Bill and Ben, the tank engine twins, work at the China Clay Pits on the Brendam Branch. They deliver china clay from the pits and bring them to the docks where it's either loaded onto boats or taken down the branch line where it's taken by other trains.
The twins do work hard but they much prefer playing around either by shunting trucks harder than the shoulder, racing down the line to see who was the fastest, or most often playing pranks on the other engines. Edward is one of the few engines that can keep them in line. Bill and Ben know he's right, but they still want to have fun.
One day, the two china clay engines were delivering a load to the dock when Bill noticed something. "Hey, Ben, how long has that tunnel been there?" he asked.
"What tunnel?" Ben questioned. Moving down the line, the twins both saw a tunnel they hadn't seen before. There was a t-shaped set of points connected to it and the tunnel looked like it led underground. "When was that there?"
"Why would I ask you if I didn't know?"
"Well, we didn't see any construction on this line. I would've noticed."
"Maybe we ask Edward." The strange tunnel was on their mind until they made it to Brendam Dock. They left their train for Salty to shunt as they found Edward pulling into the passenger station. He could see the twins approaching him as he was being uncoupled from the coaches.
"Hello you two," the blue engine said. "You look rather puzzled. What's on your mind?"
"Edward, do you know anything about a tunnel being built between her and the pits?" Bill asked.
"What tunnel?"
"We saw a tunnel on the way here," Ben explained.
Edward was rather confused. "There was no news about a tunnel being built on your line. Are you trying to play a joke?"
"We're not joking," Bill stated, "We can show you if you want."
"That's kind of you to offer, but I have to get ready for the return journey." Edward puffed away to turn himself around while the twins went back to the play pits.
Along the way, they kept a lookout for the strange tunnel and before they could get to the drain, there was the strange tunnel. "Bill, do you see it?" Ben asked.
"I do," Bill responded. Curious, they had their drivers went over to the tunnel and touched the brickwork.
"Well, this is real," Bill's driver commented.
"But that doesn't answer where it came from," Ben said.
"We'll tell Sir Topham Hatt about this," Ben's driver said. "We've still got work to do." They got back in the engines' cabs and carried on back to the pits. When they got there, the twins told Marion and Timothy about what they found, but they didn't believe them considering their track record.
Bill and Ben looked at the strange tunnel every time they passed it. They asked their crews to see if they could go in there, but they wouldn't let them. Not just because they didn't know where it went, but because they had to clay to deliver. Needless to say, the twins wanted to know more about this strange tunnel.
Later that evening, the engines were resting in their sheds cooling their boilers. The twins couldn't get the odd tunnel out of their minds. "Do you think our drivers are going to tell Sir Topham Hatt about the tunnel?" Ben questioned.
"I just want to see what's on the other side," Bill said. He still had plenty of steam so he started off towards the tunnel. Ben, who was curious like his brother, started off down the line. With the glow of their lamps, they traveled down the tracks until they reached the strange tunnel. Bill looked down at the points and found they were set to lead into the tunnel.
"Okay, let's see what's inside." The china clay twins slowly puffed forwards and drove into the tunnel disappearing into the dark.
The next morning, Edward trundled down the line pulling his local train. He whistled to many engines that passed him. He was picking up passengers at Suddery when he heard a whistle. "James?" the blue engine questioned.
The red number five looked to be speeding down the line pulling some freight cars. He did not look happy. What was confusing though was the fact he was signaled through to pass Edward. The old engine was very puzzled. He didn't get an answer until he made it to Brendam.
After he was uncoupled, Edward looked around until he found James filling up on water with Porter sitting beside him. "I don't see why Sir Topham Hatt had me come here," James complained. "Why not Nevile, or Molly, Donald, Douglas, Murdoch, any other engine that doesn't mind goods work."
"Because useful engines don't argue," Edward commented. James looked rather shocked to see him cut in. "I'm still curious, why are you here?"
"Because he has to cover for Derek," Porter answered. "Derek has to cover for Bill and Ben."
"Oh, dear. What did they do?"
"They just... Disappeared."
"Disappeared?"
"Apparently," James growled. "Honestly, when I get my buffers on those two."
"Settle down James. Porter, do you know anything about Bill and Ben vanishing?"
"Sorry Edward. I only just found out this morning."
"How haven't you known?" James questioned.
"I don't know," Edward admitted, "I would like to know what happened to them."
"I'd love to help you two," Porter said, "But I've got to stay here and help Salty." The dock shunter puffed away to get back to work. This left Edward and James puzzled and cross, respectively.
James moved out of the way so Edward could fill up his water tank as the two heard a horn. It was from Derek, who was pulling a train of china clay. He looked rather confused. "Oh, Edward, I'm glad I found you," the diesel said.
"What's the matter, Derek?" Edward asked.
"I saw something rather strange. There was a tunnel that just showed up out of nowhere."
"A tunnel?"
"What are you talking about?" James questioned.
"Bill and Ben have told me about some strange tunnel that appeared out of nowhere. I think I have a theory about where they went. Derek, can you show us where the tunnel is?"
The diesel and engine did so. He led the blue and red engines down the line to the clay pits. Halfway there, they stopped at the odd tunnel. Edward was very surprised. "This wasn't here before?" James questioned. He hadn't really been down this line before.
"I wish I knew," Derek admitted. "You think that the twins went down there?"
"I have a feeling they wanted to know what was on the other side," Edward commented. "We'll complete our jobs and then..." Edward couldn't finish his sentence as James started descending into the tunnel. "James, wait!"
"The sooner we find those two, the sooner I go back to the mainline!" James shouted as he went deeper and deeper into the tunnel.
Edwards sighed. "Derek, keep doing your work, I'm going to stop James, and hopefully find the twins."
"Good luck Edward," Derek said. He carried on towards the clay pits while the blue engine chased the red engine through the tunnel.
"James! Come back!" James had gotten a headstart so Edward had to move fast. Blowing his whistle, Edward began catching up to his friend just as they could see a light at the end of the tunnel. The two engines rushed out of the tunnel and looked at their surroundings.
"Are we still on Sodor?" James questioned.
"I'm honestly not sure." The splendid engine continued forward as the older one followed him as they were switched onto a different line to run beside each other. "James, we have to go back."
"We're already here Edward, we might as well look for the twins."
"We've got work to do on the branch line. We'll come back here with a search party, maybe a crane just in CASE!" Because he was focusing on James, Edward didn't look where he was going and bumped into a green engine. "Ooh, I'm sorry. My friend and I were trying to find some engines. We think they went through..."
Edward stopped when the engine backed up over a switch so he and James could see he was familiar number six that looked... Very different. "Percy?" James questioned.
"Yep, that's me," the green engine. The two mixed traffic engines were very shocked by Percy's appearance. His cab didn't have any doors and his number was sitting they should be. His side rods were missing, his whistle and funnel both look bigger and his eyes were green like his paintwork.
"Ugh... Percy, are you feeling okay?" Edward asked, a little concerned.
"A sore on the back end. Other than that I'm fine."
"Did you go through some bad overhaul?" James questioned.
"What's an overhaul?"
"It's something an engine goes through when they need repair," Edward said.
"It looks like he needs repairs," James muttered.
"I'm perfectly fine," Percy stated. He proceeded to back down to an odd-looking truck. It matched his paintwork and had six wheels. Not just that but a flatbed with a small crane arm on with that had a claw on the end. "Anyways, Thomas says he needs this crane and an extra cart to clean up a mess he made before Gordon finds out." Percy then realised he probably shouldn't have said that. "Goodbye."
With that, the green engine raced away getting to a speed faster than he would logically get to. "This is not right," Edward commented.
"Really Edward?" James questioned. "How could Percy even move without his side rods. And what was with those trucks he was pulling?"
"Honestly, it did look like someone just put a crane arm on a flatbed. Anyways, we need to find the twins right away."
"I agree. I don't want to be on these tracks any longer than I need to. I mean... Just look at that." There was a set of tracks that climbed upwards and spiraled around a tower. "That's way too sharp and steep."
"While you are correct, we need to focus. Maybe there are other engines around." The two carried on kept looking around for the missing twins.
Traveling down the line, they passed a couple of stations where there didn't seem to be any people. It started feeling like a ghost town to the engines. Just then, they could hear some spraying sounds not too far away. They could see an orange engine using a strange-looking machine on a flatbed.
The machine had five containers, each one containing a different color, red, yellow, blue, white, and black. There was a screen in front of the engine that showed them mixed colors and there was a nozzle on the machine that could be aimed. The orange engine sprayed a nearby fence with a nice coat of light yellow. Edward and James stopped beside her.
"Um, excuse me," the number two engine said. The orange tank was surprised to him and James.
"Oh, I'm sorry," the orange engine said, "Can I help you?"
"You might. Have you seen two yellow engines around here? They had S.C.C. painted on their sides along with some nameplates."
The orange tank engine thought for a moment. "I think I saw two yellow engines with Thomas earlier."
"Where did they go?"
"Last time I saw them was when they were passing over Gordon's hill."
"Thank you. Follow-up question, what's your name, and where is Gordon's hill?"
"Nia, and if you follow the first track heading left, you should find the incline."
"Thank you." Edward and James puffed away, leaving Nia to resume painting the fence.
"What kind of rolling stock does this railway have?" James questioned.
"As much as I want to know how a truck like that could work, we need to focus." When Edward saw the first switch, he and James went left towards Gordon's hill. Both began speeding up not wanting to get stuck in a steep incline.
It was very steep, both engines puffed with all their might and soon they reached the top. Along the way down, Edward could see a blue and two yellow blurs speeding down the track. "That must be Bill and Ben," Edward gasped. He and James raced down the hill to try and catch up with them.
When they got to the bottom they could see some points that could lead them down the same line they saw the twins. However, a purple blur zoomed in front of them just before they crossed the switch. Edward braked in shock causing James to bump into his tender. The blue engine ended up derailed rolling completely off the rail and sat on the grass beside the line.
"Uh oh," James gasped. "Edward, I'm so sorry."
"It's okay James. Just... Try and find a crane to help get me back on the rails." James did so and race down the line as fast as he could. Edward sat by himself feeling a little angrier towards the missing twins.
"Find a crane. Find a crane," James muttered to himself. He soon found he was entering a goods yard. All kinds of strange rolling stock lay everywhere. He looked around until he saw a crane that was similar to the one he saw Percy pick up. He coupled up to it and was about to pull it away when the crane arm started swinging around.
James couldn't figure out how to make it stop. Suddenly, the crane was pulled away from the red engine. The crane was moved onto another line and the engine moving it could be seen. It was a boxy black engine that gave dirty clouds of dust from his exhausts. "Diesel?" James questioned.
"Yeah, who are you?" the devious engine questioned.
"James. Now, my friend is derailed and I need that crane."
"Well, I saw this crane first. Just find another one." Diesel began to roll away, but James wasn't giving up that easy. He puffed alongside the devious diesel.
"What do you even need that crane?"
"Thomas says that his new friends are already masters at truck bump."
"What the heck is that?"
"It's basically a version of soccer."
"You mean football?"
"No, soccer. I need this crane so I can keep my goal safe."
"Can't you just use another one?"
"I need this." With that, Diesel sped off with the crane, leaving James behind. The red engine groaned as he went back to searching for another crane. When he went a little deeper into the yard, he found a couple of trucks that were shaped like geometric shapes. There was a ball on wheels, a triangular truck with an open shute, and even some vans that were just cubes.
"What kind of rolling stock is... What is that?" James was lost for words when he saw a set of tracks go right through a loop-de-loop. "Okay, I give up now."
"What's the matter?" asked a voice. James looked to see an emerald green engine with two big drive wheels. James recognized who it was.
"Emily?"
"Yes. Why was diesel leaving with one of the cranes?"
"He took it from me." And thus, he explained the situation to the emerald engine.
Edward was still waiting for James to return. It was quite dull. "The twins and I are going to have a long talk after this," he muttered. He looked up when heard two whistles. He could see James and Emily coming back with a set of cranes.
"James. Emily?" the blue engine questioned.
"Yes Edward," James confirmed, "Emily is here."
"And I'm sorry for Diesel making things harder for you two," the emerald engine apologized. "He's always doing his best to be better than Thomas. Since those twins showed up, Thomas has never been happier." She used the crane to grab onto Edward's footplate while James used his crane to grab his cab.
"Uh, are you sure this is safe?" Edward asked.
"Edward, just stay calm so we can get this over with," James muttered. It was rather hard using these new kinds of cranes but Emily was able to talk James through how to make it work. With a few struggles, they managed to get the old engine back onto the tracks.
"I'm sorry for this happening to you," Emily apologized. "I guess Kana still needs to watch her speed."
"Who's Kana?" Edward questioned.
"She's an electric bullet train who loves to show her speed."
"How many times has she derailed?" James questioned.
"I think I might've lost count. Listen, if you do see her, tell her I'd like to have a word with her."
"Will do," Edward said.
"By the way, I think I might know where Bill and Ben are," James noted.
"You do? Where?"
"I just need to find the spot where the engines play soccer." This commented confused Edward quite a bit. Thankfully, Emily was able to lead the visiting engines down the line to set of siding. They saw a white truck with black spots on it roll down the line with Diesel and a yellow engine chasing it.
"No fair, I've never played this game before," the yellow engine groaned.
"Try and keep up," Diesel cackled. His smile was quickly wiped off his face when another yellow engine smacked the truck back the way it came with a crane.
"Ha! Take that Diesel," the engine chuckled. As he and his twin raced the other way to their goal with Diesel fuming.
"Bill and Ben!" Edward and James gasped. Both of them were feeling quite annoyed by this, more so for James. He puffed forward with his face as red as his paintwork.
"You were supposed to keep your goal safe," Diesel stated.
"You never said we couldn't go get the ball," Ben chuckled. He quickly switched tracks as Bill smacked the truck again sending it straight into a set of buffers.
"Goal!" the twins cheered. Diesel rolled his eyes as he saw James puffing towards them. Without warning, he bumped into Bill, startling both twins.
"Bill! Ben!" the red engine cried. "What do you think you were doing?"
"James, settle down," Edward requested. He puffed alongside the two steam engines. "While James didn't have the right to biff you, that doesn't mean you could just run off and leave your work to the other engines. Derek had to pull your trains, leaving more work for me and Boco, thus James had to be called onto the branch line."
"But we just wanted to see what was in the tunnel," Ben stated.
"I understand that. However, you can't just run off without telling anyone. Derek and the other engines are worried about you. Now, we're going back to the clay pits."
"Yes, Edward," the twins sighed.
"Hey, what about our game?" Diesel questioned.
"I'd say you'd call it a draw," Emily said. Edward, James, and the twins soon left the engines by themselves.
"You know, Edward," Bill said, "It was weird seeing Thomas and the other engines without side rods."
"You aren't wrong, Bill," the old engine said.
Emily watched the puff away then turned her attention to Diesel. "Now, Diesel, I was told that you took a crane that James needed for helping Edward," she said. "For that, I need you to take this crane back to the yard and sort out the mess there."
"But I didn't make that!" Diesel proclaimed.
"Maybe, but that doesn't mean you can just take a crane when another engine needs it for help." Diesel just groaned as he followed Emily back to the yard.
The twins didn't say much as they followed James and Edward towards the tunnel. "I can't wait to get out of here," James muttered. "Back to my coaches."
"Do you realize there's a lack of people around here?" Ben asked. "We passed like four stations and I haven't seen one."
"...Actually, that's a good point," Edward admitted. The four engines looked to see the tunnel ahead of them. Lying on the tracks looked to be a purple three-axled truck. It was on its side and prevent the engines from getting into the tunnel.
"Bother!" James growled.
"Calm down James," Edward said. "We'll have to go back and get a crane."
"But tender engines can't run backward," Bill said.
"Indeed. One of you will have to come with me."
"So, I'm stuck with the other one?" James questioned annoyed.
"Hey!" the twins cried.
"Now, don't you start," Edward ordered. "Ben, you're coming with me. Bill, you stick with James."
"Why do we even have to stay here?" James questioned.
"There's a chance another engine will come by and help. Now, the longer we stay here and talk the longer it'll take to get back home." With that, Ben coupled up to Edward's tender and they puffed back to the yard.
James and Bill sat by the tunnel, looking up and down the line to see if any engine was coming. Sadly, there wasn't any nearby. "Why did you have to go into that tunnel?" James asked.
"Well, sorry," Bill said sarcastically, "But I wanted to know where the random tunnel that showed up out of nowhere led to." The red engine just rolled his eyes as he could hear some rolling stock rolling down the track. Some screeching brakes could be heard as a purple bullet train stopped right beside the tender engine and tank engine.
"Um... Hello there," she spoke. "Who are you?"
"I'm Bill."
"And I'm James," the red engine said. He looked at the purple bullet train and started piecing some things together. "Are you Kana?"
"Yes," the bullet train said.
"So, you're the one who caused Edward to derail."
"I did?"
"Well, you just flew through that junction. Aren't there any speed limits on this railway?"
"Oh... Uh..." Kana didn't know what to say and quickly dashed away.
"Hey, get back here!" James quickly raced after the bullet train with Bill following him.
"I thought Edward told us to stay near the tunnel?" the tank engine questioned.
"Not until I have a word with this engine." James raced faster and faster making it hard for Bill to keep up. Kana was much faster than the red engine. She began running down the line as James could see there was a lot of sand and some cacti near the tracks. "What the... Is this a desert?"
The number five engine didn't question this and kept trying to keep up with Kana, who was starting to go uphill. James whistled loudly and could see the bullet train was slowing down, for good reason. The points were set against James, before he could react he was sent down a hill leading to a broken bridge. He braked as hard as he could only to fly off the rail and crash land into the mud.
"Gah. Yuk!" James was more disgusted than hurt. Bill eventually managed to catch up and slowly puffed to the edge of the bridge.
"James, are you okay?" the china clay engine asked.
"What do you think?"
"...Well, I think we lost Kana. I'm going to find Edward and get a crane." Bill slowly puffed away, leaving James stuck in the mud.
Edward and Ben made their way back to the yard. The two engines didn't say anything as Ben felt that Edward was still angry at him. When they arrived at the shunting yards they could see Diesel wasn't doing a very good job keeping it in order. Trucks were all over the place, mixed up and derailed.
"Oh, dear," the old engine sighed. He pulled alongside the shunting engine who was quite unhappy. "Diesel, do you know where the cranes are at?" The engine didn't answer and went back to shunting. "Diesel."
The engine didn't say anything and tried to roll away, but Ben stopped him. "How do we know you weren't the one who blocked the tunnel?" he questioned.
"Ben, I'm happy you're trying to help, but let me handle this please."
"Yes, Edward." Ben puffed away to the edge of the yard as his twin raced in, whistling franticly.
"Where's the crane?" Bill panted.
"Why are you asking?"
"James has crashed. He's stuck in a pit of mud."
"What?!" Edward questioned. He overheard what was said and puffed towards the two twins.
"James started chasing this bullet train named Kana and we went through a desert and then he flew off a short bridge."
"...A desert?"
"I swear, I'm not making this up."
"Bill, given what we've seen on this island so far, I believe you. I'm sure a desert won't be hard to miss if we start looking."
"We still need a crane," Ben stated.
"Right. Spread out and try to find one." Edward and the twin looked around the yard, but Diesel was making it quite difficult. He kept getting in the way of the three engines by blocking the lines with some trucks and various bits of cargo.
The twins often bumped him out of the way, while Edward did his best to keep calm. Finally, they found where Diesel had shunted the cranes, behind a list of trucks of garbage. "Well, at least we'll be able to clear the tracks," Edward commented. He started shunting the trucks out of the way as Bill kept trying to remember where James had crashed.
"How could you forget where a desert is?" Ben questioned.
"I don't know," Bill retorted, "It all happened so fast."
"Now is not the time to argue," Edward interrupted. "Diesel, do you know where Emily is?" The troublesome engine didn't respond and just rolled away. "Ugh, I knew that wouldn't work." Edward looked around the yard to see if anyone else was nearby until he saw some peculiar. "What is that?"
There was a section of tracks that went up into a loop-de-loop in the middle of the yard. If someone like Edward or the twins tried it, they would lose their grip on the tracks or more likely crash off the rails. Suddenly, a familiar-looking blue tank engine zoomed into the yard. He raced through the loop and soon came to a screeching halt beside the old engine and the twins.
"Bill, Ben," the blue engine questioned. "I thought you were going home."
"It's complicated," both china clay engines responded.
Edward looked at the little tank engine and it did look like Thomas, though with a couple of different features. "Um, Thomas is it?" he asked.
"Yes, what are you doing with those cranes?"
"Our friend, James, had derailed. Bill said that he crashed on a bridge near a dessert."
"I think I know where that is, follow me." With that, Thomas jumped off the tracks turning himself around. He puffed down the track with Edward and the twins following behind. "Was Diesel wanting to help too?"
"With James? Why do you ask?"
"He was taking one of the cranes and some flatbeds with him."
James was getting rather bored sitting in the mud. He kept wondering where Bill was. Suddenly, he heard a strange horn and looked up to see a crane arm above him. "Ugh, about time," he groaned. The crane arm lowered its claw and tried pulling James up by his handrail. This unfortunately caused the rail to break off. "Ow!"
"Hey, don't move!" called a voice. James recognized the voice and was pretty confused.
"Diesel?"
"Yes. Now, stay still so I can rescue you." Diesel tried lowering the crane arm again and tried to pull on James's buffer.
"Hey! Hey! You're going to rip my buffer off!"
"Well, I can't really see you."
"Then maybe you should stop and try something else." Diesel didn't listen and just tried to grab James from under his footplate. Just before he was about to lift up, he could see Thomas and the visitors coming in from the opposite side of the bridge.
"Thanks for helping us get here Thomas," Edward said. "Now, we just..." The wise old engine stopped when he saw Diesel trying to rescue James by himself. "Diesel, what are you doing?"
"Ripping me apart, that's what," James answered.
"No, I'm not," Diesel said. "I'm trying to put him back on the track." Edward looked at the crane that Diesel was using.
"It looks like you're going to need two cranes for this job," Edward commented. Diesel didn't listen and just tried to pull James back up. When he tried to pull the red engine up, the red engine was tipped onto his side. "Diesel, you're making things worse."
"Shut up. I know what I'm doing." He was about to try again until a loud deep whistle could be heard. From behind Diesel, around the bend, came a familier big blue engine pull up behind the stubborn engine.
"Is that Gordon?" Edward questioned.
"Bust my buffers!" Ben gasped, "He's huge!"
Diesel looked behind him and Gordon wasn't happy. "Um... Ugh..." he stuttered.
"Diesel, what are you doing?" Gordon asked.
"He's trying to rerail me," James spoke. "Instead, he's ripping me apart."
"We have a second crane here," Edward spoke. "If Diesel would cooperate, we could get James back into the rails."
"I'll help you, once I'm given the crane," Gordon spoke. Diesel didn't say anything as he and Gordon move back to some points so that Gordon could take control of the crane. Once the big engine was in position, he and Edward lowered the arms down to get James upright. Once they did that, they slowly but surely brought James back up until they could get him back onto the tracks.
"Hold on, is that Gordon?" James questioned.
"I figure it's best not to question," Edward whispered. "Now, to get you onto this flatbed."
"They have ramps so engines can roll onto them," Gordon informed.
Curious, Edward backed up so the crane could be moved out of the way. Now, he could move the flatbed to carry James. "Okay, so how do I...?" Suddenly, some rails extend from the front of the flatbed, and a chain even extended to hook up to James.
"Whoa! Watch it!" James cried.
"Sorry, this is new to me." The chain began to retract and pulled James onto the flatbed. Some blocked appeared in between the red engine's wheels to prevent him from rolling off. Then, the rails retracted back into the flatbed. "Hmm, kind of wish we had rolling stock like this. I would've made carrying damaged engines."
Soon, Edward brought James and the twins back to the tunnel, which had been cleared. "Do you really have to go?" Thomas asked.
"We do need to go home," Edward explained. "Besides, James needs repairs."
"It was fun while it lasted," Bill sighed.
"Can't we come back here?" Ben asked.
"Don't count on it," James muttered.
"We'll be sure to return the flatbed once we're done with it," Edward spoke.
"Thank you, Edward," Gordon spoke. "Just keep an eye on those twins."
Edward laughed. "Don't worry, Gordon. This isn't the first mess that I had to clean up after them. Come on along you two, let's go home." With a whistle goodbye, Edward, Bill, and Ben puffed through the tunnel taking James home with them.
A few minutes of traveling later, the engine popped out of the other side and found they were on the tracks between the clay pits and Brendam Docks. "Finally," James sighed.
"So, what now?" Bill asked.
"You two will report back to the clay pits," Edward told. He looked up at the sky and saw the sun was setting. "I'm going to take James to the Steamworks." The twins listen and puffed away as Edward took James in the opposite direction.
When Bill and Ben made it back to the clay pits, it was late. Timothy and Marion were already asleep so, the twins quietly pulled into their sheds not waking them up. "You think they'll be mad at us?" Ben whispered.
"Of course," Bill responded. "Let's just sleep and hopefully they won't be too mad." So, that's what they did. Hopefully, the workers at the clay pits or even Sir Topham Hatt wouldn't be too hard on them.
The twins were soon woken up by the sound of Timothy's whistle. They looked to see the oil-burning engine shunting some trucks waiting to be taken to Brendam Docks. "You two have been sleeping for too long," Timothy spoke. "Now, get moving before Sir Topham Hatt hears about this."
"Yes, Timothy," the twins responded. Bill and Ben were steamed up and took the loaded train to the docks. Along the way, neither one of the twins could see the tunnel that leads to the cartoonish island.
"Hey, Bill," Ben said, "Where did the tunnel go?"
"I don't know, Ben," Bill responded. "Was that tunnel even real?" This left both of them puzzled until they made it to the docks. Boco was there waiting for his train to be loaded up. He could see the twins pull up beside him and asked him about the tunnel.
"What are you two talking about?" the diesel questioned. "There hasn't been a tunnel on that line. Are you trying to pull a prank on me?"
"No," Bill responded. "We're just curious." He and his twin puffed away to take some trucks back to the clay pits. "Maybe we did just dream of the tunnel."
"And that strange island?" Ben questioned. They were buffered up to double head some empty trucks. Once coupled, the two set off back to the pits. "How could we have the same dream?"
"I don't know. If it's not, we probably just overslept. That shouldn't get us into too much trouble." This kept both engines as they carried on with their work, unsure if that strange island was real or not.