t was lovely spring day on the island. The engines were lounging in the sheds during a break observing the puffy, white clouds that were drifting slowly through the cyan sky.
"Look at that cloud, Thomas!" Percy squeaked excitedly. "It looks like a marshmallow!"
"Yes, indeed!" Thomas agreed. "That one over there looks like…" He paused to find the right word.
"…a rabbit!" Emily finished excitedly.
"Yes! That was it." Thomas chuckled softly.
"Why are they called 'clouds', anyway?" James asked thoughtfully.
"I'm not sure," Percy answered. "Maybe Mr. Cloud discovered it one day, and then…it became a cloud?" He looked to his friends for help, who in turn just smiled at the young engine's imaginative response.
"The term 'cloud' comes from an Old English word, 'clud'," Edward explained wisely. 'Clud' means 'hill of rock' or 'mountain' in Welsh. Scientists, way back in the day, thought that the puffy white things in the sky looked like miniature mountains, and thus, the word was coined!" He finished with a smile.
The other engines smiled in awe, silently marveling the wonders science had on the earth.
…
Meanwhile, Henry was puffing along the track, pulling a long line of slate trucks from the Blue Mountain Quarry. He carefully braked to a stop by the water tower, singing happily to himself as his water tank filled up for a nice drink.
He heard diesel horn coming from along the line in front of him. Not recognizing it, the big green engine squinted to see who it was.
The figure was large, long, and green. It lingered down the track slowly, like a snake in the grass. As the figure approached, Henry could see the face a bit more clearly…
…but where had he seen it before…?
Henry finally pieced the observations together.
He let out a long, terrified whistle. "NOOOO!" He screamed. He jerked back, almost knocking his driver off his footplate. He reversed away from the water tower as quickly as he could, racing all the way back to Tidmouth Sheds as fast he could.
…
The engines still stared at the clouds in sky, some even beginning to doze off. Suddenly, they heard a sharp whistle, rousing them out of near sleep.
"THOMAS! EDWARD! GORDON! JAMES! PERCY! TOBY! HE'S BACK!" Henry yelled as he burst into the yard, not even missing a chance for the turntable, and sped face first into the empty berth in the middle of the sheds before sobbing quietly.
The other engines were startled. Well, all except Gordon, of course.
"What is now, Henry?" the big blue engine inquired, rolling his eyes. "Did you have another encounter with an elephant?" He and James sniggered to themselves.
"What's the matter, Henry?" Thomas asked softly.
"Please, we must know what's wrong, my friend." Toby implored.
Catching his own sniffles, Henry finally plucked up courage.
"The Diesel…Class 40…he's back…" He hiccuped through scared tears.
The smirk on Gordon and James' faces melted away quickly. The other engines stared into space with disbelief. This, of course, was lost on Emily.
"Who is that?" She asked, worried by the reactions her friends were displaying.
"He was a diesel that came to help in the yards during an engine shortage a while back," Edward explained. "He was very rude, insulting us the minute he arrived."
"He said the only thing good about us was that we were 'clean', and that he had 'seen worse'." Thomas finished.
"The absolute nerve!" Gordon muttered. "Even stole my express! The indignity!"
Emily seemingly nodded at the troubles this Diesel seemed to bring. "So why did he leave?"
"Well…He had an incident involving the inspector…and his hat." Toby answered. "It's a long story…" And he informed Emily of the incident involving the inspector's bowler hat, and how Stepney and Duck had to step in the save the day, before the Diesel snuck away.
"Well, at least he left in disgrace," Emily mused quietly.
"But we must get to the bottom of this," James spoke up. "I refuse to have this abomination of a diesel on our island!"
"I'll talk to the inspector and the Fat Controller tomorrow morning," Edward declared.
"I can come too!" Thomas joined in.
"Me three!" Percy agreed.
And the plan was set.
...
I'm back after a two month hiatus! I apologize for being gone so long, hard times and dark thoughts have fallen on me recently, (that combined with writer's block) and I never got time to write this story. But here it is! And it's also my first story with chapters! It shouldn't be too long, but I hope you enjoy it as much I'll have fun writing it! :D