Hitch's phone buzzed loudly, and as soon as he felt the vibrations he took the call. "Hello?"
"Hitch?" said Isaac. "Good news. We've got a lead on the next crystal. It appears that some sort of clue has been located near Tidmouth. Can you head over there and take a look?"
"Sure," Hitch replied. "I'll take Izzy and Percy as well." He hopped out of Henry's cab and opened the doors before aligning the turntable to the engine. "Off we go, Henry! Tidmouth it is!"
Henry smiled. "That sounds fun. At least it doesn't involve chickens."
"Aww, why are chickens a bad thing?" Izzy asked, as she opened the doors for Percy.
"Because they have chickenpox," Henry replied. "And I have heard it is a nasty disease."
"Henry, there's no evidence it actually originates from chickens," Percy explained. "And besides, even if it did we wouldn't be in danger! Engines cannot catch diseases! Nothing to worry about!"
"That's a relief," Henry said. "I'm certain I can find something to worry about- but it won't be chickenpox."
Once the engines were out of the shed and positioned for the run to Tidmouth, they set off for the short but densely built up run to the harbour. The railway lines around Tidmouth are extremely dense owing to the number of factories and industries that exist in the area. Smoke belched from factories and steel plants processing useful things to be used in other places. Large wharfs and storage yards processed raw materials being shipped in and out of the harbour, and all of this meant extensive rail connections. More traffic moves between Tidmouth and the marshalling yards at Knapford than any other place on the island, and this is quite the achievement considering how large Sodor appears to be.
Henry and Percy soaked this up, noticing all the smoke and noise and hustle and bustle. "It's all very loud," Henry said.
"I know," Hitch said. "I'm from a coastal town with a growing port thanks to the new rail connection, but it's still incredibly noisy as a result. Ships are constantly coming and going, and my friends are constantly having to keep the goods flowing. It can get very tiring."
"It sounds tiring just hearing you describe it!" Percy said.
"Oh dear," Izzy said. "Looks like trouble up ahead!"
And Izzy was right. There was trouble up ahead, and it was troublesome alright.
On the left hand side of the main line was a small yard that was set at a lower level than the other tracks, and had a steep climb to connect it to the rest of the system. A blue tender engine was trying to pull some trucks out of the yard, but he was struggling. His wheels slipped and skidded as he did battle with the grade.
He was red in the face and speaking quite profusely in a language none of the others could understand. "What's he saying?" Hitch asked.
"I don't know," Henry replied. "His name is Donald. He's from Scotland, and as a result his language can sometimes be a bit blue, if you know what I mean."
"Do you need some help?" Percy called.
"I Dinnae think so," Donald replied. "What do you think? Do you think I'd be a puffin' and a strainin' if I dinnae need it?"
"They were only being nice, Donald," his driver said, a green skinned woman green and white hair. "Sure, we could do with some help. I'm Lyra, by the way."
"Then I shall provide it," Henry said, and Hitch backed Henry away from the scene and to a siding. The points changed, and Henry moved forward and into contact with Donald's tender. Hitch hopped out to hook him up, and then returned to the cab.
He sounded Henry's whistle. "Ready?"
"Ready!" Lyra called back, and opened Donald's regulator. The two engines puffed and snorted as they drew the heavy load out of the sidings. It took a lot of power to shift the heavy load out of the way, but at long last they had the heavy train out of the yard, and onto the main line."
"Thanks for the help!" Donald said. "I've got it from here!"
"No problem!" Henry said. "Good luck!"
Hitch moved Henry out of the way and glanced about. "Now then, onwards with Percy and Izzy and then... wait, where did Percy and Izzy go?"
Percy had travelled on ahead to look for the crystal alongside Izzy. His green paint gleamed in the sun as he moved along at a reasonable speed. "This reminds me of the day I raced a helicopter once!" he said.
"Did you?" Izzy asked. "That sounds exciting!" She glanced over to a cinema. "Hey! There's a movie I've been wanting to see!"
"Eyes on the track, never mind the view," Percy said. "An old engine taught me that one."
As they rattled towards the major yard, they spotted a small dark green tank engine sitting at the threshold of the yard, which was absolutely jammed with stock. "I don't believe this!" he said, in a Somerset accent.
A young woman with orange skin and purple hair looked out as well. "There's far too many trucks for this yard," she said. "Just trust Bill and Ben to leave the place a mess again!"
Percy rolled into the yard. "This is more than one engine can handle!" he said. "Fancy some help!"
"That'd be greatly appreciated!" said the engine. "Thanks, Percy!"
"No problem, Oliver!" Percy replied.
Oliver's driver glanced over into the cab. "Are you one of the new hires?" she asked.
"Yeah," Izzy replied. "I'm Izzy. Short for Isabelle."
"Scootaloo," Oliver's driver replied. "Really Lucy Scott, but the name really doesn't suit me."
"If we're done with the chit chat we have some work to do!" Oliver said. "Let's get this mess cleaned up!"
"Our sagacity shall be unmatched!" Percy joked.
"Please don't mention that incident again," Scootaloo facepalmed.
Sure enough, the two engines got to work, and before long they had the place looking spic and span. Both engines were parked on nearby sidings and relaxed for a bit, fully anticipating Sir Topham Hatt would emerge from the woodwork and congratulate them on being really useful.
"I don't think I've seen you around before," Scootaloo said. "What brings you to Sodor, Izzy?"
"Well, the journey getting here was pretty wild, but I'm helping out as some girl called Pinkie seems to be missing. Henry's around, and his driver is one of my friends."
"Your friends with Fluttershy?" Scootaloo asked. "She's never mentioned an Izzy."
"I don't know a Fluttershy, but I do know a Hitch... who seems to be waylaid."
Henry pulled into Crovan's Gate, running tender first, with a diesel in front of him and a long line of trucks. "There you go!" he said. "Glad to help you, BoCo!"
"I do apologise for all the bother," BoCo said. "My engine went a bit wonky and I hardly thought it safe to run at speed in my condition. At least here it can be looked at."
"Isn't helping each other what friends do?" Hitch asked, with a smile on his face. "Besides, all in a day's work for people like me."
"You do come from a coastal town!" BoCo smiled. "That's a nautical expression!"
Henry glanced about. "Shouldn't we be on our way back to Tidmouth?"
"Yes, we should," Hitch replied. "We still have that thing to find."
With that, he set off onto the main and into what was now the afternoon sun.
Percy and Oliver were still chatting when Izzy suddenly spotted something glowing nearby. And it was then she made the connection. "I've got it!" she said.
"Is it contagious?" Oliver asked.
"Oh, so you do that joke as well," Izzy said.
"Does it happen a lot where you're from?" Scootaloo asked.
"Yes," Izzy answered. "The author does it to put an easy joke in the narrative."
"She's like Pinkie," Oliver said. "She just broke the fourth wall!"
Izzy grinned. "But I've figured out the riddle. Look in the place where the maw reaches the river's pulse. The pulse of a river is the tide, and maw is another word meaning mouth. Tide Mouth, or Tidmouth. The second crystal is in Tidmouth!"
Sure enough, she followed the glowing light into a small industrial unit, and after crawling under a fence spotted a tall, pointy crystal sitting there. She reached in and pulled it out before popping it in her bag for safe keeping. She then headed back to the footplate of Percy and smiled, having completed her stage of the mission.
"What was that?" Scootaloo asked.
"Oh, it's a treasure hunt," Izzy said. "We've all been tasked with looking for crystals, and whomever finds the most wins a big prize. It's all very exciting, isn't it?"
Oliver looked confused as he processed this information. "But how did it end up on private property over there?"
"Beats me," Izzy replied, and they started laughing.