For my usual followers: You guys still get notifications from me? After all this time? Really? If you're confused as to why I'm posting anything other than a Phineas and Ferb story, I've been working on two really, really long, in-depth stories for...wow, like two years now. But I have just lost all inspiration to write Phineas and Ferb. I still really hope to finish them both eventually. In the meantime, I'm trying something a little different. I hope maybe some of you will enjoy these stories, too.

For new readers who have happened upon this story, I hope to write more soon. This is my first attempt at writing Thomas and Friends stories. I've tried to stylize them more like the original Railway Series stories than the television show. I hope you enjoy them.

Pink at Morning

Duck, the Great Western Engine, is very proud of his branchline. In the summer months, he and Oliver take holiday makers to the seaside, and they also serve a small but very busy harbor. Large cargo and passenger ships are serviced by Brendam Docks, and the harbor on the Little Western serves the smaller ships. Donald and Douglas take turns shunting there and pulling the goods trains away to market while Duck and Oliver handle the branchline's passenger services.

When the weather turns cold and passenger traffic dies down, Oliver handles the passenger trains alone, and Duck takes over at the harbor. He loves the fresh sea breezes and salt air and the bustle of dock life, and working alone doesn't bother him. It allows him to do things his way. On occasion, though, he thinks of the times that he and Percy used to work together by the sea before he had his branchline, and he misses his friend.

One evening, his driver spoke to him. "There's going to be more ships than usual coming in tomorrow. Sir Topham Hatt is sending Percy here to help."

"Ah, good," Duck thought, and smiled. "A day working with Percy again. That will be lovely."

"The two of you work well together," said the driver. "I'm sure that you'll keep these docks running smoothly."

As the sun rose the next morning, Percy trundled along the Little Western. The sun shimmered against a deep rose sky.

"Wow, what a pretty sky," Percy said aloud.

"Yes, it is," his driver replied. "And I do not like it."

Percy was puzzled. "Why not?"

"Haven't you ever heard the old saying?" The fireman asked. "Pink at night, sailor's delight. Pink at morning…" he paused. "Sailor's warning," the driver finished.

"Sailor's warning?" Percy wondered.

"It means there's a storm coming."

Percy looked up again. "But there's not a cloud in the sky."

"Oh, there will be," the driver said. "You can count on it."

Soon the sun had fully risen and the pink sky had faded away to blue. Percy reached the harbor where Duck was waiting for him.

"Good morning, Percy. Good to see you!"

"And good morning to you, too, Duck. Say, have you ever heard…um…that saying? About the sky being pink? Something like 'Pink at night and…and your lamp will not light?'"

Duck chuckled. "'Pink at night, sailor's delight. Pink at morning, sailor's warning.' Yes, I've heard it. I guess that means you noticed the pink sky this morning."

"I did. I thought it was pretty. Driver didn't like it."

"He knows there's sure to be a storm coming."

The foreman arrived. "Stop gossiping, you two. There's work to be done."

"Forman is right," said Duck's driver. "There's a lot of ships coming into today and there's already loaded trucks ready to be sorted. We have to clear them away and bring in more for the cranes to load."

So, the two engines set to work. Percy was so busy that he soon forgot all about the sky superstitions. He and Duck would arrange lines of trucks, and Donald or Douglas would periodically show up to haul them away. More ships came, one right after another, to be unloaded, and more trains would be assembled. The sun shone and the sky was clear.

By four o'clock, the ships had all but stopped. Duck shunted a brake van onto the back of the last train they had assembled while Percy filled his empty tank from the water column nearby. As he sat idle for the first time all day, he felt a gust of wind on his face. It was not a gentle sea breeze, but a hard puff that blew from inland. He looked up at the sky.

"Oh, dear," he said.

"What is it, Percy?" asked the fireman as he clambered down from atop the small engine's boiler.

"Look at the sky!"

A thick blanket of dark clouds were rolling in from over the island. In the distance, a rumble of thunder echoed over the hills. Trees along the line, visible from the mouth of the harbor, began to sway as the wind began to pick up.

"Well, Percy," said the driver, "There's the result of your pink sky."

Duck rolled up alongside, the Foreman riding on his buffer beam. "The workman are securing everything," said the Foreman, "That storm is going to blow right through us. There's one last ship coming in, should be here within the hour, but the wind will likely be too strong for the cranes to safely unload it. We'll just moor it to the pier and unload it when the storm passes." He addressed the two crews. "You can leave, if you like."

Duck and Percy's drivers exchanged glances. "If it's all the same to you, sir," Duck's driver said, "I think we'll stay a bit longer. Just in case."

The Foreman jumped down from Duck's buffer beam. "Suit yourselves." And he walked back along the tracks, heading for his office.

Percy was worried. "Ooh, I hope the ship makes it here before the storm hits. It's going to be awfully rough out there."

"Don't worry, Percy," Duck replied. "I'm sure they'll be here any minute."

A few minutes later, Percy's fireman clambered back up atop Percy's boiler to remove the hose pipe. The wind was really picking up now, and he had to hold onto his hat to keep it from blowing away. Cloud cover had drifted overhead, and the sun had disappeared completely. He glanced out over the water, which was beginning to roil with whitecaps. In the distance, he could see a small ship, bobbing up and down as it headed slowly toward them. It was only about a mile away.

"I can see the last ship," the fireman called.

"Come on," said Duck's driver. "Let's go down closer to the key for a better look."

The two engines slowly headed for the keyside just as the first rain drops began to fall. By the time they had parked on a siding beside the dispatch office, the rain came down in heavy sheets. The sky was now pitch black.

The ship had nearly made it to the key. The wind blew hard and steady from the south, across the island and blew out again over the ocean. Breakers smashed against the small fishing vessel's bow. Percy and Duck watched as the boat crept closer, slower and slower, until it looked like it was barely moving at all.

Suddenly, the Foreman bolted from the dispatch office, yelling orders to the workman. The workman scrambled about.

"Foreman!" called Duck's driver. "What's going on?"

"The wind is too strong!" the Foreman yelled as he jogged over. "It's blowing that ship back out to sea. She'll never survive in those breakers. They'll tear that little ship to pieces!"

"Oh, dear," Percy squeaked quietly.

"I'm having my men set up spotlights so the helmsman can at least see where he is, but I doubt they'll ever make it here. The wind is just too strong."

Duck pondered a moment. "Beg pardon, sir…"

"What is it, Duck?"

"If we had enough rope to reach them," the Great Western Engine said slowly, "could Percy and I pull them to shore?"

Percy was surprised. "Us? Tow the boat in?"

The Foreman put a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm…I don't know." He looked up at the two drivers. "What do you think?"

"If that boat can't make it to shore, she'll go down for certain," Percy's driver said. "The crew will never make it. I think if there's any chance that we can help, we have to try."

Everyone agreed. Even Percy, who had his doubts.

"I'll have the men start lashing together all the cable we have," the Foreman said, and he quickly hurried away.

"Do you think we can do it?" Percy asked.

"For the sake of everyone onboard that ship," Duck replied, "We had better be able."

"C'mon, you two," said Percy's driver. "Let's get into position."

The ship had already been blown half of a mile back out to sea. The two engines quickly moved to the line that ran out onto the pier to get as close to the ship as they could. Percy went in front with Duck, the heavier of the two, behind to act as an anchor. They also coupled on two brake vans behind Duck to help keep the two engines from being pulled off the end of the pier. As they rolled down the pier line, they dropped sand on the rails and rolled it firm with their wheels, a trick they had learned from Stepney. They stopped a few yards from the end of the pier.

The workman had tied together every piece of strong cable they had. Attached to the end was a buoy, which they pushed off the key side. The current carried the buoy out to sea. The Foreman quickly tried to signal to the ship's captain to capture it.

As they waited for the line to reach the ship, Workman fastened the other end of the long cable to Percy, wrapping the line all the way around his coal bunker and securing it to his buffer beam.

Presently, the buoy reached the ship. Sailors reached over the gunwales to haul it aboard. They fastened the cable to the ship's anchor chain. The Foreman watched them through binoculars. When the crew on the deck of the ship began to wave their arms frantically, he turned to the engines. "They're tied on. You may start when ready."

"Peep peep!" whistled Duck. "Are you ready?"

"Pip pip peep!" Percy whistled back nervously. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Take up the slack slowly, now," Percy's driver instructed. "Backwards, slow."

The two engines inched backwards, slowly taking up the play in the line. The Foreman quickly scrambled into the lead brake van for protection in case the line snapped.

The line pulled taught, and Percy and Duck came to a standstill. "Careful, now!" called the Foreman. "Don't snap the line!"

But before the engines could begin hauling, the line *twang*-ed with tension as a huge gust of wind puffed against the ship. It began to drag the engines slowly toward the end of the pier.

"Peep! Peep!" Percy whistled frantically. "Brakes! Brakes!"

Both engines braked hard. The workman set the two vans' brakes on as well, but still they slid toward the water.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Duck muttered.

Percy hit the buffers at the end of the pier and they finally came to a stop. The buffers creaked and strained against the force being put against them. Percy could hear the wood cracking and splintering as the stress threatened to rip the buffers from their mount.

"Quick, you two!" yelled Percy's driver, "Now's our chance! Pull hard, but go slowly!"

The drivers released the brakes. Both engines pulled back with all their might, but moving slowly so that their wheels would not lose traction. Their taught couplings soon slackened and Duck's rear buffers inched closer to those of the first brake van.

"Release the brakes! Hurry!" shouted the foreman, and the workmen complied. When Duck's buffers touched the brake van's, it rolled and allowed he and Percy to continue.

"Peep! Peep! We're doing it! We're doing it!" Percy called excitedly.

"Careful, now!" cautioned the driver. "Easy does it!"

Suddenly, Duck's wheels began to spin backwards. Percy couldn't hold the weight on his own and his wheels began to slip, too. The ship began to pull them back to the end of the pier again. The workmen in the brake vans quickly set the brakes again to hold the engines back.

"More sand!" called Duck. "MORE SAND!"

The firemen activated their engines' sanding gears and the drivers carefully reduced steam to slow the spinning drive wheels. Just as Percy was about to hit the buffers again, both engines regained traction. They gave a great heave.

"Grrrrr!" Percy strained.

"You sound…errr…like a diesel…growling like that, Percy," Duck gasped as he pulled with all his strength.

"I'd like to…GRRRRRR!...see a diesel…*pant*…pull like this!" the little tank engine coughed back.

Slowly but surely, the engines reversed, towing in the little ship inches at a time. Rain pelted their boilers and waves crashed against the pier's pilings, the salty spray splashing against their faces and stinging their eyes. Still, they struggled on.

Halfway to land, Duck's fireman raised an alarm. "We're nearly out of sand!" he cried.

"I'll take care of this!" The foreman yelled back. He jumped down from the lead brake van and ran to the yard as quickly as he could. He found the rest of his workmen taking shelter in a storage shed. "We need your help," he explained. "Grab all the sandbags and shovels you can find and bring them out to the pier. We need to sand the rails!"

The workmen sprang into action, throwing sand bags into wheelbarrows and rushing out to the key. They broke open the bags and shoveled sand directly onto the rails behind the two engines' wheels so that they would not slip.

Before they knew it, Percy and Duck had crossed the end of the pier and were back on solid ground. The workmen followed along with their sand and shovels as the engines slowly worked backwards. Occasionally, their wheels would slip, and their drivers would skillfully check their speed so that they regained traction.

The ship drew closer. It was now only one hundred yards from the end of the pier.

"We're…doing…it! We're…doing…it!" panted Duck and Percy together. Another few minutes of labored pulled coaxed the ship closer and closer. The engines were now nearly outside the harbor. The cable that connected them to the ship stretched all the way through the yard. If it snapped, the recoiling cable could cause a great deal of harm, so the foreman was sure to keep everyone clear.

"You two are doing great!" called the foreman. "You're almost there! Just a little bit further!"

Percy didn't think he had ever pulled so hard in his entire life. He felt as though he were about to burst, but he struggled on.

"Oh! Oh! Oh!" he suddenly shrieked. "My boiler! I'm going to burst!"

"There's too much steam pressure!" the fireman cried. He quickly dampened down Percy's fire.

Duck's driver reduced steam and they slowed almost to a stop. The Great Western Engine strained to keep tension on the cable.

Presently, Percy began to feel better as the pressure was released from his steam chest. The two engines began to pull again. For five minutes more, they struggled on.

At last, the ship was near enough to the shore for its lines to reach the dock. The sailors threw their lines to the shore. Only one of them made it all the way to land. Two workmen quickly grabbed it and made it fast to a piling.

They were just in time. With a crack like a rifle, the cable suddenly snapped, the ends flying apart with great speed. The end still attached to the boat sliced right through some empty oil drums, but fortunately, no one was hurt.

With no resistance holding them back, Percy and Duck suddenly shot backwards. Their drivers shut off steam and applied the brakes. The two tank engines came to a stop, panting hard.

"Did we do it?" Percy panted.

"I wish I knew," Duck replied quietly. "I cannot see the ship from here."

Meanwhile, the workmen were busily fastening more lines to the ship from the keyside. Soon, the little fishing vessel was lashed securely to the key and all of the crew aboard had safely made it to land.

Percy and Duck slowly rolled up beside the key where they were met with applause audible over the wind and thunder.

"Great job, you two!" The foreman called. "You did splendidly!"

Duck and Percy smiled at each other, tired, but triumphant.

The two engines and their crews took shelter in a goods shed at the harbor as the storm raged outside. The four men took to looking over Percy to make sure that his boiler had not been damaged from the excessive steam pressure.

Duck had just closed his eyes in the hopes of dozing off when the foreman approached along with another man.

"Percy, Duck, this is Captain Charles," the foreman said. "It was his boat that you two saved."

"Indeed," said Captain Charles. "Without your very brave efforts, my ship surely would have been lost, likely along with everyone aboard. I cannot thank you enough."

Percy and Duck had no idea what to say. They just beamed.