James and the Caledonian Witch

It was Halloween eve, and the engines were excited. They loved this time of year, especially when the Fat Controller let them watch the firework show as a reward for all their hard work.

It was seven o'clock when Donald puffed into the station with his last good train for the day when he heard his twin come in with a passage train.

"Evening Donnie." Douglas greeted.

"Evening Douggie. Looking forward to Edward's stories this evening?"

"Aye, I am. Wonder what he'll be telling this year?"

"Well, whatever he's telling it won't be scary." a voice grumbling said.

The twins looked over to see James shunting in a nearby siding. "Well at least I won't be scared." the egotistical red engine stated smugly.

Donald and Douglas groaned in frustration at James' remark. Once they shunted their trucks and coaches away respectively, they made their way to Tidmouth sheds along with James.

At eight o'clock Edward arrived at the sheds where serval engines were eagerly waiting.

"I hope everyone's ready?" Edward asked as he puffed onto the turntable.

"Oh yes we are!" they all replied except for James who just rolled his eyes.

"Good. Now this story begins years ago. A small tank engine was puffing down the line in the darkest part of the night..."

The engines listened, intrigued by the story, some trying to hide their fear on their faces. Once Edward had finished the other engines were in shock by the twisted tale.

"That was really scary Edward." Thomas said.

"Imagine, being used as an illegal experiment." Toby stated.

"I for one would hate to be turned into a monster." Oliver added.

"Oh please, that was by far your worst Halloween story yet." James rudely stated.

"James!" BoCo said firmly.

"Oh, sorry that I'm not so easily scared." James said.

"Perhaps you might be scared of someone else's story?" Edward joked.

"Oh really. Well does anyone have one? Thomas, Boco?" James said. Both looked away, not having anything to say. "Oliver, Toby?" they thought for a second but could think of anything. "Donald? Douglas?"

The twin looked at each other and winked.

"Well, we do know of one tale that might scare the Dearg engine." Donald hinted.

"Aye. A legend from our old line." Douglas added. "It's called..." he paused for effect. "Donella the Caledonian witch."

The over engines looked towards the Caledonian twins, curious about the legend. Donald started the first half whilst Douglas finished.

"Long ago, before either of us was built, there was a small town that was home to a woman name Donella. She was well-liked by the many of townsfolk, however, some expected her of witchcraft. One day she was brought to trial and was found guilty by a biased jury. That evening they drowned her in a loch, but that night those whom caused her death were later attacked by her with a spell that burned all but one to their deaths."

"The one that survived was only speared as she someone to pass the warning, that if she finds anyone that dares to mock her, then she will visit them in the dead of night and take them to the other side. They say that you know she's coming when the air turns cold, the wind changes directions and a high-pitched cackle can be heard."

All was silent as the engines looked in amazement and fear at the twins, even James although he didn't want to admit it.

"Well, I'll admit that was a good story, but it's complete nonsense. There's no such thing as witches and even if there were I would look them in the eye and tell them to go on their broomstick and fly away." James said.

Just then the Fat Controller arrived. He walked over to the engines as Edward reversed of the turntable.

"James, I need you to take a train to the scrapyard." he told the red engine.

"A good train?! But sir why can Edward do it, he likes pulling dirty trunks." James said.

"James, really useful engines don't complain." he said sternly.

"Yes sir." James sighed before puffing out of the sheds.

Edward, now on one of the lines looked over to Donald and Douglas.

"I know what you're thinking but don't even try to scare him."

"Oh, come on Edward, we were only goanna do so to teach him a lesson." the number nine stated.

"I mean it you two. Do not scare him."

"Alright." Douglas begrudgingly agreed.

Meanwhile, James complain as took the rusty metal in the dirty trunks. He hated even a second of it from the trunks giggling to how it made him look un-splendid. To make matters worse a fog had begun to roll in.

Once James arrived at the scrapyard, he parked his trunks in a siding. By now the fog was thick and his lamp light barely cut through. James moved slowly down the line, just be safe. As he went down the line, the twins' story began to come back to him. He was so focused on this that he forgot to whistle to a signal box so that the points could be changed. James unknowingly moved onto an old branch line that went through a deep dark wood. He puffed through the dark unsettling forest. All around him, he could see trees with low-hanging branches.

"Driver I think we're lost." he said.

"I think your right James." the driver replied.

A little while later they saw a signal box not far from the line. The driver stopped James then he and the fireman began to make their way to ask for directions.

"Don't worry James, we'll be back shortly." the driver said.

James sat on the line all alone. Once his crew here out of ear range the air became colder making James' boiler run cold. Then the wind changed direction. James could barely keep his lips from trembling.

"It's...it's...it's...it's just an old story." he tried to comfort himself. "There's no such thing as..."

A high-pitched cackle filled the air.

James' eyes widened as he gulped. "W...wh...who's there?" he trembled as he looked around trying to see where the nose had come from.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" a scratchy Scottish voice said.

He looked to his right and saw a figure standing a few feet beside him. The figure was a woman with red hair in a witch's outfit."

D...D...Donella?" James said in pure fear as his fire went cold.

"What's the matter? Don't you believe in witches?" Donella coldly asked.

James tried to speak but he couldn't.

"I am surprised I thought you would tell them to go on their broomstick and fly away."

"P...p...please d...d...don't hurt me." James cried.

"It's too late for that James. It's time I take you to the other side." She cackled as she prepared a fireball.

James shut his eyes and begged for his life. "No, please. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'M SORRY!"

"Sorry about what James?" the fireman asked.

James opened his eyes to see his crew had returned and the witch had vanished.

"What going James?" the driver asked.

"Oh, urm... nothing, just a bad dream." James fibbed.

"Alright then." his driver said, not fully convinced. "Well, the good news is we're not too far from the mainline. We just have to keep going down this line for five minutes."

James continued down the line, secretly keeping an eye out for the witch. By the time he reached the mainline the fog had begun to lift.

On his way back to the sheds, James stopped at a red signal. As he waited BoCo came down on the other line. He stopped when he saw the red signal for his own line.

"Hello, James. Are you ok? You look like you saw a ghost." BoCo asked.

"I... I didn't see a ghost." James nervously answered. "I saw her."

"Who?"

"Donella."

Just then BoCo's signal turned green and the diesel said his goodbyes to the mixed traffic engine.

Later on, BoCo found Donald and Douglas parked in a siding.

"What did Edward tell you about scaring James?!" BoCo rhetorically asked.

"What are talking about?" Donald asked.

"Don't play innocent with me. I saw James and he was completely shaken up by your joke."

"What joke?" number ten asked.

"That joke you played on him, the one with the witch."

The twins just looked at him with confusion. BoCo rolled his eyes to see this was going nowhere. The CoBo drove off leaving the twins in confusion.

"Did ya?" Donald asked his brother.

"I did no."

The Caledonian Twins looked up into the night sky. They gazed at the full moon as high-pitched cackle filled the night air.

THE END?