Lighten The Load
Moral: not letting what others say get to you
Duke is one of the oldest engines on the Island of Sodor. With the knowledge and experience he has, he remains one of the wisest engines working on the Thin Controller's railway.
PEEP-PEEP!
PEEP-PEEP!
Duke greeted Skarloey, who greeted him back as he leave the station with his passengers. Then Duke waited as he was filled up with water, taking a deep breath and smiling as he shut his eyes.
Duke is considered a hero amongst all the engines and is widely respected for that title. He can, however, find himself subject at times to teasing from his old friends: Falcon and Stuart, nowadays respectively known as Sir Handel and Peter Sam.
Duke chuffed into the Transfer Yards as Sir Handel pushed a line of trucks down the line to where Peter Sam was pushing a line of trucks up the line. The two line of trucks collided as the two engines pushed from both sides, Sir Handel going red in the face as he left off steam, and Duke watching with disapproval.
"Watch it, you two," he warned them, as he pulled up alongside. "That would never suit his grace."
"We know what we're…doing…, Granpuff!" Sir Handel groaned, as he pushed forward.
Peter Sam confidently pushed him down into a siding, and then chuckled.
"Nice try, Sir Handel," he teased, but stopped chuckling and sighed when Duke rolled up towards him.
"You know," he reminded him. "Engines in my day solved their conflicts with caution, and were…"
"Seen but not heard, Granpuff?" Peter Sam asked cheekily.
"We know, Granpuff. We know," Sir Handel sighed, as he pulled his trucks away, Peter Sam whistling as he pulled them away in the opposite direction.
"Hmph!" Duke huffed, as he made his way further along the line. "Impudent scalawags! Can't teach an engine a thing or two these days, can I?"
Duke had a good relationship with his long-time friends, but sometimes they could get up to mischief and Duke didn't know what do about it.
Early one morning, Sir Handel and Peter Sam were up and about, ready for a useful day's work. But Duke was still asleep.
"Wake up, Granpuff!" Peter Sam whistled cheekily as he passed Duke, waking the old engine with surprise as Sir Handel whistled loudly and chuffed past as well.
Duke yawned as he slowly chuffed out of Crovan's Gate shed and out beside the station, watching James whistling as he chuffed in with his passenger train, and then passed Emily with her own coaches.
"Mmm," Duke sighed, as he made his way slowly along the line. "Another glorious morning." He took a deep breath and smelled the lovely fresh air all around while the bright blue sky up above.
Duke chuffed on his usual morning to the Engine Depot, where the Thin Controller Mr. Percival was waiting on the platform.
Mr. Percival looked at his watch before looking up as Duke approached the platform, slowly letting off steam.
"Ah, Duke," Mr. Percivcal said at last. "You're up and about. Splendid."
"Aren't I always, sir?" Duke asked confusedly.
Mr. Percival laughed.
"Of course. Of course. Ahem." He cleared his throat, as he thought of what to say next to Duke. "I have a special treat for you this morning, Duke. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."
"Hmm. A surprise? Never had much one of the sort," Duke wondered. "At least not for along time."
"Easy does it now, Duke," Mr. Percival chuckled. Then he sighed as he explained what it was. "Anyway, Duke, I've gotten many compliments from stationmasters and passengers all round our line, and I've figured that you've been doing such a good job with pulling passengers that perhaps you could use with a bit of a change."
"A change, sir?"
"Yes, Duke. I'm sending you up for a trial run at the Blue Mountain Quarry. Just to see how you get on working there with the rest of my engines."
"Hmm. Sounds reasonable."
"And if you do well, perhaps I can have you work part-time there while still keeping your passengers well and looked after."
"Mm. Well, I guess it'd beat waiting 'round in the shed till my next passenger train is due out, wouldn't it?"
"Exactly," Mr. Percival chuckled, as Luke whistled and pulled into the station beside Duke. "Run along now, Duke. Luke will show you the way up to the quarry."
"Come along, Duke!" Luke whistled cheerily. "We've got quite a journey ahead of us."
Duke sighed and smiled, as he followed the little green engine slowly out of the station. Mr. Percival smiled and turned back towards the platform.
Duke followed Luke along the line up to the Blue Mountain Quarry. He did feel confident about working there, though he did have a couple questions.
"So, Luke," he wondered curiously, as he rolled up alongside the little green engine smiling back at him. "What's it like up there at the Quarry?"
Luke thought for a moment.
"Well," he explained, "it is quite busy, and can get rather messy at times, but that's the fun in it, really."
"Mm. Shouldn't be too much trouble for me then."
"I think you'll really enjoy it," Luke continued. "It's the place where slate and stone are supplied and transported to places around Sodor. There's plenty of work to do and many deliveries are due to be made out across the Island."
"Hmm," Duke thought wisely. "I'm sure I'll get on just splendidly then."
And he continued to follow Luke along the route that led to the quarry.
The Quarry was in its usual bustling state. Engines chuffed to and fro with trucks of stone and slate, and Paxton was there, picking an order of slate for Ffarquhar.
"Nearly there, Paxton," Merrick yawned cheerfully, setting a smile on his face as he slowly loaded up the diesel's trucks with slate.
"Take your time, Merrick. No rush," Paxton told him kindly.
Sir Handel and Peter Sam were hurriedly pulling trucks about the track, when they saw Duke and Luke come up at the crossing and came to a halt.
"Granpuff?" they both gasped, puzzled.
"Morning, Stuart, Falcon," he greeted them both, as he followed Luke further into the quarry.
"B-but…I don't understand," Peter Sam wondered.
"Me neither," Sir Handel whistled perplexedly, as he carried on with his trucks.
Duke followed Luke further into the quarry.
"The top station is just down the line before that tunnel, Duke," Luke told him. "I must get to work now."
"Thank you, Luke," Duke said. "I'm sure I'll find my way round here soon enough."
And he watched as the little green engine set off to work, then slowly chuffed over to where Merrick was loading Paxton's last truck.
"Morning, Paxton," he greeted.
"Ah. Hello there, Duke. Quite a surprise to see you up and about here in the quarry."
"Is it?" Duke asked, smirking so as pretending to be curious.
"So what brings you up here then?"
"It just so happens that the Thin Controller has asked me to do a trial run up here because he thinks I've been doing well enough with my passengers. It surely is an honor to see what work is like up here for a change."
"I'm sure you'll get on just well," Paxton assured him. "Anyway, I'm to take these slate trucks down to the Ffarquhar Quarry on Thomas' Branch Line. Good luck on your first day though."
"Thank you, Paxton," Duke whistled. "I'll do just fine."
And he set off slowly set to work, as Paxton honked and left the quarry with his slate trucks.
Duke managed very well at learning his way around the Blue Mountain Quarry, shunting and hauling trucks into place.
"Fill these trucks up with stone at once please, Owen," he told the incline loader as he shunted a line of trucks one at a time up onto his hoist.
"Right away, Duke," Owen chuckled, as he hoisted Duke's first truck up and Sir Handel's last truck full of stone down at the same time.
Sir Handel, however, didn't seem to understand how he did it all so well.
As soon as Sir Handel's last truck was lowered down, it was hitched up to his train and he huffily made his way over to where Peter Sam backed down onto a train.
"Is it just me, Peter Sam, or does Granpuff think he can just stroll up here and act like he knows the ropes?"
Peter Sam shot him a look of confusion.
"He just makes work look so easy but it isn't that way for the rest of us. Now, is it?"
"I'm sure he'll figure it out eventually," Peter Sam reminded him, whistling as he pulled his trucks away.
"Huh," Sir Handel huffed, as he went back about his work.
"Thanks, Owen!" Duke whistled, as his last truck was hitched up, and he made on his way. However, he felt a sudden jolt and found himself dragging the train along, groaning and shutting his eyes as he pulled the train away.
"Are you going to be okay?" Owen called out with concern.
"I'll…be fine," Duke sighed, grunting as he pulled the train along, his cheeks going red.
"Oh dear, Granpuff," Peter Sam whistled cheekily as he passed him. "Would you like some help with those trucks?"
"Ugh! Nothing of the sort," Duke reminded him kindly, as he made his way along, pushing the stone trucks down into a siding where they were needed.
"Duncan will take it from here, Duke," a workman told him. "Thank you for your efforts in bringing them though."
"Any time," Duke sighed, as he slowly chuffed out of the siding.
Sir Handel chuffed into sight, chuckling as he saw Duke's red cheeks.
"Poor ol' Granpuff," he teased. "It's a shame you can't pull heavy trains like the rest of us."
"Huh!" Duke grumbled, as he chuffed onward to find more trucks.
It seemed as if the constant teasing never came to an end.
"Need a wheel there, Granpuff," Peter Sam whistled, chuckling as he passed him waiting on some trucks of gravel to be loaded.
Duke ignored him and made his way along the line, but was not quick enough to avoid Sir Handel coming down the line.
"Look sharp, Granpuff," he whistled cheekily, "or you'll never make it to the other side of the quarry by teatime."
Duke pretended he didn't notice Sir Handel but couldn't help letting the engines' comments get to his head.
"I'll show them!" he huffed. But he kept it to himself.
All morning long, Sir Handel and Peter Sam continued to make teasy remarks to Duke as he went about his work.
"About time!" Sir Handel scoffed, as Duke brought his slate trucks.
Duke switched tracks and watched as Sir Handel set off with his trucks.
"Huh! Not even so much as a thank you."
Duke proceeded to pick up stone trucks for Peter Sam's train, but the engines' words flew quickly around his head.
"Need a wheel there, Granpuff?"
"Look sharp, Granpuff!"
"Getting tired yet, Granpuff?"
"About time, Granpuff."
"Poor old Granpuff.!
"Poor old Granpuff.!
"Poor old Granpuff.!
"Poor old Granpuff.!
Duke set off as soon as his last stone truck was filled up, and made his way over to the top station where Peter Sam was waiting. But even he could see he was worn out.
"Oh dear, Granpuff," he wondered, this time rather concerned. "Is everything alright?"
"Take no notice of him, Peter Sam," Sir Handel whistled as he pulled in, chuckling. "He doesn't know what hard work means in this quarry yet."
Duke gasped with shock as he watched both engines whistle and set off with their trucks.
"See you later, Granpuff," Sir Handel taunted, leaving Duke in slight fury.
"That does it," he said to himself. "I think I need to have a word with those two."
Later that afternoon, Sir Handel and Peter Sam were having a rest over the workmen's break, when Duke rolled in beside them.
"Listen, you two," he whistled firmly, catching them both by surprise. "This is my first day up here in the quarry and I'm trying my very best to work as hard as I can. But it's rather difficult with you lot making silly remarks towards me as you are. So please, put an end to it."
"We're sorry, Granpuff," Peter Sam told him honestly. "We never meant to…"
But he was cut off by Sir Handel's loud chuckle.
"Oh, Granpuff," he sighed, "when will you learn?" Then he boasted, "I think you'll find that the rest of us have been working up in this quarry long enough to manage on our own. You, on the other hand, have got a long way to go before you know your way around."
Peter Sam glared at Sir Handel, and then sighed and looked over sympathetically at Duke.
"I'm afraid he's right, Granpuff," he told him kindly. "We engines have worked in the quarry quite a long time enough to know our way about. But it didn't take us long to know how to handle stone trucks though. Perhaps I could show you how."
Sir Handel looked smugly over at Duke to see if he would oblige, though the old engine thought for a moment, before taking a deep breath and reaching a decision.
"I can assure you both that trucks and coaches have never been a problem for me down at the Depot," he told them. "Having said that, I'm pretty sure I can manage stone trucks as well as either of you."
"Oh, really?" Sir Handel wondered cheekily. "Well then I'd like to see you try, Granpuff."
"Huh?" Peter Sam wondered confusedly.
"You're on," Duke boldly replied.
"Wait. Easy now, you two," Peter Sam suggested worriedly. "Perhaps we should…"
"I'll show you both by the end of the day I can manage just fine here in the quarry," Duke assured them. "I'll even start by taking my first train out." Then he made his way slowly toward the top station.
"Wait, Granpuff," Peter Sam called after him. "There must be a rational solution."
"I think we may already have one," Sir Handel told him, as he puffed quickly away.
Peter Sam glared after Sir Handel, then sighed and hurried to catch up with Duke.
Duke arrived at the top station, just as Rheneas shunted some stone trucks up to the platform.
"Hmm," the foreman wondered, scratching his head as he walked slowly about the platform and looked down his notepad, pen in hand. "Now, who can I ask to take these stone trucks to the castle grounds at Ulfstead?"
"I can do it, sir," Duke whistled confidently, as he backed into the platform.
"You, Duke?" the foreman wondered, rather surprised.
"Yes. Ulfstead, from what I've heard, is only on the other side of the quarry line after all."
"Very well," the foreman sighed. "Good luck."
Duke whistled back at him, as his train was coupled up. However, before he was about to leave, Peter Sam whistled as he pulled up alongside.
"I'm very proud that you've found your way around the quarry very quickly for your first day, Granpuff," he told him, but then warned, "but I'd be rather careful if I were you."
"Why?" Duke asked, feeling unconcerned.
"You don't know trucks up here as well you might down at the Depot. This is the first train you're taking here after all, and it's your first day too."
"I'll be fine, Stuart," Duke reminded him, as he whistled and pulled slowly out. "Goodbye."
Peter Sam looked over at him, rather concerned, as Skarloey whistled and pulled up alongside.
"I tried to warn him, Skarloey," Peter Sam told his friend. "But he took it rather personal. Sir Handel didn't handle it with him as well as I tried to."
"It's his first day up in the quarry, Peter Sam," Skarloey reminded him. "He'll learn. Just you wait and see."
Duke was making good time as he traveled over the other side of the narrow gauge line out of the quarry and towards Ulfstead Castle.
"Ah," he sighed, relaxed, as he entered the view of the castle in plain sight. "It's nice to get out and see the view for a bit, especially for my first day. No Falcon or Stuart around to bother me either."
He steadily made his way over the draw bridge toward the castle platform, where the Earl was waiting for him.
"Ah, Duke. You're here. Splendid."
"Present and accounted for, your grace," Duke replied. "It is quite an honor to meet you in person."
"Ooh, likewise, Duke. Now, shall I direct you to where the castle grounds are?"
"Oh, please, do."
"Very well then," the Earl explained. "You exit the castle over the drawbridge and go around either side. The men should be waiting there to unload your trucks, Duke."
"Very well," Duke whistled, slowly reversing from the platform. "Thank you, your grace!"
Duke backed out over the drawbridge, and then made his way around the right side of the castle.
Duke made his way over to the castle grounds, where Millie, the Earl's private engine, was dropping off the workmen.
"Ah, hello," she greeted cheerily. "I don't think I've seen you around before. What's your name?"
"Duke," the old engine replied, as the men started unloading his trucks. "I'm one of Mr. Percival's engines."
"I'm Millie. I'm the Earl's private engine. What brings you here to the castle then?"
"It's my first day up in the quarry, and the Thin Controller has asked me to do a trial run."
"Oh," Millie responded, rather surprised. "So how are you enjoying it then?"
"Mm. It has its ups and downs; I seem to be managing fine with handling stone trucks, given that I just made my first delivery, though I can't seem the smaller engines off my back who think I can't manage."
Just then, Diesel honked as he rolled by with some trucks.
"Ha!" he scoffed. "I can see why they think you can't manage, Duke! Old engines like you aren't fit to pull heavy stone trains! Might as well consider lightening the load and leave it up to the more modern engines!"
Duke glared at him, as he watched him snigger and roll out of sight, then he sighed."
"Just ignore him, Duke," Millie told him sympathetically. "Diesel's always picking on other engines."
"Huh!" Duke snorted. "But to think I can't manage!"
Millie sighed.
"I know it can be hard to deal with, but I get teased by other engines all the time. I just learn not to let what they say get to my head."
Duke sighed and smiled at his new friend.
"It was very nice meeting you, Millie," he told her. "His Grace Sir Robert himself must be very lucky to have an engine like you working at his castle. You sure seem like a great asset."
"Thanks!" Millie chuckled, blushing a bit. "I try my best."
The two engines smiled at each other, as the men continued to unload the stone trucks.
At long last, Duke's trucks were unloaded and he was ready to make his way back to the quarry.
PEEP-PEEP!
"Au revoir, Duke!" Millie greeted, as she watched her new friend chuff away.
PEEP-PEEP!
Duke whistled back, before making his way back towards the quarry.
"Ha!" he chuckled slightly to himself. "Nothing to it. Betcha Falcon and Stuart won't tease me their ol' Granpuff now."
Duke was very proud to have made his first delivery of stone to Ulfstead on his first day in the quarry, and was certain the other engines wouldn't tease him now. However, when he got there, he found that Sir Handel was already waiting for him.
Sir Handel backed down from his perch of gravel trucks and looked at him, smirking, as he saw that he was trying to feign exhaustion.
"Well, well, well," he sneered. "Have you given up already, Granpuff?"
Duke scoffed, coughing loudly and clearing his throat.
"Nothing of the sort," he assured him. "Just stopping to catch my breath. That's all."
"Ha! Sure," Sir Handel remarked sarcastically, "if you say so, Granpuff." Then he backed up again to his trucks and pushed them further on.
"Hmph!" Duke snorted, "impudent scalawags!"
And he set slowly back about his work.
Later, Duke arrived back at the top station, where the stationmaster was walking about the platform, his pen and paper in hand.
"Everything alright, sir?" Duke asked, looking at him curiously.
"Eh, yes, everything's fine, Duke," he assured him. "It's just that the Refreshment Lady Miss Neptune has called for an order of slate needed to rebuild the roof of her cafe, and I need an engine to take the long and heavy train to Lakeside."
"I can do it, sir," Duke said eagerly.
"What?!" Peter Sam gasped, stopping as he approached the station in time to hear him volunteer.
Duke winked and grinned at Sir Handel, who was shunting trucks in a nearby siding and stopped to glance over and smirk condescendingly at him.
"Very well then," the stationmaster agreed. "Peter Sam, will you kindly shunt Duke's slate trucks for him?"
"Yes, sir," Peter Sam whistled sadly, setting off to fetch the trucks.
Peter Sam wasted no time in collecting Duke's slate trucks, and brought them steadily to the platform.
"This does seem like a heavy train to pull, Granpuff," he admitted. "It's a quite a journey to get to Lakeside and almost seems like it could use two engines. You sure you don't need a banker? Perhaps to, er, lighten the load for you?"
"No, thank you, Stuart," Duke firmly assured him. "I'm perfectly capable of pulling heavy trains. I do it all the time down at the Depot."
"Good luck, Granpuff," Sir Handel whistled, as he stopped on the track across from him, then snidely remarked, "you'll need it."
Duke ignored Sir Handel and set off as soon as his guard's whistle blew.
PEEP-PEEP!
Peter Sam sighed sadly and went slowly back about his work.
At first, the journey didn't seem so difficult; Duke's route took him all the way down from and through Crovan's Gate.
James was just ready to leave the platform with his coaches as soon as his guard's whistle blew. As soon as he started, he heard a panting and puffing behind him.
"Hmm…" he wondered, than he gasped and widened his eyes as he saw Duke panting alongside him with his heavy slate train. "Duke?!"
Duke groaned.
"Hello, James," he panted. "Lovely day. Isn't it?" Then he hurried on, leaving James in confusion.
"Huh," he wondered. "For an old engine, he sure can seem to pull a lot of weight."
Duke's journey next took him through Crovan's Gate junction. As he made his way along, other engines could him breathing and panting as he made his way along.
Henry expressed a puzzled look to Nia as he made his way along with his own goods train. Nia stopped just inches before the red signal as soon as she heard Duke, as soon as Thomas stopped on the track across with Annie and Clarabel.
"Hmm…" Nia thought, as she and Thomas exchanged confused glances, Thomas raising an eyebrow with concern.
Duke soon reached the Forest Runby, the tall trees standing all around him as he observed the view of the lake nearby.
"Mm," he sighed, taking in a deep breath to feel the crisp air all around him. "Just like old times. Nothing better than it." He still felt the heavy weight behind him, so he went rather slowly and whistled loudly to the children who ran up from the lake to see him, chattering and pointing at him with amazement.
It wasn't long before Duke's driver noticed a steep slope up ahead.
"Steady now, ol' boy, he told him as he leaned his head out of his cab. "We have a steep climb right ahead of us."
"Steep hills...are...no bother...for me," panted Duke.
But deep down, his energy was beginning to wind down a little.
"Are you sure we don't need a banker to get up this hill, Duke?" his driver asked, as they approached.
"No! Certainly not!" Duke calmly assured him, as he charged at the incline, steam pouring out of both his sides as he made his way up.
"I can...do it!" he panted. "I can...do it."
Elizabeth scoffed as she passed him and made steadily up the hill on the road beside the track. Duke watched her with surprise, his face going red as steam continued to disperse from both his sides, and his wheels began to slip.
"I must...carry on!" Duke groaned, yawning a little. Halfway up, however, his driver quickly shut off steam, and gradually backed Duke down to the bottom of the hill.
"Noooooo!" he moaned, as his driver quickly exited his cab.
"What happened?" he asked him. "I was just about to make it to the top and over, and we we're going so well too…"
"It's no good, Duke," his driver sighed, raising his hand towards him to cut him off. "We've made it this far, but it's apparent you can't make it over the hill with this heavy train. I'll call for a banker engine."
"B-but, sir…?" Duke groaned, as his driver set off and hopped back aboard his cab, quickly dialing away at an extension, and then he sighed.
"I could've made it," he expressed glumly.
Duke's driver called ahead to the Blue Mountain Quarry for a banker engine.
Soon enough, Peter Sam and Sir Handel were on their way.
"Ha!" Sir Handel scoffed to himself. "Ol' Granpuff sure had it coming to him. Didn't he, Peter Sam?"
Peter Sam glared back at him from in front.
"Maybe he wouldn't have if you hadn't been so rude to him in the first place, Sir Handel," he told him firmly.
"Hey! You didn't believe he could do it either!" Sir Handel retaliated.
The two engines arrived at the steep slope before the hill, just before Duke's long train, and whistled loudly one after the other.
"Oh, no," Duke groaned to himself.
"Granpuff!" Peter Sam called to the front of the train. "Is everything okay?"
Duke sighed, trying to keep his temper, then took a deep breath as he responded.
"They've, eh, been better," he sheepishly admitted.
"We knew you you couldn't do it, Granpuff!" Sir Handel remarked. "At least you've given up though. I'll give you that for starters."
Peter Sam glared back at him, then sighed and looked back towards the rear of the train.
"What happened, Granpuff?" he asked.
"Driver let off steam and backed me down to the bottom of the hill. Told me I couldn't manage taking this heavy train up myself."
"Ha!" Sir Handel laughed. "Just as we suspected…!"
"Shhh!" hissed Peter Sam, then quietly snapped, "let him finish!"
"And so he called for help," Duke sighed. "And it seems as if you two answered the call, which I'll admit, I'm very grateful for."
Peter Sam and Sir Handel were surprised, but listened on regardless to what their old mentor had to say.
"I thought I could do this job on my own but I can't," Duke admitted. "I only tried to do so just so I could prove a point to you both that I could manage on my own." The two engines were caught slightly off-guard as Duke finished his speech.
"This order of slate tiles will require a team effort to deliver to Lakeside," he told them. "Please, will you help me?"
Peter Sam smiled.
"Absolutely, Granpuff," he whistled cheerily, as he buffered up to the brake van, then looked back.
"You coming, Sir Handel?"
Sir Handel, who now felt somewhat sorry for Duke as well, decided to help as well.
"Very well," he obliged, whistling as he buffered up behind Peter Sam. "Are we ready, you two?"
"Ready!" they both responded.
And with that, the cavalcade set off, making their way slowly up the incline. Duke groaned as he made his way up, but with the engines' help, the load seemed much lighter, and the train made its way to the top quicker than before.
"Job well done, you two!" Duke called out, as he made his way over.
"We're right behind you, Granpuff," Peter Sam whistled cheerily, Sir Handel toiling not too far behind.
Both engines switched tracks and rolled up alongside Duke, the three of them exchanging smiling glances with one another.
Side-by-side, the three friends made their way over together towards their destination.
As they got to Lakeside, Miss Neptune was waiting for them on the platform.
"Ah! There you are. Was starting to think you weren't going to make it."
"I wouldn't have if these two hadn't given a push on the last mile, mum," he admitted. "I have them to thank."
Peter Sam grinned at each other before smiling over at their old friend.
"So I see," the Refreshment Lady thought, observing the three engines side-by-side, then sighed. "Well, team effort. That's what get the job done as we can see. Anyway, I'll just have the men unload these trucks then, and we'll get to work retililing."
And so the job began; Elizabeth had brought buckets of glue to form the tiles together, and the three engines stayed and watched as the men retiled the roof to Neptune's Refreshments.
Later that night at the Engine Sheds near Crovan's Gate, Sir Handel and Peter Sam were just about to rest for the night when Duke backed in beside them.
"The Thin Controller says I did very well for my first day in the quarry and that I'm welcome to work there part-time if I'd like," he told them. "I just wanted to thank you both for your help today. Sorry if I was a little cross. Even the oldest and wisest engines need help sometimes."
Sir Handel sighed and plucked up courage, thinking of what to say himself.
"Sorry if I was a little harsh myself, Granpuff," he told him. "I understood you were only trying to work as hard as the rest of us, but I sort of pushed your limits trying to see how you could manage for myself."
Duke managed to express an understanding smile at him, as Peter Sam thought of what to say himself.
"You did pretty well for your first day up in the quarry, Granpuff," he admitted. "You seemed to have learned your way around rather quickly, and you know how to manage trucks really well."
"Thanks, you two," Duke responded. "You know, the quarry won't be so bad once I work there on a more regular basis."1
"Yeah, Peter Sam added cheekily. "And plus, you'll have us around to keep you in order."
He and Sir Handel shared a laugh, as Duke backed down into his berth and yawned, ready for a good night's rest.
"Impudent scalawags," he chuckled amusedly, as he shut his eyes tight.
Duke didn't mind the engines' jokes all that much. Deep down, he knew that they were only teasing.
Wow, another month gone by, and I finally managed to get this finished. I've been busy, but I revisited this from time to time to see what I could do with it. Duke's back in the series in full swing (after a small role I gave him in Snowed Under! of course). After giving Duncan the spotlight to kick off this set, exploring Duke's relationship with Sir Handel and Peter Sam was fun to do. The two engines sort of interacted with him in different ways here. Sir Handel was kinda an arse and actually egged Duke on to get into the conflict he got into, while Peter Sam tried to be more rational with him, but Duke didn't understand cuz he was so focused on knowing his way around the quarry. Millie's scene is sorta a lead-on to a story I have in mind for in the spotlight, and I may do something with Duke and the Earl in future; it was just fun to briefly explore here since idk, the Earl is his grace. Anyway, Duke came out of the story learning a very valuable lesson, and I guess Sir Handel learnt not to be so harsh with him too. The next story shouldn't take too long to write, since it's an adaptation, though I do have a busy rest of the semester ahead of me, so that's something I should keep in mind. Till then, stay tuned for...
Welcome, Jock! (based on Sticking Power and Jock by Christopher Awdry) - after hearing of a new engine being built, Bert lets the others in on the secret, and not long after, the engine arrives and is named Jock.
Jack's Snow Rescue (based on canceled episode of the same name)- when the first big snowfall of the year traps Duck, Dexter and the schoolchildren of Harwick, Jack is fitted with a shiny new snowplough and jumps into heroic action.
Busted Headlamp! - Henry's headlamp needs repairs, so Rosie lets him borrow her headlamp so he can pull the Flying Kipper. However, Henry forgets to give it back to her and Rosie doesn't know how to ask, whilst having a train due out to Bridlington...
All Alone On Christmas - Theo notices how lonely Beresford is at the canal and wants to cheer him up by bringing him a party, but is too afraid to ask Frankie who feels rather out of the holiday spirit.