remember," said Douglas. "Not a word of quarrel or argument between us! We didnae wanna have Lola shout us down as Emily once had to."
"Aye, indeed," Donald whispered.
Soon, the twins came alongside Lola's house, seeing her silhouette from inside…and from his hiding spot, Bernie watched both engines very carefully. Something inside him wanted to burst out and stop them, but as he was outside after curfew, it was just too risky for him now as Donald and Douglas stopped right beside the house and called softly.
"Lola? Ms. Lola, ma'am?"
Lola recognized those voices and came outside.
"Please, you two," she said. "Unless you're going to transfer me and my family away from here, I don't want to see anyone else tonight."
"Come now, Ms. Lola," said Douglas. "You should nae leave your home feeling like this."
"Of course not, Ms. Lola," said Donald. "Why, some of the finest company we ever have here are lassies. Especially our beloved sister figure, Emily…even if we did drop that big snowball on her while we kept on-"
"Quiet! You great looney!" Douglas snapped to his brother, then looked to the lady again. "Please, Lola. Donnie and I have come with a proposition for helping ye."
Lola suddenly looked up, remembering what she had said to David about these two.
"Help me? Is that why you're both here? Did David answer my demand and send you to come to transfer me and my family out of this place?"
Donald and Douglas both gave Lola a serious look and shook left and right.
"Nae. We be doing no such thing," said Donald. "And neither should you, Lola. You cannae leave like this."
"Why not?! I can't stand it here!" Lola protested. "This place has gotten too full of strife, and David's naval side is too much for me now!"
"Please, Lola," Donald implored. "You should nae transfer yourself and your parents out of here after all the drama you've been through."
"Because we've come to set the picture straight for you…about Bernie," Douglas added.
Bernie froze right where he was hiding and felt his heart start pounding with sheer worry. Lola stopped where she was and looked at both twins.
"What do you mean by that?" she asked. "What would you both know about him that I don't?"
Both twins came a little closer and deepened their serious looks.
"Well…you see, Lola," Douglas began. "Both of us so happened to hear your shout-off with David only a few minutes ago. We heard it all."
Lola suddenly went a little red. She had been too caught up in the argument before to think if anyone else could hear.
"You…you heard everything?" she asked.
"Aye. We did," said Donald. "This has been going on for two weeks, and we both feel it's becoming too much for you, David and Bernie."
"And so we're here to finish your needless stress if we can," said Douglas. "We've seen how you've made a friend out of Bernie…but we don't believe you would have become his friend if you knew the whole truth before all this, as the rest of the island does."
Lola's eyes widened ever-so slightly. "Truth? What truth?"
Bernie felt his veins almost go cold as he prayed against prayer that he wouldn't be revealed, while Donald took a deep breath and started.
"Well, as you know, Bernie has been having an absolute spell from Hell ever since he was kept in the brig."
"And we've taken fair note of how you seem to be his only friend throughout this whole process," said Douglas.
"Yes," said Lola. "But what are you leading up to?"
"Believe us, Lola, we probably wouldn't have come, had all the recent events not occurred," said Donald. "But given the ill circumstances now, I think perhaps Douggie and I have to tell you the real tale about Bernie. You see…he is not who you think he is."
Lola's face suddenly formed a serious look too. She knew Donald and Douglas could be quarrelsome, but when that wasn't happening, they were truthful and practical engines who would never compromise anything.
"In what way, you two?" she asked a little suspiciously.
"Bernie is not just a naive, innocent mind," said Douglas. "He was, and probably still is, as far as we're concerned…a full-on thief by trade."
Both twins watched as Lola stood where she was, swaying ever-so slightly from what she had heard.
"…A thief?" she whispered strongly. "How, when and in what way? I've not heard anything like this about him."
"Well, dear Lola, it all started back a few weeks ago with the Technology Fair," said Donald. "While all the engines were getting it ready at Ulfstead Castle, Sonny came into Vicarstown before any of us ever knew him. On the Mainland, Baz and Bernie had stolen him and brought him here, both of them masquerading as cooks to infiltrate Ulfstead Castle. They hid out in Maithwaite Forest now and again at night, but over time, as the Fair unfolded, those two kept coming and going to see what invention they could steal and profit from."
"Baz, of course, tried to keep the schemes under wraps," said Douglas. "But Bernie's tongue was ever-so loose, almost giving away their intentions in every scenario, to which Baz always stopped him sort. Eventually, on the last day of the Fair, Baz and Bernie conjured a scheme to rob Ruth's plans for her Hover Car, then fled in Kenji after tying Sonny's regulator on to divert the chase. Luckily, with the help of the Booster Rocket, Thomas managed to save Kenji, while the police and even David's R.I.F.L.E. establishment caught Baz and Bernie at last, and Ruth's plans were saved."
Lola stood there, completely speechless. While practically all the rest of the island knew all the details about the World of Tomorrow, she just so happened to be among the very small minority of those who didn't pick up all the details right away in Sudrian matters. As for Bernie, he could not believe what Donald and Douglas had just divulged to his one and only friend. His absolute worst fear was now coming true.
"I…I…I don't know what to say to all this…" Lola said unevenly, not looking directly at either twin. "I almost can't believe what I'm hearing…"
"Well, it all be true, Lola. It all truly happened," said Donald. "Shortly after Thomas and Emily shared their tenth anniversary in love together, David thought it best to deal with both men individually, so he and Emily went to the Mainland Steelworks to form a plan to ensnare Baz indefinitely and with no escape whatsoever, forming a steel cage to transport him in, where he was put to solitary confinement for thirty years by order of the London Court."
"A perfectly fitting punishment for that monster's crimes," said Douglas. "But in the matter of Bernie, David had come to wonder if he yet had a chance of making better than who he was. That's why he had Bernie released from the SPD to be given that chance…but now, after all that's happened up to this point, we both think it's too far gone now. David tried, he struggled, he believed, he saw what happened…all up to now."
Lola shut her eyes and shook her head as the whole picture came collapsing down on her original perception of Bernie, just as Rebecca was shed some light on her original perception of Gordon at the very beginning.
"Bernie may not have orchestrated any of Baz's schemes himself," said Donald. "But that nae absolves him of the fact that he still helped his causes. Had be been even a hair's length cleverer than he is, he would have had a chance, indeed.
"But as it all stands, he didn't have any beans to know right from wrong," Douglas scoffed. "To hear us talk, frankly, he was merely too stupid and frivolously airheaded to see past it all. And that, Ms. Lola, is the full picture of Bernie. With all things considered…we feel as though perhaps he cannae be saved…and perhaps you ought to think what's truly best for you…even if it means removing Bernie from your picture."
From where he was hiding, Bernie's mouth gaped so wide, his jaws ached, and his heart slammed so hard, it almost leapt into his throat. He had been hoping for just one more chance to see Lola off with even the tiniest hint of hope, but now, things were drastically different and set in.
"The very man I made a steady friend out of…was a thief? A fugitive? Someone who helped Baz through all that disruption?"
"Aye, Lola. I'm afraid so," said Donald.
Lola closed her eyes and shook her head. It was then that she finally realized who she had been interacting with. In the midst of all his naive, carefree and simple-minded nature, Bernie was still a thief by nature, and given all he had been through up to now, she finally came to a very difficult, but final decision as she opened her eyes and looked right at both twins.
"Thank you, Donald and Douglas," she said at last. "With all this newfound knowledge, and I hasten to add…evidence, perhaps I've been a fool to take such a liking as I did to him. He may have been carefree and jolly with me…but he withheld all of this from me. He never told me…and I don't believe I can truly make friends with someone who doesn't tell me the entire truth. Perhaps now that I know the root of the whole story…it hurts me to do this…but perhaps I should do what's ultimately right…and cut all ties I may have had with him. Perhaps I made a mistake in trusting him so. If what you tell me is true…then I won't need you to move me or my family. If David's instincts are right and if Bernie really is up to no good in the end…then perhaps I should stay after all…and depart from any ties I had with him before."
Donald and Douglas both took a deep breath and nodded surly.
"It's very good to hear that you'll stay, Lola," said Donald. "We're both very sorry it had to come to all this. But there are times in life when we can't win all of them all the time."
"Whatever you feel is best to do for yourself, in regard to Bernie, we won't stop you," said Douglas. "And above all, look after yourself, and your parents."
Lola just nodded gravely, and thanked them both for everything. Both twins then set off to return to their shed, while Lola looked to the house and went back inside to stop all the packing. Bernie had seen everything and could feel the sensation that he had now lost every last chance he ever had of making better. But in these moments of panic, fear and smashing realization, he desperately thought that there could be one last chance. Almost before he knew it, Bernie burst out of hiding, dashed to the front door and knocked, wringing his hands and quaking his feet. When Lola opened the door again, she stopped suddenly to who was right there.
"Bernie…" she said steadily. "Just what are you doing out here? After your curfew?"
Bernie had hoped for a friendlier greeting, but Lola's voice was not carefree anymore. Rather, it was completely serious.
"Lola…Lola, please," he whispered shakily. "You've got to help me! If you're leaving, take me with you! You're all I have left, and-"
Lola suddenly stepped away from Bernie.
"No. Sorry, Bernie. I can't do that. Not this time I'm not leaving my home on account of the mistake I've been making all this time! Donald and Douglas told me everything! Things I never even knew until now…about you, and what you did at the Technology Fair under Baz…and you never even told me!"
Bernie became more and more desperate.
"Lola! Please, don't do this! You've been my light in all this torture since the start!" he begged. "I heard everything them twins said! Don't take it from them! They're lying! They're only out to trick you and steer you away from me!"
"I'm sorry, Bernie," said Lola. "I have indeed helped and strove for you since the start, but I know who Donald and Douglas are. They may be quarrelsome, but they're practical, proud…and honest. Everything they told me has indeed happened, and I know they aren't lying! I was furious at David for what he's been doing to you lately, but now I find out all of this only now?!"
"But Lola!" Bernie pleaded. "I couldn't tell you! I would have lost you first thing! And you know I would never steal from you! I had to see you just one last time, but them fools got here first!"
"As far as I'm concerned, you needn't worry about seeing me again!" Lola scolded. "I don't need you to shelter and protect me! Had you told me the full truth from the very start as opposed to hide most of it on our date to the Seaside Bistro, maybe I would have understood this a lot better, and perhaps all of this wouldn't have happened! But keeping this secret away from me?! I can't trust people who don't tell me the truth, or only tiny bits of it! To that effect, perhaps I made a mistake in trusting you so quick!"
Bernie opened his mouth to speak, but Lola kept going, sound sadder now through her scolding.
"I've been through serious anger and frustration on account of what David has been doing recently, but had you merely plucked up the courage and told me all this from the start, none of this might have happened, and as much as it hurts me to do this to the friend that you were to me…I think it be best that I move on from all this myself! Goodbye! And take your thievery with you!"
Then just as she started to cry through this most difficult decision, Lola turned, marched back inside and shut the door hard. Bernie ran up to the door, but it was locked.
"Lola! Lola, come back! Lola-a-a-a!" he called softly, but desperately just the same.
But it was no use. Lola did not come back to the door. Her silhouette went right upstairs to her room, then all the lights turned out, leaving Bernie in the dark. That was it. All over and done with.
Bernie slowly turned away and started walking back to the ship, feeling utter defeat and ruin at last. He had seen and heard everything, and after Lola's closing message to both twins, and now him, he felt as though a large, sharp rock had been dropped on his heart. He had lost his freedom for four days in the brig, he had lost what respect he once had from David's crew, and now at long last, against all odds he may have contemplated, he had lost his only true friend. He had lost everything, and felt as though there was nothing more he could do.
But in these moments of fate, just as Bernie he walked alongside the village, his eye caught glimpse of something most unexpected, making him stop where he was. There, in the dark, still night was a line of shops, all buttoned up tight and locked for the night…and right in line with Bernie's eyes was Arlesburgh's jewelry outlet, full of all sorts of precious stones of many different uses. Bernie stared at it for some time…then, it was here and now that Bernie decided he could not turn over any new leaves after all…and finally lost his own inner battle. In the same vein as Baz followed until his steely fate, Bernie was once a thief, and would always be a thief, right to the very end of it all…which was not very far off for Bernie now in the time that was to come. In just a few short hours, it would all come collapsing down on Bernie. David had been doing his very best for Bernie however he could, through fairness, firmness and even cruelty to be kind, but now, there was no turning back…so Bernie made his decision.
"Baz was right all along. Absolutely right," he whispered with sheer resentment and vanity. "Stealing things IS really useful. It always got us through before with Sonny. All those jewels! It'll buy my freedom! Away from all this. Away from Rider!"
In the next moment, Bernie hurried back to the Sea Emperor and went down below decks to see if he could find anything to get into that outlet and pickpocket all the jewels he could. After looking through the ship for a minute or two, he found his barnacle-picking tool. It had brought him some very angry memories, but right now, Bernie thought it was the best thing he could use now. Sharp, pointed and strong. Perfect for what he had in mind. Soft and quick as his own shadow, Bernie slipped back out into the night like a fox, keeping well hidden in the darkness as he crept up toward the jewelry outlet.
"Here we go," he whispered to himself. "No more bossy stunts from Captain Rider. No more pushing around. No…more…probation."
Bernie examined the locked door and the glass window above the knob. After some consideration, he figured out what he could do. Very carefully and quietly, Bernie drove his tool into the glass window, eventually cutting through. Then he slowly but steadily sawed a small circle form through the glass, then after a few light tugs, Bernie plucked the tool out from the window, taking a circle shape of glass with him. Bernie then saw his chance and slipped his hand through the hole, got hold of the door's latch…and unlocked it. Bernie had now broken and entered!
Inside the outlet, there were shelves and shelves of jewels. Tiaras, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, diamond rings, brooches, silver and gold chains and more. Bernie took a quick look at all of it, turning around in circles and smiling from ear to ear, feeling as though he had finally obtained fortune. Massive, massive fortune, just as he had hoped when he and Baz stole Ruth's plans. Probably a bigger fortune than Ruth's plans ever could have mustered.
Over the next while , Bernie got straight to his dirty business and helped himself every which way in the shop, taking as much jewelry as he could from all the shelves and stuffing them into his coat pockets, pant pockets, inner and outer pockets, here, there and everywhere, even stuffing some bits of jewelry inside his socks. Bernie snickered quietly to himself and as he gave occasional glances outside, he was surprised and delighted to see no one had noticed.
After almost an hour, the shop had been completely transformed for the worst. All the shelves were empty, and Bernie's pockets were now almost beyond the point of bursting. He was considerably weighed down by so much, but he didn't care at this point. He had obtained his fortune, and he would not walk way from all of this now.
"Jolly good indeed! I've got all the fortune and luck any bloke could have!" Bernie snickered as he called very softly outside. "Tootle-loo, Arlesburgh! You won't be needing me anymore! I'm free!"
And with that, Bernie slipped out of the shop, hurried through the darkness, and left the town. Over the next few hours, clouds began to cover the sky and block out the stars while Bernie trailed farther and farther from Arlesburgh and further inland along the island, crossing over railway lines, over hills and along quiet, empty roads. All was quiet, still and shadowed in the dark of night as Bernie traveled a fair number of miles, which was a long, long stride for a man such as him with all those jewels stuffed in all his pockets. Bernie trailed and trailed, feeing more and more tired, until at last, he came to the Whistling Woods, and found that spot. That the very spot where he, Baz and Sonny had always hidden in at night during the World of Tomorrow.
Bernie slowly thought back to that time, and as no one had found them here during the Fair, he thought now this was the perfect place to rest until he'd be ready to sneak on further the next morning, and escape if he could possibly help it. He found a thick, secluded bush to rest in and was soon fast asleep, hidden and sheltered from all others...but little did Bernie know that the time would soon come when he would meet his absolute final test, when the unthinkable would become real. When fate would close in on him once and for all.
At last, the night had come to an end. Just around 6:00 a.m., the first rays of daylight began to show through. The clouds had now completely covered the sky in a neutral white blanket as the day slowly got brighter. In one corner of the village, a woman came out of her house and made ready to head toward her shop to start opening it up for the day, and this woman so happened to own the very jewelry shop that been touched upon by thieving hands only some hours ago.
From the other end of the village, Copper came out of his home, having woken up early to board the Sea Emperor and check in on Bernie before his scheduled 8:00 a.m. start. By now, he had lost all confidence in Bernie and truly felt his captain had to let go of the matter imminently. With a sigh, he boarded the ship then went below decks. He reached the hammocks, expecting to find Bernie there…but when he came alongside the hammock…empty.
"…What…?"
Copper stood over the hammock and stared for a few moments. Where was Bernie? How long had he been gone? What had he gotten up to? How could this have happened? Then suddenly, there came a distant but shrill yell from outside.
"AAAAHH! AAAHH!"
Copper's heart flipped urgently as he ran off the ship and dashed off to follow the yells, sensing something serious had happened, and he had a strong feeling as to who this could be about. When he found the sound, there was Arlesburgh's jewelry shop with a carved out hole in the glass window, and the owner flailing her arms in sheer panic and shrieking with alarm, steadily waking up several houses as people started to gather round and see just what had happened. Among those gathered included Hetty, Geraldine, Ian Wainwright, and even Lola and her parents were roused by the alarming screams.
"Madam! Goodness Gracious! What happened here?!" Copper exclaimed.
"What happened, ma'am? It's waking up the whole village!" Wainwright exclaimed. "Who did this?!"
"I've been robbed! Robbed!" wailed the owner as she saw who else was approaching the scene. "Help! HELP! Constable! Constable! Robbery! The shop has been robbed!"
"This woman's jewelry shop, Constable!" shouted Copper. "It's been robbed!"
"WHAT?!"
The Constable dashed forward and saw just what this all meant. There was the open hole in the glass window, and inside, all the shelves…empty! Just as the Constable almost predicted who had done this, the owner wailed once again.
"Help, Constable! Our jewels! Someone has robbed our jewels! All the tiaras, the necklaces, the bracelets, the earrings, the diamond rings! They've had the lot! The shop has been RANSACKED!"
"Did you find it this way, madam?" the Constable asked. The owner nodded very fast.
"Ohh, THIS is it, Geraldine!" Hetty exclaimed. "There's no guessing now who this could be! I KNEW it, I KNEW it! It's all Bernie!"
"Of course it is, Hetty!" Geraldine gawked. "Who else could it have been?"
"Well, we'll just have to examine the scene ourselves," said Copper. "Then we shall know all."
"Please! My jewels!" the owner panicked. "I need them back! Where could they BE?!"
The Constable held the owner's shoulder to compose her and gave her a firm, promising nod.
"Don't worry. We'll find out just who did it," he said. "I'll have Phelps and Gallagher right over here to examine for finger prints. Copper! Rouse the captain immediately!"
While the Constable telephoned the SPD and told them the news, Copper hurried to David's house and knocked on the door. Beatrice opened it and seemed quite alert, having heard some of the noise herself.
"Beatrice! I must see your son!" Copper urged as he told her what had just been discovered.
Beatrice's eyes widened with alarm as she heard what had happened and she too almost knew instinctively who could have done this.
"Upstairs, Copper. We'll have to wake him," she said.
Copper nodded as he and Beatrice hurried upstairs to a closed door. Copper creaked the door open ever-so slightly and saw David was still asleep, having not heard the screams himself yet, lost in his dreams. But Copper came in and spoke, while Beatrice watched.
"Captain? Captain. As I went onboard the check the ship, I noticed the sun hasn't risen yet, but Bernie is nowhere onboard the ship. I says to myself, 'That's early for Bernie to be astir. Bernie's not due to rouse until 8:00 a.m.'!"
As Copper spoke, he turned on David's alarm clock, which started ringing at once.
"Check the time yourself, Captain, and then tell-"
The clock was suddenly pounded by David's fist, and the alarm stopped ringing. Then David slowly turned over in bed and looked at his first mate with bleary eyes.
"I was dreaming, Copper…of Bernie."
"Bernie, captain?" Copper noted as David rose from his bed and stood up.
"And in my dream," said David. "There was a jewelry outlet that looked very like the one here…everything was there, and then, next moment in my dream…all of it, just…poof."
Copper stood quite still and Beatrice stiffened at the coincidence as David gathered his clothes and captain's coat and went to the bathroom to change and wash up. When he came out again, he saw Copper and his mother looking almost unnerved as they continued to stand still.
"Copper, what is it?" David asked. "Mum?"
"Your dream, David," Beatrice said softly. "And what it happened to be about…Poof indeed."
David suddenly looked right at his mother and first mate.
"If I'm not mistaken…you both seem to be suggesting that what I dreamt…wasn't just a dream. Why did you wake me, Copper?"
"Because your dream is directly in line as of this very morning, Captain! Bernie is nowhere onboard the ship, the sun has not yet risen, and the local jewelry market is completely empty!"
David suddenly froze where he was and thought back for a moment to his phone call with Wainwright at the very beginning of all this. It seemed that against all odds, his hypothetical scenario of an empty jewelry outlet had come true. David whipped right back around to his first mate with a flare in his eyes.
"Baz's posse. He's struck again! Mum, Code Red situation! Call Sir Topham Hatt and tell him to advise the engines to stay alert and keep a constant eye out all across the Railway! This is a Code Red situation and we CAN'T let our culprit escape!"
Beatrice nodded and went to the telephone while David and Copper hurried outside. When they arrived at the jewelry outlet, David saw who had gathered together, and a few others too. Phelps and Gallagher had already arrived and were dusting for fingerprints on the exposed glass window and in the shop, and Donald, Douglas, Duck and Oliver had come by, having heard the sheer panic still going on. David watched the shop with ever-growing confirmations as to what this was all about until Phelps and Gallagher came out of the shop and nodded to David.
"Well? It's been two weeks, but now? Is it who we're all expecting?" David asked. "Has my parolee truly gone rogue and failed his path?"
Phelps nodded firmly. "It's a dirty and most underhanded plot, but it's true, Captain. The fingerprints match. It's Bernie for sure."
"He's emptied the whole shop," said Gallagher. "All those jewels be worth millions of millions, and now it's a matter of where he went."
Wainwright sniffed and looked at David. "You still think he's worth trying to save, Mr. Rider?"
Everyone watched as David stood there and closed his eyes, keeping very still as he fell into numbing realization. Two whole long weeks of trial, tribulation, toil and tumult in Bernie's probation, full of hope, promise, skepticism, anger, peril and betrayal it was. And now, the final answer had come forth about his parolee. David nodded very slowly as he opened his eyes and declared his final judgement for Bernie's probation now.
"At long, long last. There's no doubt anymore. In the case of Bernie, once a thief, always a thief," he said strongly. "I did everything in my range to see if he would make better of who he was…but now, fate has indeed taken its course on him. I've got no idea what goes through Bernie's mind. He's betrayed us all again. Now he stands alone. I can't help him anymore. We're going to find him, and return him to the Unit, no matter what it takes."
Phelps and Gallagher both nodded and set out to start the search. David then hurried to assemble his crew and gather them together. Within minutes, he told them all about the robbery, to which the whole crew came to the same conclusion about Bernie.
"It happened last night right under our noses, and we have to get those jewels back and stop that thief!" David ordered his crew. "Therefore, boys, drop everything for today and muster a search party to track Bernie down. Fan out in all directions along the island! With a whole store of jewelry in that thief's pockets and in full betrayal against me now, he must NOT be allowed to escape!"
"What of our lobster pots and helping Captain Joe?" asked Milo. "Who will do all of that?"
"Bloody Hell! We haven't time for that! I want every crewman of mine searching!" David roared. "Find him! FIND HI-I-IM!"
The crewmen immediately sensed this was no time to question David's motives, so they proceeded to fan out of Arlesburgh to search as much ground as they could. Copper stayed with David, but just before they got to the search themselves, they saw Donald and Douglas hurrying toward them with Lola and her parents in their cabs. David saw them all looking right at him and suddenly became even more suspicious.
"What's all this?" he asked.
Donald spoke first. "Wait…David…before you set off…"
"There's something we all must tell you," said Douglas. "As per your new terms, given what has just transpired, we have picked up a sliver of knowledge on Bernie's account to report to you. Lola here just told us a thing or two."
"We had also divulged some things to her last night," said Donald. "We weren't sure to tell you then, but here we are now to tell you our part."
David looked at both twins with glittering eyes. "Tell me what? Speak!"
Donald and Douglas swallowed and told David how they had overheard him and Lola's argument the other night, and what they had told Lola about Bernie. Then with a forlorn sigh, Lola plucked up and told David what had happened between her and Bernie, all while David listened and stared, feeling everything crashing down more and more.
"Wandering outside after his hours, desperate for help from Lola…but Donald and Douglas, you got there first. No going back. Oh, my God…I…I can't even…"
"I now know everything about, David," Lola said strongly. "While I can't let go of how you've approached Bernie lately…he never told me his true nature before all this. He withheld it from me, and to that effect, I felt deceived. I feel very hurt by my own decision, but I decided to cut all my ties with him."
"We thought before he might have been a fair friend," said Lola's mother. "But now…there's no going back."
"Right now, all that matters is that all that jewelry must be saved," said Lola's father. "And the law must prevail on Bernie…our thieving acquaintance."
"Yes…Bernie…If he escapes with ALL that jewelry…" David pondered, then went on alert. "Copper! Catch up the men with this order: Triple your efforts on the search! I want them on full patrol! Leave no corner unchecked, no bush unexplored, let NO ONE in the R.I.F.L.E. establishment rest until we have that man in irons!"
"Yes, sir. Right away," Copper answered and ran off.
"Branfords, you stay here," said David. "Donald and Douglas, take me along the line. I'll need Thomas, Emily and Sonny for this search!"
"Aye, sir!" they both whistled.
David got onboard Douglas, then they all set off to find the three engines.
On the rest of the railway, the Fat Controller had spread the news of alert to all the engines, who were all most shocked and stunned by the report of Bernie's theft and escape, now running loose again. The Fat Controller was now speeding along the roads, trying to keep an open eye for Bernie himself. Everywhere they went, all the engines felt that their suspicions were fully confirmed, and they all engines kept on maximum alert, scanning left, right, up and down along the line. Gordon and Rebecca with the express, Percy with the milk train, Nia on her way to the Animal Park, and even James as he took his loads of iron along the line. Having heard about Bernie's escape, he very slightly began to feel as though the dirty part he played some time ago had something or other to do with this.
Elsewhere along the line, Thomas, Emily and Sonny were all hurrying along the line together. As they too had heard the spreading alarm, they were all on full alert too, and having heard the latest details, at long last their suspicions were fully confirmed too.
"It's happened, Emily," said Thomas. "I tried to be hopeful for Bernie, but with him robbing that entire shop, I can't hope for him now!"
"I think just the same, Thomas," said Emily. "And as No. 12 Safety Engine, I am helping David find this thief in any way I possibly can!"
"I should have known it would come to all this!" Sonny exclaimed. "Bernie making off with that whole shop's supply! I thought only Baz would have done such a thing!"
Just then, the three engines saw Donald and Douglas hurrying towards them from up ahead.
"There they are!" the twins called out.
David looked out from Douglas' cab. "Thank you, boys! Now go on with your work, and stay alert! You hear me? Alert!"
"Aye, David!"
As the twins hurried back along the line, David ran to the three other engines.
"Thomas, Emily and Sonny! There you are! You got the Fat Controller's alert, I trust? Bernie has escaped and made off red-handed!"
Emily nodded firmly. "Yes, David. We heard everything. It seems that our building doubts about Bernie were right all along!"
"Two whole weeks, we've been watching and monitoring with you, David," said Thomas. "But now, we MUST STOP him before he makes off!"
"Just where can he be?" David asked. "Where would he be hiding from all of us?"
Suddenly, Sonny remembered his own experience and whistled hastily.
"Oh! Captain Rider! The Whistling Woods!" he exclaimed. "He could be there. That's where Baz hid all three of us during the Fair."
David looked right at Sonny and raised his eyebrow. "Clever, Sonny. Excellent suggestion. Take me there at once!"
Sonny nodded as David got onboard him. Thomas and Emily followed as Sonny raced along the line until they came to the Whistling Woods. Sonny knew these woods well and hurried right to the very spot he knew.
"Here it is, Captain," he said. "This is where Baz always hid us at night…oh! Look! On the ground!"
Thomas, Emily and David looked too, and there were a few little bits of jewels. Just the clue for this search.
"Bernie's been here," said Thomas. "Just where can he be now?"
"He could be anywhere, Thomas," said Emily. "Do you think anyone else here is searching, David?"
"I should think and hope so," said David. "I'll carry the search from here. You three return to your work now. And if you lay ANY sight at all on Bernie, wherever it may be, do all you can to ensure he doesn't evade you!"
Thomas, Emily and Sonny all whistled in response and set off, while David began his hunt. Sure enough, he wasn't the only one out hunting. Before long, he saw Phelps and Gallagher searching through the woods themselves, and Copper and Jordan too. David caught up with both detectives, his bosun and his first mate, then they polished their plans together, vowing to fan out through the forest to try and find their flying weasel. And so for about two hours, they worked together and widened the search, scoured the woods, looking through the trees, clearings and along trails, but found little sign of Bernie…until they came to a large, thick bush, which David began brushing with his hands.
"Where are you, you sneak-thief?!" David spoke aloud. "I know you're in there! Come out! Come out!"
But nothing came. David turned around to try somewhere else, when suddenly, there came a loud rustle from those bushes. Everyone turned around and barely had one second to see a fast figure dart through, then David was suddenly shoved off his feet, followed by Copper getting biffed to the ground, and Phelps and Gallagher turned just in time to take a punch from both fists from this figure as they both recoiled and each held their jaw. David had fallen to the ground, then brought his head up from the grass, and in that instant, his eyes befell the most unacceptable sight he could see right now. There was Bernie holding jewelry stuffed in his pockets and running as fast as he could to try and get away. Suddenly one of his pockets burst and jewelry went flying everywhere, but Bernie still had the rest! Copper recovered then rushed to help David to his feet, but the now furious captain shoved him off.
"WHAT IN THE FIRING DEPTHS OF HELL WAS THAT?!"
"I don't know, Captain!" exclaimed Copper.
"Find out! And rally the crew to get those jewels back to Arlesburgh! Or you're ALL going to take a LONG walk off a SHORT plank!"
Copper knew in that instant this was no time to argue. He and Jordan drew a radio to call the rest of the crew to retrieve the spilled jewels, while David, Phelps and Gallagher took off through the forest to find Bernie.
"Attacking officers of the SPD, is he?!" Phelps exclaimed angrily. "Make ready, Gallagher!"
The three men hurried through the forest to find their culprit. The trail was now easy to follow, because they kept finding little bits of jewelry along the way. A bracelet, earrings, even a diamond ring or two. Phelps and Gallagher kept the bits of jewelry in their pockets to keep safe while David ran on ahead a few yards for another half hour.
"Faster, David! Don't lose him!" David kept saying to himself. "Better hurry or he'll get away! If I don't get moving, he'll escape!"
David ran on ahead until he came right along the pond where he had jumped in after fleeing that shark. But this time, he wasn't fleeing comically, and never would again. He would track Bernie down and have him stand trial one way or another, if he could possibly help it.
"I know that vandal's here somewhere," he grimaced. "And I'll find him, no doubt about that! Come on and show yourself, you common sneak-thief! I know fine you're here!"
For about twenty minutes more, David searched the bushes, and searched the meadows. He searched trails, and he searched flowerbeds, but he could not find Bernie. Then as David neared a small cliff face lined with boulders, he stopped and stood for a moment, looking all round.
"Where's Bernie?"
As David looked around a little bit…just out of his eyesight, Bernie ever-so slightly peaked out from behind another boulder ten yards away. He saw the captain and snickered ever-so quietly to himself before crouching out of sight again. Shortly afterwards, David asked aloud again, more irritated.
"Where's Bernie?!"
Once again, Bernie peaked over and snickered very quietly again…after which, David's patience was practically dissolved.
"WHERE'S BERNIE?!" he roared angrily as he weaved his head left and right once more.
Right on the perfectly imperfect cue, Bernie burst out from behind bushes and chortled vainly, thinking how clever he was to evade the captain.
"Boo! Or, say, boo-hoo! Can't keep up with me after all, eh, you tortoise?!"
That's when David turned his eye right to where the chortles came from, then gave the shout.
"THERE'S Bernie! You thought you could escape me? You thought you could outwit the skill and precision of Sudrian Law? Seems like your thoughts have betrayed you to the bitter ends of your skull, Bernie! And there are your pockets are stuffed with EVERY LAST BIT of Arlesburgh's jewelry! It's over, now, Bernie! You can't outrun Sudrian Law and Order anymore! Turn out your pockets and hand yourself over!"
"NO! I WON'T DO IT! EVER!" Bernie yelled as he stuffed the jewelry further inside his pockets. "I'm through with your orders and your cruel lead! I'm leaving you and your whole regime, Rider!"
"Oh, and what do you think you'll be without ME?!"
"Free…and RICH!" Bernie shouted. Then he turned and ran as hard as he possibly could.
"BIG mistake!" David hissed, then sounded the alarm. "Phelps! Gallagher! Phelps and Gallagher-r-r-r-!"
Both detectives came hurrying up, then Phelps looked through the trees and pointed.
"There they are! Captain Rider's got him on the run!"
David beckoned to both detectives. "Run with me, Phelps and Gallagher. Let us show this man the meaning of haste! After him!"
Phelps and Gallagher nodded, then David gave a shout and took off bolting, with the two detectives catching up quickly. Bernie hurried as fast as he could, spilling jewelry here and there with the three men trailing closer and closer every few moments.
"Catch me! Catch me!" Bernie taunted vainly as he kept on running.
"After him, boys! Go get him!" shouted David.
"Halt that man! Stop!" Phelps called out.
"Stop! Thief!" Gallagher added.
The chase was now truly on. Bernie heaved and hauled, panted and struggled, still spilling bits of jewelry as he went. In spite of his slamming heart, aching legs and burning lungs, he kept on sprinting with all his might, almost by instinct, as David, Phelps and Gallagher ran as hard as they could too. The chase was lengthy and quite fast, with all four men racing with all their might through the trees, over hills, through gullies and across ditches. The chase went on and on for almost twenty minutes, but David was determined to catch this man and settle the matter entirely.
Then at last, the moment of truth came, and the chase had to stop. Bernie finally took one more jump over a small hill, then suddenly lost balanced, tripped and tumbled down another slope. When he looked up, he had came to a dead end. A bundle of trees and bushes too thick to get through. He was trapped and had nowhere to go. He turned around fast in a last effort to find another way…but right there, ten yards away, and spread out evenly, were Phelps and Gallagher blocking his way, and in front of them both was David. Bernie had at last been caught. He had lost the final round and had now lost all his chances to the very last step. David hardened his expression and drew a set of handcuffs, ready to bind the weasel with. Then slowly and most impudently, Bernie rose to his feet and sneered.
"Don't move!" David demanded. "If you run another yard, we will tackle you!"
Bernie scoffed and almost smiled as he began walking slowly toward David. "Then why'd you release me? To lock me up again?!"
"You will return to the Sudrian Court to stand trial, and face a much stricter penalty for fleeing authorities!" Gallagher announced angrily.
"…No. No, I will not," Bernie said quietly, glancing in a particular direction at Phelps. "Not now…not ever again…"
"ENOUGH! You will stand your ground and submit to apprehension, Bernie!" Phelps demanded.
But Bernie, dazed and lost in a clouded mind, kept walking forward, slowly shaking his head in bungled disbelief and sneering harder at the men. This prompted Phelps to draw his pistol and aim it head-on. Bernie kept coming closer.
"GOD SAKE, STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" Phelps roared.
"Better the speed of the bullet than the slow agony of prison," Bernie stated. "Oi. You're a navy Captain, Mr. Rider."
"What's it to you now?!" David demanded.
Bernie came right up to Phelps…then he pressed his chest against Phelps' pistol barrel, and begged most spitefully.
"If you have such stature...then do it! Order the bobby here to shoot me! And I will be forever in your debt!"
Detective Phelps' finger was on the trigger, and he glanced to David to see what he would do now. David glanced to Phelps, not saying a word, then looked to Bernie again. Phelps and Gallagher could see David wouldn't follow through with such a rash motion. Bernie almost smiled, waiting for something to happen. Such spiteful behavior irked David with so much hate, he wanted to scream. Phelps and Gallagher looked to David again and could see his face hardening as he maintained a strong sense of order.
"...My duty is clear!" David barked one more time, having spoken that statement several times over to himself and others.
When Bernie heard this, he steadily went quite red in the face, most disappointed and vain, and beyond all reason now.
"...Your duty?!" he heaved in sheer desperation. "To release a man so he'll suffer again more slowly behind bars?!"
David was not letting any of this get to him as his face hardened more and more, his eyes glittering with struggling patience.
"You will answer for your crimes and return to the Sudrian Prison!" he insisted.
Finally, Bernie could take it no more. He slowly went pale and began to pant and hyperventilate. Then at the last moment, it happened. He put all active courses in his life to a stop, with a sudden and ear-splitting shriek.
"NEVER!"
And that quickly, Bernie grabbed Phelps' pistol barrel and yanked it toward himself. There was a click, a flash, then an ear-splitting BANG!
Some miles away, Thomas and Emily was huffing along the line, but in that moment, both their ears suddenly picked up the echoing bang through the air. Both engines immediately stopped right where they were, looking to the hills in the distance, and as the bang's echo faded away, their hearts pounded very strongly, and their eyes were as big and wide as dinner plates. They knew something most intensely serious had happened, and they would find out soon enough.
Back at the scene of conflict and struggle, tragedy had just struck. Phelps, Gallagher and David all stood where they were, stunned and gobsmacked by what just happened. Bernie had made Phelps shoot him, right where the heart would be. All three men watched in frozen shock as blood pumped and fissured out from Bernie's chest with every heartbeat as his heart shut down. Through an impossibly painful, final burn through his body, Bernie grabbed onto David's shoulder sleeve, and discerned his last words to the young captain.
"I believe...your duty...is fulfilled...sir!"
Then in the very next moment that came, Bernie's grip slackened all the way as he fell against David's shoulder, then slid downwards with a thud to the ground. And from that moment onwards, Bernie never moved again.
For several moments to follow, David's eyes were glued like stone to Bernie's motionless form as the realization began slamming into his body like a massive ocean wave. Within seconds, his mind and nerves fell into a terrible blur. His vision seemed blurry and unfocused again and his hearing felt a little distorted, like when he passed out from exhaustion after feeling the shark, but within a few more seconds, he regained a clear sense again…then suddenly, with a big, big breath, he gave a deafening shriek of anguish and defeat.
"YOU WERE THE ONE I CHOSE! IT WAS INTENDED YOU WOULD DEPART FROM THIEVERY, NOT EMBRACE IT! RETURN TO BEING A FAIR MAN, NOT SUCCUMB TO DARKNESS!"
Phelps and Gallagher breathed strongly as they proceeded to pick Bernie up and carry him away from the scene. David watched them do this, then only moments later, he could almost hear Bernie's voice screeching through his ears, full of wrath and desolation.
"I HATE YOU!"
Moment by moment, David could feel his eyes burning with coming tears as he looked to the cloud-covered sky.
"I gave you a CHANCE, Bernie! I wanted to help you!" he shouted as pity and regret kept washing over him moment by moment.
CLIFFHANGER! Yep, Bernie's dead. Didn't see that coming, did ya? Aside from the Batman influence with "Birds of a Feather", the other major influence for this story was the "Hornblower" episode, "The Examination for Lieutenant", with Bernie taking the role of Bunting to work in David's crew to prove his worth after being put on parole, though obviously as Bernie's death dictates, Bunting was killed in the same fashion. Only one more chapter to go, so tell us what you thought of this one, and as always, stay safe.