"I was lonely and miserable," Skarloey continued. "But then at last, Mr Starswirl came to see me..."
Crovan's Gate, 1865.
Mr Starswirl lifted away the tarpaulin to reveal a sad looking Skarloey underneath it. "I hope," he said, "that you are now a better engine than you were before, and will behave and do as you are told."
"Oh sir," Skarloey said, "I am, and I will."
"Very good," Mr Starswirl smiled, and pulled the tarpaulin away. "Did you recognise the worker yesterday who spoke to you?"
"I'm afraid I didn't," Skarloey replied.
"That was Mr Robert Hool, or Rockhoof, as I believe you know him," replied Mr Starswirl. "He helped to build you at Whitehaven, and I've asked him to be your driver. How does that sound?"
"Old Mr Rockhoof, my driver?" Skarloey said, with a smile. "Yes sir, thank you sir!"
"I very much liked Mr Rockhoof," Skarloey smiled. "Soon, he had my fire going, and I went to work. We were needed to finish construction of the railway before the inspectors arrived. We worked so hard and so fast that before we knew it, we had finished the railway."
"What happened next?" asked Ocellus. She had been listening very intently, and her hands sat on her knees as Skarloey told his story.
"The next thing of note was that Rheneas arrived. He lacked a cab then, too, and was a very different temprament to myself. He worked slowly, without fuss or care, and tended not to get as bouncy as I did. The trucks often played tricks on me to annoy me. But they quickly learned that messing about with Rheneas was a bridge too far!" He paused, before continuing his story. "One day, I came up to him, rather excited, and with some good news..."
Crovan's Gate, 1865.
Skarloey skidded to a stop next to Rheneas, who looked over with a disinterested glance.
"I'm taking the inspectors tomorrow!" Skarloey cried, smiling all the while. "I'm taking the inspectors train tomorrow! Isn';t that exciting? What do you think of that, eh Rheneas?"
Rheneas looked over with a scowl. "You mind your running quality," he said sternly. "The last thing that the inspectors will want is a bucking bronco pulling their train."
"Don't swear!" exclaimed Rockhoof.
"Don't be silly!" Skarloey laughed. "I won't bounce, I run perfectly smoothly!" and he flew off to collect the coaches. "Hello girls!" he called, as Rockhoof coupled him to the coaches.
"Who is it?" asked one of the coaches, whom we know to be Agnes.
"It's an engine," added Beatrice, the guard's van, at the other end of the train closest to Skarloey. "He's come to take us out for a run today!"
"Beware of strange engines!" boomed Agnes. "They do strange things, after all. Be on your guard!"
"The guard's only just arrived!" Beatrice exclaimed. And indeed he had, a fact to which Ruth, Jemima and Lucy sighed in relief. Little did anybody know at the time, but the Thin Clergyman made a clerical error in ommitting Lucy from his recording of the tale.
Skarloey pulled the coahces to the station, but Agness was still talking loudly about strange engines. "Be on your guard! Be on your guard!" she said over and over again. Not that Skarloey took any notice, of course. The young tank engine backed down onto Agnes, who was marshalled at the front of the train.
"I'm looking forward to this!" Skarloey chortled, as Rockhoof backed him down onto his train.
Agnes glared. "You may look harmless," she said darkly. "But we will be watching you. Never forget that. One bit of nonsense and you will regret it."
"Never mind her," Rockhoof told Skarloey. "She's just an old fusspot, despite being quite a new coach." And, when the guard had blown his whistle, they were away. It was a lovely journey up the line, with Skarloey calling at every station on the line; Cross-ny-Cuirn, Glennock, Rheneas (or the Falls station) and Skarloey (or the lake station). At each station, Mr Starswirl and the inspectors got out in order to oversee that the arrangements were good and proper. On the return run via Lakeside, Mr Starswirl boarded Skarloey's footplate for the run back to Crovan's Gate.
"I don't understand how you make it look so easy!" Mr Starswirl exclaimed. "May I give driving him a go, if you wouldn't mind?"
"You may, sir!" Rockhoof replied.
Skarloey was happy. "First rate! First rate!" he chortled to himself, as they rolled smoothly along the track. Unbeknownst to anybody but the footplate crew, Skarloey began to bounce up and down. Alarmed, Mr Starswirl shut the regulator and slammed on the brakes. Too hard, as well. Skarloey's wheels locked, and the sudden deceleration caused the coaches to crash together, the buffers smacking into each other with a jolt.
"He's playing tricks!" Agnes boomed from the other end of the train. They surged into the locomotive, who continued to pitch about uncontrollably. Mr Starswirl grabbed for a handrail, missed it, and vanished into the undergrowth.
"Apply the van brakes!" Rockhoof shouted to the guard. "These coaches are nothing but trouble!" He reduced the brakes on Skarloey, so his wheels began rotating freely again, and then brought them on slowly, reducing the cutoff as he did so. Skarloey slowed down, then came to a smooth, safe stop. Just up the line was Mr Starswirl, whos legs were poking out of a bush. He was unhurt, but cross.
"I'm not riding on that bucking bronco again!" he boomed, and sat in Beatrice for the remainder of the journey. The directors complained that they had been hurt, when they really hadn't, and not surprisingly Skarloey became the scapegoat for the entire incident.
"Rheneas shall take the inspectors tomorrow!" one of them boomed pompously. "You, shall stay in the shed, out of sight. You are a very naughty engine!"
Skarloey slunk away dejectedly to the sheds. But the next day, Mr Starswirl came by to see him. "Sir, I'm sorry!" Skarloey pleaded. "I did try to behave!"
"Cheer up, it wasn't your fault," Mr Starswirl replied. "I was just a bit upset, that's all. But that doesn't justify how that director spoke to you, and I had a word with him. Those coaches caused the incident, and I made sure to give Agnes a piece of my mind. The inspectors have cleared the line for operation, with some minor improvements needed, but on the whole we are ready to operate!"
"That's good news, sir!" Skarloey replied.
"Yes indeed," Rockhoof smiled, as he did some polishing. "After that, I think you and I will have many more adventures together."
"They also advised I got some new wheels fitted, underneath my cab," Skarloey finished. "But what happened with those is a tale for another time."