Summertime Surprises!
Part VI: Daisy Crosses The Line
Early one morning, Toby and Henrietta were making their way slowly and sturdily along the line towards Harwick.
"Eh, Toby," Henrietta wondered. "Remind me again where we're going."
Toby smiled.
"We're headed to the Branch Line up by Harwick, Henrietta," he explained. "Since Ryan and Daisy have their own work to do, the Fat Controller has asked us to inspect the line for tracks that have been buckled…in the hot sun."
Toby sighed with the exasperation at the end of his sentence, which Henrietta immediately noticed.
"You seem kind of troubled, Toby," she wondered. "Is something wrong?"
"Wrong?" Toby gasped, then chuckled. "Why, good heavens, no, Henrietta. Why would something be wrong?"
"Ahem!" Henrietta coughed, raising an eyebrow at him, causing Toby to sigh and take a deep breath.
"Okay," he admitted. "I'm sort of nervous about having to see Daisy."
"Oh," Henrietta thought, rather understanding.
"She and I aren't necessarily on the best of terms and don't regularly agree with one another," Toby went on; as Henrietta listened closely. "I don't know what it is about her. We just don't click, and there's just something about her that just makes me feel uneasy whenever I'm around her…"
"I understand, Toby," Henrietta cut off. "I'm pretty nervous about having to see Daisy as well. Annie and Clarabel have told me all about what happened last time she was on our Branch, and she wasn't necessarily friendly towards us to begin with."
Toby sighed nervously, as Henrietta smiled and went on.
"Tell you what, Toby," she suggested. "I think we should make a pact."
"A pact?" Toby wondered. "What sort of pact, Henrietta?"
"To remain friendly and cordial with Daisy throughout the duration of their trip."
"Oh," Toby thought, listening on.
"That way, we can get on with our work without being bothered by her."
"Great idea, Henrietta!" Toby agreed, but he felt dreadfully nervous inside.
Over at Harwick Sheds, Daisy was snoring away when Ryan whistled loudly at her as he passed.
PEEP-PEEP!
"Gah!" Daisy gasped, awaking with a start.
"Come on, Daisy," said Ryan kindly, expressing a concerned look on his face as he made his way out of the shed. "Or you may be late for work."
"Hmph!" Daisy huffed, and slowly made her way out of the shed, still yawning.
They both stopped with surprise as he saw a familiar blue car roll into view and stop by the shed.
SLAM!
"Daisy!" the Fat Controller boomed, marching up to the diesel railcar. "You forgot to take the milk last night again! That's the third time in a row this week!"
"B-but...I was too tired, sir. And my fitter says pulling is bad for me swerves…"
The Fat Controller groaned and expressed a facepalm before raising a hand in front of Daisy to get her to stop.
"No, Daisy! I don't want to hear any more excuses! Go and collect the milk and make it up for it right away!"
"But…" Daisy protested, "what about my passengers, sir?"
"Ah," the Fat Controller thought, "I'm glad you brought that up, Daisy."
Both engines looked at him with confusion as he went on.
"The line is being inspected for tracks which have been buckled in the hot sun," he announced. "So I've arranged for Bulgy the double-decker bus to look after your passengers due to the inspection, and Toby and Henrietta will be coming up from Thomas' Branch to supervise the line whilst you both conform to your usual jobs."
"Toby?!" Daisy spluttered.
"Ahem!" the Fat Controller coughed, a stern look on his face as he raised an eyebrow.
HONK-HONK!
Daisy wasn't very happy about not having any passengers all day, nor was she pleased to have to see Toby again!
"Great!" she fumed. "No passengers all day! And all over a few buckles in the track?! Not to mention having my line under supervision by old fusspot Toby!"
Then Daisy had another thought.
"Hmm…" she wondered. "Toby…"
She lingered on the thought as she made her way to the top station, smiling.
Toby and Henrietta arrive at the top station, as Bulgy made his way out, honking rudely at them.
"Roads over rails!" he remarked. "Haha!"
Henrietta glare at him at him as he left, and Toby sighed, waiting as the workmen boarded Henrietta.
"I don't see Daisy anywhere, Henrietta," Toby thought. "I guess she must be out and about doing her work…"
HONK-HONK!
Toby spoke too soon, as Daisy slithered smoothly into the top station, raising an eyebrow at Toby as she saw him.
"Toby!" she seethed quietly.
"Daisy," the tram engine answered back, as the two exchanged dark glances with another.
There was a long, awkward silence as the two engines engaged in a stare off. At last, Toby settled down and took a deep breath, before attempting to calmly explain.
"Henrietta and I are here to inspect your line, Daisy," he began. "I think you'll be very grateful once…"
Daisy rolled her eyes and sighed heavily.
"I know why you're here, Toby," she cut off. "My line is in no need of inspection, thank you. However, I'll be more than happy to teach you a thing or two about how things are done on the my line."
Toby sighed, as Henrietta glared over at Daisy, deciding to stand her ground.
"I think you'll find l, Daisy, that Toby and I have an important job to do, as do these workmen," she firmly assured her.
"Huh!" Daisy scoffed, looking away.
"Henrietta's right, Daisy," Toby added. "It's best you keep a close watch, otherwise you'll run into trouble as well."
"Nonsense, Toby! The only reason you accepted the job is because you're afraid of getting hurt yourself!"
"Am not!" Toby argued.
"And besides," Daisy went on, expressing a rather smug look on her face, "I've no need to do odd jobs like that, nor to pull for the matter…especially an old, outdated slow coach like yourself, Henrietta!"
She expressed disgust at the last few words of her sentence, as Henrietta gasped with horror at such a comment.
Though Daisy found that she spoke too soon, as she saw that a milk tanker was about to be coupled to her.
PEEP-PEEP!
"You're good to go, Daisy!" Ryan whistled, and backed away from the brake van.
"Ugh!" Daisy scoffed, as she was coupled up to the tanker. "I've no need to pull! It's fitter's order!"
HONK-HONK!
DING-DING! DING-DING!
She and Toby left the station, avoiding eye contact with one another as they both made on their way. Ryan watched the commotion from afar and sighed nervously.
"Oh, dear…"
Toby and Henrietta instantly came to the first stretch of buckled track on the line, and the men wasted no time with inspecting it, though Toby was still cross about Daisy…
"I tell you, Henrietta," he grumbled aloud. "That Daisy! I knew she was going to be trouble the moment the Fat Controller called us over here!"
"I know, Toby," Henrietta sighed. "But…"
"She's so stubborn and rude, and never listens to a single thing I tell her!" Toby ranted on, before sighing nervously, calming down a little. "Even though we're the ones up here inspecting her line. You'd think she'd have a little more respect."
"I couldn't agree with any more, Toby," Henrietta admitted. "And I especially don't like being called names. But...do you remember the pact we made on the way here?"
"Yes, Henrietta," Toby sighed dully. "I do."
"Good. So you know that the important thing is to remain calm and avoid any sort of confrontation with Daisy whatsoever."
"But…that's not possible. She's so difficult, and is usually the one to start any sort of confrontation, even when I attempt to help her."
"I understand, Toby. And as much as I agree, I do think that this situation is a lot for Daisy to take in, especially on her line."
Toby listened carefully, then sighed as the workmen finished with the track and hopped back aboard Henrietta.
"You're right, Henrietta. Perhaps it's best that I try to explain that to Daisy as best as I can."
"That's the spirit, Toby! Remember, friendly and cordial."
DING-DING! DING-DING!
Toby moved on from the current portion of the track, confident in attempting to avoid any further confrontation with Daisy.
Meanwhile, Daisy was on her way to the dairy with a tanker full of milk, and was rather reserved to her own thoughts.
"Poor old Toby," she thought to herself. "I'm sorry he's frightened. It's like being overly cautious leads to him being paranoid."
Her driver began to slow her down as they saw a bull up on the line ahead.
"After all," she went on. "It's only a few buckles in the track."
She slowed down right before the bull grazing on her line and smiled at it.
"Toby will see soon enough. I'll show him how things are done on my line," she sweet-talked it. "Why, I'll show him how it's done nice and easy, What do you think, muamem?"
The bull looked up and looked Daisy right in the eye, much to her surprise.
MOOOOO!
Daisy glared right back at it.
HONK-HONK!
"Shoo, shoo!" she snapped.
But the bull wouldn't budge and edged closer towards her, sniffing her loudly as she continued to glare at it and honk loudly.
HONK-HONK-HONNNNNK!
At last, Daisy groaned and gave up.
"You aren't making my job much easier!" she complained.
DING-DING! DING-DING!
The bull looked over surprise as Toby pulled into sight and stopped right beside him.
"Hello, Daisy!" he greeted cheerfully. "Having trouble?"
Daisy sighed and groaned, looking the other way as Toby wheeshed some steam and ring his bell.
DING-DING! DING-DING!
MOOOOOO!
At last, the bull walked away, much to Daisy's relief.
"Say, Daisy, what do you think of that?" Toby asked, then cheekily remarked, "that's how we handle bulls on my line."
"Hmph!" Daisy scoffed, and left in a huff, looking the opposite direction of Toby.
HONK-HONK!
"Oh." Toby thought, then asked Henrietta, "was that, eh, too far?"
"Not at all," Henrietta kindly assured him. "All you did was show her how to shoo a bull off the line."
"Hmm…" Toby wondered, as he continued carefully along the line.
As Daisy continued along toward the dairy, she remained very cross about Toby!
"Huh!" she fumed. "Toby thinks he can just come onto my line and tell me how things are done elsewhere! I'll show him!"
There was worse to come, as she approached a level crossing up ahead and come to a stop, as Bulgy tore into view.
"'ello, Daisy!" he called rudely, as he made his way slowly over the level crossing. "Enjoying a passenger-free day, are you?"
Daisy raised an eyebrow at him with annoyance as he went on.
"After today, I'm not sure what use this town will have for shabby railcars like yourself against a big, smart bus like me!"
"Shabby?!" Daisy spluttered. "I'll have you know that I'm highly sprung and right up-to-date!"
"Pah!" Bulgy scoffed, and carried on as the gates opened on the track.
"So rude!" Daisy fumed, and advanced forward towards the dairy.
She felt no better as she arrived at the dairy to drop off the milk.
"Hi, Daisy!" Ryan whistled cheerily, as the men loaded his trucks with milk churns. "How is your day going?"
"I tell you, Ryan," she complained. "That Toby! Who does he think he is?"
"What do you mean?" Ryan wondered with confusion.
"Thinking he can gallivant onto our line and act as if he knows it all!" Daisy went on. "I'll teach him a thing or two. Just you wait and see."
Soon enough, she was uncoupled from her milk tanker, and she honked loudly and fumed away, leaving Ryan in confusion.
Daisy arrived back at Arlesburgh West, where the stationmaster was waiting for her on the platform.
"Ah, Daisy," he sighed with relief. "Thank goodness."
Daisy eyed him with confusion as he went on.
"Erm, there are some empty cattle trucks that need to be picked up and taken to market. Could I rely on you to do the job?"
"Me?!" Daisy spluttered. "Why, goodness, no! As fitter says, I never, never pull! It's bad for me swerves and…"
Just then, she stopped herself as another thought came to mind, and she smiled over at him.
"I mean, consider it done, sir. I'll have those cattle trucks delivered in no time.
"Good," the stationmaster sighed. "They're waiting at Farmer Willie's farm. I strongly suggest you take the long way round though. The direct route to the farm hasn't been inspected yet."
"Not to worry, sir," Daisy assured him, smiling. "I'll have no trouble taking the direct route. I'm not an old fusspot like Toby."
HONK-HONK!
The stationmaster watched her with surprise as she left, feeling very pleased with herself.
"Now," she assured herself. "I'll show Toby how to manage goods traffic on my line."
What Daisy didn't realize was that she was landing herself in very big trouble by taking the direct route to the farm…!
Toby and Henrietta had just arrived at a very large buckle in the track. As the workmen exited Henrietta and inspected it, the foreman came to the pair with important news.
"I just got off the phone with the stationmaster at Arlesburgh West," he explained to them. "Apparently, Daisy is on her way to Farmer Willie's farm, which is upon this route along this buckled stretch of track."
"Oh, dear," Toby groaned. "So you're telling us that Daisy could very well be on her way here?"
"The stationmaster confirmed so," the foreman sighed. "It's best we do what we can to stop her. Not to worry. I'll flag her down."
He walked off with a red flag in hand to warn Daisy as soon as she approached, as Toby sighed nervously.
"I do hope Daisy doesn't land herself into too much trouble," he confided to Henrietta.
"Don't worry, Toby," the coach kindly assured him. "You did try to warn her. There's nothing much more you can do about it that's under your control. Besides, the foreman's got it all sorted."
"I guess you're right, Henrietta," Toby sighed. "I only hope she'll listen this time around."
"Me too," Henrietta agreed, as they proceeded to watch the workmen chatter aloud as they inspected the track.
Further up the line, Daisy was feeling very pleased with herself, as she made her way forward toward Farmer Willie's farm.
"Ha!" she scoffed, as she rolled steadily along the track. "Who worries about a few bumps and buckles in the track? Surely doesn't stop me from getting the job done. Toby will see soon enough."
Up ahead, she saw Bulgy again approaching in the opposite direction.
"'ello 'gain, Daisy!" he shouted out. "I seem to be making expert time with these passengers aboard! Too bad you railway engines are slowed down by all this maintenance, and not making as much progress. Guess roads are superior to rails after all!"
Daisy looked the other way, ignoring him as she pressed on forward, which surprised Bulgy.
"Out with the railways!" he shouted out.
But Daisy paid no attention to Bulgy. She was more determined to get to the farm on time.
"I won't let any silly old buses get in my way," she assured herself. "I'll be at the farm and have those cattle trucks delivered to market in no time at all!"
Up ahead, she saw the scene of maintenance with Toby and Henrietta waiting as the men inspected the line. She took notice of the foreman waving his red flag.
HONK-HONK!
"Yoo-hoo! Toby! Henrietta!" she called out, Henrietta glaring at her as Toby reacted with surprise. "Are you both having fun doing dirty odd jobs?"
"Be careful, Daisy!" Toby warned her. "Your line is currently under inspection!"
"Stop! Stop!" the foreman shouted, as she passed by.
"Ha! Nothing to it! I'm not scared of a few buckles and bumps. Not like you, Toby."
"Take care, Daisy!" Henrietta warned her, but the railcar only chuckled aloud.
"Stop, Daisy! Stop!" the men shouted, running beside the track and waving their arms up at her.
"I am taking care," she assured the pair. "Taking care to show Toby how things are done on my line…woah!
All of a sudden, Daisy felt a bump in the track and began to turn sideways!
"Oh, no!" she wailed, as her front wheels slipped off the rails.
"GAHHHHH!" she screamed, as she toppled the hill and into a field nearby.
CRASH!
"Daisy!" Toby gasped, and reversed alongside to see that she wasn't hurt.
"Are you alright, Daisy?" he asked.
Daisy coughed and spluttered out mud from her mouth
"No!" she fumed. "My front is damaged, and my wheels are covered in mud!"
"Don't worry, Daisy," Toby promised. "I'll go and get help!"
DING-DING! DING-DING!
He rolled quickly away, as the men got back to inspecting the track, and Daisy sighed sadly to herself.
"Oh, dear," she groaned. "What a silly engine I am…"
Ryan had just returned to the top station at Arlesburgh West after delivering a goods train, when Toby trundled steadily in!
DING-DING! DING-DING! DING-DING!
Toby rang his bell loudly so as to get Ryan's attention, causing the tank engine to look over at him with surprise.
"Emergency!" he called out.
"Toby," Ryan gasped. "What's the matter?"
"It's Daisy," Toby explained. "She came off the rails at a buckled stretch of track on the way to Farmer Willie's farm. We tried to warn her, but she wouldn't listen."
"Not to worry, Toby," Ryan assured him. "I have a bit of time before my next train. I'll fetch Judy and Jerome from the yard and attend to the matter immediately."
"Thank you, Ryan," Toby sighed with relief.
"Don't thank me yet!" Ryan replied, and whistled loudly before leaving the station, much to Toby and Henrietta's bewilderment.
Judy and Jerome were resting peacefully beside the shed when…
PEEP-PEEP!
"Judy! Jerome!" Ryan shouted, as he buffered up to them, suddenly waking them up.
"Woah!" Judy wailed.
"Huh? What-what?" Jerome gasped, suddenly looking about. "Judy!"
"Jerome?"
"Emergency!" they both shouted.
"Where's the accident?" Jerome wondered.
"Is it a telephone pole knocked down?" Judy wondered.
"No," Ryan quickly responded, waiting anxiously for the shunter to arrive.
"Is it an engine off the rails?" Jerome asked.
"No…I-I mean, yes! It's Daisy! She's come off the rails at a buckled stretch of track!"
"Oh," Judy thought.
"I see," Jerome added, more understanding.
Ryan watched and sighed with relief as the shunter coupled him up to the two cranes.
PEEP-PEEP!
"Come on, you two!" Ryan called out. "There's no time to lose!"
He quickly pulled them away from the shed and towards the scene of the accident.
Ryan quickly brought Judy and Jerome to the scene of the derailment, and in no time, the two cranes had Daisy lifted on their flatbed in between.
Toby watched sadly, as Daisy was hoisted high into the air.
"Woah!' Daisy wailed, looking anxiously down as she was lifted onto the flatbed. "Careful!"
"Not to worry, Daisy," Judy kindly assured her.
"You'll be alright," Jerome added.
"We'll have you at the DieselWorks on the double," Ryan confirmed, smiling.
Daisy managed a slight frown on her face as she was fixed onto the flatbed, and Ryan pulled her away.
"Poor Daisy," Toby sighed, as he watched the cavalcade set off. "She did have it coming to her."
"Don't worry, Toby," Henrietta assured. "She learnt from her experience…"
The coach thought a little harder then sighed.
"And will hopefully come out of it a more sensible railcar."
Toby sighed with agreement, as they watched the men proceed to fix the buckled stretch of track.
Daisy was soon dropped off at the DieselWorks and hoisted onto the turntable.
Ryan whistled and left with Judy and Jerome, as the turntable elevated Daisy higher up, the other diesels watching her with surprise.
"Oh," she sighed helplessly, blushing with embarrassment. "This is the end for moi…"
She reached the top, where Den and Dart rolled alongside her.
"Don't worry, Daisy," Den assured her. "We'll have you back in order soon enough."
Daisy shot him a look of confusion, as Dart sighed.
"What he means is," he elaborated, "is that having your buffers and your front mended will be our top priority so that you can be back at work in no time."
Daisy sighed doubtfully, as the two diesels went back about their work.
Later that evening, Toby and Henrietta were resting with Ryan at Arlesburgh West when the Fat Controller came to see them.
"Great work on the line today, Toby and Henrietta!" he told the pair. "I am proud to announce that the passenger service will be operating again first thing tomorrow morning now the entire line has been inspected, and all the buckled stretches of track have been repaired."
"That is great news, sir!" Ryan beamed.
Bulgy arrived back at the station in time to hear the news, glaring.
"Pah!" he scoffed.
"Yes," the Fat Controller sighed regretfully. "Only that Daisy will be at the works for the couple days having her front mended."
"Oh," Ryan thought.
"Oh, dear," Toby sighed.
Bulgy listened with intrigue, then edged closer, coughing loudly so as to get the Fat Controller's attention.
"Ahem!"
The Fat Controller turned over to the double-decker bus with surprise.
"Erm, if I may, sir? Perhaps I could take place in running the passenger service until she gets back. After all, I've already proven my worth in doing so today."
"Yes, Bulgy, you have," the Fat Controller nodded, beaming at him, as Toby and Ryan watched with suspicion. "But I already have an idea in mind, and I'm afraid you'll be needed back on Thomas' Branch on the double first thing in the morning."
"What?!" Bulgy spluttered.
"So," the Fat Controller went on, turning his attention back towards Toby and Ryan, "I thought it only fitting, Toby, since you and Henrietta are already here, that you could both fill in for Daisy until she returns."
"Oh," Toby thought with surprise, then smiled. "Erm…no problem, sir. We can do that."
"Excellent!" the Fat Controller beamed. "Then I'll make the arrangements right away."
Then he turned to Ryan.
"Ryan, show Toby to the shed, will you?"
"Right away, sir!"
PEEP-PEEP!
"Come on, Toby!" he called out.
DING-DING! DING-DING!
Toby smiled and followed Ryan side-by-side, as the trio set off for the shed.
"I'm sure you both will do just fine," the tank engine assured them both, and led them onward towards the shed.
"Huh!" Bulgy snorted, as he made his way out of the yard. "I still think roads would be more suiting."
Over the next couple days, Toby and Ryan worked well together, bringing passengers and goods to and from their destinations.
PEEP-PEEP!
"Have a nice day, Toby!"
DING-DING! DING-DING!
Ryan and Toby whistled and rang goodbye to one another, as the former left Arlesburgh with his goods train, and the latter left with passengers aboard Henrietta.
However, the responsibility involved a lot of bustling about the line, and it wasn't long before Toby and Henrietta began to feel rushed off their wheels!
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
DING-DING! DING-DING!
Toby rang his bell aloud as he arrived at Bluff's Cove and waited as his passengers disembarked Henrietta. The pair listened aloud, as children disembarked the train and more ran on, one of them bouncing a beach ball about on Henrietta's floor.
"Oof!" the coach winced. "That hurt!"
Toby sighed as the guard's whistle blew, and they set off again.
DING-DING! DING-DING!
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
By the end of the day, both of them were quite worn out, as Toby returned Henrietta to the yard in a siding just beside the shed.
"Phew!" the tram engine sighed. "That was some day out. Eh, Henrietta?"
"Quite so," the coach agreed. "We never had to bustle about as much on Thomas' Branch."
"Indeed. Daisy must be really useful to run such a busy passenger service all by herself."
"I know," Henrietta put in, then sighed. "I just only hope she returns soon."
"Me too," Toby smiled. "Better yet, it's great to see what she's capable of…"
Meanwhile, Daisy waited around all night as the workmen tended to her front, though she felt very sorry for herself…
"Oh, dear," she groaned, as Dart rolled up alongside, then confided to him, "I only wish I had listened to Toby about that buckled stretch of track."
"Not to worry, Daisy," Dart told her kindly. "I'm sure that the line is in good hands with Toby and Henrietta filling in ."
"I'm sure they are doing a fine job," Daisy agreed, then sighed and watched as the men continued to tend to her front.
A few days later, Daisy was mended, and ready to return to work.
"I'm fixed!" she beamed, as the turntable elevated her lower. "And I feel just as good as new! Merci, Den! Merci, Dart! Merci beaucoup to you all!"
And she made her way out of the DieselWorks, honking loudly.
"Oh, well, erm, merci beaucou to you too, Daisy," Dart greeted, as she left, then looked across to Den.
"I still don't know what that means," he confided.
"Me neither," Den agreed.
Daisy made her way back to Arlesburgh West, just as Toby and Henrietta were about to set out with their passenger train.
HONK-HONK!
Daisy stopped at the station, facing Toby as the tram engine looked at her back.
"Daisy," Toby wondered.
"Toby," Daisy responded, raising an eyebrow as the two engaged in an awkward encounter.
At last, Daisy sighed, and expressed a look of remorse towards Toby.
"I'm sorry I was rude to you both," she apologized, "and for not listening to your advice about that buckled stretch of track. It got me into a lot of trouble and taught a valuable lesson about being careful."
Toby sighed, as Henrietta smiled from behind her.
"It's okay, Daisy," she assured her. "We're just glad that you're okay. Right, Toby?"
"Quite right, Henrietta," the tram engine agreed. "It's good to have you back, Daisy."
"Thank you, Toby. And thank you both for keeping my line in good working order. I'm sure you've done wonders with it."
"Any time, Daisy," Toby replied. "Working on your line was a fun experience. It was rather busier than our line, but we managed."
He thought harder of what to say, then chuckled.
"Come to think of it," he joked, "perhaps I did learn a thing or two about your line after all."
Daisy chuckled along with Toby and Henrietta, and the three friends shared a good laugh, before another silence occurred, and Toby sighed as he looked at Daisy.
"And now," he told her, "Henrietta and I must return to our own Branch Line, but first, we're scheduled for one more passenger run."
"What?!" Daisy spluttered, then wondered aloud. "But then…what am I supposed to do in that time?"
At that moment, Ryan buffered a milk van up behind her and whistled loudly.
PEEP-PEEP!
"Welcome back, Daisy!" he greeted, then joked, "it's good to have you back, even though you do have a lot of to make up for being absent the last couple days."
Toby and Henrietta chuckled along with him as they left the station, and Daisy groaned aloud as the shunter coupled the milk van up to her, then left in a huff.
"Huh! Pulling is bad for me swerves!" she complained aloud, as she pulled the milk van steadily out of the station.
And so that caps off Summertime Surprises!, my first 6-episode DVD, as well as Set 2. This was a rather fun one to write, and gave me the chance to write the two main characters as well as the supporting cast in a similar vein to how Davey Moore would have back in the day. Toby and Daisy are at odds once again and it's like old times, though their unlikely friendship is reinstated by the conclusion of the story. Daisy learnt a valuable lesson about being careful and trusting in her old mentor Toby, while setting out to teach him a thing or two about her Branch Line. Nevertheless, Toby maintains the high ground throughout (with perhaps some help of Henrietta) and in the end, he sees that he and Daisy share some common ground when he's left to run the passenger service for Harwick in her place. This has been a really fun set to write, even though it took me a year to officially get through after Duncan Takes Back a mere three years ago. I really hope you all enjoyed it, and are looking forward to my future Sets. Set 3 should be right around the corner, and I think I have it all planned out, perhaps bringing back a couple of old friends along the way. Anyway, it should be a project I shall work on as the summer progresses. Set 2 finished and out of the way, Set 3 here we come! As always, stay tuned for…
Out Of Puff (based on the story by Christopher Awdry) - the Fat Controller purchases a new type of coal, which unfortunately gives his engines indigestion and causes Henry trouble with the express!
The Twins' Race (by NeverLander852) - seeing as the other engines feel worn out from Donald and Douglas' constant arguing, Henry decides to have them both compete in a race against him to pull the Flying Kipper and see if they can beat his record. To make it interesting, he says that if they both lose to him, they have to stop their arguing for good. But will it work? And will they get away with it?
Diesel's Tall Tales - Diesel is cross with James and Duck respectively for treating him in a condescending way, and schemes to spread rumors and turn the two at odds. However, he gets more than he bargains for when the trucks decide to instigate the scheme even further and circulate the rumors around him, resulting in a clash between three engines who aren't necessarily the best of friends!
The Trouble With Twins (by NeverLander852) - Max and Monty cause havoc all over the Island up to the Clay Pits, and Bill and Ben are blamed for it. BoCo and Timothy work together to prove the China Clay twins' innocence.
Emily Takes Care - Emily takes Annie and Clarabel out while Thomas is on his quarry run, but the coaches don't entirely trust her and are harsh on her with every mistake she makes.