Bertie's Chase
Based upon the story by Rev. W. Awdry
Adapted by Rachel Ravens
Takes place between TACO and LECDBT
The sun rose over the Island of Sodor as per usual, and the engines of Sir Topham Hatt all had their fires going in their fireboxes. Well… it was almost a usual morning.
"I wonder who will be pulling the express today," Gordon said in a teasing manner.
"I expect it will be you," replied Henry. "After all, James has been shut in the sheds for being silly."
"Reckless is more like it." interjected Thomas, glaring at the red engine. "How could you have forgotten about how important that train was yesterday?!"
"I know…" sighed James. He wouldn't be surprised if the project had some failed reports at some point.
The other six engines all managed to get to work. Edward started to shunt some trucks at Wellsworth yards.
"Those poor little engines," he sighed. "I wish there was a way we could fix things for them…"
"They can't work on our railway, I'm afraid ol' boy." his driver said quietly.
Edward was still sombre as he continued his shunting, when suddenly, Sir Topham Hatt showed up.
"Edward," he said. "I was wondering if you can take James' goods train to the Peel Godred project today."
"Of course, sir," Edward agreed. He started to puff away, and Sir Topham Hatt couldn't help but notice the clanking noise.
"Edward," he called, "I'll schedule you in for-"
"Sir, I can handle it!" Edward called back. "James is on punishment right now, yes?"
"Er… yes, that is true," Sir Topham Hatt. "But-"
"I'll be alright," Edward said firmly. "Don't worry about me."
Sir Topham Hatt sighed. "Note to self: get Edward to the Steamworks as soon as James' punishment is over…"
Edward buffered up to the goods train that Percy had just arranged.
"Do you need any help to take the train, Edward?" asked Percy.
"No thank you, Percy," replied the old engine. "You get back to arranging the trains. Although, I did hear you did a good job with Annie and Clarabel yesterday."
"Thank you," smiled Percy. "Oh take care when… er… dealing with the manager." he wanted to tell Edward to go to Steamworks, but if the other engines' comments were anything to go by, Edward was not listening.
"I will, don't worry, Percy," Edward assured, and he puffed away, leaving the green tank engine worried.
"I hope he doesn't break down on the way…" he trailed.
Miraculously, Edward did not, and he made good time along the line. The rails were dry, which made it easy for him to climb Gordon's hill, and he paused at Crovan's Gate for a coal and water stop.
"Good morning, Edward," greeted Rheneas, who was waiting for Gordon to arrive with the express. "Skarloey told me that James was punished yesterday. I guess you're filing in?"
"That's correct, old friend," Edward moved over to the water tower. He was trying to move slowly so that Rheneas wouldn't notice that anything was wrong with him.
"Is there a new speed restriction in place to move to the water tower?" asked Rheneas. "I thought the old speed limit was fine."
"Er… not really," Edward admitted. "I'm just a bit tired from my run. Doing two jobs at once, that's all."
"Oh, I can understand that," replied Rheneas. "Sometimes, it feels like Skarloey and I have to do the work of four engines at the moment. That's never an easy task. At least you lot have the Midland engines to help you."
"Yes, that's true, and I do wish we could help you and Skarloey too," Edward sympathised. After he finished taking on coal and water, the blue engine buffered back up to the train. Just in time too, as it wouldn't be long before Gordon got there. "Goodbye, Rheneas," Edward smiled as he puffed away.
"See you later, Edward," he replied. The old blue engine was thankful that Gordon's loud puffing seemed to drown out his clanking.
Edward also had to do his own jobs on his branch line as well as James' jobs. Of course, Edward didn't mind the extra work, but it did get on his nerves when one of the other engines - rail or otherwise - would point out his clanking, which was slowly getting worse.
"Edward, this is getting serious," said Trevor when the blue engine stopped by the orchard.
"There's only seven of us on the railway, Trevor, and five engines on loan," Edward insisted. "Henry and Gordon are too heavy to come onto the branch lines, James is being punished, Percy's got work to do in the yards, Thomas and Toby have their own branch line to tend to, and the Midland engines have got a lot of extra trains to take at the moment. We've all got to do our part to keep this railway going."
"Alright," sighed Trevor; the signal clunked down. "Just… please, be careful old friend."
The next day, when the engines' crews all came to the sheds, there was a bit of a problem.
"Uh oh…" trailed Thomas; everyone except him and James left the shed already. "Uh… Bob, where's John?"
"He's had to look after his sick daughter today," the driver explained.
"Oh, cinders and ashes." gasped Thomas. "This is all we need. Can we get a relief fireman in?"
"I'll go and see if someone's available." the driver said, walking off.
"I won't be ready for my first passenger run today," grunted the tank engine. "What am I going to do?"
Just then, Sir Topham Hatt arrived. "Thomas, what are you still doing here?"
Thomas quickly explained the situation to Sir Topham Hatt.
"Oh… I see." he trailed. "Well, with all the engines so busy, and with it being a passenger train…" he nodded. "I'll see if Bertie can help."
"Thank you, sir," said Thomas.
Sir Topham Hatt then drove off and found Bertie at Ffarquhar.
"Bertie," said Sir Topham Hatt, "we've got a bit of a problem."
"Oh?" asked the bus. "What's wrong, sir?"
"Thomas' fireman hasn't come for work today," he explained. "A relief is coming, but for now, we need you to collect Thomas' passengers and meet up with Edward at the junction."
"Of course I will help, sir; tell Thomas that I promise I'll get this done," said Bertie. "I'd be glad to lend a wheel."
"That's a good bus," said Sir Topham Hatt. "I'll leave you to it."
Bertie tooted his horn to get the passenger's attention as Sir Topham Hatt headed back to his car.
"I'll be giving you a lift, today," he called, "Thomas' fireman isn't here and he won't be able to work for a while."
"Oh, thank you Bertie," said one of the passengers. "We were worried we'd miss our train."
The passengers happily boarded the bus, and Bertie drove off when his driver put his foot on the pedal.
It was very different traveling by road rather than by rail, and there were some parts of the island that Bertie could see that Thomas could not.
"Hey, what's that building over there?" asked a little girl to her mother.
"That's the Vicar's Sunday school." explained her mother.
"Wait, children go to school on Sundays?" The girl gasped in shock. "Now who would want to do that? Saturdays and Sundays are for fun and games, not boring school work!"
"You'd be surprised," chuckled her mother. "Besides, I believe there's a trip to the seaside with them every year during the summer rush."
"Oh, there is," said Bertie. "Thomas, Annie and Clarabel love taking the children there every year, though I think they may need Toby and Henrietta's help this time. Maybe Percy at a real push…"
"Or it could be you," chuckled Bertie's driver, and the bus had to chuckle back.
Down at the station, Edward was with the red coaches, Sean, Mick, Harry and Dexter.
"Hmm, where is Thomas today?" asked Edward in surprise. "He's usually very punctual. Now he's ten minutes late."
"Yeah," agreed Sean. "He doesn't usually make us wait."
"Oh dear, what can the matter be?" sang Dexter, "Johnnie's so long at-"
"Never you mind about Johnnie," laughed Harry. "It's Thomas we're waiting for."
"I think he sings pretty good," said Mick. "It's a pity we're not people, then we could form a band."
"Now that would be a sight to see," chuckled Edward.
"But in the meantime," said the fireman, "I'll see where Thomas is."
"Be careful on my roof, Sidney!" called Edward as the fireman scrambled up.
"Don't worry, Edward, I'll be alright," soothed the fireman. He looked around to catch any sight of the blue tank engine. He saw something red on the road coming toward them. "Hmm, there's Bertie in a tearing hurry."
"I wouldn't bother with him," said the guard. "He's likely on a coach tour or something."
"We can't wait around all day," said Sean. "We must keep time."
"I suppose so," sighed Edward. The fireman got back into Edward's cab and the guard blew his whistle and waved his flag. Edward then departed from the station.
"Stop! Stop!" Bertie cried as he tooted his horn urgently. "Edward, wait, I have…" too late, Edward and the coaches were out of sight. "... Thomas' passengers. Great. Bother Thomas' fireman not coming into work today. Oh, why did I promise to help the passengers catch their train?"
"Come on, Bertie," encouraged his driver, "remember, a promise is a promise. Thomas would do the same for you."
"I know, driver," sighed Bertie. "Okay, let's go as fast as we can! I'll catch Edward or bust."
He started with a roar and raced along the roads, trying to see where Edward was.
"Come on, wheels," said the bus, "I've beaten Thomas in a few races before. I can do this!"
He started to climb the hill which would later cross a bridge running over the rail line. "Oh my gears and axles." he groaned when he reached the top. "I'll never be the same bus again!"
"What's gotten into you, Bertie?" called Algy from the next lane.
"I need to catch Edward," he explained. "Thomas' fireman didn't show up for work."
"Oh…" sighed Algy. "I see. And they are already one engine down for the moment."
Bertie grunted in agreement. Then he saw Edward down below. "Oh bother, he's at the next station already." he cried. "No, hold on… he's at the signal, it's red!"
"Fast as you can, Bertie!" encouraged Algy. "I'll see you back at the garage."
"Goodbye Algy!" called Bertie as he roared down the hill.
"Whoa!" cried one of the passengers, being bounced around like balls in a bucket. "I can't read my paper like this!"
"He's catching up to the train though!" said another passenger. "Go on, Bertie! You got this!"
But as Bertie drew closer, the signal clunked down, showing green.
"We'll need a good run at the hill, Edward," said Dexter.
"Don't worry," he assured, starting away, "we'll be up and over in good time."
"Edward!" cried Bertie, trying to toot his horn in rapid succession as he braked to a stop. "You've missed some… oh bother!"
"Never mind, Bertie," soothed the little girl from earlier. "You know what my mother always says, 'third time lucky'. Whatever that means."
"Indeed," agreed the little girl's mother. "I think we've got a good chance of catching him this time. Buses climb hills better than trains."
The driver then explained the situation to the station master.
"I'll ring the next station and tell them what's happened," he nodded, and the driver rushed back to Bertie.
"Okay, Bertie, show us what you can do."
"Got it, driver." Bertie gave a toot as he raced off once more.
Meanwhile, Edward was puffing up Gordon's hill.
"Ooh, it feels steeper than usual," groaned Harry.
"I think we have more passengers than usual," agreed Mick. "That may be the cause of it."
"Are you sure?" asked Sean. "We didn't get Thomas' passengers from the junction."
"Maybe it's because Edward has been clanking a lot lately," Dexter suggested. "The other engines have been concerned about him."
"But why does he constantly insist he's fine?" asked Mick.
"Maybe he doesn't want them to worry," sighed Dexter. "Edward's kindness is unmatched, but that can come at a cost."
Edward tried to ignore the coaches' conversation, but deep down he knew they had a point. All his friends did.
"I can't get mended until we figure out how to help the little engines," he said quietly. "They need our help more than ever."
At last, Edward and the coaches crested the top of the hill and smoothly puffed into Maron.
"Get in quickly please," Edward called; they had a fair bit of time to make up as is. But then suddenly, the blue engine heard an urgent tooting noise.
"What in Stewart's name?" he gasped. Bertie then roared up to him and the passengers disembarked and hopped into the coaches. "Bertie, what are you doing here?"
"Thomas' fireman… didn't show…" Bertie panted.
"Oh," Edward realised. "I'm sorry about the chase, Bertie."
"My fault… late at junction… you didn't know… about Thomas' passengers." Bertie paused for a moment to catch his breath.
"Thanks for getting the passengers through, Bertie," smiled Dexter. "You're a really useful bus."
"Thanks, Dexter," he smiled back. As Edward puffed away, the passengers all cheered and waved from the windows until Bertie was out of their sight.
Later that day, Thomas had a relief fireman and he was working on the branch line with Annie and Clarabel again. He met up with Bertie at Ffarquhar.
"Thank you so much, Bertie," smiled the tank engine. "Edward told us you were excellent."
"Ah, what are friends for?" replied the bus. "Oh, by the way, Thomas, did you notice that Edward was-"
"Clanking, yes," sighed Thomas. "Doing James' jobs as well as his own can't be good for him. He does realise the Midland engines are here so they can help with extra jobs like that, right?"
"Stubbornness can make you not think clearly, Thomas," sighed Annie. "We've all been trying to tell him to go to the Steamworks, but he keeps insisting he's okay,"
"I just hope Toby gets around to talking with him soon," added Clarabel. "We've all been really busy, especially with James' punishment."
"And the summer rush is coming up," Bertie put in. "I don't think Edward would want to go into the Steamworks until that's over."
The guard's whistle blew, leaving Thomas, Bertie and the two coaches to go back to work, realising that Edward was not going to let up anytime soon.
The End?
Unlike the other standalone stories, these two (No Joke For James and this one) actually take place at the same time, not dissimilar to a few other episodes in Season 19 of the CGI era. A lot of the additional scenes were at the beginning, rather than scattered throughout. We also find out that Edward has been hiding his clanking from Skarloey and Rheneas, as they have lots to worry about at the moment and he didn't want them worrying about him too. Edward, you're a great guy, but come on, listen to your friends' concerns.
Thomas' fireman is a nod to his voice actor, John Hasler, from the UK dub of Thomas and friends. I would have put Ben, as a nod to Ben Small, but a certain China Clay tank engine already bears that name. Plus, it works in conjunction with Dexter's song. Also, they make a nod to the Beetles, as that's what they are more or less based on, according to Hufflepuff Batboy.
