HENRY AND THE ELEPHANT

Based upon the story by The Rev. W. Awdry

A few days had passed since Diesel had been sent away in disgrace, and Duck was being mended at the Steamworks following his accident at the barber shop. Because of this, Percy was sent to work in the main yards temporarily, while Thomas, Toby and Katie - drafted in from the coal mines - took care of the Ffarquhar branch line.

"I still can't believe we were fooled by that black box on wheels!" James muttered to himself.

"So much for being revolutionary," agreed Gordon.

"You owe Duck a massive apology when he comes home," said Percy as he shunted the coaches for Gordon's express.

"He was so brave to stop my trucks from causing a worse accident," Henry commented. "I swear, that brake van is a nuisance."

"Wouldn't surprise me much if that brake van were sent away for good," agreed James. "He's always given me grief whenever I take him out!"

Meanwhile, on the Ffarquhar branch line, Thomas was with Annie and Clarabel when they - or rather, Clarabel - saw something up on the station wall.

"Oh, Thomas, Annie, would you look at that poster!" called Clarabel. "I do believe the circus is on the island."

"Oh, wow," said Thomas in surprise. "That is exciting. I wonder if we'll be carrying any of the performers."

"The circus coming to Sodor is something we need after Diesel's lies," remarked Annie.

"Agreed," the tank engine sighed; then the guard's whistle sounded out. "Oh, let's go, ladies. Next stop - Knapford!"

Thomas, Annie and Clarabel cheerfully took off, and came into Knapford station. The blue tank engine gave a cheerful whistle just as Sir Topham Hatt came out.

"Oh, well done, Thomas." he smiled. "You're right on time."

"Thank you, sir," said Thomas. "Have you heard about the circus coming to our island?"

"Oh, yes, I did hear about that," the controller replied. "I have a twin brother - Lowham - who works there, and he said he was going to be coming here next. I was about to go tell Percy to start arranging special trucks."

"I can pass the message, sir," said Thomas. "My return trip doesn't start for another half hour."

"Thank you, Thomas," smiled Sir Topham Hatt. "That's very helpful of you."

Thomas was uncoupled from Annie and Clarabel and he raced into the yards as safely as he could within the yard's speed limits.

"Ah, there you are, Percy," Thomas called as he spotted his friend shunting coaches for Henry's next train. "Sir Topham Hatt has a message for you."

"Oh, he does?" asked Percy, as he stopped his work to listen. "What is it?"

Thomas explained to Percy about what was going on with the circus.

"Oh, that sounds like great fun!" Percy grinned. "I can't wait to see it, especially the horses." The smaller tank engine then sighed. "If only Duck was here to see it too."

"Maybe the circus will stay long enough for Duck to get back," Thomas put in hopefully.

"What are you two doing chatting away?" came James' voice crossly. "I thought Percy was supposed to be shunting, not clowning around!"

"Oh," said Percy with a cheeky grin, winking at Thomas. "So you've heard the news."

"What news?"

"They've decided they need an engine to pull the circus," Thomas laughed. "And a red engine would fit the clown theme."

Both tank engines burst into laughter, and it was unfortunate for James that Gordon and Henry overheard this too.

"Okay, that's a good one, you two," chuckled Henry.

"I would never be caught rusted all over pulling such a silly train," huffed Gordon. "It's undignified."

"But on a serious note," said Percy, "the circus really has come to Sodor, and I've been tasked to help shunt some trucks for it. We'll all need to pitch in at some point, I'm sure, especially with Duck at the Steamworks right now."

Percy was right; it wasn't long before Thomas, James, Henry, Edward and Johnson were taking it in turns to haul and shunt some special trucks into place.

"It's good to have something like this happen to us after such a serious event," Edward commented. "I hope Duck comes back in time to see it too."

"I think he's due out of the Steamworks tomorrow," said Henry. "Let's all have a big welcome for him, if Sir Topham Hatt allows it, of course."

"That's a wonderful idea, Henry," smiled Percy. "Just like how we welcomed you back after your rebuild."

"Duck does need some good news after all he went through," agreed Johnson.

And Duck did return the following day, just in time for the circus to take place.

"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting something like this," the pannier tank engine smiled. "It was definitely worth the wait to be fixed up and repainted."

"We're glad to have you back, Duck," said Lauren. "It's great that Sodor is at peace once more."

After the circus had been performing on the island for a while, it was time for it to leave. Though James wasn't fond of Percy and Thomas' teasing, he had to admit, pulling the circus was quite an honor.

"Well, this certainly beats my regular goods trains," James grinned as many of the performers were admiring his red paint before getting on board the train. In fact, one of the animal keepers was so intrigued by James' paintwork, they didn't close one of the animal vans properly.

"All clear to go now!" called the guard before blowing her whistle and waving the green flag.

"Let's go, driver," said James cheerfully, and he blew his whistle. As he left, the animal van door seemed to slide open, and some large feet moved out of the van. It was so far down the back of the train that James and his crew didn't notice, and the guard was too busy focusing on where they were going that she didn't notice either.

Unaware about the incident, Gordon had stopped at Crovan's Gate to drop off some passengers. Rheneas was there.

"Thanks for delivering that message from James, Gordon," he was saying. "Sir Handel and Peter Sam's repairs are almost done."

"I'm very glad to hear that, Rheneas," smiled the express engine. "I'm sure you four will make fine friends."

Just then, the guard's whistle blew. "Oh, that's me," Gordon realized. "I hope that you'll be overhauled soon, little Rheneas."

The big blue engine took off, having a smooth run. Then he saw that the tunnel had a shadow near the back.

"Driver, fireman, stop!" cried Gordon in shock. His crew applied the brakes and went to see what the problem was.

"Do you know what it is, Neil?" asked the fireman.

"Hard to say, Kerry," the driver replied. "All I know is that if this isn't reported as soon as possible, trains will be delayed."

"What's that, you say?" Sir Topham Hatt exclaimed when he received the call. "The tunnel's blocked?! This is all we need…" He sighed before composing himself again. "I'll send Henry to see what the problem is. Thank you for telling me, Kerry."

Sir Topham Hatt then left his office to find Henry resting on a nearby siding.

"Henry," he said to the green engine, "a tunnel is blocked down the line. You must take some workmen to investigate."

"Of course, sir," he replied. "We can't have blocked tunnels. There will be delays everywhere."

Henry arrived at the tunnel pushing two trucks carrying the workmen and their equipment.

"Okay," said the foreman as they all scrambled out of the trucks with the equipment. "Let's see what the problem is."

"What do you think is in that tunnel?" one of the trucks asked the other.

"Maybe it's a herd of horses," said the other truck. "They might have gotten loose from a farm around here."

"The only farms I'm aware of are on Thomas' line," said the first truck. "They'd have to gallop miles just to get here!"

"Well, I think there's one on Edward's line," said the other one. "That's closer…"

"Only a little!"

The trucks' bickering was interrupted by a loud noise from inside the tunnel, followed by the workmen screaming as they raced out of the tunnel.

"What's happened?" asked Henry, sounding rather nervous.

"We started to dig at the block, but it grunted and moved!" cried a workman.

"It's big and alive; I'm not going back in there!" added another. Several other workmen agreed with him.

"If that's the case," said the foreman, "I'll ride in the front truck, and Henry shall push it out."

"What?!" Henry cried in shock. "Oh, I don't want to go in…"

"Nor do I!" cried the first truck. "What if a monster lives in here?!"

"Don't listen to that truck, Henry," said his driver soothingly. "There's no monster in the tunnel, but still, we must clear the line."

Henry hated tunnels; he had been bricked up in one for being afraid of the rain, but this was worse. Something big and alive was inside. Reluctantly, he began to slowly push the trucks forward into the darkness.

"Ooh, I can't see a thing," the second truck said anxiously. "What's going on in here?"

"Driver, please turn on my lamp," said Henry, and he did so. But they didn't get very far when they hit something, which was indeed alive, and very strong.

"Whoa!" cried Henry as he was pushed backwards. "What's going on?!"

"I don't know!" cried the first truck; something was pressing up against his nose. "But we may have made it angry!"

"Monster!" the other truck cried in shock.

Henry came back out of the tunnel into the light, then the trucks, and last of all, a large, cross elephant.

"Well, I never!" exclaimed the foreman, regaining his bearings. "It must be an elephant from the circus!" He jumped off of the truck and ran to find the nearest signal box to alert the circus.

"She must be hungry," said another workman. "I have a couple of cakes here."

"I'll go get some water," a third workman rushed off to fill a bucket at a nearby tap.

The elephant happily munched on the cakes and happily waved her trunk at the workman who had given them to her.

"You're very welcome, girl," smiled the workman. The workman who had gotten the bucket of water rushed back and placed it near the elephant, who began to drink the whole thing dry.

"We'll need more buckets," he commented, and it wasn't long before the elephant had drunk three buckets and was about to drink a fourth one.

"And I thought we engines get thirsty," said Henry. He had calmed down from his encounter and was letting off steam in relief. This proved to be a big mistake; the elephant was so surprised she stopped drinking the water and sprayed it all over Henry!

"Argh!" Henry cried in shock, coughing as the water splashed into his face, "I wasn't expecting a shower!"

"The keeper should be here soon," said the foreman. Sure enough, the keeper did drive up in his car.

"Oh, there you are, Binita," said the keeper. "We were all worried sick about you!"

Binita happily waved at her keeper with her trunk.

"Come on," he said. "Let's get you home. James brought the elephant van. It's not far from here."

The two happily strolled away, but Henry was very upset, especially since the two trucks were laughing hysterically.

"An elephant pushed me!" he grumbled. "An elephant hooshed me!"

Back at Vicarstown station, James was waiting for Binita and her keeper to arrive with the elephant van.

"How did we not notice earlier?" James was saying to his crew. "It's an elephant. An elephant, the biggest land animal in the world!"

"Who knows, ol' boy," sighed his driver. "At least the problem of that block has been solved."

Just then, the keeper and Binita arrived.

"In you go, girl," soothed her keeper, as he got Binita into the elephant van. "Thanks for helping us, James."

"That's okay," replied the red engine. "Let's get her back with the rest of the circus."

Binita was very happy to see her elephant friends once more, and the circus departed the island for places unknown.

"What a day," said James, "let's head back to the sheds."

That evening, the engines were back inside their sheds - the Ffarquhar trio and Midland engines were visiting on the tracks outside - and Henry explained what had happened.

"First the rain, then an elephant," Gordon said while holding back a laugh. "Whatever will you be afraid of next?"

"That could've been far worse than it was, Gordon," said Edward firmly. "The elephant may have gotten unpredictable and…" He dared not to say anything after that. This seemed to shock the whole shed into silence.

"Never mind, Henry," said Duck after he calmed down. "I think you were very brave today, and really reliable too. The elephant must have been very happy to be back with her keeper."

"I'll say," agreed Henry. "She even gave her keeper a friendly wave with her trunk. It was like a person waving at their friends."

"I wish I could have seen that," said Julie. The little red engine gave a yawn. "I think we should all get some sleep. It's another busy day tomorrow."

The engines either headed back to their own sheds or happily closed their eyes right then and there, thinking about circuses, elephants and being brave and reliable.

THE END

Author's Comments

At long last, Rachel and I have done a rewrite of Henry and the Elephant, one of the most awkwardly positioned episodes from the fourth series, having taken place years after the Troublesome Engines saga. Percy being already there and Henry being in his new shape (not to mention Duck's cameo at the end) didn't really help matters either. Fortunately, since we established in The Adventure Continues that Henry's reason for going on strike was because people berated him for constantly running behind schedule (and the tunnel incident did no favors either), that was no longer much of an issue, although it did mean Henry and the Elephant still stuck out like a dented buffer. The opening was rewritten so that it took place after the events of Duck and the Diesel Engine, therefore justifying Duck's presence. A final touch was giving the two trucks some lines while trying to clear Binita the elephant out of the tunnel, not dissimilar to how they were portrayed in Journey Beyond Sodor; it gives the trucks more personality when they're not causing mayhem for the engines.

Next time, I'll start posting the sixth mini-special, Never Be Alone, with its first chapter asking the big question: Is This Home?