A Rusty Track
Another request for Johnny Cdaman. Hope you like!
...
Rusty took a deep breath as he oiled along to Rheneas Station. It felt good to be back on the Skarloey Railway once again after being cooped up in the Dieselworks. When he arrived at the station, the Thin Controller was waiting for him.
"Ah, there you are, Rusty!" Mr Percival exclaimed, looking at the diesel kindly.
"Yes sir- you said you needed me?" The orange diesel replied politely.
"Well, I've decided that you have worked hard at the Quarry, so I'm allowing you to work here for a while following your illness."
"Thank you, sir!" Rusty exclaimed happily.
"Good." And the Thin Controller walked away.
Rusty loved his work on the railway in the hills. He had a lot to do, and he enjoyed being a service to the railway. Plus, his practical and straight headed attitude suited the job perfectly.
"Come on Rusty," said his driver. "You have a lot to do."
"Yes indeed!" Rusty gasped, and he set off at once to be Really Useful.
...
"I'm telling you Freddie- that is hardly the way for an engine to behave."
"Indeed, I agree Duke, but it could have been worse- leave the poor soul alone! He's feeling guilty enough for what happened."
Rusty overheard the conversation where he was collecting his coach, Poppy, that the workmen rode in. "Who are they talking about?" He asked her.
"They've been talking about Luke." She sighed sadly.
"How come that's the case, Poppy?" Rusty inquired, surprised.
"Well, he was sent here as punishment for causing an accident in the Blue Mountain Quarry." She explained. "Duke has refused to allow him near the coaches and said that the trucks could take all the accidents in the world- there would still be plenty of trucks."
The orange engine winced. He and the others, excluding Peter Sam, never got on with trucks to some extent- but that had been a low blow where they were concerned. Not to mention that Luke must have been hurt to have been spoken of as someone who destroyed anything in his path.
"That sounds harsh."
"Indeed." The coach agreed. "I wish I could teach Duke a lesson! Not that I approve of what Luke done, of course, but he had meant no harm- and I'm the only coach who isn't terrified by him at the moment."
She explained that due to Duke refusing to let the green engine near the coaches, Agnes had started rumours that Luke was a violent engine. Rusty was worried for his friend. "Poppy, do you remember when I told you the story of the yellow and green engine?"
"Yes- why do you ask?"
"That story was true, and the green engine was Luke." He explained.
The red and white coach gasped. "How horrible-poor Luke..." She said sadly.
"I'll talk to him." Rusty determined. Coupling up to his friend, he set off to go and do some maintenance.
...
Meanwhile, Rheneas had just finished delivering some slate to Skarloey Station in order to fix the platform, and he felt very pleased with himself.
"I suppose we better head back, old boy." His driver told him.
"Yes, or else Skarloey will send out a search party!" joked Rheneas. So the old engine started back towards the quarry. Only, he accidentally got switched down the wrong line, where the tracks had begun to rust away, leaving it dangerously unstable. "Oh dear-someone help!" He cried.
His driver threw on the brakes and pulled as hard as he could to get his engine to stop-but he couldn't. As a result, poor Rheneas was stuck, stranded on a rusted line and with badly damaged wheels, shielded by rose bushes.
...
"No- there's nothing here either Rusty." The Substitute Chief Engineer, Charlie Gates informed, who was in charge for a while due to Mr Hugh coming down with the flu. He was a smart young man at the age of 28, and he was a bit of a goofball and a child at heart, too. But he knew how to take things seriously when he needed to be.
"Well, at least we decided to leave the workmen, or else they'd be bored." Rusty chuckled. However, a flash caught his eye. It was coming from the line next to him.
"Rusty, do you hear something?" Poppy asked him from behind. "It sounds like... hissing." Indeed, Rusty could hear a low quiet hissing noise coming from the line, but he could see nothing.
"I'll go and investigate." Charlie offered. So he fought his way through the bushes covering the siding- which had been the worst mistake he had ever made.
"You should watch, Mr Gates!" Rusty called.
"He was always an impulsive idiot." Poppy muttered in response.
Mr Gates suddenly exclaimed from the other side of the bush: "Hullo, Rheneas- I haven't seen you in a while!"
"Rheneas- are you alright?" Rusty called.
"Well, for the most part yes." The steam engine replied. "I just have damaged wheels- oh, and driver found out that the points have rusted stiff."
"In that case, we better put up red flags." Rusty said.
"I have some in storage!" Poppy trilled. So Rusty's driver and Mr Gates set up some red warning flags in order to ensure that everyone knew there was danger on the line.
"Right, we better get the workmen." Rusty's driver said. "But we have to act fast." Mr Gates climbed aboard Poppy, and the little diesel set off.
"Don't worry Rheneas! I'll be back with some help!" He called, as he left.
"Please hurry Rusty!" Rheneas pleaded. His wheels were not very comfortable at all, and he felt great pain.
...
Rusty hurried along the line as quickly as he could. He wasn't worried though, as he knew that the red flags were up there, and that way, Luke, Duke Fearless Freddie and Mighty Mac were safe from a potential nasty accident.
Little did he know that, back by the line, two little children wanted to play railways, and they were not allowed to borrow their mother's brand new red scarf. So, whilst searching for some sort of substitute, they saw the flags, waving prettily in the breeze. So they snaffled them and ran away quickly, not realising the consequences of their action.
Rheneas saw nothing, as he was facing the other way, and he was also trying not to think of the pain in his wheels.
...
Meanwhile, poor Luke was making his way along the line with coal trucks. The accident haunted his mind, and he had fallen into a great depression following the accident. Mighty Mac and Fearless Freddie had been kind and sympathetic, as they knew that it had been an accident, but Duke thought him someone to be feared.
That was exactly what had happened when Diesel had tried to get rid of him following when Paxton overheard a discussion between Thomas and Luke himself. He sniffed miserably. First that horrid Mr Davis, then Diesel and now Duke- wait, why did people who showed the most coldness towards him have names beginning with a d? He no matter-the coaches had spread hurtful rumours about him, and the poor engine had been targeted countlessly by the trucks, even though they too had been hurt by what Duke had said. Luke was so upset, that he didn't notice when he passed a red signal. He was heading straight for the line Rheneas was stuck on!
...
Meanwhile, Rusty arrived at a signal box, where Rusty's driver told the signalman what had happened, and the signalman telephoned the stationmaster at Rheneas Station, and the Thin Controller.
When he hung up, he said; "Well, as long as you've put up warnings, you can head over to Rheneas Station. There'll be workmen waiting for you there."
"Thank you." Rusty's driver said, shaking the signalman by the hand before dashing out to tell the engineer and Mr Gates of their instructions. So they ploughed on down the line determined to save Rheneas.
...
As they reached the station, however, Rusty felt incredibly weak and dizzy. "Rusty!" The workmen cheered.
"Alright lads, we've a job to do!" Mr Gates announced. "Climb aboard!"
Whilst the workmen piled on, Rusty groaned quietly. Poppy and his crew caught on. "Rusty? What's wrong?" Poppy asked in quiet alarm.
"I don't feel... too good." Rusty replied.
"Perhaps we ought to get someone else to fill in Rusty." His driver said. "Do you have any idea why he's feeling unwell, engineer?"
"Well, I think it might be the fuel he took on before we got here." Rusty's engineer replied thoughtfully.
"We need to help Rheneas." The little diesel replied bravely. With that, he pulled out from the station with a heave.
Poppy only watched, worried her friend will push himself too far.
...
Luke had had to stop to let some rabbits cross the line, and they lay there for a while so he felt very impatient and even cross. So much in fact, that he whistled at them.
"GO AWAY! SHOO!" And he whooshed a huge cloud of steam.
The rabbits were very indignant and upset, not to mention startled, so they ran away in alarm, leaving a horrified Luke well in their dust. The little green engine moved on again, feeling close to tears. Ever since the yellow engine incident, Luke had vowed to never treat anyone with unkindness, and he had just broken his promise. Through his blurred vision and tear filled eyes, he didn't notice the empty flagpoles on either side of the line.
...
By now, Rusty felt even worse than ever and he felt as though his generator would tear itself up, but he pressed on regardless. At last, he saw the familiar rosebushes, and he saw...
"LUKE-YOU HAVE TO STOP! THE POINTS ARE JAMMED AND ITS DANGEROUS_ RHENEAS IS TRAPPED!" He yelled as loud he could manage, just before he broke down. Surprised, Geoffrey Heron forced the brakes on hard, and his engine screeched and rolled to a stop by the points.
Rusty was relieved- but that was short lived when the Thin Controller arrived on board Skarloey, who was looking concerned for his three friends.
"Rusty, what is going on here?" He asked sternly, with his hands on his hips as he surveyed the chaos from the old engine's cab. "You haven't rescued Rheneas- why, you haven't even brought a crane or a flatbed for him! And why are there no red flags up to warn other engines? I am surprised at you, Rusty."
"But we did put flags up sir- I swear on it! Rusty's driver helped me put them up." Charlie Gates exclaimed.
"Please, sir, there were empty flagpoles back there." Luke's fireman explained. "He's telling the truth."
He led him away down the line to prove that fact and show that Rusty was innocent.
"Are you alright, Rusty?" Luke asked worriedly.
The poor diesel was out of breath and he felt sobs come out short and sharp.
"The Thin Controller... I let him down..."
"No you didn't!" Poppy snapped. "You took on bad fuel and got here in one piece. I don't call that letting him down. Besides, we have the workmen, so we can start on something, at least."
"Actually, I can help you with Rheneas too- I have the breakdown crane and a spare flatbed." Luke added. "I was taking those and these trucks to the Transfer Yards!"
"Oh Luke!-thank you." Rusty exclaimed. "And thank you Poppy."
Skarloey smiled at how quickly things worked out. He was especially thankful to Rusty for preventing an accident, to which the diesel managed a weak smile.
...
Eventually, it had been cleared up- the children's mother found about the flags, and had them punished severely. She also wrote to the Thin Controller to explain the matter, and to also apologise on their behalf. He wrote back, replying that they had been lucky that nothing had happened.
Luke worked with Poppy to fix the points and helped Rheneas out of the rusted siding. Then, once the siding was closed off for the time being, Luke took Poppy with the Thin Controller, the workmen and Mr C. Gates inside, Rusty, and his trucks, which slowed him down drastically, but he succeeded in doing everything and soon Rheneas was sent to the Steamworks, Rusty to the Dieselworks, the flatbed, crane, Poppy and trucks tidied away neatly in the yard, and the workmen went to seek coffee and cake for their labour.
Rusty was pleased to learn that Luke had received a new respect with Duke and the coaches, whom he was getting on better with. But the Thin Controller promised Rusty a reward for his bravery and determination, and he also apologised for being so critical before.
Now that he was over the moon with!