Chapter Seven: On the Road
Only a few minutes had passed since Percy had disappeared after Thomas, and the yard had fallen silent once more. The shunters, station staff and other yard workers lingered by the station, unsure if they should stay or leave as there were still two engines on the line and there may be needed should there is an accident. It was getting late though, with more snow piling up around their cars and the temperature dropping as the night ticked by. It was eerily quiet standing in the station doorway, watching the snow fall past the flickering lights, not a single thing disturbing the peace.
"I think at least half of us should go, we are not all needed now," the station master said after a few minutes of silence, voicing a thought many of his staff had had. "We will only need one person to shut up the station, and maybe about two workers to – hang on, what's that noise?" He paused and turned around, and the others all stepped out, listening for the same sound: it was something screeching constantly, occasionally joined by loud bangs. It was like a knife slicing through the peace and quiet, but it did not take long to work out who it was when they saw two yellow eyes racing for them.
Elizabeth was at the very end of her temper, and she was not letting anything else stop her. She had roared down the empty road, sending the rare other car they passed skidding to a halt on the side of the road to avoid a collision. The trailer containing Mike was swinging wildly, crashing into street poles, lamp posts and trees, threatening to cause the little engine even more damage. Her driver struggled to control her, and Elizabeth would put it down to the ice should he complain, even though he would hardly believe her.
Who cares anyway! The lorry thought angrily as she tore around the last bend and roared into the yard, having sped through the nearby village in less than two minutes. I am already running late, that is all they are going to complain about really! No one will care how safely or dangerously I drove, or how many near misses I had travelling at this god awful time of night in this bloody weather! All my manager will think about is the fact I was late…
Elizabeth came to a sudden stop, though she skidded several metres through the snow and skidded around, Mike's trailer wildly smashing into a concrete pole that left a nasty dent. Workers quickly rushed towards them, and Elizabeth seethed angrily in their direction, for some reason blaming them, and indeed they appeared to not be bringing any supplies with them.
"Christ Elizabeth!" Her driver exclaimed as he got out of the cab, angrily slamming the door as he did so. "You could have nearly killed us with those speeds!"
"Exactly!" Mike echoed from behind. "My trailer is already loose, you could have sent me flying with all those things I crashed into!"
Good, Elizabeth thought bitterly. "I am sorry, it is really the ice and the snow, it can be difficult to grip onto the road!" She tried her best to look innocent, and after a moment her driver merely grunted and went to check on the connection to the trailer. Elizabeth smirked to herself and watched as the workers approached, several skidding on the ice as they approached her.
"What was the delay, we were expecting you at least an hour ago!" The station master exclaimed as they huddled around Elizabeth.
"Duck was delayed and then we came across a snow drift," the driver cried out as he set about properly securing the loose flatbed. "Sorry about the delay though! I will help you load the supplies in a moment." Elizabeth looked around, wondering where her next load to pick up was, getting more and more impatient by the second. There were no signs of any trucks nearby, or any engines, and she stared accusingly at the workers around her. They were exchanging shifty looks with each other, and it did not take long for Elizabeth to work things out.
"There's nothing here, is there?" She snapped furiously, and the station master sheepishly nodded. Elizabeth let out an angry shriek that echoed in the quiet yard, and she wanted to do nothing more but ram into the sheds in the corner of the yard and demand the engines deliver her train.
"The ship bringing the load was delayed, so Thomas and Percy only arrived back a few minutes ago," the station master explained to Elizabeth's driver as he came forwards. "Thomas was in a bad mood and had to take some trucks to the extension, and he accidentally took the one with your delivery as we could not get to him to uncouple it. Percy has gone after it, so the train should be back soon."
"Not soon enough!" Elizabeth hissed, but her driver raised a hand to silence her.
"We can wait a few more minutes I guess," he said, and Elizabeth glared at him, completely dissatisfied with this result. However, no one seemed to care for her opinion, and half of the workers left in order to go home, leaving only a few station staff and the men needed to unload the truck.
"Looks like you'll just have to pick up the pace when we get back on the road!" Mike said with a smirk from the flatbed, and Elizabeth made a note to bump him when they were moving once more. She stared down towards the newly built extension, waiting for Percy or Thomas to reappear, but she knew that if they were even close, she would be able to see the smoke or hear them from a mile away in quiet like this.
"They've probably crashed," Mike said. "These big engines always seem to do that."
"True enough," Elizabeth mumbled, angrily glaring at the lines ahead. She could feel the time ticking on, and knew that the more she waited, the later she would end up being. Elizabeth did not want to stay out in this foul weather for longer than necessary, and she was already getting cold as she sat idly doing nothing. Her driver was leaning against her cab waiting for the train as well, and Elizabeth knew there was more they could do.
"Let's go and find Thomas and Percy," the lorry said determinedly. Her driver wheeled around and stared curiously at her, as if he had suddenly realised she could talk, but Elizabeth was unfazed. "They have probably ended up crashing into something out there! There aren't any lights on that line, I have driven past it plenty of times, so who knows what they could have hit! And we'll be stuck here for hours waiting for them, freezing over in this dingy little yard with no one to help until morning, all while people all across the Island are waiting for us and the engines." Her driver looked uncertain, but he glanced at his watch and frowned.
"I doubt that it should have taken this long for Percy to catch up and swap over, and there is no sign of them anywhere," he said. "I will check with the stationmaster the times, he may be thinking the same thing." Her driver rushed away, and Elizabeth smiled triumphantly, pleased with her cunning and the fact her ordeal could soon be over.
"What are we doing?" Mike asked nervously from his flatbed. "Are we going after Thomas and Percy?"
"Hopefully."
"But I thought you said there was no lighting that way… and its getting very dark…"
"Scared, are we?" Elizabeth asked, amused.
"No! It's just… it's just that it's very snowy and icy now… what if you can't see the next snow drift?" Mike replied, trying his best to disguise the fact he was scared: he did not trust Elizabeth, not after her angry speeding through the village that had nearly killed them all. Driving onto a darker road in this weather seemed ludicrous, but Elizabeth and her driver were clouded by their desires to be done with this job.
"It'll be fine, just be quiet!" Elizabeth snapped as her driver rushed back over, stumbling slightly in the snow but still moving quickly. "I thought you wanted to be rid of me anyway, or have I started to grow on you?" She laughed as her driver appeared before her, looking both nervous and excited.
"We have been given permission to follow the lines and find out what the situation is with Thomas and Percy," he explained. "The stationmaster thinks it is suspicious that there is no sign of them yet when Percy should have caught up, so we are allowed to go ahead and hopefully we will find them before they arrive back here."
That would be irritating, Elizabeth thought, but did not let it cloud her happiness: her job could soon be over, and within an hour or so she could be back to her yard and finally get the rest she had been waiting for. Her driver got in and started her up, and within a few seconds she was in reverse and turning around, ready to set out once more, hopefully for the last time that night.
"Please be careful," Mike whispered, too afraid to say it any louder, and he doubted Elizabeth heard him as she quickly roared out of the car park and back onto the main road. The flatbed was more secure now, which did a little to reassure Mike, but he could still see the giant wall of snow that Elizabeth had slammed into, and remembered how it had come out of nowhere. The little engine could just see it happening again, and Mike began to doubt if he would ever see his friends again…
Crovan's Gate was as quiet as the rest of the Island. No engines had been seen for some time, not since James had sailed through with his goods train. The Skarloey Railway had shut down operations for the evening, all the little engines tucked away from the snow and trying to get some rest after a long day of work. More engines were expected through on the Main Line, but for now, everything was still and undisturbed.
The Works was the only place still open. They were waiting for Elizabeth to arrive with Mike, though they were uncertain as to why she was late by so much. Two workers, Geoff and Steve, stood in the open doorway, artificial light shining across the frosted over yard for some distance before the darkness took over once more. The two men were keeping warm with polystyrene cups of coffee as they waited for their last delivery to arrive.
"What is taking so long?" Geoff, the more impatient of the two, mumbled irritably. "That darn lorry was due here an hour ago!"
"It's the weather, we cannot blame anyone else for that," Steve replied. He looked up at the falling snow, following it as it fell onto the spot they had cleared for Elizabeth to park. "There was probably a snow drift or something that held her up. And all the engines are being delayed as well, remember!" Geoff grunted and sipped at his coffee, glaring at the clouds as he knew it was their fault. Steve hated having to deal with him when he was in a mood like this, and tried to think of some other topic. "Got any plans for Christmas?"
"Lunch at my sisters, have to get presents for all five of her brats," Geoff replied angrily, and Steve wished he had never said anything. A slamming door echoed out through the night, and Steve looked over to the station in the distance, a flicker of orange light coming from a cigarette being lit.
"That'll be Dave," Steve said, trying to say something to break the ice. Dave was the stationmaster at Crovan's Gate and a good friend to everyone at the Works as he assisted with the clearing of sidings for incoming trains. Steve wondered what he was still doing here, but was distracted by Geoff suddenly moving past him towards the station.
"Where do you think your going?"
"I'm going to ask where our bloody lorry is!" Geoff shouted back, and he marched off through the snow. Steve knew neither of them should be disappearing from Work, even though the only reason any of them were still here was to wait for Mike to be delivered. He glanced back to make sure no one was watching, and then moved forwards to stare down the car park in case Elizabeth was here, and then took off after Geoff.
"Hold up!" He cried. Angry idiot! Steve thought bitterly, resisting the urge to shout this out. It was dangerous running across such frozen ground, and Steve nearly fell over twice, having to balance himself on a parked car both times to prevent a face plant. However, he did not want Geoff to do anything stupid when he was worked up like this, and knew it was the right thing to snap some sense into him.
Steve failed to catch up though until Geoff had rushed towards the station, and he breathlessly stumbled up the ramp after his co-worker as he approached Dave. The station master was startled to see them there, and in fact nearly dropped his cigarette in surprise.
"Hello, what are you two doing here?" He said with wide eyes, and only then did Geoff pause and turn to see his friend, which was probably the only thing that made him stop and think.
"Hey Dave," Steve said, trying to control his breathing. "Geoff and I were just wondering if you knew what was up with all these delays. We were supposed to see Elizabeth with Mike an hour or two ago."
"Sorry about that boys," Dave replied, dropping his cigarette to the ground and crushing it with his heel."Some shunter didn't do his job right with a train that ended up delaying Elizabeth, I believe. I have no idea where she is though, but I know that that delay has had a lot of effects for the Main Line. Henry was meant to have come through already, same with Gordon, Edward and that visitor, but they are all being delayed, some of them we don't know where they are, communications are down! And then –"
"I don't care about any of that!" Geoff snapped, surprising Dave. "I am not waiting another bloody hour for this lorry to arrive! I have better things to do then work overtime for a late lorry!" He angrily turned and stormed past Steve, leaving a stunned Dave behind, his foot frozen in its crushing of the cigarette.
"What is his problem?" The stationmaster asked as a phone began to ring through from within the station.
"I'll go find out," Steve said, and Dave nodded before rushing back in to answer it. Steve groaned, having barely got his breath back, and he sprinted off after Geoff, who was already far ahead, moving across the tracks. They could both be killed if a train came in here, and Steve was tempted to leave Geoff to his outburst, as he got them from time to time when they were held up with nothing else to do, but he knew it was not safe.
"Geoff, come back!" Steve shouted, and sighed as he watched Geoff angrily kick a lever to the side of the rails that controlled a set of points. "Be careful, you could hurt yourself!" A loud groan followed this, and Steve hurried irritably forwards as Geoff began to hop on one leg, clutching his injured foot.
"This thing is so hard!" He moaned as he saw his friend approaching.
"Funny that," Steve said with a sigh as he hooked an arm around Geoff and turned him back towards the Works. "Come on, let's get inside and put some ice on that. And if Elizabeth has not shown up soon and we don't hear anything from her driver, I am sure the boss will let us go." Geoff merely moaned at his injured foot, and as Steve helped him back, thinking irritably about how stupid and rash his friend could be, hoping he would learn to control his anger one day, he could not help but wonder when their long day and this troublesome weather would finally come to an end.
In his thoughts, Steve failed to pay proper attention to the lever. He did not notice that it had shifted position, and therefore had made the tracks move slightly. If he had noticed this, than he would have noticed the points were no longer aligned properly with either track, simply resting in the middle and pointing towards nothing…