SIR HANDEL SPOILS THE WASHING
Written by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens
Set during series 19-21
It was a blustery autumn day on Sodor, and the little engines of the Skarloey Railway were waiting to get ready.
"Just my luck," Sir Handel yawned grumpily. "I'm first out once again and I've to take some trucks to the Blue Mountain Quarry! And on a windy day, no less! I'd much rather be taking Gertrude and Millicent out on a passenger run today."
"At least you have work to do today," said Peter Sam. "Don't you remember back on our old line? The last few years before it closed down, we had very little to do!"
"Peter Sam is right," agreed Luke. "You should be thankful you've got work to do at all, whatever the weather."
"Hmph," grunted Sir Handel. "You're a young, impressionable engine, Luke. One of these days, you'll know how hard it is to work with the wind blowing in your face." Feeling as though he'd made his point quite clear, the dark blue tank engine rolled away to collect his trucks.
"He's not always like that, is he?" asked Luke to Peter Sam.
"He was worse when we were new here, even more so when he was first built," sighed Peter Sam. "But he is getting better overtime. Part of me wonders if he's just anxious to see Granpuff come back from overhaul soon."
"Oh yes, I haven't met Duke yet," Luke admitted. "Maybe that will be soon."
Sir Handel was already in a bad mood to start with, and the chilly wind made him even more cross.
"Come on, hurry up!" he snapped to the trucks as he bumped them into place. "I want no nonsense out of you today!"
"Oooh, temper, temper," some of the trucks giggled to each other. "Someone got out of the wrong side of the shed this morning!" They giggled once more before Sir Handel bumped them again. "Ooh! Ooh! Ow! Oh!"
"Be quiet and get moving!" scolded Sir Handel. Cora the tool van was going to be his brake van for the day, and was concerned for him.
"You might want to take care today," she advised gently. "You remember what happened last time you treated the trucks roughly."
Sir Handel winced and he said nothing. He, Peter Sam and by extension, Duke, knew Cora from the old days of the Mid-Sodor Railway, and she could tell almost immediately if something was wrong.
The wind continued to blow hard as Sir Handel and Cora made their way to the Blue Mountain Quarry. Leaves flew all over the places as they were loosened from their branches, sometimes getting into Sir Handel's face.
"Puh!" he spat, blowing the leaves that had gotten close to his mouth. "Blasted weather. At least there's no branches on the line to deal with."
"Oh, yes, we can be thankful for that, Sir Handel," agreed Cora from the rear. "Rusty and the crew do wonders keeping the tracks clear for us."
"All the same, I'll be more than glad to get back inside our warm sheds," said Sir Handel.
It wasn't long before they had come to a steep hill. The wind had made things more difficult for Sir Handel than they normally would be, and the grumbling trucks behind him didn't help either.
"Hold back! Hold back!" they giggled. "Slow him down!"
"Oh, get a move on, you!" snapped Sir Handel. His wheels were spinning fiercely as they slipped on the rails.
"Go for it, Sir Handel!" called his fireman, shoveling more coal into his firebox. "Don't let those trucks beat you!"
With sand being dropped so as to grip the rails, Sir Handel puffed harder and harder with smoke and steam billowing out from his funnel at a tremendous rate. He wasn't about to let the trucks slow him down any time soon.
"I've done it, I've done it," puffed Sir Handel as he'd reached the top of the hill.
Near the railway line was a little cottage with a red door. This belonged to a lovely, middle-aged lady called Miss Rose, and today, she was hanging some laundry on a clothesline on the front lawn.
It was most unfortunate that she had chosen to hang her laundry just as Sir Handel was climbing the hill. It wasn't long before smoke flew out and over her front lawn, all over her clean sheets.
"Oh no!" Miss Rose cried as her hard work was ruined. She ran over to her fence and began to wave frantically and shout at Sir Handel, but he was making such noise that he couldn't properly hear what Miss Rose had to say.
"She's waving because I've worked my hardest to climb that hill," he said proudly to himself. Sir Handel then blew his whistle at Miss Rose and continued on his journey.
"Erm, Sir Handel," called Cora from behind, "I don't think that's what she was waving for." But Sir Handel wasn't listening; already, he had begun to feel better.
Sir Handel and Cora made it to the Blue Mountain Quarry without further problems.
"Hello there, Sir Handel," remarked Rheneas. "And you too, Cora."
"Good day to you too, Rheneas," said Cora.
"How have things been going?" Rheneas asked.
"Could've been better to begin with," sighed Sir Handel. "Cora and I had a bit of a struggle up the hill, and the trucks weren't exactly being on their best behavior, not to mention the leaves everywhere."
"Well, it has been more windy than what we're used to," admitted Rheneas.
"Though it is not as bad as the Mountain Road, I'll give it that," Sir Handel sighed.
"You two be careful on the return journey," Rheneas advised. "The rain is passing over soon, but the rails will be slippery."
"Will do, Rheneas," smiled Cora.
The downward journey was no problem at all for Sir Handel and Cora, but when they arrived at Crovan's Gate, the dark blue tank engine noticed Mr. Percival standing on the platform, looking rather serious.
"Oh, hello, sir," said Sir Handel, quite surprised to see him. "Is there something wrong?"
"There is, Sir Handel," said Mr. Percival sternly. "I received a phone call from Miss Rose, and she claims that smoke from your funnel went all over the clothes on her washing line and made them dirty again."
Sir Handel stared in shock! "I did that?!"
"I tried to warn you," said Cora quietly, "but you didn't listen to me."
"I didn't mean to get her clothes dirty!" protested Sir Handel. "I-"
"That will do, Sir Handel," interrupted Mr. Percival. "Please be more careful with your smoke on a windy day."
"Yes, sir," muttered Sir Handel as he set off to arrange his trucks to where they were needed.
The next morning, the wind was still blowing fiercely, much to Sir Handel's dismay.
"Bother," he grumbled. "That wind just won't let up, will it?"
"You're not trying to get out of pulling Gertrude and Millicent today, are you, Sir Handel?" asked Peter Sam. "I thought you liked taking them out on your passenger runs."
"Of course I like working with them, Peter Sam," retorted Sir Handel. "But that's not the point; I got blamed yesterday for spoiling Miss Rose's washing as I was climbing up the hill!"
"That mustn't have sounded good," remarked Peter Sam.
"It wasn't," said Sir Handel. "Besides, how could I have helped the way the wind was blowing? It's not my fault that engines can't control the weather!"
It wasn't long before Sir Handel had pulled into Crovan's Gate station with Gertrude and Millicent in tow. Henry had dropped off some passengers who wanted to travel down the Skarloey Railway. The dark blue tank engine was still feeling rather tense before they'd set off down the line.
"Oh, Sir Handel," said Millicent. "It was just an accident."
"If you are sorry about it," added Gertrude, "then all should be forgiven."
"Try telling that to Miss Rose and Mr. Percival," sighed Sir Handel. "Besides, how can I even fix the mistake? I can't rehang the washing; I don't have hands to do that."
At that moment, the guard's whistle sounded, and with a nervous whistle, Sir Handel set off down the line.
It wasn't long before Sir Handel and the coaches had reached the same hill where he had accidentally blown smoke onto Miss Rose's laundry.
"I don't want to puff too hard this time," said Sir Handel as he began to climb. "Not in case Miss Rose is out with her washing again." Once again, the wind was blowing in the same direction of Miss Rose's cottage, so Sir Handel had to make sure to puff carefully.
As Sir Handel had reached the top of the hill, he saw Miss Rose out with her washing again. Then there was trouble; the wind had blown it off the clothesline and away onto the railway line!
"Oh no, not again!" cried Miss Rose. She ran up to her fence and waved to Sir Handel and his crew. The dark blue tank engine came to a stop next to her cottage.
"Is there something wrong, Miss Rose?" he asked.
"My washing's blown away in the wind and I can't run along your lines without risk of hurting myself," explained Miss Rose. "Can you get them for me, please?"
"Of course we can," smiled Sir Handel. "Anything to make up for ruining your washing yesterday!"
With a blast of his whistle, Sir Handel set off down the line to find the runaway clothes.
"Where could they have gone?" asked Sir Handel. "Some clothes couldn't have gone very far."
"I see them!" called Gertrude. "Up in that tree!" Sir Handel stopped short of where Gertrude had pointed out; stuck on some tree branches were a skirt and two shirts.
"Quick, driver," said Sir Handel, "before they blow away again!"
His driver didn't need telling twice. He ran up to the tree and took care to not rip the wayward clothes by accident as he removed them.
"There they are," said the driver, holding them in his arms. "Safe and sound." He then walked over to Millicent to speak with the guard.
"Could you take care of them on the journey back?" he asked the guard. "I don't want to get them spoiled in Sir Handel's cab."
"Sure," said the guard, taking them off the driver's arms. "We'd better get them back to Miss Rose as soon as possible."
Sir Handel carefully backed down the line to where Miss Rose's cottage was. She was pleased to see her clothes safe and sound.
"Thank you so much, Sir Handel," she said. "I'm sorry I got cross with you yesterday when you blew smoke over my clothes. I should've picked out a better time to do the washing."
"It's alright, Miss Rose," smiled Sir Handel. "I'm just glad I was able to help out when I did."
Sir Handel, Gertrude and Millicent reached the next station without further problems. Skarloey was waiting on the other platform with Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima and Beatrice.
"You're running a bit behind schedule, Sir Handel," Skarloey noted. "Haven't come off the rails again? I thought your special wheels prevented that."
"No, Skarloey, just had to help Miss Rose with her laundry," said Sir Handel. He quickly explained what had happened.
"Well, flatten my funnel!" cried Skarloey; the old coaches were just as surprised. "In all my years, I've never heard of an engine catching runaway laundry before. Good job, Sir Handel."
"Thanks, Skarloey," he smiled. "I was just glad I was able to make up for my mistake."
Nowadays, whenever Sir Handel passes by Miss Rose's cottage, he always makes sure to greet her with a pleasant whistle, and she always waves at him when she can. Sir Handel is also very careful when he sees laundry on her washing line and Miss Rose never puts it up in bad weather again.
THE END
Author's Comments
Another magazine adaptation from me, this being based upon "Thomas Spoils the Washing" and "Thomas Saves the Washing", but with Sir Handel in the lead role. I wrote up most of the bulk of the story, with Rachel adding in a bit of polish to some scenes. For my headcanon of the TV series, Gertrude and Millicent are painted like the red narrow gauge coaches, Ada, Jane and Mabel like the green and cream coaches, and Cora is reddish-brown, to give the rolling stock some variety in color. (Agnes, Ruth, Lucy and Jemima are blue and cream and Beatrice all blue, per the books.) Not much else to say here.
More stories to come!