HE'S MY BROTHER
Chapter Nine - Holiday Gig
Lammergeier did indeed view his spell of rest in the Knapford roundhouse as punishment for his disobedience and by day three was so well-recovered and so antsy that he thought seriously about asking one of the other crewmen who showed up early that morning to go fetch Christophe Pelletier for him so they could talk. What he wanted to do was apologize to his driver in the hopes that the man would take pity on him and let him get back to work. What he realized upon further reflection was that his plan was doomed to failure because Lammergeier wasn't sorry at all for what he'd done and Christophe would know it and then he'd just get into more trouble for lying and trying to manipulate one of the few humans he couldn't manipulate. He wound up falling into one of the sourest of his sour funks yet before torpor mercifully took him away and he was still sleeping off his disappointment and anger when his shed-mates, who actually had jobs and lives, began returning late in the afternoon.
He woke up fast, though, when Adler told him he had some exciting news to pass on. Apparently, his brother had stopped at the Knapford station not ten minutes ago to finish off the last of a passenger job, and Christophe had been there, coming out of Sir Topham Hatt's office. As soon as he'd seen the other 48 at the platform, he'd come over to exchange pleasantries with the engine and his crew before informing them of a change in Lammergeier's duties, and Adler had been the one chosen to relay the new info. Which amounted to this: Lammergeier's snowplow would remain in the back of the shed for the time being. Instead, he would accompany Adler up to the Sodor Steamworks the next day to be outfitted as a holiday engine.
Lammergeier didn't know what to make of this new development. Adler knew what the job would entail and was all excited about Lammergeier joining him, and Lammergeier had to admit to himself that there was a part of him which loved the idea of doing something with his brother in tandem. On the other hand, he was a little suspicious about this business of being a holiday exhibit and chuffing around spreading holiday cheer…he wasn't exactly in a cheerful mood at the moment. Still, it would get him out of the roundhouse, and as the evening wore on, Adler's enthusiasm began to rub off on him in a big way.
And so it was that the next morning saw both 48s steaming up to the works at Crovan's Gate bright and early. There, Lammergeier saw for the first time what the humans had planned for him. He was to carry a colourful metal sign similar to the display Adler carried when he was doing his tourist gigs, except that this one read NORTH WESTERN RAILWAY and beneath it, in even larger lettering, HAPPY HOLIDAYS. That was just the start of it. Once the sign was in place, a number of large evergreen boughs were in turn wired to his display posts to form a green living framework and a string of Christmas lights was wound through the boughs. Several more strings were fixed all along the chains on his railings and even the exterior roof on his cab got some lights. Then came the decorations, huge shiny bulbs and bells, broad ribbons and bows, and sprays of fake holly berries, both ruby red and white. One by one, all were securely tied into place until both engines had been rendered relentlessly festive. The only real difference between them was that instead of HAPPY HOLIDAYS, Adler's sign proclaimed SEASON'S GREETINGS. The snarky side of Lammergeier felt like telling the men that they'd gotten it wrong. He was the engine who was supposed to wear the SEASON'S GREETINGS sign…Adler was the HAPPY HOLIDAYS loco. But Christophe, who was still present and hooking up the generators and batteries to run the lights, would probably just roll his eyes and shut down that assertion in a hurry and ruin his fun.
The fitters who'd help decorate Lammergeier and who were still big fans of their 'Lambchop', told him that he looked great. Lammergeier started to feel pretty good. Even if he didn't like people per se, he did have an ego and liked being looked at and admired, and if he looked anything at all like Adler, who'd been parked in the bay right next to his, his colourful makeover should prove quite the attention grabber. Lammergeier decided that he wouldn't mind at all just chuffing around and letting people applaud his looks. He probably wouldn't even have to talk to them. Christophe and Surendra could take care of that end of it.
Adler was even happier than Lammergeier. It was the first time in a long while that he'd seen a real spark of interest in his brother's eyes or seen him regarding the humans clustered around him with something other than boredom or irritation. Being done up for a big event—and on Sodor, the holiday celebrations were always a big event—was probably reminding him of his earlier days when he'd enjoyed life and been a fun engine to have around. Maybe, just maybe, he was starting to thaw out of his moodiness and get over himself…
By the time both engines returned to Knapford, Lammergeier was actually starting to gloat about how good the pair of them looked and was looking around for someone to impress. Adler was delighted. He was so grateful to the Fat Controller for having made the decision to include Lammergeier in the festivities this year. It was, after all, exactly the sort of thing they'd both been made for.
From then on, the two 48s began their days near noontime and worked on well into the evenings when their holiday lights were at their finest. Many of their jobs involved pulling passenger coaches stuffed full of happy holiday-goers to the events put on by the various towns. Adi especially enjoyed pulling the open-topped carriages used to transport the Sodor Brass Band from place to place, all the more so when he and his crew discovered that the musicians had made a point of learning the carol 'O Tannenbaum' for them. Then came an extra-special event at the Town Square in Tidmouth, held throughout the afternoon and which culminated come sunset of the lighting of the huge Christmas tree set before the town hall. Both engines attended this one for no other reason than to serve as colourful backdrops and photo opportunities…and Lammergeier learned to his dismay that there were some consequences of his having ingratiated himself with Sir Topham Hatt which he really hadn't anticipated…
In short, this was the event when Sir Topham played Santa for the kids and he always arrived in appropriate style aboard his favourite little blue tank engine Thomas, lugging a sack stuffed with candies and small gifts which he'd happily hand out to all the excited children present until his stash was done. After that, it was over to one of the 48s to take part in one of the newest additions to the celebrations, the chance to take a picture of one's youngsters as they posed with Santa Hatt next to the festive signage carried by one of his holiday engines. And this year, not surprisingly, Sir Topham Hatt's choice for the honour was Lambchop.
Lammergeier really couldn't believe it at first, when they first pushed a little stand with steps up against him so people could climb up on his running board from the platform. It seemed ridiculously dangerous not to mention a violation of umpteen railway regulations, surely, to be letting a bunch of squirming brats clamber around on him! But what could he say? It was his owner himself okaying the nonsense! To make it worse, even his crew got into it. Christophe and Surendra both exchanged their uniform caps for a set of ludicrous-looking elf hats, after which they began assisting the families who wanted pictures of their kids with Santa Hatt. The two 48s had been parked facing one another on the same track so Adler had a great view of all the fun throughout. He couldn't help grinning at his brother's obvious discomfort which he was trying desperately to hide and sometimes fought an urge to laugh aloud as the afternoon's torturous photo session wore on and tested Lammergeier's tolerance and duplicitous ways to their utmost.
Although Adler considered Lammergeier's being forced to accommodate their master's wishes as having its comical side, Lammergeier didn't find it funny in any way, shape or form. He wound up feeling quite angry and insulted, although he successfully hid it, and afterwards no longer much enjoyed being viewed by all the holiday-makers or transporting them around. The problem in his mind was that the people of this Island were just too darn familiar with engines. Lammergeier liked being admired from afar. He saw no reason why anyone needed to press up to him or even get close in order to look at him—it wasn't like he was hard to see! By the time Christmas Day rolled around, he was already sick of his new duties and wishing that he could trade all his holiday finery for his snowplow and get back to doing something genuinely useful. Unfortunately, he learned that he would have to carry his decorations until after the New Year.
A few days after Christmas, there came a window of excellent clear weather that was forecast to last for at least forty-eight hours and Sir Topham decided to cash in another of the ideas he'd had when he first acquired Lammergeier and send both engines over to the Mainland on a job. There were a number of trucks down at the Brendam Docks already loaded with goods who'd been waiting for better weather and whose delivery could be put off, although not forever, and all were pulled out on short notice and combined with even more freight cars loaded with perishables which would find a ready market for New Year's. The two 48s thus set off late in the morning of the first good day under brilliant sunshine and clear skies, Adler leading, Lammergeier acting as the back engine, heading for the big goods yard of Bridlington on the Mainland.
It turned into a lovely journey. The train was very long, with more trucks and cars and weight involved than either engine had ever managed on their own, yet together they handled it well and with strength to spare. As usual, the trucks were terrified of the two German locomotives and their progression was uncommonly peaceful as well as uneventful and they made excellent time. A single stop for refueling and to take on water was all the engines needed and the crews decided to work through lunch and chow down on sandwiches on the job, and they rolled into Bridlington in time to deliver their goods and get the locos parked side by side on a pair of parallel sidings in a secure area that would be kept partially floodlit all night before anyone even took a break for tea.
Both 48s earned heaps of praise from their crews that day and they deserved it. They hadn't put a wheel wrong once during the trip, their train was safe and the perishables at least were already being unloaded, and they'd looked very smart while going about their business, just as Sir Topham wanted…extra smart since they were still wearing their holiday garb. A few people, yard workers with some time to kill, began coming by now and then and looking at them from a distance as the afternoon wore on. Once the horn announcing the end of the day shift sounded, the number of curious onlookers swelled and a good two dozen men or more who'd just finished work came over to have a closer look at the visitors. They gathered by the siding tracks in front of the two locomotives, studying them with critical eyes, taking note of their decorations. Some of the men didn't look very friendly and Adler was pretty sure he knew why. It was probably hard for them to see anything German on British soil.
"So them's the Hatts' two Olympic engines, is that right?" one of the men remarked.
"Yeah, built for the Nazi Olympics, that's what I read," another confirmed. "That's why they got their leading axels set so far forward. Gives 'em room to carry those displays."
"Looks kinda nice the way they've got them fixed up for the holidays. I like the railings…" The man who'd last spoken paused to make eye contact with Adler. "Hey, you speak English?"
"Yes, sir," Adler responded at once. "I am pleased to meet you. My name is Adler, but you can call me Adi."
"Adi, huh? What about the other one, what's his name?"
"Lammergeier."
"Say what?"
"Lammergeier. Vhich is vhy we call him Lambchop," Adler said, smiling, and was relieved to hear a couple of the men snicker a little. "Lambchop is still working on his English, I am afraid, so may not say much."
"Oh. Okay. I guess you two are brothers, yeah?"
"Yes. We were both made at ze Borsig Works, in Berlin, and zhey made only three of us. Ve vere ze Raubvogel class and zhey named us after birds of prey."
"What's a…Lum…er, what Lambchop is?" asked a different man.
"A Lammergeier is a sort of very large vulture. Ze German name means 'lamb vulture'."
"Ah, so Lambchop! Okay, I gotcha now. Your name means 'eagle', doesn't it?"
"Yes it does. Ze people on Sodor sometimes call me Adi ze Eagle."
The slight tension that had been present within the crowd was starting to ease. Adler continued trying to project an air of friendly compliance and wished Lammergeier would back him up a little, but his brother was pulling his blank, don't-understand-a-word act and just looked bored. It was up to Adler to carry on socializing alone, and now that the ice was broken and the men looking at them knew that at least one of the visiting engines could understand them, their ensuing conversation livened up and became quite enjoyable. And, as usual, the talk soon turned to one specific, popular topic.
"Did y' ever see Hitler?" one of the men asked.
"Numerous times," replied Adler. "He met us at event openings sometimes, at ze stations."
"Wot, y' mean 'e didn't ride yer trains?"
"No. He had a staff automobile he preferred to use."
"Why?" inquired the same man who'd asked about Hitler. "Didn't he like travelling by rail?"
Adler had a rare moment of inspiration. "I zink," he said, sounding very serious, "it vas because it is easier to check ze auto for bombs zhan a train."
As he'd hoped, a little ripple of laughter went through the crowd. Even the few individuals who'd been giving him hard looks relaxed and finally dropped their attitudes. "His own people were trying to do him in, were they?" one of them remarked.
"Oh, more zhan you know. Unfortunately, zhey never succeeded."
All the humans smiled after that comment. They chatted on with the 48 for a while longer, asking him more general questions about his class and past service, and before they left, assured Adler that his train would be the first one fully unloaded in the morning and that he ought to be good to go by ten…eleven at the latest. He thanked them gravely in return and wished them a good night and a good upcoming New Year's. And then he and Lammergeier were alone again. He looked at his brother, disappointed.
"You could have said a few words to them, you know. Even just a 'hello' would have been nice."
"What's the point?" Lammergeier said, sounding apathetic.
"I don't even know what that means," said Adler. Now he was just puzzled. Lammergeier had seemed quite eager about their trip earlier in the day. But ever since their train had been broken up and the trucks shunted away, he'd gone quiet and his enthusiasm had plummeted. To try and cheer him up again, Adler told him his latest news about the upcoming tourist season.
"Getting that new excursion train is almost a certainty now," he related. "And the best thing is that now Sir Topham is thinking of having it painted up in a special way so that it would look good being pulled by all of us…you, me, or any of the Canadians. And they're going to be really nice coaches, too. Erich told me that we made a lot of money for the railway this past summer so they can afford something top-notch and deluxe. They're even looking at what's available on the Continent, in case something historical comes up for sale or lease, like my coaches. Oh! And that's the other thing I wanted to tell you! When I go up to Vicarstown later this coming spring to pick up my coaches for the new season, Sir Topham already said you should come along so Missus Beauchamp can finally meet you. She always comes along to see her coaches off when they go back to work, and once she approves you, we can share pulling them on the tours. It'd be fun to be on display up at Ulfstead myself now and then and watch you bring the tourists in, don't you think?"
Far from being pepped up or even interested, Lammergeier had simply gotten a very weird expression on his face while Adler was speaking. The instant his brother was done, he muttered, "I don't want to do passenger work anymore."
Adler regarded him with dismay. He didn't even have to ask as to why Lammergeier's feelings had shifted so dramatically. It was his blasted dislike for humans again, interfering with something he'd once seemed enthused over. Bad enough that Adler had to avoid bringing up any mention of interacting with his human friends during their everyday personal chitchat, but now it seemed that even talking about much of the work he did would soon be out of bounds, and all because Lammergeier had grown to detest people so much that he didn't even want them riding behind him anymore on a train! And what would he do if he were asked to exhibit himself up at Ulfstead again? Protest that too? Resort to something worse and possibly dangerous? It just seemed crazy to Adler. How could Lammergeier even think of refusing certain types of work; it was going to get him into major trouble and possibly even taken out of service if he didn't watch himself.
The more Adler thought about the repercussions of what Lammergeier had just said, the more depressed he became. Despite everything, he still loved his brother dearly and couldn't stand the possibility of losing him again. Being shackled as to what they could discuss together already seemed a tragedy to Adler. Hearing that Lammergeier was considering sabotaging himself for such stupid and infuriatingly inexplicable personal reasons was more than he could bear.
It was all too much. The current state of their relationship and now this on top of it made Adler so unhappy that he HAD to say something.
"Lammergeier," he ventured, "I don't like that we have this big disagreement dividing us. It's making me miserable and I don't think you're happy about it either. We're also brothers, you and I. It's a miracle that we found each other again at all given all that's happened, and we shouldn't be wasting it by quarrelling with one another over differences of opinion. Brothers ought to be able to talk about anything, even difficult things. I've tried to respect your point of view, but I don't think you realize just how much I owe the special humans in my life and why I care for them as much as I do. Erich…I'd be dead if it weren't for him. Missus Beauchamp, she loves those coaches of hers so very, very much, yet trusts me to pull them, and she got Erich and Dieter out of Germany for me. And Pierre and Denise… You have no idea how distressed and confused I was when I first got here. They were both so kind to me, right from the start, and Denise gave me so much time and helped me make sense of it all, all the things that happened to me and what I saw… And she was the only person who could speak German to me…I know you find that a comfort too. You have to… Don't you?"
He gazed longingly at his brother, hoping for even a hint of shared sentiment. But all he got back was a face of cold stone, not a shred of warmth or sympathy to be seen. "I wish you'd at least tell me why you hate them so," he pleaded.
Lammergeier's expression became, if anything, even colder.
"You wouldn't be able to understand," he said.
Adler looked away and said nothing more. His feelings had been badly hurt.
Elsewhere, at about the same time, Lammergeier's crew had just finished up an evening's worth of schmoozing with some of the local railroad workers whilst stuffing themselves full of good tavern fare and were returning to their shared hotel room. As soon as they got inside, Christophe tossed his coat on his bed and said, "Okay, that's it! I know I said I wouldn't ask you about any independent conclusions you might have reference Lammergeier until after New Year's, but it's only a few days more and I can't wait any longer. Do you have any, any ideas about what's going on in that engine's head?"
Surendra smiled as he hung his own coat up properly in the provided wardrobe. They'd had a splendid trip earlier up to Bridlington, and the opportunity to spend the night on the Mainland, sleep in in the morning, and make their way back to Knapford tomorrow at their leisure and all on their railway's dime to boot, was making it into a real working holiday for the two men. He'd suspected that Christophe might want to take advantage of their comfortable setting to troubleshoot a bit before they retired and had already given his expected question some thought.
"Actually, yes. I do think I know what is going on with our engine. I think the soul inside him remembers that it was once human."
"What?"
"Oh, he wouldn't remember it on a conscious level. He just senses that there is something profoundly wrong. He desires a return to his former status, to be on an equal footing with other men, not to serve them. That would be his fondest wish, although he doesn't even understand why. I am sorry, Christophe. This probably isn't what you want to hear. But I do believe that this is the source of what troubles him."
Christophe felt stunned. He'd heard the reincarnation theory before, which did explain some things but not others, and of course it fell naturally within Surendra's Hindu beliefs. Then a snippet of memory flashed through his mind, himself telling Denise that Lammergeier was likely coming across as rude and disrespectful because he was relating to them as though they were other engines. He'd never even considered the other possibility, that Lammergeier had been relating to them as though he were human.
The little engineer sat down on the end of the bed. Hard.
"Well damn, Surendra," he exclaimed. "How's he supposed to get over something like that?"
"He cannot 'get over' it, my friend. All he can do is learn to accept his situation, just as all of us must learn to accept what we are born into. It's the only way to achieve a satisfying and happy life."
That was the problem, Christophe thought as he kept sitting there, still stunned and feeling increasingly glum. He wasn't at all sure that Lammergeier could learn to accept anything.
to be continued...