Hero
...
"Well done everyone! We'll wrap up now."
The engines of the Blue Mountain Quarry were worn out after yet another day's work, but hearing Skarloey's warm praise made them all smile with pride. Rusty said goodnight to Owen and headed down the tunnel that led to the Lower Terrace of the Quarry. He yawned sleepily- he was looking forward to a nice long rest in the shed after shunting trucks all day long.
"Today was a great day," Smiled Luke.
"Och, you say that aboot every day!" Duncan snorted grumpily in response.
"I can't help it, Duncan- I just never seem to have a bad day." Luke replied brightly.
Duncan just growled.
...
Meanwhile, Skarloey and Peter Sam were tiding up the last of the trucks, and the latter was having some trouble with pulling some old ones which had stuck brakes.
"Gosh, these trucks are stiff," He admitted to Skarloey.
"Leave those ones, Peter Sam. I had trouble with them earlier." The red engine advised.
"Alright, Skarloey," Peter Sam replied, and he stopped so that a shunter could uncouple them from him.
But just as the shunter raised his pole to uncouple the trucks, a loud 'SNAP!' resonated from the trucks, and they watched in horror as they rolled away from Peter Sam!
"Oh glory!" Skarloey exclaimed in shock.
The trucks sped faster and faster down the line...and they were heading for Rusty!
...
Rusty saw the trucks heading towards him and he started to move backwards, but the points were set too late. He was now in danger of a collision from the runaway trucks.
Suddenly, a flash of bright green darted out in front of him and stood in front of the little diesel protectively. There was a loud crash as the trucks finally collided, and Rusty's breath was caught as he watched his rescuer derail and land on his side. His crew jumped clear as their engine went down, and there was a loud clang of metal hitting rock.
Peter Sam and Skarloey both raced over to the scene of the accident, their faces pale and their movement frantic. Rheneas, Merrick, Owen and Sir Handel had shock was etched on their faces like marble masks. But the worst affected was Rusty, who was shaking in fright at what had happened, knowing that that could have been him.
But the trucks had hit Luke instead, and now, he was unconscious.
"What do we do?" Sir Handel asked in a panicked voice.
"First, we should inform Mr. Bailey," Replied Skarloey. "We need to get him to phone for help."
"I'll go," Geoffrey volunteered. He was stricken at seeing his engine on the ground, silent and still. His heart was still racing from jumping out of Luke's cab, but now it ached on seeing Luke in such a state.
"And I'll come, Geoff." Richard agreed. He too knew it would be a long time before he could put this behind him.
But as the two men ran to inform Mr. Bailey, the foreman, the engines looked at Luke worriedly. He was still breathing, but his eyes were shut tightly, and he just looked so helpless that Rusty felt himself blinking away tears of shame and guilt.
Luke had- both figuratively and literally- put himself on the line for his friend, and now he was just lying there.
"I'm sorry..." He whispered. "You saved me Luke, and put yourself at great risk to do so. But what if the damage lies worse than the outside?"
...
When Geoffrey and Richard explained their engine's plight, Mr. Bailey phoned the Fat Controller to explain the situation, and also ask if Paxton could come back to the Quarry with a flatbed and Rocky. Sir Topham Hatt assured Mr. Bailey this would be seen to, and he would also phone the Steamworks to let them know of his arrival.
Soon after, Paxton returned with Rocky, an empty flatbed and the Thin Controller, who had been concerned about the accident and decided to ask the engines what had happened.
"So how did this accident initiate?" He asked them.
"It's my fault sir! I tried to move some trucks with rusty couplings and they broke away," Peter Sam confessed, his voice trembling.
"No, I'm to blame," Argued Rusty. "I was in the way of the runaway trucks, sir, and I tried to move, but I went past the points before they were set, and then Luke went onto my line from that line and stopped the trucks from hitting me."
"Neither of you are to blame for what happened," Skarloey insisted, before realizing he had spoken before Mr. Percival could. "Forgive me, sir, but"-
"No Skarloey, it does not matter." He turned to Peter Sam and Rusty. "He's right- neither of you are to blame for the accident- it was just that, an accident. However, Luke did think quickly to protect you from the trucks, Rusty."
The little diesel said nothing, but he still felt somewhat responsible for the accident. After all, he and his friends had come up with an oath to help and protect Luke no matter what. Even after he was absolved and in regular service, the oath still stood, somewhat. He wasn't ungrateful for what his friend had done- he just felt he should have done something to stop Luke getting hurt in his selfless act.
"Hey, he's coming round!" Rocky called unexpectedly.
It was as if the media had been informed a celebrity was in a coffee shop five miles from their base; everyone suddenly crowded round Luke to see if he was okay. He was badly dented and dazed, but he looked alright otherwise.
"Luke, how are you feeling?" Mr. Percival asked kindly.
But they watched as Luke's face morphed into an expression of confusion. He frowned slightly as he looked at Mr Percival.
"Who's Luke?"
...
Those two words, innocuous in tone, caused a ripple of panic amongst the engines, Mr Bailey, Luke's crew, Mr Percival, Owen and Merrick. Everyone in the quarry was suddenly silent and tense.
"That's your name, old boy!" Geoffrey said jovially, despite the cold sick feeling he was experiencing. Luke would never play such cruel and horrid tricks like this, so...
"Who are you?" Luke asked curiously, scanning Geoffrey's face for any signs of familiarity. Unfortunately, he couldn't find any.
"I'm...I'm Geoffrey Heron, remember? I'm your driver," Geoffrey reminded him. "And that's Wilson over there, your fireman."
But poor Luke couldn't recognise either of the men.
"I'm very sorry, sir; but I don't recognise either of you." The little engine said apologetically. He looked very remorseful as he said this.
"Fit aboot us?" Duncan asked. "Do ye recognise any o' us?"
Again, Luke studied the engines meticulously, hoping for a flash of recognition in his funnel, but all he saw were six concerned engines looking at him. He couldn't remember their names, or their secrets, or any memories he shared with them.
"I'm sorry..." he tried to search for the Scottish engine's name, but he couldn't recall it. He could see, however, that they were concerned about him, and the fact he couldn't remember anything was very frustrating and frightening.
"It's Duncan- my name's Duncan!" The yellow engine burst out impatiently, earning him glares from the other engines.
Poor Luke felt embarrassed and ashamed, and he felt tears beginning to pour from his eyes.
"Duncan, Luke appears to be suffering from post- traumatic amnesia." The Thin Controller explained. "It means that he can't remember anything or anyone right now."
"How does it occur, sir, and can it be fixed?" Rusty asked carefully.
"Well, it occurs when an accident happens and the victim is hit on the head. As to answer your second question, yes, it can be 'fixed'. But I'm afraid Victor cannot do anything about getting his memories back. That will have to be left to fate."
This made the engines uneasy as they looked over at their friend, who looked frightened and alone on the flatbed. His eyes darted about wildly, and he was as white as a Paxton began to reverse to leave the quarry, Luke suddenly gasped in fear.
"Where are you taking me?" He demanded shakily.
"To the, uh, Steamworks, of course." Paxton replied. "Why?"
"I can't go back there!" Luke gasped in horror. "Get me down! I don't want to leave Sodor forever!"
The Thin Controller was very confused, but the engines all understood, and they all exchanged looks of terror.
"What's happening with Luke? This isn't like him at all." Mr Percival wondered as he watched his youngest engine panic on the flatbed whilst his crew rushed over to soothe him.
Rheneas gulped.
"Sir, the last time he refused to go to the Steamworks was when he was in hiding." He explained nervously. "He was ill a lot, but he never left the quarry to actually be seen to."
"I see." The Thin Controller said. "That makes sense, but it doesn't make it any easier to witness."
The engines couldn't agree more. Luke, thankfully, wasn't able to hurt anyone, but he kept protesting about hiding in the tunnels, and how he didn't want to go back to Ireland forever.
Rusty couldn't watch Luke being taken away, and so he left without saying goodbye. He knew it was harsh, but he was very upset at seeing Luke being back into the state they had tried to help him out of so long ago. Now the plucky green engine could only remember his guilt and fear of those dark times.
His eyes burned with shame. He didn't want Luke to go through that again.
What was even worse, however, he couldn't remember his lights in the darkness.
He had forgotten his guardian angels.
..
Paxton was very upset at what had happened to Luke and he tried not to cry. He was glad he needed Rocky to unload Luke at the Steamworks, as the crane tried hard to be supportive to his friend at such a distressing time. When they finally arrived at the Steamworks, night had begun to fall. They were very tired, and Luke hadn't been easy due to his memory loss.
Victor greeted the cavalcade warmly.
"Hello, my friends," He said cheerfully. "I hear that you've brought Luke here."
"Who are you?" Luke questioned suspiciously, surprising the Hispanic engine.
"What are you talking about, my friend? I'm Victor, don't you remember?"
"Actually, he doesn't." Paxton piped up. "He's got um, post tramantic ammesial." He explained, but this only confused Victor, who frowned.
"He hurt himself badly during the accident and now he's lost his memory." Rocky garbled as means of an explanation, and then, understanding dawned on Victor's face.
"I see. I do apologize, my friends. But why didn't the Fat Controller mention it before? He said that Luke had been in a bad accident, but nothing about amnesia."
"We didn't know he had it when Mr Bailey phoned the Fat Controller- he was still knocked out." Rocky added.
"How do we fix that, boss?" Kevin the crane asked, wheeling up to Victor.
"I'm afraid amnesia's not like a dented boiler or a broken lamp, Kevin," Victor replied sadly. "It's something that will have to fix itself, given time and patience."
"It might be quick." Kevin answered hopefully.
Victor doubted that from what he had heard, but he didn't say anything.
...
Unfortunately, Luke couldn't remember anything, and so Victor had to try and help Luke orientate his surroundings whilst he was repaired. He rarely got into arguments with anyone, which meant that Luke and he were able to get along fine- unless Luke ended bringing up the yellow engine again.
"Luke, the yellow engine was me," Victor reminded him.
"No, you don't speak that language!"
"It's Spanish, and I do speak it-just not as often as I did. Please calm down my friend."
"Here, I'll try boss," Kevin offered.
"Alright." Victor sighed. Just be patient."
Add Kevin was. He soon got Luke calm and relaxed again, and the two ended up playing 'I Spy' for five minutes so that Luke was kept distracted and able to calm down fully before Rusty and Duncan arrived with coal and parts for the Steamworks and talked to Luke for a short while.
...
A few days later, Luke was fully repaired and ready to go. However, his memory, although vague images came together in his sleep, he still couldn't remember a lot of things.
"Do you know where you're headed, my friend?" Victor asked his friend.
"No I don't." Luke's face fell as he realized this.
"Well, I was told you're heading for the Skarloey Railway to help Rusty with a maintenance train." Victor replied.
"Okay- I'll head out right now!" Luke said enthusiastically. "It'd be great to work!"
"Wait a moment! You're not leaving without me,"
"We do know the way, Victor." Geoffrey pointed out. "We still remember the way to the Railway from here."
Victor flushed.
"Si yes. Please forgive me, but I've just been worried about Luke's safety since I found out he lost his memory."
"Well, you can come if you want," Geoffrey told him. "So long as this place wouldn't fall into shambles."
"Geoff, we can't! Victor has a job here!" Richard hissed.
"Well, it will give him peace of mind." Geoffrey replied. "Other engines are sometimes not as considerate."
So it was discussed. Victor wasn't sure whether he should go now, but Kevin felt that his friend could do with some fresh air- looking after amnesic engines was even harder than looking after ordinary engines.
In the end, they agreed that Victor could go, and he and Luke set off to the Skarloey Railway, chatting contently about this and that.
...
At last, they arrived at Crovan's Gate Station. Mr. Percival was there on the platform along with Mrs. Percival, his wife. Rusty was also waiting for Luke to join him with maintenance.
"Hello Mr. Percival, sir!" Victor called out. "Good afternoon, Mrs. Percival!"
"Victor, what a surprise!" Mr. Percival exclaimed. "I thought you had already done your weekly inspection earlier this week."
"I have, but I thought I'd accompany Luke back just in case." Victor admitted. "I didn't like the idea of having him out by himself."
"Thank you Victor," Mr. Percival said gratefully. "That was very kind of you,"
"Yes indeed." Mrs. Percival agreed. "I'm sorry about your accident Luke." She added sympathetically.
"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Luke asked in confusion. He still couldn't remember very well, and he had no idea who she was.
The Thin Controller announced; "You can head back now Victor."
"Yes, sir, I better." The red engine agreed. "Good luck, Luke. I hope you feel better soon."
Thanks, Victor," Luke sighed. "I don't want you to leave." He added.
"I know you don't, but Rusty will look after you. You've nothing to worry about, my friend." Victor winked and after a friendly toot, he reversed out of the station.
"Come on then Luke! We've got work to do!" Rusty told him cheerfully. He was glad to see Luke again. He had come in the Steamworks whenever he could, but lately the maintenance had been a problem for him for timing.
...
Soon, he had Poppy, a maintenance coach, and an army of workmen. Luke was put in charge of weed killing for the day, much to Rusty's delight. He hated spraying weed killer over the line as he was often hot and bothered. He could tell that Luke didn't like it either.
"This is not fun," Luke commented.
"Tell me about it," Sighed Rusty. "I have to do it whether I like it or not. It's awfully boring standing around doing it, but Sir Handel and Duncan think I'm silly to complain about it."
"I wouldn't join them," Vowed the plucky green engine. "In fact, I could defend your case if you like,"
They both laughed.
Suddenly, there was shouting from further up the line which caused the pair to cease their laughter. It was coming from a guard running towards the two engines.
"There's been a runaway!" He exclaimed loudly. "There's a line of coal trucks heading this way!"
"But the weed killer!" Luke exclaimed.
"But nothing!" The guard said. "The brake van's useless and the trucks don't have an engine!"
...
Sure enough, there was an ominous noise in the distance. It sounded like thunder accompanied by loud cackling and shrieking.
"Horrors!" Luke gasped.
Rusty saw the trucks coming round the corner towards them, screeching like banshees.
"Luke, back up quickly!" He shouted.
The little green engine tried, but his wheels slipped helplessly on the weed killer across the line. He wasn't able to get away from the ongoing train about to collide with him.
But Rusty wasn't giving up that easily. He was determined to protect Luke this time, no matter what the costs. The points were set so that the trucks would collide into Luke, but he knew how to stop the train.
"Switch the points!" He called out.
"Rusty, what are you doing?" Luke asked, alarmed.
"Just trust me!" Rusty replied. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you this time!"
The guard, along with Rusty's driver, forced the lever. After the single click, Rusty's mind went into only focusing on stopping the train.
He waited, watching as the trucks, sure enough, veered away from Luke and instead barreled for Rusty.
But he was ready for them.
He raced forwards, being careful to time the pace he was travelling at so he wouldn't derail the trucks.
As soon as they were in contact with his buffers, Rusty carefully applied his brakes so that he would slow the trucks down.
At last, he ground to a halt, out of breath and with the trucks groaning.
...
Luke slowly opened his eyes, dreading finding his friend in damage beside the line, but Rusty was standing there, a dazed look on his face...and he was still on the line!
"Rusty you did it!" Luke whooped. "You saved me from an accident!"
"I...I guess I did." Rusty replied.
"I just wish I'd thought to do that when I saved you from your accident." The Irish engine admitted.
"Well, it doesn't really matter now, the important thing is"- Rusty froze. "Wait, do you remember the accident?"
"Of course! Peter Sam's trucks broke away, and I stopped them from hitting you." Luke answered, confused. "Why is that so worth saying something all of a sudden?"
"Luke, what's your biggest secret?" Rusty asked. He was sure that he would get an answer related to the time in the tunnels.
"I'm dating Millie." Luke blurted out, and then suddenly blushed when he realized what he said.
Rusty's gaze furrowed into a frown. "Wait, what?"
"Oops. I'm guessing you didn't need that, did you?" Luke asked.
"No. I meant...never mind. I'll try something easier. Where do we work?"
"The Skarloey Railway...when we're not working on the Blue Mountain Quarry." Luke answered readily.
"Hallelujah! Luke, you've got your memory back!" Geoffrey cheered.
"What are you going on about, Mr. Heron?" Luke inquired.
So they all filled Luke in on what had happened to him. By the end of the narrative, the little green engine was dumbfounded.
"So, I lost my memory saving you?"
"Yes you did." Rusty replied. "Although I would have preferred it if your memory remained intact after the crash, I'm glad you're okay now."
"Thank you again, for saving me from the crash." Luke said gratefully.
"No thanks needed, Luke. I'm just repaying the favour." Rusty replied, smiling. "We were worried about you, you know."
"I always make you guys worry," Luke admitted sadly.
"Hey, you know what? You became my guardian angel when you stopped those trucks from hitting me before. I'll always appreciate that, Luke. Thank you."
"And you've become mine. Well, you and the others were all my guardian angels. But you really showed that today. And I think you saving me triggered my memories of the accident...I remember Skarloey and Peter Sam were absolutely horrified by what had happened. I remember seeing the trucks rolling towards you...and I remember that instinct that told me to get you out of harm's way."
"Well, I think we've both gained our angels wings." Rusty grinned.
But deep down, he knew it was true. He and Luke would always look out for each other and their friends, no matter what.
So it didn't surprise the two engines that they were high amongst the stars that night in the sheds, each supporting the other on beautiful, feathery wings.