Chapter 228: Fred's Plan

Summer had come to Sodor, and with it came tourists. The engines of The Skarloey Railway were especially busy, but the engine drivers didn't mind. Except for one.

"Work, work, work!" Grumbled Fred. "Bad enough I have to plod along the line with the maintenance trains, but now I'm expected to handle goods work too? Like I've got nothing better to do with my time."

"You don't," grumbled Skarloey. "All you ever do with your free time is sleep and watch TV. Some hard work will do you some good. Its a good thing that new engine will be done soon, or we'd never hear the end of it."

"Indeed," snorted Duke. "Your attitude would never suit his grace, Fred!"

But Fred carried on the same way. Mr. Percival expected it to be so busy that he called Peter Sam back from helping on the Talyllyn Railway. When he got home, he was given the rest of the day to rest, which only fueled Fred's complaining.

"They call him back all the way from Wales, just to let him do nothing all day. This is blasphemy. This is madness! This is-"

"SHUT UP!" Duncan barked from the other room. "Honestly, you make me look like Little Miss Sunshine."

Fred wisely kept it down, but was in a bad mood for the rest of the day. Later that day, he was taking a train of slate to the transfer yards when he heard a strange noise coming from the engine.

"Huh? What's wrong with this blasted thing now?"

With a splutter and a clang, the train came to a stop, smoke billowing from the engine as Fred threw his arms up in disbelief.

"Great! Can this day get any worse?"

As if the universe was taunting him, it started to rain. Fred just slumped over in defeat.

"I just had to say it."

Rusty soon arrived to give him a ride back to the yards, where Mr. Hugh was waiting to give the engine an inspection.

"Well, that's torn it," he sighed. "The engine's gone kaput. We'll have to order a whole new one. No more work for you, I'm afraid."

Fred was delighted.

"Finally," he thought. "The well earned rest I deserve." But he kept that to himself.

At first, Fred liked it. He got some reading done, and tidied up around the common house. But eventually, he got bored of it. He read every book he wanted to, TWICE! He tried looking for work around the railway, but there was none to be found. And as the days wore on, he began to feel like he had been forgotten. One day, he heard a loud cheer coming from the workshops.

"What's all the cheering for?" He asked Skarloey.

"The workmen just finished the new engine," he told him. "Once its finished its trials, it'll be an official part of the railway."

Fred thought that maybe once the new engine was finished, his engine could be fixed, but it wasn't meant to be. At last, Mr. Percival came to see him.

"Your engine's all fixed, Fred. Now, I don't want any more complaining about hard work, understand?"

Fred, who was beginning to think this had been some sort of punishment, was eager to get back to work.

"Oh yes, sir! I'm sorry, sir! I'll be the hardest worker ever."

"Um, good to hear."

Fred was good as his word, and ran up and down the line all day. Rusty barely recognized him when he passed him with the morning works train! Needless to say, everyone was pleased by the transformation.

No one ever told him that the replacement engine had only just arrived that morning.