Fish
Based upon the story by Christopher Awdry
Adapted by Rachel Ravens
Takes place between TTEQ and TNSDD
Duck loved working at the harbour with Thomas and Percy on the Ffarquhar branch line.
"It's always fun to come down here and work with you," Duck was saying as he shunted more trucks into place.
"We're glad to have you here, Duck," smiled Percy. "It's been tough with Toby at the Steamworks."
"I think he's due back later today," said Thomas. "It's a pity we're never all on the branch line at once." The blue tank engine then turned his nose up when he smelled something on the quayside. "Phew! Not more fish!"
"I have to admit," sighed Duck. "I'm not terribly a huge fan of them myself."
"They got into my boiler once," Thomas muttered. "Definitely not a good day."
"That was when Bertie helped you with your passengers for the first time," Percy reminded him. "So that was good, wasn't it?"
"Okay, yes," Thomas admitted. "That was a blessing. I only wish I knew him by name sooner."
"How did the fish get into your boiler anyway, Thomas?" asked Duck. "I've heard bits and pieces of the story, but not the whole thing."
Thomas quickly summarised to Duck what happened.
"By the Great Western!" he exclaimed. "That would have been painful."
"Take my tip, Duck," said Thomas, "whatever you do, don't collect water from the river, and the fish should stay out of your way."
"I'll keep that in mind," the pannier tank replied, and the engines counited their work.
Later on, Thomas was about to leave to take a passenger train, when they heard a bell ring through the air.
"It's Toby!" cried Percy. "Welcome back, Toby."
"Good to see you Percy, Thomas and Duck," he said warmly. "Thanks for stepping in to help the branch line again, Duck."
"Hey, it's a pleasure as always," said Duck. "Though Henrietta was shared between the three of us. The harbour got so busy one of us couldn't look after her the whole time."
"I'm glad she was in safe buffers," smiled Toby.
"Well, I guess it's station pilot duties for me again," sighed Duck. "Safe running and dry rails to the three of you and your coaches."
"Likewise to you too, Duck," called Thomas as the pannier headed back to the yards.
When Duck got back to the yards, he was shocked.
"What in Brunel's name happened here?!" he cried. The trucks were all over the place and the coaches were not in the correct sidings either.
"You keep scampering off to the branch lines and Julie had to go to the coal mines!" snapped James. "We've had to arrange things ourselves."
"Bust my boiler, James!" snapped Duck. "It's no one's fault Toby broke down or that the coal mines were operating!"
"Aye," came Douglas' voice, "Dook 'ere haes bin workin` really hard tae keep up wi' th' workload. We juist kin need anither engine at this rate."
"Then just where in British Railways are we going to get one, and when?" groaned James.
"Let's juist be patient," sighed Douglas. "Dook, Ah'll hulp ye 'ere as ah dinnae hae a train fur a while."
"Thanks, Douglas," Duck said gratefully.
The two engines quickly set to work, getting the yards back in order and arranging trains accordingly.
"I'm glad we're shunting together without anything hanging in the balance," smiled Duck.
"Aye," agreed the Scottish engine. "Though yon harbour is getting busier."
Just then, Henry arrived to collect his next train. "Sir Topham Hatt has issued for more vans on the Flying Kipper for a while, starting tonight," he explained.
"Oh goodness gracious," exclaimed Duck. "First the harbour, now this. I'll see if I can find some vans tonight, Henry."
"Thank you Duck," smiled the bigger green engine. "I'd appreciate that very much."
Duck and Douglas continued shunting for a while, and Douglas eventually had to take a fast goods.
"Er, Douglas," said Duck, "the brake van's at the front of the train. I'll have to go fix that."
Douglas chuckled. "Na, Dook. Th' train's correct. A'm gaun doon th' ither wey."
"I thought that line was closed for years," Duck gasped. "Is it being restored?"
"Aye," smiled Douglas. "Sur Topham Hatt's orders."
"So… you and Donald are going to run it then?" asked Duck. He was a bit disappointed, but put on a brave face. Douglas however, saw through Duck's facade.
"Cheer up, Dook," he said kindly, "Ye ne'er ken whit micht happen. Sur Topham Hatt is foll o' surprises."
"Yeah, he is," Duck sighed and went back to work.
The moon eventually rose over the harbour, and most of the engines were asleep. Duck however, was awake, and he went to find some vans for the flying kipper.
"Hmm… not there… no… hey, how'd that tar tanker get here?" Duck shrugged it off, he'd deliver it when he got the chance. "Huh… oh, there's some vans." he then frowned, noticing that they were in disuse. "Oh… they're not exactly the best ones to use."
"We've looked all over the harbour, Duck," sighed the driver. "These may have to do, I'm afraid."
"Alright," Duck agreed. The workmen were called to clean them up, and Duck arranged the rest of the vans behind Henry.
"Thank you, Duck," smiled Henry. "Did you find the extra vans?"
"I did," said Duck. "They're being cleaned at the moment. Sorry to say they aren't the best quality."
"I'd best be careful with the train," sighed Henry.
"By the way, Henry," said Duck, "do you know anything about the line that runs behind Knapford station?"
Henry paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. "I do, a little bit," he admitted. "It used to be one of the branch lines. This one ran from Tidmouth to Arlesburgh West."
"Whoa, really?" gasped Duck. "A whole branch line, up there?"
"Indeed," said Henry. "This one used to connect with a little narrow gauge railway, not dissimilar to the Skarloey Railway."
"What engines used to run there?"
"Unfortunately, I don't know many details about that; I was too heavy for the branch line, after all, and the line was closed by the time I got here," sighed Henry. "All I really know is, during its final year, the last three engines were gone and both the branch line and the little railway were closed. The Wellsworth and Suddery engine who ran the line was never seen or heard from again after that."
"Was that another one of those 'pre-grouping railways' I've heard about?" Duck asked.
"Yes," Henry said sadly. "Sir Topham Hatt wasn't controller back in those days, so someone else called the shots." Duck had a few tears coming into his eyes as Henry finished his explanation.
"That's just heartbreaking…" Duck said quietly.
The two green engines couldn't really dwell on it for too long, for the foreman came up.
"Duck, you can shunt the last vans onto Henry's goods train now."
"Okay." Duck puffed off and quickly shunted them into position. "All clear, Henry!" called Duck.
"Thank you, Duck," said Henry; the pannier tank puffed off to Wellsworth station. "I'll see you when I need you to bank me up Gordon's hill."
"Of course," Duck smiled. Usually, Edward, Donald, Douglas or Johnson would be ready to help bank the trains up the hill, but with Edward swamped with work on the Brandam Branch - even with BoCo's help - the twins working on their restoration project and Johnson being assigned to random jobs, Duck was needed as a banker.
"I wish I could work on that branch line too," said Duck, "then maybe I can solve a few mysteries with that old railway."
"Never mind, ol' boy," soothed his driver as they continued their journey.
Henry had the same questions on his mind as he puffed away with the train. "Just what happened to that railway? Why did it close all of a sudden, and where did the engines go?"
"Those are very good questions, Henry," said his driver. "But we've no time to dwell on that now."
The green engine sighed and puffed down the line.
There has to be some clues somewhere. He thought. For once, I wish I was a lighter engine, then I could get some deeper investigation done.
Eventually, Henry got to Wellsworth and stopped just beyond the platform. He gave a special signal: one long whistle, followed by three short ones.
"I need a banker, please."
Duck's response was two short whistles.
"I shan't be long." He gently buffered up to the back of Henry's train. The green tank engine was not coupled on, so Henry could carry on with his run when he reached the top of the hill.
"I'm ready!" whistled Duck.
"So am I." The two engines began to pull and push the train together.
"Push hard back there, Duck." called Henry.
"We're making good progress," smiled Duck. "Keep pulling up there, Henry."
But Henry didn't realise he was pulling much harder than Duck could keep up.
"Huh?" gasped Duck. "I don't feel the weight of the train. We can't be at the top already…"
"We're still going up," said the driver. "Hey, have you seen the tail lamp, Steven?"
"No, Keith," replied the fireman. "I thought it was on the last van of the train."
"I don't see it either," Duck exclaimed, and gave a whistle. "Henry, we've got a problem!"
But Henry did not hear Duck's whistle, he had a realisation too.
"Driver, fireman!" he called, "I'm having a bit of trouble; the train's getting heavier."
"Uh oh!" gasped the driver, "Kerry, I think we lost our banker."
"I think you're right, Ted," sighed the fireman. "No wonder we're slowing down."
"And then there was trouble..." Henry muttered under his breath.
CRASH!
"Ouch!" Duck yelped. Henry immediately glanced back.
"Duck, what happened?"
"Ugh… now I partly know how Peter Sam felt…" The poor pannier tank engine had dented buffers and a damaged funnel. Not only that, the rearmost van had splintered wood and fish had spilled all over the track.
"I'll go back for help!" said the driver, and he rushed all the way back to Wellsworth to report what had happened.
BoCo had been sleeping at Wellsworth with Edward when both engines got the message.
"I'll go," said BoCo. "My driver's here already."
"I hope Duck's alright," Edward said anxiously.
BoCo rushed off to find Judy and Jerome.
"Duck's had an accident?" gasped Judy.
"He's not in the barber shop again, is he?" asked Jerome.
"No, just a fish van crash," BoCo explained, and he headed off to Gordon's hill.
The diesel gently buffered up to Duck, while leaving the breakdown cranes to help clear up the mess.
"I'll be back to help bank you up, Henry," called BoCo as he left with Duck in tow.
"Thank you," replied the steam engine.
Later, Sir Topham Hatt went to inspect the damage done to the train.
"Dear oh dear," he sighed. "There goes a bit of nice fish…"
"I don't see why people like fish so much," said Judy.
"Yeah," agreed Jerome. "It doesn't smell very nice."
By now, BoCo had buffered up to the back of what remained of Henry's train.
"Ready?" called the diesel.
"I'm ready," replied Henry.
"Consider this my atonement for breaking down last time," BoCo said warmly, and the two started to get the train.
Sir Topham Hatt then searched around the bottom of the hill.
"What could have gone wrong?" he wondered. Then he came across something with a red light blub. "Oh…" he carefully picked it up. "This caused the problem."
Duck was waiting at Wellsworth, and Sir Topham Hatt came up to him.
"The accident wasn't your fault," Sir Topham Hatt said kindly to him. "We should have made sure this tail lamp was fixed on properly." he showed him the lamp that he recovered from the bottom of the hill, "We'll soon have you in working order again."
"Thank you, sir," Duck said sadly. "Thomas told me to be careful around fish. He was right, sir. They put me in a right pickle, didn't they?"
"I'm afraid so," signed Sir Topham Hatt. Then, Duck realised something else.
"Sir," he said, "with me out of action and Julie at the coal mine with Katie, the railway will need a station pilot. When I was working on the Ffarquhar branch line, the yard was left in a mess."
"You're right," Sir Topham Hatt sighed. "It will take a while for you to be fixed up. We'll have to see what we can do about this issue."
Douglas later came to take Duck to the Steamworks.
"Ye hud a wee amount o' trauchle oan th' hill," Douglas said sympathetically.
"More than a 'wee bit' I can tell you," sighed Duck. "Smashed a fish van to bits."
"Small blame tae yer. Dinnae fass, twas an accident."
"I sure hope the yard can cope for a while," said Duck. "We'll need another engine more than ever."
Sir Topham Hatt was looking into the issue. He scrolled through newspapers and other posters and the like. His gaze fell onto an old photo in a newspaper he forgot to put into the recycling.
"No one will like this," he sighed. "But I'm not sure if what else to do…"
The End?
Bit shorter than the others, but Christopher's stories are always kind of short anyway. This also sets up a few story arcs: the Mid Sodor arc, the Little Western arc and a last one which is going to be a direct continuation with the next mashup Zack and I are doing. Let me just say this next story is going to be "full of surprises".
The names of the drivers and firemen are a nod to Henry's and Duck's voice actors, except for Ted. I'm not quite sure where his name comes from, but Zack said that Ted is Henry's driver's name.
