Chapter 2 - New Paint, New Name
The sky was dark, the rain was freezing and felt like thousands of tiny spikes, and the wind was thunderous. The train tracks below were slick with water, especially when a sharp turn came up.
There was too much momentum in the turn, tilting over as sparks flew out from underneath. In the blink of an eye, the river rapids in the ditch came closer, creating a large splash and an immediate feeling of frigid numbness.
The shock was too overwhelming, and the last of the air bubbles fluttered up to the surface. But before the darkness engulfed all, the water sunk below and dripped away before the solid tracks could be felt again.
And there, standing only a few feet away on the tracks, was a silver engine with red eyes and a sinister grin.
"How lucky Looks like we've both found what we were looking for."
"Found…what we…"
"Hey! Hey, wake up!" Kelly whisper-shouted at the new patient, who was muttering in his sleep. But when that didn't work, she tried knocking her crane against his boiler, which woke him with a start.
"W-What happened?!" he stuttered in surprise.
"Nothing, nothing at all!" Kelly quickly reassured, "You just looked like you were having a nightmare, that's all."
"Yeah, actually, I was," the red engine admitted.
"What was it about?"
"Well, there was this storm, and I slipped. The next thing I knew, I fall into this river…and I can't remember the rest."
"Ooh, how scary. Have you ever had such an accident before?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Kelly," Victor's stern voice came as he puffed in, "Make yourself useful, and go unload the flatbeds of supplies."
"Yes, Boss." With that, the young crane sped out of the room, leaving Victor with the E2 engine.
"Good morning, Young One," the Cuban engine greeted, "How are you feeling?"
"Morning, Victor? Am I getting painted today, like you promised?" the young engine asked with high hopes.
"Of course. But first, I need to see how well you run," Victor explained as two finely-dressed young men walked in.
"Run?"
"Yes. These men here will be your driver and fireman for today, so that we can see how well you move, and if there any problems to prevent you from moving around."
When Victor finished his sentence, the E2 felt the new and somewhat uneasy feeling of the men climbing into his cab. His lip quivered and his insides churned, as they worked to put hot coal in his firebox and fill his boiler with water.
An invigorating feeling washed over the red engine, as he smiled with excitement and determination. Soon enough, fluffy white steam puffed from his smokestack, and he involuntarily inched forwards.
"Good job. Now, follow me," Victor instructed with a smile, slowly backing out while his patient followed him, albeit a bit wobbly. But sure enough, he managed to move about quite smoothly, and Victor was appeased.
"Looking good!" Kelly complimented, "How do you feel?"
"Honestly…pretty awesome," the red engine chuckled in awe, stopping when Victor suddenly came to a halt, and he noticed he was on a turntable.
"Now, we're going to repaint you. What color would you like?" Victor questioned.
"Uh…hmm…what color would you pick?"
The Cuban engine chuckled, "Red was always a personal favorite color of mine.
"Well then, red it is," the E2 engine admitted.
Whenever they were available, Henry and James were chosen to take Thomas' place of arranging all coaches into their rightful positions, especially for bringing Gordon his express coaches.
This morning, it was Henry's turn, but his mind was elsewhere and caused a slight commotion. When he wasn't paying attention, Henry didn't stop in time when pushing the coaches up to Gordon, bumping too hard.
"Watch what you're doing, Henry!" Gordon scolded.
"Oh, I-I'm so sorry, Gordon!" Henry frantically apologized, trying again to couple the express to the large blue engine with a much more gentle approach.
"You've been rather quite all morning. Is something wrong?" James inquired and puffed up to Gordon and Henry.
"It's just that engine I found in the forest. Something about him seemed…unsettling," Henry explained shakily.
"Oh yeah, that young'un. You know, I haven't heard much about him. Is he alright? And who is he?" James asked.
"Who cares? A name and number never matters unless you're a useful engine," Gordon huffed before the whistle to tell him to go sounded, and he hastily made his way out with the express.
"Hm," James scoffed and rolled his eyes, puffing away to get back to work.
But Henry's mind began to wander again. There were a lot of mysterious behind this newcomer, and he wouldn't be satisfied until he found out the truth.
When Henry finished his jobs for the afternoon, he wasted no time in heading to the Steam Works to visit the red E2. But when he arrived, Henry couldn't find him anywhere.
"Excuse me, Kelly?" the green engine piped up when the said pink crane drove by, "Where is that E2 engine?"
Kelly smiled brightly, "Oh, he's-!"
The crane was cut off by a short and high-pitched, one that sounded quite similar to Thomas', as Victor puffed into view with the new engine behind him. And when Henry saw him, he did, indeed, look like a whole new engine.
The young E2 Class looked marvelous, with shiny and new red paint; everything about him was just so spick and span, and gave him a really handsome look.
"Wow," Henry breathed in awe.
"Thank you," Victor and the red engine spoke at the same time.
"Some of my best work, if I do say so myself," the Cuban engine boasted with a smirk.
"But you forgot something, Boss. He still doesn't have a name," Kelly pointed out, "Ya know, you look like a Johnny to me."
"Eh, I think I'll pass on that," the red engine stated with a sneer.
Victor hummed in deep thought, and Henry couldn't help but want to come up with an answer, too. But then something came to mind; he recalled the night he found the young engine, and the events beforehand. And then it hit him; the fox that ran in front of him, and even the red coats that matched.
"How about Tod?" Henry suggested, smiling warmly.
"Tod," the red engine repeated, looking down and thinking for a moment, and then he smiled, "I like it. It's definitely better than Johnny."
Kelly rolled her eyes and got back to work, "It was worth a shot."
Everything happens for a reason. Also, sorry for the shorter chapter. But don't worry, (hopefully)the more eventful stuff will be coming up in the next chapter or so.
Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!