Set directly after the events of "DUCK TAKES CHARGE"


EFFICIENCY

AFTER The Fat Controller had diffused the disturbance at the sheds, Duck and Percy vacated the Turntable and moved into their berths. This was Duck's first night at the sheds, but he hadn't wished for it to be a tense one. Indeed, whilst The Fat Controller had made his feelings known, he'd gone on to say that he wouldn't discuss the matter anymore as he'd agreed with Duck's statement about being in charge.

Gordon, Henry and James on the other hand, were not prepared to let the matter drop. They were furious at having been humiliated by the two Tank Engines, and Duck in particular. They still considered themselves above the others and the fact that The Fat Controller had overall taken their side made them even more angry They tried to make their content for Duck known in the shed, but Duck completely ignored them, making conversation with Percy about his time on the Great Western Railway. Henry and James waited to allow Gordon to chastise the new arrival.

"What was the name of where you worked?" Percy asked.

"Paddington," Duck replied. "My main purpose was the shunt coaches from there to Old Oak Common and then take others to the stations whilst the big engines."

Gordon cleared his throat. "Excuse me…"

"What were they like?" Percy asked. "The big engines I mean?"

"Some of the finest engines you could ever lay your eyes on, Percy," said Duck.

"Excuse me!" Gordon tried to butt in again.

"Kings, Castles, Halls, Granges," Duck went on, ignoring him. "Brass always shone like gold and-"

"EXCUSE ME!"

The shed went silent for a moment. Percy was about to tell Gordon to be quiet but Duck spoke first. "Hmm. Did you hear a strange noise then, Percy?"

"Hey! We're trying to talk to you two!" James now joined in. "Stop gossiping and listen to us!"

Percy decided to play along with Duck. "No…I can't hear anything," he said innocently.

James and Gordon's faces went as red as James's paintwork. Henry just let out an annoyed sigh as he'd had enough. "Stop wasting your breath, you two," he said to them. "They're not listening. We'll just put them in their places tomorrow. Goodnight." And with that he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Gordon and James fumed to themselves as Percy and Duck continued with their conversation. It had just gotten dark and soon James got tired and drifted off to sleep as well. Gordon however, remained awake, and sat waiting in the hope that Percy would fall asleep. He wanted words with Duck to himself.

Eventually, Percy did indeed get tired and drifted off to sleep leaving only Duck and Gordon awake. Duck had hoped that the big engines had all gotten tired of hearing them talk and would be asleep as well, but unfortunately as he looked across, he caught Gordon's eye. "Yes?" he asked.

"Listen…very…carefully…" Gordon said, in a low and dangerous sounding voice. "You have got quite the nerve coming to our railway and showing us up to our controller. Let me make this very clear, Montague. We…will…not…tolerate…this kind of humiliation!" He was expecting a look of intimidation from Duck, just like he'd managed on Percy and Thomas in the past. But Duck did not look phased at all. Instead, he had an equally strong frown like Gordon himself had. "I am the pride of this railway. I expect respect, discipline and above all else…efficiency! Tomorrow, you will get our trains ready and make no mistakes. Do I make myself clear?"

"Uh-huh," Duck muttered, still not looking intimidated.

"Remember, Great Western," Gordon finished, still sneering. "We important engines expect efficiency. Efficiency - and don't you forget it!" And with that, he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Duck was cross. Despite the dressing-down that The Fat Controller had given the big engines after he and Percy had stood up to them, they still believed themselves to be bigger and above the rest. He wanted to do the very opposite of what Gordon had said…but then, an idea struck him. Hmmm, he thought to himself. Then he looked over at the three big engines, now sleeping soundly. If it's efficiency you want, then efficiency you will get. He smirked, and then finally drifted off to sleep himself.


Percy wasn't used to having a lay-in. Due to him no longer being the station pilot, he wasn't required to be up and out before the big engines. As he rested comfortably, feeling the warmth of steam flowing through his boiler, he noticed Gordon, James and Henry were already awake and being prepared for their day's work. Henry was due to leave first in order to take a local passenger train along the Main Line. he would be followed shortly after by Gordon with the express, and then James had been given the task of collecting the latest delivery of coal for the railway - a task which he wasn't at all fond of.

"Good morning," Percy said cheerfully.

The three engines shot him a look.

"What are you still doing there?" huffed James. "Why aren't you getting Henry and Gordon's trains ready for them?"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Errr, because that's not my job anymore?" he replied. "It's Duck's now."

"What?!" exclaimed the three engines.

"You're not saying that you're leaving us and that fuddy-duddy is taking your place, are you?" snapped Henry.

"Well…yes," said Percy. "The workload got too much for me, so The Fat Controller has brought a bigger engine to take over. And that's why Duck is here."

"That's preposterous!" fumed James. "We can't have that fusspot in our yard! Not after that stunt he pulled on us last night!"

"Yeah," agreed Henry. "We need you here, not him!"

Percy frowned crossly. "Oh, so now you want me?" he asked. "Ever since I came here, you three have done nothing but be rude, arrogant, and boss me about. What makes me different to Duck?"

"Because you did as you were told when we told you to do things for us!" snapped James. "You never had the audacity to stand up to us. We won't stand for being humiliated!"

Percy smiled cheekily. "Well, I'm very sorry to disappoint you all," he said, "But The Fat Controller has reassigned me to Thomas's Branch Line to help build a new harbour. So you'd better get used to Duck."

"We won't stand for Duck!" James continued. "We'll go on strike if we have to!"

Percy suddenly laughed. "Oh, really?" he teased. "Cause that worked wonders for you last time, didn't it?" He then turned his attention to the cleaners who wanted to give his smokebox and wash and polish.

James was about to rant some more, but Henry cut him off. "Hmmm. He has a point, James," he said. "I certainly don't want to be shut up in the shed again for days. Do you?"

"Well…no, of course not," replied James. "But that doesn't mean we can allow Duck to get away with things."

"He won't," said Gordon, who hadn't said a word up until this point. James and Henry looked at him. "After you'd gone to sleep, I stayed awake and spoke to our new addition. I made it very clear that we big engines expect things to be done our way and no other. Efficiency is what I told him."

At that moment, Henry's driver climbed into the cab to join the fireman. "Come along, Henry," he said. "It's time for our local train."

"Fine," replied Henry as he rolled forwards to the turntable. "I'll be sure to remind Duck of that as soon as I see him."

"Excellent, Henry," smiled Gordon. "You can be the first to put him in his place after me."


After taking on coal and water over the other side of the turntable, made his way towards the station. As he'd been getting filled up, he'd been thinking of what he'd say to Duck when he saw him. As he headed past the carriage sidings, he noticed something strange. The sidings were the coaches for his local train and Gordon's express were missing. That's odd, he thought to himself. Duck should be getting the coaches ready for my train, but where are the ones for the express?

He found out soon enough. As he turned the corner to approach the station, he was surprised to see that he was being moved over to the next line. The line that passed through Platform 2. As he looked up after crossing the points, he saw something that almost made his eyes pop out. There, sitting in Platform 1, were the coaches for the express. All neatly placed and waiting for Gordon to come and collect them. As Henry passed through Platform 2, he was even more surprised to see that his own coaches were already waiting for him in Platform 3. He came to a stop in Platform 2 and his eyes darted from left to right and back again. "Wait…what?" he said out loud. "What's going on?"

"What does it matter what's going on?" asked his driver. "Your coaches are here, so let's get coupled up to them."

Henry did so, moving over to Platform 3 line and reversing down to couple up to the coaches.

"Where have you been?" asked the lead coach. "We've been waiting here for twenty-five minutes already!"

Henry gasped. "Twenty-five minutes?!" he exclaimed. "But…ho-" He was cut off by the sound of Gordon's whistle as he approached the station.

Like Henry, Gordon came through Platform 2 and came to a stop, goggling in astonishment at the sight of his coaches already sitting in the platform waiting. "WhatwhatwhatwhatWHAT?!" he spluttered before looking at Henry. "What is this?! My coaches are here before me!"

"Don't ask me," retorted Henry. "I didn't put them there."

The express coaches looked disapprovingly at Gordon. "Decided to come here at last, have you?" said the second from the front. "We've been here for fifteen minutes already!"

Gordon was aghast. "But…how?!" he asked. "Who brought you here?"

"The new shunter," said the lead express coach. "Duck, I think he said his name was?"

"Indeed," said the lead coach on Henry's train. "Such a polite and charming little engine."

"Oh, yes indeed," agreed the other coaches in unison. "So smooth and gentle he was with us."

Gordon and Henry looked at each other, completely baffled. They looked around to see if they could see Duck. But he was nowhere to be seen.

Gordon moved over to the other line and backed down onto his train in Platform 1. As he was coupling up, James steamed into Platform 5. He let off steam angrily after coming to a stop. His face was as red as his paintwork.

"What's the matter with you?" asked Henry.

"Own up!" James said sharply. "Which one of you has hidden my trucks?!"

"Excuse us!" Gordon said crossly. "What about your trucks?"

"The trucks I need to take to the coaling plant," said James. "I've just gone to the yard to collect them. They're not there! Now, WHERE ARE THEY?!"

Henry and Gordon hissed steam angrily.

"How should we know?" snapped Henry. "We haven't even near the shunting yards!"

"WHAT IS ALL THIS?!" The three big engines fell silent and looked over at Platform 1 next to Gordon. It was The Fat Controller. He looked from one engine to the next and then the third. "What is going on?" he asked.

"James is accusing us of hiding his trucks, sir," huffed Gordon.

The Fat Controller looked at James. "James?" he asked.

"The trucks I need to take to the coaling plant, sir," said James. "I can't find where they are."

The Fat Controller stared. Then he looked behind the red engine's tender, and then back at James. "They are behind you, James," he said simply.

James was puzzled. Then he looked back and gasped. Ten empty trucks had appeared from nowhere and were now being coupled to him. "Wh-wh-wh-wh-WHAT?!" he stammered. "Where did you all come from?!"

Henry and Gordon were equally surprised by the sudden appearance of the trucks. So much so that they both completely forgot to be cross with James for accusing them.

The trucks seemed unusually quiet. Normally they'd be tittering, giggling or talking amongst themselves. But today, they were completely silent.

A whistle sounded out from the back of the station. Then they heard Duck's voice talking to the trucks as he puffed through on the through line opposite Platform 5. "Now, listen here, you lot," he said firmly. "James has an important delivery to make. He cannot be held up under any circumstances. No tricks! Is that clear?"

"Y-Y-Y-Yes, Duck," quivered the trucks.

Duck then pulled up alongside James. "Morning all," he said cheerfully. "Here are your trucks, James. Nine plus a Brake Van. sorry, I had hoped to have it here ready for you before you arrived but I needed to find a Brake Van that wasn't being repaired."

James's mouth moved like a goldfish but no sound came out. He was at a complete loss for words.

Duck then looked over at Henry and Gordon. "Ah, good. You've found your coaches okay," he said. "Five coaches for your local, Henry. Seven for your express, Gordon." He then looked at The Fat Controller. "Good morning, sir. Have good runs, you all." And with a cheerful toot of his whistle, he puffed off to do some more shunting, leaving the three big engines totally speechless.

The Fat Controller was most impressed by this. "Well, I say," he remarked approvingly. He turned to the three engines. "Most efficient, wouldn't you say?"

The engines didn't say. They just looked at their buffers. It was clear to them that Duck had taken Gordon's words quite literally and had gotten the better of them once again.


One by one the three big engines departed on their journeys. As they went, they passed Duck and Percy in the yard. They didn't look at them and didn't say a word. They just remained respectively silent as they went on their way.

"Typical big engines," said Percy, rolling his eyes. "Not even a 'thank you'. They'll never learn."

But Duck wasn't bothered at all. "I don't expect 'thanks' from other engines, Percy," he said. "It's nice to be complemented, sure. But I'm here to do a job - so I'll get on with it."

Percy was impressed. "I wish I'd had the kind of courage you have, Duck," he said. "It might have made life with those three a lot more tolerable."

"Ah, don't worry," said Duck. "You'll be happy in your new job. Don't worry about me. They won't get the better of me."

"I'm glad to hear it," said The Fat Controller, who had come over to see them. "Duck, I have to say I am very impressed with your work this morning. Keep this up and you'll go far on my railway."

Duck smiled proudly. "Thank you, sir," he said. Then his face fell a little. "I'm sorry about last night. I-"

But The Fat Controller held up a hand to stop him. "As far as I'm concerned, last night never happened," he said, giving the Pannier Tank a knowing wink.

Duck and Percy were surprised, but grateful.

The Fat Controller then turned to Percy. "Percy, it's time you were off. Thomas and Toby will help you to know what you've got to do. I'd also like to thank you for all the hard work you've done whilst you've been in charge of this yard. I know it hasn't been easy, and there are…one or two things that we could have done without…"

Percy blushed and looked meekly at his buffers.

"However…" continued The Fat Controller. "Hard work brings success and reward. And you've certainly earned the right to move on. Off you go now. I'll come and see how you're getting on in a few days."

"Oh, yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" said Percy happily. "I won't let you down, sir."

The Fat Controller smiled. "That's a good engine," he said proudly.

Percy gave a cheerful whistle and began to leave the yard now that his path was clear. "Goodbye, Duck!" he called back. "Good luck."

"Goodbye, Percy!" Duck called back. "Same goes for you."

Now that Percy had gone away, Duck was left to manage alone. He did so…efficiently.


END