Chapter 7
"The Morning After"
Meanwhile, as the hours went by, dawn began to rise over Lockerbie, Scotland revealing the carnage of the night before: seat cushions and oxygen masks were in the streets, briefcases and bodies were strewn for miles. Debris and wreckage from the Clipper Maid of the Seas was scattered over a 10-mile radius. A massive crater fifteen feet deep was found in Sherwood Crescent, destroying all the homes that were in its path.
Throughout the night, Farmer Jones and Farmer Frederick joined the search for survivors, but none were found. All they could find were bodies, debris and Christmas presents lying in the streets.
"Mother of mercy," gasped Jones as his Growlithe could not find any survivors through it's scent as they searched the fields along the path between Lockerbie and Jones' farm. "What has happened here?"
"It's a plane crash, Jones," remarked Frederick.
"Yes, I know, but why did this have to happen so close to Christmas?"
But Frederick didn't have any answers. They then came across a section of seats from the Pan Am, the blue color giving it away, followed by a Mickey Mouse and a Bugs Bunny plushies, seemingly untouched by fire.
"One things for sure, Jones," sighed Frederick as he bent down to examine the dolls. "There were children on this plane. Makes me sick."
At that moment, the sounds of shouts came from a group of searchers and they raced over to a large tree. Inside the tree were three victims, naked and all strapped into their seats, but they were dead.
"Lord on high, deliver us," whispered Jones, blessing himself in front of the victims as a Machoke and a Rhydon carefully began to take the bodies down.
"Be careful, don't harm them," said a Lockerbie resident to the two Pokemon as they gently laid them down on the ground.
"Well, one things for sure, Frederick," Jones remarked. "This is a recovery mission now. Looks like there are no survivors from the plane."
With that said, the two men backtracked towards Jones' farm.
Meanwhile, little did Jones know of the surprise he was about to experience for in the fields of his farm, a dying Nancy Conn was lying face down in the fields amidst airplane debris and the smell of jet fuel. The short sleeved black dress she had been wearing had been ripped off her as she fell from the sky along with her black pantyhose and her black high heels, leaving her only clad in a black full slip.
Weakly, she looked up and saw the body of her cousin, Charlotte Parks, lying on her back, already dead. The gray sweater and sleeveless white dress she had been wearing had been torn off her body in the fall from 31,000 feet along with her tan pantyhose and beige high heels, leaving her only wearing a white bra and white half-slip.
Nancy knew she was dying and wanted to just spend her dying moments with her already dead cousin. All the thoughts of her worrying about her eldest son going to the Pokemon League Academy…that didn't matter because she wasn't going to live to worry anymore. With her last bit of strength, she crawled slowly towards the body of her cousin and laid herself down, almost as if she was hugging Charlotte, trying to shield her from any danger.
"Charlotte…" Nancy whispered weakly, her eyes locked on her cousin as she breathed her last, joining the rest of the passengers and crew in death. "Charlotte."
And Nancy wasn't alone, for more victims like her would be found over the course of the morning, including near a church on Tundergarth Hill, where the most iconic image of the disaster would be found.
No sooner did Nancy pass away that the sounds of Growlithe barking were heard as the fire dog Pokemon ran towards the location of the two New York state cousins.
"Growlithe, what is it, boy?" Jones gasped as he and Frederick tried to catch up with it. "Do you smell something?"
"Over by the windmill!" cried Frederick and they eventually caught up with the Growlithe, but not before Jones nearly tripped on a shoe…but it was a high heel shoe…a black one. "Jones, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, follow Growlithe!" Jones said, carefully regaining his balance while Growlithe barked wildly as the two farmers came across Nancy and Charlotte's underwear clad bodies. "Dear God…Frederick, go in through the back and call the constable. Tell them bodies were found here at Manor Farm!"
"Yes, Jones."
As Frederick went to call the local authorities, Jones quietly paid his respects to the two bodies as Growlithe picked up another scent, this time picking up another piece of debris: Nancy's black dress.
"It was ripped off," he whispered, picking up the torn dress and looking up at the skies. "During the fall."
"Jones!" called Frederick as Jones turned to see his friend running towards him and it looked as if he had something else in his hands. "Jones, I call the constables! They're on their way! What did you find?"
"A black dress."
"You're not the only one," Frederick answered, holding a dirtied sleeveless white dress in his hands. "I found this hanging from the edge of your house. And from the looks of it, the woman in the white petticoat was wearing it."
Without saying another word, Jones carefully moved Nancy's body onto its back, then laid her dress on her torso, like a burial shroud. He then did the same to Charlotte's body, straightening her legs to make her lie completely on her back and next to her cousin, placing her white dress on her stomach.
After a silent vigil, the constables arrived.
"Mr. Jones," one of them said as they ran over. "How many bodies did you find?"
"Three," he sighed, then pointed towards his front doorstep. "These two women and one other, on my doorstep."
"Sir," one of the constables said into his radio. "Three bodies found at Manor farm…two female and one male."
All Jones and Frederick could do was look down in disbelief at what they found. Jones then picked up one of Nancy's black high heel stilettos and placed it on her dress. Then, he remained with the bodies, guarding over them until the constables would take over.
…
Meanwhile, over at Tundergarth Hill, a large group of townspeople and their Pokemon were gathering outside of Tundergarth Church led by Lockerbie's resident priest.
"There it is," he gasped, pointing the group towards the plane's cockpit, lying on its port side and debris scattered in the field. "The cockpit."
The group advanced towards the cockpit and developed a sense of caution, not knowing if anyone survived inside. One of the men came towards the cockpit windshield and looked inside to see the first officer, the top of his head lying against the windshield.
Just then, another cry was heard from the group and Father Keegans ran towards the back of the cockpit and looked down to see the bodies of a man and a woman close by the fuselage. The man was lying on his stomach and the woman was lying on her back. Father Keegans then bent down and studied the woman, her fully buttoned white blouse untucked from her black skirt and lacerations on her pantyhose clad legs, amazingly, she still had her black high heel stilettos.
He then brushed the woman's blonde hair out of her face and placed his hand on her forehead.
"Heavenly father," he prayed in a hushed voice. "We humbly ask you that you cherish this most loving soul in the palm of your hand for all eternity. In the name of the father, of the son and of the holy ghost."
Then, he did the same thing to the man, rolling him over on his back. A silver amulet sticking out of his shirt. This was the body of Will Randall.
"Peter," said a townsperson, holding what appeared to be a black purse in his hands. "I found this purse lying by the fuselage."
The lead townsperson took the purse in his hands and carefully pulled the woman's United States Passport. Opening it up, he found who the woman was.
"It says here that the woman's name is Laura Alden," said Peter, sticking the passport back in the purse. "We'll mark them and have the constables take her to the town hall, Nick."
Nick didn't give Peter a response, for all he could do was pray down to the deceased heiress to a publishing empire. A little while later, another body was found, also fully clothed. This was the body of Scarlett Antonelli, lying on her back with her eyes and mouth fully wide open. The body of her boss, Max Jordan, would not be found until later in a tree, hanging upside down. Everyone else in the nose of the plane were still strapped to their seats.
Later that morning, news of Pan Am 103's downing would reach Team Rocket…
