//------------------------------// // More Than They Bargained For // Story: Last Train to Stirrup Halt // by Packet //------------------------------// In the waiting room, Whooves fidgeted his forehooves in the ropes tying him to the backrest of a chair, desperately trying to slacken them without drawing attention to himself. Beside him were the Guard and Porter from the train, both with their forehooves tied up behind their backs like himself, except the two unfortunately had to endure the pain of being tightly gagged, administered to them when they were both taken to the waiting room under a rather audible protest, which Moneybags feared may be heard in the village only a quarter of a mile a way down the hill. Being a much smaller build and more compliant than his companions, the hijackers didn’t bother with Whooves. The body of the driver lay on the floor before then, still unconscious from being attacked by Moneybags. Fenman had just finished tightening the bonds of the Guard some more, causing him to wince out in pain as the rope began to dig into his hooves. “That should do it” Moneybags noted, turning towards the open door “Belle? Where’s the cart?” Belle poked her head round the door, holding onto the frame to remain upright “According to Cutler it should be here in five minutes” Moneybags grinned “Perfect timing. Right, let’s go and check the loo…err” he stumbled as he tried to correct himself “…shipment” Whooves tried to contain himself from Moneybags almost revealing his true intentions to Porter. “Right, Porter” Fenman handed him a truncheon “Keep an eye on them” Porter gave a very militaristic salute “You can rely on me, Mr Fenman” Watching Fenman stroll out onto the platform, Porter sat himself down in his favourite armchair, opposite the three stallions that he thought had committed hideous crimes. His eyes narrowed in disgust as he glared at each of them individually. “Clumsy…” Whooves whispered, unsure as to whether one of the gang members was stood directly outside the door, thus overhearing him. “Porter’s the name” he made a point of quickly correcting him, marking his authority “Mr Porter” “Ah yes. Well, Mr Porter…” Whooves began to correct himself, speaking more naturally now. “Just you sit quiet” Porter grumbled, pointing his truncheon at Whooves “The railway police will take care of the likes of you!” “Quite so” He glanced around the waiting room, taking note of how well Porters personal possessions blended in with the majority of the railway architecture and finishing’s he’d managed to restore “You obviously have the good of the railway at heart” “Forty Five years. Never missed a day” Porter deadpanned. “Exactly, but I must explain that you are a victim of deception” The two stallions locked eyes, sending the room into an eerie silence. The Guard and the Porter exchanged a nervous glance with each other as they awaited a response. “Deception?” Porter spoke out at last, raising a quizzical eyebrow. “I have a note concealed behind my collar if you will care to have a look at it” Whooves tried to indicate where with his head, which ended up being a lot harder than he’d first thought it would be. Moneybags, Cutler, Fenman, and Southern Belle were all sat on the crates of golden bits in the parcels van, all deciding to take a quick break from their hard mornings work. “As soon as the cart arrives we’ll load the bits” Moneybags said to them all, making sure they all understood how precise they needed to be. “It’s working like a charm” Fenman smirked, picking up the deck of cards left over on one of the crates from earlier, shuffling them in hooves. On the luggage rack in the van, Carrot Top peered in closer at them through her periscope in the suitcase. Porter’s jaw dropped for the second time in twenty four hours as he read the words contained in Whooves note. Awestruck, he had to sit back down in his chair and read through each word again slowly and then again with his reading glasses on, just to make sure he wasn’t reading it wrong. “B-But this is signed by…” he was about to say. “Exactly” Whooves interrupted him, feeling time was of the essence “The highest in the land!” Porter now had a greater respect for Whooves, looking at him wide eyed in wonderment “Alright, I guess I’m in your hooves now. What do you want me to do?” “Well first things first” Whooves gave another pointless tugs at the ropes “Release me from these bonds” Having dealt out the cards equally among themselves, the hijackers were now engrossed in their game. Or at least they would have been had it not been for the interruption from one of Fenman’s pocket receivers. “Right” Fenman put the receiver down, having finished his conversation. He turned to Moneybags “The stallions with the cart are a mile down the road” Frantically, Carrot Top pulled back from the periscope, grabbing the small microphone which hung from a wire in front of her, almost shouting into it “Whooves! The rest of the gang will be here any minute” Porter had just quietly stepped out onto the platform, leaving Whooves alone in the waiting room, he raised his head skyward as he heard Carrot Tops voice over his earpiece “I understand” he looked down towards the Guard, Porter and Driver, still all bound and gagged “Now, we’ll get help as soon as we can, just stay where you are!” The Guard scowled at him for such a remark as Whooves stepped out onto the platform and turned to Porter “Now, Mr Porter, can you drive this train?” The look in his eyes immediately told Whooves that Porter was relishing the chance to relive his working days “After forty five years, it’ll be an honour” “Good. Make your way to the front of the engine, I’ll join you there” he waited until Porter had walked out of earshot “Because there are other matters I want to attend to first!” Walking closely along the platform edge towards the parcels van, he stopped dead just outside the open doorway. Realising he’d only get one chance to take a look inside, he pressed himself up against the exterior of the van, so as not to cause to greater shadow from the morning sun on the platform outside. Slowly he peeked an eye round the door, looking at all four ponies, heavily engrossed in their card game. They were so engrossed in fact that Whooves decided to casually stick his whole head round the door, even going as far as to pull an array of funny expressions at the criminals. “WHOOVES!!!” The voice of Carrot Top shouting through his earpiece caused him to almost have a heart attack, and he quickly pressed himself up against the parcel van’s exterior to avoid jumping out in front of the villains. He took a few seconds to get his breath back and get over the shock. “Don’t you ever do that again!” he whispered into his own microphone through gritted teeth. “Well, don’t you ever almost blow the whole operation that stupidly ever again!” Carrot Top retorted. Whooves held his head in his hooves and let out a small sigh “Look Carrot Top, I need you to create a diversion that’ll most certainly keep Moneybags and his crew inside the carriage” “Well, what do you suggest?” Her tone of voice suggested to Whooves that Carrot Top clearly hadn’t planned ahead for his mad idea of a plan. Whooves voice began to rise in pitch with his sense of panic as he noticed a cart not to far down the road from the station “I don’t know, ad lib! Be bold, be daring! Be sexy!” “What?!” “I-I didn’t mean that, you know I get my words muddled when I panic!” Carrot Top scoffed “So it’s a suggestive diversion you want?” “I don’t know!” Whooves voice almost cracked from how much was trying to shout a whisper “Just do something!” Realising there was very little time left, Carrot Top sighed heavily as she switched her microphone to the loud speaker contained in the suitcases’ lid. “…Moneybags…” Carrot Top’s seductive voice filled the silence of the Parcels Van. Southern Belle looked up from her cards to find the others all staring dumbfounded at her. “Hey! Don’t look at me like that!” She almost threw her cards at them “I may be the only mare here but what makes you think I’d talk to Moneybags in that way?!” Moneybags rolled his eyes “Charming!” “Moneybags….over here Moneybags….” Carrot Tops voice once again became audible. She felt like she could slap herself across the face with how silly she sounded. Outside, Whooves slowly looked round the door again, noticing the group all now gathered round Carrot Top’s suitcase on the luggage rack. “It’s coming from that case” Fenman pointed quizzically. “Prize the lock open!” Moneybags ordered. Fenman picked up the case in his forehooves, shaking it slightly, causing Carrot Top to scream in fear for her life inside as she was thrown about. “Well there’s certainly something in it!” he concluded. Seeing this was his chance Whooves quickly stood up on his hind legs, pressing his forehooves against the van door and sliding it across. Suddenley realising what was happening the group reacted almost immediately. “The door!” fenman called out, dropping the suitcase in horror with a heavy thud. Carrot Top had never been more thankful for the padded interior of the case. Cutler dived across the carriage the try and get a hoof in the doorway, but he was to late. Whooves slammed it shut with a resounding thud. Cutler got up from off the floor “It must be that old fool Porter. I told you we should have tied him up with the others Fenman!” Moneybags raised a hoof “I don’t know what you’re panicking for. He hasn’t locked the door, we can easily get out” A heavy click of the lock proved that Whooves had thought of this beforehand. “Ok” Moneybags inhaled deeply “It looks like we should panic then!” Spotting the cart not to far off now, Whooves darted into the diesel engines front cab, where he found Porter amusing himself by swivelling in one of the drivers chairs. “Very plush!” Porter remarked, overwhelmed with how modern the interior looked “And look, they’ve even created a foot rest for me!” he said as he swivelled his chair into a forward position, placing his hind whooves on a small metal plate below the control panel. “Yes, very nice” Whooves quickly sat in the chair besides him “But we must be on our way before the rest of the gang arrive” Porter looked at the array of controls before him “Err… right then” Gingerly he hovered his hoof over several of the buttons, taking a random stab at one of them. The deep toned horn of the engine blasted out over the structure of Stirrup Halt, causing Porter to jump. Whooves was certain he heard a window shatter from the sound waves. Quickly pulling his hoof back, Porter tried to keep his cool and placed his hoof on one of the thick handled levers, slowly clicking it forward a few notches. With a low growl of the engine the train started to glide out of Stirrup Halt and back up the branch towards the mainline. The two stallions pulling the cart towards the station were stumped to suddenly realise the train was moving out of the station towards them. Assuming it was going to stop besides them they were even more stumped when it carried on down the line. One of them grabbed a small receiver of Fenman’s that he’d attached to the side of the cart “Getaway to Fenman! What in the name of sweet Celestia of Equestria’s going on!” Inside the van, Southern Belle had managed to find a small metal file lurking on the luggage rack and was now trying to see if she could break the lock on the door by wedging it between the van wall and door. She was more hopeful when she heard the getaway stallions over fenman’s receiver. Fenman picked up his receiver “Getaway from Fenman. We’re trapped in the Parcels Van. There’s a level crossing just down the line. Get to it first and stop this train!” Not wasting time, the two getaway stallions quickly turned the cart around and broke out into a fierce gallop after the train.