The storm that Kelly and Magenta suffered through continued to rage on. The foreman ordered the Pack to continue to work, but after a week, the area was a muddy bog, making it impossible to move across the proposed car park without getting stuck. The machines were kept inside the yard, and where allowed to play during the day. But half the time the machines were all talking about one topic: the second body.
When the body fell onto Magenta's flatbed, Kelly had rushed to find assistance. Thankfully, he was able to find Fredrick, Patrick and Buster on their way home. Buster and Patrick stayed with Magenta while Kelly and Fredrick went to the yard and police. Detective Fisher and the Foreman arrived at the same time, and Cedric Berrob was called shortly after. The body was taken away, and Magenta and Fredrick had seen the police looking very puzzled about something. But before they could ask them about it, they were told to go back to their yard, leaving the five machines rather deflated.
For two weeks, the machines had been exchanging theories. They all agreed that the two murders were connected, but none of them could work out why they had been killed, what had puzzled the police, or whether it was connected to the construction or not. Detective Fisher kept sniffing around, questioning the foreman, Kelly and Magenta, and would snap at them if he caught them gossiping about the situation.
After a fortnight, the rain had died down. Miss Jenny was expected to come back soon, so the Foreman was still in charge.
"Everyone, I need you over here right now." He yelled, walking out of his office. The machines rolled over, looking curious.
"The storm has died down enough for us to continue our work." He said, and half the machines smiled, while the others groaned, and the foreman chuckled. "However, some of you won't be going back to the forest today."
"What do you mean, another day off?" Max asked eagerly, and the others laughed.
"No no, you aren't that lucky." The foreman continued. "Several days ago, one of the lorries at the airport lost control, crashing into the control tower. It held up, but the strong winds last night and the bad foundations caused it to tip over and crash. The runway is now badly cracked, and the first plane of the week is coming in very soon. I need Patrick, Buster, Kelly and Magenta to go to the airport and clean up."
"Of course sir, but I think we'd need a digger." Kelly said.
"I'd gladly help." Oliver said.
"I need you to start working on the arcade area of the hotel with Byron." The foreman replied. "However, you can help later on. But, there will be some assistance at the airport for you." The Pack all exchanged looks, interested. "Ok, Fredrick, you can clear away landslides at the site, Max and Monty will take it away. Ned, you can help clean away the tree branches that had fallen. Rex will be dropping of a pump to drain the basement soon." There was the crunch of gravel, and the machines all turned to see a police car pulling up. "I recommend you all leave before Detective Fisher decides to have a chat. Nelson, I'd like you to stay behind."
"Someone's in trouble." Monty giggled, and Nelson shot him the evils. The machines quickly left the yard, and then rolled off in their separate directions.
The airport group was making good time, and was nearing the airport in no time. Patrick and Buster were deep in discussion, but Kelly was speeding ahead, wanting to get there quickly to please Miss Jenny when she came back. However, Magenta insisted on trying to catch up.
"So, what do you think about the body?" She asked.
"Is there really nothing else to talk about?" Kelly snapped, and Magenta raised an eyebrow.
"Well, someone has their wires in a knot." The lorry smirked, and Kelly sighed and slowed down.
"Sorry, it is just that that is all I have heard about for two weeks." The crane explained. "I would just like to discuss something else for a change."
"Ok, sure." Magenta said, smiling deviously. "Why don't we continue the discussion we had about you and Isabella?" Kelly blushed, and instantly sped up. Magenta cackled and sped up as well. Buster and Patrick watched them speed.
"Good, we can talk louder now." Patrick grunted. "Do you think Fredrick will find a good spot today?"
"I hope so, we need to get it out of the way before work begins, otherwise someone will dig it up." Buster nodded.
"I told you we shouldn't have put it back in the basement." The cement mixer snapped.
"We didn't have very many other
"Hurry up you lot, we need to catch Kelly!" Magenta called, and Patrick gave Buster a last look before moving away, leaving the steamroller to continue at his slow pace.
Kelly was desperately trying to outrun Magenta, and didn't realise they were very close to the airport. Gordon thundered by with the Express, and was surprised to see the vehicles racing along the road.
"Vehicles are rather odd." The big engine grunted. Kelly could see the airport fence, and tried to flaw it, but Magenta had the same thing in mind, and quickly pulled up.
"Running away is only proving it." She puffed.
"I don't know what you are talking about." Kelly panted.
"Just admit you're feelings for her!" Magenta snapped.
"Feelings for who?" Kelly and Magenta turned to see who had spoken, but crashed into the fence. Seconds later, Patrick hit Kelly's cab, and grunted. But he turned to see who they were looking at, and was surprised to see Magenta and Alfie in front of them.
"Hey!" Alfie grinned.
"Hello!" The trio called, as they moved to get out of their pileup.
"What are you doing here?" Kelly asked.
"The people at the mechanics have fixed us up enough, but we were told we were needed for a very important job." Isabella began.
"We have to go back for some final adjustments at the end of the day, but we should be back in a day or two." Alfie concluded.
"Well, it is great to have you here!" Magenta said, and raced forwards, giggling excitedly.
"So, who does Kelly have feelings for?" Isabella asked, and Kelly blushed.
"I'll tell you later." Magenta said. "However, I think you two should here about a certain body that landed on my trailer...."
Fredrick and the others soon reached the construction site, and were pleasantly surprised that they could move over the mud, which was very soggy.
"Anyone got a giant hairdryer?" Byron asked, and they all smirked.
"Jeepers, look in there!" Oliver gasped. They all looked at the basement, which was completely flooded.
"Anyone got a submarine?" Max said, but only Monty laughed.
"A submarine couldn't fit in there!" Ned said, looking pleased with his remark.
"Actually, there are midget submarines that could fit in there." Oliver said wisely.
"Really?" Fredrick said, surprised.
"Yeah. I heard that the navy's use them, and they were also used by other companies for small work, like tugging companies, that sort of thing." The excavator finished. Just then, they heard the familiar toot of Nelson's horn. No one really registered, until they noticed that no one else should have arrived.
"Nelson, who are you carrying?" Fredrick asked.
"Take a guess." Nelson chuckled. The machines exchanged looks, puzzled, but then there was another honk, which could only belong to one machine....
"JACK!" They cried, and changed position in order to see him.
Yep, you're stuck with me again." The front loader grinned, and he rolled off the flatbed, grinning broadly. Everyone moved over towards him, smiling and jabbering excitedly.
"I am glad you are all glad to see me, but I am only back for the day, I have to have my last check up this afternoon." Jack explained, as he rolled forwards. A worker was there, a clipboard in his hands and a stern look on his face.
"We need to get working everyone!" He snapped. "Byron and Oliver, you need to start digging the children's area, it is over there through the clearing." And he pointed to his right. Byron and Oliver quickly moved off, and honked to Jack as they left. "Fredrick, kindly clear the landslide on the banks by the golf course behind us. Ned, I need you to assist, and Max and Monty need to take the mud away. And Jack, you have to tidy up around here and wait for Rex to bring the pump." Everyone nodded, and set off for their jobs. But Jack waited for the worker to move away, and then turned to Nelson.
"So, what were you saying about another body?"
The airport had been full of people since the first plane had been cancelled, and they were all itching to get home. The cheered as the Pack came onto the runway, and the airport manager was among them. He watched from the front of the terminal as the Pack assembled, deep in conversation. The Foreman was driving up behind them, and the manager looked pleased at this. He was about to go inside, but a man brushed past.
"Kenneth, wait a minute." The manager said sternly. Kenneth, who was dressed in an old fashioned pilots outfit, stopped and turned around.
"Yes sir?"
"I don't want you flying that blasted bi-plane today!" The manager said. "The Pack needs to be left alone while they fix everything up. We have five hundred people in this airport waiting to get home, and all our planes will be back within the next few hours, but they can't if that runway isn't fixed."
"I wouldn't distract them at all sir." Kenneth said. "I'll move Tiger Moth back into his shed then." The manager was going to continue his telling off, but his assistant rushed over to him and pulled him away to attend to a situation. Kenneth rushed over to a different part of the runway, where Tiger Moth was sitting.
"So, are we ready to fly?" He said enthusiastically.
"Not at the moment, I have to move you away for the moment." Kenneth said. "But don't worry, we'll head off when the manager leaves for lunch." Tiger Moth grunted, and Kenneth climbed into his seat in order to get him out of the way.
The Pack had all assembled on the runway, where they stared at the smashed up control tower. Thankfully, there was spare equipment, which allowed the planes to still be controlled. But it would take a while to repair the main terminal.
"Do you think we could rebuild it?" Alfie said.
"Not until we finish that darn hotel, we are too far behind." Kelly said moodily.
"I think the foreman under planned this, we can't clear all that away." Isabella said.
"You're right." They all gasped, and turned to see the Foreman, standing behind them with a smile. He laughed at that shocked faces, and walked up to the fallen building. "You are right Isabella. I have already called the supervisor at the hotel site, Oliver and Ned will be brought here right away, along with the twins. But Kelly, we need you to start heaving the bigger pieces away. It is crucial Buster and Patrick fix this runway up." The four nodded, and Alfie instantly started to scoop up smaller bits of bricks and glass.
"Oh joy, work." Magenta huffed, and the foreman scowled as Alfie dropped the bricks. None of them noticed Tiger Moth moving down the undamaged parts of the runway.
Jack was happily clearing away fallen branches and small, broken trees. His was pleased to give his wheels a good stretch after being cooped up inside a mechanics for several weeks, and was pleased to hear some good gossip to give him something to think about. He was lifting some branches into some trucks when Rex chugged up, pulling two flatbeds with him, one with a large load and one with a smaller one. The large load was grey, rectangular and had lots of dials and a circle coming out of its side. The second was smaller and oval shaped.
"Hello Jack, I was sorry to hear about your accident." The little green engine said, smiling.
"Thanks Rex, I am feeling a lot better now." Jack grinned. "What's that thing?"
"Oh, this is a pump to drain out the basement." Rex explained. "There is a tank to hold all the water." Several workers rushed over, and they began to pull a long blue tube off the machine and put it into the water. Another attached some pipers to the tank, and then pulled a lever. Water began to be sucked out of the basement, with a little whirring noise. Jack and Rex chatted for several minutes, mainly discussing the body.
"We decided not to tell the big engines about it." Rex said. "We thought they would be nosy about it and bother us."
"Yeah, Daisy is a real gossip." Jack laughed. As they were talking, they didn't notice the other machines appearing behind them.
"See you later Jack!" Byron said, as he rolled onto Nelson.
"Where are you guys going?" He asked, looking stunned.
"They need more help at the airport." Oliver explained.
"See you around, midget." Monty said, and Max boomed with laughter. Everyone rolled their eyes as they rocketed down the road.
"Say hi to them all for me!" Jack said, and the other machines nodded as they headed off. Jack sighed, very sad about not being able to see his friends again. He rolled over towards the basement, and was surprised to see that the water had been sucked down to halfway.
"That is a very powerful pump." Jack smiled. Just then, there was the growl of an engine, and Jack turned to see Fredrick there.
"Don't worry Jack, I won't leave you." Fredrick smiled. "Would you like to help me with digging up the children's area?" And the front loader beamed.
"Of course, better than picking up branches and stuff." The two were about to leave, when Rex blew his whistle.
"Fredrick, I have been meaning to ask you about something." The little engine said.
"What is it?" The digger replied, looking suspicious.
"Well, on the day the body was found, Mike and I were coming back from doing some work, and we were certain we could hear you, Patrick and Buster talking about burying something." Rex said, his eyebrows up high. Jack looked very surprised, and Fredrick began to splutter nervously.
"I-i-i-i don't remember that incident." He said at last.
"Are you sure Fredrick was involved?" Jack asked.
"I am not sure, they were down in the basement so we couldn't see." Rex explained, now looking a little guilty. "It probably wasn't you, sorry about that." Fredrick gave a little nod and smiled, but quickly turned around and sped off, leaving Jack positively stunned.
The work at the airport was going well. Kelly had moved two large sections out of the way, and Magenta and Isabella were dumping the scrap pieces at the side of the car park. More and more cars were showing up, making it more difficult to manoeuvre around.
"Are you guys nearly done?" Patrick huffed.
"Do we look done?" Magenta snapped, staring at the piles of brick still lying on the ground.
"Is there anything we can do?" Patrick grunted.
"Yeah, why don't you go roll off a cliff again!" Isabella growled. Before Patrick could reply, the Foreman rushed over, looking stern.
"Calm down everyone!" He said. "Alfie, could you dig in a row so Patrick and Buster can start work quicker?"
"I am sure I can do that." Alfie said exasperatedly. "But if Kelly moved that section of the roof out of the way."
"I am so sorry, why don't you do that?" Kelly growled. "Oh, I forgot, you can't lift up things that are twice your size!" Alfie looked shocked, and the other machines all gasped.
"Do you want me to look you up in the sheds for another two weeks?" The Foreman snapped, and they all became silent. "I thought so. Just get back to work!" And he stormed off.
"That went well." Buster said, and the others glared at him before continuing their jobs.
Meanwhile, Tiger Moth was staring out of his shed. A black Holden Commodore was leaving the airport, and he began to smile.
"The boss is leaving." He said, and his propeller spun with excitement, covering his chiselled face with a red blur. Kenneth came over, and grinned.
"Well then, let's get started!" He grinned, and Tiger Moth continued to spin his propeller. Kenneth removed the blocks that stopped Tiger Moth from moving, climbed into his seat, and flicked several switches, starting Tiger Moth up completely. With a bit of a chug, Tiger Moth began to move forwards.
"Finally, I have needed to get out and stretched my wings!" Tiger Moth beamed. Kenneth could barely hear him, and was too busy concentrating on preparing for take-off. Tiger Moth was looking around the runway, and was surprised to see that there was a steamroller right in front of him.
"AARRGH, MOVE!" The bi-plane screamed. Buster turned, and gasped.
"HELP!" He yelled. The others turned around, and had a double take when they realised what was happening.
"Quick, move!" Isabella yelled, rushing to help. She rushed behind and began to push the steamroller. Kenneth realised what was happening, and quickly turned, unaware that was the way Isabella and Buster were going. Kelly, who had the roof section attached to his hook, realised this, and rushed forwards. Kenneth quickly pulled a lever, and Tiger Moth began to rise into the air. Kelly smashed into Isabella and Buster, pushing them out of the way. Tiger Moth lifted into the air, straight towards Kelly's arm. He gasped, and move it out of the way. The chains slipped, and the roof section flew off, smashing into the terminal, shattering the floor-to-floor windows, showering the people with glass as they ran to avoid the roof section, which smashed up the tiles. Tiger Moth turned to watch this, and his tyres hit a piece of metal sticking out of the rubble.
"Urgh!" He moaned, as his tyres were hitting, causing him to land and skid along the runway.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Alfie roared, and threw some dusty rocks towards them in his anger. Kenneth stumbled out of his seat, coughing loudly.
"How was I supposed to know they were working!" Kenneth fumed to his plane, who just growled at him. The Foreman rushed over to his machines, and found that Isabella had blown a tyre, and then he stared at the destroyed terminal.
"Well, I can say one thing, I don't think we'll be invited back to another job here."
While the drama raged on at the airport, Jack and Fredrick were finishing up digging the foundations for the children's area.
"Wow, it is going to be really big!" Jack said, staring in awe at the area.
"There is going to be an arcade and some theme park stuff." Fredrick replied absent-mindedly. Jack looked at the digger, who seemed very distracted.
"You seem a bit off today, I'll finish up here, and you can go and have your break." The front loader smiled, and Fredrick grinned back, before speeding off. Jack was surprised at this, and quickly dug up the last little bit. He dumped it on top of the other mud, and then raced through the clearing.
There was no Fredrick.
However, Bert was there, collecting the trucks Jack had filled up. Rex was long gone.
"Bert, have you seen Fredrick?" Jack asked.
"The black digger?" Bert said. "I think he went down that ramp." Jack looked around, and wasn't surprised to see Fredrick had gone down into the basement. Bert looked at him, rather puzzled, before chugging away. Jack waited until he had left, and then raced down the ramp.
"Fredrick?" Jack asked. Fredrick cried out, and he threw his load into the sky. Jack watched as a metal, black box landed on the other side of the basement. Jack looked at Fredrick, and Fredrick looked at Jack, and they both rushed forwards. Jack was younger and faster, and reached it first. Fredrick cursed as Jack stared, stunned, at the safe.
"Fredrick, why were you digging up a safe?" The front loader asked. Fredrick sighed, and quickly explained the situation. Jack seemed very shocked at first, but he understood after a few minutes.
"So, you guys want to hide it in a safer place until you can work out it's true purpose for being there?" Jack asked.
"Yes, we think it could be connected to the murders, but we don't want to reveal it just yet." Fredrick explained. Jack nodded, and then his face lit up.
"I know the perfect place!"
The airport manager had been called back from his lunch, and the Pack was desperately trying to sort things out before he came. The other airport officials understood that it was Tiger Moth's fault, and Kelly was able to reach the roof piece and pull it out. Max and Monty, thanks to their speeding, got there first, and Alfie was able to work doubly as hard, scooping the rubble into the twins and the cousins. Within minutes, there was enough area cleared for Patrick to pour concrete into.
"Finally!" He grunted, but he was ignored. Moments later, Oliver, Byron and Ned appeared.
"Excellent!" The foreman grinned. "Oliver, you can help Alfie out. Byron, I need you to take the larger pieces away. And Ned, you can help unload the rubble from Max, Monty, Isabella and Magenta.
"Yes sir!" The three said, and rushed to their positions.
"Yes, we can nearly be done!" Alfie grinned, as he scooped some bricks up.
"What a pity Kelly, you won't have any more time to chat to your love." Magenta said, and giggled.
"Oh be quiet!" Kelly snapped.
"Please Kelly, we all know who you like." Buster smirked.
"You haven't been doing a good job at hiding it." Byron added, and they all burst into laughter, making the crane growl.
For the next ten minutes, the Pack worked as quickly as possible. Buster was able to start rolling the cement, and Patrick continued further and further down the crack. At last, Oliver put the last bit of rubble onto Magenta, and she rushed off to drop it, letting everyone cheer.
"And the crack is nearly sealed." Patrick said, as he moved over to fill it in. Max and Monty cheered with all the rest, but they were instantly bored.
"Hey, do you want to have a race?" Monty asked.
"Sure, let's race over to that building." Max nodded.
"Ok, go!" Monty yelled, and he sped off. Max growled, and followed after.
"Oi, where are you lot going?" The foreman asked. Kelly and Oliver followed after the dump trucks, who were shouting at each other.
"I am going to win!" Monty yelled.
"Only 'cause you cheated." Max said, and he swerved over, hitting his brother. Monty sped out of control, and smashed into the low building. They was a thud from above, and they looked up to see that a satellite had fallen off the roof.
"You idiots!" Oliver yelled. "Look what you've done!" Max and Monty looked at each other, and then tried to flee. Kelly put his arm out to stop Monty, who smacked into it, sending it around towards Max, who hit it as well. Kelly moaned with pain, just as Isabella and Alfie came over, the Foreman riding in Isabella.
"Sir, these two have caused a satellite to fall over, and now they have gone and damaged my arm." Kelly explained, and showed him two dents.
"This is horrible, now they can't communicate with the plane." The Foreman sighed.
"All our work for nothing." Byron growled, coming over. On the other side of the building, Kenneth and Tiger Moth were there, waiting for the manager. They could hear the Pack talking.
"Hey, I think we might be able to redeem ourselves." Tiger Moth said.
"Really, how?" Kenneth asked. Tiger Moth whispered, and Kenneth nodded. Within a minute, Tiger Moth was racing down the runway. The Pack watched as he zipped past, and then took off.
"We are here to help!" Tiger Moth yelled, and they could see a coil made out of a chain was dangling from him. They moved out of the way as he zoomed up, and used the chain to move the satellite back up, and it became upright again. Some technicians then scrambled over, working quickly to get things back in order. The Pack all cheered, and Tiger Moth did some loop-de-loops to show his happiness.
The cave that Max and Monty had uncovered many weeks ago had been fenced off, to prevent anyone from venturing into it. However, the flimsy red and white stand was no match for Jack, who simply picked it up and put it to one side.
"Come on, just bury it somewhere near the entrance." Jack said.
"Isn't that a bit obvious?" Fredrick said, the safe resting in his bucket.
"The cave is supposed to be blocked off." Jack said. "Besides, even if someone thought to look here, they would think it would be better hidden."
"We just have to rely on the hope that the killer is an idiot then." Fredrick chuckled. He rolled steadily forwards, and quickly found himself surrounded by rocks. The cave was being held up by lots of supports, but Fredrick couldn't see that far down. He noticed a small boulder, and gave it a nudge with his scoop. The ground was soft underneath, and Fredrick scooped a lot of it away instantly, being careful not to lose the safe, and then dumped it in, and moved the dirt back on top, along with the boulder. He heard some drips as he finished, and some dust fell into his moustache.
"Done." The old digger squeaked, and he raced out of there. Jack was amused by his frightened nature, and Fredrick ignored his look as he put the fence back in front.
"Hey, I think Duke from the Narrow Gauge railway used to work around here. There was supposed to be a lot of caves and mines on his old railway." Jack said.
"Well, why don't you talk to him when you are feeling better?" Fredrick suggested. Jack nodded, thinking that it anyone would be right to talk to, it would be a one hundred and thirty year old.
The Pack watched excitedly from the car park as Jeremy appeared through the clouds, a wide grin on his face. His wheels came out, and he touched down onto the runway, to the cheers of the machines and the passengers eagerly awaiting their ticket to freedom.
"Looks like you all did well today." The Foreman smiled.
"We have to head off now sir." Alfie said.
"Bye!" The others called.
"See you all in a day or two." Isabella added, grinning. The Pack watched as the two rolled away, and then they turned and set off as well.
Meanwhile, Jeremy's passengers were walking through arrivals, very happy to be there. However, several of them were rather surprised at a certain passenger. He was wearing a very expensive looking suit, shoes that were shinier than any of the lights, and was surrounded by a number of burly men. They had heard the commotion that had happened before take-off, as he had insisted on bringing his own water, food and utensils, and had been allowed for some reason. None of these people knew who this man was, or how significant this man would be in the weeks to come on the Island.
Cedric Berrob had finally come to Sodor.