Percy Takes The Plunge

Based upon the story by Rev. W. Awdry

Adapted by Rachel Ravens

Takes place between STLOE and F&W


Warning, this story has some scary imagery and mentions of possible PTSD.


As Thomas had previously said, the Ffarqhuar line was getting very busy indeed.

"We may not be able to haul all these trucks to Barrow." sighed Toby.

"If we take several trips," said Percy. "We could do it. I'll go ahead with one train, and then you follow with another. It may take a few water stops, but we can do it."

"Okay, Percy," smiled the tram engine. "At any rate, we may need Duck or one of the Midland engines down here to help us."

"I wouldn't mind that," replied Percy. He buffered up to some stone trucks and made his way all the way to Barrow.


Down at Barrow, Percy met a few tank engines there.

"Hello," greeted Percy warmly. "My name is Percy. What are your names?"

"My name is Jinty," said the first tank engine. He had a similar build to that of Thomas, but had a straight running board, and was classified as a 3F.

"I'm Pug," said the second one. He was a bit bigger than Percy, and was definitely built by another company.

"My name is Arthur," smiled a third tank engine. Though Percy didn't know this, he was already good friends with BoCo.

"And I'm Rosie," said the last tank engine. "I've been transferred over here from the Southern Region."

"Wow, you came a long way," said Percy, impressed. "So, tell me, what's it's like here?"

"Well, some of the controllers have been scrapping steam engines left and right," Rosie admitted, worried.

"But our controller is trying to keep some of us on as much as they can," Jinty said. "He said he can't bear to part with us."

"I'm glad to hear that about your controller," smiled Percy. "Hey, do you four want to hear a story?"

"Yes, please!" The other tank engines smiled as they hurried onto the turntable and into the sheds behind them. Percy stood to attention on it.

"Okay," he said. "This all started when Thomas asked me to take the Vicars Sunday school children home…"


As Percy was telling his story, Henry arrived. Because Toby had to stop for water at each station, while Percy had a larger water tank, he hadn't arrived yet.

"... it was raining hard." Percy went on. "Water swirled under my boiler. I couldn't see where I was going, but I struggled on."

"Ooh, Percy," cried Rosie. "You are brave."

"That storm must have been fierce," added Pug.

"Well," said Percy modestly, "it wasn't anything, really. Passengers must get through."

"Tell us more, Percy!" said Jinty.

"Yeah," added Arthur, "I'm feeling chilled to my frames already. Go on!"

"Percy!" cried Henry. "You're blocking the turntable."

Percy blinked in surprise.

"Oh, sorry, Henry," he apologised, and moved into one of the berths. "I didn't mean to do that."

Henry turned around and faced the engines in the shed.

"Oh, Jinty, Pug, Arthur, Rosie," said Percy, "This is Henry. He's-"

"The engine who got stuck in a tunnel because of the rain!" laughed Jinty. "I remember that old rhyme. 'Once an engine attached to a train was afraid of a few drops of rain'."

"Jinty!" snapped Percy. "That's not very nice."

"Yeah," agreed Rosie. "Leave Henry alone."

"Hey, calm down," said Jinty. "I was only joking."

"Well, leave the shed if you're going to be so proud about it." grunted Pug.

"Okay, fine," muttered Jinty, as the turntable came his way. "I've got shunting to do anyway."

The smaller black side tank engine puffed away.

"You know what," sighed Arthur. "My passenger train's due out soon. I'd better go too. Thanks for the story, Percy. Sorry you couldn't finish it, and nice meeting you Henry."

"Quite alright, Arthur," said Percy. "I'll do a part two next time, eh?"

"I like the sound of that," smiled Rosie. "Especially because I have shunting to do too. Down at the harbour. See you later, you two."

"I'll lend you a buffer, Rosie," said Pug. "I think there's a fair bit to do. Bye you two."

The tank engines all left the sheds.

"Sorry you couldn't finish the story, Percy," said Henry.

"Quite alright," sighed Percy. "I think Jinty means no harm really, but he can be maddening at times."

"Same with Bill and Ben, so Edward and BoCo say," chuckled Henry. "And you're right. Trains must get through no matter what. I only wish I thought that back then."

"We live and learn," smiled Percy. "Oh, I'd better get that return train ready. Say hi to Toby when he gets here."

"I will," said Henry as Percy puffed off.


A couple of days later, Percy and Thomas were at Knapford Harbour together. The two tank engines were shunting down the far end, when Percy saw something that made him shudder.

"Danger sign," Percy said quietly. "I'd best not let Thomas see that."

Unfortunately, Thomas heard his name being mentioned, and headed over to his friend.

"What's up, Percy?" he asked. Then he saw it, and started panting rapidly.


"Gordon!" Thomas cried. "Help me!"

"Hang on, little Thomas!" Gordon called, and the cables were suddenly between them. "I got you!"

"G-Gordon…" he stammered as the mine began to crumble, and the cable snapped. "AHHH!"

"THOMAS!" Gordon cried in alarm, hardly daring to believe what had happened. "NOOOOOOO…."

"Oh…" Thomas sobbed. "I'll never see my friends again…"

"Thomas, snap out of it!"


Percy let out a sharp whistle, but that didn't do much good.

"Not the mine again, not the mine again, not the mine again…"

"Oh, Thomas," Percy whispered. "You're safe on the rails. You're with me."

Percy gently buffered up to his friend and took him to a siding far away on the other side of the harbour.

"You're safe," Percy repeated. "You're on firm rails, and you're with your friends."

Toby came into the harbour with Henrietta, looking worried.

"Percy, what's happened?" the tram engine asked.

"Thomas is in a state of shock," Percy explained quietly. "He saw the…" he mouthed the words "danger sign".

"Oh," gasped Henrietta. "I see."

"Toby, do you and Henrietta have any passenger runs right now?" asked Percy.

"No, I'm shunting in the harbour for a couple of hours," he replied.

"Then maybe leave Henrietta in the siding next to Thomas," Percy said gently.

"Good idea, Percy," smiled the old coach, and she and Toby suited action to word.

"I'll be back with a load of stone," said Percy, grabbing some empty trucks. "I'll see if Duck can cover for Thomas again. If not, Donald, Douglas or one of the Midland engines."


Percy came to Knapford station on his way to the quarry and explained the situation to Douglas.

"Losh sakes," gasped the Caledonian engine. "Th' poor wee engine… A'd be glad tae hulp."

"Thank you, Douglas," said Percy. "I'd better get going. I know Annie and Clarabel will be in good buffers with you."

"A'm glad thay forgive me fur whit happened back…"

"Of course they did," said Percy gently. "Your situation was horrible. I would have made a mistake like that if I was in that situation too."

Douglas headed off to find Annie and Clarabel, while Percy took his trucks to the quarry. Unfortunately, one particular truck on Percy's train got some ideas.

"Percy's not afraid of the water, eh?" he smirked. "Well… what's say we put that to the test, eh, boys?"

The other trucks all agreed to this idea, smirking as they were rolling along.

"We'll get him when we reach the harbour on the way back," said the truck.


Douglas had managed to find Annie and Clarabel, who were very worried about what they heard.

"Oh, poor Thomas!" gasped Annie. "He's gone from one extreme to the other."

"I hope he'll be alright," exclaimed Clarabel.

"Dinae fass yerselfs," soothed Douglas. "Henrietta is calming him doon."

"I'm glad to hear that," Annie sighed.

"She sure is a good friend," agreed Clarabel.


Meanwhile, Percy was shunting trucks around the quarry.

"These siding arrangements are so awkward," he grunted as he arranged them at the chute. "It's going to take me forever to get the train ready at this rate."

"We can't exactly do anything about that, Percy," sighed the driver.

"I suppose not," he sighed as he waited for the stone to fall into each truck. "Oh, bother, where did I leave that brake van?"

"It's over… oh," the fireman looked around; the difficult siding arrangements made it hard for him to spot anything. "Uh… I don't know."

"Let's go find it, I suppose," muttered Percy, puffing around the quarry.


Percy eventually managed to find the brake van and get the train together, heading back for the harbour.

"I hope Thomas feels better," said Percy. "Poor Thomas… I know he passed the danger sign on purpose, but no one deserves to go through... that…"

"So he says," muttered the truck. "Okay, when I give the word."

Percy was so focused on worrying about Thomas he didn't pay attention to what the trucks were doing.


Down at the harbour, Thomas had finally managed to regain his senses.

"Henrietta?" he asked. "How did I get here?"

"Percy put you here," she explained, "and Toby had shunting to do, so I was left here next to you. Remember, we are all here for you, Thomas."

"And Annie and Clarabel?" gasped Thomas. "Who's taking them, if anyone?"

"Douglas is looking after them," soothed Henrietta.

"Well, I know he'll be gentle with them," chuckled Thomas. "Annie and Clarabel say he was so gentle with them, he didn't wake them from their nap that day."

Both of them chuckled together, when they heard a whistle of alarm.

"Percy?!" gasped Thomas in surprise.

"Stop pushing me!" cried Percy as he shot into the harbour, his brakes coming on full force. Thankfully, Toby was on another track further away, so Percy missed him. His driver and fireman were knocked out of his cab too, and the rails were misty and wet.

"Faster, faster!" called the truck that had come up with the plan.

"Stop this at once!" Percy shrieked, and then…

SPLASH!

"Percy!" cried Thomas, rushing to the other end. "Hang on, I'll get you out!"

"Wait, Thomas!" called Toby, rushing toward him. "Percy's too deep. If we try pulling back-" he broke off at the implications he had in his mind.

"N-no-no!" Thomas stammered, but this time, he managed to regain focus. "No, now's not the time for that. What should we do?"

"Go find Sir Topham Hatt," said Toby. "I'll stay with Percy."

Thomas agreed and rushed away to Knapford station.


"Sir, sir!" cried Thomas as he burst into the station. Thankfully, the controller stepped out of his office when he heard the blue tank engine's whistle.

"Thomas," Sir Topham Hatt said worriedly, "Douglas said you were in a state of shock, and…"

"Percy's been bumped off the quay by the trucks!" Thomas exclaimed.

"Take me there!"


Thomas arrived back with Sir Topham Hatt in his cab.

"Percy!" he called, "are you alright?"

"Fr-freezing," Percy stammered. "T-The trucks p-pushed me d-down…"

"You lot!" snapped Sir Topham Hatt. "What is the meaning of this? Pushing Percy off the sunken quay! I've never heard of anything so absurd! You have caused confusion, delay and a serious accident!"

"Uh… s-sorry, sir," the trucks all stammered.

"That's not good enough," Sir Topham Hatt scolded. "You will go into a disuse siding until I can trust you to behave again."

The trucks felt sheepish about this threat, and subsided.

"We've got to get Percy out, sir," said Thomas. "But Toby says pulling him out is a bad idea."

"I'm afraid so, Thomas," sighed Sir Topham Hatt. "It's low tide right now. We'll need water cranes to lift Percy out, but that will have to wait until high tide."

"Can one of us stay with him?" asked Toby. "Percy shouldn't be alone."

"You both can." assured Sir Topham Hatt. "I'll arrange for Katie to pick up the quarry workers, Toby. Thomas, Douglas will continue to do your work until Percy can be lifted out."

"Thank you, sir," chorused the two engines.


Night started to fall on the island, and Percy felt colder than ever.

"Y-you two should b-be in the shed," shivered Percy. "I-I'll be fine…"

"You're not," insisted Toby. "And we're not leaving until we know you are."

"Friends look out for each other," added Thomas.

Percy smiled, his friends' reassurances made him feel much better.

Eventually, the water cranes came, and Thomas went to fetch a nearby flatbed. He put it on the siding that was closest to the sunken quay. Percy was lifted onto it, and Toby moved the trucks away.

"You stupid things," grunted Toby crossly, putting them on a disuse siding.

"Come on, Percy," smiled Thomas warmly. "Let's get you to the Steamworks. I'm sure Katie or someone else will be more than willing to lend a buffer down here."

"Let's hope the trucks don't get the same idea if he comes into the harbour." Percy shuddered.

But I think it's safe to say the trucks won't do this 'same idea' again.

The End


Thanks to Down the Mine taking on a darker shift in tone in the United We Stand mini-special, this episode has followed suit, as Thomas is now on the opposite end of feelings about danger signs. Percy's splash into the sea wasn't because of his overconfidence, but rather because of a rude truck (SCRuffey, if you're curious).

As mentioned in the warning, Thomas has PTSD since his accident in the mine. I loosely based this off of the scene from WildNorWester's mini series, the one where Thomas almost crashes into a courier van.

Jinty and Pug also appear at the beginning of the story, as do Arthur and Rosie. The Fat Controller's Engines/Thomas and the Special Letter sadly won't be adapted for a while, but the former two are a nod to that story. And with Gordon Goes Foreign already in Zack's RWS rewrites on his page, the book is three quarters of the way adapted.

Tune in next time where we jump back over to the main line.