THE SKY'S THE LIMIT

Based upon "A Bad Day for Harold" by David Mitton and Simon Nicholson

Adapted by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens

Thomas was glad to be back in service, and he was even happier to be working with Annie and Clarabel again.

"How were things on the Little Western, girls?" he asked.

"Well, Percy was wonderful with us," smiled Annie. "But we really missed you."

"And we still miss the branch line too," added Clarabel.

"Don't worry," came Oliver's voice. "You lot will be back there in no time." The autotank had Old Slow Coach in tow.

"Welcome back, Thomas," smiled Old Slow Coach. "Oliver and I just heard a report from Harold. Repairs are progressing quickly on your branch line."

"That's good news to hear," said Thomas. "Harold always gets news out quick-smart."

"Yeah, that whirlybird does know how to make use of his flight," Percy chuckled as he came in with a goods train.

"The island might be lost without him," Oliver agreed. "I heard about the washout incident…"

"Oh, that was terrifying," gulped Percy. "Thank goodness Toby was alright."

"What it is with Toby and bridges, I don't want to find out," agreed Thomas.

"Nor do we," agreed Annie, Clarabel and Old Slow Coach.

Up in the sky, Harold was flying to see if there was any trouble to report.

"The Kirk Ronan branch still has Daisy with Lauren, Julie and Johnson," he hummed. "Oh… the Peel Godred branch isn't holding up too well. Better have Sir Topham Hatt check that out. And the Norramby branch still needs a permanent runner…"

"Indeed," said one of the pilots. "James and Emily can't keep switching back and forth like that."

"Perhaps sending Katie, Nicole and Tasha to the Rolling Hills Railway so soon wasn't a good idea," agreed the other pilot.

"No time to dwell on that now," sighed Harold as he flew onto his helipad at Dryaw. After landing, his rotor blades came to a stop and his pilots jumped out.

"Ah, Harold!" came a voice. "Am I glad to catch up with you!"

"Sir Topham Hatt, sir!" greeted Harold. "Wasn't expecting to see you as soon as I'd landed."

"Well, I suppose you could say I got the drop on you," Sir Topham Hatt chuckled. "Now, as the branch line's still undergoing repairs, and with Percy helping out on the Little Western, the mail vans have had a tight schedule as of late. I've spoken with air control about the issue, and they've agreed to let you help out in delivering the mail for the time being."

"I'd be delighted to help, sir," smiled Harold.

"Excellent," smiled Sir Topham Hatt. "But I should warn you about being careful as to how much you can carry all at once."

"Don't worry about that, sir," said Harold. "I know my capabilities." The helicopter then frowned. "Oh, and sir… speaking of which, you might want to check on the Norramby and Peel Godred branch lines."

As Harold went on to describe what he saw, Sir Topham Hatt felt his chest tighten. Carole, Lisa, Simon… oh… If only I didn't let Stevie die. They barely see the other engines of the island, and they lost their sister…

"Pardon me, sir," called the stationmaster, running up to Sir Topham Hatt. "But I'm afraid you're wanted in my office."

"Oh, botheration," groaned the controller, outwardly; secretly, he was glad for a distraction. "Sorry, Harold. I'll look into things, I promise."

"I hope so…" Harold muttered to himself; this was not the first time any of the engines had brought up the subject of the Peel Godred line to Sir Topham Hatt. Ever since Stevie's unexpected death by black water at the hands of Jacob Hockings, Sir Topham Hatt blamed himself for letting this happen on his watch; he'd found himself unable to face the remaining electric engines for longer than a short message or two.

Later that evening, the engines of the Little Western, as well as Percy and Toby, were at Arlesburgh sheds.

"I have to say," smiled Toby, "your harbor is a nice change of pace from the one at Knapford."

"It's interesting to work somewhere different once in a while," agreed Duck, before chuckling, "I found that happened to me a lot when I was the station pilot."

"Oh yes," laughed Percy. "You were on Edward's branch, our branch…" He sighed. "I do miss Mavis. I hope she's holding up okay…"

Toby and the Western quartet couldn't help but notice Percy's cheeks blushing red as James' paint.

"Oh my goodness," giggled Oliver. "Someone's got a crush!"

"N-no, I don't!" cried Percy.

"Tis nothing tae be ashamed o'," assured Douglas. "It kin happen tae a'body."

"Speak fur yersel'," groaned Donald. "Why is e'body getting romantic a' o' a sudden?"

"You never know, Donald," insisted Oliver. "You find the right engine or, in Toby's case, coach, and it hits you just like a runaway train."

"Oliver, please don't say that!" groaned Duck.

"Oh, sorry, cous; poor choice of words." Before Oliver could think of a more tactful phrase, the engines heard a familiar whirling noise.

"That's Harold," said Toby. "What's he doing here at this time of night?"

"Dinnae know," said Donald; though he was glad for a distraction from the discussion of romance. The six engines then saw the helicopter land to get… a few mail bags.

"Hey!" cried Percy. "That's mine, Thomas and Oliver's job!"

"These bags are for the Ffarquhar branch," explained Harold. "With your branch line out of commission for a while, I've been told to help you out. That's what friends are for."

Of course, Harold meant this genuinely, but Percy felt rather slighted by not being told sooner.

"I can't believe this!" grunted Percy, as Harold started flying away. "Come on, Oliver; we'll have to be quick if we want to do the rest." And he puffed away before anyone had a chance to respond.

"Er, right behind you," said Oliver, following shortly after. However, he didn't forget to give a warm smile to Douglas before doing so.

Later, Percy, Oliver and Thomas were at Knapford station with their respective mail trains. As usual, Toad was behind Oliver's train. Most unusually, however, Annie and Clarabel were part of Thomas' train.

"Hello, Miss Annie and Miss Clarabel!" gasped Toad in surprise. "What are you two doing on the mail train?"

"There was extra mail on the main line," explained Annie. "So we were told to be part of the train."

"I'll have to think about letting Old Slow Coach be part of the train one of these days," smiled Oliver.

"We need all the help we can get," grunted Percy.

"Why?" asked Thomas. "You're looking rather put out, Percy."

"That whirlybird Harold! That's why!" Percy quickly told Thomas, Annie and Clarabel about Harold and the mail.

"Oh, come on, Percy," sighed Thomas. "Remember when I thought the passengers would like Bertie better during the buckled track incident? He was just helping us out."

"Yes, I remember," sighed Percy. "But still, I don't know why anyone didn't tell me about this sooner."

"Perhaps Sir Topham Hatt had a tight schedule and forgot to tell someone to tell you," suggested Toad.

"I suppose so," sighed Percy. The guard's whistles blew and the trio started off.

On his route, Percy was making good time, and soon forgot to be cross. However, that feeling didn't last long when he came to a signal at danger… or so he thought.

"Oh, what's the matter now?" groaned the driver. "I thought we were clear to pass through!"

"Sorry about this, but the signal's failed," the signalman explained. "I've already called someone to fix it. Shouldn't be long until they get here."

"How long will this take?" asked Percy, worriedly. "If the mail runs late, we'll get the blame for it!"

"I don't know, ol' boy…" sighed the driver.

Eventually, the repairman arrived to fix the signal. Several minutes passed by, but to Percy, it felt like ages.

"Oh… come on, come on," Percy grunted. "I can't let Thomas and Oliver down."

"You do realize that fretting over being late isn't going to get that signal fixed any quicker, right?" asked the fireman.

"Well, what am I supposed to do? Pull out a book and sunglasses while relaxing on a beach lounger?" retorted Percy. "There's a couple of things wrong with that; one, it's nighttime, and two, I'm not a human!"

The driver and fireman were taken aback by their engine's snarky response.

"I'd better telephone for help," said the driver, getting out of the cab.

The late night stationmaster at Knapford was enjoying a cup of tea when she got the news.

"Percy's stuck at a broken signal?" she gasped. "Okay, then Harold must take the mail."

Back at the broken signal, more time had gone by, and Percy still found himself going nowhere. Then, as if to add salt to the wound, he heard a familiar whirling noise.

"Oh no…"

"Hello, Percy, old chap," greeted Harold. "You need my help, don't you? That's what friends are for."

"That's what Thomas and Oliver are there for…" muttered Percy.

The little engine's crew helped Harold's pilots load the mail bags into his cargo net.

"Do you think you can manage all of this?" asked the driver. "It is quite heavy…"

"I'd have to make too many trips," scoffed Harold. "Then I'd be as slow as Percy."

"The only reason I'm going 'slow' is because my signal is broken, bird brain!" growled Percy.

Eventually, all of the mail was loaded into the cargo net.

"You'd better know your limits, Harold," grunted one of the pilots. "Who knows what'll happen once you lift off?"

"I'll be fine," insisted Harold. "I've lifted mailbags before."

It wasn't long before he began to take off with a cargo net full of mail. Harold felt the strain of its weight as he began to lift.

"Oof… This is heavier than I thought," he groaned. Slowly but surely, it was lifted off of the ground and into the air with him. By that point, the signal had been fixed, meaning Percy was clear to go ahead.

"Harold, wait!" the little green engine cried. "I can take the mail again!" His driver, fireman and guard, as well as several workmen, all shouted out for Harold to stop, but it was no use. The white helicopter and his cargo net were already high up in the sky.

"Oh no…" groaned Percy. "My favorite job…"

"Come on, ol' boy," said his driver. "At least you get an early sleep tonight." The green tank engine slowly started away.

Up in the air, Harold was beginning to struggle with his heavy load. He could feel his engine beginning to strain.

"Maybe I should have taken less after aaallllll!"

"Watch out for those trees, Harold!" cried one of the pilots. He and his co-pilot tried to steer their helicopter away from an oncoming tree, but the cargo net got stuck in it.

"Mayday! Mayday!" shouted Harold. "We're going dooooowwwwwnn!"

CRASH!

Harold had landed face-first into a nearby haystack. His pilots weren't badly hurt, but they were quite shaken up. Smoke billowed from Harold's engine.

Percy was sadly trundling home when he smelled something.

"Huh… Driver, fireman… are my brakes on fire?"

"No, they seem to be working fine to me," said the driver.

"Hmm… maybe that smoky smell is coming from that helicopter in the haystack," said the fireman.

"Wait, helicopter in a haystack?" Percy repeated, before gasping with realization. "Harold!"

"Percy!" the helicopter cried, spitting out hay that had gotten into his mouth. "I… am I glad to see you." By now, Harold's pilots had stumbled out of his cabin and were checking him all over.

"You've gone and overworked your engine," one of them said. "If you had agreed to take on a lighter load, this wouldn't have happened!"

"I know…" sighed Harold. "I'm sorry…" He looked over at Percy. "Could you please get help?"

"Of course!" Percy said, firmly. "The mail's going to be later than ever, but that's not important right now. What matters is getting you to safety."

It was morning before Harold could be rescued; his pilots had been taken to the nearest station by Percy the night before so that they could be checked for injuries. James and Emily arrived at the scene of the crash sight with Judy, Jerome and a specially modified flatbed in tow.

"Fancy thinking you could take more mail than an engine at once," laughed James. "Even the smallest tank engines could take more than you."

"So I suppose you'd try taking the mail then?" Emily suggested with a smirk. James tried to think of something in response, but nothing came to mind.

"That sure was a lot of mail tonight," said Judy. "I never knew that a couple of vans could have so many parcels and letters."

"Neither did I," agreed Jerome. "I wonder what it would be like to be a mail van."

The two cranes gently lifted Harold out of the haystack and onto the flatbed. Emily puffed off to get Harold back to Dryaw while James took Judy and Jerome back to the yards.

Several days later, Thomas, Percy, Toby, Daisy, Mavis and the branch line coaches had been informed that their branch line had finally been repaired.

"Alright!" cried Mavis with glee. "Last one to Elsbridge is a troublesome truck!"

Thomas (with Annie and Clarabel in tow) and Percy raced with her, much to Toby and Henrietta's amusement and Daisy's confusion. When the friends eventually got there, they heard a familiar whirling noise.

"Harold!" cried Thomas. "He's back!"

"Hello, chaps!" Harold greeted. "Glad to see you all back on the branch line."

"Fancy taking the mail, Harold?" teased Percy. "I'll stand by with the rescue team."

"No, I think that haystack incident's put me off taking the mail for a while," chuckled Harold. "Just be sure to stay away from broken signals in the future."

The group all laughed at that remark, and Thomas, Toby, Daisy and Mavis rushed off to do their work. Once Harold was sure they - and the former duo's coaches - were out of earshot, he dropped his voice to a whisper.

"Thanks for getting help to get me out of the haystack, dear chap," smiled Harold.

"That's alright," said Percy. "That's what friends are for."

But what did you suppose Daisy and Mavis were up to during the branch line repairs? I'm afraid to say those stories will have to wait for another day…

THE END

Author's Comments

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American viewers out there! If not you're not from America, then happy 24th of November. Anyway, here's episode ten of Series 6-7 Redux. Originally, it was going to be titled Too Heavy for Harold, but I changed the title to something that I felt was a lot more appropriate given what happens in the story. A few more story arcs continue in this story, and while some are going to be addressed in Series 6-7 Redux, others will continue in future stories. But first up, the next two rewrites, which will be set during the brief time skip.

Upcoming stories:

- Salty's Secret

- Oh Gnome!

- Jack Owns Up

- Derek the Reliable

- It's Only Snow