The next day, Stephanie thanked Sir Robert Norramby, Stephen, and Glynn for allowing her to stay over at Ulfstead Castle after an incident with Captain Bluenose.
But she did not forget to thank Millie for telling her about the history of the castle.
Millie is painted French blue with white lining, brass fittings, a golden running board, boiler bands, and wheel spokes, as her wheel rims are also French blue.
Sir Robert Norramby's crest is painted on the sides of her cab, and her name is painted white on the sides of her boiler.
They granted Stephanie's gratitude for their hospitality, feeling a little down about missing a wonderful child.
But she assured them that someday she would return to meet them again.
Sir Robert Norramby allowed Stephen to take a turn to take Stephanie back to Knapford Station to be picked up by Sir Topham Hatt.
It was a slow journey back towards Knapford Station with Stephen, but Stephanie did not mind and liked to see the scenery.
On the ride to Knapford Station, Stephanie noticed a worn-out sign that reads, 'Vicarstown Dieselworks,' and has a picture of a diesel on it.
The worn-out sign piqued her curiosity after noticing it while on the slow ride with Stephen.
"Excuse me, Stephen?" Stephanie spoke, breaking the silence between the two and catching Stephen's attention from the rails. "What's the 'Vicarstown Dieselworks?'"
Stephen stopped for a moment on the journey and glanced around to see what Stephanie was mentioning.
He noticed the worn-down sign that Stephanie mentioned after stopping.
"Oh, that's where most of the diesels work," Stephen answered Stephanie's question before continuing on his way. "Do you remember Salty from Brendam Docks?"
Stephanie nodded her head, remembering Salty from the docks when Charlie took her there to meet Sunshine.
"Yes, I remember him," Stephanie answered, nodding her head gently. "I met him at the docks where I first came to Sodor after Charlie had brought me to see Sunshine."
"He's a diesel," Stephen smiled. "He works at the docks because he is a dockyard diesel. Salty once worked at the Anopha Quarry with Mavis, who is a diesel too."
Stephanie continued listening to Stephen's explanation of diesels, feeling interested.
"He won the trucks over with his tales and songs, which annoyed Bill and Ben a little," Stephen continued before chuckling slightly. "But, he did get a reward for it, working at the docks with Cranky the crane."
Stephanie smiled softly as the worn-out sign of the diesel works slowly passed by them.
Even her curiosity about diesels grew too.
"Are any of the diesels working there friendly like Salty, Frank, or Mavis?" Stephanie curiously asked.
Stephen paused for a moment to think to himself about any 'friendly diesels' before answering Stephanie's question, "A few of the diesels there are friendly, but there is an evil diesel who you don't want to meet."
Stephanie blinked a few times with curiosity and confusion before asking Stephen again, "Who's this 'evil diesel,' Stephen?"
As Stephen passed through a creepy-looking forest, he started out explaining who the 'evil diesel' is.
"His name is Diesel 10," Stephen explained, glancing over at a tree branch that had the shape of a claw extending out towards them. "He lives in that shed with the other mischievous diesels and has a claw on top of him."
Stephanie glanced over at the claw-shaped branch that Stephen was glancing at before, shuddering to herself quietly without his driver or fireman noticing, before glancing back over to Stephen.
"He does not like humans or steam locomotives," Stephen continued explaining as his driver and fireman shuddered slightly to themselves. "Especially Thomas, who had saved Lady before he could destroy her again. To let you know who Lady is, she is a magical locomotive that produces magic for the conductors to use and keeps Sodor running."
Stephen remembers the story told either by Thomas or one of the conductors, surprising him how a young steam locomotive was brave enough to face a dangerous diesel.
Stephanie was impressed that Thomas, the steam locomotive she met on the night while staying in the hospital, was brave enough to face him and save Lady from him.
But she wonders why Diesel 10 wanted to do that to her.
"He believes that if he destroys Lady, he and the other evil diesels would have the rails to themselves instead of sharing it with the steam locomotives," Stephen continued, perking Stephanie's curiosity. "That means to wipe each one of us off the face of Sodor! That means if Lady is gone, the magic disappears!"
A nervous jolt went through Stephanie's body when he mentioned that, feeling slightly worried about meeting Diesel 10 face to face or any other 'evil diesels.'
"But," Stephen smiled as he exited out of the creepy-looking forest. "Sometimes Thomas or anyone else would try to stop Diesel 10 or any other diesels from doing their evil schemes and saves the day!"
Stephanie smiled softly about Thomas, feeling like she should meet him some other time, but, on the other hand, she felt more curious about the diesels.
The diesel locomotive, called Diesel 10, was described as 'especially scary' by how Stephen described him in the story he told.
Once Stephen stopped by Knapford Station, he dropped Stephanie off and left, as Stephanie patiently waited for him to turn the corner to disappear and took this chance.
After watching, Stephanie turned the corner as Sir Topham Hatt was still working and disappeared down the bend; Stephanie instantly hoofed it, heading towards Vicarstown Dieselworks.
It was a pretty long walk for Stephanie to walk that far, but Stephanie ignored the distance between the Vicarstown Dieselworks and Knapford.
When Stephanie reached the area where she saw the sign, Stephanie hesitated as she stared at it for a moment, wondering to herself about her decision to greet the diesels.
Stephen's story about Diesel 10 echoed around Stephanie's head, retelling the storyline to her again of how deadly he is towards humans and steam locomotives.
Causing havoc on Sodor and despising humans for no good reason.
But Stephanie forced the story out of her head and started walking towards Vicarstown Dieselworks to meet the diesels.
She did not see any diesels or steam locomotives as she headed towards the Vicarstown Dieselworks, which made her double-think that Diesel 10 could be waiting for her to come.
She continued her journey down the rails, stopping to pick wild blueberries on the side for a snack.
Stephanie picked the perfectly ripe blueberries and only left behind the unripe or moldy blueberries.
Once she had picked all the blueberries from the bushes, Stephanie ate them happily before continuing her journey down the rails towards the Vicarstown Dieselworks, still wondering to herself about the diesels.
Finally, Stephanie reached Vicarstown Dieselworks after a long walk but was surprised to see how unfamiliar it was to her from the other sheds she saw.
Nothing around it has a single strand of grass growing or any trees growing either.
It all seemed like a scary place for any diesels to be working in, but Stephanie continued bravely entering the diesel works.
But before she could enter inside the Vicarstown Dieselworks, she stood at the entrance of the diesel works and called out to anyone who was inside, "Excuse me? Is anyone inside?"
There was no response to Stephanie's question, but instead, the sounds of something mechanical came out of the shed.
Stephanie felt worried about what danger she could be walking in with meeting the terrifying Diesel 10, although she had doubts about Stephen's story.
What if the diesel locomotive was kind and just had a bad temper back then?
So instead of walking away, Stephanie stayed where she was, patiently waiting for whatever was inside the shed to come out.
Soon out came a massive diesel with a claw on top of him that moved up a little by itself.
Stephanie was surprised to see who the diesel locomotive was, feeling her heart skip a beat.
It was Diesel 10 himself!
He is painted ochre with tan stripes along his sides.
His buffers and the claw on top of him are all painted dark brown.
Stephanie was terrified when she noticed Diesel 10 staring back at her as the claw on top of him clacked together.
But she did not run away and only stayed out of where she was, noticing he did not look that scary from the story Stephen told her.
Diesel 10 noticed that Stephanie did not run away from him after he came out of the shed, raising an eyebrow with confusion.
"What are you doin' here?" Diesel 10 asked as the pincher on top of him clacked in response.
At first, Stephanie felt scared to answer his question about what she was doing in front of the Vicarstown Dieselworks and encountering Diesel 10 for the first time.
But she gathered her courage and answered his question, "I came here to see you, Diesel 10. I heard stories about you from Stephen."
A slightly surprised expression replaced his confusion for a moment before shaking his body and frowning.
"I rarely get that many visitors that often," Diesel 10 spoke as he moved forward slightly. "But, you are the first to be brave enough to come here to see me. Others just run away after the first eye contact."
A slightly apologetic expression appeared on Stephanie's face after Diesel 10 explained what happened to visitors that usually came over to see him until he started laughing to himself.
The pincher on top of him started clacking in excitement.
"It's funny to watch their expressions when they see me come out of the diesel works!" Diesel 10 laughed as Pinchy continued clacking.
He glanced up at his pincher and nodded, "Yes, yes, I know Pinchy! You like to lunge at them!"
Diesel 10 continued laughing to himself about his 'scaring' of the 'visitors' that usually come over to see him and Pinchy, as Stephanie looked confused.
For all the stories that Stephanie heard from Stephen about him, it was unusual for her to see him this excited about scaring people.
"You're not scary," Stephanie said, realizing something.
Instantly, Diesel 10's laughter and Pinchy's clacking stopped, as Diesel 10's expression on his face looked surprised again.
He glanced back over at Stephanie and asked, "Excuse me?"
"You're not that scary!" Stephanie repeated herself to him, sounding slightly brave to him. "You're just a big diesel who looks scary on the outside!"
Diesel 10's expression looked more confused than before, blinking a few times as he stared at Stephanie.
Out of all the 'visitors' that usually come over to the diesel works, she is the unexpected 'visitor' to say that to him.
Even with no signs of fear standing almost four or five feet away from him!
Diesel 10 moved out of the diesel works' entrance after Stephanie told him that, as Pinchy moved up more in confusion.
Mentally, Stephanie thought she had said the wrong words to him and may have embarrassed or angered him.
"Don't be ridiculous!" Diesel 10 exclaimed. "I am big and scary! I destroyed Lady before, didn't I?"
Stephanie mentally sighed in relief that she did not make him angry but responded, "Thomas stopped you before you could do it again, hmm?"
Diesel 10 opened his mouth to retaliate for that response but paused and nodded in agreement.
"Well, yeah, that did happen," Diesel 10 grumbled before shaking his body again. "Alright, is there a reason why you said I am not scary?"
Stephanie shrugged her shoulders after Diesel 10 asked and answered, "You don't seem to be that scary to me from the stories Stephen told me. You're just a grumpy diesel who hates visitors."
A slight scoff came from Diesel 10 after Stephanie answered his question as a light blush appeared on his cheeks.
From inside the diesel works, another diesel appeared next to him on the tracks.
He had a slightly confused expression on his face as if he wondered what was going on outside.
The diesel locomotive was painted black with silver rods.
Stephanie noticed the black diesel locomotive right next to Diesel 10, cocking an eyebrow with curiosity and confusion.
"Who's your friend?" Stephanie asked, mentioning him with her hand.
Diesel 10 glanced over at the diesel locomotive next to him before smirking.
He mentioned to him with Pinchy as the black diesel locomotive grinned mischievously.
"This is my brother, Diesel," Diesel 10 introduced.
Diesel, the black diesel locomotive, honked his horn after the introduction from Diesel 10.
It was not like the whistles Stephanie had heard from tugboats and steam locomotives, but almost like Salty's.
"Pleased to meet you," Diesel smirked.
Diesel noticed something about Stephanie that made him raise an eyebrow as his smirk disappeared.
"Where are your parents?" Diesel asked.
Diesel 10's smirk dropped into a shocked expression, realizing the situation.
Pinchy fell after being introduced to Diesel, landing on top of his head with a metal and hard clunk.
"Ow!" Diesel cried out in pain after the impact of Diesel 10's pincher.
"Oh, grease and oil!" exclaimed Diesel 10 before glancing around for anyone. "Your parents!"
After hitting Diesel's head, Pinchy moved up and away from the top of Diesel's head before laying on top of Diesel 10.
Diesel 10 groaned softly to himself as he gently rocked his body back and forth, worried about how Sir Topham Hatt would react to seeing Stephanie here.
"They are goin' to be cross with us," Diesel 10 groaned. "Thinkin' that we kidnapped her!"
Stephanie rolled her eyes slightly and spoke through the mumbling from Diesel 10, as there was a slight tone of sadness, "My parents are dead."
Instantly, both diesels glanced back over at Stephanie from glancing at each other, with slightly surprised expressions on their faces.
"My foster-father is my only… parent that is going to come here to Sodor sooner or later to find me, and…" she drifted off again as she gripped her slightly shaking left arm. "Never mind, it's nothing personal."
Slight confusion replaced the surprised expressions on their faces, glancing at each other again before glancing back at Stephanie.
"Anyway," Stephanie shook her head to ignore the feelings and politely asked, "What is it like inside the diesel works?"
Diesel and Diesel 10 glanced at each other with slightly confused expressions on their faces for a moment before moving backwards into the diesel works, allowing Stephanie to come inside.
Stephanie smiled softly at herself and entered inside, following after the two diesels.
When Stephanie entered, she could see it was different inside than outside.
It was semi-covered in grease and smelled like oil inside, along with smoke and must.
Some smells are almost identical to the ones she used to smell when she was back 'home.'
Glancing up at the top, she noticed a crane inside at the second level.
But does not have a face like the other cranes she had met before, which seemed a little sad.
A turntable underneath the two diesels went up to the second floor of the diesel works.
Stephanie did not step onto the turntable but watched them go up.
Once it had reached the second floor, the two diesels backed up more before stopping.
"Now that you are inside," Diesel 10 spoke. "I like you to meet my other friends."
A slightly confused expression appeared on Stephanie's face after he had mentioned 'friends.'
Then more diesels appeared side by side from either Diesel or Diesel 10.
Some appeared next to Diesel and Diesel 10, as did others on different sides.
The first diesel locomotive is painted two-tone gray with dark gray wheels, gearboxes, roof, and front.
The number "11001" is painted on his sides in white.
He was standing next to Diesel 10 on the right-hand side, with a slightly confused expression on his face.
The second diesel locomotive is painted slate gray and orange with a cream lining.
His buffer beams are painted with orange and black wasp stripes.
He has the Vicarstown Dieselworks logo on each side of his cab.
He was next to Diesel on the left-hand side, staring down at Stephanie with the same expression on his face as the last diesel locomotive.
The third diesel locomotive is painted yellow and maroon with a white lining and also has the Vicarstown Dieselworks logo on the side of his cab.
He has yellow and black hazard stripes painted on his buffer beams.
He is next to the second diesel locomotive by Diesel 10 and smaller than the rest to Stephanie's mental remark about it.
The fourth diesel locomotive is painted navy blue with a yellow lining and hazard stripes under his face.
His coupling rods and front buffer beam are painted a rusty orange color.
His paint is chipped in places and shows signs of weathering.
He was next to the second diesel locomotive, and another one was right next to him.
They both looked almost identical to each other, except in different colors and shapes.
The fifth diesel locomotive is painted dark green with a yellow lining.
His side rods and front buffer beam are painted a rusty orange color.
His paint is chipped in places and shows signs of weathering.
He is next to the fourth diesel locomotive as the first diesel locomotive has a twin next to him.
The last diesel locomotive is painted in orange-red with yellow lining and has a dark gray roof.
'Whoa,' Stephanie thought to herself in slight amusement as she stared back at the diesels. 'That is a lot of diesels.'
They all glanced over at Diesel and Diesel 10, and one of them asked, "Is she one of your drivers' daughters?"
Stephanie gasped softly and shook her head no when one of them glanced back over at her.
"No," he slightly snapped while frowning. "Stephanie is not my driver's or Diesel 10's driver's daughter! She already has this, 'foster-father.'"
"Oh," one of them glanced over at her. "She looks cute, though."
Stephanie's cheeks blushed slightly from the compliment before asking, "Excuse me, but what are your names?"
Diesel smirked with pride, and Diesel 10's claw mentioned one by one, without banging the top of their heads like what happened earlier.
"The gray diesel by me is Dennis," he introduced, as Dennis honked his horn in response.
Stephanie waved her hand in response to Dennis's horn after he had honked it.
Pinchy moved away from Dennis after Diesel introduced him and went to the next diesel locomotive.
"This is Den," he introduced, as Den honked his horn.
Stephanie repeated the same thing she did before to Dennis after he had honked his horn.
Pinchy then moved away from Den and towards the short diesel locomotive.
"This is Dart." Diesel introduced as Dart honked his horn.
Stephanie waved her hand towards him in response, repeating the same process.
Pinchy moved away from Dart and mentioned the third diesel locomotive.
"This is Sidney," Diesel continued introducing as Sidney honked his horn.
Stephanie waved her hand again in response to Sidney's honk, repeating the same process.
It did sound a little broken, however.
Pinchy moved away from Sidney and mentioned the fourth diesel locomotive.
"This is Paxton," Diesel introduced, as Paxton honked his horn.
"Hello!" he greeted with a friendly tone in his voice.
"Hello to you too!" Stephanie smiled in response after waving her hand to him.
Pinchy then moved away from Paxton and mentioned the last diesel locomotive.
"And this is Norman, Dennis's twin brother." Diesel finished introducing as Norman honked his horn.
Stephanie waved her hand for the last time before hearing four horns honk from behind her.
Deciding to see who that was, Stephanie turned around to see.
To her surprise, she saw four more diesels behind her.
The two new diesels are painted green-grey with yellow hazard stripes on their fronts with yellow cabs.
They have "Sodor Ironworks" written on their sides in white.
The two diesels in the front were twins, except one of them has a slight stubble.
Behind the first two diesels were two more diesels, as one of them is painted purple and gray while the other is painted olive and gray.
Both are heavily weathered and have their names 'Splatter' and 'Dodge' painted on their sides in white.
"Who's she?" the olive diesel asked in confusion.
"Oh, Splodge, B'Arry!" smirked Diesel 10. "You're just in time!"
"For what?" the yellow-painted diesel locomotive asked as the turntable behind Stephanie moved back down with Diesel 10 on top.
After he was back on level ground, Diesel 10's claw moved down to Stephanie and introduced her to the other diesels.
"This is Stephanie," Diesel 10 introduced. "She's someone's adopted daughter."
All four diesels glanced at each other and back over at Diesel 10.
"What?" Diesel 10 asked as Pinchy moved back up from introducing Stephanie.
"Uh, Sir Topham Hatt was looking for her." the purple-painted diesel locomotive spoke. "He was nervous."
Immediately, a jolt went through Diesel 10 when he realized that he took a little too much time introducing Stephanie to his friends, forgetting about Sir Topham Hatt's reaction to seeing her here instead of at where she is supposed to be at.
But he did not want to be in trouble with Sir Topham Hatt after dropping her off.
Taking the chance to get scolded at, Diesel 10 stammered, "Oh, r-right! I kept forgettin' about that!"
Diesel 10's driver stepped out from inside his cab and walked over to Stephanie before gently placing his hands underneath her armpits and lifting her up.
Stephanie looked slightly uneasy about Sir Topham Hatt being crossed at her for disobeying one of his orders.
After Stephanie was picked up from the ground, Diesel 10's driver entered inside Diesel 10's cab with Stephanie in his hands, as Diesel 10 honked his horn and went off hurriedly.
Meanwhile, inside Diesel 10, Stephanie still looked worried about Sir Topham Hatt while sitting on a chair, tapping her fingers against her arm as Diesel 10's driver focused on the controls.
Ever since she had lived in her adopted 'father's' home, Stephanie had to obey every rule there is, and if she or the other children disobey it, there are severe consequences.
But now that she had broken the order that Sir Topham Hatt had explicitly told her, Stephanie was worried about the consequences she might get.
Once Diesel 10 reached Knapford Station, he could see Sir Topham Hatt nervously pacing back and forth.
He kept fussing with his tie, his collar, and his hat a few times.
Diesel 10 frowned for a moment before mentally sighing to himself and honking his horn.
After Diesel 10 honked his horn, Sir Topham Hatt turned towards him and sighed.
"Ah, Diesel 10, there you are," Sir Topham Hatt sighed. "There is something I want to ask, have you seen a little girl who is this tall and has long brown hair?"
He measured Stephanie's height the best he could with his hand, as the other was nervously tugging at the collar of his suit.
"Yep," nodded Diesel 10, as the door to his cab opened, and his driver stepped out, holding Stephanie from underneath her armpits. "Found her."
A shy blush appeared on Stephanie's cheeks as she sheepishly waved her hand towards him, feeling like a cat caught doing something.
"Hi, Sir." Stephanie sheepishly greeted.
A relieved sigh came from Sir Topham Hatt after Diesel 10's driver placed Stephanie back down on the ground, preparing herself from the scolding from him.
"Where were you, young lady?" he asked, as Stephanie softly winced, gripping her sweater with her right hand. "I thought I told the Earl of Sodor and told you to stay here until I come out."
"Well," Stephanie spoke as she started shaking slightly. "I heard a story from Stephen about the diesels and felt curious about it, thus the reason why I wanted to see them."
Sir Topham Hatt cocked an eyebrow after Stephanie had explained why she disobeyed his order.
"Stephen told you a story about diesels?" Sir Topham Hatt asked.
'Uh, oh.' Diesel 10 cringed softly to himself.
"Yes," Stephanie nodded her head, feeling a bit brave to talk to Sir Topham Hatt, even though she is scared to get into trouble with him. "Stephen described who Diesel 10 is, and I wanted to see if it's true. I am sorry if I scared you or anyone else."
Diesel 10 looked surprised at how sorry Stephanie was in front of Sir Topham Hatt but mentally felt confused about why Stephanie feared him.
Did Stephanie see how angry he could get when someone disobeys him?
Instead of saying anything else to her about her apology, Sir Topham Hatt's expression softened.
"I forgive you, Stephanie," Sir Topham Hatt smiled. "But, next time you want to go somewhere after someone explains what it is like, tell me about it, and I'll ask one of the diesels or steam locomotives to take you there."
Stephanie perked a little from being scared and sheepish in front of Sir Topham Hatt and smiled softly.
From behind that soft smile, Diesel 10 could see some hints of confusion.
"Thank you, Sir Topham Hatt." Stephanie granted before remembering the bag in her pocket. "Oh, on the way to the diesel works, I found some blueberries!"
Stephanie showed Sir Topham Hatt the bag filled with blueberries she had collected as Diesel 10 decided that it was time to escape the conversation.
But before he could get back out of Knapford Station, something banged into the back of his buffers, bumping him slightly.
"Hey!" Diesel 10 snapped. "Watch where you are goin'!"
From behind Diesel 10, Stephen accidentally bumped into him, his cheeks red, and looked in a panic.
"Sorry!" Stephen apologized. "Oh, Diesel, have you-!"
That was when he noticed a slightly confused Sir Topham Hatt and a startled Stephanie holding her bag filled with blueberries in her hands.
"There you are!" Stephen sighed. "You gave us a big scare, young lady!"
The same sheepish blush appeared on Stephanie's cheeks as Sir Topham Hatt looked slightly confused by Stephen's parenting.
"I went all over Sodor to look for you and-" he stopped when he noticed the expression on Sir Topham Hatt's face before blushing slightly.
Diesel 10 chuckled from Stephen's slight embarrassment.
"It seems like I'm not the one tryin' to be a parent to her, hmm?" Diesel 10 teased before leaving the station.
There was no one else around Diesel 10 as he left, seemingly as if the truth about him scares everyone else, which was something Stephanie was slightly annoyed about.
Once Diesel 10 was out of Knapford station, Sir Topham Hatt thanked Stephen for finding Stephanie after noticing she was missing.
Stephanie apologized to them for scaring everyone, which they granted, but told her to tell someone next time.
She may have seen more steam locomotives and diesels after asking Sir Topham Hatt.
