Stephanie completed carving one of the hiking poles she recently found during her stay at Culdee Fell Railway and looked at the finished work.
It is a carving of a hooded snake, the body as the handle and the head as the cane as it has its mouth open, fangs showing and tongue flickering.
Once the carving had finished, Stephanie placed the masterpiece down on her desk for work later.
Then, she looked down at her hands to check the state of her hands after working on the pole.
Her hands were covered in tiny drops of blood that could be from the splinters or accidentally nicking herself with the knives and wood dust from sanding the hiking pole.
So Stephanie decided that now is the perfect time to stop carving and mend her hands from bleeding too much.
She stood up from her chair as she winced a little, noticing that her legs were a bit sore from sitting too long in it from carving.
But she got used to her soreness after walking for a moment, getting feeling back into her legs as she headed into the bathroom to mend her hands.
Once she was inside, Stephanie first pulled the splinters out of her palms with medical tweezers, not wincing a single bit after getting one out.
After the last splinter came out of her hand, Stephanie wiped her hands with rubbing alcohol to clean her wounds.
There was a slight stinging sensation to her wounds as she cleaned them from carving the hiking pole, but she did not mind the tingle as she continued wiping her wounds.
Once the last of her wounds were cleaned, Stephanie started bandaging her wounds with band-aids, using different colors to make herself feel like a child again.
The last band-aid was placed onto the wound of her right hand and cleaned up the mess she made of mending them.
After throwing away the garbage with band-aid covers and the half-blood, half-hydrogen peroxide cotton balls, Stephanie was about to head back to her room to continue with her project when Alice walked up to her.
"Oh, hello, Alice." Stephanie greeted with a smile. "Is there something wrong?"
"No, there is nothing wrong," Alice responded to Stephanie. "But, aren't you a little… uncomfortable with having to stay in your room all the time?"
Stephanie paused a little after Alice asked, responding with honesty, "Alice, I have stayed home all the time with homeschool, so I'm fine with staying inside."
Alice cocked an eyebrow after Stephanie assured her of staying inside before saying, "I think staying inside is long enough. Try going outside! You can adventure around the stations and find something new with your carving skills."
Stephanie paused a little after Alice suggested, before remembering the hiking poles she had recently made, even the one that is halfway done.
"That gives me an idea!" Stephanie smiled. "Do you remember the other hiking poles I recently made in my room?"
Alice nodded her head after Stephanie asked, as she continued, "I could sell my hiking poles to the hikers at Culdee's Railway since, heh, well, the umbrella stand is almost full of all the carvings I made."
Stephanie chuckled a little after mentioning the carved canes she had recently made after sketching some designs on some blank pieces of paper while in Sir Topham Hatt's office.
"That's a wonderful idea, Stephanie!" Alice remarked before thinking to herself. "Gather the carvings you made in your room, and I'll go get something for you to carry all that."
Stephanie nodded her head and parted ways as Stephanie went into her room, and Alice went further into the house.
After Stephanie went into her room, she went to the carving she recently made before and quickly finished painting it.
She added some details to the carved cane and even some realistic appearances to make the snake look 'alive.'
Once it was finished being painted, Stephanie placed the cane on the side to dry.
Then she went to collect every carving she made.
She collected from flat boards that have beautiful paintings of either a night sky, a snowy version of Sodor and Britain, the ocean, and many!
Stephanie also made many wooden items, like coins and garden accessories hand-carved and painted by her.
Once the last item was collected, Stephanie heard the door open and saw Alice entering her room, looking surprised at how many carvings she had made.
In one hand, she was holding a different backpack as the other was holding a London blue Elysian floral hand-stitched coin purse.
It has a silver metal frame and was big enough to look almost like a purse with a dark blue strap.
"That…" Alice paused as she looked surprised at how many there were, as Stephanie blushed with sheepishness. "Is a lot of carvings."
"Yeah…" Stephanie blushed as she nervously smiled. "It happens when you have a lot of creativity in your mind!"
Alice chuckled after Stephanie blushed about her carvings before saying, "Alright, which ones do you want to start with first?"
Stephanie thoughtfully paused as she glanced over at her carvings, looking at how many there were, and counted.
She then used her fingers to divide how many there were before turning around to Alice.
"I'll take half of the carvings to sell," Stephanie answered. "And after that half is finished, I'll sell the next half some other time."
"That is a wonderful idea, Stephanie!" Alice remarked. "Let's start packing!"
Stephanie nodded her head and went to pack the carvings she had made into the extra backpack Alice had in her hand.
Alice carefully weighed the weight to make sure the backpack would not be too heavy for Stephanie to hurt her back.
She would not want to repeat the same as how it had happened with the Troublesome Trio.
Once everything was set, Stephanie placed the backpack on her back as Alice placed the carved hiking poles against her back to make things a little easier for her than sticking them into the pack with the rest.
"There," Alice smiled as Stephanie looked up at her. "How are you feeling?"
"A little excited!" Stephanie remarked, pushing strands of hair from her face. "I can't wait to travel around!"
"Oh," Alice spoke, stopping Stephanie before she could walk. "Don't forget to take this with you."
A soft, confused expression appeared on Stephanie's face after Alice told her before handing her the coin purse she had in her hand.
"What's this?" Stephanie curiously asked, impressed at how beautiful it is.
"This is a coin purse I had for a long time," Alice explained to Stephanie. "I bought it from a garage sale when I was a young little girl."
"Like me?" Stephanie innocently asked.
Alice smiled after Stephanie asked, nodded, "Yes, like you, Stephanie."
Stephanie beamed more after Alice agreed before exiting out of her room to the front door.
Reginald noticed Stephanie with her handmade carvings on her back and in the backpack, asking, "Where on earth is she going, Alice?"
"Well, she has been staying in this house for a long time and in her room," Alice explained, as Stephanie stopped near the door. "So Stephanie decided to have another venture around Sodor, except selling her carvings to people at Culdee Fell Railway."
Reginald paused after Alice explained to him before responding, "That is a good idea. Although…"
He paused again as he looked at Stephanie's backpack, looking concerned about the weight on her back.
"I weighed the backpack, so it would not happen again, Reginald," Alice assured him before walking up to Stephanie. "Remember to come back home to eat lunch, okay, Stephanie?"
Stephanie nodded her head and exited out of the door, ready to start traveling to sell her carvings.
Once she stopped at a bus stop, Stephanie reached into her pocket and pulled out a map, looking at the stations on it.
"Okay," Stephanie mumbled to herself as she looked at it. "This is where Sir Topham Hatt's mansion was where I gathered all my carvings, so I'll take the bus to Knapford to see if anyone is interested and..."
While she was mumbling to herself, an elderly Chinese man sat down on the bench of the bus stop after walking, wincing to himself, and he reached down to his knees, rubbing them gently.
"I need a cane badly..." he mumbled as Stephanie placed her map away. "The stick I was using snapped..."
Stephanie overheard the elder's mumble and glanced over, seeing that he was genuinely hurt from his old knees, and thought to herself.
So, Stephanie decided to take this chance and turned around to the poor elder.
"Excuse me, sir?" Stephanie asked, reaching behind her back to take out one of the canes she had made before. "Are you interested in having a cane?"
The elder looked confused after Stephanie asked, asking, "You carve canes?"
"Yes, I do." Stephanie nodded. "They are carved out of either oak, walnut, beech, cedar-"
"Is there any made of mahogany?" the elder asked, sounding curious.
"Yes, there is!" Stephanie beamed, moving the cane behind her back and into the gap between her back and the backpack.
She touched each cane on her back thoughtfully before reaching a carving that looked like a Chinese dragon.
Stephanie took the cane carving out, and it was painted in a mint green color with hints of a light pastel yellow and dark green.
"Ooh, 这看起来很棒!" he remarked in Chinese.
"谢谢你, 先生!" Stephanie thanked him in his language.
An impressed expression appeared on the elderly man's face as he asked, "你懂中文?"
"是的, 我学过中文." Stephanie nodded.
The elderly man smiled after Stephanie nodded her head before mentioning the cane, asking in English, "How much is for the cane?"
That made Stephanie pause after he asked, responding, "I, uh, don't know how much is for the cane."
The elderly man nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Is this your first time selling carvings?"
Stephanie sheepishly nodded her head as she blushed, feeling embarrassed.
"How about I help you?" the elderly man smiled. "Let's start with the cane first."
He picked the cane up from Stephanie's hands and looked at the walking stick thoughtfully, even looking at the designs she made, including the details.
"Wonderful," he remarked. "I'll say that this cane would cost about between either sixteen or seventeen dollars."
"'Sixteen or seventeen?'" Stephanie softly asked, mostly out of surprise.
"Yes," the elderly man nodded. "Maybe the rest of the carvings could be either ten or eight dollars."
A nervous feeling was in Stephanie's stomach after the elderly man explained but wrote down some mental notes in her mind about the costs.
Once he was finished giving Stephanie ideas on the costs of her carvings, before asking, "So, does this cane cost sixteen dollars?"
A soft smile appeared on Stephanie's face after the elderly man asked, before saying, "Have the cane for free instead. As a way for me to say, thanks for helping me!"
The elderly man smiled more after Stephanie explained to him, before hugging her and said, "太谢谢你了, 小姐."
"别客气!" Stephanie granted, as Bertie the bus came just in time.
They released their hug, and Stephanie allowed the elderly to step on the bus first, then herself.
Stephanie felt nervous when she stepped onto the bus, seeing how crowded it was compared to the coaches.
But she kept her anxiety down and sat down in a seat after taking her backpack off her back, allowing some weight off.
Little did she know, the elderly man explained to the other passengers on the bus about the carved cane he had, telling them how talented the young girl was.
Bertie himself was overhearing the conversation, too, feeling curious about who was the creative 'young girl.'
He stopped at a few stations to allow his passengers to get off, as Stephanie stayed, sitting at the back of the bus.
She was a little nervous as she was holding her backpack in her lap, watching the people stepping off and new people stepping on.
That includes the elderly man to whom she had given one of her carvings.
Once the last of the people were on, Bertie went off and drove towards another station.
Stephanie thought to herself during the drive about the costs of her carvings.
She felt self-conscious about them, thinking that they would be too expensive for people.
Finally, Bertie reached Knapford and Stephanie stood up after he had stopped, placing her backpack on her back.
She stepped off the bus and waited on Knapford, looking around curiously for any interested buyers.
A few minutes passed, and a young man came up to her, asking, "Excuse me, but do you carve?"
"Yes, I do!" Stephanie nodded. "Is there something you are interested in?"
"Well," the man began. "I wanted to give my wife a gift for her garden to make her happy, but I don't know what I could give her."
Stephanie thought to herself after he explained before taking off her backpack from her back.
"Wait a moment, please, sir," Stephanie spoke to him before opening her backpack.
Pushing her glasses into place, Stephanie rummaged through her backpack for a moment before taking out one of the hand-carved gnomes she had made, which was a beautiful female gnome.
She had long braided white hair with fair skin, blue eyes, and a thin appearance.
The gnome wore a pointed dark blue cap with a long light blue dress with beautifully designed details of patterns and a white apron.
"This is beautiful!" the man remarked. "How much is this?"
Stephanie paused a little after he asked, before answering, "Six dollars."
"Just six dollars?" the man asked, sounding confused. "That seemed a little too cheap."
Stephanie felt nervous as he reached into his pocket and took out ten dollars, handing them to Stephanie.
"Keep the change," the man smiled as she handed the gnome over to him.
Once she had sold the gnome, Stephanie was confused for a moment before placing the money into her purse Alice gave her.
While waiting for Thomas or Gordon to come, Stephanie sold three gnomes, five walking canes, and a few platters.
When Gordon arrived, Stephanie placed her backpack on her back after closing it and hurriedly stepped onto the coaches before it became too crowded.
However, she was polite and allowed others to step in before her, then take a seat for herself at the back.
Once everyone was in their seats, Gordon whistled his whistle and puffed out of the station, heading towards Crosby.
Stephanie looked at the amount of money she had in her purse after selling some of her carvings, surprised at how much she has.
She did not suspect that her carvings were going to cost this much to other people.
But Stephanie was a little embarrassed about the costs the elderly man had given her.
Once Gordon stopped at Crosby, Stephanie waited on the coaches as people unboarded them, waiting until Gordon reached Kildane.
But she enjoyed the scenery passing by through the woodlands and the gentle bumping of the rails.
Stephanie had almost fallen asleep at one point, but with a gentle bump from Gordon's coaches, Stephanie was back to being awake.
Finally, Gordon stopped at Kildane, and Stephanie stepped off, feeling a little shaken from the ride, but continued with her adventure.
"Look, Dad!" a young boy called, causing Stephanie to glance over in that direction of where the voice was. "There's the Carver!"
'The Carver?' Stephanie thought in confusion, glancing around for anyone who was nicknamed.
But the young boy instead walked up to her rather than someone else, with his hands behind his back.
"Um, hello?" Stephanie asked, sounding confused.
"Hi, are you the Carver Mr. Zhang was talking about?" the young boy asked.
"Who's 'Mr. Zhang?'" Stephanie curiously asked, sounding confused.
"Mr. Zhang is a Chinese man who runs a noodle shop in Drayton." The young boy explained. "He's the elderly man with a dragon cane."
"Oh, him!" Stephanie remarked after the boy explained. "Yeah, I am the Carver."
The young boy giggled then asked, "Do you have a carving of a train?"
A soft, confused expression appeared on Stephanie's face after he asked, asking in response, "Er, yes, I do. But what basis?"
"'Basis?'" the boy asked, sounding confused after she asked.
"The shape of the train," Stephanie explained to him. "Does the train look like Thomas, Casey Jr, or-"
"Oh, one that looks like Percy!" the boy explained.
"Yes, I do!" Stephanie chuckled, placing her backpack down on the ground. "Let me look for the train."
The young boy waited as Stephanie rummaged through the backpack as more people gathered around her, looking curious at what she was doing.
Then, a few objects fell out of her backpack as she rummaged through the carvings for the toy train.
It has some wooden plates with beautifully hand-designed designs, including beautiful paintings of different places in Sodor, Britain, and other countries too!
There were even some that were wooden fidget items, mini Indian totem poles, and others!
One of the onlookers picked up one of Stephanie's carvings as she fumbled a little, asking, "Did you truly carved these?"
Stephanie, blushing with sheepishness, hands the toy train over to the boy after the onlooker asked, responding, "Yes, I did."
"I am impressed." the onlooker remarked. "They look beautiful as if they were made of metal itself."
"Yeah, it even has details, too!" the young boy remarked, not noticing a confused James coming over from the station. "How long does it take to make one of these?"
Stephanie's blush went in another shade as she shyly stammered, "Uh… a few hours?"
"'A few hours?!'" James remarked, startling Stephanie as she flinched. "They looked like they could take days or weeks!"
"Some even years." remarked one of the females. "You have to have many years of practice!"
Stephanie blushed more into a shade of red as she clenched her sweater with her hands, feeling like she was in a spotlight she did not want to be in the first place.
They noticed how red Stephanie was, glancing at each other as some were holding some carvings Stephanie made.
"Er, how much are they, young lady?" the man asked, trying to change the subject and hurry a little.
Realizing the change, Stephanie told them the price of the carvings she once explained to the man before with the gnome.
Surprisingly, they paid with the cost of the carvings Stephanie told them without bargaining.
Even the young boy's father paid the cost too, with a little more money than she was expecting.
After that, the people boarded James' coaches, and Stephanie boarded too, sitting at the back to make herself a little small.
Once everyone was seated, Stephanie softly squealed to herself in embarrassment, hugging her backpack gently against herself.
There were so many compliments about her carvings she was so flustered to think!
But James's whistle brought her out of her embarrassment, and the coaches started moving, deciding to wait until he reached Kirk Machan.
The stops at the station were bumpy and scary for Stephanie as she yelped a few times.
She kept moving her legs up to stop herself from being launched forward as she hugged her backpack against her body.
Unlike last time, there was no Sir Topham Hatt to come out and scold him for screeching to a halt rather than slowing down.
But Stephanie managed to shakily get off James's coaches… a little more shakily than she suspected herself to be.
James apparently noticed Stephanie collapsing on the ground on her rump, confusing some passengers too.
"James," the stationmaster huffed, helping Stephanie up. "You should be careful."
"I am careful!" James protested, huffing a little.
The stationmaster had an unamused expression on his face after James protested.
He then mentioned the passengers and Stephanie with a hand as James huffed again, acting like a brat.
Stephanie winced a little at the thought of being in between an argument between a stationmaster and James, but nothing happened as she walked away.
"Er, Stephanie?" James spoke, causing Stephanie to glance over. "Are you alright, though?"
"I-I'm fine!" Stephanie chuckled a little. "Just a little shaken up, that's all!"
This seemed to make James and the stationmaster a little more concerned for her as she sat down on a bench.
So, James went to continue with what he was doing, along with the stationmaster.
Stephanie continued waiting for Culdee or any other locomotives to come over to where she was, usually for any climbers to sell the hiking canes she had.
But Stephanie attracted many climbers with her carved canes, managing to sell almost half of the carved walking sticks!
She even had most of them asking for some of their own sketches they recommended, mostly wood for the designs to be on their own carved hiking poles.
Half of the wood they recommended was Jobi wood, which was the ones grown at Misty Island.
Although hesitant to go to Misty Island to get herself lost again, Stephanie decided that one day to travel to Misty Island to get jobi wood to make the canes.
Just as she was selling another cane, a familiar whistle went through the air, causing her to perk.
'That sounds like Culdee!' Stephanie smiled before standing up to her feet.
And it was Culdee!
Culdee looked surprised to see Stephanie running over to him, with a backpack on her back with many carvings, mostly canes.
"Wh-What are you doing here, Stephanie?" Culdee asked, sounding surprised. "I thought you were in Sir Topham Hatt's mansion."
"I, uh, well," Stephanie stammered, blushing a little with sheepishness. "I had an idea to sell my carvings to some climbers here since they are hikers, and..."
She drifted off as she blushed more, feeling more sheepish and shy.
Culdee understood what Stephanie was explaining and said, "Go ahead and climb into my coaches, Stephanie. I'll take you to Kirk Machan. It's filled with people there and mostly hikers too!"
Stephanie smiled with excitement and boarded Culdee's coaches, except in front rather than in the back, like the previous coaches she had been in before.
Once she was boarded with the rest, Culdee began his climb up the mountain, as Stephanie was nervous during the trip.
She was gripping the bottom of the seat she was sitting on, feeling the tip of the coach moving forward.
One of the passengers noticed Stephanie's nervous expression, mostly flinching when the coach bumped a little.
"First time at Culdee Fell railway?" the passenger asked.
Stephanie glanced up at him with confusion, asking, "R-Repeat that again, please?"
"First time on Culdee Fell railway?" the passenger repeated as the coach bumped again.
Stephanie curled her toes inward nervously as she gripped the seat again, stammering, "A-A little."
Another bump and Stephanie yelped again, flinching from the jolting of the coaches.
But when they reached a station, Stephanie poked her head out a little, seeing that the sign for the station reads, "Shiloh."
"Er, Culdee?" Stephanie spoke, glancing over at him through the window.
Culdee tilted his body to the side a little to look over at Stephanie with a slight, confused expression.
"Is this stationed named 'Shiloh?'" Stephanie asked, mentioning over to the sign.
Culdee glanced over at what Stephanie was mentioning, seeing the sign.
"Oops," Culdee blushed. "I forgot that the station James stopped at was Kirk Machan!"
Stephanie nervously smiled a little after Culdee mentioned before asking, "Doesn't hurt to make an u-turn?"
Culdee paused a little after Stephanie suggested before smiling a little.
"You're right!" Culdee nodded. "All I have to do is go up to Culdee Fell Summit and then back down to Kirk Machan."
'Oh, crap.' went through Stephanie's mind after Culdee nodded.
She moved back into his coaches and listened to his whistle whistling after everyone boarded, going to the next station.
As he was going up the mountain, Stephanie felt the coach tilting back to Culdee, thinking that the weight of the passengers with the coach was too heavy for him.
But he managed to stop at one of the stations, and the passengers boarded his coaches after some left and repeated the same process.
So the coaches were not that heavy for Culdee to go up the mountain.
Mentally, Stephanie prayed the coaches would not get derailed or Culdee falling off the rails, not wanting to get hurt or have others in danger.
Luckily, Culdee did not get derailed or have the coaches knocked off as he continued going up the mountain.
Stephanie was surprised at how high they were up in the sky, feeling more nervous as she looked out the window.
When they stopped, Stephanie clenched the seat in her hand tighter, feeling very terrified about getting herself or others killed.
"Are you alright, Stephanie?" Stephanie opened her eyes a little after hearing Culdee's voice and poked her head out of the window.
"Y-Yes," Stephanie nodded shakily. "Just a little nervous, that's all!"
Culdee nodded after Stephanie responded to his question, waiting for the passengers to board his coaches as Stephanie went back into her seat.
She was impressed at how high they were at the Devil's Back, looking around at how… giant she was feeling.
She was dazed into a fantasy where she was a giantess, looking across plains and traveling wherever she could go as her heart desires.
Culdee did not notice that Stephanie was daydreaming like the last of the passengers were boarded on his coaches, and he whistled his whistle, moving backwards.
During that time, Stephanie perked a little from her daydreaming and heard what sounded like a male's scream and loud crashing noises.
Stephanie snapped her head up after hearing the crash and the male's scream, thinking that Culdee had accidentally uncoupled his coaches and crashed at the side of the Devil's Back.
But nothing happened.
So, Stephanie sighed in relief that nothing had happened to the coaches or Culdee… yet.
Culdee stopped again at the station, heading back down to Kirk Machan, where he had started before.
Midway, he met Lord Harry and Patrick, greeting them with a whistle of his whistle before continuing down the mountain.
Once he had finally reached Kirk Machan, Culdee stopped and allowed everyone to step off his coaches, along with Stephanie, who looked a little shaky.
"Are you alright?" Culdee asked, sounding concerned for her.
Stephanie only nodded her head after Culdee asked, standing back up to her feet.
"I'm sorry, I was just a little nervous," Stephanie apologized. "I never rode on a coach that was going up a mountain."
Culdee gave Stephanie an assuring smile and said, "It's okay, Stephanie. There is no reason to apologize."
Stephanie paused after Culdee assured her of apologizing before hearing the conductor's whistle.
"Oh, I have to go," Culdee remarked before whistling his whistle in response. "Talk to you later!"
Stephanie waved her hand to Culdee as he left before sighing as she pushed a stray of long brown hair from her face.
Now that it was in Kirk Machan correctly, Stephanie decided to sell her canes and other carvings she had made.
Over the next few hours, Stephanie surprisingly sold all of her carvings to people, even hikers, who wanted to have a cane of their own.
When the last carving was sold, some people came up to ask for carvings for their own, even canes, since the ones they have used were not strong enough to handle the weight.
So, like last time, Stephanie allowed them to write their orders in a notebook she had brought with herself, even others she had not tried before too.
After the last person to have his order was written in the notebook Stephanie had, Stephanie decided it would be the best time to look in her purse of the money she had recently gathered.
Sitting down on an empty bench, Stephanie started counting the money people had given her, surprised to see that she had enough to either buy something expensive from a restaurant or a toy from a toy store.
Stephanie blinked a few times after counting the money, looking confused at the amount she has.
So she counted again if she had the numbers right while using a calculator from her bag.
But, sure enough, the amount she had in her hand was the exact amount she had counted out.
An impressed expression appeared on Stephanie's face when she discovered she had a large amount of money in her hand but soon turned to worry after placing the money back into her purse.
Where is she going to spend it?
Stephanie scratched the back of her head a little at the thought of what she could do next, usually worried about how she could spend her money without using all of it.
She could ask someone she knows to help her with the money she has, but her anxiety made her ignore the thought in her mind.
A grumble from her stomach seemed to snap Stephanie out of her thoughts from sitting on the bench.
She placed a hand against her flat stomach, feeling hungry from all that thinking she went through.
So, Stephanie decided to buy something from a store to get something to eat for herself.
…But where?
Stephanie went back to thinking to herself again after thinking about where to get food for herself.
Then James' whistle snapped her out of her thinking once again as she glanced up at the railway as James came in, screeching as usual.
"Hi, Stephanie!" James greeted Stephanie, noticing the empty backpack on her back. "Did the selling go well?"
"It did!" Stephanie nodded with a smile. "Although…"
She trailed off a little, rubbing the back of her neck as James looked slightly confused.
"I got a lot of money that I didn't think I would get, and…" Stephanie blushed as she nervously rubbed her left hand. "What do you think I should do?"
James thought to himself for a moment after Stephanie asked, before his driver suggested, "Have you tried the food at one of the stores in Arlesburgh Harbour?"
Stephanie perked after hearing the suggestion from James' driver, asking, "Do you know where the Arlesburgh Harbour is?"
"I do," nodded the driver as he stepped out to Stephanie. "All you have to do is board James's coaches until we reach Kildane and then board Gordon's or Thomas's coaches until they reach Tidmouth."
Stephanie listened closely to James's driver's words as he explained, remembering the stations and locomotives to take.
"Then wait for either Duck or Oliver to take you to Arlesburgh West," James' driver continued. "And maybe Daisy could take you to Arlesburgh Harbour."
"That's a long way," James remarked.
Stephanie nodded in agreement from the back of her mind but asked, "So, can I board your coaches, James?"
"Of course!" James nodded. "You're welcome to board all you want."
Stephanie smiled after James nodded and climbed into the first coach behind him, sitting down near a window close to him.
Once everyone was seated, James whistled his whistle as his driver stepped back into his cabin and puffed off to Kildane.
Stephanie continued sitting in the seat as James puffed down the line, stopping at the usual stations he stops at.
When he reached Kildane, Stephanie gripped the bottom of the seat with one hand, waiting for James to screech to a halt like he always does whenever coming to a station.
But he instead slows down to a stop at Kildane, confusing Stephanie a little.
Once James had stopped at Kildane, Stephanie stepped out of his coaches and was about to ask but stopped herself from asking, thinking that asking something about him would be considered rude.
So, she dismissed the question in her mind and instead said, smiling, "Thank you, James!"
James smiled after Stephanie thanked him, giving her a whistle in response to her thanks.
When Thomas came with Annie and Clarabel, Stephanie boarded his coaches and stayed on board until he reached Tidmouth.
At Tidmouth, Stephanie unboarded Thomas's coaches and waited, looking around for Duck or Oliver to come over to Knapford.
Half of her was a little worried about making a mistake, however, not wanting to get herself lost again.
As she waited, Stephanie felt more worried as the minutes passed, until Duck appeared with coaches behind him!
The basis was a Diagram F16 Double-Ended slip coach and was painted in claret and cream with black roofs and window frames.
'I have never seen Duck with coaches before,' Stephanie thought to herself with wonder.
When Duck noticed Stephanie at the station, he looked confused for a moment before continuing.
Before Stephanie could tell him he was passing the station, the single coach coupled behind him uncoupled from his chain.
Wincing, Stephanie was about to ask why the coach uncoupled but remembered that it was a slip coach.
'I have to stop myself from giving myself a heart attack!' Stephanie sighed before hearing Duck's whistle from the other side of the station.
"What on earth are you doing here, Stephanie?" Duck asked her with confusion. "I thought you were in Sir Topham Hatt's mansion."
"I was, but Alice decided I needed some sunshine outside," Stephanie explained to him. "Plus, I had many carvings in my room."
"Ah, that's why your hands are covered in some bandages?" Duck asked, mentioning her hands with a gentle nod.
Stephanie nodded her head after Duck asked before asking, "May you take me to Arlesburgh West? I'm heading to the Arlesburgh Harbour."
A slightly confused expression appeared on Duck's face after Stephanie asked about going to Arlesburgh West as she explained to him, including what James's driver said to her.
After explaining to Duck about going to Arlesburgh West, Duck paused a little thoughtfully before responding with a smile, "Of course!"
Stephanie smiled after Duck nodded and glanced over at the slip coach that had been uncoupled from him, asking, "Are they your coaches?"
"Yes, they are!" Duck nodded.
Before he could explain to Stephanie what type of coaches they are and what they do, Stephanie instead interrupted him.
"They are slip coaches, right?" Stephanie asked as Duck paused from explaining to her. "They have the basis of a Diagram F16 Double-Ended, and each one has a guard inside that can pull the lever inside to uncouple the coach, so you wouldn't have to stop?"
That question made Duck go silent with surprise, impressed at how clever Stephanie knew what type of coaches they were.
The coach listening to the conversation chuckled after Stephanie asked, speaking to Duck as the coach had a male's voice, "I think she beat you to it, Duck!"
Duck blushed after the coach mentioned it, as Stephanie smiled a little but was mentally worried about making Duck a little too embarrassed.
"Sorry, Duck," Stephanie blushed shyly. "I should've let you explain instead of interrupting you like that."
"No, it's fine, Stephanie. No need to apologize to me." Duck chuckled as he assured the slightly embarrassed Stephanie. "Go ahead and board Steven. I'll go to the turntable and turn around to fetch the others. That means that I'll reach Arlesburgh West."
Stephanie nodded her head after Duck assured her and turned around to Steven, the coach Duck mentioned to and boarded him along with the others.
As she took a seat, Stephanie saw a guard at the back with the lever in his hand.
'I was right,' Stephanie smiled to herself. 'There is a guard inside!'
After smiling to herself, Stephanie pushed her glasses into place and continued sitting, even being polite to let someone sit by her too.
Duck came back around after talking to Stephanie about staying at the station, coupling back to the coach, and went to fetch the other coaches he passed by.
Stephanie enjoyed the ride in Duck's coaches, feeling an excited jump inside as she thought about the slip coaches.
She had never experienced a slip coach before in her life, so this was a first for her.
Once Duck reached Arlesburgh West, Stephanie unboarded Duck's coaches and waved at him as he puffed off, leaving behind a whistle in return.
'Okay, now that I am at Arlesburgh West,' Stephanie thought to herself. 'All I have to do is wait for Oliver or Daisy to come over and pick me up from here... Although, who is Daisy? The name sounds beautiful.'
Stephanie pushed her glasses back into place after thinking to herself about the name Daisy.
Then she heard a diesel horn honking.
She perked after hearing the diesel locomotive's horn honking, thinking that it was either Diesel or any of the diesels she had met before, but instead sees that it was a completely different diesel.
The diesel locomotive was a single unit BR Class 101 and painted light green with a yellow lining.
She wore makeup to Stephanie's surprise, including eyelashes, red lipstick, blush, and blue eyeshadow.
The beautiful female diesel locomotive noticed Stephanie standing at the station as she walked up to her.
She greeted Stephanie in French, "Bonne après-midi! What brings you here, petite fille?"
Stephanie, understanding French, responded to the diesel's surprise in the language she spoke in, "Rien de bien, juste attendre ici qu'un beau diesel vienne me chercher pour aller au port d'Arlesburgh."
The female diesel locomotive blinked a few times after Stephanie responded to her in French before asking in English as a faint blush appeared from underneath her makeup blush, "You speak French?"
"Yes, I do." Stephanie nodded. "I learned to speak French from one of my foster-father's friends."
The female diesel locomotive smiled after Stephanie nodded, responded, "Well, your foster-father's friend is wonderful at teaching you how to speak French! You are very fluent at speaking it!"
Stephanie blushed a little from the female diesel locomotive's remark before asking, "Oh, sorry for distracting you a little, ma'am but do you mind if I board you?"
"Oh, to go to Arlesburgh Harbour?" she asked, as Stephanie nodded her head. "Of course you may! Just be careful, alright?"
Stephanie nodded her head again and boarded onto her along with the others that followed behind.
Stephanie took a seat closer to the driver inside the female diesel locomotive.
She was impressed by how roomy it was inside rather than being inside a diesel locomotive's cab.
Once everyone was seated in their seats, the female diesel locomotive honked her horn and started her routine down the line.
Stephanie enjoyed the ride down the line inside the female diesel locomotive.
Mostly the few bounces here and there from some bumps on the railroad, but not too much.
Soon, she reached Arlesburgh Harbour, and Stephanie got off, turning to her and said, speaking in French, "Merci pour le trajet, madame!"
"De rien!" She smiled before honking her horn and going off after new passengers boarded her.
Stephanie waved goodbye to her and turned around, pausing a little to think of where the store would be at.
So, she decided to walk around the harbor to look for a store to reasonably spend her money on.
During her trip around the Arlesbrugh Harbour, Stephanie looked around for anything that would look interesting to her.
Most of them were gift stores, but some yarn stores seemed to have caught her attention.
So, she put a mental note in her mind to go back to that store to buy some yarn.
Soon Stephanie came across a store that looked interesting and had food that even looked good too.
So, Stephanie went inside the store and had a look around what could be in stock.
She did not notice the people looking at each other with a confused expression on their faces but did not mind and continued with what they were doing.
Soon, Stephanie came up to an aisle and looked at some ingredients when she noticed someone shady from the corner of her eye.
It was a stranger who was taller than her and was an elderly man.
He has fair skin, with steel-blue eye color and short gray hair that is slowly turning white from age.
He wore a white sailor hat and a light gray long-sleeved turtleneck sweater underneath his long-sleeved Navy blue coat with a v-neck and six dark blue buttons on the front.
Topping things off, he also wore a pair of black pants and waterproof black shoes.
He had his collar up to conceal his face, and his hat was tipped down slightly over his eyes to hide.
It felt… strange to see someone acting shady in the store, even though she does not know who he is.
So, curiosity once again got the best of her and came up to the stranger, looking curiously at him.
He glanced down at her from the corner of his eye, seeing that Stephanie was standing next to him.
He glanced away from Stephanie and said, mostly whispering slightly, "Go on, I don't 'ave any candy on me."
'Rude,' Stephanie thought to herself as she huffed.
"I'm not interested in candy," Stephanie spoke to him. "I was just saying 'hello,' to you."
He glanced down at her once before going back to the shelves in front of him.
"Aye, aye, aye," he scoffed as he rolled his eyes. "Ahoy t' ye too. Thar, happy now?"
"A little." Stephanie huffed, acting like a stubborn girl in front of him, before noticing something about his accent in his voice. "Are you a pirate, though? Because your accent sounds like on-"
He instantly whipped around at her and knelt to her height, silencing her with a finger against his lips.
"Are ye tryin' t' get me in trouble?!" he exclaimed quietly. "I don't want t' be caught by any o' th'-"
"Sailor John?!" exclaimed a voice from one of the ends of the aisle they were at, causing him to stiffen a little before groaning.
"Sink me." he groaned as he looked down at Stephanie as she nervously smiled as if she was saying 'Sorry.' "Now 'tis yer fault."
Stephanie did not respond to his scolding but only glanced down from his sight, blushing with sheepishness.
Some people gathered around the man after one of them had noticed him having a conversation with Stephanie.
Most of the talking was about between Thomas and about something else she did not know of.
During her escape, Stephanie stopped a little when she noticed his pant leg was up a little, seeing that there was a police monitor cuff around his ankle.
What did he do to get himself into trouble?
Noticing that things were getting a little heated for the poor elderly man, Stephanie glanced down the side and said, "Hey, are the stinky cheese free?"
That seemed to take the bait, causing them to move away from the elderly man and to the dairy.
He moved his collar down, sometimes to readjust his clothes from being grabbed.
Stephanie walked back over to him and pretended nothing had happened as he turned around and started to leave.
A bad feeling was in Stephanie's stomach for him having to get into trouble with the people, so she picked some food for herself and the man, buying it from the counter, and went outside.
"Excuse me, sir?" Stephanie called him as he stopped and turned around to her.
He stopped after hearing Stephanie call out to him and turned around, watching her as she ran up to him.
"I-I'm sorry for being a nuisance to you, sir," Stephanie apologized to him before holding out a bag filled with groceries inside to him. "Uh, here, I bought this for you to have for lunch."
He paused after Stephanie held the bag out to him before taking it from her.
"Thanks," he grumbled. "But next time, remember t' mind yer own business, aye?"
"Aye, sir!" Stephanie smiled with a smile.
That seemed to confuse him a little after Stephanie smiled at him but tipped his hat.
He turned around and turned around a corner of an alley to somewhere else.
She parted her ways with the sailor and went to look for somewhere to eat her food.
She found a spot to eat and sat there, eating a sandwich made of salami, cheese, mayo, mustard, and lettuce.
As she was eating, someone approached her from in front, causing her to look up from her food in confusion, thinking that it was Mason, Jason, and William.
But to her surprise and confusion, it was instead an Eastport Pram rail boat.
The rail boat was painted in blue and turquoise, his wheels are red, and his sail is white with yellow stripes.
Stephanie smiled a little when he noticed how cute the rail boat was as the rail boat saw her.
"Hello, what's your name?" the rail boat greeted.
"Stephanie," Stephanie greeted after finishing her sandwich. "Stephanie Allen. You?"
"My name is Skiff!" Skiff, the rail boat greeted. "What brought you here to Arlesburgh Harbour?"
"I came here to buy lunch," Stephanie answered with a smile. "I sold many hiking poles and other things out of wood!"
"Really?" Skiff asked in wonder. "You must have a talented hand!"
Stephanie blushed from the compliment Skiff made about her talent and stammered, "Th-Thank you, Skiff."
Skiff smiled after Stephanie thanked him as she asked, "Oh, there is a question I want to ask, Skiff. Do you know of an elderly man wearing a sailor's hat?"
That question made Skiff look surprised after Stephanie asked, as she felt worried about accidentally saying the wrong thing to him.
"Did I ask something wrong?" Stephanie asked, closing her bag of food.
"N-No, you didn't," Skiff assured the worried Stephanie. "It's just that... Sailor John has a bad reputation."
Stephanie felt curious after Skiff explained, slowly asking, "What... did Sailor John do?"
Skiff paused a little after Stephanie asked about Sailor John before his owner appeared beside him, asking, "Who are you talkin' to, Skiff?"
He has fair skin with short brown hair and hazelnut brown eye color.
He wore a brown shirt, a gray undershirt, gray-blue jeans, and a blue sailor's cap along with a pair of black waterproof boots.
"I'm talking to Stephanie, Joe," Skiff answered. "She met Sailor John."
"She did?" Joe, the owner, asked, glancing over to Stephanie. "Did he harm you?"
"No, he didn't," Stephanie shook her head. "He was in the store with me buying food."
Captain Joe and Skiff glanced at each other after Stephanie answered to them, as Captain Joe said, "You were lucky that you were not persuaded by him."
Stephanie's confusion grew after Captain Joe spoke, listening to the story about how Skiff and Sailor John once were thieves.
It all started with a legend everyone has heard through history books, about a pirate called Captain Calles, who sails the seas in his ship, attacking and sinking merchant ships to steal their treasure.
However, this only resulted in the merchants and the Navy trying to track him down to get the treasure back from him.
To get away, Calles sailed his ship into a cavern located between Arlesburgh and Harwick.
There, he buried his treasure so no one else except him would know where it was.
He later drew up a map to come back and find the treasure, but it was apparently blown overboard.
Sailor John thought he was related to Captain Callens, so he decided the treasure was his and would not stop at anything until he got it.
Sailor John used to be in the Navy but was kicked out after he went on about being Captain Callens's decant.
He teamed up with Thomas, who found his ship before, and persuaded him into helping him by getting Thomas into his desires.
But after the treasure was found by Sir Topham Hatt, Sailor John revealed his true colors and was bent on getting it back, along with the ship.
However, Skiff did not want to be in the thieving but was forced to be in it, no matter what.
There was a huge chase, and Skiff fought back, eventually getting Sailor John into the police, ending his career of being a thief, and Skiff started anew as a tour guide through the harbor.
Stephanie looked surprised after the story, but half of her felt relieved that Skiff was safe.
"I'm surprised that he has not tried to persuade you into doing something with him," Captain Joe sighed, placing a hand on Stephanie's shoulder.
Stephanie agreed with Captain Joe about her close encounter with Sailor John, but there was something about Sailor John that seemed a little... different.
As if... there was more to a grumpy ex-marine.
Meanwhile, with Sailor John, he looked at the bag of food that Stephanie had given to him, seeing that she did give him a whole week's worth of food, even to stock up too.
He smiled after seeing how gullible that child was but stopped himself a little at the thought.
After thinking to himself, Sailor John went to walk to his apartment, still thinking about his encounter with that strange child.
