Forgotten Rails: The Story of 382

Summary: It happens every year. The nightmare of her accident many years ago. When an engine on Sodor has an accident very similar to hers, she tells her friends what her life was like back in the early days. This is Cayce. And this is her story.

Author's Note: Hey, everyone! I am back with the second to last chapter of Forgotten Rails! I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 5: Meeting A Celebrity

Cayce sniffled, having stopped crying. "That night, I got the best sleep I had in weeks. When I woke up, I almost thought Drew was still alive. It didn't last too long though."

Belle looked over to Cayce curiously. "What happened next?"

"Well…" Cayce said, "Things got very...interesting when my crew came for me…"

As Cayce started to calm down, the doors to the repair shed were thrown open. The light streamed in, hitting Cayce's face for a moment.

"Well, well. We've been lookin' all over the place for you."

"Yeah. Harry and I aren't happy, missy."

Cayce froze a bit at hearing her crew's voices. There was something very off about how they spoke. Their words slurred together and there was a strange smell hanging in the air.

"You do know that you're 'posed ta sleep in the sheds so we can find ya."

That's when Cayce figured it out. Her crew was drunk, very drunk. It was against regulation for crews to operate engines while under the influence of alcohol, but there had been cases of someone showing up a little on the tipsy side. However, Cayce had never seen anyone who worked with her so drunk.

Harry came closer, glaring at her with his eyes darting to different points on her face.

"Why...is there two...no...three? Four of you?"

Cayce looked confused.

"There's only one of me, Mr. Norton."

Harry just shrugged and climbed into her cab, the fireman doing the same. Soon, her fire was lit and Cayce set off, albeit with a bumpy start. Cayce was very worried.

"Mr. Norton, are you alright?"

A snore could be heard from the cab.

Cayce really wasn't getting any good feelings about this. She blew her whistle loudly.

"I'm awake!" shouted Harry from the cab.

"Mr. Norton, are you alright?" Cayce repeated.

"I'm fine. Just a bit...waysided...come on. Let's...go home..," he slurred.

Soon, Cayce was on the main line, heading west for home. A couple miles down the line, Cayce failed to noticed that the points ahead were switched to go further west and not south for home. She roared past the switch, heading into unknown territory.

However, for the next little while, her mind wasn't focused on the scenery. Instead, Cayce was listening to her crew anxiously. Meanwhile, a bit further up the track sat an old steamer. Wrinkles could be seen on his face. He had a straight smokestack and was labeled GVG&N #1. Little did anyone know, he was probably the most famous engine in existence. But, no one recognized him or his best friend for this. The old engine sighed deeply.

Suddenly, a 4-6-0 raced by him at high speed.

"That's odd. I swore her crew was asleep…"

The old engine whistled and raced backwards down the siding, switching onto the main line and pushing himself as hard as he could to keep up with the younger engine.

Meanwhile, Cayce couldn't hear her crew talking and she was speeding up in a way she didn't at all feel comfortable with.

"Mr. Norton? Please slow down!"

But her crew didn't respond. Suddenly, a loud bump was felt as something coupled up to her tender. The sound of screeching brakes was heard as someone jumped into Cayce's cab, shutting off steam and applying her brakes. Soon, Cayce rolled to a stop.

Cayce sighed as she finally stopped. It was now that she looked around and saw that she was completely lost.

"Where...where am I?"

The engine behind her was chuckling.

"Welcome to West Virginia. The name's Jupiter."

Cayce thought for a minute. "Jupiter? I remember Casey talking about a 'Jupiter.' He said he was one of the first two engines to cross the US." A couple of tears started to form as she remembered Casey and how kind he was to her.

Jupiter laughed.

"Yep. I was there for the Golden Spike Ceremony."

When the old engine began to hear her cry, he frowned.

"You alright, little miss?"

Cayce sniffled.

"I...I think so. I'm from the ICRR. I've never been here and I'm very lost and...my crew…"

Jupiter's fireman stepped down from Cayce's cab.

"Yeah, they're asleep and drunk. They shouldn't have been running a beautiful steamie such as yourself. Come on. We'll get you some water and get you into a siding so your crew can sleep it off."

Cayce blushed a little at hearing the fireman's compliment.

"Thank you. That sounds wonderful."

Soon, Jupiter pulled her into the siding her was in before and uncoupled from her before puffing back around and stopping in front of her cowcatcher.

"So...Casey Jones was your driver that night? He's quite famous. He's highly regarded as a hero. I'm not that famous anymore."

Cayce glanced down.

"Yes. But I wish he hadn't died. Now everyone says I'm cursed. You have it much easier. You don't have everyone important to you leaving."

"No such thing as a cursed engine. I've derailed plenty of times...five I think. Nobody's saying I'm cursed. I'm just gettin' old. My wheels don't track like they used to."

He started laughing, but then began to cough horribly. Cayce's eyes darted up to see him.

"Are you alright?"

Jupiter finished coughing and spoke up, his voice a bit scratchier.

"Yeah...just a little clogged. Coal and I haven't had the best of friendships. I used to burn wood, you know."

"No, I didn't. I thought engines always burned coal."

"Well...back when I first started out west, there was a huge abundance of trees. Basically, all you had to do was, if you ran out of fuel, you could ask the local rancher for firewood and be on your way again. Now...I'm pretty much alone. My sisters and my brother have long been scrapped. I'm the only one left. Not to mention my best friend was scrapped...about a year ago today."

Cayce's eyes widened and she glanced down again.

"My...my love, Drew, fell off a trestle and...died not too long ago. I was...coming back from...paying my respects…"

"I heard about that. It was all over the telegraph lines. You have my condolences."

Cayce sniffled again.

"Thank you. And you have mine."

Jupiter smiled softly.

Soon, the two engines fires were dropped and Jupiter's crew hauled Cayce's crew out of her cab and into the local crew house for the night. Cayce sighed.

"So, we're out here for the night…"

"Yep. Then once your crew is sober, we'll take you to the switch you missed and you can head on home."

Cayce smiled kindly.

"Thank you. I wish I could do something to repay you."

"Just your condolences are enough for this ole' timer."

Cayce chuckled before glancing back up.

"The stars are beautiful tonight."

"Yeah. It's said that when former loved ones die, their souls, if pure, get to have a place among the stars."

Cayce didn't say much for a minute, idly scanning the stars for any that caught her eye.

"Do you have any up there?" she finally asked.

"For some they can only hope, but I like to think 119, Storm, Whirlwind, and Leviathan are up there somewhere. Watching over me. Kind of gives me reassurance to know that they're okay."

Cayce smiled.

"I'm sure they are."

"What about you?" asked the old engine.

"I hope Drew is up there. And Casey. He more than deserves to be up there."

Jupiter looked up and smiled.

"I'm sure they both are. Come on. We better get some shut-eye. You got a long trip tomorrow."

Jupiter's eyes fluttered shut and he snored softly.

Cayce sighed and closed her eyes, falling asleep soon afterwards. But, as she slept, she didn't see two stars shining brightly, casting their light onto her. If someone was looking up at them, they would swear the two stars winked. The light began to fade away, leaving a quiet Cayce to sleep.

The next morning, the two engines were awoken to warmth in their boilers as their crews shoveled coal and brought their steam up.

Harry groaned.

"Gah...my head…"

Jupiter laughed.

"Serves you right."

Cayce smiled a little mischievously.

"Seeing four of somebody would give anyone a headache."

Harry frowned, but continued to work on Cayce and getting her ready. Soon, the two engines were ready and received permission to enter the main line. Jupiter led her over to a turntable.

"You can get yourself turned around here."

"Thank you, Jupiter," Cayce said, smiling.

Once she was on the turntable, the table began to spin, spinning her around until she was facing the opposite direction. Soon, the two were back on the main line and they quickly arrived at a switch.

"Here we are. This is where we part ways."

"Thank you, Jupiter, for everything. I hope we can meet again sometime."

"Agreed, little miss. Farewell for now."

Jupiter whistled and puffed away. The signalman threw the switch and the signal dropped for all clear. Cayce whistled and started off. There were two groans from her cab.

"Cayce, can you keep it down?"

Cayce could only chuckle.

Cayce sighed. "Harry Norton was never fired. As much as Mr. Durango believed me, my word wasn't enough and he couldn't contact anyone who had seen my crew that day. However, they got a stern lecture about drinking and working with me. I never saw them that drunk again."

Flynn glanced over at her. "What happened next?"

"A lot of things…" Cayce said.

And that's a wrap for Chapter 5. Stay tuned for the sixth and final chapter of Forgotten Rails: The Story of 382!