Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to HIT Entertainment. All OCs belong to me and Speckless Nougat.

Elaine Returns to the Works

The OCs, Ellie and Jim, belong to my friend, Speckless Nougat, and I thank her for kindly giving me permission to include them in this story.

Down at Kirk Machen, a loud siren echoed around the yard. Culdee had just been preparing for his run up the mountain with Catherine, when the siren went off. He gasped, knowing full well what it meant.

"There's been a landslide!" he exclaimed, more to himself than to anyone else.

Workers began running across the yard and over to the station. "Halt all traffic!" one of the workers shouted to the signalman. He needn't have bothered though, because the signalman was already changing all of signals in his control to 'danger'.

"Oohh!" Catherine whined in dismay. "Does this mean we won't be taking any passengers today?"

"Probably not," Culdee sighed. "Sorry, Catherine. Hopefully they'll have cleared the line by tomorrow."

The manager ran into the yard. "Are any of the engines ready to go up the mountain now?" he shouted urgently.

"I am, sir!" Culdee answered. The manager ran over to him.

"Culdee, I need you to fetch the 'truck', and take some workmen up to Skarloey Road. Don't worry about the passengers. Several ambulances are already on their way."

"Passengers?" Culdee exclaimed, shocked. Then, a sudden chill swept over him as a new realisation dawned on him. Elaine!

"Let's go, Culdee!" his driver said as he opened the regulator. Culdee set off, dreading what he might find when he reached Skarloey Road station.

…

Elaine moaned fitfully. She felt so strange and very sore. Bizarrely, every time she opened her eyes, all she saw was a wall of blackness. Moving her eyes really hurt, so she ended up closing them again. In the distance, she thought she could hear someone crying.

"Margaret?" Elaine called. "Are you all right?"

The coach only moaned in response. Blinking, Elaine tried to focus her eyes on something, anything, but she couldn't see at all.

"Margaret, please! I need your help!" Elaine was starting to panic now. Then she felt someone gently touch her cheek.

"Shh, Elaine," her fireman whispered. "You're going to be all right, once we get you out of here."

"Why can't I see?" Elaine asked desperately.

"You've been injured. We'll get you fixed up soon."

"Then will I be able to see again?"

"Probably," the fireman replied. He was an honest man, but he hoped he didn't sound too optimistic. All he wanted Elaine to do was to calm down. Her usual dose of sedative had well and truly passed through her system now, so he was on his own. Elaine's driver returned then.

"How is she?" he asked as he sat down on the rocks in front of her.

"How's Margaret?" Elaine demanded to know.

"She's resting," her driver told her as calmly as he could. "And you should be too, so just take some nice deep breaths, and close your eyes. Help will be here shortly."

Perhaps it was a good thing that Elaine couldn't see Margaret just now. The poor old coach had taken the brunt of the rockslide, leaving her badly crushed and damaged. Really, it was an absolute miracle that none of the passengers had been seriously hurt or even killed in the accident. Margaret had done her job protecting them, but at the cost of being crushed almost beyond recognition.

A distant whistle broke the silence that had descended over the area ever since the ambulances and buses had gone. The guard grabbing his red flag and started running down the line to stop the approaching train.

…

As Culdee rounded the bend, he saw a red flag stuck into the ground behind a sleeper. His driver applied the brakes, and they stopped in front of it. The guard riding in the 'truck', climbed down to remove it. He'd just done so when he heard a guard's whistle. Looking up, he saw his colleague running down the line towards them.

"Proceed with caution!" Elaine's guard shouted. "The rockslide is just around here!"

Once his guard was back inside the 'truck', Culdee slowly and cautiously approached the site of the rockslide. Since he had no idea what to expect, he mentally prepared himself for the worst.

"Oh!" Culdee exclaimed as soon as he saw the accident site. He couldn't think of anything else to say. His mind just went completely blank.

Rocks and boulders were everywhere. Culdee could see Elaine in amongst them, but her beautiful purple body had been badly dented and scratched. Aside from that, he couldn't see anything else wrong with her, but he knew better than to think that she would be okay. She could've suffered some internal damage, he thought despondently. Poor Margaret looks like she took the worst of the rockslide. I do hope that the men will be able to fix her. I'm so glad Catherine isn't here to see her best friend looking like this.

"Elaine?" Culdee called as the rescue workers set to work.

"Culdee!" Elaine exclaimed. "I'm so glad you've come at last! Margaret's not speaking to me. Is she badly hurt?"

Why would Elaine ask me a question like that? Can't she see how badly injured Margaret is?

"Um… I don't think she's capable of talking to you right now…" he said cautiously.

"Why not?"

"Why don't you open your eyes and see for yourself?" Culdee meant that kindly, but Elaine promptly burst into tears.

"Ow! I can't see anything!"

Culdee's jaw dropped. He wanted to say something, but no words came out as he realised what was wrong with her.

Oh, funnels! She's blind!

…

It was nearly dark by the time Elaine and Margaret were recovered from the rockslide. Heavy cranes and a couple of lorries had to come by road to the site, since the Culdee Fell railway had no suitable rollingstock for the job. Patrick and Eric were trapped up at the Summit all day, however all of their passengers were able to hike safely down the mountain to Skarloey Road station, where buses transported them to their destinations. Only a few people complained about the situation. The majority of them understood the circumstances, and they tried to enjoy the adventure.

On the other hand, Elaine did not enjoy herself one bit. She suffered a full-blown panic attack when the crane lifted her off the ground, and then the journey by road straight to the Works left her in tears, despite her swollen and painful eyes. Margaret was also taken from the accident site to the Works, but on a different lorry. Elaine didn't even get the chance to say goodbye to Culdee or her crew. Her driver and fireman had been taken to hospital as a precaution.

Upon her arrival at the Works, the lorry parked where Elaine could easily be lifted off the tray by the overhead gantry crane. Normally, by this time of night, the Works would be rather quiet, because most of the workers would've gone home by now. The Works foreman, Jim, would usually be the very last one to leave, and the first to arrive each morning, but sometimes some of the other senior workers would stay back late with him, to catch up on paperwork and other such things. However, tonight, the news of Elaine's accident had kept most of the workers back late. Many of them had personally helped to build Elaine themselves, so to see her injured and damaged only a few weeks later upset them deeply, even though they tried hard not to show it.

"Please, stop!" Elaine squealed when she heard the gantry crane being moved into position above her. "I don't want to be lifted into the air again!"

Jim emerged from his office then, carrying Elaine's record book with him. He accidentally pulled the door handle too hard behind him, and the door slammed closed. Shrugging, Jim approached the group gathered in the section of the Works where the narrow-gauge engines were repaired. He gasped slightly when he saw the extent of Elaine's damage. Her water tanks and boiler were all badly dented, and her purple paintwork was dusty and scratched. He couldn't see any damage to her frame, but he knew full well that a close-up investigation could reveal things that the naked eye could not see. Metal fatigue cracks were quite common after accidents like the one Elaine had been through. He was sure he'd find some internal damage as well.

"What are you all standing around for?" Jim said firmly to the workers. "I know it's sad seeing Elaine so badly damaged when we put so much effort into building her, but the sooner we begin working on her, the sooner we can send her back."

The workers promptly sprang into action. Someone approached Jim from behind. He smiled slightly in spite of himself. Of course Ellie was going to show up now… "Thanks for coming back, Ellie. Sorry to ruin your dinner hour, but this was an emergency."

Ellie had been at the Sodor Works for years. Even though Jim was her boss, she was in charge of ensuring the comfort of all of the engines who came into the Works. She would also look after any non-mechanical issues the engines had, like the time when James got stung on the nose by a bee. Even the most stubborn engine would soon submit to her mothering kindness. However, she'd only returned from a much-needed holiday a week earlier, so even though she'd seen the men building Elaine, she'd not yet actually met Sodor's newest engine.

"What happened to her?" Ellie asked Jim quietly.

"She and her coach were caught up on a rockslide this morning," Jim replied. "None of the passengers were hurt."

"I was going to ask about them. Do you know much about her condition yet?"

"Not really. It appears to be mostly superficial, but she'll need to be washed before I can make an official assessment."

"I'll wash her," Ellie immediately volunteered.

"Now, why doesn't that surprise me?"

Having secured the gantry crane around Elaine's frame, a worker pressed the button to make the crane start to lift Elaine off the lorry. Elaine's fearful whimpering immediately escalated into an ear-piercing scream that echoed all around the Works interior.

"Hurry up with that crane!" Jim ordered.

A few minutes later, Elaine was set down safely on the rails, and the workers dispersed. Except for Ellie. She cautiously approached Elaine, who was still sobbing pitifully.

"It's all right," Ellie soothed. "They've gone now. Would you mind if I come a bit closer?"

"N-no…" Elaine sniffled.

Ellie did so, but she noticed that Elaine's eyes didn't follow her. In order to satisfy her suspicions, she waved her hand in front of Elaine's eyes, just like Elaine's driver had done earlier in the day. Ellie frowned sadly when Elaine's pretty eyes didn't follow her hand.

"What's your name?" Ellie asked casually, even though she already knew.

"I-I'm Elaine…"

"Well, Elaine… It's nice to meet you. My name's Ellie. I'm one of Jim's colleagues. Now, let's see what we can do to help you, shall we?"

Ellie went to fetch her cleaning equipment. When she returned, she quietly set to work cleaning Elaine.

"I hope this water isn't too cold for you?"

"No…" Elaine sighed. Closing her poor, swollen eyes, she tried to drift off to sleep. Unfortunately, just as she'd started to doze off, the phone rang inside a nearby office, waking Elaine abruptly.

"Ellie? Are you still there?" she called.

"Yes," Ellie replied. "I've almost finished washing you. I hope I didn't wake you?"

"No… Is Thomas here?"

"I'm afraid not. He went back to his branch line a couple of weeks ago."

"Oh. Are there any other engines here that I could talk to?"

"Only Boco, one of the mainline diesels. But he's down the back."

"Okay… Um…I was just wondering… Why can't I see anything anymore? All I can see is black, like it's night time or something. Is there…" Elaine paused. "…something wrong with me?"

Ellie hesitated, unsure of how to answer.

"Never mind," Elaine sighed tiredly. "I'm sure you'll be able to fix me."

Ellie frowned with concern. She wished she could be as confident about that as the little mountain engine was.

Thank you to everyone who left a review for the last chapter! I'm sorry it's taken a while for me to update, but my friend, Speckless Nougat, and I have been working on a very special little project, which I hope you'll also read once we're ready to publish it (hint, hint!). I know, I haven't made life easy for Elaine at all, but it makes for an exciting little story, doesn't it? Just so everyone knows, I have been blind myself for several days, after I underwent a serious eye operation when I was 12, to correct the muscles in my eyes, so I know exactly what it's like to be blind. I can only imagine how terrible it would be to be a blind engine though. You'll just have to wait to find out how Elaine copes with it.