Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

A request for asperman1- I hope you enjoy, and please, leave reviews!

…

A weary tank engine straggled home to Tidmouth Sheds after a busy day's work on his branch line. His wheels were feeling weak and wobbly under his sagging frames and weakened whistle, his face crumpled with weariness.

"Phew! I'm certainly not feeling any younger!" He remarked to his driver.

"Well, life makes you feel like that, old boy," His driver replied. "Never mind- you'll soon have your rest."

"Yes…and it's about time, too!" Thomas grumbled good-naturedly, causing his crew to stifle a chuckle.

"Indeed!" Agreed the fireman, mid yawn- before his eyes widened in alarm, and his elbow crashed into his colleague's ribs in warning, and pointed out of the window onto their line. "Look out! There's a red signal ahead!"

The driver shouted. "It's a brake van on the line!" Cursing, his fists closed round the brakes and he yanked down as hard as he could. Thomas felt his braking mechanisms tighten, and he found himself grinding to a halt- just behind the brake van.

"Phew, that was close!"

"That Samson- I did warn him he should watch his couplings! It's against the rules to leave brake vans or any other obstructions on the line!" A new voice interrupted.

"Bradford." Thomas sighed. "Are you alright?" he added in concern.

"No, of course not- I'm breaking the rules just by sitting here! Samson has a lot to answer for when he returns!"

"Now I'm sure he didn't mean to leave you, Bradford." Thomas was aware that Samson could be boastful and cocky, but he would never deliberately leave impediments on the line. "He'll be back soon. But I can push you into that siding in the meantime." He offered.

"You mean shunt, not push," Corrected Bradford pompously. "Engines don't push anyone anywhere- they shunt them. Pushing is for humans. I am very specific about an engine's vocabulary, Thomas."

"Well, I'm glad to hear you're protecting the Queen's English from my poor choice of words." The blue tank engine chuckled cheekily. He did love teasing others, even if he did move on from doing it to every engine he met.

"Hmph! How dare you!" Bradford spluttered.

"Alright, I'll cease the teasing." Thomas conceded, unwilling to risk a tangle with his infamous lectures about disrespect to brake vans. "Here, that siding up the line looks as though it'll be isolated from the rest of the island…" he muttered to himself.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing…." Thomas whistled innocently. He switched tracks at the next points, his exhaustion forgotten in his determination to help a friend in need.

"Here you are, Bradford! It might not be the most comfortable siding, but it'll do until I can find Samson and let him know where you are…"

But much to his surprise, Bradford objected to being left on the siding, for an unknown reason.

"I can't stay here!"

"Bradford, come on…this is the nearest siding, and probably the first place Samson will find you…hopefully…" He added silently, trying not to whine throughout, for he was quite tired and he just wanted to get home to Tidmouth now.

"How can I stay here when there's something on the siding with me?" The brake van demanded. "There is a flatbed on the line!"

"Bradford, I'm sure it can wait…perhaps someone else got into the same situation as Samson and it's been shunted out of the way." He attempted to reason, but his words died in his smoke box when he saw something on the flatbed wheels that wasn't meant to be there.

Sprigs and spirals of ivy and weeds curled round the wheels, giving off the impression it hadn't been touched for some time.

Feeling too tired to be curious about this strange flatbed, Thomas decided to compromise with Bradford in order to get him home. "I need to get to Tidmouth, Bradford...but if Samson doesn't collect you, I'll take you to Vicarstown tomorrow - and I'll see what the deal is with that flatbed, too."

"Will you return it to the yards?"

"It'll go where it'll need to go." The tank engine confirmed wearily. Satisfied, Bradford cleared his throat.

"Thank you, Thomas...now go and get some shuteye." Bradford added- his voice unusually soft and pleasant.

"Yes, General Bradford." The tank engine muttered sarcastically.

"THOMAS!" The green brake van yelled angrily, any tender emptions he felt before quickly dissipating.

Thomas darted away from the irascible brake van, giggling to himself as Bradford's protests faded away into the sunset. He did like to tease Bradford from time to time.