Starting Over Again

by J.T. Shee

A year and a half BEFORE the infamous Black Prom takes place in Ewen High School, Carrie runs away from home in Chamberlain and ends up on the Island of Sodor. There, she meets Sodor's engines and people and sets about getting her life back on track (No pun intended). While there, she also meets someone she never expected to see in her life. Reviews are much appreciated.

54. 53: Telling Everyone the News

Chapter 53: Telling Everyone the News

---

(Saturday, September 29th 2012 – 10:00am, Chamberlain Police Station)

So, everyone…this is it! This is the chapter that I'm sure some of you have no doubt been waiting to come for quite a long time! In this chapter, all of Carrie's classmates and their parents, teachers, and many other people in Chamberlain are finally going to find out where Carrie is, how she is, and what she's doing! And they're also going to be finding out that Ralph White is still alive as well! I can tell you that it's going to be a very interesting time for all of them! Also, Margaret is going to be informed of where her daughter is, as well as the fact her ex-husband is still alive…and THAT is going to be a very interesting scene for you all to see.

On the screen that had been set up at the far end of the room, another picture was being shown to all of the officers of the Chamberlain Police Department who were present, as well as to all the investigators assigned to the Carrie White Case, and a few select officials from the town council. Sheriff Otis Doyle, who was one of the more well-known and prominent faces within the Chamberlain Police Department, was also seated in the room as well. The new picture that was being shown to them all was of Carrie White with her boyfriend Simon on her 17th birthday, and from the looks that they could all see on her face, everyone saw that Carrie was really very happy and carefree…and overall very different than she had been when she had been living in this town and being as badly treated as she had been by many people.

Spacek, Irving, Brian, and King were talking to all their colleagues about the different photos and video clips that they had taken during their time over on the Island of Sodor as each one came up on the screen, as well as telling them all where they were taken, and explaining to all their fellow officers and everyone else who was in the room what had taken place on the days they had managed to get their information.

Everyone else in the room, regardless of who they were, were listening and watching in complete astonishment as their four colleagues explained everything to them about where on Sodor they had gone to, as well as telling them all what Carrie was doing for a living and the fact that her father, Ralph White, was in fact still alive, in perfect health, and living and working on the Island of Sodor as well.

Among the other pictures and videos clips that were shown were of Carrie White actually working on the footplates of some of the engines of Sodor, as well as cleaning them down, stoking the boilers with coal, and oiling up all the moving parts on the engines she was working on. All the other officers and officials were completely astonished to see that all the engines had faces on their fronts, and the fact that the engines could look around and talk as well. Other videos clips that were shown included footage of different passenger and freight trains being banked up Gordon's Hill, including on the day when Carrie was assigned to work on the footplate of Bertha, the former Midland Railway 0-10-0 Lickey Incline banker.

When the four officers who had gone over to Sodor had finally finished giving their extensive presentation of the photos and video clips to all their fellow police officers, the investigators, and to the town officials, the lights were switched back on and the blinds over the windows were opened back up, allowing sunlight to flow back into the room.

"So…what do all of you think of all that?" Spacek asked, as she turned her head and looked down over everyone who was sitting before her. There was silence for a few long moments, and then the police chief slowly stood up.

"Well, Spacek…let me just say this; a job really well done to all four of you on the success of your mission. You all did a very good job, and I think you really did exceed all of our expectations we had when you first set off from here." said the Chief.

"Thank you, sir." Brain, Irving, King, and Spacek said together, feeling very pleased that their mission over to Sodor had been a big success, and then they sat back down on the seats they had been occupying for the presentations.

Then the Chief walked forward to the head of the room, so that he could address everyone who was inside the room.

"Well, everyone…as you've all just seen…the case of Carrie White's disappearance has just taken a really massive turn in its course. The fact she wasn't in the United States at all during the course of the investigation is a really big surprise to us all." the Chief said. And everyone sitting in the room before him all murmured in agreement. Then one of the officers raised their hands.

"Yes, Keith?" the Chief said, as he pointed.

"When shall we inform everyone else in town about this, sir?" Keith asked. On hearing that, everyone all murmured for a few moments, but a bit louder than before.

"Yeah, we have a lot of other evidence about Carrie's movements from here down to Portland, as well as all the information about what ships were in Portland Harbour in the second half of November last year…one of which was the one that took Carrie from Portland over to the Island of Sodor." said Officer Bettis. And the Chief held up his hands for a few moments to quieten everyone down before he spoke again.

"I'm well aware of the fact that you all want to tell everyone in Chamberlain about this amazing news, as do I. But at the same time, we have to balance the fact that we should be careful we don't reveal too much information that might be a bit too sensitive. Besides, if the news media gets wind of this...there's a very strong chance that Carrie might bolt from Sodor, which means we'll lose the trail again and will probably never pick it up again." said the Chief, and all the other officers and officials in the room murmured for a few moments.

For a few long moments, there was silence in the room. And then the Chief turned his attention to the town officials who were sitting very close to him.

"When is the next time that the town hall is available?" he asked.

"Well, sir…the town hall is available for almost all of next week. There's nothing really big booked or planned for most of next week, though there is a really big event planned to be held there for late on Friday afternoon or early on Friday evening." said one of the town officials.

"Okay then…could you make the hall available for Tuesday afternoon at about 4pm?" the Chief asked.

"Yes, sir. We can do that." said the official, as he made the arrangements down in a small note book that he always carried with him.

"Excellent." the Chief said, before he turned back to all the others sitting before him. "Okay, everyone…this is what we're gonna do; we're gonna make the arrangements to tell Carrie's classmates, their families, the teachers, as well as a number of others in town the news about this. We're gonna show them as much of the videos and pictures of Carrie that Spacek, Irving, Brian and King got as we can…but one thing I would say is we should try not show them pictures which show the faces on the fronts of the engines. I feel that many of them may accuse us of putting faces on the front of the engines with Photoshop or something like that." said the Chief.

"Are you sure that's a wise idea, sir?" King asked, with some concern.

"Yes, I feel it needs to be done. Besides, if any of them are going to go over to Sodor after all this…I'd rather let them find out for themselves." said the Chief.

"All right, sir. I understand." Irving said. They hadn't taken many pictures of the engines where they actually showed the full faces on the fronts of them, so she wasn't too concerned.

"We also need to make sure that all the students, staff, and teachers over in Ewen High School are informed about the meeting in the town hall as soon as possible. So could two officers here please volunteer to go over to the school to tell Principal Morton first thing on Monday morning?" the Chief asked.

At first there was silence from everyone, but then King and Irving stood up from their seats near to where the Chief was standing.

"Well…I guess we'll go and do it, sir." Irving said.

"All right, Irving. Both of you head over to the school on Monday morning and let Principal Morton know, so that he can broadcast to the school the news that they all need to go to the town hall on Tuesday afternoon." said the Chief.

"Yes, sir." King and Irving said together.

"Okay everyone…" the Chief said, as he turned his attention to everyone sitting before him, "…let's get to work at stamping out all the details of what we need to do. After all, there's a lot of work we need to do between now and Tuesday afternoon. I'll talk to you all in turn as today goes on, and we'll see about what each of you needs to do."

"And should Margaret White be informed as well, sir?" asked another officer. And everyone else in the room murmured amongst themselves with deep concern for some moments before they quietened themselves down.

"Well…that's gonna be something we can argue about today. I understand the concerns many of you have about that sensitive issue…but Margaret WILL have to be informed about this as soon as possible." said the Chief.

"Yes, sir." everyone said. Then another man stood up.

"Shall we inform the press about this?" he asked.

"No! Not…just yet. For the moment, I think that it would be for the best if the media aren't informed of this…at least until the time for that is right." the Chief said.

"All right, sir. I understand." the officer said, as he sat back down.

There were a few more moments of silence before the Chief spoke again.

"Okay, everyone…let's go take a break, and then we'll hammer out all the details." he said.

"Yes, sir!" all the officers, officials, and investigators said, as they all stood up from their seats. As everyone made their way out from the room, the Chief looked out the window from where he stood. He still couldn't believe much of what he had heard in the last few minutes; the missing Carrie White had been all the time on the Island of Sodor, and not in the United States as he and everyone else had expected. Not to mention that, it was now clear that Ralph White was still alive and well, and working on the Island of Sodor. For several moments, he looked out the window and though hard about what Carrie's classmates and teachers would think when they heard the news on Tuesday afternoon.

Deciding to worry about this as they went on, he left the room as well and went to get a cup of hot coffee and a doughnut.

---

The next three days went by very quickly, with everyone in the Police Department, the town council, and the investigation team working hard to make sure that everything was ready for the meeting in the town hall on Tuesday afternoon. On Monday morning, King and Irving went over to Ewen High School and informed Principal Morton of the planned meeting on Tuesday and told him to inform the school over the P.A. system as soon as he could. He agreed, and made the announcement to the whole school that afternoon.

It took place just before the main lunch break, and Principal Morton announced to everyone in school of the planned meeting on Tuesday afternoon. Upon hearing it, everyone in the school, both students and teachers alike, all wondered that it was that was being arranged for Tuesday in the town hall and what was so important about it. Some of them wondered if a very important person was coming to visit Chamberlain, while others among them thought that it was very likely going to be something to do with Carrie White's disappearance. Sue Snell and Tommy Ross were among those who thought it would likely be a major update in the case of Carrie's disappearance, and, like many others who thought that, they hoped that it would be good news.

At the same time during Monday afternoon, another two police officers came to the school and went round and handed out flyers to the students in Ewen High School with further details of when to head to the town hall, but not any details of what the meeting was all about, which increased the curiosity of many of those in school.

---

(Tuesday, October 2nd 2012 – 4:05pm, Chamberlain Town Hall)

The sounds of low conversation filled the wide-open space inside the old town hall as students, their parents and families, as well as the teachers from Ewen High School, and quite a few other people as well. Almost everyone was very keen to know what was going on, and more than a few of them guessed that it would be a big update about the search for the missing Carrie White.

Sue and Tommy were sitting together in one row of seats in the middle of the open space, with many of their classmates from Ewen High School sitting around them in the other rows. Sue's parents and younger sister Sierra were sitting on some other seats elsewhere in the large room. Tommy's parents were also sitting somewhere in the large open-space as well, and Sue could see a number of teachers as well from where she was sitting. At the opposite end of the large and open room, there was a stage with navy-blue curtains that were drawn off to the sides of it, and a very large screen had been suspended from the ceiling. Up on the stage before them all, a number of officers from the police department were seen getting things ready for the presentation they were about to give. Three officers were seen at a stand set in the middle of the stage and setting up microphones while another was helping to set up a laptop.

Sue took a glance over to her right; just a little way down the row of seats she and Tommy were sitting on, she could clearly see Chris Hargensen, along with her parents, including her lawyer father John Hargensen, sitting in the middle of the row. Chris had a slightly annoyed look on her face, and it was quite obvious to anyone that she would rather be anywhere else but sitting around here, especially as school was now over for the day and she had hoped to head straight off home after a long school day. There was no sign of her "tough guy" boyfriend Billy Nolan anywhere, so it was likely he hadn't heard of this meeting, or had decided not to show up at all.

Looking around, Sue could see a few of the other girls that she knew from school, including Tina Blake, Donna Kellogg, Jessica Upshaw, Heather Shyres, Rachel Spies, the Watson Twins Nicki and Lizzy, the Thibodeau Twins Donna and Mary Lila Grace, Rhonda Simard, Vicky Hanscome, and Norma Watson, as well as a few others, sitting around at different points within the large hall space. Some of them were no doubt wishing that they were somewhere else but here, from the expressions that were clearly seen on their faces, while a few others were keen to hear what was going on.

"What do you think we're gonna see in the next few minutes?" Tommy asked.

"I don't know yet. But something tells me it could be about Carrie." Sue said.

"You think so?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, and judging from the way those officers are looking at that laptop screen…I think that it could be about Carrie." Sue said, this time sounding more certain.

"Okay, Sue…if you're sure about that." Tommy said.

Just in the row of seats immediately ahead of where Sue and Tommy were sitting, another of the senior girls from Ewen High School was sitting beside her boyfriend, and both of them were looking up towards the stage while listening to the activity and chatter going on all around them. Eventually, she turned her head to her boyfriend.

"You still feeling tired from the day?" she asked.

"Yeah, I am. I'll be honest." her boyfriend said, as he covered his mouth just before he yawned a little bit. He was one of the players on Ewen High's basketball team and had just come off from basketball practice at the school not too long before, and he was feeling tired from all the practice he had done with his team in the last while.

"What do you think we'll see in the next while?" he asked.

"Well, if it's about Carrie's disappearance…I think that it's probably just gonna end up being another false alarm, and then we'll all be sent off home again very quickly." said the girl, with a heavy sigh. She may have had a point about that opinion; there had been a number of false alarms reported in the Carrie White Case during the course of the last year, mostly within the media, and many people who were here today had the feeling that this meeting would be no different.

After another minute or so of everyone sitting around, chatting, and waiting for something to happen, one of the officers who was up on the stage, in fact it was Officer Brian, stepped up behind the stand and spoke into the microphone.

"Okay everyone…calm down, please...it's time for us all to begin this little meeting." Brian said, as silence quickly fell inside the hall, and everyone turned their attention to the stage. At the same time, all the other officers who had been on the stage were sitting down on chairs off to the side of the stand.

"I know that all of you are very tired after your long day of school or work, so we'll try our best to keep this whole thing as short as we possibly can for all of you. We at the Chamberlain Police Department have got some very interesting news to give you all with regard to the Carrie White case." Brian said. After hearing that, many of those leaned forward in great interest; finally, it seemed as if the police department MIGHT have some useful information to give them after all, particularly after the number of false alarms that had been experienced earlier on in the year.

"I think that I can safely tell you…that we've found out where she is and how she's doing right now." Brian said. And on hearing that, everyone gasped in some relief and joy, with some sounds of excited chatter to be heard as well. Almost everyone before him were eager to hear how Carrie was, where she was, and what she was doing now. At the same time, more than quite a few people let out sighs of deep relief after they heard it.

"I wonder what's going on with Carrie." Sue said, as thoughts went through her head about where Carrie was.

"Well, I guess we'll soon see, Sue." Tommy said, as a smile crossed his face. At the same time, all the students and teachers from Ewen High School leaned forwards expectantly, including Principal Morton, all wanting to hear as much as they could at this special presentation.

"Before we tell you where she is, we're just gonna show you all a few pictures we got of her…which will show you all how she's getting on…and here's the very first picture to show you all." Brian said, as he looked towards the laptop and brought up the first picture onto the large screen over the stage, and everyone turned their heads to look.

This very first photo that everyone in the hall saw showed Carrie White sitting at a table by a wide window in the Boiling Kettle coffee shop in Knapford on the very day that the four officers had first arrived on Sodor. From looking at the photograph, everyone could see that Carrie, apart from wearing very different clothing than she had normally worn when she was here in Chamberlain, seemed to be so much happier now than she had ever been before, or even when she had been home in Chamberlain. From the smile that they could all see on Carrie's face, it was also quite clear that this Carrie they could see before them was no longer the shy and awkward outcast that she had once been before.

Sue felt a big smile plastered cross her face when she saw the picture and just how much Carrie had changed in overall appearances since they had last seen her in the middle of last November on the Friday before she ran away from home; in fact, it was almost like they were seeing an entirely new person for the first time that they had never seen before. It was quite clear that in the amount of time between when she had run away from home and when the picture before them was taken, Carrie had managed to put her life back together again and had managed to find the time to become the person who she wanted to be in life, and without any form of harassment or bullying from anyone else in school, or from any abuse at home from her fanatically religious mother.

At the very same time, Tommy Ross had a big smile on his face too; he also felt deeply relieved to see that Carrie was okay and enjoying a brand-new life in wherever the place she was at. Not only that, but Ewen High's gym teacher, Rita Desjardin, was also feeling very pleased and deeply relieved to see that Carrie was all right and in good health. Rita was also feeling especially pleased to see that Carrie had finally broken out from the shell that she had been trapped in for so long before she ran away from home. In fact, Carrie looked to be so much more relaxed and very much more at ease than at any time she had remembered in the past, and it was also quite clear to Rita, as it was to everyone else who saw the picture, that Carrie's social skills had improved to a massive extent, judging by the fact that she appeared to be chatting with someone who wasn't in the picture presented before them.

These similar thoughts were being shared by almost everyone else in the large space, whether they were Carrie's classmates and their families, her teachers, and various other townspeople; they were all really deeply relieved to see the fact that Carrie was all right, and even more impressed by the fact that she had been able to continue on with her life without any form of abuse from her fanatically religious mother, or any form of bullying or harassment from her classmates or anyone else. They were also pleased to know that this meeting had turned out to be no false alarm after all.

However, Chris Hargensen and her two closest friends, Tina Blake and Donna Kellogg, weren't too pleased to see that Carrie White, the one person that they had always heavily bullied the most every chance they got, looking completely different from the person that she had been before and clearly having broken free from everything they had put her through. Chris, in particular, was still feeling enraged from the fact that Carrie had ratted her out in the notebook she had left behind before she had disappeared, as well as having gotten her suspended and given detention for what she did to Carrie as well. Chris was still fuming from those memories, and vowed to take whatever revenge she could on Carrie if she was ever brought back home.

"And Carrie's not alone in that picture…as we saw her sitting at that table with someone else as well when we saw her in that coffee shop." Brian said, as he switched to show them all the next picture, which was the original uncropped version. It was a wider shot of Carrie in the same position, but this time it showed Carrie sitting at the table with a boy on the other side of the table, and which showed them enjoying hot drinks and slices of chocolate fudge cake together with smiles on their faces. Many people, including Carrie's classmates, couldn't believe their eyes when they saw the picture; Carrie White had a boyfriend?! It couldn't be possible…to think that the school's former outcast and scapegoat had not only managed to build a brand new life for herself, but that she had also managed to get a boyfriend too in all that time? It was hard for them to believe that, but there was no denying what they were seeing with their own eyes. And from what they saw in the picture, it seemed that the two of them were quite fond of each other, especially judging from the smiles on their faces.

Both Sue Snell and Tommy Ross couldn't help but smile with some sense of genuine joy when they saw that Carrie had a boyfriend, and one who looked like he really cared for Carrie. At the same time, almost all of the other girls who were in Ewen High's Senior Year, including many of those who had bullied or harassed Carrie over the years, all couldn't believe their eyes when they saw Carrie sitting and socialising with quite a handsome boy. At this time last year, even just suggesting the idea of it would have caused them to laugh a person out of the room if they even suggested the idea of Carrie White having a boyfriend…but now, seeing what was being clearly projected onto the screen above the stage with their own eyes…they couldn't deny it now.

Chris Hargensen was among the girls who couldn't believe that Carrie had a boyfriend. Chris just could not believe that any boy would want to go out with the girl she had always described as the "freak." Her two close minions, Tina and Donna, also couldn't believe their eyes either, and they were just speechless. The other girls who had been in the group known as the Mortimer Snerds also couldn't quite believe what they saw at first. But after a few moments, it sunk into their brains as their eyes confirmed to them what they were seeing…Carrie White indeed had a boyfriend, and some of them murmured amongst themselves and their friends about it.

Brian brought up another picture onto the screen, and this one showed Carrie and Simon with their friends, Saoirse, Alice, Olivia, and Sophie, sitting by the window of what was no doubt a restaurant in the town of Knapford. In fact, this picture had been taken on the evening that the officers had arrived on Sodor. From what everyone could see in this picture, Carrie and the boy she was with were enjoying dinner with four other girls at the table they were sitting at, and all six of them seemed to be in very good spirits as they enjoyed their food in each other's company. A lot of people, particularly all the students who went to Ewen High School and especially those in Senior Year, were very surprised to see that Carrie had made friends with a number of other girls her own age.

A lot of the girls who had bullied Carrie the most over the years were very surprised to see something like this; after all the bullying that Carrie had been subjected to, many of them thought that Carrie wouldn't want to be friends with other teen girls her own age after what they had put her through for all these years, ever since she started in school in first grade all those years ago.

"When we were following Carrie in the place where she is now, we saw her socialising with these people, and it seems to be quite clear, as you're seeing, that she's made friends with these people. And it's very likely that she's friends with other people as well that we didn't see while we were over there." Brian said.

He then switched over to another picture, and this one showed Carrie and Simon, along with the four other girls, standing on Platform 1 in Knapford Station, and it was on the day before Carrie's 17th birthday took place.

"And here's a much better view of Carrie, her boyfriend, and the people that she's become friends with. And it seems from what we've seen that Carrie has become quite close with the boy you see here, as well as these four other girls." Brian said.

After a few seconds, Brian switched to another picture. This one showed Carrie and Simon sitting together at the table they had occupied in the coffee shop within the large two-storey book shop inside Vicarstown on the morning of Friday 21st September, the day of Carrie's 17th birthday. This shot showed both of them looking out the large window towards the railway viaduct that ran through the middle of the town of Vicarstown.

"Now that's a good shot of Carrie and her boyfriend." Tommy whispered to Sue.

"Yeah, and both of them seem to be having a good time as well. I wonder what it is they're enjoying in that coffee shop." Sue said.

A new picture came up on the screen for everyone to see, and this one showed Carrie and Simon sitting on the bench in the open space in the park in Vicarstown. Both of them were seen chatting with each other on the bench, while they opened their bags and taking books out to read.

"I can tell you that the weather was absolutely gorgeous on that September day while we were over where Carrie is, and she and her boyfriend seemed to be enjoying it, just as much as everyone else we saw was." Brian said.

Everyone in the audience wanted to ask the officers where in the world Carrie was and what she was doing over there, but all of them kept quiet for now and waited for the officers to finish showing some more pictures before they found out that.

Brian then switched over to another picture.

"And that particular day was Carrie's 17th birthday, as this new picture as well as a few more, including a video clip or two, that you're all about to see will show you that she had a really great time on that day." Brian said. The picture he had just brought up onto the large screen showed Simon carefully leading Carrie, with a blindfold over her eyes, into the main entrance of a hotel, something which deeply interested all the people who was sitting before the stage.

"Why do you think there's a blindfold tied round Carrie's head?" Sue whispered, more than a little curious as to why that was.

"Be patient, Sue. I'm guessing that we'll find out in a minute." Tommy said, as he gently patted her on the shoulder.

But at the same time, a few others who were sitting in the space had a feeling they knew exactly what was about to happen, as quite a few of them had gone through the very similar experience of having a blindfold covering over their eyes so as to be surprised at a surprise birthday party planned for them. Among them were Rita Desjardin, as she remembered similar things being done with other people she knew back in her past, including to herself as a matter of fact.

Brian brought up the first video clip to be shown onto the screen and pressed Play; the clip, which was obviously being filmed through a window, showed Carrie, with the blindfold still over her head, being gently led through a set of open double doors into a large room by the boy she was with. Then they stopped just inside the doors, and the boy whispered into Carrie's ear…then she removed the blindfold from her eyes and heard the sound of "Surprise! Happy Birthday, Carrie!" And on hearing that, as well as seeing Carrie's surprised happy reaction on her face to her surprise party, many people sitting in the hall couldn't help but smile widely in response.

Sue and Tommy were among those who were smiling when they saw Carrie's reaction, particularly as they remembered from their own pasts when they had occasionally been given surprise birthday parties. Quite a few of the other Ewen High Seniors also felt themselves smile as well when they saw just how happy Carrie was with being given such a pleasant surprise for her birthday.

The shot then panned off to the right to reveal all the people who were giving Carrie her surprise birthday party, as well as a few brief images of her birthday cake and some presents in the background, as well as colourful party streamers and brightly coloured balloons filled with helium floating from weights set down on the floor, and then the video stopped.

"And that's the end of the first video clip that we're going to be showing you. We'll show you the next video clip in just a little bit. But yes, as you've seen Carrie was given a surprise party for her 17th birthday, and from the next few pictures that you're gonna be seeing…she had a great time there with her new friends. And from the smile you'll see on her face in some of them...she really enjoyed herself as well that day." Brian said, as he then showed them a few more pictures that had been secretly taken of Carrie's birthday party…Carrie dancing with her boyfriend and the girls she was friends with on the dance floor…her getting refreshments at the long refreshment table against one wall of the hotel ballroom…her sitting on one of the seats off to the side of the dance floor with a can of soda in her hands and chatting with one of the girls she was friends with…and then the shot of her blowing out the candles on her birthday cake.

When the video clip which showed Carrie blowing out the candles on her large birthday cake was shown, many people in the room couldn't help but clap and cheer for a few long moments when they saw it. Sue and Tommy couldn't help but do it as well; for Sue, to see Carrie celebrate her 17th birthday on the very same day that they back in Chamberlain had symbolically celebrated her 17th birthday in front of her old house made her smile really broadly, as she knew deep down in her heart that Carrie probably would have celebrated her special day.

However, Chris really wasn't too pleased to see that Carrie had celebrated her birthday, and to hear and see that nothing had gone wrong for Carrie's special day at all. Tina and Donna also weren't very pleased to hear this news at all, as they, along with Chris, had been hoping that Carrie would never be found at all.

"And so, from that…ladies and gentlemen…we can see that Carrie's birthday went extremely well, and that she seemed to have a good time with all the new friends she made." Brian said, as almost everyone sitting before him clapped in cheer and relief. And this went on for a few long moments before everyone quietened down, one by one, before they all waited for the next bit of information that could be given. In that time, Brian went to sit down over to the side and King took his place at the lectern.

"Now…everyone…you're all probably gonna want to know…whereabouts Carrie is right now." King said, as he looked over the audience before him. He had always been a little nervous about public speaking, but decided to put his concerns about that aside for now so that he could give them all the news.

"Yeah, where has she gone to?" someone from the audience asked. At the same time, everyone murmured amongst themselves for several seconds with the noise filling the space, and King raised his hands up to quieten everyone down before he spoke again. But before he did, he looked towards the Chief and the look on his face seemed to ask him, "Shall I tell them?" All the Chief did was give a small smile and nod, as if to say "Go right ahead." Giving a nod in acknowledgment, as if to say "Okay, sir," King turned his attention back to the audience.

"Ladies…gentlemen…I'm gonna have to tell you all where she is, because…you'll never guess." King said, and almost everyone leaned forward expectantly for what he had to say next.

"She's currently over on the Island of Sodor, ladies and gentlemen." King said. When Sue and Tommy heard that, their mouths dropped wide open and they both looked at each other in some stunned shock; at that moment, both of them remembered the conversation that they had had with each other when they were in the ice cream parlour over on Main Street on the afternoon of September 1st when they had spoken about the chances of Carrie being over on the Island of Sodor.

(Start of memory)

Sue: "Hey, have you heard about the new flight route that's starting from the Western Maine Airport today?"

Tommy: "Yes I have...and the new flight route is going across the Atlantic over to the Island of Sodor, is it?"

Sue: "Yes, that's the place I heard it was going to."

Tommy: "Do you suppose Carrie might be over there?"

Sue: "Oh, I don't think it's very likely that she's over there. After all...Sodor's a very long way away from here."

(End of memory)

"And whereabouts is the Island of Sodor?" someone in the audience asked. For several moments, King was silent before he cleared his throat and spoke again.

"Well…Sodor is located in the Irish Sea in between England and the Isle of Man, on the eastern side of the North Atlantic. You may have heard the recent news about the new flight route from Western Maine Airport that's going over there." King said. For several seconds, there was a stunned silence amongst everyone sitting before him, as though they all couldn't believe the news they had just been told. And then there came the inevitable sounds of people as they discussed this unexpected information with each other.

"Wait! She's over on the Island of Sodor?!"

"For goodness sake! That's all the way over in Europe!"

"How on earth did she manage to get herself over there?!"

"I can't believe a word of that! It just can't be right!"

That can't be right! That place is thousands of miles away from here!"

"What did she have to do to get over there?!"

"She must have been badly bullied enough to leave the country!"

"What do you think she's doing over there?!"

As everyone else spoke amongst themselves at this unexpected news, Sue and Tommy were completely stunned from what they had heard; it turned out that Tommy's suggestion of Carrie being all the way over on the Island of Sodor, a joke though it may have been, had turned out to be been true after all.

"How do you think Carrie got over to Sodor?" Tommy asked, completed astonished.

"I'm sure that once everyone here has calmed down, we'll be able to find out all that." Sue said, as she looked around the space at everyone who was chatting with each other about the news.

At the same time, all the other students in Ewen High School, especially all of Carrie's classmates, were all absolutely astonished by the news, having never expected Carrie to have left the country because she had been bullied and abused as badly as she was. All the girls who had bullied Carrie were completely stunned to hear it, especially Chris Hargensen, who had never expected Carrie to have gone to a place like Sodor which was a very long way away from Chamberlain.

Then, there came the sounds of a gavel banging onto a wooden surface, followed by the sounds of King speaking into the microphone.

"Okay, everyone…please calm down." he called out, trying to calm everyone down.

Slowly, silence descended as everyone had had been talking quietened themselves down and then sat themselves down on the seats and looked towards the stage. Once everything was fully quietened down, King continued on with the presentation. He brought up a map on the screen, which was a satellite image that showed the whole of the Island of Sodor, and everyone could see what the island looked like; it was roughly a diamond-shaped island, that was placed neatly in between the west coast of England and the small island known as the Isle of Man.

"This is where Carrie White has ended up…and we're gonna tell you how she might have gotten over there." King said. He looked through some papers he had been given, and he took a sip of water before he spoke again.

"As many of you are aware if you followed the news of this case…the trail of Carrie White got as far as Portland, Maine where the trail went cold. We spent quite a while trying to find out where we could pick up where it went, and we began that process on the morning of September 5th, when a businessman who had been on Sodor only the day before…and he managed to get some pictures of Carrie White while he was getting off the train at Sodor International Airport." King said, as he brought up one of the pictures that the police had been given by the businessman on that morning.

The photo showed Simon and Carrie on the footplate of G.N.R. C1 Class Atlantic No.3286, along with the driver and fireman, on the morning of September 4th, less than a month prior. When the photo was brought up on the screen, everyone took a few moments to see what Carrie was wearing and were amazed by the setting where she was; it was quite clear that Carrie, as well as the boy she was with, was standing on the footplate of a steam locomotive, something they never expected to see at all. She was dressed in a dark-blue set of overalls with an orange Hi-Viz safety vest over it, as well as holding a peaked railway hat in her hands. She also had her hair done up in a ponytail, which could be clearly seen on the picture.

Many people were astonished to see Carrie doing something that they had never expected, which was working on the footplate of a steam locomotive. Many of Carrie's classmates and teachers were probably the most surprised to see the school's former outcast and scapegoat doing a job which involves shovelling coal into an engine's firebox and getting dirty in the process. And yet, there on the screen, they could see Carrie dressed up to do exactly that, and she seemed quite happy as well.

Sue couldn't help but feel herself smile when she saw just how happy Carrie was now, and how much she seemed to have changed in overall appearance since they all saw her last; she seemed to have lost some weight off of her, no doubt from all the work that she had been doing on the railway since she arrived on Sodor the previous November. Many of the other students in Senior Year, including many of those who had bullied Carrie over the years, were all equally as impressed as Sue was, and a few of them murmured amongst each other for a few seconds about how different Carrie looked now.

However, for Chris Hargensen, the way that Carrie looked now or how much happier she was really now made no difference to her, as in her mind Carrie was still a freak and a girl who should be taught a lesson from ratting her out with everything she had written down in her notebook before she suddenly disappeared.

"Because of this and another similar photo that the businessman gave to us on that morning, a team of four officers was sent over to Sodor to investigate this matter…and I was one of them…and we flew over there on September 18th. But before we get into that…other officers here tracked down the information of how Carrie managed to get over to Sodor in the first place." King said, as he stood aside to allow another officer from the police department, this officer being Bettis to undertake the next part of the talk. As Bettis got behind the lectern, everyone before here waited to hear the news of how Carrie had managed to get over to the Island of Sodor.

"Well, everyone…from what we've gathered in the last few days, we can tell you how Carrie managed to get away from Portland, Maine and get herself over to the Island of Sodor." Bettis said, as she then showed them a map, which showed the route that the bus went from Chamberlain to Portland on the day Carrie went missing as a blue line that went between the two towns.

"After Carrie got off the bus when she arrived in Portland, she somehow made her way over to the docks area and managed to stow away onto a large freighter moored in the docks without being seen by anyone." Bettis said, as she then brought up a picture which showed the freighter in question; it was the M.V. Tidmouth, and it showed her out at sea sometime before November 2011. A few moments later, Bettis brought up another map, and this one showed the North Atlantic, and there was a bright red line going across it that showed the course of M.V. Tidmouth when she went on her long journey from Portland, Maine, over to the Island of Sodor.

"From what we've gathered, the M.V. Tidmouth left the dockside at Portland at exactly twelve noon on November 19th 2011, and she took about six and a half days to get across the North Atlantic over to Sodor, and she arrived there at the port of Knapford quite early on the morning of November 26th." Bettis said.

On being told that news, everyone murmured in a mix of emotions and feelings; some of them were astonished to hear that Carrie had been on the other side of the Atlantic all this time, while others had concerns about how Carrie managed to survive for close to a week on a ship that was going to Europe, and without being found by any of the ship's crew.

"From the timeline of Tidmouth's entire trip across the North Atlantic from Portland, Maine back to its homeport of Knapford over on the Island of Sodor, it's quite clear that Margaret White's call to the police on the morning that Carrie disappeared far came too late for police to do anything about it…although we didn't know that at the time." Bettis said.

She then brought up another map of Sodor, only this one showed all the railway lines that were on the island, with the standard gauge lines being shown in black and the narrow-gauge lines being shown in red. It also showed the locations of a number of different towns to be found on the island, mostly the largest and important one, including Suddery, Vicarstown, Knapford, Tidmouth, Wellsworth, Brendam, and a few others as well.

"Before we move on, let me just give you a few facts of what we know about the Island of Sodor so far; it's roughly 65 miles east to west, by 55 miles north to south, with a total area of roughly 3,575 square miles. The island has a year-round population of approximately 80,000 people, though that number jumps considerably from the middle of April until the end of September or the start of October, as very large numbers of tourists from all over come and visit the island. And its largest town is Suddery." Bettis said.

After taking a sip of water from a glass, Bettis continued on with her part of the presentation.

"From everything that the officers sent over to Sodor gathered during their time over there, it's quite clear that Carrie has managed to acquire work on the Sodor railway system…and she appears to be quite happy with it all too." Bettis said, as she changed to another picture; this one showed Carrie leaning out from the footplate of another steam locomotive; in fact, the engine was Henry, and Carrie was leaning out from the left-hand side of the cab and looking forward. But because of the way the picture was taken, it only showed Henry from the middle part of the boiler as far as just behind his tender, which meant his face on the front of his smokebox wasn't visible. But what was clearly visible to all was the number 3 on his tender side.

"From what Irving has told me, this photograph was taken on last Tuesday morning, when Carrie was on the footplate of this engine that was taking a heavy freight train from Knapford Station. And it was quite an experience to hear an engine of that kind of power leave with such a train…isn't that right, Irving?" Bettis said, as she turned to look at her colleague. From where she was sitting, Irving just smiled and nodded her head, before Bettis turned back to look at the audience.

For the next 20 minutes or so, Officer Bettis showed the audience a number of different pictures and video clips that her four colleagues had taken when they were over on Sodor. In virtually all the photos and video clips she showed them, Carrie could be seen hard at work, either leaning out from the cab sides as the different engines on which she was working were going along, shovelling coal from coal bunkers of the coal spaces of tenders into the glowing hot fireboxes of engines when the engines were at a stand, as well as shots of her standing on the running plates of engines, when they were standing still in a large engine depot, and rubbing them down with rags and polish. In some shots of Carrie rubbing down engines, other people could often be seen working with her and she'd be seen talking to them as they worked away at their tasks at hand, but the angle of the shots was such that no one could see if these people were male or female. Other pictures showed Carrie standing on the backs of a number of engine tenders where she was seen helping to refill the water spaces or trimming coal in the coal spaces.

In many of the photos which showed Carrie standing alongside or right beside the engines, the faces of the engines were never seen, but the numbers of some engines were seen, including a bright red engine with the number 5 on the side of its tender (it was James), a big blue express engine with the number 4 on its tender (it was Gordon), as well as number of other different engines, both tank engines and tender engines, with different numbers of their cab sides or tender sides, and in different colours.

Among the video clips that were shown were of trains that were being banked up Gordon's Hill, which Carrie had worked at the previous Wednesday. However, what the audience didn't know was that each of the clips had been carefully edited in such a way so as to make sure that the faces on the fronts of any engines were never seen at all in any of the clips. For everyone in the audience, it was a really impressive sight to see and hear the heavy freight and passenger trains, being hauled by some very impressive steam locomotives, being banked up the hill with other steam locomotives pushing very hard at the back.

At one point, Bettis paused one clip at a point where Carrie could be seen on the footplate of Bertha, and everyone saw Carrie leaning out from the right-hand side of the cab and looking forwards up the hill as Bertha banked the heavy train up the hill. Everyone was very impressed to see Carrie at work on the footplate of an engine and how much she seemed to be enjoying it as well, judging from the smile they could see on her face.

After Bettis had finished showing the final slide in the batch that had been selected to be shown to everyone, a lot of people couldn't help but clap and cheer, both in relief and in some genuine amazement, at the fact that Carrie White was okay as well as what she was doing to make a living. Those among them who had originally thought that this meeting would be nothing more than another false alarm and, thus, a waste of time now had to completely eat their words, and in some measure of gratitude to have been given this information.

After everyone in the hall had quietened down from their cheering, Bettis stood aside from the lectern and another officer, this time it was Irving, stood up and went over to stand behind the lectern so as to give them all the information that she had to give them.

"So, everyone…to find out that Carrie was over on the Island of Sodor all the time was, no doubt, a really big surprise to all of you and shocked many of you this afternoon. However…there's one more really big surprise to give to you all, and it's something that I think the adults here will be very interested in. And it brings in an entirely new twist to this whole case that I don't think any of us ever expected to see when the case began last year." Irving said, as many people in the audience leaned forward and wondered what could this new surprise be.

"What do you think it could be?" Chris asked, as she turned to her parents.

"No idea…but just keep watching the screen, Chris." said her father, John Hargensen, as he turned his attention back to the stage before them all.

After the murmuring calmed down, Irving resumed her part of the presentation.

"While King, Brian, Spacek, and myself were over on Sodor and discreetly following Carrie around last week and the week before, we also made a really surprising discovery over there that I don't think any of the four of us were ever expecting to make at all, and which will certainly shock many of you just like it did to all of us in the Chamberlain Police Department." Irving said, as all the adults in the room listened expectantly, with more than a few eye brows being raised, from adults and students alike.

"Now…would any of the adults sitting in here like to tell me who this man is?" she said, as she brought up another picture, and this one showed Ralph White talking with Carrie and Simon when they were sitting down and having lunch in front of a brick wall. His face was clean of any coal dust and he had taken his cap off, so his face was clearly visible to them all.

For several long moments, there was complete silence in the entire room as all the adults tried to figure out who this man they could see on the screen before them was. There was something that looked VERY familiar about this man they were all seeing…but they just couldn't put their fingers on WHO exactly this man was. From the stage, the police officers stayed quiet and waited for someone to speak up. But then, after a few more moments of silence, John Hargensen slowly stood up from his seat, an aghast, shocked look on his face.

"Oh…my…GOD…" he said in a slightly loud voice, as everyone turned their attention towards him, with looks of curiosity on their faces.

"What is it, John? Do you know who it is?" asked Mrs Watson, as she looked at John with some concern and curiosity.

"Everyone…I know exactly who that man is." John said, as everyone in the hall looked towards him and saw the shocked look on his face, which interested them all. Chris also turned her head and looked up at her father with equal curiosity, and wondered what he knew inside.

"That man...that's Ralph White…Carrie's father." John said, as he pointed up to the screen in some stunned shock. For several long moments, there were just complete silence inside the hall; in fact, it was so quiet, you could have heard a pin drop, with people unable to believe the information that John Hargensen had just told them. And then, after what seemed to be like hours...though it was only a few very long seconds...there came the sounds of immediate talking amongst everyone as they spoke amongst each other after hearing it.

"That can't be possible! It just can't be!"

"That's impossible! Ralph's been dead since 1995! I don't believe it!"

"That can't be Ralph White! He's dead!"

"Impossible! You all must be mistaken on that fact!"

"Well, if that's Ralph White, then why's he over on Sodor as well?!"

"My goodness! That just can't be right at all! It just can't!"

"Well, that was certainly a big twist that none of us were expecting!"

As everyone discussed this unexpected piece of news, both Tommy and Sue were completely stunned to hear what they had just heard and they both looked at each other in genuine astonishment. At the same time, all the rest of those students in Senior Year, as well as all the teachers of Ewen High School, were all just as shocked to hear this news that Ralph White, father of Carrie and husband of Margaret, was in fact still alive and living on the Island of Sodor. He had supposedly died in a major accident at the construction site that he worked at all the way back in the spring of 1995, and now to suddenly find out all this time later that he was still alive and well, and had been for all these years, was something that was very hard for them all, especially all the adults present, to understand.

Chris was just as shocked as everyone else to hear that Carrie's father was still alive and well; just as many others had originally believed, she had thought he had died many years back, and to see him alive and well was a major shock to those previously believed thoughts. All the other students from Ewen High School were as shocked as the adults were to hear this news. Just as Irving had said a short while before, it was an entirely new twist to the whole case that they hadn't been expecting.

As things quietened down, another one of the parents, this time it was Cora Simard, the mother of Ewen High Senior Rhonda Simard, stood up and spoke next.

"Hang on, John; how can you be so sure that man is in fact Ralph White?" she asked.

"Oh, it's been a very long time, everyone. But believe me, I would still recognize that face just about anywhere. After all...both Ralph and myself were in the same high school class together for four years." John said. Looking at the picture of Ralph White on the screen before them, it was quite obvious now to all the adults that it was Ralph, and that he seemed to be in good health. It was also clear that he looked to be a far more pleasant and friendly person than they had all originally remembered.

"Well, if he's still alive, what on earth is he doing all the way over on the Island of Sodor?" someone from the audience called. And that caused a lot of murmurs from everyone else, and it continued for several moments before they all quietened down again.

"As to your question of why he's on Sodor in the first place…we never managed to find out why he's there. But at a guess, and considering what Margaret confessed to us after she was arrested last December...you know, when she confessed to assaulting him on many occasions...it's quite obvious Ralph took advantage of the confusion caused by that massive accident at the construction site he worked at back then to slip away from Chamberlain and start a new life over on Sodor. And I can't say that I blame him for it either." Irving said. And everyone in the audience murmured amongst each other for a few more moments; being assaulted by your own spouse would cause anyone to run away from home any chance they got.

"And what we can do is tell you all what he's doing there." Irving said, as she then switched to another picture; this one showed Ralph, this time dressed in blue overalls and wearing a peaked railway cap, leaning out from the cab side of another steam locomotive; this engine was L.M.S. Princess Coronation Class Pacific No.6227 Duchess of Devonshire, which was streamlined and painted in crimson red with golden-yellow stripes. And just like the other photos that had been shown earlier, the face on the front of the engine wasn't seen, as this photo only showed the cab on the left-hand side of the engine with the number 6227 standing out against the red livery in bright yellow. A wider shot brought up a few seconds later showed the full view of Duchess of Devonshire and her impressive appearance with her L.M.S. crimson red livery and bright yellow stripes running along her side, but the picture had been taken from an angle didn't show the face on the front of No.6227.

"It's quite clear that this photo alone clearly shows you what Ralph is doing over there. He's joined the Sodor railway system and is now working on a driver on some of some of the most impressive steam locomotives that I think I've ever seen." Irving said. And that was no lie, especially considering the fact she and her fellow officers who had gone to Sodor had seen faces on the fronts of each of the engines who ran on Sodor's railway system.

"And it's also quite clear from what my colleagues and I saw when we went over to Sodor, as well as what you've all just seen in the video clips and photos, that Carrie has followed in her father's footsteps and is working on the railway, along with a number of other teens she's become good friends with, including the boy who's now seems to be her boyfriend." Irving said.

For several moments, the whole audience was quiet as they absorbed everything that they had heard within the last half hour. To hear that Carrie was all right and in good health a real deep relief to all of them, but to hear that she was over on the other side of the North Atlantic and living on the Island of Sodor was a major shock to all of them. Not only that, but to also hear the completely unexpected news that her father was still alive and well, and that both of them were working on the railways over there was even more surprising to them all.

"Now...obviously, we couldn't go and interview both Carrie and Ralph while we were over on Sodor...as that wasn't part of the job for why we were over there, but what we can clearly tell you all is that Ralph White seems to be a much better parental figure to Carrie than Margaret ever was over here. He also seemed to be good friends with many of those he worked with, as well as with those Carrie has become friends with." Irving said, as she showed everyone another picture on the screen; this one showed Carrie and her father walking along together at the end of a day on the railway. Both of them were wearing dark blue overalls, work boots, peaked railway caps on their heads, and bright orange Hi-Viz safety vests over their overalls. Ralph had a flask in one hand and a white headlamp in the other, while Carrie had a red lunch box in her left hand with a coal shovel slung over her right shoulder. Though both of them seemed tired in the picture, it was clear that both of them had a good relationship, and everyone sitting within the audience murmured quietly on seeing this new photo.

"And not only that..." Irving said, as she brought up another picture on the screen, "...on the day that we flew off from Sodor back to Western Maine Airport, we took the train to the Sodor Airport, and the engine that took us there had Carrie and her father, along with the fireman, working on the footplate. I don't know whether or not it was the first time the two of them worked together on an engine, but both of them were there." And the picture that everyone now saw showed Carrie and Ralph White, along with the fireman, standing together on the footplate of L.N.E.R. K4 Class 2-6-0 No.61998 Macleod of Macleod, and the angle showed them looking pleased that they had gotten the train to the airport on time. Carrie had taken her peaked railway cap off and was wiping her face down, while Ralph simply had a pleasant smile on his face.

Many people were really surprised to see Carrie and Ralph working together on the footplate of the same engine, though then again a few weren't too surprised and many of those with the hall assumed that both father and daughter had worked together on the footplates of engines before.

"Now then…are there any questions from anyone about all of this?" Irving asked, as she looked round the room. A flurry of people quickly raised their hands in response, and Irving pointed to one man who was sitting in the front row.

"Were there any occasions when you were over on Sodor where you came close to being discovered by Carrie or by anyone else there?" the man asked.

"Yes, we did. We did have a few close calls during our time over there. But there was one time…it was on our last full day over there, as a matter of fact…that we had a VERY close call, and we have another video clip to show you what happened." Irving said, as she brought up a video clip to show them. From what everyone saw as the clip started, Carrie was seen about to sit down to have some lunch outside a building at a picnic table, when the sudden sound of a tree branch snapping under foot was clearly heard, which caused Carrie to look up and over towards the direction where the camera was.

"Oh, now you've done it, Brian!" Irving was heard to say in the video clip, quickly followed by "Sorry, I didn't see it under my feet!" Brian was heard to say. And on hearing all that, quite a few people in the audience couldn't help but chuckle briefly as they watched the clip. At the same time, as his fellow police officers looked towards him with amused grins on their faces, Brian lowered his head and hid his face behind his right hand a little in some embarrassment from his mistake on that day.

They then watched as Carrie looked over towards the line of bushes and trees for some moments before she stood up and then walked towards the area where the two officers had been hiding and spying on Carrie. On seeing Carrie stand up and approach them on the screen, as well as the suspicious look that they could all clearly see on her face, quite a few people went "Ohhhhh" and wondered if Carrie would find the two officers. Reaching the fence on the side of the gully that she was on, they watched as Carrie placed her hands on the top of the fence and look around, and she even looked directly into the camera at one point, which slightly unnerved a few people.

"Is someone there?!" she called as she looked round. Everyone could clearly see the deeply suspicious look that she had on her face, and they all KNEW that Carrie was aware of the fact that someone nearby had made some noise. On hearing Carrie speak in the clip, some of the students in the audience all now knew for sure that it WAS in fact Carrie White that they were all seeing on the screen before them. Quite a few people held their breath, and waited to see if Carrie would find the two officers who were spying on her.

Then, after what seemed like an eternity, Carrie pulled back a little from the fence, turned her head away, shook it as if to say to herself "Nah, there was no one there," she turned and went back to finish her lunch, at which point the clip ended. On seeing that, those in the audience who had been holding their breath felt themselves breath again, relieved to see that Carrie hadn't found those officers who were spying on her.

"We did have quite a few close shaves while we were over on Sodor…but I think THAT one was the closest one that we had. Where Brian and I were watching her in that clip we just showed you, there was a deep, steep-sided gully about 12 feet wide with a stream running through the bottom of it and a line of very dense bushes and trees on the side that we were on, which provided us some very good cover. If that deep gully hadn't been there, then I think there's a very high chance that we probably would have been caught." Irving said, and many of those in the audience murmured.

Another hand went up, and Irving pointed towards the woman who raised it.

"Can I just ask why did you officers didn't reach out and grab Carrie when you had a chance to do so and then drag her all the way back here to Chamberlain?" she asked. And on hearing that, almost everyone in the audience looked towards her in some stunned silence and aghast looks on their faces before a few of them gave their opinions on that questionable idea.

"Now, that really wouldn't have been a good idea!"

Oh, come on! That sounds like kidnapping to me!"

"The officers would've gotten themselves in serious trouble doing that!"

"Carrie was working in a place where the officers couldn't have gone!"

"The officers would've been arrested if they tried to do something like that!"

"I think that would've been a really bad idea! Especially with the British police!"

"I wouldn't have done that at all if I were one of the police officers sent over!"

There came the sounds of a gavel banging, and the audience quietened down and looked towards the stage where the sounds came from. At the lectern, the Chief of Police was standing there in place of Irving, who had gone over to sit down on one of the vacant chairs off to the side.

"I'll take that question, everyone. When we made the arrangements to send the four officers over to Sodor, I made it very clear to them, in the strongest possible terms, that they were being sent over to Sodor only on a reconnaissance mission, and that they were NOT to interact with Carrie in any way, shape, or form, or even go near her, especially considering the area where she was working. Even if she was only a few feet away from them, they were not to interact with her at all. I felt that doing something like that would've gotten my officers into serious trouble of some kind…and I didn't want that to happen at all. We also didn't want to raise any suspicions from Carrie, who probably would have reported something was going on if she knew that she was being spied on." the Chief said.

"Oh, okay. Sorry about that." the woman said, as she sat back down.

After a moment, some more hands went up, and the Chief pointed to one.

"What was it like when you were over on the Island of Sodor?" another woman asked. On being asked that, Spacek stood up and went over to the lectern as the Chief went and sat back down on his chair.

"What I can tell you about Sodor is that it's one of the nicest places that I think I've ever been to in my life. The people that my colleagues and I met while we were over there are very friendly and welcoming, and the services that were provided when we weren't spying on Carrie really impressed us all." Spacek said. And the audience murmured for a few moments.

"The trains that we travelled on while we there run very smoothly, and they always strive to run to their destinations on time." Spacek said.

A few moments later, another hand went up.

"Well…Carrie's still owed more than a few apologies for what many people here put her through, especially from the students in Ewen High School, and what do you think would be a good time for us all to go over to Sodor to do that?" a man asked. And quite a few people also felt that would be a good idea, including some of those who had bullied Carrie for all the years she was here in Chamberlain. Sue felt herself look down to the floor with some embarrassment, as those memories went through her head. And she wasn't alone in that regard; quite a few of her fellow students from Ewen High lowered their heads in shame too.

"Well, now that you mention it…there is one opportunity I can see where that could be done…and it's happening in the very near future." Spacek said, as she reached down and took out some pamphlets that she had picked up from the time she and her colleagues had been on Sodor. "Come this November and December, there's going to be this really big Christmas festival, which is lasting for about six weeks, that's held on the Island of Sodor each year in the leadup to Christmas. And it always attracts many people from all-over who go the island to experience it. And from the information that I found out about it…it sounds like quite the event to go to." Spacek said, as she looked through one of the pamphlets.

More than a few people leaned forwards to hear what things they could expect to experience at such an impressive Christmas festival.

"There's all sorts of attractions there with something to satisfy everyone, including a Christmas market, which runs from the middle of November until just before Christmas Eve, as well as all sorts of different stalls serving out all types of traditional Christmas food, Ferris wheels, live Christmas music, different competitions, special Christmas cookery demonstrations, and all sorts of other different things to give anyone a Christmas to really remember." Spacek said.

On being given that information, a lot of people talked for a few moments about the idea of going over to Sodor to see Carrie around Christmas time.

"Now that Christmas festival sounds like quite the good idea to me!"

"Well…Christmas is the time for giving gifts and for forgiving people for their mistakes!"

"Going over there for Christmas would make a nice change to spending the holidays here!"

"I do think something like that sounds like a very good idea to me!"

"I'd reckon that the whole festival thing sounds like a great idea actually!"

"I've never been to a Christmas festival before, and I'd really love to go to one!"

"Why can't we have something like that festival over in this town before Christmas?"

Then there came the familiar sounds of the gavel banging to quieten everyone down and get their attention.

"However…one thing I would strongly suggest to everyone is this." Spacek said, as everyone turned their attention to her. "If you're gonna be going over to Sodor to see Carrie in December…you've got to make your flight and hotel reservations as soon as you possibly can. This Christmas festival always draws in large crowds each year, and so it's important that you make your reservations as early as you possibly can. In fact, the earlier you make your bookings the better I'd say." Spacek said.

Another hand went up, and Spacek pointed.

"Are you guys going to alert the media about this?" one man asked.

"No, not just yet. We want to wait until the time is right before we alert the press about this. I think that if we overplay our hand and inform the media too soon, Carrie might see it on the T.V. and then bolt from the Island of Sodor, which means that we'll end up losing the trail all over again. Be patient. After all, Carrie's not going anywhere, is she?" Spacek said. More hands flew up, and Spacek pointed to a woman, who stood up.

"Are you going to inform Margaret about the fact that Carrie's been found and that she's all right?" the woman asked. And then there came the sounds of more than a few worried murmurs as people anxiously discussed that potentially delicate avenue for someone to go down. Spacek was quiet for what seemed a very long moment before she took a deep breath and spoke again.

"Well…ladies and gentlemen…we've got two officers who went over to the Arkham mental institution a little earlier on today and who told Margaret the good news. And for that particular assignment…well, it was a case of which two officers that were unlucky enough to have drawn the shortest straws." Spacek said. And then everyone murmured anxiously again on what Margaret's reaction might be when she was told.

"That should be interesting." Sue whispered anxiously to Tommy.

"Yeah, and I'm very glad that neither of us were the ones unlucky enough for that assignment." Tommy said, as he thought about what Margaret's reaction had been like.

---

(Earlier that afternoon, at the Arkham Mental Institution)

The tall and old iron gates to the asylum's grounds slowly opened up, and once they were fully open, a police car drove up the long tarmac driveway to the mental hospital. Sitting inside the front of the car, two officers from the Chamberlain Police Department, Pierce and Kevin, were feeling very anxious of the task that they were about to undertake. In fact, they were so anxious about having been unlucky enough to have drawn the short straws for this rather difficult assignment, that they were feeling the familiar nervous feeling churning away deep within their stomachs. Both of them had been very quiet since they had left Chamberlain nearly 20 minutes prior. Pierce was sitting behind the steering wheel, and she was feeling so concerned about the task that a few sweat droplets had formed on her forehead.

"Well…here we are at last." she said, as they pulled up by the pavement in front of the large and imposing building that dominated the scene before them. The large building was four storeys high and its façade was painted in a light yellow. There came a higher point in the middle of it that was about one storey high than the rest of the building. The whole place had a sort of a foreboding gothic feel about it from the outside.

The Arkham Mental Institution was a psychiatric hospital that dated all the way back to the early 1880's when it first opened and, just like most other mental hospitals, it housed patients with all sorts of severe mental disorders, including those who were violent, and those in long-term care. And just like many mental hospitals, this place had a bit of a reputation from the people who lived within the local area as well as far as 20 miles away, mostly due to the category of people that it housed within its walls, including those who were being kept in there for the rest of their natural lives due to the danger that they posed to society.

Standing along the pavement along the side of the driveway closest to the building, the two officers saw a man dressed in a white doctor's coat waiting for them. He was likely the doctor who was waiting for them to arrive. After getting out from the police car and then grabbing a black leather case from the back seat, Pierce and Kevin went over to meet the doctor.

"Hello there, you two. You're both from Chamberlain?" the doctor asked, as he stretched his right hand forward.

"Yes, sir. We are." Kevin said anxiously, as he shook hands with the doctor.

"And you're both here to see Margaret White?" the doctor asked, as he then shook hands with Pierce.

"Yes, we are. To tell her that her daughter, Carrie, has been found alive and well…as well as some other news." Pierce said, as she felt the anxious feeling in her stomach.

"I see…well, follow me please. Right this way." the doctor said, as he led them inside the main entrance of the building. They went upstairs to the third floor, using only the stairs as there were no elevators in the place, and then headed on down a long corridor with various different doors lined up on both sides of it. The further along the corridor the two officers got, the more anxious that they felt deep inside, as they were both deeply unsure of how Margaret would react when she was told the news.

They soon reached the end of the corridor, where there was a security detail of three tough, burly men who were keeping a close eye on a set of very secure doors. This was the main entrance to the maximum-security wing, where many of the most unstable and dangerous inmates of the asylum were kept in the most secure confinement possible, and it was in here where Margaret White was being kept.

After checking the credentials of the doctor and then the two police officers, the security detail let them inside the wing, with two additional security guards going along with them for added protection. As they went along the corridor to the room that had been arranged for them to see Margaret in, both officers couldn't help but feel very uneasy at the sounds they heard, including malicious laughter or low screaming from behind some of the doors to the rooms and padded cells, as well as other sounds like kicking or even distant screaming at times.

"I'll be very glad to be out of this part of the asylum. I can't help but feel the terror in here." Pierce said, as she listened to everything anxiously. From the various sounds, it was almost like that they were both walking through a haunted house.

"Yeah, me too." Kevin said, as he rubbed down his sweaty forehead as he walked along the corridor.

They soon reached the room, which was close to the end of the corridor; it was a bare room and a fairly small one at that, with light blue tiles secured into the floor, and the walls painted in a crisp white paint, and there was also a single light fixture fitted in the middle of the ceiling. There were two large windows in the walls that overlooked the asylum's grounds and which allowed plenty of natural light inside. There were two vertical bars that were fitted on the outsides of each of the two windows. Right in the middle of the room, there was a single wooden table with two chairs on one side of it and a single chair on the other. Stepping inside and looking round quickly, Pierce and Kevin got themselves ready to inform Margaret that her daughter had been found alive.

"Better go and get Margaret White from the cell that she's currently in." the doctor said to the two burly security men.

"Yes, sir." they said with a nod, and they headed on down the corridor. The two officers got themselves set up, but even so, and having gone through similar setups to this many times in the past, they couldn't help but know deep down that this one was going to be very different.

It wasn't too long before they were all setup and ready to go. The two officers hadn't brought any electronics, like laptops, with them; instead, they were going to be using pictures that their colleagues had brought back with them from Sodor. With some nervousness in their stomachs, the two officers sat down on the two seats on one side of the table and waited for Margaret to be brought into the room. At the open door, the doctor stood, hands folded over his chest, the fingers on his right hand drumming against his left arm, his face gazing down the length of the corridor, and his foot tapping anxiously on the floor while he waited for Margaret to be brought down.

"Ah…here she comes now, you two." the doctor said, as he turned his head into the room to look at the two officers before he stood aside. After nodding, both officers took in very deep breaths to keep themselves calm.

"This is it…" Pierce said nervously, never taking her eyes off the open door as the sounds of approaching footsteps got a little louder.

"I know…" Kevin said, who was equally as nervous.

A moment later, with a slow shuffling of feet, Margaret White was brought into the room, and the two officers were aghast by her appearance when they saw her come in. She had changed considerably in her overall appearance ever since she was sentenced to be locked up here back in January; her hair was all scraggly and ragged, with a few grey-white streaks to be seen in it, and her facial appearance seemed to be of someone who had been living on the edge of having a complete mental breakdown for quite a long time. Her skin was pale white, she was hunched over at the waist as she slowly shuffled along, her eyes were bloodshot red and narrow, and overall she presented quite an unhealthy appearance. For her own safety, as well as for the safety of the two police officers and the doctor, she'd had her arms restrained within a straitjacket. The two burly security men helped Margaret into the room, and then they sat her down on the single chair on the other side of the table from the two officers.

Margaret was looking straight ahead with her gaze seeming to be staring at something in the far distance, and she didn't seem to see the two officers sitting directly across from her at first. Then, turning her head a little to the left and the right, she saw them.

Nervously clearing his throat, Kevin spoke first.

"Mrs White…we have some news to give to you about Carrie." Kevin said. But Margaret, her mental state having deteriorated to quite a considerable extent within the last 10 months since she had been brought here, didn't seem to hear them at first. She still seemed to stare at something that was in the far distance.

"Ughh…" she groaned, as she slowly turned her attention to Kevin. He had picked up some of the pictures, and he placed them, one at a time, down on the table before Margaret. Slowly, she turned her head down to look at them; all the pictures showed Carrie, and in them, Carrie was clearly so much happier and full of life than she had been before. And her clothes were so much brighter as well, as if to show how much different she had become ever since she disappeared.

As Margaret continued looking at the picture, while not saying anything, Kevin spoke again.

"She's alive and well, Margaret…and she's over on the Island of Sodor. She seems to have gotten her life back together again, and she's so much happier now than she had been before." Kevin said, gently. But Margaret didn't seem to hear him, as she was too concentrated on looking at the picture of her daughter. It was as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing before her.

"And we should let you know that she's working over on Sodor as well…" Pierce said, as she pushed another picture in front of Margaret. This one showed Carrie, dressed in blue overalls, an orange Hi-Viz safety vest over that, and a peaked railway cap on her head, leaning out from the footplate of a steam locomotive; in fact, it was the footplate of L.N.E.R. S1 Class 0-8-4T No.9905, and Carrie seemed to be concentrating hard on the work at hand of helping to shunt trains that needed to be taken away. Margaret just looked down at the picture, as though she couldn't believe what she was seeing on it; the look on her face seemed to be completely frozen as she looked at her picture

From the other side of the table, the two officers looked towards Margaret with some concern at the fact she wasn't saying anything. Standing by the open door, the doctor and two security men also looked with some concern.

"Stand by for trouble." the doctor whispered to the two security men, both of whom nodded in acknowledgment and readied themselves, just in case.

Taking in another deep breath, and slowly letting it out, Kevin reached for another picture and pushed it in front of where Margaret was sitting…and this was the photo that he had the most reservations about. It was of Ralph White…the ex-husband of Margaret, and it showed him dressed in similar clothing as Carrie had been in the previous picture.

As Margaret looked at the picture, both Pierce and Kevin looked towards her with some concern, as they were wondering what Margaret's reaction would be when she saw that her late ex-husband was still alive. From behind, the two security men and the doctor kept their firmly eyes on Margaret and waited for her inevitable reaction.

Then Margaret looked up, a look of complete disbelief on her face at the realisation her ex-husband Ralph was still alive…and then she screamed out loudly in a completely emotional mix of different feelings as the realisation hit her full force, much to the shock of the two officers and doctor.

On seeing her scream and then break down completely, the two security men quickly went forward and took hold of Margaret before taking her out from the room. They took the screaming, crying, hysterical Margaret down the corridor a little way until they got to a line of doors, on the other side of which were the padded cells. Opening one of the doors, they placed her inside one of the cells before securely closing the door behind them. From inside the padded cell, Margaret could be heard screaming and crying out, almost like she was a howling wounded animal.

From the room nearby, the doctor and two officers stood outside the door and watched as the two security men came back towards them.

"Sorry about that, you two. But I think that was to be expected for this afternoon." the doctor said, as he rubbed his forehead down in some relief.

"It's all right, doc. I think that we showed her everything that we needed to show her." Pierce said, even though they still had some pictures in the case that they hadn't had a chance to show Margaret yet, and now never would. However, that didn't matter anymore...not now.

"Don't worry too much about it, you two. Something like that is just something that we all go through here in this building on quite a regular basis." said one of the security men.

"Anyway…would you two officers like a cup of hot coffee before you head off back to Chamberlain?" the doctor asked.

"Yeah, that sounds like quite a good idea to me. Let's do that." Pierce said.

"I think a cup of coffee would do some good right now." Kevin said, and the doctor led them off down the corridor back the way they had come, leaving the sounds of a hysterical Margaret behind in the padded cell.

---

(A few long moments later, in the staff room)

The doctor poured hot coffee from a pot into three mugs on the table, where he and the two officers were sitting. There were a number of other staff members in the room and taking their breaks before going on back to work.

"There we are…" he said, as Pierce and Kevin took a mug each.

"Thanks." they both said together, as they poured some milk into their coffee and stirred it in before they sipped their coffee, as well as selecting a doughnut from the box of a dozen doughnuts that was on the table. After the incident where Margaret screamed out a few minutes earlier, a cup of hot coffee and a doughnut certainly would hit the spot right now. They were also glad to have gotten themselves out of the maximum security wing.

"Are you two all right?" the doctor asked with some concern.

"Yeah doc, we're all right. Gosh…that screaming…I don't think I've heard anything like it in my life before." Kevin said, as he shuddered from the memory of it.

"I don't know how well I'll be able to sleep tonight." Pierce said, as she took a bite of her doughnut.

"Well, try not to let it bother you too much. When you're working in a place like this…you do get used to it. I did with the passage of time." the doctor said.

"Do you think there's any hope for Margaret? I mean, in terms of her mental state being fully cured?" Kevin asked.

The doctor was silent for a long moment, and then he grimly shook his head while sighing a bit. "No, you two. There's absolutely no hope at all that we'll ever manage to cure Margaret of her heavily deteriorated mental state…which has already deteriorated down to an even lower point than it was when she first came here back in January." the doctor said, as he sipped his own coffee.

"I see. Well, she's clearly a no-hoper then if her mental state has deteriorated that much." Pierce said, as she took another bite from her doughnut.

"Yeah, but at the same time…I'm not really that concerned if we're successful or not. After all, I've already thoroughly read through all the court orders that we received all the way back in January; she's to be confined in here for the rest of her life for what she did to her daughter." the doctor said.

"I understand, doc." Pierce said.

They were quiet for a few more moments before Kevin spoke again.

"How many times has Margaret been put into one of the padded cells in the time that she's been here so far?" he asked.

"Oh...I'm afraid I've lost count by now...but its been quite a regular occurrence since January. And for a whole variety of different reasons, including attacking other patients and staff, non-stop religious rants, and other different reasons like that, including two incidents when she tried to escape. And I don't expect that it'll stop any time soon. But then again...I suppose it's her getting her just desserts for all the times that she locked her daughter in the closet under the stairs." the doctor said with a heavy sigh, as he took another sip of his coffee.

"Indeed." Pierce said.

---

They soon finished their coffee, and with that, it was time for Kevin and Pierce to head off on their way back to Chamberlain. Leaving the staff room, the doctor escorted them down to the main reception area and then out the front to the driveway.

"Well, thanks for coming here and informing Margaret of the news that Carrie's all right you two." the doctor said.

"Oh, it was no trouble at all, doc. But I'll be glad to get away from here right now. After all, this place gives me the creeps." Kevin said, as he looked up at the somewhat foreboding façade of the building.

"Yeah, I know how you feel about that." the doctor said.

"Anyway, thanks for your help, doc. Let's get back to Chamberlain." Pierce said, as she and Kevin shook hands with the doctor before they got into their police car and set off back down the driveway to the iron gates, and the main road beyond.

---

(Back in Chamberlain; evening, 7:45pm)

In the Kelly Fruit Diner, a small group of Seniors from Ewen High School were sitting together at one of the booths upstairs and socialising with each other. They were all talking with each other of the things they had heard at the town hall earlier on that day about the news that Carrie had been found on the Island of Sodor, a place that they had NEVER expected her to be.

"I'm just amazed to hear that she was over on the Island of Sodor for all this time. I still can't believe it even now." Heather Shyres said, still completely astonished from what they had all been told earlier on.

"And you know…the fact that we heard about it not long after the new flight route that's going from Western Maine Airport all the way over to the Island of Sodor started off is just an amazing coincidence." Jessica Upshaw said.

"Yeah, and that new flight route should make getting us all over to Sodor come the middle of December a fairly simple matter too." said Rachel Spies, as she took a sip of her strawberry milkshake.

"And not only that...but to hear the news that her father was still alive and well, and had been living over on the Island of Sodor for all this time …" Nicki said.

"…was just a completely unexpected surprise for us all as well." said Lizzy, as she finished her sister's sentence.

"Yeah, but what really surprised me the most was the fact that she's working on the railway that's over there…just like her father. I think that was just another thing that I don't thing any of us was ever expecting to hear earlier on." Sue said.

"Yeah, but what concerns me is the way the officers had to go about getting the pictures and video clips of Carrie. I mean…doing that kind of thing could qualify as stalking, and I'm sure that even the Island of Sodor has its own laws in place against that." Tommy said.

"You're right, Tommy. Thinking about it, I'm not really sure if the way the officers got those pictures and video clips of Carrie was a good idea or not." Sue said.

"Well, it's far too late for that now, you two. What's been done is done, and we have the information that Carrie is alive and well." said Heather, as she took a sip from her glass of her Coca Cola.

After leaving the town hall with their parents earlier on, it was decided to go over to Sodor in December to see Carrie, as had been suggested by Spacek during the meeting. And right now, the parents, as well as some teachers, were making the arrangements to head over to Sodor come the middle of December.

A lot of the teens were sort of excited to be going over to a new place, as well as feeling somewhat nervous at the chance to see Carrie and apologise to her for the unnecessary trouble they had put her through. They could only hope it wasn't too late for that.

"I'm just amazed to see how much Carrie has changed since we last saw her. She looks to be so much happier and so much more at ease now than she had been before." Jessica said, still amazed by how prettier and healthier Carrie had looked in the pictures.

"Yeah well, I guess that's something to be expected for a person when they haven't been bullied by their classmates or being abused by their own abusive religious mother for nearly a year." Norma Watson said, as she took a sip of her chocolate milkshake.

"I guess you're right about that, Norma. And to see her with new friends over there shows that she's really gotten her life back on track now." Freddy Holt said. And for a moment, they all shared a laugh at Freddy's little pun, considering that Carrie was working on a railway.

"Yeah, but there's just one thing from the meeting that I'm a bit curious about." Tommy said, once they had all finished laughing.

"And what's that Tommy?" asked Lizzy, as she and Nicki glanced over at him.

"Well...you know how they showed us pictures and video clips of the engines earlier on?" Tommy asked, to which everyone around the table said "Yes?"

"Well...what surprised me was the fact that they never showed us any images of the very fronts of the engines. They only showed us close-up shots of parts of the engines, or shots taken from angles that showed the full engine but not the fronts of them. And I also noticed that some of the pictures and video clips that were shown to us appeared to have been edited in such a way so as not to show us the fronts of any of the engines." Tommy said. On being told that, they all agreed and murmured amongst themselves.

"I wonder why." Sue said quietly, as everyone else around the table thought the same thing.

"Hey, try to worry about it too much now, Sue. I'm quite sure that we'll all find out the reasoning for it soon enough." Norma said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right about that, Norma." Sue said, as she sipped her vanilla milkshake.

"What do you all think Margaret White's reaction to the news was when the police told her?" Freddy asked. And for several moments, they were all silent as they thought about that. There was no doubt they would find out soon enough, but the thought of what Margaret's reaction was filled them with concern.

"I dread to think that it might have been." Tommy said.

"Well, let's just wait and see. We'll be told soon I'm sure." Sue said.

And the group continued on talking about what they had experienced at the town hall earlier on that day until they had to go on home later on in the evening.

---

And that's it for this chapter, everyone! This chapter takes the word count in my story to well over 700,000 words, which makes this Thomas story, either crossover or regular, the one with the highest word count so far, as well as being the very first Carrie fanfic to ever reach this figure. As we've all seen, everyone is deeply relieved to see that Carrie is all right, but shocked at the same time to hear where Carrie is, what she's doing, as well as the fact that Ralph White is still very much alive and living on Sodor. And Margaret's reaction to this news was…to be honest…quite expected for a person with their mental state as heavily deteriorated as hers.

The reason for not showing the faces of the engines in the photos was to surprise everyone from Chamberlain who goes over to Sodor in December, as it'll cause an enormous surprise to all of them when they see engines with faces on their fronts.

As for the next chapter that's going to be put up, well I promise that we'll be back on the Island of Sodor for that. Please enjoy this chapter, and I'll see you in the next chapter as soon as possible! Good reading!