//------------------------------// // Down the Mine // Story: Thomas and Friends: The Retold Adventures // by The Blue EM2 //------------------------------// A few days later, Thomas was sitting in the platform at Knapford Junction, waiting for clearance to depart to Ffarquhar. A few minutes later, Gordon shuffled in with some trucks. Although he was working well enough to be let out of the yard and pull trains, he wasn’t yet trusted enough to be allowed to pull coaches. So, there he was, pulling fast goods trains there and back again. Although by fast, I mean little more than walking pace, as these trains were still unfitted stock and banged rather loudly. “Phew!” said Thomas, loudly. “What an awful smell!” Gordon looked over, not amused at all. “Can you smell a smell?” Thomas asked, addressed to nobody in particular. “I can’t smell a smell,” said Annie. “Neither can I,” added Twilight. “A funny, musty sort of smell,” said Thomas. “Nobody noticed it until you did,” Gordon said grumpily. “By logical extension, it must be yours, or it could be Twilight’s simply awful perfume.” “Hey!” Twilight shouted. “I don’t even wear perfume! And the hair conditioner I use doesn’t smell that bad!” About two stories back, Gordon had fallen into a smelly ditch whilst coming off the turntable at Tidmouth. Unfortunately, Thomas took the opportunity to rib him about it with every chance he got. “Annie, Clarabel, Twilight?” he asked. “Do you know what I think it is?” And before anybody had any chance to reply, he answered his own question. “Why, it’s ditch water!” Thomas then sped into the distance before Gordon could reply. “Get back here, you fiend!” he shouted. Rainbow Dash sighed. “Gordon, just let it go,” she said. “We have better things to do.” And she opened Gordon’s regulator, continuing on their long journey. Twilight was shocked at what Thomas had said. As they sped along the line, she grilled him about it. “Thomas, that wasn’t a kind thing to say!” she snapped. “So what?” he replied. “He had it coming to him. After all, he chose to block that turntable. So, he’s getting what he deserves.” Twilight sighed. “You are unbelievable, Thomas,” she said, with a huff. Annie and Clarabel were equally shocked. “He’s dreadfully rude, I feel quite ashamed, I feel quite ashamed, he’s dreadfully rude.” They then spoke to Thomas. “You mustn’t be rude, you make us ashamed!” But Thomas didn’t care a bit. “That was funny, that was funny!” he chortled to himself, as he shunted Annie and Clarabel into a siding at Ffarquhar. He felt very proud of what he had said, which horrified Annie and Clarabel (this admittedly, was not much of a change from normal), who respected Gordon very deeply. Twilight was also disappointed, but chose to say no more. They had another job down at the mine that lay at the end of the tramway. Thankfully, the troublesome policeman had been moved to another part of the island, one that had no railways near it, which got him out of the way and stopped his grumbling. Besides, Toby had been enough of a fright for him. A long time ago, lead mining operations had begun in the area. The roofs from the tunnels created during the mining process lay under the ground, and the land above them was unstable. This land was strong enough to hold up trucks, but not engines, or else the ground would give way. There is a large notice there which informs them of this fact, stating in block capitals that DANGER: ENGINES MUST NOT PASS THIS BOARD. Thomas had often wanted to pass by that board and into the sidings, but every time Twilight had caught and stopped him. “Silly old board!” he said to himself. But this time, he intended to succeed, for he had a plan, a plan so cunning that if you put a tale on it, you could call it a weasel. Twilight got out of Thomas’ cab to change the points, but she had forgotten to secure Thomas’ brakes properly, which was a rather severe error. “Now for my plan!” Thomas called, and suddenly started forward past the point lever. He slammed into the trucks and followed them into the siding. “Thomas, get back!” Twilight shouted, and then noticed something odd. The words on the sign had changed. Instead of reading DANGER: ENGINES MUST NOT PASS THIS BOARD, it now read DANGER: ENGINES MUST NOT PASS THIS POINT. “That’s odd,” she said. Then there was an ear-splitting crash. The ground suddenly gave way beneath Thomas, and earth went everywhere. The rails buckled with nothing to support them, and the 52-ton tank engine fell into a pit that had opened up. “Fire and smoke, I’m sunk!” he exclaimed. And indeed, he was, his buffers inclined down, and pointing straight into the Earth. Twilight shook her head. “What in the world possessed you to do something as stupid as this?” she asked, clearly displeased. Thomas replied weakly. “Oh dear, I am a silly engine,” he said, which was a rather mundane response given the situation. “I saw what happened,” said the voice of Sir Toppham Hatt, who was watching from a nearby hillside. “It’s a good thing I stopped by, or else I would have no idea of the mayhem that occurs here on a regular basis.” “Please get me out,” Thomas said. “I won’t do it again.” Sir Toppham Hatt shook his head. “How many times have I heard that before?” he asked. “I’m afraid we can’t Thomas,” he said. “With the unstable ground, we can’t get a crane into position to lift you out, but Gordon could pull you out.” “Yes sir,” Thomas said quietly. Truth be told, he didn’t want to meet Gordon just yet, but he had little choice in the matter. Gordon flew along the line. Both he and Rainbow Dash were laughing. “Well, down a mine, is he?” the big blue engine laughed as they raced along. “What a joke!” “Now he knows how we feel!” Rainbow Dash added, before breaking into a fresh laughing fit. Rainbow Dash eased Gordon around the curves of the mine access, and brought him to a stop just in front of the board. There was Thomas, still stuck, and Twilight was standing next to the board. “I’m so glad you two are here!” she said. “Sorry for wasting your time.” “Don’t worry, it’s no biggie,” Rainbow Dash replied. “I’m used to it.” “Hello Thomas!” Gordon called. “We’ll have you out in a couple of puffs!” As it would not be safe to pull Thomas out with Gordon directly coupled up, they ran a winch and linked the cable onto Thomas’ rear coupling. “Are you ready?” Sir Toppham Hatt called. “HEAVE!” Gordon then pulled as hard as he could, moving Thomas back out of the pit. It took a lot of work, but the train wasn’t too heavy, and at long last Thomas was free of his prison. “Only now do I appreciate the irony of the entire situation,” he said. “I’m sorry for being rude to you Gordon.” Gordon laughed. “Oh well, you made me laugh. I’m in disgrace, as well you know.” “Same,” Thomas replied. “It’s not fun.” “In that case,” Gordon said, “shall we form an alliance? You help me, and I’ll help you.” “Right you are!” Thomas replied. “That’s that settled,” Gordon answered. And buffer to buffer, they headed home.