Thomas' branch line was busy during the summer. Trains traveled back and forth all day, and everyone had a lot of work to do. So much in fact, that there was no one to help repair the bridge spanning over the Hackenbeck stream. As a result of this, the Fat Controller sent Rosie the Dock Tank Engine to help. She and Rocky were working hard to strengthen the bridge, and Rosie had to be very careful with helping Rocky secure the bridge sections.
"Easy does it, Rosie!" Rocky called, as the workmen on the bridge hooked him up to an old piece of the bridge that they were going to replace. Rosie sighed.
"I am taking it easy, Rocky! It's hard to just sit here!" She called back.
"I get that this is a bit quieter than your usual work, Rosie. However, this could be very dangerous if I'm not in the right place at the right time! You know that!" Rosie sighed as Rocky helped secure the bridge.
"I know, Rocky, but it's so boring! I bet I could pull that bridge into place myself!" She insisted. Rocky chuckled.
"Nice try, Rosie. Just try to focus on your job, alright?" He then returned to work. However, a loud whistle blast sounded and Rosie's eyes widened with excitement.
"It's Thomas!" She squealed enthusiastically in a hushed tone, and sure enough, Thomas came puffing down the line with Annie, Clarabel, and some Troublesome Trucks, looking exhausted.
"Hi, Thomas!" Rosie peeped cheerfully. Thomas panted.
"Hey, Rosie. Can't talk right now. Stanley broke down so I have to take his trucks of bricks up to Ulfstead." Rosie marveled at Thomas as the heavy train began to approach.
"You're so strong, Thomas!" She said, amazed. Thomas' eyes narrowed, not really listening. His wheels gripped the rails furiously as he dragged the heavy train towards the bridge.
"Come on, Thomas! You can do it!" Annie encouraged.
You're almost on the bridge!" Clarabel added. Rosie looked to Thomas excitedly.
"I'm almost as strong as you are, Thomas! I could help!" She called. Thomas rolled his eyes.
"I don't need this right now, Rosie." He said. Rosie whistled determinedly.
"No really, I can!" She began trying to roll forwards to help Thomas. However, she didn't realize that she was still coupled to Rocky!
"Rosie! What are you doing?" Rocky asked, horrified. The piece of the bridge he was holding in place began to tear off, and a bit of it fell into the river. Rocky gasped in horror, and the workmen scrambled to flag Rosie down.
"Rosie! Stop!" One cried, and Rosie braked to a halt. She jolted against Rocky, causing the piece of the bridge to become unsecure. Rosie and Rocky gasped as the bridge began to creak loudly.
"Oh no!" Rosie cried. Thomas braked to a stop quickly to keep himself from crossing the bridge. His trucks bumped into each other.
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" They groaned. However, a loud creak was heard and Rocky began leaning backwards as if the rails were sinking.
"I'm going to fall!" Rocky cried. Rosie peeped quickly and tried to pull Rocky forwards.
"Don't, Rosie!" Thomas cried, but it was too late. The extra effort from Rosie tore the unsecure part of the bridge clean off, and with a mighty "CRASH" it collapsed and its remains tumbled into the creek below. Luckily, Rosie had managed to pull Rocky off the bridge before it did, but the line was blocked, and there was no way to get to the other side. Rosie cringed as Thomas, horrified, looked at the disaster in front of him.
"Whoops." She said, sheepishly. Thomas could only continue looking on in shock.
The Fat Controller called a meeting of the engines who worked on the branch line at Knapford after making sure everybody was okay. He stood up on a box as Thomas, Percy, Toby, and Rosie observed him.
"Until the bridge has been rebuilt, you all will help out on various duties around here." He explained, "Toby?"
"Yes, sir?" The tram engine asked.
"I want you and Henrietta to bring workmen and machinery down to rebuild the bridge." Toby rang his bell.
"I won't let you down, sir." He said. The Fat Controller smiled.
"Thank you, Toby. Now, Percy?" The tank engine whistled.
"Yes, sir?"
"You are going to help keep this yard organized."
"Yes sir! Just like the old days!" Percy peeped. The Fat Controller then turned to Thomas.
"Thomas, you will carry on your local trains as usual. When you are not working on those, I want you to help Rosie complete her jobs." Rosie smiled guiltily. Thomas glared at her.
"Yes, sir." He said through gritted teeth. The Fat Controller clapped his hands together.
"Wonderful! Now, off to work you all!" Percy and Toby whistled and left, but Thomas stayed behind. As Thomas stayed behind, Rosie did too.
"Something wrong, Thomas?" She asked, Thomas simply continued on puffing towards the Fat Controller, who was returning to his office.
"Sir? Sir?" Thomas called, getting the Fat Controller's attention. He turned around.
"Yes, Thomas?" He asked. Thomas looked around and spoke in a hushed voice.
"Do I have to work with Rosie, sir? She's obsessed with me, and she's also the reason my branch line is even closed in the first place!" Rosie heard this and felt hurt, but the Fat Controller raised his hand to stop Thomas.
"Unless you'd rather sit in the shed all day, Thomas, I'd advise you learn to work with her. Sometimes we all have to do jobs we don't like." Thomas rolled his eyes, and reversed back to meet Rosie.
"Come on, let's go." Thomas grumbled. However, before they could, they heard a loud unfamiliar whistle and an unfamiliar engine rolled into the station. Thomas was simply confused, but Rosie raised an eyebrow.
"A camelback? I haven't seen one of those since I worked in the states! What's a camelback engine doing on Sodor?" She marveled. Thomas raised an eyebrow.
"What's a camelback engine?" He asked. Rosie smiled at Thomas' curiosity, and Thomas glared back. She turned red before explaining.
"A camelback engine has a cab in between the boiler and the firebox. The driver stands in the cab, while the fireman stands behind the firebox and maintains it there. There aren't any of them over here, but in America they were used all the time. I wonder what this one's doing here?" However, a whistle from the mysterious new engine cut her off.
"Excuse me," The engine said in a polite but annoyed tone, "Could you tell me where Sir Topham Hatt is?"
"Why do you need to know?" Thomas asked. A rather large man stepped out of the engine's cab.
"I have a meeting with him." The man explained. The Fat Controller turned around.
"You just found him!" He said, and walked over.
"Ah, Sir Topham. A pleasure to finally meet you." The man held out his hand.
"You must be Mr. James Langley, the Railway Entrepreneur." The Fat Controller took out and shook it. The man laughed.
"Please, everyone calls me Slim Jim. Although now the name doesn't suit me much!" Slim Jim then pat his large belly. The two men laughed, and they began walking towards the Fat Controller's office. The door shut, and Rosie cleared her throat.
"Thomas, we have to go over to the Shunting Yards, if that's alright with you." She said. Thomas rolled his eyes.
"Fine, Rosie. Come on." The two engines whistled and rolled away, Thomas grumpily and Rosie worriedly, leaving Jeb the Camelback Engine alone. In the Fat Controller's office, the two men were having a meeting.
"So here's your trader's license," The Fat Controller handed Slim Jim a piece of paper, "Sorry for the confusion with Arthur. He can get a bit like that concerning the rules."
"No problem at all, sir." Slim Jim chuckled, and made a hand gesture. Jeb, looking in the window, saw this, and strained hard. Suddenly, his whistle began going on full blast. At that moment, Gordon rolled into the station with the express.
"Oh! What is that awful noise?" He groaned. Jeb chuckled sheepishly.
"Sorry, just knocked out my whistle valve. It happens sometimes, pal." He said. Gordon rolled his eyes.
"How undignified." He snorted. Jeb's face contorted with anger. However, inside the Fat Controller's office, the man himself was looking out the window, trying to find the source of the noise.
"It appears that that noise is coming from your engine, Jim." He remarked, not noticing Slim Jim taking something off a coat rack behind him and hastily stuffing it in his shirt. Slim Jim looked out.
"Sorry, sir. Jeb has a bit of a loose whistle pin, so it can go off like this. I enjoyed our meeting, but I really must get back to the store now. Thanks for the time!" He hastily slammed the door to the Fat Controller's office and ran over to fix Jeb's whistle pin. The Fat Controller chuckled as he saw Slim Jim put the whistle pin back into place. He then looked over to his coatrack.
"Funny. I could have sworn I brought my extra hat to work today…" He muttered. Jeb and Slim Jim began leaving the station, with Jim's assistant and Jeb's fireman at the rear. Jeb grumbled.
"Why did we have to come here again?" He raised an eyebrow, "We've gone without a trader's license before and its suited us fine!" Slim Jim chuckled darkly.
"I had to…pick something up." He looked the top hat he had stolen lying on the floor of the cab, "It's necessary to the plan." Jeb rolled his eyes, and the two began to return to Norramby.
Meanwhile, Lucian the Scenic Engine was working hard on his branch line.
"Good afternoon, birds!" He called to the birds in the trees, who chirped cheerfully back at him. He rolled happily along when he suddenly saw something on the line ahead.
"What the-?" Lucian slammed on the brakes in horror and came to a stop just before hitting the obstruction. It looked up and stared Lucian in the eyes. It was a black stallion with dark, sinister eyes and a long flowing mane as black as its hide. It snorted, kicked up some dirt, and galloped away into the woods.
"What was that?" Lucian asked, bewildered, but the horse was gone.
Up the line at Killdane station, George the Steamroller was working on the road that ran into the town. He was having great fun.
"What a life! I'll be tarmacking your rails next!" He called to Emily, sitting in the station platform. She rolled her eyes.
"In your dreams, George." She said, and rolled away with her coaches. George chuckled and returned to his work. However, he heard the ringing of an alarm, and knew that it was break time.
"Ah, break. Good to finally get a little rest!" He rolled over to the lane and eased himself into a parking spot. However, before he could let himself get settled, he heard an unfamiliar whirring noise.
"HOLD IT!" A small, but shrill voice shouted. George looked up in alarm, and saw something small speeding down the road.
"Yay. The cops." He scowled. Sure enough, the little police buggy pulled alongside. He was small, and looked like a peculiar cross between a car and motorcycle. He had one wheel in front and two in the rear, and was painted white all over. He had a grey stripe spanning across his body, and in it, the words "Sodor Police" were proudly displayed in blue font. Above the buggy's small face was the rim of a policeman's cap. He glared sharply at George, and the steamroller grinned back.
"Can I help you, constable?" He asked. The police buggy scoffed.
"George, I come by here everyday and give you the exact same parking violation, Traffic Conduct Section C (Passage 4), and yet you never listen! You're almost taking up the entire road! It was hard for me to squeeze through!" George rolled his eyes.
"Look, Roy, I-"
"That's Constable Roy to you, and don't you forget it!" The buggy shot back. George scowled.
"Yeah, yeah, Constable Roy. I'd have to go all the way up to Cronk to get parking for someone my size, so could you please just let me do this this once? Please?" He grinned. Constable Roy glared.
"First of all, that would be a violation of Officer Conduct Section A (Passage 7). And second of all, the law has no exceptions! It cannot simply be bent or broken for any small inconvenience! It is my job to uphold the law, and prevent lawbreakers like you from bending it to their own benefit." George rolled his eyes again.
"Your radio antennae's in your exhaust, constable." He smirked. Constable Roy raised an eyebrow and his officer stepped out.
"If you're going to break the law, you better be prepared to pay the price for it." The officer walked to George and slapped a piece of paper onto his face.
"OW!" He groaned.
"Hopefully this will teach you not to break the law, scumbag!" Constable Roy then sped away. The resulting wind current blew the note from George's face to the ground, which he read.
"THIRTY POUND FINE!" He guffawed, "STUPID BUGGY!"
So now we have had even more major characters to the story introduced! So let's rattle off the most major ones:
Roy the Police Buggy - Roy will be a major character throughout the story, albeit not as prominently as the other ones. Roy is young and inexperienced, and as a result of this sticks to the rulebook like glue. As a result, he may cause a few unintentional problems throughout the story due to his tendency to stick to the rules. Roy will get more development as the story goes on. He is based on a police scooter from the Baltimore Police Department.
Rosie - Rosie is our main character this time around! I've wanted to do a story exploring Rosie's idolization of Thomas for some time now, and this is the perfect opportunity for it. I hope to use this story to give her a persona of her own, which will come to light as the story goes on. She will get a song to herself, and will appear in every chapter of the story following this except for two.
Thomas - While he will be taking a backseat to Rosie, Thomas will get a lot of screentime this time around. Thomas will mostly be brought up when he isn't present, but he will get a little subplot of his own. And speaking of subplots...
Lucian - Definitely the most popular of my original characters thus far, I planned out Lucian's subplot from the beginning of this special's development process. That horse he sees is something very important, but you'll have to wait and see what it means...mwahaha.
Come back on August 9th for our third chapter, Edward Under Fire, where we see a few characters' true colors begin to show...