Bumper to Cowcatcher

While Gilbert's Lane was one of the current ends of the line, the Farm grounds, better known by the locals as 'The Fairgrounds' was the other end of the line. But now, two more towns were in need of the Narrow Gauge Line. Alison was put in charge of the Rosie's Hallow Extension while Freddie handled the Betsy extension. They took great pride in helping to expand the line, but they weren't too fond of who they kept running into; the McKenna Trucks.

Alison was beside the Fairgrounds, watching as the workers used jackhammers to break up the roads. As she watched, she heard a roar beside her and saw a McKenna truck glaring at her.

"You have some nerve," it said rudely. "Destorying our perfect roads to make way for your useless tracks."

Alison looked over to the truck, "don't you have anything better to do than complain all the time? Or is spreading that hot air of a voice the only thing you can do?"

"WE can do more than you think little powder puff, and if you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of our way."

"Can't do that, the town of Rosie's Hallow needs us, now get out of here lug nuts!"

The trucks snarled, "you watch that tounge of yours, or else next time, you'll lose more than that pretty piece of scrap in front of you."

The truck started rolling away, but suddenly stopped and reversed back. It bumped into Alison, "OUCH!" she cried. The truck sneered as it rolled away. Alison looked down to see her cowcatcher dented, "you oversized whale on wheels! You won't get away with that!"

Mr Harrison was not pleased when he heard about the incident.

"I'll be reporting this incident to the police," he said in the workshops that night. "To think one of those trucks would do that to one of my engines. I'll make sure they are the ones paying for the damage."

"Good luck," sighed Luna as she helped with the repairs. "One of 'em gits smashed me car a while back, and they didn't even apologize."

"Then it's a good thing I'm friends with the mayor and chief of police." And Mr Harrison walked away.

When the other engines came in, they looked on at the damage, and like most nights, they listened to Alison's complaining, "I tell the stupid idiot to go away, yet he did this to me. Makes me wish I had a plow like you Freddie."

"Wouldn't really make a difference considering how big those trucks are," said Freddie. "If anything, that truck would smash plows like mine into scrap. At least yours can be fixed."

Alison gritted her teeth. Rayne looked to Mak, "why do these trucks do this?"she asked in Japanese.

"Money, it's all about money. They want to keep the money they get, and don't want anyone else getting in on their operations, hence why the bakas lash out at us and the Freedom Railroad."

"Well I'll say this much," Alison stated firmly, "if I see this truck again, I'll give him a good piece of my mind."

"I wouldn't recommand it," said Lori from within the cab. "Sure, you'd get your own back, but you'd get into trouble with the police, not to mention Mr Harrison."

"Lori's right Ali," nodded Luna, "it's better not to go bumper to bu...er, cowcatcher in your case. Unless they strike first, then it's fair game."

Alison gave in at that moment, but she still wanted to teach that truck a thing or two.

After that accident, Alison's work continued on with no trouble and within three weeks, the tracks had reached the town of Rosie's Hallow. Alison had to admit it looked like a wonderful town. The buildings looked like they had been built in the 1850's, yet were suited for work in the 1950's. The people there looked super friendly, as proven with the waves they gave to Alison and her crew.

"I think I'm going to enjoy making trips here," Alison thought to herself. Suddenly, her thoughts were interupted by a loud horn and revving of an engine, "oh look, it's bumper truck. You didn't need to do that you know!"

"Perhaps, but in all fairness, I don't care what anyone thinks!" and he roared away, blowing off exhaust into Alison's face.

"One day, you'll get taught a valuable lesson, you wait and see."

Alison's spirits were soon lifted as the workers continued on through town. As she waited, Alison found a young couple standing outside a bakery, "look hun, it's a real steam engine."

"Fond of steam engines are you?" Luna asked as she looked out the cab.

"Indeed we do," said the wife. "Both Lucias and I grew up near railroads, and back then, they ran nothing but steam engines."

"Really?" Alison asked with a raised eyebrow. "Where about are you two from?"

"I'm from Chicago, so I remember the steamers of the Chicago and North Western, while Rose lived in Maryland where she saw the engines of the Western Maryland. Heck, when I moved out there, there were still steamers."

"So why leave?" Lori asked curiously.

"We wanted a fresh start together, and when we heard about Rosie's Hallow, a town that looks historic with modern feels, we felt we found our perfect home. And it was good, for a while anyways."

"Why, what happened?"

Before the couple could answer, a honking horn was heard as the McKenna truck came back into view. It slammed on it's brakes and stopped right in front of Alison. It looked down at her plow.

"See you got that fixed powder puff," he sneered.

"Oh get lost you overgrown bucket of bolts!" snapped Alison.

"Oh I will, but first..." he stared at the couple, "load up now, and don't be slow, or that door won't be on it's hinges for too long."

The couple sighed unhappily as they went back into their bakery. The unanswered question and the sneer on the truck made it clear why they weren't fond of Rosie's Hallow anymore.

The truck was soon loaded up and revved to leave, but before he did, he called out, "same time tomorrow, or else you'll be sorry!"

He backed up and rolled away, missing Alison with inches to spare. She glared back at the truck, "road hog!" she snapped. She turned back to the young couple, "how long has he been doing that?"

"The last couple of months," answered Rose. "At first, it was just small deliveries, then they started pushing around and saying if we don't give in to what they say, they'll break our business."

"Have you told the police?" Luna asked.

They both nodded, "we have, but nothing seems to get done. If you ask us, the police here are working with the McKenna Truck Company." Lucias sighed, "come on Rose, we got more work to do before that truck comes back tomorrow."

They walked away. Alison fumed with rage, "threatening, corruption, this has got to stop!"

"We can report to the police in Big Jim's Town," suggested Lori, "they're always of great help."

Alison agreed to the idea and when they got back to Big Jim's Town, they told the Chief of police everything.

"Well now, Rosie's Hallow has corrupt cops over there huh? Normally I can't do anything outside of my town, but in this case, I can make an exception. Besides," he added, "I still like to have some words with the Truck Company for the damage done to you Alison."

"Better you than me," she muttered under her breath.

The next day, Alison was bringing the workmen and more supplies back to Rosie's Hallow. As she puffed along though, she saw something horrible. The police were pointing their weapons at Rose and Lucias, while the same truck sneered at them.

"But we gave you all the cakes and pastries we have," said Rose nervously. "We have nothing more to give."

"Oh really? Well in that case, I guess you won't mind we take other stuff to make up for our loses," sneered one of the corrupt police officers.

"Better finish them off," chuckled the truck. "They're only being a pain in my bumper as it is."

The corrupt police nodded and aimed their weapons to shoot. Alison was horrified, then she noticed something. The truck had parked right on her new tracks, and remembering what happened with Andrea in the winter, she decided to take matters into her own cowcatcher. She didn't need to say anything, Lori and Luna knew what to do.

Luna stoked the fire while Lori opened the throttle. Alison sped up shouting, "hey lug nuts! TAKE THIS!"

There came an almighty crash as the truck was bumped hard from behind. It launched forward, forcing the corrupt police to run for safety. Alison charged again and bumped the truck again, making it spin until it fell onto it's side.

Alison smirked, "enjoying the view down there?"

The truck groaned, "you stupid tin can, you damaged me!"

"Serves you right for what you did to me. And by the way, tin can is reference to a diesel you overgrown sardine can."

The corrupt police got out and pointed their weapons at Alison, "you're going to be sorry you messed with us," said the corrupt chief.

They gulped a moment later as they heard the sounds of weapons being prepared to fire. They looked and saw the chief of police from Big Jim's town, his entire police force and Mr Harrison standing beside the shop.

"I suggest you drop your weapons, you're outnumbered," said the chief of police.

The corrupt police gave in and surrendered at once. As the Big Jim's Town police force dealt with them, Mr Harrison walked over to Alison's now damaged front end.

"So you decided to go Bumper to Cowcatcher, am I right?"

Alison gulped, "I...I know I shouldn't have Sir, but I..."

"We're all to blame," said Lori. "Both Luns and I agreed to help without Alison saying a word."

"They saved our lives," said Rose. Mr Harrison looked to the couple, "we would be dead had it not been for them. You should be proud of them Sir, they're heroes."

The workers, who had been thrown around in the coaches during the short bit of action, all cheered in agreement.

"Heroes! Heroes! Heroes!"

Mr Harrison smiled, then turned back to Alison, "Well normally I would punish you for actions like this, but since you did good, I'll let you off with a warning." He looked around and whispered, "can't let you off that easily, even if it was justified." Alison completely understood.

The entire police force of Rosie's Hallow were arrested after it was discovered of all the crimes they have done. They vowed revenge, but no one really payed attention to them. A new police force soon took their place, and proved to be better and friendlier than their counterparts. As for the truck company, this time they were hit hard by the police of both Rosie's Hallow and Big Jim's Town. In the end, the truck was towed away to the impound lot with the other trucks, and more than half of the company's employees were arrested for multiple crimes aganist the town.

Rose and Lucias both grew fond of the Little Haulers, and soon renamed their shop from the Tasty Goods to Little Hauler's Finest. It became a big hit, not just with Rosie's Hallow, but other towns on the Island. It was soon revealed though that their favorite engine was Alison.

"Look at this Alison," said Lori one evening after they returned to the Warehouse. "We got this from the Little Hauler's Finest."

She opened a box, revealing a beautiful cake that looked just like Alison. There were also some cookies that had her shape.

"Now that's how you make an impression," cheered Freddie, "though next time, try not to do it literally."

Alison rolled her eyes, "I'll try Freddie, but I can't promise anything," and she winked at her friends, who just laughed.

In the impound lot, the trucks looked to each other with angry stares, "those engines have made fools out of us all, and are ruining our company. We need to do something about that."

"Patience my young friend," snickered the truck from the winter incident, "we'll get our own, just be patient."

I wonder what those trucks are planning. I guess only time will tell for sure.