SCHOOL OF DUCK

Based upon the episode by Lee Pressman

Adapted by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens

Isabel and Dulcie were settling in nicely on the Little Western, which was becoming more and more accurate to the nickname Diesel had come up with many years ago. But one night, it was raining hard on the island, and the coaches were finding it difficult to sleep.

"It's raining cats and dogs out there," groaned Dulcie.

"But I don't see any dogs or cats," said Alistair.

"It's a figure of speech," said Isabel. "It just means that it's raining heavily."

"Oh, I understand."

"You know," said Mirabel, "this reminds me of a time where we were hit with another storm. You know, just after Skiff saved us and Duck, Oliver and Toad."

"Ah yes!" cried Benjamin. "I think I remember what you're talking about, sis. It was when Duck found Dexter."

"Found?" asked Dulcie. "Katrina said she and Jackie didn't see him, but they weren't sure if he was being mended or not."

"Well, let us tell you a tale," said Alistair.


Past

The Island of Sodor had been hit with a massive storm, and cleanup was happening all over the island the following day. The Little Western branch line and its Harwick extension were no exception.

"Great Isambard K. Brunel!" exclaimed Duck when he came up with the slip coaches. "Look at all that!"

"What's happened to the school?" cried Alistair.

"It must have gotten destroyed in the storm," sighed Mirabel. "Oh, I do hope the kids haven't come to school yet."

"I doubt they'd have gone to school at night," said Benjamin. "I don't think they'll be going there for a while due to the damage sustained."

"We'd better alert the workmen about this," said Duck as he started his return journey down the branch.


When the quartet came to Knapford, they saw Daisy on another platform.

"Steady now!" she grunted. "Stop pushing, please! Not so loud!"

"Oh, lighten up, Daisy," sighed a ten year old boy. "We're only having a bit of fun."

"Can't you take a joke?" added a seven year old boy. "I swear Ricky, how does granddad keep the engines in line?"

"We'll probably find out for ourselves when we're older, Charlie," said his brother.

"Bye, Wicky and Chawwie," waved a four year old girl with her mother.

"Aww, little Emily looks so much like her cousin Annabelle," smiled Duck.

"Easy for you to think they're cute, Duck," muttered Daisy. "I'm the one who's had to drag all the children from Harwick school over to Knapford because of that storm."

"Three of them are Sir Topham Hatt's grandchildren, Daisy," Alistair reminded her. "Okay, little Emily doesn't go to school just yet, but still."

"They at least know how to behave," Daisy sighed. "But the others? Ugh. They've left crumbs on my lovely upholstery, drippy fingers on my beautiful, clean windows and don't even mention my springs. Oh, I think I'm going to see my fitter this afternoon…"

And with that, the diesel railcar flounced away.

"What a drama queen," muttered Benjamin. "How did the Ffarquhar engines and coaches put up with her again?"

"I doubt the world will ever know," sighed Mirabel.


Later, Duck met up with Oliver when the autotank was arranging trucks filled with debris from the storm damage and the slip coaches were being put back into their shed.

"Hi, cous… goodness!" cried Duck. "That's quite a lot of debris."

"I know," Oliver replied. "I have to take this lot down to… er… Crock's…" He couldn't say the word and shuddered.

"I could take it for you," said Duck kindly. "If I'm not back in time for my next passenger run, do you think you could take the slippies out?"

"I sure will," smiled Oliver. "Thanks, cous. You're the best."


As arranged, Duck took the train down to Crock's Scrap Yard, when he heard Reg talking to himself.

"Hmm, here's something that could be reused…" The yellow diesel crane glanced up when he heard the pannier tank engine's whistle. "Oh, hello, Duck. I thought Oliver was supposed to be bringing the train in."

"Well, he has been through… a lot," Duck said quickly. "Admittingly, so have I, but that was under very different circumstances."

Reg winced, having heard both Duck and Oliver's close calls in the past.

"Er, anyway," said Duck, more than willing to change the subject, "what are you so excited about old car tires?"

"Ah, yes!" said Reg. "They could make good swings for a children's playground, you know!" As if to prove his point, he swung the tire back and forth before it slipped out of his grip and crashed into a scrap pile. "Er… oops…"

Duck chuckled. "Well, I do understand what you were trying to get at, Reg."

"It's as I always say, Duck. Repair, recycle, reuse!"

Duck gave a bit of a warm smile. Scrap was most definitely a topic the engines avoided at all costs, but they knew Reg meant no harm to any of them. Even so, Oliver and Douglas in particular avoided going to Crock's Scrap Yard.

"I'd love to continue to chat, Reg," said Duck, "but I've got more jobs to do today. The storm damage can't clear itself, you know."

Reg watched Duck go and went to grab an old tuba.

"Maybe this could be reused," he said to himself and blew into it. Unfortunately, everyone in the surrounding area covered their ears at the horrible noise. "On second thought, maybe it could be recycled as a flowerpot…"


Duck, meanwhile, was heading back down the branch line.

"I thought I saw the duck's pond looking cluttered earlier this morning," he said to himself. "Maybe I should take some trucks to help clear it out."

But what Duck hadn't realized was that the signalman had been testing the points earlier to see if they were working after the storm and forgot to switch them back.

"Whoa!" cried Duck when he glanced around the area. "Hey, this isn't the way to the Little Western!"

To make matters worse, the rails were very worn and rickety, so Duck had to slow down to prevent his crew from falling out of his cab.

"We've definitely taken a wrong turn, ol' boy," sighed his driver. "Guess we'd better go back."

"Are you going back alone?" called another voice. "Do you need company?"

"Huh? Who was that?" Duck wondered. "Is it just me, or did that voice sound familiar?"

"First time we've heard it," Duck's fireman admitted.

Curiously, Duck puffed forward a little further, and his eyes widened in shock. There in front of him was a four wheeled brake coach who appeared to have been in a red livery long ago. His paint was faded now, some windows were smashed and a couple of doors appeared to be loose, but his face was unmistakable.

"Dexter?!"

"Hello, Duck," smiled the brake coach. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"It has indeed," remarked Duck. "We'd all thought you'd been sent to the scrapyards by Bowler years ago."

"I was in the buffers of… some diesel," said Dexter. "Was that his name? Bowler?"

"Oh, Oliver came up with it," Duck explained. "It was after 261, his number, sucked in a bowler hat through his air intake."

"Ah, now I remember!" exclaimed Dexter. "Those two diesels were on trial. Did either of them stay?"

"7101 - Bear - did," Duck smiled. "Bowler was sent away in disgrace. And that's only the tip of the iceberg of the changes on Sodor."

"Oh, tell me everything!" Dexter grinned. "I could listen to you all day."

"I would," said Duck, "but there's lots to do. There's been a recent storm and everyone's working to clear up the damage."

"Oh, you'll need a coach to help carry some workmen around," Dexter suggested. "I could do that!"

Duck wasn't so sure about this at first; who knew how long Dexter had been sitting in that siding?

"Well… alright then," he said at last, a bit reluctantly. "I do need a coach, after all."

His driver got out and coupled Duck onto Dexter. Slowly, the Great Western engine began to pull the old coach out of his siding. However, Duck had forgotten what had led up to Bowler being able to get his buffers on Dexter in the first place.

"Ohh, dear!" cried Dexter. "My axle's not working right."

And just like that, with a loud crack, Dexter's axle finally gave away after moving barely a meter.

"Oh dear," sighed Duck. "This isn't good. I do need a coach I can pull, but I won't leave you alone, Dexter." His driver uncoupled him and Duck away.


The pannier tank engine got back to Arlesburgh just in time to see Oliver and the slip coaches complete their passenger run.

"Have you four seen Judy and Jerome?" asked Duck.

"They're at Harwick with Donald clearing up the debris from the school," said Oliver. "What do you need them for?"

"I found Dexter!"

Oliver's eyes widened with shock.

"But… wasn't he scrapped years ago?"

"Apparently not," Duck insisted. "He's on an abandoned siding just off the main line."

The slip coaches blinked in confusion.

"Who's Dexter?" asked Benjamin.

"We heard that name mentioned a few times," added Alistair, "but we don't know the full details."

Duck and Oliver quickly explained what they and other engines on the island at the time assumed became of Dexter all those years ago.

"Oh, poor Dexter," said Mirabel. "We can't just leave him there!"

"Exactly," said Duck. "We'll need to take him to the Steamworks so he can be given a full overhaul. We need another coach to help take those children from Harwick to Knapford Prep School and the workmen around to fix the line."

"Those classrooms at Knapford Prep School ought to be crowded with the children from Harwick Prep School." sighed Benjamin. "It could be months before the children can go back."

Duck blinked at the statement, and thought back to an earlier conversation he had with Reg.

"Repair, recycle, reuse… That's it!" he exclaimed.

"Cous, are you okay?" asked Oliver.

"We've been looking at this from the wrong angle!" Duck said quickly. "I'll see you lot later!" He quickly set off to find Donald, Judy and Jerome, leaving Oliver and the slip coaches puzzled.


"Ye'r in a tearing hurry, Duck," said Donald when he saw Duck come up alongside.

"I've had an idea to solve two problems at once." Duck quickly outlined his plan, and Donald, Judy and Jerome too felt shocked.

"Dexter?!" cried Judy. "You sure it's him, Duck?"

"Very sure," the Great Western engine confirmed. "He was alive underneath our buffers this whole time."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" said Jerome. "Let's go!"


Duck took Judy and Jerome down to Dexter's siding and the old coach was loaded onto a flatbed.

"It's so good to see you two again," smiled Dexter. "I can't wait to be back on my wheels again."

"Well, er… there's another plan in mind," Duck explained. "But don't you worry; you'll still be really useful, Dexter."


Down at Crovan's Gate, Henry had Sean, Mick, Harry and Randolph on the main line local and they were waiting for Mighty Mac's connecting train. The stationmaster was speaking to the green engine's crew.

"There's a delivery being made to the Steamworks," she explained. "You may be a bit delayed until it gets here."

"A delay?" muttered Henry. "That's all we need now…"

But as it turned out, it would be a good thing for Henry and the coaches when they saw Duck pulling into Crovan's Gate with Judy and Jerome, and an all-too familiar face from the back…

"Hello, mates! It's been years, hasn't it?"

"DEXTER?!"

The coaches' eyes all began to water at the sight of their long lost brother.

"D-Dexter…" stammered Harry. "It's been far too long…"

"Where have you been all these years?" asked Sean.

"Left in a siding by an engine who apparently sucked in a bowler hat," chuckled Dexter. "How silly is that?"

"He was pretty silly to do that," chuckled Mick through his tears. "It's… it's really good to see you, Dexter."

"Welcome home, brother," added Randolph. "Things haven't been the same without you around."

"Likewise," smiled Dexter. "I've missed you all so much."

Henry had been quiet throughout the coaches' reunion and glanced over at the newly rediscovered coach with a pain of guilt.

"I'm… I'm really sorry I got you into that mess, Dexter…" he sighed. "If I had kept my temper in check and thought twice about trusting that Bowler…"

"It's alright, Henry," assured Dexter. "You didn't know that engine was going to do that."

"I didn't know how rude he was until Sean, Mick and Harry filled me in," Randolph put in.

"It's like I said years ago," said Sean. "Bowler was all show and no go until that moment."

"It is good to have you back with us, Dexter," smiled Henry. "And you'll have a good time meeting all the new arrivals on the island too."


And indeed he did. Dexter met many new faces on the island during his restoration at Crovan's Gate, as well as reuniting with a few old friends. When he was finally out of the works, he was brought down to Harwick School by Duck and gently lowered into place by Judy and Jerome. He was repainted blue with yellow ends and a red roof, and his sides now had bright paintings of flowers, animals, various rolling hills with trees and suns all over him.

"You look wonderful, Dexter!" cried Richard Hatt as he and Charles went into the classroom.

"I wanna go too!" said Little Emily as she tried to follow her brothers.

"Not yet, dear," laughed Helen as she picked up her daughter.

"Aww…" sighed Little Emily.

"One day, you'll be bigger," smiled Duck at Little Emily. "In the meantime, why don't you and your mother put down this flower pot I picked up from Reg earlier?"

It was the same tuba that Reg had tried to play earlier, now with some flowers and dirt inside of it. Little Emily and Helen rested it against Dexter's right buffer.

"Adds just the right touch," smiled Dexter. "Thank you, little one. And thank you, Duck. I'll never forget this day."

"Neither will I, old friend," replied Duck warmly.


Present

"There's a little girl named Emily?" gasped Isabel.

"That's correct," said Alistair. "Quite a sweetheart too. She goes to Harwick school now."

"From what we've heard," added Mirabel, "she was named in honor of Emily the engine."

"Oh, wow!" gasped Dulcie. "What made that happen?"

"Something about Emily the engine getting Helen to the hospital when she was in labor," Benjamin explained. "Not unlike Little Emily's cousin Annabelle when her mother had the same thing happen to her."

"That has to be a story we'll have to hear at some point," said Isabel. "Still, I'm glad Dexter was saved."

"So are we," smiled Alistair. It was still stormy outside, but the coaches felt content by the story, and the five of them started to fall asleep, knowing there may have to be a bit of storm damage to clear up in the morning.


Author's Comments

Here's the third story to Duck the Great Western Engine, being adapted from one of the big highlights of series 22! While Free the Roads stuck very closely to the original episode with the odd bit of expansion here and there, School of Duck had its structure changed up a lot. The story being told in flashback, taking place concurrently with Wild Water Rescue and Stuck in Gear (and after Blown Away), and the removal of Hannah's part as the flashback takes place prior to her arrival, to name but a few changes. At long last, Dexter has been a resolution to his disappearance and is now a useful coach-turned-classroom once again.

Oh, and something that I forgot to mention is that Free the Roads and Clear as a Bell both take place between the events of Welcome Home, Thomas and Nia and Forever and Ever, Meanwhile, School of Duck takes between Forever and Ever and Confusion Without Delay. Once I've finished up book six, I'll reveal the actual chronological order of events.

Next time, for the finale of this book, we meet with a visiting engine and discover that Fame Isn't Everything!