SQUEAKY CLEAN

Based upon "Thomas, Percy and the Squeak" by David Mitton and Jenny McDade

Adapted by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens

As spring progressed across the Island of Sodor, the engines would soon find themselves busier than ever. This would especially be the case with Emily the emerald engine, the newest member of the North Western Railway. After years of being stuck in a scrapyard, she was determined to do her best for the upcoming summer rush. Although she got off on the wrong buffer with Thomas, Duck, and to an extent, many of the others, Emily had more than made up for that when she saved Thomas from Gordon about to crash into him. There was one curiosity, however, that Emily wanted to ask about.

"I thought there was an ironworks at Barrow," she was saying to Henry. "Run by two creepy shunters. What happened?"

"Last I heard, Arry and Bert had been sentenced to five years' worth of community service on the mainland," said Henry. "As the ironworks had no dedicated engine to run them, they'd been forced to shut down and many engines left there had been sold off. I think at least a few of them have been saved by preservationists."

"It's ironic, isn't it?" remarked James. "Arry and Bert's criminal actions resulting in some steam engines being saved for preservation. For a pair of engines known as the Grim Messengers of Doom, they're terrible at their job!"

"They got frighteningly close the last two times they attempted to scrap someone," Duck said pointedly, coming in with Old Slow Coach. James and Henry shuddered. Emily was confused, so Duck quickly explained what he and Donald both went through - leaving out his own "final words".

"I'm glad I never met those two," said Emily. "They sound like absolute terrors."

"Hopefully that'll be the last we see from them," agreed James. "Whatever will they do next; force us into being stuck in the middle of our own trains?"

"I'll be glad if that's what they do next," muttered Henry. While the engines were talking, a workman was busy putting up a poster on the station wall. Once he had finished, the engines could see what it read.

"Hmm…" said Henry. "It says that Alicia Botti, the famous Italian opera singer, is performing at Tidmouth a few nights from now."

"You don't mean the Alicia Botti, do you?!" exclaimed Oliver. He and Toad had just arrived while the others were talking. "My driver's got a few records of hers! She's a coloratura."

"What's that?" asked Old Slow Coach.

"It means she can sing high notes very, very loud," Toad explained.

"I wonder who will be taking her when the day comes," said Duck.

"It ought to be me," smirked James.

"You? An engine who can't climb hills without help or needing a bootlace?" scoffed Henry. "Perhaps Sir Topham Hatt will pick me."

"I doubt she'd ride with an engine who once got paint onto their boiler like an iced cake," retorted James. "'That won't do for the royal train,'" he added, impersonating Sir Topham Hatt.

"You got paint all over yourself after crashing into some buffers!" argued Henry.

"And here I thought there'd be a peaceful change of conversation," sighed Emily.

"Henry's usually the kindest of the 'big engines'," Oliver explained. "Though sometimes, James can get under his paint."

A few days later, Sir Topham Hatt came to Tidmouth sheds to make his decision. The sheds now had Gordon, Henry, James, Bear, Diesel and Emily, with one spare berth remaining.

"Alicia Botti shall be arriving at Vicarstown station this afternoon," he announced. "Your schedules will be adjusted so that you can hear her performing at Tidmouth Town Square tonight, and I've made my decision as to who shall be taking her there."

"I know it's going to be me," said James quietly, before speaking out loud, "Sir, I would be honored to-"

"Emily shall take Alicia Botti to Tidmouth in Martha and Julian."

James goggled in disbelief at what he'd just heard; Henry was also disappointed, but at the same time, he was relieved that it wasn't the vain red engine taking the famous opera singer.

"That will be a special occasion for you, Emily," smiled Bear. "Congratulations." The other engines also expressed their praise, even Gordon was smiling.

"Thank you, everyone," said the emerald engine. "It's been such a long time since I was given a special train." She went off to find her coaches.

Martha and Julian were resting on their siding when the former noticed Emily backing up to them.

"You're looking especially cheerful today," she remarked.

"We're taking Alicia Botti, the Italian opera singer!" cried Emily. "Oliver and Toad mentioned something about her being a coloratura." She quickly explained to her coaches about what that meant.

"Oh, an opera singer!" exclaimed Julian. "How very exciting!"

"We've got to look spic and span for it," said Emily. "Come on, you two."

It wasn't long before the emerald trio were being washed from top to bottom. Some workmen were cleaning the coaches' windows while a few more polished Emily's brass until it shone like gold.

"Oh, I've never seen myself look this pretty for a long time," smiled Emily, as her driver showed her what she looked like in a mirror.

"And look at us!" grinned Martha. "I swear, the sun's making my paintwork sparkle."

"Alicia Botti is going to love us," said Julian. "I wonder if someone's going to take our photos."

Just then, Oliver came into the yard towards the coal hopper. "Oh, Emily!" he gasped. "You, Martha and Julian do look great."

"Thanks, Oliver," smiled Emily. "I'm really looking forward to picking up Alicia Botti."

Oliver blinked in surprise; Emily quickly realized her poor choice of words.

"Oh! Oh, I-I'm sorry, Oliver. I didn't realize-"

"I… I should get my coal and get going," said Oliver. "Er… Duck and the twins are waiting for Toad and I on the branch line."

The autotank puffed away, trying to hide his tears. Emily felt bad for Oliver as she watched him and Toad depart.

"It's alright, Mr. Oliver," said Toad sympathetically. "We'll still have a good day."

"Sure, Toad," said Oliver weakly. "M-maybe Dilly and Dallas are getting up to some shenanigans with their ducklings."

The brake van knew this could take a while for Oliver to calm down, and hoped to help out as much as possible.

It wasn't long before Emily, Martha and Julian looked spotless and were ready to depart… but then came a strange squeaking noise from one of the coaches.

"Where's that funny squeaking coming from?" asked Emily.

"It can't be one of our wheels, can it?" asked Martha.

"We'd better oil them to make sure," said Emily's driver, and she and the firewoman made sure to check the coaches' wheels to stop the squeaking noise.

"That ought to do it," said the firewoman. "There should be no more squeaking as we pick up Miss Botti."

But I'm afraid that as Emily, Martha and Julian made their way along the main line, the squeaking noise came back, and it seemed rather persistent.

"That's getting annoying," muttered Julian.

"I swear, it's driving me mad!" agreed Martha. "Are you sure your crew oiled our wheels, Emily?"

"Of course they did," said Emily. "Maybe… maybe it's my wheels that need oiling."

"Can't be," said the emerald engine's driver. "We had them oiled this morning."

"Then where on earth is it coming from?" asked Julian. Nobody knew the answer to that, and the squeaking persisted all the way to Vicarstown. Emily then heard the sound of a horn.

"Ah, so you're the new engine on the island!" came a cheerful voice.

"Oh, you two must be Pip and Emma!" said Emily. "The others told me about you."

"Likewise," said Pip. "You must have had a rough time in the scrapyard," she added sympathetically.

"Good thing Bear managed to find you," added Emma. "And you do look lovely with your emerald paint too."

"Thank you," smiled Emily. She thought the two high speed diesels were incredibly charming.

"We've got an important passenger for you," said Pip. "Had to go right at the speed limit to get here on time."

The "important passenger" in question stepped out of one of the high speed train's coaches and gave a warm smile. She was a middle aged woman with dirty blonde hair, and she was wearing a cream dress-coat with black fur trim over a blue dress, along with a black hat and pearl necklace.

"You must-a be the engine Sir Topham Hatt arranged to-a take me to the concert at Tidmouth," she said warmly. "Emily, right?"

"That's me, ma'am," the emerald engine confirmed. Sir Topham Hatt was also at Vicarstown to greet the famous opera singer.

"Ah, welcome to our railway, Miss Botti," he greeted, tipping his hat and bowing in respect. He then led Alicia Botti to travel in Martha and opened one of her doors. But inside one of her compartments, there was…

"A MOUSE!"

Squeak! Squeak!

Alicia Botti screamed so loud it echoed around the entirety of Vicarstown station. Some of the windows even shattered from the vibrations.

"Toad," gasped Oliver as he and his brake van were approaching the station with a goods train. "Did you hear that, or was that just me?"

"It sounded like a coloratura, Mr. Oliver," remarked Toad.

Back at the station, Alicia Botti had stopped screaming and glared at Sir Topham Hatt. His ears were still ringing from all the screaming.

"I can't-a possibly travel in coaches riddled with mice!" she fumed.

"Er, I, uh… I-I'm very sorry, ma'am," apologized Sir Topham Hatt, taking off his hat in embarrassment. "Th-this usually doesn't happen on my railway…"

"So that's what caused the squeak…" Emily said quietly. She didn't feel very proud now; what had begun as a splendid day quickly turned into an embarrassing disaster.

"It must've gotten inside of me when one of the workmen left my door open," said Martha.

"How did it do that without anyone noticing?" asked Julian.

"Good grief!" said James as he entered Vicarstown with the red coaches. "What's that screaming we heard down the line?"

"That was Miss Botti," said Emma; she and Pip were still a bit shaken from the noise, and not to mention a few broken coach windows.

"Your coach windows don't look too good either," gasped Harry. "I hope you two-"

"Miss Botti!" James interrupted breathlessly. "It's an honor to have you here on the island. We do apologize for the inconvenience, whatever it may be."

"A mouse was on-a board that train," the opera singer scoffed.

"I can help take you to Tidmouth if you like," the red engine grinned. "Plenty of room in the coaches and no mice or other rodents in there last my crew checked."

Emily rolled her eyes as James continued to sell himself to Alicia Botti, hoping he'd be able to take her after all. But just then, Oliver and Toad arrived, the former having just shunted his trucks and was about to rest for the return journey.

"Aw, would-a you look at that nice little tank engine and-a brake van," said Alicia Botti with a smile. "Do you two always-a work with each other?"

Oliver was very surprised to be addressed by the famous opera singer. "Er… mostly," he said modestly. "Sometimes Toad works with Douglas, but we did come to Sodor together."

"You-a two remind me of another engine and-a his coach back in Italy," said Alicia Botti. "I once traveled with-a them when I was just a little girl in a choir."

"That's… very nice of you to say, Miss Botti," Toad smiled, blushing.

"Is it-a alright if I ride with you to Tidmouth?" she asked. "It would be nice to-a feel like a little girl once more."

"Well, Toad doesn't have seats or anything," said Oliver, "but if you really want to… I'm not objecting."

"Are you kidding me?!" exclaimed James as Alicia Botti walked over to the Great Western duo. "What do they have that I don't?"

"A personality that's not like sandpaper?" retorted Emily.

"A modest attitude to celebrities?" added Pip.

"The willingness to take both trucks and coaches without fuss?" Emma put in.

"Shut up," muttered James sulkily as the red coaches burst out laughing. It was bad enough to be denied the opportunity to take a famous opera singer, but twice? And on the same day, no less? That was just pouring salt on an open wound!

Later that day, Emily was still feeling a bit sore over what had happened down at Vicarstown.

"…and all of that was because of a mouse that had gotten into Martha!" she was saying.

"…how in fizzling fireboxes did a mouse get into Martha?!" Henry stared blankly.

"The door was left open when Martha was being cleaned, I bet," sighed Emily. "There goes that chance for today. All it takes is just one little thing to mess everything up."

At that moment, Oliver and Toad arrived at the washdown. They'd just delivered Alicia Botti to Tidmouth and felt sorry for Emily.

"We're sorry you missed out on that, Emily," sighed Oliver.

"No, Oliver," said Emily. "If anything, you and Toad deserved that job to begin with. Your driver did show you a few of his records, and you were very excited at the idea of collecting her."

"By the way, Miss Emily," said Toad, "what did happen to that mouse?"

"Oh, my driver found a good place for her…"

"Everyone!" called Bear as he came up to the quartet. "It's almost time for the concert. We have to hurry!"

"Wait, what?!" cried Henry, as his driver showed him his watch. "Goodness me, Bear's right. Let's go, you three."

The engines rushed off to Tidmouth with Toad trailing behind Oliver, and Emily rushing to get her coaches.

They, along with some other engines and rolling stock, made it just in time to see the concert.

"It is an honor to be-a here on this-a lovely island," smiled Alicia Botti. "And I'm-a so glad to have-a you all here tonight. A special thank you goes to Oliver and-a Toad for giving me a ride to Tidmouth today."

Oliver and Toad smiled modestly, while Douglas, standing next to the autotank, gave him a flirtatious smile. No sooner had that happened, Alicia Botti began to sing. The engines right down the back of the audience heard her singing as clear as a bell.

"That sounds much better than she did this afternoon," Emily said quietly to her coaches.

That evening, the main line engines, save for Gordon who was on his night run, and Diesel were back at Tidmouth sheds. Much to the group's surprise, Thomas was backing into the spare berth.

"Hello, Thomas," said Bear. "What brings you here?"

"The points to my shed at Ffarquhar are stuck," he sighed.

"Oh, that's okay," said Emily. "You're welcome to stay here for a few nights. You're just in time, actually."

"What for?" asked Thomas, confused.

"Look over here," said Emily. The blue tank engine and the others glanced over to see a small gray creature scamper out of a small hole. The creature jumped onto Emily's bufferbeam.

"The mouse!" cried James.

"Don't scare it," said Henry. "It's more likely scared of you than you are of it."

"Easy for you to say…"

"Oh, hello," said Thomas, ignoring the big engines' debate. "Where did you come from, little guy?"

"It's a she," said Emily. "And I've named her Alicia."

"After the opera singer?" asked Diesel in surprise. Henry and Emily quickly explained about how she ended up in Martha.

"My goodness!" gasped Thomas. "You've had quite an adventure, haven't you, Alicia?" The gray mouse just squeaked in response.

"She's really cute, Emily," said Thomas. "You're really lucky to have a pet."

"Maybe you'll find one too, Thomas," said Emily. "Perhaps an elegant swan who will visit the station one day."

Thomas gave a chuckle and the whole shed started to fall asleep, Alicia the mouse jumped back into her mouse hole. Little did Thomas and Emily realize that they were both blushing as they slept…

THE END

Author's Comments

At long last, we kick off Series 6-7 Redux! Yep, not only is this covering the final two seasons of the classic era of Thomas, but we're also going to be throwing in episodes from Jack and the Pack into the mix! As all three have fairly similar styles of storytelling, it seemed reasonable to mix them together. Of course, not every episode is going to be adapted; we've already included Emily's New Coaches and What's the Matter with Henry? as part of Emily the Stirling Single, and elements of Rusty Saves the Day (the official episode), The World's Strongest Engine and Fergus Breaks the Rules have been included in previous stories. We'll be splitting this redux into two halves with 26 stories each.

And kicking off the first half of the redux is a rewrite of Thomas, Percy and the Squeak! Not a bad episode, but as you'll see as Series 6-7 Redux progresses, the two tank engines, as well as James, will have a more reduced presence as we want to make the cast more diverse like we did with Series 5 Redux. That being said, James does play a prominent role here in playing off against Oliver (who, sadly, never got a role in series six proper) and Emily when it comes to picking up Alicia Botti, and he was very much the story's butt monkey at being denied the opportunity twice. It was also fun to expand upon James' friendly rivalry with Henry, showing how much the former can sometimes get on the latter's nerves; it really is one of the best things to come out of the Christopher Awdry era of the Railway Series. Also note that Oliver's role hints at what is to come for The International Railway Series in the near future.

Upcoming stories:

- Johnson and the Red Balloon

- Percy's Chocolate Crunch

- Dunkin' Duncan

- Twin Trouble

- The Fogman