Lyrics to "Hello World" by Belle Perez, Patrick Renier and Jim Soulier

The autumn weather gradually changed over to winter, as early snowfalls could be seen across the Island of Sodor. Carole was taking a goods train when she felt something cold and wet touch her nose. She almost went cross eyed trying to see the fast melting object.

"Looks like it's that time again," chuckled Colin as he helped to load Carole's trucks. "The early snow is bound to put anyone in a festive mood."

"I'll say it does," said Bertram. "My driver has been telling me about his plans to decorate his house with his family. Carole, what's been going on at your end?"

The purple electric engine glanced over at Bertram and Colin. "Oh… er… we're preparing for Christmas too. So much to do, and everything."

"Are you okay, Carole?" asked Colin.

"Of course I am," said Carole, trying to smile. "Everyone's always busy at this time of year. So many passengers and goods and such, right?"

Bertram and Colin could tell that something was off with Carole, but decided not to question her further. The guard's whistle blew and she was off.


Just think about all the work you have to do, thought Carole to herself. If you focus on the business angle, then you don't have to worry so much about… right, just forget that.

"Hey, Carole!"

Carole glanced over at Stevie, who had a few vans with sacks in them.

"Stevie, what have you got there?" she asked.

"These are sacks of food for the horses down at the stables for the winter," Stevie explained.

"Oh, right," said Carole. "The snow would have covered up any grass they could have eaten."

"And I don't think that they'd survive on just snow, even if it's water," added Stevie.

"There will be a lot of these needed for the horses there," said Carole. "Besides Belle, Starlight and Prancer, there's about twenty-five or so horses there; maybe more, depending on how many horses get bought and who board their horses there."

"Wow," gasped Carole's driver. "That is a lot."

"I may need to follow you with a few trucks myself," said Stevie, arranging a few trucks onto Carole's train. "Who knows; they may need more than what's already in these vans!"

"Most likely," said Carole.

"I wonder what kind of surprises the horses will be given this Christmas," said Stevie. "Maybe a few apples or carrots snuck into their…" She trailed off as she saw Carole's saddened expression. "Oh… sorry, Carole. I didn't mean-"

"No, it's alright, Stevie," said Carole. "Around this time of year, it's inevitable to bring up. But… I do like the idea of the horses having a tasty surprise."

Stevie then collected a few trucks of her own and added a brakevan to the train. "Let's get these to the horses."


The two engines headed off until they got to the unloading siding near one of the paddocks at Hawin Lake, a small halt situated between Abbey and Kirk Machan. In the paddock were Belle, Starlight and Prancer with Sophie, Keenan and Lara. Along with them was the head stablehand, Red.

"Ah, good timing, you two," smiled Red. Prancer, Starlight and Belle galloped over to the edge of the fence and sniffed eagerly at the vans.

"Very good timing," chuckled Keenan. "Okay, you three. Hold your riders; we're getting your food."

Several sacks were unloaded from the vans and then brought over to the paddock.

"Okay, we'd better get these bags over to three hungry horses," chuckled Sophie. "And then the rest to the stables."

"I have an idea," said Lara. "Why don't we hide some carrots and apples in their feeds when Christmas comes?"

"They'll love that," said Keenan. "I think dad recently bought some carrots, I may sneak a few over to the stables."

"Can we do that, Red?" asked Sophie.

"Well… it is a special occasion," said Red. "I'm sure Max and Mrs. Reg can make a few alliances here."

The girls grinned and raced off, Red chuckling and trailing after them.

Carole couldn't help but smile as the horses eagerly munched on their food, but the mention of Christmas made her feel upset again.

"It's alright, Carole," whispered Stevie.

"Thanks…" the purple electric engine said quietly. "I think there's another train I have to take."

"I'll help arrange it for you."


After Carole's next train was arranged, she headed back up the branch line. But when she got to Kirk Machan, she was halted via a red signal.

"Bother!" she grunted. "This train's for Peel Godred. I can't be delayed."

"Sorry," said Lisa. "I'm not sure where Wilfred is."

Just then, the blue mountain engine arrived with Elaine in tow.

"Sorry for the delay," he panted. "Got a twig trapped in my valve gear."

"If there were more twigs in there, you could have gotten seriously hurt!" said his driver.

"Well, it wasn't nearly as bad as you're making it out to be!" retorted Wilfred. "Times like this I wish you were not my driver!"

"Your driver cares deeply about you!" snapped Carole. Wilfred, Elanie, Lisa's coaches and even some of the passengers and staff glanced over in shock. "That's what all good drivers do for their engines. I bet you wouldn't know a good driver if he or she stared you right in the eye!"

"Carole…" trailed Melanie in shock.

"Count your blessings with him while you can!" Carole went on. "You don't know how many you'll have left!"

Suddenly, the signal changed to green and Carole shot off as quickly as possible.

"What was that all about?" asked Elaine.

Lisa winced. "I think it's best for Carole to mention it when she's ready."

An awkward silence fell over the station as the passengers boarded onto their respective trains.


Meanwhile, upon arrival at Peel Godred, Carole was still feeling quite shaken from her emotional meltdown.

"What was I thinking?" she said to herself. "Now I've shaken up many passengers and even some staff, engines and coaches."

"Is there something on your mind, Carole?" asked Freddie. He had been waiting for the purple electric engine to arrive with her train. Colin was looking on with concern too.

"Oh… er…"

"Come on, Carole," soothed her driver. "Freddie and Colin are two of your friends. I think they deserve to know."

"You're right," said Carole quietly. "Okay, Freddie, Colin, it's a bit of a long story…"


Past

It was back when I worked on the North Eastern Railway along with Stevie, Lisa and their respective sets of siblings. I was the only one of my type, built for express passenger runs.

"Hey, Carole," said Lisa one cold morning. "Guess what time is rolling around?"

"Hmm, let me see… is it a time with decorations and bright lights?" I said with a cheeky grin.

"Yes," she smiled. "It's time for…"

"Christmas carols!" the three of us said in glee. We all started to head out to work, singing along to "Twelve Days of Christmas" as we departed.

"Always a stellar performance, girls," smiled my first driver as I buffered up to my train.

"Thanks, driver," I replied. "Who knows? Maybe we'll sing at a Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve."

My first driver grinned as we headed down the line.


But as we carried on, my driver started to apply less pressure to my regulator and I started to slow down.

"Driver, what's wrong?" I called out to him. "There isn't anything mechanical that needs attending to, is there?"

"Oh, sorry, Carole," said my driver. "I just felt a bit fatigued."

"If you're feeling fatigued, shouldn't you be resting?" I asked.

"And let you and the passengers down?" asked my driver. "Nonsense, Carole. Being with you isn't just my job, it's a joy to be with you."

"Yes, I couldn't ask for a better driver than you either," I admitted.

My driver then put enough pressure on the regulator to maintain speed as we carried on our way. Things seemed fine for a while until we got to our last stop for that run.

"Phew…" My driver wandered out of my cab and started fanning himself. "I needed some air after that."

"Carole," called out William, coming towards me in concern with some coal trucks. "What's going on?"

"I think my driver's unwell," I explained. "He's looking quite pale."

"Oh, that's not good," said William. "Maybe he should take a breather."

"He needs to take some time off to recover," I agreed. But, as it turns out, it wasn't as simple as I'd have thought.


My driver's condition got worse, to the point where one day - Christmas Eve, no less - he fainted on the ground before he could get into my cab.

"Driver!" I cried, Lisa and Stevie also having witnessed it.

"Someone call the hospital!" cried Stevie. Her driver wordlessly nodded and headed to a nearby phone, while Lisa's driver - a different one to her first - headed over to my driver.

"He's burning up," Lisa's driver remarked, feeling my driver's head.

"I hope an ambulance comes by soon," I said anxiously. Lisa's driver helped to bring mine to the nearest seating area as we watched.

"Oh, I feel so helpless," I sighed.

"There's just some things that we engines can't do, I'm afraid," sighed Lisa. "It's up to the other humans now."

All we could do now was hope and wait that my driver would be okay. Unfortunately, as we went on through the day - me with a relief driver, of course - we received terrible news.


"Carole," said our manager that afternoon. "I'm afraid that… your driver…"

"What?" I asked anxiously. "What about him?"

"He… he died… of cancer…"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, but I knew that this was something I would never forget for the rest of my days.

"No…" I said under my breath. "My driver… dead?"

Lisa and Stevie looked on with pained expressions. For a moment, we all wished we were humans so we could hug each other. Instead, all we could do was look at each other and start to cry it out, our drivers - and my relief driver - all gently petting our buffer beams…


Present

"You lost your driver to cancer?" gasped Freddie. He and Colin stared in shock, as did Bertram who had arrived with another train while Carole was talking.

"And right on Christmas Eve too?" added Colin. "That's… I'm so sorry to hear that, Carole."

"It was no one's fault," said Carole quietly. "It was just… bad circumstances."

"Indeed," said Bertram. "He's most likely watching you from up there now."

"You know, Bertram…" Carole trailed. "I think you're right." The purple electric engine felt like a massive weight had been lifted off her pantographs. "Thanks for listening, you three. In the meantime… I think I need to get to Kirk Machan."

Carole talked with Lisa about swapping jobs with her.

"Given what happened, I think that's a good idea," smiled Lisa. "The coaches are over in that siding there."

Ashley, Melanie and Jess were surprised at first to see Carole backing down onto them, but after she explained why the swap was taking place, they understood.


The four of them eventually arrived at Kirk Machan. Wilfred and Elaine were there, and were surprised to see Carole pulling the coaches.

"Er… Carole…" said Wilfred. "W-why are you with the coaches?"

"I just wanted to apologize for my meltdown earlier," explained Carole. "I'm sorry for taking my anger out on you and everyone else like that."

"Oh," said Wilfred. "It's okay."

"And I'm sorry too," said Wilfred's driver. "I suppose I overreacted to the twigs in your valve gear, Wilfred."

"Thanks, driver," smiled Wilfred. "Although," he continued, "why did you react like that?"

Carole explained the story about her deceased driver.

"Oh…" sighed Wilfred. "I'm sorry that it happened to your driver, Carole."

"It's okay," said Carole. "Besides, I think I needed to talk about it."


Soon, Carole started to spread her story about her deceased driver. Though of course everyone was deeply upset about it, they now understood why Carole was upset during Christmas time.

"At least he's in no more pain," Carole said that evening to her friends.

"That's correct," said Stevie. "I'm glad you finally spoke about him to the others."

"Me too," said Carole. She then had a thought. "There's a Christmas party at Kirk Machan this Christmas Eve. Why don't we sing a few Christmas songs there, like we used to during December?"

"Your first driver used to love that," said Lisa. "I say we give it a go! Stevie?"

"I'm in, ladies!"


That Christmas Eve, at the party, the electric trio and the Culdee Fell engines were gathered together.

"This is usually our last day of running for the year," explained Culdee. "We don't run trains again until Easter."

"Oh, we'll really miss you," said Lisa.

"We're not going anywhere!" laughed Culdee. "We're just being kept in our sheds until the bad weather passes."

"That makes sense," said Stevie, "but life would be pretty dull without you guys and your coaches."

"I'm sure you can find a way to entertain yourselves," chuckled Ernest.

"We know Ernest does when his driver comes in with one of his books," added Shane. "And when Wilfred's brings in a radio for us to listen to."

"Speaking of which, here's another way we're going to entertain everyone now," said Carole. "Before we start our Christmas carols, this song is one dedicated to my late driver."

The trio took a deep breath and began to sing.

Hello world, this is me

Life should be, fun for everyone


The electric trio watched as their mountain engine friends headed to the sheds, looking forward to seeing them during their first Easter season on the island.

Every now and then I'm insecure

Let me show you life can be so pure

The winter frosts were hard, but Carole, Stevie and Lisa always made sure to bring food over to the horses; the girls were very grateful and the horses tried to sniff at the sacks of food, much to the engines' amusement.

Seize the day, wear a big, happy smile on your face

Lisa took the coaches out for a run in the snowy weather, listening to the passengers' happy chatter and singing, as New Year's Day was quickly approaching.

In every life, a little rain will fall

That won't change my attitude at all

The electric engines excitedly watched the fireworks along with the passengers, signifying their first new year on the island.

You are you, I am me, we'll be free

Stevie was shunting some trucks for the Peel Godred plant, and smiled at Carole as she came to collect them.

Hello world, this is me

Life should be, fun for everyone

Carole was taking some trucks up the line to Peel Godred and saw Freddie rushing in with his train. Carole saw Freddie panting, but figured he was racing again.

Hello world, come and see

Life should be, fun for everyone

Lara, Kareen and Sophie introduced the electric engines to a new member of their little "club", a boy named Patch and an elderly horse he rode called Pepper.

Life is easy if you wear a smile

Just be yourself, don't ever change your style.

Lisa met up with Edward, now painted blue, at Killdane. She smiled at Edward's color choice and winked.

I like you, you like me, let's have fun, be happy

Stevie came in with some Easter eggs for the Culdee Fell Railway, and was delighted to see Ernest back in action.

Look into my eyes and tell me straight

For you, I'll make the whole world wait

Carole was observing Patch during his riding lesson, and he was struggling, but the girls helped him out to get the hang of riding.

Let me know, if it's so, let it show

A few days later, Patch had gotten right into the trot, and Pepper was holding his head up high and proudly.

Hello world, this is me

Life should be, fun for everyone

By now, the Peel Godred plant had two new additions. Unfortunately, neither of them had nameplates, and were just repainted gray. Lisa secretly informed Stevie and Carole about the true names.

Hello world, come and see

This is me

Lisa was up at Killdane, having heard about some really bad news from Mildred about Phyllis and Leslie.

Come on baby, don't be afraid

Come on baby, it's not too late

The electric engines held a small funeral service for the two Coffee Pots in their shed.

Say you do, won't you open up the door

And let me in?

Not too long following this heartbreak, Carole encountered a rude engine, 87546, at Killdane. She scowled at him.

Di da di, yeah

Di, di

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Some time after the viaduct had collapsed and was repaired, Lisa giggled at seeing 87546 and another engine, 98462 leave the island and Henry and Gordon arrive from the mainland, much to her confusion.

Open up the door

For me, yeah

Down at Peel Godred, Stevie saw No. 4 - Stuart - looking exhausted and tried to question him why. He didn't give a straight answer.

Yeah, yeah

Mmmhh, mmhh, yeah

James arrived on the island by now and had taken a train up to Killdane. Carole explained about what little information she had on the little engines' situation, and James' eyes widened in shock.

Hello world, this is me

Life should be, mmhh, mmmh, yeah

Annabelle Regaby was now able to go train watching on weekends, and she was with a girl just her age. Lisa tooted her horn happily as she went past with her coaches.

Fun for everyone

Hello world, come and see

Lara, Kareen and Sophie were steadily growing up, and Patch had grown bigger and more advanced in his riding. He then got a new horse to ride; a brown gelding with a blaze, Comanche.

Life should be, fun for everyone

Sir Topham Hatt and his grandchildren decided to take a ride on the Culdee Fell Railway; Annabelle's friend, Addison Darnell, had joined them.

Hello, world, this is me, fun for me

Henry informed Carole about Edward's promotion to Wellsworth branch line runner, and she grinned at the news.

For me, yeah, everyone

The electric engines all happily made their way to the sheds and fell asleep.

TO BE CONTINUED


Author's Comments

Zack: And so concludes volume one with a... rather out of season Christmas story. But hey, I wanted to end this volume on such a note partially due to the pun. For those who might not know, Hawin Lake is a location that was only seen in the series five episode Haunted Henry, and located on the Peel Godred branch line. A halt was built there some time following the line's construction so that the electric engines could interact with the riders. Also, and this was not brought up in the previous chapter, but William is actually Whiff pre-Sodor, and Barnaby, Daryl and Francis are the Seventyverse's equivalent to the Logging Locos.

Rachel: And here we are focusing on the last of the OG trio, Carole. This story is based on how Carole in the show had lost her mother due to cancer, and it's reflected through this with Carole's first driver. We meet a few familiar faces in this chapter as well, Redford "Red" O'Malley, the main stable hand at Pine Hollow, and we also get quick mentions of Max Regnery, the stable owner, and Elizabeth Regnery "Mrs. Reg", Max's mother. The ending credits is The Saddle Club's opening theme, "Hello World". And the rest of The Peel Godred Chronicles has more Saddle Club songs where that came from. And yes, Colin would have moved during the "song time skip" to be further away from the standard gauge engines to lower suspicion from Hockings' shady work.

Zack: To answer a guest reviewer, yes, Scruff is included in the Seventyverse; his debut was in Mistaken Identity, as shown in Series 13-16 Redux. You can check that out if you haven't already. As for who's a part of the Culdee Fell Railway... well, those are all stories for another time.

Some time in the future, Carole, Stevie and Lisa will return for volume two - The New Electric Engine!