*chapter 5*

soon the great storm came to the island of sodor. it was a massive and ferocious one. it blasted across the island like an air raid. trucks and coaches were being blown over and were smashed and bashed. roofs were being ripped off buildings like tin openers. trees, water towers and signals were being blown over. all of the engines were very glad and relieved to be in their sheds. at tidmouth sheds the doors rattled and shook loudly. the engines were listening to the atrocious noise outside.

'cinders and ashes just listen to that wind' said thomas.

'flatten my fender i sure do hope that poor Trevor is alright' said Edward.

'oh my poor forest there's going to be nothing left of it by the end of this' said henry.

'oh the indignity i can just see the damage to my express coaches right now' said Gordon.

'i for one am very happy that my paintwork is not getting ruined although it is a shame for all the coaches' said james.

'bust my buffers my mail trucks are going to get bashed and biffed out there' said Percy.

'bust my buffers my poor coaches and poor toby i hope that he's going to be safe at arlesdale end' said Emily.

'don't worry Emily i'm sure toby is just fine anyway it's the culdee fell railway i'm worried for i hope their okay' said thomas.

meanwhile at the culdee fell railway two men were trying to climb the mountain not bothered by the dangerous weather.

'Lewis i don't think we should be doing this it's getting very windy out here' said one of them.

'don't worry Luke we are almost at the top now quit worrying will you' said Lewis.

but Luke was very worried. just then a big gust of wind blew at the two men.

'oh no hold on Luke it's trying to blow us over' said Lewis.

'i really don't like this Lewis we need to go back down right now' said Luke.

but it was too late just then a big gust of wind smacked Lewis on the side of the cliff.

'ouch i think I've just broken my arm Luke!' said Lewis.

'alright don't panic Lewis can you still climb back down!' said Luke.

'i think so but it's going to be painful' said Lewis.

'okay then when we get to the bottom we can call for help' said Luke.

and with that the two men started to go back down. back at kirk machan sheds the engines were happy to be in the shed.

'goodness just listen to that wind' said Ernest.

'it's the most strongest i have ever seen in my life' said Wilfred.

'i hope Catherine is alright in the carriage shed' said culdee.

'thank goodness i don't have to go up the mountain in that' said Shane.

'oh no i'm dreading all the maintenance trains we are going to have to take after this' said Patrick.

'never mind the maintenance trains what about the amount we are going to have to do' said Alaric.

'we will be lucky if there's anything left of our railway after this is over' said Eric.

'just look at all of that horrid rain' said betty.

'it looks dreadfully wet out there' said Nigel.

'i'm not saving anyone in that weather' said Niles.

just then mr berrane walked in with his coat and umbrella looking very serious.

'oh my sir whatever is going on' said culdee.

'listen you lot there is an emergency two mountain climbers have been injured at skarloey road and need to be rescued as soon as possible' said mr berrane.

all of the purple engines gasped.

'goodness me can't they get Harold the helicopter to save them' said Wilfred.

'that's not possible i'm afraid the wind is so strong that Harold can't get to them he's been grounded' said mr berrane.

'why don't i and three other engines go and help them sir' said culdee.

'that is way too dangerous culdee the wind could blow you right off the track' said mr berrane.

'come on sir we have to try something we can't just leave those climbers out there' said culdee.

mr berrane thought hard about this.

'very well then culdee we must do something but who is going to come with you' said mr berrane.

then Patrick spoke up.

'i know i'm going to regret this sir but i'll go with him' said Patrick.

'thank you Patrick that's very noble of you' said culdee.

'i'm only doing this because i'm bored' said Patrick.

'please sir i want to help too' said Shane.

everyone was stunned to hear Shane say this.

'Shane you want to go too are you sure about that' said mr berrane.

'yes sir culdee taught me that there is nothing to scared of and i'm going to prove that i can be brave' said Shane.

'very well then you three but this is going to be very risky so i wish you luck' said mr berrane.

'don't worry sir you can count on us to save those climbers' said culdee.

'come on what are we waiting for let's go' said Patrick.

'we have two lives to save' said Shane.

and with that the shed doors were opened and the three engines set off into the storm. rain poured into the sheds.

'close the door for heaven sakes!' said Eric.

'oh yuck i'm getting all wet now!' said Alaric.

'close the doors i'm going to rust!' said Niles.

at last the shed doors were closed.

'oh no i just hate getting wet' said betty.

'well your not as wet as i am for starters' said Alaric.

'give it a rest already Alaric nobody cares' said Wilfred.

'yes let's just agree that it's a good thing that three engines are going to save the hikers' said Ernest.

'yes good luck you three and make us proud' said mr berrane.

at the carriage shed Catherine was trying to sleep but not for long. just then the doors were open and wind and rain burst in.

'for goodness sakes culdee what is it now i was trying to sleep' said Catherine.

'sorry Catherine but this is an emergency' said culdee.

'two hikers are in danger on the Cliffside' said Patrick.

'and we must go on a mission to save them' said Shane.

'a rescue mission why didn't you say so let's go boys' said Catherine.

and with that the three engines were put behind her and they set off up the mountain. everything was going fine until they past Shiloh that's when the full blast of the storm hit them.

'oh my it's a lot windier up here than i first thought!' said Culdee.

'this is very risky if you ask me!' said Patrick.

'we are not going to make it i knew i shouldn't of volunteered for this but nooooo i just had to go with you!' said Shane.

'stop being such a scaredy engine Shane or i'll push you off the mountain myself!' said Patrick.

'stop it you two that's enough we have to save those hikers can you see alright up there Catherine' said culdee.

'not really it's so windy and rainy that i can't see a thing' said catherine.

'don't worry just keep going we should be at skarloey road soon' said culdee.

and they charged on ahead. the wind got stronger and stronger trying to blow them off the cliff but the three engines charged on ahead. at last they reached the little station for skarloey road and there were the hikers very tired but happy to see them.

'thanks for coming to save us' said luke.

'yeah i thought that we would be stuck up here until we froze thanks for rescuing us' said lewis.

'just doing our job now get into Catherine we shall got you both back to kirk machan in no time at all' said culdee.

'yes all aboard you two quickly now' said catherine.

'yes before this weather gets anymore dangerous' said patrick.

'can we please go back down now i don't like this anymore' said shane.

so luke and lewis got into catherine and as soon as they did the three engines set off back down the mountain. the wind was getting very strong now.

'oh dear i don't like this i really don't like this' said shane.

'would you just shut up for ten minutes' said patrick.

'oi would you boys just stow it back there' said catherine.

'don't worry everyone we will soon be...' said culdee.

but he got not further. just then a big gust of wind hit the engines and they went flying down the line. they put on their brakes but it was no match to the strong wind.

'waaaaa oh my word this is scary!' wailed catherine.

'arrrrrgh i knew this would be dangerous but no one listened!' wailed patrick.

'arrrrrrrrgh we are going to die do something culdee!' cried shane.

'hold on everyone this is going to be a thrilling ride!' said culdee.

'you don't say!' called patrick.

poor shane was so scared that he shut his eyes tight.

'if i get out of this alive i swear that i will never do this again!' said shane.

luke and lewis held on for dear life in Catherine. just then a tree branch went flying and hit patrick right on the face.

'ouch oh no why does it have to be me!' said patrick.

then another tree branch went flying and hit culdee on the boiler.

'yow that's going to leave a mark alright!' said culdee.

then a roof tile came out of nowhere and smashed into one of Catherine's windows. Luke and Lewis covered themselves with their coats to avoid getting cut.

'my windows my beautiful windows!' said Catherine.

Shane was so busy shutting his eyes that he did not care what hit him. at last the three engines came screeching into kirk machan station whooshing to a stop.

'look boys we got to the bottom' said Catherine.

'and in one piece too' said culdee.

Shane was still screaming which was making Patrick very cross.

'oi Shane you can stop screaming now we are at the bottom!' said Patrick.

Shane opened one of his eyes.

'oh we are at the bottom and the best part is nobody was hurt' said Shane.

'cept my ears!' said Patrick.

just then mr berrane arrived with his umbrella he was overjoyed with them.

'well done you three you saved the hiker and got them back down safely i am so proud of you all that i don't know what to say you really are useful engines in my books!' said mr berrane.

and with that the three engines beamed with pride. all of the engines in the shed blew their whistles and blasted their horns in celebration. soon Bertie the bus arrived to take the hikers to the hospital.

'you three must have been pretty brave to go up there well done' said Bertie.

'yes thanks a lot you three we shall tell all of our mates about you saving us' said Luke.

'yes thanks for the help now if you'll all excuse me i have an arm that needs looking at' said Lewis.

and with that Bertie hooted his horn and drove off. just then the rain stopped and a beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky.

'well would you all look at that' said Catherine.

'there really is a silver lining at the end of the day' said culdee.

'now that's something to agree with what a rescue' said Patrick.

'let's just not do it again' muttered Shane.

and with that everyone laughed.

the next day when the sun was shining and the storm was over there was a big party at kirk machan station to celebrate the rescue. lots of people had shown up for the party. the fat controller, lady hatt and mr berrane were there. the sodor brass band were there. the fat controllers engines and Bertie the bus came too. and all of the culdee fell engines were lined up splendidly. gordon was pleased to know that his coaches had survived the storm and he was very happy. james was very cross mostly because his coaches did not survive the storm and he woke up finding lots of damp water all over him. thomas was just happy that all of his friends were okay. even henry was happy to know that his forest was okay and that all of the animals would be alright. just then mr berrane made his speech.

'ladies and gentlemen and engines welcome to the party now before we begin i would like to say a few words about my railway, the culdee fell railways isn't just an attraction on sodor but it is a railway where all of my engines are really useful and always work together no matter the weather and am very proud to be their manager, now there is another person who would wish to speak now Lewis would you be so kind!' said mr berrane.

just then Lewis walked up with a bandage on his arm.

'i would like to say a big thank you to Catherine, culdee, Patrick and Shane for saving me my friend Luke's lives the other day and to show my thanks i have a little something for you four!' said Lewis.

just then four workers put golden medals on the four of them. they read on them 'BRAVE MOUNTAIN ENGINES.' Catherine, culdee, Patrick and Shane beamed with pride.

'thanks you four you really did save my life and i owe you my gratitude' said Lewis.

'and now let's let the party begin!' said mr berrane.

and with that confetti went flying and everyone whistled and cheered. it really was a grand celebration.

'well this is quite the turnout for a small mountain railway like ours' said Ernest.

'i'm just glad that they did not have guns or fireworks going off' said Wilfred.

'this is the best celebration i have ever been too' said culdee.

'you can say that again don't i look grand with the medal' said Catherine.

'i have never had a medal before this is even better than when i got my new name' said Patrick.

'that rescue mission really was scary but it was all worth it for this' said Shane.

'this is so unfair i should get a medal too after all i have done impressive things too' said Alaric.

'yeah like getting covered in pumpkins for starters eh Alaric' said Eric.

'why you cheeky little...' said Alaric.

'well now that the storms over i guess we better get busy with all the damage' said Nigel.

'not so fast Nigel we have a party to enjoy first' said betty.

'i hope this party isn't going to last all day i want to back to work now' said Niles.

meanwhile Gordon was boasting about his express coaches.

'you know i must have the luckiest coaches on all of sodor i am so happy that they are not damaged it shows just how important they are' said Gordon.

'oh shut up Gordon i don't care about your coaches!' said james.

just then a man was trying to open a battle of wine. the cork on the battle shot off and smashed into one of the windows on Gordon's coaches. Gordon was horrified. james was trying not to burst into laughter.

'looks like your coaches are not that lucky after all eh Gordon!' said thomas.

'yes you could say that they are a disaster just waiting to happen!' said Percy.

and all of the other engines laughed. Gordon felt very silly now.

'oh the indignity of it all!' moaned Gordon.

but the party was a great success. and let's just say that the culdee fell railway was proud to be a railway on the island of sodor.

the end