Luke was silent. He didn't know what to say, following what he heard his own driver say to his fireman; behind his bunker, no less. He was considering telling Rheneas what he had heard; when Richard Wilson and Geoffrey Heron walked up to the two small engines.

"Ready to go, Luke?" Asked Geoffrey brightly, waving a cheery greeting to Rheneas's crew; who waved back to him from within their engine's cab.

"I… um, yes, sir," Replied Luke politely, his voice suddenly lacking its usual cheery warmth. He couldn't help but note that his driver seemed to be completely unaware- or worse, uncaring- of the possibility of what he had said being overheard by mistake.

"Excellent!" Geoffrey exclaimed, rubbing his hands together in glee. "This will be a good run!"

"Geoff, it's a train of Blue Mountain stone, not an express train." Richard replied dully.

Luke felt as though someone stabbed him in the smokebox at that remark.

Rheneas knew he had to get going, or else the coaches would have a bone to pick with him for being so tardy. "I better going, Luke," he said apologetically. "My train will be due soon; and I don't want Agnes giving me a lecture on tardiness. You know how she is." He admitted with a sheepish grin.

"Suppose you're right," Luke replied distractedly, trying to put on a brave smile so that no one could see his tears. "I'll let you be on your way then, old friend, and I'll see you later."

"Yes, quite… well, I'll see you later, Luke," Rheneas said gently. "And remember, if you need to talk to about anything, I'm here for you."

Luke's smile was still very faux, but his eyes were now shining with sincerity at Rheneas's offer.

"Go raibh mat agat, Rheneas." He said softly.

The older engine smiled, "Anytime, Luke." He whistled in farewell, and hurried away in a cloud of steam, leaving Luke alone with his crew.

The little engine felt his hurt throb in his smokebox as Geoffrey and Richard started arguing about something or other in his cab. He felt like he had suddenly been made to look in on a window and watch two of his closest friends on the other side of the glass, not even giving him so much as an acknowledging glance; and it hurt so much… it hurt just as much, if not more than, Mr. Heron's words.

….

Luke collected his train; it was trucks filled with stone Duncan had brought down from the Quarry, which needed to be delivered to the Wharf for Thomas to collect.

Secretly, he just didn't feel like talking to anyone right now, not even Thomas; he'd rather he worked alone in the quarry, not even with Mr. Heron or Mr. Wilson present; but he knew it was impossible. He needed a crew to operate, and he needed them to communicate, as well.

With a sigh, Luke put his thoughts aside, and decided to focus on getting the train to the Wharf and get back to the Skarloey Railway before he started crying.

….

Inside, Richard and Geoffrey noticed that their engine wasn't speaking much. Normally, Luke was quiet in general; but he normally said something to them at this point, and yet, he had not said a word to them at all since they left Skarloey Station.

"Luke, what's wrong, old boy? You've been very quiet today." Geoffrey called out from the cab; but Luke just let out a huff and a large whoosh of steam in reply.

"I don't understand, Rich; Luke seemed to be in a good mood when we were at Skarloey," Said Geoffrey, turning to his fireman whilst scratching his head in confusion.

"Perhaps something happened while we were absent," Suggested Richard solemnly, his hands gripping the shovel handle so tightly his knuckles were turning white. "Rheneas was there when we left the Refreshment Lady's shop; perhaps the two had a falling out." He suggested.

It was very improbable that this was the case, as Rheneas had not been there that long; but the two men agreed they wouldn't discount it as a possibility, so they kept the idea in their minds as they tried to tease out some response from Luke. But when he still didn't say anything fifteen minutes later, they had to surrender, and allow him to make the first move.

….

Luke was still in such a daze over what had happened that he didn't realize that he was late to the Wharf until he heard a voice ask, teasingly. "And what took you so long, slow-poke?"

Luke jumped; Thomas had already arrived and was chatting with Mighty Mac and Colin whilst he waited for his train.

"Oh, sorry, Thomas! I didn't realize I was late," Mumbled the little engine apologetically, looking away in shame.

"You're only seven minutes late," Mighty said reassuringly. "It's hardly worth worrying about."

"But I don't want to make Thomas late, Mighty!" Luke protested with a squeak.

"Leprechaun has a point," Mac pointed out, thoughtfully. "Well, better late than never, eh?"

But Thomas noticed that his friend seemed to be just as tense and jumpy as the time they first met in the Blue Mountain Quarry, and he noted that Luke hadn't greeted them, like he normally would; and he felt concerned. Clearly there was something wrong with Luke today, and Thomas decided to ask what the matter was.

But he then realized; if Luke knew Thomas suspected something, he might just shut down, and that was the last thing Thomas wanted.

"Well, thanks for bringing my trucks, Luke," he said cheerfully, trying to keep casual. "Though if I were you, I'd watch my timekeeping more closely," He advised.

Luke winced and sighed in apology. "It won't happen again."

Thomas gave Luke a kind smile, hoping to cheer him up. "I better get going. But I'll see you again soon, Luke! Tell the others I said hi for me, would you?" he asked.

"Of course," Luke replied, managing a minute smile.

"Thanks!" Thomas let out a loud 'PEEP! PEEP!' and started on his way. "Well, bye Luke! Bye Mighty Mac!"

"Bye Thomas!" The narrow-gauge engines called out in reply, all blowing their whistles.

….

Luke watched as Thomas pulled away, and he felt his smokebox grow heavy. Although Thomas had not been mad with him for being late (and he heard that Thomas did not look kindly on tardiness) he was still upset; this one-sided fallout with his crew was beginning to affect his work. If it kept up, Mr. Percival would be cross with him; and his friends might try to gently pry the truth from him.

Neither sounded very ideal, so Luke decided to hurry back and pray that no one discovered his accidental unpunctuality.