Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to HIT Entertainment. The characters Ellie and Jim belong to Speckless Nougat. All other OCs belong to me.

Going Home

"Ellie?" Jim said early the following morning. "I want you to light Elaine's fire, please. It's time for us to run some tests on her."

"Who's going to drive her?" Ellie asked as she collected a bucket full of old rags, and an armful of light-up wood.

"Her crew will be here shortly. They haven't seen her since her accident, but they know about her condition. It's important for her to have someone she trusts at her controls."

"I know. I'm glad they'll be able to look after her."

Jim smiled. "Me too. Now, hurry up, please. I want to start her tests as soon as possible. Sir Topham Hatt and Mr Richards are planning to stop by later to watch. Oh, and by the way, why is Gordon wearing a blindfold?"

"Oh, I'm just giving him a taste of his own medicine after what he said about Elaine yesterday. You did put me in charge of his exam."

"Yes… Well, carry on."

Ellie hurried over to where Elaine was sleeping peacefully in the warm sunshine flooding into the Works through the open doors. Gordon was snoring noisily nearby. Another worker shook his head in disgust as he walked past.

"We'll have to take a good look at his smokebox," the worker muttered, referring to Gordon. "His snoring is getting worse!"

Ellie nodded as she climbed inside Elaine's cab. Due to her age, Jim didn't normally ask her to do light-ups anymore, but since Elaine was so special to him, she guessed that he didn't trust anyone else to do it.

While Ellie was lighting Elaine's fire, she took great care not to wake the sleeping little engine. Most engines didn't appreciate being awakened abruptly, so the firelighters were always careful to keep their noise to a minimum.

Once Ellie had a fire going nicely inside Elaine's firebox, she set about oiling and greasing all of Elaine's motion gear. Some of it was a little bit tricky for her to reach, but she did her best. After all, she wanted Elaine to be as comfortable as possible. When she'd finished, Ellie climbed back inside the cab to check on Elaine's steam pressure. The needle was sitting on fifty psi, so Ellie began shovelling coal from Elaine's bunker into her firebox.

As the warmth spread throughout Elaine's boiler, the little mountain engine began to stir. "That feels wonderful…" she murmured in her sleep.

Ellie smiled. She couldn't wait for Elaine to wake up properly. She didn't have long to wait. A few minutes later, Elaine yawned as she woke up.

"Why have I been lit up?" Elaine as curiously.

"You're going to be tested today," Ellie said, and she patted Elaine's doorframe.

Elaine was surprised. "But… Who's going to drive me?"

"I am," Elaine's driver said as he joined them. Standing in front of Elaine, he tenderly touched the little engine's cheek. "How are you feeling, Elaine?" he asked her kindly.

"I'm okay, I guess. Ellie and Jim have really looked after me well, but I can't wait to go home."

The driver exchanged a sad look with Ellie. They were both thinking the same thing – how would Elaine cope with being blind, having aerophobia and working on a mountain railway?

I guess we'll soon find out, Ellie thought as she stepped down from the cab. "Elaine's all yours," she said to the driver and fireman. They'd just climbed into Elaine's cab when Jim approached, clipboard in hand. He looked straight at Elaine.

Try not to show any emotion. I have to be professional about this. And I have to remain optimistic, for Elaine's sake.

"Right, let's make a start… What's Elaine's steam pressure at now?"

"A hundred and twenty psi," the fireman replied.

"Good. That's more than enough for us to begin the test. I want you to drive her down to the other end of the yard, and then reverse her back here. When you get back, I'll tell you what to do next."

Elaine's driver pulled the whistle lever, making her whistle, and he opened up Elaine's regulator. Elaine exhaled deeply as she felt herself begin to move forwards under her own steam.

I have to trust my crew. They are my eyes, Elaine thought as she made her way down the yard. Being blind meant that the rest of her senses were much more alert than they used to be. She was aware of the warm sunlight on her body, a slight breeze against her face, and her driver's hands on her controls. She could also hear a lot more. She could hear passengers chatting over at the station, although she couldn't make out what they were saying. She could also hear an approaching engine's whistle in the distance.

Elaine was paying so much attention to the small noises that when the Work's diesel sounded his horn nearby, she jumped.

"Ah!" Elaine squealed.

"Steady there, Elaine," her driver called.

"Sorry!" the Work's diesel apologised. "I forgot you couldn't see me."

Elaine scowled. Well, it would be nice if you did remember!

Her driver eased on the brakes. Once Elaine had come to a stop, he put her into reverse, and Elaine began to steam back up the yard.

Jim and Ellie watched Elaine from the door of the Works. As Elaine reversed towards them, Ellie looked at Jim.

"Do you think she'll be okay to return to Culdee Fell?"

"Oh, yes," Jim replied with a smile. "She's already gaining confidence."

"Who's gaining confidence?" A well-known voice asked behind them. Jim and Ellie spun around to face the Fat Controller and Mr Richards.

"Elaine is," Jim replied proudly. "Look at her!"

The two controllers watched Elaine return to where they were standing. Elaine's driver stopped her smoothly.

"Excellent!" Jim said as he made some notes on his clipboard. The Fat Controller pointed to Jim's bandaged wrist.

"Er, what happened to you?"

Jim glanced shamefully at his left hand. "It was an accident…"

"Did you have a fall?"

"No, not exactly… Um, Ellie, would you mind changing the points for us, please? I'll get on the footplate this time."

Ellie hurried over to the points lever, and she pulled it to change the points, setting Elaine to run onto the other dual narrow-gauge test line. The narrow-gauge test lines at the Works had both 2 foot 7 ½ inch track for the mountain railway engines, and 2 foot 3 inch track for the Skarloey Railway engines. Due to the limited space in the Works yard, it made sense to run the two narrow-gauge test tracks as dual-gauge.

Once the points had been changed, Elaine carefully crossed over them and she steamed down the other length of test track. Ellie smiled as she watched the little mountain engine steam up and down the yard.

Elaine has really grown up a lot while she's been here. I'll have to visit her at Kirk Machan once she's settled back in.

Behind her, Ellie could hear the Fat Controller and Mr Richards chatting quietly.

"See? I told you she would be able to adjust well," the Fat Controller said.

"Here, maybe," Mr Richards replied doubtfully. "But how do you think she'll cope if she's hit by a gale?"

"I'm sure she'll cope just the same as all the other engines. Her youth is an advantage. I'm sure she'll continue to surprise us all."

At that moment, they heard a tremendous 'Whoosh!' as Elaine's safety valves went off. She was laughing by the time she'd returned to the top of the yard.

"That was fun! Can I keep going, please?"

"I'm afraid not, Elaine," Jim told her as he climbed down from her cab. "It's not healthy for you to run on flat ground for long periods. Because your boiler is on an angle, you're supposed to run on inclines. Now, Ellie? Would you like to give Elaine the good news?"

Confused, Ellie blinked. "What good news?"

"That she's passed her tests. She can go home."

Elaine squealed with delight, setting off her safety valves again. Jim wiped a couple of tears from his eyes, and Ellie and the Fat Controller grinned excitedly. Only Mr Richards shook his head.

"I don't like this," he muttered to himself. "I don't like this at all. There'll be another accident if I let a blind engine run on the mountain railway. I'd better talk to the Chairman about this first, before everything is finalised."

…

"What does Sir Topham think?" Lord James Barrane, the current Chairman of the Culdee Fell Railway asked later that afternoon. Mr Richards had come to see him to express his concerns about Elaine being allowed to return to work on the Culdee fell Railway, and as Chairman he was compelled to listen objectively.

"He thinks that Elaine is young enough to adjust to her condition, but that doesn't mean she'll be safe."

"She has her crew."

"Yes, but what if something happened to them? Elaine might not realise, and she could have an accident if she didn't know she had to apply her emergency brakes."

Lord James snorted. "I think the chances of such an accident happening are very unlikely."

"But still possible," Mr Richards insisted. "And what if her crew fall sick or something, and we have to use a relief crew?"

"What about it?"

"Well…they may forget that she's blind, and then what?"

Lord James exhaled tiredly. "Look, Mr Richards, there are hundreds of 'what if' circumstances regarding Elaine's return to service, but I think you're being overly pessimistic about the whole situation. Now, the board has agreed to purchase a diesel engine that will be converted to rack rail, which should be enough to see us through to the end of the summer. We've been meaning to purchase a diesel for years as a yard shunter, but Elaine can fill that post until she regains her confidence."

"She won't. Her aerophobia has seen to that."

"Just give her a chance," Lord James said softly, but firmly. "After everything she's been through lately, it's the least she deserves."

"Fine. I'll give her one chance."

"And remember, it's up to the board to decide what happens to her. Not you."

Nodding, Mr Richard's left the office.

…

Elaine could hardly sleep that night. She was far too excited about returning home. She did, however, manage to get a few hours of sleep, despite Gordon's persistent snoring.

Ellie and Jim arrived at the Works in the morning with some trepidation. While they were delighted to finally be able to send Elaine home, they both knew that lifting her onto the flatbed truck could be dangerous, because of her aerophobia.

"We'll just have to move her as quickly as possible," Jim said to Ellie as they watched the Works' diesel shunting the flatbed inside the building alongside Elaine. "I've made it clear to the men that Elaine is not to be left dangling under any circumstances, like she was when she arrived back here."

"Let's just hope this goes well," Ellie muttered.

"I want you to stay close to Elaine, please, in case she has a panic attack."

"Sure."

Elaine became increasingly nervous as the men secured the chains to her frame, ready to lift her into the air. Just as they were about to start winching her off the rails, Thomas arrived.

"I'm sorry I'm late," he panted. "James was running late with the express, so he got priority at the junction, and-"

"Thomas?" Elaine gasped. "Is that really you?"

Thomas was surprised. "How did you know it was me, Elaine?"

"Easy. I recognised your voice."

"But…"

"Thomas, I may be blind, but the rest of my senses still work perfectly fine! Especially my hearing!"

Jim and Ellie giggled behind their hands. Some of the other workers also laughed, making Thomas' face flush with embarrassment. Further inside the Works, Gordon groaned in despair.

"Oh, do go away, little Thomas! It's bad enough having one silly little tank engine here…"

"Why is Gordon wearing a blindfold?" Thomas asked Jim.

"Ellie's punishing him for picking on Elaine," Jim explained. Thomas looked at the foreman's bandaged hand.

"What happened to your hand?"

Jim quickly hid his injured hand behind his back. "Nothing. And if I was in your place, Thomas, I wouldn't say another word about it."

"But…" Thomas began, but then Jim pointed straight at him with his good hand.

"Do you want me to have you taken to pieces?"

Thomas promptly bit his tongue. He knew that Jim was only teasing him, but he also knew better than to push Jim's buttons. Any engine on Sodor who'd been to the Works at least once knew not to push Jim too far. Duncan had done that shortly after his arrival on Sodor, and as a result, Jim had had his wheels removed for the entire time he'd been at the Works, even though Duncan's wheels hadn't needed anything done to them.

Jim turned his attention to the workers, and he cleared his throat to get their attention. "Now, let's get Elaine loaded so that she can go home…"

Ellie went over to Thomas, and she placed a hand on his buffer. "Jim had a disagreement with Gordon yesterday," she whispered mischievously.

Thomas raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Who won?"

"That depends on who you ask," Ellie replied with a wink. "I'd better go and comfort Elaine while she's being loaded. She'll probably have another panic attack."

As Ellie hurried away, Thomas looked over at Gordon again. "Guess I've missed out on quite a lot that's been happening around here recently!"

The overhead gantry groaned as it began to lift Elaine up off the rails. The little mountain engine instinctively squeezed her eyes tightly shut, even though she couldn't see anything anyway.

"It's okay, Elaine," Ellie soothed. "You're almost on the flatbed now."

Elaine whimpered, but she didn't start hyperventilating. In fact, this time her reaction to being lifted off the rails was pretty much considered 'normal' for any engine. There was no panic attack, and no signs that she was about to have one. Jim motioned for the workers to lower Elaine down onto the flatbed, which they did. Elaine breathed a small sigh of relief when she felt her wheels touch the flatbed's rails.

"Is it over?" she asked, keeping her eyes tightly closed.

"Yes," Ellie said. "The men will just get you chained down to the flatbed, and then Thomas will take you home."

"Is that why Thomas is here?"

"Yes," Thomas answered. "The Fat Controller was very sorry that he forgot to let me come and visit you before your accident, so this is his way of making up for it. We can talk as much as we like until we get to Kirk Machan!"

Elaine smiled as she opened her eyes. "I'll have to remember to thank him the next time I see him."

"Me too."

As soon as Elaine had been properly secured to the flatbed, Jim and Ellie came over to Thomas.

"Take good care of Elaine, Thomas. She…she means a great deal to me."

"I understand," Thomas replied gravely.

Ellie patted Elaine's frame. "We'll come and see you again soon, Elaine. Just try and do the very best that you can do, in everything."

"I will, Ellie," Elaine promised.

Jim nodded to Thomas' crew, who gently eased Thomas forwards so that he could be coupled up to Elaine's flatbed. Once everything was ready, Thomas steamed out of the Works in reverse, pulling Elaine along on her flatbed. Jim, Ellie and most of the other workers waved until they were out of sight.

Yay! I'm back everyone! Sorry about the long delay in updating. I was getting burned-out with my writing, so I decided to take a break. I'm really glad I did, because otherwise this chapter wouldn't have been anywhere near as good as I think it is. I do hope you all continue to enjoy this sweet little story.