Operation Countdown

"Attention everyone, attention!"
Jack, Alfie, Fredrick and Isabella were the only machines around, but Miss Jenny's megaphone reached to all corners of the hotel area. The other machines, including a fully repaired Kelly, trundled along perfectly crafted paths of grey stone bricks, smooth jet black tarmac and, if they had to, across the luscious green of the golf course. As the machines gathered, they either passed the sparkling waters of the pool, the bright red and yellow arcade building, with surrounding rainbow coloured miniature rollercoaster, or all the beautiful foliage arranged nearby. And they all congregated at the main attraction: the completed hotel.
The cream coloured walls and pale brown windows and corners stood out amongst the forest surroundings. The roof was red and seemed to stretch up into the clouds. Above the glass entrance, the sign was covered by a blue tarpaulin. A name had been decided upon, but no one knew what it was. All the machines were debating, some thinking "Arlesdale Arms", others "The Grand Arlesdale Hotel." To decorate the entrance, there was a small fountain twenty metres in front of the door, surrounded by flowers and rocks. On either side of the door was a specially carved rock: one resembled an excavator, while the right one looked like an Arlesdale engine. Everything had been completed, from the shining glass windows in the building, right down to the flower beds around the edges of the car park. The only thing out of place was a wooden platform that was being erected as the Pack arrived. Miss Jenny, the Foreman, Cedric Berrob, The Fat Controller, The Small Controller and other important figures would be standing up there later that afternoon, giving speeches about what benefits the hotel will have and other stuff the Pack didn't really care about. All most of them could think about was that their work was nearly over.
"Ah, this is going to be a glorious day." Oliver said happily to Ned, who was rolling nearby.
"I think so too." The steam shovel replied. The two looked at Jack and Alfie who were moving slowly behind them.
"Aren't you guys excited?" Oliver asked. Jack was surprised by this, but nodded quickly.
"Oh yes, of course." He replied. "I can't wait to start the next big project!" Oliver and Ned smiled, before moving forwards. Jack then turned and looked at Alfie.
"I still think something dodgy is going on!" He huffed.
"Well no shit Sherlock." Alfie snapped. The two hadn't been able to talk to Nelson, due to him firstly being repaired, and then they had all been busy in the build up to the hotel opening. This meant the two didn't know the full story, but everyone had seen Cedric arrive briefly several days before to check the hotel was going fine. But Jack wanted answers: he wanted to know who had killed the people, what the maps led to, why Cedric was interested in them, and how they could stop them. Alfie was interested as well, but he didn't want to keep talking about it every single minute of every day.
"Let us just hear what Miss Jenny has to say, and then we can keep talking if you want." Alfie said. Jack froze, with his mouth open slightly, and nodded in agreement. The two looked around as Miss Jenny put her megaphone down and climbed onto the half finished platform.
"Hello everyone." She said, booming across to her machines. "I am pleased to announce that the last nail has been hammered, the last light bulb screwed in, the last piece of road flattened. And this means the hotel is ready to open!" This was met with a chorus of honks, whistle, yells of joy and engine reeving. Miss Jenny laughed before continuing. "There is just a little bit of tidying up that we need to do first. The Foreman will give you your assignments, but will Jack and Alfie come over here please?" She finished talking, and everyone moved towards the Foreman standing nearby.
"You're going get in trouble!" Max and Monty said together, before laughing and racing off. Jack huffed before following Alfie towards Miss Jenny.
"Hello there boys." She said, smiling warmly. "I received a phone call from the Small Controller: the ballast trucks were being silly this morning and their loads have spilled out. He wants some help clearing it away, so I said you two would come down."
"Sounds alright." Alfie said.
"I can also do for a bit of different scenery." Jack chuckled, and Miss Jenny beamed.
"Well off you go then." And she waved them goodbye. The two friends turned around and raced off down the driveway as fast as possible.
"Do you think that while we're out on the road, we should pop by Cedric's?" Jack asked.
"NO!" Alfie boomed, and he raced ahead. He and Jack had been friends for a while, but if he heard one more mention of Cedric Berrob, Alfie would probably have to hit him.

It only took the two twenty minutes to reach Arlesdale, and Alfie screeched into the station a few metres behind Jack, who was panting after racing to keep up and chat.
"Alfie, if we just passed by quickly, we co-" The front loader began.
"Hello there." Alfie said loudly to cover Jack up. Bert, Mike and Frank were waiting there, and they all looked over. Rex and Jock were away taking their trains, while Mike was stuck behind his trucks, Frank was moving some non-damaged trucks away, and Bert was waiting with his passengers.
"Thank goodness you're finally here!" Mike said, beaming with relief.
"Donald had been entertaining us, but he had to go and take some trucks." Bert said. The guard began marshalling the waiting passengers into their coaches, as Frank pulled some undamaged trucks over.
"How was he entertaining you?" Jack asked, scooping up the first of the ballast.
"This tale from Scotland about a monster that lives in a lake." Bert explained.
"It sounds really creepy." Mike added.
"Huh!" Frank scoffed as he backed way. Everyone looked towards him, and Bert and Mike exchanged looks. Frank always thought he knew best, and would surely try and top Donald's story.

"I have heard a story about an ancient treasure, buried deep within these forests." The diesel said. Everyone rolled their eyes and ignored him, and Jack and Alfie just continued clearing the ballast. But Frank continued anyway.
"An explorer from England came here back in the eighteenth century. A lot of this area of Sodor was unexplored, and this man wanted to be the one to do it." Frank explained. "He and his team travelled for many months around the North West of Sodor, walking over untamed fields, crawling through mines, swimming across rivers. And then, just as they finished, the explorer found something deep within a tunnel. It was treasure!"
"How original." Mike whispered to Jack, who smirked. But the front loader and Alfie were now paying more attention to the story now: the Pack had of course found a tunnel as well.
"There was so much treasure that the explorer and his team would be unable to carry it all. So, they only took half of it, and left the rest behind in its chest." Frank said, getting visibly excited. "The cartographer then copied the map roughly out, so that they would one day find it again. But one of the servants they used to carry their supplies became enraged about not getting any treasure. He stole the map and cut it into five pieces, and then freed the other slaves. They each took a piece of the map, and fled around the area. Eventually, they were all caught and killed, but the five pieces of the map remained scattered around the Island." Frank finished his story, and then gasped as he saw that Jack and Alfie had frozen, their jaws dropped and scoops hanging dumbly, tipping ballast over themselves.
"You're making dust!" A workman said.
"Sorry, the story was just interesting." Alfie said quickly.
"Did anyone ever find the pieces of the map?" Jack asked.
"How should I know?" Frank said roughly. "I just heard the legend, not the aftermath."
"That's fine, just asking." Jack said, raising his scoop in defence. Jack and Alfie knew they couldn't talk freely around the Small Engines, so they quickly moved the ballast from the ground into the trucks, and got it down within five minutes.
"That was quick." Mike said, grinning.
"That's the Pack, we are nice and speedy." Alfie beamed. There was a chorus of whistles and goodbyes, and then Jack and Alfie rushed out of the yard as fast as possible.
"Do you know what this means?" Jack said.
"We could have found the bodies of the dead slaves, and their map pieces!" Alfie replied.
"And if there is treasure, someone could have reburied it." Jack said. "And what is a good place to store a valuable treasure." Alfie was a bit confused, but then the pieces clicked into place and he gasped.
"Do you mean… the safe?" Jack nodded, and the two raced off into the trees, desperate to get back to the hotel and find that safe.

Cedric Berrob could not contain his excitement.
On the desk in front of him, the five pieces of the map of North West Sodor had been put together. The paper was yellow and dusty, and most of the original outlines drawn by Clarence Richards had faded. Cedric had spent a whole week redrawing the lines, and using the coordinates to determine the exact middle of the pentagon of murders done by Montgomery Norman. He had been very precise, but had found the exact location. Now, he was attempting to compare the two different maps together, and was certain he had found the right spot. Cedric compared the two map sections together, and double checked the points of the pentagons: the forest near Ulfstead, the tree near Elsbridge, the castle near Arlesdale, the mountain area near Duke's old line, and Anopha Quarry. Cedric also looked through all of the notes from his father's diary, papers he had found of Montgomery's, and even several police reports about the missing people and from when the bodies were found.
"Have you found the right spot, sir?" A deep voice said from behind. Cedric glanced up briefly at the tall, muscly black man standing before him. Jeremiah was a bodyguard that Cedric had used when he had to do less than legal dealings. And not that Jacob was rotting in the ground, along with Montgomery and his cat, Cedric needed protection whilst he finished his plans.
"I believe I have found the exact point, Jeremiah." Cedric said, smiling with joy. He held up the modern day map, which had a neatly drawn red pentagon on it, with a yellow dot in the middle.
"So where is this place?" Jeremiah asked.
"Where I have always thought it would have been." Cedric said, and pulled another map from the desk. It was a railway map for the Arlesdale Railway, and Cedric unfolded it to a section highlighted in yellow. Jeremiah grabbed it and examined it closely.
"But this area is the site of your hotel!" He gasped.
"I know." Cedric said. "I found the coordinates in my father's diary, which he must have written before Montgomery killed him. I had the hotel built there, in the hope of finding the treasure. But despite rumours from my spies, it has not been found."
"The hotel opens today, how do you expect to find it now?" Jeremiah said. Cedric raised an eyebrow, surprised that Jeremiah hadn't worked it out.
"Let's just say this: the grand opening is going to go off…" He begun, and then froze and moved in for dramatic effect, "with a bang." He whispered, and then began cackling with deranged laughter. Jeremiah caught on, and he boomed with laughter as well. Cedric then sat back down, and grabbed the phone from his desk and called his spies.
He had to make sure the bomb was in the right place in order to make the most damage.

While everyone else was tidying up at the hotel site, Nelson had to sit and watch. He had been a bit secluded after coming back from the works. He kept having nightmares in which he was spun around rapidly, with Cedric, Jacob and the wooden shed flashing by. Then the ground disappeared and he fell into a car crusher, which would begin to suffocate him before he burst into flames. It was a terrible feeling when he woke up, shivering and shaking, and had twice felt like he was still on fire. But Nelson had decided that he knew how to stop these tortured dreams: he had to tell Miss Jenny about why he had really crashed into the shed. The Foreman had visited him, and said that Cedric had said that he had spun out of control due to an oily spot that they failed to avoid. Nelson knew that the businessman was only saying this to cover for himself, but he had to come clean. Isabella and Magenta were moving past, pulling trailers fill of rotting tree branches and bushes.
"Hey," Nelson said, rolling out of the shadows, "have you seen Miss Jenny?"
"AHH!" Magenta exclaimed, and swerved in shock, nearly hitting Isabella.
"Silly!" Isabella chuckled. "And I think she is on the other side of the hotel."
"Ok, thank you." Nelson said with a smile, and turned to the left and raced off. He moved past the platform, which was having seats arranged around a podium, swerved past Kelly, and raced along a stony path that had many plants, benches and friendly signs on either side. Miss Jenny's vibrant hair was visible at the end, and Nelson slowed down as he heard her shouting at Max and Monty at the distance. The crunch of the rocks gave him away, and Miss Jenny wheeled around.
"Hello Nelson, what are you up to?" She said. There was a panting sound nearby, and Nelson looked down as Miss Jenny's black Labrador ran past.
"I haven't seen him in ages." Nelson said, his mood lifting at the sight of the dog with a stick.
"He's been spending time with my sister while I've been busy with the hotel." Miss Jenny explained. She scratched the dog's ears, and Nelson became distracted by this. But Miss Jenny looked back up at him and coughed.
"Is there a reason your over here?" She said. Nelson looked back up at her, and exhaled in annoyance. He knew he had tot ell her, but didn't know the right words.
"I want to tell you the real reason why I crashed." He said.
"Oh really, and what was that?" Miss Jenny said.
"He has been looking for the bodies." Nelson said. Miss Jenny gasped and went to interrupt, but Nelson had to keep going. "He was looking for a body at the quarry, and also for someone or something called an Alpha. Jacob wanted to hit them, but I heard Cedric load a gun, so I swerved around and hit the shed." He stopped talking, and felt like a weight was off his trailer for talking. Miss Jenny looked flabbergasted, and stood perfectly still in shock. Her dog barked and scratched at her, but Miss Jenny seemed to have blocked everything out.
"That… that…" She began at last.
"Yes?" Nelson said anxiously.
"That… that is just ridiculous!" Miss Jenny said, and her shock turned dramatically into anger. "I have never heard anything as ridiculous in my entire life!" Nelson was so shocked that had began rolling backwards, half expecting to get hit.
"But Miss, I swear that is true!" He protested. "I heard them say this, I risked my life to-"
"ENOUGH!" Miss Jenny yelled, and her cry attracted the attention of passing workers and Buster. "I have been very stressed over the past few months, and it will all be over within a few hours. I will not have it ruined by claims of attempted murder and body snatching!"
"But-"
"Just go and find something to do!" Miss Jenny said, and she turned and marched off towards the front of the hotel. Nelson was horrified by this, but he realised that there would be no convincing her at the time being, and simply turned and rolled away.

A large pink skip was a few metres down the road from the hotel entrance, and it had become the dumping ground for all excess rubble, debris and foliage remains that had been strewn over the hotel grounds. Isabella and Magenta were making one of their last stops, and they would be glad to be rid of the irritable short shuttle runs.
"It is a pretty nice view out here." Isabella said. There were many glorious trees, glowing in the early morning sunlight. Birds tweeted as they flew over head, and several rabbits hoped along the side of the road, hoping to catch some sunlight.
"I know it is very beautiful, but I am sick of seeing it!" Magenta said. "I want some new scenery!"
"Well, I heard that the nice, dusty, hot Anopha Quarry needs help repairing it's damages." Isabella teased.
"Don't even joke!" Magenta scolded, and Isabella laughed. Just then, Kelly pulled up.
"Hello ladies." He said. Several thin trees were tied together and hanging from his hook.
"Why do you have that?" Isabella asked.
"Several of the trees that got planted near the arcade got crushed by Ned." Kelly said, chuckling slightly. "We just found them, so I have been told to bring them." And he dropped them into the skip on top of the lorries loads.
"Poor trees." Isabella said sadly.
"Why did you have to bring them?" Magenta said, smirking. "Why couldn't that wait for us?" Kelly merely shrugged, but he could see where she was going. "You know what I think!" She said dramatically.
"What?" Isabella said.
"I think that Kelly just wanted to follow us out here." Magenta said, grinning as she waited for Kelly's reaction.
"I had a job to do." Kelly huffed, and struggled not to blush.
"Stop being so silly Magenta." Isabella said, rolling her eyes.
"Oh come on Isabella, tell me you haven't noticed he likes you!" Magenta said. Kelly gasped, but Isabella just laughed.
"Oh come on, we are just old friends." She said. Magenta looked at Kelly, who was looking very close and backing away. "We are, aren't we?"
"I don't think we are that close, just work friends." Kelly said, thinking of the first cover-up that came to his head. But it didn't seem to have the right effect: Isabella gasped, and then began blinking, fighting back tears.
"I thought we knew each other better, but fine than!" She said. "See you later, work friend!" And Isabella raced off before Kelly could react. He fumed and looked angrily at Magenta.
"Not my fault you won't accept it!" She said defensively, and quickly raced off after her cousin. Kelly turned and watched them leave.
"Bloody women!" He roared, and chased after them to sort things out.

Just like most days, Patrick, Buster and Fredrick had ended up working together. They were working on clearing away the swimming pool area. Fredrick was sweeping away fallen leaves before they got in the pool, Patrick was quickly filling in cement where some cracked tiles were being replaced, and Buster was flattening the fake grass that was around the edges of the fence.
"This is so boring!" Patrick sighed, as he finished filling up the square. Buster and Fredrick both sighed and exchanged looks, but Patrick continued ranting. "I wish that something interesting would happen, and-"
"Buster, you always complain about not doing 'fun' stuff." Buster huffed. "And whenever we do try doing something exciting, we end up finding corpses or bombs or Atlantis." Patrick growled as Fredrick laughed.
"But this is so boring!" The cement mixer moaned. "I hate doing these little jobs, I prefer doing big stuff like filling in roads or car parks."
"That's great to know." Fredrick said irritably.
"Well it's not like you two are doing anything interesting either!" Patrick said. "Sweeping leaves and smoothing fake grass is hardly enthralling, is it?" When Fredrick and Buster exchanged looks this time, it was because they knew Patrick had a point.
"I'm right, aren't I?" He smirked with triumph. "So why don't we see if we can do something exciting!"
"Such as?" Fredrick said.
"I don't know… maybe there's another dead body out there, or we could go and spy on Cedric!"
"We are wasting our time with Cedric." Fredrick sighed. "We keep getting outwitted, and we have no new information!" He froze there, as the Foreman was walking over.
"What are you three gossiping about?" He chuckled.
"Nothing." Buster said quickly.
"I have had a call from Cedric that his driveway is damaged." The Foreman said. "Apparently a tree fell over. Can you guys go and move the tree and make a temporary driveway?"
"Of course!" Patrick said happily, and he quickly moved off.
"Eager beaver!" The Foreman laughed, but his cell phone rang, and he moved off to take it.
"Looks like we have a chance for adventure after all." Buster said, and Fredrick merely smiled. The two began to head off, watching as Isabella and Magenta raced past, followed by Kelly.
None of them knew that their biggest adventures yet were about to begin.

Thumper had enjoyed his work for the Pack, but he had to admit that they were a rather odd bunch. They all seemed to be connected to the bodies somehow, and someone always seemed to be going near the cave. Due to explosion at Anopha Quarry, it had temporarily shut down, and there had ended up being fewer rocks for all of the gardens. The rocks that had blocked the cave entrance, following the cave in, had been taken away and used to fill them in for when it opened. That meant that the cave was now open again, though a wooden board was across the front, with several barricades reinforcing it on either side.
Today, Thumper was merely making a smoother job of one area that stuck out. As his pistons pounded into the rock, he heard the screech of tyres coming down the hill, and looked over as Isabella charged towards the cave.
"Well, one of them had to break at some point." He sighed, and went back to working.
Tears were streaming down Isabella's face, and she barely knew where she was going. She was just so hurt by what Kelly had said: after all the years working together, joking together, saving each other's lives and he was acting embarrassed by their friendship.
"Stupid bloody crane, I'm better off without him!" She growled. She noticed as the ground became flat, but didn't notice where she was until her she smashed into the barricades.
"AH!" Isabella yelled, as splintered wood flew everywhere. Magenta, who had been chasing after her cousin, screeched to a halt to avoid driving over a piece.
"Isabella you silly girl!" She said. Isabella had smashed the first barricades and the main wood blocking, and was currently staring into the darkness with two barricades in front.
"Help me." She whimpered. Magenta moved forwards, but then there heard a familiar honk.
"Isabella, wait, let me explain!" Kelly yelled. Isabella gasped, before reeving her engine and charging forwards. More wood was snapped up like twigs, and the remaining barricades were blasted aside.
"WAIT!" Magenta yelled, but Isabella had disappeared off into the cave. Magenta looked back around at Kelly, who was racing down the hill.
"Moron!" She hissed, and raced into the cave after her cousin. Kelly came to a halt, centimetres away from the cave. The last time he had been in there, he had seriously injured himself: what if it happened again? What if something more serious happened to him?
"No… I can't get scared… I must fix things with Isabella!" The crane said determinedly. He took a deep breath in, and then charged forwards, crunching over the wood and keeping his arm low. His left front wheel clunked over the safe, but Kelly ignored this, as his headlights flashed on, and he followed after the distant beam coming from Magenta's.
Outside, Thumper merely rolled his eyes.
"I really need a job that doesn't involve corpses or psychotic boulders." He thought, and drummed anyway at the rock.

It took a quarter of an hour for Fredrick, Patrick and Nelson carrying Buster to reach the cottage inhabited by Cedric. They could see the tree lying across half of the driveway, but the tarmac itself didn't look too severely damaged. There was no sign of life inside the house, though the hedges in the surrounding area looked oddly crumbled.
"I don't want to be here." Nelson growled. "I can't be close to him after what he nearly did!"
"You keep going on about 'what he nearly did', but you won't actually say!" Patrick growled. They all came to a stop, staring down towards the house.
"I am not going to elaborate, you just need to know he is dodgy." Nelson said. There was an awkward silence, with many exchanging of looks.
"I think I'll go and clear the tree." Fredrick said. He moved down the driveway, and quickly tried to look through the curtains before starting. Not a single thing moved behind them, so the aging digger merely shrugged and began to move his scoop under the tree.
"We better move quickly, the opening ceremony is in two hours." Buster said.
"It is quick drying concrete, don't worry." Patrick said with an annoyed sigh. He stared into the bushes, watching them rustle in the wind. Nelson began to position himself correctly, and Buster began to move backwards to get off the trailer. The transporter took up staring into the bush as well, and he and Patrick got lost inside the tangled green, watching the leaves dance, several butterflies flapping around, the swish of a black coat…
"Did you see that?" Patrick gasped.
"I did!" Nelson gasped, and the two tried to find the sign of the cloak again, but it had disappeared.
"Maybe we should move forwards?" Nelson suggested.
"Good idea!" Patrick said, and he raced forwards. Nelson tried to follow, but the change in speed caused Buster to roll backwards.
"Um, Nelson…" Buster said, as he began to roll backwards quickly. "Could you, um, stop me?" Nelson looked around, wondering what was wrong. Suddenly, the winch cord snapped. Buster yelled out as he raced backwards. There was a slope down the drive, and the steamroller raced out of control.
"HELP!" He yelled. Fredrick, who was slowly pushing the tree out of the way, stopped and turned to help. But Buster was out of control: he swerved to the left, than the right, than ploughed onto the grass. He crushed a flower bed before smashing into backwards into the house. Everyone gasped as the window smashed, the bricks were hit, and Buster rolled about two metres in, before being stopped by a sofa.
"Oh my goodness!" Fredrick exclaimed, and he rushed over. Nelson and Patrick sped down the driveway as well, and Patrick rushed inside.
"Crap… we are going to be in so much trouble!" He said, as he cautiously approached Buster. The steamroller was dazed by the crash, but was still conscious.
"What are we going to do?" Fredrick said.
"We can't pull him out, we have no rope and it was my winch that snapped." Nelson said, as he rolled forwards slightly. Everyone jumped as the garage door opened, and Fredrick had to move to allow a Chrysler 300C to pull out. Cedric was in the passenger seat, and a big black man was driving. The car had to go off-road slightly to avoid the tree, but than moved up to the top of the drive. It stopped there, and both Cedric and the black man got out.
"Hello there machines." Cedric said brightly.
"Where's Jacob?" Fredrick said, unable tot hink of anything else.
"Oh, he's six feet under the backyard." Cedric said, and there was a collective gasp. The black man had pulled two small barrels of oil out, and one larger one. Everyone looked at him as he poured oil over the driveway, the tree, the grass and hedges. Than, he put a rope into the big barrel, and paused.
"Good job Jeremiah." Cedric said. "Now, it has been in my best interests to get rid of you all long before now. However, it has been very tricky killing you wretched machines. But I needed there to be less of you at the opening today, so I when a tree fell onto my driveway last night, I couldn't be happier. Now, you will all be burnt to a crisp within a few minutes, which is just glorious, and I have a few less things to worry about." He explained.
"You monster!" Nelson roared, but Cedric merely nodded.
"Let's go Jeremiah, I have a plan to unleash." The black man nodded, and then kicked the barrel with one of his big shoes. Nelson and Fredrick crammed inside the house, and the barrel smashed into the front door. Than, Jeremiah threw a lit match, before getting in the car and driving off.
"Bugger." All four of the Pack said, as the green garden turned into a flaming inferno, and it moved towards the barrel of oil only a few feet away.
As Cedric drove off, another car engine started from behind the bushes. A certain spy, who was wearing a black coat for a change, rushed towards a black car, throwing his binoculars aside and pressing a button on his PDA. It sent out a signal to the local police, telling them to act now.
"Aren't we going to save the Pack?" Canton said, as Alpha climbed into the front seat.
"We don't have time!" Alpha said. "Oil is uncontrollable and nearly impossible to put out, and if we don't follow Cedric, there will be a higher death count."
"I suppose that is fair." Canton said. Alpha merely nodded, before wheeling his ute around and speeding down a shortcut.
It was essential that they beat Cedric to the hotel.

Things were much too quiet at the hotel.
Oliver, Byron, Ned, Max and Monty all sat in the car park. A number of seats were being set up, and valets were directing early areas towards a temporary car park near the arcade. The special train would arrive at a new station behind the trees, and Cedric was expected to be here soon.
"Where is everyone?" Oliver said.
"The Foreman sent Buster and Nelson and Patrick and Fredrick away." Ned said.
"I think they are doing a job, and Jack and Alfie did something for Miss Jenny." Byron said.
"What about the lorries?" Max said.
"And the crane!" Monty added.
"They went to the skip, but goodness knows where they are now." Oliver said. The five sat in silence, looking around, wondering if the others would magically appear, when Jack and Alfie appeared at the entrance.
"Ah, there you are!" Byron said. But the two sped past, not even glancing at the others, and headed towards the cave. Miss Jenny and The Foreman had been talking by the hotel entrance, and had seen them speed off.
"What are they up to?" The Foreman said, rushing towards the other machines.
"We aren't sure, but Kelly, Isabella and Magenta are missing as well." Oliver said. Miss Jenny was about to talk, but then a black and white car pulled up, and a familiar figure got out.
"It's the detective!" Ned said.
"Quite right." Detective Fisher said, and looked over at Miss Jenny. "Jenny, mind if I have a word?" Miss Jenny sighed and nodded, but quickly looked at Byron.
"Go after those two, find out what is up." The bulldozer nodded, and rolled off down the path.
"Shall we head inside?" Miss Jenny said irritably.
"Gladly." Detective Fisher said, and the two walked towards the hotel. The Foreman watched them leave, before turning to the others.
"I don't know what you should do, but I think you should at least do something!" He said.
"Yes sir!" Oliver said, and he signalled for the others to follow, and they raced towards the trees to be out of the way. The Foreman merely sighed and strolled off for a drink.
It was going to be a long day.

Jack and Alfie were out of breath from their race to get back, and had been slowed down due to traffic come in for the opening. But nothing stood in their way as they raced down the hill. But the sight of the destroyed wood caused them to stop.
"Someone's been in there!" Alfie said in shock.
"If the safe has been taken…." Jack said before trailing off, and the two exchanged looks.
"Why do you all go towards that cave?" A voice said, and the two looked towards Thumper, who was still attacking the cliff.
"Why, who else has been here?" Jack asked. Thumper never usually got to speak to anyone except himself, so was glad for the chat and kept talking.
"Those two lorries, Isabella and Magenta, came here, and Isabella smashed the wood up. Than Kelly chased after them, and all three went into the cave." He explained. "I haven't seen them come back out."
"Thanks Thumper." Alfie said, before whispering to Jack. "None of them could have dug up the safe. And Fredrick said it is close to the entrance, so we will only be a minute or two." Jack nodded, and he raced in, followed quickly by Alfie. Thumper watched them enter, and then heard as Byron roared down the hill, and charged towards the cave.
"Jack, Alfie, Miss Jenny wants to know what your up to!" The bulldozer said. Jack and Alfie were visible due to their lights, but they couldn't leave until they had the safe. The two felt around with their scoops, and they soon felt it.
"Come out NOW!" Byron boomed, as he edged into the cave. His scoop could just fit in, though he destroyed what remained of the barricades due to his mighty weight.
"We'll be out in a second!" Jack snapped, as he dug his scoop into the ground, and felt the bottom of it.
"What are you two even doing in here?" Byron growled, as he turned his headlights on. The front loader and excavator were blinded, but Byron could see that something was in the ground.
"What is this?" He snapped.
"Just go away Byron!" Alfie said, trying to make himself look bigger. Jack was groaning from the strain of the safe, but managed to lift it upwards.

"GOTCHA!" He said. Byron was curious and unimpressed at the same time, and began to back away.
"Come on, let's just go then." He said.
But his back was barely out of the cave before it happened.
Thumper's work was causing more destruction to the already damaged mountain than he intended. His powerful pistons had caused huge cracks inside the mountain, and they could no longer hold. Rocks began to break away and roll down, sending dust everywhere and causing a deep roar. Thumper yelled out as he was battered backwards, and rocks began to batter Byron's cab. Than, a larger chunk fell onto his front.
"Cave in!" Alfie said, and he turned and raced further into the cave. Byron had no chance of getting out, and he moved forwards, forcing Jack to move as well. The three raced deeper into the mines, as dust began to fill the air and the rock slide sounded more deadly from inside.
"There are tyre tracks in the dust!" Alfie said, and swerved to follow them. Jack and Byron chased after, their tyres battering aside small rocks. They travelled like this for two minutes, before their headlights caught the green of Alfie, and they both stopped.
"Look who I've found." Alfie said, and Kelly waved his hook at them.
"Good to see you." Byron said roughly, before examining the area. They were at a crossroads: three tunnels joined inside a large area. There was the one they had come from, one to Kelly's left, and one further away.
"I am trying to find Isabella and Magenta, have you seen them?" Kelly asked.
"There aren't that many places inside these mines to hide." Jack smirked, and earned angry looks from the crane.
"Shall we try looking for them, a way or out or go back and clear the rubble?" Byron suggested. But there were two high pitched screams, and Magenta raced out from the tunnel near Kelly, followed by Isabella and a cloud of dust.
"I found them." Jack said, taking a light stab at humour.
"Hello there boys." Magenta said. "Throwing us a surprise party?" But then she looked at Kelly, and her smile faded. Isabella blinked dust out, and saw him as well, but looked away before he could speak.
"I think we have to move onwards." Alfie said, pointing towards the only free tunnel left.
"That way just caved in." Isabella said. "If you couldn't tell."
"Then that leaves one option!" Jack said proudly, and he headed towards the free tunnel. As he moved forwards, everyone's headlights caught the safe in his scoop.
"What's that?" Kelly asked.
"A safe, moron!" Magenta snapped.
"Let's not question the safe, let's just try and find a way out." Jack said. "There has to be another exit." The others all nodded, and started to follow him.
"Besides, not like anything worse can happen." Byron smirked. They all chuckled as they headed single file (Jack, Isabella, Alfie, Magenta, Kelly and then Byron) up the tunnel.

Many metres above their heads, the lake of Corloey stood. It had already been damaged due to previous cave ins, and had slowly been leaking into the mines. But the landslide had upset the entire mountain, and the lakes unstable bottom began to crack. The earth shifted, rocks tumbled, and then a third of the lake floor collapsed, disappearing into the mines before being blasted by the water. The water was gushing in, forming a torrent that destroyed more of the lake floor. And it all began to pour through the mines, heading downwards, ruining everything it touched.
And it would soon destroy the Pack.