SODOR
The next morning, it was time to do work. At first, no one noticed that Thomas was gone. They were all shocked at what had happened. Ryan was still upset over how Thomas had saved his life and how Sir Topham Hatt basically chewed him out for it and did not even consider finding out what really happened.
"I only wish that I had said something," he moaned, "then maybe Thomas wouldn't be in trouble." Anyhow, work progressed after Ryan got more dynamite. Still, no one noticed that Thomas wasn't there. They worked and worked, all too deep in thought. Eventually though, Ryan was passing the siding where Thomas was supposed to be confined.
"Oy Thomas! How are you-?" It was then he noticed he was talking to empty air. "Thomas?" Ryan looked around. He looked here; he looked there; he looked everywhere. But Thomas wasn't anywhere to be found. Ryan decided to ask around to see if anyone had seen Thomas. First he asked the Arlesdale engines, Rex, Bert, and Mike. They hadn't seen Thomas since they told him that he had bad coal. Ryan looked all over the island: the docks, the quarry, the wharf, Thomas's branchline, Edward's branchline, the whole shebang. But Thomas was nowhere to be found. Ryan passed through Knapford Station on his way backf the site. Sir Topham Hatt was there; he didn't look happy.
"Ryan, what do you think you are doing, galavanting off on your own and leaving the others to do the work by themselves? The new branchline isn't going to build itself. We need every engine we can spare there..." As he was talking, Ryan was trying to listen but found it difficult, given everything that was on his mind. "And we can't have blunders happening right and left, we have to get this line done. We're delayed enough as it is, especially since Thomas disposed of the dynamite the way he did."
"That's just it sir," Ryan could hold it in no longer, "Thomas is gone."
"Gone? What do you mean gone?"
"He's vanished, long gone, not where he should be."
"Oh no, what's he done this time? He's causing more trouble than a gremlin. Oh well I'll organize the search parties. He better have a good excuse this time." Ryan wanted to say that he had a theory of why Thomas wasn't anywhere, but he was too afraid of his master's current state. Work was delayed as the search parties were organized. They scoured the towns and cities. They looked in the quarries. They checked the hills, mountains, and valleys. The only good thing was that Ryan was paired with Stanley.
"This hasn't happened since I came to Sodor," remarked Stanley.
"When was that?" asked Ryan.
"Oh about 7 or 8 years ago," answered Stanley. "This was when Thomas discovered Great Waterton. I was new at the time and was only called to do his regular jobs. Thomas began to feel jealous, I guess it didn't help that I was with his coaches, his friends, in his berth. He gave me a long train of rubble that resulted in the tower tumbling down. No one spoke to Thomas. I later found him in a siding and thought he looked bad. The following morning, Thomas wasn't anywhere in sight. We all thought he had ran away. But it turned out that he was just trying to be really useful and got lost in a mine. We became friends after we helped each other."
"Wow," said Ryan, impressed, and he reiterated what had happened yesterday and today. "It seems that we have something in common. Thomas must've felt jealous of me which is probably why he didn't warn me of the bad coal. He did make up for it by getting the dynamite away, though."
"To you maybe, but what about Sir Topham Hatt?" asked Stanley. "It doesn't sound like he would listen. That must've been the last straw."
"So that's why he ran away!" cried Ryan. "He must feel unwanted. Will he want to come back if we find him?"