Rebecca's Challenge
Written by Davey Moore
Knapford Station was bustling with people walking about the platform, when a familiar red figure approached, whistling aloud.
"Here's James!"
The red engine came to a hard stop just by the platform and let off a shower of steam, causing several passengers to mutter amongst themselves.
"Hey, Philip!" he shouted to the diesel boxcab, as he approached from behind. "How did I do that time?"
"Ooh, sorry, James! Wasn't paying attention! Sure you did great, though!"
"I say!" one passenger complained. "That was a bumpy ride!"
"I feel dizzy!" another coughed.
"Had to hang on to my upholstery for dear life!" a third one groaned.
But James was unaware that the passengers were complaining, as he had chuffed away to the siding for a rest!
"Uh oh," Philip stammered.
Sir Topham Hatt came out of his office in time to hear the passengers talking loudly amongst each other.
"What on earth!" he exclaimed, observing the cloud of steam dissolving about the platform.
"I say! Call this a railway?!"
"Might be much smoother by bus!"
Philip groaned as he took James' coaches away.
"Hi, Philip!" Rebecca whistled, as she passed.
"Hello, Rebecca!" he honked back.
Rebecca arrived with her morning passenger train and observed the loud atmosphere of the station.
"Morning, sir!" she tooted. "What's all the commotion?"
"Ah, Rebecca!" Sir Topham Hatt responded, looking over. "I have no idea! It's been a long morning, you see, but I'll get to the bottom of it as soon as I can. Now, where's James?"
"I think he went off to the sidings for a rest!" Philip informed him.
"Hmm…" he pondered, then walked off to look for him.
James had just settled down in a siding just outside the station.
"Ah," he sighed. "Now for a rest before my next train!"
"James!"
"Oh no," he gasped, watching as a familiar figure approached.
"Ah, James! I don't suppose you have a job at the moment!"
"Well, mmmm…no, sir, but…"
"Ah! I see! Well, in that case, I was wondering if you would be good enough to pick up some trucks of stone from the Blue Mountain Quarry and deliver it to Tidmouth. There's a new seawall being built at the harbor, you see!"
"But, sir, my next passenger train should be running anytime soon! Can't another engine like Percy or Toby do it instead?"
"They all have other work to do, James!" Sir Topham Hatt firmly reminded him. "That's why I'm asking you to do it since you have no other job at the moment!"
"But if I go to the harbor, I might not make it back in time for my coaches!"
"Well, then you best get going, James! It shouldn't take long! If you're not back in time, I can easily give your coaches to another engine and have you do another job!"
James left the siding to collect his empty trucks, but he wasn't very happy about it!
The entire way to the Quarry, the trucks were nothing but trouble!
"What's that big red slug pulling us?" one remarked.
"Ha! More like a snail!" another added.
"Won't be much red on him after these stone trucks are loaded!"
"Or delivered!"
"I'd say a little paleish gray!" a fifth truck suggested.
They laughed and laughed. James bumped them hard.
"Quiet back there!" he demanded.
But the trucks began to sing.
"James is going to get dirty!
James is going to get dirty!"
"I said quiet back there!" James gawked.
And he bumped them hard once more.
"Oof! Ow! Ouch!" they groaned.
James had bumped the trucks so hard that they were determined to get back at him. They waited till he reached a…
"Red signal!" James gasped.
He groaned, applying his brakes, but the trucks surged forward.
"On! On! On! Faster! Faster!" they shouted.
"Woahhhh!" James wailed, pinning his brakes down hard. "Stoppppp!"
But the trucks pushed him forward, laughing giddily all the way.
"Watch out, James!" Rebecca shouted, gradually slowing down as she reached down.
James slowed down and groaned to a halt just beyond the signal.
"Oof!" he winced, and glared back at the giggling trucks.
"Are you alright, James?" Rebecca asked.
"I was…and going quite nicely too until these silly trucks almost pushed me off the tracks! What a nuisance they are!"
"Are they really that bad?"
"Are you kidding me? Rebecca, they almost…"
"Maybe try joining in on their fun!" Rebecca suggested. "That's what I usually do and they give me no trouble at all!"
James snorted.
"Don't be silly, Rebecca! I would never dream as such! Trucks are silly things and deserve to be taught a lesson!"
At last, his signal went green and he whistled aloud as he set off.
"Goodbye, Rebecca!" he politely greeted.
Rebecca sighed and watched with dismay as his train left.
As he started again, James spoke severely to the trucks.
"I am very ashamed of you all! You nearly caused me an accident! But I'll stand for no more of your nonsense whatsoever, I assure you!"
The trucks giggled and whispered quietly amongst each other.
"We'll give him nonsense! That should teach him to push us around!"
James smiled as he carried on, suspecting nothing.
James arrived at the Blue Mountain Quarry and prepare to shut the empty trucks under the stone hopper!
"Hello, James!" Rheneas whistled, as he rolled up. "How's your day going?"
"Well…" James began.
But before he could finish, the trucks purposely slipped their brakes on and caused him to roll under the hopper.
"Woahhhh!" he wailed, and looked up. "Oh, no!"
James was covered in stone right up to his funnel. Soot and dust got all over his red paint!
James crossly spat dust from his mouth, then glared back at the laughing trucks!
"Oh, my!" Rheneas groaned.
Rusty honked as he rolled up alongside.
"Are you okay, James?" the little diesel asked.
James let out one final cough, then spluttered.
"I've had quite enough of these trucks!" he fumed. "Uncouple me at once!"
A nearby shunter proceeded to do so, before James whistled and took off.
"Where are you going, James?" Rusty wondered.
"To the washdown!"
Rusty and Rheneas expressed a look of dismay to each other.
"All I asked was how was his day was going!"
"I only asked if he was alright!"
At the washdown, James was very impatient as the workmen scrubbed him down.
"Make it quick! Otherwise I'll never make it back in time for my passenger train!"
One workman scrubbed a little too close across his face.
"Ouch! Mind my eye!"
But the men took no notice and continued scrubbing him down.
"Oh, dear," he groaned. "I hope this doesn't make me late!"
By the time he arrived back at Knapford, he found that he had no train waiting for him!
"Where are my coaches?!" he wondered aloud.
Philip honked as he rolled up alongside.
"Nia took them!" he regretfully informed him. "Sir Topham Hatt had to reassign the coaches to her since you didn't make it back on time from the Quarry!"
"But I…I…"
He groaned, sighing with dismay.
"That was meant to be my job!" he grumbled.
"You didn't even complete your own job, James!" boomed a familiar, stern-sounding voice.
James gasped and looked over to see Sir Topham Hatt, hands over hips.
"I had to assign Paxton to take the trucks of stone to Tidmouth instead! And since you wasted even more time at the washdown, I had to give your passenger train to another engine!"
"I-it was all the trucks' fault, sir! You see, they…" James stammered.
But Sir Topham Hatt groaned, expressing a facepalm.
"Enough, James! In fact, I think it's best that you wait in the yard and shunt trucks and coaches about until I have another job for you to do! That should teach you to stick to the job at hand!"
"But, sir…"
"Now, James!"
James whistled and set off, mumbling quietly to himself.
James resorted to his punishment shunting about the yard…
He whistled as he bought Emily's express coaches to the platform.
"Thanks, James!" she whistled.
But Gordon only laughed as he set off with the express.
"Fancy that! Little James landing himself into big trouble!"
James ignored him and went back about the Junction.
…but as he did so, the trucks for even more trouble than ever!
"On! On! Faster! Faster!" they cried.
"Woahhhhh!" James wailed.
He slammed his brakes on hard, cause himself to biff roughly into the trucks.
"Gotcha!" one truck shouted.
"Doh!" James winced.
He sighed as he continued to shunt them about.
"When's your next passenger train due, James?" one truck teased, as he shunted a line of them into a siding.
"Oooooh!" another taunted.
"He may deal with us all day!" suggested a third.
They laughed and laughed, while James biffed them hard.
"Be quiet!" he shouted.
He shunted another line of trucks into a different siding, sending them flying and wailing towards the buffers.
"That's for you! And you! And you!"
"Ughhhhh!" he seethed with disgust. "Dirty trucks to and from dirty sidings!"
He backed down to face Thomas and Percy laughing, raising an eyebrow at them.
"What are you two laughing at?" he demanded.
"Oh, nothing, James!" Percy thought, "it's just that…your face is all scrunched up when you biff those trucks!"
Thomas chuckled, attempting to put on a scrunched up face.
"Hey, James! Look at this!"
"Oh, oh, I can do one too!" Percy chimed in.
His face went red as he blew hard at his cheeks, but James just snorted and rolled away.
"Don't worry, James!" Philip honked, as he stopped beside him. "Look on the bright side: you could be sitting around in the shed doing nothing at all!"
"Not for me! At least it would be better than dealing with these silly trucks!"
And he went back about bumping them.
"Oh," Philip thought with dismay, setting back about his work.
The trucks continued to make faces and blow raspberries at James, causing him to biff them hard as he shunted them into one siding.
"That will be enough from the lot of you!"
"Oooooh!"
"Nah nah-nah nah nah!"
James angrily let off steam, as Rebecca pulled up across from him.
"What's the mattter, James?"
"It's those trucks! They got me all covered in stone at the Quarry and made me late for my passenger train! Now I have to shunt them here to there until The Fat Controller has another job for me to do! It just goes to show that trucks are silly things, causing nothing but trouble every chance they get!"
Rebecca smiled. She wanted to think of a way to make James feel better.
"Trucks never give me any trouble! I can help you by taking the load off!"
"Huh?"
"I know! How about a challenge? That should liven things up a bit!"
"A challenge? Go on, Rebecca!"
"I can look after all these trucks! Let's see how you manage with my passengers!"
"Passengers?!"
James widened his eyes with excitement.
Rebecca laughed.
"Yes! You can pull my coaches for now! I'll take the next goods train out! What do you say?"
She winked.
James smiled.
"I'll take it!" he said eagerly.
"Great! Next train out to Vicarstown leaves in 10 minutes!"
"Thanks, Rebecca!" James whistled.
"Any time, James!"
She watched as James set off, smiling.
James thought that by accepting Rebecca's challenge that he was going to show her that trucks really could be trouble after all.
He left the station with his coaches as soon as his guard's whistle blew!
"Later, Rebecca!" he whistled. "And good luck!"
"You too, James!" she whistled back, and set about her shunting.
Rebecca kept very busy managing the yard and James' place.
She hummed as she gently shunted the trucks about, who giggled and chattered all the while.
"Neat and tidy gets the job done!" she exclaimed. "You'll all be heading out very soon!"
"Ooh, exciting!" one dully noted.
"Just extraordinary!" added another.
At that moment, the yard manager walked up, a pen and paper in hand.
"Hello, Rebecca!" he greeted. "Would you happen to know where James is?"
"James is taking a passenger train to Vicarstown, sir! I suggested to him that we swap jobs!"
"Hmmm…that's strange! That's where I was meaning for him to take the next goods train due out!"
"Oh, well, erm…if you would like, sir, I can gladly take the goods train there in his place!"
"Oh…well, ummm… if you don't mind."
"With pleasure, sir!" Rebecca whistled. "I'll have the trucks all sorted and in line right away!"
"Thanks, Rebecca! Good luck!"
And he waved as she rolled out of sight.
Rebecca wasted no time at all in shunting the trucks all into line for her train.
"We're going away to Vicarstown, guys!" she marveled aloud. "Isn't that exciting?"
"That seems like a long way!"
"Long enough for us to sing a couple tunes!"
"Oh, oh! Hey! Let's rehearse!"
"We're going away, we're going away!
Faster we go, faster we go!
We're going away, we're going away!
To Vicarstown Station!"
"Nailed it!" one truck called.
"Right off the bat!"
"Ooh, that sounds catchy!" Rebecca admitted. "Might as well join in!"
"We're going away, we're going away!
Faster we go, faster we go!
We're going away, we're going away!"
"Ooh, ooh! I know'" Rebecca cried out suggestively. "We're off to Vicarstown!"
"Ooh, nice one," one truck admitted, "errr…"
"Rebecca!"
"Rebecca!" they chanted out together.
"She's a fun one!" another truck admitted.
It wasn't long before Rebecca had the trucks all ready to go away to their destination!
"Ready, guys?"
She buffered up to the train, beaming, then pulled away.
"We're going away, we're going away!
Faster we go, faster we go!
Thomas and Percy exchanged a confused glance with one another as Rebecca left, still singing along with the trucks.
"We're going away, we're going away!
We're off to Vicarstown!
We're off to Vicarstown, hurrah!
We're off to Vicarstown!"
Diesel scofffed as he watched the train pull out of Vicarstown.
"Heh!"
James was also enjoying himself tremendously, as he went coasting along the line.
"This was a clever idea!" he thought. "Have to thank Rebecca for this one!"
The passengers aboard his coaches hung on for dear life. James whistled loudly three times enough to scare the birds off.
"This is the life!" he marveled.
He looked dead ahead to find himself approaching Wellsworth.
"Here's James!"
He braked hard at the platform, causing his coaches to bounce and rattle!
"Hey! Edward! How did I do that time?"
But the blue engine was off in a huff as soon as his guard's whistle blew. James was too busy marveling to himself to notice the passengers exiting the coaches, coughing and groaning as they scattered about the platform.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"Here's James!" he called, braking smoothly as he entered the platform at Maron.
Murdoch watched with surprise as his coaches slightly rattled back-and-forth from his hard stop.
"What did you think of that?!" he asked Murdoch.
"Well!" one passenger groaned. "Is this a railway or theme park?"
"I, for one, couldn't tell the difference!"
But James took no notice, as he left the the station. Murdoch proceeded to observe the noisy passengers chattering about the platform.
"Huh! Racquet!" he remarked.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
James flew along the bridge towards Vicarstown. Henry watched him approaching.
"Slow down, James!" he whistled.
But James didn't hear him in time.
"Here's James!" he called.
He came to a hard stop right at the platform, causing his coaches to rattle up and down.
"Take it easy, James!" Henry demanded. "I don't think your passengers liked that very much!"
"Nonsense, Henry!" James disagreed. "They're riding in class!"
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of coughing, as the passengers walked out of the coaches and slammed them. They chattered as they walked about the platform.
James grinned at Henry, who raised an eyebrow at him.
"Hello, James!" Rebecca whistled, as she pulled in. "How are things going thus far?"
"Spectacular, as it happens! As a matter of fact, I would like to thank you immensely, Rebecca! I'm having a ball! I never recalled getting to fly along the line as much when pulling my own coaches!"
"Just happy I could help, James!"
There was an awkward silence, while Henry exited the station with his coaches.
"Have the trucks been much trouble for you?" he wondered.
"No! Not at all!" Rebecca admitted. "In fact, I've been having a blast with them the whole way here!"
"What?!"
"We sang and chatted all the way long!"
She coughed, then laughed slightly.
"Well, we didn't actually chat! You see, I was just trying to join in on their conversations and figure out their repore with one another and…"
James groaned slightly, as Rebecca thought, struggling to finish his sentence. She sighed.
"Actually, James, what I was meaning to say is, ermmmm…, I'm due to take some fruit and vegetable vans out to market!"
She grinned at him.
"In other words, would you care to swap back to our usual routines or finish the challenge?"
James smirked.
"I'll go with the second option, thank you very much!"
"I'm already having too much with this job already!"
He prepared to leave as soon as his guard's whistle blew.
"See you later, Rebecca!"
"Good luck, James!" she whistled, as she exited the station herself.
She proceeded to leave her empty trucks in one siding and back down onto the vans for the next train.
"Ready to go off to market, guys?"
The trucks quietly giggled and chattered to each other as Rebecca pulled them away, raising an eyebrow at them with curiosity.
On the way to market, Rebecca attempted to socialize with the trucks.
"Say," one truck wondered to another, "what's your truck filled with?"
"Melons! How about you?"
"Strawberries!"
"Ooh! Sweet!" Rebecca marveled. "Don't strawberries remind you of…"
"Bananas in mine!" another truck called out, cutting her off.
"Tomatoes!"
"Cabbages!"
"Ughhhh!" one truck groaned with disgust!
"Boring!"
"Ewwwwy!"
Rebecca thought for a moment.
"Cabbages aren't ewwwwy!" she butt in. "They're very nice and healthy for you actually and…"
She thought for a moment, then smiled.
"Actually, it reminds me of a song!"
She took a deep breath, then sang out:
"We're going away, we're going away!
Faster we go, faster we go!
Filled with fruits and vegetables
Off to market we go!"
"Oh, oh, good one!" one truck admitted.
Then together, they continued to sing out with her:
"We're going away, we're going away!
Faster we go, faster we go!
Filled with fruits and vegetables
Off to market we go!"
Off to market we go!
Off to market we go, hurrah!
On! On! On!"
Rebecca wailed and surged forward.
"Woah!" she gasped.
She applied her brakes, but the trucks proceeded to slip theirs on, giggling and laughing behind her.
"Stop!" she cried out.
"Have it your way!" one truck remarked.
They allowed her to slow down the red signal, which proceeded to turn green and allow her to continue going forward.
"That's better!" she sighed with relief. "Now, let's get this train off to market, shall we?"
She gasped, suddenly caught off-guard at a sudden jolt.
"Hold back! Hold back!" the trucks chanted.
"Please, guys!" she begged. "Enough messing around. We have to get this train to market on time!"
But the trucks took no notice and continued to laugh and chatter noisily behind her. Rebecca sighed with dismay and continued forward, pulling hard at the noisy trucks.
"Wheeee!" James wailed.
He flew down the line at a tremendous rate, with the coaches rattling sturdily behind him.
"James!" a passenger demanded, leaning his head out the window. "Could you perhaps take it a little slower?"
"Can't stop for that! By the time we reach Knapford, it may very well be time for me to get back to schedule with my usual passengers!"
His wheels pounded against the track, as he approached Nia up ahead. He whistled loudly at her.
"Look at me, Nia! Wheeeee!"
"Slow down, James!" the Kenyan engine whistled.
"Never!"
Up ahead was a red signal; Percy was crossing over the line in front of it with some milk tankers when he saw James approaching.
"Slow down, James!" he whistled out. "Red signal!"
James gasped and pinned his brakes down hard. He groaned as he shut his eyes.
The passengers onboard held on for dear life, as James groaned to a halt.
"Oof!" he winced, as the coaches rattled slightly him. "That was close!"
All at once, he heard doors slam and passengers beginning to chatter amongst themselves.
"I say!" one demanded. "I've had enough of this train!"
"Me too!" another added. "Send for another one at once to get us back to Knapford!"
"Oh no!" James gasped.
Percy expressed a look of concern as he pulled the milk tankers away.
All the passengers were very cross, and the guard went off to telephone ahead for another engine.
Soon enough, Emily arrived to take the passengers back to Knapford.
"All aboard!" she whistled.
All at once, relieved passengers began to board her coaches, and Emily looked across at a dismayed James.
"James! The Fat Controller would like to see you back at Knapford right away!"
"Uh oh," James groaned.
He headed off right away, as Emily watched after him with concern.
Meanwhile, Rebecca had the fruit vans dropped off at market, though by her journey's end, she felt very exhausted.
She sighed flusteredly as she left the noisy trucks in a siding, her cheeks slightly red.
"Thank you, Rebecca!" Farmer Trotter expressed. "The fruit and vegetables are ready to be sold to market, and on time too!"
Terrence strolled up alongside her.
"Are you alright, Rebecca?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm fine!" she calmly replied. "Thank you, Terence!"
She was unhitched from her wagons and rolled slowly away.
James arrived back at Knapford and looked all around.
"Oh, dear," he thought to himself, "what will he say?"
"Ahem!"
He gasped and looked over to see a familiar figure tapping his foot and looking sternly at him.
"Sir!" he gulped.
"Ooh! Busted!" Philip remarked.
Sir Topham Hatt folded his arms at the boxcab, causing him to chuckle nervously. He then walked further towards James.
"I have received nothing but complaints about you all day, James! I had to arrange for Emily to take the passengers back and now they're all saying this is a bad railway!
James listened, ashamed, as he went on. Rebecca arrived at the platform in time to hear him continue.
"In fact, I recently just found out that it was you that caused all the confusion this morning by braking too hard at the platform and letting off all that steam!"
"Oh, sir, it was only a little…"
"After today's performance, you will not be pulling coaches for quite some time!"
Rebecca gasped.
"But, sir…!" James cried.
"No excuses, James! You are to stay here in the yard and shunt trucks and coaches about until I can trust you again!"
Rebecca sighed.
"Please, sir! I should take some responsibility for what happened!"
"You, Rebecca?"
James glanced over with surprise as she went on.
"James was left in the yard with nothing to do. So I figured that since he liked pulling coaches so much that I would challenge him to look after my passengers while I handle some of the good traffic!"
Sir Topham Hatt nearly fell back with surprise, and raise an eyebrow at James, who laughed anxiously. He then looked back over at Rebecca as she finished.
"I was only trying to make him feel better about things, sir! Especially since I do enjoy pulling trucks more than most engines!"
She thought for a moment, then sighed, understandingly.
"Well, did at least…"
"Erm, that's quite enough, Rebecca!" Sir Topham Hatt concluded. "Now, that was a very thoughtful gesture of you, but at the same time, it was rather brave of you to own up! Your decision did lead James to upset your passengers after all!"
"Yes, sir," Rebecca agreed, ashamedly.
Sir Topham Hatt turned back to James.
"James, you shall resort to your punishment shunting trucks and coaches about in the yard with Philip for the next week or so until you can learn to be more careful and manage them both properly again!"
"Yes, sir," James dully replied.
"Come along, James!" Philip honked, leading him away.
James conformed to his punishment, as Sir Topham Hatt turned back towards the big yellow engine.
"As for you, Rebecca," he went on, the yellow engine watching as he thought hard. "Seeing as you are good at handling trucks…"
Later, James was busy shunting trucks about in line for other engines to take away.
"I'll leave you with this one, James!" Philip decided. "I need to fetch Emily's coaches!"
He honked and rushed off, as James whistled after him and shunted some trucks into line towards Knapford.
"Here you go, Percy!" he whistled.
"Thanks, James!" the saddle tank engine whistled back.
He left with his trucks, as James reversed back about the yard. At that moment, Rebecca pulled up alongside him.
"Hello, James!" she tooted. "Stellar shunting I just saw! Glad I came back from the Scrap Yard on time to see it!"
James raised an eyebrow, slightly concerned.
"Scrap Yard, huh?"
"Yeah! The Fat Controller put me on scrap duty for the rest of the week! I'm sorry about the challenge, James! You were right about the trouble tucks can be! It takes a lot of strenuous effort to get through to them, as it happens!"
"I'm sorry too! Today, I upset your passengers as well as my own! It was all a big mistake! I know now not to show off by rushing into stations and flying along the line!"
Rebecca smiled at him as James smiled meekly back.
"You know, you didn't have to own up for me and get yourself into trouble too! I should have known better!"
"Oh, it was nothing! I took responsibility for it and I don't mind handling all these scrap trucks the rest of the week before returning to my usual schedule!"
James sighed.
"Only time will tell before I'm able to return to my usual jobs as well! At least I've learnt my lesson though!"
"That's great, James! Anyways, I must get to my passenger train!"
"Oh, I know! I'll take these trucks away for you!"
"How very kind!"
She waited as she was unhitched from her trucks and set off, while James pulled them away.
"Good luck, James!" she whistled.
James whistled back as he pulled the trucks away when…
"Oof!" he winced, feeling a sudden jolt.
"Hold back! Hold back!" the trucks shouted.
"Nice trucks!" James whimpered, and pushed them further beside the station.
Rebecca hummed as she pulled her coaches away, giving James one last toot as she left the station!
And so two members of the Steam Team share the spotlight here in Rebecca's Challenge! This was a fun one to write. The two lead characters were fun to write for; having James show off in his usual way which only leads to trouble, while Rebecca, always wanting to see the best in everybody, is unaware of this but at the same time learns a valuable lesson about trucks herself. Chucklesome Trucks was not a bad way to go about her character, but the moral felt kind of heavy-handed and I thought it would only make sense that story like this would ensure that she experiences the trouble that trucks can really be and how difficult they are to handle! James, on the other hand, learns his lesson about not showing off when trouble ensues with the passengers, and Sir Topham Hatt punishes him by having him shunt in the yard until he can be trusted again. Be sure to leave thoughts on this story, and as always, stay tuned for...
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