//------------------------------//
// Apology Impossible 
// Story: Thomas and Friends: More Tales from Sodor 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

One morning, as had become something of a ritual for them, Stepney and Sweetie Belle were at work at Tidmouth Harbour. They had several trains to assemble for the day, and the first train was for James. This train consisted largely of conflats, which were empty of course, and were all going to Vicarstown for transit to the mainland. Sweetie Belle was currently uncoupling Stepney from the train. "What a lovely morning!" she said. "The sky is red, and the sun is a nice complement to the cloud layer."

"I'm not so sure," said Stepney. "Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in the morning, sailor's warning. Doesn't bode well."

"I guess not," Sweetie Belle sighed. "Oh well. Just one more wagon to go and we can take a tea break! The conflat we need is the one over there."

A loud puffing could be heard in the distance as a familar red engine rolled into the harbour approaches. He was approaching at the safe speed limit of 15 miles per hour, but James wasn't keeping a proper eye on where he was going. "Hereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee's Jame- LOOK OUT!"

Rarity leaned out of the cab and gasped. "Oh dear," she said, and slammed the brakes on. James stopped, but too late. He crashed into the conflat and sent a pot of oil flying through the air that splattered onto Stepney's side tank and all over his brake pump.

"Yuck!" Stepney exclaimed. "I hope none of that gets in the working parts."

Sweetie Belle sprinted over, and gasped. "What happened?"

"James entered the yard going altogether too fast. That is what happened," said Stepney, looking glum.

"I am dreadfully sorry," Rarity replied. "I must have misjudged the stopping distance."

James, however, was busy fawning over his paint. "Some of the oil got on my paintwork," he moaned.

"No it didn't!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

"Besides, I'm the one you should be apologising to," Stepney said, giving more than a subtle hint.

James, however, took no heed, and moved forward to couple onto the train. "Move that last conflat for me and we'll be good to go!"

Stepney simmered crossly, but went and got the last truck and the brake van into place. As James pulled away, he glanced about to see if anybody else had witnessed the incident. "Let's hope somebody saw that," he said.

"It was clearly an accident," Sweetie Belle sighed, trying to reassure him. "We have a short break before we're needed again, so I'll clean you up and get you looking good as new."

Stepney smiled at that.

A few hours later, it was time for him to fill up his tanks, so he went to a nearby water tower to fill up. Inexplicably, however, he found James was already there, filling up as well.

"Are you going to be long?" Stepney asked. "My tanks are almost empty!"

"A really splendid engine needs water more than you do! You're just a common tank engine!" James replied. "Besides, some of the water could be used for washing!"

"Honestly, James!" Rarity said, fiddling with the tap. "You know that the use of water from a water tower for cleaning purposes is strictly against rules and regulations. And without those rules and regulations, where would we be now?"

After sitting there for a few minutes, the big red engine was finally done, and he moved off for his next job. Stepney then rolled forward to the water column, and Sweetie Belle dropped the pipe in and turned the handle.

No water came.

"Seriously?" Stepney asked. "Why is there no water? Did James use it all?"

"One moment," Sweetie Belle said. "Something seems to be stuck. Rarity seems to have been leaning on it to apply water pressure, so..."

Suddenly, water thundered through the pipes and into the water tanks, before slopping out of the top of the tank and spilling everywhere. There was water on the track. There was water on the ballast. There was water all over Stepney and Sweetie Belle. The only place there wasn't water was in the water tower.

"At least it washed the oil off!" Stepney joked.

Sweetie Belle, however, was drenched from head to toe in water. "OH COME ON!"

Later that day, she exchanged her wet clothes for some spare ones Apple Bloom loaned her, and was ready for work once more. "Let's see, the manifest says we are to take some empty bloater vans to Tidmouth yard and then take some other things back to the harbour. Sounds simple enough!"

Stepney reversed up the line to the siding where the vans were. The vans were normally used to carry fish on the Flying Kipper, and as a result were very smelly. "I hope they don't stink this badly normally!" Stepney said. "Duck normally handles the shunting of these!"

"Possibly because he's more powerful!" Sweetie Belle said. "But I think two or three is well within our remit. Hopefully we'll be on passenger duties tomorrow!"

"Now there's something to look forward to!" Stepney smiled. He was coupled up, and set off down the line. He then came to a problem. Normally, the approaches to the harbour are double track. However, the Down line was currently out of action so that repair work could be done. Stepney pulled up at the signal box and whistled, as per instructions.

"There you are!" said the signalman. "I'm giving you the single line token. Remember to request permission to pass the signal at danger, and you can safely proceed." He handed a small metal token to Sweetie Belle.

"Thank you, single line token is in possession. Moving forward now." The small Terrier and his driver moved forward and into the single line section. All was going fine, when they suddenly saw James rolling through the same section at speed!

"Peep peep! Stop!" he whistled. He slammed his brakes on and came to a complete stop, just as James did himself. Both engines looked up at one another, and looked rather annoyed.

"What are you doing here?" James asked.

"I could ask you the same question!" Stepney replied. "Why are you in a single line section with no token?"

"Token?" James said. "An engine as splendid as me shouldn't need a token!"

Sweetie Belle hopped out of the cab and waved the token in his face. "This little metal thing ring a bell? We're the only ones permitted in this section!"

Rarity finally chimed in. "That's odd. The signal was green!"

"That signal's been faulty all day!" Stepney said. "There's instructions in the morning briefing to treat it as red unless told otherwise!"

"That doesn't change the fact that we're blocking the lines!" James snapped. "Now one of us will need to back up!"

"Indeed," Stepney said, looking crosser than ever. "And that'll be you... after you've apologised for being a complete twit today!"

"Why should I apologise for anything? I've done nothing wrong!"

"Oh yes you have," said Stepney.

"Oh no I haven't," said James.

"Oh yes you have," said Stepney.

"Oh no I haven't," said James.

"When did this turn into a pantomime?" Rarity asked.

"Firstly," Stepney interrupted, "you failed to apologise for approaching too fast and splattering oil everywhere. Second, you failed to apologise for hogging all the water and then getting us wet. And now you're in violation of railway safety rules!"

James looked down. "When you put it that way... I'll reverse to get out of your way. I really am a silly engine."

James rolled back into his own section, and Stepney waited for him to finish. Once he was out of the way, he went onwards with his train, whistling as he passed by.

Later that day, as Stepney was being put back in the shed, James rolled into another berth. "Hello Stepney," he said. "I want to apologise for how I acted today. I really should take more care."

"It's OK," Stepney smiled, as both engines watched the sun descending through the sky. "Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in the morning, sailor's warning. The sunset's around here are beautiful, aren't they?"

"Can we start on a clean slate?" James asked.

"Of course we can," Stepney replied.

"Oh, and Sweetie Belle? Sorry about causing the water tower malfunction," Rarity said. "The water flow wasn't quite right, but I have good news. Your normal clothes have come back from the laundry, and you won't need to wear Apple Bloom's spares tomorrow."

"Thanks," Sweetie Belle said, as the two siblings sat down and watched the sunset. "Fancy some fish and chips?"

"What a marvellous idea!"