Hello everyone. My co-authors and I are still working on the next major plot development, but until then please enjoy this next chapter, which reveals just what happened to some characters that were only mentioned back in chapter three.
At the docks, Edward was picking up passengers that had just arrived on the S.S. Roxstar. He was not due to depart for another 20 minutes, so he simply sat there and waited. Nearby, O.J. the paddle tug was docked. Deciding he had a few minutes, Edward struck up a conversation with the old Tug.
"Hello there... O.J. is it? I don't think we've properly met yet, but my name's Edward. I work the branch line that Brendham docks is connected to" he introduced.
"Hello Edward, nice to meet you. Yes, my name's O.J. and I'm one of the Star Tugs. Do you usually pick up passengers from here?" O.J. asked.
"Sometimes; I split my duties between passengers and freight" Edward explained. "I presume as a Tugboat, you've worked with ships like Roxstar here?" Edward asked.
"Indeed; in fact I've towed the Roxstar before, back when she was called the Vienna. We worked hard in Bigg City, towing both passenger liners and cargo ships" O.J. explained.
"Sounds like Vienna was quite popular among the Tugs. Were there any other liners you liked working with?" Edward asked.
"Oh, of course. There was the Duchess, for instance. Lovely ship, and served right through the depression in fact. During the war she was converted to a troop transport and played her part right until she was sunk by a U-boat" O.J. explained.
"It is unfortunate, I lost a few friends myself during the war" Edward thought back.
"There was also the Princess Alice. Nice ship, but I tell you, that day her rudder was damaged, and the high winds... it was a miracle nothing worse happened" O.J. thought back.
"What happened to her?" Edward asked.
"Sold for scrap I'm afraid; and the worse part is how it happened" O.J. explained; and he told the story that others had passed onto him back in Bigg City
...
"No! No! You can't scrap me!" A rusty old cargo ship screamed. He was being towed into the breakers yard by a couple tugs.
"Save it Nantucket, your time has come. The least you can do is take it with dignity" One tug said as he was towed into place.
"Besides, your crew has disembarked and you've got no steam; you aren't going anywhere any time soon" said the other.
"Come on Burke; let's see what other ships have been sold" said one tug.
"Of course Mr. Blair, there simply must be other ships available" replied the other as they sailed out of the scrappers yard.
Nantucket found himself anchored beside a couple ships. One was a passenger ship, the other a cargo ship in even worse state than he was.
"Say, I've seen you before... Old Rusty, isn't it?" Nantucket asked.
"Correct. I presume you've been sold for scrap too?" Old Rusty asked.
"Is it that obvious?" Nantucket grumbled. "I've got to get out of here!" He said aloud. Old Rusty simply laughed.
"Oh Nantucket, you may as well accept the facts. We all meet our end eventually, and I have come to accept it. I was abandonded for years before finally being sold for scrap. At least you were able to work until the end" Old Rusty pointed out.
"But I don't want to get scrapped" Nantucket said.
"Neither do I... or Princess Alice for that matter. But look at me, I'm rusted through. My bilge pumps failed years ago, and I'm no longer seaworthy. No, I do not want this fate either, but I have learned to accept it. It is better to face the end with dignity than hide from the inevitable in fear" old Rusty said.
"You seem rather calm about all this" Nantucket observed.
"I am, after all I was a navy tramper. And Princess Alice here, well she's simply decided to remain quiet through it all" he pointed out. Low and behold, the passenger liner was there, next to Old Rusty, and waiting for her turn like the others.
"Oh no! If even Princess Alice isn't safe from the scrappers, then I certainly am not!" Nantucket realized. But at that moment, to their surprise, Burke and Blair had cast their lines on Old Rusty; it was time.
"Change of plans Rusty; seems the breakers are ready for you" Burke said as the final lines were tied.
"Well, enough of my leaks were fixed and enough water pumped out to make me float; all right, I'm ready." Old Rusty declared.
"Thank you for your cooperation, it makes things so much easier" Blair said as he was towed away.
Nantucket and Princess Alice were left with a lot to think about as Old Rusty was towed away.
Not that far away, two tugs witnessed everything.
"Nantucket, Old Rusty, and Princess Alice scrapped? And I thought we had it bad, uncle" one tug said.
"At least we will still be houseboats like that boomer fellow. Come on Sea Rogue, you said you wanted to say farewell to the Star tugs" the older tug said.
"Right; better pass on this news to them" and they left quietly.
...
"And they went on to pass this information onto us" O.J. explained.
Edward was surprised. "Well, we are known for saving many engines from scrap on this island, but I think a ship is a very different story; they are so much bigger" Edward thought.
"Indeed they are; it can be hard to rescue ships from scrap, but there are those willing to put the time and effort in to do so. It's a shame this wasn't the fate for Princess Alice though" O.J. sighed. But then Edward heard the whistle and saw the green flag wave.
"Seems I have to go now; goodbye O.J. Thanks for the story" Edward said as he pulled away.
"Goodbye Edward, thanks for the chat" O.J. replied, as he decided to close his eyes and take a nap.
...
Over at the Ffarquhar Branch line, Thomas had just finished with his passenger duties for the day. He had shunted Annie and Clarabel out of the way, when the yardmaster came up to him. "Thomas, There's some empty trucks that need to go up to Arlesdale. Unfortunately, our usual engine for this kind of train is at the works right now, so you are the only one available. You don't mind, do you Thomas?" He asked.
"Not at all sir; it's been a while since I've been up there, and it will be great to see my friends up there again" Thomas replied.
"Excellent; the trucks are right there... just buffer up to them and we'll take care of the rest" the yardmaster replied.
Some time later, Thomas was coupled up and on his way to Arlesdale. He was telling the truth when he said he wanted to see some of his friends up there... but there was another motive for going up to Arlesdale.
"The Star Tugs and Z-Stacks that day said something about Arlesdale Harbor. I don't know how to describe it, but those Z-stacks sound like trouble to me. I'd better look into this" he said to himself. His driver and fireman, who were also concerned about this, agreed and decided once the trucks had been dropped off, they would take a peak near the Z-stack dock to see what was going on with them.
Thomas had dropped off his trucks and had just been uncoupled when he just as quickly left the yard.
"Ok Thomas, you know that stopping on the line like this will be dangerous... we can only stay for a minute at most before we have to move on" his driver explained.
"Don't worry, this won't take long driver... just a quick look at their dock and we are out of here" Thomas said. They slowed down and came to a stop at a section of track in Arlesdale Harbor that allowed them a view of the Z-Stack dock. "Now what are they up to?" Thomas asked himself. Only a couple Z-stacks were at dock at the moment, thankfully looking away from Thomas, but Thomas could make out a couple figures standing on the dock itself.
"There seems to be... a man in a pinstripe suit, and a man in a sailor's uniform" Thomas' driver observed.
"Yea... but it looks like the one in the suit is giving orders to the one in the sailor uniform; maybe the suited man is a businessman and the sailor is in charge of the fleet's day to day?" The fireman suggested.
"Possibly, but something about that man looks familiar..." Thomas observed. The sailor was very familiar to Thomas... there was just something about him. Then at last, Thomas figured it out.
"Wait a minute... driver, isn't that Sailor John?!" Thomas said in shock.
"What the... you're right Thomas! But, wasn't he put in jail?" his driver recalled.
"Something weird is going on here... and I don't like it at all" Thomas' fireman thought.
"We'd better get out of here... we need to let the Star Tugs know next time we go to Brendham" Thomas whispered as they quietly left. Fortunately, no trains were do through at that point, so there were no whistles to raise attention.
Thomas made his way back to Ffarquhar, he could not help but think to himself "If Sailor John is out here managing a fleet of tugs and he's up to his old tricks... oh dear, I really have to let them know soon" Thomas thought as he left Arlesdale and made his way back to the Ffarquhar line.
...
That evening, the Star fleet had just finished up their jobs, and were back at port.
Most of the fleet had come back to dock, when Top Hat and Hercules finally joined the rest of them.
"Hello Top Hat; how was the Mann run today?" Ten Cents asked.
"Oh, absolutely dreadful! I was shipping these awful freight cars that wouldn't stop calling me names and singing this weird song about a popping diesel! They were oh so troublesome; at least when I ship coaches or flatbeds they don't give me any trouble" Top Hat explained.
"Oh, Edward told me the other day about the "troublesome trucks" as the engines call them. Just pay them no mind Top Hat, at least they can't derail you like an engine" O.J. explained.
"Is that so, m'dear? Well, I just brought in the Roxstar for the last time in a while. She's going into drydock tomorrow; from what I've heard she's undergoing an overhaul" Hercules explained.
"Any word on what they'll be doing to old Vienna there?" Big Mac asked.
"No, not really. My orders are to deliver her there first thing tomorrow morning" Hercules said.
Just then, Sunshine came speeding into the dock. He looked pretty shocked as he tried to get their attention.
"Ten Cents! Big Mac! Everyone! You're not going to believe it!" He said as he came up to the others.
"Calm down Sunshine; what's the matter?" Grampus asked.
"I was just on my way back from that fuel contract when I saw a tramper, just off the coast" Sunshine said.
"And what about it?" O.J. asked.
"Well, I couldn't quite make out its course... But he's from our days in Bigg City." Sunshine said.
"Which one? You know we worked with many..." Top Hat pointed out.
"The one that always gave us problems..." Sunshine began, as the others gasped.
"You don't mean?" Ten Cents asked.
"Well it makes sense... he never was sold to the scrappers" Big Mac thought.
"Beg pardon but, who are you talking about?" A confused Mary asked.
"It seems one of the old troublemakers from Bigg City has returned" O.J. explained.
Oh dear, a trouble making tramper? Who could it be? There were a few, after all. Well, that's it for now, see you next time, fellow readers and writers. And please leave a review if you like this story so far.