Henry's Forest
Based upon the story by Andrew Brenner, David Mitten and Britt Alcroft
Adapted by Rachel Ravens
Takes place between UWS and STLOE
To say that Sodor had been quiet for a long time since the elephant incident is a bit of a lie. Indeed, Sodor has flourished in ways it hadn't before. As well as Edward finally going to the Steamworks, four new arrivals had come to both the North Western and Skarloey Railways. Though, Donald and Douglas had been quite stressed when they first came - not without reason, mind you - and when Sir Topham Hatt left for a holiday, Henry had an idea.
"Douglas," he spoke to him when he met up with him at Wellsworth. "When the day's work is over, come meet me at the Wellsworth signal box."
"O...kay then, Hendrie." Douglas trailed. "Whitevur fur?"
"Trust me, Douglas," said Henry. "What I'll show you this evening has always cheers me up. Has Donald returned yet?"
"Ah think he's comin' back this evenin'" Douglas said. "How come?"
"He's welcome to come too."
Indeed, Donald did come back that evening, his tender was now mended.
"Douggie!" he smiled when he saw his twin. "Och, thank goodness ye'r okay."
"A'm okay?!" Douglas asked in surprise. "Ye wur th' yin wha crashed intae th' signal box! Ah wis worried sick aboot ye!"
"Uh, aye, aboot that… tis a lang stoory."
Before Donald could explain or Douglas could attempt to piece a theory together, both of them heard the whistle of Henry coming in with his last train.
"Tell ye efter," he whispered, and the green engine smiled when he saw the duo.
"Just in time, Donald; welcome back," he smiled. "I guess we can head straight there; I told the signalman where we were going on my return run."
"Am Ah oot o' th' loop 'ere?" asked Donald in surprise.
"A'm wondering aboot that masell." Douglas said under his breath.
"Come with me you two," said Henry gently. "Just trust me."
The twins followed after Henry, putting their argument at the back of their minds for now. It didn't take the three engines long when they reached the area.
"Och…" Douglas said in wonderment. "We didnae ken this place wis 'ere."
"Tis beautiful," added Donald. "Whit's this place called?"
"Well, the engines had named this place after me; Henry's forest." chuckled Henry, "as I love to visit it when the day's work is over - with the signalman's permission of course."
Donald and Douglas couldn't help but chuckle.
"You see those trees on the hillside?" asked Henry. "Those were planted by Terence and Trevor a couple of months after I came back from Crewe."
"Weel, it seems that they've grown a wee bit sin then." commented Douglas.
"More than that," chuckled Henry.
The trio saw a few baby animals frolking through the forest; among them were baby deer, baby rabbits, and even a few ducklings.
"Tis peaceful 'ere." said Donald, "Ah kin see how come ye loue this forest sae much Hendrie."
"Indeed so, Donald," smiled Henry. "I'm glad to share it with the two of you."
Henry would occasionally bring Donald and Douglas down to the forest when they weren't busy for the next few weeks during the fall, and soon, winter came. Thanks to a deputation by Duck - and Sir Topham Hatt's 'holiday' was actually an investigation on what was going on at the Other Railway - Donald and Douglas were both kept on the island. The island was quiet for a while, though sometime after a visit with the Queen, Henry was at Crovan's Gate with a stopping passenger train.
"I still can't believe you had royalty come to your railway," said Sir Handel.
"I know," replied Henry. "I did kind of blow my chances with the royal train, but the day was still wonderful regardless."
"Yes, the paint pot incident," chuckled another voice. "Sir Handel mentioned that to us, who heard it from Gordon."
"Of course he would," grunted Henry. Then he blinked and looked at the coaches Sir Handel was pulling; they were two boogie coaches painted in red rather than the blue that the old four wheel coaches were. "Wait a minute, who's…"
"Oh, Henry, this is Gertrude and Millicent." Sir Handel introduced. "They used to be my express coaches on my old railway. Gertrude, Millicent, this is Henry. He was one of the first engines on the North Western Railway; rebuilt at Crewe a few years ago."
"A pleasure to meet you, Henry." smiled Gertrude.
"Don't worry, we've heard positive things about you too," chuckled Millicent. "Like that forest you often visit between Wellsworth and Crosby. You used it to cheer up those twins that were rescued last year, yes?"
"Oh, I did do that," Henry confirmed. "Well, technically, Douglas was rescued; Donald was bought legally from the start. It's a bit of a long story."
"Indeed it is," agreed Sir Handel. Before he could say something else, the quartet all noticed that dark clouds had gathered in the sky.
"Uh oh…" Sir Handel said quietly, "please don't be another storm."
"Are you afraid of thunderstorms, Sir Handel?" asked Henry in surprise.
"Er… kind of," admitted the narrow gauge tank engine.
"Don't worry," said Henry kindly. "I know they can be scary, but the important thing is to remember; lightning strikes are rare, and not all storms can cause damage. The last two storms we've had barely had any effect on the railway other than a couple of floods."
Much to Henry's worry, that didn't seem to make Sir Handel feel any better. To make matters worse, his guard's whistle blew and he didn't have time to question him further.
"What's wrong, Sir Handel?" asked Gertrude when Henry left.
"I'll… tell you two later," he said quietly.
Later that evening, when the engines were in Tidmouth sheds - Thomas, Percy and Toby were down at Ffarquhar and the Midland engines were at the sheds at Vicarstown - they all listened to the storm raging on outside.
"Whoa, it's a big one tonight," said Duck as the doors of the shed rattled.
"Listen," said Donald, his full attention directed to the window, "kin ye hear a streenge whistling sound?"
"Tis yon win` blawin ootside oor shed." Douglas noted. "Bit a've ne'er heard it lik' this afore."
"Did you know," put in James. "If Gordon wasn't here right now, I'd say it was him thundering by with the express."
"Oh, now that's a good one, little James." chuckled Gordon. The other engines all laughed too, though Henry was quiet.
"Henry?" asked Edward. "What's the matter, old friend?"
"Sir Handel was worried about the storm earlier," he admitted. "I thought it would be like one the storm when Percy took Thomas' passengers home in a flood, but this one sounds worse than the one that took out the viaduct."
"It would seem so," Edward agreed. "We'll have a lot of cleanup to do in the morning."
"I hope it doesn't harm the forest," Henry sighed.
The next morning, the engines were in for a nasty surprise when their drivers and firemen opened their doors.
"Great Isambard K. Brunel!" exclaimed Duck. "Look at all that!"
Some of the tracks had been bent out of place, debris was all over the line, and even some telegraph poles had been knocked over.
"It will take us forever to clean all this up," sighed James.
"Indeed it will," agreed Sir Topham Hatt, who had come to survey the damage. "We'll need to have works trains going all over the railway. Douglas, I want you to take some workmen to the viaduct to check any potential damage there. No one is to cross it until it's proven to be serviceable. Donald, you go with Henry to see what happened to the forest..."
As Sir Topham Hatt was explaining instructions, Henry started to feel anxious. "Oh, this is not good. I hope the forest didn't suffer too much damage."
When arrangements were made, Donald set off with Judy and Jerome, and Henry followed with some empty log trucks.
"This damage is just awful," said Judy. "Look; there's some tiles that came clean off that building over there."
"I think James is tasked with bringing some new titles to fix that," said Jerome. "I hope the Skarloey Railway didn't suffer as much as we did."
"Bein' a wee railway, thay likelie hud it worse." Donald pointed out. "Plus, thir's ainlie twa engines operatin` thare as opposed tae seventeen 'ere."
"I'm worried for them too- oh, no… " Henry was in deep shock when he saw what happened.
Trees were knocked over everywhere in the forest, and many of the animals had scampered off in fright.
"My… my forest…" Henry trailed, tears pricking his eyes as Judy and Jerome started to put the fallen logs into Henry's trucks. "After helping to bring the baby trees here a few years ago, and watching them grow up, giving the animals more homes… have those efforts been for naught?"
"Och, Hendrie…" Donald said softly. After being so kind to him and Douglas during their dark days, it hurt Donald even more to see Henry like this.
Later, Henry took his logs to the timber mill, where they were then taken to be turned into furniture and building materials to help bring the island back up to speed. Henry was glad the wood would be put to use, but he didn't feel much better.
"Hendrie, speed restrictions ur in steid 'til…" Douglas broke off when he saw Henry's face. "Och, Hendrie, whit happened?"
"The forest got destroyed in the storm," Henry said sadly. When the logs were finished being unloaded, he went back with the empty log trucks to pick up some more.
"Och dear." sighed Douglas, going quiet and sad.
Douglas later met up with Donald, and they were bringing in workmen to fix the telegraph lines, as well as new telegraph poles.
"Did ye hear aboot Hendrie 'n' his forest?" asked Donald.
"Aye," Douglas confirmed. "Ah saw him at yon timmer mill whin ah wis telling th' ither engines aboot th' speed limit oan yon viaduct. Poor Hendrie is in a depressed state."
"Ah wish thare wis something we cuid dae tae mak' hings better again." sighed Donald. "Efter a' Hendrie's dane fur us tae hulp keep oor spirits up."
"Aye, bit whit?" asked Douglas. "we cannae mend broken trees."
The next day, Douglas was helping to bring workmen to repair some of the tracks near the shed, when he saw Sir Topham Hatt.
"Hello, Douglas," he said. "I've noticed you, Donald and Henry are upset."
"Aye," Douglas confirmed. "We're worried aboot yon trees in Hendrie's forest. He shawed us yon forest tae cheer us up whin... Er…"
"You two were in limbo?" Sir Topham Hatt guessed.
"Aye, sur." Douglas admitted. "Yon forest is a special steid tae him, 'n' noo some o' it's gaen."
Sir Topham Hatt nodded thoughtfully. "While it's true broken trees can't be mended, I think I have an idea to help set things right. Douglas, when you're finished here I want you to fetch Terence and Trevor and bring them to the forest."
Douglas beamed when he realised what was going on.
Meanwhile, Donald had met up with Sir Handel at Crovan's Gate. Sir Handel, Gertrude and Millicent brought up workmen to fix Crovan's Gate's roof, and Donald had brought up some new tiles.
"Hendrie said ye wur worried aboot th' oncoming storm," Donald sighed. "Ah cannae say Ah blame ye."
"Yes, the damage was horrific," Sir Handel agreed. "Peter Sam had to move a few tree branches away earlier. At this rate, we'll never get the line fixed up before Skarloey comes home in a couple of months."
"Huvin three o' ye workin' th'gither wid mak' hings easier," Donald pointed out. "Skarloey's return wid benifit ye twa."
"Even so," said Gertrude, "we were hoping to surprise him with the line looking better than ever."
Just then, James arrived with another works train he was taking to Vicarstown. "Donald, I've got a message for you."
"Och?"
"When you're done here, Sir Topham Hatt wants you to go to the yards," James explained. "He's got some trucks for you to take to the forest."
"Tae th' forest?" asked Donald in surprise. "whit cuid that be aboot?"
Donald later found out. When he got to the yards, he saw some baby trees in the trucks, all ready for planting.
"This wull mak' Hendrie very happy!" Beamed Donald. He quickly went to the forest, where Douglas already had taken Terence and Trevor.
"Okay, that's another log out of the way!" called Trevor. "How many more have we got, Terence?"
"We've still got a few logs and stumps up the top of the hill," the tractor replied. "I'm removing them now."
"Donnie, juist in time," smiled Douglas. "Ah wis wondering whin you'd be takin wae me th' trees in."
"Seems lik' hings ur finally taking a turn fur th' better," agreed Donald.
"Okay," sighed Henry when he puffed in with empty log trucks, "where's all the- wha… oh my goodness!" He gasped. "Donald, Douglas, Trevor, Terence, what's…"
"We're beginning again," called Terence. "Once we get these cleared, new trees will go up. It will look better than ever before."
"First you save me from a snowdrift, now this?" asked Henry in surprise; tears of joy were coming into his eyes, "Donald, Douglas… Thank you. I don't know how to repay you. And the same with you, Terence and Trevor."
"Och, ye dinnae need tae repay us, Hendrie," said Douglas modestly.
"Aye," agreed Donald, "Wee acts o' kindness gang a lang wey. Besides, ye 'n' th' ither engines a' pitched in tae save us."
"And what are friends for," added Terence. "We were all happy to help out."
"Indeed," put in Trevor. "But we must keep going to sort out more of this storm damage. This could take a while to put right."
And indeed it did. With repairs going all over the railway, Henry didn't have as much time to admire his lovely forest. But whenever he passed by with a train, he would keep a careful watch on the trees that grew in the hillside. Much to his delight, the animals were coming back too.
"The forest is healing," smiled Henry. "And the island is on the mend too."
The End
I know this episode's a bit infamous, but really, I don't see why. It's truly an emotional episode, and loosing something you love is quite a gut punch. It also shows Henry with traits that differentiate him from Gordon and James: he's more of a gentle soul and he enjoys some peace and quiet. Say, kinda like Murdoch actually. I wonder if Zack has any plans with him.
One thing I didn't like was the fact I dropped Toby's role, but given Donald and Douglas' presence throughout the story, it made sense that the role Toby had went to them instead. Speaking of Donald and Douglas, it also showcases a bit of what happened before winter hit Sodor when Sir Topham Hatt was on holiday, and that Donald knows something Douglas does not.
I didn't realise this at the time, but this also works to help expand Henry's relationship with the twins after they saved him from the snowdrift.
We also get the debut of Gertrude and Millicent. As they are mentioned to be on the Skarloey line when Skarloey himself comes home, I figured it would be nice to showcase them already on the line. Sir Handel's also mentioned to be afraid of storms, but there's a deep rooted reason for that. And I bet you guys can figure out what it is.
