Sorry for the wait, but here's chapter 8. So good it rhymes.

HTATMR Chapter 8

Later that day, Thomas walked into the break room next to Tidmouth sheds. When he did, Percy was already there. "Hello Percy" said Thomas as he sat down next to him. "Hey Thomas. What's been happening? Bertie told me you lost a coal truck today" he said with a worried expression. "Ya, it's weird. It disappeared when I was shunting trucks near the little grotto" said Thomas. Then, Percy gasped "Thomas, what if those are the buffers that lead to the magic railway"? Thomas smiled "You could be right Percy. And the grotto could be like a special platform for the lost lady's engine". "Oh, yes" said Percy.

Then Thomas rushed to the door, and then looked back at Percy. "Percy, you protect those buffers from D10" he said with a smile. "Ya… wait what" asked Percy, realizing what Thomas had said. "And I'll find Mr. Conductor" said Thomas, and he ran out the door. But Percy rushed to the door and called out to Thomas. "Why do I have to do it" he called. "Because you're a brave person Percy" shouted Thomas as he reached his engine. But Percy just frowned sadly "sometimes I wonder if we're really friends". And then Percy walked back into the room.

Meanwhile, Mr. C was walking sadly along the railway tracks. Then, he heard a voice, and a humming sound. "Hello twinkle toes, remember me" asked the voice. Mr. C turned around, and saw a large diesel with a claw on top rolling towards him. There was also a man with a metal arm standing on top of it.

Mr. C then put on his hat and began to put on his jacket. "Fat Hatt won't have much use for ya, looking like that" laughed D10 as his diesel stopped near Mr. C.

Mr. Conductor tried to run up a hill, but he tripped and fell. "You're mine now" said D10. Mr. C dug in his pocket for the remote, but it wasn't there. D10 saw that he didn't have it and laughed. He pressed a button on his small control panel and looked at Mr. C. "Oh I see you forgot to bring the remote. How careless of you. Now say hello to my diesel's claw" said D10 as his diesel's claw went and scooped up Mr. C. D10 laughed, and he pressed another button, and his diesel rolled down the line.

Then they came to the viaduct. D10 stopped his diesel in the middle of the bridge, and then he pressed a button. His diesel's claw moved left and was now dangling Mr. C over the side.

"Okay twinkle toes; I know about the buffers" said D10. But Mr. C was looking at the center of the bridge. Two stones from the bridge broke off and fell into the river below. "That's what I saw in my dream; it's coming true. My universe is starting to crumble" thought Mr. C.

"And I know about the magic railway" said D10 "And when I find that lady, you and all those puffballs will be mine. Now tell me with the buffers are… NOW" screamed D10. But Mr. C was looking at some tubes that were connected to the diesel's claw. He rummaged in his pocket for a moment, and then he pulled out a pair of scissors. "Ha Ha" laughed Mr. C.

"You got Ten seconds" said D10, and he turned his back on Mr. C. But then, the claw lurched, causing the scissors to drop from Mr. C's hand and landed near the edge. "Ten, nine, eight, seven" said D10.

Mr. C reached as hard as he could for the scissors. "Six, Five" said D10. Mr. C reached as hard as he could, and he was able to grab the scissors. "Four" said D10 angrily "Three, Two". But then Mr. C cut one of the tubes, and grey oil began to come out. "Too late D10" said Mr. C. And then, the claw flew right and opened, flinging Mr. C through the air. "GAH" said D10.

Mr. C flew through the air, until he landed down on something soft. He opened his eyes and looked around. He had landed on some flour sacks, and he was right next to the windmill. "Oh, I'm at the windmill… now that's what I call a perfect landing" he said, and he got up and walked up to the windmill.

As he walked around it, he saw what looked like mist handing around a part of the windmill. He kneeled down to look at it "this must be the clue to unlock the source of the Gold Dust" said Mr. C. Then, swirly letters appeared saying:

"Stoke up the magic in the mountain and the engine will live.

Show the lady the cure and she will smile.

Then watch the swirls that spill so well".

Then the words disappeared. Mr. C was surprised "well where's the writing gone" he wondered.

Meanwhile, and the yards, Splatter and Dodge were talking to D10. "Uh, so boss" said Splatter. "Ya, how come you let twinkle toes escape" asked Dodge. "Ya" said Splatter.

D10 looked nervous "Oh, that uh. Well, I did it on purpose. You know I was testing him to see if he could, escape". But Splatter and Dodge just laughed. "He just can't say he messed up" laughed Splatter. "Ya I know" laughed Dodge. But D10 was cross "Alright, play times over Splodge" he said angrily.
"Uh oh" said the twins. "Now it's time for the next lesson. I call it 'How to stop being stupid'" he said angrily. But then, his metal hand sparked and hit a button next to him. The coal shute that was above him opened and coal flew down, burying D10. Gordon, James, and Henry (who were nearby) laughed and laughed.

D10 poked his head out of the pile. "I need to get this stupid thing fixed" he said angrily. "Uh" said Splatter and Dodge together.

Later, on Muffle Mountain, Lily was sitting by a river, looking at the flowers that grew by it. Then, Patch walked up to her.

"Bet you can't climb that tree" he said pointing to a tree near the river. Lily laughed, and she walked over to a tire that was hanging from the tree. She jumped onto the rope and climbed all the way to the top. "See" said Lily looking down at Patch.

Patch smiled, and Lily jumped down from the branch she was on. "Where'd you learn to do that" asked Patch. "On my fire escape" said Lily. "Cool, I'm Patch" said Patch. "I'm Lily" said Lily "you live around here"?

"Ya, my mom and dad work the stables" said Patch. Then, Burnett walked up to the two. "Morning Patch" said Burnett in his emotionless tone. "Good Morning Mr. Stone. I'm running into shinning time today. Could Lily come with me if she'd like to" asked Patch.
"I'd Like to" said Lily. Burnett didn't smile or frown "Shure, she can go. Be back here by sunset". Then Lily smiled "Do you want to come to" she asked. Burnett frowned a little "Oh, I never go there anymore" and then he left. "Bye Grandpa" said Lily sadly.

Patch decided to cheer her up "ever ridden a horse before" he asked. "No, never" said Lily.

Well, soon Lily and Patch were on a white horse and were riding down the fields towards Shining Time. "I've always wanted to go this way. We're fallowing some shadowy lines I've seen on a map; they're like railroad tracks without any rails" said Patch.

Back at Burnett's workshop, Burnett was looking at Lady through the glass coffin. "Well Lady, what are we to do? It all seemed so much easier when Tasha and I were children" said Burnett as he put his hand on the coffin.

Down at Shining Time Station, Lily was sitting near the painting of the signal box she had sat by when she had first came here. Then, she heard someone humming. Mutt, who was near her, barked. Lily got up and went over to the signal box. Then, Gold Dust appeared around it, and a small man on a skateboard appeared. "Junior" asked Lily.
Junior looked over and smiled "Hey there Lily. I didn't think I'd see you again. Quick question; what's blue, green, red and goes BEEEP BEEP" he asked imitating pulling a whistle. Lily laughed "A parrot and you mean Chirp Chirp".
"No trains, Island full of them. I'm off to see them right now on the Island of Sodor and cousin. I overslept and I've had to hurry" then he looked at Lily "Do you want to come" he asked. "Can we be back here by sunset" asked Lily, a little excited. "Hope so; I want to get back to the beach" said Junior as he pushed his skateboard away. "What do you think Mutt" asked Lily. Mutt barked twice, meaning he agreed.

"Okay" said Lily with a smile. "Great, it's… this way. We'll take the short cut" said Junior pointing to a painting of a tunnel. "Really" asked Lily, a little confused. Junior looked at the two whistles he had "well, there's two of us so… oh well, that means I'll have to use cuz's extra supply of Gold Dust. Well it doesn't matter I'll have plenty more soon" said Junior looking at Lily.

Then Lily picked up some Gold Dust that was lying next to Junior. "Can I take this little bit back for grandpa" she asked. Junior smiled "be my guest; I'll take care of it for ya" he said taking the gold dust. Then he grabbed his whizzing whistle. "Ready, here we go" and he blew the whistle, covering him and Lily in gold dust, and whizzed into the tunnel painting.

When Lily opened her eyes, she was flying through what looked like a huge vine yard. But when she looked down, she saw some railroad tracks. But when she looked at Junior, she was very surprised. Junior wasn't ten inches tall anymore, he was a fully grown person.

"You've grown bigger" said Lily. "Maybe even smaller, I'm just adjusting to my new surroundings. This is the only time it happens to me" said Junior. "So, where are we" asked Lily. "Conductor's Railroad" said Junior. "Magic Railroad" asked Lily.

"Whatever; we'll traveling miles and miles to the island. But, I don't think this railroad's gonna last much longer. It'll vanish like the lady" said Junior. "What Lady" asked Lily? "The lady that used to run this railroad. Cuz and I never saw her, we don't know what happened to her" said Junior.

Then, Junior and Lily floated past something sitting on a side track; a coal truck. "Hey, what's that doing there" asked Junior as they floated past it. But when he looked ahead, he grabbed onto Lily's hand. "Get ready Lily, here're the buffers" said Junior. Lily could see a pair of buffers coming up. Suddenly, there was a flash of color, a train whistle, and the two flew through the buffers and landed softly on the ground.

Lily and Junior looked around; they were near a little grotto, next to which was a hill. "Where are we" asked Lily. "The Island of Sodor of course. Uh, this way" said Junior pointing to the hill. He began to climb up it "Come on" said Junior. Lily began to climb to "it's a good thing I like climbing things" she said with a smile.

When they reached the top, Lily could hear a lot of whistles. "What's that noise" asked Lily. "The trains, the island's full of them. Luckily I know all their drivers" said Junior. Lily could see a few railway lines nearby, with a few engines running along them.

Meanwhile, Thomas was running his engine along his branchline. He had finished his jobs for the day, and was now bringing his coaches back to the yards. But as Thomas looked along the track, he saw something near them. "Annie, Clarabel, there's Mr. C; we found him" said Thomas as he slowed down his engine. But as Thomas got closer, he saw who it really was. "Oh bunker, it's Junior" said Thomas.

"Junior, Look" said Lily pulling Junior around and pointing to the engine that was stopping near them. "It's Thomas" said Junior, and he began waving his hand at the engine. Soon the engine stopped, and Thomas jumped out of the cab and walked over to them. "Thomas. Now don't looked so surprised I know you haven't see me since" but then Thomas inturupted. "You hid a stink bomb under my bed" said Thomas angrily. "Hey we had a laugh" said Junior. "YOU did" emphasized Thomas.

"Uh" said Lily. Junior looked at her "Oh, I almost forgot. Lily, Thomas. Thomas, Lily" said Junior "Now, where's my cousin" he asked and walked away. "Hi" Lily said to Thomas. "Hello Lily, welcome to Sodor" said Thomas. "Come on Lily, I'm very home on trains" said Junior from the cab of Thomas' engine. "Hey Thomas, think I could drive" he asked. "Not on my life" said Thomas as he and Lily walked over. Then Thomas uncoupled the coaches and hopped back inside his engine. "Annie, Clarabel, I'll send Percy to bring you two home" said Thomas, and he pulled his engine away. But Annie and Clarabel were upset. "We've heard that one before" they said together.

Longest chapter I have written for this story yet. Don't forget to review.