Scaredy Engines
The engines of the Isle of Purbeck look forward to Halloween every single year, as it is a fun and usually joyous time. They love the fireworks display put on by the Duke and Duchess of Dorset, and the local community often hosts fancy dress competitions. In fact, visitors to the railway are encouraged to dress up in Halloween themed garb when travelling during the Halloween season (the most common costume combinations are wizards, witches, and often mummies for some reason). There is also a huge bonfire in the former goods yard at Swanage.
The other old tradition of Halloween, which has been derived from Christmas, is spooky stories. The engines and their drivers had gathered in the shed to hear Salty tell a story about the old empty house (there was nothing in it), and Pipp had once again regailed the horrors of getting dressed in the dark and putting on mismatched clothing. Finally, though, Charles had decided to tell a story despite his previous dismissal of Halloween as nonsense.
The story he had begun to tell had been darker than anybody had been expecting. It was about an old engine that had gone missing many years ago and had never been found. The others had listened with intense devotion, wanting to hear where the story went next as the camera panned around.
"And they say that every year, on the date that he vanished, the diesel returns to the Isle of Purbeck, looking for his lost horn. Be careful as you go home tonight. The ghost engine could be anywhere."
There was a brief moment of silence, before it was followed by a round of applause. "That was a pretty good story, actually," Hitch conceeded.
A few minutes later, Lady Haven arrived, which surprised them. "Good evening, everybody!" she said. "I'm aware it's rather late, but there's an urgent job that needs doing up at the clay pits. Porter, Izzy, Salty, and Sunny, I want you four on shunting duty. Rebecca and Hitch, you will be needed to take the clay trucks to the mainline for processing."
"At this time of year?" Salty questioned.
"Yeah," Sunny added. "I'm more of a morning person to be honest."
"You'll be back in time well before the fireworks," Lady Haven explained. "Now then, you'd best be setting off."
Porter looked over. "Ooh! Somebody's scared! Never mind!"
"It's only a story!" Izzy added. Truth be told, she hadn't realised the diesel was legitimately spooked by the tale, and believed he was simply playing along for Charles' sake.
"Nobody is scared!" Salty snapped. But truth be told, the clay pits were a place he wasn't hugely fond of.
The clay pits were dark and spooky at night. Although the sidings were illuminated by overhead lights, there were still a lot of strange shapes that sat there in the gloom. Shadows danced across objects and strange noises echoed in the gloom. Salty certainly seemed to be a bit jumpy as he traversed the sidings, looking for the relevant trucks.
He wouldn't have admitted it, but Charles' story had gotten him thinking. He knew a similar story from the dockyard about an engine who fell into the sea and was never found, and whose ghost was cursed to roam the dockside forever. Truth be told, Salty couldn't think of a worse fate.
Porter, unfortunately, seemed to be fully aware that Salty was concerned, and as such decided to mess with him. "Look there!" he said, with a grin. "What's that up there?"
Sunny glanced out of the cab. "That's an LGB coupling," she replied. "Not sure what that's doing there, though."
"Maybe it is a ghost!" Porter said, before moving off with a smirk.
"You shouldn't be taking this as a joke, matey!" Salty said. "Although I've never been there, Bosworth Field is said to be haunted by the ghosts of the soldiers who never returned home."
That got Sunny feeling down. "Salty, perhaps we could talk about death a little less?" she asked. "It's not something I like to think about, given... well... you know what, never mind."
Salty chose not to probe further as they went back to work. Still, his friend's apparent worry weighed on his mind.
Rebecca was waiting outside the yard, waiting for the trucks to arrive. Suddenly, she heard loud moaning noises, and trucks being bashed backwards and forwards. "What in the world?" she asked. "Who's there?"
Hitch glanced about for what it could be. "Is somebody there?" he asked. But nobody replied. He had no way of knowing Izzy and Porter were moving the trucks back and forth to create the illusion of a ghost! But he had his suspicions as Salty rattled to a stop with the assembled trucks.
"Has Porter been annoying you?" the diesel asked.
"I haven't seem him in a while, but that would explain the flatbeds," Rebecca conceeded. "Nobody's brave all the time, but the way he's behaving suggests he's pushing all our buttons on purpose."
"I propose we give him a taste of his own medicine," Sunny added. "It may mean we end up spooking Izzy as well, but we don't have a way of filling her in without alerting Porter."
"Hi!" said Izzy, having appeared from nowhere holding an enormous ice cream.
"How did you do that?" Hitch asked.
"It's a Moonbow secret," Izzy admitted. "Now then, about this plan of yours..."
Later on, the work was complete, and Rebecca set off with her train. "Now then," said the site manager, "I only have a few tasks that need clearing up, and that will only need one of you."
Salty smirked, looking forward to paying Porter back. "Why not Porter, sir?" he suggested. "After all, he's not scared."
"Gladly," Porter replied. "I'll have this place cleaned up quickly."
So Salty and Sunny left, going a short way down the line until they were out of sight.
Porter began to reverse through the clay pits, but the lack of noise was concerning him. "I can't hear a thing," he said. "It's not normally this quiet, is is?" he asked.
"I don't think so," Izzy replied, pretending to be scared. The pair reversed to the back of the yard and stopped, waiting for the points to be changed.
Suddenly, a loud horn blared from the right, and a voice began to speak. "Porter..." it said, in a weak and feeble tone.
"Who's there?" the tank engine demanded.
"You didn't take my story seriously," the voice said again. "Those who fail to take my story seriously will suffer the dire consequences."
"What consequences?" Izzy asked, putting on her best scared voice.
A pair of lights suddenly switched on, and a white shape roared towards them. "You will join me in the ghost dimension... FOREVER!"
Porter yelled and roared away in the opposite direction, thundering towards the mainline junction. "GET AWAY!" He cleared the trackwork and flew away towards Corfe Castle.
The ghost engine came to a stop, and cackled. "That'll teach him!" Salty smiled. "Good work with the white flour, Sunny."
Sunny glanced down the line. "I learned from the best unicycler in town," she replied.
Meanwhile, Rebecca was beginning her return run. She was parked in the loop at Corfe Castle, preparing to return to Swanage when suddenly the signal went to danger. "There's trouble down the line!" she said. "Hopefully Porter will be done soon, as I wouldn't want him to miss the fireworks."
"I know, even if he was being a bit of a douche. But I wonder what it could be?" Hitch asked, a smirk growing on his face.
Seconds later, Porter thundered through heading towards Norden. "Run, before he gets you too!" He then vanished into the night.
Once Porter was out of earshot Rebecca began laughing. "I somehow think he won't be going!" she said.
Hitch nodded as the signal changed to green. "Right, away we go. Hopefully Sunny's already down there."
Sure enough, they found the engines positioned to watch the fireworks. Rebecca and Salty found places at the back, but they still had a decent view of proceedings.
Salty was concerned that there was no sign of Porter. "You know, we may have gone too far," he said.
"It'd serve him right for messing with you," Hitch said. "Actions have consequences."
Sunny, however, was feeling awful. The same feeling she had felt when she'd stolen Pipp's crown and had been (quite rightly) chewed out for it. "Let's go look for him," she said to Salty.
"Right you are, matey," Salty replied. They reversed out of the yard and soon found Porter sitting alone on a siding. Salty parked up next to him. "You feelin' alright?" he asked.
"Izzy had a chat with me," Porter replied. "And I know this will sound hollow, but sorry for what I did. I didn't realise the story had spooked you that much. I guess I'm just a terrible friend."
"You're not a terrible friend!" Sunny exclaimed. "You've gotten us out of all sorts of tight spots, and your sense of humour has livened up many a day!"
"Thank you," Porter replied. "Seriously, though, how did you pull off the ghost sounds and voice? That was impressive!"
"Trade secret," Salty answered. "The view from here is good, though. So come on; let's watch the fireworks from here!"
And the four friends did, their faith in one another restored, and Porter having firmly learned his lesson.
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great chapter mate keep it up cant wait for the next chapter
11732059
Flour Power.
Doesn't see mean steam engine if she's referring to her engine Porter?
Still, a good choice imo. And cause it had a important role in Tale of the Brave.
Same!!!!
At least she's down to do it.
Lol, a reference to one of my favorite hit episodes, flour power!
It would still be good to check on him.
And we all have to say sorry at one point too.
11732091
1. Salty is being alluded to here.
2. Indeed.
3. Yup.
4. That is most certainly the case.
5. Better than lime.
6. Yep.
7. That we do.
I think I caught the spot the goof reference, The LGB coupling?
11733429
Got it in one!