RETURN OF AN OLD FOE

Written by Zack Wanzer and James Riddle

Set after "Unscheduled Stops"

Bertie the bus had been stuck at the garage for the past few days. He'd been having one of his races with Thomas along the branch line when he had blown a gasket and broke down. Thomas then offered to take his passengers for him, but unfortunately, this had led to the little blue tank engine being forced to make some unscheduled stops on the branch line, causing him to run late. Bertie hated being stuck in one place for an extended period of time, and he was feeling bored.

"Oh, how much longer is this going to be?" he anxiously asked a mechanic.

"Won't be long now," the mechanic promised. "Just need to do one final check up before we ensure that you're good to go."

"Thank goodness," sighed Bertie. "I just hope Thomas has been taking good care of my passengers while I've been away."

At long last, the final checkup had been completed.

"You're all good to go now," the head mechanic said to Bertie.

"Thanks, guys!" the little red bus smiled, and with a cheerful toot of his horn, he set off onto the roads again. Bertie drove along, greeting some old friends as he passed.

"Welcome back, Bertie!" his passengers greeted. "Thomas helped us best he could, but it wasn't the same as you."

They filled Bertie in on all that had happened while he was being repaired.

"Oh dear," sighed Bertie. "Thomas made himself late just to make you all happy?"

"We never meant to give him any trouble," insisted an old man. "We just wanted to get closer to our usual stops so it was more convenient for us."

"I'd better have a word with Thomas next time I see him," said Bertie. His chance came sooner than expected as he pulled up to Maithwaite station. Thomas, Annie and Clarabel were there, but so was…

"Bulgy?!" exclaimed Bertie. "But I thought you'd been converted into a vegetable bus!"

"Only for a while!" grumbled Bulgy. "Though it was much better than being turned back into a henhouse."

"Though chances are you'll be turned back into one if you go back to antagonizing us," insisted Thomas.

"Huh!" grunted Bulgy. "I like to believe that I was put back into passenger service for a reason."

"Probably until Bertie's repairs were finished," snorted Thomas. "And now that he's back, you can go away."

"I'll be the judge of that," said a voice. A smartly-dressed gentleman on board Bertie had spoken up and walked over to Bulgy.

"He's the transport minister for Sodor Roadways," Bertie explained to Thomas, Annie and Clarabel. "He specifically requested to come on board me."

"Now, Bulgy," said the transport minister, "you've been temporarily assigned to run Bertie's route until he was repaired. Now that he's back in service, you'll be transferred to work on another line for the North Western Railway."

"Where exactly, sir?" asked Bulgy.

"Algy's been worked off his wheels since the extension to Harwick was constructed, so you'll be helping him out at Arlesburgh."

"Arlesburgh?" Bulgy wondered. "You mean I'll be working with… those Western engines?!"

"Yes, Bulgy," said the transport minister firmly. "You can either work peacefully alongside them, or you can be taken out of service permanently. I've heard one of the schools could be in need of some new playground equipment…"

"I-I'll be as good as gold, sir," Bulgy gulped. He did not like the sound of this threat; at least hens didn't jump and scream like children do.


Meanwhile, up at Arlesburgh, Duck was pulling into the station with Alistair, Mirabel and Benjamin in tow. Rex was expected to arrive with some passengers who wanted a trip down the Little Western. As Duck waited for the miniature green engine to arrive, he thought he could see a familiar shape coming into view.

"It can't be…" he murmured to himself.

"What is it, Duck?" asked Alistair.

"It's not those nasty Ironworks twins again, is it?" asked Mirabel.

"No, not them," said Duck. "It's an old foe that Oliver and I thought we'd never have to deal with again."

"Well, who is it then?" asked Benjamin.

"Hello there, Quackers!" said Bulgy as he pulled up. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Not long enough, Bulgy," snapped Duck. "What in the name of Brunel are you doing here?"

"For your information," snorted Bulgy, "your controller and the transport minister have had me put back onto passenger services. I worked on that dinky Ffarquhar branch line until Bertie was fixed, and now I've been transferred here again."

Just then, a small whistle was heard as Rex pulled in, feeling rather breathless.

"Sorry if I've run late, Duck," the miniature green engine panted. "Willie's tractor got stuck on the line and some of my passengers had to help push it out of my way."

"What kind of an engine are you?!" Bulgy laughed upon catching sight of Rex. "You look small enough to be a life-sized toy!"

"We might be small," retorted Rex, offended, "but we're still useful! No one should ever overlook a little engine!"

"Don't listen to that Bulgy, Rex," soothed Duck. "It's no use trying to pick a fight with him."

"Aww, what's wrong?" jeered Bulgy. "Afraid I'm gonna best ya in a verbal joust?"

"No," scoffed Duck. "It's just that we have more important things to do than argue with an overgrown pot roast like you." The Great Western engine set off on his next run before Bulgy had a chance to respond.


"You mean to say that Bulgy's back on our line again?!" exclaimed Oliver when he and Duck met up at Haultraugh.

"I couldn't have made it up if I wanted to," the pannier tank engine confirmed. "From what I understand, the transport minister's keeping a tight leash on Bulgy to ensure he doesn't try stealing our passengers again."

"Or getting stuck under his own bridge like the last time he tried to do that," remarked Oliver.

"Yes, that too," said Duck with a slight chuckle. "All the same, we'd best keep our eyes open in case he causes trouble for us again."

"We'd best warn Ryan and Daisy next time we see them," suggested Oliver. "Ryan's never met Bulgy before, and Daisy may have only heard of him from a passing glance."


The engines were hoping that Bulgy would not be too difficult to handle. While he didn't make any attempts to steal their passengers, that didn't stop the red double decker bus from heckling the engines on his route.

"Try not to smash anymore brake vans, Douglas!" he chortled. "Otherwise, ol' Toady'll have to sleep with one eye open!" The number ten engine didn't say anything, but he just scowled in Bulgy's direction over the implications of that statement.


The next engine that Bulgy came across was Ryan picking up some goods at Arlesburgh harbor.

"Oh, lookie what we have here," Bulgy taunted. "It's the railway's big purple pushover. Waiting for one of the other engines to give you their jobs to do?"

"That's not very nice," protested Ryan. "I enjoy helping others, but they always help me back in return."

"But how long will it last?" teased Bulgy. "Pretty soon, their favors will become more demanding, and they'll help you less and less." With a ding of his bell, Bulgy rolled away before Ryan could say anything in response.


Later that evening, the engines held an indignation meeting at Arlesburgh.

"That Bulgy is a muckle nuisance!" snapped Donald.

"Aye," agreed Douglas. "I've hauf a mynd tae push him intae a pond 'n' let th' fish swim in him!"

"There must be some way of putting that bus in his place," insisted Duck. "Not even Algy can stand him!"

"Can't stand who?" came a voice. The Little Western quartet looked over to see Daisy the diesel railcar come up alongside the sheds.

"Oh, we were just talking about Bulgy, Daisy," sighed Oliver. "It seems as though even after these years as a vegetable bus, he still hasn't changed his anti-rail mindset."

"Aye, tis 'free th' roads' this, 'doon wi' railways' that," agreed Donald. "Tis as if he's git nuthin' better tae dae forby taking passengers."

"Oh, is that right?" Daisy asked. "Not to worry, boys. Leave this scoundrel to me."

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" asked Duck worriedly. "I mean, outright antagonizing him and fighting back would probably do more harm than good."

"Oh, how little you know me, Duck," chuckled Daisy. "When I'm done with that Bulgy, he'll rue the day he ever tried going against railways."

The quartet looked at one another skeptically, but hoped that Daisy knew what she was doing.


The next morning, it was Mike's turn to take the first train of passengers up the Arlesdale Railway. The miniature red engine grumbled as he brought his coaches to the platform to meet with Daisy.

"Passengers again…" groaned Mike. "The sooner I give them to you, the sooner I can get back to my goods trains."

"Your line can't rely on one or the other to keep running," Daisy insisted. "I myself prefer passengers, but there are times when passengers don't run up to Harwick. Especially during winter. Then we have to rely on goods traffic to keep our line afloat."

Once all her passengers were on board, Daisy purred away. She was making good time until she came to a level crossing. And there, waiting at the roads, was Bulgy himself. To his surprise, rather than gliding past, Daisy had begun to slow down until she came to a stop right in the middle of the crossing.

"Oi! What's all this?!" snapped Bulgy. "I have places to get to, you know!"

"You must be this Bulgy I've been hearing all about," scowled Daisy.

"Yeah? What's it to you, you bus impersonator?" snorted Bulgy.

"Firstly, I'm a diesel railcar," retorted Daisy. "Secondly, you have a lot of nerve bringing such disrespect to my friends! Don't you know that if it wasn't for the railways, you wouldn't have half the passengers you do now?"

"W-w-well, I-" faltered Bulgy.

"And did you also happen to realize that buses and lorries have far more accidents than the railways?" Daisy added. "Need I remind you what happened when you tried to outdo the rails and ended up as a hen house?"

"Only because those railway tyrants drove me to do it!" Bulgy protested.

"They did no such thing!" snapped Daisy. "You were merely being bull-headed and ignorant! And if recent behavior from you is anything to go off of, you still are! Now unless you wish for me to send a message to the transport minister and tell him about your behavior, I suggest you back off, and put a cork in it! Do I make myself clear?!"

Bulgy stared at Daisy with nothing but fear in his eyes; not just at what she was saying, but also what could happen to him should the transport minister for Sodor Roadways find out about his behavior. He could almost imagine himself stuck in a playground with children climbing around him and having fun, and possibly the engines passing by daily and laughing at his misfortune.

"Er, cr-crystal clear," Bulgy said finally. Daisy didn't say anything as she departed, but she smiled a little, knowing that she had gotten the message across to him.


When Duck and the slip coaches arrived at Arlesburgh later that day, he saw Bulgy in the car park, and expected to hear the double-decker bus's usual taunts. But to their surprise, Bulgy didn't say a word.

"Well, this is unexpected," remarked Duck. "I've never seen Bulgy so quiet before."

Just then, he heard a familiar tooting sound, and Daisy rumbled past looking rather pleased with herself. It didn't take Duck long to put two and two together.

"So you managed to put Bulgy in his place at last?" he grinned.

"Well, I reckon he'll be back to his anti-rail ways sooner or later," said Daisy. "But at least you'll have some peace until then."

And she was right. For the next several weeks, Bulgy made no comments about roads being better than rails, which meant that the transport minister for Sodor Roadways allowed him to remain on passenger duty. The engines relished in the serenity created by this silence, and knew to enjoy it as long as they could. Because who knew when the insults would be back?

THE END


Author's Comments

Thomas and Friends: Between the Lines is back for a second set of stories! To kick things off, and to mark its fifth anniversary this year, we go back to series 21 by giving a much-needed sequel to Unscheduled Stops! Sure, there's Free the Roads, but this story is meant to serve as a bridge between the two, and in the case of the latter, it can work either as a lead-in to the official episode or my rewrite as seen in The International Railway Series. It was fun to see Bulgy interact with his old enemies on the Little Western as well as new faces (to him, anyway) Rex, Ryan and Daisy. The final face-off between her and the railway-hating bus was something that I wanted to have as the climax for the story, showing a bit of growth to her character following her transfer to Harwick.

More stories to come!