Takes place between 'Blackmail' and 'Revenge' Enjoy!
...
Luke likes coming up to Ulfstead Castle to make deliveries, for three reasons
One reason is that he's good friends with Glynn the Coffee Pot Engine, Stephen "The Rocket", a little deer which resided on the grounds, and the Earl, Sir Robert Norramby. They all are responsible for running the Ulfstead Estate Railway- even the fawn played a part in delighting visitors young and old alike!
Secondly, the beautiful, historic castle and the lush, grand, green estate never fail to send waves of tranquillity over Luke's smokebox, and he always returned to the Quarry cheerful and blissful.
...
One day, he was delivering gravel to the castle, and was talking to Stephen about their day, when he heard "Bonjour, Luke!" spoken by a beautiful voice ringing out through the courtyard.
The famous old engine chuckled when he saw his young friend's face flush, but Luke didn't mind, for she is the third reason he enjoys coming here so much.
"Hello, Millie," he replied, bashfully, as a little blue engine puffed up alongside Stephen on her narrow gauge rails.
"Ah there you are, Stephen!" the Earl boomed joyfully, before anyone else could speak. "I've been looking for you- I need to talk to you and Glynn about the publicity for my new railway museum!"
"Does this mean we can leave, sir?" Millie asked hopefully, her eyes wide with delight at the thought of spending some time with Luke.
"What do you mean 'we' Millie? I'm needed here..." He trailed off as he saw Luke standing there, silent as a mouse, smiling shyly. "Oh- you mean you and Luke! I apologise, old chap – merely got distracted." The Earl said, gesticulating.
"That's alright, sir." The green engine said politely. "I brought you your gravel, Sir Robert," He added, looking back towards his trucks.
"Splendid! Just leave them here and you and Millie can go around the castle grounds. I'll let Mr. Percival know, and I shan't dare keep you more than a few minutes..."
"Gee, thank you sir!" Luke beamed. He rarely got to see his girlfriend nowadays, so what time they did get meant a lot to him.
...
Later, Millie and Luke were going round the Dinosaur Park. Luke didn't like it, as the dinosaurs roared and made him jump out of his boiler in fright. Millie thought it amusing, in an endearing way.
"It's not funny, Millie!" he protested, as his girlfriend began giggling again for the third time.
"It is!" she protested "...and adorable..." she added with a smirk full of her good honoured mischief. She giggled again at seeing Luke blush- it was so red she could have sworn that her boyfriend' s face matched Rheneas' livery. "Okay, I'll cease the teasing." She told him sympathetically.
"Thank you, Millie." Luke replied in relief, managing a huge smile at that submission. "So how is the Earl's museum going?" He added curiously.
"It's taking a long time, Luke." Millie answered.
Suddenly they both heard a voice yelling "Stop!" Alarmed, the drivers applied their engines' brakes.
"What is it?" Millie asked, her eyes bulging wide in fright.
"There are wet leaves on the line! We don't want them on your wheels, do we?" The workman added with a chuckle.
"Thank goodness!" exclaimed Millie in relief. "I thought it would be a lot more serious!" But her smile faded when she saw how Luke had suddenly paled when he saw the leaves on the line. To him, they were mocking him with their presence; teasing him with their unnecessary jumble.
"I better go- I have work at the quarry to see to. Bye Millie!" he peeped, and reversed away from the Dinosaur Park as fast as he could- leaving a confused French tank engine alone.
"Boyfriends!" Millie huffed to a nearby workman "What utter confusion they cause!"
"You're telling me, sister," muttered the workman gloomily.
...
Luke didn't stop puffing until he reached the Blue Mountain Quarry. . "Luke, is everything alright?" Sir Handel asked in concern, drawing up to Luke in concern. This puzzled him- recently, they had blackmailed Luke, and without some means of leverage, Luke couldn't call them out. So why were they worried?
"Ye look as if ye'd seen a ghost!" Duncan added. "...ye have nae gone ower any iron bridges, have ye?" he added tentatively.
"Don't be such a moron, Duncan! That bridge is NOT HAUNTED! HOW MANY TIMES MUST I TELL YOU?" Shouted Sir Handel peevishly.
"Why does naebody believe me? I saw something that night!" The Scottish engine retorted, wheeshing angrily at Sir Handel. Luke merely let out a sigh of relief and scuttled away from his quarrelling friends.
"How was your trip to the castle, Luke? You were gone a while longer than expected." A kindly voice greeted.
Still very much wound up in fright, Luke accidentally whistled with a scream of shock, causing Peter Sam to jump in alarm.
"Gracious! I'm sorry Luke- I wasn't meant to startle you!" the older Kerr Stuart gasped. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Peter Sam- sorry for frightening you like that." Luke replied sheepishly, unable to keep eye contact with his cousin due to embarrassment.
"What's going on here, you two?" Another familiar voice asked, and Luke groaned in shame when Skarloey and Rheneas puffed up alongside the two Kerr Stuarts.
"I'm sorry," Luke blushed, ashamed as he looked at their friends. "I just got a fright and I"-
"No, it was my fault," Sighed Peter Sam. "I tried to say hello, but I didn't realise he was distracted...and I ended up giving him a fright,"
"Now, now, there's no need for self-blaming," Said Skarloey benevolently, looking at the two green engines. "How was the trip, Luke?"
"Fine, fine, thanks Skarloey," Luke replied hurriedly- wanting to get away to do some work, for Rheneas was suddenly giving him the 'Luke..." look again, and Luke hated that- it made him confess his deepest, darkest secrets. Though, Rheneas did say that that was the whole point of the look.
Skarloey said nothing, but gave their friend an acquiescing look, and allowed Luke to head on his way.
Luke was thankful that no one had called out on his behaviour- but when Skarloey announced that another gravel train needed to be delivered to the castle, Rheneas had been unusually quick to offer his services.
This left Luke in a huff- until he remembered the wet leaves on the line, and he decided, reluctantly, that he didn't mind so much about not being able to see Millie.
...
However, that came back to bite him in the buffers when he was working with Peter Sam later that afternoon. The two engines were shunting when Mr. Bailey walked up to them.
"I'm afraid there has been an accident at the Ulfstead Estate," he announced gravely. Peter Sam and Luke shot worried expressions on hearing this. "I need you two to go to the castle and rescue Rheneas and Millie. They're both derailed at the Dinosaur Park."
"Are they alright, sir?" Peter Sam asked in concern. Luke, on the other buffer, had no words- he was shaking at the thought of encountering that...mess again.
"They're unhurt." Mr. Bailey continued, and Peter Sam wheeshed in heartfelt relief. "However, they cannot be rescued by the Earl's other engines. Don't worry about your jobs- just get the breakdown crane and bring it to the castle immediately." He finished, looking at both Kerr Stuarts.
"Yes sir- we will!" Peeped Peter Sam "Come on, Luke!" He added to his cousin. Luke gulped with dread, and crept after his too cheerful friend.
...
Peter Sam and Luke collected the breakdown crane from the Skarloey Railway goods yards, and then they chuffed towards Ulfstead Castle as fast as they could.
For some reason, Luke hated inanimate objects on the line, as it usually meant a mess of sorts- and Luke hated messes. Just thinking about them made him panic, and he began to wheeze in fright- something similar to an asthma attack. This action prompted Geoffrey to apply his brakes, causing the train to jerk.
"What the-" Peter Sam began, as he felt his coupling jerk, forcing his driver to apply the brakes. "What's going on, Luke? We have to get to the castle!"
"...you go on without me," Mumbled Luke. Peter Sam gaped.
"What- now why would I leave you, Luke?" He asked, incredulous that his cousin and friend would suggest such a thing.
"I'm sorry, Peter Sam, but I'm not the engine for this job," sighed Luke, miserably.
"But both of us were assigned to rescue them!" Peter Sam argued, trying to make his friend see sense- even though he had no idea why Luke was acting like this.
"I...I'll go back and get Skarloey, or Sir Handel. They're braver and less foolish than I am," was the feeble, almost tearful, reply from the back of the train.
This statement caught Peter Sam off guard. Geoffrey froze to the spot- but Peter Sam of course did not see this. "...Luke? What's wrong?" he asked quietly.
The little Irish engine- realising he had said too much- refused to speak. Although a very sweet and kind engine, when he was upset or hurt, he formed a defensive shell of self- deprecation.
"Nothing's wrong, Peter Sam, just"-
"Just...?" Peter Sam prompted gently.
"...promise you're not going to judge me?" Luke asked quietly. Although the question itself was worrying, the fact that he had asked it was a step in the right direction.
"Of course I wouldn't, Luke," Peter Sam promised.
"Okay..." Luke then proceeded to recount his incident that morning. He was blushing furiously throughout, for the fear seemed ridiculous as he spoke out loud. He did feel a little better as Geoffrey put a gentle, supportive hand on his buffer.
Peter Sam never said a word until the end- and even then, he was silent for a few moments afterwards.
"That's nothing to be ashamed of," he said at last, in his kindly tone. "Everyone has their fears- why, Duncan has a fear of Vikings!"
"Really- but they're not around anymore?" Luke asked, quizzically.
"Oh, he finds them strange, and he's aware of how savage they could be, and he's afraid of one hijacking him, wielding a sword." Peter Sam explained.
Luke chuckled- not unkindly- at the absurd image in his funnel.
"Don't worry, only you and I know," Peter Sam assured. "And as much as he is my friend and adoptive brother, Sir Handel's not the sort of engine to trust secrets to." He added.
"Why? He kept mine."
"I know, but that's different." Peter Sam explained. "...I'm not sure if I want to explain it." He added, almost shamefully as his cheeks blushed scarlet.
"I understand," Luke replied empathetically, before realising what they had been talking about originally. "I'm sorry, Peter Sam." He added, as Geoffrey gave him a sympathetic look before climbing back into the cab to join Richard.
"Don't be sorry for being afraid- be sorry for not facing it," Peter Sam quipped.
"What?"
"Sorry- I should have thought that one through better." The older engine realised, sheepishly. "That's just something Granpuff said. It does sound harsh, I know, but he has a point. You can be scared, but if you don't face up to it, you'll regret it," He added.
Luke, as much as he hated to admit it, knew that Peter Sam (and indirectly, Duke) had a point- he had been given this job, and the only way to help his love and his adoptive brother would be to help Peter Sam fulfil the mission- regardless of the mess on the line.
"I...I'm ready when you are, my friend," he said at last. He was still reluctant, but a wave of bravery and confidence had woven its way in.
"Let's go!" Cried Peter Sam, enthusiastically, and with that, both engines sped off to the rescue, with their moods lightened and their fires burning more brightly than the stars with determination to rescue their friends.
...
"I hope help arrives soon!" Rheneas huffed impatiently, wheeshing steam crossly.
What had happened was that Millie had to deliver plants to the Dinosaur Park- but accidentally left one truck behind. When Rheneas arrived with the gravel, he had immediately been assigned to deliver that truck to Millie- but the Earl forgot to warn him about the leaves, and when he arrived, poor Rheneas slipped on the line and accidentally biffed Millie off the line- and he also derailed.
"Driver did say that two engines were coming to help us," Millie said thoughtfully. "Though, while we're here...Rheneas, was something up with Luke when you returned to the quarry?" she asked him thoughtfully.
"I thought so, yes," Rheneas agreed reluctantly. "Skarloey asked him about it- but I suspected something had happened when he was here, so that's the only reason I'm here." He added, giving Millie a glare, which she returned in kind.
"Look, I'm worried about him, too! He was fine until we were by the workmen...Sacre bleu!" She gasped. "Rheneas- the leaves, he ran away after seeing the leaves!" She glanced at the leaf covered track, before glancing back to Gallant Old Engine.
The old engine's eyes widened. "I say...does that mean..." he trailed off.
"I don't know what it means, but I don't like the look of it," Millie proclaimed grimly.
Rheneas felt foolish for getting them both into this mess. He and Millie didn't get along- but she didn't deserve to be off the rails any more than he did. "Millie, I'd just like to say that I'm sorry for getting you derailed."
"C'est bien," Millie answered dismissively- but she shot a smile at Rheneas. "The ground here is very muddy, no?"
"I can attest to that," Replied Rheneas with a groan. Just then, they both heard two familiar whistles in the distance, and both engines perked up at once. "It's Peter Sam!" he exclaimed, exhilarated that help had at last arrived.
"And there's Luke, too!" Millie cried joyfully- and sure enough, the Kerr cousins arrived in a fanfare of relieved whistles, with the Earl in Luke's cab.
"Don't worry you two- we're here to get you out!" Peter Sam peeped.
...
It took a long time to pull Rheneas and Millie out of the mud, and Luke winced at the leaves on the line- but he didn't run away, and he focused on helping Millie and Rheneas. But at last, the two engines were back on the line.
"Hee, Hee! My wheels suddenly sound very squeaky!" Millie giggled, as she attempted to chuff forward to thank the two engines.
Rheneas chuckled. "Mine too!" He said, as his wheels also gave an indignant squeak at being forced to work. "Thank you both for rescuing us," He smiled warmly at the two green tank engines.
"Oui, merci," Millie added. "You are our heroes- especially you, Luke. We worked out you...erm."
"It's fine," Luke interjected. "I told Peter Sam, and I'm sorry I never told you both before. It just sounded so ridiculous."
"Luke, fears are never ridiculous," Said Rheneas firmly.
"But you helped us in spite of your fear!" Millie beamed. "I'm so proud of you!"
"As am I," The Earl agreed warmly. "I cannot thank you enough."
"Hear, Hear!" Cheered Peter Sam and Rheneas happily, blowing their whistles.
...
Later, Luke and Peter Sam helped Rheneas back home, after saying goodbye to those on the Ulfstead Railway.
"I cannot thank you both for helping us back there," Said Rheneas, gratefully.
"And I owe you both my gratitude," Luke added, shyly. "Rheneas, you saw through me back at the quarry," he began.
"Not completely."
"Still, you were willing to ensure I didn't endure it again. Thank you, my friend."
"Anytime, Luke," Smiled Rheneas. "And I'll admit- Millie and I are getting off on the right wheel this time around."
"I'm glad," Luke affirmed, before acknowledging his cousin. "Peter Sam, you helped me face my fear and made me see what really mattered- and you even used Granpuff's advice to help me. Thank you, my dear cousin, for restoring my faith in myself."
"You're welcome, Luke," Beamed Peter Sam.
Luke smiled. He was glad that things were back to normal- he apologised to Millie for running off earlier, and she willingly forgave him, before reminding him that nothing could change her love for him, to which Luke reassured likewise.
But, he knew that sometime, he had to deal with Duncan and Sir Handel's blackmail threat.