Ozzie's Grindhouse: Hippies, Goths and Ghosts

by Ozzie Bastard

Dedicated to David Mitton. Henry deals with a bad situation... and his younger sister. The Island deals with the shock return of an old friend. And Henry has to deal with two engines fighting for his soul.

3. Chapter 3: Her Ghost in the Fog

Chapter 3: Her Ghost in the Fog

I was once a proud engine, as happy as I can be.

Until I made a sudden detour into the sea.

I was plucked from the water so murky and cold.

The men that worked on me were brave and bold.

Soon I will rise again like a phoenix, you will see.

It is often said that night is the time where evil spirits come out to wreck havoc. The Island of Sodor was not exempt from this old proverb. Night time on Sodor had always hosted its strange share of ghosts and paranormal activity. However, these strange happenings would most often then not be explained away with simple rational explanations. But there have been times where rationality gave way to the unexplained. Fog had always been an issue on Sodor, parts of the Island was just above sea level. Whenever the fog rolled in, it always came in thick and fast, leaving whoever was running almost lost. On one cold night, Edward was pulling a late night goods train. That night, the fog was particularly think and pea-soupy; the rails were barely visible and it made the journey long and treacherous. Edward loved running at night. The air was crisp in his smoke box; the rails gave out a gentle hum as chuffed along the line. Edward could barely see what was in front of him and had to squint for most of the way. His driver and fireman were clearly anxious.

"Steady on, old boy. We're almost home." His driver, Charlie Sand, called to him.

"Good, I could use a rest after this." Edward said, squinting as hard as he can.

"Better be on our toes, lads. This fog is getting pretty thick." Sidney Hever, his fireman added, peering out of Edward's cab.

"No fear, lads." Edward laughed out loud. "I know this track like the back of my hand, I mean, tender."

"Yes, well, don't get too cocky, Edward." Charlie called out. "Even the best of us can get lost in this mess." Edward merely snorted. He took great pride in the fact that he knew every curve, every bump, every set of points and every signal on every square inch on the Island of Sodor. But even he had to admit that he had often gone over his head at times. The journey was getting treacherous by the minute. Edward had to stop several times for his driver to get out and check his bearings. Edward and his crew seemed to wander hopeless in the fog before finally regrouping at a signal box and getting back on the right direction. As Edward squinted in the thick miasma, he thought he saw something up in the distance. It seemed to be a glowing red lamp. It wasn't static like a signal light or a warning light; it appeared to float above the track like a tail lamp for an engine. "That's odd." He said to himself. "There can't be another engine on the line." Edward smelt the air and the unmistakable aroma of smoke filled his nostrils. He knew it right there and then that it was another engine. But who was it? All Edward could see was the tail lamp glowing in the miasma. "Charlie!" he called to his driver. "There's another engine in front of us." Edwards's crew was perplexed.

"Impossible." Sidney doubted. "The signalman would have warned us if there was someone else on the line." Edward wanted to get closer to the mystery engine in front of him, but he knew it would be a calculated risk. If the engine in front of him stopped suddenly, Edward would have no time to stop and would plow straight into the engine. Edward drew closer to the engine in front of him. He tooted loudly and called out, "Hello there!" There was no reply; the engine seemed to be going faster. Edward picked up speed and gave chase. "Careful, Edward. We're running blind here!" Charlie Sand exclaimed. Edward squinted hard through the fog until he could see some detail on the engine ahead. He could see the engine's tender and a familiar hue. Edward couldn't make out what kind of tender it was at first until it struck him. Edward made a terrible realization and yelled out, "Stop! Stop the train!" Charlie Sand slammed on the brakes and Edward screeched to a halt. The mystery engine thundered into the distance, slipping deeper into the thick fog. Charlie Sand rushed out of the cab to check on Edward. His face showed tremendous fear and disbelief. "What is it? What was that?" he asked frantically. Edward was trying to make sense at what he had seen. "No, it can't be." He murmured to himself, his voice cracked with fear. "But you're dead."

"What?" Charlie asked again, looking back into the fog. "What did you see?" Edward gulped hard, his expression said it all. "Molly?"

Dawn arrived; the fog had burned off in the morning sun, unveiling a perfect blue sky. At Knapford station, some of the engines were busy preparing for another long, hard day of work. Henry and Karen were splitting an extra large tanker truck of coffee. Henry had never drunk coffee before but apparently he seemed to enjoy it. "This coffee is wonderful." Said Henry. "Do all Goths like you drink coffee as well?"

"No. It's a common misconception. I just drink coffee to keep me awake during all those late night runs." Karen explained. "You know, a lot of people think that Goths are associated with violence, hatred of minorities and white supremacy. But that's all bogus. It's just like the idea that listening to death metal or playing Grand Theft Auto will incite violence."

"You should tell me more some day." Henry smirked and sucked down another gulp.

"Can I have some of that?" Percy asked innocently.

"No, Percy, you may not have some coffee." Henry stated firmly. "Your little boiler will not be able to cope with all this caffeine and sugar and… is that cream I can taste?"

"Yep." Karen answered.

"AND cream!"

"But I want some!" Percy whined as loud as he could.

"Oh just let the little bugger have some. You're not his dad, are you?" Karen laughed.

"Last time I checked, no." Henry driver's took the hose from Henry's mouth and placed it into Percy's. He took one long sip before the caffeine kicked in like an epileptic donkey. Percy's eyes spun in their sockets and he shot out of the station with lightning speed. His driver tried to apply the brakes but he couldn't! All the engines watched as Percy darted further into the distance. In the yards, Donald and Douglas, the Scottish Twins were about to haul some heavy trucks when they heard a familiar whistle. "Do ye he'r that, Douggie?" Donald spoke up.

"It sounds like Percy, but it kin nae be Percy." Douglas answered. They listened hard as Percy sped by the twins screaming "Wheeeeeheeeeeeeee!" at the top of this boiler. His driver was still desperately trying to apply the brakes, but they were starting to melt and spark from the friction. "Percy!" his driver shouted. "Please stop, pleeeeeeaaaaassseee!" As Percy screamed further and further into the distance, Donald and Douglas tried to make sense of what they had seen. "Ye nowt see that evra dey, Douggie." Donald was amazed.

"Aye, Donal'." Douglas concurred, very much astonished. Meanwhile, back in Knapford, the engines were still all agape. Gordon had a wicked thought, "Hmmm, can I have some?" he asked. His driver was horrified.

"No." He said firmly to his engine. Gordon sighed despondently. "But it'll do wonders for my hangovers." He complained.

"You'll have orange juice like everyone else." His driver snapped. Gordon groaned. At that point, Thomas and James pulled up to the station; they were engaged in a rather unusual conversation. "I don't mind that this Island is such a sausage festival, Thom-Thom." Said James. "That means all the more for me." He purred.

"Yeah well, too bad we all don't swing your way, Jimmie." Thomas puffed.

"Don't be so sure, Thom-Thom." James lisped happily. He noticed Murdoch the BR Standard Class 9F steaming towards the station. "Hey there, sweetie!" James tooted loudly to him. Murdoch blew a kiss to James as he puffed by with his long goods train. Thomas was amazed. "Well I'll be painted pink and renamed Rosie. I would have never have guessed it."

"Neither did I, until he found out I was gay. We just, sort of… coupled." James beamed. The other engines were equally amazed. As Murdoch disappeared from sight, Edward pulled into the station next to Henry. He was still shaken by his late night run-in with his "ghost train."

"Good morning, Eddie." Henry heartily tooted.

"Morning." Edward didn't sound too enthusiastic.

"Is something the matter, Edward?" Henry asked.

"You look as if you'd seen a ghost, and I've seen that look before." Karen put in.

"I… I… saw something that… no. No, I can't really tell you guys, you'll think I'm going crazy." Edward answered.

"Oh come on, Old Iron. Just start from the beginning." Said James sympathetically.

"Well, last night, I was taking a long goods train along my branch line. The fog was getting pretty thick; I could have stopped and waited it out till morning. But, like the resilient old engine I am, I had to complete my journey. I had gotten onto the mainline when I saw something ahead of me."

"What was it?" Thomas was drawn in.

"I didn't know what it was at first." Edward continued his story. "But I discovered that it was a tail lamp. It was just floating above the tracks ahead of me in the fog. I then knew that there was another engine in front of me. So I steamed up closer to get a closer look and then I saw something. It almost made me jump out of my bogies."

"Was it a ghost train?" Thomas asked.

"No, it wasn't a ghost train! It was solid. Pure steel and iron was puffing right in front of me! And you'll never believe who it was." Edward raised his voice. "It was Molly!"

The engines were such dismay that they had difficulty registering this. "You gotta be kidding me!" James scoffed. The other engines deflated such an irreverent notion. Edward was cross. He knew what he saw was the real deal and didn't like to put down like this.

"I'm telling you, it's true. I saw her with my own eyes." Said Edward unyielding.

"Then I think you need a second opinion." James retorted.

"I don't need a second opinion. My eyes are as sharp since the day I was built. I know what I saw. Molly is alive!"

"That's just silly! Molly is dead. We all saw her being railed away under that tarpaulin. The dead don't come back to life." Thomas rebutted.

"How dare you speak ill of the dead, Edward!" Gordon angrily remarked.

"Uh, not to sound disrespectful but who's Molly?" Karen asked her big brother.

"Your unfortunate predecessor. Let me explain." Henry told Karen all about Molly and her terrible demise as they steamed away from Knapford. All the engines steamed away with all their important work to take care of, leaving Edward very much peeved.

So low and behold, I am not believed.

My friends think I'm crazy, my story ill conceived.

But my story is true, nothing is phony.

No sooner they will know it is not baloney.

Just you engines wait, I will be reprieved.

"Perhaps he's getting senile at his age." Gordon said to himself as he took his express.

"I've heard some crazy shit in my time but my God damn, that is by far the craziest." James muttered.

"Preposterous." Henry grumbled. "Imagine thinking that an engine as wise and rational as Edward would honestly believe that he would have seen an engine we know is long gone."

"Don't sell that wise old engine short." Karen rebutted. "He sounded pretty convinced to me that he had seen something. Perhaps he is telling the truth."

"Perhaps, but the idea that someone that we've worked with, that we've interacted with and believe to be dead has suddenly emerged from the proverbial tomb is ludicrous. I tell you, that fog must have played some serious tricks on him." Henry huffed.

"I don't know, dude." Said Karen. "Stranger things have happened." She sighed. The engines decided not to speak about this for the rest of the day. The idea of ghosts and paranormal activity was something of a trivial notion to them. None of them really believed in ghosts. There had been past instances where they believed they had come into contact with some kind of deceased soul. Naturally, these instances were always proven to be anything but paranormal. As strange as Edward's ghostly account was, they almost started to believe it. The thought of Molly actually being alive would be shocking, of course, but it would also be splendid. Knowing that she somehow survived her incredible swan dive off the viaduct would have been comforting to the engines. But in the end, they had to contend with reality and face the truth that their friend was gone and all that was left was grief.

Later that night, James was hauling a train of dynamite and other explosives to the Ffarquhar quarry. The shipment of explosives arrived by cargo ship at Brendam Docks. Thomas was charged with being James' support engine. James and Thomas couldn't go too quickly; the load they were shunting was dangerous and needed the best of care. Fog was starting to roll in over the Island so extra precautions had to be taken. Along the way, Thomas was reflecting on Edward's strange occurrence in the fog. Thomas had always looked up to Edward whenever he needed advice or help with any situation. He knew that Edward loved to tell tales of ghost engines and strange tales, but this was nothing like the ones he told. Thinking back on it, the story sounded feasible. It almost made sense to Thomas but he had been wrong before. The two engines had to stop at a signal to let Gordon pass with his late night express. Thomas decided to nip this in the bud and speak his mind.

"Do you think what Edward said before was true?" Thomas called to James.

"Fuck no, Thom-Thom. I think it's all a load of crap. If you ask me, Edward is just playing us for idiots. False hope, I call it." James huffed.

"But Edward's never been wrong about anything before. Maybe he is right about this."

"But didn't you said to ol' Eddie that the dead don't come back to life?" said James, thinking back to that morning at Knapford.

"Yeah, but that was before I thought this through in a more logical sense. Isn't it possible that Molly is, in fact, alive and is somewhere on this Island?" Thomas asked hypothetically.

"We've all thought about that, young Thomas." James' tone shifted. "Maybe it is possible that Molly survived her fall. But there has been nothing to prove that otherwise. I remember when that day happened; The Fat Controller told us all that something tragic happened to poor Molly. I asked him what happened to her and he only told us that she went away. He didn't say much but I came to the conclusion that poor Molly had died. I've since made peace with that pain. It still hurts sometimes but in time those wounds will heal. And your wounds will heal too." James sighed heavily. Thomas was silent. In this heart, he still had a small glimmer of hope that perhaps Edward did see what he saw that night. James' words offered some solace, but he could feel the pain flooding back to his pistons. A small tear formed in Thomas' eye.

"Hey, if it's any consolation to you, in some strange way, Molly is alive. She's alive in all our hearts and our minds. Do you understand?" James asked in a comforting tone.

"Yeah." Thomas answered softly. The signal changed and the two continued their solemn journey to the quarry. They hadn't realised that the fog was getting thicker by the minute. Soon, visibility had reduced to near zero. Not even the powerful headlamps on James' running board were able to pierce through the thick fog that had descended upon the Island. In the distance, James and Thomas heard church bells tolling, thus adding to the already creepy atmosphere created by the fog. "James, this is scaring the crap out of me." Thomas called out.

"I know; I'm scared too." James admitted. They had no choice but to stop. Thomas and James' crews conversed with each other and decided that their only safe bet was to stop at the nearest station and hold out until the morning. According to their GPS systems, the nearest station was Crosby, several miles up the line. So they started up again and slowly trundled along the line. James kept a sharp eye out for danger. Thomas held his breath and hoped they didn't run into any trouble. In the distance, the two brave engines heard the sound of an engine coming the opposite way. James' driver and fireman peered out of his cab to see which engine was coming towards them. The fog made it impossible to make out any track side markers or anything for that matter. James squinted to get a better look. "Hey, I can see something." James shouted as the sounds drew closer. His face suddenly dropped with horror as he saw the engine emerge from the fog. James let out a terrified scream as the mystery engine thundered by him. "What is it, James?" Thomas called out. He could hardly see as the explosives trucks blocked his forward view. But in the corner of his eye, he saw the engine thunder by. The face was very familiar. Thomas was frightened beyond anything he had experienced. "Holy fucking shit!" he shrieked. James and Thomas' crews applied the brakes and brought them to a halt. Both engines had indeed shat themselves. They were frozen with terror. "Did you see that?" Thomas yelled out to his comrade.

"Yeah, as clear as snow!" James' heart, I mean, super heater was racing. "That old codger was right!" Their crews had witnessed it too. They didn't know what to make of it. "The dead don't come back to life; the dead don't come back to life!" Thomas muttered hysterically.

"What the hell did you just see? What the fucking hell did you just see?" exclaimed James; his eyes were wide with terror.

"Then, it's a ghost! Its Molly's ghost!" Thomas gulped hard.

"That wasn't a ghost, Thomas." James corrected him. He knew what he saw was real. His eyes never lied to him. "That was Molly! SHE'S ALIVE!"

A new day arrived on Sodor. James and Thomas had stayed up all night, trying to make sense at what they had seen. Did they actually see what they saw in the mist or was it the mist itself playing a cruel trick? James was convinced that the mystery engine that passed by him was in fact Molly, very much alive. Thomas, on the other hand, was adamant that what he saw in his peripheral vision was a ghost. The two engines had argued all through the night, even as they stopped at Crosby to wait out until morning. Both engines were exhausted and looked rather disheveled. They delivered their load of dynamite to Ffarquhar quarry and set off for home. At Tidmouth sheds, the other engines were preparing to head off for the day. Percy, on the other hand, was suffering from severe withdrawal symptoms from his date with caffeine. He had crashed from the intake of sugar, cream and cocoa powder he had swallowed. The engines saw Thomas and James arrive home. They could see that they looked terrible. "What happened to you two?" Emily asked; she was concerned. "You both look like shite."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." James answered groggily. "It just that we both had a long night. Pulling heavy trains and running into supposedly dead engines and all that."

"I keep telling you that we ran into a ghost." Thomas grumbled drowsily.

"And like I keep telling you, that was no ghost." James argued.

"What are you two on about?" Gordon asked.

"We saw something, last night. Something shocking." Thomas spoke up. "It was a ghost. The very same one that Edward saw." Gordon, Henry and Emily groaned angrily. Edward didn't think that this was something to scoff at. He had remained unwavering about what he had seen, much to the chagrin of his fellow steam engines.

"Oh no, not this again." Gordon moaned with discontent.

"It's true. We saw it with our own eyes. It was Molly's ghost!" Thomas shouted.

"It was not a damn ghost!" James gritted his teeth. "It WAS her, you nitwit!"

"So you admit that Molly is alive?" Edward snapped.

"That's exactly what I am admitting." James answered.

"You engines are complete idiots." Emily scoffed. "Sometimes your imaginations just run away with you. What are you, like eight years old?"

"Yeah, well, imagine this!" James snarled and tried to give Emily the finger, but he had no arms or fingers to do so. James' crew, however, did. "I know what I saw." James retorted.

"So cold, so very cold." Percy shivered.

"What utter nonsense!" Gordon boomed. "Do you honestly believe that what you saw was indeed genuine?"

"Yes, it was as real and you and me!" James answered strongly.

"Humph!" Henry huffed. "I'll believe it when I see it." Henry was skeptical.

"Fine!" James snapped. "You want to see it for yourselves? Then you will! You are all pulling night shifts tonight, aren't you? Well just you wait. As you steam through the hills, you will look upon the face of your old dead friend and, mark my words, you will become believers. And when you do, don't come crawling to me when you are frightened out of your metal skin."

"Yeah, and me!" added Thomas angrily.

"Shut up, Thom-Thom." James talked down to Thomas.

"Very well." Gordon answered the challenge. "If we do see anything tonight, then we'll drop the skepticism and believe it for ourselves. And if we don't, we'll just think you're nuts."

"I look forward to it." James sneered as the turntable swung him around and he backed into his berth. Thomas waited his turn and entered his berth. The other engines set off for their daily grind. They were looking forward to proving Thomas, James and Edward wrong. Edward wondered if James' somewhat left-field challenge to the others was entirely clear-headed. Kind of a ballsy move there, I must say. He thought to himself. Stupid, but ballsy. James and Thomas had settled in for their much needed rest. As he slowly dozed off, James thought about how wonderful it would be to make the other engines eat their own words.

The engines think we're fools, they are not convinced.

Each word I croaked, they just sat back and grimaced.

But when the night rolls in, as will the mist.

And they see Molly steam by; it'll be such a twist.

Oh boy, will their skeptic words be ever so minced.

Day turned to night and the engines were working their tenders off with their important night rail services. Gordon took his trademark express to and from Barrow-in-Furness, Henry was to take a special long haul delivery of heavy steel to the new radio tower construction site near Ballahoo and Emily was to collect some new cars for the recently opened Ford dealership in Knapford. The engines still thought that James and Thomas' encounter with something paranormal was bullshit, as Henry put it to himself. Still, the engines couldn't help but wonder. Were they going to run into the supposed "Ghost of Molly" or the actual Molly? They didn't know nor did they want to know. They had their jobs to do and that was that. Dawn's early light came again on the Island of Sodor. James was itching to know if any of his comrades had run into anything the night before. He so wanted to make them eat their badly chosen words. He soon found out as he discovered Gordon, Henry and Emily had slipped into their berths sometime during the night. "Wake up, sleepy heads." he cried out to the three big engines. They stirred back to the realm to the living, still rather groggy. "Soooo, did any of you guys have an interesting night?" James raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? What?" Gordon mumbled, still half asleep.

"I think he means if we ran into any ghost engines, last night." Emily yawned.

"Oh yes, I remember now." Said Gordon, stretching his aching wheels. "Well, it was a rather boring night actually. I didn't see any ghosts or anything of the sort."

"I saw nothing." Emily added.

"Same here." Said Henry hazily. James was surprised, he wasn't expecting this.

"What? Are you sure you didn't see anything?" James anxiously asked.

"Look, laddie, it was a perfectly clear night last night. You could see for miles. If I did run into a ghost train, I would have seen it coming." Emily replied wearily; she was about drift back into sleep.

"Are you guys absolutely positive?" James was desperate to make sure.

"Look, James. As much as we enjoy your company and whatnot, you can be very grating and tiresome when it comes to telling how good it is to be red or spouting stories of dead loved ones." said Gordon, he was in no mood to argue. "I don't know what you, Edward and young Thomas saw, but I'm sure it wasn't a ghost or, indeed, our long dead friend. Take my advice, for the greater good of Sodor, just let this go. And for the sake of the memory of Molly, put this to peace." Gordon finished and dozed off to sleep. James felt despondent. He was so convinced that he had seen the figure of Molly in the fog that he was desperate for the world to believe him. He then thought at how Thomas would feel if his theory was debunked in the same manner as well.

"It's foolish to think that you can convince the world that you made a discovery of any kind." Edward spoke up. "Even the great minds of the world were shot down because of what they believed in. Sometimes they convinced the masses, other times they didn't."

"Then what did we see?" James asked uncomfortably.

"We saw what we wanted to see. I'm sticking to my guns here, and you should too. But when it comes down to it, you just can't make an honest skeptic believe you, no matter how long you try to convince them." Edward sighed and went back to sleep. James had convinced himself that his experience was genuine but then he didn't know what to make of it at that moment. Perhaps it was the fog playing a cruel trick on him. Perhaps it was a grief stricken hallucination. But if wasn't any of these, then what was it?

"But I was so sure." James said to himself. His mind kept turning with so many questions that he wasn't able to sleep. He looked over at Thomas who was still asleep. He knew how innocent young Thomas was and how shattered he was when he heard of the tragic event. Perhaps what Thomas believed was a ghost was also a grief stricken hallucination. A lot of the engines on Sodor believed they had seen Molly in some form sometime after her death, but these all turned out to be a trick of their imaginations. Maybe this was the case for what happened to James, Thomas and Edward. But then again, maybe it wasn't. That was a complete mystery to James. A mystery that he was sure would remain refuted.

Morning came and it was another beautiful day on the Island. Thomas and Toby were put in charge of taking tanker trucks of petrol and diesel to a new construction site. The Sodor Construction Company was working overtime on a secret project. Thomas had urged his friend Jack to tell him what he and the Pack were working on, but Jack declined to utter a word of it, saying it was his secret. Throughout the trip, Thomas was deep in thought. James had told him about what the other engines said to him earlier. Naturally, Thomas was shattered. The others engines didn't believe him and James and suspected that they thought he was crazy. Thomas had begun to wonder about his ghost encounter the night before. He started to doubt if what he saw was even real or the grief getting to him. Thomas was so absorbed in his thoughts that he barely concentrated on his work. "Thomas? Thomas?" Toby called to him. "Were you even listening to me?" Toby had been prattling on endlessly about his relationship with Mavis, the Nü Metal diesel. Thomas snapped out of his trance. "Huh? What? Oh, sorry about that. I was miles away."

"More like light years away." Toby laughed. "What were you daydreaming about?"

"Oh, just about an old friend." Thomas sighed.

"You were thinking about Molly, weren't you?" Thomas was surprised. "James told me all about your strange experience." Toby explained.

"Yeah, that's exactly it. You probably think I made it up too, huh?" Thomas sniffed.

"On the contrary, Thomas, I believe you." Toby smiled. "Because I have seen her too." Thomas gasped. Finally, someone who wasn't a skeptic. Even more so, Toby was a witness. "Really? You actually saw Molly? How?" Thomas asked frantically.

"Well." Toby began his story. "I was pulling my passenger service one night. It was particularly foggy that night; so much so that I had to slow down so severely that I thought the snails would catch up to me. Anyway, I was approaching Gordon's Hill; I had to speed up because of the steep incline. I tried my hardest to power up the hill, but the rails were so slippery. I was virtually fighting gravity so I had to stop."

"And that's when you came across Molly?" Thomas interrupted him.

"Yes, that's exactly it." Toby continued. "As I came to a halt at the bottom of the hill, I heard another engine coming. I couldn't see through the incredible miasma that night. But as the engine approached, I finally saw some shape and form to it. To my surprise, I recognized the engine shape. It was a GER 'Claud Hamilton' 4-4-0, Molly's body design! I knew it then and there that it was her, but for some reason, it didn't look like her."

"How so?" Thomas pondered.

"Well, this may sound strange, but her boiler looked… bare." Toby explained, thinking back to that night.

"Bare? You mean, without the steel covering around the boiler?" Thomas asked.

"No, I mean, her familiar yellow hue was gone. Her boiler was just the bare grey steel colour, almost as if she was rebuilt without being repainted." Said Toby.

"Interesting. You didn't think it was a ghost or anything?" Thomas probed deeper.

"That's what I thought at first, but as the engine steamed by me, I distinctly smelled smoke. Smoke and embers. There was no question in my mind that it was a real engine that sped past me that cold, pea-soupy night."

"Why haven't you told anyone about this?" Thomas was curious to know.

"Because I found it hard to fathom that someone dead could come back to life. I thought maybe I was going crazy in my old age. Or maybe it was the fog playing me for a fool. Plus I thought that this was an isolated incident so I decided to keep it to myself. And think about it, who would believe me? An aging steam tram who believed he saw the form of a long dead engine in thick fog? I would have been a laughing stock to the entire community. I couldn't risk ruining my reputation as being wise and respected. Humph, a bit too late for old Edward, I'm afraid." Toby huffed indignantly.

"But I believe you, Toby." Puffed Thomas supportively.

"Yeah, but only because saw it for yourself." Toby chuffed. "It's the others who have remained skeptics. They chose not to believe because reliving that dreadful day will only open up old wounds. It will only give them false hope. And if it was proven false, that will only deepen those wounds further. The engines would have hated me for bringing the memory of Molly into disrepute." Thomas understood his concern but not his reason to keep this to himself.

"But you told me that you recognized the shape. Your knowledge of all the different engine types and wheel arrangements that enter this place has always been your strong suit. The engines would have believed you." Thomas pointed out. Toby's knowledge of steam and diesel engines was beyond extensive. Being the oldest member of the team, Toby had seen literally thousands of different engines types and makes over the years, memorizing every single detail of each engine, from the minutest piece of engineering to the largest. Even with this knowledge at his disposal, Toby wanted to play it safe when it came to this.

"It's not a question of belief; it's a question of wanting to believe. The engines all believe that Molly is dead, who am I to change that? Neither you or I or anyone else can change that belief. It just doesn't work that way." Toby sighed and continued on his journey. Thomas wasn't feeling better, in fact, he felt worse. Beside him was another member of Sodor who had a freak encounter with their supposedly dead friend and he decided to keep it quiet. As righteous as his reasons were for keeping quiet about this, Thomas almost hated Toby for it. Toby could have easily convinced the others about his experience, not doubt about it. Thomas thought to himself. But then again, James and Edward failed to convince the others about what they saw, so why should Toby be any different? Thomas' heart sunk further. He so wanted to believe in a world of open-minded individuals, but time after time would prove; that wasn't so. The world Thomas lived in was full of skeptics, none of them ready to believe in a story that defied all rationality. Toby and Thomas finally reached the construction site and delivered their loads of petrol and diesel. Jack the front loader waved hello to Thomas with his bucket, but Thomas didn't notice. He just delivered the load and scuttled away, almost ready to cry. Jack was a little upset that Thomas didn't respond but also a little concerned as to why he was upset. As the two engine steamed back to Knapford, the pain started to seep into Thomas' boiler again. It felt horrible to him.

Ghosts and goblins and things that go bump.

Haunted by visions of a friend that went to the dump.

That sad moonlit dancer slipped into my dreams.

I know bringing her back would go to extremes.

In the deepest part of my heart, sadness formed a lump.

Several days passed without incident. There had been no sightings of Molly or any ghosts that looked like her. The engines continued to work as if nothing was wrong, but the stress was getting to them. The constant day-night shifts were putting added strain on the engines, especially on those that experienced a ghostly encounter. Thomas was afraid to take any more night services fearing that he would encounter another Molly sighting. James didn't admit it to anyone but he was afraid of going out at night as well, though he soldiered on and prayed for the best. As for Edward, he hardly spoke to anyone for days. Some thought he was still seething from being torn down by the engines. Others thought that he was just being reflective on his experience. The tension between the engines had almost reached fever-pitch until one bitterly cold night in the middle of autumn. Snow had fallen on the Island creating a pure white landscape. Gordon, Emily and Henry were assigned to take different services that night. Gordon had his usual express; Henry had his usual Flying Kipper service and Emily was to deliver more Ford automobiles to the showroom in Knapford. The three engines all enjoyed taking their night runs, it gave them time to think and clear themselves of any tension they felt during the day. They were looking forward to their night runs. Unfortunately, they hadn't counted on the weather taking an eerie turn that night. The Island's trademark fog came down hard, even thicker then before. As Gordon, Emily and Henry steamed through the pitch black night, they became hopelessly lost in the fog. Their headlamps were useless in the thick haze that smothered them. The engines had to slow down to a snails pace for their drivers to check their bearings. To say that the engines were spooked would be the understatement of the year. They were frightened within an inch of their driving wheels. That was when they each encountered something that made them jump out of their running board. What happened that night in the miasma was, to say the least, bloodcurdling.

The next morning saw the result of last night's ordeal. Thomas, James and Edward all woke up to start another day of being ostracized when they saw their comrades. Gordon, Henry and Emily hadn't slept a wink. They appeared to be frozen with fear. Gordon almost sounded to be whimpering to himself. He was muttering something to the extent of, "There isn't any coming back! There isn't any coming back!" Percy, on the other hand, was sleeping happily… although rather soundly, having gotten over his caffeine rush. James, Edward and Thomas looked at each other for a moment, they were quite puzzled. Thomas decided to speak up. "Uh, hey guys." The three big engines jumped, screaming like girls. Percy stirred from his deep sleep.

"Huh? What? Is it time for school?" Percy asked groggily. He noticed that the three big engines looked rather spooked. "Did you guys drink coffee too?" he innocently asked.

"What happened to you guys?" Thomas asked.

"What? Happen? Nothing happened." Gordon lied.

"Couldn't have been a perfect night." Emily lied through her teeth.

"We just had a late night, that's all." Henry spluttered. "A very… long… night." Then, all three engines started frantically talking at once about what really happened to them. Edward couldn't get a straight answer and tried to calm the big engines down. "Calm down everyone. Will everyone please calm the fuck down?" The engines quieted down.

"That's better." Edward chuffed.

"Oh, Edward, it was terrible!" Emily shrieked hysterically. "We saw it, all of us!"

"Molly's ghost?" Thomas asked.

"No, not a ghost, Thomas. The genuine article!" Henry chuffed. "You were right, guys. Molly is alive! Alive and scaring the willies out of everyone." The honesty in Henry's voice was unmistakable, he was telling the truth. James wanted to be sympathetic but he was dying to rub this in everyone's face. This was the opportunity he had waited for. "I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so." James lisped very overjoyed.

"This is no time to gloat, you pansy." Gordon snapped.

"Sticks and stones, fat-arse." said James mockingly.

"Bite me!" Gordon growled.

"Ok ok, settle down." Edward intervened. "Gordon, why don't you start with your account for the evening?"

"Very well." Gordon cleared his throat. "I was taking my usual express to Barrow-in-Furness, right? Everything was going rather well when the fog came down. Needless-to-say, I was pretty worried for my safety. So I slowed down to lower the risk of crashing into any trains in front of me. I thought I had lost my way until I came across a familiar junction. The signal was red so I came to a stop. I couldn't see anything through the murkiness. That was until I heard something coming. I thought it was either one of my comrades here, until… I saw her."

"Was it the ghost train?" Percy asked.

"Let me finish." Gordon answered crossly. "Anyway, I saw the unmistakable shape of our old friend, Molly, steaming by me. As you can tell, it scared the soot out of me. I was in utter disbelief. Although from what I could see through the mist, it looked as if she was more surprised to see me."

"Why is that?" Thomas asked.

"Well, Molly seemed to pick up speed as she rumbled by me, as if she didn't want to be seen by anyone. Ha, too late I'm afraid." Gordon huffed.

"Hmmm, interesting." Edward pondered for a moment. "And what about you, Emily? What happened with you?"

"Same thing happened to me. Thick fog, visibility down to zero, utterly lost. Only, unlike Geordie here, I made contact with Molly." Emily explained.

"You mean contact as in you spoke with the supposed "entity"?" Edward asked.

"No, I made physical contact." Emily corrected him. The engines were somewhat amazed. "See, during the confusion of the fog's sudden appearance, some idiot signalman sent us down the wrong tracks. We couldn't tell if we were going the right way or not. Through the mist, I saw a glimpse of headlights approaching me. I realized that we were actually heading into oncoming railway traffic! I shouted out to my crew 'Stop the bloody train!' I heard the engine in front of us slam on its brakes as well. I thought that I was going to plow into whoever was coming, so I shut my eyes and held my breath. Fortunately I was able to stop but I felt the buffers compress. I opened my eyes and I found out I made contact with the other engines buffers. To my absolute horror, I found I was looking upon the face of Molly. Naturally, I was frightened beyond anything, but she looked frightened too. Then, Molly suddenly reversed quickly away back into the mist, leaving me scared stiff. It was then I heard someone screaming, until I realized that I was the one that was actually screaming. Scariest shite I've ever seen." Emily shivered.

"Oooooooh, creepy." Percy was both scared and in awe.

"Och, tell me about it!" Emily sighed. She didn't want to relive the experience again but it was good to get it off her boiler.

"Thank you, my dear Emily. Um, Henry, why don't share with us your fantastic experience." Said Edward.

"Ok, so I was pulling my trademark Flying Kipper train along the main line, right?" Henry began his tale. "Everything was going peachy for me. No delays in loading and unloading, no faulty signals and NO Diesel to contend with." Snorted Henry. Emily looked away; she knew what Henry was talking about. "Anyway, I had just passed Crovan's Gate, briefly exchanging greetings with Fearless Freddie when the fog came down. Like everyone else, I felt like I was wandering aimlessly about. I didn't realize it at first but the signalman had accidentally sent me down the branch line. I steamed passed Ballahoo station before I made it back onto the main line. I soon approached my old tunnel; the fog was getting thicker as I steamed along. Anyway, as I entered the tunnel, my lantern suddenly went out. I had to stop so my driver, Ted, could fix it. It was a serious risk being stationary in a tunnel."

"Your driver's name is Ted?" Percy chimed in. "My driver's name is Ryan." The other engines silently glared at Percy who seemed to shrink smaller than he actually was.

"So, anyway." Henry continued. "Without lighting, I couldn't see if any engines were coming or not, the fog made that problem worse. Worse still, I wasn't sure if either Gordon or Emily could see that I had stopped. Just as my driver fixed the lantern, I saw at the end of the tunnel, an engine approaching. It just seemed to pop out of the mist like a jack-in-the-box. My driver shone my lantern down the length of the tunnel as the engine approached. Surprisingly, it stopped and started to back away, but not before I got look at its face… it was Molly… in the flesh, so to speak. By the time my driver scrambled into the cab and started down the line, she had vanished into the fog. As you can tell, I was shaken up, as was all of us." The engines glanced at each other worriedly.

"Ok, so now we're all in agreement here that what we saw was, indeed, real. Molly is alive and somewhere on this Island." Said Edward, the others agreed without question.

"Took you bastards long enough." James sneered.

"But there is still a burning question here. What's the discerning factor in all of our late night "Molly" run-ins?" Edward pondered for a while. The other engines did the same. Thomas then remembered the story that Toby had told him before. Toby had confided in Thomas that he did not share his ghostly tale with anyone else. Although Thomas didn't want to betray Toby's trust, he was desperate to validate his own experience, so he decided to omit Toby's name from the story. "You know, another engine told me that he had the same late night experience with the, uh, entity."

"Really? Who was it?" Edward inquired.

"I'd rather not say. For the sake of anonymity, let's just call him… Mr. X. Anyway, he told me that he had run into Molly along Gordon's hill. He said something interesting about her appearance. He said that her boiler was bare, no colour what so ever. As if she was rebuilt but not repainted. But he told me that he had recognized the shape of Molly, almost off the bat."

"Let me guess, it was that other old codger Toby, right?" James asked. Thomas was shocked while Edward stared angrily at James. He didn't like being referred to as an old codger one bit. "No offence, Eddie." James smiled nervously.

"How'd you guess that?" Thomas demanded.

"Well, you said that "Mr. X" guessed the engine model almost right off the bat." James explained. "And there's only one other engine on this Island that knows about every single engine model on the planet. Why didn't you tell us his name before hand?"

"I was afraid he'd get mad at me for telling you." Thomas replied. "He confided in me to never tell this to anyone. Besides, if he told anyone, everyone would have thought he was a crazy old man." He sniffed sadly.

"I see." Said Edward, raising his eyebrow. "Was there anything else he mentioned?"

"Yeah. Toby said that he had encountered Molly in thick fog, like everyone else." Thomas finished. Edward processed this for a moment before being struck with a brain-wave.

"I've got it!" he shouted. "The one element that links all our experiences." The other engines listened hard to Edward's theory. "FOG! That's the connection!" The engines all gasped in amazement, they saw it all clearly, aside from Percy who was the only engine to have not seen the "ghost Molly" at all… much to his disappointment.

"Of course! It's her ghost in the fog!" said Gordon loudly.

"I don't get it." Percy chimed softly but none of the others listened to him.

"I get it now." Emily grinned. "All those other times that we ran during clear nights with no fog, we didn't ran into Molly at all."

"Right, because we would have seen her coming from miles away." Henry put in his two cents. "But when the fog came down, it would have provided the perfect cover for her. But why? Why travel during late night hours in a potentially dangerous miasma during those nights?"

"I suggest we find out for ourselves." Edward proposed. "Gentlemen and, uh, lady, I propose that when the next fog hits the Island, we go out and find Molly and put an end to all our unanswered questions about her, once and for all." Edward finished grandly; the other engines looked to one another for a moment. They weren't sure about this bold idea, taking a dangerous risk of venturing into the fog on an equally dangerous "witch hunt."

"A ghost hunt for a non-ghost." Thomas said out loud. "I like the sound of that." It didn't much convincing after that, the engines jumped at the idea. They all agreed that the next time the infamous "Sodor Fog" struck; they would all brave the impossible element and search for their old friend, Molly. "Can I come along your ghost hunt too?" Percy asked with optimism.

"NO!" all the other engines roared in unison. Percy whined and huffed off to sleep. As the day progressed, all the engines went about their daily routines as if nothing was the matter. Percy had his mail service to attend to; Henry had to take more heavy steel to the radio tower construction site near Ballahoo, Emily had her own passenger service and Thomas was helping Rosie with some coal deliveries along the branch line. Each member of the team had informed their respective crews about their plans for a fog-induced ghost hunt. Naturally, they all leapt on the idea, though there was some skepticism that what they were planning to do was dangerous. Plus, they had the Fat Controller to answer to if he got wind of this. So all the engines and crews involved confided amongst themselves to keep this between themselves. Days passed with no incident, the weather was not playing into the engines buffers. The nights were clear and the fog stayed away. The engines waited patiently for the right conditions to begin their search, so much so it made their coupling rods seize up with the tension. Most engines even volunteered to work the night shift just to see if they were lucky enough to run into Molly. They weren't successful, the added stress and sleep deprivation was eating at them like rust on a scrapped engine.

Finally, on one cold night, the forecast called for fog. The Fat Controller had commended the engines for their extremely high work commitments and decided to give them the night off. All night services would be given to other members of the Island of Sodor family. BoCo had been given the opportunity of a lifetime; he was to pull Gordon's trademark night express. It was something he was deeply looking forward to. In fact, BoCo bragged endlessly to his gal-pal, Pip, about his important assignment. Arthur was to take the Flying Kipper in Henry's place, a gracious honour for Arthur indeed. Diesel was to take some special equipment to the Sodor Construction site building the "secret project". He hated the idea of working in the wee hours of the night; he was hoping to spend some time with his girlfriend, Emily. She had told Diesel that she had something important to tell him, but decided to wait until the morning to tell him. As the night shift set off for their work details, the engines were raring to go. Their crews secretly scurried into sheds and fired up their engines. Anticipation hung in the air. The engines were about to leave Tidmouth shed when Karen the Goth engine steamed in, they were surprised to see her. "Hey dudes, I heard you're going on a ghost hunt." She puffed. The engines were more surprised.

"How'd you know about that?" Gordon asked.

"Percy told me, he said he wasn't allowed." She answered. The other engines stared angrily at Percy. "Did he really?" Gordon grumbled.

"Hey, it was her fault." Percy chuffed in his own defense. "She promised to give me more coffee, which I've still haven't got yet." He peeped angrily.

"In good time, young Percival. Anyway, can I tag along with you, Henry?" Karen posed the question to her older brother.

"Why?" Henry wondered.

"Well, I just loves me ghost huntin'. And I've been told that a lot of crazy shit happens here at night in this place." Karen chuckled. The others conferred with each other.

"Oh, very well, you can come along." Henry spoke to Karen. She was visibly delighted. "Excellent!" she tooted, giggling like a school girl. This made the engines nervous. Well, not so much nervous, as in freaked out. Sure enough, the armada of engines set out into the night to hunt for the elusive "ghost Molly". All except Percy, of course, who had his imposed "nap time." He was not happy about being left behind by this compatriots, he hated the idea of being the runt of the litter. Still, Percy had no choice but to comply.

"I want cream and two sugars with my coffee." Percy called out from his berth. Karen tooted in response before disappearing into the night. Percy settled in for the night and huffed off to sleep.

Tonight's the night; we shall put a stop to this madness.

My comrades bringeth their lights to break the murkiness.

We shall search on every track and every shed.

No rest for the weary, there won't be any time for bed.

Come out, come out, Molly, and end the craziness.

As the cavalcade of engines steamed out of Tidmouth, they all split up and steamed separately along the different routes. This way they covered more ground effectively, increasing the chance of finding Molly. But this meant they were out of contact with each other, a somewhat unpredicted flaw in Edward's plan. Just as the forecast had predicted, the infamous "Sodor Fog" started to roll in. The fog grew progressively worse until it blotted out the moonlight. None of the engines were scared this time; they were counting on the fog to rear its ugly murkiness. The hunt was on. "Perfect." Edward mumbled to himself.

"Come out, come out…" Emily chuffed bravely.

"… where ever you are." Gordon muttered as he steamed carefully into the mist. The engines surged forward in their search, their powerful headlamps tried to pierce through the thick miasma that covered the Island from mountain tops to deep valleys. Thomas checked along his branch-line. The mist added such a creepy atmosphere to his search that it made Thomas shiver with fear. To maintain his composure, Thomas began to sing the lyrics to John Lennon's Imagine. His crew sung along too, they we're scared by the creepy atmosphere too. Thomas' singing seemed to calm himself down, but with every strange sound that seemed to come from nowhere, Thomas shivered harder. "I can do this, I can do this." He muttered to himself. "Oh God, I hope I can do this." Thomas couldn't let the fear get to him, but it was getting to him.

Meanwhile, Henry and Karen were searching along the mainline leading to Wellsworth station. Karen's death metal blared from her cabin. Ironically, the soundtrack she chose for the evening was Her Ghost in the Fog, a creepy metal classic. Henry was distracted by the death metal; he couldn't concentrate on what he was doing. What's more, he didn't see the need to play such music during a ghost hunt. "Would you mind turning that down? I can't hear myself puff!" Henry bellowed to his sister in black.

"Sorry bro." Karen puffed. Her driver, Glen, turned down the volume on the CD player.

"That's better." Said Henry, squinting hard as the fog rolled in thicker.

"So, what kind of ghost are we searching for?" Karen asked curiously. "Is you typical earthbound specter or some kind of malevolent demon?" Henry brushed off that rather morbid question. He was quite used to Karen's dark little rants by now. They were not as violent and dark as the ones she spouted when her attitude was problematic but they just as morbid.

"Neither." Henry admitted to her. "And, to tell you the truth, we're not really searching for a ghost. At least, that's what we believe."

"So what are we searching for?" Karen asked.

"Molly." Henry replied spookily. Karen was astounded.

"Uh, pardon me, but didn't you tell before that she was, like, dead?" Karen wondered.

"Yeah, but was before we all saw her for ourselves. And by the way, you were right not to judge Edward right away. How'd you know he was telling the truth?" Henry inquired.

"Experience. I've had an interesting life." Karen enlightened. "Say, tell me this. If this Molly character is still alive, does the Fat Controller even know or is there something more to this?" she wondered.

"I don't know. We'll just have to find out when we catch our old friend." Henry sighed and slowly continued with the search. As Henry and Karen steamed carefully down the line, they spotted headlights approaching. "I can see someone approaching." Henry spoke up.

"Is it her?" Karen asked inquisitively.

"Could be." Henry answered. "Bring out the nets and tasers. We're gonna wrestle us up an engine." Henry muttered in a dark little hillbilly accent. As the two brave Black Fives powered through the mist, the oncoming engine drew closer. The anticipation was killing the two engines, were they going to make contact with the "specter Molly"? Then, out of the mist… appeared Diesel with his late night service. Henry groaned in disappointment as Diesel slithered angrily right by him. The hostility between the engines was very clear. "Salutations, comrade Diesel." Henry murmured as Diesel rattled by.

"Greetings, filthy hippie." Diesel sneered at Henry.

"Run into any ghosts and goblins?" Karen chuffed.

"Get lost, Elvira." Diesel hissed angrily. Karen seethed with anger.

"Ooooh, he's so gonna pay for that." Karen grumbled darkly, she was already planning to pay him back… with something painful.

"Ignore him, he's a twat." Henry assured his seething sister. "He's nothing compared to us. We're better than him, remember that. Come on." He urged and continued to steam down the line. The two engines then switched tracks down the branch line down to Suddery station. Further down the mainline, Gordon was powering through the fog like a man on fire, looking long and hard through the miasma. "There's no point in hiding any more, my dear." Gordon muttered to himself.

"We just want you home, sweetie. That's all we want." His driver advised him to slow down, but Gordon wouldn't listen. Against his drivers wishes and his own sense of safety, Gordon thundered blindly along the track. He tried to kept a sharp eye out for danger but the fog got into his eyes, making them sting. He truly was running blind. Gordon felt the tracks shift underneath his wheels, he wondered if a signalman had sent him down a different set of tracks, but then thought differently. He soon found out as Gordon noticed a set of headlights coming towards him. "Oh shit, someone's on my line! STOP!" he thundered as his driver slammed hard on the brakes. The engine bearing down also slammed on its brakes. Gordon shut his eyes, expecting the worse. Luckily, both engines came to a stop before hitting one another. Gordon opened his eyes carefully. "BoCo?" he was surprised.

"Out of my way, Gordon." BoCo grumbled. "Important express coming through."

"What you doing on my line? Step aside." Boomed Gordon.

"For your information, you're on my line!" BoCo corrected him. "This track is for homebound traffic."

"It is?" Gordon wondered.

"YES!" BoCo thundered. Gordon surveyed the line and found out BoCo was right. Gordon was deeply embarrassed. He blushed.

"Oh, sorry, old chap." He tried to cover up his mistake. "Must have been the fog. Engines can get lost in this mess, don't you know?"

"Yeah, well it better not happen again." BoCo sniffed. "Its confusion like this that can leave the Fat Controller with egg on his face. Now, go on, Gordon. Move aside, I cannot be late." Gordon slowly backed up until he reached a set of points. As he switched tracks, he flagged BoCo by who honked an exasperated toot to him. As BoCo disappeared into the mist, Gordon's driver spoke sternly to his engine. "You see what you almost done? You almost caused an accident with your headstrongness, embarrassed yourself in front of your regular passengers and pissed off a good friend. All in all, a pretty terrible night so far." Gordon went redder than ever."Now, let's keep this search of yours going, my wife will probably kill me if she knew what I was doing." He grumbled angrily as he stepped back into the cab. He pulled back on the throttle and slowly crept along the line. The other engines involved in the search weren't doing so well either. Emily had steamed as far as the Smelters Yard in the Other Railway. It was there that Emily accidentally ran across 'Arry and Bert, who were sharing an unfeasibly large cigarette. Their drivers helped them in that regard. The two diesels were surprised to see Emily in the yard and immediately put on their hard-arse act. "What the bloody hell do you want?" 'Arry asked with a sinister tone.

"Oh, uh… uh… I was… I was…" Emily shivered.

"Speak up, honey. We can't hear you up in Gay fuckin' Paris." Bert guffawed. The two diesels cackled like hyenas. Emily's face turned a nasty shade of red.

"I was only looking for a friend of mine, but it's obvious to me that the only engines I've found here are a couple of unkempt, loudmouthed, sexist bastards." Emily growled. The two diesels were unfazed.

"Well piss off then. We're on our break." 'Arry snarled.

"Fine, I will." Whistled Emily angrily and she stormed out of the Smelter's Yard in a huff. In her mind, she was making a decision about something. Something that was plaguing her for a long time. "Bloody diesels." She said to herself.

"Bloody steam engines." Bert sniffed and went back to his cigarette. Meanwhile, James traveled along the branch that leads to the Culdee Fell Railway. He had never met any of the engines of this particular line, nor had most of the engines on the North Western Railway. James reached Kirk Machan station when he saw two of the most amazing looking engines he had ever seen. James got a chance to meet Culdee and Patrick, just a couple of the engines that were running on the mountain line. They were chatting amongst themselves at the platform when they saw James approach with caution. "Good evening to you." Culdee graciously said to him. "I don't believe we've met before."

"No we haven't. I'm James." he courteously introduced himself.

"A pleasure to meet you. I'm Culdee and this is Patrick."

"Hello." Patrick spoke up. "What brings you here to our humble little railway?"

"Oh, I'm looking for an old friend. She's seems to be… lost." James sighed.

"Hmm, sorry to hear that." Said Culdee.

"It's ok. Say, you two haven't seen anything suspicious happening around here, have you?" The two mountain engines looked at each other.

"Suspicious? How?" Patrick asked.

"Like have you seen any engines you haven't seen steam by here or anything?" James asked. The two mountain engines thought for a moment.

"No, I'm afraid we haven't." Culdee chuffed sadly. "We don't get many visitors as of late. The railways moving kind of slow."

"Oh dear, that's terrible." James said with pity in his boiler.

"It's not so bad." Patrick puffed. "We still have our regular passenger services to run, the usual flock of tourists and all that. It's just they don't come as often as they used to." There was an obvious sadness in his voice. James couldn't help but feel sorry for them, but he had to keep going with his search for Molly. "Hey, look guys, I hate to cut and run here but I have to return to my search. It's vital." He chuffed.

"Hey, don't go yet, my friend." Said Culdee. "We were just exchanging stories from the old days. Please, sit with us and share with us your life story."

"I'd love to stay and swap stories here, but my friend… she must be found. She's… very important to me… and my friends." James didn't want to leave, but he had to. His friends were counting on him to continue his search.

"We understand. Perhaps some other time then?" Patrick smiled.

"I guess so." James smiled back. "Good evening to you both." He tooted goodbye and steamed off down the line.

"I hope you find who you're looking for." Culdee called out.

"I do too." James called back as he steamed into the thick fog, leaving this little isolated part of Sodor behind him. Edward, the mastermind behind the search, wasn't having the best of luck. Along his long, perilous search, he accidentally ran into all the engines pulling the night shift. He almost collided into Arthur with his Flying Kipper run, he was verbally assaulted by Diesel and he accidentally delayed BoCo's passenger service. BoCo was most annoyed, for the second time during that night; he was delayed again by another late night ghost hunter. He was becoming very pissed off; he was desperate to prove to the Fat Controller that he was capable of pulling passenger trains effectively as he does with trucks. The Fat Controller had told BoCo that if he did well, then he would grant BoCo a chance to pull passenger services on a regular basis. Being held up by engines popping out of the fog would not go in his favour. Going back to Edward, he was steaming along the branch line when he reached the Arlesdale Railway, Island of Sodor's own miniature railway. Edward asked the engines on duty if they had seen anything unusual. Unfortunately, none of them did. Edward was feeling dejected and tired. His somewhat brilliant plan was going awry; he was hoping that he would somehow run into Molly and bring her back, but it seemed that wasn't going to happen. Feeling weary from the exhaustive search and suffering from the effects of sleep deprivation, Edward decided to head back to Knapford to regroup and rest up. His plan was that if any at all engines were unsuccessful in their part of the search, they would double-back and regroup at the station.

As Edward approached Knapford, he could see that all of his compatriots were waiting at the platforms and sidings, cold and miserable from their ultimately unrewarding hunt. "Any luck?" Edward asked optimistically.

"No luck, I'm afraid." Gordon chuffed sadly.

"Nothing." Emily puffed.

"Absolute bollocks." Henry sniffed.

"Same here." Karen chimed in.

"Nothing relating to our search, I'm afraid." Said James, he was still thinking of the Culdee Fell Railway. He was contemplating at how sad the engines must be feeling from the dropping rate of tourists to their line.

"I saw nothing but this stupid fog." Thomas shivered. "Abso-fucking-lutely nothing."

"Well, nothing from my end, either. Except for two unhappy night engines and a not-so nice parting comment from Diesel, it's all been fruitless." Edward sighed; the exhaustion was visibly getting to him. Yet, in his mind, Edward couldn't rest until he found what he was looking for, even if it meant risking his own health and sanity. "Ok, what we should do is rest up a bit, fill back up with the essentials and set out on different routes again. We must leave no stone unturned this time."

"This is pointless." Gordon sniffed. "We're never going to find Molly in this mess. We almost got ourselves killed from all this searching, not to mention the lack of sleep, the aggravation and the embarrassment that was caused to the railway. I say that we head home, get some much needed sleep and start again when the night is not so threatening." As callous as Gordon's statement was, the other engines reluctantly agreed. They weren't doing themselves any good steaming around in the miasma that surrounded them, not to mention the damage they were doing to themselves. The engines decided to call it a night, except for Edward. "But we can't quit now, we just need to double our efforts… and a hell of a lot of coffee."

"Leave my coffee out of this." Karen chuffed.

"Even if we wanted to continue with this search." Emily solemnly spoke. "We'd be doing ourselves a great deal of damage. Not just physically, but mentally too."

"She's right." Thomas agreed. "I don't know if I even want to go back out there again. I've been scared enough times, thank you very much."

"But if we just-" Edward wasn't listening to reason.

"Look at yourself, Edward." Gordon bellowed. "You're clearly exhausted and loosing your mind. You need your rest. You're not a young engine, anymore."

"Don't patronize me, you over-grown drunkard!" Edward snapped.

"Over-grown drunkard?" Gordon was taken aback. "Now look here!" The engines soon exploded into a vicious argument, everyone was talking over each other. The incredible noise of angry voices reverberated through the station, creating such a ruckus. The Fat Controller was stirred from his paper work by the noise. He grabbed his hat and a bullhorn and stormed out of his office. He stalked to the end of the platform, put the bullhorn to his lips and let out a mighty roar. "STOP THIS NOISE AT ONCE!" The engines all quieted down, they had awoken a sleeping giant… or maybe the Hulk. "What's all this commotion? I've been getting complaints that my engines are running rampant in the fog like headless chooks, causing massive delay and what not. This is most unbecoming of a railway and it's unacceptable. Explain yourselves!" The engines once again talked at the same time, the Fat Controller couldn't get a straight answer from any of them and he was getting annoyed. "SILENCE!" he snapped furiously. The engines held their tongues, shivering in fear. They had never seen Sir Topham Hatt this mad before, nor did they want to. The Fat Controller took a deep breath to calm down. "Ok, one at a time, please."

"Sir, my friends and I were embarking on a mission of the utmost importance." Edward spoke first.

"What sort of mission?" The Fat Controller asked.

"The search for Molly." Edward informed. The Fat Controller was amazed and confused.

"I beg your pardon?" he wondered.

"A search for Molly, sir." Thomas answered.

"Ever since that day you told us that she went away, we all thought the worst." James remarked sadly. "We thought she was truly gone."

"That was until we started to see her… in the steel, so to speak." Henry added.

"At night, when the Sodor Fog wafts in, Molly returns from the proverbial woodwork." Said Gordon spookily.

"At first, we thought it was perhaps her ghost." Thomas enlightened. "But then through some unforeseen instances and carefully deductions, we've concluded that she is somehow alive and somewhere in this place."

"We've all seen her scurrying around the Island like a lost soul. All of us." Emily enlightened.

"So, I came up with the idea of a, ahem, "non-ghost hunt", to track down our supposedly long dead friend and bring her back." Edward admitted.

"I tagged along because I have some knowledge on the paranormal and thought maybe I could help." Karen chuffed. The Fat Controller couldn't comprehend what he was hearing. He was trying to make sense of this. "My dear engines, what on earth are you talking about?" he wondered.

"Sir, you don't have to hide this from us. We know she's out there." Edward puffed.

"Believe me, I don't know what any of you lot are on about." Sir Topham said sternly.

"You really don't know what we mean?" Thomas was puzzled.

"No, I don't. And James, what did you mean by "truly gone"?" The Fat Controller asked.

"I meant that when you said "she went away", we thought she was dead." Said James sadly.

"Dead?" Sir Topham was taken aback.

"Yes, sir." Said James. Then Sir Topham Hatt thought back to that day he told the engines about Molly and her accident. He then remembered the glum atmosphere on Sodor that followed. He figured that the engines just missed seeing Molly, not realizing they were actually mourning. He then understood what his engines meant. Sir Topham slapped his forehead and laughed. He realized that his engines had gravely misinterpreted him. "I'm afraid you engines misunderstood me." Now it was the engines who didn't comprehend what Sir Topham was saying, they exchanged odd looks with each other.

"Follow me, if you please." Sir Topham spoke calmly. He waddled over to his blue Morris Minor and stepped in. He then motioned the engines to follow him. The armada of steam engines was soon led to a large shed at The Works. Many of the engines had some time or another, come here to be maintained and overhauled whenever their parts started to wear out or needed repairing. The Fat Controller parked his Morris and walked over to the shed. "What's going on? Why have you brought us here?" Thomas asked.

"All will be revealed." The Fat Controller smiled. He then disappeared through the side door. The engines didn't know what was going to happen. They saw the lights flicker on from inside. The large shed door started to open; The Fat Controller was having trouble opening it all on his own, so some of the engine crews hurried over to help him. All the engines gasped. There she was, their old friend Molly, sitting alone in a berth. Her brilliant yellow paint work glistened under the powerful lights. She was a little surprised to see her old friends again, looking back at her in amazement. "Ah poo." Karen muttered to herself, she was expecting a ghost or something. Maybe next time. "My God! It truly is you." Said Gordon in shock.

"The lost soul of Sodor. She's finally found." Emily squeaked.

"Hello, my friends." Molly peeped; a nervous little smile grew on her face.

"Surely, I must be dreaming." Thomas wasn't registering this at all.

"No, you're not dreaming, young Thomas." Sir Topham Hatt laughed. "What you are seeing is the genuine article."

"But we all saw her being hauled away on a flatbed." Thomas remembered. "I remember she was covered with a tarpaulin. We thought she was dead."

"Yes, I'm very sorry if you got the wrong impression with what you saw. I should have explained it too you all earlier." Said The Fat Controller. "God, I can't hardly imagine the pain you engines must have went through in those months."

"You're damn right, sir!" James snapped. "I left flowers for Molly at the crash sight. I couldn't stop crying for a long time."

"That's so sweet of you." Molly cried a little.

"I said a little prayer for you." Thomas peeped sadly. "I kept thinking that this wasn't true, that you couldn't be dead. I couldn't accept it, and yeah, the pain was bloody terrible."

"I wanted to say how sorry I was for breaking things off with you." Said Gordon, he was starting to cry a little too. He didn't know whether to feel sad or happy to see Molly again.

"I know, Gordon. I know." Molly chuffed.

"I had the strangest dreams featuring you, Molly." Henry spoke up. "I kept waking up thinking that you were alive, but the truth always struck me. I brushed them off as being merely dreams, but my mind kept telling me that there was something more to them. I wanted to believe." A sooty tear trickled down Henry's cheek.

"I've never met you before, but from what my brother here told me, you were a valued asset to the railway." said Karen.

"I couldn't focus on my work." Edward spoke up. "All those times I remembered coming to your shed to console your broken heart, it tore me up. You felt so empty and alone. I felt the same thing, the emptiness and depression. I was afraid it would eat me alive." Edward cried.

"I couldn't handle the incredible sadness in my boiler. I felt like it was about to tear me apart." Emily sniffed. "I always felt that we were more like sisters then anything else, although I thought I would never get the chance to admit that to you." Molly almost started to cry, she had never this much emotion before, especially from her friends. Throughout her time on Sodor, Molly often felt out of place and sometimes, she felt so alone. This was especially so after her breakup with Gordon, the loneliness and feelings of abandonment almost got to her. But she saw how much her friends cared for her, even as her pain ate through her systems like a virus. Molly was so amazed by this show of emotion that she could hardly speak. "How did you even survive your plunge?" Gordon broke the short silence. Molly opened her mouth to answer.

"It's alright, my dear." The Fat Controller stopped her. "Let me explain. When I heard that Molly had become a runaway and had an accident, I assumed that it was nothing serious. But when I was told that she had plunged off the viaduct and into the river, I thought the worst. I actually thought that Molly was killed. I went down to ground zero to survey the salvage job. As the cranes pulled her out of the water, I found to my horror that Molly had survived her fall. Air had become trapped in her boiler, giving her something to breathe as she lay on the bottom. I was relived to see that she was alive, but she was badly damaged from the impact."

"Don't remind me." Molly cringed. "It was hard enough to come out a fall like that and survive, but to come out of it looking like death was one thing I couldn't deal with."

"It must have been awful." James peeped.

"Like you wouldn't believe." Molly sniffled.

"Anyway, I had sent out for an aerial crane to lift Molly back into the rails." The Fat Controller continued. "It was lucky that we had just received shipment of a Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane, fresh from the factory. Looking at Molly's broken boiler, I then realized that her wheels were too badly damaged to be used, so I sent The Works Diesel to grab a long flat bed truck to haul her away. I remember before the Skycrane arrived, Molly said something to me. Do you remember, as well?"

"Yes I do, actually." Said Molly. "It's forever etched into my memory. I said to you, "I don't want the others to see me like this." So you had the workmen cover me up with a tarpaulin before I was lifted onto that flatbed. Guess that caused an ill effect."

"But why ask to be covered up?" Henry asked.

"I wanted to spare you guys the horror of seeing me so banged up." Molly answered.

"But we're your friends, Molly." Said Thomas. "We would have understood that you were banged up and what not. We've all had accidents that we're embarrassed about or afraid to relive." The other engines collectively agreed, all of them looking away in embarrassment.

"No, not like mine." Molly chuffed, biting her bottom lip.

"Yes, it was traumatic to say the least. After having the Skycrane lift her onto the flatbed, I ordered The Works Diesel to deliver Molly to the Works. From the initial inspections, it seemed that Molly's brakes had worn out. Indeed, it was speculated that she became a runaway because of the faulty brakes, so our suspicions were confirmed."

"Ha! I knew it was the brakes all along, but they believed that it was I sent you to your death." Gordon huffed. The engines glared at him for a moment. "What?" Gordon gulped.

"Anyway." The Fat Controller continued. "The engineers weren't optimistic at first when it came to rebuilding Molly. They had never seen an engine so badly damaged before, but I urged them to do the absolute best they could. I spared no expense in having Molly completely repaired. Mind you, with the amount of damage sustained, it would have taken a long time to repair her."

"I spent so many months in this place." Molly butted in. "I felt a new kind of pain as I sat in this very berth. The painful feeling of my boiler being stripped down and slowly built, piece by piece. Seeing all my vital components being taken apart, refurbished or replaced was the most intense and horrific experience I've ever encountered." Molly sniffed. She didn't want to remind herself of that pain. The engines felt pity for her, their emotional pain was one thing but to feel the physical pain of it all would have been overwhelming.

"But I remained optimistic." Molly continued. "I kept thinking of the end product of this whole ordeal. I kept dreaming of Sodor, even when I was awake. The looks on my friends faces when they saw me come back to work, stronger than ever, was what I was looking forward to. Every night and every day, I burned to come back as soon as I could. But my repair was lengthy, the process long and slow."

"Only to be sure that the engineers were thorough in their repair work. I couldn't have a fully repaired engine come back with some teething problems. I ordered them to take their time." The Fat Controller clarified.

"Did you also order the nightly runs, sir?" Thomas asked curiously.

"I ordered no such runs to take place." Said The Fat Controller. "It would have been dangerous and unnecessary."

"It was my fault, sir." Molly explained. "For months, I was cooped up in this place for so long that I thought I couldn't handle it. So I asked my driver to take me on nightly runs to clear my head and give my systems a good test. It was my idea to run in the fog, not his."

"Because you didn't want to be seen yet?" Henry wondered.

"Yes, exactly." Molly answered. "I wanted to wait until I was completed first before I saw any of you again. Huh, seems my plan didn't work. Sorry if I scared any of you." She gave a small laugh. The engines smiled back, apart from Karen. A thought snuck into her head.

"Uh, Sir Topham." She spoke up.

"Yes, what is it?" Sir Topham asked.

"You brought me to this railway because you were shorthanded of engines. When Molly comes back into the fold, does this mean you will no longer be requiring my services?" Karen asked. The other engines suddenly had the same thoughts too. They had gotten used to Karen's company and they felt she was very much part of the railway. It would have been a shame if they saw her leave. Henry couldn't bare the thought of loosing his sister, not after all the times they had spent together as a family.

"Nonsense." The Fat Controller smiled. "You have proven yourself worthy of being part of my railway. You're a part of Sodor now, this is your home." The engines smiled brightly, as did Karen.

"Thank you, sir." She chuffed.

"Anyway." The Fat Controller cupped his hands. "I hope this puts all of your worries behind you. They'll be no more of this foolish running around in the fog aimlessly, no more silly tales of ghosts and strange happenings and what not. Let us all put this to rest." He then inspected his watch. It was approaching the witching hour.

"And speaking of rest, you engines could sure use some rest. You all look terrible." Sir Topham laughed, he wasn't kidding about the engines looking terrible. Some of them had bags under their eyes.

"Uh, one more thing. When will you come back to work, Molly?" James wondered.

"Not for a few days yet, I'm afraid." Molly said sadly.

"There are still some things to work out." The Fat Controller added. "But I can assure you all, she'll come back soon. Very soon." The engines then said their goodbyes to their friend and started to head back to Tidmouth sheds. Gordon didn't feel like going back to the sheds, he could sense how lonely and isolated poor Molly was feeling being stuck in the Works shed for so long.

"Sir, can I stay here for the night?" Gordon asked the Fat Controller. "I don't want Molly to sleep alone tonight."

"Of course." The Fat Controller smiled as he stepped into his Morris Minor. Gordon's crew put out his fire and left in the Sir Topham's car. Gordon sat with Molly the whole night, regaling her with stories of what happened during her absence from regular service. Gordon recounted fantastic stories of the engines current relationships and other mishaps, such as Henry revitalizing himself after his break up with Emily. It was a long time since Molly had actually talked to any of the engines. She missed them terribly and wanted to see them all again. All that was left for Molly was time to wait.

A new day dawned on the Island of Sodor. The fog had burned off in the morning sun once again revealing a beautiful blue sky. News had spread throughout the engine grapevine about Molly's impending return. Most of the engines didn't believe what they were told. They thought it was nothing but the demented rants of their sleep deprived comrades. Most of the Sodor population still believed that Molly was truly dead. They were reluctant about thinking otherwise, having made peace with their own pain. They didn't want that pain to bleed out again, which was understandable in the eyes of the other engines. Sure enough, a few days passed and Molly finally returned from the Works to great fanfare from her friends and citizens of Sodor. Skeptics became believers when they saw her steam by them. They were surprised to see her alive, but more to the point; they were overjoyed to see her back. Molly was glad to be back at work on Sodor, she didn't waste any time getting back in the groove of things. Molly's life on Sodor had never been so bright and wonderful; she never takes her life for granted any more. She embraces everything about her beautiful home and all those that cared for her. As for the others on Sodor, their lives have never been better as well. Despite a troubled night run, BoCo had proven himself worthy enough to pull express services on a regular basis. The passengers all thought BoCo was wonderful and certainly a lot less "up-himself" like Gordon. The Fat Controller awarded BoCo a regular express service for his efforts. BoCo had never stopped smiling since. James hadn't forgotten about his new friends at the Culdee Fell Railway. He had made a promise to them that he'd return and that's exactly what he did. After completing a long run of transporting dynamite to the China Clay Railway, James coupled up to a pair of coaches packed to capacity with tourists and puffed towards Kirk Machan station.

When James finally reached the station, he saw Culdee and Patrick from the night before along with Alaric and Eric, the more recent additions to the mountain engine team. James gave a friendly toot as he puffed to a stop. "Hello again." He greeted Culdee warmly.

"Well, it's good to see you again, my friend." Culdee chuffed with a wide grin.

"I'd told you I'd come back." James smiled.

"I figured you would." Patrick smirked. "Hey, Alaric and Eric. This was the engine we told you about." Alaric and Eric peeped hello to their visiting engine.

"What brings you back to our humble abode?" Culdee inquired. "Come to share with us your life story?"

"That and I brought you guys something." James smiled proudly. The tourists all stepped out of the coaches and began to marvel at the amazing looking engines on the mountain railway. The mountain engines were delighted at the sudden influx of tourists; they couldn't make heads or tails of it. "I told them about this place. They were hoping to see it for themselves." The mountain engines smiled widely. They had never seen such generosity and thoughtfulness before. "We can't thank you enough!" Patrick beamed.

"Please, it's my pleasure." James smiled. As the tourists explored the scenery, James amused the mountain engines about his colourful life story. He even told about his most embarrassing moments on the North Western Railway, such as the time he crashed into a train of tar wagons and the time he had damaged his coaches which required a bootlace to repair it. James never liked to relive those sorts of embarrassing moments, but he thought the mountain engines were so friendly that he couldn't help but share them. But the most wonderful life story James told the mountain engines was that of Molly. He told about her devastating accident, her long and arduous rebuild and her rise from the ashes. The mountain engines were captivated by James' words, at how important she was to the railway and how she meant to everyone on the Island. Culdee wanted to meet Molly for himself, James promised to bring her by someday. After all, he did promise to come back to Culdee Fell, did he? Karen the Goth Engine did keep her part of the bargain to Percy for telling her about the ghost hunt. She brought Percy a tanker truck of coffee, just like she promised him. Sure, the caffeine was still a little too much for him, but Percy enjoyed it immensely. Percy now drinks coffee religiously; he even shares it with his friend Thomas, who seems to handle the caffeine hit better than Percy. The engines still often pull night shifts, yet they opted to avoid any foggy conditions as best they could. They also never slept so well at nights, no longer worrying about ghost engines or things that go toot in the night. Henry and Arthur now work hand in hand when working the Flying Kipper service. Arthur primarily works as a back engine when the load gets too heavy for Henry. As for Diesel, he and Emily finally got a chance to speak to one another. Emily was still itching to tell her important news to Diesel. It wasn't something that Diesel was expecting, but that's another story. It's seems life on Sodor had never looked brighter, especially for their once lost soul, Molly. She's never been happier to be home again.

My time on Sodor is grand, I've enjoyed it well.

So many friends to call upon, I give 'em a bell.

My pain, it stops, with every wonderful sight.

I have so many adventures I have yet to write.

This is one of them; it's a grand tale to tell.