Chapter Three: Slip-up on the Viaduct!

Gordon didn't like Helen at all.

"Another Great Westerner on this railway?!" he grumbled, "As if Duck and Oliver weren't bad enough, now the Fat Controller has to go and get one to… Of all things, act as a backup engine for the express?!"

Helen stayed silent while at the same time was very upset... She had no idea why Gordon was being so abrasive when they had only just met.

"Why can't you be grateful for that, Gordon?" argued Henry, "James and I can't pull the express for you all the time, we've got enough of our own work to do."

"We do?" asked James.

Gordon wasn't having it. "Of course my dear Henry, I understand that… But, the Fat Controller had to get… That, of all things?! If he wanted to get another engine to help me pull the express, he should have looked for a Doncaster-drawn one. Look at Flying Scotsman, my brother! He'd be perfect!"

"I'm quite positive Flying Scotsman is happy to be the only steam engine allowed to run on the Other Railway…" said Henry.

"And rightfully so…" ventured Gordon, "He's much better than that… That Westerner… I never boast, but I'm quite positive she's incapable of pulling the express. Just look at what happened to Emily-"

"Gordon… Can you not bring that up? Please?..." interrupted Emily.

"No Emily… You can't hide the truth."

"Shut up, Gordon!" burst out Henry, "One of these days, you'll get what's coming to you. For an engine that only has one surviving brother, I'd think you'd welcome any steam engine after what we've gone through these past few years."

Gordon huffed, and left to fetch the express.

"One of these days you all… One of these days…" grumbled Henry.

"Henry…" said Helen, a little concerned, "Do you think I'm capable of taking the express?"

"Of course, Helen!" said Henry, now more cheerful, "If I can do it, so can you. Gordon's just being very cocky, he'll come around… Eventually."

"I thought I could do it too…" said Emily sadly, "You'll probably be better at it than me, Helen…"

Meanwhile on this day, Clark Wilkins had been put off his suspension, and was now trusted in driving Gordon. He had learned his lesson and was now much more focused on water… A little too focused...

"I'll show them, I'll show them…" he hissed, "What other engine besides me is suitable for the express?!"

Gordon clanked and hissed right out of the station! He was sure to prove that Helen wasn't worthy of the express.

"No need for a Westerner... She should know her place, at least Emily does!"

Later, Gordon had to make a stop at Maron… Normally he would fly right through here, but he was low on water and needed a refill.

"I'm not gonna make the same mistake again…" said Clark, paranoid. "Alistar, fill the tank to its fullest. We can't risk running out of water."

"As you wish" said the Fireman, and he soon filled up Gordon's tank.

"Whew… I should have no trouble now…" though Clark.

But he would… It happened when they reached the viaduct. As they made their way, Gordon started having a wheelslip. His struggle made Clark worry.

"What's going on?!"

"Gordon's having a wheelslip," cried his fireman, "put down some sand, that oughta help!"

But Clark, not wanting Gordon to stall, closed Gordon's regulator, then reopened it again, much too quickly! This was a mistake. Gordon was still slipping, worse than before. Clark tried closing it again, but now it was jammed!

"Alistar, what's going on?!" shrieked Clark, "I can't close the regulator!"

"It's jammed you idiot! Gordon's still slipping!"

"What?! What'll I do?!"

"You'd better think of something!"

Clark tried everything he could think of to get Gordon to stop slipping, but he couldn't think of anything! Gordon was screaming in pain.

"Help! Help!" cried Gordon, "What's happening to me?! I can't breathe!"

Then Clark tried repositioning the reversing gear, this, in turn, spun it into its full-forward position, and Gordon's wheels now spun even faster than before!

"Someone pleeeaaassseeee… Make it stop!" wailed Gordon.

Then it happened. Gordon's cylinder covers blew right off! Steam blew everywhere and he disappeared into a cloud of smoke… But in that cloud of smoke the sound of disintegrating metal could also be heard… Then, like magic. It all stopped. Gordon stopped slipping, and once the cloud of smoke disappeared, everything was revealed. Gordon's valve gear was completely destroyed and mangled from all the slipping. In addition, Clark had injured both of his arms… Needless to say, neither engine nor crew were going any further. All Gordon could do was whimper in pain.

"Why didn't I listen to Henry… I take everything back… Just… Anything would be better than being in this much pain…"

And he meant it. Gordon didn't say anything when Helen was brought in to rescue him… With the Fat Controller on board. And needless to say, he was extremely furious once he learned what had happened.

"What. Is the meaning. Of this?!" he bellowed, "I gave you another chance, Mr. Wilkins, and now you've gone and damaged one of my engines severely! Did you learn nothing from the accident you caused with Emily?"

"Please Topham, I had learned from last time!" begged Clark pathetically, "I made sure Gordon's boiler was filled completely!"

"No." said the Fat Controller, "You know how this happened? Because you overfilled the boiler. That, in turn, caused the boiler to prime when Gordon started slipping, and that is what caused the regulator to jam open, and you know the rest…"

Clark literally could not say anything else...

"So, in short…" said the Fat Controller finally, "You're fired. We will provide you services for your injury, but once that's over, I do not wish to see you on my railway ever again…"

Clark was taken to the hospital… And Helen took the train on to the next station. There, she shunted Gordon onto a siding, and took the Express on her own the rest of the way. Although she felt sorry for Gordon, Helen quite enjoyed herself!

"Woo! Look at me now! Pulling the Wild 'Nor Wester!"

She whistled happily at any other engine as she passed. Her journey went by smoothly, and once she made it to Barrow-In-Furness and had the other railway take over, she made her way back to Sodor to check in on Gordon… She found him at the works, since Crovan had already brought him there.

"Oh… Hello Helen…" said Gordon sheepishly, "How was your trip?..."

"It was good, but… I came here because I wanted to check on you…" Helen was extremely concerned, "Are you doing alright?"

"… No… No I'm not…" answered Gordon, "My valve gear was completely disintegrated and it was so, so painful… I thought it was the end of me in that moment…"

"I don't think so… At least you're safe now and in the proper care…" comforted Helen.

"Yes, but… I'm sorry Helen… I'm sorry I was so boastful earlier… I'm way too biased towards the LNER… I let my boastfulness blind me to the fact that there are good express engines on the Great Western as well…"

"Don't worry Gordon… I accept your apology. But don't worry about that now, I'd rather you focus more on getting better. Remember, what happened to you today wasn't your fault…"

"I know… Thank you Helen… And good luck covering for me…" said Gordon at last

"Anytime, and thank you Gordon"

After that, Helen puffed away. When she returned to the sheds later that night, she was disgusted to find the other engines teasing Gordon.

"So what was that you heard, Henry?" said James cheekily, "You say that Gordon was being way too… 'Slippy' today?"

"Pretty much!" said Henry, joining in on the fun, "He was slipping like there was no tomorrow. No wonder he got stuck on his hill all those years ago!"

Helen couldn't believe how they were acting like this, "How could you two be so quick to talk about Gordon behind his back like that?! Do you not realize how much of a sorry state he's in?"

"I didn't hear much," said Henry, "But whatever it was… It served him right for how he treated you this morning."

"Henry, he's in pain. Tons of pain." explained Helen, "His valve gear is almost completely gone and his was overfilled with water, which caused his cylinders to completely burst. I saw him before I came back and he's feeling very miserable… And even apologized to me for putting me down earlier. Does any engine deserve that?"

Henry and all the other engines were really shocked at hearing this.

"No… No he doesn't…" said Henry, sadly, "I wouldn't want to be in that state either…"

"Exactly…" said Helen, "I hope you are sorry for that, because it'll probably be a while before he's back in service… Thank goodness we have me now."

"I'll say… I'm sorry for what I said before, and I sure hope Gordon gets well soon." said Henry.

"Thank you…" said Helen, relieved. "It's my duty now to be… Well, as good as him…"

The other engines nodded in agreement. And although they were worried about Gordon, what they didn't know was that Emily was in her own pain… She had felt like she had no place on the mainline ever since Helen arrived... I hope she'll find her own ground though, don't you?

To be concluded...