HAUNTED HENRY

Based upon the episode by Britt Allcroft, David Mitton and David Maidment

Adapted by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens

One day, Henry was taking a slow goods along the main line when he stopped at Cronk to unload some trucks.

"Hello there, old friend," said a cheerful voice from the platform.

"Hello, Mr. Bailey!" called Henry. "How's retirement treating you?"

"It's been treating me very well, Henry," smiled Mr. Bailey. "I've been able to spend more time with my children and grandchildren. The railway's still going strong these past years, I've been hearing?"

"It has indeed," smiled Henry. "We've even gained some new engines during that time as well." The green engine eagerly told Mr. Bailey about the updates on the North Western Railway.

"Wow, sixteen engines now, and three privately owned ones." Mr. Bailey was in awe. "It seems only yesterday when you and Gordon were brought over here, and when James arrived shortly after your repaints. He was still painted black by the time I retired."

"We are grateful you were part of the railway board back then," Henry commented. "You were one of the good ones for sure. If not for people like you, I may not have been around for as long as I was, nor would I have eventually received my rebuild."

"The railway wouldn't be the same without you, old friend," soothed Mr. Bailey. "I'm glad you and Edward were both cured of your shy steaming." He sighed. "I just wish that we could have done more for the coffee pot quartet."

Henry's expression fell. He hadn't known any of them personally, with Glynn being the exception. And even then, when Edward had tried to save him, it wasn't known where the last of the Coffee Pots had ended up after that.

"I just hope that they've all found peace," Henry sighed. "At least Sir Topham Hatt and Annabelle succeeded in getting Mr. Regaby off the railway board, so no more engines can suffer as they have."

"Indeed," agreed Mr. Bailey. "Hard to believe Annabelle's a teenager already. She's growing up so fast."

"So are Stephen and Bridget," Henry remarked. Just then, the guard's whistle blew.

"Goodbye, Mr. Bailey!" called Henry as he puffed away. The former railway board member waved as the green engine puffed away with his trucks.

Later that evening, Henry was due to take his last goods train for the day when he met up with Bear at the station. The Hymek unfortunately wasn't too cheerful.

"What's up, Bear?" asked Henry.

"D-do you hear that?" Bear glanced to the open line and he and Henry saw a brown bird flying by.

"Don't worry, Bear," soothed Henry. "It's only an owl."

"Oh," said Bear sheepishly. "It-it's just… I heard a story from my driver. He said that whenever an owl hoots, a mist rolls in. When there's mist about, there's a ghost about too."

"Stuff and nonsense, Bear," Henry said firmly. "There's no such thing as ghosts. I think your driver's a bit too excited for Halloween. What month are we even in right now?"

"It's not far off now," chuckled his driver. "No wonder ghost stories are starting to be told."

"Still, you take care out there if there is mist around, Henry," said Bear.

"Right," replied the green engine. "There's probably going to be detonators on the tracks."

Henry was right; because of reports of mist in the area, fog detonators had been put in place to warn engines to slow down to prevent accidents.

"Ooh!" Henry cried when he rolled over them. "Let's slow down, driver."

His driver did so, and adjusted the regulator accordingly.

"Other than the mist, it's so far, so good," said the fireman.

"Wait, hold on; what's that?" exclaimed Henry.

His driver managed to apply the brakes to see what Henry was getting at. "An amber lamp," he commented. "Proceed with caution."

"Is that also because of the fog?" asked Henry. "We've already had the detonators to do that."

"Search me," shrugged the fireman. "Who's there?!" he called out, but no one replied.

"That's odd," Henry said under his breath as his driver slowly opened the regulator again. "If someone had put up that amber lamp, they'd at least have the courtesy to reveal themselves."

But as he continued down the line, more confusion lay ahead.

"Eh?" Henry gasped. "Why's the crossing closed for trains? We have the right of way." He looked around. "Bertie, Algy, Bertrand, do one of you or one of your friends have a late night bus shift?"

Once again, there was no answer. Henry and his crew began to feel rather nervous.

"Look at this!" cried the fireman, glancing at a tree with a sign nailed to it. "Beware the viaduct? I don't remember any reports on the viaduct being made today."

"And look, a coat!" Henry's driver went to take a look. "How peculiar is that…"

Henry himself wasn't too focused on what either of his crew members had seen. Instead, he saw something moving around inside one of the station buildings.

"G-g-g-ghost!" he yelped.

"Don't be silly, Henry, you were just telling Bear that-" Henry's driver broke off when he saw the figure moving. "M-maybe you're on the level."

"Let's get out of here!" cried the fireman. Henry and the driver agreed with him, and the big green engine reversed slowly away.

The next morning, the mist had cleared. Although Henry was spooked from his adventure, he was able to tell Gordon, James, Bear and Diesel about the unsafe viaduct in the sheds the following morning.

"And only Lauren and Nicole are stuck on the East side of the viaduct this time…" muttered Gordon. "Just great…"

"What do you mean?" asked Diesel, and Bear was also confused. The three steam engines quickly filled them in, when Edward, Henry, Nicole, Lauren and Johnson were stuck on the west side of the viaduct when it collapsed on Duck's first week on Sodor.

"We're probably going to need help from the west side of the viaduct from an engine from the mainland, I suppose," grunted James. "I just hope it's not that Bowler again."

The good news for James was that it wasn't Bowler. Instead, it was three other engines. One of them was Molly, one of the engines who had filled in for the engines during their excursion to London. The second one was Malcolm, the one who argued with Gordon and Duck over which station was London, even though they were all correct. And the third one was a Bulleid Q1 named Neville, who was from the Rolling Hills Heritage Railway.

"Ah, it's a pity that we can't see the other engines," sighed Neville. "I'd love to have met them."

"Quite frankly," grunted Malcolm, "I consider it a blessing. I do not wish to see those two engines who wouldn't admit Euston is London."

Molly sighed. "I'm terribly sorry for Malcolm's behavior," she was saying to Rheneas at Crovan's Gate when she was taking the express.

"There's no need to apologize," said Rheneas. "From what I heard, he was the only other engine available. Beggars can't be choosers."

"Indeed," Molly agreed. "If it were up to me, I'd have chosen for Murdoch or Arthur to come back here."

"Maybe you three, and Neville as well, could join the North Western Railway someday," Beatrice suggested. "I'd say you'd definitely fit in."

"Thanks, Beatrice," smiled Molly. "I hope to be a part of this lovely railway as well."

"I won't deny the railway is lovely," said Neville when he stopped with a goods train nearby, "but I'd miss my friends on the heritage railway. The odd visit is nice."

Just then, a teenage boy and his mother stepped onto the platform with worried expressions. "Have you seen my grandfather?" asked the boy to the two engines and the old coaches. "He was going to visit us last night."

"Oh, I'm afraid not, Marcus," Rheneas said worriedly. "I would have thought he'd have arrived on the evening express."

"That's not like my father to not turn up," said the woman. "We'll have to investigate."

"I'll pick you up on my return run to Cronk," Molly told her. "Then Gordon can take you to Knapford after the buses transfer you over to investigate."

Marcus and his mother smiled gratefully at Molly, and she was as good as her word.

When word spread about Marcus' grandfather going missing, everyone was concerned.

"Poor Marcus," gasped James when Gordon explained the news. "I hope we can find his grandfather."

"So do I, James," agreed Gordon. "A man simply can't vanish into thin air."

"That would be ridiculous," grunted Diesel as he came to collect the empty coaches. "But then again… we haven't seen Dexter for the last few months either."

"Indeed," sighed Bear. "I must have checked the sidings twenty times when Dexter first went missing and still hadn't seen him. Maybe I'd better get my eyes checked."

"I think we'd all better do that," came Henry's voice when he arrived with his goods train. "This is getting beyond a joke."

Diesel and the main line engines all had to agree, as did the branch line engines.

The days grew closer and closer to Halloween, and the viaduct was finally repaired, setting speed restrictions in place. Henry's driver and fireman came to see their engine.

"The viaduct is finally repaired, ol' boy," said the driver. "Maybe we can try again with our belated evening goods train."

"Have Molly and Neville left yet?" asked Henry. "I'd like to thank them before they go."

"Neither of them are due to leave until after Halloween, so that should be enough time," said his driver.

"That's good," smiled Henry. "Maybe they can stay at Tidmouth for a couple of nights."

That evening, Henry was sizzling nicely and had buffered up to the goods train.

"Any sign of Marcus' grandfather yet?" Henry asked Diesel before the 08 was turning in for the night.

"No, none, Henry," the black shunter confirmed.

"Oh dear," Henry said worriedly. "Let's try again tomorrow. You get some sleep, Diesel."

"Stay safe," called Diesel as he moved off. "I think it's going to be misty again."

As Henry made his way down the line, he could hear the sounds of an owl hooting.

"This is becoming an odd coincidence," Henry said to himself. Suddenly, he saw Gordon thundering past on the express line with his evening train.

"Make sure to slow down when you get near the viaduct!" Henry reminded him.

"Thank you, Henry," replied the blue engine. "If Molly and Neville are awake, I'll say hello to them for you."

"Okay, thank you," smiled Henry.

"Are you scared, Henry?" taunted the front truck, and the others giggled in a silly way.

"Be quiet!" snapped Henry. "Of course I'm not scared!" But despite his tone, he was, a little bit.

Like before, Henry felt the detonators under his wheels, and he slowed down. The amber light shone on the tree.

"That thing's back," gasped Henry's driver. "Well, at least we won't be going fast."

Just then, Henry caught sight of a signal changing from green to red, and the crossing gates closing by themselves. The trucks had seen it all too, and they were spooked.

"Faster! Faster! There's a ghost about!" they screamed.

"Stop! Stop!" cried Henry before he smashed through the crossing gates.

The driver quickly applied the brakes and dropped sand before he and the fireman jumped clear. It was a good thing too, because Henry had caught sight of a landslide. He stopped, still on the rails, but his front trailing wheels were hanging over the side.

"Ohhh, help!" cried Henry. "I don't want to fall!"

"Oh dear!" gasped a voice, and Henry's crew glanced back to see a pump trolley rolling down the track.

"Henry!" the voice exclaimed. "Don't worry, I'll go back for help!"

"Mr. Bailey!" Henry realized. "Thank goodness you're here."

"Ted, Kerry, you two stay with your engine," Mr. Bailey told them as he hopped back on the pump trolley and went back towards Wellsworth.

BoCo had come out with Judy and Jerome when he got the message.

"It'll be okay," called the diesel when he got the cranes into place. It wasn't long before Henry was safely back on the rails again and was examined for any damage he may have incurred in the collision. He was a bit dirty from hitting the landslide, but otherwise, he was in fine shape.

"Are you okay?" asked BoCo when Henry was safely on the rails.

"It would have been a lot worse if Mr. Bailey wasn't here to warn me," smiled the green steam engine. "Thank you, all four of you."

"I'm just glad to help out, even in retirement," smiled Mr. Bailey.

"Oh, Mr. Bailey," said BoCo, "we were wondering if you could help us out again. You see, there's this teenage boy who's been worried about his grandfather and we want to know if you've seen him."

"What's the boy's name?" asked Mr. Bailey.

"Marcus."

"Why, that's my grandson!"

"Marcus is your grandson?!" gasped BoCo.

"Of course!" cried Henry. "I think I remember seeing a seven year old boy coming to see Gordon, James, Edward and I shortly before you retired, Mr. Bailey. Children grow up, I should know."

"Indeed, Henry," chuckled Mr. Bailey. "I'd love to see my grandson and daughter after this mishap."

And so, Henry took Mr. Bailey back to Knapford where he was able to catch Gordon's express to Crovan's Gate.

"Grandfather!" cried Marcus, hugging him.

"Good to see you, Marcus," smiled Mr. Bailey. "And you too, Stella."

"We were worried about you, father." Stella hugged him too. "Where were you this whole time?"

"Well, I was on my way to see you," Mr. Bailey explained, "but then, I heard someone mention that the viaduct wasn't as safe as it should be. So I decided to investigate."

"Someone mentioned it?" asked Gordon in surprise. "Who did? I didn't know about it until Henry reported it to us in the morning after that misty night."

"Well, we couldn't have known about it," Skarloey commented from his side of the platform. "We can't cross that viaduct. Well, unless I had my haulage wagon from back in the day."

"That's the odd thing, you two," said Mr. Bailey. "When I asked the other passengers who said that there was a problem with the viaduct, everyone admitted that they weren't the ones who said it."

Skarloey and Gordon were both confused, but little did they realize that three faint outlines of engines were in the clouds, giving warm smiles at each other, with the faintest traces of blue, green and black in their outlines.

THE END

Author's Comments

Here's the next edition of Series 5 Redux, based upon one of its most popular episodes, Haunted Henry! Again, there's not a whole lot to comment on here, apart from making Old Bailey a former member of the railway board and making Marcus (Stephen and Bridget Hatt's friend from the magazines) his grandson. And yes, humans do age in the Seventyverse.

Upcoming stories: (Toby and the Washout will be reworked)

- Thomas, Percy and Old Slow Coach

- Rumors and Speculation

- Baa!

- Mavis and the Lorries

- Double Teething Troubles