Chapter 6: A Typical Day

Sure enough, Chris and Jack had offered to teach Shaina the intricacies of crewing a living engine and Shaina caught on fairly quickly. It was a few lessons later that Chris invited Shaina along in Thomas' cab to see what a typical day on Sodor was like. Shaina happily agreed. She also pretended to ignore Ray, Alice, Ben, and Sam snickering in the corner of the shed.

Of course, things went well for most of the morning, as they tended to do. Trains were on time and ran smoothly. The weather, though a bit cool, was calm and everyone was in a good mood. Well, until Percy met up with Thomas late that morning, sulking.

"Careful, Thomas. Bulgy's up to his old tricks."

"What'd he do this time?" Jack sighed.

Sam shook her head. "He tried to take some passengers from our last train. And when that didn't work, he blocked the level crossing at Maithwaite!"

Chris groaned and shook his head. "And, let me guess. He was spouting off about that 'Free the Roads' nonsense?"

"Yup. Bertie had to tell him to move in order for us to leave."

Shaina rolled her eyes. She remembered stories about that bus.

"Don't worry. We'll look out for him," Thomas reassured his friend as he headed off for his next assignment.

Shaina supposed it was luck that they didn't see the bus for as long as they did. But they couldn't avoid Bulgy forever and, when Thomas stopped to fill up with water later that day, they saw him on the road near the tracks. Engine and Bus pretended to ignore the other and Bulgy quickly left.

"Hmm…" Thomas murmured as he felt the water flow into his tanks. "This water seems a bit funny…" But he was far too thirsty to care and shrugged it off.

It wasn't too long later, though, that trouble started. As the group was traveling down the line with Annie and Clarabel, funny sounds started coming from Thomas's boiler. Chris and Jack looked to each other, nodded, and Jack stuck his head out the window just as Thomas's smoke started to turn a horrible brown color.

"Oh! What's going on?!" Thomas called to his crew.

"Something's wrong with your water!" Jack called back as he ducked back into the cab and adjusted some of the controls. "We'll have to take you off the train."

For a moment, it seemed as if Thomas was about to protest, but then Shaina heard a sickly groan from the engine.

"There it is," sighed Chris sympathetically. "He's really tasting that water now. We won't hear any more complaints from him about getting taken off."

They jerked to a stop in a nearby siding, where Annie and Clarabel were uncoupled, twittering nervously to each other. Chris brought Thomas forward a bit further to put some distance between the engine and the passengers, just in case, and Jack dropped the fire.

As the crew tended to their engine, Shaina carefully came up and around Thomas's front to a disturbing sight. Thomas looked absolutely miserable and very sorry for himself. His entire face was tinged green, a vast difference from its normal stone color. With his face so green, the areas around his eyes and the tip of his nose looked just a shade red. He blinked rapidly as he tried to focus on the girl near him and every breath was slow and careful as if he might throw up.

Could engines throw up? Shaina wasn't sure she wanted to find out...

Chris was true to his word. Thomas certainly didn't complain about being taken off the train. He did, however, complain about how horrible the water was and how awful he felt and how he wished someone would hurry up and get him so he could get this disgusting water out of his system! Chris and Jack just nodded sympathetically as they soothed him and tried to make him comfortable.

Unfortunately, Thomas's mood would not improve any time soon as Percy was the engine assigned to finish his run. The green engine was quite amused at the whole situation when he came to rescue the passengers.

"My, my, Thomas. I thought you learned your lesson about fishing last time!"

Thomas replied with something that wasn't fit to be repeated, to which Chris threatened to wash his mouth out that evening, sick engine or not.

At last, Toby came to gently tow Thomas back to the Works and dropped the humans at Knapford. "Well, there's a half-day off for us. Thomas will get a relief crew if Victor lets him go by the end of today," Chris said. He paused a moment. "Hey, Shaina, are you doing anything in the next little while?"

"Not really. Why?"

"Well… if you want to continue learning from us, we gotta get you official clearance."

"Official clearance?"

"Yeah. A bit of paperwork that says you're hired and other fun things like that. We'll have to go see the Boss."

Shaina sighed. She supposed it was about time anyway. The three grabbed their things and headed to the station.

Most controllers on a normal railway would usually have their offices in some big skyscraper, far away from the daily operations However, as it was well established, the North Western was not a normal railway. After all, not only did they use primarily steam for their motive power, but nearly all of their engines were living! And, since living engines looked to their controller for guidance and reassurance, the controller needed to be much more available to them and travel more often than other controllers.

Thus, Sir Topham Hatt's office was located in a corner of Tidmouth station, with a parking space for his car behind the station and a couple of sidings alongside the office. Chris told Shaina that, in the early days of the railway, it used to be located at Vicarstown, near the Mainland. However, as the railway became more popular and Tidmouth sheds became more active and prone to arguments, Sir Topham Hatt moved his office to Tidmouth to keep a better eye on the engines. Even as the railway expanded and secondary offices were added at Knapford and Vicarstown, the Tidmouth office was usually where you'd find someone.

Sure enough, as the three walked down the Tidmouth platform, lights were shining behind a door with a golden plaque stating 'Sir Richard Topham Hatt - Controller'. Jack excused himself to grab a snack, leaving Shaina and Chris in front of the suddenly imposing door.

"You ready?"

"Does no count?"

Chris just chuckled. "He's not as scary as the posters make him out to be. You'll be fine." He reached up and knocked.

"Come in," called a voice behind the door.

Chris gave Shaina a reassuring smile and the two entered the office.

Shaina wasn't really sure what she was expecting, but the warm and cozy room that she stepped into wasn't it. The walls were painted a dim, cheery yellow and a beautiful red rug was spread over the wooden floors. Windows looked out onto the station platform and the nearby yard, though most of them had coverings that were pulled down. A hatstand near the door held a suit jacket and a couple of top hats. On the wall to the right of the door was a large map of the entire island. The wall to the left held a filing cabinet, a safe, and a large bookshelf filled with beautiful old books and binders of various thicknesses that said things like "Henry - '35" on the spines. The back wall held awards and certificates and pictures of various engines on the railway, like Thomas, Henry, and Gordon. In near the middle of the room was a beautiful antique desk with a couple of phones and papers covering it and a light fixture hanging above that wouldn't look out of place in an average grocery store.

And there, sitting behind the desk with a couple of papers in his hand, was Sir Topham Hatt himself, looking at the two over his reading glasses. Since he had hung up his suit jacket, Shaina saw him wearing only a white dress shirt with a black tie and yellow waistcoat. He stood up, setting down his papers and glasses, and came around to in front of the desk, smiling.

"Chris! How's Thomas holding up?"

"Complaining, Sir, as usual. He reacted quite… explicitly when Percy hinted that Thomas may have gone fishing again. Might have to wash Thomas's mouth out."

"I'll ask his driver to speak to Percy later," Sir Topham Hatt sighed. He glanced over to see Shaina standing there in a bright pink t-shirt and jean overalls smudged with coal on the legs. "Hello, Miss."

Shaina nodded, an obvious expression of concern and bewilderment on her face. "Hello, Sir."

Chris chuckled. "Sir, this is Shaina McKin. Jack and I have been showing her Thomas's controls and we want to get her some official clearance."

Sir Topham Hatt gave Chris a steady, curious look. Clearances were much rarer than they seemed, especially nowadays, and to have anyone recommend someone was a major event. "Are you sure, Mr. Wryda?" he asked slowly and Shaina noted the switch from first to last name. "You haven't asked to give someone clearance for a very long time now."

"Yes, Sir. Very sure. The engines are already fond of her. She's got a talent for putting up with them. From what we've seen, she's picking up the controls well."

"She's also still here," Shaina pointed out, leaning against the wall.

The two men chuckled and Shaina noticed the sparkle return to Sir Topham Hatt's eyes. He went to the filing cabinet and pulled out a few papers as Shaina pulled up a chair that was next to the hatstand. For the next few minutes, they went over all the papers with Chris explaining some of the technical terms. A few signatures and a couple of stamps later and everything was all settled.

Sir Topham Hatt held out his hand. "Welcome to the North Western Railway, Miss McKin!"

"Thank you, Sir! Happy to be here!"

Chris chuckled. "I'll be sure to help her get her uniform tomorrow, Sir."

More pleasantries were exchanged before they finally left the office. Chris chuckled, watching Shaina out of the corner of his eye. "How're you feeling?"

"A bit like I signed my life away. Is that normal?"

"Can be. You'll be fine."

Jack raced up, carrying a bag with some kind of sweet in it. "Well?"

Shaina held up the piece of paper and smirked. "Clearance granted."

Jack let out a whoop of excitement. "Congrats, kid! Oh, wait till everyone else hears! I think Henry might cry…"

The three kept joking and laughing as they headed off to grab some sort of celebratory snack before heading to the sheds.

Back in the office, Sir Topham Hatt frowned as he thought back to what he had been reading a few nights ago. Notes from past controllers were always interesting, after all. But there was something… He turned to the bookshelf and grabbed two of the thickest binders: one that said "Clearances - '47" and one that said "Clearances - '95." Perhaps he should call home and tell his wife that he'll be late. He'd be doing some research tonight…

That evening, the sheds were abuzz with news. Thomas had been cleaned out and was back with the others. As predicted, Shaina's clearance was met with resounding approval. The crews congratulated her and offered bits of advice. The engines also offered congratulations and advice on who she should learn next. This was followed by arguments of who she should work with next that didn't fully calm down for a good hour or so.

There was also word about what happened earlier. Turns out that Thomas wasn't the only one that became ill, as James and Percy both also took on water from the same tower. Bulgy and Bertie were quickly asked to cover while new trains were arranged, but they were overwhelmed with passengers and both buses broke down. Bulgy inadvertently confessed that he witnessed a bag of soil flying into the water tower and didn't warn anyone, which was overheard by Sir Topham Hatt. To say he was a little upset was a huge understatement and, as it turns out, it was Thomas who eventually took Bulgy back to the bus depot to be repaired.

But that was far from all the exciting news! Apparently, just a short while earlier, Gordon was finishing his last train when a bale of straw caught fire just under the bridge outside of the Killdane station. Due to some quick thinking and help from Maggie, Gordon was able to put the fire out using some of the water in his tender. The fire chief was so impressed that he was going to recommend Gordon for the Queen's Fire Service Medal! This was thrilling news since engines normally didn't get medals. Of course, Jim and Maggie were also going to be rewarded for their part.

Gordon, of course, was exaggerating the story as much as his crew let him, which wasn't much.

It was Alice who first saw the flash of light coming from Shaina's chest as the younger girl turned to leave. "Hey, whatcha got there?"

Shaina smiled and held up her whistle for Alice to see. Alice's eyes widened as she noticed the symbol in the whistle. Nearly every engine on the island had seen that symbol appear somewhere on them. And none of them knew where it came from. But here was something connecting the symbol to the girl that had appeared out of the blue.

Alice whispered her discovery to Ben, who later texted it to the other crews. Something about Shaina had literally made its mark on the railway. No one knew exactly what, but they were certainly going to watch her and find out.

After all the humans left, the engines talked about Shaina in hushed whispers.

"I don't see what all the fuss is about. She's just another silly little railfan," Gordon huffed, cross that the attention had been taken away from his own story.

"But, Gordon," Percy replied cheekily, "don't you like railfans? They take pictures of you and things…"

Gordon declined to comment.

Edward spoke up next. "She's obviously not used to engines like us. Henry, you remember how she reacted when she first saw you, right?"

"Of course! She seemed scared to death!"

"Guys?" Thomas interrupted, sounding thoughtful. "Do you think… she's one of them?"

A tense, excited silence fell over the shed as the engines processed what this could mean.

"I… I don't know," Edward finally spoke up, fighting back a smile. "We haven't seen one since… since just after Christopher stopped visiting."

The engines agreed. It had been far too long. The last time one came, they said things were very stormy and people were very upset about what others were doing.

"What does this mean?" Percy finally spoke up.

Edward sighed and looked down towards the mysterious house. "I don't know, Percy. I just don't know."

A/N: Here we are, ladies and gents! Chapter 6! Thanks to Sunny and tweetsie12 for reviewing!

tweetsie, thank you so much for the info! It'll certainly come in use! Don't worry, Christmas Tracks will be updated. Eventually. Either way, if you liked Christmas Tracks, I imagine you'll like what I've got planned for later.

Also, interesting theory, but no. Dowager Hatt is not D. Nice attempt, though. I forgot she existed for a moment, to be honest. XD

I gotta say, this is my longest chapter yet! For this one, I adapted two stories, as I wanted to showcase a bit more of a chaotic day on the North Western. Can anyone tell me which ones? You'll get a shout out at the start of the next chapter! Here's a hint: One of them is not from the TV show!

And, yeah, people are starting to pick up on how strange it is that Shaina showed up out of the blue. She's certainly making an impression, after all. Not that they're mad, though! Far from it! Seems like they're excited...

Anyways, what could happen next time? Well, no one knows what someone could find when they start to explore...