Chapter 5: Getting to Know the Engines
That night, as she and her family relaxed on the front lawn and gazed at the stars, Sagwa talked on and on about Duke. "...And he seems so wise and kind - sort of like a grandfather!"
Yeh-Yeh chuckled. "I never thought I'd be compared to a railway engine!"
Dongwa, however, remained skeptical about the matter. "We've got trains back in China, and they don't talk!" he pointed out. "I still say you were just daydreaming!"
"I was not!" Sagwa insisted heatedly. "Fu-Fu can vouch for me - and I'm pretty sure two animals can't share the same dream, Dongwa! Mama, Baba, you believe me; don't you?"
Baba smiled. "I think there might be more to this island than meets the eye," he said thoughtfully. "Sir Henry himself seems obsessed with that railway: I heard him talking to the Magistrate about it just the other day. What Sagwa and Fu-Fu saw today just might be our explanation why."
"That, and the fact that Duke was named in honour of Sir Henry's father," Sagwa put in.
The cats were silent for a moment. "You're absolutely sure you could communicate with that engine, Sagwa?" Mama ventured.
"Positive. He wouldn't have responded to what I said otherwise."
Baba looked pensive again. "Maybe that's to do with animals being able to talk back in China. I haven't seen any other animals talk here on Sodor. There must be some sort of connection between these engines and ourselves."
"Maybe it's magic!" squeaked Sheegwa.
"I don't think so, Sheegwa," objected Sagwa. "If Duke couldn't talk to people, why would he have spoken to me at all?"
"Whatever the reason may be, let's discuss it in the morning," said Mama, as she stood up and stretched herself. "It's getting late."
Over the next few days, Sagwa made a commitment to visit Ulfstead Road Station whenever she could. Sheegwa, eager to see an engine talk for herself, soon started to accompany her: being Sheegwa, she easily won Duke over! Dongwa eventually gave in to his sisters' nagging and came along as well, surprisingly enough. It wasn't long before all three Miao siblings had become firm friends with Duke. Even Fu-Fu grew to like him...once he got over his fear of having soot blown at him, that is!
"Duke," Sheegwa piped up one afternoon, "Baba thinks we have a connection with you."
Duke looked puzzled. "Connection? What sort of connection, little one?"
"She means the way we can talk to you," Sagwa cut in. "I mean, you never saw an animal talk until you met me; right?"
"Indeed I had not."
"And you can talk to people too; right?" continued Dongwa.
"Of course I can," wheeshed Duke with dignity. "Why do you think children wave when they see me coming?"
"Well, the thing is," explained Sagwa, "our masters have never really known that we can talk, even when they're in the same room with us. Maybe all they hear are just meows."
"Or maybe they just don't take the time to notice that you can," suggested Fu-Fu.
"But you sure took the time, Duke!" giggled Sheegwa.
"And I'm very glad I did, young Sheegwa," chuckled Duke. "Very glad indeed!"
Apart from Duke, there were three other engines who worked for the Mid Sodor Railway. One was his own brother, Bertram. The two engines had the exact same shape, but different liveries - Bertram's was dark brown with red lining.
Fu-Fu and the kittens didn't often see Bertram, as he worked mainly at the nearby mines at Cas-ny-Hawin; but once in awhile, they were lucky enough to see him rumbling along, pulling trucks full of stone or gunpowder (or both), and he always gave them a courteous whistle. As they later learned from Duke, Bertram was known amongst the railwaymen as the "Old Warrior", for his steadfast sense of bravery and determination. "For an engine who works around gunpowder, he must be brave!" remarked Dongwa, awed.
Then there was Tim, a small black engine whose wheels were covered by what he called "sideplates". Prior to his arrival on the Mid Sodor, he had worked for a tramway in Wales: as this had meant travelling along public roads, Tim had needed his wheels covered, to protect people and animals alike from injury, if they ever moved onto the track in front of him.
Having come from this bustling sort of environment, Tim was incredibly patient and even-tempered (if somewhat fretful), which made him more than ideal for pulling the "Horse and Cart", the railway's daily slow goods train - and if he wasn't doing that, he'd be running passenger services or helping Bertram at the mines. Because he could easily handle either goods trains or passenger trains, Tim was known as a "mixed-traffic" engine.
The fourth engine, unfortunately, proved to be a different story altogether. Sagwa and Sheegwa were chatting with Duke one lazy afternoon when a shrill whistle sounded in the distance. A few seconds later, a little blue engine came clanking in, pulling a long string of coal trucks. "Move along, you lazy lot!" he barked. "I ain't got all day, ya know!" He screeched to a violent halt, and the trucks went banging into each other, crying, "Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!"
As Sagwa and Sheegwa looked on, stunned, the engine began shouting orders to the porters heaving the coal sacks out onto the platform. "Hurry up! How can I keep time if you slackers muck about back there, eh?!"
"Fair play, young'un," Duke cut in sternly. "Those sacks aren't full of sugar, you know!"
"Ah, push off, you old fusspot!" the smaller engine snarled rudely. "Who's in charge of this stinkin' train anyway?!"
Duke drew in a deep, agitated breath. "You are; but…"
"Exactly! So you just shut up and mind yer own bloomin' business!" As soon as his guard's whistle blew, the blue engine stormed away, his trucks squealing and grumbling behind him. Duke watched him go, his face flushed in anger. "Impudent scallywag!" he hissed fiercely.
"Uh, Duke," ventured Sagwa, still in shock, "who was that?"
Duke took another deep breath, trying to calm himself for the kittens' sake. "That, my dear Sagwa, was Albert, the Mid Sodor's resident menace!"
"You can say that again!" remarked Sheegwa.
"Yeah. He looks worse than all the alley cats back home put together!" Sagwa commented. "With a few exceptions," she added quickly.
"Does Albert ever pull passenger trains?" Sheegwa asked Duke.
The old engine's temper rose once more, and he suddenly blew off steam. "Good heavens, no! It's a miracle Manager even trusts him with the 'Horse and Cart', let alone goods trains in general!"
Sheegwa jumped, frightened by Duke's sudden burst of anger, and cowered behind her sister. Seeing how distressed the tiny kitten looked, Duke quickly stopped himself. "I'm sorry, Sheegwa; you must know I'm not cross with you. But believe me: having Albert around makes life on the railway far from easy. His rough-and-tumble attitude will get the better of him someday - make no mistake about that."
Well, that's all I've written so far; but I think I'll need to brainstorm if I want to continue the story, let alone this chapter. Feel free to keep on following, and any suggestions for future chapters will gladly be considered.