THE TANK ENGINE'S QUARREL
Based upon "Thomas, Percy and the Coal" and "Drip Tank" by Christopher Awdry
"You'd expect that after a few days, this would've all blown over by now," sighed Toby. The little tram engine had Henrietta in tow, and both were at Ffarquhar station chatting with Bertie the bus. It had been about a fortnight after the ghost prank.
"Maybe Thomas feels that he could have very well been that ghost," Bertie suggested. "Accidents like what Thomas had at the mine don't fade away overnight. Okay… maybe he went beyond the danger board on purpose, but that's not my point."
"That wasn't exactly a well thought out plan, we admit," sighed Henrietta. "He still hasn't been asking you for any races, has he?"
"Unfortunately, no," Bertie said sadly. "Even Annie and Clarabel are trying to encourage him, to try and get some form of normality back."
"You know it's bad when Annie and Clarabel encourage Thomas to try and race you," Toby noted.
"You sure hit it on the nail, Toby," Bertie agreed. The guard's whistle blew for the tram engine, indicating that it was time for him and Henrietta to leave.
"Let's just hope things can only get better for everyone from here on out," said Toby. Henrietta could only agree.
But the chaos continued to happen right into November. This caused massive problems, and Sir Topham Hatt decided to have Thomas manage the yards for a while and Duck to go to the Ffarquhar branch line.
"Separated from Annie and Clarabel," Thomas said to himself, feeling quite distracted. "This is all I need."
"Thomas, you're on platform four!"
"What?" gasped Thomas. "Oh, cinders and ashes... Sorry, Gordon!" He reversed and the points were switched to platform one.
"You're usually so focused," said Gordon quietly. "What happened, Thomas?"
"Er... well…" Thomas stammered. "There was a bit of a prank during Halloween that got a bit out of control. Long and short, Percy pretended he was a ghost from a story he told me, Toby helped out, Henrietta also knew about it, and…" He sighed. "I kept on having visions that I was the ghost."
"Ah, right," said Gordon, immediately understanding. "You are on firm rails, Thomas, and Christmas is around the corner."
"Yes," Thomas said quietly. "Thanks to you…"
Gordon's guard's whistle sounded out and he was off. Word got back to the engines all over the railway as to what was transpiring.
"The Ffarquhar trio are feuding?!" exclaimed Skarloey when Gordon came into Crovan's Gate. "Are you serious, Gordon?"
"Afraid so," he sighed. "Apparently, Percy and Toby pulled a prank that went too far and hit Thomas too close to home."
"Percy, I kind of understand, but Toby?" asked Skarloey; by now, he was shunting the old coaches into the coach shed.
"I think he was more indirectly involved," Gordon explained. "Either way, I hope this blows over soon. Then again…" He couldn't forget how frightened Thomas had sounded the day he almost fell underground.
"There has to be a way to fix the bond between those three," Skarloey sighed as he went to the sheds. "But how?"
Unfortunately, Skarloey, Gordon and the other engines couldn't come to any definitive conclusions, but I'm sorry to say that Thomas' talk with Gordon had given him a bit of a confidence boost, and it worsened Thomas was put back on the Ffarquhar branch line and Christmas turned to the New Year - they had been talking almost daily at this point.
"Two minutes early," Thomas grinned as he pulled into Knapford with Annie and Clarabel.
"Well done, little Thomas," Gordon smiled. "You've been keeping to time quite well lately. I guess it's a blue engine thing."
"You know," Thomas couldn't help but grin at Gordon's comment, "I think you're right. You took the royal train. I arranged the coaches that day. Edward went out ahead to clear the line. And I think Sir Handel also chased away a steamroller recently, you mentioned."
That last one wasn't true, of course, as Sir Handel thought he had sent George packing following their "race". However, Gordon had believed it and told Thomas what he had heard from Sir Handel.
"I'm glad I chose blue when I first came here," said Gordon. "I suppose green was fine back then, but blue is the color for a really useful engine."
"I remember being green too back on my old railway," agreed Thomas. "Now I wouldn't want to be any other color besides blue either."
Annie and Clarabel both winced at Thomas' comments.
"I do fear, he's becoming conceited," Annie whispered to Clarabel.
"Just because he and Gordon formed an alliance doesn't mean Thomas has to copy his attitude," agreed Clarabel. Fortunately, neither engine had heard the coaches' conversation as Thomas' guard's whistle sounded out for his return journey.
"Goodbye, Gordon," whistled Thomas.
Thomas cheerfully pulled into Elsbridge station a few minutes later, where Percy, Toby and Henrietta all stood waiting. On top of the prank going awry, Thomas wasn't really talking to his friends all that much from November to right now, which was the middle of January.
"Hello, Thomas," Percy said quietly, hoping to start something of a conversation. "Er… your paint looks really nice today."
In retrospect, this was probably the worst choice of words Percy could have picked.
"Yes, indeed, Percy," Thomas boasted. "After all, blue is the only proper color for an engine."
"Oh, I don't know about that," said Toby. "I like my brown paint; I've had it since the day I was built."
"I've always been green myself," said Percy. "I could never imagine being any other color either."
Thomas felt embarrassed, but he tried his best not to show it. "Well, well, anyway," he spluttered, "blue is the only color for a- for a really useful engine! Everybody should know that!" Once the guard's whistle sounded, Thomas puffed away. Percy didn't need to say anymore. He just gave Toby and Henrietta an anxious look.
"He'll be asking for trouble if he keeps going on about it," sighed Toby.
"He's been spending a lot of time with Gordon, hasn't he?" Henrietta remarked.
"That would probably do it," Percy said quietly. "I know about their alliance, but Thomas doesn't need to match Gordon stride for stride. That'd be like if me and Henry tried something similar and I grew this obsession with nature."
"Well, I admit that it would probably be the lesser of the two evils," Toby said truthfully, "but still a bit odd."
"Indeed," agreed Henrietta. Soon, Toby's guard's whistle sounded out, and he trundled away with his coach in tow, leaving Percy alone at the station.
"Why can't we go back to the way we were?" Percy said quietly. "If I could take back that ghost prank, I would…"
The following morning, Thomas was still feeling quite smug. He had asked his crew to give him an extra polish just so he could look his best for his passengers today. His crew had just finished when Thomas noticed Percy shunting coal trucks under a hopper.
"These trucks are being more troublesome than usual," gasped Percy as he shunted them into place.
"Be careful, Percy," Thomas said cheekily. "You don't want to end up on the wrong side of the tracks!"
Then there was trouble. The coal hopper wouldn't load up the last truck. A workman went to inspect to see what had caused it to stop.
"Go on, go on!" the trucks grumbled, and they kept bumping into Percy, making him cross.
"Stop that!" he snapped, and he shunted the trucks hard in return, which ended up causing one of them to derail and hit the hopper! Suddenly, with a rumble and a crash, the hopper dumped coal all over the place… and all over Thomas as well!
"Help!" choked Thomas. "Get me out! Atishoo!" he sneezed.
The workman frantically went to shut off the hopper, but by the time he did so, Thomas' smart blue paint was covered from funnel to wheels in coal! Percy had been trying not to laugh, but the mere sight of Thomas was too much for him to contain it.
"You don't look really useful now, Thomas," giggled Percy. "You look really disgraceful!"
"I do not!" snapped Thomas, before letting out a cough. "You did this on… purpose!" He coughed again. "Now stop it with your stupid giggling and get me out!"
It wasn't long before Duck brought in Judy and Jerome to help clear away the mess - Katie was called in to look after the yards. The trucks were re-railed and Percy took them away while Thomas had to be dug out of the coal pile.
"You're not fit to be seen," the workmen grumbled. "This will take a very long time to clean!"
"Oh dear," sighed Duck. "Are you alright, Thomas?"
"Not really," grunted Thomas. "First the ghost prank, and now this! It's as if Percy is doing this just to spite me after all we've been through!"
"Come on, Thomas. Does that really sound like Percy?" asked Duck. "I mean, granted, that ghost prank crossed the line, but this… This seems to be a bit more of a genuine accident."
Annie and Clarabel were in their siding, expecting Thomas to arrive for their first train. They were surprised instead to find Toby and Henrietta backing onto them instead.
"What- where has Thomas gotten himself into?" asked Annie.
"Hasn't been pushed into the pond again, has he?" added Clarabel.
"Thomas has gotten himself covered in coal and he thinks Percy ruined his coat of paint on purpose," explained Toby.
"Well, he kind of brought it upon himself for his boasting," Henrietta noted as Annie and Clarabel were coupled up. "But I just hope it doesn't lead to worse."
With a ring of his bell, Toby brought the three coaches to the platform. As they did so, they passed Thomas, looking very cross and surrounded by workmen, brushes and soap.
"Poor Thomas," Annie and Clarabel whispered together.
"I hope we are able to truly set this right," Toby sighed. "This has been going on for far too long already. If I could take back my idea based on the 'Three Little Pigs' book, I would."
But despite the delay, Toby had made good time and ran all of Thomas' trains on schedule.
Meanwhile, Percy was making good time bringing in stone trucks from the harbor, and he was feeling pleased with himself. But all the while, he kept thinking about Thomas' predicament and thought that laughing at him hadn't been an appropriate reaction.
"I should apologize to Thomas when I see him next," he decided. "I didn't mean to get his paint dirty on purpose; it was those silly trucks that threw me off… and I just hope I can make things right for that ghost prank Toby and I pulled on Halloween last year..."
Percy was so busy thinking about what he'd say to Thomas when they next met that he had forgotten to keep a good look out. Before anyone could say "Sir Topham Hatt", Percy had hit something hanging off of a tree, and it crashed onto the ground!
"Ouch!" he cried, coming to a quick stop. "What was that all about?"
"A loose branch is what hit you, Percy," said his driver, making sure his engine wasn't hurt. Percy had been startled by what had happened, but thankfully, there was no serious damage done, and he carried on his way, but still feeling rather sore about his run-in.
"I'm not sure what's worse," Percy sighed. "A branch without leaves like that, or one with leaves in the warmer seasons."
By the time Thomas had finally been cleaned once again, all the workmen were feeling very tired, exhausted and dirty.
"I feel like I'll be sleeping for a week after this!" one workman said to his mate.
"How about a fortnight?" his friend joked.
But Thomas was still fuming about the accident. When Percy came to the sheds, he told Thomas and Toby about his run-in with the branch. Toby was sympathetic, but Thomas wasn't.
"That's what you get then for making my paint dirty on purpose!" snapped Thomas. "I've no patience for engines who don't know how to keep a good look out!"
Percy was cross and forgot about his apology. "That's funny coming from a really useful blue engine like yourself," he said, "ending up a disgrace to the North Western Railway!"
"Alright, you two," said Toby, cutting in before any arguments could get worse. "There's no use saying whose fault it is. We've all got a busy day ahead of tomorrow, so shall we at least get some sleep tonight?"
Thomas and Percy agreed, but they were still cross with one another; Thomas with Percy for ruining his paint on purpose, and Percy with Thomas thinking so, as well as not showing him any sympathy after his mishap with the tree branch.
"Oh, rattle my cowcatchers," Toby muttered. "It will take some form of miracle to fix this…"
Over the next few days, the feud between the two tank engines had gotten worse. Whenever they were within the same area, Thomas and Percy, when they weren't accusing each other over whose fault it was, would refuse to speak to one another. At the very least, Thomas was now talking to Toby; being grateful he took Annie and Clarabel when he could not, but it still wasn't quite the same.
"I had a feeling Thomas' boasting was going to lead to this," groaned Annie, "but I didn't think it was going to be this severe!"
"Just what is it going to take to get these two engines to stop their quarrel?" asked Clarabel. "First Thomas was very shaken, now he's got the opposite problem." Neither coach knew, and nor did Toby and Henrietta.
One day, Thomas was running late. Henry had been late at the junction, and Thomas was trying to make up for lost time.
"Come along, come along," he fussed to Annie and Clarabel. Suddenly, before anyone could react, there was a loud bang, and then Thomas felt something wet dripping against his wheels.
"Ouch!" he cried and came to a stop, wincing with pain.
"Thomas!" Annie and Clarabel cried in alarm. Though the boasting was uncalled for, they hated it when their engine was in pain of any sort. His crew came down to inspect the damage.
"One of your crank pins has broken," said his driver. "It swung up and punctured your tank. We'd better call for help."
Thomas was glad when he heard that help would be coming.
Percy was in the yards at Ffarquhar when he heard the news.
"First he couldn't get out of the way of the falling coal, now this," Percy muttered. "I guess I'd better go help Thomas, I suppose. Besides, Annie and Clarabel don't deserve this."
Thomas wasn't so pleased when he saw Percy coming to help.
"Go ahead, make fun of me for dripping myself," Thomas muttered sarcastically. "I don't care anymore…"
"In this situation, I wouldn't," said Percy. "No water in the boiler isn't a laughing matter." The green tank engine gently buffered up to the blue one and was coupled on. "Come on, let's get you to Ffarquhar."
Percy was as good as his word. After arriving at Ffarquhar station, Thomas was shunted onto a siding out of the way and Percy took over his passenger runs for the rest of the day.
"Let's go, Annie and Clarabel," he said with a small smile. "I'll send Duck or one of the twins to fetch you, Thomas."
"Percy…" Thomas called before the guard could blow his whistle. "Thank you."
The small green tank engine smiled in kind and puffed away. Now that he was alone, Thomas was left with a lot to think about.
Later, Duck went to collect Thomas for the Steamworks while Katie was once again called in to manage the yard. The blue tank engine's broken crank pins had been removed to prevent further damage.
"You know something, Duck?" said Thomas as the Great Western engine took him away.
"What's that, Thomas?"
"You were right," he sighed. "Percy's crash with the trucks had truly been an accident. He wouldn't do it out of spite."
"I'm glad you've come to that realization," Duck smiled. "Now I have to note one thing; let's not make a habit of broken crank pins. First Edward, and now you. It can be very painful."
Thomas noted Edward's name with a small smile. Yes, Gordon and him had made that alliance, but it was Edward who had first taken him under his wing on Sodor.
"Edward! Edward, look!" Thomas cried back then, beaming all over. "I'm blue, just like you!" The older engine bore a huge smile at the tank engine in pride.
"He practically taught me everything I know," he whispered. "Same with Percy. How could I have let all that slip out of me in those months?"
"We all make mistakes, Thomas," said Duck. "But I'm proud of you for finding those errors."
"I'll patch things up with Percy as soon as I can speak with him again," Thomas smiled.
When Thomas returned from the Steamworks, the first thing he did was speak with Percy about their quarrel. Toby was present too.
"I'm sorry I got angry with you for getting my paint dirty with coal," said Thomas.
"And I'm sorry I laughed at you," said Percy. "I didn't mean to get your paint dirty on purpose. And I'm also super sorry about that ghost prank."
"That goes for me too," said Toby. "That was bad timing and poor planning on our part."
"I know," said Thomas. "I suppose those incidents I've been through these past few days served me right for being silly. And Percy, Toby, can we please be friends again?"
"Of course," smiled Percy. "Your blue paint looks splendid again but we'll try to be more careful about what we say in the future."
"We all will," agreed Toby. "Ffarquhar forever?"
"Yes!" Thomas said boldly. "Ffarquhar forever!"
THE END
Author's Comments
At long last, we come to an adaptation I've wanted to post for a while now! More About Thomas the Tank Engine is probably the most filler like book in the entirety of the Railway Series; it was written up just so the stories could be adapted for television, yet Drip Tank was excluded, meaning that Thomas, Percy and the Coal had a rushed ending. Not to mention that The Runaway and Better Late Than Never had nothing to do with Thomas and Percy's quarrel (the former briefly mentioned it, however), but rather, they were so Harold and Bertie could have extra roles in series two. Why couldn't Britt and David have simply adapted more annual stories if they wanted to include more Thomas? They adapted Thomas and Trevor, so there's no reason they couldn't have adapted something like Thomas and the Important Visitor or Bertie Saves the Day. You could honestly skip More About Thomas and nothing important would be lost. Okay, that rant aside, I was originally going to include The Runaway for The Tank Engines' Quarrel, but after Rachel suggested we include it in Duck and the Diesel Engine, I ended up restricting this to just Thomas, Percy and the Coal and Drip Tank, and I think it came out better because of it. Some elements were removed such as Percy running into the coal bunker and the "drip" discussion at the sheds, which I think really helped the pacing of the story and bring the conflict between the trio to a satisfying end.
More stories to come!