Chapter 229: Dirty Water

"You missed a spot," Peter Sam said to Lizzy and Cathy as they cleaned his engine. Lizzy was polishing the whistle, while Kathy was cleaning the cab windows. "You know, they do a pretty good job of cleaning engines on the Talyllyn Railway."

"Well, go back there if they're so good at it!" Kathy snapped, throwing her rag down in anger. Kathy meant well, but she did have a tendency to fly off the handle at times."

"Kathy!" Lizzie cried. "There's no need for that. I'm sorry Peter Sam, you know how she is."

Lizzy and Kathy were visiting from Wales. Their parents worked on the Talyllyn Railway, but had come to Sodor for their holiday. Looking to make some cash, Lizzie and Kathy got temporary jobs as engine cleaners on the weekends. Peter Sam couldn't help but chuckle.

"Its alright, Lizzie. She reminds me a lot of Sir Handel."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Lizzie and Peter Sam rolled their eyes.

"As I was saying, this reminded me of a story during my time there. About the time my engine took on some bad water."

"Please tell us!"

Peter Sam chuckled.

"Oh, alright, though I'm not much of a storyteller..."

Lizzie and Kathy inched closer, and this is the story Peter Sam told them...

They have some strange water on the Talyllyn Railway. Nothing like the kind we have here on Sodor...

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Kathy! He was about to tell us!"

"Well, its a weird way to start a story, is all!"

"If you two don't stop talking, I'll never get to the end!"

The two girls quickly quieted down, letting Peter Sam continue. Clearing his throat, Peter Sam started back up.

As I was saying, the water on that railway is rather unusual. Before we fill our engine's tanks, the workmen need to put some kind of chemical into it to make it work. Now, the incident I'm remembering happened on one summer morning, not long ago. I had just woken up and was ready to start the day, but it didn't get off to a good start. I don't know what it was, but something about the water seemed off that morning. Maybe it was the color, or how slowly it seemed to pour in, but it gave me a bad feeling. I tried bringing it to the foreman's attention, but he just shook it off.

"Must be your imagination," he scoffed. "No time to examine your engine, your first train is due in 15 minutes."

Seeing that it would be pointless to argue, I set off, but something still didn't seem right. I brought the coaches to the station and went to let off steam. And as we started off, it happened. We made it not even 5 inches before WHOOSH! A column of filthy, white water shot out of the funnel like a geyser. I had leaned out of the cab to see what the matter, only to get drenched.

Lizzie and Kathy gasped.

I felt awful! Luckily, all of the passengers were in the coaches, but I was a right mess. I tried again, but got the same results once more. At last, I had to admit defeat. Talyllyn took the train on, while my engine was shunted onto a siding out of the way. All I wanted was to go back to the house and change, but I wasn't allowed.

"The visitors came to see you and your engine," said the manager, "And we'll have a riot on our hands if they don't. But don't worry, once they're gone your engine will have a nice washdown and you can have tomorrow off."

That did little to improve my mood. All day long, visitors came up and gawked. Some even took pictures, but I wish they hadn't. Needless to say, it was the worst day of my trip by a longshot.

Lizzie and Kathy gave him sympathetic looks.

"Oh, you poor thing."

"Oh, it's alright, really. After all of that, I took a long shower. Cheered me right up, it did! And the workmen cleaned my engine so well I hardly recognized it. Of course after that day they had to watch how much of that stuff they put in the water columns."

"Hey, I remember now!" Lizzie cried, snapping her fingers in recognition. "Dad told me about that. They have to put some kind of pill in it now."

"Not a pill, silly!" Giggled her sister.

"She's right. It's some kind of powder we put into the tanks before each fill up."

Just then, their watches beeped, signaling that their work was done.

"Come on sis, we're supposed to meet up with Mom and Dad at the hotel for dinner. If we're late again they'll throw the book at us!"

"Coming, Kathy! Thanks for the story, Peter Sam!"

Peter Sam waved goodbye as the two raced off, lightly pushing and shoving each other as they tried to beat each other to the hotel. Peter Sam rolled his eyes.

"You're only young once, I suppose. Oh god, I sound like Duke."