After Thomas' inner demon had been vanquished, life seemed a whole lot easier for him and Emily, as well as the rest of the island. Thomas would no longer act through anger if Emily had problems to overcome. From now on, he would think straight and help Emily in a peaceful manner. Thomas didn't just behave more friendly with engines, but for some time after vanquishing his demon, he took summer guests to the Animal Park and slowly befriended some animals there…
Now it was almost Halloween on the Island of Sodor. All the engines were very excited. There was to be a party at Ulfstead Castle where everyone could dress up and exchange candy, and then enjoy Sir Robert Norramby's fireworks for the occasion.
Thomas, Emily and Percy had just finished delivering supplies to Ulfstead Castle. They were rather excited too.
"Halloween is coming again," beamed Thomas.
"I'm really looking forward to this party," said Emily. "So many costumes, all the wonders…and the fireworks."
Then the Earl came by with the Fat Controller. The Earl had another job to hand out to one of the engines.
"Everything is set for the party. I just need an engine to bring my guests to the party for Halloween. I would like an exceptional engine." The three engines looked to each other, wondering who would be chosen. The Earl looked at all three engines, thinking to himself.
"What about me?" asked Thomas.
"Please pick me," chimed Percy.
"I appreciate your offers, but I said I'm looking for an exceptional and splendid engine. Like…Emily! Emily is a splendid engine!" said the Earl. "I think you should be the one to do it. You have gleaming brass fittings, and absolutely divine emerald green paintwork. You're quite fit to take this special."
"Really?" beamed Emily. "Thank you, sir!"
"It is decided. You shall take the job, Emily. You must be clean and shiny so you don't let the Earl down," said the Fat Controller.
"Yes sir. I promise, sir," said Emily.
"I'm quite happy for you, Emily," smiled Thomas. "You deserve to have another special, like when you saved the world."
"I know, Thomas," said Emily. "But this special won't be so overexciting...but I mean that in a good way." Then she and Thomas laughed together as they returned home for the evening…
The day of the party arrived. Thomas and Emily woke up first.
"Are you excited for your special this evening, Emily?" asked Thomas.
"Oh, yes, Tommy," smiled Emily. "First, helping Sodor United's team, then saving the world, and now this. This is quite lovely for me." But then, the Fat Controller arrived with some unexpected news.
"Emily," said the Fat Controller. "I'm sure you know that the Earl is relying on you to bring the guests to Ulfstead Castle this evening for the party. But before that, I just learned that several engines have been sent to the works for repair. Scruff has burst his safety valve so Whiff has too much waste to manage by himself, Toby has popped a piston and can't bring some workers to the quarry, and James was supposed to go to the docks and deliver some pigs to Farmer Trotter's Pig Farm. As the other engines are busy, I'm afraid you'll have to do the work for them."
Emily knew she'd have work to do before her special anyway, but this seemed like a little much.
"Really, sir?" asked Thomas. "Won't all of that be dirty work for Emily?"
"Yes, sir…Will I have enough time to be washed afterwards?" asked Emily. "You told me yourself I can't let the Earl down."
"If you're really useful and work hard, of course you'll have time to be washed, Emily," said the Fat Controller.
"Alright, sir," said Emily. "I'll do it for the engines." And she set off for Whiff's Waste Dump first. On the way, she kept thinking about the party and her guests. The Earl had given her a great opportunity and she did not want to miss or ruin it. Soon, she arrived at the Waste Dump. Almost right away, the smell of rubbish filled the air as she approached Whiff.
"Phew…hello, Whiff," she sniffed.
"Hello, Emily," said Whiff. "Are you here to help me today?"
"Yes," said Emily. "What can I do, Whiff?"
"I need you to gather all these scattered rubbish trucks together. I need them arranged into separate trains so I can eventually shut them to the rubbish crusher."
"Alright," said Emily. "If it means being really useful, I'll do it." Then she got to work, looking for trucks to sort. The smell of rubbish was rather nasty for Emily to cope with. Although she had worked with Whiff before, the smell was very distracting.
"Phewy, Whiff! This is a stinky place to be!" gasped Emily. As she buffered to the waste trucks, a few small bits of trash and compost fell out of the truck and on her running plate. Emily was disgusted by this but tried working hard to help Whiff. Over a moderate course of time, she and Whiff shunted more trucks together into separate trains, but as several trucks were piled high with rubbish, Emily slowly became smellier and more dirty every few minutes. At last, the trucks were all arranged.
"Thank you, Emily," said Whiff. "I can deal with these trains and the rubbish crusher. I'm sorry that you got dirty."
"That's alright, Whiff," said Emily. "It's just what happens when you work with rubbish." But secretly, Emily was worried for herself. She certainly needed a wash already, but before that, she had two more jobs to do.
"Well, I have to take some workers to the quarry for Toby now. Goodbye Whiff," she said.
"Goodbye, Emily," whistled Whiff.
Emily picked up the workers at Knapford Station to take them to the quarry. The workers could see her filthy appearance and noticed the smell of rubbish.
"I was working with Whiff, gentlemen. I've been pretty busy already," she said.
"So we see," said the workmen as they boarded her single coach. As Emily went on her way, she hoped she wouldn't get too much dirtier after working with Whiff. If she got too dirty with no time to be washed down, taking the guests to the party would be impossible. She soon arrived at the quarry where Mavis was waiting. She was happy to see the workmen arrive in time.
"Thank you for bringing the workers, Emily," she said. "Toby will be relieved to hear this. But shouldn't you get a wash? You're lightly spotted with waste and…you do smell a little."
"I was helping Whiff, Mavis. But you're welcome for me bringing the workmen," said Emily. But all of a sudden, a huge gust of wind blew through the air, and quarry dust swirled all around her. She squeezed her eyes shut and coughed a little until the dust cleared away.
"Mavis!" gasped Emily. "Oh no! I'm even dirtier!"
"Now you really need a washdown," said Mavis.
"I can't do that now!" said Emily. "All I need now is to gather those pigs and deliver them to Farmer Trotter…but yes, I'm quite dirty now! I NEED time for a wash!"
Emily went on her way to Brendam Docks to gather the pigs, feeling even more disappointed with her ill turn of fortune. When she arrived, she collected the wagons full of pigs and went on her way carefully to Farmer Trotter's. When she arrived, she waited as the pigs were unloaded from her wagons. It had been a long, rough and filthy day for the angel, and seeing that she had a special job to do for the Earl, it did not seem very fair.
"Come on, Emily," said her driver. "All your jobs are done. But you're quite a mess now."
"What a day!" she exclaimed. "It's been really mucky and really grubby. I can't wait to get to the washdown to get spruced up for the party tonight!" With that, she set off to find a water tower and get cleaned again for her special train.
But when she arrived at the washdown, there were several engines in front of her already. Emily was disappointed, but she would not give up her chance to be washed. She really wanted to impress the Earl and the guests. She waited patiently for her turn as one engine was already done and she and the other engines could move forward and wait for the next engine. But being so excited to take those guests to Ulfstead Castle, she became restless quite quickly while waiting.
At long last, it was Emily's turn, much to her relief. She'd be washed in time to take the guests after all. The workmen got to work, scrubbing her with soap, making white bubbles froth up everywhere over the mud, dust and dirt. Soon, Emily was covered everywhere, dripping white, foamy bubbles. Emily felt better finally getting her chance, but then there was trouble. One workman fetched the hose to rinse Emily off, but suddenly, they both noticed, nothing came out of the hose. The workman shook the hose a few times, but still nothing happened.
"Oh dear, Emily. The water must have been shut off for some reason. I don't know what's wrong. The rinsing may have to wait…which seems like a very bad thing right now. Everything's starting to dry on you!"
Emily gasped. The mud, dust, dirt and soap were indeed drying on her lovely paintwork. If she didn't get it rinsed soon, it would dry completely and form a crusty layer, which to rinse off later would take a long, long time.
"Oh no!" she wailed. "This isn't fair! I get dirtier and dirtier throughout the day, and NOW I can't be rinsed?! I'll never be able to take those guests now! Oh dear!"
At that moment, Thomas came up beside Emily. To his concern, tears were forming in her eyes.
"I wanted to serve the Earl well! But…But…AHH!" Emily exclaimed as she began to cry.
"Emily…Are you OK?" asked Thomas. "You're such a mess!"
"Look at me, Thomas!" sobbed Emily, her tears now leaving her eyes. "After such a dirty day, I came here to be washed, but the hose isn't working for me all of a sudden! Now, all this dirt, dust and soap is lingering on me, and if I'm not rinsed soon, it'll dry right on my lovely paint and ruin my chance for my special job!" And she sobbed even more.
"Don't cry, Emily," smiled Thomas. "I have an idea."
"Really? What can help me now?" asked Emily.
"Don't worry. Follow me!" whistled Thomas. Emily was confused, but with Thomas helping her, she agreed. She huffed alongside Thomas, still covered in dissolving suds and gushy dirt and dust on her paintwork until they stopped at the Animal Park where Emily delivered that large model of the world.
"What are we doing here, Thomas?" Emily moaned sadly. "I'm still in a bad mess."
"Wait and see," Thomas winked. His driver stepped down and walked into the animal park while Thomas and Emily waited. Emily wondered what was going to happen next. What good would the Animal Park do? Suddenly, she heard a distinctive trumpeting sound…of elephants. Suddenly, she saw something peering over the walls. Several elephant trucks were reaching our over the wall, aiming at Emily.
"Are you ready, elephants?" called Thomas. "Hose hard when I tell you…NOW!" he whistled.
The first elephant suddenly hooshed out, and water squirted all over Emily.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, then laughed. "This is fun!"
As soon as the first elephant stopped hosing the water, the next elephant immediately began hosing more water on Emily, washing her off even more. Emily was very flattered by this kind of wash, and soon, all the elephants had hosed her down, leaving her perfectly clean again.
"That was fun!" whistled Emily. "But Thomas? How did you manage to befriend these elephants? Didn't Henry have an incident with them?"
"Yes," said Thomas. "But while I was taking visitors here during the summer holidays, I befriended these elephants by whistling to them. And overtime, they learned to trumpet back to me. As such, they were happy to help a new friend…like you!"
"Oh! Thank you, Thomas!" whistled Emily. "Now I can prepare to take the guests for the Halloween Party!" and she set off on her own to find her coaches and pick up her guests.
When she returned to Knapford Station, she collected her coaches from a siding and arrived at the platform. Soon, all sorts of people in different costumes came crowding into the station.
"Happy Halloween, everyone," she smiled. "Are you excited for the party?"
"Yes," some people replied as they boarded her coaches. The guards whistle blew and Emily finally set off with her special train. She was now smiling very happily. She did look splendid after all and she indeed was taking her special train.
"My goodness!" she chimed. "This is so lovely! I'm taking another special! Happy Halloween, Sodor!" And she blew her whistle with joy.
At Ulfstead Castle, many engines were waiting for Emily to arrive, including Thomas. The Fat Controller and the Earl both checked the time on their pocket-watches. Then right on time, Emily came whistling into the castle.
"Emily!" whistled Thomas. "Happy Halloween!"
"Hello, Thomas! And Happy Halloween, everyone!" whistled Emily as she approached the platform.
"Good evening, Emily," said the Earl. "I can see you're looking just a splendid as I hoped."
"Thank you, sir. In spite of a very dirty day today, I had the most entertaining kind of wash…with elephants."
"It's true, sir," said Thomas. "After the hose wouldn't work, I took her to the Animal Park and the elephants hosed her with water. Emily made a splash, so to speak."
"That's right. I did," giggled Emily. At that moment, all the guests came out of the coaches, all dressed in different costumes.
"Goodness! Look at you all! Amazing costumes," said the Fat Controller.
The Halloween party was a great success with all different kinds of costumes and all the guests thanked Emily for her help.
Later, the fireworks were crackling thought the sky and Thomas and Emily were buffer to buffer, looking at all the different colors erupting above them. It was another lovely time for both engines and Emily had been given an enjoyable evening after such a disappointing day. Emily leaned in and kissed Thomas on his cheek.
"Thanks for helping me, Tommy," she smiled. "I thought my paintwork would be spoiled and therefore ruin my chance to please the Earl…but then you gave me such a fun way of being washed."
"You're welcome, Emily. I'm glad you liked it," Thomas smiled back. "So, is Halloween a fun time for you…my beautiful witch?" Emily looked at Thomas for a moment…then made a delightfully funny smile and spoke like a witch.
"That it is, my pretty!" she shrieked gleefully. Thomas kissed her cheek, making her laugh.
"That's lovely to hear. Happy Halloween, Emily," he said.
"Happy Halloween, Thomas," smiled Emily.
And she, Thomas and the rest of the engines continued to gaze at the fireworks for as long as they lasted.
I know it's a Halloween story in January, but we couldn't get this done in October so we had to hold off on it, until now. Yes, this an adaptation of the magazine story of the same title, there's always inspiration to take from the magazine stories, *Snug in a Rug* was exactly that. So next time, it's back to James and Molly, so look forward to that, and leave your reviews. See ya soon.