One
A new environment was overwhelming to say the least. But this new environment on the Skarloey Railway was far more welcoming than the one they had left behind at Peel Godred. The new names helped too.
"The Skarloey Railway is beautiful," smiled Peter Sam.
"Much better than the Peel Godred works for sure." sighed Sir Handel. "Rheneas has gone for his overhaul, and…"
Just then, the duo heard the clanking and clanging noises of an engine coming.
"What was that?" asked Peter Sam.
The younger engines glanced over to see Skarloey puffing in, looking weary, but unbeaten.
"I'll do it… I'll do it… I've done it!" he said at last, and let off steam with relief.
James, who was waiting at Crovan's Gate, said nothing to Skarloey, but glanced respectfully at the little engine as the passengers boarded his train and puffed away.
"Skarloey!" gasped Sir Handel and Peter Sam when the old engine limped into the sheds. By now, Peter Sam was repaired and went to shunt away the empty coaches.
"What happened back there, Skarloey?" asked Sir Handel.
"One of my springs gave way on the journey back," explained Skarloey. "Driver wanted to telephone for a bus to take the passengers, but I refused."
"You are really brave, Skarloey," Peter Sam said admiringly.
"No wonder the old coaches have high respect for you," added Sir Handel. He sighed. "I'm sorry I was so rude to you when I first got here."
"Oh don't worry," smiled Skarloey. "Everyone makes mistakes, especially in earlier days."
"We both did that a lot on our old railway too," said Peter Sam. "'Early days' was often what… uh… we were told back then."
"Y-yes," stammered Sir Handel. "Our… drivers and firemen often told us that."
"Was it just the two of you and your crews?" asked Skarloey gently.
"Well to be honest," said Peter Sam, "there were other engines who came and went through the years. Some were rather nice, but others were rather troublesome."
"And you two stayed right until the closure?" Skarloey went on.
"Absolutely," Sir Handel confirmed. "It was our home. We had to at least try and save it."
"But… in the end, our attempts proved fruitless," sighed Peter Sam. "And… we lost so much."
Skarloey was about to ask another question, but he saw Peter Sam trying not to cry, and Sir Handel had shut his eyes tight.
"But at least you have a new home here, now," he said kindly.
Sir Handel and Peter Sam had to give a small smile of gratitude toward the old engine. He wasn't their Granpuff, but he was wise and kind all the same.
Two
Peter Sam had gotten into a terrible accident some days prior, and Sir Handel had to do his work as well as his own as the latter was to blame. Skarloey had returned from the works now, and many changes had happened to the railway leading up to it. Rusty and Duncan were part of the fleet now, and Peter Sam was filling Skarloey in on more changes.
"We have five other coaches now." He was saying.
"Ooh," Skarloey said, intrigued, "tell me about them."
"Cora is a guard's van," Peter Sam explained, "she isn't as big as Beatrice and hasn't a ticket window. But she's still very kind. She used to be my van back in the old days."
"I'd love to meet her," smiled Skarloey.
"Ada, Jane and Mabel are plain, and have no roofs." Peter Sam went on. "Sir Handel says they're trucks, but they have seats, so I say they're coaches. What do you think, Skarloey?"
"If they have seats, they're coaches," Skarloey agreed.
"Sir Handel likes Gerturde and Millicent best," Peter Sam added. "He always tries to take them alone. They have bogies, you see, and he says they're the only real coaches we have. They remind him of when he used to pull our express."
Just then, Sir Handel came up. "Ah yes, our old express," he said fondly. "It was called 'The Flying Falcon'."
"Oh? And why so?" pondered Skarloey.
"Oh, uh, that was because…" Sir Handel couldn't think of what to say to that.
"He seemed to 'fly' along the line," said Peter Sam quickly, "and falcons are very fast flying birds."
"Yes, that's exactly it!" Sir Handel put in. He then whispered to Peter Sam. "That was a close call."
Peter Sam gave a quiet sigh. "We'll have to wait until Rheneas is home before we make our move. Who knows what the Thin Controller could say if there were two engines on overhaul - again."
Sir Handel could only agree.
"What are you two whispering about?" asked Skarloey.
Peter Sam once again thought quickly. "Oh, we were just debating on if guards should need vans or if they go in the tiny cupboard place that Millicent has."
"Er, speaking of which, I'd better go get my coaches." Sir Handel swiftly puffed away, much to Skarloey's confusion, and Peter Sam shifted the conversation to the new engines instead.
Three
Rheneas was due home the following day, and the five engines were anticipating his arrival. By now, Sir Handel had new wheels, and Peter Sam a new funnel.
"... But, they get very cross," said Skarloey to the younger engines, "if we stop at wrong places like viaducts. Then they say we're a bad railway and never come back."
"That happened on our old line," added Sir Handel quietly.
"But, was that because we stopped in the wrong place?" asked Peter Sam worriedly.
Skarloey stopped his story and glanced anxiously over at the other tank engines. "What's wrong, youngsters?" he asked.
"We… think we may have done something wrong." sighed Sir Handel. "One of our trains, The Picnic, didn't always stop at stations. Instead, it stopped at picnic areas along our line."
"And then we had to take the passengers to the boat." added Peter Sam.
Skarloey chuckled. "That train had a different set of rules, young ones. If you were following them, neither of you did anything wrong."
"Then, how come your line closed then?" grunted Duncan.
"The passengers began to prefer the buses instead of us," explained Sir Handel. "And the mines dried up and closed, one by one until we had nothing left."
"The power plant at Peel Godred didn't help at all…" sighed Peter Sam.
"And yet, you two were bought by the project down there?" asked Rusty anxiously.
"Ironically so," muttered Sir Handel. "We only wish that your railway had purchased us right then and there instead."
"I wish that were the case too." sighed Skarloey. "Maybe that would have prevented our railway from becoming as bad as it was until Rheneas saved our railway."
"Oh, that's right!" gasped Peter Sam. "You were saying about Rheneas, Skarloey?"
"Ah, yes. I remember Rheneas stopping in a wrong place once…" the old engine continued.
"So…" whispered Sir Handel to Peter Sam. "We'll probably wait until we get to know Rheneas a bit more."
"Indeed," agreed Peter Sam. "Well, that and the restoration of the saloon coaches may put things on the backburner."
"Shh." Duncan said crossly, "Skarloey's trying to tell us this story."
Sir Handel and Peter Sam went quiet as they listened; the story did sound rather intense, and it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that Duke would have done the same thing.
Four
Following Rheneas' return, things had been peaceful on the Skarloey Railway. That is, until a visit from an engine on his way back from England known as Culdee. He had told Skarloey, Rheneas, Sir Handel and Duncan the story of Godred. Rusty had been on a maintenance train at the time, and Peter Sam was on a five-yearly service.
When Peter Sam came out of his five-yearly service back onto his own rails, he overheard Skarloey and Rheneas talking.
"When do you think we should tell them Culdee made that story up?" asked Rheneas.
"Hmm… I don't know," admitted Skarloey.
Story? Thought Peter Sam. What story?
"I'm starting to think that story was taken a bit too far," sighed Rheneas. "I mean, an engine taken apart for spares?"
"You what?!" snapped Peter Sam. Skarloey and Rheneas jumped. They hadn't expected Peter Sam to show up when he did. "Just who did you tell this bogus story to?"
"It wasn't us who told this story," insisted Skarloey. And he explained about Culdee the Mountain Engine, and how he had made up the tale of Godred to teach Sir Handel and Duncan a lesson about complaining and carelessness.
"If they were traumatized badly by the story, then it was never our intention," insisted Rheneas. "We would never wish to hurt a fellow engine."
"I find that hard to believe, given what the story's about!" growled Peter Sam. Rusty had overheard the argument between the trio too.
"I'm ashamed of you, Skarloey and Rheneas," snapped Rusty. "Peter Sam, you go find Sir Handel; I'll tell Duncan."
"You got it, Rusty," agreed Peter Sam. And he raced away to find his friend.
"Made up?!" Sir Handel gasped. "Culdee made that story up, and Skarloey and Rheneas gave him the green flag?!"
"I'm afraid so," sighed Peter Sam. "I just can't believe they would be in favour of such a cruel story! It's a shame Granpuff isn't here to teach them manners."
"That's probably why they don't understand," Sir Handel theorized. "Think about it. Ever since we came to the Skarloey Railway, how hard have we been trying to keep the others from finding out the whole story of our old railway?"
"... very hard…." Peter Sam sighed. "I don't think we've mentioned Duke by name in front of the others once."
"And if we had," Sir Handel continued, "Skarloey and Rheneas would never have given Culdee the right to tell such a ghastly story. They don't understand how bad it hurt us because they don't know all that we lost."
That evening, Duncan was giving Skarloey and Rheneas the cold bunker, and Sir Handel and Peter Sam were badly shaken too.
"We weren't thinking!" Rheneas cried. "We're sorry."
"Please, we won't do it again," Skarloey sighed. "We promise."
"Somehow, now's not the best time to talk about Granpuff…" Peter Sam whispered to Sir Handel.
"I'm afraid you're right, Peter Sam…" muttered Sir Handel in agreement.
Five
The 100th birthday of Skarloey and Rheneas was coming up very soon, and everyone was really excited. Even more so, when the Thin Controller came to Peter Sam one day at Lakeside.
"Good morning, sir," smiled Peter Sam. "You look cheerful today."
"I am Peter Sam," said the Thin Controller. "I'm sure you and the others are aware a special guest is coming to Skarloey and Rheneas' 100th birthday next week."
"And who might that be?" asked Peter Sam curiously.
"Why it is…" he paused impressively. "The Duke of Sodor. I heard it from Sir Handel Brown who heard it from the Duke himself."
Peter Sam bubbled over in excitement. "I've got to spread the word!"
Much to Peter Sam's delight, the first engine he came across was Sir Handel at the middle station.
"Sir Handel, Sir Handel!" he cried, overshooting the platform in his excitement.
"Er, Peter Sam, you may want to double check that."
"Sorry, I'm just so excited!" Peter Sam apologized and backed up to the platform. "You'll never believe who the Thin Controller's bringing as a special guest for Skarloey and Rheneas' 100th Birthday!"
"Who is it?" asked Sir Handel.
"Granpuff!"
Sir Handel's eyes widened. "No… really?!"
"Yes!" Peter Sam went on. "The Thin controller heard it from the owner, who heard it from Granpuff himself!"
"So, Granpuff's coming home at last?" Sir Handel was so moved by this he was about to cry. "I can't believe it. How did the Thin Controller and Owner know?"
"Maybe they found him by chance, like how the Saloon coaches were all recovered." Peter Sam suggested. He then got a cheeky idea. "You know, Sir Handel, Granpuff doesn't know our new names. Why don't we surprise him, and surprise the others at the same time?"
Sir Handel couldn't help but laugh. "I'm in if you are. We'll spring the surprise on the others the night right before the celebration."
"Oh I just can't wait," giggled Peter Sam. "The Mid Sodor Family reunited at last."
But, on the night right before the celebration, Peter Sam got a nasty shock from Duck.
"They were all fine and stately, but they've all been scrapped," was the last thing he said before his guard's whistle blew and he departed.
"This is dreadful!" cried Peter Sam as he bustled away with his empty coaches. "He's scrapped… this can't be… this can't be…"
At the sheds, the other five engines were oblivious to what had gone down.
"Did you know?" asked Sir Handel, "that Prince had his 100th birthday two years prior to Skarloey and Rheneas?"
"No," gasped Rusty. "I didn't know that."
"Who's this 'Prince' you speak of?" asked Duncan.
"He's from the Ffestiniog Railway," explained Sir Handel. "It's in Wales like the Talyllyn Railway, except it's in Gwynedd rather than Towyn."
"How do you know all that?" asked Rheneas.
"Once Peter Sam gets back, we'll tell you," grinned Sir Handel. Just then, they heard a familiar whistle.
"Just in ti-" Sir Handel broke off when he saw Peter Sam's distress. "Peter Sam, what's the matter?"
"He's… he's scrapped…"
"Wh-wh-what?!" Sir Handel shrieked.
"Who is?" cried Rusty anxiously.
"The Duke!"
"Wait, how can a person be scrapped?" Rheneas asked in confusion.
"Who told you that, Peter Sam?" asked Duncan.
"I heard about it from Duck at the station," explained Peter Sam.
"I think Duck is pulling your wheels," Skarloey said calmly. "People can't be-"
"No, Skarloey!" Peter Sam cried, "he was quite serious."
An argument ensued between the engines, and the Thin Controller had to come and stop the noise and hurried away when he gave a change to the schedule.
"If there is a Duke!" Duncan grunted after the Thin Controller left.
"Just SHUT UP!" cried Peter Sam as he hurried away.
"You've done it now, Duncan!" growled Sir Handel, and he took off after Peter Sam.
"What's their problem?" asked Duncan.
"I think there's something they know but we don't," sighed Skarloey. "We shouldn't force it out of them, the poor young ones."
Rheneas and Rusty had to agree.
"That's it then…" whispered Peter Sam when he got to the quarry sheds with Sir Handel. "He's gone…"
"Alas, it is true," agreed Sir Handel. "Grandpuff is gone and only remembered by us."
"This is all our fault…" Peter Sam whimpered. "We should have never kept him a secret from the other engines."
"We'll have to keep it together for tomorrow," Sir Handel said quietly. "It is Skarloey and Rheneas' birthday."
"Right," Peter Sam agreed.
But the following day, Peter Sam and Sir Handel both learned there was a flaw with what they heard from Duck, and met up after the celebration to discuss it in further detail.
"This better not be for too long," grunted Peter Sam. "I want to give Duck a tongue lashing for-"
"Don't you see?" interrupted Sir Handel. "Duck was talking about Great Western engines. Everyone else thought that we knew that a man was coming to the celebration. So… maybe Granpuff wasn't scrapped after all."
"Sir Handel, I do believe you're onto something!" Peter Sam gasped. Then he frowned. "Oh, do you remember the announcement The Thin Controller made prior to us departing the celebration?"
"Freddie's been restored for the Skarloey Railway!" Sir Handel sighed. "That's a good thing, don't get me wrong, but that also means that Granpuff may not be able to be found and restored until later."
"This just made things more complicated…" Peter Sam said under his breath.
… One
Eventually, Freddie was restored and put to work on the Skarloey Railway, bringing the railway's total up to seven engines. He was glad to have met Skarloey, Rheneas, Rusty and Duncan and to have reunited with Sir Handel and Peter Sam.
"We thought you were purchased by another railway after we left," said Peter Sam quietly. He, Freddie and Sir Handel were all currently at the quarry.
"That's easy for you to assume that, considering that there were some buyers outside the shed when you and Sir Handel were sheeted up, Peter Sam," Freddie sighed. "But only Mighty and Mac were bought by them. I too was sheeted up and left behind."
"That's exactly what happened to Granpuff," Sir Handel said, his voice a hoarse whisper.
"It must have been awful," insisted Peter Sam.
"It was, and I think Duke would say the same thing…" Freddie said, remembering all the times Sir Handel and Peter Sam mentioned him in discussion between the three of them and Mighty and Mac. "Did you two manage to fulfil that promise?"
Peter Sam and Sir Handel looked at each other.
"Not exactly." Sir Handel admitted. "Every time we come close to telling the others about Duke, we cut ourselves off or there's external circumstances that do it for us."
"Oh dear," sighed Freddie. "And how long has this been going on?"
"We were here in 1952, and now it's… 1969!" Peter Sam realised. "Eighteen years, almost."
"And that's not counting the years we spent at Peel Godred since the Mid Sodor's closure in 1947," Sir Handel added.
"Well I'd say it's high time his story was told," suggested Freddie. "I'm sure it's what 'His Grace' would want."
"You're right, Freddie!" said Peter Sam. "Falcon, we're doing it tomorrow, no more excuses!"
"Right, Stuart," agreed Sir Handel. "It's time we righted a great wrong."
The next day, the duo set their plan in motion. Unfortunately, Freddie was taking the mail train and was delayed, so it was just the other six engines at the sheds, but the talk with Freddie the previous evening was exactly what the former Mid Sodor engines needed.
"I know this topic has been brought up a few times before," said Peter Sam, "but do you all recall when I mentioned that 'the real duke never came'?"
"We remember," said Rusty.
"That's a load of rubbish!" grunted Duncan. "Of course he was real!"
"But all the same," insisted Peter Sam. "He wasn't our 'Duke'."
"Our Duke," said Sir Handel, "Is an engine!"
"You're as bad as he is!" snapped Duncan. "All engine dukes were scrapped. Ask Duck!"
"Duck doesn't know everything," insisted Skarloey. "Tell us about him, you two."
So Sir Handel and Peter Sam told the other engines all about their past on the Mid Sodor Railway with Duke. Both of them figured they'd share one story about them and their Granpuff when they were both new to the railway. Sir Handel - under his name Falcon - told the engines the story of when Duke saved him from falling off the side of a cliff, and Peter Sam - under his name Stuart - told them about when Duke played a prank on him. But they split the final story between the two of them, and for good reason.
"And… he was abandoned in his shed when we sold off to Peel Godred," Sir Handel had finished; his voice was very dry. Peter Sam had burst into tears during this story himself.
"They thought he was too old to come with us," Peter Sam managed to add once he calmed himself down.
"Now that's rubbish!" snapped Rheneas. "Skarloey and I are much older than Duke, yet we're still going as strong as ever."
"If we were there, we would have put those buyers in their place!" added Skarloey crossly.
"We know you would have," sighed Sir Handel. "And now, we're not sure if we'll see him again…"
"I wouldn't say that," said a voice. The little engines - having been joined by Freddie during the discussion - glanced over to see Duck just outside Crovan's Gate Works. "Just over two years ago, I was put onto a branch line that runs to Alusburgh, and my friends Rex, Mike, Bert, Frank, the Blister twins and Sigrid all run the Aresdale Railway. They had all been hearing an unusual voice down there."
"A voice?" peeped Peter Sam.
"Yes," Duck admitted. "I'm not entirely sure who's talking, but based on what I've been hearing from yours and Sir Handel's stories, Peter Sam... it might be Duke."
"So… we may be reunited after all?!" cried Sir Handel.
"If you spread the word on your railway and to Mr. Hugh, the Thin Controller and Owner, I'll spread the word on my railway." Duck said firmly. "Consider this my apology and atonement. I'm dreadfully sorry for sending you two on a wild goose chase."
"Are you sure you don't mean 'wild duck chase'?" chuckled Freddie, and the group couldn't help but laugh.
Eventually, the word spread, and a search party was sent out. And one day, when Sir Handel and Peter Sam were on early turn…
"He's there!" whispered Sir Handel to Peter Sam when Donald pulled in with Duke on a flatbed.
"Shh!"
"No, you shh!"
"You woke me up!" grumbled Duke. "In my young days, engines were-"
"Seen and not heard, Granpuff!"
"Remember?"
"I remember two idol good for nothings called Falcon and Stuart-" he broke off. "Wait… what did you call me?"
"It's us, Granpuff!" Peter Sam grinned. "See?"
"It… it is you!" Duke was so happy he could cry. "My… how you've both changed."
"We've been through quite a lot in the last several years," insisted Sir Handel. "Peter Sam here got a new funnel after his old one was broken off with an icicle."
"Oh you had to bring up the icicle!" grunted Peter Sam. "Okay, and Sir Handel here had a race with a steamroller." He teased back.
"Ooh!"
Duke couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, you two. You can tell me everything this evening."
"Say, since you're here last," chuckled Sir Handel, "we can keep you in order now!"
"Keep me in order?! Imputence! Be off!"
Sir Handel and Peter Sam puffed away, chuckling to themselves.
"I think we're going to sleep well tonight," smiled Peter Sam.
And indeed they did. That evening, all eight engines were in the sheds together, and Duke was happily meeting his new friends.
"I never thought a day would come," he said warmly, "where I'm not only reunited with my old friends, but meet new ones too."
"Welcome to our family, Duke," smiled Rusty.
"We can't wait for you to see the rest of our little railway," said Rheneas.
"But for now," said Skarloey. "Let's all get some sleep. It's a busy day tomorrow."
With that, the eight engines all fell asleep, Sir Handel and Peter Sam feeling more content than they did since the night before they left the Mid Sodor Railway, and Duke was among his friends for the first time in twenty-two years. The engines all dreamed of adventures past, present, and yet to come.
The End
Otherwise known as "Five times where Sir Handel and Peter Sam failed to tell the others about Duke and one time where they succeed". Thanks sodormatchmaker for the help with this little story.
I always wanted to do a story in this formant, and this seemed like a logical story to do. It would have taken every bit of strength for Sir Handel and Peter Sam to mention their dear old Granpuff, and some times it just wasn't right. I also had one scene take place in every single book where the Skarloey engines have an appearance leading up to Duke's one.
Sidenote, I was planning on having this be a "Five times where Diesel doesn't apologise to Duck and one time where he does", but I've realised I've more or less being doing that in the SeventyVerse stories with Zack. Granted, we haven't gotten to the "does apologise" bit yet, but that's besides my point.
Edit: Seriously?! Can't you see this is the book canon? Culdee's mention and the Bad Look Out and Duck and Dukes story should prove it. I'm inserting in the TV series characters as if they were in the books. Freddie, Mighty and Mac all worked for the Peel Godred plant alongside Falcon and Stuart, and Freddie was also the Skarloey Railway's first number 7 before Ivo Hugh was built! It's just like when I had the TV series characters inserted into my fanfic "Alternate Twin Engines". Ugh...
