WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SMUDGER?
CHAPTER 9: The Rotting Pizza
All the engines' timetables were cleared. Instead, the entire schedule said "Normal Workload Will Resume after Recovery". Smudger and Candy went to the harbor to collect food and supplies for the people. Candy didn't say a word to him; Not a crude remark, not questionable statement…nothing.
San, Naruka, and Retsu hardly looked at him. In fact, it wasn't for a long time that they ever said anything to each other again.
Rails were laid by small town communities and the engines were hard at work, delivering building equipment and food to the ruins of the large city.
A while, later, the Old Controller announced that Emperor Shōwa would be arriving tomorrow to make an important speech. Smudger didn't understand, but Retsu quickly cleared it up for him.
The next day, Emperor Shōwa arrived. He came in his private coach, which was pulled by a very peculiar engine with two boilers, one at each end. Retsu said that he had seen one of these before, and that it's called a "Double-Ended Fairlie".
The Fairlie was painted in a rich, royal purple with white stripes. One end was named "Royal of Okinawa" and the other "Royal of Showa" who together were simply "Royal". Both ends looked rather conceited; one had a mustache, and the other had a very serious-looking face. They both sniffed at the site of Smudger.
"Uch, an AMERICAN," snorted Showa, who glared at the small, green engine.
Okinawa nodded in agreement. "Freaks like you should've been scraped AGES ago…"
"Look who's talking," mumbled Smudger under his breath.
"I heard that!" snapped Okinawa, his mustache flaring, "We will have none of YOUR nonsense. Just stay away from us until we leave."
Soon, the Old Controller arrived. "Royal," he said, "You are to help out with my engine's workload until you leave tomorrow morning. Smudger will be working with you."
The two chocked. "What?" cried Showa, "And get ourselves all dirty!"
"This is an outrage!" cried Okinawa.
"The Emperor agreed with me," said the Old Controller, "And you will do as you are told and nothing more. Good day." And he stormed off, leaving Royal in a state of shock and Smudger trying not to laugh!
As the Emperor left to give his speech, Royal followed Smudger and San to the East Shunting Yard. Smudger tried to be kind by explaining how to work the tipping loader, but Royal just ignored him and pushed poor Smudger onto it instead!
Soon, they had collected their freight and were heading back to the town. Okinawa complained all the way there. "This is a mutiny," he said, "to make an IMPORTANT engine like us have to do such silly work!"
Smudger twitched, growing more ecstatic at the thought of pushing Royal off the rails, but San tried to relax him. "Just leave it," he said, but from the look on his face, Smudger could tell that he, too, was getting cross.
They delivered their loads safely and headed back to the shed. Showa was not pleased. "What a small shed!" he cried, "This won't do at all! We're much too important for this old shack."
"Hmph," agreed Okinawa as he looked away. "Whatever is that dirty rubbish?" he snorted, looking the opposite way. The "rubbish" turned out to be Naruka, who was deeply offended. Candy puffed past later, and Showa called her a "Barrel on Wheels," which got Candy cross as well.
Later on, Royal and Smudger were sent to collect freshwater from the dam. Okinawa called Damu, the nice diesel who delivered the water tanks, a "lousy little blue drone", which made Damu very cross. At the mine, Showa called Maiku, who had just been in the mines all day to collect coal to power people's homes, a "filthy yellow bastard," which left Maikurumbling in anger!
Not even Retsu, who was the most disagreeable engine beforehand, could get along with the double fairlie. Okinawa called him "improper" because he was a diesel with a tender, and Showa made rude comments about Retsu's trucks which, at first, didn't seem really bad…until Showa finished that they were only bad because Retsu was pulling them.
But it was Smudger who got the worst of it. He had to be with Royal everywhere they went, so they continually picked on him and called him rude names. Worst of all, they kept pushing him into walls and buffers.
By the end of the day, all of the Old Controller's engines—as well as theUpper ValleyRailway's diesel engine—were tired and cross with Royal. Royal was the only one in the shed with a smile on their faces. The only joy the engines had was that the city was making a nice, quick recovery.
It was nearly nine when the Old Controller arrived back at the sheds, looking worried. "Royal," he said, "I need you to go to the harbor and collect an important freight train, and bring it to High Station through the valley."
Royal was cross that they had to do the work, but left nonetheless. And before they left, they told Smudger, the "filthy American" that if he were smart, he'd go down the harbor and dump himself into the sea. Smudger went to sleep sad and cross, and wished that the double fairlie didn't make it back to the sheds that night.
That morning, he found out that they didn't.
TO BE FRIGGIN CONTINUED