It was the beginning of another day on the Island of Sodor. As dawn was braking, the engines at Tidmouth Sheds were warming up their fireboxes to prepare for their days work. There was a lot of commotion on the island recently. Along the Little Western, at the coastal town of Arlesburgh, the Fat Controller was constructing a new branch line that would extend the North Western Railway from Arlesburgh Harbour to Harwick, a small coastal town which attracted tourists looking for peace and quiet.
A construction yard had been built to store all the supplies needed to build the new line. Duck the Great Western Engine, worked in the yard sorting out the supplies, while Donald and Douglas the Scottish twins transported them to where they were needed. Oliver the Great Western Engine and Toad the Brakevan transported ballast that was brought down to Arlesburgh Junction by the three small engines, Rex, Bert and Mike, from the Arlesdale miniature railway. Other engines such as Stanley and Samson also assisted with the construction too.
The men were using dynamite to blast away the rock as they worked to level the ground for the new tracks to be laid. Jack, Alfie and Oliver from the Sodor Construction Company, were part of the team too. They were also assisted by Marion the railway steam shovel from the Sodor China Clay Pits, together they all worked to dig away at the rocks while the men weakened them with the dynamite, and the debris was taken away by Max and Monty the dump truck twins, who were also from the Sodor Construction Company.
At Tidmouth Sheds however, Thomas wouldn't wake up, his fire kept going out and there wasn't enough steam.
"Wake up, lazybones!" whistled Percy.
"Ha! Too much racing after buses I'd say," whistled James.
"Gordon will be waiting for his coaches!" whistled Henry.
But Thomas was in no hurry at all to fetch Gordon's coaches. "Let him wait," he yawned and tried to go back to sleep. Emily was the only other engine left in the sheds with him. She knew why Thomas was behaving like this. He had grown conceited once again, he was convinced that he was the best engine on the island and that his branch line was the pride of the whole railway. His cockiness grew worse after racing with Bertie yesterday. He was being reckless and nearly ran into some rail works and almost collided with Toby. He only won because Bertie had to slow down for Oliver the excavator, who was taking up most of the small countryside road. So Thomas had won yet again, and it went straight to his smokebox.
Emily didn't like it when Thomas was being cocky and boastful because he never listened and didn't care about what others thought and it would always lead to him getting into trouble. She would always love him regardless of this negative trait, but it was definitely not something she enjoyed or liked, so she was going to have to be strict with him. She blew her whistle to wake Thomas up.
"Wake up, Thomas!" she shouted. "It's time to start work, Gordon needs his coaches, so get moving, right now!"
Thomas groaned, he didn't want to wake up just for Gordon, but he did notice Emily's serious tone, she usually never spoke to him like that unless he was being really cheeky like this. "Alright, alright, I'll get lazy Gordon's coaches for him...in five minutes."
Emily frowned nervously. Thomas was REALLY asking for trouble now. "Thomas, just please go and fetch Gordon's coaches, before something bad happens."
"You're worrying about nothing, Emily," boasted Thomas. "I mean, what could anything possibly go badly any time soon?"
"Because Sudrian karma is terrifying punctual. If there is no confusion and delay, it hits you. Hard," said Emily, a statement that was absolutely true. Thomas should have known this more than most engines from having plenty of years of experience with Sodor's famous history of many accidents over the years, but he simply scoffed at Emily's very accurate statement of fact.
Emily just decided to give up and get ready for her first train. She puffed away from the sheds without saying another word. All she could do was worry about what was going to happen if Thomas didn't stop being so overconfident. Of course Emily didn't want anything bad to happen to her beloved cobalt star, she just wanted him to stop being so cocky.
At Knapford, Gordon was hissing steam and waiting grumpily and impatiently at the platform for Thomas to shunt his express coaches for him. "Oh, the indignity!" he groaned. "In full steam at the platform and no coaches to pull!"
At that moment, Thomas finally chuffed in the yards to shunt the express coaches. Annie and Clarabel were very pleased to see him. "Thomas!" cried Annie, cheerfully. Unfortunately, Thomas was still being overly cheeky.
"It's time for our first train!" said Clarabel.
"Sorry Annie and Clarabel," said Thomas, loudly and intentionally so that Gordon would hear him, "but I have to collect lazy Gordon's coaches first!"
Gordon did hear Thomas and he was not at all pleased with what he had heard. "I heard that, Thomas!" shouted Gordon, feeling very insulted. But Thomas didn't care what Gordon felt.
"But you are lazy, Gordon, otherwise you'd fetch your own coaches!" criticized Thomas. "You know full well that tender engines are too big for shunting. That's what silly little tank engines are for!" said Gordon, mockingly.
Thomas wasn't too pleased to be insulted by the bigger engine. He knew all too well that Gordon could be too arrogant for his own good at times, especially after bullying Emily for years because of such silly reasons. His beloved angel had been forced to suffer endless pain thanks to the big arrogant engine. Even though Emily had forgiven him, Thomas still couldn't forgive Gordon for what he did to her, they had been on neutral terms with each other ever since Emily had forgiven him and James for hurting her, but Thomas wouldn't let his grudge against Gordon slip under the rug. Determined to prove him wrong, Thomas decided to take his revenge on Gordon, not just for calling him silly, but also as a way of paying him back for hurting Emily.
"Silly little tank engines? Well, maybe this silly little tank engine should take the express today?" And with that, Thomas started pushing the coaches out of the station towards the junction. "Bye Gordon!" he called cheekily, as he thundered past a very shocked and angry Gordon. "Thomas! What are you doing? Come back with my coaches!" demanded Gordon, and started pursuing Thomas.
"You'll have to catch me first!" laughed Thomas. "Stop, Thomas!" thundered Gordon, as the coaches were now running over the points towards the Main Line. Unfortunately for Thomas, things were about to get worse. He couldn't see that Emily was heading directly towards the station, just as the coaches ran onto the points blocking her line and putting her in great danger.
Toby, coming from the same direction, also saw what was happening and took action. "Uh, oh. Thomas, look out! The signal is red!" The moment Toby finished his sentence, the signal turned to red. Thomas heard Toby, and saw the red signal. He wasn't feeling cheeky now, he was feeling very worried. Especially when he heard a voice that made his boiler run cold.
"Thomas!" Emily shrieked, closing her eyes in fear as she applied her brakes. "Uh, oh." Not wanting to put his love in great danger, Thomas slammed his brakes hard on, but the coaches continued rolling out of control over the points, as Emily was getting closer and closer to almost crashing into them. Thomas couldn't bare to look at Emily having a crash, so he shut his eyes tightly, praying that Emily would be safe.
Luckily, Emily stopped just in time, but one of the coaches came off the rails rolling over the points, one coach derailing was quickly followed by another, and another. Gordon and Annie gasped in horror. As Thomas finally came to a stop, he nervously opened one eye, and, to his great relief, he saw Emily was perfectly safe on the tracks, but, to his utter horror, the express coaches were tumbling off the rails past Emily. "Uh, oh. What have I done?"
At last, the coaches had stopped moving, but all of them lay in a terrible mess blocking the junction, while all signals turned red.
"THOMAS!" roared Gordon, obviously furious about what Thomas had just done to his express coaches. "Look what you've done, Thomas!" Thomas was looking at what he had done, but that wasn't his main concern, he was more concerned about Emily than anything else.
"Emily! My dear, are you alright?" asked Thomas, frantically. Emily was in a state of shock but she quickly managed to recompose herself. "Yes, I'm fine, Thomas," she replied. Thomas sighed momentarily with relief, but that sweet relief was lost very quickly.
"Never mind about her, what about my coaches?!" howled Gordon.
"Well, all of this is your fault, Gordon!" protested Thomas.
"What?!" snapped Gordon furiously. "What did I do?! You were the one who took and pushed my coaches into the middle of the Main Line!"
"Because YOU called me a silly little engine!" retorted Thomas, before turning is attention back to Emily. "I'm sorry, Emily, I didn't mean for this to happen and I never meant to put you in any-"
"I know, Thomas," Emily said, cutting him off. "I know you never intended for this to happen and I understand you were provoked into doing it because Gordon teased you."
Gordon snorted. "Oh, of course you immediately side with your silly little blue knight in shining buffers! Ope your eyes woman, look what he's done!"
"You have no one to blame for this mess but yourself, Gordon!" shouted Emily. They argued and argued, until finally the Fat Controller arrived. This made everyone go quiet, especially Thomas, who was now very scared about what would happen to him. The Fat Controller was not very happy when he discovered what Thomas had done. "Oh..."
"But it's not my fault sir," protested Thomas, nervously. "Gordon must have been at the wrong platform, sir, and Emily was coming in very fast, and Toby..."
"Oh, enough, Thomas! It wasn't Gordon or Emily who caused this accident. It was you!" boomed the Fat Controller, sternly. "B-but, I..." stuttered Thomas. "Perhaps you should spend some time shunting trucks in the construction yard."
"The construction yard? What do you mean, sir?"
"I'm sending you to work on the new branch line, Thomas. Maybe that will help you think about being a little less cheeky," said the Fat Controller.
Emily couldn't help but feel sorry for Thomas. He had tried to pin the blame on her, but Emily understood why because Thomas was scared and she wasn't upset. But this was exactly what she was worrying about earlier. His overconfidence and cheekiness had led him into big trouble, even though he never intended to harm anyone, especially her. Although she hated seeing Thomas getting into trouble, this was a lesson he needed to learn, one way or another.
While the Fat Controller was scolding Thomas, Emily looked over at Gordon and to her horror he was smiling devilishly at Thomas' comeuppance, the same exact smile he had on his face when he ruthlessly bullied her endlessly. He was gaining satisfaction from Thomas' suffering, just like he did when he made Emily suffer. Her face changed from a sympathetic expression towards her star, to a vengeful death glare towards the arrogant engine responsible causing this mess. Her expression softened however when Thomas started talking once more.
"But, sir, what about my branch line?" asked Thomas.
"Branch line?" said an unfamiliar voice, then followed by an unfamiliar whistle, a new purple tank engine pulled up beside Thomas. "I think that's where I'm meant to be working," said the new engine. "Ahh, Ryan, my new tank engine. You're here!" announced the Fat Controller.
Thomas was surprised, Ryan was bigger and looked much stronger than him. "New tank engine, but..."
"Come on, Ryan, let's get started," said the Fat Controller, placing his hand on Ryan's buffer beam, while Thomas watched in shock. "And as for you, Thomas, you can head to the construction yard now!" ordered the Fat Controller, sternly, before he left with Ryan. Thomas was still speechless as they left. "But...I..." He looked at Emily again, she had the same expression of sympathy on her face.
"I'm sorry, Thomas...but this really is for the best. Even though Gordon got off scot-free, you need to learn to stop being so overly confident and cheeky...I'm sorry, my love, but you should get going." Thomas could see in Emily's eyes that she didn't want him to leave, but she knew that he had to, and seeing that, he couldn't be cross or upset with her. Instead, he puffed slowly and sadly out of the junction towards Arlesburgh.
Gordon smirked with triumph. "Ha, serves him right."
Emily's sad expression returned to the vengeful death glare she had earlier. "You haven't changed a bit, Gordon..." said Emily, menacingly, surprising Gordon and everyone else around them. Emily glared at Gordon the same way she did the night she told Thomas about all the pain Gordon and James caused her for years. "I honestly thought you wouldn't stoop so low again after I had forgiven you for torturing me. But, this morning you've showed me that I was a fool to ever forgive you, because you're still that same mean, arrogant and insensitive engine that I hated for so many years. You caused me to suffer, but I will NOT let you do the same thing to my Thomas!" she roared.
Everyone was silent, none of them had ever heard Emily sound so dark and menacing, except of course for Gordon. Like that infamous night, Gordon was left speechless and even a little bit scared. But, regardless of that he maintained a calm and stoic expression. He said nothing and puffed away, Emily's glare followed him until he was out of sight.
Meanwhile at the new branch line, there was another kind of trouble. As Donald was chuffing along, the ground beneath the tracks was beginning to grumble. The workmen saw the cracks in the ground and started to panic. "Huh? Hey, it's Donald, he's heading straight for us!" said one of them, as Donald came round the bend, unaware of the danger.
"Stop, stop! It's not safe!" cried the workman flagging Donald down. He applied his brakes and screeched to a stop. Once Donald halted, the danger alarms started to blare, causing all work to stop. The ground of the recently dug cutting was weak and unstable. Engineers were called and declared it unsafe. They put up signs to warn everyone of the danger and made plans to reroute the track.
And so it begins, the first chapter of my SLOTLT is finally here. Here's how this story is going to go, there's going to be five chapters in this story, not all of them written by me, Jeremy has written nearly a complete chapter by himself and roughly about half of the final chapter. In fact at the time I am posting this chapter, chapter 4 is 99.9% complete, I just need to add the final finishing touches to it. Also the songs *Never Overlook a Little Engine* and *We Make a Team Together* won't be used in this story, instead we'll just be describing everything that happens in those songs, you guys all know the songs so just imagine you're hearing them when you're reading it. So I hope you all have a lovely Easter and leave a review and I will see you all next chapter!