Thomas and Friends: The Caretakers

by The Blue EM2

Jazzing it Up

Jasmine, or Jazz to her friends, is a girl who lives in Falmouth, England. A teenager with blue skin and red hair, the latter of which often creates the impression she had no ears, she works at Mane Melody alongside Pipp Petals, specialising in high quality manicures. Most days are similar and common, and the world around her comforting and familiar. Jazz follows routines, and likes the predictability such a way of thinking brings.

Unfortunately, now was not one of those times. The Havens, not to mention several others, had vanished off to other parts of the world, and the engines needed looking after whilst they were away. Jazz had been asked to look after Ray, as the two were considered to be similar in temprament- logical, focused on order, and keen on following procedures the proper way.

Jazz, of course, did not want to let them down, so was determined to do her best. And today was extra important. It was the annual Jazz festival in Falmouth, and already the town was being set up for a big party. There were cakes, food trucks, a large tent (inside which several kegs of beer sat), and a stage set up on the front of the harbour for the various jazz and concert bands to perform their music.

That morning, Jazz was getting Ray up to temperature when the manager of the Festival arrived to see her. "Good morning, Jazz!" he said. "You certainly have quite an apt name, given the day!"

"Thank you!" Jazz said, nervously, trying to hide her nerves at the same time. "I do my best!"

"Of course," the manager replied. "I have just received news of the arrivals. The first of the jazz bands will be arriving in about an hour, so you two will need to collect them. It's part of your normal run, so it shouldn't be too challenging."

What the manager didn't know was that Jazz was relatively new to this. He had assumed that Lady Haven paid her to drive Ray, and wasn't aware Her Ladyship normally drove Ray herself. Even so, Jazz was determined to do a good job.

"We'll get the jazz band here safe and sound," she said. "Right, Ray?"

"Of course," Ray said. With a wheesh of steam, they were on their way to the station.

---

Ray went and collected some coaches to take with him to Truro. Whilst he waited in the platform, he decided to engage in some conversation. "So," he asked, "what types of jazz do you like?"

Jazz paused for a moment. "I'll admit I don't know a huge amount of jazz," she admitted. "I know of some of the big names- my dad likes Glenn Miller-"

"Which isn't jazz," Ray interrupted. "It's pop, really."

"As I was saying," Jazz said. "One of my great grandparents saw him performing live during World War 2, and mom has a few Stan Kenton records. If I had to pick a favourite, it would probably be Duke Ellington."

Ray mused. "I'm surprised you didn't mention Louis Armstrong."

"Didn't he go to the moon?"

"That's Neil Armstrong. I suspect Louis Armstrong would have found the moon a bit disappointing." Ray paused. "I always preferred the more experimental stuff. Perhaps try giving John Coltrane or Charlie Parker a try. The scalic runs and arpegaic passages they incorporate into their music are quite something to behold, not to mention the chromatic sections. In fact, where the metre varies..."

Jazz tuned Ray out as he rambled on about the technical aspects of jazz for about 10 minutes. "Right," she said. "Just got an important job to do. Try not to mess up."

Just then there was a whistle. The last door on the carriages banged, and the guard waved a green flag. "Departure time!" Jazz called.

"Let's go!" Ray said. "Any salt peanuts?"

"What?" Jazz said, confused. The train rumbled away up the line, ready to complete its stops.

---

At the end of the line in Falmouth, Jazz detached Ray from the train and ran him round in preparation for the return journey. The station was very busy. Trains were coming and going constantly, and from the bay platform it seemed as though they would never get the clear line.

Ray glanced up at the signal. "Red," he said. "Oh well. Better to run safely and be late than to run dangerously and be on time. I just wonder where the jazz band has gone?"

Just then, a group of people walked down the platform. They were carrying instrument cases and boxes and equipment, loading it all into the guard's compartment in the brake coach (which was now at the front of the train as there had been no chance to move the brake coach to the other end). After a few minutes, it seemed as if all was done and they climbed aboard.

The signal dropped and the points shifted into position. Jazz heard a guard's whistle. "Right, off we go!" she said. The train started off down the line.

Unfortunately, she hadn't heard the correct whistle. The whistle had been from the guard of another train heading for Plymouth, and the Falmouth train wasn't supposed to leave the station until later.

This had serious consequences. A man, who had taken the opportunity before departure to browse the local newsagent, ran down the platform, shouting. "Stop! Stop!" he shouted. "I haven't gotten on the train yet!"

But it was too late. Ray and his train vanished into the tunnel and were soon out of sight.

---

The train continued to rumble along, but there would soon be trouble. Not far out of Truro was a red signal, and this meant danger. Jazz saw this. "Looks like we're stopping!" she said, and applied the brakes.

They stopped just as a goods train rolled through, with Porter at the head. "Hello!" he said. "You're a bit early, aren't you?"

"We heard a whistle to depart," Ray said.

Jazz then checked her watch, and her heart sank. "Oops." Her face was red with embarrassment. "We appear to have departed early!"

"And look!" called Rocky from Porter's cab. "There's something approaching!"

Sure enough, it was Nigel, reversing at speed towards them. He stopped next to them, and looked over. "You left something behind," he said.

Onyx leaned out of the cab window. "I know a thing or two about jazz. You'll struggle to get any beat rolling without a drummer."

Sure enough, it was the drummer from the band. Luckily, he wasn't cross. He simply got onboard and caught up with his fellow bandmates.

Mercifully, the rest of the journey down to Falmouth proceeded without incident, and the brass band arrived ready to perform. And I am happy to say that they played excellently.

After they had finished their set, Jazz went to apologise to the bandmaster. "I'm sorry for leaving your drummer behind," she said. "I was nervous, and wanted to get things right. But I messed up pretty badly."

The bandmaster smiled. "It's no worry," he said. "We all make mistakes. I've played plenty of wrong notes in my time. What matters is how we respond to those mistakes, and all things considered we got here in the end. So thank you for a smooth ride, miss..."

"Jazz."

The bandmaster smiled, spotting the opportunity for a pun. "You could say our journey was jazzed up!"

On the other side of a computer screen, readers groaned at the dreadful pun.

Author's Note:

This story is a combination of Thomas and the Guard and Thomas and the Tuba, although condensed as the latter had incredible amounts of filler in it. There are also plenty of music jokes in there; see if you can spot them all!

Comments

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11602583
I would think so.

[The Blue EM2]

11602627
Well said. I don't have the condition myself, but asthma ain't fun.

[The Blue EM2]

11601818

11601857

11602250
New chapter, BTW.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

Jasmine, or Jazz to her friends, is a girl who lives in Falmouth, England. A teenager with blue skin and red hair, the latter of which often creates the impression she had no ears, she works at Mane Melody alongside Pipp Petals, specialising in high quality manicures. Most days are similar and common, and the world around her comforting and familiar. Jazz follows routines, and likes the predictability such a way of thinking brings.

Lol you mentioned the ear reference!!!

Jazz, of course, did not want to let them down, so was determined to do her best. And today was extra important. It was the annual Jazz festival in Falmouth, and already the town was being set up for a big party. There were cakes, food trucks, a large tent (inside which several kegs of beer sat), and a stage set up on the front of the harbour for the various jazz and concert bands to perform their music.

(inside were several*

This had serious consequences. A man, who had taken the opportunity before departure to browse the local newsagent, ran down the platform, shouting. "Stop! Stop!" he shouted. "I haven't gotten on the train yet!"

Welp, this ain't good!

The bandmaster smiled, spotting the opportunity for a pun. "You could say our journey was jazzed up!"

[The Blue EM2]

11602841
1. It's one of the most well-known memes relating to Chapter 2 of MYM. I haven't watched Chapter 4 yet, so have no clue if the error was fixed in later episodes.

2. I don't quite follow.

3. Nope.

4. Bad puns approaching.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

11602850
1. Me neither but I will soon.
2. Crap, I guess I read it wrong and thought it was a mistake.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11602634
Indeed, Buster's Breathless from Arthur is a perfect example of this.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

Nice combination of 2 stories, it definitely fixes Thomas and the Tuby.

[The Blue EM2]

11602866
1. Good.

2. Oh well.

[The Blue EM2]

11602870
Very true.

[The Blue EM2]

11602876
Season 8 has its down moments, but I'd still rather watch it over Dark Ages era content.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11602879
Aye. And when you rewrite a few things, they can be good episodes.

[The Blue EM2]

11602887
That is very true. Then again, they were frequently constrained by an educational mandate.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11602960
Aye.

[The Blue EM2]

11602987
That can be annoying. Brenner, however, was able to tie it into the plot. Case in point; Duck and the Slip Coaches.

[shining paladin]

cool chapter mate keep it up

[The Blue EM2]

11603535
Never a problem.