Seize on Sodor - Thomas the Tank Engine & PAW Patrol Crossover

Chapter 14: Information and Separation

Emily was glad that some of the PAW Patrol members stayed to keep her company. Zuma was on her foot plate licking her face, trying to wipe away the tears and clean up the dried up blood that was stained on her nose and mouth. She found it rather ticklish.

"Stop! That tickles!" She giggled as Zuma continued to clean up the dried up blood.

Ryder, Chase, and Skye smiled as the emerald engine laughed.

"Looks like Zuma is having fun cleaning his favorite engine." Skye whispered to Chase.

"No kidding. Emily seems to enjoy it." Chase replied.

As Zuma continued to lick the blood off Emily's face, Ryder thought this was the right time to tell the emerald engine the news they had found.

"Sorry to interrupt your giggle fit, Emily, but I think we have some great news that you would like to hear." Ryder told her, walking up to the emerald engine.

Emily stopped laughing and looked at the ten-year-old boy. "Sure. Whatcha got?" She asked, trying to hold in her laughter.

"Well, we've recently gone to the library and checked the criminal records."

"You did?"

"Yes. We tried to find out if Sir Topham Hatt did have a criminal record against him about child abuse."

Emily gasped. "Sir Topham Hatt did what?"

"There was a rumor going around, which was started by Humdinger, recently that said Sir Topham Hatt was involved in a case where he abused his own grandchildren."

Emily went wide-eyed as Ryder finished his sentence.

"But don't worry," Ryder said, putting his hands up in a safeguarded manner. "We found out that the case was false and there's no criminal record held against him. Therefore, he isn't guilty of committing any crimes."

"Well, that's good to know," Emily said in a relieved manner, which quickly changed to a puzzled manner. "But, if Sir Topham Hatt is innocent, why isn't he in charge of the railway?"

"Because Humdinger printed a fake copy of the criminal record somewhere and whoever saw it believed it and booted him out of office....I'm still surprised how they didn't see through it." Ryder murmured that last part underneath his breath.

"So what do we do now?" Emily asked as Zuma jumped down from her foot plate and hopped on the other side to heal her black left eye.

"We would take the case to the police but Humdinger knows we're on the island, so we'll hide the evidence in your cab."

"But doesn't that mean you'll also have to hide me?"

It then hit Ryder as Emily brought up the question.

"That's right!" The ten-year-old boy scoffed, putting his hand on his forehead. "If the evidence is in your cab that also means you'll have to hide too. We can't let Humdinger find those documents."

"Especially after what he's done to me." The emerald engine whispered, looking at her buffers depressingly.

"We need to hide you somewhere that's vastly secure. Someplace where no one would expect something important like this information to be. Someplace that's not so deceiving." Ryder said as he paced back and forth.

Emily looked down at her buffers as she thought. Then an idea popped in her smokebox.

"What about the Steamworks?" Emily suggested, flashing a smile.

Ryder stopped and looked at her. "Are you sure that place is secure enough? It's gonna take a lot of time before we take Humdinger to justice."

"Sure. The only ones that run the Steamworks are Kevin and Victor. Kevin's a crane that's kind of clumsy, and Victor's an engine who's great at keeping secrets. You can hide me there. Besides, diesels aren't allowed in the Steamworks and there are little to none steam engines that are mischievous, like Bill and Ben."