A/N: This will be the first part in a two-parter. The concept is something I find amusing, especially when considering the different characters we have here. This will be the longest chapter yet, hope you enjoy.

Camping Chaos Part 1

The Awdrys all got out of the car and entered the fields at the bottom of Culdee Fell mountain. Gordon breathed in the countryside air proudly. "See boys, this is why I wanted to come here. Look at this scenery! You have the emerald green fields, the gorgeous trees swaying lightly in the breeze, the chirping of birds, what could be better?"

"The comfort of my bed, the sweet sound of videogames and the lack of nature?" suggested James, who was looking around at the muddy fields in disgust. It had clearly rained during the night. "I'm sleeping in the car," he muttered as he tried to jump back in, but Gordon grabbed him and pulled him back out again.

"I don't think so," he said as he put a hand on his shoulder and turned him to look up at the mountain. "We're camping, son! This is an opportunity for adventure!"

"The only adventures I like are the ones you get in RPGs," muttered James. Gordon sighed before turning to his other sons.

"You all think it's great, don't you?"

"Are we going to have to climb all the way up that mountain?" asked Percy, looking up at the colossal landform in awe.

"My legs won't last that long," added Thomas.

"No, it's too dangerous to climb this mountain," laughed Gordon as he bent down to the same level as his two sons. "There's a rack railway that will take us to the top."

Thomas and Percy's eyes lit up. They liked railways. They had grown up to love railways, and their siblings had too. Gordon himself was a fan of railways, so that's probably where the kids got it from. "What's a rack railway?" asked Percy.

"It's a special railway that climbs mountains or steep slopes," explained Gordon, looking up at the mountain. "It takes passengers all the way up to the summit."

"Can we go on a journey, dad?" asked Thomas excitedly.

"We will at some point," chuckled Gordon, smiling at his children looking forward to the activities he'd planned. "First we'd better find a good place to set up camp. Come on, let's go unpack the car." When Gordon stood up he saw Henry was standing nearby, hands in his pockets as he observed the nature around them. He slowly approached him before joining him by his side. "So. What do you think?"

"It's so...peaceful," whispered Henry, who hadn't seen anywhere so quiet in his life. Even Crosby Forest wasn't this quiet. But at the same time it wasn't unnerving silence. There was the slight sound of the soft breeze blowing the plant life. Henry would stand here for hours if he could.

"Come on, you're the nature expert," said Gordon as he headed back to the car. "You can help us pick a spot."

Henry smiled. He was going to enjoy this weekend. Nothing could ruin it. "This is perfect," he said quietly.


"THIS IS AWFUL!" exclaimed Henry as the Awdrys all battled the fierce gale and intense rainfall, thunder clouds forming overhead. They had to shout to be heard. At the same time, they were trying to get the tent up. It was flying everywhere, making it difficult for them to slot the pieces together. One Awdry held a side each.

"I HATE THIS!" shouted James crossly as he struggled to slide a pole into its slot. "WHY DOES NATURE EXIST?!"

"THIS IS WORSE THAN THE TIME I FELL INTO THAT MINE!" yelled Thomas, who was struggling to hold his side of the tent still.

"YOU SEE BOYS, THIS IS CAMPING!" laughed Gordon, while his children gave him concerned looks. He looked like a madman with his wet hair and the way he was laughing like a maniac.

Percy stuck close to his father, worrying he might be caught out by the wind. He didn't help much, but his siblings understood how frightened he must feel. Al of them had trouble coping with storms when they were younger.

"THIS WAS A BIG MISTAKE!" cried James, who once again would rather be sitting in the car.

When the wind died down and the rain ceased, it became much easier for the Awdrys to keep the tent still, allowing them to slide the poles in and stand it up. Soon the tent was ready, and Gordon seemed proud of their teamwork. "This could survive an earthquake," he laughed. But then it fell apart. "Oh."

"All that effort for nothing," sighed Henry as they all looked down at the collapsed tent.

Percy then noticed an extra pole on the floor and held it up to his father. "You forgot this."

"Thank you, Percy," sighed Gordon.


When the tent had been re-erected, Henry and James went off to collect firewood. James was wearing a pair of shiny white trainers before they arrived, now they were wet, dirty and covered in mud. Henry meanwhile had worn a pair of hiking boots, and therefore was much more prepared for the situation. James grumbled about how he doesn't own any outdoor clothes, but the truth was he did, but had forgotten to pack them.

"I don't get it Henry," muttered James as he climbed over a log. "Why do you love nature so much. It's so...unsettling," he muttered as he observed a worm crawling across the ground.

"Nature is just a wonderful thing," explained Henry. "I can't really explain it. It just feels good."

"What's so good about it?" he asked, going to sit down on a log before noticing how dirty it was. He took off his jacket and put it down on the log, then sat on it. There was no point in trying to keep it clean anymore, it was practically a different colour with all the mud and dirt that was on it. "Nature is just a nuisance to me," he muttered, watching with disgust as an insect scuttled along the forest floor.

Henry paused to think for a moment. Then he turned to James and told him, "You know that feeling when you're safe, like nothing can hurt you. That warm feeling when you're under your blanket at night, feeling like it can protect you from any of the horrors. That's how nature makes me feel. It's such a treasure. And when you think about it, without nature where would we be?"

James paused. For the first time he had thought about nature from someone else's point of view. As he took a look around, he noticed little details he was usually too upset to notice. He saw little birds making nests in the trees, he saw bright, colourful berries growing in bushes, and he could feel the soft breeze blowing his hair slightly. James was a noisy character, but right now he was lost for words. He gazed in awe as he saw the forest in a new light.

Henry had continued on for a while and hadn't noticed James hadn't followed. "Here's some good firewood," he said as he scooped up some sticks. "Help me with this lot James." When no answer came he turned around. "James?" He noticed his red-haired brother a good distance back, sat on the log as he looked around in wonder. He noticed a smile on his face. "Well what do you know?" chuckled Henry. "Perhaps there's hope for James yet." He approached his brother slowly and silently, as to not disturb him, then sat on the log next to him. James didn't notice Henry until he spoke. "Enjoying the view?"

"What?" James asked quickly, being awoken from the trance he had been in. "Huh? I didn't...why am I...?"

Henry laughed as James stood up. "What are you laughing at? Let's just get this firewood back to Dad already."

James scooped up his jacket and was about to put it on, but decided against it and marched back to the tent. He hadn't picked up a single stick. Henry didn't care that James hadn't helped. He was still highly amused.


Thomas was running with a football he'd brought. "There's not much time of the game left. Awdry is going in for the shot," he self-narrated as he watched his father standing between the goalposts (which were two perfectly distanced trees they had chosen). "The score is currently tied, if Awdry makes the shot he will have won the match. The game is seconds away from being over." He began dribbling between non-existent players. "The defenders block him, but Awdry has dribbling talents like no other!"

Percy and Gordon watched with deadpan expressions as Thomas was talking to himself, seeming to run in crazy directions. "Dad, what's he doing?" asked Percy, concerned that perhaps his brother was a nugget short of a happy meal.

"I don't know Percy," sighed Gordon as he waited for Thomas to finally take the shot. He then shouted out to Thomas. "Hurry up, I've been waiting for 12 minutes!"

"The scary goalkeeper is starting to grow aggravated, Awdry prepares to take the shot!" declared Thomas as he brought his foot back, then he kicked the ball as hard as he could. "HE SHOOTS!" Gordon failed to stop the ball passing him. "AND HE SCORES!" Thomas ran around doing a victory dance before skidding across the ground in his knees. "The crowd goes wild! Awdry has become the player of the century!"

Thomas turned back to his father and sibling. "Who's ready for round 2?" he asked, trying to sound impressive, but ultimately failing.

"I'm bored now," sighed Percy as he began to walk back to the tent. "You suck all the fun out of the game, Thomas."

Gordon looked up at the sky and noticed the sun was setting. The sky was a beautiful blend of pinks, oranges and yellows. "Boys, look at this," he said as his sons followed his gaze. They both looked up at the sky in amazement.

"Whoa, that's amazing!" exclaimed Percy as he saw the colourful sky.

Thomas nodded in agreement. "I can see why you like it here, dad."

Gordon walked over to his sons and got on one knee as he put a hand on each of their shoulders. They kept their eyes on the sky. "It's just like I remember it. Some of my best childhood memories came from here. Me, your Grandad, your Uncle Scot, we had our best moments in this place." They stared at the sky for what felt like hours before it began to fade into the dark night sky. Because it was the open countryside, it was a lot easier to see stars. Gordon pointed out a few constellations that he knew (he made up some names for the ones he didn't know to make himself sound impressive) while his sons hung on to his every word. Eventually Henry and James got back, James coming empty handed while Henry was holding a decent pile of sticks. He dumped them all in a pile on the floor and Gordon showed his sons how to make a fire, first setting the sticks in a good position before pulling out some matches.

"Watch and learn, boys," he said as he struck a match. His sons watched eagerly, waiting for the flame, but instead of lighting the match broke. "Oh. That went better in my head. Never mind, no one gets it first try." He discarded the broken match then pulled out another. "Here we go, attempt 2." He struck the match and this time it lit, but only for a few seconds before burning out. "Oh. Never mind, I'll get it next time."

Half an hour later...

"Alright, attempt 274," sighed Gordon as he discarded another match, a big pile of them being formed on the ground. "Don't worry boys, I'll have it this time." His sons had all grown bored and moved on to other things. Percy had found his way into the bag of marshmallows they were planning to burn and had began eating. Thomas and James were playing rock-paper-scissors. Henry was laid on his back looking up at the stars, hands behind his head. Eventually they heard their triumphant father whoop with joy.

"I did it, boys!" he exclaimed, fists in the air as a small flame had evolved into a glorious fire in front of him. "I lit the fire!"

"And it only took 274 attempts," joked James, but one glare from his father shut him up.

"Now we can roast those marshmallows," said Gordon but when they all looked at Percy they noticed the empty packet in his hands. "Oh..."

"Sorry," muttered Percy innocently as he hid the packet behind his back. "I was really hungry."

"Never mind," sighed Gordon as he pulled a large rock over and sat on it. "We can still do other things around the campfire. How about ghost stories?"

"YES!" said Thomas and Percy at once. They enjoyed ghost stories, even if they were both easily frightened.

"I must caution you all, I know a few scary ones," laughed Gordon as Henry pulled over a log and the children sat on it, opposite their father, who's face was illuminated by the flames.

"I won't be scared!" boasted James proudly. "I'm never scared."

"Oh really?" asked Henry with a wicked grin. "What about the bear incident?"

"I wasn't screaming, I was just letting out a battle cry to frighten it away!"

"What about Jack Frost?" asked Percy, remembering last winter when he'd been covered in snow and James had seen him.

"I was having trouble with my throat that day! Those screaming noises were just me trying to get my voice back!"

"What about the-?" Thomas couldn't finished because James covered his mouth.

"Can we stop now? I wanna prove that I ain't afraid!"

"I'm just going to the bathroom," muttered Henry as he stood up and walked into the forest. "Feel free to start without me."

"Typical!" muttered James crossly. "He's probably more scared than the rest of us."

"Now, are you ready?" asked Gordon mysteriously. His 3 children nodded. "Well then, let me begin. You know the mountain railway I told you about?"

"The one on this mountain?" asked Thomas, excitedly. "Yeah, you mentioned it earlier."

"Well, there was once a driver who worked here, his name was Godred," explained Gordon as James faked a yawn. Gordon ignored him. "It's a dangerous job, working on the mountain railway. Engines are fitted with automatic brakes, in case their regular brakes feel on the steep slopes."

"Where is this leading?" sighed James, but once again he was ignored.

"Godred was very cocky and arrogant," continued their father, keeping up the mysterious feel. "He believed nothing bad could happen to him while he had his automatic brakes, and he put too much faith into them. He thought should he be in trouble, the brakes could save him. But he was wrong."

Thomas and Percy gulped. James rolled his eyes, but secretly he was intrigued.

"On June 4, 1900, just over a month after the railway had officially opened, Godred was coming back down the mountain with his train, when he derailed on a dangerous stretch of track called Devil's Back," explained Gordon, as the eyes of all 3 children widened, including James'. "He rolled down the mountain, suffering a gruesome fate alongside his engine." Thomas and Percy edged closer to each other, worried. James was trying to keep up his confident persona but found it hard. "Luckily, his coach remained on the rails so nobody was hurt in the accident, and the engine was salvaged for spare parts."

"D-did they ever find Godred's body?" stuttered Thomas nervously, starting to sweat.

"That's the strange thing," replied Gordon, more mysterious than ever. "There was no sign Godred even existed. No blood, no badly damaged body, nothing. Some say he was found, but it was covered up to avoid a bad reputation. But others believe Godred instead managed to come back as a zombie."

James began to shift, he fidgeted with his fingers. "A-a zombie you say?"

Gordon nodded and continued. "They say he roams around the mountain every evening, and in the surrounding forests. Many people have gone missing in there," he said, pointing into the mass of trees. "People say bears, but we all know it's Godred doing it. He shuffles slowly along the floor, pretending to be a regular person from afar. But when he gets close enough, he grabs the person and tears them limb from limb!"

Thomas and Percy were at breaking point, but James looked white as a ghost. "I-it's just a story. Right dad?"

Before Gordon could reply, they heard a loud scream and realised it was coming from Henry. "IT'S GODRED! HE'S GOT HENRY!" wailed James before seeing a large shape emerge from the trees. James was too scared to run. Instead, he fainted, falling off the log onto the grass behind him.

Thomas and Percy looked at James, then at the shape, and were also considering running, but then they heard the shape laugh. With a very familiar laugh. And when the figure got closer they realised it was just-

"HENRY?!" exclaimed the two youngest sons as Henry was barely able to contain his laughter. Gordon, meanwhile, had also burst out laughing, and it didn't take long for Thomas to put two and two together.

"You both planned this, didn't you?" he muttered.

"You got that right!" laughed Henry, wiping a tear from his eye.

"We only intended to scare James, not make him faint," laughed Gordon, struggling to speak in between laughter.

Thomas and Percy looked at each other and Thomas joined in the laughing. But Percy had over things on his mind. "T-that was just a story Dad, right?"

Gordon managed to compose himself to answer the question. "Of course it's just a story, Percy," he assured him, reaching over and ruffling his hair. "One of the drivers told it to us last time I came here. Ghosts and zombies don't really exist."

"R-right," said Percy with a small laugh. But part of him wondered if the story of Godred really was true.

A/N: In case you never read the railway series book Mountain Engines, that is where the Culdee Fell Mountain Railway originates from, as well as the story of Godred. It is one of my favourite railway series books, and is definitely a good read for those of you that haven't read it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed.