Ghost Train: the Untold Story of Timothy

by The Blue EM2

Chapter 2: Fear and Trembling

Even as the end of October neared, the branchline's volume of work continued to increase. Farmers were trying to get the last of the harvest shifted, and people were also wanting to travel and see their loved ones before winter arrived and potentially made travel very difficult indeed. The already tough situation was made worse when Daisy suffered an engine fault and had to be towed to the works for repairs. The Class 101 owned by the North Western had too long a wheelbase for the Ffarquhar Branch, so all work on the line had to be handled by three engines.

Thomas was assigned passenger duties, whilst Percy and Toby handled freight trains. By week's end, everybody was exhausted.

"Phew!" exclaimed Thomas, as he rolled to a stop in Ffarquhar station one morning. "It's been a long week, eh?"

"The week's been precisely the same length it's always been; 5 days," Luster Dawn said, sounding confused.

"Figure of speech!" Thomas replied.

"It has been a hard few days," Percy admitted. "I'm exhausted, and constantly seeing the same trucks over and over again does get a bit boring."

"I think we all need a rest," Toby finished. "Not only would a rest soothe our nerve, it will ready us for future days, when hopefully traffic levels are a bit less crazy."

"I'm game!" First Base said.

"As am I!" called Cherry Pie. "This week has left me crazy!"

"I'm pretty certain that you and Pinkie in normal mode," Percy said, confused.

---

That evening, Percy was on his way home. The light had already faded, but visibility was still good, and the line was clear up ahead. Percy rolled along happily, the rails humming and the ground clattering below his wheels. After steaming over Cole's Farm Crossing, he suddenly saw Toby sitting in a siding at the side of the line. Not only that, the home signal on his line was red, so he stopped.

"Hello Toby!" he said. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd headed home a while ago!"

"Points are jammed," Toby replied. "We can't get in or out, which is why the signal is red. First Base has gone to get the point repair kit from the mess hut, but he could be gone a while."

Cherry Pie shivered. "I hope he's back soon," she said. "I don't like this weather very much."

Sure enough, the moon's light, a sickly white that seemed to manifest in doom, was being blocked by a sudden mist.

---

First Base sorted his way through the shelves in the mess hut. "Oh, come on! It has to be here somewhere!" He looked about, but to say the place was in a mess was an understatement. Nothing had been put back in the correct places, meaning it looked like a pig had made its sty there. "Honestly, if people just put stuff back in the right places it would save us so much bother."

Unaware he was beginning to sound like his mother, he continued to work, until a sudden noise behind him made him stop. He turned around very slowly- and jumped. "JESUS CHRIST!"

Standing there was the pale outline of a human being, who looked to be a little older than First Base. She had pink skin and purple eyebrows, as well as purple (in two shades) hair with a turquoise streak running through it, part of which was combed over to the left in a floppy mess. She had grape coloured eyes, and the spectral figure wore grey boots with pink laces, a pair of grey tight fit trousers with some tears in them, a turquoise T shirt with purple lining, a black wristwatch with a purple emblem in the centre, and a pink beanie cap with white stars in it.

First Base looked at the visitor in a mixture of confusion and fear. "Who are you? H- how did you g- get in here?"

The mysterious figure didn't reply to him, but mouthed two words at him before suddenly vanishing into the ether.

First Base was uncomfortable with this apparent ghostly visit. And what was it she had mouthed to him? It looked like she had said 'help me', but he wasn't quite sure. Shaking in fear, he made his way to the door, tools in hand. He hoped things were better for the engines outside.

---

They weren't. The mist was so thick now the engines could barely see five feet in front of them. "What's out there?" asked Percy. "And why is the signal still red?" There was a bad feeling forming at the pit of his firebox as a whistle echoed in the distance.

"It's been like that for a few minutes, as I say because of the trackwork," Toby replied. "But I wasn't aware of any other working timetabled at this time. What could-"

Suddenly, a high pitched whistle echoed out of the gloom, followed by a voice.

"Children... I like children..."

Percy jumped. "Cherry, we have to get out of here, now!" he cried. But there was no response from his driver. "Cherry Pie?"

Cherry Pie said nothing, nor did she move. She was frozen to the spot in fright, the colour draining from her face like petrol from a damaged fuel tank.

"Who's there?" Toby called, and sounded his whistle in response. "Identify yourself!"

"Children... I like children..." the voice said again. Moments later, a shape became visible in the mist. It was the same red tank engine Percy had seen previous.

"Oh, look at you," it said cruelly, its voice fuel of malice. "Two old engines, terrified for their very lives. Pathetic. I have been here for far longer than either of you, and will continue to be here well after you've gone. Even after you have both gone to your graves, two will join me in damnation."

Suddenly, the engine sped up and charged Percy. "SUFFER WITH ME!"

Percy closed his eyes, fearing another head on collision. In the split second when he opened his eyes before the crash, he saw the engine's cruel smile and cold, dead eyes. It was as if he had looked into the face of evil itself.

A milisecond before impact, the ghost vanished. First Base, who had just arrived, went over to the points (the signal, curiously, had just cleared). "A red tank engine running at speed. I think I know who our mystery engine is."

---

News of the ghostly encounter spread like wildfire across the island. However, it emerged that the branch wasn't the only place the engine had been seen. It had been seen racing along the main line as well, scaring the passengers with its loud whistling and strange messages of doom. This rapidly translated into dwindling passenger numbers. Parents, scared that the engine would come after them, started going by road instead of rail. Nobody wanted to risk their families with the ghost about, which seemed to have something for children.

Thomas was now the only engine who hadn't seen the ghost. So, he plucked up the courage and spoke to his driver. "What's all this talk about a ghost?" he asked. "Is there any stock in the story?"

Luster Dawn sighed. "Remember how I went to the archives?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"I discovered the accident in that story wasn't made up. It actually happened. A passenger service fell through a defective bridge and landed in the Ell River, killing almost everybody on board, Azure's grandfather being one of them. Furthermore, the train was pulled by a red tank engine! I don't want it to be this way, but I can't help but feel that somehow the two incidents are connected! This will need a proper investigation at some point."

"Right away!" called the guard.

Thomas moved off uneasily. He hadn't seen the ghost, but his friends all had, and First Base had seen a strange ghost girl too. What was going on?

All this made him feel sick. One morning, he was failed with leaking tubes in the front of the boiler, and had to be taken away to be mended at Crovan's Gate. This left Toby and Percy working alone for a few days, but the upside was this meant that there were no sightings of the mysterious ghost engine. They hoped it was all over.

They couldn't have been more wrong.

Author's Note:

The mystery builds! Will our heroes uncover the truth of the ghost? Find out in tomorrow's chapter!

Comments

[JimmyHook19]

They couldn't have been more wrong.

Best Cliffhanger sentence ever. X3

[The Blue EM2]

10501390
Thanks for reading. You seem to be the only person reading this right now.

[The Blue EM2]

10499648

10497999

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10498753

10498929

10499561
Several more chapters have uploaded.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

Oh my... I'm feeling chills in my spine right now...
And I can hear the whistle

[The Blue EM2]

10501904
I am as well, and I wrote the thing!

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

10501926
But one thing that would add to the story is use of chilling and ominous music scores

[The Blue EM2]

10501933
True, but at the same time that's frowned upon in the Fimfiction community. It's also perceived as an example of tell, don't show, which is a big literary no-no.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

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Noted

[The Blue EM2]

10501956
I would include the score if I could, but a YouTube link is the next best option.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3pFziuRdHfTlS_-K7DmFDjkwHtvkyyv4

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

10501979
Of course

[The Blue EM2]

10502267
Link is in long summary.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

10502282
I see it

[The Blue EM2]

10502325
Excellent.

[KRMebius]

Standing there was the pale outline of a human being, who looked to be a little older than First Base. She had pink skin and purple eyebrows, as well as purple (in two shades) hair with a turquoise streak running through it, part of which was combed over to the left in a floppy mess. She had grape coloured eyes, and the spectral figure wore grey boots with pink laces, a pair of grey tight fit trousers with some tears in them, a turquoise T shirt with purple lining, a black wristwatch with a purple emblem in the centre, and a pink beanie cap with white stars in it.

Starlight?!