STOP THIEF!

Based upon the story by Christopher Awdry

Adapted by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens

It had been a couple of weeks since Thomas' race with his new friend, Bertie the bus. Although he was quite a cheerful friend to have around, Annie and Clarabel weren't too keen on another race between their engine and Bertie.

"Liven up a little, girls," said Thomas as he was coming down toward the country lane. "That was so much fun."

"It was the first time, Thomas," said Annie, "but many times over?"

"I know when to slow down," said Thomas, suiting action to word when the road was coming into view. "See? If animals stray onto the line, they won't get hurt."

Indeed, there was a farmer crossing the road with a few sheep. The sheep let out bleats of gratitude to Thomas as they passed.

"You're quite welcome," Thomas called to the sheep.

"Ah, Thomas, Annie and Clarabel," said a friendly voice. "Right on schedule."

"Constable Leonard," smiled Thomas. "Good to see you. How are you today?"

"Doing quite well, Thomas," replied the police officer. "I hope to see you and your coaches as often as possible in the next few months."

"The next few months?" Thomas repeated, confused. "Whatever for?"

"I'll be retiring soon," Constable Leonard explained. "Over thirty years in the force can take its toll on anyone."

"That does make sense," said Annie. "Though Sir Topham Hatt already has grandchildren and he's stepped up to being controller about a year before Thomas arrived."

"Really?" remarked Constable Leonard. "He and Jane don't really look that old."

"Yes, there's Stephen, Bridget and Annabelle," said Clarabel. "And no, that last name isn't a coincidence."

"I think I heard something about a little girl with that name," gasped Constable Leonard. "You two must be honored."

"I don't think I was around when that happened," said Thomas. "You two will have to tell me about that some time."

"Don't worry, Thomas," smiled Annie. "We'll tell you on the way back from the quarry."

"It would be nice if we had someone else to help us on the branch line," sighed Thomas. "The quarry's been getting busy lately."

"And those trucks make return trips very stressful for everyone involved," added Clarabel.

Later, Thomas was shunting trucks for the return journey.

"Shunt us faster!" said a teal truck. "It'll be the Christmas season at this rate!"

"Well, sorry to disappoint, but I'm the only engine on the branch line at this moment!" snapped Thomas.

"Where are Katie or Julie when you need them?" said an orange truck. "They could've gotten this done in half the time!"

"It'd probably be faster with a horse hauling us along from our sidings, one by one!" another truck called out.

"Oh, cinders and ashes," muttered Thomas. "Some trucks… how does Edward handle them?"

Eventually, after much struggle, Thomas had managed to arrange his trucks for the return trip for Johnson to take on from Elsbridge. As he shunted the trucks behind Clarabel to be coupled up, he noticed the Ffarquhar stationmaster, Mr. Kevin Volley, looking rather distressed.

"Mr. Volley?" asked Thomas in surprise. "Is something the matter?"

"Oh, there is, Thomas," sighed Mr. Volley. "Diana and I had just had our house burgled last night!"

"Burgled?" exclaimed Thomas. "Surely you didn't have anything worth stealing?"

"Diana's won cups for gardening," explained Mr. Volley. "All six of them have been taken, and then those scoundrels had the nerve to pinch our brand new car to carry them away in! We'd just bought it a fortnight ago!"

"Oh dear!" gasped Clarabel. "That's awful news."

"How did you get to work without the car?" asked Annie.

"Oh, Bertie gave me a lift," Mr. Volley explained. "Same with Diana. Thank goodness he's been transferred to work alongside you three."

Thomas and the two coaches smiled in agreement. Soon, Thomas had run around his train and was coupled up, ready for the southbound journey back to Elsbridge.

"We mustn't be late for Johnson," said Thomas. "Sometimes, I don't know who's more strict with arrival times; him or James."

"At least Johnson knows when to stop his nonsense," sighed Annie. "If he were owned by the North Western, he'd put James in his place."

"Those two are so alike, and yet they quarrel like cats and dogs," agreed Clarabel.

"They don't look like cats or dogs," said a truck.

"It's an expression, dummy," retorted another.

"Well, excuse me for breathing!" the first truck shot back.

"Would you two stop arguing?" grunted Clarabel. The second truck, who was coupled directly in front of her, simply responded by blowing a raspberry.

"Oh! How rude!" exclaimed Clarabel as the guard's whistle sounded.

By the time the train had gone through the tunnel and past the Kyndley cottage, Thomas was running nicely. Road and railway ran beside each other here, and Thomas could remember winning his first race with Bertie because he could go through the hill while Bertie had to go over it.

"Hello, Thomas!" Terence greeted as the train approached his field. The signal had turned to red and Thomas had to stop.

"Hello, Terence," the tank engine called back. "Have you and Farmer Finney heard about Volleys' house being robbed?"

"Oh, yes," said Terence. "Terrible bit of news, that was. I heard that those thieves go by the Steam Bandits."

"That's… an odd name," said Clarabel.

"Still," grunted Annie, "these thieves have to be arrested as soon as possible."

"I'll keep my eyes peeled, you three," said Terence. He glanced over towards one of the paddocks, and a group of Farmer Finney's horses had their ears pricked up and looking in all directions near the railway.

"They can't have gone far," said Thomas. "The Steam Bandits must be along the branch line."

"The horses definitely think so," remarked Terence; the signal clunked down.

"We'll catch you on our next run up here, Terence," smiled Thomas. "Nice chatting with you."

No sooner had Thomas started up again when he spotted a flash of color speed by on the road ahead of him.

"Bertie, was that you?" asked Thomas. He gave a cheerful whistle, hoping to get a toot back in kind. But, much to Thomas' surprise, he didn't hear Bertie's toot.

"That's strange," said Thomas, and he tried to go faster to look more closely. He faintly saw the image of not a bus, but a car. A determined glint came into the blue tank engine's eye as he tried to speed up.

"Steady on, Thomas!" called his driver, stowing his hand to the regulator. "There's plenty of time."

"Can't we get closer to that car?" panted Thomas. "It looks like Mr. Volley's to me."

"Lots of cars look like that to me," said the driver.

"No, Bob," said the fireman. "I think we should get a better look at the license plate."

The driver squinted his eyes and recognized the registration number on the license plate.

"Thomas, I think you're right!" gasped the driver, opening the regulator wider. "Okay, go as fast but steady as you can."

"Hold on, girls!" called Thomas as he began to speed up. Annie and Clarabel felt Thomas' speed a bit differently this time. He wasn't going fast for the sake of having fun; it was with purpose and determination.

There were two men in the stolen car, and the one in the driver's seat noticed the tank engine and his train speeding up.

"Uh, Harry?" the thief said anxiously. "I think that train's chasing after us!"

"Don't be stupid, Marv," said his accomplice, obviously the leader of the pair. "What's a silly little toy train gonna try and do to stop us, eh?"

"Are you kidding?!" cried Marv. "That engine weighs a few hundred tons!"

"They can't go far if they don't have rails to travel on," insisted Harry. "We'll be fine, Marv. Now shut up and keep driving!"

"I hate to admit it, but they do have a point about the no rails thing," said Clarabel.

"We'll need help," said Annie. "If we send a message, maybe Bertie can cut them off at the next roadblock."

"Great idea, Annie," smiled Thomas. "Driver, fireman, do you have anything to get a message to the next signal box?"

"I've got a bit of newspaper and a pen with me," said the fireman. "I can write out a message and pass it on to the next signaler we see."

While the fireman was writing out a note, the Steam Bandits continued to speed along the road in the stolen car. They were passing by the Elsbridge cricket field, where Caroline was having a rare moment of peace and having a nap.

"Oh… what's happened this time, Elizabeth…" she was mumbling in her sleep. She often had dreams of her and the Coffee Pots, even though they had all disappeared years ago. If she was being honest with herself… it hurt her that she never got a chance to see the five of them ever again.

Her dream was rudely interrupted when Caroline heard a loud honking noise.

"Wha… I'm awake, I'm awake!" she cried.

"See ya later, ya old relic!" laughed Harry as he and Marv drove past.

"Sorry for waking you up, Caroline!" cried Thomas as he sped past.

"Ugh… what does it take to get some decent sleep around here?" the old car grumbled to herself. "These engines, always rushing around like madmen!" She sighed as she tried to go back to sleep.

As Thomas kept on puffing along, he saw the signal box up ahead. He blew his whistle to attract the signalman's attention, and then he slowed down enough so that his fireman could pass on the message in his lunchbox.

"We need the police!" the fireman called, as the shocked signalman caught the lunchbox and opened it.

"Goodness!" he cried and rushed to the phone.

Meanwhile, Bertie was just resting after delivering passengers to one of the bus stops. Constable Leonard was there, having been on his lunch break and was using this time to talk to Bertie.

"So, how have you been enjoying your time on the roadways beside the Ffarquhar branch?" asked Constable Leonard.

"Oh, doing very well," smiled Bertie. "Thomas, Annie and Clarabel are great friends already, and the passengers have been easy to get along with… save for a couple of them, but I digress."

"One of them isn't Constable Johnson, is it?"

"I'm afraid so," sighed Bertie. "Is he new to the job?"

"Yes," Constable Leonard admitted. "He joined last week. Constable Regaby and I have a tiring time keeping him in line."

But before more could be said, the Volleys' stolen car raced past them with Harry and Marv driving.

"Bust my radiator!" cried Bertie. "Was that car going above the speed limit?"

"That must be the Volleys'!" exclaimed Constable Leonard. "We've got to stop them."

"Jump on!" said Bertie. "Driver, let's go."

Bertie's driver quickly started up the red bus and he tore down the roadway with the senior policeman on board.

"Halt!" cried Constable Leonard to the Steam Bandits. "In the name of the law!"

"Oh, bugger!" cried Marv. "The cops are after us on board a bus!"

"Ah, keep yer beard on, Marv," scoffed Harry. "We can outrun a bus!"

But Harry hadn't been counting on the sound of police sirens from another car.

"Attention, Steam Bandits!" shouted the driver through a megaphone. "This is Constable Barbara Regaby! Stop the car and surrender, or else!"

"Are we busted, Harry?" asked Marv meekly.

"Uh… maybe…" Harry gulped. Reluctantly, the Steam Bandits pulled over onto the side of the road. Bertie and the police car both came to a stop before them.

"Now then! Come out of the vehicle with your hands up!" commanded Constable Leonard.

The Steam Bandits did so without a word, shaking as they did so.

"Thank you, Bertie," said Constable Leonard, his voice back to his warm and gentle self. "We can take it from here."

"No worries, constable," smiled Bertie as he drove off to his next bus stop.

"So you're the ones who've stolen Mrs. Volley's gardening cups, have you?" said Constable Leonard as he handcuffed the Steam Bandits.

"Yeah, and we also robbed the greengrocer's at Dryaw, nabbed a few tools from the workmen at Anopha, took a child's candy at Elsbridge…"

"Oh, shut up, Marv!" If he wasn't being handcuffed right, Harry would have punched his accomplice in the teeth.

"Looks like more crimes will have to be added to the track record," said Constable Regaby, having written all the information down.

"Just wait and see, coppers!" cried Marv. "One of these days, we're going to become the most notorious thieves Sodor will ever know, and everyone will remember the names of the Steam Bandits, Harry and-!"

"Shut up, Marv!" snapped Harry.

Meanwhile, Thomas and his train had arrived at Elsbridge without further incident.

"You look a bit puffed out, Thomas," said Johnson. "What's happened? Had another race with Bertie?"

"No, but we were involved in a race of some capacity," said Thomas, and he explained about what had happened with the Steam Bandits.

"I must say, well done, you three," smiled Johnson. "That ought to put those thieves in their place."

"We hope so too," said Annie.

It wasn't long before the news was spread about the arrest of the Steam Bandits, and Sir Topham Hatt had travelled on board Thomas' next train to Ffarquhar.

"Is something wrong, sir?" asked Thomas.

"Quite the opposite," chuckled the controller. When Thomas stopped at Ffarquhar, Sir Topham Hatt hopped out of Annie and the blue tank engine and his coaches saw Mr. and Mrs. Volley giving warm smiles at the platform with their car parked nearby. Bertie was also parked next to the station.

"Thomas, Annie, Clarabel and Bertie," smiled Mr. Volley as he hopped onto a trolley, "thank you so much for your prompt actions today."

"Not only did you get our car back," added Mrs. Volley, "but my gardening cups were all found undamaged too in a sack. The four of you were incredibly brave."

Thomas, Annie, Clarabel and Bertie all blushed with pride as the passengers cheered and clapped for their quick thinking.

"A long time ago," said Sir Topham Hatt, holding up his hands for silence, "Thomas, Annie and Clarabel had shown us how valuable they are to the smooth running of the North Western Railway, and Bertie has done likewise for the bus company and the roadways. I'm sure you will all agree that today, they have shown once again they are a really useful engine, coaches and bus, respectively."

"You lot keep up the good work," smiled Constable Leonard after the cheering died down. "Even in my retirement, I promise I'll keep in touch with you."

"Thank you, Constable Leonard," said Thomas. "I hope your replacement will be just as cheerful and friendly as you."

Though I'm afraid to say our little blue tank engine was tempting fate… but I think you know that story already, don't you?

THE END

Author's Comments

Here's one of two Railway Series adaptations that I've wanted to do for a long time, both of which come from Really Useful Engines. It always seemed strange that both Mind That Bike and Fish were adapted but not Stop Thief! and/or Triple Header. Both of those stories featured Thomas, so goodness knows why Britt Allcroft didn't consider either story worthy of adapting. Now, Rachel and I have finally filled in that gap, and we decided to have it take place between Thomas and Bertie (which is on her page) and The Adventure Carries On. Not much more to say other than it was a pretty straight forward adaptation. Triple Header should be coming out tomorrow.