TRAVELING SECRETS

There was a lot of bustling activity at the dockyards of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Engines were coming in to and fro with their goods while the cranes worked hard to load and unload the ships. One crane, a red one named Kobe, was currently waiting for the goods train Thomas and Nia were bringing in.

"Where could that train be?" he wondered anxiously. "The ship could be leaving any moment."

Just then, Kobe heard two whistles coming in from the distance. Within minutes, Thomas and Nia pulled in.

"Welcome to Dar es Salaam, Thomas!" Nia greeted. Thomas looked around at the dock yard. This truly was a fascinating sight.

"Greetings, Nia," Kobe greeted the black tank engine. "Who's that engine in front?"

"This is Thomas," Nia introduced. "He was meant to go to Canada, but he was put on the wrong ship by mistake."

"And now I'm trying to get back home," Thomas added. "Do you know of any ships bound for England?"

"There was a ship bound for England," explained Kobe, "but I'm afraid you just missed it. It left half an hour ago."

"Oh, botheration!" Thomas grumbled. "Now how are we supposed to get home?"

"We'll have to send Sir Topham Hatt a message about where we are," his driver suggested. He went over to the dock manager and asked if he could make a phone call.

While this was happening, a large red engine with an unusual shape Thomas had never seen before came into the docks with his own goods train. On the front, the engine had four small leading wheels, eight driving wheels and two trailing wheels; on the other end, the wheel arrangement was reversed. The engine's boiler was resting in between both sets of frames, but was also still resting on the end of both frames; there was a large water tank on front and on the back was a large coal bunker. Thomas was amazed by the engine's size; he looked to be even bigger than Gordon!

"Hello, Kwaku!" Nia called happily.

"Nia!" Kwaku cried happily. "So good to see you! How are your wheels? How is your boiler? How are your pistons? Have the tracks been taking you where to go, and are your fellow engines keeping you well?"

"I am well, thank you," smiled Nia. "How are your wheels? How is your boiler? How are your pistons? Have the tracks been taking you where to go, and are your fellow engines keeping you well?"

Thomas was baffled by their greeting; that was probably the most complex way of saying hello that he'd ever heard!

"Has your shed been rebuilt yet?" Kwaku asked.

"No, I'm afraid," Nia sighed sadly. "The manager says it's not worth investing in."

"Not worth investing in?" asked Thomas. "But isn't a shed supposed to protect engines, coaches and trucks from the elements at night?"

"Yes," said Nia. "But unfortunately, my manager doesn't think I'm that valuable enough to be protected. So I usually have to spend the nights sleeping in a goods shed."

"That's not right!" protested Thomas. "Nia, you deserve better than this! Don't your friends stand up for you?"

"They're too afraid," Nia insisted. "I don't blame them; our manager threatened to scrap us if we dared speak up against him."

"How dare he!" Thomas gasped. "My controller, Sir Topham Hatt, would have never made such a cruel threat!"

The blue engine remembered the harshest scolding he ever received from his own controller; that was when Sir Topham Hatt thought Thomas was intending to hurt Ryan with dynamite during the construction of the Harwick extension, and it didn't help that Thomas had kept causing trouble beforehand by derailing Gordon's coaches and falling into a cavern after ignoring warning signs and workmen and engines telling him to stop. At the time, it almost looked as if Sir Topham Hatt was about to send his number one engine away for good, but even that paled in comparison to what Nia's manager did and said to her and her friends.

"I put up with him as much as I could," Nia said bravely. "He took me in after my brothers and sisters were withdrawn. I'm the only one of my kind left."

"What happened to them?" asked Thomas. "I mean, how did they end up... well..." He couldn't finish the sentence; Nia and Kwaku understood what he was about to say.

"Nia's brothers and sisters were replaced by bigger engines," Kwaku sighed.

"My brothers and sisters were replaced too," Thomas remarked. Before he could say anymore, the little blue engine noticed his driver coming back.

"It turns out that Sir Topham Hatt left for Canada a few days ago with Emily," he said. "Mr. Percival's temporarily in charge for the time being."

"Certainly better than Dowager Hatt running the railway again," muttered Thomas' fireman. "Though I hate to imagine how Mr. Percival will manage two railways at once..."

"Were you able to at least ask him to arrange a ship to get us back to Sodor?" asked Thomas.

"That he's working on, but I did also ask him to relay a message to Sir Topham Hatt when he arrives in Canada," said the driver.

"Thank goodness," Thomas sighed. Then another thought came to him. "Nia?"

"Yes?" Nia responded.

"How would you like to leave that bully manager of yours and come with me to Sodor?" Thomas offered.

"Oh, I would love to!" Nia gasped. "I've always dreamed of seeing new places and making new friends. ...but that would also mean having to leave my old friends behind..."

"It will be alright, Nia," Kwaku insisted. "We will miss you, but you would be so much happier in a new home." Nia smiled a bit. But she still felt a bit worried.

"What if manager won't let me go?" she asked.

"If he tries to hurt you," Thomas insisted, "then he will have me and my crew to answer to."


Meanwhile, back in Kenya, Nia's manager was not happy.

"Where is that engine?" he demanded, looking about the shunting yards. "She was meant to stay here and keep the trains in order for the others to take out!"

"She went with a foreign engine to Dar es Salaam with a goods train," a workman answered.

"What foreign engine?"

"He was a short, blue tank engine with six wheels and a yellow number one on his side tanks. He doesn't look like he was built around here."

"Who does this engine think he is?" demanded the manager. "Popping up in Africa and taking one of my engines along with him. I'm going to Dar es Salaam!" With that, he stormed off to find transport.


That night, Thomas and Nia were fast asleep in some sheds at Dar es Salaam Docks. Thomas slept very comfortably, especially after taking such a heavy train over a long distance for at least a fortnight, but although Nia was grateful at having a roof to protect her from the elements, she had a very bad memory come to her in her sleep...


Nia and many other engines watched on helplessly as another engine, having been injected with a euthanizing chemical, was dismantled. The manager stood coldly by, watching the operation, before turning to the rest of the engines.

"Remember," he said firmly, pointing to the broken up engine. "This is what happens to engines who do not do as their controllers tell them."

Not one engine would speak out of fear for being next. For Nia, it was a nightmare come to life...


Nia gasped as she awoke. She looked over at Thomas, who was still fast asleep.

"What an awful dream," she shuddered. "The sooner I am away from that man, the happier I will be."

"It was about what happened to Asha that fateful day, wasn't it?" asked a voice from next to her. Nia looked over to see Kwaku looking at her with a concerned expression.

"Yes," Nia said. "Why does my manager have to be so cruel?"

"It's hard to say," Kwaku insisted. "Some people just choose to be cruel. It's like all that matters to them is making money and bossing people around. But don't worry, Nia. Soon you'll be safe from all of that."

With a yawn, Nia closed her eyes and went back to sleep.


Author's Comments

A bit of a shorter chapter this time around, but also one of the sadder ones thus far. I've given Nia a bit of Adaptational Angst Upgrade by having lost her siblings in favor of stronger engines and being taken in by an abusive manager, working for him out of fear. Not only that, just seeing a close friend of yours being killed and then having their body taken to pieces, I imagine, would traumatize anyone. But it isn't all sad; I've expanded on Kwaku's character slightly by having him as the gentle giant of Nia's old railway, essentially the Edward of Africa with a bit of Henry thrown in.

Next time, we learn about A New Home for Nia!