Percy and the Sunflower

It was a bright and sunny day on the Island of Sodor and Percy was excited. With all the other trains busy doing other jobs he was given the special.

"Percy, you are to go to Brendam Docks to pick up some very special sunflowers" The Fat Controller said, "You're to take them to farmer McCall"

"Yes Sir!" Percy grinned, "Thank you Sir"

"Be sure you don't get distracted they're very precious cargo are sunflowers" The Fat Controller told him, "They only bloom once a year"

"Yes Sir" Percy said

Percy felt very grand.

When Percy was waiting at the dockyard for the sunflowers to be loaded onto his flatbed he met James on his way over to Natford, he was stopping to pick up some milk crates,

"What's that you got there Percy?" James asked

"Sunflowers" Percy beamed

"Sunflowers! Be sure they don't set your buffer's on fire" James giggled

Percy was a little worried now,

"Peter" Percy called to his driver, "Will the sunflowers set my buffers on fire?"

"Not in a million years Percy" Peter called back

At that moment Thomas rolled into the dockyard,

"Hello Percy, you look worried"

"Oh hello Thomas, the Fat Cotroller gave me a special, sunflowers...James told me they could set my buffers on fire...Peter says that's not true but I'm scared now"

"Don't be scared Percy, look there they are, they're yellow flowers, they only reason they're call sunflowers is because they look like a sun and they turn their heads to wherever the sun happens to be, they need the sun but they're not as hot as the sun" Thomas told Percy

"Oh...they are pretty" Percy smiled, feeling better now

Everything was running smoothly until the sky clouded over. Percy remembered that Thomas had said sunflowers need sun but there wasn' any now,

"Oh no! I need to find the flowers some sunshine" Percy panicked, "Where can I see over Sodor...? I know"

Percy raced to Gordan' hill and up to the very top,

"What're you doing Percy, this isn't the way?" Peter said in question

Percy was too busy trying to find the flowers some sunshine to hear Peter. Percy looked across the island and found a beam of light by the lighthouse and off down the hill he shot,

"These flowers need sunlight!" Percy called, "Got to be fast, got to be fast, got to be fast"

In no time at all Percy was pulled up by the lighthouse, overlooking the beach,

"Hello Percy, what're you doing here?" The lighthouse keeper asked

"Oh, hello...I'm trying to look after these sunflowers. I was on my way to farmer Mcall with them when the sun went behind the clouds. Thomas told me sunflowers need sunlight so when I ran out of sunlight I went up Gordan' hill to find some and here I am, I just have to wait for the clouds to go away"

"Percy, sunflowers will find the sun for you and they only bloom when it's warm" The lighthouse keeper told Percy

Percy frowned,

"Oh dear, the breeze coming in from the sea will be too cold for them"

"That's not what I meant Percy, they only bloom in the summer..." But Percy was gone.

This time Percy climbed a bigger hill to Ulfsted Castle until he reached Daisy coming the other way. They both broke and stared at each other,

"Oh no!"

"What're you doing here Percy?" Daisy asked

"I was trying to find my sunflowers some sun and thought I could get a good view of the island from here but no I remember what Gordon told me last winter, he said the higher up a hill you are the colder it is and sunflowers can't handle the cold...I have to go I'm sorry!"

With that poor Percy reversed down the hill and round the corner, convinced he was going to kill the precious sunflowers and that the Fat Controller would never trust him again. Round the corner he went, straight through the signal and ploughed into James waiting nearby,

crates flew everywhere.

Amazingly the sunflowers were undamaged due to how tightly packaged up they were but the Fat Cotroller was angry...until Percy told him his story and then he was angry with James.

"James! You have caused confusion and delay!" The Fat Controller boomed, "Sunflowers do not set things on fire!"

At that moment there was a spark and a crate of flowers caught fire,

"You were saying sir?" James grinned delighted until there was a big bang, "Oh!"

Very quickly the fire was put out and the rescue team were called to retrieve Percy and James. The Fat Contoller then called Milly in to investigate.

Milly used to be a detective before one faitful trip to Sodor when Percy' driver had been abducted and she loved Percy and her Uncle' trains so much that she decided to become a driver instead but was always on hand when a mystery needed solving.

Milly took her time and then presented the Fat Controller with a ciggarette bud.

"But our drivers don't smoke and our engines run on coal and water" The Fat Controller said in dismay,

"The diesels were on that line today if there was someone working in the school the track runs past, smoking then they could have been in a hurry and thrown it onto the track, the sparks from the crash would have relit it and then add deisel to the mix your sunflowers went up"

At that moment farmer McCall arrived,

"My sunflowers!" He gasped

"It's only one crate" The Fat Controller said

"We don't know, who but we do know how" Milly told the farmer but she didn't tell him about Percy' behaviour or James' part in the story because she knew Percy would be feeling very silly right now and James would be scared,

The farmer accepted this, Thomas was coupled up and delivered he rest of the sunflowers,

"Milly! I have something to tell you" Thomas said, "I told Percy about the sunflowers needing sunlight"

"Percy got the wrong end of the stick, that is not your fault. He's a young train, who thinks literally but thank you for being honest Thomas" Milly said kindly

Thomas sighed with relief.

Milly left to find Percy and James in the repair yard,

"I'm sorry I was so silly" Percy sighed

"I'm sorry I said the sunflowers could catch fire" James sighed

"But don't you see? We're lucky it was a flatbed, if either of you had been carrying passengers today or hadn't crashed where you did people could have been seriously hurt. That fire was going to be sparked by something, just as well it wasn't a carraige full of people" Milly told them

"You mean...we're not in trouble?" Percy said

"Well, Uncle is still upset about the delays and you going round the houses instead of heading to the farm like you were supposed to but we've known you long enough to know you'd have a good reason Percy so in this instance neither of you are in trouble"

"James is going to need new buffers, as is Percy and a new coat of paint" Kevin told Milly

James beamed,

"Thanks Percy!"

Percy laughed awkwardly.

The nexr week the Fat Controller gave Percy another special as long as he promissed not to get distracted and he never did again...

The End