//------------------------------// // A Controller's Benevolence (Thomas and Friends: the Retold Adentures) // Story: Thomas and Friends: Parallel Lines // by The Blue EM2 //------------------------------// As Percy sat floating in the water, he no longer felt really useful. He felt very foolish. Not only had he asked the trucks to bump him, he had put his driver in danger as well. Not to mention the lines were slippery as well. A familiar figure began to arrive, his blue car pulling up on the dockside. Out of it climbed Sir Topham Hatt, who seemed more puzzled rather than anything else. "Percy? Pinkie? What on Earth happened? How did you end up in the drink, so to speak?" "The trucks pushed us!" Pinkie said. "Something about Percy asking them to push him!" Sir Topham Hatt looked surprised. "Is this true, Percy?" Percy sighed. "Yes sir. I wanted to see what was beyond the sign, and thought I could stop before reaching the water. I'm sorry sir." He looked down. "I'm not really useful. I'm only really silly." Sir Topham Hatt's face was a mixture of stern-ness and something reassuring at the same time. "Now then, Percy," he said, "I will not beat about the bush on this one. It was foolish of you to ask the trucks to bump you. The trucks like playing tricks on engines, and cannot be trusted under any circumstances. I had rather hoped you knew this by now." He paused to take a breath. "However, I do appreciate you are still new to some of the ways we do things here on Sodor, and that you have previously had a spotless record. As Controller of the line, it is my duty to assist you with learning how to do things the proper way. After all, there is right, and there is wrong. The rules are meant to help us along, and are only there for our protection. It is better to help somebody, or in this some engine, understand how to avoid repeating their mistakes rather than dispensing harsh punishments. This helps nobody." He then turned his attention to Pinkie. "As for you, your efforts to prevent the accident should be recognised. If you hadn't reacted the way you did, the crash could have been a lot worse. The Board, to which I am beholden, does not always understand the difficult circumstances under which engine drivers work, and I shall be certain to put in a good word on your behalf. And after that, we need some cranes to get you out." Sir Topham Hatt was as good as his word. Percy was back on the rails within the hour, and Pinkie was given a hot drink to warm her up. Afterwards, she was the recipient of a special award for meritorious conduct, and considered a Really Useful Driver. And when Percy returned from the works a few weeks later, it is safe to say he had learned his lesson. He doesn't ask the trucks to bump him now, as he understands that working reliably is better than speed. After all, being late in this life is much better than being early in the next one! Percy was still astonished as to how history had a habit of repeating itself. First he had had a dunk in the sea, now he was on top of a truck after having run away down a hill with a heavy train. "This day is not going well at all," he said, as he looked around at the carnage. The brake van didn't seem happy. "They'd only just finished the assembly work after Donald blew me to bits," he said, his face sitting on the floor and looking up in a grumpy expression. "And now you come along and blow me to pieces again! Some engines have no manners." "Pinkie?" Percy asked. "Pinkie? Are you alright? Where are you?" "I'm on your footplate, silly!" Pinkie said. "That was an OK crash, I'd say. No bruising or damage that I can see! Whee!" "Apart from me being on top of a brake van and not on the rails, and bits of brake van over there," Percy pointed out. "Well, there is that, but I prefer to think of the positives." A few minutes later, the breakdown train arrived, being pulled by Toby. "What a mess!" he said. "Is anybody hurt?" "No!" Percy said. "Not as far as we can tell." Sir Topham Hatt was soon to arrive in his car, and looked at the scene in confusion. "Percy?" he asked. "How did you manage to get up there?" "We came into the yard too quickly," Pinkie explained. "Heavy trucks and something about a sign telling us to go wheesh and crash." "It appears some joker is swapping the signs around again," Sir Topham Hatt sighed. "It only seems like a few days since you went in the drink, but based on what I can see the blame is to be split between two things." Daisy purred in, looking very smug. Her smug smile vanished when she saw the devastation. "What in the world?" "Half the blame is on the trucks, who played tricks. They pushed Percy down that hill, and as such are troublesome. Troublesome trucks, you could say." He then walked over to the diesel railcar, who didn't look quite so pleased now. "You and Trixie are to blame for the other half." "What?" Trixie said. "How could the Great and Powerful Trixie be rrrrrrrresponsible for these trucks being idiots?" "Simple," Sir Topham Hatt said. "You both lied about taking the milk, when you hadn't. Toby had to take the milk, which meant Percy had to take the trucks. If you'd simply done as you were told none of this would have happened." He paused. "My engines do not tell lies. They work hard and do as they are told." "It would appear that the not so Great and Powerful Trixie has made a severe oversi-" "Oh, for heaven's sake, we're sorry, OK?" Daisy said. "We'll take the milk every day from now on. Twice a day if need be!" Sir Topham Hatt nodded. "There's a good, erm, railcar. Whilst I am annoyed, I am also giving you two a second chance. Prove to me you can work well, and all will be forgiven. You can start by helping to clean up this mess."