Chapter Nine: Weather Blues
12:23
Bridge: Barrow-in-Furness to Vicarstown
As soon as the four engines left the safety of the station, they were nearly blown off the tracks.
Without the trees and buildings acting as shields, the powerful, frosty wind struck the engines like razor sharp knifes with the force similar to being hit by a truck. Their crews and the workers onboard Bark and Wood were nearly blown out of their cabs, and Rocky wailed as he began rattling uncontrollably.
"This wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting!" Edward shouted, though it came out as normal sound compared to the roaring, shouting wind. The heavy snow here had turned into rain, and the frosty tracks were now covered in water. Down below them the sound of waves crashing up against the cliffs of England sounded like thunder, and Gordon, Bark and Wood felt nervous as they got closer and closer to the bridge.
"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad…." Bark mumbled, the wind whistling through his wheels. Gordon stared sympathetically at the diesel in front of him: despite his initial cruel nature, it was clear now that he was actually rather weak and afraid of the consequences of getting rid of Gordon.
"You know, if you leave me be and turn back now, there's still a chance that you won't get punished." The big blue engine said, trying to sound friendly. Bark quickly snapped out of his nervous state and glared at the tender engine, obviously angered about being spoken down too.
"We can't turn back now, our owner will probably be really annoyed about this and get rid of us anyway!" The diesel snapped. "So we might as well finish what he started!" And with that he gave Gordon an angry push, causing many cheers from within his cab.
"Great job there Bark, you'll make your owner proud!" His driver boomed, though Gordon could barely him over the wind. "Now, we need to get rid of that other steam engine…."
"On it!" Wood said, and Gordon saw the back diesel's driver give the thumbs up, signalling they were going to try and put a stop to Edward. Gordon just gulped and looked nervously to his side: they were getting closer and closer to the bridge, and he was afraid that if worse came to worse, he might find himself being pushed off.
Come on Edward, you can do it…. Gordon thought, and hoped that the old blue engine would be able to rescue him.
Edward was definitely trying his best, but after several miles of continuously moving with a heavy train, he was beginning to lose some of his energy. The diesels were getting closer to Sodor and further away from him, and the old engine was doing his best to try and keep up.
"Don't push yourself too hard Edward!" His fireman bellowed. "Word should have reached Sodor about the chase now and someone is surely going to help us out!"
"We should have asked Henry to come and help us, he can be speedy at times." Edward sighed, and just pushed himself onwards. Behind him, Rocky was doing his best to fight back the wind, but was finding that it was just to strong for him to beat back.
"Edward, I don't think I can stay still much longer!" The crane wailed as his chains rattled furiously, and was glad his operator had gotten out before they had left for Barrow-in-Furness.
"Try and control yourself! It could be bad for you if begin turning." Edward's driver shouted, and Rocky just smiled awkwardly. He could feel the wind battering him all across his right side, almost trying to flip him upside down. Just then there was a loud honk, startling both Edward and Rocky.
"Its one of the diesels…" Edward said in shock, and watched as the moss green cab of one of the diesels suddenly came hurtling towards them. "HE'S COMING STRAIGHT FOR US!" Wood laughed viciously, honking continuously, as he reversed and smashed straight into Edward. The force was enough to finally do what the wind had been trying to do: Rocky shouted as he suddenly began turning to the left, not able to stop himself. The fireworks vans was bumping up to him due to the force of the collision, and Rocky felt his cab smashed into the front van, though it acted like a trampoline and was able to bounce Rocky backward.
"WANT SOME MORE?" Wood snarled, and he smashed into Edward once again. The old engine blew his whistle furiously and charged forwards, using his train to add to his weight. He smashed back into Wood, sending the diesel rolling, screaming, back towards his brother, where he bumped into Bark.
"Watch it!" Bark snapped, much to Gordon's amusement. Suddenly, everyone fell silent as they noticed something: the wind was suddenly much stronger, and the sound of the crashing waves was louder.
They had reached the bridge.
"BRACE YOURSELF ROCKY!" Edward shouted, and he shut his eyes as the rain began to sting them. Gordon, Bark and Wood all looked away from the sides, and the four engines could do nothing to stop the powerful, dangerous weather as they reached the next part of their chase.
"Edward, I think there's something wrong with the vans!" Rocky yelled, edging closer and closer towards the bridge. "I think I might have upset the couplings when I hit the first van." Edward quickly digested the information, and thought back to earlier that day: the bridge had many new signals and points to improve safety and merging, and Wood had been a powerful force when he had smashed into them. And there had been the oil patches he had seen in the snow while they had been chasing after them….
Edward smiled to himself, quickly realising that they had just won this race.
"Rocky, do you know if fireworks can explode in rain?"