Skarloey Learns
Sir Handel was cross. The boys would not stop teasing him about his little scuff with George the Steamroller. George himself would get his comeuppance soon, but that is a story for another day. Each time Sir Handel would pull up to stations he would always see young boys pointing and laughing at him.
"Just ignore them. They're only youngins." His driver and firemen would always say.
But even those words were wearing off.
One day Sir Handel was pulling his favorite bogey coaches Gertrude and Millicent on an express run. They stopped at the last station and let the last remaining passengers out. After the station was cleared Sir Handel sighed happily and rested. But his happy resting didn't last long.
"Look! There's Sir Handel! The one who raced a Steamroller!"
Sir Handel groaned as he saw the same boys that were teasing him. They laughed and joked and teased Sir Handel relentlessly. At last Sir Handel had had enough. In fit, he wheeshed steam at the boys and hard. Soon the boys' laughter changed to screaming. The boys were drenched from cap to shoes.
"Shut up!" Sir Handel shouted. "Get lost!"
"You're a big bully!" One of the boys cried.
"We're telling our mums!"
The boys ran away in tears leaving Sir Handel very proud of himself.
"Serves them right." Sir Handel said.
"Oh, now you've done it." His driver groaned.
"He's in trouble now." Said Gertrude and Millicent to each other.
"Please. Those little brats had it coming." Sir Handel protested.
"The Thin Controller won't like this." Said his fireman.
And indeed he wasn't. Later that day, he spoke severely to Sir Handel at the engine shed.
"YOU are a very naughty engine!" He scolded. "Blowing steam on pedestrians is most unprofessional of you!"
"But Sir!" Sir Handel protested. "They wouldn't stop harassing me!"
"Then you should have told me about it! You could have cost us our railway severely! Thankfully the parents of those boys apologized for their rude behavior and I for my engines! So be thankful for small mercies!"
Sir Handel looked downcast. He wasn't feeling proud now.
"I'm ashamed of you, Sir Handel!" Skarloey hissed. "Such behavior! They were only little boys!"
But then suddenly the Thin Controller sternly turned to Skarloey too.
"I wouldn't say that if I were you, Skarloey!" He said. "Someone looked into this little incident and discovered the cause of it!"
"What do you mean, sir?" Skarloey asked.
"Why not ask me yourself?" Said another voice.
The engines looked up to where that voice came from. They were surprised to see it was a Railway Inspector. It was the same railway inspector who inspected Thomas' accident with the Station Master's house.
"I hear this whole thing started with Sir Handel's new steam roller wheels." He said.
"What about my wheels, sir?" Sir Handel said.
"Let's piece this together properly." Said the inspector.
So the Inspector asked each of the engines, that being Sir Handel, Skarloey, Rusty, Duncan, and Peter Sam, on how this all happened. They answered truthfully. They told him that Sir Handel kept slipping between the rails and was given new wheels with board tires. This helped him get a good grip on the rails, but they were rather unusual. The other engines teased him, while Sir Handel boasted that he could go faster than any of them. And while the other engines didn't believe him, his new wheels proved useful as it helped Sir Handel arrive on time. Then came the part where Skarleoy made a plan to make Sir Handel see sense and have the others have fun teasing him more. That plan was with George the Steamroller. Of course that plan only made Sir Handel more boastful and soon the boys started teasing him.
"So YOU'RE the culprit!" Boomed the Inspector to Skarloey. "You're the one who caused all this!"
Skarloey was abashed and offended, but he soon couldn't speak. He soon realized that it was his fault.
"You, Skarloey!? You put me up to this!?" Roared Sir Handel in anger. "Why I oughta-!"
"Stow it!" Shouted the inspector. "You're just as to blame as Skarloey here!"
"He is right!" The Thin Controller said. "Sir Handel, we gave you those wheels to help you with your work! Not to race against steam rollers! You're boastful behavior almost caused a serious accident!"
He then turned back to Skarloey.
"As for YOU Skarloey! I am very disappointed in you! I expected better from you! Playing tricks on other engines like this is most unbecoming of you!" He scolded the old engine.
Now the only engine Skarloey felt ashamed of was himself.
"Both of you will stay in your shed, until I can trust you to behave!" He ordered.
The two engines looked down at the rails in shame. The Thin Controller then turned to the rest of the other engines.
"As for the rest of you, since you were all compliant in Skarloey's scheme, you will do Sir Handel and Skarloey's work as well as your own! Perhaps this will teach you not to play tricks!" He scolded.
The other engines were abashed as both the Thin Controller and the Inspector sternly walked away.
As the days went on, the engines followed their punishment to the letter. They were feeling miserable and guilty. Peter Sam, while he didn't mind doing the extra work, still felt bad for being a part of Skarloey's plan. Duncan on the other hand groaned about having extra work, but said nothing as he didn't want to earn the ire of the Thin Controller. Rusty tried to keep them in high spirits, but it was no use. He felt guilty as well.
As for Skarloey and Sir Handel, they stayed shut up in the shed for quite awhile. Skarloey felt ashamed of himself while Sir Handel glared daggers of hate at him. But in the end both engines were miserable and soon both felt guilty and ashamed of their behavior.
Hopefully they learned their lessons of playing tricks and being boastful. Don't you?
