At night, when the other engines are tucked away in their sheds, you can still hear the sounds of the pistons pumping into the cylinders of a steam engine, as they glide along the rails with vans of fish. This is the sound of "The Flying Kipper." It is usually hauled by Henry, but other engines on the Fat Controller's railway pull the train when Henry is away, although they have to put up with the smell of fish on their journeys.
One early morning, just as the sun's first rays of pink light began to illuminate the sky, the other engines woke up when Henry steamed onto the turntable after a long night of pulling the Flying Kipper. He turned himself around and backed into the berth between James and Gordon. When his steam was shut off, Emily suddenly turned up her nose and sniffed the air.
"What's that smell?" she asked with displeasure. Henry sniffed the air too. "That's the smell of fish," he said pleasantly. Having pulled the Flying Kipper for so many years, Henry had grown used to the strong, fishy smell and didn't mind it. But James most certainly despised the smell.
"Ugh! Smelly fish!" he exclaimed. "The only train which always ends up with a terrible smell…and a crash!" Henry was surprised. "Smelly? I don't think so. And I've taken it a hundreds of times and haven't had an accident!"
"Oh really!" James hissed. "The first time you ever took that train, you were tricked by a downed signal and crashed into a goods train so badly, you were sent off to Crewe! After that, Duck tried to push you up Gordon's Hill when he crashed right into you!"
"I didn't cause those accidents!" snapped Henry. "Ice and snow caused the first one and a broken tail lamp caused the other one!"
"What about when Thomas' driver used that old bucket at the river? The thought of fish swimming in my boiler makes me think it'll burst!" exclaimed James. "Or snaking right into water…after you ignored Thomas' warning about the coastal track!"
"I was trying to make up for lost time after Thomas arrived late!" hissed Henry. "Besides you're one to talk about snaking right into water, you ran over the points and ran into the Fenland with the fish after you saw Gator for the first time! And what's more, at least I wasn't afraid to pull the Kipper because of the smell!"
"Hah!" snorted James. "That's the only thing you haven't been afraid of!" Gordon didn't like listening to quarrels so early in the morning.
"Oh, shush!" he snapped. "We won't be working for some time and some of us still need sleep!"
"I agree," said Edward. "Think about our couple!" Henry looked at Thomas and Emily. Thomas was still asleep and Emily was wearing a tired and slightly irritated look. This made Henry calm down and stop arguing. James, in turn decided to stop too.
A few hours later, Henry was to go to the forest to take children to the Wishing Tree before his next Kipper run. His fireman shoveled coal into the firebox and the fire began to heat the boiler water. Henry's driver opened the throttle to let the steam flow into Henry's pistons, but suddenly there came a loud squeak from inside Henry and the squeak surprised all the engines. Suddenly, Henry felt ill. "What happened?!" he exclaimed. Henry's fireman inspected him.
"Your water pipes are clogged, Henry," he said. "You'll have to go to the Steamworks to get them cleared." Henry's driver turned to the other engines. "Henry needs to go to the Steamworks. Any volunteers?"
Right away, Emily spoke up. "I'll help you, Henry. You'll be alright." She turned round until she lined up with Henry, then she coupled up and took him off to the Steamworks. Henry still felt bad that he wouldn't be able to work, but still felt positively touched having Emily help him yet again. Just like Emily felt when Thomas helped her to the bakery, Henry was impressed with Emily's strength to pull an engine as big as him. Soon, Emily arrived at the Steamworks and placed Henry on the turntable. Workmen locked hooks onto Henry and he was lifted right up to be inspected and repaired.
"Thank you, Emily! You're very thoughtful," called Henry.
"You're most welcome, Henry!" called Emily. "Well done, old girl." congratulated her driver, giving her a gentle pat on the side of her cab.
To help with Henry's schedule, Emily gathered the children from the station and took them to the Wishing Tree. As the day passed, other engines were wondering about Henry. They all hoped that he'd be fixed in time to take the Flying Kipper in the early morning. None of the other engines liked the idea of dealing with the smell of fish for so long.
But that evening when the Fat Controller arrived, he didn't look satisfied. He looked serious.
"I have some discomforting news," he said. "Henry's pipes are mended but when he tried to start up, his piston popped from too much puff. Henry won't be able to deliver the Flying Kipper early tomorrow morning. One of you must take it for him."
Although the Flying Kipper had an early start, the other engines thought about their own schedules during the day. Gordon couldn't take the Kipper because of the express. Percy had his mail run to work on, Edward had to work with Trevor at the Vicarage Orchard and Emily had to deliver flowers to Maithwaite so they could be sent to the florists. The Fat Controller also knew that James had two previous accidents with the Flying Kipper. As such, the Fat Controller didn't trust James to be careful. So, he turned his attention to Thomas.
"Thomas, can you take the Flying Kipper?"
"I don't know, sir," said Thomas. "Henry is a big strong engine, and I'm a tank engine…" Truthfully he didn't want to pull the train at all. He hated fish ever since some ended up in his boiler, he hated the smell and every time he took fish trains he always ended up having an accident, like falling off the pier due to faulty points and crashing into Salty after taking too many trucks and losing control.
When Emily heard Thomas, she suddenly remembered her jammed whistle yet again and gave Thomas encouragement.
"Thomas, come on! You're forgetting your inner strength! Pulling me AND my flour to the bakery was easy for you. You can take the Flying Kipper any day!" She said, giving Thomas a smile.
Hearing Emily's encouragement, Thomas decided to put his personal vendetta against fish behind him, perhaps this time it wouldn't be too bad? "You're right, Emily. I also tried to pull seven trucks against Spencer…I can take this train," said Thomas.
"Very good," said the Fat Controller. "But you must be up early to take the Kipper on time. You must be at Brendam Docks at 5:00 a.m."
"Of course, sir," said Thomas. As such, after the Fat Controller left, Thomas fell asleep at once. Despite giving encouragement, Emily still worried for Thomas. Whenever anyone had to deal with fish, not only did they smell strong, but they could also be complained and laughed at...
At 4:00 a.m. the driver and fireman came early to start Thomas up for the Docks. Emily heard the coal shoveling and the steam ready to hiss. She woke up and saw Thomas just starting to head off.
"Good luck, Thomas," she said. "And don't worry. Fish is fish and it smells just as it is."
"Thank you, Emily," Thomas yawned sluggishly. He hustled into the docks and arrived at 5:00 a.m. as required. Porter was waiting with Cranky to arrange the trucks and load the fish in.
Unfortunately, Thomas was still in a sluggish mood. He became careless and didn't stop in time. Cranky had started to load the fish onto the trucks…when Thomas bumped into the train and pushed it forward. Cranky swerved his hook towards Thomas in the confusion and his load hit Thomas' funnel! The fish flipped over and splattered all over Thomas! Porter gasped and Thomas shuddered at the smell.
"Ohh! Thomas!" shouted Cranky.
"Oh no!" moaned Thomas. "Emily won't like that I'm this smelly! If only I had slept better." Twenty minutes later, the workmen had cleared the mess and the fish were properly loaded to their trucks. Thomas hurried to make up for lost time. Luckily, every delivery of fish was on time, but Thomas worried all night about being complained at or even worse, laughed at…
By daybreak, all the fish were delivered. But now, Thomas had to collect Annie and Clarabel for his Branch Line run. There wasn't enough time to be washed down, making Thomas even more worried. Annie and Clarabel were the first to complain.
"Clattering Carriages!" sniffed Annie. "What ever happened, Thomas?" exclaimed Clarabel. "Blame it on fish, your ladyships," groaned Thomas.
"Fish? The Flying Kipper?" asked Clarabel. "Yes…my passengers will surely be unhappy!" And they were. Men and women exclaimed with disgust and the children held their noses. Whenever Thomas picked up or dropped off passengers, they would scurry in and out as quickly as they could.
"I'm sorry, Thomas, but we'll just have to put up with it and make the best of a bad situation," said his driver, before he turned his nose up from the strong smell and waved his hand in front of his face. "Phew!" The fireman did the same thing as well. "I think that's easier said than done, Bob," he coughed. Thomas just wished he didn't have to put with it for much longer. "And talk about a bad situation," he muttered to himself as he shuddered at the smell once again.
After he finished his local service on the branch line, Thomas looked around for a water tower to be washed off. But it seemed that every tower had an engine to wash. Thomas tried the first tower, but Gordon was already there. He could see some leftover fish-oil stains on Thomas.
"Oh, the Indignity!" he sniffed. "Thomas! You're the Steamie Kipper!" Thomas hissed annoyingly as Gordon laughed and guffawed. When Thomas stopped at another washdown, Diesel was there. "Phew! You really are a stinky steamie, Thomas! Just like the stinky cheese!" he oiled.
When Thomas arrived at the third water tower, Emily was there, facing him. She smelled the fish-oil and once again turned up her nose. Thomas tried to explain himself.
"Sorry, Emily. I had an accident at the docks. I was still tired and the fish sprawled all over me. I know you'll laugh at me…"
But Emily didn't laugh. She felt sorry for Thomas. "Never mind the fish smell, Tommy. What's important is that you'll get a wash. I'm finished now. Come and make yourself the shiny blue colour I always love," she smiled. Emily backed up a few yards and let Thomas come forward.
As Thomas was washed, Emily smiled as she watched the yellowish brown fish oil slip off her star and see his dashing blue colour reappear. But her smile was cut back to a frown when she heard James' whistle and saw him stop beside Thomas. Gordon had told James everything and now he had the chance to do what he did best…teasing and laughing.
"Dear, oh dear, Thomas. Do I smell a smelly engine? Gordon told me everything and it's proven I was right…you ARE a broken-down little engine, and I AM a stunning ruby!" With that, James laughed and wheezed until his face was a red as his paint. Emily could see Thomas' irritation and annoyance build up rapidly. She never fully trusted James after everything he and Gordon did to her and she absolutely hated how much pride he took to teasing. To help Thomas not get too angry, she backed up and switched to James' line. She whistled loudly and steamed quickly forward.
"Laugh at my cobalt star, will you? Take that!" She barked and gave James a rough bump back a few yards. "Ow! Ooh!" cried James.
"Quit your squealing!" hissed Emily. "You know what it feels like to be laughed at because of fish! Why can't you feel Thomas' pain?!"
James just laughed and steamed proudly away. He didn't see a certain blue car drive by while the teasing was still going on. Emily came back to Thomas, who was now perfectly clean again. He had a smile on his face and was trying not to laugh.
"You bumped him…that's my girl!" he snickered. Emily chuckled too and kissed his cheek. "He deserved it…especially after what he did to Percy a few years ago with the scrap monster." Thomas raised his eyebrow and together, they started laughing. Eventually, evening began to set in, so Thomas and Emily decided to return to Tidmouth Sheds.
When they got there, they saw the Henry still hadn't come back. "Ladies first," said Thomas. Emily giggled and reversed onto the turntable. "Who will take the Flying Kipper now?" Thomas asked as Emily turned herself round.
"I hope you don't have to, Thomas," she said. "I don't want you to feel ashamed again."
"Perhaps Gordon might," Thomas smirked.
"Me? Pull the Flying Kipper?! Huh! I don't think so," sniffed Gordon. After Thomas backed into his berth beside Emily, Edward sniffed the air.
"Hmm…it smells nice out here," he smiled. "Like soap."
Emily sniffed the air too and smiled with Edward. "That's the smell of Thomas. He's clean again!" Thomas blushed shyly as Emily giggled softly. "You're very sweet, my love," he said. "So are you, cutie," Emily chuckled. Before James could start teasing or complaining again, the Fat Controller arrived. He was cross.
"I saw and heard what happened at the wash-down…James," he said sternly. "We all have accidents, but one should NOT be laughed at or teased about it! Thomas felt ashamed and sorry for his passengers and you didn't empathize for him! Therefore, James, as Henry is still not fixed, you will pull the Flying Kipper to make up for your teasing upon Thomas!"
"But sir-" James started to protest. A hand lightly smacked the side of his cab.
"That's enough, James," said his driver. "Orders are orders! Now come on!" James wheeshed out of Tidmouth Sheds, sulking. Thomas smiled and winked at Emily. "Time for the 'stunning ruby,' to turn into the Steamie Kipper," he whispered. Emily laughed and winked back. "This might be great fun, Thomas," she said. "We'll find out tomorrow."
Then the two engines whispered, "I love you," and fell asleep, excited over what would happen to James…
Meanwhile, James had reached the docks, still in a bad mood. As the smell of fish blew through the air, he nearly choked and spluttered. Other than Salty and Porter, Arthur was there too. Like Henry, he didn't mind the smell of fish either. When he saw James, he asked what he asked Thomas several years ago.
"Do I smell a fishy engine?" he teased. "No! It's the smelly fish and smelly dockside engines!" sniffed James. "I shouldn't be doing this. I should be doing more important work…taking the Duke and Duchess, or the Mayor!"
"Ey, who you calling smelly?!" shouted Porter.
"You lot! How any of you can cope with this hideous stench is utterly beyond me," snorted James. "Now just get this smelly, accident ridden train ready so I can get out of here and prepare myself for more splendid work that only a splendid engine such as myself should be doing - pulling gleaming, shiny coaches, like the express!" He smirked to himself as he imagined rushing along the Main Line with the express, with people coming from miles around to admire his dashing red livery.
"Well, aren't you eager to smell like fish again?" teased Porter. "You certainly have plenty of experience," added Arthur, cheekily. "PAH!" bellowed James, as he snapped out of his daydream and let off steam furiously.
As James prepared for the train, this time, he was careful not to hit Cranky's load, so the fish were safely loaded. But what James didn't know was that there were four extra vans of fish added to the train that Arthur had brought from the Fishing Village, and the couplings on the first few trucks were very old, worn out and rusty. The vans also added more weight to pull, which James hated. The guard's whistle blew and James set off roughly. He didn't notice a rattle and squeak amongst the train as he departed the Docks. The workmen had meant to oil and strengthen the couplings, but James started too quickly.
"Wait, James!" they shouted. "The couplings are not ready!" But James had already disappeared…
Because of the vans' extra weight, James began to tire early into the journey. He hustled to deliver the fish to the stations but wouldn't pay attention to the old couplings as they creaked and squeaked louder and more often.
"Ease up, James, you're barely letting the coal burn and something is going to snap unless you don't start to take it easy!" His driver tried to warn him but James paid no attention. When he reached Wellsworth, he was so frustrated with fish that he whistled loudly.
"I'm a splendid engine!" he wheeshed. "Fish is nothing splendid for me!" Then James heard a high whistle. "James?" said a high, lively voice. It was Rosie. She was waiting in a siding to help the Flying Kipper the rest of the way. "I'm going to push from behind…but where's Henry?"
"Still at the Steamworks, and I'm doing HIS work!" grumbled James. "And you can't help me…you're too small and delicate!"
"Maybe you should be the fishing engine, James!" teased Rosie. "It would help to apologize to Emily after you refused to help her…and Thomas and Percy!" She buffered to the last van but was not coupled on. This would let James keep going without stopping at the hilltop. As they huffed along, James continued to complain and boast about pulling more important trains. At last, Rosie lost patience.
"Ooh, James!" she hissed as they struggled up Gordon's Hill. "You're so vain, boastful and full of yourself…you're only as pleasant as the smell of fish after all!" James' face went even redder than his paintwork. He was so cross, he was careless with the weak couplings. He wanted to get away from Rosie and her teasing. Then there was trouble. As James jerked forward, the weak couplings broke. At first James didn't notice this. Neither did Rosie. But as James started down the hill, half of the trucks came thundering down after him. Rosie felt the weight slacken, and because she was not coupled on, as she reached the top, her remaining trucks slipped down after James.
"Uh oh!" said Rosie. "There goes the Flying Kipper…or perhaps…flying fish!" she added as she started to laugh. She raced down to follow James.
"James, look out!" shouted his driver. James could hear the rattle of trucks coming up behind him! "Oh no!" he whistled. He went faster and faster, hoping to outrun the trucks. Slowly, but surely he got further and further away. Up ahead, he could see a signal box and just ahead of that, there was a siding.
"SWITCH THE POINTS!" he shouted. The signalman pulled the lever and James got diverted into the siding and stopped right at the buffers.
"Wonderful," James smiled with pride. "The Smelly Kipper will surely miss me now. I'm red and splendid!"
But James was wrong. The signalman had not switched the points back to the main line and the Flying Kipper came rushing closer and closer. They ran right into the siding and before James could shout or whistle, the train bumped into him, sending him through the buffers and off the rails. He skidded along the ground and just ahead was a small pond. James splashed right into the pond, followed by the train as it crashed into his tender. Dozens of fish shot into the air and splattered down all over James! Soon, he was covered all over in kippers. No one was hurt, the driver and fireman had jumped clear before the crash, but once again, the strong smell of fish hung in the air.
Some trucks were still on the grass and they were delighted. "He's fallen in the water!" Even worse, the stench of mud had split the air, worsening the smell of fish even more. It was even worse than when he crashed into the Fenland.
"Oh no! Not again!" moaned James. "Why me?! Why is it ALWAYS me?!"
Just then, James heard a high whistle again. Rosie came up and stopped at the end of the siding.
"My, my, James! This train really is the Flying Kipper! Get it? Flying Fish? They flew all over you!" Rosie laughed and laughed while James merely groaned, "Oh, my paintwork!"
James' fireman ran to the nearest phone booth and telephoned Topham Hall. The Fat Controller woke up with a start and answered the phone. At first he sounded tired and irritated but right away grew alert and aware…
"Hello? Oh…Oh, I see. Oh…oh dear! And where exactly has this happened…?"
Meanwhile, Rosie's driver had telephoned for the Breakdown Train. The trucks which still had fish inside them were hoisted back to the rails, but the fish that had splattered on James were spoiled. Rosie, pulling hard, helped the Breakdown Train haul James back onto the rails. Now Rosie could fully see James' damage. He was covered in mud and splattered with fish-oil. Rosie turned up her nose and laughed.
"Phewey, James! You're a fishy engine!"
Then the Fat Controller arrived. When he saw the mud churned in the pond and James' current state, he was not happy.
"You have performed badly with the Flying Kipper, James!" He grouched. "I'm sorry sir," said James. "I must be cleaned for my passengers! Is there a water tower nearby?"
The Fat Controller stared hard at James, then…he shook his head. "Usefulness before cleanliness," he said sternly. "You will perform your passenger duties in your current state. Maybe smelling like fish and mud for the day will help you think about being more careful with trucks."
James wanted to complain and object to this, but he remembered what he heard just before his trouble with trees: "Really useful engines don't argue." So he stayed quiet. Luckily, James was still able to puff, but his joints squeaked and rattled all the way home, while the Fat Controller asked Rosie to deliver the remaining vans of fish.
The next morning, the other engines woke up to an absolutely terrible smell. When Emily sniffed the air, the smell was so strong, she sneezed.
"T-Thomas…uh…phew…AH-CHOO!" Luckily, Emily had only a few little ashes and didn't cause any mess. When she recovered she asked. "What's that stench?"
Even Henry, who had returned from the Steamworks shortly after James had left for docks, was disgusted. He exclaimed and snorted. "No fish smells that terrible!" he said.
Just then, Rosie, who had just finished delivering the last of the fish, whistled in. "That's the smell of James!" she wheeshed. "Fish and mud together!"
She told the engines all about his accident. All the engines laughed, but none of them laughed harder than Thomas. He wheezed and laughed until he nearly couldn't breathe. Rosie said loudly that James would have to pull his passengers, smelling like fish for the whole day.
"Serves you right!" guffawed Thomas. "Whatever will the passengers say?!"
"James is the true Steamie Kipper!" squealed Emily. By this time, James had to leave to pick up his passengers, covered in fish-oil and mud. Emily looked at Thomas.
"You were right, Thomas. The stunning ruby DID turn into the Steamie Kipper!" she said.
"Yech! What a dirty object!" Thomas joked. With that, he and Emily went on their way, talking and laughing for quite a time about James while he was left with unhappy passengers for an entire day.
Well, this has certainly been a long time coming hasn't it? Originally promised to be uploaded after "Sleep Whistling" I lost all steam, pardon the pun, to work on this. But I was soon re-inspired to make it, and with Jeremy's help this story has finally been brought to life and I'm really happy with how this turned out. Right now, we're putting all focus on "Thomas and Emily's Relationship" so the next chapter should be up soon. Also, "The Great Race" has premiered in the U.K, I have my own reasons why I'm not really excited for it, but I want to hear what you guys think, are you looking forward it, are you not, in your reviews tell me what you think and also what you think about this story as well. Peace!