With Sailor John defeated, and most of the damage on Sodor repaired from his reign of destruction, the engines were still trying to get back in the swing of things. For Thomas, getting back in the swing was jittery and exciting too when he proposed marriage to Emily and she happily assured him that love was all they needed. But to show her gratitude and joy for such a thought, she wore the bridal veil she gave him for the night.
Then two days after this beautiful event, things began to get a little iffy for the engines once again. The Fat Controller came to the sheds with some news.
"Well, everyone," he said. "It has been just over a month since Sailor John's defeat. The railway is functioning as it has been before, and all of you are still being really useful…but with all the hard work that had to be done in this passage of time, there is a shortage of coal at the moment. Only enough to last three days at most."
"Oh dear. Are we being held to our sheds again, sir?" asked Henry, remembering the big freeze that previous winter.
"No. Do not worry," the Fat Controller continued. "To help the matter, I shall place an order for a new type of coal form the Mainland."
"Hmm. Thank you, sir," said James. "Perhaps Mainland coal could do us well."
"Any coal is better than none at all," said Edward.
"Good. It should arrive in a day or two." And the Fat Controller handed out jobs to the engines and left.
"Hmm. What is Mainland coal like?" asked Molly.
"Well, Molly," said Henry. "When I was first brought here, my firebox was quite small and it couldn't manage the coal. I had to be given Welsh Coal to improve my performance…then after I was given a bigger firebox at Crewe, that issue was eventually fixed and I could work with any coal. It shouldn't be too different this time…"
But at Knapford Station, when Henry and Gordon arrived at the water tower, something was different. Different and very horrible.
"There's a foul smell in the air!" exclaimed Gordon, turning up his nose.
"What is that?" asked Henry. "It's musty and stale!" Then as the pipe began to fill Gordon's tender, he suddenly shuddered with displeasure.
"Uhh! Heavens! That water tastes…awful!" he heaved. After Gordon moved on, Henry was next.
"What the-" he started then exclaimed with disgust. "Ohh! What is going on?!"
"There's a problem with the water supply today," said the workman.
"Whatever the problem is, it's making my boiler feel funny!" complained Gordon.
"Me too!" complained Henry. Then Percy, Thomas and James all followed, complaining just the same remarks. The Fat Controller suddenly came out of his office.
"What's all this, then?" he demanded.
"It's the water, sir," called the workman. "I think there's a problem making it taste unpleasant for the engines."
"Hmm," said the Fat Controller. "First a shortage of coal, and now unhealthy water! However…this reminds me of a something I saw when I visited the Talyllyn Railway years ago."
"What is it, sir?" asked Percy.
"Well, back on the Talyllyn Railway in Wales, the water is much like ours at this moment. It tastes funny to the engines, so, to enhance the flavour, workmen have to use a special powder to enhance the flavour into the water so it tastes better and doesn't distract so much."
"I see," said Henry.
"So, until the water supply is cleaned, we'll have to use this powder on the water, starting tomorrow."
"Well! Thank you, sir," said James. "That sounds like an improvement!"
The engines braved through that day with what water they filled with, hoping and wondering what the powdered water would be like. They talked about for some time that night until they went to sleep…and the next day when they refilled at the water tower, there was certainly a difference in the taste of water. Most of the engines accepted it, but some still felt as though the water tasted strange. Not bad, but quite distracting…particularly for Thomas and Percy.
"I…I don't know," said Thomas as he refilled his tank. "It still doesn't taste like the water we usually take on. It's…tangy…fuzzy…and rather occupying."
"Thomas is right," said Percy. "It feels weird…I can't really say much more."
"Well, I just hope the coal will be alright," said Emily. "Bad coal AND water would not go well for us at all."
"Agreed," said Thomas. "But we should still be really useful."
Emily sighed, feeling a little nervous about what could come next.
And the next day, the Mainland coal did indeed arrive. Some of the engines came to the Coaling Plant to fill their tenders and bunkers, anticipating what this coal would be like. But as soon as workmen began to shovel it into the chutes, the first problem showed itself.
"Ahh! This coal is filthy! So dusty!" they complained.
The Fat Controller was cross. "Oh dear! Why did I ever get this ridiculous filthy coal?!" he exclaimed. "This will not go well! But, I suppose we have no choice until I can get my hands on proper coal!"
The Fat Controller wasn't alone. Most of the engines were cross too. "Filthy Rubbish!" was all they said.
And so they all filled their tenders and bunkers grumpily. But it only got worse. The new coal was dusty and burned very wildly, creating columns of black, strong-smelling smoke and building up plenty of ashes. Before long, all the engines were having pains in their smokeboxes as the hot ashes built up and gave the engines awful indigestion. Every half hour or less, the engines had to stop on the line and clean out their fireboxes in the middle of trips from one place to another. It was most inconvenient to go through something so unpleasant. Strange-tasting water was one obstacle, but to live on coal that caused more trouble rather than solve it was the ultimate indignity.
That evening, Emily felt dreadful when she returned to the sheds. All day, she felt hot, tired, and found breathing a little harder than usual. With every hour she worked, her firebox felt more and more congested and she was heavily regretting having to work at all. Thomas could see she was not happy, just like he was with the strange tasting water.
"Emily?" groaned Thomas. "Are you alright?"
"Not quite, Thomas," Emily huffed. "I've never felt so clogged up inside!"
"No wonder!" said her fireman. "Your smokebox is blocked with ashes! I'll need to shovel it all out!"
"The sooner, the better," Emily sighed. It took almost forty minutes to clean out all the ashes from the smokebox and fan the firebox spotless before Emily felt better at all.
"There, Emily," said her fireman. "How do you feel now?"
"I feel normal again," said Emily. "But…just how long will we need to go through this until the coal and water is spared of its predicament?"
"I don't know, Emily," said her driver. "We can just hope." So Emily and the other engines fell asleep, not quite so happy tonight…
The next morning, Thomas and Emily woke up first, feeling a little nervous.
"Well, how are you, Emily?" asked Thomas. "Did cleaning your smokebox help?"
"Yes…for now," said Emily. "I'm more than certain I'll need another cleaning today."
Thomas sighed. "Well, the sooner the coal is cleaned, the better. Wish me luck." And he set off to fetch Annie and Clarabel.
But even as she started up, Emily couldn't make steam properly. She struggled to fetch her coaches at Knapford Station and wait for her passengers. The guards whistle blew and she set off with a great heave. Emily's firebox fizzed and her smoke was almost black. And even worse, the coal was causing so many ashes in her smokebox, she began to wheeze dreadfully, making breathing more difficult.
"The passengers are waiting. The passengers are waiting!" she gasped. Emily tried as hard as she could, but it was all in vain. She stopped at Wellsworth, unable to go any further and feeling as though her throat was swollen. Edward was there and felt awful seeing Emily so miserable.
"I can hardly breathe!" wheezed Emily.
"Dear me, Emily," said Edward. "You deserve a major cleaning. Take it easy." And he set off to take her train on. Emily was backed into a siding so her fireman could clean her smokebox out again.
"Thank you, sir," she said to her fireman. "At least I can move on once my smokebox is clear again."
Her fireman worked feverishly to clear away all the ashes again. It helped Emily feel a little better and she was waiting to breathe much easier when her smokebox door would shut.
But when her fireman tried to shut the smokebox door, it didn't make the airtight fit it should have.
"Uhh!" Emily groaned. "What's going on now?"
"Those hot ashes have bent your smokebox door, Emily," said her fireman. "Air is coming in and making breathing difficult for you. The air is spoiling your fire."
"What?! How much worse can this be?" Emily moaned.
"I know you feel awful, Emily…but there is a way we can fix this problem for today at least."
"How?" asked Emily.
Her fireman found a bucket with water then gathered all the newspaper he could from the bins in the station. He tore them up into strips and soaked them in the water.
"What are you doing?" Emily asked curiously.
"I'm making something called paper mache. When the paper is heavy enough and soggy enough, we'll paste it over your air leak to help you breathe. It'll at least get us home."
So they all waited until the mache was ready. Then the driver and fireman carefully carried the paper mache into Emily's running plate and pasted it neatly around the opening in her smokebox door. When it was done, Emily felt much better. Even her crew was surprised by how well it worked. Emily managed to start up again and felt very happy compared to before. And she could breathe much better.
"How's that, Emily?" asked her driver.
"Well…I can still feel ashes slowly growing again," said Emily. "But I can breathe much better! Thank you!"
"Hmm…Perhaps the Fat Controller should make this permanent!" her driver joked. Even Emily managed to laugh as she breathed in a lovely deep breath of the fresh air around her…
Meanwhile, Thomas had finished his last passenger run on his branch line before his break. The coal was making him feel uncomfortable burbles in his boiler, like the other engines. Although he wasn't struggling as badly as Emily, he was getting a little irritated by the bad coal and water.
"Cinders and Ashes!" he exclaimed. "This is NOT ideal!"
"Come on, Thomas," said his driver. "Enjoy your break while you can. We still need to do another run before we're done for the day."
Thomas would not cheer up. He was nervous about what would happen next…partly because he heard the other engines say that the strange taste in the water that morning was even stronger than the day before. Thomas still felt the taste in his boiler from yesterday. It was quite overpowering and his boiler was beginning to ache a tiny bit, even more at the thought of having to refill there again. And then, when his break was over, he had to get ready for his next run. He wearily made his way to the water tower at Knapford. He had not filled up at that particular tower that morning and had little idea of what would happen to him now.
He impatiently lined himself up at the tower and waited for the water to fill his tanks. He heard the water splashing into his tank, and then…
"UGH!" he shouted. "That is TERRIBLE! The worst taste I've ever felt! Even worse than those fish!"
"Oh, no need to complain, Thomas," said his driver. "You can still huff and puff."
"Oh, I don't think I can huff or puff much more after this!" Thomas complained. He struggled to fetch Annie and Clarabel from their siding.
"Something's wrong! Something's wrong!" Annie and Clarabel sung together.
"You're quite right, Annie and Clarabel," said Thomas. "Something IS wrong!"
He approached the platform and waited for the passengers to arrive. After they boarded, the fireman let water into Thomas' boiler.
"Argh! My boiler is really aching now!" Thomas groaned. "I feel sick!"
"That could well be the coal, Thomas," said his driver. "Just do the best you can. We'll look you over at the end of your trip." The guard waved his green flag and Thomas' driver opened the regulator. Thomas began to move and proceeded a few yards. SPLOSH!
A column of cloudy, gooey water sprayed out of Thomas' funnel and splashed all over him!
"Thomas! Oh, dear!" cried a familiar voice. There was Emily. She had just come from Wellsworth with her paper mache fit and saw everything. Thomas was an awful mess, covered in horrible white sludge. His driver tried to start him once again, but that only made it worse. Another eruption of white sludge spurted out and made Thomas even messier.
"FOR GOODNESS SAKES!" he yelled. "THIS IS NOT FAIR!"
"You have spoken, Thomas!" Emily added. "This is too much for any engine!"
The Fat Controller came running outside and was even crosser at the situation now.
"Alright, this is too much," he said. "I am calling for fresh coal before the hour is out! And every workman available is to flush out the water towers and refill them with proper clean water!"
Percy was soon called to take Thomas' train on for the day. Emily then coupled to Thomas to take him back to the shed, where his driver and fireman spent the rest of the day cleaning the sludge off from his funnel and smokebox.
"You were quite annoyed back there, weren't you, Thomas?" said Emily as she watched him being cleaned off.
"I'm sorry, Emily. I didn't mean to go off like that," said Thomas. "I just felt humiliated to be covered in such a mess…at the main station on Sodor! I'm just glad that no one else saw me!"
About an hour later, the Fat Controller came by to see the two engines.
"Well, you two, I can see it has been a very trying day," he said. "If you're interested, Thomas, some workmen at the station found out that too much powder was placed in that water tower, causing your incident.
"Is THAT why I got so messy earlier?" asked Thomas.
"Yes, Thomas. It is," said the Fat Controller. "It's a true pity. But you won't have to battle these issues much longer. I've ordered a fresh clean supply of coal to arrive as soon as is available. And I have several workmen examining the water tower at Knapford."
"Well, we both thank you greatly for this news, sir," said Emily. "At least I managed to make it home…with Thomas."
Thomas managed to smile as the Fat Controller left. After another two and half hours, the sun had set, and the sludge was finally completely cleaned off. Thomas had a good washout in the end.
"Whoo!" He said out loud. "Thank you, Bob! I've never felt better after being so filthy. How are you, Emily?"
Emily told Thomas about her struggle at Wellsworth, and then how her firebox was repaired with a paper mache seal. Thomas was rather interested and relieved that Emily did better than he did.
"That sounds smart, Emily," he said.
"My driver and fireman may need to make more until the new coal arrives," said Emily. "But as a last resort, it works like a charm."
Suddenly, a fair deal of laughing was approaching the sheds. As Gordon and James backed into their berths, they were laughing immensely.
"Oh! Thomas, I heard the most peculiar story today!" said Gordon. "You created quite a fountain at Knapford Station. I am certainly glad it wasn't ME who filled with water at Knapford today!"
"You must have looked like an iced cake, Thomas!" laughed James. "That would never do for any train!"
"You're one to talk!" snorted Henry as he entered his berth. "I looked like an iced cake myself when the Queen visited here!"
"At least the paint didn't get in YOUR boiler!" laughed James.
"Calm down and behave yourselves!" snapped Henry. "Emily has had it very rough today too. She went through something very similar to what I did the last time this issue occurred! Hard to breathe and not making steam properly! She did not deserve that inconvenience!"
Emily looked at Henry. "Really, Henry? Did you have a bent smokebox door and paper mache too?"
Henry smiled at her. "Yes, Emily. I had that issue and solution like you did. I'm just happy it worked just as well for you as it did for me. And…Donald and Douglas hope you're feeling better. I ran into them and told me they heard the story from Edward."
After talking a little more, the engines went to sleep that evening, hoping for a better turnout.
And a better turnout did occur in due time. The water at Knapford was sorted out by that afternoon. And that time, when the engines used the water tower, it was just like it always was before.
"There. That is water fit for any steamie," said Gordon. "Crystal clear. Tip-top water."
"Much better!" Thomas whistled. "I do believe the worst is behind us!"
"It's about to get even better, Thomas!" said the Fat Controller as he rode up beside the tower in Winston. "The fresh, clean coal is due to arrive tomorrow morning!"
And the next day, the Fat Controller was right. When the engines all refilled with coal and went to work, it was almost like nothing ever happened. All the engines, especially Thomas and Emily were quite happy to be working harmoniously again.
That night, the engines all talked happily together, exchanging stories and remarks about how they felt dealing with bad coal and water, right until they fell asleep, feeling much better about things.
Thomas and Emily were able to sleep for a while…until something woke them both up. They looked around…and Gordon, James and Henry were making strange whooshing and wheezing noises in their sleep. It sounded strange and a little unnecessary. Thomas and Emily both assumed they still had some leftover ashes or remnants of the bad coal in their fireboxes and looked at each other with confused wonder.
"What ARE they doing, Emily?" Thomas asked quietly.
"I do not know, Thomas," said Emily. "They must have a really…odd sense of humour."
Thomas made a face so perplexed and puzzled, Emily had to giggle.
"Well, these noises are a little distracting. Shall we go elsewhere…for some peace?" Thomas winked.
Emily smiled right back. "Certainly, Tommy." And the angel and star set out into the night to spend the rest of it in Knapford Sheds.
Yes, I know it's been awhile but college has been relentless at draining my energy this semester. And yes, in case it wasn't obvious enough, this is an adaptation of both "Out of Puff" and "Dirty Water" from *Henry and the Express* and *New Little Engine*. As for the next story, it's gonna be a Luke and Millie story, but don't ask when it'll be out cause I don't have a bloody clue. It'll come when comes. So until then, leave a review and tell us what you thought of this story.