Chapter Four: Friends Close, Enemies Closer

The night was cold and dark on the open road. The snow was as constant here as it was at Arlesburgh, but in many spots out here, the snow had been piling for days with no one bothering to clear it. It was either covering fields and gardens as if someone had spread it all across, or it was piled precariously on surrounding cliffs or on the side of the road, threatening to blow over at the next gust of wind and cut the road off.

Elizabeth was travelling along the road between Arlesburgh and Ffarqhuar, the only strip that connected the two different branch lines together. She had the Hackenbeck River flowing to her left, though it was just as still as the rest of the island was, likely haven frozen over in the very low temperatures. It was too dark to see anything though, and Elizabeth was focussing entirely on the road ahead that glowed in the bright yellow of her headlights. She could feel the snow beneath her broad tires which were supposed to help her on during icy conditions like this, but Elizabeth was certain she had nearly skidded at least twice on a frozen patch of water. And thick tires would do nothing if the snow banks enclosing them decided to come crashing down, or if one appeared out of nowhere.

The engines always complain about the snow being a danger to them, Elizabeth thought grumpily. They only ever have accidents though if they are as thick as the little one behind me. They have separate rails that only ever managed a small amount of snow in between them ploughing it all aside. Out on the road, everything can go wrong in a second, and there is no breakdown crane that can be magically procured and put everything right!

Angry, Elizabeth angrily revved up towards a small snow bank, ploughing through it and sending the flakes flying. However, her left front tyre hit something more solid, and for a moment Elizabeth slid to the right hand side of the road, skidding across the thin ice. Her driver managed to get back control, but Mike's flatbed swung around dangerously, nearly crashing into a surrounding fence.

"Watch it you!" The little engine growled. "I don't want to arrive at the Works requiring anything more than my current condition!"

"Keep that lip up and I'll throw you into the river and go home!" Elizabeth growled. She had not wanted this job for two reasons. One, the road was dangerous at night, and the lorry wanted to survive as much as any vehicle. It may be quiet with less imbeciles to deal with, but Elizabeth would rather work during the day when the streets were crowded with oversized cars buzzing about to shopping centres, as then she could at least see everything.

And the second reason was Mike. Elizabeth had been to the smallest railway enough times to get a grip of his personality: rude, stuck up, superior, thought he was the best of all the midget engines. Elizabeth could not stand engines or vehicles like that, even though many of them had the audacity to say she was like them! But Elizabeth was not going to let the rude engine get the upper wheel with her.

"Is there a reason why this is taking so long?" Mike squawked from behind. "Is there not a faster route to the Works, like going along the Main Line?"

"We would have gone that way if we did not have other jobs to do," Elizabeth snapped. "The Island does not revolve around you, Mike! I need to collect some crates from Ffarqhuar Station that have just arrived by boat." Her boss had thought it best to combine as many jobs as possible, even though it meant Elizabeth would have to travel too many back roads for her liking. Mike, however, simply scoffed.

"Seems pretty silly," he huffed. The little engine was annoyed himself about this whole debacle. When he had had his accident, Mike had thought he would be able to be easily repaired and get back to work in a few days. Instead, he had to sit in a siding waiting for the right time to be collected by Elizabeth rather than be properly repaired, and he now had to be driven all across the Island just to be repaired. He might not have minded if he had gone by rail, as then it would be quicker and more familiar, but instead Mike was on the icy road on a barely attached flatbed that was swinging around like it was about to snap off. It was an uncomfortable way to travel, though it may have been better if Elizabeth had not been the lorry that was taking him. She was known across the Island as rude and snobbish to everyone, and Mike could see now that she was terrible on the roads as well.

I cannot believe the Small Controller is trusting me with such a brute! Mike thought as they turned a corner and the back tyres of the flatbed briefly left the road. It would be a miracle if he actually survived all the way to Ffarqhuar, even the Works!

"I think something is wrong with the flatbed, it is swinging around too much!" Mike cried out.

"Be quiet, I need to concentrate!" Elizabeth snapped back. "It is probably just the ice, stop complaining!" A moment later, they went over another bump, and Mike cried out as he began to roll along the bed, nearly tipping over the side.

"DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW TO DRIVE!" He shouted angrily. "Do you treat all your deliveries like this or is it just some special treatment reserved only for me?"

"Are you always whiny or is it reserved only for me?" Elizabeth retorted furiously.

"I am not whiny, I am afraid for my life, there is a difference, you ugly bloody lorry!" Mike snapped. Elizabeth gasped in rage and angrily blew her horn, the sharp noise echoing throughout the night. Her driver put the window down and leaned out, looking frightened as he tried to control Elizabeth.

"Calm down both of you, we need to concentrate on the road ahead!" He shouted. Elizabeth held back from any further insults as she turned down a left fork in the road, heading past more houses, though she thought of what she could do to the irritable little engine when she next had the chance. Mike remained silent as well, even though he was now jumping every few seconds as the flatbed crunched over rocks and holes in the road, occasionally skidding on the ice.

For about five minutes they were silent, and the two began to calm down as they moved through the silent street, glittering Christmas lights adding a mix of colours to the snow. Mike smiled at all the decorations, having never seen so many decorations at one time. It was rather mesmerizing, a beautiful, multi coloured display, and Mike began to forget all about his worries.

I hope I can make it home in time for Christmas, Mike thought, staring at the flickering lights, though he was doubtful: there was no way he would have been sent to Crovan's Gate if it was just a small job. Maybe I will have to spend the holidays without them…

"BUGGER!" Elizabeth suddenly shouted as they rounded a corner. Mike looked up just in time to see a wall of snow coming towards them, and he shut his eyes as Elizabeth ploughed into it, brakes and tyres screeching. There was a soft thud as Elizabeth drove into the pile of snow, sending a flurry of flakes back into the air, and the flatbed swung around, nearly hitting the bank as well.

There were a few moments of silence as Mike stared at the white wall in shock: he had not noticed the sudden bank that had appeared from nowhere, and presumed the snow fall was fresh if they were in such a populated area. He wondered if Elizabeth was stuck, and went to ask when there was an angry revving from within the snow. The lorry's wheels spun helplessly for about half a minute, black smoke rising from the snow, before Elizabeth finally reversed, the trailer dragging along at angle.

"What happened?" Mike exclaimed as Elizabeth's driver got out of her cab, rushing around to check her front for any damage. "We could have been killed!"

"Oh shut up!" Elizabeth fumed. "It is just a bit of snow that came out of nowhere as it was around a bend, and I suspect it must be a recent slip as there are a lot of people about." Mike was still shaky though, as everything always appeared a lot bigger to him, so the slight hill and the snow fall seemed huge.

"Your not damaged, which is good, but the bad news is that we are going to have to take the other route," Elizabeth's driver said, making the lorry groan: it was a longer route with more twists and turns, which were the last things she needed. If we had just been on time, than maybe we could have missed this, the lorry thought angrily. Her driver got back in the cab and set about the difficult task of trying to get her around the other way while negotiating the twisted flatbed. It led to a lot of braking, send small jolts through an already rattled Mike's frame.

"We could have died… you should have been more focussed," the red engine said with a slight sob. Elizabeth wanted to scream at him, but she managed to remain silent as her driver tried to concentrate, hating herself for knowing he was right: there is no telling what can happen when it comes to snow.

"There you are Thomas! All the trucks are ready to go now."

Thomas looked up as he slid into Knapford Harbour, having finally returned from taking the workmen up to the station. Percy had been busy shunting while he was away, and two trains of trucks were neatly arranged along the quay. The two tank engines had been at the harbour for a while as the boat that was bringing the items for their train had been delayed, forcing them to wait until it came and everything was unloaded and moved to the waiting trucks. When everything was ready, Percy had been left to do all the shunting on his own when Thomas was called to take the workers as they were now at least an hour behind schedule, and Elizabeth was due to meet them at Ffarqhuar. The green engine had pulled it off though, and the trains were both waiting to leave.

"Give me a minute, I need to shunt this," Thomas called out as he was switched towards a siding, a worker moving forwards to uncouple the brake van as soon as Thomas had stopped. Percy was in a bubbly mood, pleased with himself for completing the work on time and ready to make the journey back to Ffarqhuar. It was cold with little light, so Percy was glad to have his friend along with him.

"Get a move on, we don't have all night!" The dock manager yelled. "We're all stuck here waiting for this train to move, and no one wants to be frozen in!" Percy frowned as he looked across at all the shivering, unhappy faces around him: none of the men seemed particularly happy about having to stay late on such a cold night, but Percy thought that they could at least find a little bit of happiness. It was the holiday season, after all, and though there was only a bit of lighting and tinsel around the main building, the green and red engine (Christmas colours, as his crew always joked) thought that the men could find something happy in that.

"I'm moving, I'm moving!" Thomas huffed as he was switched across the lines and reversed down onto his train. Percy, who was already coupled on the next track, could not help but notice that his friend seemed a less happy than he had been when he had left. Thomas remained quiet as he was coupled to his train, and did not say a word as the guard's whistle blew and he moved off first. Percy watched him go, wondering if something had gone wrong, and vowed to find out what it was.

Percy did not catch up with Thomas though until they both stopped at Dryaw Station, the airfield long having gone quiet for the night and feeling eerie with the blanket of snow sitting silently around them. Thomas was taking on water, and Percy's crew decided to stop as well to make sure the line ahead was clear as well. It took a simple glance to see Thomas was still lost in thought, and Percy's worry grew.

"Thomas?" He asked timidly.

"Hmmm?" Thomas asked, glancing over as if he had only just noticed his friend had pulled up alongside.

"Is something wrong?" Percy asked. "It's just… it's just that… you seem a bit… unhappy…" Percy was not sure how to word things, and Thomas' blank expression only made him worried more. "You seemed happy before you left, and then you did go, and now your back, and its just…" Thomas sighed, and Percy fell silent, wondering what his friend was about to say.

"Do you know what the other engines think of us?" He asked. Percy had not expected this and fell silent in shock, and Thomas carried on. "They all think we're silly, immature little engines, even though I am older than all of them! Henry just mocked me about all of the accidents we've had on our line, and –"

"Henry?! Why would he say that?" Percy asked in shock, but fell silent when he realised he had interrupted.

"– and he basically called us stupid!" Thomas finished. "I am not in a mood to discuss it, but I cannot believe that they still think we are dumb little engines!"

"Thomas, you shouldn't let it get to you, he was just –"

"You've done plenty of idiotic things over the years!" Thomas snapped, and Percy gasped. "Playing that joke on me, always saying dumb things, getting words mixed up and asking hundreds of questions! You're probably the reason why Henry and the others are saying those things!" Percy was stunned, and he stared sadly down at his snow covered buffers, shocked and hurt by what his friend had said. Out of the corner of his eye, Percy watched as the hosepipe was moved away, and half a minute later Thomas let sounded his whistle. He reversed, points switched, and he set off again without another word. Percy watched him as his train disappeared up the line and into the dark snow, unable to comprehend what Thomas had just said, feeling his Christmas spirit rapidly fade away…

I thought we were friends…

Shocked over Thomas' outburst? Is he really blaming Percy, or is there something else going on? And how exactly will these plots all come together... Wait and see!