Hello. I'm a long time Thomas fan and this is my first RWS story. I hope you like it. Enjoy. :)


Thomas Comes Home

Workmen were almost done repairing Thomas at the steel works on the mainland. During this time the little blue tank engine was feeling miserable. He has been like this ever since that incident with the Station Master's House. His driver, fireman, and even the Fat Controller said how ashamed they were of him. Especially when the Fat Controller introduced Daisy to him proudly like a showroom display. He missed his branchline, his two coaches Annie and Clarabelle, and his friends Percy and Toby. Little did he know that they missed him too.

"Cheer up, Thomas." Said one of the workmen. "You'll soon be back in working order."

Thomas would smile a little from these kind words. The workmen were very kind to him as they would tell jokes, sing songs, and tell stories to pass the time. Yet it would only last temporarily as Thomas' thoughts would return to guilt.

At last the repairs were done and Thomas felt so happy that he let off steam. His driver and firemen had soon arrived after receiving word of Thomas' repairs. Thomas was worried what they would think of him now. But when he saw their warm smiles he knew they were happy to see him.

"Hello Thomas!" They greeted him.

"Hello." Thomas said in a worried tone.

In no time at all his fireman put paper and wood inside Thomas' firebox and lit a match to light up his fire. Then he filled it with coal so that it would make a nice lot of steam. His driver checked his coal, checked his water, and when the gauges landed on green, he pulled the lever and Thomas puffed out of the workshop. He tooted his whistle at the kind workmen and they all waved and said goodbye.

As they trundled along the line, Thomas felt happy to be running again. He was so excited to see his coaches and branchline again. But as they approached one of the stations, they saw a well dressed man waving a red flag. Thomas' driver and fireman quickly brought Thomas to a halt on the platform.

"Hello." Said Thomas' driver to the well dressed man. "Is something wrong?"

"You could say that." Chuckled the man. "I am a railway inspector and your Controller is expecting me today. But I overslept and missed my train, so I am running a bit late."

"Would you like us to give you a ride over to Sodor?" Thomas said in a kind voice.

"Would you? If you don't mind that is. I would be most grateful."

"Oh, we don't mind. But it would be rather uncomfortable since you will have to stand most of the way. No sits, you understand." The driver informed.

"I understand and I don't mind either." The inspector said.

So the inspector climbed a board and Thomas slowly chuffed out of the station down the line for home.

On their Journey they had just traveled over the bridge that connects Sodor to the Mainland. Thomas was excited all over again.

"Oh I can't wait to see Annie and Clarabelle again!" He said as he puffed. "I've been longing to pull them for a nice run on the branchline."

"Don't worry, Thomas you will." Said his driver. "They missed you too."

"But…" Said his fireman. "... we hope you had learned your lesson about going off on your own without us."

"Yes indeed." Said his fireman firmly. "And to not take jokes literally and seriously."

"Yes." Said Thomas sadly. "I have."

"Good."

But then the inspector spoke up.

"Beg pardon. I don't mean to pry. But exactly do you mean?" He asked.

His driver and firemen told the inspector the entire story about how they joked about Thomas going everywhere without them. Thomas took it literally and seriously, making him boastful. He soon learned the hard way after he crashed through the Station Master's house. Thomas was so badly damaged that he had to be sent to the works to be mended. They told the inspector how ashamed they were and the Fat Croller was too.

The inspector pondered.

"Hmm. I see." He said finally. "I agree with you that Thomas needed to be taught a lesson that engines cannot go down the line without their driver or fireman."

He paused.

"But…" He said. "... there is still one thing that doesn't add up."

"What do you mean?" They asked.

"How did Thomas move on his own?" He asked.

"Ask Thomas. He's so cheeky he probably figured it out himself." They said with venom.

The inspector poked out his head of Thomas' cab and asked him.

"How did you move on your own, Thomas?"

"I don't know." Thomas said.

"No tales!" Scolded the driver.

"Shush!" Said the inspector in a stern voice. "Go on Thomas. Continue."

"I felt like I could go on by myself. Then it just happened. I felt proud at first, but then I felt frightened as I couldn't stop. Then I crashed through the house." Thomas said.

"Tell the inspector how you did it!" His driver and fireman demanded.

"I'm telling you I don't know!"

"Quiet!" Boomed the inspector. "Thomas. Was there anyone there at your shed?"

Thomas thought for a moment, then he remembered the cleaner.

"Oh yes there was. A cleaner. Andrew. He comes every morning to clean us engines." Thomas said.

"I see." Said the inspector. "Does he clean you inside and out?"

"Yes he does."

"Now it all makes sense."

"What does?" Asked the driver and fireman.

"It would seem your cleaner was careless and had meddled with his controls." Explained the inspector.

Thomas, his driver, and fireman all gaped in shock at this revelation. Suddenly Thomas was cross with his driver and fireman and they felt ashamed of themselves.

"Oh dear." Said his driver.

"We made a terrible mistake." Said his fireman.

"Indeed!" Sneered the inspector. "And to think you had the gall to say you were ashamed of your own engine! I'm going to have a long talk with your controller and sort out this mess immediately!"

When Thomas arrived back on his branchline he found Toby coupled to a flatbed with a damaged Percy on top of it.

"Bust my buffers!" Thomas gasped. "Percy! Are you alright!"

"I hope so." Percy groaned.

"How did this happen?"

"I'll explain later." Toby said. "Right now I have to get Percy to the works."

And ringing his bell the Tram Engine puffed away, pushing Percy.

"Goodbye, Thomas!" Percy called. "I'm glad you came home!"

"Goodbye, Percy!" Thomas called. "Get well soon!"

Thomas then saw his two coaches Annie and Clarabelle who were most happy to see their Tank Engine friend. Thomas was happy to see them too. Just then the Fat Controller came up to Thomas.

"Welcome back, Thomas." He said.

"Good to be back, sir." Thomas said.

"Now that you are back, I'm sure things can pick up as they should." He said. "But remember Thomas. You cannot go anywhere without your driver and fireman. It's dangerous. I hope you understand."

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Because I will not tolerate such incidents like that, let me tell you!"

"NO!" Boomed a voice. "Let ME tell YOU, sir!"

The Fat Controller turned to where that voice came and was most surprised. There, coming out of Thomas' cab was the railway inspector. And he was cross. He marched sternly over to the controller.

"Inspector. I had been expecting you." Said The Fat Controller.

"So I should hope!" The inspector said crossly. "I heard all about the incident with Thomas and the Station Master's house."

"Ah, yes, that." He said. "Well I assure you. Thomas has learned his lesson."

"Oh, I do believe he has. But YOU certainly haven't!"

The Fat Controller was both puzzled and alarmed by this statement.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"As you can see, this Tank Engine was kind enough to give me a ride. They told me everything that happened. And it seems you didn't do a thorough enough inspection. While I agree Thomas had to learn a lesson, you sir, didn't venture to guess how Thomas moved on his own." He said.

The Fat Controller was once again confused and worried.

"You see I did some inspecting myself and discovered that one of your cleaners was careless with Thomas' controles. This was the real reason this accident happened in the first place."

Now the Fat Controller was stunned in shock.

"I intend to get to the bottom of this mess and resolve it once and for all!"

He then turned to Thomas.

"Would you be so kind as to take me to the main station?" He asked.

"Yes, sir." Said Thomas.

When Thomas arrived at the main station, the inspector went directly to the main office and asked the receptionist at the front desk to look at some files regarding reports. He found Andrew's file. He flipped through the files which were labeled by date and in order. They had the usual odd jobs where the job would go smoothly, while others involved discoveries of broken parts that needed to be mended or replaced. But aside from those, there was no mention of Thomas' accident.

"Just as I thought." The inspector said. "I need to have a little talk with this cleaner."

Later that day he called for Thomas' driver, his fireman, the Fat Controller, and the Station Master into the Fat Controller's office. The Station Master was still cross with Thomas, but the Inspector informed them to keep focus. Before anyone could say anything. A young man came inside the office. His expression displayed expectations of speaking with the Fat Controller, but when he saw the others in the room, his expressions changed to that of confusion. This was Andrew.

"You called for me?" He asked.

"Yes. Have a seat." Said the inspector.

The young man sat in a chair across from the inspector who was sitting at the Fat Controller's desk. While The Fat Controller, Thomas' driver and fireman, and Station Master sat in separate chairs on the side. Andrew looked puzzled.

"I hear that you were around the time of Thomas' accident with the Station Master's house." Said the Inspector.

"Yes. I was." Said Andrew, calmly.

"Can you explain to me what happened?"

"Well…" He began. "...I was cleaning the three engines while they were asleep, lit their fires, so they can have an early start, then when I just about finished when all of a sudden Thomas moved on his own."

"Can you tell how this happened?" Asked the inspector.

"I couldn't tell you. I am the foggiest." Andrew said.

But the Inspector saw right through the young cleaner and firelighter. He saw movement in his eyes, the shakiness in his voice, and the twitching in some parts and areas. The Inspector was no fool.

"Bah!" Scoffed the Station Master. "What is the point in all this!? Thomas is to blame!"

"Silence!" Sneered the inspector.

The station master quickly went quiet.

"If what you're saying is true…" Said the inspector to the cleaner. "...then how come there is no record report on this?"

Andrew froze in shock. The inspector then took out the folder and placed it on the desk.

"This file, your file, doesn't contain one report on the incident." The inspector said.

The Fat Controller, Thomas' driver and fireman, and Station Master were all shocked at this revelation. Andrew however trembled in silence.

"Why didn't you file this in the report?" The inspector inquired.

"I-I-I don't know." Andrew said in a trembling voice. "I must have forgotten."

"No tales!" Snapped the inspector. "You were careless and meddled with Thomas' controls. After that you kept it to yourself in the hopes this little accident would blow over and spare you of the consequences."

Andrew gave it up. There was just no hiding from him.

"I'm… I'm sorry…" Said Andrew sadly.

"You should be!" Said the Inspector. "Letting Thomas take the blame for your mistakes is most unprofessional! While Thomas needed to learn a lesson about safety, you were the main cause of it!"

"I was scared that I was going to get the sack." Andrew said.

"Well you won't have to worry about that anymore. Because you can consider yourself terminated!"

Andrew was abashed.

"B-But sir! What about my family!?" Andrew begged.

"You shouldn't have thought about that before you pulled this little stunt! The worst you would have gotten was a light repromant!"

Without saying more, he kicked the former cleaner out of the office. He then turned to The Fat Controller, Thomas' driver and fireman, and Station Master with glaring daggers at them.

"It is also unprofessional of you gentlemen to assume the worst without a thorough investigation!" The inspector said. "I am going to be staying on the island for awhile, for I have many more inspections to do. If I find another toe out of line, you too will be getting the sack! So you better hope all goes well!"

He then walked sternly away and out of the office. The Fat Controller also left the office and saw Thomas, who only just glared at him. Now the Fat Controller was feeling both guilty and nervous about the future.