Sometimes it's the Slow Train that's the Way to Go...
The long distance adventures of Sunny and her friends are only a part of their activities. They also get up to many smaller scale hi-jinks in Falmouth itself. Join the crew for a new series of journeys, living their lives and doing their best to plan and manage life in the brave new world produced by magic. Safe to say, life is certainly never dull!
This anthology contains a mixture of adaptations of Thomas and Friends episodes, stories from the 4th Chapter of Make your Mark, and original stories, as well as some Tell your Tale adaptations.
If you were to visit Falmouth one morning in early January, the first thing you would see is a vast train being shunted round the yards at Falmouth. This was because the Haven family had returned to Falmouth, after having spent their six months at Swanage, and were now returning for half the year to reside in Falmouth at the estate they maintained partway up the line.
But that wouldn't be all you would see. A friendly and familiar face in this part of the world is Fifi, a grey haired woman with yellow hair, who is usually in her bright red van. Fifi is a vital member of the local community, as she is the local postal worker. Based out of a depot in Truro, she starts her day early in the morning, just as day is dawning. Then, she picks up all the postbags in her van and takes them down the valley.
Everybody knows her bright red van with the words ROYAL MAIL on the side. Everybody smiles as they wait to greet her, and catch up on any news travelling with her. For many older members of the community who lack the internet, the post is the only way of transporting news, and Fifi is more than happy to deliver them news.
Her journey usually ends at Falmouth station, where she drops off any remaining letters for processing at the local supermarket (which has a small Post Office facility run by the sub postmaster for Falmouth). It is here she picks up any mail that the trains have delivered, and then takes it to wherever rails cannot take it. It's an awkward life, with strange working hours and long periods on your own. But for Fifi, it is ideal, as she is more than happy to help the people of the Fal river valley stay in touch with each other. Neither snow nor hail nor sleet nor gloom of night will prevent her from making her appointed rounds.
If things are getting especially tough, she'll happily help load mail bags onto outgoing trains. And as she saw all the commotion in the yard, she pulled over to see what was going on.
"What's all this about?" she asked Porter, who was busy moving some trucks.
"Lady Moneybags has come back, and this is all the stuff for her house!" Porter snorted, getting the heavy load underway. Although Porter was hardly the largest engine in the world, he was a pretty hard worker.
"That's Lady Haven, who has just returned with her family from Swanage!" Izzy smiled. "I'm sooooooo looking forward to seeing Pipp and Zipp again!"
"We saw them last month, remember?" Hitch pointed out.
"That's not quite the same, though," Izzy noted. "They're currently getting their engines sorted out at the house, then they'll pop down here to help move all this stuff."
"We'd appreciate it!" Porter grunted.
Meanwhile, Salty was singing... which was not much of a change from the usual.
"In the Belfast yard where she was made of Harland-Wolff design/ The plan was struck to build three ships that funds would not define! The gantry raised up in '08, a nameless liner rose/ To make the journeys to New York in record time and so!
And then the trucks joined in with the harmony.
"She's the pride of the White Star Line, may her engines never stall! Her sisters died from 'berg and mine, but she'll run for decades more! She'll run for decades more!"
"Another sea shanty for us, Salty?" Rebecca asked, as she was released from the heavy train. She had run all the way from Swanage at speed, and was looking forward to a rest.
"Yes, and about the forgotten liner the White Star Line built," Salty said. "Unlike her famous sister, she actually made it to her destination!"
"Presumably it dodged icebergs," Hitch said dryly.
Pipp was busy hanging her clothes up in her wardrobe when suddenly she heard a cry from downstairs. She flew out of her closet and sped down the stairs double time, Zipp appearing seconds later.
"Any idea what that is?" Zipp asked.
"Nope!" Pipp replied. "But it sounded like mom, so we should check on her!"
They pushed open the door to the parlour, which was full of boxes being emptied by serving staff... and Lady Haven, who seemed to be very upset. Tears were running down her face and making her makeup run, causing her to look a bit like a clown.
"Mom, what's wrong?" Pipp asked.
Unfortunately, what Lady Haven said next was completely unintelligible. Zipp indicated to a chair behind her and helped her mother sit down and dry her eyes. "Now, what's going on?"
"He's missing!" Lady Haven replied.
"Who's gone?" Pipp asked.
"Cloudpuff! I can't find him anywhere!"
Pipp's eyes widened in shock. "If Cloudpuff is missing... then he may have been taken! I'll put out an alert on social media and see if anybody has seen him anywhere!"
Zipp chose not to mention the time Cloudpuff had run off under Misty's care, and instead nodded. "I'll also see if there are any clues for us to follow."
Later that day, the friends had gathered at the town hall, and were standing on top of a table for some reason. Sunny was the first to address the crowd. "Now, as you know," she said, "Cloudpuff has gone missing. And we'll need to work together in order to find him."
"We need to spread out and cover as many angles as possible," Zipp added. "As much ground covered as possible. When somebody sees something, send it to me directly via email. The first 48 hours are critical."
"Cloudpuff has been a member of our family for a very long time, possibly even longer than us!" Pipp said.
"Mom got him five years ago," Zipp corrected.
"That's not the point!" Pipp said. "He's a key part of the community, and to have him missing is terrible!"
"You all have your tasks, so hop to it!" Hitch said.
Izzy then hopped on the table- which buckled under the weight of five people.
Sunny looked at her. "Seriously?"
"Hitch told me to hop to it, so I did!" Izzy said. "Although it seems this table wasn't designed to take the weight of five people standing on it."
Whilst the search continued, Porter was processing mail vans at Falmouth when he saw Fifi arriving. But she wasn't in her van. She was on a bicycle!
"What happened to your van?" he asked.
"Regional postmaster withdrew it to save money!" Fifi replied. "Trying to deliver all this mail on a bike is pretty tough!"
"Sure sounds that way," Porter said.
"Oi!" shouted a voice. "Less chit chat, more work!"
Fifi got back on her bike and pedalled dejectedly away, back in the direction she had come from.
Izzy felt awful for Fifi. Maybe there would be a way she could cheer her up?
Later on, Fifi collected a package at the Haven residence, which was heading for Swanage. As she pedalled away, she couldn't help but notice something about the package was a bit odd. There was a strange smell coming from it, and it semed to be oddly mobile in places.
As she pedalled into Penmere station, she stopped the bike, hopped off, and took the box off in readiness to load it into an oncoming mail train. But the box was still moving.
She put it and the bike down and went into the station office to borrow a box cutter to open it.
But when she was in the office, there was a loud crash from outside! Leaving the box cutters behind Fifi rushed out of the building and to the platform. "What's happened?" she asked.
"Your bike fell off onto the track!" shouted the station master. "And that box! And the next train from Falmouth is due!"
The loud blast of a horn soon alerted them. "Get out of my way!"
"Great, it's Charles," Fifi said. "We need to stop the train!"
"Well, I don't have any red petticoats for you to borrow," the station master replied. "But I do have this red lamp!"
He switched it on, and it produced a very bright light. Zipp saw it and applied emergency brakes, bringing the train to a halt. "Passengers, sorry for the emergency stop." She got out and walked to the scene, to see a bike on the rails, and... an open box. With a familiar white head poking out of it.
"Cloudpuff?" she asked. "How did you get in a box?"
When it emerged that Lady Haven had mailed Cloudpuff by mistake, she was quite embarrassed. And Cloudpuff had eaten the bath supplies inside as well, which was proving to be quite smelly.
But the story ends well for Fifi. After learning of the incident with the bike, the postmaster decided that giving Fifi her van back was the best course of action. After all, a van might be more expensive, but at least a moving parcel won't tip it onto the track!
"Wow! You really went all out with these outfits, Pipp!" Sunny said, taking a look at herself in the mirror. "I really do feel like a Queen!"
"That's odd," Pipp admitted. "According to my notes you're meant to be a jester in this court. Zipp's meant to be the queen."
"Looks like we got our costumes the wrong way around," Zipp said, awkwardly. "Probably best we swap them over."
The duo shuffled off. "Zipp, you wouldn't mind not treading on my skirt?"
"Pipp did this on purpose, didn't she?"
Pipp huffed. "I heard that! Queens wear puffy gowns! It's the law!"
Izzy, who was dressed as... something, looked at Pipp. "What exactly are we celebrating?"
"Well," Pipp smiled, "I decided that this year we should bring the magic of Carnival to Falmouth!"
Izzy looked at her. "What's carnival?"
"It's a really big festival that originally comes from a place called Mobile, which is a city in Alabama. It's held before Lent, which in traditional culture meant that a lot of things, like most meat, could not be eaten for 40 days. So, they have a big party and celebrate and do all the things they won't be able to do for forty days. The name comes from the Latin words 'carne' and 'vale', the former meaning meat and the latter meaning goodbye."
"So it literally means meat goodbye!" Izzy said.
"Exactly!" Pipp grinned. "And today we'll be bringing that Mobile spirit to the West Country!"
Sunny and Zipp then reappeared, looking very silly. "I look like a clown!" Sunny said.
"You're telling me," Zipp said. "Can't Sunny be Queen instead?"
"You two have different body shapes, so your costumes won't fit each other. Rarity precision tailored these to your measurements." Pipp checked her phone. "Now, I got Misty scouting out the route for any problems, but we won't be able to do any of it until Hitch and Rebecca bring the floats down. Now where are they?"
At that moment, Rebecca was pulling into the yard at Truro, where the train containing the equipment had been dropped off. There were railway vehicles of all shapes and sizes. There were flatbeds loaded with wooden objects, and vans painted bright colours that carried useful equipment. Trailers, horse boxes, and even an elephant van were in the train. It looked marvellous.
Brookes appeared from behind the trucks. "We'll be glad for you to take this lot off our buffers!" he said. "Nigel and I had a tough old time getting them to fit in the sidings."
"You can say that again," Nigel said. "It's like finding gold sometimes."
"How would you find gold?" Brookes asked.
"With a metal detector, of course," Nigel smiled.
"How would an engine use a metal detector?" Brookes questioned. "We're made of metal!"
"True that." Nigel saw Rebecca's face. "We can bank the train out of Truro if you'd like."
"And say some really neat poetry along the way," Onyx added.
"Please don't," Argyle complained. "I've had quite enough of listening to John Coltrane for a morning."
"I could play some Charlie Parker if you'd prefer."
Hitch leaned out of the cab. "We should be fine, but I'll get on the radio if we have any trouble."
Rebecca was coupled to the enormous train, and with an enormous heave and a haul she got the formation underway. People cheered as the spam can got the train moving, and continued waving even as she vanished out of view.
Hitch looked out. "Now comes the tricky part," he said.
"Let's hope my wheels don't slip!" Rebecca said. "I've had trouble with this hill in the past!"
Misty was out in the streets, taking a close look at the decorations. "Parade route clearly marked, scenery set up, marker boards in position, and food carts in place ready for people to enjoy food. This festival is ready to go!"
She walked past a stand and quickly picked up a beignet. A beignet, for those wondering, is like a donut, and they are usually covered in icing sugar. They give the consumer quite the sugar boost!
Little did she realise, but a figure was watching from a nearby rooftop. He adjusted his binoculars and smiled. "Perfect," he said. "They won't expect a thing."
"Have you got everything in place?" Opaline asked over the radio.
"Of course," the figure replied. "That silly Misty just had some food, and of course the machine is set up. These people are in for a nasty shock!" He then pushed a button on a remote, and the street suddenly became enveloped in a wall of fog.
"Brilliant!" Opaline laughed. "They won't be forgetting this one in a hurry, will they?"
"Their stomachs certainly won't!"
Pipp was most concerned when she saw a sudden blast of yellow cloud fly past the window of Mane Melody. "What's going on?" she asked. "Why is there fog on a perfectly clear day?"
"Agreed, this is weird," Sunny said, taking a look herself. "If I were to hazard a guess, then it seems the weather has turned somewhat."
"I'll go take a look," Zipp said, quickly sliding out of her costume. "Good thing I decided to wear a stealth suit underneath!"
Zipp stepped outside, and was almost immediately greeted with a noxious odor. "Eurgh! This stuff smells awful!"
As she continued on her way, she discovered what had happened to the townsfolk. Many of them were bent double as they walked along, or hanging onto railings. Zipp soon found Misty in the same situation.
"Misty? What happened?"
Misty turned around from the railing, her face green. "Those beignets did not agree with me at all..." She immediately turned back around as she ejected other food from her stomach.
Zipp looked about. "People being ill, bent double, and smoke... the parade has been sabotaged, and somebody has to do something about it! But first, we must call doctors for all these people!"
Rebecca was soon over the hill and heading down towards Perranwell. "Things are going well so far!" she said, as they rolled into the short climb towards the next station.
"Here's hoping," Hitch said, as he glanced further down the line. Suddenly there was a loud bang, and wheeshing steam began to escape from the regulator valve. "Spoke too soon! Something's gone wrong!"
He closed the regulator as best he could and applied the brakes, bringing the long train to a safe stop. He looked back. "And we're blocking the points at the other end as well. This just keeps getting worse."
"What has happened?" Rebecca asked. "I feel so weak!"
Hitch looked out. "Looks like the safety valves have gone wonky again," he said. "I thought we had this problem fixed. Now we'll probably be sitting here for a while until help arrives."
Zipp opened the doors to Mane Melody once more. "I've got it!" she said.
Izzy glanced over. "Can I say it?"
"No," Sunny said. "We've already done that joke several times. The narrator will get cross."
"Who's the narrator?" Pipp asked.
"The person telling the- oh, never mind. Zipp, what's the game plan?"
Zipp told them her plan, but safe to say they were skeptical. "You sure that big thing can push all the smoke away?" Pipp asked.
"If it can clear massive snowdrifts, then it can get rid of smoke," Zipp said confidently. "Let's get it fired up!"
The townsfolk were very surprised when a strange machine arrived. It looked like a box on wheels, and belched smoke and steam from its chimney. The front didn't look like an engine at all. It looked like somebody had taken an ice cream mixer, scaled it up, and put it on the front of a double decker bus.
Zipp looked over to Sunny. "Start machinery on my word," she said.
Sunny moved her hand to the lever. "Ready!"
Zipp looked back to Pipp and Izzy. "Keep the boiler hot. We'll need as much steam pressure as we can get out of it if we're gonna clear this fog."
Izzy nodded. "It sure is hot back here!"
"Pass the water, would you?" Pipp asked.
Zipp looked out of the window. "NOW!"
Sunny pushed the lever down, and the enormous device on the front started to spin. It produced an incredible racket as it did so, with those who could covering their eardrums from the noise.
As it moved forward, the smoke began to disperse, being blown all over the place by the spinning fan. Zipp smiled. "Told you this would work!" she said.
There was puffing and panting from behind, and Izzy spoke up. "Keeping this thing stocked is hard work!"
"It gets through a lot of coal, but is really useful!"
Sure enough, the machine blew all the fog away, and before long sanity had returned to the waterfront. Sunny powered the fan down. "So, what is this thing?"
"It's a rotary snowplough," Zipp explained. "They use these across the pond to clear large snowdrifts and snowfall. Dad thought it'd be a good idea to get one to clear the Swanage Railway when the snow comes."
"I never thought we'd be using it to clear smoke, though," Sunny replied.
"Can we stop shovelling now?" Pipp asked. "My arms are about to fall off!"
Hitch was trying to figure out what to do when suddenly the radio started up. "Hitch? Can you hear me?"
Hitch grabbed the radio. "Loud and clear, over. How can I help, Mr Starshine?"
"Nigel and Brookes are here to push. We can get you out of the station and into the loop so we can break the train up into sections. Then we'll move them separately to Falmouth."
"Consider it one friend to another," Harvey said. "After all, if you and Hitch hadn't found me, I'd probably still be quietly sitting in that siding."
"Don't forget my wife returned you to working order," Argyle said over the radio.
"Enough discussing who did what, we have a train to pull!" Goldie retorted.
That they agreed on, and sure enough they got to work. The four engines got the train clear of the loop, and Alexandra was loaded with passengers whilst Harvey shunted Rebecca into a siding. Brookes and Nigel then moved the rear portion of the train into the other platform once Alexandra had departed. Harvey departed first with his section, which allowed Brookes and Nigel to run round and attach to their bits one at a time. Hitch waved them off. He had to stay and fix Rebecca as best he could.
When they arrived, everybody cheered. The doctors had helped people with their health problems, and with the fog cleared the parade could finally go ahead.
Once the floats had been assembled and the performers were in position, the parade got under way. And what a parade it was! The floats rumbled magnificently down the streets, with performers walking beside and doing all sorts of interesting things. People on the floats waved down and tossed things to the observers on the ground.
But perhaps the most exciting thing of all were the King and Queen of the festival. Hitch had been able to make it after all, and he looked resplendant in the robe of a King. And Zipp... well, she certainly had gotten into the carnival spirit, even if the clothing wasn't entirely to her taste.
The figure from before looked down. "It didn't work!"
"'Ello 'ello 'ello!" said a voice behind him. He turned and saw a policeman. "You're nicked, sunshine."
"Opaline, what should I do?"
Opaline snorted. "Why are you asking me? It's your mess, not mine!"
It was another busy morning at Falmouth Docks, and the engines who could shunt in the docks were working very hard. But no matter what they did the workload never seemed to become easier. No sooner would one load of cargo appear then another two would take its place. Some would argue the place had become a victim of its own success.
One morning, Porter was running late, and rolled into the yard behind schedule, keen to get back on time. The yard foreman was quick to criticise. "Late again?" he asked, looking annoyed. "These ships have important cargo to deliver. If they aren't unloaded on time they shall miss the tide and be stuck in the docks. You should look up to ships and make sure they get their goods delivered on time. After all, ships are what make international commerce possible."
"We have far too much work!" Porter protested. "This dockside was never intended to process this level of shipping!"
The foreman shrugged. "Then perhaps a lorry should replace all of you!"
"A Lorry?!" Porter exclaimed.
"A Lorry?!" Izzy exclaimed.
"Yes, a lorry," the foreman replied. "They have four wheels and drive freight around. I'm surprised neither of you are familiar with the concept."
Porter and Izzy hurried back to the shed to tell the others what the dockhand had said. They were not convinced, to say the least.
"Sorry, but I have a pretty hard time believing that they'd replace us with lorries," Sophie said. "Have you seen how congested the roads around Falmouth are these days?"
"Not only is moving freight by rail more efficient," Sunny began, "but it's also a good deal better for the environment." She pointed to a line of trucks. "All of those pulled by one engine will produce less carbon dioxide than the cargo being loaded into thirty lorries."
"Besides," Charles interrupted, "shipping freight by rail is a national institution. It's as British as Queen Victoria!"
"So, it's half German, it's father was German, and it married a German?" Ray quipped.
Charles snorted. "Ray, the King is German, but you don't start singing Deutschland, Deutschland über alles whenever he appears on the TV!"
"I do."
Bellerophon looked over with a sympathetic eye. "I imagine things will be OK," he said warmly. "The dockhands say all sorts of things. Not all of them are intelligent."
But Izzy couldn't help but worry. What if a lorry did come?
Unfortunately, they did. A few days later, three red lorries were unloaded from a ship and placed on the dockside. One of them was very rude to Porter.
"What's that pile of junk doing here?" he asked. "Don't you belong in a retirement home?"
"I'm not old!" Izzy protested.
"I was talking about the steam engine."
"I'd like to see you do the work we do around the dockyard," Porter snapped. "Can you shunt trucks?"
"There'd be no need for trucks if they simply embraced lorry transport around here," said another lorry. "Free the roads!"
On the other side of the dockyard, Porter could see a third lorry being rude to Salty and Sophie, and so he went over to take a look.
"Who put the museum pieces out here?" the lorry said. "No wonder this country is in such a mess if it's stuck in the 1950s. Welcome to the future." And he drove off.
Salty looked very annoyed. "Well, shiver me cylinders! What a Horrid Lorry!"
"This behaviour is disgusting!" Sunny added. "Whilst I am a believer in freedom of speech, that sort of rudeness was completely uncalled for."
"It's despicable," Sophie agreed. "Though I'm not sure about disgraceful. Something must be done!"
Pipp leaned out of the cab as she got an idea. "Guys, I've got an idea. I'll soon have us back on the map!"
"So, remind me why we're walking through a completely empty building," Hitch asked.
"Well, part of it's for the spooky vibes," Pipp grinned. "Don't you just love it in here?"
"Not hugely," Hitch admitted, as he heard a ham radio go off. He walked over and turned it off. "I've been in here before, but the entire place looks different with the lights off. What if there are trip hazards?"
"Hitch does a point Pipp," Zipp pointed out. "This entire building feels like everybody just upped and left."
"Which is exactly why I love it!"
Hitch stepped over to Zipp. "I know she organised the haunted house and parties and things, but has this always been the case?"
"Yup," Zipp replied, leaning against a metal object. "Pipp once convinced mom that the ghosts of our ancestors were haunting a wing of Purbeck House. She still goes the long way round at night."
"That seems a bit mean."
"What sort of horrors lurck in these mysterious corners?" Pipp asked rhetorically, briefly appearing upside down before them.
"Well, places where bad things happened are often haunted," Hitch noted. "Battlefields, stuff like that."
"Seems like you guys just forgot the place existed," Zipp noted, looking at more objects. "Somebody sure dumped huge amounts of rolling stock in here. What will become of it now?"
"That's my plan," Pipp smiled. "We renovate the interior and turn it into a locomotive, carriage, and wagon workshop! We've rather outgrown the old shed, so we can do overhauls and similar in here and active locomotives can stay in the shed!"
Hitch looked at Pipp. "Are you sure we can make changes to the inside of the old factory? We don't own the building."
"Relax!" Pipp replied. "It's not as if anybody's using it."
"Pipp, that's not the point."
"So," Pipp said, "shall we start cleaning the place out? With Charles, Sophie, and Rebecca, we'll have this place cleaned out in a jiffy!"
"Sorry, but I've got some decoding to do," Zipp said. "I'm so close to figuring out what Awdry was talking about in his message, so kinda wanna work on that."
"Just the two of us, then," Hitch sighed. "Oh well. No big problem. Let's go and get this place cleaned."
As he and Pipp set off for the engine shed, neither of them spotted somebody watching them.
Zipp got back home and quickly loaded the message on her laptop. She popped a pair of earphones on and began to listen.
But now the crystals are back together, and you must be on your guard. You must protect the [STATIC] from [STATIC], or else the-"
Zipp checked her notes from the Sodor trip, and then connected the dots. "The person mentioned in the static is Opaline! Well, where it makes sense, of course." She then replayed the last part of the message again. "But what did Awdry say next that is impossible to decipher? This is ridiculous!"
Zipp didn't know that Boomer was livestreaming the entire conversation through a pair of binoculars back to Opaline. "So, it seems the Reverend was directly involved in our little friends and their shenanigans," Boomer said.
"Just expect a man like him to make things difficult for this country's true ruler!" Opaline complained. "There's only a matter of time until they spot we're back in business, as I had to rather lie low after last summer's fiasco with the lost engine. But we must make sure we get a new supply of Spectra, or possibly something even more potent... the gold dust."
"Why not just steal the crystals?"
There was a pause. "I haven't built up enough power yet. If I attempt to harness their power in my current state they could be destroyed, and we'd lose the very magic I need to take control of the world. But there is one form I am interested in understanding, and that's gold dust."
"I assume that's our next target."
"No. Not yet. Before then I have a very specific mission for you. Remember; Project SENTINEL cannot fail."
Misty and Bellerophon were busy shunting in Lighthouse Quarry when they ran into another lorry. The lorry was very rude. "Well, no wonder this railway is in such a mess. You belong on a preserved railway, not in a quarry."
"I may look old but I'm very useful!" Bellerophon protested.
"Just tootle off and let us do our work," the lorry said.
Bellerophon looked shocked. "What did you say?"
Misty glanced over. "Oh, uh, I just remembered we have some, err, stuff to take to Falmouth! Let's go!"
The lorry laughed. "Careful, old timer! Watch you don't burst a steam pipe!"
But when Bellerophon arrived at the freight yard, he saw another lorry being loaded with things. "You're too slow!" the lorry laughed as he drove off. "It's safer by road!
The foreman looked at the pair. "Sorry about him," he said. "Orders from higher up. We're giving the lorries a trial run, and in order to test them properly we must give them work to do."
"We can still be useful!" Misty said confidently. "I'm certain there's some goods that can't be moved by road, right?"
Bellerophon wasn't so sure.
Meanwhile, Sophie and Rebecca were being put to use shifting the old junk out of the factory. Things were being piled into boxes and placed inside vans, which were then taken to the sidings for collection.
"I don't understand why we didn't remember this place!" Sophie said. "It's so handy for this sort of thing!"
"I can only assume the place brought back bad memories for the townsfolk," Rebecca offered, "so they left it alone."
As they worked, more and more junk was found deeper and deeper in. Even complete rail vehicles were located, just completely abandoned.
"These passenger coaches would be seriously useful with the current traffic volumes," Hitch noted, as he buffered Rebecca up to the coaches.
"Maybe we could restore them as a proof of concept?" Rebecca suggested.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash, and a man with white hair fell over some boxes.
"Are you alright?" Pipp asked, and ran over to help him.
The old man dusted himself off and looked at them. "Nice to see you decided to help yourselves to the place," he said.
"Who are you?" asked Pipp.
"I'm Mr Warden. I'm the security guard for the building. The council asked me to look after the place whilst it was being renovated. I assume you two are the assigned team for the job?"
"Yes we are!" Pipp smiled.
"Hopefully we haven't messed anything up," Hitch said.
Mr Warden laughed. "Given the previous owners of the building smashed most of the town up with that machine of theirs, I doubt you two could cause much damage. Let's keep going- we've got much more building to clean out. Not to mention there's a rat infestation to deal with."
"RATS?!" Sophie exclaimed. "You didn't tell me there was a group of Class 25s in here!"
"Not that type of rat," Pipp said.
Meanwhile, Zipp was still trying to puzzle out the message. "Right, so if the crystals are the source of the power, then in order to figure out how it works we need to check a magical object. There was a distinct decline in the number of non faceless vehicles over the last 50 years, so if I can find one that remained able to speak during that time we can come up with a solution."
Just then she had a brainwave. "Of course! I'll ask Salty what it was like! That way we can put countermeasures into place!"
Just then the door opened. Lord Haven was on the other side. "Zipp, I don't mean to intrude, but who were you talking to?"
Zipp glanced over. "You know how in old detective movies where the detective talks to themselves?"
Back in the factory, the trio had found the rest of the things- and the rats. The rats, however, were not very cooperative, and began running around like annoying things. "Why does this keep happening to us?" Pipp asked.
"Can't we just burn them out?" Hitch suggested.
"And set fire to the factory?" Mr Warden replied. "It was so easy to put the fire out the first time around!"
After some more running around, Pipp was getting desparate. So she tried the last trick in her arsenal. Music.
"All you need is your beat/ (beat) Hey, come on! To get them stomping their feet! (feet!) And then the next thing you'll know/ Imagination will flow/ All you need is your beat/ All you need is your beat!" (beat)
But the rats didn't react. If anything, they became even more annoying.
"If you two can't find any other solution, we're going to have to put down poison traps," Mr Warden said.
Hitch glanced to Pipp. "I think we should try everything we have."
The two of them sighed as they tried to come up with ideas. But the rats perked up.
Mr Warden looked at them. "Do that again."
"Do what again?" Pipp asked.
"Sigh in thirds," Mr Warden replied. "It seemed to attract the rats!"
"Like the Pied Piper of Hamlin!" Hitch realised. "I'm up for that!"
So they sighed again- in thirds. The rats were definitely paying attention now.
And just then the idea for a new song floated into Pipp's mind.
"Makin' a Plan!" she sang.
"Lendin' a Hand!" Hitch added.
Then Pipp again. "Helpin' a friend is-"
"Ni-ee-i-ee-i-i-i-ice!" they sang together, and began walking backwards at the same time.
"Work together!" Hitch added.
"Two heads are better!" Pipp noted.
"Findin' new ways/ To fly-ee-y-ee-y-y-y-y!" they sang at once.
"With a little bit of confidence!" Pipp noted.
"And a little bit of kindness!" Hitch added.
And then both sang together in harmony:
"We can make it fun! To! Do!
"Work together, make it better/ Workin' smarter with each other! Work together, make it better/ We are stronger with each other!
"Work, work, let's unite/ Everybody shining bright/ Work, work, work it out/ Everybody shout it loud!"
Before they knew what had happened, they were outside. And the mice had come with them and had happily scampered off somewhere else.
"We did it!" Hitch said. "Great work, Pipp."
"Thanks, Hitch," Pipp smiled. "Can't really sing a duet with one person. Now then, let's clean the rest of that junk out."
There is a section of the line where the road and the railway are almost at the same level. The road is separated from the rails by a wooden fence, and drivers have to drive carefully.
Bellerophon looked over to see the lorry from the quarry roar past with a heavy load of stone. "He'll have a hard time slowing down!" he said.
Misty looked forward and sounded the whistle. "Look out! Incoming traffic!"
The lorry looked back. "Very funny, but you no- WHAT THE?!"
The lorry swerved to avoid hitting a bus- and immediately flew off the road. It crashed through the fence, skidded down the embankment, and crashed at the bottom with a bang, covering the rails with its load of stone.
Bellerophon blinked. "I assume it's not supposed to do that."
The driver of the lorry was unhurt. But he was dazed. "Rotton roads," he grumbled.
Misty laughed. "What was that about it being safer by road?"
The lorry growled angrily at her, but otherwise could do nothing.
The three lorries were taken to Falmouth Docks, where safe to say the engines were delighting in the fact karma had bit them in the tailpipe. "Look at this mess!" Porter joked. "Who brought this load of steaming scrap iron here, eh?"
One of the lorries growled at him. "We'll be back, so you can wipe that silly smile off your smokebox."
Just then, Bellerophon arrived, chortling like a traction engine. "What happened to the others?"
Izzy was more than happy to tell the story. "Well, one of them broke down on a level crossing as he'd been overloaded. Not very reliable, eh? And the other reversed into the sea!"
Charles, who had now arrived, roared with laughter. "What does he think he is? A Toyota Hilux?"
Salty cheered as he rolled in. "The brothers grim, Smashed, Broken, and Sunk, united at last! I think we'll be glad to see the back of them, me hearties!"
Life at the docks soon went back to normal, and with the new facility maintenance was easier than ever. But it just goes to show that sometimes you cannot beat tried and true technology.
"Where did all these pumpkins come from?" Hitch asked, as he stood in the station yard. He was very surprised and more than a bit confused.
Sunny looked at them as well. "I think Halloween sales were a bit slow last year, so they have a huge stock of them left over. Clearly they need to get rid of them, so they dumped them here for us to take away."
"What are we even going to do with all these pumpkins?" Zipp asked. "They look to be in perfectly good condition, and seeing as food prices are what they are it seems a waste to just throw them away. Any thoughts, Pipp?"
There was no reply. "Pipp?"
Pipp, however, wasn't listening. She was on her phone. "Huh?"
"I said, any thoughts, Pipp?"
Pipp glanced up. "Oh! Sure, I'll ask the Pippsqueaks now!"
Zipp rolled her eyes. "You know I value personal freedom above anything else, but I'm beginning to think you might have a screen addiction."
"I do not!" Pipp huffed. "I can stop whenever I want!"
"Then why not come up with an idea on your own rather than ask the Pippsqueaks all the time?"
Pipp thought for a moment. "Pumpkin carriages!"
Zipp facepalmed. "How would that even work in terms of engineering?"
"Well, Cinderella used one to get to the Ball."
"But the pumpkin had been converted to metal and wood, and other materials you usually use for building carriages. Pumpkins aren't known for being very shock absorbant."
"That is a drawback. Still, she did get a pretty neat dress out of the deal!"
Zipp checked her watch. "I think I know who she'll be dressing up as next Halloween. Anyway, what will we do with this lot!"
"Guys, I have an idea!" Sunny said. "How about we make the pumpkins into pies, take them up to Truro, and showcase them at the Truro food and drink festival this weekend?"
"Great thinking, Sunny!" Izzy smiled. "Let's do it!"
After several days of making pies, the job was finally done. In order to convey the pumpkins to Truro, a special train was assembled. Many vans were shunted into the goods shed, and then loaded with boxes full of pies. The boxes were piled high, and reached almost to the roofs of the vans.
When the final van came to be loaded, a strange machine that looked like a unicorn made out of junk on wheels suddenly drove onto the platform. "Err, what's this?" Sunny asked.
"Oh! That's Senor Butterscotch!" Izzy said. "I built him when I was bored. He's also handy for entertaining children! The Pippsqueaks love him!"
Pipp was inside the last van, looking closely at the loads. "Well, these all seem to be somewhat securely loaded," she said. "We should be good to ship these away!"
Just then, the door suddenly closed behind her, and the sound of a lock engaging clicked. Pipp ran over to the door and tried to slide it open, but it wouldn't budge. "Hey! What gives!"
And then the floor began moving, indicating the van was being moved. "Hey! I'm still in here!"
Soon, the train was assembled in Falmouth Yard, and before long was ready to depart. Charles and Sophie were coupled to the front, and Ray had been martialled behind the brake van to help push the train up the hill.
"The train must be heavy," Ray said to Jazz, "if I'm needed to bank two diesels."
"I think we're on as redundancies," Jazz said. "In case there's an engine failure at the front."
"Fail? Me?" Sophie scoffed. "Don't be absurd."
"Well," Zipp said, "there was that time when your fuel tank got punctured and-"
"That was an act of sabotage. Nothing more, nothing less."
Just then, the guard whistled and waved his green flag. "Right away!"
The two diesels sounded their horns in response, and Ray blasted his whistle as well. With the roar of engines and loud puffing from the rear the train got underway, the vans rattling and rumbling and groaning the entire way.
"We feel so full! We feel so full!" they grumbled.
"I suspect the people who eat the pies will say the same as well," Ray joked.
At Penrhyn, Ray was detached, as the gradients were easier from there, and Jazz placed him on a siding in the meantime. This was a good opportunity for a break, and so she quickly took out her phone and checked if there were any new manicure suggestions and plans to use (she was running rather low).
She glanced over to Ray. "You know, it's strange that we haven't seen Pipp recently."
"Then who's driving Sophie?" Ray asked.
"They're testing the new drive link technology. Essentially it synchronises all the engines and brakes to the lead locomotive which reduces the number of drivers required." Jazz shrugged her shoulders. "It still seems a bit odd to not hear from here, though."
Suddenly, there was a strange sound from up ahead. "Can you hear that?" Ray asked.
"It sounds like laughter," Jazz admitted. "But then why is the laughter getting louder and higher in pitch?"
Just then, some trucks came into view. "We've broken away! We've broken away!" They clattered through the platform and vanished into the distance.
Ray looked over. "If they hit something it'll be one nasty accident!"
Jazz jumped onto the footplate and opened the regulator. "We have to stop the runaway vans or else!"
Porter was busy shunting at Penmere. He had some trucks to deliver to the goods yard at the Haven estate, and then take some empties with him back to Falmouth.
Suddenly, there was a loud rattling noise from up ahead. "What's that?" Porter asked.
Izzy looked up the line, and suddenly increased the throttle. "LOOK OUT!"
Just then, the back of the pie train roared past them and vanished into the distance towards Falmouth. Porter, who was now going much faster than he should have been, slammed into the trucks in the private siding and was derailed.
"Really, Izzy?"
"Better to be off the track here than in Lady Haven's garden!" Izzy pointed out.
Just then Ray thundered through, running bunker first. "Sorry!" Jazz called. "But we have to stop the runaway pumpkin vans!"
"Good luck!" Izzy called.
Lady Haven emerged from her home to see Porter derailed. "What happened here?"
Porter looked over. "Your Ladyship, you wouldn't mind calling for the brakedown train?"
On the approaches to Falmouth station, Salty was putting the finishing touches to a train of flatbeds waiting to go to Plymouth. "And that's how you do it!" he said.
Sunny looked out of the cab, and suddenly saw a large number of trucks coming their way. "They're coming straight for us!" she shouted, and gunned the throttle in reverse. Salty rattled away from the trucks as they flew along. He narrowly made it into a siding as the train slammed into the buffers in the station platform and came to a sudden stop.
The vans slammed into each other, and the doors burst open. Boxes of pies flew everywhere and exploded when they hit the ground. Pie flew everywhere, and before long the entire station area was covered in pumpkin pie.
It was in the station canopy. It was all over the platforms and seats and benches. It was inside the ticket office. It was inside the station clock. It was all over the passengers.
The only place there wasn't any pumpkin pie was inside the vans- where it should have been.
Salty shuddered from the mess. "This reminds me of the great fish flood of Farnborough!"
Sunny was also covered in the stuff. "Oh not again..."
Once the news of the accident reached the others, they came along to help clean up the mess. Ray and Jazz removed the vans so that the cleaning process could begin.
The vans were shunted into the goods shed for unloading, and suddenly a voice was heard. "Hello? I'm still in here!"
Zipp blinked. "Pipp? Is that you?" She grabbed the keys and unlocked the door on the last van. And sure enough, Pipp was there. She was covered from head to toe in pumpkin pie remains. Crust, juice, and all.
"Yes, it's me. And it's gonna be a nightmare getting this lot out of my hair." Pipp staggered to her feet and wobbled out of the truck. "That was a close one."
"Why didn't you phone for help?" Zipp asked.
"Perhaps it's because somebody thinks I'm always asking for help and should try to figure things out on my own?" Pipp retorted.
Zipp's face fell. "Oh. Well, when you put it that way... sorry, Pipp."
Pipp smiled. "It's OK. This situation didn't end too badly. I'm still in one piece, even if these will need a wash. But all this pumpkin stuff gave me an idea. I'm totally recreating Cinderella's dress for next Halloween!"
Zipp nodded. "Now, how about we help clean this mess up?"
And so dear reader, whilst there are benefits to thinking for yourself, you should never be afraid to ask for help when you need it. After all, the only stupid question is the one that's never asked.
It was lunchtime in Falmouth, and that usually meant that work stopped temporarily on the dockside. This brought a temporary moment of peace and quiet amongst the usual hustle and bustle of freight being shuffled across the dockside. And this was a silence that many appreciated.
Misty was sharing the opportunity for a meal with Lady Haven, who had popped down from her duties up at the big house specially for the event. Misty had a rather strong attachment to the woman. Having no memories of who her parents were meant that Lady Haven was the only real parental figure she had, and the fact the Havens had taken her in with no hesitation was a positive feeling for her.
"It's wonderful to hear you're settling in so well," Lady Haven said. "I can see this has done you a world of good."
"Thank you," Misty replied. "You guys took me in and treat me as one of your own. I have my friends and family to thank for getting me back on my feet."
Just then, a strange smell wafted over to them, and Misty held her nose. "Ugh! That smells awful!"
She saw three people standing around and holding paper in their hands. They would light one end, put the other end in their mouths, and then blow smoke like an engine!
Lady Haven glanced over and sighed. "More questionable antics of youth. Some things never change."
"What is it?" Misty asked.
"They," Lady Haven explained, "are smoking. But not ordinary nicotine like you might see in old movies. It's a drug called cannabis (it was very popular when I was at university, amongst certain groups of people), and it produces that very distinctive smell. But willing consumption of the drug is a crime, and if somebody offers you something and you don't know what it is, say no and back off."
"Understood," Misty replied. She still hadn't completely lost the 'lowly servant' mindset she'd had under Opaline, and sometimes responded to conversations in this manner.
Just then, the town clock made some noise. "Ah, look at the time!" Lady Haven smiled. "I'll need to get back to work now, but enjoy your day!"
As she set off, and Misty turned her attention back to her food, she didn't spot somebody putting something in her drink.
"So, what is this thing?" Zipp asked. She and the others were sat around a table, looking closely at a strange object. It was a dark green object that was square in shape, only it was flared at the bottom, and had a blob of circular metal on a long pole on the inside.
"I found this thing in dad's collections," Sunny replied, "and with his permission I suggested we take a look at it to try and figure out what it is. It looks like an old bell, but it doesn't make any noise when you ring it."
Izzy peered closely at the object. "On the one hand, these sorts of colours usually indicate something evil. But on the other, it is really nicely made." She looked elsewhere. "Tambelon Bell Foundry? I don't know that one."
"I'll Google it!" Pipp said, and took out her phone.
Misty finished her drink and hopped back on the footplate of Bellerophon. They had some work to do on the dockside, and soon set about it.
"Lovely day we're having!" Bellerophon called.
Misty didn't reply. Truth be told she didn't feel like herself at all. Everywhere she looked the colours were unusually saturated, like the world had suddenly turned into a technicolour film. Even worse, her motor control was a bit off- her hands were shaking badly, as if they had a mind of their own.
Some people waved from nearby as the engine rolled into the dockside, but Misty simply used the cylinder cocks to encourage them to step away. She thought they were laughing at her!
Misty was about to reply, but yelled out in shock. "LOOK OUT!"
Up ahead were several derailed trucks blocking the track! Knowing precisely what to do, Misty shut off steam and slammed on the brakes, bringing Bellerophon to a sudden and violent stop. Misty was only just able to maintain her balance on the footplate as they came to a halt.
The tank engine was not hugely happy. "Misty, what the blazes is wrong with you?!" he snapped, in a rare show of anger.
"We couldn't hit those trucks!" Misty replied.
"What trucks?"
"The trucks right the-" Misty trailed off as she looked forward. Where there had been trucks before, now there was absolutely nothing at all. "Huh?"
"There were never any trucks there at all," Bellerophon replied. "We've basically stopped for no reason."
Misty brought her hands up and regarded them with horror. "What's happening to me?" she whimpered quietly.
"I'd suggest not driving if you're hallucinating," Bellerophon suggested.
Misty then had a brainwave. What if her symptoms were a consequence of magic? She could ask her friends for help! "Wait here, Bellerophon! I'm going for help!"
"Good luck!" Bellerophon replied, by now transformed into a lion on wheels. Misty's shoes were now squelching, and as she looked down she saw the concrete had changed into soft cheese, and the sea into red wine.
As Misty made her way down the dockside, she dodged all the people. Their hair had come alive and was now fighting against each other, Godzilla style.
After a terrifying journey, Misty opened the door to the lighthouse cottage. "Guys, I need your help. Something's seriously wrong with me, and..."
She trailed off as she saw a scene of absolute chaos breaking out inside the kitchen. Hitch was throwing garbage all over the place and leaving the floor in a complete mess. Izzy was breaking all sorts of crafts and items. Pipp was playing heavy metal on a guitar, totally at odds with the ballads and pop she liked.
But Sunny and Zipp had undergone the most alarming changes. Sunny was tearing up photos of things she had done with her friends. "WHO NEEDS TEAMWORK?!" she bellowed. "IT'S EVERYBODY FOR THEMSELVES OUT HERE!"
And Zipp had donned a crown and had fabricated a throne for herself out of boxes and chairs. "Bow before your rulers, you lesser beings!" she boomed.
Misty spotted a strange bell. It was green and glowing, with energy flowing from it. "The bell is doing this!" she realised, before grabbing a hammer from a nearby workbench. She ran over to the bell and began smashing it with the hammer. "STOP... DOING... THIS... TO... MY... FRIENDS!"
Before long, the bell was in pieces. But the others weren't happy. "What did you do?" Hitch demanded.
"That object was priceless!" Pipp screeched.
"Not to mention super shiny!" Izzy added, her eyes wild.
"All the more reason you should work for yourself!" Sunny snorted.
Pipp looked at the others and pointed. "RUN HER OUT OF TOWN!"
Misty shrieked and ran for it as the other pursued her out of the lighthouse cottage. All around her she could see people laughing. Frightening heads floated all around and screamed bizarre threats.
Misty's heart was pumping so fast in her chest it felt it like would explode. She slid underneath some tables to buy some time, but soon found herself at the waterfront. Both paths were blocked.
Rubbish was flying from both sides, and her friends approached her. "We've got you now!" Hitch said, with an evil smile. "We'll ensure her kind never come here again!"
Misty tried to step backwards, but felt the cold railing against her. She dropped down and pulled herself into a ball, making herself as small as possible. "N- no! I never wanted this! I'm sorry! I'll go if you want! JUST DON'T HURT ME!"
Suddenly, the noise stopped, and all seemed calm once more. Misty removed her hands from her face and looked around. There were no crowds, no rubbish- just her friends. "Wait, what?"
"That's what we want to know too," Sunny said. "You've been behaving erratically. Is something going on?"
Misty sighed. "This will seem like the understatement of the year, but something is seriously wrong with me."
Later on Lady Haven arrived. "Could somebody explain what all the pandemonium in town was all about?" she asked.
So, Misty began to describe what she had seen. A policeman then arrived, and looked concerned. "That," he said, "is very concerning. The visions you are describing are consistent with Lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD for short, which is an illegal drug. It seems as though your drink was spiked with the substance."
Upon hearing the word 'illegal', Misty's eyes went wide, and she looked over fearfully. "I'm not going to prison, am I?" she asked quietly.
"Nobody is going to prison, at least from amongst us," Lady Haven said. "Accidental ingestion of drugs is not a crime."
"Quite right," said the policeman. "I shall now open an investigation into this and hunt for the culprit."
Pipp looked to Misty. "You look like you have a rough day. Fancy going to the ice cream shop?"
"I'd like that," Misty said, her face lighting up.
Opaline laughed from her chamber. "It worked!" she said. "That silly child didn't know what was coming to her. Furthermore, the drug clearly works. This is the price you pay for treason!"
One morning, a whistle sounded in Falmouth. Now, this wasn't the usual whistle that you'd often associate with the existing engines. It was a rather different tone, higher pitched, and altogether quite squeaky.
Izzy was the first to glance out of the shed. "Porter!" she said. "There's a new arrival!"
"Who is it?" Porter asked, still half asleep. "Hopefully it's not anybody annoying, as that's the last sort of person I need right now."
"It's not a person, it's a person and an engine!" Izzy said.
And sure enough, it was. Rolling down the hill was an old friend, his flywheel whirring as he rumbled to a halt outside the shed. "Hello Izzy!" he said. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Hey Fergus!" Izzy said. "Nice to see you too, Tempest!"
Tempest smiled as she adjusted the controls. "Nice to see you too, Izzy. You're probably wondering why myself and Fergus are here."
"They drove here?" Porter suggested.
"Only the last ten miles from Truro," Fergus said. "I'm not designed to travel long distances at speed. I'm meant for shunting heavy stock in short bursts."
"We're here to take some of the pressure off at Lighthouse Quarry, so you can shunt more trucks here," Tempest explained. "Somebody called Charles is meant to be showing us around?"
A loud horn echoed in the yard, and Charles rolled into view. "What's this little blue thing?" he asked.
"My name is Fergus," Fergus replied. "You're meant to be showing me around the quarry."
Charles sighed. "Looks like I'm on babysitting duty again. Entrance to the quarry is behind you."
Soon, Charles was showing Fergus around the yard and showing him how to handle the stock. Unfortunately, it took some getting used to. Fergus approached one line of trucks too fast and bumped into them, causing them to roll forward and miss the loader.
"Not like that!" Charles snapped. "Do it right!"
"Sorry!" Fergus replied. "I'm new to this!" He looked about. "I thought the cement hoppers were tough enough, but these open trucks are something else!"
"We'll get the hang of it eventually," Tempest replied. "Remember the flying bufferbeam? He used to have terrible trouble with coaches as he could barely see where he was going!"
Fergus was just worried he would keep getting things wrong. And if he kept getting things wrong, how would that reflect on him as an engine and a representative of another line?
Charles just rolled his eyes. "This engine has no idea what he's doing."
"Did you when you first started your working life?" Zipp asked.
"No, but that was a long time ago. That's hardly a fair comparison."
Zipp sighed. "And the Nobel Prize in missing the point goes to..."
Later, Sophie rumbled in with some more trucks. "Hello Fergus!" she called. "I've got some news for you. The yard manager says that you are to go to the sidings they're building near Penmere. You need to collect some oil tankers and take them to Truro."
"Me?" Fergus exclaimed. "I've only just got my head round the quarry!"
"Orders are orders," Charles said, with a smirk on his face.
Fergus sadly steamed out of the quarry. He was only just getting the hang of this.
Charles sighed. "That's seen the back of him. You have no idea Sophie; he's utterly incompetent."
"That's not a nice thing to say!" Sophie replied. "Especially about a new engine!"
"Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind," Charles replied, as he moved off to pick up his line of trucks.
Fergus came to a stop outside the sidings. The light was beginning to fade, and in front of him the new oil terminal, although incomplete, was already partly operational. Flares burned on the top of processing towers, making the place seem quite unpleasant.
"I don't like it here!" Fergus said. "All this flame and noise. It's like a scrapyard!"
Tempest herself looked concerned. "Not to mention hot. But we have our orders."
A foreman walked over, and looked at them. "I must admit I wasn't expecting you two," he said. "But we're glad to have some help. Can you take those tankers for us?"
The tanker train before them was illuminated by the odd flare and the hum of the electric lights. The train was very long and quite heavy. "There's no way we'll shift that lot!" Fergus said. "Let's go find another engine."
"Agreed," Tempest said, and reversed Fergus away.
"Where are you going?" asked the foreman, confused. But Fergus couldn't hear over the sound of his own puffing.
A few hours later, Charles was moved into the shed. The light had faded completely, and the area outside of lighting was pitch black. "Oddly quiet tonight!" he said to Porter.
"I'm looking forward to a quiet night's sleep," Porter replied. "Izzy's just grabbing a bite to eat, and then we'll go resupply a trawler before clocking off for the night."
"I'll need one myself," Charles yawned. "That new engine was quite the handful. What was his name again?"
"Fergus, I think," Porter said. "I met him near Darlington a few months ago. Nice chap."
Suddenly, Izzy arrived again. "New orders!" she said, as she clambered into Porter's cab. "We need to go and find Fergus! He hasn't been seen for a few hours, so nobody knows where he is!"
"Well, there go my hopes of a quiet night in," Porter grumbled as he was backed out of the shed.
"Good luck!" Charles said. "I thought it was strange he was sent to pull an oil train. He looked far too small for that sort of thing."
Fergus and Tempest were now hopelessly lost. They rumbled along the line, but in the dark it can be hard to see where you are going. The lack of light from the sun, replaced only by the sickly glow of the moonlight, made seeing where they were going difficult. The shapes around them seemed threatening and dangerous, like monsters were waiting to attack them.
"This was such a bad idea!" Fergus said. "I want to go home!"
"If we can ever figure out where home is," Tempest said, exposed on top of the engine (as Fergus had no cab). She adjusted her scarf, moved her hat, and struggled on despite the threatening cold all around her. Not only that, Fergus was running low on coal, so they needed to secure some more.
Around Perranwell they came to a stop, and Tempest positioned Fergus in a siding to avoid blocking any traffic. She went inside the station building to ask for a map and some fuel.
Suddenly, a familiar whistle echoed up the valley. "Is that Porter?" Fergus asked to himself.
Sure enough, the distinctive shape of the Fowler Dock Tank loomed out of the dark and came to a stop. "You're a bit lost, mate."
Fergus sighed. "I went to look for help with that oil train, as there was no chance I would be able to pull it by myself. But I seem to have gotten very, very lost."
"You're two stations up the line. This is Perranwell."
"There goes any chance of me making a good impression," Fergus said. "Everybody will be so cross!"
"What are you talking about?" Izzy said. "We're worried sick! We had no idea where you were! But it seems there was a mixup."
Just then, Tempest returned. "I know where we are now. This is-"
"Perranwell," Fergus said. "Porter just told me. But Izzy was just saying there was some sort of mistake."
"Yes indeedy!" Izzy smiled. "The order wasn't for you. It was for Charles!"
Just then, there was a loud engine roar behind them, and Charles rumbled through with a long, heavy train of tankers. "Whose idea was it to give me this lot?" he complained as he rattled by.
"Serves you right for being a pain in the axlebox!" Porter retorted, as the tankers rumbled past.
Fergus glanced back. "Perhaps you're being a bit harsh. Charles only wanted things done properly."
"But it doesn't justify him being rude," Tempest added. "Oh well. Tomorrow is another day, and we can start again tomorrow knowing what we are doing."
And this would certainly prove to be the case. The next morning, Charles apologised to Fergus for his abrasiveness, an apology which Fergus accepted. The two then went back to the quarry, and I am proud to say did everything right this time.
The Falmouth branch is criss crossed with numerous foot crossings. These are railway crossings at ground level which are not protected by crossing gates or flashing lights, and therefore provide no warning as to whether a train is coming. As a result, people crossing at them are required to stop and wait for a train to pass before proceeding onto the crossing.
One afternoon, three girls were standing next to the crossing. The first of them was a girl with turquoise blue skin and purple and blue hair, and was currently dressed in blue shoes, grey pants, and a grey shirt coupled with a mustard yellow jacket. Her name is Georgia, although most refer to her as Glory. The second girl had purplish blue skin and turquoise hair, and unlike her fellow had turned out in blue flats, a light green dress, and a blue coat. Her nme is Samantha, although she is usually called Seashell owing to her love of exploring the beach and her fascination with marine life. The last of the group was a girl with orange skin and blonde hair, currently clad in jeans, a light blue long sleeved shirt, and a dark green jacket. Her name is Paige Florence, although like the other two she is generally referred to by her nickname of Peach Fizz.
They had been waiting for a few minutes, and Rebecca had passed by with a goods train several minutes ago. As they began to cross, Glory looked to the others. "What if we walked down the tracks back to Falmouth?"
Peach Fizz blinked in surprise. "Isn't that illegal?"
"What's illegal mean?" Seashell asked.
"It means you can't do it."
"So it's like taking things that don't belong to you?"
"Yes," Peach Fizz said. "We should stay off the line."
"The law says not to walk on the track itself!" Glory replied. "If we walk at the side on the ballast we should be fine. That's where the workmen walk!"
"Isn't that still private property?"
"There's nobody around to catch us!" Glory said.
The other two girls were uneasy about this, but decided not to raise any further objections, and followed Glory onto the side of the line.
It was fun at first, and the place was very quiet. No trace of a train at all. But then-
"Glory? Peach Fizz? My shoe is stuck!"
The other two girls turned around to see Seashell fighting to free her shoe, which had somehow got caught in a rail chair.
"How did you manage that?" Glory asked, as they went over. "All we need to do is undo the laces and pull you out. Then we can recover the shoe."
Suddenly, a loud singing noise started up from the rail. "Can you hear that?" Peach Fizz asked. "It sounds like something metal ringing."
It was soon joined by the sound of a diesel engine. Glory looked over her shoulder in horror. "There's a train coming!" she yelled. "We need to pull Seashell out now!"
The two girls quickly worked to undo the shoe, and then began pulling with all their might.
And then it was on top of them.
Charles had barely any time to process what had just happened. It had just been a normal run up the line to Truro, but suddenly he'd seen three children at the lineside. "BRAKES!" he shouted.
Zipp slammed on the brakes and blasted the horn as loudly as she could. "Keep off the tracks!" she yelled. As they approached, two of the children vanished out of view, and one of them had moved. But where she couldn't tell.
The train was stopped a few miles down the line. Charles had been doing line speed at the time of the incident, and Zipp had had barely any time to process what was happening.
She got out and walked back down the line to see what had happened. There was no evidence of the children, but sitting in the rail were the mangled remains of a child's shoe.
Zipp photographed the evidence, as she was required to under law, and then walked back to the train. Charles looked over. "W- we didn't hit them, did we?" he asked, his usual bellicose bravado completely gone.
"I don't know," Zipp answered, before accessing a lineside telephone box. "Control, this is Zipp."
"Zipp, state your message, over?"
"Possible collision with foreign object just east of Godfrey's Crossing. Suggest investigation. Also need new locomotive and driver; I am in no condition to continue working, over?"
"Understood. State cause for issue, over?"
Zipp briefly lost her composure. "I- I think we ran a kid over."
There was a silence. "Understood. Dispatching relief engine now."
Charles was placed on a siding at Penrhyn, and Sophie took his train onwards. The police arrived at the incident site within minutes, and after examining the remains of the shoe decided to launch a full investigation to find the owner.
News of the incident soon reached Falmouth, and nobody was in a cheerful mood after that. "To think of the silliness some kids get up to!" Porter said. "Walking down an active railway line- what were they thinking?"
"Not to mention we're not toys, contrary to what a lot of TV shows depict," Salty added. "We can cause serious injury."
Sunny looked out of the cab. "They used to teach railway safety in schools. I certainly learned a lot that day. Maybe we should bring it back?"
Rebecca glanced over. "And these people never think about how it affects the crews and the engines! How selfish must you be to do that?"
It was soon clear that Charles and Zipp were badly shaken by the incident, and both were not their usual selves. Charles had been brought back to the shed and left there. He'd barely said anything for days.
The same was true for Zipp. She was a shell of her former self, usually only replying as required or outright avoiding other people.
"Zipp?" Pipp asked as she walked past. Her sister didn't respond.
Lady Haven did, however. "It takes a long time to recover from this sort of trauma," she explained. "If you do hit something, then it's a big weight on your conscience. But tresspassers are a disgrace. They make us responsible railway users look bad."
A few days later, Glory, Peach Fizz, and Seashell were at Falmouth station, when to their surprise they saw Charles in the shed, and not on duty like he normally was.
"Why is Charles in the shed?" Seashell asked.
"He's still badly shaken from a near miss a few days ago," the station master replied. "Some silly kids were walking down the line, and he nearly hit them."
The three girls felt awful, and one of them turned to the station master. "Excuse me sir," Glory said quietly, "but we did it. It was my idea to walk down the line. I had no idea a train was coming."
The station master's eyes widened in shock. "You were tresspassing!" he snapped. "Not only is that illegal, it's very dangerous! You three could have been killed! Though that clears up the business with the found shoe, at least."
"We know," Peach Fizz said quietly. "We're sorry."
The station master shook his head. "I'm not the one you should be saying sorry to. There's two others you should be speaking to. I'll take you over to the shed now."
Charles saw the children approaching. "I... didn't run them over?" he said, in a voice which conveyed both surprise and genuine happiness.
Seashell was the first to speak. "Charles, we're sorry," she said, her eyes beginning to well with tears. "We didn't want to hurt you. We never meant for this to happen!"
Charles could see the three were emotionally torn up over what they had done, and felt losing his temper was the wrong cause of action. So instead he took the hardest path of all. "I forgive you," he said quietly. "And you owned up to what you did and apologised. But there is a way you can show you three truly mean what you say. Tell your friends to never play on the railway or walk on the tracks. Understand?"
The three girls nodded. They knew Charles was right.
The foot crossing where Charles had his near miss is no longer there. Network Rail replaced it with a footbridge to eliminate the chance of such an incident happening again. And if you were to walk into Falmouth one day, you'd have seen the three children teaching their fellows about how to behave on the railway.
"People walk down the railway for many reasons," Glory began. "They want to take a shortcut, or think it's a fun thing to do, or don't consider the consequences."
"We want you to learn from our mistake," Peach Fizz continued. "Please, never tresspass on the railway. Trains are faster and quieter than you think and take several times their own length to stop from top speed."
"Trespassing on the railway hurts the physical and mental health of the staff who have to deal with it," Seashell finished. "Please, think twice before you do anything near a railway. After all, it's better to be late in this life... than early in the next."
Today, we go a little bit back in time, to shortly before the Havens packed up their things and began their journey to Falmouth. Things had been busy on the Swanage Railway, and the engines were needed to help out with the last bits of the holiday traffic. Overall, everybody seemed cheerful, and the shed soon sounded to the noise of fires being lit and diesel engines being started.
"I wonder what adventures today will bring?" Sophie asked excitedly.
"Probably more of the same," Charles yawned. It was early for him.
"No doubt there will be passengers and freight," Ray said. "I think we can deliver the goods better by pulling away more gently."
"In other words, go slowly," Charles replied.
"No, carefully. If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well."
"Quickly!"
"Well!"
"Quickly!"
"Well!"
"We're already off to a flying start," Zipp said, looking over to Pipp.
"We're still on the ground," Pipp replied.
"Figure of speech. It's like the ideas above the station."
"There are ideas above the station?" Sophie asked.
"No," Charles replied. "It's also a figure of speech."
Just then, Lady Haven arrived. "Can I call a staff meeting?" she said.
"Given you're our boss, I presume you can," Ray replied.
"I have some news," Lady Haven began. "An inspector is coming to the railway."
"What's an inspector?" asked Sophie. She then noticed the odd looks from the others. "What? I'm just fulfilling the show's educational requirements!"
"An inspector," Lady Haven said, "is a person who inspects things. This inspector is coming to ensure that all is in order."
"When will the inspector get here?" Pipp asked.
There was a sudden loud rumble in the distance, and the loud whining of traction motors. "What's that coming over the hill?" Zipp asked.
"Is it a monster?" Pipp added.
"Very funny," Ray said, rolling his eyes.
Just then, a big green diesel loomed into view. It had a long nose at both ends, and three cab windows for the driver to see out. It had twelve wheels split over two bogies, and was producing a lot of smoke from its exhaust outlets. It had the late British Railways emblem on the sides, and rumbled to a magnificent stop.
"Sorry we're late!" the diesel said, confirming them to be female. "We got a bit lost on the way!"
"Not to worry!" Lady Haven replied. "Is your driver available?"
Just then, the cab door opened, and a familiar figure stepped out, down the ladder, and to the gravel below. "An honour to be here, Your Ladyship," he said.
Pipp and Zipp looked in surprise. "Alphabittle?!" they both said in unison.
Alphabittle looked over. "Hello you two!" he said. "It's been a while since we last spoke, huh?"
"It's been a few weeks at most," Zipp answered.
Lady Haven glanced back at her daughters. "Alphabittle is here to inspect the railway. You'll be sure to make him welcome, won't you?"
"W- well of course!" Pipp stammered. "We were just caught by surprise, that's all!"
"Hopefully the diesel won't give us any surprises," Charles muttered.
Alphabittle indicated up to the diesel. "This is Janet. She's a Class 37. Restored her myself. She's a bit noisy on the traction motors, but a good runner so far."
Zipp smiled. "Well, let's see what she can do. And of course we'll be sure to showcase all there is to see."
At first, things were going well. Alphabittle was first shown around the goods yard, where many trucks were waiting. "Nice arrangement of stock," he commented. "Good fit."
Some of his remarks were a bit odd, but Charles was soon in a spot of bother. He had been put on a demonstration goods, but the resulting load was... a bit large. "I'll need a banker!"
"We can't fit any engine around you because the train is too long!" Janet complained.
Charles rolled his eyes. "Then clearly you need exercise."
"Bit rude," Sophie said.
"Uncouple half the train and leave it there," Charles said. A member of staff did, and Charles rolled away with his section- and the left behind bit blocking the points, preventing engines from entering or exiting.
Ray, who had been watching, rolled his eyes in frustration. "Charles, you are an utter child sometimes."
Alphabittle headed into the staff office on bringing his engine to a stop. "So far, so good," he said.
"I'm glad to hear," Lady Haven said, glancing up from her monitor. "Fancy a drink? I can put the kettle on if you'd like."
"No thanks," the burly man replied, and took a seat at the bar. He sighed, his face devoid of its usual energy and cheerfulness.
Lady Haven noticed this sudden change in behaviour. "Is something wrong?" she asked.
Alphabittle sighed. "I've always found this time of year hard. It happened a long time ago, far away... but I can't forgive myself for what I did. Or rather what I failed to do."
"What do you mean?"
The man sighed again. "I was married once, a long time ago. It was far from here- I doubt you'd know it, a place called New Romney- but it was a reasonable life. I had a stable job, a good life. Whilst there, I achieved a dream I'd had for years. I became a father."
"That sounds wonderful," Lady Haven said.
"It was, for the first few years. We did so much together, and it seemed nothing would break us up. But then she vanished when I should have been keeping an eye on her. We looked everywhere, and the police did a search, b- but we never found her." Alphabittle was clearly fighting back tears as he told the story. "It's haunted me ever since. I've tried to find her since then, but I don't think there's any real chance. I lost everything that day. My wife left me, and I left the area as I couldn't bear to be around there anymore!"
He broke down all at once. Anybody with a heart would have wanted to give him a hug, and so Lady Haven did. "There, let it out," she said gently. "I am so, so sorry you had to go through that."
"I'm a failure of a man and a failure of a father! If I can't even keep my own kid safe, what use am I? I guess she was right; I'm so focused on the past I can't see the future!"
"You're not a failure," Lady Haven said gently. "From what I've heard you've done stellar work for the East Lancashire, and from what I've seen you're an excellent engine driver."
Pipp suddenly popped in through the door, before stopping and quickly reversing out and shutting it.
Alpahbittle sighed, seemingly his tears beginning to subside. "You know, maybe a cup of tea wouldn't be a bad idea."
Unfortunately, things continued to go wrong. Sophie pulled into the platform at Norden and stopped far too quickly, throwing the passengers about.
"Watch the braking!" a passenger shouted. "If I wanted to be thrown about I'd have gone to Alton Towers!"
"Your passengers probably don't like being thrown about," Ray said, from the other platform.
"And I imagine your passengers appreciate actually being in the platform," Sophie replied.
Just then, there was a loud crash from the loader, and Janet was covered in dust. "Hey! The clay goes in the trucks, not on me!"
"Then position your trucks under the loader!" the foreman shouted.
Later, Charles was about to pull away from Corfe Castle when suddenly-
"LOOK OUT!"
Zipp slammed the brakes on as suddenly Janet rolled past, before abruptly stopping... and obstructing the points.
Charles was not happy. "JANET! WHAT IN IVATT'S NAME WERE YOU DOING?"
Janet looked over. "Sorry! I didn't see you there!"
"USE YOUR EYEBALLS!" Charles bellowed. "You nearly had me off the rails there!"
Alphabittle glanced over from the controls to see Zipp wasn't making eye contact. He stepped over and rolled the window down. "Look, sorr-"
"No excuse for failing to read signals," Zipp said quickly, before rolling the window up and taking off.
Janet sighed. "We've really messed this one up, haven't we?"
When they got back to Swanage Charles was still fuming, to the point you could see the smoke coming from his radiators. "I mean, the nerve of that engine! To come here and make a complete pig's breakfast of running at lights! What is the world coming to?"
Zipp wasn't bothering to respond to any of it, and simply hopped out of the cab once they stopped.
"Zipp?"
Zipp turned around to see Lady Haven standing there. Her face was hard to read. "Can we talk?"
Zipp sighed. "It's about the near miss, isn't it?"
"There is nothing more to say!" Charles snapped. "That idiot nearly caused a crash and went through a red when I had the line! It's utterly dis-"
"CAPTAIN CHARLES!!!!"
Charles clammed up almost immediately.
Lady Haven brushed her hands on her jacket. "Never fails to work." She looked back to Zipp. "Now then, my office, please."
Zipp suspected she would soon need some replacement eardrums, and made a mental note to get some. As she sat down, her mother spoke. "Zipp, I want to tell you a story. Once upon a time-"
"Mom, I'm a bit old for fairytales."
"Zipp, can you please take this seriously?" After getting acknowledgement, Lady Haven continued. "A long time ago there was a girl who struggled with relating to others. She had few friends, and one day she got into a big argument with a friend. It was over something silly, but it had damaging effects. They didn't speak for months, the anger eating away at both of them. And when they did finally connect with each other again, it was as if a cloud had been lifted. What they had fallen out over hadn't mattered. And the time they had wasted hating each other could have been used to come to a better understanding."
There was a silence. "Is she still around?"
Lady Haven nodded. "That girl was me. Now, I know that there was nearly an accident, and you can't be blamed for that. But you could have handled the situation in a more mature way, both you and Charles."
Zipp sighed. "I know. Have you seen Alphabittle anywhere? I need to speak to him."
Lady Haven checked the security cameras. "He and Janet are at Wareham. If you're quick you may catch him."
Zipp exited the office and climbed into Charles, and set off up the line.
Alphabittle sat on a bench, checking the time. "Not long now until we can head back," he said to Janet.
"I get the impression we're not welcome here," Janet replied.
Just then there was a horn, and Charles rumbled to a stop and Zipp got out. "Alphabittle?"
"Hey Zipp," he said. "Everything OK?"
Zipp looked down. "Look, sorry for blowing up at you earlier."
"It's OK. We were in the wrong. We nearly caused an accident. Doesn't create a good show for a hired engine, does it?"
"Excuse me?"
Alphabittle looked over. "The Swanage Railway wanted to hire an engine in to cover for you being gone. I'd just brought Janet back to working order, and wanting a place to run her in properly I jumped at the chance. This visit was a gauging run to see how well she'd fit. We haven't exactly created the best first impression, I know, given the long history the Swanage and East Lancashire have."
"You've been here before?" Zipp asked.
"Yeah. It was when the Corfe Castle extension was being built in the 1990s. Me and several volunteers came down to help with the tracklaying. It's how I met your mom, actually. Not that I ever felt anything for her, of course. I was already married, and she was already head over heels in love with your dad anyway." Alphabittle looked down. "All in the past, of course."
Zipp felt even worse. "How about we make this up to you and give you a second chance?"
"You'd do that?" Janet asked.
"Scout's honour," Zipp answered.
Lady Haven was more than happy to put the day behind them and give the new engine another chance. And I am proud to say Janet and Alphabittle performed flawlessly. That evening, decked out in all their finery, the three of them went to the Bridge Street Cafe for a fine meal.
As the food was passed around and the conversation flowed, all was well between them. Even if Pipp did have her suspicions... but if I say any more, I shall spoil a future story.
One quiet morning, Misty was signing on for her morning shift, as one is often want to do in the morning. However, her attention was soon drawn by a figure stepping into the shed. "Excuse me, are you Misty?" he asked.
"Yes sir!" Misty replied, turning to him and smiling awkwardly.
"I have some very bad news," the figure said. "I represent the harbour authority. As you know, the foreman and the harbourmaster are responsible for the ships and trains moving into and out of the harbour area. Unfortunately, the foreman cannot be here today as he is ill with the dreaded lurgi."
"Not lurgi!" Misty said. "I hope he gets well soon!"
"So do I," the figure replied. "Luckily, he produced paper copies of all of the days orders. Could you put them into the correct pigeonholes?"
"Sure thing!" Misty replied, as he handed them over. There was just one slight problem. "The names of the assignments aren't on the list. Which order goes with which engine?"
"I don't know much about railways, so I can't really help you there," the figure said. "Best of luck."
Misty was about to start sorting when Salty arrived. "That was a good morning's work!" he said.
Sunny looked out of the cab. "It's only 8 in the morning." She then noticed Misty. "Hey Misty! What you got there?"
"The foreman's ill, so he wants me to distribute the day's work orders," Misty answered. "Here's yours... I think." She handed the piece of paper to Sunny.
Sunny looked at it, slightly confused. "Not the work I was expecting, but it fits in a way." She shut Salty's engine down and headed off. "I'm going to get some breakfast. See you later!"
"Bye!" Misty replied. Something about Sunny's reply had surprised her somewhat, and this left her concerned.
Later on, after Misty had finished putting the orders into the pigeonholes, and she and Bellerophon got to work in the harbour. But something very strange was happening.
"Misty, isn't it a bit odd we haven't seen Porter this morning?" Bellerophon asked.
"Yeah, I was wondering where he was," Misty said.
Suddenly, there was the blast of a horn, and Charles rolled into the yard. "Honestly, the nerve of the foreman. This work is below me."
"No work is below any engine," Zipp reminded him. "Hey Misty. For some reason we're working here today."
Misty was even more confused. "Don't you normally work on the branch line?"
"Yes, but no doubt some fool has mixed up the work orders," Charls grumbled. "A Class 33, a shunter! Whatever next!
The duo soon got to work, and Charles provied to be surprisingly good at shunting trucks... when he was cooperating, that is. They soon had the place cleaned up, and Misty checked the next part of her work order. "Short goods working to Falmouth. Ok!"
"It'll give me a nice chance to stretch my wheels that's for sure," Bellerophon smiled. Soon, they had found their trucks, a short formation of vans and open trucks with a brake van to top it off. They began to make their way up the valley, but as they passed Penmere they saw something very strange.
Rebecca was sat at the oil terminal, shunting! "Aren't you normally pulling passengers?" Misty asked.
"Work order says I am to shunt oil tankers at the oil terminal," Rebecca replied. "I'm not sure why. Seems a bit excessive to use a pacific for shunting!"
"Orders are orders, and we must follow them no matter how absurd," Hitch replied.
She had no chance to reply before Salty suddenly rumbled through on the platform line with a goods train. He and the trucks were singing in call and response. "I thought I heard the Old Man say!"
"Leave her, Johnny, leave her!"
"Tomorrow ye will get your pay!"
"And it's time for us to leave her!"
"Leave her, Johnny, leave her!" Oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her!" For the voyage is long and the winds don't blow/ And it's time for us to leave her!"
"Good to hear he's keeping the trucks in order!" Rebecca smiled.
"But why is he pulling goods?" Bellerophon wondered. "I thought his axleboxes weren't meant to go at high speed!"
Misty was only getting more and more confused. The signal changed, and they continued on their way.
When they got to Truro they found Sophie. But she hadn't done anything at all!
"Whose idea was this?" she asked, as she sat there, fuming.
"What's going on?" Bellerophon called over.
Pipp opened the cab window and leaned out. "Sophie and I were told to clear this yard. But Sophie is too long to fit in the headshunt! This was totes such a bad idea."
There was another whistle seconds later, and Porter dragged some coaches in. He was red in the face and looked exhausted. "Whose idea was it to have me pulling a commuter train? I'm a shunter designed for short trip freight, not a cement mixer!"
"Orders say so!" Izzy added. "But even somebody as silly as me knows this is silly!"
It was then, and only then, that Misty realised what was going on. Nobody was where they were supposed to be, and this only meant that...
"I've mixed all the work orders up!"
After Misty had explained her blunder to the others, they set about trying to fix the mess. They started with assigning Porter to the yard at Truro, as he was short enough to fit in the headshunt.
Next, they headed down the line to Penmere, where Rebecca was still shunting oil tankers. Once this was done, Sophie was swapped into her place, and Rebecca headed up the line to pull passengers.
When they got to Falmouth, Salty was moved onto the yards, and Charles took the goods. He certainly looked a lot happier after that.
That evening, the engines were all back at the shed, and the drivers were looking out to sea as the sun set in the sky. "That was an interesting day," Hitch said to the others.
"It sure was," Izzy sighed. "Porter is NOT designed for that sort of work!"
Just then, the foreman arrived, looking in much better health. "I head about the mixup," he said. "But I have to say you girls did a superb job in getting it cleaned up and getting the railway back on track."
"I'm a boy," Hitch pointed out.
"Still, keep up the good work."
The Falmouth team knew that, even when things do go wrong, putting your heads together and applying some common sense is the fastest way to fix them.
The Falmouth Branch is something of a poorly kept secret in Britain's railway community. Apart from the Island of Sodor, it is now the only place in Britain apart from preserved lines where vintage locomotives are still at work performing revenue earning tasks. As such, many enthusiasts turn out to see the trains go by, and even travel behind them as they go about their day. The fact that Falmouth positively oozes with steam era atmosphere, complete with historic dock cranes and wharf buildings, only adds to the atmosphere.
Indeed, the stations along the line have been returned to their historic appearances where possible, to help bring the magic of a lost age back to life. However, the increase in patronage has resulted in a dramatic surge in traffic, often meaning the engines and their drivers have lots to do.
One of these mornings saw Ray down in the quarry. A bumper stone haul had overwhelmed the existing locomotives, and as such more help was needed. Lady Haven tended to Ray's fire as more trucks were being loaded.
"I hope they don't expect us to take the trucks with us up the line!" Ray said. "We'd struggle to pull this lot!"
"Our orders state that we're only shunting," Lady Haven replied. "I imagine they'll send another engine down to take them away."
Sure enough, a loud horn echoed through the tunnel, and none other than Charles came to a stop. "Ray! There you are!" he said. "Keeping these trucks in order?"
"They keep themselves in order," Ray replied. "Work methodically with trucks and be sensible and they behave themselves. Be silly and they do all sorts of silly things."
"Good of you," Charles replied. "Wouldn't want you to get puffed out, would we?" He then laughed at his joke, despite the fact it wasn't funny.
Zipp opened the cab window. "Probably best we work quickly before he gets worse."
Sure enough, the two engines got to work. The process of constantly shuffling trucks back and forth between the loading bays and the sidings took a long time, as the sidings were short. This meant that only short formations of trucks could be moved at any one time.
After a few hours of work, Charles pulled up a fuel point. "Just wait a moment!" he said.
"Wait a moment?" Ray asked. "Never thought I'd hear you say that, Charles."
"I'll just have my tank refilled. Fuel's getting a bit low!"
A few minutes later, Charles' tank was topped off, and he was ready to go. Zipp hit the priming circuit and the diesel's engine thundered into life. "Such a great sound!" Zipp commented.
"Well, you can't cook bacon in a firebox on one of those!" Ray replied.
"Who needs that when you have steam heating?" Charles asked. His objective was to move forward to the next set of trucks, but as he began to move his engine coughed, and then began to stick. Within seconds, it cut out completely and came to a dead stop.
"I've completely lost all power!" Zipp shouted. As she glanced back down out of the cab, a vast cloud of black smoke billowed from Charles' exhaust.
"That's not gone well!" Charles commented.
Zipp hopped out and sprinted back to the pump. She tipped some into a vessel, slipped on her goggles, and scanned it. "That's not good," she said.
"What's the matter?" Lady Haven asked.
"The fuel is contaminated with water! I can only hope it's limited to here and nowhere else."
But Zipp was wrong. The fuel had been delivered to the Falmouth pumps as well, and both Salty and Sophie were belching smoke from their exhausts. When Ray returned from taking a look, he reported the grim news to Charles and Zipp.
"Well, I know who did it," Charles said. "It was Opaline!"
"How did you come to that conclusion?" Ray asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Charles said. "The diesel fuel is contaminated. Diesel is two letters longer than water. A none regular triangle has one side longer than the other. A triangle has three sides. Opaline has three syllables in her name. Opaline therefore contaminated the fuel."
Zipp shook her head. "That makes absolutely no sense, even by your standards." She glanced over to Ray. "Mom, I'm asking for help. Can you find some fresh diesel fuel for the engines?"
"Of course!" Lady Haven said. "I'll take Ray up to the house and collect the spare diesel we have there. Will you be coming with me?"
Zipp shook her head. "I need to bleed Charles' tank to ensure there's no further damage."
Ray rattled out of the quarry as quickly as he could before climbing to the station, coughing at the black clouds continuing to billow across the area. "Hey! Everybody! Bleed the tanks of your engines!"
As he reversed, he saw people running about to do just that. He ran up the hill as fast as his wheels would carry him, until at last he arrived at the siding which led into the yard at the house.
Lady Haven applied his brakes and headed into the house, stopping at the door. "Robert? Are you in?"
"I'm in the sitting room, dear."
"What are you doing there?"
"Sitting."
Lady Haven entered through the door, and Robert glanced up. "Out driving, I see. The boilersuit suggested as much."
"I need your help to load the spare oil drums into a van. There's a fuel crisis going on at the yard and several engines have received contanimated diesel."
"Let's waste no time then!" Robert replied, grabbing a coat on his way out.
The pair worked to load the drums into the van, and the door was closed with the cargo safely contained. Safe to say this stuff was more valuable than gold at the moment.
Ray was coupled up, and before long he was back on his way back down the line. His first stop was the engine shed, where Salty and Sophie were.
"Thanks for the fuel, matey!" Salty said. "I haven't had anything like that in my tanks for a long time!"
"I guess it's like indigestion, then?" Sunny said, as she hooked up the pipes to the drums.
"Or like going to a buffet," Pipp added, as she hooked up some other pipes. "I won't be doing that again, that's for sure."
After a few minutes, the fuel pumping procedure was completed, and both engines were fired up. "Arr! That's much better!" Salty said. "Time to go back to work!"
"Me too!" Sophie replied. "I've got a lot of work to catch up on in the next few hours! Hopefully the customers will understand!"
Charles looked very glum. Without any fuel he was unable to turn a wheel, and when he unable to turn a wheel he couldn't shunt the trucks. And when he couldn't shunt the trucks the orders couldn't be cleared. The place was a mess.
"I hope Ray gets here soon," he said. "I never thought I'd say this but I'll be glad to see him arrive."
Just then, a familiar whistle echoed through the tunnel, and Ray steamed in with the van. "I've got some fuel for you!" he said. "It's yours provided you say I'm not boring."
"Ray you're not boring. Now can I please have some fuel?"
"Of course," Ray smiled.
The pipes were linked up, and before long the process of pumping fuel into Charles' engine began. It took a few minutes to completely fill up, but after a certain amount of time the engine was ready to go. Zipp hit the starter switch and Charles' engine rumbled back into life. "He lives!" Zipp cheered. "Thanks for the help!"
"No problem, my dear," Lady Haven replied. "Now then, I believe we have quite the backlog to clear. This yard is in a frightful state!"
Once more, the quarry sang to the sound of engines hard at work. Within a few hours, the trucks were marshalled and ready to go, and with two brakevans attached Charles led them out of the quarry. "Thank you Ray!" he said. "With teamwork we can achieve a lot!"
"I think Charles may have learned something today," Ray smiled, as he puffed out of the yard after them and into the tunnel.
Later that day, the engines had all returned to the shed and were being put away for the night. "That was an interesting day," Sunny said. "I haven't quite gotten the smell of diesel fuel out of my clothes. They'll need a wash tonight."
"Did we ever find out what caused the fuel to be bad?" Porter asked.
"We did, actually," Zipp said. "The pipe to the pump had a hole in it and rainwater got in. They're patching the hole as I speak."
"So, not sabotage?" Charles asked.
"No. Why?" Izzy asked.
"Charles had a theory that Opaline contaminated it. It made no sense at all!"
"You are aware I can hear you, right?"
Pipp laughed. "Just goes to show the importance of not jumping to conclusions!"
"'Twas late '65 at the old Wallsea Yard! She was commissioned to haul the black tar/ Built the Northumbria there on the bar! Roll Northumbria, roll!
"For when the Egyptians they closed the Red Sea/ A call came on high from the powers that be/ To build a royal monster right down the key/ Roll Northumbria roll, me boys! Roll Northumbria, roll!"
"Is that a new sea shanty?" Sunny asked.
"I'm surprised you haven't heard that one," Salty said, as Sunny reversed him out of the shed. "It's about an oil tanker that used to sail the seas. She once docked at Fawley Refinery, and I shunted tankers loaded with oil from her tanks."
"I haven't heard that one either," Pipp added, who was working on Sophie. "Speaking of hearing, it's a bit odd we haven't heard anything from mom yet."
"That's a good point, actually," Sunny said. "She's usually one of the first to roll her sleeves up, so to speak."
"You're right about that one," Porter noted. "She's a dab hand with a wrench, so to speak. I used not to think too highly of aristocrats, but she's one of the good ones."
Suddenly, Pipp's phone buzzed, and she took a look. "Text from mom!" she said. Her face scrunched up in confusion as she looked at it. "Dog emoji?"
Zipp snorted. "Her hand probably slipped on the keyboard again. Remember that time she just texted 'don't'?"
"You don't think she was the one who wrote that sign, do you?" Rebecca asked.
"What sign?" Hitch asked, as he brought the light pacific up to temperature.
"That one we saw on the china clay line back in October that just said don't."
"Old Bailey told us part of the sign fell off, that's all," Hitch answered.
"But she's never late!" Pipp said. "If anything, I'm the late sleeper! The delay, now the cryptic texts- it must mean only one thing... she's been abducted!"
There was a moment of silence. "You're pullin' me wheel!" Salty laughed. "She's probably just busy!"
"Being a duchess does come with a lot of responsibility... as she reminds me. All the time." Zipp glanced aside. "What you reading, Hitch?"
Hitch sighed. "Great Western have recently changed the timetable, and it means that I'll need to get used to the new timings. But this barely makes any sense. These look far too tight to be achievable for most of our engines."
"I could probably do it!" Charles said. "Speed and power solves everything."
"Oh, here we go again," Porter grumbled. "Speed and power is of no use if you come flying off a bend."
"Teeth, be quiet."
Porter simmered, annoyed, whilst Hitch looked at the times. "It's giving us only thirty minutes to cover the entire branch, and then only 15 minutes to run round at the other end!"
Sunny glanced over. "I'm certain you'll be able to figure it out."
Just then, a great fanfare started up outside the shed. "What was that?" asked Sophie.
"A trumpet," Charles replied.
"Apart from the obvious!"
Pipp and Zipp popped outside to see personnel from their family's security detail, all dressed in very formal uniforms and playing instruments.
"What's going on?" Zipp asked.
A trumpeter played a fanfare, and a soldier stepped forward. "Greetings upon this fine morrow. I bring a message of the greatest import from far lands, and thereof that-"
"Get on with it!" Pipp snapped.
Just then, one of the soldiers stepped forward, holding a scroll. He then unrolled it. "Henceforth shall it be known, in our Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty Four, That Her Ladyship the Duchess of Dorset, the Monitor of the Grand Scroll, the Keeper of the Keys of Ashdown Forest, and the Hammer of the Lancastrians, verily and urgently requires the company of the two issue of her family, Ladies Zara Storm and Philippa Petals, to henceforth and urgently deliver the ferroequine known to the fellowship as Ray, for to be processed and placed inside the erecting shop, and therefore this task is to be completed with all deliberate speed. Here concludeth the message."
"What?" said Hitch. "That might as well have been written in gibberish for all the sense it made."
Zipp sighed. "Mom wants us to move Ray to the workshop we have at the house."
"Did you actually understand any of that?" Hitch said, amazed.
"Proclamations have to be worded in that way for some reason," Zipp replied. "Something about no possible ambiguity. Still, let's get Ray moved and then we can find out what's going on."
"Nice that somebody remembered I was here," Ray said. "My bearings are all wonky."
Pipp glanced to her sister. "All this pomp and circumstance. This is very unlike her- if anything this feels like one of dad's practical jokes!"
Zipp nodded. "Yeah, the more this situation builds, the wierder it gets. Let's get Ray hooked up. That way Rebecca can be prepped for pulling the coaches."
As they pulled out of the yard with Ray in tow, they heard the incredible sound of hundreds of trucks singing in harmony.
"And it's one for the hot sun above! Two for the empire we love! And it's three for the fire that burns down below/ Roll on Northumbria! Roll Northumbria, roll!"
"The trucks are in good voice today," Charles said.
Boomer arrived outside the Lighthouse and switched on his radio. "Opaline, I'm there," he said.
"Good," Opaline said over the radio. "Use the lockpick and get inside the lighthouse itself. The plans suggest you can get to the elevator without having to go through the house."
"On my way." Boomer sprinted over and insterted the lockpicking tool into the lock. There were a few beeps as it adjusted the tumbler, but then the lock fell open. The door swung open, and Boomer was in.
He closed the door behind him and made his way onto the elevator, noticing a loud whistle from elsewhere in the town.
"Get in quickly please!" Rebecca called. "We have quite a tight timetable to hold!"
Passengers were still moving about at their usual pace, not knowing that the train was booked to depart a minute earlier than the previous day. They jumped when the whistle was sounded, and many ran across the platform to get on. They fell over each other and landed on different things.
Hitch facepalmed. "We're gonna be late..."
Once everybody was onboard, the train was running about twenty minutes late. Rebecca snorted out of the platform. "I hope we can make up the lost time!" she said. "That was a rather big delay!"
Hitch looked out of the cab and smiled. "I think things will be fine, Rebecca. We're not stopping at Penmere on the first stage of the run, so we can make up some lost time."
When they got to Penmere, Charles and Sophie were waiting in the loop for them to pass. Rebecca flew through the platform, steam rising magnificently into the air.
Unfortunately, Hitch was wrong. This wasn't a skipped stop at all. It was now a regular stop in the timetable. People stood on the platform angrily shaking their fists, and complaining to the station master what a bad railway it was.
Sophie looked over. "They look unhappy."
Charles rolled his eyes. "That is possibly the biggest understatement... in the world."
Pipp, Zipp, and the engines had arrived at the siding in good time, and shunted Ray into the shed before continuing on their way to Truro after letting Rebecca pass. A heavy load of trucks, too much for one Class 33, had been dropped off, and needed taking down to Penmere for the construction of the new oil terminal.
As they approached, Charles sighed. "The signal is set for the bay platform."
"And?" Zipp asked.
"I am important. I should get the main platform."
Pipp sighed as well. "Charles is quite the handful."
Both engines were stabled in the bay platform, and it soon became clear why. The board warned of a non passenger train approaching the platform.
"Looks like a priority freight!" Sophie said. "But then why is the signal for the main at red?"
Pipp said nothing.
Zipp glanced over. "Cat got your tongue?"
"I'm worried about mom, OK?" Pipp replied. "I know we didn't have time to check in, but she's not answering a single text I sent her!"
Zipp checked her messages. "I've texted her to. No replies either. This sucks."
"There's probably a reasonable explanation," Charles said.
"That's novel, coming from Mr. Insane Troll Logic himself."
"Nobody does it better than me!"
Suddenly, a strange noise started in the distance. "Did you hear that?" Pipp asked.
"Shhhh!" Sophie added.
"It sounds like a diesel," Pipp said. "And not just any old diesel. It sounds like... a Class 37!"
Zipp flipped her phone and played a sound recording. "This is a Class 37. Those traction motors are way too loud for it to be a Class 37."
"What if it's a Class 37 with very noisy traction motors?"
"I can't think of any that loud..." Zipp trailed off as the engine lumbered into view. "Janet?"
It was Janet! The green diesel rumbled smoothly into the platform producing a tremendous racket, with a rake of trucks rattling in behind her. Even at idle the engine was pretty loud.
Once the engine had come to a complete stop, Alphabittle rolled the window down and leaned out. "Hey girls! How are things?"
"What are you doing here?" Pipp asked.
Janet looked over. "I'm pulling a train, can't you see?"
"Then where are your coaches?" Sophie asked.
"Are you referencing something?" Alphabittle asked, as he took a sip from a flask. "Tea, not alcohol. It's illegal to be drunk at the controls of a locomotive."
"I'm not pulling passengers today," Janet replied. "I'm hauling freight!"
"I can see you're pulling freight," Zipp said. "But I will admit this was the last place I was expecting to see you two. Aren't you working down in Swanage at the moment whilst Charles and Sophie are up here?"
"Hopefully you're obeying signals this time," Charles grumbled.
"That's a bit rude, don't you think?" Janet asked.
"Not as rude as blocking a platform!"
Alphabittle glanced over. "Not this again. Fancy some tea, girls?"
"We're a bit busy at the moment, but maybe later?" Zipp answered. She indicated to the trucks in the yard.
"You'll have to be quick then," Alphabittle smiled. "These parts are bound for Haven yard, and need to be delivered quickly." Just then the signal dropped, and Janet pulled away with a roar that echoed as she entered the tunnel.
Zipp blinked. "Well that got weird quickly."
"I know!" Pipp added. "Why is he taking parts to our yard of all places?"
After collecting their stock, the pair and their engines set off back to Penmere. However, they were held in the loop at Penrhyn to let Rebecca past, who whizzed through without stopping!
They eventually reached Penmere and began the complex process of shunting the trucks into the sidings for the oil terminal. Then, Zipp spotted something. "Who left these trucks here?" she asked. "They're not from the building work!"
"They were coupled to Janet earlier," Pipp realised, as she took a look. "But they're empty. And Janet is nowhere to be seen!"
"If they were due for delivery to the yard, why are they here?" Sophie asked.
"Laziness," Charles said. "Never trust an English Electric product!"
Suddenly, they heard laughter from over on the other side of the line. "Quick! That way!" Pipp said, and dashed across the line after looking both ways.
Zipp shook her head and followed. "And she thinks I'm reckless."
Both girls hid behind a small berm and gradually looked over it. The Haven's home near Falmouth had two gardens, one of which backed onto the railway embankment (which meant people could see whomever was down there, and conversely it made a very good spot for transpotting).
Near the house were several tables and chairs. And sitting in two of them were-
"Mom?" Pipp asked, inhaling a ridiculous amount of air in the process.
"And Alphabittle?" Zipp asked as well. "What's he doing here?"
At that distance, neither of them could understand what they were saying. "Wait, I'm gonna try to lipread," Pipp said. "Got a pen?"
Zipp rolled her eyes and took out a pen and a notepad. "OK."
Pipp nodded. "Gotcha," she said, before turning her eyes back to the figures in the garden as Rebecca whizzed past behind them. "Mom's saying 'I'm fed up, I've tried talking to him'. And Alphabittle's saying 'And is he?'. Back to mom again, she's saying 'no, he's at...' This is bizarre. Hang on, Alphabittle's speaking now! 'If it helps you feel any better I can do it. It's not quite the life, is it'?"
Zipp finished scribbling it down, and peered at the results, a bit confused. "Well, that made little sense. Clearly mom and Alphabittle are fluent in gobbledegook."
Rebecca blasted out of the platform, the roar from her chimney producing a volcanic cloud of steam as she thundered out of Penmere. "We need to speed up!" she said. "We're going much, much too slowly, and we're behind time!"
"Which time?" Hitch said, now getting very, very confused.
Rebecca was running early- too early as a matter of fact. As they rattled towards Falmouth station, she saw Porter making his way out of the docks. "Watch out, Porter!" she called.
Izzy slammed on Porter's brakes and stopped him as Rebecca thundered into the platform.
Porter was surprised. "What are you laking it?" he shouted. "You're early!"
"Am I?" Rebecca asked. "I have no idea where I'm meant to be or what I'm doing!"
"We've been sat here a while," Charles grumbled. "My radiator is getting cold."
"I doubt it, as you seem to be full of hot air," Sophie replied.
"Are they still looking into the garden?" Charles asked.
"It looks that way," Sophie grumbled.
Pipp was still looking in. "I can't make sense of what they're saying anymore. They've got their backs turned to us!"
Zipp looked in, adjusting her binoculars. "They seem to be sorting through parts of some sort. Bit of an odd place to do it. Normally we'd do that in the shed." She looked closer. "Is that a cheeseboard? With cheese on it!"
Pipp checked her watch. "It's far too early for cheese!" Her face dropped. "It's not just any old cheese. It's the posh ones we imported from France!"
Zipp zoomed again. "That's some very mobile brie down there. It may be a bit too mature."
The more they looked, the less this made sense.
Boomer had made his way into the lamp room and was digging about in the chamber for clues. "Come on, they have to be here somewhere."
He then spotted what he was looking for. The crystals were sitting in a large tank in the centre of the light chamber. "Perfect." He snapped several photos of the room as evidence, and then he left on the elevator.
He stepped outside and shut the door, using the lockpick to reset the lock behind him. "Opaline, I've got the evidence. Returning to base."
Rebecca clattered into Truro, looking even more confused than ever before. "I have no idea what is going on!" she said. "Are we late or early this time?"
A DMU looked over from another platform. "You're not late!" she said. "You're very early!"
"That's right!" said the station master, who had appeared on the platform. He looked very unhappy. "You have caused confusion and del- uh, no, that's not quite right. Er, confusion and- well, a great deal of confusion! How can we run a railway when trains don't follow the timetable? If we don't follow the timetable people miss their trains!"
Rebecca sighed. "It is this timetable! It's so confusing, we don't know if we're early or late or anything else!"
The station master walked over and looked in the cab. "May I look?" he asked.
Hitch handed him the timetable. "Here you go."
The station master looked very puzzled. "This isn't the timetable!" he said. "These timings are far too tight. The new timetable slackens the timings rather than tightening them."
Hitch looked baffled. "If this isn't the timetable, then how did it get into my work order for the day?"
The station master shrugged. "I'll contact headquarters and find out what happened."
Pipp looked on as Alphabittle and Lady Haven disappeared into the shed. "I can't take it anymore!" she said.
"Take what anymore?" Zipp asked.
"The tea, the photos, the cheese, disappearing somewhere out of view... Zipp, it's obvious! Mom is having an affair!"
Zipp blinked. "Pipp, aren't you jumping to conclusions?"
"I cannot wait and sit idly by!" Pipp said, as she marched off towards the shed. "I refuse to let dad's heart be broken!"
"Pipp, wait!" Zipp called, before facepalming. "This is gonna suck..."
Back at Truro, the station master handed Hitch some new paperwork. "Management can't explain the timetable incident," he said. "But they did say to use this one from now on. You should find that one much easier to follow. Though you will need to run your engine round pretty sharpish."
Hitch hoped he was right.
Pipp swung the door open and marched into the shed. "Right then, where are..."
She trailed off when she saw nobody was in the room. "This is weird..."
Suddenly, Alphabittle emerged from the inspection pit. "Hello Pipp!" he said. "Need something?"
Pipp blinked in confusion. "But... I don't understand."
"Spanner!" called a voice, before the familiar form of Lady Haven appeared from the inspection pit. She, like Alphabittle, was covered in grease and dirt. "Oh. Hello Pipp. I wasn't expecting to see you here."
Pipp went red with embarrassment. "I've misinterpreted this, haven't I?"
"Misinterpreted what?" Alphabittle asked. "Pipp, you're not making a lot of sense."
Zipp had entered by now, and she decided to explain. "Pipp thinks you two are having an affair."
"Zipp!" Pipp snapped.
"What? Just telling it as it is!"
Alphabittle looked over. "I'll go back to changing the bearings."
Lady Haven's face, on the other hand, was very hard to read. It had the look of both confusion and simmering anger at the same time.
The girls' faces said it all. "We've messed up big time," Pipp said quietly, her face doing the best approximation of Porter's shocked face.
Ray tried to lighten to mood. "Well, there is value sometimes in the positioning of piston valves, as you'll see when you closely examine-"
"Not helping, Ray!"
A few seconds passed, but it felt like hours as the uneasy standoff continued. Then what happened next caught everybody off guard.
Lady Haven started laughing.
Zipp nudged Pipp. "This was not the reaction I was expecting."
Their mother took a few moments to compose herself, as speaking and snorting like a traction engine aren't exactly compatible. "Oh, Pipp! You do sometimes come to the strangest of conclusions! But what I want to know is how on Earth you got to that!"
"I did some lipreading of you and Alphabittle whilst having tea."
"Eavesdropping, I see," Lady Haven replied. "well, lipreading does have a tendancy to turn even mundane conversations into complete nonsense. This is what we actually said..."
Lady Haven placed a full teapot down on the table. "There you go!" she said. "Haven House Blend!"
"Thank you!" Alphabittle smiled, and poured two cups. "I consider myself something of a tea conoisseur."
"You must consume a lot of it in your line of work," Lady Haven nodded. "Heavens know I do."
"You'd be surprised how a nice beer can rehydrate you at the end of a working day," Alphabittle sighed, before taking out his tablet. "I've got some photos from the Swanage Diesel Gala if you want to look."
"Splendid!" Lady Haven smiled, and looked as Alphabittle scrolled through the images. "What is that?"
"It's a Class 88," Alphabittle explained. "Weird machines. Give me a Class 37 or 40 any day. That looked seriously odd double heading with the Class 25s."
He noticed Lady Haven looking up at the lineside as Charles and Sophie passed. "Is something wrong?"
Lady Haven sighed. "It's my daughters. I know this sounds sappy, but I've watched them grow from little children into the fine young women they are now. Pipp has her streaming and perfume side business, Zipp, of course, will succeed me, and the engines will need new drivers. Well, how to put it... is it possible to have empty nest syndrome before your children have moved out?"
Alphabittle nodded. "I've lived on my own for years since... well, you know what. I know how that feels. But family never really moves away. Bonds always tie you to your past, and I have no doubt your kids want to stay in contact with you."
Lady Haven nodded. "Thank you. I suppose we should get back to work. Do you mind if I call you Arthur?"
Alphabittle laughed. "Sure thing, Liz!"
Pipp had her face in her hands. "Sorry," she mumbled.
Lady Haven's face softened. "We all jump to conclusions sometimes. But what made you think I was romantically interested in Alphabittle at all? You are friends with Hitch, right?"
Pipp nodded. "Yeah, but-"
"And he's a boy, correct?"
Pipp sounded exasperated. "Mom, I know what a boy is!"
"And you feel no affection beyond a friendship for him, correct?"
Pipp nodded. "Yeah, but what does that have-"
"Myself and Alphabittle are friends. Alphabittle is male. So why is it OK for you to have male friends you have no romantic affection for and not for me to do the same?"
"But it's different!" Pipp protested.
Lady Haven tilted her head. "Is it?"
Zipp stepped over. "What was that you said yesterday about jumping to conclusions?" she said to Pipp.
"I really should take my own advice more often," Pipp said quietly.
Lady Haven indicated to the side of the room, and walked over with her daughters. "When I was about your age, my father- your grandfather- taught me a very important lesson. I think he phrased it like this. Don't judge a book by its cover. Don't make your mind up too soon. Things aren't neccesarily always what they appear to be. So don't judge a book by its cover. Just remember the rules." She paused. "I can't remember how many nevers he said, but it was a lot. But the point stands."
Alphabittle popped up from the inspection pit. "Perhaps we should explain why I'm here."
"I was kinda wandering that," Zipp asked.
"Well," Lady Haven began, "yesterday we worked Ray pretty hard getting all the fuel swapped around, and when I got him back to the shed for inspection his bearings had gone a bit off. I requested spare parts, but they got delivered to Swanage by mistake. Alphabittle offered to bring them over as he knows the way and has a mainline registered locomotive."
"So why was he in the inspection pit?" Pipp asked.
"The crane is broken, and your father is away running Alexandra on the Looe Branch. I'm not strong enough to change the parts out myself, so an extra pair of hands was greatly appreciated."
Alphabittle chose to speak. "I know change can be hard. I'm a guy pretty set in my ways myself. But you and your friends did so something pretty impressive, so I think I can find it in my heart to let you two off this time." He glanced back. "Even if I never got my crystal back."
There was silence. But then Pipp spoke. "You said an extra pair of hands was appreciated. How about another two?"
Alphabittle glanced over. "You'd do that for us?"
"Think of it as us making up for all the trouble we caused," Zipp said.
Opaline smiled as she looked at the photographs. "Very good, Boomer," she said. "This is vital information for the next stage of the plan."
Boomer nodded. "I am honoured to serve, Opaline. What is our next move?"
Opaline turned to him. "I have a very important job for you."
The engines of Falmouth love it when the sun shines and the sky is blue, and there is not a cloud in the sky. In fact, these are ideal weather conditions for observing railway equipment in action. Even if the footplate of a vintage locomotive can get very warm (seriously, how do you install climate control into a steam locomotive cab?), the drivers still value working with them.
One morning, when the weather conditions were exactly like what I described in the previous paragraph, Porter and Salty were working together on the dockside. Porter seemed cheerful enough, but Salty's mood seemed harder to pin down.
"Is everything OK?" Porter asked.
Salty looked at him. "It may be OK now, but there be a storm comin' later today."
Porter looked about, confused. "What? A storm will be coming, I think you meant."
Izzy leaned out. "Porter, you are aware Salty speaks in a dialect, right, just like you do?"
Porter sighed. "Yes, I am aware that no person or engine speaks 100% grammatically correctly, but I had to ditch my accent in order to get anywhere in the world! It's not exactly positive memories if you know what I mean."
"Then why not switch back?" Sunny suggested.
"Because it's been a long time since I last used it that it'll sound like a parody of my old voice. Rather like your mother, Sunny. If you didn't know you'd assume she was Canadian."
"That's a good point, actually," Sunny admitted.
"All of this be missin' the point, me hearties!" Salty said. "There was a red sky this morning. And you all know the old saying. Red sky in the mornin', sailor's warnin'. Don't underestimate mother nature. She's a cruel mistress."
"Got it," Porter said as he rolled away. "Does the weather forecast mention a storm?"
Salty felt glum. Although he knew Porter enjoyed joking about, he was worried he wasn't taking the problem seriously. He had no further chances to think when the foreman arrived.
"I've got an important job for you two," he said. "Fergus has stalled near the branch for Newham, and needs pulling down to Falmouth for some fuel. You've got the torque for the job."
"Seems a bit odd to send us up to Truro," Salty observed.
"No other engines are available," the foreman replied. "Now hop to it."
"Aye aye, sir," Salty replied flatly, and they began to reverse up the line.
Sunny leaned out of the cab window. "How about a song? I heard, I heard the old man say..."
Salty had to pause at Penrhyn to let Rebecca pull in with a passenger train. "What's wrong?" Rebecca asked. "You're looking awfully glum!"
Salty sighed. "Nobody is takin' me warnin' seriously. There was a red sky in the mornin'. There's a storm comin', I know it!"
"There's no reference to stormy weather conditions in the weather forecast," Hitch said. "But I am aware the weather can change very suddenly on the coast."
"Besides, there was a debate about accents and dialect," Salty sighed. "I can't help the way I speak."
"None of us can!" Rebecca said, her Lancastrian accent and northern vowels especially noticable in that sentence. "How we speak and the words we use is part of who we are, and it should be celebrated!"
Rebecca decided a word with Porter was in order.
Sure enough, she found him at work on the dockside. Dark clouds were beginning to drift over the skies. "I don't remember this being in the forecast!" Porter said.
"Me neither!" Izzy smiled. "Those people on the beach are leaving pretty fast."
"Beach without watch!" Porter smiled. "Approachin' the seas be dangerous!"
Rebecca glanced over. "Porter, how would you feel if somebody mocked you over your accent. You're a fellow northener. I'm certain you'd understand."
"I was built in Derby, you muppet," Porter replied. "And yes, dropping your dialect was a key way to get ahead in the world back then. Why do you think the Jubilees all spoke with received pronunciation?"
"That never hurt me!" Rebecca admitted.
"What I'd be more interested to know is how an engine built in Brighton ended up with a Lancastrian accent," Porter answered. "Besides, Izzy is from Lancashire as well, and she doesn't sound a bit northern!"
"Any clue why that is?" Hitch asked.
"It is one of life's greatest mysteries," Izzy replied. "I mean, you can see how Sunny, Pipp, and Zipp got their accents."
"But what surprises me is Pipp and Zipp's are so strong when their mom speaks with a Mid-Atlantic accent."
The conversation was suddenly curtailed by the arrival of the rain, and a lightning flash out at sea. "We'd best get undercover," Izzy said quickly. "Or we'll be very wet!"
Up that Newham, Salty had just run into Fergus. "Sorry for the bother!" Fergus said. "We must have miscalculated how much coal I had left! We could hardly risk damage to the firebox, could we?"
"Aye, but there's a storm comin'," Salty replied. "We'd best be movin' quickly."
Sunny hopped out of the cab and coupled Fergus up, but stopped when she suddenly felt something wet against her hand. She glanced up. "Rain. It's started raining!"
"And I have no cab," Fergus answered.
"Tempest, would you like to ride in the cab with me?" Sunny asked. "Salty's got two seats in the cab."
"Thank you," Tempest replied. "Salty, you help to keep Fergus company."
"I'll be glad to," Salty answered, as the two women hopped in his cab. "How about some singing? That's a good way to keep spirits up."
"But which song?" Fergus ventured.
And Salty began, his magnificent voice echoing off the local terrain.
"Pass around the grog me boys! Never count the storm! Drink the good old liquid down and boldly ask for more!"
As was common in these parts of the world, Fergus and the two drivers then joined in with the harmony parts.
"For ’tis he who will not merry, merry be/ Shall never taste of joy! Sing, sing, the Cape’s in view! And forward, my brave boy!"
Darkness soon fell as the storm got worse. And things were soon to get worse still. Out at sea, a fishing trawler was making an approach to Falmouth Harbour with a large catch.
"What's our bearing?" the captain called. "Check the RADAR display!"
"We've got a problem!" one of them shouted. "The Generator's conked out! The RADAR is broken!"
"Now we have no way of navigating safely to shore!" the Captain said. "If only there was some other method of nautical navigation."
Salty and Fergus had rattled to a stop in the sidings at the harbour. The storm was now blowing fiercely. Rain splattered down and exploded on the ground like bombs. Thunder boomed overhead. And the wind howled like a demon, threatening to lift anything off the ground.
"This is the worst storm I've known living here!" Sunny said. Just then, the cab radio picked up a message.
"Mayday, mayday, this is the trawler Endeavour. We are without RADAR and unable to navigate to shore. Send help immediately. Coordinates to follow."
Sunny looked horrified. "If they drift any further they'll be dashed upon the rocks!" she said. "I have an idea!"
She jumped out and changed some points, before hopping back into the cab and reversing both engines back towards the lighthouse.
"Err, what's the plan?" Tempest asked.
"I'm going to activate the light from the lighthouse!" Sunny answered. Parking the two machines outside, she sprinted into the lighthouse proper and switched the generator to on.
Nothing happened.
"There's a slight problem!" she called. "The generator's not working!"
"Why not use Fergus?" Salty suggested. "He has a flywheel!"
Sure enough, Fergus was hooked up to the generator and once he was back up to temperature he set to work. It took a few attempts, but at last the generator rumbled into life.
"Now comes the tricky bit!" Sunny answered, and sprinted up the steps of the lighthouse two at a time until she reached the lamp room. She turned to her left and pulled a switch. This lifted the crystal chamber out of position and put it safely in a gap in the floor. She then threw another lever, and this lowered the lense into position and raised the light out of the floor.#
She covered her eyes at the intensity of the light, but reached along and pulled the last switch. With a whirr and a rattle the gears of the rotation mechanism fired up, and the lense started to rotate.
The ship's captain was most surprised when he suddenly saw a light coming across the bay. "The old Falmouth light? I thought that had been decommisioned decades ago!"
He turned to his crew. "We have a guiding light, me hearties! Turn to starboard!"
The light kept on running through the night to guide ships into the safety of Falmouth harbour, and was only dropped when the sun rose once more.
Salty's idea had worked brilliantly, and that morning on the dockside a number of sailors had turned out. "What be the occasion, my fellows?"
One of them looked up. "I'm the captain of the trawler back there. You saved our lives last night, and we will be forever in your debt."
"I can hardly take all the credit," Salty replied. "It was Sunny's idea to use the lighthouse, and Fergus got the generator working again."
"Great job out there," Porter said. "And sorry about the accent thing yesterday."
"All water under the bridge," Salty smiled. "Now then, let's get back to work."
The train rolled to a stop in the platform at Truro, its final stop. "This is Truro!" called the driver over the intercom. "Change here for services to Penzane, Plymouth, and Paddington!"
The doors slid open, and Sunny and her friends got off the train. "It's sure been a while since I last went here," Sunny said.
"So, how long have you been roller blading?" Pipp asked.
"Since I was about four," Sunny explained. "I'll let dad tell the story, as he's the one who taught me everything I know."
"Gladly," Argyle smiled. "Although the roller blading craze had somewhat faded away by the time I was your age, I thought it was a handy way to get around. It gave you your own set of wheels, it was very good for the environment, and steering was easy. And, of course, you didn't need to pay road tax on them. That's why I was so keen to introduce Goldie to them, though it wasn't really to her taste."
Zipp nodded, recalling how effortlessly Sunny could skate around on her roller blades. "And Sunny took to it like a duck to water. Like father, like daughter, huh?"
They continued to walk through the streets, chatting. "So, what is this event we're going to?" Hitch asked. "I've been to this rink before- I went for Sunny's tenth birthday party, for instance- but is anything different this time?"
"And what did you do for food?" Pipp asked.
"They've got an attached diner," Sunny answered. "But nothing but pizza isn't particularly interesting. And the animatronics are a bit creepy."
"Can I see?" Zipp asked. Sunny showed her a photo. "Yikes. That does look creepy. And didn't they have a problem with the animatronics smelling bad a few years ago?"
"They did," Sunny replied. "But we're a bit off topic. Tonight the rink is hosting something called The Ultimate Challenge. They basically transform the place into a racetrack, complete with speed lanes and similar. It's really good fun. Don't worry, those who don't have protective gear are supplied with it by the place."
Misty looked concerned. "Racing? That all sounds a bit intense, if you don't mind me saying."
"And hopefully there's no jumping!" Izzy said. When they looked at her, she explained. "There's a Lancashire supersticion that states that jumping in roller blades on a wooden floor can be bad luck."
"The floor is made of concrete, so there's no worry about that," Sunny replied. "Besides, this place is none of those things. It's a bit of fun, so the only thing that matters is that we enjoy ourselves."
The crew walked past the hospital where Misty was treated about a year earlier, and then turned another corner to reveal the large building before them. "We've arrived!" Sunny smiled. "Let's go in!"
After they had put their things away in lockers, they were quickly introduced to the place. They were soon to learn about how this place worked, and safe to say it was a bit of a surprise.
"OK, I was not expecting this," Sunny said.
The rink was on multiple levels, as was fitting for such a building. This was to allow multi level rinks to be assembled and put together, as well as racing along the upper floor and maintaining speed when going downhill. The entire place also seemed to have undergone something of a 1980s makeover. Neon blared from everywhere, and synth music was playing from the speakers. It was obvious who the target clientele was.
"I imagine this is right at home for you, Mr Starshine," Misty said.
"Not really," Argyle replied. "I came of age in the 1990s, so Oasis and Britpop is more my thing." He looked over. "Who's the woman over there?"
A member of staff overheard him, and decided to answer. "The figure in black with the helmet? We call her the Black Phantom. We don't know what she looks like and she speaks through a voice changer, but what nobody can deny is she's seriously good at roller blading. And no doubt she'll be braving the Ultimate Challenge tonight. Good luck if you choose to race her."
Sunny overheard this, and feeling confident decided to challenge them. "Hey," she said coolly. "I heard you're really good. How about a race, one on one?"
"You're on," said a heavily distorted voice. Sunny felt the voice somehow felt familiar, but dismissed that thought. There was no way this mysterious figure was somebody she knew, right? That sort of thing only happens in anime or manga.
The pair were now lined up on the start grid, and looked up at the lights. "Ready for a challenge?" Sunny said.
"Let the race determine if you're a challenge," the voice replied, as the lights began to shift. They moved from yellow, and then to green.
"3, 2, 1, GO!"
The pair blasted off the start grid and were soon flying down a straight. Seconds later, the straight transformed into a half pipe, and Sunny moved into the edge of the half pipe to try and maintain speed. Black Phantom was maintaining incredible speed as well, and was drawing ahead.
"Applying movement when going downhill? I've never seen that one before," Sunny said. She chased them at speed when the pathway suddenly split. Sunny went left and Black Phantom went right. Sunny roared across a bridge and soon rejoined the main pathway, when she saw a gap on the other side.
It seemed as though Black Phantom would fall off, but she executed an absolutely spectacular jump and cleared the gap, landing on the edge of the next path and sliding down a rail before jumping down to the main path.
"Watch and learn, kid," she said, before skating off.
Sunny was so stunned she temporarily lost concentration, and was shocked when the path split again. It then turned into some steps. "This is gonna get bumpy!" But then she spotted a way down. The centre section was dominated by a rail. Sunny then got her idea in her mind.
She jumped, landed on the rail, and skidded down it, using her hands to maintain her balance. "Let's hope this was a good use of playing Sonic games!"
At the bottom she landed next to Black Phantom, who glanced over in surprise. "Where did you come from?"
"Depends on what you mean by the question," Sunny answered. "If you mean where do I live, it's Falmouth. But I was born just across the road."
Black Phantom switched path and built up speed before thundering through a loop, before Sunny dropped down another sharp slope and kept up speed in another half pipe. The next stage of the run ran through a kaleidoscope of all sorts of trippy colours designed to disorient the rider. Sunny flew out of the other end and through a fog tunnel before seeing the finish up ahead. And there was no sign of Black Phantom. Sunny roared over the finish line and skidded to a stop. "Phew!" she said. "That was one of the toughest ones they've ever built."
"Ten seconds behind," Black Phantom said, revealing themselves to have already finished. "You're good, kid. That's the closest anybody has got. I'm off to take the lift back to the top. See you there."
Sunny was stunned. This person was seriously good. Just who was she?
The others all took the opportunity to race Black Phantom, and all of them got trounced in spectacularly short order. No matter what they tried, they always got ahead of them, almost as if they had run the course before many times before. The night drew on, and the races (and soda) flowed as they raced again and again. It was during one of the last races that everything suddenly changed.
Argyle was thundering along, when he suddenly spotted something. "The bridge on Black Phantom's side hasn't lowered! They'll fall into the depths!"
He swung round and pulled himself up to the relevant section and stopped, seeing Black Phantom approaching at speed. "JUMP! THE BRIDGE HASN'T DROPPED INTO POSITION!"
Black Phantom's body language indicated shock and confusion, and she jumped into the air as quickly as she could. But she slightly mistimed the leap, and flailed in the air as she flew forward.
Argyle locked the brakes on his blades on and got ready. Black Phantom flew closer within seconds was down below, her hands grapping the track.
"A bit of help, please?" she called.
Argyle resisted the urge for a wise crack and reached down to pull her up. He heaved with all his might, but in the impact noticed something odd. The voice hadn't been distorted at all. In fact, it sounded familiar.
Once he had finished hauling her up, he moved back to give her some space, and spotted her helmet had been knocked off.
And that he was looking into the face of somebody he knew very well.
Zipp sped past, saying the question for him. "Mom? Is that you?"
Back at the top, the group were sat around a table, and Black Phantom, now revealed to be Lady Haven, sat before them, explaining what was going on. "The truth is I've been doing this for years. Ever since I was your age, actually."
"How?" Zipp asked.
"As you probably know I was born in the 1970s, so was coming of age when the disco and roller blading crazes were at their peak. I took it up- though your grandfather disapproved- and became quite good at it, if I say so myself. Even when the craze faded I continued to roller blade, as it was good exercise and brought competition. It also spiced up the life of managing estates."
"But why the secret identity?" Pipp asked.
"Imagine how the press would react if they saw me out in public doing this sort of thing! The tabloids would have a field day!" Lady Haven sighed. "That's why I adopted the identity of Black Phantom. That way I could compete at my full potential without having to worry about people judging my performance just because of my social station." She sighed once more. "But I guess those days are over now. My secret is exposed. You all know now. It seems as though Black Phantom has run her last race."
"There's no need to give it up!" Argyle said. "You were amazing out there! It'd be a shame for you to throw it all away just because of an incident on the track!"
A worker walked past, and smiled. "Besides, there's nobody from the press here, and I think the only ones who saw the incident were you. Your secret is safe with us, Your Ladyship."
"And with us, too, mother," Pipp replied. "It's really cool to have a secret identity. Like a superhero!"
Zipp nodded in agreement. "The moves you were pulling out there were incredible. I could barely keep up!"
Lady Haven smiled. "Well, I do suppose I am something of a model of good physical health for my age." She reached forward and took a drink. "Well then, who wants another race!"
"You're on!" they all said.
Lady Haven popped her helmet on. "The Black Phantom rides again!"
If you were, by any chance, walking along the seafront of Falmouth on a given afternoon, you would have observed Pipp, Hitch, and Izzy engaging in very strange behaviour. All three of them were drinking smoothies... very quickly.
Near them, Sunny was using a stopwatch. "Right, we've been going for about 7 seconds..."
"Done!" Pipp said, slamming her cup down. "That's probably my quickest yet."
"7.1 seconds as a matter of fact," Sunny said. "You're a champion at chugging drinks."
Hitch was next to finish. And whilst nobody was looking, Izzy dumped the contents of her cup over the edge of the railings.
"Hey!" Posey shouted. "Watch it! That landed on me!"
Izzy pretended she hadn't heard. "That must be the fastest I've ever drunk that!"
Pipp looked back to the others. "Quick! Put your tongues to the rooves of your mouths!"
"Why?" Hitch asked.
"It's the most effective way to ward off brainfreeze!" Pipp replied, who was now bent double clutching her forehead. Hitch was doing the same.
Just then, Zipp ran over. "Sunny, what happened?" she asked.
"They've got a bit of brainfreeze. It should pass in a few moments, but the next round should be starting soon. Speaking of the next round, I made your favourite flavour. Fancy joining in?"
Zipp shook her head. "No thanks. I prefer to take time over my drinks." She took the cup and walked away. "You really shouldn't be promoting rush drinking, Sunny!"
Pipp looked over. "Spoilsport."
Later that day, Sophie was marshalling coaches in the yard. They were needed for the next day's passenger services, and as such it was important they were ready to be put into position.
She glanced over as she saw Charles roll onto the access line for the docks. "Having fun, Charles?" she called.
"Bother these trucks and their tricks!" Charles complained. "The only way to get them in line is seemingly to sing, but Zipp is an alto and can't sing some of the high melodies!"
Pipp heard this. "Well, I'm a soprano, so I can help."
"Much appreciated!"
Pipp spoke up. "Fancy doing some kareoke later, Zipp?"
"Too busy! Got stuff to work on!"
Pipp looked very annoyed. "What is going on?"
Later that day, as the sun was starting to set, Pipp had convened her friends (except Zipp) outside Mane Melody. "I don't get it!" she said, sounding very frustrated. "All she ever says to anything these days is no!"
"She may be busy, or it's things she doesn't like doing," Izzy pointed out.
"Izzy does have a point, Pipp," Sunny pointed out. "Trying to make people do stuff they don't want to do can hurt them."
"Why not talk to her and find out why she's saying no?" Hitch suggested.
Pipp scoffed. "I don't need to. She's just moody right now, as she sometimes is. What we need is some way to convince her to open up and do things. And I think I have the solution."
"Namely?" Misty asked.
Pipp saw Zipp approaching, and deliberately increased the volume of her voice. "Of course, Zipp would never do anything like that."
"Do anything like what?" Zipp asked.
Pipp turned to her. "There's a trend going round on the internet called yes day. It's a day where you have to say yes to everything you're offered."
Izzy looked annoyed. "Pipp, don't break the fourth wall! That's my job!"
Zipp sighed. "I could do a yes day."
"Could you now?" Pipp said. "Saying yes to everything and anything you're offered? I bet you wouldn't last until elevenses!"
Zipp smiled. "Challenge accepted. See you tomorrow!"
Pipp turned to her friends and grinned. "Reverse psychology never fails!" she grinned.
The others were less convinced. "Pipp, show some restraint," Hitch said.
"Hitch is right," Sunny added. "If you're not careful there's real potential for abuse here."
"You guys will act as observers!" Pipp said. "I won't be making her wear a dress or anything!"
"She seems to react badly to that," Hitch noted. "Why, if you don't mind me asking?"
"She's always been like that," Pipp answered. "Once we were flower girls for my aunt's wedding (mom has loads of brothers and sisters), and Zipp threw a MASSIVE tantrum over being made to wear a dress. And that's why she rarely wears them. Usually only if she's been told to."
"Well, that sorta is reassuring," Hitch said. "Tomorrow it is, then." And they all headed home for the night.
The day of not dismissing any activities followed almost immediately. After Zipp was up and dressed, and after breakfast was served, it was time for the first challenge- a makeover. Zipp did not enjoy herself at all. "I look like a clown with this facepaint."
"Zipp, remember what day it is?" Pipp said.
"The day when you cannot say the opposite of yes, I know," Zipp replied, sounding defeated.
Then it was Izzy's turn. Izzy had her tricycle outside, and no sooner was Zipp aboard she blasted off along the road at incredible speed.
"ISN'T THIS FUN?" Izzy shouted, as they roared over a level crossing.
Rebecca looked over from the yard, awaiting her booked departure time. "Does she normally drive that erratically?" she asked.
"I don't see this ending well," Hitch said.
And he was right. Izzy was stopped further down the road by a policeman. "You cannot proceed any further," he said.
"Why not?" Izzy asked. "I'm transporting a passenger."
The policeman then started to rattle off a long list of offenses. "Disorderly driving, driving down a private road with owner's permission, driving under the influence of what appears to be alcohol, driving an unlicensed vehicle on the road, careless driving, not keeping to the line of traffic, ignoring a pedestrian crossing, failing to observe traffic signs, causing ashes and/or sparks to be emitted on the highway, driving on the wrong side of the road, failing to report accident, malicious damage, inadequate lights, excessive noise, defective tyres, exceeding the maximum speed limit in a town..."
Zipp sighed. "I'm gonna be sick..."
After a very long day of doing various things, it was time for the final challenge. Pipp led Zipp upstairs into the living quarters of the house. "The last challenge is behind these doors." They went in, and Pipp flipped open the door. "Here you go!"
Zipp saw what was hanging up, and her eyes went narrow with horror.
Pipp looked over. "Hello? You there?"
"Seriously, Pipp?"
"What? It's just a dress. Look, I know white might clash with you-"
Her speech was suddenly interrupted by Zipp shoving her out of the way. "GET LOST!"
Pipp blinked in surprise. "What just happened?"
No sooner had she said that then her father poked his head in. "Pipp, what in the world is going on? I just saw Zipp running off and..." he trailed off when he saw what was hung up. "Pipp, were you trying to coerce her into doing something she didn't want to do?"
Pipp looked down. "I organised a yes day for her."
"You are aware that yes days are non binding, right? And the whole premise has the potential to be abusive."
Pipp sighed. "Sorry dad."
"I'm not the one you should be apologising to."
Pipp left the room in search of Zipp.
It didn't take her long to find her. Zipp was in the garden, looking out over the sea and out towards the outer world. Pipp stepped slowly up behind her, and spoke. "Zipp?"
"Go away," came the reply.
"Zipp, I want to help."
Zipp turned around so suddenly Pipp stepped backwards in surprise. Her sister's face had a distinct look of annoyance on it.
"Have you ever considered why I hate wearing dresses so much?" Zipp asked.
"You wear them for the Ball!" Pipp answered.
"That's different," Zipp replied. "At least they aren't in white."
Pipp's looked confused. "Oh. So what happened?"
"You know the tantrum I had over having to wear that stupid thing as a flower girl?"
Pipp thought she knew where this was heading. "Is that why?
"No," Zipp said. "It's what happened next..."
Many years ago...
"I don't want to!" Zipp pouted.
"Zara, it's only for a few hours," Lady Haven said. "Don't you want to look good for Aunt Clara's wedding?
"Why do I have to wear a dress?"
"Because it's tradition," Lady Haven explained. "Look, I have an offer for you. You wear this for the wedding, we'll go to the Science Museum in London, and you can learn all about the scientific topics you want. Sound good?"
Zipp's response surprised her. "Deal."
Later that day, everything was ready. The orchestra began to play as the doors to the church opened. Pipp and Zipp were leading down the aisle with baskets filled the flowers. Behind them was their aunt, who was being guided up the aisle by her brother (as the former Duke had passed away many years ago). Behind them came the rest of the bridal party, which was absurdly big.
Pipp was absolutely soaking up the attention. Zipp was not. She just wanted this to be over with. And unfortunately for her, it was- just not the way she intended.
Her shoe collided with a poorly laid stone, and everything went into slow motion as she fell forward. She hit the ground with a bang, and everything stopped. The conductor stopped conducting, and the building fell silent.
Zipp had taken a nasty hit in the fall, and as any child would in this situation started crying. Lady Haven dashed out from the bridal party to help her.
"You're disrupting the order!" Aunt Clara hissed.
"In case you haven't noticed, that's my child who is hurt," Lady Haven said coldly, as she scooped up a sobbing Zipp. "It's not your fault, Zara. You don't have to go back if you don't want to."
Aunt Clara looked annoyed. "From the top!" she demanded. Across the entire building, eyes rolled.
It seemed as though the incident had been forgotten about, and the reception was soon underway. Zipp was on her way back from the bathroom, after being cleaned up and having her clothes changed (the dress was now covered in dust from the stone floor of the church). She was suddenly pulled aside by her aunt, who slammed the door behind her.
"You can't do anything right, you clumsy child, can you?" she hissed. "You've ruined the wedding, you know that? How can the future of the Duchy be in safe hands with a person as stupid as you?"
Zipp was shocked at the tone, and again burst into tears. "I- I'm sorry! It was an accident!"
"I don't care!" Aunt Clara thundered. "You should be pun-"
Suddenly the door opened, and Lady Haven stormed in. "What in God's name is going on?" she demanded. She then saw Zipp sobbing. "Clara, you have a lot of explaining to do."
"She ruined the wedding! Of course she should feel bad!" Aunt Clara snapped.
"If it takes something as small as that to ruin your wedding I have nothing but the utmost sympathy for your husband," Lady Haven replied coolly.
"I don't like the tone of your voice," Aunt Clara said. "I'm the bride, it's my special day!"
"And I'm the person paying for it all," Lady Haven replied. "Show some respect." She picked her daughter up. "Come on Zara, we're leaving."
Aunt Clara started to speak, but Lady Haven shot her a death glare that quickly silenced her.
Zipp sniffled quietly. "I- I'm not in trouble, am I?"
"Of course not," Lady Haven said. "I'll find your father and Pipp, and then we'll go somewhere nicer. You never have to wear white again if you don't want to."
"...And that's why I don't wear white. If I see one, the pain comes flooding back. That's why I wear blue at the ball."
Pipp hung her head. "Zipp, I'd forgotten that. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to trigger your trauma."
Zipp looked up. "You weren't to know. I forgive you."
Pipp sighed. "Consider the yes day over. What would you like to do?"
"How about we go to town for an ice cream and forget all about this?" Zipp suggested.
"That's a good idea," Pipp said, and the two sisters set off, their bond restored.
Hurricane the tender engine had come to visit Falmouth for a few days, as the LLF reckoned he could do with a change of scenery. Not to mention the encounter that he'd had in the steelworks near Darlington. As he sat on the end of the bay platform one morning, he observed the other engines going about their day.
"I stick out like a sore thumb," the Dean Goods said. "I'm the only former Great Western engine here, and yet I feel left out. They all have so much to do. It must be the fact I'm old."
Just then, Charled rolled to a stop, and Zipp hopped out to couple him to the coaches waiting in the main platform. "Hello Hurricane!" Zipp said. "I don't believe we've met before."
"We haven't," Charles said. "When Porter, Sophie, and Bellerophon were gallivanting about in northeast England I was in bits, remember?"
"Were you?" Hurricane asked.
"I had an accident," Charles answered. "But now I'm back to Peak efficiency!"
"You're a Class 33."
"You knew what I meant," Charles said. "And who's the pirate on your footplate?"
"I'm not a pirate!" his driver, Celeano, replied. "I'm Celeano. Nice to meet you."
Zipp had gotten back from connecting the air hoses, and addressed Hurricane. "Is something wrong? You look a bit down."
Hurricane sighed. "You two are always lucky to have work to do. I haven't sat out of action for this long since, well, the old days of the Great Western."
Charles rolled his eyes. "That tinpot railway indeed."
"I'll have you know I was based out Tyseley, which is in Birmingham," Hurricane replied. "Usually I was allocated to shorter trains or pickup goods. It was always wonderful seeing children turning out to watch us rumbling by. And the famous named expresses overtaking us, usually with a Castle or a King gleaming at the front." He sighed. "But then the diesels came, and before we knew it the good old days were over. It'd be nice to take some goods somewhere."
Charles wasn't exactly what you'd call sympathetic. "Rubbish! Passengers are where the real money is! In fact, the entire rail system is built to haul passengers nowadays!"
Zipp leaned out of the cab. "Which is why freight should be moved back onto the rails. It would free the roads of all those lorries and reduce carbon output overall." Just then, the signal changed and the guard blew his whistle.
With a blast of his horn, Charles was underway. "POWER!"
Celeano rolled her eyes. "Showoff," she said, when he was firmly out of earshot.
No sooner had he gone then Ray arrived with two coaches. "I don't know if I'm coming or going, Jazz!" he said.
"More likely going, to be honest," Jazz replied. "I'll need to clean up before I get home. I can hardly do manicures looking like a chimneysweep!"
Ray glanced over. "Everything OK, Hurricane?"
"I just fancy having some work to do," Hurricane sighed. "In fact, if I could find some work it would be fantastic."
Ray had an idea. "There's a goods train I'm booked to take up to Newham," he said. "You can take it if you'd like. Of all of us you probably fit in here the best, being Great Western."
"Thank you!" Hurricane said, and once the points had changed he was on his way.
Hurricane was soon coupled onto the train, and with a whistle was on his way. He looked splendid with twenty trucks rattling behind him, but as he climbed out of Falmouth he grimaced. "I'm starting to be out of puff!" he said. "It must be age getting to me."
"Take it easy," Celeano replied. "Best to get there safe then in a rush."
But what Charles had said still echoed through Hurricane's mind. If the system really was so focused on passengers as he had claimed, what role was there now for goods engines like him?
At Newham, Porter was fuming. "Where's Ray?" he asked. "He's always dawdling about and going slowly! There is this thing called a timetable, you know!"
"He's probably busy ensuring all the trucks are arranged by colour," Izzy suggested.
Just then, an unfamiliar whistle sounded, and Hurricane rolled into Newham Harbour tender first, with the train behind him. "Sorry for the delay!" he said. "I had to run round at Penwithers Junction! It's not safe to propel this lot for long distances!"
"I wasn't expecting to see you again, Hurricane!" Porter said. "That's a heavy load for an old engine like you!"
"You're hardly a spring chicken yourself," Hurricane replied, as he was detached from the stock. "Besides, the oldest engine here is nearly 150. Your combined ages probably come out at well over 1,000."
"Do you have any further work we can do?" Celeano asked.
Porter smiled. "See the trucks over there?" he said. "They need to go to Truro goods yard so Brookes can handle them. Think you're up to the task?"
"Of course," Hurricane smiled, and he was soon attached to the train. He was still running tender first. "Hopefully I've got enough water. Not having water on the crown sheet is hardly ideal during a climb."
Nontheless, he set off. The climb out of Newham Harbour is quite fierce, and the train was long and heavy. Hurricane puffed his way up the slope, the sun shiming off his polished brass dome as it did so.
"He seems a bit out of puff!" one of the trucks said.
"Oh well, there's a downhill bit coming up," said another.
Once he reached the summit, there was a long downhill stretch. Hurricane was so focused on the climb that he soon realised what was happening. "Brakes!" he shouted.
Celeano shut off steam and applied the brakes, but it wasn't enough. The heavy trucks slammed into each other, effectively rendering the train uncontrollable.
The trucks were having a tremendous time. "FASTER! FASTER! AS FAST AS YOU WANT!"
The brake blocks were screeching, but were having minimal effect on train speed. They flew along at high speed as they flew up a gradient and rejoined the main line, but luckily the uphill section had started to slow the train down. He skidded through the tunnel and eventually came to a stop in the platform at Truro.
Brookes glanced over from the yard. "That was quite the entrance."
Hurricane sighed. "That could have gone better."
Later, Brookes released the stock and took it to the sidings, whilst Porter had arrived to check on Hurricane. "You alright?" he asked.
"Nobody was hurt, if that's what you mean," Hurricane replied.
"That's lucky," Celeano added.
"Still," the old engine said, "that was a rather uncomfortable reminder that my best days are past me. Perhaps I should get a better sense of my own strengths now rather than chase past glories all the time."
Izzy then spoke. "The past isn't always how we remember it, given our tendancy to forget the bad stuff. But there's little point in living in the past if it means you miss the present. And there's always a place for engines like you. We're putting together a vintage train, and I think you'd be the ideal engine for it!
Hurricane smiled. Although he knew the good old days were long gone, he knew he could build new and positive memories in the present. Although things may come and things may go, and they have a chance of going either fast or slow, nothing lasts forever. But one thing does carry on through the ages, and those are friendships.
Inside a mysterious bunker, Opaline looked at the images Boomer had obtained. "Good work," she said. "I clearly should have sent you on all those missions instead of that worthless fool. Still, it'll all be worth it. I'll retake the throne, and in return anybody who stood against me will suffer."
Boomer glanced at the display. "I've never seen this before."
Opaline glanced at the display. "Ah, yes. Quite the story, isn't it. You see, this has been a long time in the making. Even as a young child I knew of my importance. As I saw the Germans bombing our cities into the ground I resolved to ensure that nobody would ever have to go through that again. And when I tasted the true power of the magic I knew I finally had the key to stopping wars from ever happening again, and returning my family to its rightful place in word history!"
She paused. "But then the Reverend and his band got in the way. Those crystals were hidden from me, and now they are in Falmouth. It's almost like Wilbert is mocking me from beyond the grave."
"So, what's the plan?" Boomer asked.
The screen changed to show something else. "This artefact is of vital importance to our operation, and it just so happens one of my agents has just located it in an abandoned military base in Northumberland. Obviously, it needs retrieving."
"I'll gather my team and set out for the base right away."
"No, Boomer," Opaline said. "This mission is too important to entrust to anybody else. I'm deploying in person."
"Very well," Boomer replied. "My loyalty is to you. What would you have me do?"
Opaline stepped towards the door. "Run security on the bunker and ensure nothing is out of order. There's a bonus for you in this if everything is especially in order."
The door closed and Boomer brushed his biker jacket down. "Well, this should be an easy night in," he said.
Opaline stepped towards the outer chamber. "Prepare my chopper for takeoff!"
Misty was sick. There was no denying this fact. She lay there, in her bed, looking utterly wiped out. "Just my luck to get a fever on the day the BBC are coming here," she said.
Lady Haven smiled gently at her. "You can't help being ill," she said gently. "What matters most is that you get your strength back. I'll be taking care of you the entire day."
"But what about your day job?" Misty asked.
"I've delegated the tasks to somebody else for the day. My immediate concern lies with my family."
"Your family?" Misty asked.
"The truth is that I regard you as one of our own," Lady Haven smiled. "Now then, you'd better rest. The more you exert yourself the longer it'll take you to get better."
Mist nodded, knowing she wasn't really able to protest.
In the town, the BBC had arrived with all of their equipment, and it was being unloaded into the town square. "What's all this for?" Izzy asked. "There's lots of boxes here!"
Sunny walked over. "BBC South West is producing a special program about the railway operations here. I don't mean to brag but we're pretty well known around these parts, and featuring the engines in moving pictures and books would really help get the word out about heritage rail!"
Izzy glanced over. "Why do we have to be moving pictures in books?" she asked.
"Two separate things, Izzy," Pipp said. "We've been busy ensuring the engines are all spic and span, and utterly spotless. Unfortunately Misty can't be with us as she's ill again, but Bellerophon's been parked out in the sun so people can see him."
"Why are there so many cameras?" Bellerophon called from below.
Just then, two figures walked over. "Greetings," said one of them. He was a man with orange skin and white hair, and was dressed in a sharp suit. "I am Skye Silver, I'm from the BBC. We'll be the ones interviewing and filming you today."
"And I'm Dazzle," said his colleague, a woman with pinkish skin and blonde hair. "We'll be the ones looking at your rail operations and cultural elements."
"Well," Zipp said, "what would you like first?"
Skye walked to the railing and pointed down. "We'd like the green and red engines to do some shunting for the cameras."
"Which red one?" asked Pipp. "There are two mostly red locos."
"The one that looks like a steam train," Dazzle said.
"Steam engine," Sunny corrected. "And he's actually a diesel."
"Him too."
Hitch glanced to Sunny. "I can't imagine all the ways this will go wrong."
"In the meantime, the B unit will film footage of the blue one on a passenger train leaving Falmouth."
Zipp nodded. "I'll get Charles fired up."
Down at the docks, the stock had been put into position. Rebecca shared Hitch's concerns about being used for this. "Don't the BBC know that using pacifics to shunt is like cracking walnuts with a sledgehammer?" she asked.
"I don't know," Hitch said. "But it's what the public want to see, apparently. You're painted green and yellow, which apparently looks good on TV."
"If you say so," Rebecca said, as she was positioned on one end of the yard.
Salty, however, was a bit more optimistic. "Some shuntin' will make the public very happy!" he said. "Perhaps I could even sing a shanty or two!"
Sunny looked at the contract sheet. "Apparently we can't use anything with copyrighted lyrics," she said. "The BBC has an impartiality clause after all."
"Seeing as it's funded by the people that's sensible really," Salty said. "Now who put these paint pots here?"
Boomer looked in the numerous lockers along one of the pathways. "This must be the easiest job in the world," he said, as he opened one. "I mean, why do we need all these uniforms?"
"Perhaps Opaline is stocking up for when she's Queen?" one of his fellows suggested.
"Possible," Boomer admitted. "I still think this space could be better used storing weapons." He closed the locker again and opened another one- only for huge amounts of sand to flow out of it and send him flying. "Why do we need this much sand?"
Opaline's chopper touched down at an abandoned army base in the middle of nowhere. As the blades stopped turning, she and her guards hopped out and walked towards an informant standing there. "Report!" she said.
"We've found the artefact, my lady," he said, indicating to nearby buildings. "It's in the underground tunnels. We're still excavating the tunnels, but the MoD filled it with large amounts of rubbish which is needing a lot of pulling power to clear."
"Did you use Frankie?" Opaline asked.
"Yes, ma'am. She's currently at work in the tunnels."
"Tell her to prepare for my arrival," Opaline said, and strode forward, her guards following her. "Of course, somebody will need to clean this mess up- but that's hardly my problem."
"You fools!" Boomer shouted, as he ran around the base. "Why on Earth did you let a drone in here?"
He raced about after it, as it haphazardly flew around the rooms. "I'm getting far too old for this!"
The drone was knocking things off the walls and off the tops of shelves. It seemed as though nothing would stop it- until Boomer took out a pistol and shot it out of the sky.
He turned to the others. "You five! Help me clean this up!"
"And action!" called the unit director.
Sky Silver smiled at the camera. "Good evening. I am currently on location in Falmouth, Cornwall, where a very remarkable piece of history is being recreated every day."
Dazzle took up the story. "Most think of steam trains as something that only run on old railways or are sometimes found on railtours. But here, in Falmouth, they are still in use on everyday jobs!"
Salty rolled his eyes. "That woman still thinks I'm a steam engine."
"And there are diesel trains as well!" Skye added, indicating to Rebecca.
"I'm a steam engine!" the spam can protested. "I know I have a boxy shape, but I run on coal and water!"
"And now, these two engines will be used to showcase a daily piece of life on the dockside- shunting," Dazzle finished. She indicated to both drivers.
Sunny, with expert skill, moved the diesel shunter into the sidings, buffering up neatly to the trucks before hopping out to couple them up. Moments later, she was back in the cab, and moved them backwards onto the main to be attached to some other stock.
Rebecca, on the other hand, lumbered forward awkwardly. "I'm not sure this is a good idea!"
Then there was trouble. Rebecca's wheels suddenly began to spin rapidly.
"Wheelslip!" Hitch shouted, and slammed the brakes on. Unfortunately, the skidding wheels reduced the grip, and Rebecca slammed into a waiting flatbed covered in paint tins.
The tins were hurled high into the air and fell all over Salty. There was green paint, red paint, and yellow paint. Salty looked very silly.
"Sorry!" Rebecca called.
Salty coughed, and spat some paint out. "Some of that paint went in my air intakes!"
"Not to mention all over the cab windows!" Sunny added. "I can't see where I'm going!"
Hitch leaned out of the cab. "And now we shall be demonstrating the correct procedure for cleaning a locomotive!"
Opaline made her way deeper into the facility. "Why are all the lights turned off?" she demanded.
"Ma'am, the lights were disconnected by the army a long time ago," a scientist explained. "We were unable to reconnect them all."
"Then switch on the ones that are. I can barely see as it is."
The familiar sound of a diesel engine rumbled out of the gloom, and Opaline soon saw them. "Ah, Frankie. Good to see at least one engine loyal to the cause."
"I am ready for your orders," Frankie replied. "May your glorious reign come soon."
Opaline hopped onto the footplate and took the controls. "Let's go and clean this mess up."
Back in Falmouth, most of the paint had been cleaned off Salty, but he still wasn't happy. "That was a disaster!" he said. "They can't broadcast that! They'll think we Cornish are all buffoons!"
"Perhaps we should try the shunting demonstration again but with Salty on his own?" Hitch suggested.
"OK then," said the unit director. "And we are live in three, two, one!"
"No!" Sunny said, and got out of Salty's cab. "We can't do that."
"Do what?" the unit lead asked.
"What will the world think if we just clown around and film things going wrong?" Sunny asked. "We're hard working people, not the butt of national jokes. If we can show the world just how great we can be, surely that counts for something. So instead of just chasing silliness and trying to be Top Gear with trains, how about we showcase just how marvellous working and living here can be?"
"Hear hear!" said one of the trucks.
"And I think I need to pay tribute to a friend who cannot be here today. Her name is Misty, and although she's currently ill she's a vital member of our community. Without her, the entire dockyard would function less efficiently- and our lives would be duller for it. So please, I ask all of you to wish her a speedy recovery."
There was a moment of silence. "That was one powerful speech."
Rebecca looked over. "So, how about we show the people of Britain just how great at our jobs we can be?"
Little did Sunny realise, but Misty had watched the broadcast from her bed. "Thanks, Sunny," she said quietly. "Thanks for standing up for me. Without you guys I'd never have gotten my second chance."
Suddenly, she heard a crash from nearby, and glanced over. Dust was rising from the air. "What was that?"
Frankie was soon put to work moving the trucks and junk out of the way. "Move, you silly things!" she ordered.
"We don't have propulsion of our own!" the trucks replied. "We're unpowered!"
Opaline was similarly annoyed. "Why does every single object I need have to be dumped at the ends of corridors and sidings with stuff in the way?" she snapped. "Here's an idea, MoD! Put things where they can easily be found!"
Misty knew what had happened almost immediately. "There's been a landslide!" she said. "Somebody needs to warn them!"
She moved her covers off her and dragged herself to her feet. With an almost seemingly superhuman effort, she staggered over to the window, and grabbed a red cloak on the way. With as much strength as she could muster she held the red object out of the window.
Down below, Rebecca saw the red object. "Stop!" she shouted. "There's trouble at the house!"
Hitch slammed the brakes on as hard as he could. He turned to the camera crew. "Sometimes we have to make stops inbetween stations for safety reasons. This is one such case." He secured Rebecca's controls and went into the house.
Hitch walked up the stairs and followed the path to Misty's bedroom. He'd been here a few times, and knew the route. He knocked on the door. "Misty? Is everything OK?"
Lady Haven then appeared. "Is something the matter?"
"There was a red object hanging out of the window. I assumed there was some sort of trouble."
Lady Haven opened the door and gasped. "Misty!"
Hitch entered seconds later and ran over to Misty, who had fallen on the floor. He helped roll her over. "Misty, are you OK?"
Misty smiled weakly at him. "Silly of me to faint," she replied. "I see you got the warning?"
"What are you doing out of bed?" Lady Haven asked.
"There was a landslip, and I wanted to warn Rebecca," Misty explained.
Hitch stood up and looked out of the window. "Good grief! She's right!"
Opaline had dug out the final truck, and sitting there was the artefact- a small, asymetrical stone. She walked forward and picked it up, popping it in a bag for safe keeping. "We have what we came for. Move Frankie to the next site and then dynamite the tunnels. We can't have anybody knowing what was down here, can we?"
Back in the train, the film crews were wondering what was going on. "What happened?" asked Dazzle.
Skye looked out of the cab of Rebecca. "There's been a landslide! Get the camera crews and hurry!"
One group went into the house, and the other went to the landslide. Lady Haven was not pleased at the intrusion. "Do you mind?" she said. "This is my house you've barged into!"
"The Duchess of Dorset lives in Cornwall?" asked a BBC engineer. "This is confusing."
"Rather like the Duke of Edinburgh doesn't live in Edinburgh," Lady Haven replied. "Now what do you want?"
"We'd like to thank whomever prevented the nasty accident," Dazzle said.
Misty raised her hand. "I only did what I had to," she replied.
"And in doing so prevented confusion and delay," Dazzle replied. "On behalf of us all, I say thank you."
And the BBC crew began to sing.
"For she's a jolly good fellow, for she's a jolly good fellow! For she's a jolly good fellow, and so say all of us!
"And so say all of us! And so say all of us! For she's a jolly good fellow, for she's a jolly good fellow! For she's a jolly good fellow, and so say all of us!"
"I thought there was something about not denying," said one crew member.
Back in Falmouth, Sunny was just wrapping up a cooking demonstration, showcasing the correct method to make a cornish pasty. "And that is why you crimp on the side instead of on the top, as otherwise the contents spill out and make a mess of the table."
The cameraman nodded. "And cut!"
Sunny relaxed. "Hopefully that makes up for the chaos of this morning!"
Luckily for Boomer, he and his associates had succeeded in cleaning up the mess from earlier when Opaline returned. "I trust your mission went well?" Boomer asked.
"The artefact was succesfully retrieved," Opaline replied. "Project Sentinel is one step closer to completion. And all we need is to execute Phase Bravo. And for that... I am going to need to set a trap. With but a few rolls of the dice I shall be the most powerful woman in the world!"
Although the early months of the year are often bitterly cold, there is beauty to be found provided you know where to look. Some birds, like robins, still sit in the trees and sing. And there are some plants, called evergreens, that do not lose their leaves in the colder months. In fact, there are some who prefer winter to summer, with the cold weather suiting them better.
One morning, Salty was doing the sea shift. He was merrily moving trucks back and forth from the sidings to the dockside, dropping off vans and plank wagons wherever they were needed. It was work he enjoyed very much, as it had a regular rhythm and reminded him of the sea.
Unfortunately, not everybody approved. "It's all this noise!" complained a woman overlooking the town. "Not to mention they produce all of those fumes! It's far too noisy for my liking!"
Posey looked over to them. "It's only for a few hours each day," she said. "I'm hardly the biggest fan myself, but even they have the right to work and do what they want to do. Besides, it does bring in a lot of tourist money."
This was probably the first reasonable thing Posey had said in quite a while. The other woman wasn't having it. "Well, they should do it somewhere else!" And walked off.
Posey glanced down. True, her asthma was sometimes triggered by this sort of thing. But at the same time, she owed them her life. She glanced over as a woman with reddish skin and hair stopped nearby. "Hey Windy."
"You dealing with Mrs Carthorse again?" Windy asked. "She's a real NIMBY."
"NIMBY?" Posey asked.
"Not in My Backyard," Windy answered, temporarily putting her shopping down. "You look down."
"Was I really like that a year ago?" Posey asked. "If so, I'm amazed I wasn't kicked out of town."
Windy put her arm around her. "You did have valid concerns which the authorities addressed. Besides, you've done a lot of good here."
Posey smiled. "Thanks Windy."
Down in the yard, there was a commotion going on. "Does Salty's cheerfulness get on anybody's nerves?" Charles asked.
"No," Porter replied.
"Because if they don't that's surprising," Charles said. "How does he know all these sea shanties anyway?"
"He worked on a dockyard for years?" Zipp suggested. "Working with sailors is a common way of learning sea shanties."
"That makes sense," Charles replied. "But does he have to sing all the time?"
"It's only for a few hours, matey," Salty said, as he drew up alongside the shed. "That means for most of the day I'm not singing. Besides, it keeps the trucks in line- as Rebecca can testify."
Rebecca smiled. "It's remarkable what an old song about a Mexican general can do to keep them in line."
Just then, the foreman arrived with some instructions. "Salty?" he said. "I have a new work order for you. A new request for transport has been added into the system. You are to head up to Haven yard and collect the order, then bring it back to Falmouth."
Sunny nodded. "On our way!" With the roar of an engine the duo were off to Penmere.
Charles looked over. "And there's another thing..."
Salty pulled up at the siding a few minutes later. Lord Haven was waiting for him. "Ah! Salty!" he said. "Just the engine I was looking for."
"What's the task, sir?" Salty asked.
"The latest shipment of family cheese has arrived from the creamery, by road for some reason," Lord Haven replied. "I need you to take it down to Falmouth to be marshalled into a larger train to go to shops far away."
"The Flying Cheesecake?" Salty ventured.
"Cheesecake is normally made using cream cheese rather than harder cheeses," Sunny explained. "If made using harder cheeses it would taste very strange indeed. Sure thing, sir!"
Salty was soon coupled to the vans. Lord Haven checked the load to ensure it was secured and tied down, and then waved them off. "Good luck!"
Salty pulled away, and soon coughed. "I'm not an expert on cheese, but that cheese is very smelly!"
"It's probably a soft cheese then. I'll ask Hitch when we get back."
Salty made his way back down the line, rolling along with the trucks and brake van in front of him. "Not often we did trip freights back in the day!" he said.
"I thought you spent most of your time in the yard," Sunny answered.
"Pottering up and down the yards, usually in the spaces where the E2s and S100s had previously worked," Salty replied. "Sometimes goods needed moving up to Southampton station to be loaded onto parcels trains heading for Waterloo, so we often got used for those tasks as it made no sense to send a Class 73 down into the docks."
"That makes sense, actually," Sunny said.
Before long, they were back in the yard, and moved the vans into the sidings before heading back to the shed.
"What was that?" Bellerophon asked. "That van is seriously smelly!"
"It's full of cheese," Sunny explained. "It's from the Haven estate. Turns out making cheese is one of Lord Haven's hobbies he indulges in when not helping Lady Haven run the Duchy."
"If the amount of paper sitting on her desk is anything to go by it's a very demanding job," Misty added.
"You're telling me!" Pipp said. "Sometimes mom gets so engrossed in it she forgets to eat!"
Just then, they saw Porter moving the vans... to the wrong siding and the wrong train. "Stop!" Salty shouted. "Those don't go there!"
But it was too late. The vans were put into a train filled with heavy machine parts. And with a roar Charles set off with the load for Truro.
"We have to get after him!" Sunny said, and moved Salty back to access the main. Once the signal had cleared, they set off for Truro themselves.
Charles soon noticed something was off. "Can you smell a smell?" he asked.
Zipp shook her head. "I can't smell a smell. It might be manure." She put her head out of the window- and immediately pulled it back in. "Yuck! That's awful!" She grabbed the radio. "Control, this is 33021, requesting permission to make an out of schedule stop at Penrhyn. Issue with cargo. Over?"
"33021, this is control. Permission granted. Out."
Once they pulled into Penrhyn Zipp quickly identified the problem. "It's coming from the vans behind you directly," she said. "But what could be in them to be producing such a stink?"
"Wait!" called a voice, and Salty rattled into the other platform. "The vans are wrong!"
"What's wrong?" Charles asked.
Once Salty was safely stopped, Sunny got out and crossed to the other platform via the foot crossing at the south end of the station. "Those vans weren't meant to be in this train. They haven't got machine tools. They're full of cheese!"
"Cheese?" Zipp asked. "As in the cheese dad makes?"
"The very same, as I picked it up earlier today," Sunny explained. "It got put into this formation by mistake."
Zipp held her nose and opened the door to reveal a scene of disaster. Cheese was floating all over the place, and had largely escaped from its packaging. It was all pooling on the floor in a large, sticky puddle.
"That stuff is not safe for human consumption," Zipp said, as she shut the doors the again. "Reminds of the scene of carnage Cloudpuff made when he ate Pipp's bath bombs."
"What can we do?" Sunny asked. "Your dad's gonna be so cross with us!"
Lord Haven wasn't cross. In fact, he was quite understanding. "It's my fault for not putting them in a refridgerated van," he said to Zipp and Sunny. "No wonder it became so runny so quickly. I happen to have another batch ready for delivery if you can get some XP rated vans."
"XP?" Sunny asked. "As in the operating system?"
"Means the van has refridgeration," Zipp helpfully clarified. "Let's go!"
Thankfully, the yard in Falmouth had some XP rated vans, so Salty brought them up to the estate. The cheese was loaded and soon cooled down, so it wouldn't spoil on its way to its customers. Salty brought the load down and ensured that it was put into the correct train.
That evening, the team were putting the engines away for the night. "Well, that was certainly a pungent day," Sunny said. "I won't be forgetting this one in a hurry."
"Neither will any of us, I reckon," Hitch added. "Who knew cheese could be so smelly?"
"Cheese makers?" Ray suggested. "They would know a lot about cheese, in fact..."
The others tuned him out as he began to ramble. "But still," Porter said, "cheese is very useful."
"And I made something for us to have for dinner tonight!" Izzy said, and placed a bit pot on the table nearby. "Cheese pie at my house!"
And they all laughed, seeing the funny side of the situation.
The weather had taken a sudden turn for the worse in Cornwall, and it had started to rain. Everywhere you looked it was wet, wet, wet. The engines sat in the shed, looking concerned as raindrops hit the ground and exploded into the air.
"I hope we don't have to go out in this!" Bellerophon said. "The weather looks awful, and if our drivers have to walk about in that they'll look like drowned rats!"
"For once I agree," Charles said. "This weather will make stopping difficult."
"Only because you go too quickly," Ray said.
"And you go too slowly. Every time you take a train it always gets there late."
"Now that just isn't true," Ray replied. "Is it, Porter?"
"I don't have a stopwatch, so I can't tell for certain," Porter replied.
Just then, Misty and Izzy arrived. "What a day!" Izzy said. "It reminds me of that big storm we had a year ago, just without the weird portal in the ground."
"We should be safe here, right?" Misty asked.
"Almost certainly," Izzy replied. "Sunny tells me that Falmouth's flood defences were rebuilt very recently, so should be able to withstand any flooding."
Misty looked at her work order. "Proceed to Newham and check on the river?" she said. "Well, orders are orders." She climbed into Bellerophon's cab (his fire was already lit) and smiled. "Nothing like a nice warm fire to warm you up on a day like today." Adjusting the controls, she backed Bellerophon out of the shed and onto the line, ready to proceed up to Newham."
The Falmouth Branch largely runs well above the river to protect it from any flooding, as water levels are very unlikely to rise to the level of the line. However, the same is not true of the Newham Branch. This terminates in a dockyard next to water, and the docks are very prone to flooding.
As a result, Truro Council had flood defences and walls built along the side of the dockside to ensure no water could get in. These could be raised and lowered based on the predicted level of water. The river was already higher than normal in several places, and this was most alarming.
When Misty and Bellerophon arrived, the flood defences were in the up position. "We're not off to a promising start," Bellerophon said. "They're already up."
"That they are," Misty said. "And the water's still rising!"
Just then, there was the sound of water. "That's not good," Bellerophon said quietly. And it wasn't. Water was seeping in through one of the walls and making a mess of the track beyond it.
"The wall is breached!" Misty said. "Let's get out of here!" She put Bellerophon into reverse and backed him out of the yard.
Izzy and Porter were waiting at the start of the Newham Harbour Branch, waiting for Bellerophon and Misty to return. The nearby water levels were continuing to rise.
"What's taking them so long?" Porter asked. "It's not as if water levels are dangerously high!"
Izzy glanced out of the cab, and made up her mind. "We're going in!" she said. "They may be in trouble!"
"What if we end up in trouble as a result?"
"That's just a risk we'll have to take," Izzy replied.
And then things went from bad to worse. Unbeknownst to any of them, there was a dam upstream, used to supply drinking water to many settlements in Cornwall. This dam was old, and the rainfall had proven to be the last straw. With a massive bang it gave way, thousands of tons of brick and stone falling into the water. Thousands of gallons of water now had nothing to hold it back, and it flooded into the river below, having become a borderline unstoppable force.
Bellerophon was reversing along the line when he saw the water coming for them. "The river's burst its banks!" he shouted. "Quickly!"
Misty increased the regulator to try and speed up, but the tide of water was moving too fast. The wave of water slammed into them, tossing the engine about like a toy and depositing him on a bank. The ground began to give way, and began to slump backwards as the water ate away at it.
Bricks, metal plates, and even an entire container drifted past on the river as Bellerophon sat there. "Help!" he wailed. "I'm trapped here!"
Then Porter arrived. "No time for joking!" Porter said. "Izzy, we're pulling him out!"
"Not arguing with you on that one!" Izzy said, as she jumped out of the cab. She ran a line of steel cable from Porter's coupling to Bellerophon's buffers, and wound it tight. She then climbed back onboard and set Porter to full reverse.
Porter's wheels skidded on the wet rails as he tried to pull Bellerophon clear, but it seemed to be having little effect. "Bellerophon's weight is causing him to sink into the mud!" he said. "Can you provide some power, Misty?"
Misty applied the regulator, but it did little good. Bellerophon lurched further forward, looking straight down into the raging torrent below. "I'd rather not drown!" he shouted.
"You won't drown!" Izzy shouted. "We'll get you out!" Given she had previously failed to save a friend, she wasn't going to let that happen again.
Just then, a Coast Guard helicopter roared overhead, and saw the commotion. It lowered another line down to the stricken engine, which Misty quickly tied on.
The radio buzzed in Porter's cab. "We need to time our pulls to maximise torque," said the chopper pilot. "On my mark. 3, 2, 1, MARK!"
The engines of the helicopter roared at maximum power whilst Porter puffed as hard as he could. Steam and smoke poured into the air as the combined power of both machines began to shift Bellerophon off the bank. After a few more seconds of pulling, Bellerophon was free and back on the rails.
"Thank you!" Bellerophon said. "I thought I'd be sleeping with the fishes tonight."
"I would never leave a friend in the lurch," Porter replied. "You were pretty brave, though."
Misty glanced back. "We didn't have much of a choice. You never know how you'll react to a situation until you've tried it."
Porter and Izzy sincerely hoped they wouldn't end up in the same predicament.
Misty noticed there was a lot going on at the Haven residence. People were bustling backwards and forwards carrying things around, and large numbers of vans had appeared on the lines outside.
It was all very confusing. So she went to find Lady Haven. "Hey, Zipp? Have you seen Lady Haven anywhere?"
"Mom was having her hair done last I saw," Zipp said. "So not looking forward to getting the same treatment." She then walked off, leaving Misty a little more confused. Why were the others getting their hair done.
Misty walked for a bit longer, and stopped when she encountered Lady Haven, who appeared to have had more than her hair done. "Oh dear," she said. "I hope my makeup isn't running."
"What's going on, if you don't mind me asking?" Misty asked.
"Tonight we're hosting an old Purbeck tradition in Falmouth," Lady Haven explained. "The Swanage Ball was a grand tradition maintained by the Duchy since the 18th Century, and this year we'll be bringing that splendour to Falmouth!"
Misty blinked. "What's a ball?"
"Explained quickly, it's a very big party. Everybody dresses up and there are lots of dances. And plenty of food- that was always Pipp's favourite part." Lady Haven's phone beeped, and she checked it. "Your friends are getting ready at Mane Melody. Would you like to join them?"
"OK," Misty replied. Truth be told the bit about 'dressing up' had her a bit nervous.
Misty walked into Mane Melody to see most of her friends were being prepared. They had received some modifications to their hair and were currently being measured. Except Hitch. He was polishing a pair of shoes.
"Hey Hitch," Misty said.
"Hi Misty," Hitch replied, without looking up.
"What are the shoes for?"
Hitch stopped for a second, and glanced up. "They're for my Number 1s."
"Your whats?"
Hitch nodded. "Army Dress Uniform is informally referred to as Number 1. It only comes out for parades or for formal events. Like this. And I need to ensure that these shoes are so shiny I can see the stars in them."
Sunny glanced over. "I'm just glad they went with something more sensible for us. It's been a while since I last wore one of those things."
"What things?" Izzy asked, looking over. "I read something about hoops and assumed there was a tossing game of some sort."
"Not that sort of hoop!" Jazz explained, as she checked Izzy's hair was secure. "They meant hoopskirt. Crinoline. You know!"
Izzy glanced over to Misty. "I have no idea what any of these words mean."
Sunny shrugged. "You know how Disney Princesses often have huge skirts, right?"
"Yeah?" Izzy replied.
"That's because there's a frame underneath them and some extra layers of fabric. I should know, having worn one myself."
"When?" Misty asked. Truth be told she didn't know what a Disney was, but had some concept of a Princess.
"I played Belle in my school production of Beauty and the Beast. The only difference there the ball scene was fully coreographed. Now I'll be figuring it out on my own."
"That makes two of us!" Izzy said. "I played Ariel in my old school's production of The Little Mermaid. That was fun, even if I did spend much of the first half stuck on a rock."
"How did they do swimming scenes?" Hitch asked.
"They were pre-recorded," Izzy explained. "The costumes weren't too fussy either."
"Lucky you," Sunny replied. "I had a hard enough time not falling over! They can be hard to manage if you're not usd to them."
"What about Pipp's dresses we were loaned on our first trip to Falmouth?" Izzy asked.
"Those were much smaller."
Hitch looked over. "I never took you for a fashion expert, Sunny."
"Pipp helped to fill some of the blanks, but much of learning about it was sparked by attending a relative's wedding," Sunny explained. "I wanted to figure out how it worked. Thankfully the bride was more than happy to!"
"Where is Pipp?" Izzy asked. "I'd have thought she wanted to get ready with us!"
"She and Zipp are having their stuff done at the house," Misty replied. "I bumped into Lady Haven earlier and she explained some of the basics."
"That explains the spare outfit she left," Hitch mused. "We'll all be getting changed before we set off for Penmere."
"You guys look beyond!" Jazz said.
"Beyond what?" Izzy asked. "You can't just end a sentence with 'beyond'."
"A sentence ending in a preposition is something up with which I will not put," Hitch noted. "So said Winston Churchill."
And so, they headed for the changing rooms. "You sure you'll be fine handling the yard, Jazz?" Sunny asked.
"Me and Ray will keep it spic and span!" Jazz smiled. "Of course, Nigel will help too."
Once they were fitted into their clothing, they were on their way to the station. Sunny was wearing a low cut yellow dress with puffed sleeves and black lace on the bodice and skirt. Izzy had gone for a somewhat minimalist approach too, having selected a pink dress with a smooth top layer and a ruffled bodice around the neckline, combined with even more ruffles at the bottom of the skirt.
And Hitch was in military uniform, as previously stated. "Only one station to go," he said, before noticing Misty was trailing behind. "Need a hand?"
"I'm not used to walking in these things!" she replied. Whatever Pipp had picked out had somehow worked. Misty was wearing a green gown with a dome shaped skirt, puffed sleeves, and a lower cut bodice with black lace. The lace also extended over the dome of the skirt and even was attached to the hem. "It seems to have a mind of its own!"
"Walk slowly and with deliberate steps," Sunny answered. "If you need extra movement lift the skirt a bit."
Sure enough, the train was waiting for them, and it had been decked out in fancy decorations. They climbed into the carriages, and soon they were off to the ball.
Izzy looked over. "Do you think this will change back at midnight?"
Misty had absolutely no clue what they were talking about.
When they arrived at Penmere Station, the red carpet had been rolled out- literally. A red carpet ran from the station to the front entrance of the house, a vast Victorian pile that appeared to have been put together from hastily remodelling of an earlier building.
And boy was that red carpet packed! Everybody who was somebody was walking down it.
"Hey guys! Looking good!"
Izzy glanced over to see Pipp and Zipp waiting. Zipp was wearing the same blue gown she'd been wearing when they first met, whilst Pipp was in something more vintage. Purple with flatter sleeves, plenty of lace, and a wide skirt with even more lace at the bottom.
"Any reason for the time travelling companion of yours?" Hitch asked.
"Victorian house, Victorian style gown!" Pipp smiled. "This is actually a reproduction of a gown worn by one of our ancestors. I can point them out in the picture gallery if you like."
"You have a picture gallery here?" Sunny asked.
Zipp shrugged. "Why have one of something when you can have two for double the cost?" She glanced to the crowd. "Looks like we'd best get moving. It's a good thing we don't need masks."
"Was there a requirement to wear masks?" Misty asked.
"Yes," Pipp replied, "but we dropped it as it was obvious who was who from just looking. On the plus side, it means Mom can't pill the 'tis I, the Duchess!' trick she liked to pull every year. It got old really fast."
Further up the line, Goldie glanced about her, then back to Argyle. "Lots of women in hoopskirts!" she commented. "I hope I'm not underdressed for the event- after all, this is the only evening gown I've got."
Argyle smiled. "I don't think the Havens will mind. They're our friends!"
"That's still a little mind boggling, to be honest- being friends with a Duchess." Goldie shrugged her shoulders and adjusted her shawl. "Still, it's worth looking like a clown for an evening."
"You don't look like a clown!" Argyle replied. "Blue suits you very well. After all, Cinderella wore blue to the ball, and there's no doubt who was the belle that night."
"I guess that makes you my Prince Charming," Goldie playfully replied. "I only hope you can keep up on the dance floor."
The attendees entered the ballroom to find elaborate displays, a cleaned and wide dancefloor, and several bands playing music on the side.
The tables were stacked high with decadent deserts, and an ice sculpture was slowly melting nearby. "They have everything!" Pipp said. "Peanut butter puddles, chocolate fountains, and even the cookie mountains!"
"Sounds great," Hitch said, glancing down at his neatly pressed and ironed uniform. "This looks like it'll be very messy. Especially since this has to be dry cleaned."
"As do these," Zipp pointed out to Pipp.
"Fair point," Pipp replied. "Plates are over there!"
Sunny sighed as she looked about. "I just hope I can remember how to dance in this. The distinct lack of partners doesn't really help."
Hitch turned away from the table. "I'd be more than happy to be your dance partner for at least part of the night."
Sunny smiled. "Thanks, Hitch."
Suddenly, there was a fanfare. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my utmost honour to welcome Lord and Lady Haven, the Duke and Duchess of Dorset to our fair stage!"
Just then, Lord and Lady Haven arrived. Lord Haven would not have looked out of place in a Dickens novel, whilst his wife was wearing the same red gown from the first Swanage trip.
"Greetings, one and all!" Lord Haven called. "Welcome to this, our humble abode."
Lady Haven took over the microphone. "This is the first Grand Ball we've hosted since 2021, as we've been rather busy restoring this house to its former glory. This is also the first time we've hosted the event outside of Swanage so in honour of the event we have had a local poet produce a poem."
A woman dressed very strangely stepped onto stage, and coughed. And then began to speak.
"Welcome, welcome, one and all- Welcome to the Falmouth Ball! There's merriment and delight to be had- We sincerely hope none will be sad! So to speech, and to cheer, and to journeys most bold! There shall be laughter and enjoyment untold!
They then left the stage. The duo turned around so nobody could hear them. "Who writes this drivel?" Lord Haven asked.
Lady Haven sighed. "I don't think we'll be hiring Mrs. Miller as a speechwriter again."
Nigel beheld a scene of chaos as he arrived at Falmouth. "How did this yard end up in such a mess?" he asked.
And it was. There were trucks everywhere. There were trucks in the sidings. There were trucks in the platforms. There were trucks in places where trucks shouldn't have been. And the worst bit of all was yet to come... they were singing, loud, rude, and in four part harmony.
"Trucks are waiting in the Yard/ Tackling them with ease'll! "Show the world what I can do", Gaily boasts the Diesel!
"In and out he creeps about/ Like a big blue weasel! When he pulls the wrong ones out – Pop goes the Diesel!"
And then they laughed in their silly way.
Jazz looked over from Ray's cab. "Whomever knew managing trucks could be so hard?" she said. "One moment they're all sensibly arranged, the next they're all over the place."
Ray sighed. "And now they're singing in a round."
"Trucks are waiting- Trucks are waiting- Trucks are waiting-"
Nigel rolled his eyes. "A shame Brookes can't be here. Looks, I'll help you two clean this lot up."
Goldie sighed as she took a seat at the side of the chamber, a drink in her hand. That had certainly brought back some memories.
Suddenly, a voice attracted her attention. "Who is this charming lady I see?"
Goldie smiled. "Very funny, Argyle," she said, gesturing next to her. "I see your sense of humour is in as fine a shape as ever."
Argyle sat down and smiled himself. "How many years since we last danced like that?" he asked. "Learning all the dances for our wedding was nerve wracking enough."
Goldie noticed her glove had slipped a bit, and adjusted it. "I remember that well. I was worried I'd tread on my skirt."
"I'd probably have done that if I hadn't learned the moves."
Goldie nodded. "Good thing I overruled mother on that and refused to wear a hoopskirt. We'd have fallen over!"
"That would have been awkward." Argyle's eyes scanned the room. "And to think I thought the balls Falmouth University hosts were opulent," he said. "But this is like something out of Renaissance Italy!"
"I can see Leonardo da Vinci going to speak to the Prince now," Goldie joked. "Have you tried any of the deserts yet?"
"No," Argyle replied. "The lack of cutlery makes it a bit hard. I don't really want to get this on my suit."
Goldie nodded in solemn agreement. "It'd be a nightmare to get stains out of my dress. Is my hair holding up?"
Argyle smiled. "It certainly has a radiant effect. Apologies if this sounds sappy, but you're just as beautiful as the day we met."
"Oh, you hopeless romantic, you," Goldie smiled. The orchestra then signalled it was changing tempo. "Fancy returning to the dance floor? Sunny seems to be having a bit of trouble staying upright."
"Of course. I'd happily dance with you for a thousand years."
"A few hours is quite enough for today."
On the other side of the room, Lord Haven had collected two drinks- one for himself, one for his wife. "I found your favourite," he said, as he handed the glass to her.
Lady Haven smiled. "You know me so well, Robert."
"Well, we have been married for nearly 30 years. I figured I'd get to know you pretty well in that time." He sat down next to her. "Fancy joining one of the later dances?"
"I'd love to. But the earlier ones only reminded me I'm not getting any younger." Lady Haven sighed. "And this place is already so big and seemingly empty. I can only imagine it'll be even emptier when Pipp and Zipp move out."
"That won't be for a long time. And we'll still have each other," Robert said gently. "I say, whose the big gentleman with the beard?"
"That's Alphabittle. He owns the Class 37 that's running at the Swanage Railway," Lady Haven explained. "I sent him an invite as a way of saying thank you, but he does seem to be a little lost."
Elsewhere, Zipp had snuck off. She was in another part of the building, and was currently stopped in front of a door. She looked at the keypad. "This room requires a code to enter." She noted the clue. "Two for one."
She smiled. "Mom, you really need to stop using our birthdays for codes. Pipp and I were born on the same day!" She punched the numbers in and entered through the door.
Only for Misty to suddenly appear as well and try to get in. Unfortunately, the door began to shut and she got stuck. "Zipp? A little help here?"
Zipp turned around and saw Misty struggling. "Let me just get the door open," she said, and pushed the button. Seconds later, the door swung open and Misty was free. "Thanks."
"No problem. So, want to help me research stuff?"
"That's why you're in here, right?" Misty asked. "You don't come across as the type who does fancy parties."
"It's why most people go in libraries, right?" Zipp replied. "And we've got some incredibly rare stuff in here. And no, I don't. I just needed an excuse to get out of all the dancing."
"Anything specific?" Misty asked.
"Anything relating to Sodor," Zipp replied, and the pair soon got to work. After a few minutes of sorting, they had a handful of texts they could use, and began reading through them.
After a few moments, Misty decided to break the ice a bit. "You sure know a lot about these things, huh?"
Zipp nodded whilst keeping her eye on the text. "Yep. I consider myself well read."
"No, I meant these things we're wearing."
Zipp sighed. "Yeah. I'm used to them." She paused. "First wore one when I was six, though not without resistance."
"That's funny," Misty said. "I thought you didn't like wearing skirts."
"I don't," Zipp replied. "But it's only a few hours once a year. Besides, staying in line with protocol once a year is a pretty quick way to get what I want. It's Pipp who gets a kick of this sort of thing. Least I can get away with not having to wear a corset."
Misty could sense this was a lot on Zipp's mind, so shifted the topic. "Must be a pretty big deal being the heir to a duchy, huh?"
Zipp sighed. "There's more to it than big buildings and fancy clothes. It's an odd life, but it's improved by the fact I'm friends with you guys." Her eyes widened at one portion of text. "Gotcha! It's the writings of Teddy Boston, one of the Guardians! This will be very useful! But why is half a page missing?"
Suddenly, there was the sound of commotion from the main hall. "What was that?" Misty asked.
"Let's go find out!" Zipp said, and they dashed out of the room.
"How do people even stay upright in these things, let alone dance?!" Sunny exclaimed, looking a bit silly.
"I thought you were the expert," Hitch replied.
Sunny was about to reply, but suddenly everything stopped.
"Where has it gone?"
Just then, Zipp appeared and made all deliberate speed across the dancefloor. "What's going on, mom?"
Lady Haven looked very worried. "My necklace has been stolen!" she said.
"But who took it?" Zipp asked.
"A Thief!" her mother replied.
"Are you sure it wasn't a pickpocket?" Zipp asked. Lady Haven blinked. "It can't have been a pickpocket! My dress doesn't have pockets! And even if it did, why would I put a necklace in there?"
"Good point," Zipp admitted. Just then she saw sombody moving. "There's the thief!"
A strange figure suddenly ran out of the room. Zipp pulled her skirts up and dashed out of the room. "Stop right there!"
The thief continued to run at speed down the corridor, until he suddenly turned a corridor. Zipp shook her head. "Need to drop some weight to catch up!" With a handful of quick motions she slipped out of the dress, skidding effortlessly out from underneath the skirt and continuing the chase in her stealthsuit. "I'm so glad I decided to wear this underneath."
She rounded another bend and saw the thief crash into a trolley before flying through the air and slamming into a lamp post.
Zipp skidded to a stop and picked up the necklace. "I think you'll find that belongs to my mom."
The thief looked up. "My fish went drinking in a water tank."
After returning the necklace to Lady Haven, the crew settled in for a positive night of dances and merriment. But they were in for a bit of a shock when they got home.
Sunny saw Ray and Nigel still hard at work cleaning the station area. "How did this place become such a mess?" she asked.
Jazz looked over, utterly exhausted. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Back at the House, Alphabittle had gone outside for some air. He looked out over the scenery and towards the sea. "What a night," he said. "I haven't been to a ball like that in years." He thought to himself. "Oh well. Back off to Swanage in the morning. But there was somebody there. That girl with Zipp. She looked... familiar? Could it be...?"
He dismissed the thought almost immediately. "No, it can't be her. She vanished a long time ago. And that sort of thing doesn't happen in real life. Only on TV."
He continued his drink as he tried to puzzle this situation out.
It was evening in Falmouth, and many members of the local community had gathered in The Fisherman's Rest to seel refuge from the cold and rain. As the fire crackled and roared, the lights burned brightly, and the band played upon the stage. The room was filled with merriment, laughter, chat, and fine drink and food. Old friends and new were gathered inside to swap stories tall and true, and generally enjoy a nice evening together.
Sunny and her friends were sat around one table, and their parents had gathered around another. Each had a non alcoholic beverage to consume, and it was certainly a nice time spent with friends.
"So, who's looking forward to a quiet weekend?" Zipp asked. "Cause I am."
"Given the things that have happened, that's a good idea," Pipp said. "I can get caught up on songwriting."
"And dad and I were going to give the archives a sort," Sunny said. "They're in slightly strange orders right now."
Over on the other table, the parents were also chatting. Argyle was the first to speak. "I was looking through the newspaper archives a few days ago," he said, "and apparently this year is the 160th anniversary of the opening of the Falmouth Branch to passenger and freight traffic."
Aurora glanced over. She had been on a local music tour and had only recently returned to Falmouth. "So, what's the proposal, Argyle?"
Argyle turned his phone around to reveal a photograph. "This is a lithograph of the first train to arrive. I suggest we recreate it as closely as we can."
Misty overheard this, and decided to chime in. "That might be a problem," she said. "We don't have any engines dating from 1864."
"But we do have one from 1874," Lord Haven pointed out. "Bellerophon."
"Of course!" Isaac said. "We could assemble a vintage train from the old coaches and have that run into town."
"And of course we'd need to wear period clothing," Lady Haven added. "We can cover some of that."
Argyle looked to Goldie. "Any thoughts?"
"If you want me to wear a corset the answer is no," his wife replied. "I'm also not keen on wearing a hoop either."
Argyle pointed out one figure. "There's this figure here, further to the back. Your gown is a close match for the bodice, and the lower neckline could be disguised with a shawl."
"That's better, I suppose," Goldie replied. "Normally I only wear that once a year. And now twice in one week!"
Lady Haven looked over. "Would you be onboard for this plan?"
Misty nodded. "Without anybody to drive Bellerophon your proposal would rather fall apart. I'm in."
Zipp looked at the photo and had an idea. "We don't have enough guys to fill out all the male figures. Perhaps me and Sunny should portray guys?"
"How would that work?" Sunny asked, pointing out her braid. "I have long hair!"
"You tie it back and hide it in your clothes," Zipp replied. "Of course I'd have to flatten mine down, but that can be done."
Hitch glanced over. "I assume I'm the policeman."
The next morning, everybody got to work. Misty set aside her usual clothes and wore the clothing of an 1860s engine driver, then got to work ensuring Bellerophon was spotless. His paintwork and brass gleamed in the morning sun, and special streamers were attached to rigging points on the handrails.
The coaches were similarly magnificent. Although a rather curious hodge podge of Great Western and Southern coaches, it had the vintage look down to a tee. They were soon similarly festooned with streamers and decorations. It all looked very magnificent indeed.
At the station, everybody had gathered in a mixture of historic suits, gowns, and workmen's clothes. Argyle adjusted his top hat and his fur coat. "Handy how the Havens have a lot of this sort of stuff," he said.
"We borrowed some of this from a local dramatics group," Aurora explained, standing in front of a door. "I don't mean to be a bother, but my dress is wider than the door. How do I get through?"
"Press down on the front and the frame will collapse inwards," Pipp explained. Sure enough, Aurora tried it and the fabric seemed to vanish into a black hole.
After stepping through, Pipp helped her puff them back up, and the team assembled on the platform in order. "What time is it?" asked Isaac.
"About 9," Lady Haven replied, checking her watch before hastily removing it. "Bellerophon should be here around 9:30. Ensure you aren't holding any anachronisms in the shot. That includes phones, Pipp."
Pipp popped her phone in a handbag, her dress having no pockets. "I guess I'd have been using one of those in 1864!" she said, pointing to a payphone on the wall.
Zipp facepalmed. "The telephone hadn't been invented in 1864. The first working telephones appeared in 1876!"
Just then, a person walked past and handed Argyle a telegram. "This isn't good," he said, as he read it.
"What's wrong?" Sunny asked.
"Misty's been held up. Points failure at Penrhyn. She won't get here until 10."
And suddenly, there was a knock at the door to the station. "The mayor is here!" Isaac said.
Lady Haven looked over and addressed her daughters. "Can you two distract her?" she asked. "We need to try and get this mess sorted out."
Both of her kids hurried away through the doors. "Mind you don't get stuck!" Zipp said.
"Fitting through doors is easier than you think!" Pipp replied.
Pipp and Zipp stopped outside as the mayor stepped to a stop. "Why am I being greeted by an aristocrat and a navvy?" she asked.
Pipp curtsied as best she could. "Dear Mord Layer," she said. "Our west bishes on this dine fay."
"Pardon?" the mayor said.
"Pipp, that was a bit mixed up," Zipp said.
"Oops!" Pipp replied. "Totes nerves. Nice day, isn't it ma'am?"
The mayor sighed. "I'm being filmed, aren't I? And I refuse to acknowledge that 'totes' is a word."
Just then, a number of the others stepped through a nearby door. "It's nice to get some air!" Lord Haven said, adjusting his top hat.
"It seems we've been joined by Abraham Lincoln and Scarlett O'Hara," the mayor said sarcastically.
Lord Haven looked over. "This is a top hat, not a stovepipe hat."
Suddenly, somebody looked over. "It's ghosts, I tell you! The ghosts of Falmouth's past have returned to reclaim the neighbourhood!"
Posey, who was walking by, took a look at them. "Playing dress up?" she asked.
"We're trying to recreate a photograph of the opening train," Sunny explained. "But it's rather hard to do that when there's no train to photograph."
"It's running late!" Izzy explained. "You know, I wonder if these things really do work as parachutes!"
Hitch adjusted his helmet. "Izzy, this isn't Alice in Wonderland. That wouldn't be published until 1865 so it would be an anachronism anyway."
Izzy pouted. "I'll just have to try it another time!"
Suddenly, there was a loud whistle, and Bellerophon came steaming in from the yard. "Sorry I'm late!" he called. "We had a bit of a problem with the points!"
As the train rolled to a stop, the team assembled next to the engine, and the Mayor was soon to join them at their side. Before long, everything was perfect.
The photographer looked over. "And smile for the camera!"
Everybody smiled, even Bellerophon, and the flash went off, illuminating the scene.
Even if they were a bit behind time, nobody really minded. After all, what is time when you are recreating history?
Glory, Peach Fizz, and Seashell sat excitedly in front of Seashell's phone. A holding screen sat on their phone whilst 1980s inspired synth rock played over the speakers. The text on the screen read Stream Starting Soon.
"This is such an exciting moment!" said Glory. "Pipp is performing alongside the Cheesemakers."
"I thought it was Freddie and the Pizza Boys?" Seashell asked.
"That's next week!" Peach Fizz chimed in. "This week is the Cheesemakers. I guess it works, given cheese is often found on pizza, but I'm so excited I could explode!"
"Take cover!" Glory shouted, and the three girls started laughing.
This was before the screen changed, however. It had text, and a pre recorded message playing. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, we are sorry to inform you that due to technical difficulties this stream is being postponed. We thank you for your cooperation, and will inform you of the rescheduled date as soon as we can."
The synth music continued to play as the message looped. "Well, that's disappointing," Seashell said. "Maybe we should find Pipp and find out how she is?"
They wouldn't have to wait very long, as suddenly a loud and haughty voice started laughing. "Would you believe it?!" Charles snorted. "What a rotten bit of luck!"
"How so?" Porter asked.
"The world can rejoice! Pipp Petals has lost her voice!"
As insensitive as Charles' choice of words was, he was correct. Pipp was indeed indisposed. She was stuck in her room as well, unable to say a word.
Zipp popped into the room. "Hey Pipp. How you feeling?"
There was a few seconds of somebody writing on a whiteboard, before Pipp held it up. I've had better days, to be honest.
"Tell me about it," Zipp replied. "Not being able to speak sucks. We'll be here for you and get you back up to speed, OK?"
There was some more scribbling, then another board being shown. A plan of action would be better than vague promises. What about Sophie?
"Don't worry about her, we're on it," Zipp answered. "But I got you some stuff to keep you occupied whilst stuck in your room."
Pipp's eyes widened as Zipp pulled a mountain of books into the room. That's not what I think it is, is it?
"It is," Zipp grinned. "The complete works of Arda by J. R. R. Tolkien. Not just The Hobbit, but also all three Lord of the Rings books, revised and expanded with additional material, the entire appendix to Return of the King, as well as The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, and the History of Middle Earth in case you get lost at any point in the narrative."
That's a lot of books. How long do you expect me to be sick for?
"Whether it's two days or two months, there's no such thing as too many books."
Pipp pouted, but picked up The Hobbit and slipped her reading glasses on. No sooner had she started then Sunny appeared. "Hey Pipp!"
Pipp popped the book down and began writing again. This is like a Christmas special episode where everybody shows up.
"We just want to check up on you and ensure you are well," Sunny replied. "Nobody likes it when a friend is ill."
It just gets SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (here Pipp had to wipe the text off the board and start again) Boring! There's so much stuff I wanted to do! I was supposed to be recording new material today!
Sunny nodded. "I feel you. It sucked being housebound with chickenpox last year. If there's anything we can do to help your recovery just let us know."
Pipp spent a few moments wiping the text off the board and looked up once she was done. Could you ask mom if she has any of the special soup in stock? She always used to make it when I was previously ill, and it worked wonders!
Sunny nodded. "I'll pop down right away!"
As she was on her way, she passed Hitch. "Erm, what are you doing? I thought you were helping to fix Sophie!"
"Lord Haven says he has it all under control," Hitch answered. "Besides, somebody has to spend time with the patient."
Down at the dockyard, Brookes had been brought down from his usual perch of Truro to help out. "It's terrible!" he said to Bellerophon. "Nigel is left up at Truro on his own handling the yard. Pipp falling ill, Sophie breaking down, and this bumper shipment of fish- it couldn't have happened at a worse time."
Bellerophon, who was also working the dockside, glanced up empathetically. "You and Nigel are close, aren't you?" he said.
"Well, we shunters have to stick together, and his experiences aren't too different to mine," Brookes admitted. "That's how people and engines usually bond."
Argyle glanced out of the cab and looked back. "Looks like more fish has arrived," he said. "Let's get these vans processed."
They headed off and collected the trucks, before moving them to the sidings. But upon arrival, Bellerophon noticed something. "There are fewer trucks in the yard then earlier. Somebody has taken them!"
"Probably Charles," Brookes said.
"But Charles is in the shed!"
"Very odd," Brookes admitted. "Wait. Is that an oily trail there?"
"It is!" Bellerophon said. "There was a sign in the shed earlier- coughs and sneezles spread diseasles. Of course! It all makes sense now!"
"Err, no it doesn't," Misty said.
"Pipp falling ill, Sophie breaking down, and now the trucks vanishing- it's a diseasel! We must search for it!"
Meanwhile, it was now Izzy's turn to babysit Pipp, although the latter had protested the use of the term 'babysit' on the grounds she wasn't a baby and also wasn't keen on being sat on. Izzy, however, had soon started up a machine which was bubbling and rumbling like a cauldron.
Are you sure that thing is safe?
"It sure is!" Izzy said. "I've used it dozens of times! It's perfectly safe!"
Just then, it was ready. Izzy tipped it over and poured some mysterious liquid into a teacup. "This should get your voicebox working again."
Pipp apprehensively took it and drank some, then tried to speak. A raspy gargling noise came out instead, so she took to writing. I don't think it worked.
Izzy looked in it. "I made the wrong one. Oopsies!"
Meanwhile, Lady Haven was looking in the fridge, checking through the items they had. "Ah! Here we are! Soups!" She moved some boxes aside and checked through the stocks. "Hmmm. Looks like we're out of Ladle and Sons Number 25. Just our luck!"
She stepped out of the fridge and took a look on the laptop she had set up in the kitchen. She had turned the place into a base of operations, reasoning it made more sense to be based there as healing things could be prepared here. She scanned through the pages of a website before her eyes lit up. "Perfect!"
Just then, Sunny arrived. "Good morning! I was just talking with Pipp and she mentioned something about soup."
"Ladle and Sons Number 25 with extra carrots," Lady Haven said quickly, without looking up from the screen. "And we're in luck. Outingdale's in Truro has some in stock."
"Who are Outingdale's?" Sunny asked.
"Specialty soup stockist," Lady Haven replied. "I'd got up there and get it myself, but there's been a crash on the road. Nothing's getting through there for hours. Sunny, be a dear and head up to Truro to collect it? I promise to reimburse you for any costs."
Sunny nodded. "So, it's premade? Pipp implied it was home made."
"I've no idea where she got that idea from," Lady Haven replied, and momentarily turned to face Sunny. "I can't cook to save my life, and most jobs are done by household staff as I'm far too busy to clean rooms and prepare food! Speaking of which, if you do see Wadsworth tell him that the temperature needs adjusting on the sea side of the house."
Sunny nodded. "On my way!"
Upstairs, Pipp had gotten bored of reading and was on her phone. Zipp popped in and looked annoyed. "Hey! You're supposed to be resting and reading!"
Pipp wrote on the blackboard. I am reading... on my phone. Words can appear on screens, you know.
Zipp rolled her eyes. "Never thought I'd see a whiteboard be sassy with me." She walked over and pulled the phone out of Pipp's hands. "Consider this confiscated."
What happened next caught her off guard. Pipp lunged at her and grabbed for the device, nearly succeeding in pulling it out of Zipp's hand. Zipp stepped backwards and held out her hand, pinning Pipp in place. "Hey, this is easier than I thought. I'm barely putting any effort down."
Eventually Pipp exhausted herself, and simply resorted to writing on the board again. You're such a meanie, you know that?
"Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind," Zipp answered.
More scribbling. I'll remember that when you fall ill and I need to take care of you. Besides, isn't taking stuff that doesn't belong to you theft?
"Not if it's for the good of the patient," Zipp answered, and walked off.
As a result, she didn't see what was written on the whiteboard.
Salty and Bellerophon made their way up the line, with the two engines happening to need to go to the same place at the same time. As they rolled along, Bellerophon explained his theory to Salty.
"And that's why things are going wrong!"
Salty looked very confused. "You sure Charles' isn't rubbin' off on you? He says some very strange things sometimes."
"Yeah, that does sound pretty nonsensical," Sunny said. "It's probably just a coincidence."
Sure enough, they rattled into Truro, and before them was sitting a long line of trucks. "Our trucks!" Bellerophon said. "I told you they had been taken!"
Bellerophon bravely puffed to the front of the train, and sitting there was a diesel. A big, blue diesel. A big, blue diesel who looked a little unfriendly.
Back at the house, Izzy, finally had the tea ready, and tipped it into a cup. "If this doesn't work, I don't know what will!" she said.
Pipp nervously drank some, fully expecting a repeat of earlier, but to her surprise felt a change. "Ce truc fonctionne à merveille! Je peux parler – attendez, pourquoi est-ce que je parle français ? Je ne comprends même pas le français!"
Izzy looked in confusion. "Wait a moment. Did I put the wrong one in?"
Zipp then returned. "Hey Pipp!" she said. "How's it going?"
Pipp looked annoyed. "Je ne m'appelle pas Pipp! C'est Ruby!"
Zipp looked over to Izzy. "Izzy, what did you do? Why is Pipp speaking French?"
"I'm not sure," Izzy said. "It must have been an error in the brewing process. But you can talk to her in French, right?"
"Not without Google Translate, I can't," Zipp said. "It's German that we know."
Izzy's face lit up. "Let's try the tea again and see if that switches her to German!"
Pipp's face was one of horror. "Non! Pas allemand! Je veux juste pouvoir à nouveau parler normalement!"
Zipp looked surprised. "So she can understand us speaking English, but can only reply in a foreign language. Well, this is new."
"Elle a un nom, tu sais."
The diesel looked at Bellerophon. "Do you mind?" he asked. "I was having a nice sleep before you barged in."
"We'd like our trucks back," Bellerophon said.
The diesel looked even more annoyed. "Who is 'we'? Besides, these trucks are mine. They need to go elsewhere."
Bellerophon looked surprised. "You'll be sorry!" he said. "Now!"
Bellerophon dropped back whilst Salty roared up the other side. "Mornin', matey!"
As he reversed, Bellerophon flew up the other side. "Miss me?"
They went backwards and forwards, forwards and backwards, up and down for several minutes. The diesel's eyes went back and forth so quickly it looked as though they would come flying out. "STOP!" he shouted. "YOU'RE MAKING ME GIDDY!"
The two engines then stopped and pulled up alongside him. "These are an important delivery from your yard to another place! I'm waiting here for mainline clearance!"
"So you have nothing to do with Pipp?"
The diesel looked baffled. "Who's Pipp?"
It was then Bellerophon realised his theory didn't work. "Sorry," he said.
"You should be," the diesel said, as the signal changed. "I, for one, am glad to be out of this mad place."
Pipp lay there, looking defeated. "Peut-être que je ne pourrai plus jamais parler normalement."
"Hey," Zipp said, running a hand through her hair. "We can fix this."
"Vous ne comprenez pas un mot de ce que je dis, n'est-ce pas?"
"But we can try something else and-"
"Je suis ta sœur, pas un cobaye!" Pipp snapped. "Arrêtez de me traiter comme un patient et voyez-moi comme une personne!"
Izzy looked over. "I have no clue what she's saying either. But I think I have the fix!"
"Let's use it then!" Zipp said, before seeing her sister's face. It was then she realised what was wrong. "Oh the irony."
"What irony?" Izzy asked.
"I was so focused on getting Pipp back into health that I forgot to treat her as a person," Zipp said. "I know this probably sounds hollow, but I'm sorry. When you're back to health, we can go wherever you want, OK?"
Pipp seemed to understand, and nodded. "Espérons que celui-ci fonctionne correctement. Si je finis par parler une autre langue que l’anglais, je ne serai pas content."
Izzy passed the cup over, and Pipp drank it. She then opened her mouth and spoke. "Whoo! That worked a tre- wait, why do I have a Canadian accent?"
Zipp looked over. "Can you set it to American?" she asked.
Pipp shrugged. "At least I'm speaking English again!" she said. "No need for Google Translate!"
Sunny soon came back from the store with the soup in a box. "Got the soup!" she called. "Hopefully this'll get back to Falmouth in one piece."
Once back in the cab, she, Salty, Misty, and Bellerophon headed back down to Falmouth, where the engines were stabled. Sunny travelled up to the Haven residence and prepared the soup, before heading up to Pipp's room. "All ready!" she called.
Pipp glanced over. "Ladle and Sons Number 25?" she asked.
Sunny looked at Zipp. "Err, what's up with Pipp's voice?"
"It's a long story," Zipp replied.
"Thanks for doing this for me," Pipp replied. "At first I found the fussing a bit annoying, but now I see that you guys were only doing what you did because you care for me. How can I repay you all?"
"There's no need," Sunny said. "Being your friend is reward enough."
Pipp took the soup and had some. "That hit the spot!"
"Hooray!" Izzy cheered. "She has her old voice back!"
Later that day, Pippsqueaks got a notification that a stream was about to start. They excitedly took to their screens to watch, and sure enough the music faded out and Pipp's face appeared on screen.
"Hello Pippsqueaks!" she said. "Sorry for the delay, but I came down with something. However, I had my friends by my side, who join me from my bedroom now." She turned the camera to show them more clearly. "Please give a big cheer for them!"
The assembled viewers cheered and clapped them with joy. "And now," Pipp said, "I'll be debuting my new hit single, which is performed alongside The Cheesemakers! Ready boys?"
Opaline sat in her bunker, monitoring the situation. "She was ill?" she said. "I could take advantage of that." She switched to a telephone on her desk. "Boomer? Ready your men to deploy to Falmouth. You have an important mission."
The newly built oil facility at Penmere stands looming over the terrain. Its massive stacks and tanks tower over all other buildings, and the vastly increased number of sidings have resulted in an increase of traffic.
Many locals had mixed feelings about the facility. Some appreciated the extra employment the plant had brought. Others regarded it as an eyesore and a blot on the landscape. None, however, denied the impact it was having on the local area. Owing to supply issues with oil, tankers were now docking at a port off the coast and the oil was pumped to the refinery. There it was processed to create many different grades of fuel, then pumped into tanker trucks. These tankers were then taken to other places far away.
One morning, Rebecca came to a stop at Penmere station and saw Nigel at work processing the oil tankers. "How's it going, Nigel?" she asked.
"Fine, thanks," Nigel said. "The tankers are heavy, but it's fairly simple work. Put some loaded tankers here, move empties there, it's simple."
"It's a rhythm more than anything else," Onyx said. "One feels the ground move, and the land shake, and the machines shake like mighty drums. We live and move to the beat of nature and industry, two great titans moving in unison."
Rebecca looked worried. "But all this oil isn't a good thing. It's dramatically increased traffic on the line, and isn't it bad for the environment?"
"You burn a fossil fuel," Hitch pointed out.
"I know, but the effect heritage locomotives have on the environment is ultimately negligable," Rebecca said. "But I guess it's not really for us to tell other people how to live their lives."
Just then, the signal changed, and Rebecca moved off with her train. Nigel was stabled in a nearby siding as work was temporarily done. He sighed. "Things aren't looking too good, I'll admit," he said.
"What makes you say that?" Onyx asked. "I can see nothing wrong."
"The company that manages this plant suggests otherwise," Nigel replied, looking over to a sign. "Sub Core Energy. They have a long history of cutting corners when it comes to safety."
"Then why hire them?"
"Because they're cheap. They get the pipelines and oil moving faster. But they do take risks. I recall they managed one of the former ICI facilities I was allocated to."
Just then, Brookes arrived. "Morning," he said.
Nigel smiled at his friend arriving. "Hello Brookes. Anything interesting from the main?"
"Only what looked to be a dismantled rocket engine," Brookes replied. "Good thing it was in bits. Imagine trying to run an engine with it fully assembled."
"You mean have the jet engine running when the train is in motion?" Nigel said. "Who'd be daft enough to try that?"
Argyle leaned out. "What's that about ICI? I heard you and Onyx discussing it."
Nigel looked over. "I was telling Onyx about the company that manages this place. Sub Core Energy took over a plant I was based at after ICI was dissolved in 2008."
"And what happened?" Brookes asked.
"Shoddy maintenance of a fuel pipe resulted in a fire that nearly destroyed the plant."
"It wasn't reported nationally, but thankfully nobody was hurt." Nigel sighed. "But they're brave putting those kerosene tankers next to the blowdown stack. If a fire occurs it'll be a big bang."
Brookes looked over. "Then let's move them to another siding."
The two engines continued working and loading the tankers throughout the day, but there was still a strong sense of unease surrounding the situation. As they continued working, new orders flowed in and more tankers were filled. The work never seemed to end.
Later on, Charles came by to pick up an order of loaded kerosene. "Twenty kerosene tankers. That's the work order."
Nigel looked at him. "Be careful with these ones. No aggressive pulling. This load is potentially very dangerous."
Zipp looked back. "Kerosene has a low boiling point, but we should be OK with a short load." She buffered Charles up to the barrier wagon, which is a special vehicle to keep the engine away from any source of flames or fire. They then coupled to the tankers and waited for orders.
Charles was ready to go, and soon the brake van was added to the train as the sun descended below the horizon. Once the passenger train was through, Charles throttled up and was on his way. "OK. Nice and easy. Nice and easy."
"Charles is being unusually cautious," Onyx said.
"Hazardous materials are no joke!" Charles replied. "I've seen what fire can do to an engine." The tankers trundled by until they were out of sight, and well away from the refinery.
Argyle looked around, the artificial floodlights now being the only thing illuminating the area. "What now?" he asked.
"The work order says to wait for more work," Onyx replied.
"So it looks like we'll be waiting," Nigel added.
A few miles up the line, Charles' train was passing the Penrhyn signal box. The load was halting at Penrhyn to let another train pass through. As the thirteenth wagon passed the train, there was suddenly a loud bang.
In Charles' cab, Zipp suddenly saw the brake pressure gauge go bezerk. "What the?" She stuck her head out of the window and quickly glanced back. "What the?"
Just then, she saw some tankers were missing. The train was supposed to be twenty tankers long, but there were only 12- and no brake van. "Did we lose some wagons?"
She brought the train to a stop and sprinted to the signal box. "Transmit a warning to all signal boxes and stop all trains. We have runaway stock loaded with kerosene!"
The signalman nodded, and immediately rang the bells six times. This signal indicated danger and to lock down all signal blocks immediately.
Back at the refinery, Nigel saw something approaching. "It's the tankers!" he said. "They'll never hold the bend!"
And they didn't. The tankers came off at the curve and tipped over just beyond the station, skidding to a stop on their sides. The crash couldn't be seen in the awful light, but it could be heard.
Nigel looked to Brookes. "Look sharp! And anybody with ears, cover them!"
Seconds later, a second sun rose over the Cornish countryside.
Down in Falmouth, Salty was assembling an outbound fish train when he spotted all the signal snap to danger. "There's trouble on the line, Sunny," he said. "All the signals just went to danger."
"That is odd," Sunny admitted. "I wonder if something's happened?"
Seconds later, there was a bright flash further away, and a fiery mushroom cloud rose over the landscape. Then came the loudest sound either of them had ever heard, followed by a shockwave.
"What in Neptune's Briny Beard was that?" Salty asked.
Sunny, however, figured it out. "The oil terminal must have caught fire! And Nigel and Brookes are working there!" She grabbed her radio. "Prepare the firefighting train! And somebody call the fire brigade!"
Within minutes, a water tanker and the firefighting vehicle had been assembled, and Salty began to push it up the line. It wasn't long before they encountered the fire. Thick black smoke was rising into the air, and several tankers lay on their side, burning. Fire engines had already arrived, and firemen were dousing the tankers with water and foam, as well as putting water on the other buildings.
Brookes realised they were all in serious danger. "If the fire reaches the blowdown stack the tankers run the risk of catching fire!" he said. "We have to pull them out of the way!"
"On it," Nigel said. "If we don't survive this, I want you to know that you've been a great friend."
"The same to you," Brookes replied, and the two engines and their drivers got to work.
Argyle raised a hand in front of his face as the fire burned incredibly hot. The intense heat was threatening to drive him back, but he and Brookes kept on moving forward towards the tankers. It was then he had an idea. He saw a bandana in the toolkit, and quickly soaked it in water from a bucket before tying it over his nose and mouth. This gave him some relief from the heat.
He heard Brooke's buffers impact the tankers, and he jumped out to couple them up. The intense heat was starting to scorch Brooke's paintwork, but both refused to yield. The hook was put into place with a shunter's pole as the metal was becoming very hot to the touch, and when ready Argyle hopped back in the cab and began to open Brooke's regulator.
His wheels slipped on the rails. "If this gets any hotter my wheels will fuse with the track!" Brookes shouted, but finally the tankers began to start moving.
Nigel was having similar luck, and slowly drew the tankers away from the scene of disaster. "Keep going!" he shouted. "We're nearly out of this!"
The line out of the oil terminal is single track, so one engine had to wait for the other. As Nigel was further forward he went first. But as Brookes started to move-
"THE BLOWDOWN STACK HAS CAUGHT FIRE! EVERYBODY CLEAR THE AREA!"
Down below, Salty and Sunny were forced back alongside the fire engines as the fire grew too intense for anybody to handle. Salty's engine was spluttering as the fire sucked in the oxygen it needed to work, and he pulled back quickly as the tanker began to run out of water.
"Brace yourselves!" he shouted.
He got clear just in time. As the vapours in the blowdown stack ignited, the oil terminal was decimated. A series of massive explosions tore the structure apart and ignited the rest of the fuel in storage.
Sunny grabbed her radio. "Everybody sound off!" she called. "Is everybody OK?"
"Onyx here. I'm clear of the fire, over."
But there was no response from Argyle.
Sunny blinked in shock as her mind immediately jumped to the worst situation she could imagine. "Please no," she whispered. "Anything but that!"
The next morning, the fire brigade had finally gotten the fire under control. The damage was extensive. The buildings would need to be demolished and rebuilt, and the rails were badly melted and scorched by the heat. These would need replacing as well.
But there had still been no word from either Brookes or Argyle. Sunny made her way through the disaster zone to look for herself, but it seemed there was no hope.
She looked around in despair. "He can't be dead," she said quietly, before collapsing in a heap and sobbing.
Just then, a familiar whistle sounded in the distance. And under the bridge steamed a familiar sight. A small green saddle tank rolled into view and came to a halt on one of the sidings. "Nearly didn't make it there!" he said.
And then Argyle climbed down from the cab. "Well," he said. "I'm back."
Sunny couldn't keep it in, and sprinted over to her father, embracing him. "You're alive!"
"Almost wasn't," Argyle said. "That explosion got very close. Had it been any closer and I'd have had it. But I didn't."
The chief firefighter came over. "You and your engine deserve a medal for your bravery," he said. "I'll see to it that both of you are commended for one."
"Nigel and Onyx deserve one too," Argyle said. "Without them the fire would have been a lot worse."
Sub Core's contract was terminated, and British Petroleum brought in to run the facility. The accident taught the local community a vital and very important lesson- efficiency is all well and good, but efficiency should never be used as an excuse to cut back on proper procedure. Had proper procedure been followed, the accident would never have happened.
It is often said that safety regulations are written in blood. Never take risks with hazardous materials, especially when doing so puts lives on the line.
Pipp stepped forward, her usual confidence and energy blazing from her performance.
"A Brand New Day! A Brand New Chance to bend the way! To be the very best buddy! And live my best life! Cause there's only one now/ Yeah only one now!"
Rocky and Jazz, who had agreed to serve as backup dancers, joined in on vocals. However, Jazz's voice was a bit quiet compared to the others.
"Sometimes it feels like a bit of a circus! That's just fine by me/ Because I like it that way!"
Pipp then sang solo.
"A life full of adventure!"
Pipp and Rocky then resumed dueting.
"It fills me with purpose!"
Before Pipp switched back to soloing.
"It keeps me on my feet/ And yeah/ That's how its gonna stay!" (How its gonna stay!)
All three then sang together, their combined energy electrifying the crowd and producing enough power to provide Falmouth's electrical needs.
"Everyday's so bright/ Everyday's full of magic! Everyday feels right/ Everyday is a classic! And just when I think/ It can't get any better/ Every new day is the best day ever!
"Wo-o-o-o-oah! It's like, It's like/ Every new day is the best day ever!"
Pipp switched back to soloing. "Can't bring me down!" (He-he-hey)
Both Pipp and Rocky then switched back to singing duty.
"Can't stop the vibes/ I'm bringin' 'round!"
"To everybody here in town!" Pipp added.
Before she and Rocky switched back to singing together.
"So live your best life/ Cause there's only one now! Yeah only one now!"
Then all three of them sang together, continuing with the elaborate choeography.
"Everyday's so bright/ (so bright) Everyday's full of magic! (full of magic) Everyday feels right/ (feeeels right) Everyday is a classic! And just when I think/ It can't get any better/ Every new day is the best day ever! (best day ever)
"Wo-o-o-o-oah! (Everyday's so bright) It's like, It's like/ Every new day is the best day ever!" (Everyday's full of magic!)
"Wo-o-o-o-oah! It's like, It's like/ Every new day is the best day ever!" (Every new day is the best day ever!)
Pipp checked her watch after they had finished. "Right, four hours down. Twenty to go!"
Even though she had started early to try and ensure that she got some decent sleep after completing the twenty four hour streaming challenge, Pipp was still feeling pretty tired when she got up at her usual time of eight in the morning. "Hopefully a shower and a coffee will wake me up," she said. Pipp usually limited herself to one caffeinated drink a day, but she thought today she would need it.
As she walked down the corridor to downstairs, she saw Zipp waiting for her. "Hey Zipp."
"So, how'd it go?" Zipp asked.
"I managed to stream for 24 hours!" Pipp said, punching the air as she did so. "I'm one of only a few people who can say that."
Zipp nodded. "Yeah, it might be a good thing for you avoid screens for a bit. So, did you get enough rest?"
"I think so," Pipp said, before yawning very loudly.
Zipp looked worried. "Are you sure?"
"I'm fine," Pipp said defensively.
"Look, you can have a lie in. I'll do your tasks for you and-"
"I said I'm fine!" Pipp snapped. "Sheesh, don't you have ears?"
As she walked off, Zipp shook her head. "She's too stubborn to realise it but she's tired. She's only this crabby when she's tired."
At the engine shed, Pipp had arrived to fire Sophie up for the day. The cool sea air and breeze was helping her to stay awake. "Well, it's a lovely morning," she said, before leaning on Sophie and momentarily shutting her eyes.
She was suddenly awoken by a loud klaxon. "WAKEY WAKEY!"
Pipp shook her head. "Izzy, seriously? I was only resting my eyes!"
"Resting your eyes?" Porter said. "You looked like you'd fallen asleep!"
Hitch noticed this as well. "Look, I know you're keen to show you're right as rain after your recent bout of illness, but this is clearly serious. Sleep deprivation can cause serious accidents!"
Pipp snorted. "What is this, educating Pipp day? I'm perfectly wide awake. I can do whatever tasks are required of me."
Just then the foreman handed her a work order. Pipp glanced over it. "Chickens to the market, sheep to the farm, and children to the school. Sounds easy enough."
Salty chimed in. "We can split the jobs up if that helps. There aren't many trawlers in the dock today."
Pipp looked at him, annoyed. "If you mention sleep one more time I'll use some perfume on you!" She hopped into Sophie's cab, fired up the engine, and drove away.
Sunny looked worried. "She's definitely sleep deprived if she's acting like this."
Problems began almost immediately. Pipp shunted all the vehicles required into a single train instead of three separate ones.
"Pipp?" Sophie asked. "Why are we putting all of these vehicles together? They don't have compatible brake systems!"
"If we move all three at once we get the job done much faster," Pipp pointed out. She looked at the work order again. "Chickens to the market, sheep to the farm, and children to the school."
The long train was pushed into the loading dock. The chickens, currently stored in wire baskets, were placed inside open vans. The sheep were loaded into cattle vans with open sides to allow for plenty of ventilation. Once this task was complete, Pipp moved the train into the platform and the children climbed aboard.
Pipp picked up the radio. "Good morning!" she said. "We'll shortly be shetting off. I hope you have jice nourney."
"What?" asked one of the children. "What a jice nourney?"
"I think she meant a nice journey," said one of the other children.
Seashell glanced at Peach Fizz. "Pipp was doing a long livestream yesterday," she said. "I didn't watch the full thing- mom wouldn't let me- but she was on for a super long time."
"Maybe she's tired?" Peach Fizz suggested.
"If she's getting her letters mixed up, she probably is!" Glory added.
Eventually, the train began to make its way up the line. Pipp was finding it increasingly difficult to remember what order to complete all the jobs in. "Sheep to the market, children to the farm, chickens to school," she murmured.
They arrived first at Penmere, where the market was taking place. "Unload the sheep!" she called.
The station staff looked very confused, as they were expecting chickens, but they unloaded them anyway. A similar thing happened at the private siding at Perranwell, where the children were instructed to get off.
"Unless we're having a visit day this doesn't look right!" said Glory. "We'll get very muddy!"
And at Truro itself, the chickens were unloaded as they were the only things left. The vans were reloaded with new cargo, and Sophie took them with her back to Falmouth. Sunny was waiting at the loading dock. "I hope the new part is here!" she said. "The sooner I can get the new smoothie flavours made the better."
Sure enough, the van was unloaded, and Sunny took the part with her. Sophie went back to the shed and was stabled.
"So, how did the delivery go?" Salty asked.
"Pipp seemed awfully muddled," Sophie said. "I'm pretty certain the children weren't meant to go to the farm. Pipp?"
The only answer to Sophie's question was loud snoring. Just then, Charles returned from Lighthouse Quarry. "How has everybody been doing whilst I was away?" he asked.
"Apart from Von Snorehousen here, pretty well," Sophie replied.
Zipp leaned out of the cab and saw Pipp slumped over the controls. "I knew it." She reached down and pushed the horn lever.
"AHHHHH!" Pipp leaped out of her seat and looked around. "Is something going on?"
"The only thing going on is that you're in no condition to work," Zipp scolded her. "What sort of mess might you have made now?"
"I haven't made a mess!" Pipp retorted. "Chickens to the market, sheep to the farm, and children to the school. That was what I had to deliver, and I delivered it!"
Suddenly, the foreman arrived. "I've been getting some very strange phone calls," he said. "Can somebody explain to me why there are sheep at the market, schoolchildren at the farm, and chickens at the school?"
Zipp looked over again. "Well, Pipp?"
"Well, the work order was in smaller print than usual and-"
"You're sleep deprived. Why else would you mix the instructions up?"
Pipp was about to speak, but before she could there was loud screaming from the town.
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Jazz shouted. "SUNNY'S SMOOTHIE MACHINE HAS GONE WRONG!"
Projectiles of fruit rained down on buildings and splattered all over the street, making a frightful mess. Sunny was both terrified and baffled. "What's going on?" she asked, as she tried to switch the machine off. "Can somebody help me stop this thing?"
Hitch sprinted over, and spotted the power cable. He ran over to the wall and pulled out the plug. "We're gonna have a hard time explaining this one to the council."
Sunny took the top off the machine and looked at the part. "I don't understand," she said quietly. "I installed the new part."
"What's the serial number you ordered?" Hitch asked.
"10172004," Sunny replied.
Hitch looked at it. "This is serial number 10712004. Did somebody give you the wrong part?"
"OK, so we've got three loads of goods in the wrong locations and a malfunctioning smoothie machine fitted with the wrong parts," Zipp summarised. "Sounds like a typical day for us."
Pipp sighed. "I'll get them all fixed and-"
"No you won't," Hitch said sternly. "You tried to do all the work yourself and only left everybody else in a massive mess. The only place you're going is home to sleep. End of conversation. Zipp, make sure she goes."
"My pleasure," Zipp said, and calmly walked Pipp away. "This way!"
"I'm not tired! Just because you're my big sister doesn't mean you have to be a jerk!"
"Only older by a few minutes!"
Hitch glanced back to his friends. "So, who wants to do what?"
Sunny got to work cleaning up the mess her machine made and changing the parts over, whilst Porter went to pick up the sheep from the market. Bellerophon was roped in to take the chickens from Truro to the market, and Rebecca transported the children from the farm to Truro. Having said that, the children certainly enjoyed their unexpected day out!
The next morning, Pipp woke up, and yawned as she pulled herself out of bed. "What a nice day out there," she said to herself as she headed for the shower.
After she was ready, she headed along the corridor towards the stairs. Zipp emerged from her room as well. "Sup," she asked. "Sleep well?"
"Yeah," Pipp replied. "But you know, I had this really strange dream. I was driving, and was required to take chickens to the market, sheep to the farm, and children to the school. But somehow I mixed up the work order and took sheep to the market, children to the farm, and chickens to school! Crazy, amiright? Something like that would never happen in real life!"
Zipp didn't quite know what to say to that. "Yeah. Sounds completely improbable. So, you fired up for the day?"
"You bet!" Pipp replied, as she walked away.
Zipp pulled her phone out and fired up WhatsApp before sending a message. Pipp is OK, and seems well rested. She slept like a log for most of the day, but thinks yesterday's events were a dream.
She then got several replies.
In fairness the story is pretty implausible. Feels like an episode of a children's TV show.
Zipp laughed after reading that response before putting her phone away. It just went to show that, sometimes, there are situations where the truth actually is stranger than fiction.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls!" Pipp called from her stand, the microphone carrying her voice far and wide. "Thank you for attending our all new, all special product launch! I am proud to showcase my all new, all natural scent." She picked up a bottle and quickly blasted some. "It is natural! It activates your roots! It-"
"Stinks!" said somebody in the front row. "Keep it off your shoes, folks! It eats right through them!"
The crowd soon caught wind of the smell, and began holding their noses. "Aroma of nature?" said one attendee. "Aroma of a bathroom more like. That is seriously smelly!"
The crowd rapidly dispersed, and Sunny took a look at one of the bottles. "That's funny," she said. "I'm pretty certain it's not supposed to smell like diesel fuel. Is it?"
"No!" Pipp said. "It's supposed to smell of the pretty bits of nature like flowers!"
Misty shrugged her shoulders. "Technically, diesel fuel is natural because it comes from crude oil, which is in the ground."
"Not helping," Zipp said, as she tipped some of the liquid into a bowl and scanned it. "Hmm. Traces of diesel fuel, alongside some coal impurities as well. How weird." She looked up. "Who was in the viscinity of the production process?"
Pipp glanced over. "I briefly stepped away from it to answer the door, then Izzy came to drop off some flo-" She stopped. "Izzy, you have a lot of explaining to do."
"I only took a look in the bowl!" Izzy replied. "I'd been working on Porter earlier that day and maybe that's how it got in."
Zipp blinked. "What bit of don't touch things that don't belong to you don't you understand?"
"I didn't do it on purpose!" Izzy said. "A friend is a person you can rely on!"
Pipp rolled her eyes. "And you're the type of friend that I can rely on to wreck everything!" She stormed off towards her home.
Izzy's face fell. "I need to make this up to her."
The Falmouth Branch is, amongst other things, heavily wooded. This means that many trees grow by the lineside, and they are always a delight to see when in their full glory.
Rebecca rolled amongst the trees by the lineside, smiling. "These trees by the line and the steep gradients bring back happy memories!" she said.
"How so?" Hitch asked.
"I used to be allocated to Bath Green Park in Somerset. From there I regularly ran over the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, a steeply graded line from Bath to Bournemouth. Many pine trees grew alongside the line, and the main train that ran over it was the Pines Express." Her face fell. "Sadly it doesn't exist anymore, as that Dr. Beeching closed it. But at least we have the memories!"
Hitch looked around. "They're currently working on reforesting the place," he said. "With so many trees being cut down, new ones need to be planted to replace them. If we're lucky we'll be working one of the delivery trains of the new trees." He glanced down the line. "It's a shame we can't stop."
"We'd be breaking Rule 55 if we did!" Rebecca said. "Whatever would the railway think?"
"Still, there's something about being in nature that makes me feel better," Hitch admitted. "The railways did allow more people to see the world, after all."
"Whatever it is you've found had better be good," Pipp said. "We've been walking through trees for hours!"
"We've only been walking for 59 minutes and 57 seconds, actually," Izzy replied, then saw Pipp's thoroughly nonplussed face. "Err, yeah, I'll focus on getting us there."
As they climbed through the trees, suddenly there was a booming noise overhead. Pipp looked up. "Just our luck!" she said. "Rain!"
Izzy looked at the ground. "If this path becomes boggy we won't be able to make it. We'll try again in the morning."
Pipp groaned. "Well, that was a waste of an hour."
It was more than just rain that came that night. The Cornish coastline was absolutely battered by a storm. Most people, quite sensibly, sought refuge at home as the rain thundered down. The winds howled, and there was even some thunderbolts and lightning. It was very, very frightening.
In the shed, the engines listened closely. "That's a loud gale!" Porter said.
"Aye!" Salty agreed. "One such wind was the warning that came before the Big Barracuda of Brixham! He was longer than two buses, he was!"
"That," Ray said, "depends on the length of the bus in question."
"It was figurative language," Sophie said.
"And all that rain!" Charles said. "The fields will be waterlogged!"
Rebecca said very little. She was worried about the trees. "I hope the trees are fine," she said to nobody but herself.
Sadly, the trees weren't fine. In fact, they were the exact opposite of fine. Rebecca was put into service to bring some flatbeds up to the scene, and what she saw was a scene of destruction. The storm had pulled many trees from the hillside and scattered them over the line like toys. There were huge scars in the landscape caused by the storm, and the lumber lay everywhere.
Rebecca looked on sadly as the trees were sliced into more managable logs with chainsaws and similar tools. Once the crane was done loading them onto the flatbeds, she took them up to Truro for processing to be taken to a sawmill further up the line.
Izzy and Pipp were helping out when suddenly they spotted something glowing. "Over there!" Izzy called. "I'll take a look!"
Pipp followed her. "Watch your step! It's not as if we'll find some undiscovered flowers in this storm ridden landscape!"
Izzy pointed to them. "Or we might." And sure enough, huge numbers of glowing crystal coloured flowers were sat in a grove. "These must have been hidden when the trees were here!"
Pipp bent down and smelled one. "These smell amazing!" she said. "These would work perfectly for my perfume line!" She pulled one out of the ground with the soil, placed it in a plant pot, watered the plant, and popped it in a box.
"You can't do that!" Izzy said. "It hurts nature!"
"By the same logic you can't eat fruit," Pipp pointed out. "Besides, taking one doesn't hurt nature. I'm going to take it to Figgy and she can figure out how to grow them en masse. She's a retired botanist, remember?"
Just then, both of them saw Rebecca puff by. "She looks so sad!" Izzy said.
"Clearly this place meant a lot to her," Pipp said. "We can't fix broken trees... but we can plant new ones! Perfect!"
A few days later, Pipp stood outside Mane Melody once more. "Hello everybody! As many of you know, the forest up the line was decimated in a storm. In order to support the efforts to replant it, I am selling this all new, all natural scent made using a flower we found in the forest. It smells good and furthermore does good- for every one sold, we shall plant a tree along the line!"
The trick worked. Before long they were flying off the shelves, and Pipp was ticking off boxes. "Well, we sold about 125," she said. "So we need to plant 125 trees! And then more!"
"This was a great idea!" Sunny said. "Not only did you use nature to make something people want, you're giving back to the planet too."
"Charity work benefits us all," Pipp smiled.
A few days later, the first shipment of trees arrived, hauled into place by Janet. "Here are some trees for you!" she called. "Hope they help you!"
Soon, every available machine and set of hands got to work. Rocky and Harvey helped unload the trucks, and the workforce got to work planting the trees into the ground.
During proceedings, Misty spotted the fellow who owned the diesel, a man with a white beard, kept looking at her. She hadn't really considered him before, but then she recalled she had seen him somewhere before- at the Ball, nontheless! What had he been doing there?
As she puzzled it over in her mind, something must have unlocked something else, as suddenly memories began rushing into her mind like a wave. This was the Alphabittle who had been mentioned previously.
She stopped what she was doing and walked over to him. He seemed surprised too. "Misty?" he said. "After all these years... can it be?"
It was the fact he knew her name that confirmed everything in her mind. "Hey dad."
They embraced shortly afterwards, as there was now no force on the planet that would keep them apart. Alphabittle held her gently. "I'm so sorry I failed you," he said. "But I'm going to put this right. I'm not taking you away from your friends. I'm moving to Falmouth so you can stay with them."
Misty smiled. "Thanks dad," she whispered.
And so, all came to a happy end. Rebecca got her forest back, a family was reunited, and a whole community came together to help one another. After all, what is a town but one big extended family?
She was on a beach somewhere, looking out to sea as the sun rose. Her eyes looked about to try and find answers, but she couldn't find any. The beach lay empty. Boulders and rocks lay about the scene, and they were scattered like toys thrown about by a child. The sun continued to climb through the sky, and was up in the air before too long.
It seemed a perfectly normal scene in Cornwall coastal towns. The waves continued to lap at the beach and moved about.
So why couldn't she move?
She was on a beach somewhere, looking out to sea as the sun rose. Her eyes looked about to try and find answers, but she couldn't find any. The beach lay empty. Boulders and rocks lay about the scene, and they were scattered like toys thrown about by a child. The sun continued to climb through the sky, and was up in the air before too long.
It seemed a perfectly normal scene in Cornwall coastal towns. The waves continued to lap at the beach and moved about.
So why couldn't she move?
Before the dream had any chance to progress further, Sunny woke up, most certainly not on a beach, her alarm blaring at her to get out of bed. She rubbed her head in confusion and looked around. "At least there's no glitter this time," she said, as she hauled herself out of bed, pushing the covers aside and placing her feet on the floor.
This place was special to her. Her room was a place where she had complete control over her environment, and could place objects as she saw fit. Whilst organising the interior space of the house was something of a series of negotiations with her parents, this was one space she could customise as she wanted to, and as such the walls and fittings truly reflected her personality.
What did it matter what others thought? They weren't the ones living in it.
Sunny popped off to the shower next to wash, then returned to her room to get dressed for the day. She'd set her clothes for the day out on the wardrobe the previous day, and as a result saved time getting them out for proceedings.
Once that was done, she popped downstairs to get breakfast, which Argyle was already preparing. "Morning, Sunny!" he said. "Did you sleep well?"
Sunny took a seat at her usual spot as the question processed in her mind. "I had a strange dream, actually."
Goldie looked over. "What happened in it?"
"Well," Sunny began, "I was on a beach and couldn't move, and so therefore I tried to but I couldn't. I was stuck in place. The sun rose and the sea began to move, and then it repeated and then I woke up."
Argyle's face narrowed as he thought it through. "Well, that does seem a bit odd, but I wouldn't read too much into it. Often the dreams we have are simply our brains trying to process the things we've seen in the day."
Sunny nodded as she dug into her breakfast. "Thanks, dad."
"No problem."
Later on, work was back underway on the dockside. The volume of freight moving about the dockside was characteristic of the time of year, as the demand for fish hadn't gone away despite it being January.
Salty had, naturally, switched to his usual method of keeping the trucks in line. "Music is a good way of keeping this lot in line!" he said, with a smile. "Good on them for behaving!"
Sunny smiled, feeling the sea breeze on her face as she hopped out to uncouple something. Before she suddenly felt a shift in the winds. "That was odd," she said, as she looked in the direction of the new wind.
Her eyes were drawn to something strange on the beach, and her eyes focused on it almost immediately. As she focused closer, she spotted something sticking out of the water, and felt an urge to take a look. "Just wait here a moment, Salty," she said, as she switched his engine off.
"I'll struggle to go anywhere without a driver," Salty replied.
Sunny set off on her journey, stepping across the road.
"SUNNY! LOOK OUT!"
Sunny looked to her left. She had no time to react as the car slammed into her, and everything went black.
Sunny's vision was drifting, confused, a series of strange lights and occurrances as her brain fought to regain consciousness. She knew she was in a place with white walls, and was being moved. But she couldn't recognise any of it.
Voices were speaking behind her, unclear and indistinct. They seemed to be saying something about an accident or a possible coma. Also a mention of bones. What could that possibly mean?
Sunny groaned, the first sound she had made the entire time, and then the scene around her faded to nothing.
Sunny was suddenly woken by a loud explosion, and some shouting. She looked around and tried to establish where she was. She looked up and down, and realised her body was transparent, like a ghost.
And then she saw herself clambering into Salty's cab, hearing Salty's engine splutter into life, and then just as suddenly die.
NO NO NO! NOT NOW!"
It was in that moment Sunny realised what she was seeing. It was a vision of the night of the rockfall that had nearly killed both her and Salty.
She looked over when she heard loud puffing, and Porter crashed down the track and came to a stop behind Salty, before Izzy jumped out to couple him up.
"Let's go!" Izzy called, as they began to reverse out of the area. Rocks were falling from above, and a cloud of dust was rising as the sirens continued to blare loudly all around.
The engines bounced up and down as they flew along. "I don't believe I've ever gone this fast!" Salty said.
Porter was red in the face as he continued to put down more effort. Unfortunately, there was a series of sounds like breaking metal. And suddenly-
BANG!
There was a bang, and suddenly Porter shot away.
Izzy looked out. "The coupling's snapped! I'll move in to hook up!"
"There's no time!" Salty shouted. "The cliff's almost on top of us!"
Porter reversed out of the area as the landslide roared down and struck the diesel. Salty was knocked off the track as a mixture of rocks and dirt and sand roared past his position, soon piling up in a massive pile utterly burying the engine.
Sunny knew this moment well. She legitimately thought she'd had it at that point, and although she had been in tougher spots later on she couldn't recall any other moment where she was more scared.
Before she could properly react, she was suddenly pulled inside the rubble pile and fully able to see what was happening inside. She couldn't remember much of what had happened in there, so she suspected she'd probably lost consciousness inside before waking up.
As she watched, she saw a badly damaged Salty in the pile, and then herself. She had been knocked off the footplate and was lying in a heap on the floor near the engine. But she wasn't breathing.
Sunny was stunned. Had she died in the rockfall? But if so, how was she here?
Suddenly, a bright light from nearby caught her eye. She saw the three crystals she had been carrying at the time scattered on the floor, but as she watched they fitted themselves together and a blast of energy came from them. The light flowed from them and into the body nearby.
The magic flowed over Sunny, slowly filling in and healing her injuries, whilst making some other changes as well. Portions of her hair changed colour to a rainbow effect, which was repeated through her (now rather messy) braid, which had come apart in the accident.
Her eyes opened, and she surged to her feet as a pair of translucent wings formed at her side. Seconds later there was a blinding flash, and the rocks were thrown aside as Sunny roared upwards.
Sunny suddenly woke up in her hospital bed, utterly confused at what she had just witnessed. The clock on the bedside table revealed several hours had passed, and she quickly checked herself over. Not a scratch to be found anywhere. No broken bones, no scarring, nothing. Just like Misty back in February.
Wait, Misty. Misty was able to pony up too, and had healed in similar circumstances after being exposed to a magical substance. And now the same had happened to her.
The revelation caused Sunny to slump. "What am I anymore?"
Goldie arrived at the hospital as the sun was starting to set. Obviously, she had dropped everything and rushed to Truro Royal Hospital the second she learned Sunny had been taken there after a car crash, but later Argyle had taken on the duty of staying with her. Goldie would stay the night, then when Argyle arrived catch the train to Plymouth for work.
As she walked down the corridors, she felt a distinct connection to the place. After all, this was where she'd been taken after she'd gone into labour, and later on had brought Sunny into the world. This place was, in a sense, where her journey as a mother had begun.
But there was no time for reflecting on the past. She soon found the ward where Sunny was being kept. "Sunny? It's me."
Sunny looked a mess, and simply glanced up at her mother. Her hair was all over the place, as she hadn't had time to properly clean it up. Her face was stained with tears, and fresh ones were still falling. It was what she said next that confused Goldie the most.
"It was all a lie," she said quietly.
"What was a lie?" Goldie asked, as she stepped into the room and sat down next to the bed. "Sunny, you're not making a lot of sense."
"I'm not the child you gave birth to all those years ago," Sunny replied, her chest still shaking. "I died in the landslide, and the crystals somehow healed me. The magic is now a part of me. Now I'm some sort of freak of nature- who am I? What am I? Am I even human anymore?" She collapsed into a fresh wave of tears. "I never asked for this!"
Goldie pulled her child into a gentle hug, not wanting to hurt her for obvious reasons. Although she was a bit confused by what she had said, she wanted to help Sunny get through this. "Sunny, I know this is hard for you, but I want you to know something. Even if these changes have happened, I know for a fact it is you who is still in there. Your quirks, beliefs, personality- you're all still in there, and that can never be taken away from you. You are still my daughter, and no matter what happens in this world I will never stop loving you."
Sunny sniffled, but otherwise said nothing. Clearly she was going through a lot at the moment, so mother and daughter just stayed there for a few moments, trying to figure out how to move on in this new world. But how could you when the fundamental truths of your life got turned upside down?
As the sun began to rise once more over Cornwall, Sunny looked out of the window in the direction of Falmouth, the town she had called home for almost all of her life. She saw the sun rise and the sea swell in response to the tide. And the beach glowed in the morning sun.
Her eyes returned to this room. A room in the same building where her life had begun nearly two decades ago, and where her very view of reality had been shattered.
Her mind didn't know how she was going to move on from this. All she knew was that she could never leave this world.
Alphabittle was making his way back to the property he was currently renting in Falmouth whilst he finalised the arrangements to purchase a house. It was going fairly well, he thought. Ever since finding his daughter again, and discovering that she was in the care of his old friend Liz, things were finally looking up for the man.
Misty had been helping earlier to move some of the objects he wanted to have in his new home. It turned out she'd although she wanted to have a relationship with her biological father, she was rather reluctant to leave the Havens behind, considering how long she had lived with them. Alphabittle understood, of course. Considering Misty's unconventional life she had led, she'd forged a close bond with Pipp and Zipp that was akin to that of siblings (and in his view Lady Haven made a superb mother figure). Although not quite the family dynamic he'd been expecting, just getting to see Misty again made it worth it.
As for today, Alphabittle had spent the day with Argyle, pouring over some of his information and trying to find some information out about what was going on. The story Misty had told him was very complex, and he needed secondary sources to try and make sense of it.
But now he was almost at the rental home, and as he slipped the key into the lock he turned it. The door opened and he stepped inside, looking around for clues. "Misty, I'm back!" Misty had stayed behind in the house to help set stuff up.
There was no reply. This concerned him greatly. Normally Misty was quick to reply.
He made his way through the house. The place was a mess. Somebody had clearly broken in and made a mess of the place. As his panic continued to mount as he searched each room, he made it to the room which doubled as a study.
Sitting on the desk was a message, which he started to read. Looks like you haven't changed all that much, have you?
Alphabittle was trying to figure out what this meant before he suddenly felt something hit the back of his neck. He reached back, but then slumped forward onto the desk as all went black.
"Zipp, we need to launch an investigation!" Pipp said. "I can't raise Misty on anything. She's not responding on any social media app or platform, and I can't find her anywhere in the house!"
Zipp nodded. "That is unlike her. We need to investigate, and Detective Zipp is on the case!"
After she had suited up in her spy gear, the pair headed to the rental home where Alphabittle had been staying. Zipp slipped her goggles on and added some gloves. "Watch where you step, Pipp. This is an active crime scene so we can't disturb anything."
Pipp nodded as she stepped in. The pair carefully scanned the rooms, noting the fact the door was unlocked. In fact, to say the door was unlocked was something of an understatement. It was as if it had been forced open. They advanced deeper into the structure, with Zipp spotting something in one room.
"Mud marks on the floor consistent with dragging," she said. "There was a fight in here. Furthermore, the marks resemble those on Misty's shoes."
"How do you know that?" Pipp asked.
"They made a similar shape on the pumpkins we had to clean up a while back."
"Fair point," Pipp replied. The pair then arrived in the office to find everything torn out and removed, as well as a note sitting on the desk. Pipp picked it up and read it. "Looks like you haven't changed all that much, have you?" she read. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Beats me," Zipp said, continuing to scan around. "What we do need is the footage from the CCTV cameras in the street next to the house. And for that we'll have to go to the Mayor's office."
Alphabittle suddenly awoke in a darkened room, with the doors locked all around him. "Hello? Where am I?"
Suddenly, a monitor flickered into life, and showed a small doll. He recognised it almost immediately. It was one Misty had made. "Hello Arthur. I want to play a game. You probably do not know me, but I know you and all about you. You have maintained a facade of who you are whilst hiding the reality of your actions from the world. In these rooms, you will be tested. Whether you are who you claim to be or a coward will be revealed. In order to leave the room, you have to tell the truth about what happened that day."
Alphabittle was confused. "What day? I've lived many da- no, no, not that one!"
"That one," the voice said, almost as if the tape knew he would say that. "You have five minutes. Live or die, make your choice."
Alphabittle always was a cynical one, knowing an easy way to live was just to do as the other person said. And so, after a few moments of hesitation, he replied. "I- it was my fault. I wasn't paying attention, and she was taken from me!"
Suddenly, a nearby door opened. "Well done, Alphabittle. The next test will push you harder."
Zipp and Hitch arrived at the Mayor's office. "Is the archive available?" Hitch asked.
"Yes. May I ask which section?"
Zipp looked up. "We need to consult all the CCTV footage from the last 24 hours."
The desk worker glanced at the display. "The last of the footage is being processed, but it will be ready shortly. I'll let you know when you can be let in."
Both sat down and waited. Zipp noticed something. "You're still torn up over Sunny, aren't you?"
"She's been acting really oddly for days," Hitch said quietly. "Although I've offered to talk to her she still won't tell me what's wrong. What sort of friend am I who can't understand what's going on?"
"Change takes a long time to process," Zipp replied. "I'm certain you can fix things."
Suddenly, the door opened, and the pair proceeded into the next room to check the cameras. Zipp looked at one bank, and Hitch looked at another to try and find answers.
After some looking, Hitch found the camera. "Got it!" He played the footage as Zipp walked over. The film showed several armed thugs breaking into the home, and then removing an unconscious Misty a few minutes later.
"Does this have audio?" Zipp asked. "A handful of security cameras can record sound."
Hitch pushed another button, and the audio become available.
"Good work," said one. "The boss will be pleased. Grab the other one when he's in, and we'll take them to the Factory. What happens to them next is none of our concern."
Hitch's face looked more concerned. "They were kidnapped!" he said. "But by whom? And where did they go?"
Zipp observed them getting into a van. "Note down that license plate. I'm going to enter it into a vehicle database and see where it was last spotted."
Alphabittle entered the second room, glancing about at the sudden shift in light. As he entered, the lights flickered on and bathed the room in bright light. "Enough with the bright lights already!"
Suddenly, there was another blast of sound, and another television came on. "I see you made it through the first test. Whilst confessing to guilt is an important step in the road to salvation, your obsession with the past and your own errors continues to blind you."
A box switched on, revealing a large box full of things. They were items belonging to Misty that he had preserved. "These items are from your past. They are holding you back. There is a key in the items that will unlock the next door. But in order to get the key you have to let go. You have ten minutes to decide. Move forward to the future, or remain stuck in the past."
Alphabittle examined the buttons. There was one linked directly to an industrial incinerator. He immediately clicked what was meant by this test. To get the key he would have to destroy these items.
"You monster," he said under his breath. "What right do you have to decide how I live my life?"
Even so, he knew there was only one way to progress. "Misty, forgive me." He closed his eyes and hit the button, unable to watch as the flames obliterated the few things he had left of her.
Once it was done, the key was dropped into a slot, and he removed it before heading over to the door.
News of the abduction had reached the engines, and they had somewhat mixed reactions. Charles looked over. "I have a theory," he said.
"That's usually a bad sign," Rebecca said.
"What if Misty is a double agent?" Charles suggested.
"How could you even consider such a thing?" Porter asked. "Given how Opaline treated her, why would she still work for her? You know Opaline threw her from the train and left her to die."
"The only evidence we have from that comes from Misty herself," Charles pointed out. "How do we know she didn't jump off herself and use that as a cover story? Not to mention our enemies always seem to know when and where we'll be. Somebody has to be leaking information to them, and I have no doubt as to who the mole is."
Outside the shed, the drivers were all consulting a map. Zipp pointed to a settlement. "The license plate from the van was last sighted here, in this abandoned industrial plant," she said.
"Waltham Abbey," Izzy read. "That's a long way from here."
"Sure is," Hitch added. "It's a decommisioned gunpowder factory which used to be operated by the government. Safe to say nobody's operating it now. But it's such an odd choice for a base."
"Presumably the place being abandoned is why Opaline picked it," Pipp suggested. "Who would investigate an abandoned building on a military site that's no longer in use?"
"Good point," Zipp answered. "Let's get out there and save our friend."
As they headed to their engines, Sunny looked at Hitch. "Here's hoping you found the right place."
Hitch was still confused. Sunny had been acting oddly for a few days since the accident, and he couldn't quite follow why. "Look, if you need to talk just let me know, OK?"
"I somehow don't feel now is the place or time," Sunny answered, as she hopped into Salty's cab and started the engine. "I'll explain when we get back, OK?" The familiar sound of engines soon eliminated any possibility of a conversation.
Later, the convoy moved off for its destination. Once more it was time to save the day.
Alphabittle unlocked the final door and stepped into the next room, which was very noisy. The floor above was shaking, and spinning blades roared round and round.
"Does that sound familiar, Arthur?" said the voice. "The engine is one you worked on. Your failure to maintain it properly resulted in a crash on the East Lancashire Railway."
"The accident was down to driver error," Alphabittle replied.
"That's what the cover up said," the tape continued, once again somehow knowing he would say that. "The General Manager changed the story to protect you. Well, you have no protection from this. The blades will slowly move towards the central path. Move quickly and potentially fall? Or go slowly and risk being cut? Make your choice."
Alphabittle knew he had no choice. He ran.
Opaline watched Alphabittle's progress on a monitor. "He's moving faster than I anticipated," she smiled. "At this rate he'll be with us in about half an hour. I think he has recruit potential."
Boomer glanced at the same monitor. "Speaking of him, where's the prisoner?"
Opaline pointed to another monitor. "Hung up as you asked."
"Good," Boomer replied, grabbing his familiar jacket and heading for the door. He smiled as he did so. "I think I'll pay our prisoner a visit."
Opaline laughed as she looked at the display. "You think I'm not a threat? These fools have no clue what I have planned for them. Once I have what I need, they'll regret ever standing against me or any of my followers. Project SENTINEL is close, and with their help it will not fail."
Boomer stepped into a chamber with a smile, seeing Misty locked in a cage. "It's good to see you put precisely where you belong, Misty. You trapped, and me on top of the world. Exactly as the world should be."
Misty struggled against her restraints. "Why are you doing this?"
Boomer snorted. "Being with those people has made you even more of an airhead than I thought possible. Well, need a reminder? Betraying us? Leaking our secrets? Generally being a nuisance? If I had my way we'd have left you in a far worse place. But that's how the dice rolls, I guess. Strong from the weak."
Misty shifted forward as best she could. "Unlike you, they won't leave me. My friends are coming, and they will stop you!"
Boomer smiled. "Well, isn't that a relief. I've been looking forward to a chance to put those grubs in their place. Now let's see if your pathetic father can save you." He stepped backwards with a smile, looking at the space above him and waving his hands. Dramatic music started up as flame projectors and smoke machines lit the room up.
Misty rolled her eyes. "Here as well?"
"It's time you learned a lesson/ It's time that you understand! Don't ever count on anybody else/ In this or any other land!
I once hoped for friendship/ To find a place among my kind. But those were the childish wishes/ Of someone who was blind!"
"Open up your eyes! See the world from where I stand! Me, among the mighty/ You, caged at my command!
"Open up your eyes! Give up your sweet fantasy lies! It's time to grow up and get wise/ Come now, little one, open up your eyes!"
The background suddenly became gentler as the music faded back to a quiet lullaby esque sound.
"We all start out the same/ With simple naive trust. Shielded from the many ways/ That life's not fair or just.
"But then there comes a moment/ A simple truth that you must face. If you depend on others/ You'll never find your place!
"And once you take that first step/ Upon a path that's all your own? You see it all so clearly/ The best way to survive is all alone!"
The music intensified again, Boomer seemingly having missed the irony in those words.
"Open up your eyes! See the world from where I stand! Me, among the mighty/ You, caged at my command!
"Open up your eyes/ And behold the faded light! It's time to grow up and get wise/ Come now, little one, open up your eyes!
"Open up your eyes!"
Boomer smiled as he indicated to a screen, showing the country. "All of this will be ours to control. This is what going it alone wins you, kid. We only exist to be used by others, so follow your own path and play the game as long as you can." He paused. "And I can see this is the case here. Admit it, Misty. Your friends failed you."
Misty looked down, refusing to meet Boomer's eyes. "They didn't fail me. I failed them."
It was falling dark when the convoy pulled into Waltham Abbey. The place was covered in abandoned buildings that had just been left behind to rot. Machinery scattered the terrain and left the region in something of a mess.
Charles looked around. "For a villain's lair I'd have expected a bit more going on."
"They're probably elsewhere," Zipp said. She stopped his engine and hopped out of the cab. "Let's go."
"I'll stay with the engines," Hitch said, staying behind. Even though he suspected a trap, it would do them no good at all if they had no transport out of the area.
As the others advanced across the site, the collapsed buildings cast ghostly shapes across the landscape. Collapsed roofs denoted structures that once housed experiments and equipmnt. Old lamps sat above abandoned streets, never to shine again. And the darkest aspect was yet to come. The landscape was covered in discarded military remains.
"It's as if everybody just dropped their tools and left," Pipp said. "I wonder if it's haunted?"
"Not really the time for that now, Pipp," Zipp said. "Focus on what's up ahead, not what could be lurking in buildings."
"OK," Pipp replied, as Sunny scanned the terrain with her flashlight. "Still, worth keeping in mind."
Izzy bounced over to a bell. "I wonder what this does!"
Sunny walked over and calmly pulled her away. "We don't want to alert them, do we?"
"Fair point," Izzy replied.
Suddenly, Zipp called over. "Found something!" The others rushed over to find what looked like a sliding metal door, and a control panel. Zipp looked at the panel closely. "Now, I wonder what the code could be?"
"Try a date?" Pipp suggested, as strange noises started from the other side of the plant. "This place is giving me the creeps."
"You're not the only one," Izzy replied.
Zipp slipped her goggles on and set it to scan the keypad. After a few seconds of simulating numerous different number options it found the right one, and Zipp punched it in. The panel moved back, and revealed some stairs.
"Down we go," Izzy said, and the four of them proceeded into the darkness underneath the abandoned plant.
Alphabittle found himself in a yard, and glanced about. "Hello? What is this?"
The nearby TV suddenly flickered into life, and another pre recorded message started to play. "You have made it to the final test. This room is full of abandoned equipment from both the railway and the region's past. Each item has been primed with gunpowder. If you make one false step it will detonate, blowing the room to pieces. You know the price of failure. Live or die, make your choice."
Alphabittle sighed. "I survived the last room. I think I can make it through this." He pushed on into the room, and stepped around the wrecks as best he could. The dingy lighting made figuring out where to step difficult, and he didn't have a torch on him so couldn't see what was happening on the ground.
He stepped slowly around the wrecks to avoid putting a foot down on a tripwire or the wrong place. Whomever had put him or Misty in this position was going to pay for what they had done.
But that could come later. Right now he had to focus on making it through the maze. That might be easier said than done, though. He steeled his nerves and pushed onwards into the darkness, silence being his only companion.
The others, meanwhile, pushed open the doors to a large chamber, full of rails and whirring machinery. Lights flickered from overhead, and obstacles filled the area with problems.
"Where are we?" Pipp asked. "This is seriously creepy."
"The lair of Opaline," Sunny replied. "That's my best guess, at least. And no doubt we're deep underneath the local area."
"Quite correct, on both counts," a voice said, and suddenly their attention was drawn to a familiar figure standing on a platform. "Miss me?"
"Not hugely," Sunny replied.
"Oh, what a pity," Opaline replied. "You know, you and I have more in common than you care to admit. So much more than the pathetic beings you keep as friends."
Zipp turned. "Where's Misty?"
Opaline pointed upwards. Their eyes looked upwards to see a bound Misty being lowered in on a cable.
"Misty!!" Pipp called.
Izzy looked over. "Let her go," she growled.
"Oh, but of course," Opaline smiled. "LET HER GO!"
The cable suddenly detached from its housing, and Misty plummeted towards the ground, smacking into the terrain in front of them. "Owww."
Pipp looked up. "What did you do?"
"I let her go, as you asked. Now to move onto the important bit."
Sunny looked coldly at her. "You're evil."
"At least I'm honest on that front," Opaline smiled. "Better make that Evil Queen! Diesel 10! Search and destroy!"
A loud engine roared from below, and a diesel appeared. It didn't take them long to identify Boomer at the controls. "Let's deal with them," the diesel engine said coldly.
"Gladly," Boomer replied, and opened the throttle.
Sunny looked to Misty. "We both need to pony up. You take him from the ground, I'll strike from the skies."
Misty nodded, and got up as her abilities flared into being. Sunny's wings thundered into life with a burst of light, and she flew into the air at great speed.
The diesel roared along the track, the grabber snapping at the air as Sunny whizzed around. "Keep still!" the diesel shouted.
"Missed me!" Sunny replied, some of her former snark returning.
The diesel roared around a bend, but Misty fired off an energy blast, redirecting them onto another line. "Take that!"
Diesel 10 growled as he was forced onto another line, skidding round another obstruction before heading directly towards Misty. "You'll get what you deserve," he said, the claw snapping at her.
Misty hopped to one side as the battering ram on wheels thundered by, heading into another set of the plant. Sunny flew down and hovered next to the cab before pulling the cab door open.
Boomer stepped away from the controls and threw a punch. Sunny dodged it and launched one of her own, the energy burst from her powered up form sending him flying. The door broke open behind him and he bounced along the ground. He landed before hitting another button. "Let's see how you like fighting fire with fire."
He roared into the air as Sunny did the same, the two clashing in the sky before Sunny tore one of the wings off the flight machine. Boomer slammed into obstacles in the air before crashing to a stop on the ground.
Misty closed in on him, and Sunny touched down in front of Boomer as well.
Misty was the first to speak. "Looks like justice finally caught up with you, Boomer."
Boomer looked up, and to their surprise put his hands together. "Mercy, please! This is just a bad path I chose! If you let me go I'll turn over a new leaf, I swear! Just give me a chance!"
Sunny scoffed. "This is new. Showing remorse, Boomer? I never thought I'd see this. Any last words before we haul you to the cops?"
Boomer smiled. "Gotcha." He punched a button on his suit, and suddenly two domes rolled shut over the two girls.
"What?" Misty asked, blasting it with her energy.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Opaline said. "Those are impervious to your abilities. Now for the best part."
Suddenly, devices popped out of the ground and fired up, pulling some sort of energy out of Misty. The girl screamed as it was pulled from her body.
Sunny looked up and saw Alphabittle banging on glass overlooking the scene, and back to the others, who were stuck behind some sort of energy shield. She tried to cut her way out, but the glass was too tough for her to shatter into pieces.
Opaline smiled as she witnessed Misty's torment. "Beautifully karmic justice, isn't it?" she said. "You betray me, you suffer at my hands. I've waited a long time for this. FIRE!" She slammed a button down with her hand.
As Misty collapsed on the floor, broken and in pieces, the energy flooded into Opaline, who laughed as she was filled with power. "YES! MAGIC IS MINE ONCE AGAIN!"
"What the?" Zipp asked. "What's going on?"
"Can she use spectra to power herself up?" Pipp asked. "Because if she can, that's not good."
Izzy looked about, and tried to break through the shield again. "Come on! Why can't we get to her?"
"You really think I'd let you disrupt my plans now?" Opaline asked, as two sets of enormous wings flared into being behind her. "This is just the start." She focused her mind downwards.
Inside the bubble, Sunny began to struggle. None of them could hear her, but they knew she was screaming from her facial expressions and writhing in agony.
After a time, she stopped. And then turned to face them, her eyes glowing red where green irises had once been.
Silence fell for a moment as the dome retracted, and Sunny began to move towards her friends in a manner reminiscent of a serial killer in a horror film.
"What did you do to her?" Zipp demanded.
"Me?" Opaline smiled. "Oh, I did nothing at all. The machine here did all the work of bringing Sunny under my control. Now enjoy fighting your friend!"
Pipp rolled out of the way as Sunny blasted the ground. "IT'S EVERYBODY FOR THEMSELVES!" she shouted.
Zipp jumped onto a ladder and began to climb, trying to get some height and maintain verticality in the fight. "Sunny, over here!"
Sunny responded by blasting the ladder with a laser, cutting off the bottom half. Zipp looked down. "I wasn't expecting that."
Izzy, on the other hand, was running about at speed. "I have no idea what I'm doing!"
"You never did," Sunny said cruelly. She then landed in front of her, knocking her over and onto her back in the process. "Such a fool. You cannot taste true power."
Izzy began to crawl backwards as fast as she could. "S- sunny, no. Please, stop! You're not you!"
Sunny laughed. "Oh, really? I'm truer to myself than I ever was. So focus your thoughts on that." Her hands began to glow. "I'm gonna enjoy this, Iz-"
Suddenly, a volley of objects flew her way, and hit her. "What?" She turned to see Pipp lobbing a variety of small things at her.
"LEAVE MY FRIEND ALONE, YOU MONSTER!" Pipp yelled.
Sunny fired off a bolt, missing Pipp by inches. "I hope I didn't chip a nail," she said sarcastically.
Zipp had dropped back to the ground floor. "This is where we could really have done with Hitch!" she shouted, as she attempted to pin Sunny down.
Instead, an energy blast threw all of them back, and Sunny rose to her feet. "Don't attempt to capture what you can't control," she said, before suddenly vanishing into nothingness.
Izzy got up and looked about to notice Boomer had vanished too, and two other doors had opened. "Pipp, help Misty!" she said, taking charge of the situation. "Zipp, can you figure out where Sunny went?"
"On it!" Zipp replied.
A few minutes later, Alphabittle and Misty had been helped over by Pipp. "What... happened?" Misty asked.
Zipp glanced up from her work. "Sunny's being mind controlled," she said. "That machine was designed to move the magic from Misty into her, and she used it for this purpose."
"And now they've hurt my daughter," Alphabittle said, who looked tired and done. "Misty, I'm so sorry. I'll see to it that they are brought to justice."
"Right now we need to focus on saving Sunny," Misty said quietly, having little strength.
Zipp's phone beeped. "I've got a lock. She's in Falmouth somehow. We need to get there as well."
"How?" Pipp asked. "It's hours!"
"We use the teleporter over there and ask Hitch to drive the convoy back," Zipp pointed out. "It's the only way we'll get there in time."
The group headed for the teleporter, determined to save their friend no matter the cost.
Night had fallen over Falmouth, but it was soon to be a night nobody would forget. The residents of the town soon saw Sunny, still powered up, stalking about the streets.
Posey looked over. "Halloween was a few months ago!"
Sunny looked at her coldly. "Stay out of my way and I won't have to end you."
Posey, shocked at the coldness in the girl's voice, backed off quickly. She'd had quite enough with carnage for one day.
Sunny continued to walk through the streets, with people in the streets heading as far away from her as possible. Many hid in buildings to avoid what they feared was to come.
Little could they have known what was truly going on. Sunny was not in control. No matter how hard she tried to fight it, somone else was in the driving seat. She was a witness, a passenger, a prisoner in her own body.
Stop! Please, stop hurting them! Sunny screamed, desperately trying to get whatever it was that was controlling her to let go.
And the voice of whatever was in control then cut back to her.
SHUT UP.
This was a living nightmare. This creature had evil planned, and there was nothing Sunny could do to stop it.
And one building was Sunny's target. After a very slow journey, she reached her home, and upon arriving pulled the door open with minimal force before stepping inside.
Her parents were sat at the table. "Oh, hello Sunny!" Argyle said. "Welcome home!"
Sunny said, nothing simply looking at them coldly. At least, that's what was perceived. Sunny was horrified. She had no clue what this thing had planned for them, but suspected it was nothing good.
"Sunny?" Argyle asked.
"Where are they?" Sunny demanded.
"Where are what?" Argyle asked.
"You know what I mean."
Argyle nodded. "Oh, it's a game. I see. Well, if you were to cross the seventh sea and land in the port of Gel-"
Out of nowhere, Sunny pulled a plate off the table and threw it.
Goldie's patience had worn thin. She stood up. "Sunny, you'd better stop with this behaviour right now or else I'll-"
Oh, she thinks she had any chance against me? Let's see how she copes with no spine!
Sunny felt the familiar surge of energy building in her hands, and internally screamed in horror. Please! Don't hurt her!
I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO SHUT IT!
Sunny focused as hard as she could, realising that she had still the slightest bit of control. In doing so, she focused herself, weakening the energy in her hands.
A pair of energy blasts flew from Sunny's hands, throwing Goldie across the room and into the back wall.
"Goldie!" Argyle cried, and ran over to his wife. "Are you OK?"
Goldie shook her head. "I've got some sort of backpain, but I think I can walk."
Sunny laughed as they escaped. "You think the threat of a grounding will work on a God?" Of course, that was the monster talking, but the other had no way of knowing. The true Sunny could only watch in horror as this being who had stolen her body began to trash everything she held dear.
Sunny made her way to the access door to the lighthouse, tearing the door off its hinges and leaving the battered object on its side. She then began to climb the steps, her form lighting the dark passageway above. She walked up, and up, and up, energy continuing to glow and radiate from her spectral essence as she climbed the steps.
She opened the final door to see the crystals floating in place in the chamber. "After all these years, they will finally be mine!" she said, as a beam was readied in her hand.
Before she was about to fire, Zipp suddenly appeared from nowhere and tackled her to the ground. "Sunny, stop!"
HOW DID THAT FOOL GET HERE? ENJOY A FRONT ROW SEAT AS I KILL HER, SUNNY!
Sunny wheeled around and delivered a punch to Zipp's face. Zipp recoiled and shook her head. "That's gonna sting."
Sunny lunged at her and pinned her down, but Zipp rolled out of her way and landed on the side. The two continued to exchange blows, fists slamming into the cold metal floor but rarely making impact. Zipp certainly had a huge disadvantage, a normal teenage girl brawling with the closest thing this reality had to a superhero.
Zipp dodged a beam from Sinny, before ducking underneath a thrown fire extinguisher which bounced out of the door and exploded. "Come on Sunny, this isn't you!"
"I've never felt more powerful!" Sunny bellowed, as she charged in for the kill. "Falmouth spent so much time putting me down, and now those who laughed at me will feel my wrath!"
Zipp was pinned down, and was barely holding the energy blade from her chest, as if it fell it would fall directly to her heart. "Sunny, stop! Remember who you are! If you go through with this you're no better than Opaline!"
WHAT IS THIS?
A sort of energy began flowing inside her, and Sunny moved her mind to drive them back. Something you will never understand! Now GET OUT OF MY HEAD!
Sunny blinked, holding still for a moment, the energy from her body providing the only light. And then, something flickered. Her eyes shifted from red to green, and she looked around in confusion. "Zipp?" she asked. "W- where am I? What's going on?"
She saw the damage around her, and it hit her like a ton of bricks. "No," she whispered, as she fell back against a wall and covered her face with her hands. "What have I done?"
Zipp slowly sat up and moved over to comfort Sunny, who was shaking uncontrollably. "Sunny, it's not your fau-"
"I'm a monster!" Sunny replied, the sudden change in volume startling Zipp. "I cause nothing but chaos wherever I go! Maybe it would be for the best if I left and never came back!"
"Sunny, you're our friend. Opaline was controlling you. You weren't yourself."
Suddenly, there was a loud bang outside, and a figure wreathed in fire appeared in the sky before them. Both looked up and moved back in fright.
Opaline Arcana levitated before them, energy burning from her very being. "It's been a long time since I was last truly powered up!" she said. "And it's all thanks to you. I should thank you, really. You do make for an excellent ally."
What happened next stunned them. Sunny, still fully powered up, leaped out of the door and slammed into Opaline with an animalistic roar. "THIS IS FOR MY FRIENDS!"
Opaline was surprised by this, but began blasting off energy bursts at Sunny, who roared through them. The two soon crashed into each other, energy sparking from their clashing energy gauntlets.
"How?" Opaline said. "You're supposed to be under control!"
"I'm not right now," Sunny said coldly. "But soon you will be."
The two supercharged beings danced through the night sky, and exchanged blows back and forth at incredible speed. From the ground it was impossible to follow what was going on, and looked like a series of blurs of light. Those watching looked on in a mixture of confusion and terror, sensing that the world was forever changed.
Opaline blasted away with energy fire and swung as madly as she could, but Sunny exploded through the firepower, her energy acting as a shield from the firepower. A shield powered up, and she slammed into Opaline with incredible force, knocking the woman to the ground with a bang.
Opaline crashed to the floor and looked around, sensing her wings were gone. And everywhere were the angry townsfolk of Falmouth.
Sunny touched down in front of her. "It's over, Opaline. Your power is gone, diminished. And the entire world has seen who you truly are tonight. You're finished. It's over."
Opaline suddenly glowed. "Nothing's over whilst I'm still breathing!" The energy built to fever pitch, and she suddenly vanished.
Sunny looked over and around, and hung her head. "I'm so, so sorry for what I did," she said quietly. "I'll accept whatever punishment you give me." She closed her eyes, fully expecting to be hated forever for what she had done and what had happened.
To her amazement, the gathered citizenry began to cheer her name. "You saved the day!" called one. "You're a hero, Sunny! You drove off that monster and saved us all! Three cheers for Sunny! Hip Hip!"
"Hoorah!"
"Hip Hip!"
"Hoorah!"
"Hip Hip!"
"Hoorah!"
Her friends then arrived, looking at her and gathering together like it was the ending of a Marvel movie. "That. Was. AWESOME!" Izzy squealed. "You were like a superhero, saving us all from Opaline like that!"
Sunny shrugged her shoulders. "I did what had to be done. It was Zipp who helped me back to the light."
"Such modesty!" said another person.
"With you by our side, we can't go wrong," Zipp smiled. "You can be my wingman any time."
Sunny laughed, spotting the reference. "Well played, Zipp. You can be mine, buddy."
Hitch was the last to arrive, and looked down. "Sorry for not being in a position to help," he said. "I know you're still mad at me, but what you did for all of us was nothing short of incredible."
Sunny's magic flickered out, and she walked over and hugged Hitch. "It's not exactly a conventional situation," she said. "But these last few hours have shown me that holding onto grudges is unhealthy. Of course I forgive you."
The townsfolk cheered at this sight, friends reunited. The strife of the last few days was over, and all was once again good in the world
Opaline, on the other hand, had limped back to her bunker, and was propped up in front of a display. "Sunny's stronger than I could have imagined. This is a positive sign, Boomer."
"That power could benefit us in the future," Boomer agreed as the display updated.
Opaline smiled at the new display. "Look at all this power, Boomer," she said.
"That is plenty of spectra," Boomer admitted, glancing to their existing levels of the substance. "But where is it?"
Opaline scoffed, and shook her head, glancing back at another display. "A place we cannot get to it. But I think we have a way of locating the stuff we need. And for that, we need to work fast." She checked her instruments for some sort of display or military clock. "Project SENTINEL cannot fail. There's only a certain amount of time that the Strategic Reserve will remain open."
She rose to her feet, and looked to the skies before bellowing to the heavens themselves.
"MY NAME IS OPALINE ARCANA! ALL LIFE WILL OBEY ME!"
Athena Karkanis - Fifi, Opaline Arcana, Glory, Additional Voices Richard Hammond - Porter Kimiko Glenn - Izzy Moonbow James Marsden - Hitch Trailblazer, Additional Voices Keith Whickam - Salty, Additional Voices Rachel Miller - Rebecca Sofia Carson - Pipp Petals Liza Koshy - Zipp Storm Jane Kraskowski - Lady Haven Jeremy Clarkson - Captain Charles MacKenzie Crook - Brookes Toby Jones - Nigel Lisa Silver - Onyx Michael McKean - Argyle Starshine Bahia Watson - Misty Brightdawn, Peach Fizz Jodie Whittaker - Alexandra Nathan Evans - Harvey Tara Strong - Goldie Starshine Theresa Gallagher - Sophie, Janet James May - Ray Joseph Swash - Bellerophon John Cleese - Lorry 1 Eric Idle - Lorry 2 Jeremy Irons - Wilbert Awdry Geoffrey Rush - P. T. Boomer Donald Sumpter - Mr Warden Samantha Bielanski - Jazz Richard E. Grant - Lord Haven Darren Boyd - Fergus Emily Blunt - Tempest Shadow Kaia Oz - Seashell Phil LaMarr - Alphabittle Blossomforth Kimberley Ann-Truong - Posey Bloom John Bellis - Hurricane Zoe Saldana - Celeano Will Friedle - Skye Silver Heather Langenkamp - Dazzle Feather Ana Sani - Windy Felicia Day - Aurora Dawn Steve Blum - Isaac Moonbow Marghe - Ruby Petals A. J. Bridel - Pipp Petals Johnathan Tan - Rocky Tim Curry - Diesel 10
