When Thomas puffed along his branch line, he always looked forward to something special. He loved the sight of the river, and he awed at the creek waterfalls as they rumbled over the bridge.
Almost everyday in the early mornings, he would see people fishing. Thomas often wanted to stay and watch, but his driver said, "No, I'm sorry, old boy," He said. "Maybe one day, when we're not so busy. Besides, what would Sir Topham Hatt say if we were late?"
"Okay..." A deflated Thomas would always mutter in response. Still, he never gave up on the idea. In fact, this only fired up his fascination even more.
Every time he met another engine he say, "I want to fish! Don't you think that would be grand, James?"
But they all had the same answer.
"Silly! Engines don't go fishing!" James snorted. "You just keep living in your fantasies, little Thomas!" He called as he left with his next train. These kind of remarks would hurt Thomas's feeling somewhat, but nonetheless, the little blue engine still stayed strong in his dream to go fishing.
"Silly stick in the muds!" thought Thomas. "I'll show them engines can go fishing. Just watch me! I can go whenever I want- I'll even catch a rainbow trout!" He thought cheekily.
...
One day, Thomas was taking his afternoon connection when he stopped as usual to take him water at the station by the river.
"OUT OF ORDER." read a large picket sign.
"Bother!" said Thomas. "I'm thirsty! It's so hot, and I bet that rotten Henry had to hog all the water!"
"Never mind, Thomas," said his driver. "It's not Henry's fault- his tubes are leaking again, it seems..." He pointed to the track next to them, which showed a large track of puddled oil and water. Thomas now felt sorry for his friend, and looked apologetic. "Poor Henry," he breathed. "He never gets a break, does he, driver?"
"Hm, it seems so, doesn't it?" His fireman mused. "Some engines are just unlucky, I suppose."
"Like me right now," Thomas muttered to himself. "I'm out of water! What do we do? I have a train and I'm going to be late!" He huffed, and pouted whilst his driver thought for a moment.
"Here's an idea," He said at last. "We'll just get some water by the river. It's as good as anything, and we don't have a lot of options."
So they found a bucket and some rope and went to the bridge. Then. the driver let the bucket down to the water. The bucket was old and had 5 holes, so they had to fill it, pull it up, and empty it into Thomas' tank as quickly as they could several times over. They finished at last.
"Ah! That's good, that's good..." sighed Thomas happily. But Annie and Clarabel were not as sure.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Thomas?" Annie asked. "That water looked awfully filthy."
"Indeed!" Clarabel piped up from the back. "And you know the bacteria that river water can contain."
"Nonsense!" Thomas reassured. "I'm sure the water is clean; I haven't felt anything yet. Besides, the next water tower is miles away. I'll be fine, girls, I promise."
The coaches said no more, but still couldn't shake off the feeling of dread. Not wanting to spoil the trip, they decided to leave the matter alone for the time being, and they set off once more with his train.
...
Suddenly, Thomas began to feel a pain in his boiler. Steam began to hiss with his safety valve in an alarming way.
"Driver..." Thomas called out weakly. "Help...please..."
"There's too much steam!" said his driver. "Hang on, old boy!"
"Oh dear!" groaned Thomas, as he went red in the face in pain. "I'm going to burst! I'm going to burst!"
His driver and fireman dampened down his fire and struggled on. "How is that, Thomas?" His fireman asked, worriedly.
"I've got such a pain...I've got such a pain!" Thomas hissed wearily.
...
They stopped just outside the last station, uncoupled Annie and Clarabel and ran Thomas, who was still hissing fit to burst, on a siding right out of the way. Then, while the conductor telephoned for the engine inspector, the driver found notice in large letters, which he hung on Thomas in front and behind.
DANGER- KEEP AWAY.
Soon, the inspector and Sir Topham Hatt arrived.
"Cheer up, Thomas," Inspector Daman said, patting the engine's buffer kindly. "We'll soon put you right." He turned to Thomas's driver. "What's the problem, Bob?"
The driver told them what had happened. Inspector Daman nodded, but said nothing. He was clearly thinking about what could be wrong.
"So the feed pipe is blocked..." He mused quietly. "Not a big problem,, gentlemen. I'll just look in the tanks." He got a ladder, clambered up in peered into Thomas's left side tank.
"Oh my God...how in the world...?" He muttered, surprising Thomas and his crew.
"Sir...?" Thomas called out cautiously. "Are you alright?"
Instead of responding, the inspector came down, then walked over to the Fat Controller.
"Excuse me, sir," He said, cleaning his glasses with uncertainty. "Please...look in that tank and tell me what you see." He said flatly, though the Fat Controller could sense worry deep in his tone.
"Certainly, Inspector," replied Sir Topham Hatt. So the rotund man clambered up, peeped in, and nearly fell off the ladder in surprise, giving Thomas's crew some weak amusement- the imagery of their controller falling was pretty funny to imagine.
"What's going on...?" Thomas whispered nervously.
"Inspector," Sir Topham Hatt whispered once he regained his composure. "Did you see...fish?"
Thomas was horrified upon hearing this, but was too shocked at the statement to say anything. One glance at his crew told him he wasn't the only one.
"Gracious goodness me! How those fish get there, Bob?" The Fat Controller inquired.
"We must have fished them from the river with our bucket," replied Thomas's driver. And he explained the matter in detail, including Thomas's yearning to go fishing. The inspector and Sir Topham Hatt listened with interest.
"So, you mean to tell me that you managed to miss a 3 ft long fish in your own engine's water tank...?" Inspector Daman challenged, though not unkindly.
"I'm afraid so, sir. But don't worry; we take full responsibility," Thomas's fireman owned up.
"That's all that matters, gentlemen. I'm just lucky that Thomas was in any serious trouble." Sir Topham Hatt replied, before focusing his attention on the engine in question.
"Well, Thomas, so you and your driver had been fishing," He began ominously, to rich Thomas looked sheepish. "But fish don't suit you. We must get them out. Have you the fishing poles, Inspector?"
Thomas winced.
The men all took turns fishing into Thomas' tank, while Sir Topham Hatt looked down and told them how to do it. (Because, he said, "My doctor has forbidden me to fish.")
When they had caught all the fish, they had a lovely picnic supper of fish and chips. Needless to say, this sickened and mortified Thomas to no end.
"Mmmm. That was good!" said Sir Topham Hatt.
"I'll say," chortled the three other men, while Thomas gulped and managed to swallow a small whimper.
"Like I said, dear Thomas, fish don't suit you, so you mustn't do this again- only water tower water this, time!" He laughed softly.
"No sir, I won't." said Thomas sadly. As his driver and fireman backed him out of siding for the journey home, he though to himself:
Engines don't go fishing. It's too uncomfortable.