Thieves!
Adapted by Helen Farrall
Based on Stop, Thief! by Christopher Awdry
One evening, Thomas was completing his last passenger train for the day, as he arrived at Ffarquhar.
"Last stop before home!" he whistled, and let off steam as his passengers disembarked Annie and Clarabel.
As the passengers got off at their last stop, Thomas noticed a smart red car parked beside the station.
"Ooh, look at that car, Annie and Clarabel!" Thomas marveled. "It sure does look rather smart!"
"It's my new car!"
Thomas was caught off-guard and noticed the stationmaster walking over to them.
"Is it, stationmaster?" Thomas asked.
"Yes; Thomas!" he chuckled. "The car was a birthday gift from my wife, since we both have errands to run, especially on nights where I need to work late! She's a beauty, isn't she, Thomas?"
Thomas beamed over at the new car with agreement, and looked over with surprise as the stationmaster gasped!
"Oh, dear! I left some important paperwork at home! I must head back and get it before resuming my work here at the office! I'll see you later, Thomas!"
Thomas watched with astonishment as he jumped into his car and raced off.
"Oh, deary me, Annie and Clarabel. Have you ever seen anything like it?"
"No, Thomas! Never!"
"Shh! Look, you two!" Clarabel whispered.
The trio looked over to see two strange-looking men surveying the platform. One was tall with short hair, and the other was bald and rather round!
"They've been riding about my cab all day!" Annie quietly admitted.
"With no luggage to spare!" Clarabel admitted.
"Shh!" Thomas cut off, as he watched the men look through the window of the stationmaster's office.
"The stationmaster's gardening trophies!" he observed quietly, as the tall man took a few snapshots.
"Got some good ones there, Milt?" the round one asked.
"Yes, Gaspar! Come on now. Let's get moving!"
The two were suddenly caught off-guard by the loud sound of Thomas' whistle.
"Excuse me, sirs?" the tank engine wondered, "but…who are you and why were you taking photos of the stationmaster's garden trophies?"
Milt laughed.
"That's simple, little engine!" he answered. "We're railway enthusiasts!"
"Oh," Thomas thought, listening on.
"We, uh…erm, were looking to see the sights of the railway," Gaspar answered, "and we, erm…, saw those lovely garden trophies and we…"
Milt rolled his eyes and bumped Gaspar across the head with his camera pack.
"What Gaspar here means to say is that we've been called upon to take pictures of special sights on the railway. You know, for the Railway Express magazine. Right, Gaspar?"
The round man giggled quietly.
"Right, Milt!" he agreed.
"Anyway, that explains what we've been doing on the train all day. And thank you, little tank engine for a splendid ride!"
"Oh, well, um, no problem," Thomas responded, slightly taken aback.
"Say," Milt went on, "do you mind if we take your picture?"
"I-i-it'll be for the front of the Sodor Times!" Gaspar blurted out.
"Sodor Times?" Annie wondered.
"But we thought he said the…"
Milt hit Gaspar across the head with his camera pack again before finishing Clarabel's sentence.
"What he meant was the Railway Express magazine!"
"The-e, erm, Railway Express! Yes, right!" Gaspar corrected himself, chuckling. "Sorry, my partner Milt here seems to know more about the papers than I do!"
"Yes," Milt nodded. "Anyway, little tank engine, do you mind?"
Thomas chuckled.
"Of course not!" he admitted. "As long as it goes on the cover, of course!"
"Oh, it will," Gaspar chuckled.
Annie and Clarabel watched with suspicion as Milt got the camera into position.
"Ready?" Milt asked. "Put on your best face now! Smile!"
Thomas smiled for the camera as the photograph was taken! Afterwards, the two men looked at the printed result together.
"Perfect!" Gaspar exclaimed.
"Capital!" Milt agreed.
"Thank you, little tank engine!"
"Must be off now! Bye!"
"Wait!" Thomas called out, "don't you want me to…take you back to Knapford?"
He was rather surprised as he watched the men disappear behind the station, then whistled and left as soon as his guard's whistle blew.
After his last stop, Thomas brought Annie and Clarabel back to the yard. As he dropped them off, the coaches had their reservations over what they had just seen!
"I say, you two," Clarabel wondered, "have either of you noticed anything strange and peculiar about those two?"
"Quite so, Clarabel," Annie sharply agreed. "I sure hope they don't cause any trouble!"
"Yes, they did seem rather strange," Thomas wondered, then chuckled.
"But anyways, it's nice to have my picture taken, especially for the front of a magazine!"
"Did the Fat Controller tell you in advance about that photo, Thomas?" Annie asked.
"No," Thomas chuckled, as he took off, "but it is a nice surprise! Have a good night, you two!"
The coaches sighed to each other as they watched Thomas set off back for the shed.
The next morning, the three of them were having a short rest at Ffarquhar after having completed their morning run.
Thomas sighed as he peacefully let off steam.
"How wonderful it would be to have a nice run back down to the valley. Wouldn't it, Annie and Clarabel?"
"Only to the extent that it would be calmer," Annie suggested.
"And a little slower too," Clarabel put in.
The three yawned as they settled down by the station platform, though the crew rose up after having settle down to a nice, cool pitcher of iced tea to see the stationmaster quietly conferring with the guard on the platform. They watched as the stationmaster sighed and shook his head, before heading slowly back to his office
"Excuse me, guard," The driver inquired, as they exited Thomas' cab, "but may I inquire what is the matter?"
The guard sighed.
"The stationmaster's office and his house were robbed last night!" he revealed.
Thomas and the coaches gasped and woke with start to hear this.
"But…I don't understand," the driver wondered. "I didn't know he had anything worth stealing!"
"He's won cups for gardening!" the fireman reminded him.
"Gardening cups!" Thomas exclaimed. "That's what those two men were taking photographs of last night!"
"Come again, Thomas," his driver pondered.
"And they've all been taken!" said the guard.
Thomas gasped as he looked at the window to the stationmaster's office!
"Oh no!" he cried.
"That's not all!" the guard went on. "The scoundrels even had the nerve to pinch his car to carry them away in!"
"You mean the new one that he was so fond of?" the driver remembered.
"Yes!" the stationmaster answered, as he exited his office.
The stationmaster went on with his story, while Thomas, the crew and the guard listened with astonishment, as did Percy as he whistled and arrived with his goods train.
"I was in a hurry to get home and retrieve my paperwork, you see. So I had no idea that trophies were missing until I got back to the station…"
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"… at that moment, I realized I had left my key in the ignition and ran outside to get them!"
The stationmaster thought for a moment and gasped before quickly running outside his office.
"By the time I'd gotten back to the parking lot, the car was gone!"
The stationmaster gasped as an empty parking spot and quickly ran back inside the station, for sitting down on his desk and dialing on the phone beside it.
"I telephoned my wife who came to pick me up on the way back home from picking up the children at school!"
The family of four all drove on their way home and rushed inside the house.
"By the time we'd gotten there, we only found that our house had been burgled as well! Pots, pans, jewelry and plants had all been taken…"
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
…with my house keys having been on the keychain!" the stationmaster finished.
Thomas and the coaches listen to the story with shock, as did Percy while his trucks were being unloaded.
"But… Who would want to rob the stationmaster's house?" the green engine wondered.
"Is there anything we can do to help, stationmaster?" Thomas' driver asked.
"The police are already doing everything that they can," the stationmaster replied. "But I'll send a notice out if I need any more assistance!"
"We'll do our best to keep on the lookout!" the fireman promised.
At that, the signal rose to show that the line was clear!
"All aboard!" Thomas whistled.
As soon as his passengers were all onboard and his guards whistle blew, Thomas left and got a good run at his wheels.
"Don't worry, Annie and Clarabel!" he boldly assured the coaches. "We'll search the entire valley if we have to!"
"But…who would want to steal the stationmaster's gardening trophies?!" Clarabel wondered.
"I suspect it was those railway enthusiasts!" Annie concluded. "You know, the ones who took your picture, Thomas!"
"Hmmm…" Thomas wondered, as he ventured out into the valley. "It's not usual for railfans coming to see the railway to steal things!"
But nevertheless Thomas thought hard about Annie's suspicion, as he made his way towards the valley!
Thomas' wheels pounded as he strolled further along the line.
Up ahead, Thomas approached a tunnel where road and rail met, which would lead into the valley.
"Say, Annie and Clarabel," he reminisced, "I remember this section of our line all too well!"
"How so, Thomas?" Clarabel wondered.
Thomas chuckled.
"Well, it was only on this hill where I won a race with Bertie!"
"Oh!" Annie dully noted. "Yes, we remember all too well."
"I rushed through the tunnel and wham! I was off!" Thomas boasted. "Like this!"
He flew through the tunnel, headlamp shining, then raced out through the other side! He took a deep breath as he ventured into the valley and observed the fresh spring air all around him.
"Mmm," he thought dreamily, as he noticed a flash of red up ahead. "I can only imagine myself beating Bertie now!"
"I don't suppose that's Bertie, Thomas!" Annie insisted.
"Huh?" Thomas thought, eyes wide open as he observed the moving force up ahead. "Oh."
"Steady, Thomas!" his driver cautioned, as he chuffed forward.
"Let me get closer, please!" Thomas begged. "That looks just like the stationmaster's car!"
"Easy now," his driver remarked, "there are lots of cars that look like that!"
Nevertheless, the driver opened the regulator and began to draw level, as the fireman stoked gradually at Thomases firebox to allow him to press forward!
The fireman rubbed his face as he coughed up the soot from Thomas' firebox.
At last, they were able to catch up with the car. The fireman took out a pair of binoculars to see who was inside.
"I say," he wondered, " those do seem like the enthusiasts we saw yesterday!"
"We shan't lose em!" the driver insisted.
Thomas eyed the men long and hard, raising an eyebrow as he chuffed alongside them.
From inside the car, two passengers noticed Thomas right away.
"Say, Milt," the round one wondered, as he pulled out the picture they took. "Don't that funny little engine look familiar?"
The tall one looked long and hard at the photograph, then nodded before shifting his eyes back on the road.
"We must keep moving! Otherwise we'll be compromised!"
He pressed hard at the gas pedal and surged the car forward.
"It's them!" the fireman deduced. "After them, Thomas!"
Thomas was so long as loud as he followed in pursuit of the thieves!
It turned out that the red car was indeed the stationmasters car, and the two men inside it were the thieves!
"Hurry, Thomas!" his driver exclaimed.
Thomas went red in the face as he pursued the car, whistling loudly.
"Come back, thieves!" he shouted.
He thundered along, as Annie and Clarabel wailed loudly behind him.
"Keep at it, Milt!" Gaspar shouted. "We 'ave to lose him!"
"Whaddyu think I'm tryna do!" Milt shouted back.
He kept the gas pedal going, as Thomas rolled along beside them, glaring.
"Oi, Milt! Intersection!"
"I see it! I see it!"
He revved the car into a different direction that led uphill, as Thomas passed by the road alongside the track.
"Oh no!" he groaned. "We've lost them!"
"It's hopeless!" the driver groaned. "We'll never catch them before they reach the next station! What do we do now?"
"I have an idea!" the fireman replied. "Quick! What we need is pen, paper and something to put a note in! That way, we can throw in a message at the next signal box!"
Thomas listened with intrigue to the sound of his driver's idea.
Thomas' fireman proceeded to write a note that would warn the signalman about the thieves! He then placed it in his empty lunch tin, as the car drove down from the hill!
"There they are!" Thomas whistled. "Hurry now, Annie and Clarabel!"
He was too late to catch up with the thieves before the next single box but his fireman got ready with the note in hand.
"Steady now, Thomas!" he warned him.
"Slow down, Thomas!" Annie called.
"We'll never manage to throw that message in otherwise!" Clarabel added.
"But then the thieves will escape!" Thomas worried, then groaned as he felt a little jolt at his wheels!
Thomas' driver slowed him down anyway, as they reached the next signal box.
"Not to worry, Thomas!" he soothed, as they watched the red car flash by the signal box. "It's all under control!"
His fireman threw the lunch tin with the note inside it up to the signalman!
"Police!" the crew both shouted at the top of their voices.
"Stop those thieves!" Thomas whistled.
"Don't worry!" the signalman answered, as he caught the note. "I'll call for help!"
Thomas sped up again and rushed by, as Annie and Clarabel wailed and rattled behind him!
The signalman ran back inside his office and proceeded to telephone police headquarters to report the robbery!
"Oh dear," Thomas groaned. "I can hardly see the red car now! We've lost track of the thieves! Surely they'll get away with all the stationmaster's belongings!"
"Don't worry, Thomas!" Annie soothed. "You've tried your best!"
"The police have it all under control!" Clarabel added.
"Yes, but by the speed we've seen of that car, there might be a chance that the police won't catch them in time!"
At that moment, they heard a car horn from just down the road.
"That must be the stationmaster's car!" Thomas guessed.
They approached a level crossing up ahead, and spotted this the thieves coming towards it. At that moment, Toby came down the line with Hannah.
"Toby!" Thomas whistled out loud. "Thieves!"
"Huh?" Toby wondered aloud.
"Speed up, Toby! Then you can beat them at the level crossing!"
"Oh, my," Toby groaned.
"Go on, Toby!" Hannah shouted. "Now's our chance!"
"Get him going, Hannah, or else they'll get away!"
"Faster, Toby! Faster!"
Toby wailed as Hannah pushed him towards the level crossing, just in time for the gates to close on the stationmaster's car.
"Woahhhh!" Toby wailed, as he raced past the gate.
"We did it, Toby!" Hannah exclaimed.
"Well done, you two!" Thomas whistled in response.
He made his way over the level crossing, as Milt banged his fist down on the driving wheel.
"That meddling tank engine!"
"'ey, Milt, I suggest that we, erm…, back up. Maybe go back round in a loop…"
"No! That slope is too steep and it will just slow us down even further! Besides, if we go back into the valley, we'll run an even bigger risk of getting caught!"
"Just a suggestion," Milt murmured, confused.
At long last, the gates were opened and they had right-of-way!
"Come on!" Milt insisted. "Let's get moving!"
He revved the car back in full throttle and they made it over the level crossing before racing off.
Thomas was feeling very pleased with himself, as he continued farther up the Branch Line.
"I'm sure we've slowed them down now, Annie and Clarabel!" he sighed with relief.
At that moment, they heard a sudden honking.
"Hmm, does that horn sound familiar?" Annie wondered.
"Um, pardon me, you two," Clarabel suggested, "but we might want to hurry it along a little bit."
"Why?" Thomas asked.
Just then, the honking got closer and soon enough, the thieves were side-by-side with Thomas, who gasped.
"Oh, no!" he cried.
Milt looked at Thomas through the window and grinned, before moving the car farther along. Thomas glared as he pounded his wheels against the rails! Hi fireman gradually stoked up coal to a point where he was alongside the thieves, glaring at them from inside.
"Fiddlesticks!" Milt groaned, and pressed the car further on.
Up ahead, Thomas saw Bertie racing down the road in the opposite direction.
Bertie was humming happily, but was then caught off-guard by the sound of Thomas' whistle!
"Bertie! Stop those thieves!"
Bertie glared as he saw the stationmaster's car, thinking hard.
"Hmm…"
"Quick, Bertie! Create a diversion! It'll slow them down!"
"Ah!" Bertie grinned.
He quickly swerved in the way of the car, surprising Milt, who proceeded to brake the car hard. He banged his fist against the driving wheel and backed up, before speeding along the road again.
"They got away, Thomas!" Bertie called.
"Don't worry!" Thomas whistled. "At least there will be enough time for the police to catch them now!"
All of a sudden, the car sped by him and took him by surprise for speeding farther out of sight.
"Oh dear," Thomas groaned. "They're sure to get away now!"
"Don't be so sure, Thomas!" his driver encouraged.
Just as he spoke, they heard sirens further out the line. Thomas smiled as he made his way further along.
Further down the road, the two thieves could hear the sirens as well.
"Oi, Milt!" Gaspar exclaimed. "That don't sound very good!"
"We can't give up!" Milt groaned.
He pressed farther on as they approached a fork in the road, and several police cars, sirens sounding out loud, coming down one side.
"Other way, Milt! Other way!"
"I know!"
He revved the car up the other side of the road before the police could create a diversion for them! All at once, the police cars braked hard against one another and pursued the thieves further up the hill!
The thieves advanced further up the steep hill, as the police cars behind them followed in hot pursuit!
"They're on our tail, Milt! We're in for it now!"
"Not yet!"
Milt pressed his foot farther on the gas pedal as Gaspar held on for dear life! He went red in the face as he advanced the car along, determined not to give up.
"We'll lose 'em soon enough!" Milt shouted out. "Just you wait and see!"
"Erm…, Milt?"
"What?"
Gaspar whimpered as he pointed to the sight up ahead, causing Milt to nearly fall back in surprise.
Up ahead was a roadblock, completely held up by police cars!
"Stop, Milt! Stop!"
Milt quickly slammed on the brakes, as the police cars up ahead approached them!
"Tracks!" Milt shouted.
"Huh?" Gaspar wondered.
Milt revved the car right by the approaching police cars before rattling it over onto the tracks. The police cars proceeded to follow behind them.
"This should be a quick way to dodge 'em!" said Milt confidently.
"If you say so, Milt!"
Just then, the pair held a familiar whistle and looked behind to see Thomas advancing towards them!
"It's that tank engine!" Gaspar exclaimed.
Milt grinned.
"He never gives up, does he?"
He revved the car further up but Thomas quickly overtook them and grinned as he passed.
"How on earth…?" Gaspar gasped, as Milt groaned aloud.
Thomas sped further up the line and whistled aloud as he saw Percy.
"Quick, Percy! Points!"
Percy gulped as he ran towards the points onto Thomas' track. He gasped as he saw him approaching again.
"Again, Percy!" Thomas whistled aloud. "We have to stop the thieves!"
"I'm on it!" Percy replied.
He whistled loudly to the signalman. He gasped as he saw Thomas dead ahead and shut his eyes right before the points started to divert him over to the next track.
"Quickly, Percy!" Thomas whistled.
He shut his eyes as he saw his brake van crossing over and reached the next track as Thomas raced by…just in time! Percy wailed and rolled his eyes around at all this before seeing the thieves dead ahead.
"Oh my," he murmured, and pursued them farther down.
"Great!" Milt grunted. "More trouble!"
He pushed the car in reverse and revved away from Percy, who glared as he followed them down the track. The police sirens proceeded to sound from behind.
"We have to make it off the track!" Gaspar suggested.
"Then they'll catch us for sure!" Milt disagreed.
"We're not any better off 'ere, Milt!"
Milt sighed heavily.
"We'll lose 'em sure enough if we hurry!" he decided.
He went in reverse and back onto the road. Percy watched as they took off with the police cars following them!
Just then, the two thieves heard even more sirens farther up the road.
"Shoot!" Milt grunted, and put the car back in reverse.
"Whatcha doin' now?" Gaspar exclaimed.
"We'll be lucky if we can make it past the other cars!" Milt replied.
He braked the car hard and turned it around before racing along the other side.
"Do you know what you're doing, Milt?"
"Watch me!"
He waited as the police cars approached, then attempted to swerve away from one side of them. However, another police car took a surprise approach into that direction and caused him to stop, which allowed the police cars behind them to surround all around them. All at once, policemen ran from their cars as one pulled out a very large bullhorn!
"We have you surrounded! Come out of the car slowly with your hands up!"
Milt groaned and Gaspar whimpered as they both walked out of the car. Several police officers held them at gunpoint as they put their hands on top of the car and were handcuffed immediately.
"Told you we were in for it!" Gaspar murmured.
Milt groaned with frustration as they were taken away into a nearby police car, as Percy watched ambitiously from nearby.
"Oof!" Gaspar groaned, as they were lowered in.
"Watch it!" Milt snapped.
The car door slammed and the two thieves were taken away!
Later that afternoon, Thomas brought the Fat Controller to Ffarquhar aboard Annie and Clarabel. He was surprised to find Percy, Toby and Bertie were all there too! The Fat Controller exited Annie and walked along the platform as the stationmaster gathered all the passengers around a porter's trolley.
The Fat Controller climbed aboard the trolley as the passengers all gathered around
"Wait, everyone," the porter encouraged. "Stationmaster has a few words he'd like to say!"
The stationmaster smiled as he walked before Thomas.
"Thank you, Thomas, for your valiant effort in stopping those thieves! I have no idea how I've got my belongings back otherwise, but fortunately, little harm was done to them!"
He proceeded to place his keys in his front pocket.
"At least I learnt to keep my keys in a safe and secure place now on to ensure that it doesn't happen again," he went on.
Thomas beamed.
"I couldn't have done it without my friends, sir! They all pitched in and helped with dropping the robbery too!"
Toby smiled.
"But you were the one who acted the quickest in the state of emergency, Thomas!"
"You directed where to go and what to do!" Bertie added.
"Right on!" Percy agreed, whistling cheerfully.
"Yes, yes," the Fat Controller added. "Well, the important thing is that the stationmaster's gardening cups had been found undamaged in a sack in the boot of the car!"
The passengers clapped and cheered. The Fat Controller's assistants and the porter proceeded to place all of the trophies on top of the trolley, as he beamed down at Thomas.
"Listen up, everyone!" he began to the passengers. "It was only a mere matter of years ago when Thomas arrived in the yard and showed how valuable he was to the running of my railway, therefore having earned his own branch line to prove it!"
Thomas widened his eyes with intrigue, as the Fat Controller went on.
"I'm sure you all agree that today, he has proved himself worthy once again to be a really useful engine by stopping the two thieves from stealing the stationmaster's car!"
The passengers clapped and cheered once more.
"Luckily, the two thieves were apprehended, and my wife and I got all our belongings back!" the stationmaster added. "Therefore, my wife and I have talked it over and we've both agreed that Thomas should be rewarded with one of our 1st place gardening trophies as a token of our gratitude!"
Thomas gave a loud and long whistle!
"Thank you, stationmaster! But you know, you really don't have to…"
"Let's hear it for Thomas!" the Fat Controller cut off, raising his hand up before bringing them both out. "Hip hip…"
"…hooray!" the passengers cheered, as Percy, Toby and Bertie whistled, rang and cheered along with them.
"Hip hip…"
"…hooray!"
"Hip hip…"
"…hooray!"
The last cheer was loudest and longest of all, and Thomas smiled as the stationmaster placed his 1st place trophy on top of his cab!
And that concludes my RWS bunch for this set. It was rather fun this time to scatter individual stories around instead of putting them all into one arc. The first scene in the story was a great buildup for the main series of events, even it did make it seem kind of predictable. The two thieves were fun to write and give character to, and having Hannah be given a brief role for this set also worked well. We're almost at the home stretch for Set 3! The last two stories will be rather road-focused and revolve around a handful of characters I've never written the spotlight for before. So stay tuned, be sure to leave your thoughts and come back next week to see the feud between...
Byron And Brenda - Byron and Brenda are tasked with clearing the grounds around a site by Wellsworth; however, things get out of hand as Byron attempts to take charge of the situation and Brenda just wants to do her own thing.
Bulgy Plays The Fool - Bulgy comes to help out with the extra summer tourists at Ulfstead, though he takes an immediate dislike to the Earl and views him as a buffoon. When Stephen's fire is slow to start, Bulgy relinquishes the Earl into handing all the passengers over to him, though he doesn't realize that HE'S the one being tricked since the Earl figures out his plan!