Lee's Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends
Stories
Boulder's Revenge
It had been a busy day on the Island of Sodor as mist came in and dominated over most of the land. The sun had just set, and the night sky loomed over everyone. The moon was shining bright above the land and it left a ghostly feel to the surroundings. Nights like this were always strange on Sodor, but none more than this...
The Fat Controller had just left his office after a busy day of work and made his way to his trusted blue car. There was a slight chill in the air but it was a nice one and as the Fat Controller sat in his car, he thought of home and seeing his wife. However, once he was on his way the mists were playing havoc with his sense of direction, or that is what appeared to be the case. When he came to a set of crossroads he saw everyday, for some strange reason he went the wrong way. For whatever reason, the Fat Controller, he was heading in the direction of the old, abandoned Boulder Quarry. To anyone else, it looked like he was lost, but he actually went there for a purpose. He wanted to know why Boulder, the big lump of rock atop a hill, had affected his engines so badly. Some can't even go on the lines near the abandoned quarry now as their terrified of Boulder and the Fat Controller was determined to find out the truth. When he arrived, he simply just got out of his car, and spoke directly at Boulder.
"You have caused so much trouble for me and my railway. You shouldn't be here!" he said to himself. Boulder didn't reply, his expression just stayed fixed at the one it always had. After a while of staring at it, the emotionless expression spooked the Fat Controller, so he quickly got back in his car, and made his way home. Just as he left though, Boulder's expression appeared to change, albeit slightly but no-one saw this.
A little later, when the Fat Controller returned home, Lady Hatt was waiting and seemed very worried for her husband.
"Topham! Where have you been?" she said in an extremely concerned tone.
"I was busy with paperwork, darling" he replied. "It won't happen again!"
"It better not!" she replied as she brought out some leftover dinner for her husband. As the Fat Controller chowed down, he couldn't believe he'd just lied to his wife, but his main priority was now with Boulder. Once his dinner was finished, he made his way to his study and looked out of the window. The night sky on Sodor was beautiful but in the distance he was sure he could see a face. He thought it was Boulder's, but it couldn't be, it was smiling. The Fat Controller was definitely spooked now, so he made his way to bed, but as he went up the stairs to his bedroom, he heard a loud, booming laugh. It spooked him out so much that he rushed up the stairs so that he was out of hearing distance, but who's laugh was it? Was it really Boulder's?
Morning rose and the Fat Controller quickly made his way to work, so quick that he hadn't even had his traditional breakfast of crumpets. Lady Hatt was concerned and wondered what was wrong with her husband. After waiting a few moments for her husband to leave her sight, she made her way to her own small car and followed his blue car from a distance. She didn't know what to think but got more concerned as the route went on.
"This isn't the way to his office." she commented as she followed from a distance. "You need to explain yourself Topham," she then muttered as she kept following him until he came to an eventual halt. He'd come to Boulder Quarry and after getting out of his car, he noticed his wife in the distance. She wasn't happy in the slightest.
"This is the paperwork then?" she questioned
"Why were you following me, dear?" he then questioned in reply.
"You're lying to me!" she exclaimed. The Fat Controller didn't reply, he just turned round and looked at Boulder again. Lady Hatt was furious but then looked to Boulder as well. What was it that had taken her husband's attention? As Lady Hatt glanced up, she saw that Boulder was smiling.
"It never smiles" said the Fat Controller "It shouldn't be doing this!" Lady Hatt didn't respond, she just looked on at Boulder. Then, she noticed some rocks beneath Boulder were falling from their place.
"Topham..." she said in a concerned voice. "Look at Boulder, look what's happening!"
"Oh dear..." he replied in concern. More and more rocks kept displacing and Boulder's smile got even wider as this was happening. The ground started to shake and the Fat Controller was really concerned now.
"We're leaving...NOW!" he exclaimed. Lady Hatt was worried but quickly got in her car, and the Fat Controller got in his. They quickly reversed away from the Quarry just at the moment when Boulder fell from his place. The impact on the ground was immense, and everywhere shook in the surrounding area of Sodor. It was like an earthquake for Mr. Percival's railway, his was most affected by this. Rusty, who had previous with Boulder, had come off the rails because of the rumble and many of his friends had too. Rusty didn't have to guess too hard to think what was the cause behind his derailment.
"Oh no." he thought "It's happening again!"
The tremor caused by Boulder had not only just affected Mr. Percival's railway, it had seemingly affected every rail line on the entire island. Passenger trains were in disarray as services were being halted up and down Sodor.
"Stay away!" ordered Gordon from Knapford station as passengers rushed to the waiting rooms. He was wobbling badly on the lines too and was very concerned.
"What is this?" asked James to Gordon but the big blue engine didn't know. Thomas, who was just on his approach to the station, was too shocked to say what he thought it was. He was sure it was Boulder, but he didn't know for definite. As buildings rocked and rumbled, glass began to shatter in various locations across the island. No-one had ever seen something like this before.
"It's like one of those movies." screamed Annie to Thomas.
"But we're in it!" cried Clarabel. "I don't like it."
"Nor do I!" admitted Thomas as his crew rushed from his cab and towards cover in the station. They had to be extra careful on the way though as a clock from the station wall flew off and almost hit them as they raced towards safety.
It was like a storm no-one had ever seen before and people were getting worried. For the Fat Controller and his wife, who were still close to Boulder, they were most worried of all.
"What is it doing?" asked Lady Hatt to her husband, but he was clueless.
"I don't know" he replied. No-one knew. As they looked on deeply worried, they heard a bell in the distance, it was Toby's. He'd heard that the Fat Controller was down this way and raced down the line even though it wasn't safe.
"Come quickly!" he shouted. "Engines are damaged and passengers are hurt, please come quickly!" he then beckoned. The Fat Controller and Lady Hatt swiftly followed but when they got to the mainland, they saw several trains off the rails, and in bad ways. Passengers were hurt and were needing hospital treatment, and most important of all, when they turned back round, the Fat Controller and Lady Hatt could see Boulder in the distance, still smiling...
People were screaming, engines were scared, and no-one understood fully what had just happened.
"It's Boulder isn't it?" questioned Lady Hatt to her husband. "He's got to be behind all of this."
"I can only guess so..." he replied
"But why? How? And why now?" she then questioned in return. The Fat Controller didn't reply, he just stood there, looking on at Boulder, his smile was the widest he'd ever seen. He couldn't comprehend that Boulder could have done this, who would? How could a lump of rock do something like this? It simply didn't make sense and for all that had happened on Sodor over the years, this was surely the strangest of them all. Storms had come and gone, but nothing like this. Sodor was on its knees, quaking in its boots and the cause of it all was a rock.
"I knew we should have disposed of it." muttered the Fat Controller just as a car horn was heard in the distance, racing towards his and his wife. It was Miss Jenny's Land Rover. It quickly came to a halt, and out came Miss Jenny and Mr. Percival who was in the passenger seat. Their faces said it all, they were concerned, and it showed terribly.
"Are you okay?" Miss Jenny asked to the Hatt's just as all of a sudden, another tremor occurred. The ground shook once more and everyone fell to the floor. Miss Jenny hurt her arm in the fall but grimaced through the pain and tried to get back to her feet as quickly as possible. Mr Percival was helping the Fat Controller and his wife get to their feet just as the last of the shaking came to an end.
"We need a lot of help here..." Mr Percival said to the Fat Controller as he brushed dust off his bowler hat. "We can't keep hoping that this is the end of it."
"But how do you stop something like that?" Lady Hatt asked loudly, pointing in the direction of Boulder. A laugh then came from the same direction and spooked her out considerably. The laugh continued and got louder and louder. It was definitely Boulder's laugh and everyone was shocked at this, they really couldn't believe it. The force of the second tremor had caused more damage, but this time, mainly to buildings and other structures. The viaduct suffered a lot from the second tremor, Donald and Douglas had to be extremely careful as they were stuck on it now.
"Oh no!" they cried in unison as more damage was caused. "Were going down!" they then cried. Elsewhere, the tremor was causing trouble as Brendam Docks. Cranky was unable to keep steady and was nearly at the point of collapsing, while other cranes and the ships at the docks were suffering as well. Bulstrode, Herman and Stella were struggling in the Sodor sea as it got choppier by the second, while the water rose with the latest tremor. They all feared that they might sink under the torrent.
Sodor as a whole was struggling to cope. The culprit was seemingly known but no-one could understand the reason. What was Boulder doing this for?
Time passed and a while after the second tremor had been and gone, people sighed with relief as they thought the ordeal was no over. Damage was all around and people were definitely hurt, but for the Fat Controller his attention was all on Boulder. He looked on in the distance and saw Boulder was no longer smiling, his old emotionless stare had returned.
"I think he's done" he exclaimed. "Look!" he then cried out. His wife, Mr Percival and Miss Jenny all looked on, more confused than anything at the whole experience. The damage around them was incredible and would take a very long time to repair. How could they blame it all on one rock though? That was the problem they were having. Boulder hadn't been keen on being moved the very first time Sodor tried to interact with him, but he'd never done this level of destruction before. Previously it had only been one shed, this was serious damage.
"What do we do now?" Miss Jenny then asked.
"You get your arm looked at," said the Fat Controller. "And once you're better, we can all start re-building. Sodor won't stop because of one rock."
"And what about Boulder?" asked Mr Percival.
"I'll be dealing with him." answered the Fat Controller sternly as he gripped his wife's hand hard.
"And I will too." she smiled as the pair made their way to the Fat Controller's blue car and headed towards Boulder.
It was nightfall when they eventually arrived at Boulder Quarry, having gone home for a brief rest and recuperation after the day's events. The Hatt's had come to inspect Boulder for one last time, but they weren't going to do it quietly. Hand in hand they walked towards Boulder who still laid emotionless at the bottom of the hill he had once been perched on.
"And so here we are again." began the Fat Controller. "I thought leaving you up there might have solved our problems but I think we actually made it worse. You were up there plotting, all this time for what you did today, weren't you?" he then asked, but Boulder just stared back. "We wanted what was best for you and for the island but you took it a step to far, so we're leaving you here..." the Fat Controller then added sternly.
"Forever..." chipped in Lady Hatt.
"Were sealing off this area for good..." continued the Fat Controller. "And we're leaving you in peace. I hope we never have to deal with you again for the sake of this island, my engines and above all, my wife and my grandchildren." he added as he held his wife's hand and they slowly walked back towards their car. They both looked one last time at Boulder before they ushered workmen men in to cover up the rock from sight and make sure no-one knew that Boulder Quarry even existed. They wanted it removed from sight altogether. It's name was removed from maps and lines were moved away from the quarry altogether. No-one could go near it, ever again.
So, as the workmen began their job of covering up Boulder, the emotionless rock's face changed one last time. It was now a sad, lonely expression with what seemed like a tear falling from one of his eyes. It is not known why Boulder did what he did on that one particular day, everyone would be left to wonder. The only one who could answer was a rock, a rock who now couldn't be seen. It was as if he'd never existed. But deep under that cover, Boulder was still sad and looked like crying. He would remain like that forever...