CHRISTMAS ON THE ROADS


Every year during the holiday season, passengers flocked to every corner of the island, including where the rails didn't reach. While the engines were busy pulling their trains, Bertie the Bus was taking his own passengers, and he was feeling the weight. One day, he tore down the road to Knapford Station, parking himself next to the platform where Thomas was waiting for him. Bertie panted heavily as he caught his breath.

"I'm-phew-sorry to have kept you waiting, Thomas. There was a horrid traffic jam in the town." Thomas raised an eyebrow.

"It was only a few minutes, Bertie. Nothing I can't make up for. Are you alright? You seem stressed." Bertie's forced smile slid off his face.

"You'd be stressed too if you had my schedule. You engines always moan about how overworked you are, but there are dozens of you! There aren't nearly as many of us buses! We're hardly keeping it together with all this demand! There are so many passengers at the stops that I have to leave many of them behind for the next bus!" Thomas was surprised; he hadn't expected such an outburst. Bertie stopped himself and sighed.

"Sorry, Thomas, didn't mean to snap at you like that. It's just difficult to keep up with it all sometimes."

"Er… It's alright, Bertie. I didn't realize." Thomas smiled as a thought struck him. "Say, whenever there's too much work for us, The Fat Controller brings in a new engine. Maybe you'll get some help of your own soon." The guard blew the whistle and Thomas rolled away, leaving Bertie to scoff.

"Unlikely…" he muttered as his driver returned with a pastry from M.C Bunn.

"Cheer up, Bertie! Manager says there's a surprise waiting for us at the bus yard." Bertie gasped.

"A surprise? What do you mean? No one told me."

"Well, of course not. It wouldn't exactly be a surprise then, would it?" Bertie ignored the sarcastic reply and quickly grew excited.

"Maybe Thomas was right after all! Would certainly be a Christmas miracle!" he chuckled to himself. He honked his horn and hurried back down the road, eager to find out what was waiting for him.


Bertie rolled into the bus yard, more excited than ever.

"A new recruit would be wonderful for my aching tyres! I wonder what colour they'll be!" He stopped and looked around, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. He frowned. "Doesn't seem like there's anyone here, though."

"You always were the unobservant one, weren't you?" Bertie's eyes widened - rolling out from within the shed was a large, red double-decker bus who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. Bertie gasped in horror.

"Bulgy?! B-But I thought you were a vegetable stand!" Bulgy rolled his eyes.

"Don't remind me. Worst job I ever took. I can't believe I let that emerald iron talk me into it. If you must know, I was turned back into a bus not too long ago so I could…" Bulgy gagged. "...help you." Bertie stifled a groan.

"Oh… Well, it's not exactly what I had in mind, but I suppose it's better than nothing at all."

"Pah, not like you're picking up the slack. That's why they brought me in. Now, watch and learn how a real bus works." Bulgy started rolling away to the station, snickering. Bertie gaped before glaring at his driver.

"Some surprise this turned out to be." The driver merely shrugged and took a bite out of his pastry.


Duck stood at the platform with his slip coaches, shivering as chilly gusts of wind blew under the station canopy. He continuously glanced between where Bertie always pulled up and the station clock.

"Come on, Bertie… I know the roads are icy, but you're never usually this late…"

"And you'd know a thing or two about being late, wouldn't you?" Duck froze, recognizing the voice instantly. He looked over and gasped before scowling.

"Bulgy," he snapped icily. Bulgy glared back. "I don't know what you're playing at, but you're not stealing my passengers this time. These are for Bertie."

"They won't want Bertie once they've realized just how much more reliable I am." Duck opened his mouth to speak but got cut off as his passengers opened the coach doors and stepped onto the platform. They had never seen Bulgy before and were most impressed.

"Look at this, lads!" one remarked, "I've never seen such a smart-looking bus before!"

"An excellent purchase by the bus company, if you ask me," another commented. Bulgy sneered, not bothering to correct the fact he wasn't new as they crowded into him.

"See?" Bulgy smirked at a gaping Duck. "Nothing to it. That runt can rest easy in a scrapyard knowing I can take his passengers no problem."

"You're the one who got stuck under a bridge-"

"Oh, would you look at the time? I better hurry, or else I'll be as late as the runt!" Bulgy honked his horn. "I'll show you engines and that Bertie just what I can do." He drove away laughing, just as Bertie rolled up.

"Sorry, Duck!" panted Bertie, "I got caught behind a slow lorry and…" He broke off, seeing Bulgy toil down the road. Bertie shared a horrified glance with Duck.

"Did he just…?"

"Yup."


Bulgy made his way along Bertie's usual route. All around him, buildings were being decorated for the holidays. Several workmen were putting up a large Christmas tree by the church. Bulgy snorted.

"Stupid nonsense," he muttered - luckily, no one heard him. Just then, he saw Trevor up ahead, who was slowly chugging along with a cart. On top of the cart was a Christmas tree. Bulgy gritted his teeth as he slowly to a crawl behind Trevor.

"You." Trevor looked back and smiled.

"Oh, hello, Bulgy. Fancy seeing you here." Bulgy's eye twitched.

"Get out of my way," he seethed, "My passengers are more important than some silly tree." Trevor frowned.

"It's not silly; it's the Christmas tree for the orchard. I, for one, think it'll look wonderful when it's all decorated." Bulgy snorted.

"Of course a simpleton like you would be so excited over a tree." Trevor raised an eyebrow.

"No need to be such a scrooge, Bulgy. It's Christmas! Everyone's so cheerful!"

"Not me," Bulgy huffed, "especially when rotten traction engines make me late." Having lost patience, he swerved onto the other side of the road and shot like a rocket into the distance. leaving Trevor to roll his eyes. Suddenly, he heard a frantic horn and Bertie hurried up behind him.

"Wait, stop! Stop!" he called out to Bulgy, but he was already gone. Bertie groaned and sulked.


At last, Bulgy rolled up to the first stop on the route. A large crowd of people stood beside the stop sign, some with shopping bags filled with gifts. They were most surprised to see Bulgy.

"Where's Bertie?" a woman asked.

"He's broken down. They sent me instead," Bulgy grunted, making up a lie on the spot. The passengers seemed to believe it and started climbing aboard. However, some remained standing out in the cold. Bulgy noticed this and glared.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, clearly restraining himself.

"Waiting for the next bus," a man explained, "Every day, we try and catch it before the seats are filled, but there's never enough room for everyone." Bulgy scoffed.

"Some sob story that is..." he muttered before speaking up. "You won't have to do that with me. I have double the seats of those other buses. None of you are getting left behind today." The passengers cheered, each profusely thanking him as they got on. Bulgy wasn't used to such praise and felt rather uncomfortable. He raced back onto the road, just as Bertie pulled up. Bertie groaned.

"Oh, bother. I hope he at least left someone behind." But, when he looked, there wasn't a single person left. Bertie gaped.

"W-What?! H-He took everyone?!"

"It's not too surprising," the driver remarked, "Bulgy's a much larger bus, you know. A double-decker. He probably has double your capacity. No wonder no one's left here."

"You're not helping!" Bertie snapped.


With no passengers to take, Bertie sadly drove back to the bus yard, where he grumbled bitterly in the shed.

"It's not fair! I wanted help, not to be taken out of service!"

"Retiring already, Bertie? I'd have thought you wouldn't have given up so easily!" Bertie looked up to see a grinning Thomas rolling alongside the shed.

"Don't you start, Thomas. It's bad enough Bulgy took all of my passengers away." Thomas raised an eyebrow.

"Bulgy? I thought he was-"

"I know, I suppose he can't make up his mind. I wish he would go back to carrying vegetables, though. At least then I won't have to sit around here all Christmas." Thomas smirked.

"I thought you didn't want so much work? Now you're saying there's too little! You're never happy, are you?" Bertie sighed.

"You don't understand. The passengers all like him now because of how many seats he has. He doesn't have to leave people behind like I do." Thomas pondered the problem.

"When there's too many people at the platform, we just add more coaches; but I suppose you can't do that with a bus, can you?"

"No, I've only got the seats I have… and the standard is only one passenger per seat." Bertie suddenly grinned as he got an idea. "Unless… Yes, that's it! If I have more passengers pet seat, I can upgrade my capacity!"

"That doesn't sound like a good-" Emily's whistle cut Thomas off as she rumbled past with her two coaches towards the station. Bertie smirked confidently.

"I won't let Bulgy take my passengers this time!" he chuckled and he raced away as quickly as he could. Thomas watched him leave and rolled his eyes.


Emily hummed to herself as she pulled into the platform, expecting a wait before the bus connection arrived. However, to her surprise, Bertie was already at the road entrance, grinning eagerly.

"Oh, hello, Bertie! You're early today," she remarked. Bertie tried to pretend the comment didn't sting.

"Yes, well, us buses have a reputation to uphold, you know."

"That's a relief. All these people need to get home; I just hope the next bus gets here soon." Bertie frowned.

"Next bus?"

"Of course! There are far too many passengers for one bus to take all at once." Bertie glanced between Emily and the passengers before smirking.

"I can!" Emily was taken aback.

"You? I don't mean to sound rude, but… you're not a very big bus." Bertie scowled.

"Bulgy isn't the only one who can take everyone at once, you know!" He defiantly honked his horn and put on a grin for the passengers. "All aboard, everyone! Room for every one of you!" The passengers looked at each other uncertainly but, one by one, started climbing aboard. It wasn't long before every seat was taken.

"What's the meaning of this? I was promised a bus with enough room!" a passenger grumbled.

"There is!" Bertie protested, "You'll just have to share your seats now! It's far more efficient." Reluctantly, the passengers did so. It was uncomfortable as everyone was squished together, but no one spoke up about it. Bertie grinned proudly.

"Ha, and to think you didn't believe in me, Emily! Not such a small bus now, am I?" He revved his engine and tried rolling forward, but found it more difficult than he expected. Emily winced.

"Are you sure about this, Bertie? You don't look too good."

"Of course I am! Just you wait, I'll do it!" With a great amount of effort, Bertie drove away, leaving a worried Emily behind.


All along his route, Bertie picked up and let off passengers, always insisting that he could carry them all. However, the added weight made him slower than usual, and the wasted minutes began to add up. By the time Bertie arrived at Ffarquhar, he was very late indeed.

"Ridiculous!" a passenger exclaimed indignantly, looking at their watch, "Ten minutes late! What terrible service!" Poor Bertie was exhausted. Bulgy watched from nearby, unimpressed.

"You should've just waited for me to come back instead of humiliating yourself like this. Clearly you can't even handle your own route."

"I can too!" Bertie retorted, "I just picked up a few extra passengers, that's all!" Bulgy rolled his eyes.

"Sounds like you picked up more than 'a few'," he snorted, glancing at the passengers pouring out of Bertie, "You weren't built for all that weight, you know. Stop whatever game you're doing before you blow out your engine." Bertie raised an eyebrow.

"You almost sound concerned." Bulgy's face reddened in both embarrassment and anger.

"I'm not! Just proving how small and useless you are." Flustered, he quickly drove away, grumbling to himself. Bertie rolled his eyes.

"Silly Bulgy. What does he know?"

"Maybe you should take his advice seriously," his driver suggested, "You were out of breath the whole way here."

"It's not advice, he's just insulting me and you know it. I'll show him! I just need to be faster!" Bertie grinned determinedly as a fresh set of passengers climbed aboard. The driver sighed as Bertie turned around and headed back down the road.


Despite Bertie's best efforts, he wasn't going as fast as he would like. He revved his engine and tried to surge forward.

"Come on, come on!" he wheezed as he trundled along the country road, "I can go much faster than this!" His driver was beginning to get nervous.

"I don't like the look of this, Bertie. Maybe we should-"

"Not you too! Everyone keeps saying I'm not capable, but I am!" Bertie's engine roared the loudest it ever had as the bus desperately tried to speed up. For a brief moment, Bertie did so, causing him to laugh triumphantly.

"See, driver? Having more people did no harm at all! It's-" Suddenly, Bertie's engine made a loud sputtering sound. "OUCH!" Bertie cried in pain. Smoke flew up from his radiator, covering him in a thick cloud. He started going slower and slower until he came to a standstill. The cloud dissipated, revealing a coughing and spluttering Bertie in its wake. His driver groaned and went to examine him.

"Now you've done it; you've blown out your radiator. You aren't going anywhere now." Bertie's passengers were furious.

"This rotten bus can't even go a few miles without breaking down! Ugh, we should've taken that new double-decker instead!" A chorus of complaining followed this. Bertie's driver cringed.

"You know, Bertie, I think perhaps there is a lesson to be learned here."

"Just go and get help," Bertie mumbled sadly. The driver looked around; not a farmhouse was in sight, nor any telephone boxes.

"Might be a long while, I'm afraid. I'll have to walk to the nearest station, possibly pick up another pastry while I'm there-" A loud horn interrupted him it echoed around the countryside. Bertie glared as Bulgy pulled up alongside him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Going home, what else? Why, aren't you doing the same?" he smirked, already knowing what the answer was. Bertie sighed.

"No… I've broken down." Bulgy was about to burst into laughter when he saw how upset Bertie was and merely looked away. "Please, Bulgy, can you take my passengers? They'll freeze out here if they can't get home for Christmas."

"What? More work? I'm already practically working for the both of us and…" He trailed off, noticing the pleading looks on the passengers' faces. "...ugh, fine." The passengers cheered and practically ran into Bulgy. Bertie's driver was about to start off too when Bertie called out.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Home, of course. I've got a family to get to too, you know." Bertie sighed.

"Oh… So I guess I'll be alone on Christmas then."

"I suppose so. I doubt the tow trucks will be coming out this time of year. In the meantime, Merry Christmas, Bertie!" the driver called as he climbed aboard Bulgy, but it did little to cheer Bertie up. Bulgy couldn't help but feel rather awkward. He wanted to say something demeaning but something inside him decided against it. Instead, he grunted as he rolled away, leaving an increasingly depressed Bertie behind.


The rescued passengers were very grateful for Bulgy stepping in, yet he didn't hear any of their praise; he was too busy thinking about Bertie.

"Stupid runt…" he muttered, "Serves him right. Bah." However, he didn't sound quite as confident as before. By the time he had dropped off the final passenger, it was dark and beginning to snow.

"Ah well," Bulgy's driver mused, "A hectic first day, but at least you have tomorrow off." Bulgy didn't reply. "You know, you've been awfully quiet this whole trip; usually you'd be complaining about something. What's the matter?" Bulgy grit his teeth.

"Nothing. Just take me home so I can sleep this wretched holiday away." The driver shrugged and Bulgy turned onto the road towards Knapford. He looked around; a light blanket of snow covered the countryside now. For a moment, Bulgy's thoughts drifted back to Bertie and he briefly winced.

"Er, actually, we should make a quick stop at Dryaw first." The driver raised an eyebrow.

"Why? You have plenty of fuel-"

"Shut up and do it." The driver decided it was in his best interest not to argue. Soon, Bulgy pulled into Dryaw. Harold and Butch were in the airfield, surrounded by merry carolers. The two were most surprised to see Bulgy.

"Well, hello, old chap!" called Harold cheerily, "Merry Christmas!" Bulgy rolled his eyes, immediately regretting his decision.

"What are you doing?" he asked sharply.

"Having our very own little Christmas party! It's quite fun. Why, have you come to join us?" Bulgy's eye twitched.

"No."

"...oh."

"What are you doing here then?" Butch quizzed, "Shouldn't you be back at the bus yard by now?" Bulgy let out a long sigh.

"I… I… Ugh, stupid Bertie broke down just down the road. Go and get him." Before either Harold or Butch could reply, Bulgy hurried away. The two shared a look.


Bertie was feeling more miserable by the minute. Snow had started to pile up around him, and Bertie sighed.

"I can't believe it… To think all I wanted to do was be more efficient and take back my passengers from Bulgy, yet instead I let everyone down. Now, I'm going to be stuck here until New Year's…" Bertie closed his eyes to try and sleep the night away when he heard a familiar horn.

"Is that…? No, it couldn't be… Why would he be out at this hour?" He opened one eye, only to see two beaming lights coming towards him. Bertie gasped and called out eagerly. "Over here!" Butch rolled up in front of Bertie, gaping.

"So he was telling the truth…" Butch muttered in amazement before speaking. "How did you get into this one, Bertie?" Bertie looked away in shame.

"I, uh… wanted to show how reliable I could be and took too many passengers all at once. I blew out my engine and now here I am." Butch chuckled.

"Why did you think you needed to do that? You're already reliable."

"Because Bulgy was taking all of my passengers as well as his own, leaving me nothing to do." Butch rolled his eyes as he turned around.

"He just can't stay out of trouble, can he?" Butch's driver attached the hook to Bertie and Butch started to pull.

"No, but I suppose neither can I. Thanks, Butch, for getting me out of this." Bertie frowned. "...say, how did you know I was here? My driver wasn't able to call for help."

"This might sound like an oxymoron, but Bulgy stopped by the airfield to tell me." Butch honked his horn and towed a stunned Bertie out of the snowdrift and back home.


When Bertie and Butch arrived at the bus yard, Bulgy was already in the shed, trying not to be noticed. Bertie winked at Butch.

"Hello, Bulgy! Surprised to see me?" Bulgy grimaced and pretended he didn't hear. Butch stifled a laugh. "You shouldn't be, you know," Bertie continued, grinning, "I already know what you did." Bulgy turned red in the face.

"I didn't do anything. Stop talking about it." He looked away away for a moment.

"You've always been a bad actor, you know." A short silence fell over the bus yard before Bertie broke it. "Thank you." Bulgy growled.

"Shut. Up," he demanded through gritted teeth. Butch maneuvered himself and reversed so Bertie would be able to sleep in the shed. The driver unhooked Bertie and Butch couldn't help but smirk.

"Merry Christmas, you two!" he called and he drove away. Bertie chuckled and looked across the yard; a workman had climbed a ladder and placed a large, yellow star on top of the Christmas tree. He then glanced at Bulgy.

"In future, mind not taking my passengers again?" Bulgy grunted.

"Only if you don't do something so utterly stupid again."

"Deal." Bertie yawned and started dozing off. "Merry Christmas, Bulgy." Bulgy remained silent until he was sure Bertie was fast asleep.

"Merry Christmas, Bertie." He had hoped that no one heard, but unfortunately for him, Butch had hidden himself behind the tree and heard everything. He chuckled to himself before rolling away back to Dryaw.


Author's Note: Happy New Year, folks! As one could probably guess, this story was supposed to come out at Christmas, but I'm a bit terrible at following schedules so instead it's pretty late, but here regardless. It was a bit difficult to write since it stars two characters I hardly write: Bertie and Bulgy. Bertie's a major character in the series yet isn't super distinct, while Bulgy is distinct, it's just he's never been super consistent throughout his appearances sprinkled throughout the franchise. He went from being a revolutionary in Bulgy to being a pleasant albeit still grumpy chap in Bulgy Rides Again to still hating railways but being more polite about it in his recent return in Unscheduled Stops. My own take on him is sort of a mixture of the three, in that he hates railways, isn't afraid to show that (unless The Fat Controller's around, but we'll see that later), and does have a bit of a heart deep down. I know there's some resistance to making antagonists into anti-heroes, but I think it can add a new level of depth to them if done right. Don't worry, though, Bulgy will still be extremely antagonistic in future appearances, so look forward to that. This year, I want to try and get stories out a bit faster, as last year it was a bit sporadic, but don't hold me to that because knowing me, that won't happen. Still, it never hurts to try! With that likely-to-be-broken promise out of the way, next time a character that had a supporting role in a previous story will be getting their own lead. Try and guess which one! To close this off, hope you all have a good 2019, everyone. Let's make this year a good one!