Here is the ninth chapter of The Island of Sodor remake. This chapter will take an interesting turn where instead of an engine being the main character a human will be the focus of the story. This is an interesting experiment I want to try out since I always wanted to know more about the villages, towns, and cities on Sodor instead of just seeing their stations and using a human as the main character helps me do that. I hope you enjoy it.
Island of Sodor Remake
Chapter 9-Lunch with a Socialite
The rain of the day was streaming down and the air had a bit of a nip to it. The sea was only a few blocks away and the slight sounds of the crashing of the waves could be heard all the way to the small restaurant. Seagull's Nest was situated between a bookstore and a lawyer's office but seemed to have its own atmosphere. There were quite a few people out and about on this rainy fall day going all around the city.
And one of those people was Edwin Lewis standing outside of the Seagull's Nest. He was in his late 40's with short brown hair and thin. He was wearing a button up green stripped shirt and jeans underneath a jacket. He walked across the street and entered into the restaurant. After drying off as best he could and removing his coat, he addressed the young woman standing at the entryway.
"I have a reservation underneath the name Lewis." He said to the brunette women who looked barely out of high school. She looked in a book for barely a second while she grabbed two menus.
"Right this way." She said as she walked through a doorway behind her and into what looked like the main seating area of the restaurant.
The main area of the restaurant was a relatively medium sized room with twenty tables placed around. The dining area was decorated in a sort of sea theme with boats, oceans, and lighthouses all around the room on the curtains, pictures and even the tablecloths had them. The woman brought him to a table next to a window, he put his jacket on the back of the chair and sat down.
"Here are the menus. Would you like a drink or would you like to wait for the other member of your party?" She asked him. He though shook his head.
"Thank you but I'll wait for her. She shouldn't be too long." She nodded and turned and walked out. Edwin looked around and noticed that two other tables were occupied as well. One table had three members while another had two. He looked out the window at the water streaming down the window. His trip to Tidmouth wasn't delayed at all and he didn't expect there to be any hindrances from the weather on his way back to Haultraugh but he knew the railroad, mostly the engines, hated working in the rain. It made the work longer and more difficult. Since the railroad got put in a lot of people tried to learn more about them, but due to the railway being so new and the engines being pulled so thin, not much could be done in terms of interviewing them or getting to know them on an official basis.
"You look like you're a million miles away." A woman said has she sat done in the chair across from Edwin. She was mid-forties, tall, wearing a button up pink shirt with jeans. Her long brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail. She had a brown coat on the back of her chair.
"I was just thinking about the railway." He told her.
This was Alysea Montgomery. She was a socialite of Sodor, coming from a very rich family. She was on a few committees around the island and got invited to many different events to be apart of. Her presences made any event a top notch one. She lived in a cottage on the outskirts of Abbey and, like Edwin, was a big fan of the railway and the engines.
"I see." She smiled. "Did you here that Ellkan got transferred to Crovan's Gate yesterday? It sounds like it did wonders for him."
"I did hear about that last night. Good for him. He really did seem lost in his ways and just needed something for him to believe in." At that moment the waitress from before approached their table.
"Would you two like to order some drinks before looking at the menus?" She asked but both Edwin and Alysea shook their heads.
"We've been here before so I think we have an idea." Edwin said. The Waitress took out a pad of paper and a pen and looked at Edwin, ready to take his order. "I'll have a lemon water and a Southern Fried Chicken Burger." He then passed it over to Alysea.
"I'll have the Ham, Egg, and Chips with a raspberry iced tea." The waitress nodded while writing it down.
"It will be out in just a bit." She said as she collected the unused menus and walked away to deliver the order. The two then turned back to each other.
"So, what are you doing in Tidmouth? I didn't realize there were any events happening." Edwin asked. Alysea just shrugged.
"Apparently a small gathering is happening for the induction of a new president for the Tidmouth Theater District. Due to all the opening shows I've attended there, I was invited to attend this gathering tonight. Its starting at 6 and I'll probably be taking a late train back home." She explained. She always took the passenger trains to and from her destinations. She always thought they were quicker than regular buses or even driving herself. The waitress come out from behind a door and deposited their drinks and left again.
"So how are you doing lately?" She asked him as she sipped her iced tea.
"I've been doing well. Just took a three day trip up to Maithwaite to help them catch a money laundering scheme. We caught the four person team and had to shut down a well-known business. Thankfully no big damage was done to the community." Edwin mentioned. Edwin worked as a criminal profiler for the Island of Sodor. The towns and cities on Sodor many times hire him on difficult cases where they need to learn more about a criminal's personality. Edwin then goes and brings his knowledge to the police and helps them either apprehend the criminal or figure out who they are.
"I heard about that one. They caught them last week didn't they? It was a team of two brothers and their wives. They were bringing in illegal money from gambling and pushing it through there restaurant." Alysea mentioned. "I didn't know you were apart of that one." Edwin just shook his head.
"Not many people do. Very rarely is the person the police department hired to help them out is pointed out. Its no big deal to me though. I don't need the attention. I just enjoy the traveling." This had been Edwin's job for close to twenty years. Before the railroad had been developed, he had just drove everywhere. But the trains had made it a lot quicker.
"Didn't you say you had an incident with an engine last week?" Alysea chuckled to herself.
"You mean the time last week when I almost got hit by Claudimir? Yeah. Not entirely my fault. I didn't realize my car was going to just die on the tracks." He said remembering the time the week previous that a passenger train almost totaled his car that stalled right on the level crossing. "I wish I could apologize to Claudimir. He didn't seem at all happy with what happened."
"You never know when your chance might come. Give it some time. I know the engines are on a rotating schedule until they can get more engines to take over the branch lines. Then the passenger trains will become more regular." They talked a bit more about the railroad when their food came out and they started eating for a bit in silence.
"How are Tony and Damon doing?" Tony and Damon were Edwin's two sons. Tony was his 24-year-old son who lived in Bluebell Valley as a comic writer for the local newspapers around on Sodor. Damon was his 21-year-old son who was currently in his last year of college at Kirk Ronan University for railroad management. He was trying to go for a stationmaster position.
"They are doing well." He looked down a bit more. "If you don't know it was the third-year anniversary of Gladys' death last month." Gladys was Edwin's wife of more than 24 years. She had been a devoted wife, mother and an author of a successful romance series. She had died three years ago of a random heart attack that, while had left the family devastated, had also pushed them to work hard and make her proud. It had been during a remembrance tour of her series that, Edwin had been in charge of, him and Alysea had met. She had been a late fan of the work and had looked in on one of the places the tour was taking around the island. In a random encounter, her and Edwin had got to talking and had become good friends since that day. Due to the fact that he had lost his wife and her friends were only people that either lived around her or were apart of similar groups she was apart of, it was nice to have a friend that really had nothing to do with either of their own worlds.
"Yeah I know. I wasn't sure if I should have brought it up." She said meekly.
"Its fine. It won't get easier but its something I have to keep dealing with more and more." He said. The memory of his late wife always hit him hard since it was completely unexpected. Luckily the money they both brought in made it easier for him to survive the next few months without problem until he got a foothold as an individual person.
"Well, I am glad you are pushing through it." With that they finished their meal talking about little things and catching up with each other. The waitress came with their check and they paid for it. They both got up from the table, putting on their coats, and moving towards the doorway.
"It was great seeing you again." Alysea smiled at him, she pulled out an umbrella from a container by the doorway and got it ready to go outside in the rain. "Take care Edwin."
"Have a good night and enjoy the event." He said back to her as she walked out into the rain and walked towards town. Him, on the other hand, headed towards Tidmouth station to catch his train back to Haultraugh.
The rain was still streaming down and with the afternoon going by, there was a slight chill in the air that he didn't notice before when he arrived at the restaurant. The walk back to the station wasn't far and only took him roughly fifteen minutes. Knowing the schedule, he knew he was early for his train but knew he wouldn't be waiting long. Thankfully Tidmouth station was covered with a glass roof so the rain wasn't affecting him anymore or any of the dozen people waiting for the train to come in.
He was only waiting roughly ten minutes and another three more people came on the platform when he heard the whistle of the oncoming train. Looking into the distance he noticed that it was a bright blue color and quickly realized it was Claudimir pulling four dark red branch line coaches. Claudimir blew his whistle once more as he was approaching the station and applied his brakes, but he looked like something was wrong. Before Edwin realized, Claudimir was flying past the station to fast and overran the platform. He soon stopped but much past the platform than was intended. He reversed so that way his coaches were at the platform. The passengers were all surprised and the driver and conductor got out on the platform.
"Sorry about that everyone," The driver said. "We didn't realize just how slick the rails were. The train should be on time to the destinations, we just need to do some preparations before we depart." With that the driver and conductor went along making the preparations. The other passengers got into the coaches but Edwin stayed out and approached Claudimir.
"Hey, uh, are you ok?" Edwin asked the engine. Claudimir looked up in surprise at being acknowledged.
"Yeah. No issues. Just wasn't expecting to slip right past the station. If anything, it was more embarrassing than problematic." Claudimir responded with a slight smile. Edwin was happy the engine wasn't hurt but now was the real reason why he came to talk to him.
"So, I don't know if you remember me but we met last week." Claudimir looked puzzled at this. "I'm the guy whose car broke down on the tracks near Haultraugh." Claudimir looked interested for a split second then recognition spread all over his face at realizing who he was.
"I do remember you. I almost ran into your car." He said with shock in his voice. Edwin was afraid of this. He really didn't want Claudimir to hate him for something that wasn't in his control.
"I'm sorry, my car died on the tracks just as you were coming along. I had no idea it would happen." He said quickly. "I just wanted to come over and apologize to you for inconveniencing you." Claudimir's face quickly softened.
"Sorry about the shock. I appreciate the apology, but it really wasn't needed. I actually didn't think I would see you again and put it out of my mind completely. So much has happened since then that it's such a minor thing now." Edwin breathed a sigh of relief. This went better than expected.
"Thank you for that. I really didn't want to get on one of the engine's of the railway's bad side for an honest accident."
Claudimir chuckled. "That's fine. I don't usually hold grudges and very rarely let anything put me down for more than a day." He paused for a moment. "You better get in; we'll be leaving soon." Edwin nodded, waving goodbye and climbed into one of the coaches and shut the door.
Less than a minute passed by and the train was moving out of the station. Edwin looked out the window at the rain pouring down knowing that a lot of good things happened that day and he knew more were to come.
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. This opens up a lot of doors for future characters and future main characters I can use in chapters now. Please review and tell me what you thought of it. Also if you have any questions of this or any of my stories feel free to PM me and ask.