RUSTY AND THE BOULDER

Based upon the episode by Britt Allcroft and David Mitton

Adapted by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens

The mood of the little engines following the story of Proteus did not go unnoticed by the bigger engines.

"You all seem a bit quiet today," Johnson commented when he was waiting for Skarloey at the quarry. "As if there's a ghost haunting the line."

"You don't know the half of it, Johnson," sighed Flyer. "We've had a crazy series of events happen last night and this morning." Flyer quickly told the ex-Midland engine about Proteus, but was unsure if they should mention the fact he was a ghost haunting the line.

"Oh my," gasped Johnson once the little inspection trolley had finished. "It sounds as if Duncan, for all his faults, is going through a rough time."

"And Proteus shouldn't have been in that harsh accident," added Flyer. "No engine can help it if they lose control."

"And Sir Handel couldn't meet his other brother either," Johnson said quietly. "It sounded like Proteus was such a nice engine."

"From the way Skarloey and Rheneas both described him, he sure was," agreed Flyer. "I think he was their mentor too."

"And then Skarloey and Rheneas took all of you younger engines under their wings, as Proteus had done for them," Johnson added.

Just then, Mr. Hugh returned to Flyer.

"We'd better go inspect the bridge," he said. "We need that to be in good shape before any more trains can derail from there."

"I'll see you later, Johnson," said Flyer as they left. "Skarloey's a bit delayed due to telling that story this morning."

"I completely understand," replied the former Midland engine. "Stories like that can take a lot of emotional strain to tell. I'm sure Peter Sam and Sir Handel could tell anyone that too."

Despite the drop in morale on the Skarloey Railway, the new quarry had a lot of business going for it, which kept them busy as they tried to forget about what had been going on. A few days later, Johnson came up with some empty trucks along with something - or rather, someone - else on a flatbed.

"Who's that?" gasped Rusty.

"My name's Thumper," said the strange contraption. They were a reddish-orange heavy-duty quarry machine with caterpillar treads and two arms poking out of their front. "I believe this quarry needs someone to help to mine the rocks faster. Well, today's your lucky day, mate."

"Nice to meet you," said the little diesel. "I'm Rusty. I believe you'll be helping the Pack for the time being."

"Yep, that's right," said Thumper. "I was built by the Mining Company to help out. Where are the Pack, anyway?"

"Over here!" called Isobella. "So good that you're here to help us. There's some tough stones that need your attention. Oh, where are my manners? I'm Isobella." She quickly went on to introduce Thumper to the other Pack members.

"Nice to meet you all," grinned Thumper. "When do I start work?"

"As soon as you're off that flatbed," chuckled Nelson.

Thumper was unloaded and thanked Johnson for the ride before setting off to work.

"Pleasure to be of assistance," replied the Midland tender engine. "Now, I'll need to have the rocks taken to Tidmouth sheds."

Rusty was shunting the stone trucks into the siding so they could be transferred to Johnson's trucks, but as he did so, he didn't notice there was a patch of oil on where the front truck was. As he was shunting, the trucks slipped on the oil, and the back truck crashed through some buffers.

"Oh my!" cried Rusty upon stopping. "What was that?"

His driver saw the oil and realized what happened.

"Were you leaking before, Rusty?" he asked.

"No, I don't think so," the little diesel said, a confused expression on his face. "My engine was just inspected this morning."

"Maybe it was from an oil tanker," his driver speculated. "The oil depot has recently been installed here."

"And those buffers were brand new too," said Rusty. "How can they be destroyed so quickly?"

No one had an answer for that. Something strange was going on…

Meanwhile, Thumper was hard at work, digging into the rockface. They were enjoying themself immensely.

"So much rock! The Skarloey and North Western Railways will benefit greatly from this," they smiled.

"I don't know why this quarry was closed down before," said Jasmine as she was loaded with rock; she and her two brothers Alex and David were working with the Pack part time that day.

"My driver says the rock is good for many things," said David.

"I-I don't know wh-why," stuttered Alex, "b-but there's something a-about that b-boulder up high that fr-fr-frightens m-me."

"Oh, don't worry, Alex," soothed Patrick. "It's just a big round rock."

"I think he might be right to worry though, Patrick," said Kelly. "That Thumper over here seems a little too enthusiastic about their job…"

Just then, Isobella felt a raindrop on her roof.

"Uh oh!" she cried. "Rain could make mining dangerous."

"Right," said Mr. Packard. "We'd better call off work until the rain has passed. We can't risk anyone getting injured in this weather."

"Aww," groaned Thumper as their engine was turned off. "And I was just getting to the good part…" A tarpaulin had been laid over them to protect them from the rain.

"I can't see a thing," they cried. "Are the rest of you still there?" But Thumper got no response; the Pack and the three lorries were sheltered underneath some sheds.

At another part of the quarry, Rusty was gazing anxiously at the boulder from high above.

"Just look at it, driver," the little diesel whispered. "Why didn't anyone think to check it?"

"I don't know, but why are we whispering, Rusty?" asked the driver. "It's not like our voices are shaking it loose."

"That thing scares me half to death," shivered Rusty. "I don't want to take any chances."

Before the driver could say anything else, suddenly, a large slab of rock fell onto the tracks in front of them. Rusty was shocked!

"I think we'd better leave," said the little diesel's driver, also shaken up by the impact of the rock's landing. "The weather's getting worse, and it seems as though the rain's loosened some of this rock."

"I think it's the boulder wanting us to go away…" whispered Rusty, quieter than usual.

Rusty was silent the whole journey back to the sheds. Skarloey was the first to notice as the little diesel backed into the sheds.

"Penny for your thoughts, Rusty?" he asked.

"I've just been thinking," said Rusty. "Ever since we've started work on the quarry, things seem to go wrong left and right."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"It's not that I'm superstitious," said Rusty, "but I think that with my trucks derailing at the old iron bridge and Duncan encountering Proteus' ghost there as well… something tells me that we're not wanted there at the quarry."

Skarloey blinked, and considered the little diesel's words carefully. "Rheneas, Proteus and I have always joked that Proteus' lamp brought the railway good luck, but we never took those words to heart."

"Skarloey," asked Rusty. "When exactly did the new… or, I guess, 'old' quarry shut down?"

"Well, after Proteus' accident," Skarloey began, "mishaps started happening at the quarry. A derailment here, missing tools there, small rocks coming loose with no explanation. Mr. Percival wasn't superstitious, but the previous controller was. And he decided to close down the quarry after a few weeks."

"That's what's happening now, save for the missing tools," said Rusty. "I hope this is a mere coincidence."

"Buffers crossed," sighed the old engine.

When the rain finally stopped, the quarry was back in action, and the engines could collect the rock that had been mined before the rain started.

"Do you suppose there's more than meets the eye here, Rheneas?" asked Skarloey when the old engines arrived with their trucks.

"Hmm…" His brother trailed thoughtfully. "I'm hoping it's just a mere coincidence, but given what's happened in the past few days, I'm not so sure."

The engines' trucks were just being loaded, when they heard a shout from a workman.

"Has anyone seen my pick?" he cried. "I could swear I put it right there!"

The other workmen came over, very shocked by this revelation.

"Now, now," said the foreman. "We all have misplaced things before. Let's look around and see if we can find it."

"This better not be some punk kid hiding our tools for a joke," muttered the workman.

"Of course…" said Rheneas quietly to Skarloey, "I could be wrong."

"Proteus…" sighed Skarloey. "If only you hadn't died that day."

As the two old engines started to leave the quarry to allow someone else to take their places, they caught sight of Thumper working to mine some rocks.

"Just a few more of these bad boys, and Tidmouth sheds will be restored faster than you can say 'Mr. Percival,'" they hummed to themself.

"You might want to slow down a bit," called Byron. "Skarloey and Rheneas had plenty of rocks from before the rainfall."

"I know," said Thumper, "but it would be good if I could get some extra rocks for when Sir Handel and Peter Sam get here later."

"Uh, Skarloey?" said Rheneas, glancing up. "Call me crazy, but the boulder's moving."

"Don't be so daft," said his driver. "It can't do that."

But it did; because of Thumper's overenthusiastic digging, it had affected the landscape underneath the boulder greatly.

"We'll have to clear the quarry!" cried Skarloey. "Everyone, stop working! The boulder is about to come down!"

Upon hearing the old engine's shout, everyone quickly evacuated the area. Everyone, that is, except Thumper.

"Help!" cried Thumper. "I'm not that quick!"

They had just turned around when the boulder finally fell off of its perch and began falling towards the ground. It rolled for a short distance before hitting a nearby shed, causing a huge explosion.

"Flatten my funnel!" exclaimed the two old engines.

"How'd that happen?" asked Alfie.

"Now all that dynamite's gone to waste," groaned Oliver.

"Oh, yikes…" shuddered Alfie as he put two and two together.

"Is everyone alright?" asked Rheneas. Luckily, everyone was safe and accounted for, except…

"Help! I'm stuck!"

"Thumper!" cried Nigel. "Hang on, we're coming!" He and Kelly headed off to where Thumper was located.

"Ouch…" they groaned. "That didn't go like I hoped."

"Don't worry," said Kelly as they started to get attached to Thumper to lift them up. "We'll get you to our yards and you can be repaired there."

"Thanks," sighed Thumper. They were lifted onto Nigel's low loader as the Pack departed back to the Pack's yard, Mr. Packard and Jenny riding with Isobella on the way back.

When Sir Topham Hatt and Mr. Percival heard about what had happened at the quarry, they were both horrified.

"Was anyone injured?" asked Mr. Percival to Skarloey and Rheneas when the old engines met him at the joint entrance for both railways.

"Thumper's received some damage trying to escape the boulder," said Skarloey. "But otherwise, no one's been hurt."

"Although there have been strange occurrences before this incident since it was first open," added Rheneas.

"What strange occurrences?" asked Mr. Percival. The two old engines explained about what had happened over the past few days, as well as Rusty's observations.

"I see," sighed Mr. Percival. "I never believed the previous controller's superstitions, but… it does appear he was onto something."

Sir Topham Hatt shook his head. "We should have left this part of the island… alone."

With a hint of regret, the controllers decided to shut the quarry down. Word spread around the island quickly, and it wasn't too long before it was passed to the Little Western branch line.

"A boulder came down?!" exclaimed Oliver in shock. "And Thumper got hurt?"

"That's what happened," confirmed Nelson. "Thumper's alright, although I reckon they'll be a lot more careful as to how they dig in the near future."

"I can't believe my little discovery did so much damage…" sighed Oliver. "I'm so sorry."

"Oliver," said Nelson kindly, "there's no way you could have predicted something like that. Everyone's still in one piece, and we won't have to deal with that boulder again."

"I guess so," Oliver said quietly. He still felt very shaken for a while afterwards.

The Skarloey engines all gathered at the sheds that evening.

"Ye don't think that Proteus was sendin' us a warning, do ye?" asked Duncan quietly.

"Considering what we all just avoided in the long run," said Duke, "that is quite possible."

"But why couldn't he just tell us outright to not go to the quarry?" asked Flyer.

"We're dealing with the supernatural," sighed Rheneas. "I doubt it's as simple as the land of the living."

"I suppose so," said Flyer. "I just hope Proteus is at peace now."

As the engines all drifted off to sleep one by one, a faint outline of yellow appeared in the sky, giving a warm smile.

"You've grown up so much, Skarloey and Rheneas," he said. "And Sir Handel, I'll always be with you, even though we've never met. And Oliver, don't ever blame yourself for finding the quarry."

What happened to the boulder, you ask? Well, it remains where it is, standing amongst the remains of the shed containing the dynamite. Rusty is sure that on a clear night, it is gazing up at the mountain, and that its sighs are being carried on the wind to where it once used to stand, proud and silent.

I wonder if Rusty is right. Don't you?

THE E-

"Railways are no good! Stupid tin kettles and oil bowl for getting me shunted. I'm so glad that's over."

"Speaking my language, I see," said a voice George hadn't heard before.

"What the… Who are you?" asked George as the source of the voice rolled up alongside him.

"My name's Horace," said the lorry. "Ugh… though the origin of that name is far from pleasant, I at least prefer it to Lorry 1. You must be one of those rail-hating road vehicles I've heard about. George, is it?"

"How do you-"

"It's on your boiler." The steamroller felt abashed at that comment.

"There were originally three of us," said George. "Bulgy's been turned into a henhouse and Brutus doesn't talk to me much anymore."

"Hmph. That's a shame, George," said Horace. "My three siblings turned traitor on me and decided to align themselves with the railway. I heard a rumor or two that they're working with the Pack."

"That's no rumor," muttered George. "If you've been on Sodor the whole time, I'm surprised you haven't heard about it."

"Oh, I arrived on Sodor with my siblings," said Horace, "but our owner decided to kick me out just because I tried proving myself superior to rails."

"Wait, you snuck back onto the island?!" gasped George.

"Why do you think Tidmouth sheds had fallen apart recently?" smirked Horace. "I just took advantage of the heavy rainfall which loosened some of the old walls."

"I couldn't have done that better myself," chuckled George. "You know, Horace, I think we're going to get along just fine."

THE END?

Author's Comments

The finale to Series 5 Redux is here, being a more down to earth take on Rusty and the Boulder! The original episode was just bonkers (not in a good way) and merely an excuse to play homage to Indiana Jones. Actually, that episode sums up the official series five as a whole; over-the-top ridiculous, and for all the wrong reasons. If I didn't make it obvious already, series five is my least favorite out of the classic series, as well as the most overrated of the show by a long shot, because it felt like Britt Allcroft didn't really understand what made Awdry's creation appealing to kids to begin with. Turning a slice of life show about interpersonal relationships into an over-the-top action show was the decision that sent the show into a downward spiral it never recovered from. Yes, I believe series five contributed more to Thomas' downfall than BWBA did.

Anyway, my decision to group Bye George! (or rather, A Broken Family?), Duncan Gets Spooked and Rusty and the Boulder together was because all three of them featured the Boulder Quarry, and it seemed to be a pretty major clue about the continuity with series five (well, that and Annie and Clarabel's refurbishment), suggesting that they took place within each other. In addition, we gave Thumper a personality rather than just having them there to act as a plot device. The next time we'll see Thumper, whenever that is, they'll be far more cautious, having been badly shaken up by the events of this rewrite.

And so concludes Series 5 Redux. After that will be the next big project - Thomas and the Troublesome Diesels!