So Rheneas asked Skarloey if he could spend the night in the quarry with Luke; and he had never been so overjoyed to hear his brother say yes to anything- ever.
"Thanks Skarloey!" He said, barely containing himself, causing his best friend to chuckle.
"Calm yourself, Rheneas- you look as though you'd burst a valve!" The older engine teased his brother fondly; before his expression morphed into a solemn one.
"You do realise you need to be careful tonight?" He asked, his serious tone giving the younger engine an air of unease. "If you get caught, you'll be the first in hot water, Rheneas- and I do not wish to see you in trouble for something we're all involved with." He warned.
"Luke would never forgive us for that," Mused Rheneas, who had not mentioned a word of his conversation with the little Irish engine to his older brother. But he knew he couldn't keep Skarloey and the others in the dark about it. They had to keep secrets from Paxton and the whole island- not each other.
"I know." Skarloey agreed moodily. Although Rheneas silently agreed, he still wanted to say something to lift his brother's spirits, but Skarloey spoke first, "I trust you, Rheneas, because you take risks, but not needlessly or recklessly so- and we need someone with a healthy balance of caution and a good old fashioned dose of derring-do."
"Good grief, Skarloey, I'm feeling more like the Scarlet Pimpernel." Rheneas huffed. "Hardly a befitting title at this rate."
"Why? You're still as brave as ever, little brother."
"I appreciate the compliment, Skarloey, but I was talking about my livery."
Skarloey sighed with annoyance. Honestly, Rheneas's complaints about the state of his paintwork were getting tiring, and he wanted him to stop. "Rheneas…" he said warningly.
"Sorry, Skarloey, just a joke." Rheneas chuffed mischievously.
"At least comedians don't sound like ruddy record players! Now either you can find something worthwhile to joke about, or I'll stop talking to you."
At the cheeky glint in Rheneas's eye, Skarloey knew he was in trouble.
"You know," Rheneas piped up, innocently, "Duncan was telling me a fascinating story recently about a two-tiered bridge that was built about three miles from the Moray coast- apparently because the original design was too steep for carriages to travel on… so the designer built a new bridge on top of it."
Skarloey reddened. "… you win." He muttered darkly.
"Love you too!" Rheneas peeped, laughing as his brother chuffed away.
….
They reverted to casual conversation for the rest of the day, normally when Paxton was pottering around. As dear a friend he was to the little engines, he was terrible at keeping secrets- and as he in Diesel's company a lot, they all feared that the big bully of a BR 08 might attempt to get poor Luke sent away.
Soon, evening rolled round, and the night fell quick upon the mountainous peaks. All the little engines started to chuff sleepily home, save for Rheneas, who was able to catch his best friend, looking pale and withdrawn.
"Are you alright, Skarloey?" he asked in concern.
But when Old Faithful didn't respond, Rheneas quietly bid him good night before heading to the tunnel where Luke was waiting. The other engines watched as their friend, their comrade, their brother in buffers disappeared into the depths of the quarry.
"Well, that's that, then," Said Peter Sam, his voice trembling with anxiety. Rusty felt sorry for Peter Sam, for it was obvious the little green engine was very agitated and frightened. "Now we have to wait for dawn."
"We know Rheneas won't let us down," Replied Rusty comfortingly. "He'll see the night through and greet the sun with triumph."
"Indeed... for these are indeed dark rails we cross- no guard to watch behind, no lamps to guide us forward," Finished Skarloey grimly.
"Och, will ye twa cut oot the sappy poetry?! Rheneas will be fine!" Duncan interrupted, eliciting weak amusement from Rusty and Sir Handel.
But Skarloey just couldn't shake the feeling that something would happen… he wasn't sure what was going to happen, but it was an instinct, buried deep in his smokebox, burning at the back of his mind. But before he could ponder the matter further, they suddenly heard a strange noise in the distance, cutting him off.
It turned out to be a small red car on the standard gauge rails, with Mr Percival and Sir Topham Hatt on board.
"Sir Topham, are you sure you can quite drive?" Asked Mr. Percival nervously, who was wrenching his bowler hat down onto his brow to prevent it falling off his head and onto the floor.
"Of course, Peregrine! It's...erm, well; early days yet, right Winston?" The Fat Controller chuckled nervously, before noting the narrow-gauge engines had stopped and were now staring with a morbid curiosity. "Say, what are your engines still doing here?"
"The exact same question I was going to ask them myself," Mr Percival cut in coldly, causing four pairs of eyes to go wide with horror (Duncan's sight was yet to fully return to normal.) and five boilers to freeze in fright. Not one engine spoke.
"Where is Rheneas?" Asked the Thin Controller.
...
That one question caused full blown panic among the group. However, they mostly regained control of their senses and tried to offer their own explanations to the situation- which resulted in a noisy rabble neither man could translate.
"Silence! I cannot understand all of you at once. Please, will one of you explain what is going on?" Mr. Percival said sternly, raising his hand to silence the engines. They obeyed, their excited chatter fluttering into a blissful silence like papers on a zephyr. "Now, someone please tell me where Rheneas is."
"Rheneas went home earlier sir," Sir Handel stepped in quickly. "He didn't look very well, and he went home early with Mr Bailey's permission." He glanced around, his eyes fixing on Skarloey. "I saw him talking to Skarloey and then he told me."
"He told me he was feeling weak, sir," Skarloey added, taking over the lie before Sir Handel said too much. "He said he was feeling tired and woozy, so I told him to see Mr Bailey." It wasn't a total lie- Rheneas was looking much paler and more fatigued as of late. He'll be damned if his brother got sick.
"I see," Answered the Thin Controller, looking as though he believed Skarloey and Sir Handel's lie. "Well, I have a very serious complaint to deal with here, so I shall see you all tomorrow." He finished.
"Goodnight, sir," the five little engines chorused politely.
"Goodnight, my dear engines," Mr. Percival smiled warmly, all sternness gone from his eyes. Tell Rheneas I hope he gets better soon."
"Will do, sir," Replied Duncan, before Skarloey could open his mouth.
"Come on, Topham." Added Mr. Percival, with a note of dread. "We better…"
"Yes, quite!" Added Sir Topham Hatt. "Goodnight!" He waved at the little engines before he released Winston's handbrake- sending the poor inspection car jerking forward.
"Steady, sir." Winston said gently.
Once the two men- and Winston- were out of earshot, Sir Handel asked, "SO… anyone know how he got unleashed onto the roads."
"Elizabeth told me she has no idea." Replied Rusty.
With that, the five little friends set off for the Depot, all praying for a miracle.
…..
A/N: And here we have Chapter 28 of Loyalty to Luke 2, rewritten! I really do appreciate your awesome reviews on the rewrite so far- I'm having a blast improving this story from what it was, and feedback from you guys is always helpful!
Because several people were asking me about a link to the original, I've put one up here on this page. If anyone would like me to put one on my profile, do let me know!
Link: s/11022703/1/Loyalty-to-Luke
Also, the bridge Rheneas mentioned in this story, Craigmin Bridge, actually is a bridge that was built around 1773; and it's located about three miles from the town where I was gutting shellfish over the past two summers. 😊 Feel free to Google it. It's a weird bridge, but it's pretty cool.
