Foreword:

Dear readers,

Many preserved engines have visited the Island of Sodor, but none have stood out like this one. Despite being a relative of Gordon's, he was malicious, had a large superiority complex, and only tried to make himself become more permanent on the railway and acted like he and Gordon were the only ones who deserved the Wild 'Nor Wester. As a fan of the London and Northeastern A4's myself, I am appalled at this experience, but that isn't to say I don't think it's worth sharing with you all. Here's what happened.

~ The Author

Chapter One: Fool's Errand

"July Third, 1938, was the date Mallard broke the record. Reaching 202 kilometers per hour, thundering down the grade of Stoke Bank at Grantham, pushing himself beyond his breaking point, but still managing to achieve a record no other steam engine in the WORLD has beaten since..."

"Gordon, we all know the story of Mallard..." grumbled Henry, "Can you please stop cramming it down our ashpits?"

"On a date like this?!" said Gordon proudly, "It's almost the 50th anniversary of his record, how can I not talk about it? After all, I also heard that the museum in York is restoring him."

"A lot of fuss if you ask me..." Muttered Duck under his breath, "Considering Mallard was going downhill when he achieved his so-called…"

"Shhh, Duck, not out loud!" interrupted Helen, "Let Gordon live in his moment!"

"But he's been talking non-stop about it…" protested Duck.

"You're one to talk." laughed Helen, and that shut Duck up at once.

"You know what would be lovely?" asked Gordon.

"What?" asked the other engines.

"If either Mallard or one of his brothers were to visit the Island… I mean, why not? Flying Scotsman's already visited, it'd be quite a treat!"

"Maybe someday, hun." sighed Helen, "There's been quite an increase in railtours recently, after all."

"Quite right my dear," agreed Gordon. "Imagine how grand they would be, whizzing across the island like myself…"

If you're a fan of the London and North Eastern Railway like myself, I'm sure you know who Gordon is talking about. Mallard is among several preserved A4's from the railway, Gordon's old home before coming to Sodor. But since Gordon came to Sodor so shortly after he was built, he never got to know any of these A4's, as they came over a decade later. But he did hear many stories about them in news articles, books, and of course, from Flying Scotsman. Gordon was thrilled to hear about the stories of these engines flying through the network, and going over 100 miles per hour on a regular basis. The only other engine that seemed to actually enjoy it when Gordon began boasting about his cousins was Ryan.

"I saw several of them when I worked on the LNER!" he would say.

"You're lucky, my dear Ryan." said Gordon, a little jealous. "I hope I get to meet one someday… Either way, I've got to look my best this week."

"Why? What's the occasion?"

"Well for one thing, the anniversary is coming up for Mallard's speed record." reminded Gordon, "Also, I've been told by the Fat Controller that the Duke of Manchester is visiting for a Holiday. I think it's best that we give him a good impression, wouldn't you say?"

"Dukes do have high expectations…" Admitted Ryan.

After that, the guard's whistle blew, and Gordon set off. "Goodbye, Ryan! Look out for me this afternoon!"

As Gordon made his way across the island, he could see that down the line, Henry had broken down with a goods train.

"Maybe you should take some special coal again!" he laughed as he whizzed by.

"It's not the coal that's making me ill!" complained Henry, but Gordon didn't hear him. He just groaned as he waited for help.

Gordon soon reached the last station, and was heading onto a turntable for his return journey. But before he could couple up to his train, he noticed the signal was red.

"Goodness…" he muttered, "Why hasn't it moved down? There's no train, and I'm going to be late." But Gordon was wrong… A huge silver steam engine thundered through the station towards the island! Gordon was surprised.

"Steaming pistons! Was that a… Steam engine?" he said, perplexed.

"There must be a railtour or something," said his driver, "Maybe we'll see that engine again later, it does seem like they're staying here for at least a day."

His driver was right. The silver engine was making his way to the big station, but he soon stopped when he saw Henry stranded on the mainline.

"What might be going on here, I ask?" said the engine.

"Henry's injector has failed." explained the driver, "Can you help get him back to the sheds?"

"Gladly." said the silver engine, and he soon coupled up in front of Henry.

"So you're Henry, the green engine?" smirked the engine as he pulled away. "I've heard all about you, but I see your… 'New shape' hasn't done you much good."

"You kidding?!" asked Henry who was shocked, "My new shape has done me wonders! A failed injector could have happened to any engine!"

"Not ones who were designed by Gresley." smirked the engine. "No wonder this railway relegates you to dirty goods trains."

"I pull coaches too!" protested Henry.

"Not as much as I do…" smirked the engine, "Just you wait and see what I'm capable of. Once I'm here for a few days they'll see you as nothing but a fool's errand."

They soon arrived at the big station, and once the silver engine's coaches were taken away, Henry was shunted to the sheds by Ryan. As they and the silver engine were filling up on coal, Gordon arrived from his return journey.

"Oh!" exclaimed Gordon, "Hello, I think I saw you earlier at Barrow."

"This is Silver Fox!" said Ryan, "He's here to visit for a few days."

"Silver Fox?!" exclaimed Gordon again, "I didn't know any of the Silver Jubilee A4's were preserved. Hello Silver Fox!"

"Please, please, call me Spencer."

"Spencer? Where'd that name come from?"

"It's a nickname I took from my last driver before I was withdrawn. You must be Gordon! I've heard all about you from those books, never did I think I'd ever meet you in person myself though."

"Why I'm honored!" said Gordon, "And only a few days before the anniversary of Mallard's speed record too! This is a dream come true! Welcome to the island, Spencer!"

"Seems like your wish was granted…" grumbled Henry, who was coupled behind Ryan.

"Oh!" Exclaimed Gordon, "I didn't see you there, Henry."

"Spencer actually helped bring Henry back here after his injector had failed." explained Ryan.

"Oh!" said Gordon, "That was very kind of you, Spencer!"

Henry just scowled and looked at his buffers.

"Aren't you going to say 'Thank you?' to Spencer?" asked Gordon to Henry.

"Gordon, just… Shut up, I'm not in the mood. Ryan, could you shunt me to the sheds, please? I don't feel welcome here."

"Not a problem!" smiled Ryan, as he shunted Henry away.

"See you later, Stanier!" called Spencer.

"Sorry about Henry…" sighed Gordon, "He can be quite the grump at times. Anyways, where are you from?"

"I'm the Duke of Manchester's private engine," explained Spencer, "I take him on all sorts of trips across England… And he often loans me out for railtours as well. You could say I'm doing both while I'm here"

"So you're the Duke of Manchester's ride?" asked Gordon, surprised. "That would explain the Pullman carriages I saw on your train."

"Yes," said Spencer pleased, "Those are also owned by the Duke. He has quite the taste in railways, wouldn't you say Gordon?"

"I can't say I disagree." admitted Gordon, "Though, I will admit I also was thinking I was going to be collecting the Duke myself once he came here."

"No need to worry about him anymore then!" laughed Spencer, "Besides, he prefers the best steam engines there is out there"

Spencer was actually insulting Gordon, but since Gordon was so amazed to see an A4, he didn't realize this. "I suppose you could! Nothing beats owning a steam engine related to the fastest one, eh?"

"Quite so, Gordon." smirked Spencer proudly. Then, he noticed something approaching them. It was Helen, the Great Western Ten Wheeler.

"Who's this?" he asked.

"Oh, this is my good friend Helen!" introduced Gordon, "Go on dear, this is Silver Fox, or Spencer as he prefers."

Helen seemed a tad uncomfortable, "H-Hello Spencer." she greeted, "Nice to meet you, where are you from?"

Spencer told her what he had told Gordon, "What, may I ask, do you do around here, Helen?"

"Oh, lots of things." she said, "I pull stopping trains and even sometimes help Gordon with the express."

"The express, you say?" said Spencer, he seemed almost shocked.

"Yes she does." said Gordon obliviously, "She's a credit to the railway. We work together all the time, Spencer! I'm sure you two would get along well."

Just then, the foreman shouted. "Show a wheel, Gordon!" he said, "We need you to pull a stopping train, please get yourself ready!"

"Right away!" replied Gordon, "Well, sorry you two… But it seems I have work to do. Goodbye!" and Gordon puffed away. As soon as Gordon was out of sight, though… Spencer looked at Helen more sinisterly, even more so than before.

"I thought better of this railway…" said the silver engine, "But for them to put a leisurely Westerner like yourself?"

"'Leisurely Westerner'?! I'm-" Helen stopped suddenly… She thought it'd be better to stay away from Spencer than to argue, and slid silently to the sheds. Gordon had no idea what Spencer had said to Helen, how could he? After all, Spencer waited until Gordon puffed away to say it. But Helen knew… And it wasn't long before she found that she wasn't alone when she saw Henry at the sheds.

"Don't tell Gordon, but that visitor makes me uncomfortable…" she said to Henry.

"I don't trust him." agreed Henry, "He's manipulating Gordon and Ryan, wanna know what he said to me before Gordon showed up?"

"What did he say?"

"He called me a 'Fool's Errand'." Henry told her what Spencer had said to him on the journey back.

"What?!" exclaimed Helen, she was shocked.

"Yes… Who would have thought that one of Gordon's relatives of all engines would behave like that? Oh, what am I saying, he's worse than Gordon in his younger days. If you ask me, we must tell Gordon about his true colors before it's too late."

"No!" pleaded Helen, "He'd be distraught! You know how star-struck Gordon is about his arrival."

"We can't hide the truth from him forever..." groaned Henry, "But whatever you say…"

Henry begrudgingly took Helen's advice and kept the secret to himself, but it was clear that Spencer's true nature would eventually slip out.

To be continued…