The next day, Stephanie politely asked Sir Topham Hatt if she could venture around the forest.
At first, Sir Topham Hatt was suspicious of why Stephanie wanted to venture into the forest.
But he shrugged it off his shoulders and gave permission to her, telling her to return to the mansion at seven o'clock.
Stephanie understood and agreed to the time before heading off to the forest.
Luckily, she took the map she had found inside Sir Topham Hatt's father's book from the shelf.
Stephanie continued walking towards the forest, following the map in her hands drawn on paper.
Along the way, Stephanie got a little sidetracked when she discovered some blackberry bushes along the side.
She picked some of them from the bushes to munch on but kept going on her way.
At some times, she read the directions on the hand-written map in her hand to see where she was going.
Soon, Stephanie approached the spot where the two machines were inside and found a rusty, old shed in the middle of the forest.
Curious about what could be inside the shed, Stephanie folded the map back up and placed it in her pocket.
She walked up to the front of the shed and noticed it was locked with a chain.
But it has rusted since how many years have passed.
Stephanie found a good-sized rock in her hand and smashed the rusty old lock with it.
The lock quickly fell off after she had smashed it once with her strength as it collapsed on the ground in the tall grass.
Once it was opened, Stephanie opened the shed after unraveling the chain from the handles.
Underneath her feet were old railroad tracks that lead outside the forest.
The reason no one could follow the railroad tracks is because it is hidden underneath the tall grass.
After smashing the old lock with the rock, she opened the doors with her strength.
She could see there was something inside the rusty, old shed.
At first, it made Stephanie feel curious and suspicious, but she gathered her courage and entered the shed.
Once Stephanie had entered the shed, she heard snoring from inside, and it felt almost cold.
Stephanie shuddered a little from the feeling but stayed inside the shed.
She pulled a flashlight out from her sweater pocket she had taken along with her and turned the light on.
After turning the light on, she could see a locomotive inside that was asleep.
It was bigger than Thomas himself but nearly the size of Gordon, too.
The steam locomotive inside the shed is a Nevada Central No. 2 type and looked like one from the book that Sir Topham Hatt's father wrote!
She had found the broken-down steam locomotive!
The steam locomotive looked like he or she was sleeping, as snoring sounds were coming from it and moving up and down gently.
Being as quiet as she could, Stephanie slowly walked around the sleeping steam locomotive.
From the design of the steam locomotive, Stephanie could see a four-wheeled tender behind him.
It was not full of coal, but it was empty too.
Maybe it was from the people who have put him or her in the shed after noticing he is showing age.
On top of his head, which had not fallen off, was a small rusty red headlamp in a baseball cap-shaped casing.
A tall steam dome with a whistle on top was near his cab, and a small cowcatcher was on his front.
Its front has a vague shape of a face, with two headlights in place of eyes closed and a cylinder-shaped structure protruding forward functioning as its nose.
The locomotive was nearly rusted, and the colors were almost gone.
Some areas of the paint were cracked, and the wheels were covered in moss and vines.
There was a human-like robot next to him, lying against the wall on the ground and had vines wrapped around the feet and legs.
From the way the angle is, it looked like it was sleeping too.
Not only that, but it was freakishly taller than Stephanie, too, if it was standing up from being asleep.
The robot had short green hair that flops over one eye, freckles that scattered across the cheeks.
The body looked almost like a male, but Stephanie could see there were some female traits too.
The robot looked like it was wearing what seemed to be a uniform.
But it was so worn out that it did not have any color.
It even almost fell off of her body.
The inside of the wooden shed was old and rickety.
Cobwebs decorated all around the corners and dangled off the ceiling.
Some were even attached to the snoring locomotive and the sleeping robot, both semi-covered in dust.
Stephanie felt scared about the sleeping locomotive and robot but stopped herself when she took a second glance at the engines.
They had been alone in the shed for a long time, feeling sorry for them.
Oddly enough, it reminds Stephanie of a familiar feeling she always had back at her 'home.'
Sighing, she inched herself inside the shed slowly, trying not to wake them up either by accident or on purpose.
She tiptoed over to the sleeping robot first, looking at the size, before looking at the body structure close up.
Using her hands, after turning the flashlight off, she brushed the dust and cobwebs off of the robot with her hands gently.
Stephanie did not mind the spiders falling off of the robot but felt a little scared when a bigger one appeared before disappearing into the darkness of the grass on the ground.
Once all the cobwebs and dust had been brushed off the sleeping robot, she could now clearly see small details.
The giant robot was muscular and had no power inside from how it was drooping against the wall, but the most curious thing from Stephanie was that it had a gem on its back.
Stephanie felt the gem on her back, just in case it cracked from carelessness years ago.
As she looked around the giant robot to see how to turn it on from being off, she felt a twitch from the arm, causing her to flinch and freeze in fear, holding her breath slightly.
Slowly, the robot woke up, blinking a few times as it sat up slowly from leaning.
Then, noticing Stephanie in front of it with a handful of moss in her hand, frozen in her spot.
She stared up at her with amazement and wonder, but with fear, too.
Stephanie was admired at how massive the robot was compared to her and Sir Topham Hatt.
"Who… Who are you?" the robot slowly asked, sounding like a female but also had some male traits.
She slowly sat up from leaning back against the old, rickety wall behind her, glancing around at her surroundings as the vines that connected her to snap off from her body gently.
"What year is it?" she asked.
"Uh," Stephanie spoke, causing her to glance back over to her.
She was a little scared of her but was still brave enough to get close to her.
"The year is 2022," Stephanie answered.
"'2022?'" she repeated, sitting up slightly from her spot. "We've been asleep for eighty-one years?"
"It seems like it." Stephanie softly spoke. "But don't worry. I'm going to get you two out of this shed once I get all these vines off."
A slight smile appeared on her face as Stephanie tried her best to get all the vines off her body.
She even brushed the moss off of her body and legs, too.
Once the moss was off the robot's body, Stephanie glanced down at her palms to check for injuries but instead saw that it was stained green.
So Stephanie would wipe her hand on the pant legs of her jeans at her thighs.
Her palms were still stained green from the juices but continued back with what she had started with.
She snapped the vines off with no struggle, even getting into the tiny grooves where it was difficult for her to move.
"What is your name, little girl?" she asked.
"Stephanie," Stephanie responded before pausing as she struggled with a vine.
After a few tugs, Stephanie managed to get it off.
"Stephanie Nova Rose Allen." Stephanie finished before moving a green-stained hand over to her. "You?"
"Moon," the giant female robot answered. "Moon Gemcitor Midnight."
"That's a mouthful of a name." Stephanie smiled as she wiped her hands on her pant legs before mentioning the sleeping locomotive. "What about him? What's his name?"
"He's Casey Jones Jr," Moon answered. "Can you wake him up, though? It's kind of hard for me to wake him up because I don't have much power to get up from the ground."
Stephanie nodded her head and stood up from the ground as her pant legs were covered in moss and stained green around her knees and thighs.
She walked over to the front of Casey Jr, thinking to herself for a moment, before softly speaking, "Hey, hey!"
No response from him, except for the snoring from him as he continued to sleep.
Sighing, Stephanie got up close to Casey Jr's face by stepping over the rails underneath him, gently patting the side of his face with her hand to wake him up.
"Hey, wake up!" Stephanie softly spoke as she gently patted his cheek with her hand.
That seemed to make him wake up now.
Slowly, he started waking up from his sleep, groaning softly and slowly moving up, stopping a few times as his metal body creaked slightly with old age.
After moving up and yawning, he used his piston arms by his sides to sleepily rub his eyes before noticing a curious little girl in front of him.
Startled by the sudden appearance of the little girl, he yelped in startlement as he wheeled backwards before wincing when something cracked loudly.
Stephanie was also startled but winced after something cracked along with Moon.
"Are you alright, Casey?" Moon asked, moving up slightly from where she was, worried about her friend.
"Nope!" Casey Jr responded, moving his body around slowly. "I think I might have popped a screw loose or somethin'!"
His voice had a slight southern slang in it, but he could speak normally.
"L-Let me look," stammered Stephanie before moving around him as he watched with a slightly confused look on his face.
"Who's she?" Casey Jr asked, glancing over at Moon after staring at Stephanie for a moment.
"I'm Stephanie," answered Stephanie as she looked around at his body, noticing a few rusted areas and a few missing screws. "Stephanie Nova Rose Allen."
"Well," chuckled Casey Jr, as he reached up to his 'hat' on top of his head and took it off as if he was saying hello to her. "'Scuse me for my rudeness back there, but my name is Casey, Casey Jones, Jr."
Stephanie giggled as she walked around the other side before noticing there was a crack in the side of his cab from his sudden jolt.
"Uh," Stephanie worriedly spoke as she winced. "A couple of screws were loose that had already popped out, except there is a crack."
Casey Jr sighed as he moved his body down as he got comfortable on the spot where he was as Stephanie walked back around to the front of him.
"Seems like my age has appeared at a faster rate in how many years have passed." Casey Jr sighed, moving a wheel gently in front of him.
"Mine, too." nodded Moon, mentioning the cracked skin on her left arm. "If someone else than Stephanie sees us, we might be sent to the smelter's yard for good."
A shudder went down Casey Jr's back when he heard the last words from Moon.
Stephanie looked confused by the shuddering Casey Jr did and the solemn expression on Moon's face.
"The 'smelter's yard?'" Stephanie curiously asked as she gently cocked her head to the side. "What's that?"
Moon and Casey Jr glanced over at her before sighing heavily.
"A smelter's yard is where an old train or robot, like us, is where we are shunted to if Sir Topham Hatt finds us and melts down to nothing," explained Moon.
"In other words," spoke Casey Jr, still shuddering slightly in fear. "We will be dead if we are found out by him."
A horrified expression appeared on Stephanie's face after Casey Jr and Moon explained, gasping softly.
"What?" Stephanie spoke, sounding disbelieved. "But, th-that means that you two become a pot filled with molten steel?!"
They both nodded their heads in response to Stephanie's disbelieved question, looking sad and glum.
Stephanie glanced away from the two in thought to herself, feeling scared and angry at Sir Topham Hatt for doing that to old and worn-out machines.
It was not fair for them to be treated like this!
Stephanie angrily stamped her foot down on the ground, with a determined and furious expression on her face as she glanced back up at them.
It made a small dent in the ground after stomping her foot on the ground, perking Moon's attention.
"I won't let that happen!" Stephanie snapped, startling the two as they flinched from her sudden snap.
They looked surprised to see an angry expression on Stephanie's face.
Stephanie smacked a hand over her flat chest, puffing it out slightly to show that she was determined and brave.
"I, Stephanie Nova Rose Allen," Stephanie sternly spoke. "Won't let Casey Jones, Jr, and Moon Gemcitor Midnight to be taken to the smelter's yard and turned into molten steel from Sir Topham Hatt!"
They were both surprised to hear from Stephanie after she had snapped.
They glanced at each other for a moment before glancing back at her with slight concern.
"How?" Casey Jr asked, shrugging his pistons a little. "The both of us combined and you pullin' me would take days until Sir Topham Hatt notices that somethin' is goin' on and sees you with us. He'll be cross with you and take us to the smelter's yard!"
Stephanie nodded her head in agreement, thinking to herself of another idea than the one she thought of before.
Then, a second idea popped into Stephanie's head.
"Wait right here," Stephanie smiled. "I know a friend of mine that could help us. But, trust me on this, okay?"
They both glanced at each other again before glancing over at Stephanie and nodded their heads.
"Okay," she exited out of the shed before saying, "I'll be back sooner or later!" and closed the doors behind her back before using a rubber band in her hair to keep the doors closed.
She walked out of the forest, forgetting about the stained pants she had wiped her hands on from the greenery she was pulling.
After reaching Knapford Station, she remembered seeing some trucks at the back of the station.
So, she headed over to the shunting yard.
To her luck, Thomas was there in the yard, helping with a box-shaped locomotive, which caused Stephanie to stop when she noticed the locomotive.
It was like the one from the picture of Sir Topham Hatt's father's book!
The small engine is a PRR Class A6 but looked a little modified from the picture.
The PRR Class A6 is painted dark green on the bottom half of his body and yellow on the top half, with red buffer beams and black wheels.
He has the number sixty-eight on his sides in black, surrounded by a white circle with a black outline.
At first, Stephanie was surprised to see the little engine but smiled softly and decided to ask him.
She walked up to him after he had pushed some trucks to the side before noticing her.
"Oh, hello there!" he cheerfully greeted. "My name is Philip! What's yours?"
"Stephanie," Stephanie answered back, glancing around for Thomas. "Stephanie Nova Rose Allen."
Philip, the box-cab diesel locomotive, smiled before looking confused when he noticed Stephanie was looking around.
"Who are you looking for?" Philip asked.
"Thomas," Stephanie answered. "Have you seen him?"
Philip nodded his head and went back a little, at a fast pace to Stephanie's surprise.
"Hey, Thomas!" Philip called out to him.
From the back of the shunting yard, Stephanie could see a well-known steam locomotive and perked after hearing his name while moving backwards.
He stopped after hearing Philip call out his name and waited for him to come over to where he was.
Philip accidentally bumped into a truck after Thomas stopped, causing him to wince slightly.
"Hey!" snapped the truck that Philip accidentally bumped into. "Watch where you are going, shrimp!"
"Oops!" Philip blushed. "Sorry!"
He moved away from the crossed truck and said to Thomas, "There's a little girl with the name of Stephanie, who wanted to tell you something!"
"'Stephanie?'" Thomas repeated with confusion. "She wanted me?"
Philip nodded in response to Thomas's confusing question, and Thomas continued backing until he stopped at a point, which clicked and allowed him to come up to Stephanie.
Once he was close to Stephanie, Stephanie said, speaking to Thomas with no signs of shyness, "There is something I want to tell you, Thomas!"
"You can talk?" Thomas softly gasped. "I thought you were mute!"
Giggling, Stephanie responded, "No, Thomas. I was too shy to talk to you back at the hospital because I had never met an anthropomorphic steam locomotive before."
Thomas understood what she meant before Philip looked confused when he came over to hear what the conversation was.
"What's 'anthropomorphic?'" Philip asked.
"Anthropomorphic means that a machine, animal, or any non-living object, no offense, can talk, have feelings, or be half-human." Stephanie quickly explained.
"None taken," Thomas smiled as Philip glanced to the side to understand what she said. "So, what is it you wanted to tell me?"
"Oh." Stephanie cleared her throat and quickly explained to Thomas, "There's an old steam locomotive in an old shed back in the forest. Not only a steam locomotive, but I found a robot too!"
Thomas's eyes popped wide like saucers, asking, "What's the robot's name?"
"Her name is Moon!" Stephanie smiled before shaking her head. "Introductions later, but I need your help along with your driver and fireman."
Both Thomas's driver and fireman peered out of Thomas's window curiously, along with Philip's driver.
"If these two are not out of the shed at any moment, Sir Topham Hatt might send them over to the smelter's yard!" Stephanie panicked. "So, I would like your help!"
Thomas nodded, and Thomas's driver opened the door of his cab, mentioning to come inside.
"Well, show us the way!" Thomas smiled as she climbed inside.
After she climbed inside his cab, Thomas whistled his whistle and puffed forward as Stephanie poked her head out of his window, the best she could since she was smaller compared to the adults.
Stephanie told Thomas' driver which way to the shed by her memory since she had been in the forest a couple of times.
Philip did not follow them, though, because he decided to stay behind and make sure none of the Troublesome Trucks told Sir Topham Hatt.
Once Thomas reached the shed, Stephanie stepped out of the cab after being picked up by his driver and walked over to it.
She unwrapped the rubber band that held the doors closed before placing it back into her hair in a low ponytail.
After she unwrapped the rubber band from the doorknobs, Stephanie pulled it back into her hair, pulling it into a low ponytail.
She, Thomas's driver, including his fireman, opened the shed doors to see Casey Jones Jr inside, along with Moon Gemcitor Midnight.
Thomas was surprised to see the two inside, as they were surprised to see Thomas too.
"You brought him?!" exclaimed Moon, looking more panicked as Casey Jr was, trying to get up from her spot to run away from them.
"C-Calm down, Moon," Stephanie assured, walking up to them.
"'Calm down?!'" exclaimed Casey Jr. "We're not goin' calm down! He's goin' to tell Sir Topham Hatt that we are in this shed and-"
They were interrupted when Thomas whistled his whistle loudly to stop him from talking, as they both glanced over at him and instantly stopped talking.
After they had stopped talking, Thomas sighed and gently puffed forward, causing them to scoot back a little from him.
To Thomas's slight surprise, Casey Jr's back wheels of his coal tender were almost rolled up the side of the shed.
There were no buffers inside the shed to add.
"Listen." Thomas softly spoke as he puffed towards them but stopped after only an inch.
They tried scooting back away from them, despite being weak and empty of water and coal.
Casey Jr's back wheels of his body were nearly on the wall, and the shed has not fallen over yet from his weight!
Only creaks came from it a little as Casey Jr's tender's weight leaned against it.
Stephanie was half worried and half surprised at how dense the shed was to hold Casey Jr's weight against the side.
"I am not going to tell Sir Topham Hatt that you two are in this shed," Thomas assured them. "We are going to help you two to return to your normal state."
They looked suspicious of Thomas as he glanced away for a moment, thinking to himself.
"I have done this before," Thomas continued. "These two engines were old and almost falling apart, like the both of you."
Stephanie absent-mindedly listened to the story, too, wondering about whom the two old steam trains were.
They both glanced at each other as Thomas continued speaking, moving back forward an inch.
They were still not trustful towards Thomas after Stephanie brought him to them.
But listening to his story, they were curious but suspicious.
"Their names were Hiro and Glynn." Thomas named off the two steam engines he rescued.
A slightly surprised expression appeared on Stephanie's face after Thomas mentioned Glynn, who was the engine that worked at Ulfstead Castle.
"I thought after I first had met Hiro was to fix him all by myself, but I needed help from my friends," Thomas explained as his driver and fireman came out of his cab, as one of them had a stick with a hook on the top.
At first, they both recoiled when they saw the object in Thomas's fireman's hand but relaxed slightly.
"There were a few close calls from Spencer," Thomas explained before a slightly annoyed expression appeared on his face as he glanced to the side. "Who will tell Sir Topham Hatt or anyone else about his find of any old engines?"
A shudder came from both of them from the thought of seeing Spencer telling Sir Topham Hatt and the others of his find.
Stephanie felt more worried about seeing Spencer or about Sir Topham Hatt being angry at her.
"But we managed to fix Hiro and send him back to Japan!" Thomas beamed. "Sometimes, he visits Sodor a few times or more."
A soft smile appeared on Casey Jr's face as Thomas finished his first story before moving onto the next.
He slowly moved down onto the rails after backing up into the back of the shed, hearing a creak coming from it.
Moon relaxed a little but was still concerned.
"For Glynn, I showed him to the Earl of Sodor after Marion had found him in the forest during Christmas Day, and he restored him," Thomas explained, feeling happy that they were starting to trust him. "Now, I will do the same with you two."
They glanced at each other after Thomas had finished his stories but still looked concerned.
"I'll take you to Sodor's Steamworks, where Victor will restore you all to your original states!" Thomas continued assuring. "But, we all need to be careful. Spencer might see you two and try to take you to the smelter's yard. Will you trust me, like how you trusted Stephanie?"
Stephanie nodded her head and placed her hands together.
"Please understand." Stephanie softly responded, looking like she was on the verge of crying. "We're not the bad guys. We just wanted to help you two. Trust us."
They hesitated for a moment after Stephanie softly pleaded with them before sighing.
"Okay," Moon finally spoke. "We will trust you this time, but if you two do take us to the smelter's yard, we will hate you for eternity."
Casey Jr lightly huffed as he nodded his head in response to Moon's warning.
A soft chuckle came from Stephanie and Thomas as he puffed forward as his driver coupled him up with Casey Jr with the rod in his hands.
"We understand," Stephanie assured, gently rubbing the side of Casey Jr's face.
Casey Jr looked slightly surprised after Stephanie understood him and watched as Thomas's driver and fireman helped get the vines off his wheels and pulled the moss off.
Once Casey Jr's wheels had been cleared, Stephanie, along with Thomas's driver and fireman, carried Moon in Casey Jr's cab.
They placed Moon back down on the ground carefully as Stephanie stayed inside to keep her from accidentally falling out.
Since Thomas is going backwards to exit the shed, Stephanie has to help him go the way back out of the forest, or else they might be lost like them.
Thomas's driver and fireman stepped out of Casey Jr's cab and went back to Thomas.
"Stephanie," spoke Thomas' driver as he popped his head out. "Will you show us the way back to the Steamworks?"
Stephanie nervously bit the bottom of her lip for a moment before remembering the way to the Steamworks.
Henry was derailed once, and Stephanie climbed into his cab from Charlie to see Victor since she was a little bored.
"Yeah!" Stephanie beamed as she gave the thumbs up. "Leave it to me!"
So, as Thomas puffed backwards, Stephanie told him which direction to go to the Steamworks as she had her head out the window.
Moon watched with a slightly nervous expression on her face as Stephanie continued giving directions.
Casey Jr had the same slight expression on his face, too, as he watched Stephanie call out the instructions.
Everything went well, except for maybe a few slight complaints from Thomas of the feeling of grass against his axles.
Casey Jr and Moon chuckled slightly at the complaints Thomas gave during the way out of the forest.
Once they had exited the forest, Casey Jr noticed something silver passing along the horizon.
He squinted his eyes and leaned forward a little while raising a piston to his eyes as if it was a hand.
Thomas was surprised to see Casey Jr's talent to go that, imagining it like Diesel 10's pincher.
"What's wrong, Casey?" Thomas asked, noticing Casey Jr squinting his eyes.
Casey Jr did not answer for a moment before asking after Thomas stopped for a moment, "Is there anybody you remember who is painted silver?"
Thomas's eyes popped wide in shock as his driver and fireman glanced at each other worriedly.
"Uh, oh," he winced, causing Casey Jr to glance down at him.
"What is it?" Casey Jr asked, sounding confused.
"Spencer is painted silver!" Thomas panicked.
Stephanie peered out from the window and saw Spencer, the painted silver steam train, is heading over to where they are!
"Oh, sugar, honey, iced tea." Stephanie softly cursed before glancing back over at Thomas. "Thomas! He's coming over here!"
Thomas gasped as his fireman peeked out of the window, noticing Spencer too.
"Cinders and ashes!" exclaimed Thomas before whistling his whistle for the switchman to switch him from the rails he was on.
Luckily, the switchman heard his whistle and switched him onto a different line, hiding him along with Casey Jr and Moon in the forest again.
After Thomas hid in the forest, Spencer passed by where they were hiding in a flash of silver, luckily did not see them.
He thundered past them with a long line of coaches as Casey Jr and Moon stayed perfectly still.
Once Spencer was gone, Thomas exited out where he was hiding with Casey Jr, who looked relieved but a little terrified as he was shaking from funnel to wheel in fear.
"That was a close one, Thomas!" Casey Jr sighed in relief once Spencer was gone. "I thought we were going to be scrapped!"
Thomas nodded in agreement before puffing away and heading backwards towards the Steamworks.
When Thomas entered the Steamworks backwards, Victor came to see who came inside.
But he was confused to see Thomas entering backwards.
After Thomas had entered the Steamworks with what he was pulling along with him, Victor was surprised to see Casey Jr.
"Fizzling fireboxes!" Victor exclaimed. "Who is this magnificent train?"
Casey Jr's cheeks blushed slightly from the compliment Victor gave about him.
"I'm, uh, Casey," he introduced himself. "Casey Jones, Jr."
Instantly, Thomas's eyes popped wide like saucers with his jaw dropped to his front buffers, along with Victor.
"Bust my buffers!" Thomas exclaimed as his driver uncoupled him. "The Casey Jones Jr?!"
Casey Jr looked confused by the exclamation Thomas did.
"Uh, yes?" Casey Jr answered, cocking an eyebrow. "Why?"
"You're the famous circus train that pulled the most famous circus around!" Victor exclaimed. "We have heard stories about you for a long time! I'm surprised to see you are in my workshop pulled by Thomas."
Casey Jr glanced over at Thomas, who was smiling.
"I suppose your name is Thomas?" Casey Jr asked, smirking slightly.
Thomas whistled his whistle in response to Casey Jr's confused question.
"Thomas the Tank Engine is my full name." Thomas cheekily smiled.
"And, I am Victor," Victor smiled. "Victor the… Busy Engine."
Then, Stephanie peered her head out of Casey Jr's cab, responding, "What about Moon?"
"Who's 'Moon?'" Victor asked, along with Kevin the crane, who came up to his side to see Casey Jr better.
"I'm Moon," responded Moon from inside Casey Jr's as Thomas' driver and fireman came out from Thomas's cab and helped her out of his cab. "Moon Gemcitor Midnight."
Victor looked surprised to see her being carefully taken out from Casey Jr's cab, seeing how tall she was when she sat down on a crate.
"Victor," Stephanie spoke, stepping out from Casey Jr's cab. "Can you fix them both? But please keep them a secret. I don't want them both to be taken to the smelter's yard if Sir Topham Hatt sees them or hears about them. It's not right and human for them to be scrapped because of their old age. They are more than machines."
Moon and Casey Jr perked as Stephanie spoke to Victor, who looked surprised too.
"They are like us," Stephanie spoke, finishing her words. "Please fix them."
She tried her best not to sound like she was pleading with Victor to fix Casey Jr and Moon, but Victor understood that she was horrified and worried about them.
So, assuringly, he responded, "It's okay. We will do our best to fix them. If you want, you could come here to see how the process is doing."
Stephanie sighed in relief after Victor assured her they would fix them the best they could, as Casey Jr and Moon smiled.
"But," Victor spoke, puffing towards the two. "I need the pictures of them both, so I know which colors Casey Jr would be in and what type of parts Moon needs. It would be awkward for them to have different looks or colors."
Stephanie nodded her head in agreement with Victor before thinking to herself, remembering Sir Topham Hatt's father's book.
It had a picture of Casey Jr with Moon inside the book Sir Topham Hatt's father wrote back at the library!
"Wait a moment," Stephanie spoke before turning to Thomas. "Can you take me back to Knapford station?"
Thomas nodded and allowed her to climb into his cab with the help of his driver.
Once his driver picked Stephanie up from the ground and entered inside his cab with her.
Thomas whistled his whistle and exited out of the Steamworks.
He quickly puffed away at Knapford Station and dropped Stephanie off before heading back to work so he would not make it look suspicious.
Stephanie quickly went back to Sir Topham Hatt's mansion as fast as she could.
Victor took his time asking questions to Moon and Casey Jr.
He asked about what their past was like before coming to Sodor.
Casey Jr answered he was named after a famous train engineer who risked his life to stop his speeding train from crashing and luckily saved many passengers from that risk.
He did not say who was on the train when the original Casey Jones crash.
The story amazed Kevin that he accidentally dropped a couple of rods on the ground, slightly embarrassing Victor a little.
But Casey Jr said it was okay because he had seen many clumsy cranes back at his home.
Next was Moon, where she explained she was built to help worn-out or sick workers with their jobs but was hated by people because they assumed she was 'better than anyone else.'
Victor felt irritated about those people who judge Moon for it and responded that Moon is just perfect the way she is.
Moon blushed a little from his response and thanked Victor for his kindness.
She said she once was in an accident that nearly destroyed her, but the people eventually restored her.
Instead of letting her go back to work, they had to put her away with Casey Jr.
Casey Jr added his side of the story was when his age came to him, and he had to be put away, along with Moon.
Soon, they were both forgotten and left behind in that shed together for over eighty-one years until Stephanie found them, who were brave enough to go through the forest.
They shuddered slightly at the thought of Spencer seeing them here and scrapped them for good.
Victor knew Spencer would do that to any worn-out trains that were old.
He assured them they were not going to be in trouble with Spencer and made sure they were not going anywhere either.
Victor even told them about his story, where he was once from Cuba, his home country, and was sent to Sodor.
Since he did not learn how to speak or understand English, he only responded in Spanish.
On the adventure across the sea, he met Luke at a stop at the docks of Ireland.
He is a narrow-gauge steam locomotive painted in pea-green and who is excited about going to Sodor.
He asked him if he was going to Sodor too, but he did not understand his language.
Once Luke was on the ship, they continued with the adventure.
But during it, Victor's chains snapped, and he was loose on the ship.
They had reached Sodor, and Luke excitedly asked if he could be picked up first, and the worker agreed.
Victor tried telling them he had a problem, but no one could understand his language, which scared him.
What makes matters worse was that Luke accidentally bumped into Victor, causing him to fall off the ship and land in the ocean!
Casey Jr and Moon were surprised about Victor's story, curious about what else happened.
Luckily, he had landed in an area where there was less ocean, but his firebox was covered in seaweed, barnacles, and sand.
So he had to go to the Steamworks to be restored.
There, he learned how to speak English, and the first word he said was the color 'red.'
He stayed there to help other engines to be restored and to be fixed.
Thomas had heard about the story of what happened from Luke, who has been blaming himself for the accident.
He wondered if the 'yellow engine' had survived in the ocean water and been restored in the Steamworks.
Thomas went through an adventure to 'rescue' Luke from Diesel, a devious black diesel that likes to make trouble on the island of Sodor.
But he showed Luke that he used to be the yellow engine, and Diesel had some punishment for his devious deed.
Casey Jr and Moon decided to watch out for Diesel when they saw him on their way.
Then, to their confusion, a bus appeared next to the Steamworks.
The bus is painted in red livery, and his number plate reads, 'CRD54.'
He looked curious as he glanced around but noticed Casey Jr, who looked surprised before becoming shy.
Stephanie stepped out of his door after they opened and walked up to one of the workers.
"Why hello there," Casey Jr greeted as Stephanie flipped through the pages of the book in her arms. "What's your name?"
"Um, Bertie." Bertie greeted back. "Are you Casey Jones Jr?"
"Yep," Casey Jr nodded. "That's me."
Then, he had a slightly confused and worried expression on his face.
"Did Stephanie tell you 'bout me?" he asked, sounding suspicious.
From the back of Stephanie's head, she blushed slightly with sheepiness and shyness.
"A little, Mr. Jr," answered Bertie. "But she even told me to keep it a secret from Sir Topham Hatt himself."
Casey Jr and Moon sighed in relief before Stephanie opened the book, flipping through the book's pages a little before stopping on one page with a picture of Casey Jr on one page and Moon on the other.
They both had the original colors in the pictures and the same designs they were too before their ages came to them and before the crash for Moon.
The worker took the book from Stephanie after showing the pictures to him, then showed it to Victor.
Victor looked thoughtful for a moment as he stared at the pictures before smiling gently.
"Thank you, Stephanie," he thanked as Stephanie smiled softly, and the worker closed the book with the two bookmarks in it. "We'll get to work right now."
A happy and excited squeal came from Stephanie after Victor agreed to fix them.
Confused expressions appeared on Victor's, Bertie's, Kevin's, Casey Jr's, and Moon's faces as Stephanie blushed a little, covering her mouth with her fingers.
"Sorry," she apologized as a worker came over to her, chuckling slightly. "Excited squeal."
Victor chuckled softly and responded, "It's okay."
Stephanie smiled softly and quietly before squealing happily to herself with happiness that her new friends were going to be rescued from being scrapped.
Once the worker sketched out the blueprints of what Moon and Casey Jr looked like, they gave the book back to Stephanie, so she could place it back on the shelf before Sir Topham Hatt noticed it was missing.
Luckily, she did return it just in time before seven o'clock.
So, on the weekends, Stephanie visited the Steamworks a few times to the Steamworks, seeing the process with Casey Jr and Moon.
Thomas told his friends about Casey Jr and Moon to them, as some thought he was making up stories, while others believed him.
One day, Henry had popped his safety valve and had to go to the Steamworks to get his plug fixed.
Linus, who was close by, noticed it and asked if he could take Henry to the Steamworks.
Not only because he does not have anything to work on, but to see if Casey Jr is really in the Steamworks.
Linus looked almost like Casey Jr himself, but younger than him, a little shorter than him and painted cool gray.
Sir Topham Hatt agreed and allowed Linus to take Henry to the Steamworks.
Halfway to the Steamworks, Linus asked Henry from behind, "Do you think Casey Jones Jr is real, Henry?"
"Which one?" Henry, the green steam train, asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"You." chuckled Linus. "Do you think Thomas is makin' stories up again?"
Henry paused for a moment to think to himself for a moment before answering, "I don't know. But if he is not telling the truth, I am not going to be surprised."
Linus smiled gently and whistled his whistle in response to Henry's words, agreeing with him.
Henry, who is Linus' driver, looked thoughtful about it, however.
He has fair skin, floppy brown hair, and hazelnut brown eye color.
Henry wore a blue cap with a gray undershirt with denim overalls, black gloves, and brown shoes.
He was not too sure of what he heard from both Linus and Henry but decided to see for himself.
Soon, they all entered the Steamworks to see if Victor was inside.
As they predicted, there was no sign of this 'Casey Jones Jr' inside the Steamworks.
Before Linus could whistle his whistle to let Victor know that he was inside, a voice called to him, "Hello!"
Linus stopped before he could whistle, glancing around for the source of the voice.
"Look up here!" the voice called again to him.
Linus looked up along with both Henrys before their jaws dropped with sheer surprise.
There, hanging above them, was Casey Jones Jr himself!
Thomas was not making any stories up after all!
He was semi-rebuilt and looked healthier than before.
"Are-Are you-" stammered Henry as he pushed his hat up with his thumb, as the other Henry behind his back blinked with shock. "Casey Jones Jr?"
"Yep!" he nodded as he reached up to his hat and took it off, saying hello to them. "Casey Jones Jr is my name!"
They were surprised to see that Casey Jones Jr was existent, as Henry pinched himself to see if he was dreaming.
"Then," Linus spoke, glancing around. "Where's this 'Moon' person?"
"Her?" Casey Jr asked. "Oh, she's gettin' some new gears inserted into her body since the old ones were already worn out."
"What about you?" the other Henry asked.
"They are turnin' me into an airplane!" joked Casey Jr.
"Really?" Linus innocently beamed.
"No," Casey Jr chuckled. "They are just checkin' my undercarriage if I have anythin' loose underneath there!"
Soon, others appeared by Linus' sides, surprised to see Casey Jones Jr before their eyes.
Victor appeared and noticed how many steam trains were inside the Steamworks.
"Burst my boiler! Do all of you need some fixing?" Victor asked.
Everyone stammered a little as Casey Jr giggled softly to herself.
"Uh," Gordon spoke before coughing a little. "I think I need some checking with my firebox. I have been coughing some soot recently!"
"My wheels started to feel a little wobbly," Emily spoke, glancing down.
"Actually," Toby responded, speaking the truth. "We all are here to see Casey Jones Jr, himself."
"It's Henry behind me that needs some fixin'," Linus added.
"Which one?" asked a worker in the background, sounding confused.
"Behind Linus!" Henry spoke from inside Linus' cab.
Casey Jr beamed a little as two workers appeared, carrying Moon.
She looked more polished than before and could walk slightly but still needed some help.
Moon glanced up from staring down at her feet to walk correctly, and noticed the steam trains and glanced up at Casey Jr.
"Appreciating the crowd?" she asked sarcastically.
"A little," answered Casey Jr as he shrugged. "But, I didn't expect this much of a crowd!"
"Us either!" peeped Thomas and Percy together as they both appeared.
Stephanie was blushing a little shyly from her founding before asking, remembering something, "What about your work? Doesn't Sir Topham Hatt notice that something is going on when he does not see any steam trains working?"
Immediately, everyone glanced at each other with shocked expressions on their faces.
"Oops," Thomas spoke, blushing a little. "Quick, back up!"
Everyone tried to back up to exit out of the Steamworks, but they kept getting stuck a few times and bumped into each other.
Then there was trouble.
"Stephanie Nova Rose Allen!" a voice snapped.
That voice belongs to a very cross Sir Topham Hatt.
"Oh, crud." Stephanie winced. "My full name."
Quickly, the steam trains tried to back out of the Steamworks from being caught by Sir Topham Hatt, but it was too late!
Sir Topham Hatt entered the Steamworks just in time to see everyone else, including Stephanie.
"Well," Stephanie spoke, as her anxiety kicked up as her heart started beating against her chest. "We're in hot water."
"Deep hot water!" snapped Dowager Hatt, walking beside Sir Topham Hatt. "You have been out all the time recently, young lady! You know that the tank engines have-"
She stopped when she noticed Casey Jr and Moon, as they looked like they were deer in the headlights.
"Good heavens!" exclaimed Dowager Hatt. "Are they Casey Jones Jr and Moon Gemcitor Midnight?"
Stephanie perked a little after Dowager Hatt asked that, as Casey Jr bravely asked, "Yes, ma'am."
"You know them, mother?" Sir Topham Hatt asked in confusion.
"I do, Topham!" Dowager Hatt nodded, answering Sir Topham Hatt's question. "Casey Jones Jr is the famous steam locomotive who brings the world's inspiring circus around the world!"
Casey Jr's cheeks blushed deeply from the words Dowager Hatt said about him.
Then, she turned her attention to Moon, who looked nervous about what she was going to say about her.
"And she is the most useful robot my husband has ever seen before!" Dowager Hatt beamed.
Moon's cheeks blushed a light green color from the compliment Dowager Hatt said to her, relaxing slightly.
Stephanie looked confused before asking, "Was he the first Hatt to buy this railroad?"
"Nonsense!" Dowager Hatt spoke, chuckling softly. "He was the second Hatt to run this railroad! There were three of them. My son, Topham Hatt, is the third to run this railroad."
Stephanie could not believe her ears!
Nor did anyone else who listened to the history of the Hatts.
"Then," Stephanie spoke. "How did you remember Moon and Casey Jr?"
Dowager Hatt reached into her bag and pulled out two pieces of paper before opening both of them.
"This was the check the second Sir Topham Hatt signed to buy both Casey Jones Jr and Moon on separate days." Dowager Hatt spoke.
Stephanie sighed in relief after Dowager Hatt explained as she folded the pieces of paper back.
"Then," Stephanie spoke. "You're both not going to scrap them?"
"Why would we?" Sir Topham Hatt asked. "They are family to the railway too!"
Stephanie smiled happily after Sir Topham Hatt explained before being startled by whistles.
She turned around to see who was whistling but smiled more when she saw that it was everyone.
They cheered in happiness that they were saved as Toby rang his bell.
Casey Jr and Moon were both relieved from not going to be scrapped, feeling relaxed and happy.
Sir Topham Hatt turned to the engines after they stopped whistling.
"You all have to go back to work now," Sir Topham Hatt ordered. "I'll leave Victor to do the rest for Casey Jr and Moon."
"Thank you, Sir!" Casey Jr thanked him as everyone left.
Stephanie rubbed the back of her neck after everyone had left, including Bertie the bus.
"What about me?" Stephanie asked, pointing to herself. "I caused a lot of confusion and delay."
Sir Topham Hatt cocked his eyebrow for a moment before Dowager Hatt answered, "You can watch how everything is going in the Steamworks."
Stephanie looked surprised by the answer Dowager Hatt gave to her, even Victor.
"Are you sure about this?" Victor asked.
"Of course!" nodded Dowager Hatt. "You can let her ride in your cab!"
Stephanie glanced over at Victor as he nodded his head.
"I will, Mrs. Hatt." nodded Victor.
On the weekends, Stephanie kept visiting Victor every time, entering his cab with her hair up in a low ponytail and being careful as she could.
Sometimes, she would even help Kevin a few times after dropping some items accidentally with his clumsiness.
It made Victor confused about why she always helps Kevin and assures him to be careful next time.
But he was most impressed at how much patience she had with him.
Soon, Casey Jr was finished and looked better than what he looked a long time ago.
Even Moon looked better too!
She is wearing a long-sleeved white shirt, black pants held up with a belt, and black shoes.
Casey Jr has his original colors back, too, and has the number one painted on the sides.
Stephanie was so happy she ran over to Moon after she had stepped out of the Steamworks.
She hugged Moon's legs and wrapped her arms around them, almost knocking Moon back a little.
Moon smiled softly and gently hugged Stephanie back, leaning down a little to her height.
Suddenly, a steam train slowly puffed out of the Steamworks, moving by himself with no drivers.
To everyone's surprise, it was Casey Jr, back to normal!
He noticed the small hugging group and smiled softly, puffing towards them.
Stephanie looked behind Moon's legs in curiosity after hearing Casey Jr coming towards them before using his piston hands to wrap them in a hug, too.
At first, Stephanie was confused by the hug but shrugged it off her shoulders and continued with the hug.
"He's so lucky to move like that!" sighed one of the engines.
"Pretty talented." another nodded.
Casey Jr blushed from the compliments everyone said about himself but moved his arms away from the group.
Stephanie was happy she had found them just in time before harm came to them.
