Chapter Eleven: Morning Frost

It was early next morning when Percy and Thomas headed down the branch line.

Percy had rested very briefly while waiting for a replacement crew to arrive with the firelighter, and as the sun had begun to rise the saddle tank took a crane and some workers out and rescued Thomas from his snowy field, where he stood out like some oddly placed statue. Thomas' buffers had been bent slightly when his snowplough came loose and his front axle had been broke when he rolled over it, so he was lifted onto a flatbed and Percy was taking him to Knapford where BoCo would collect him and continue on to the works.

The weather was perfect that morning, and Percy managed a smile as he rolled down the line with Thomas on his flatbed coupled behind. A lot of snow had built up overnight, but workers had been out early clearing the worst away, and Percy's snowplough pushed through the rest. The white flakes shined brilliantly in the winter sun, and it made for a beautiful, peaceful journey.

"Aren't you tired?" Thomas asked as they sailed through an empty Dryaw. It was the first time he had spoken to Percy since their hateful argument the night before, and Thomas was unsure just what his friend may say to him, and waited anxiously for some kind of response.

"Of course I am, but I was not going to let anyone else take you," Percy said with a weary smile as the two rattled down the line. He was trying to sound care free, but there was still some tension between the two, and awkwardly covering it up would do nothing to aide their friendship.

"I am sorry for everything I said yesterday," Thomas said after a few more moments of silence. "When I was waiting for the workers, Henry mocked me for always having silly accidents, and I got upset and took it out on you instead of ignoring him like I should have. So…, I am really sorry… if I had not gotten angry, I probably would have paid better attention to the railway and seen where it ended, and none of this would have ever happened! Now Henry will have another accident to mock me about!"

"Don't worry about him, that's what caused all of this in the first place," Percy said, and Thomas had to agree, pleased that the two were starting to talk normally again.

"Why did you bother coming to rescue last night?" The blue engine asked. "I was so rude and horrible to you –"

"We both were," Percy reminded him. "While I was cross with you, I was not about to let you freeze under all that snow overnight! We are still friends, no matter what little arguments we have, so I will always be there for you like you'll always be there for me." Thomas was beginning to feel better about all of it, and he wore a smile as wide as the empty white fields as they carried on with their brief journey.

Percy soon reached Knapford Station, finding the platforms empty with BoCo waiting on the Main Line with a small train of trucks behind him. All was quiet around here, as an accident had cancelled all trains going past Crovan's Gate, dramatically limiting the amount of engines on the line and passengers travelling.

"Morning you two," BoCo said as they approached. "Hope you are both feeling well despite the night you had."

"I am going back to the sheds right after this and sleeping until Christmas, so I'll manage," Percy replied, and all three laughed. The saddle tank shunted Thomas onto the Main Line, where BoCo reversed so he could be coupled onto the train. Percy and Thomas were now parallel to each other, and both managed to smile at the other, a calmness spreading between them.

"I am glad we made up before the holidays," Thomas said, "even though I will probably be at the Works through New Year's."

"I will come and visit, and bring Annie and Clarabel with me!" Percy said with a beam, though he was sad to see his friend leaving for the rest of the holidays. "Merry Christmas, Thomas!"

"Merry Christmas, Percy!" Thomas replied with a grin, and then the guard blew his whistle and BoCo started off. Percy sound his own whistle as Thomas disappeared down the line, and while it was sad to see him go, he was reassured to know that Thomas would have whistled back if he could have.

See you soon, friend, Percy thought, and he set off back to the sheds, ready to have the rest that he deserved and glad that he now had the clear mind to enjoy it.

Thomas and BoCo arrived an hour later at the crash site.

The entire yard had shut down to the normal traffic, and as a result there were workers spread care free across the tracks, which were filled with engines, open trucks, and cranes and flatbed. Rocky had the centre of attention, his deep red paint sticking out from a far, and Thomas watched as he lifted a broken metal coach onto a flatbed, the sun glinting off its surface.

"What happened here?" Thomas asked, stunned, though he got no answer. Fish, wood and broken axles were scattered across two of the lines, workers trying their best to load them into the empty trucks. Henry was sitting in a siding surrounded by workers, while Edward was on the other side of the yard alongside the Narrow Gauge Railway. BoCo slowly made his way through the tracks towards the Works building, the workers hurriedly moving out of the way for them. Thomas noted Arthur was coupled to the flatbeds that the metal coach was being loaded onto, and then he saw several more battered ones either already loaded and waiting beside the tracks.

"Edward, what exactly happened here?" BoCo asked as he pulled alongside his friend, and Thomas could see Skarloey and Rusty had come to watch. Edward looked and felt tired, having been up all night, and had already told his story several times, but BoCo and Thomas were both old friends and the old blue engine did not mind recalling it once more for them.

"That engine being lifted up is Marco, the visiting electric-diesel multiple unit with the tilting function," he explained, and Thomas was stunned as he had been looking forward to meeting this engine, and glanced back at the metal coaches: Marco had been torn apart and battered by the crash, and it was a painful sight to see. Thomas very rarely saw any of the more modern engines that worked on the Mainland these days and had been excited to meet Marco, and to find him being loaded onto flatbeds like some busted truck made the tank engine feel eerie.

"I went to greet him last night and show him the way," Edward continued, "but I had no snowplough so Gordon led us back. We had to move slowly because of the weather and the snow, but Marco got impatient and carried on ahead when we neared Crovan's Gate. At the same time, Henry was coming in with the Flying Kipper, but he had to wait for us to come through to ensure there was no accident. He was diverted into a siding as Marco came in, but our visitor ignored a worker signalling for him to stop. He was going too quickly, and Henry's trucks had not cleared the Main Line, so he slammed into them and rolled off the tracks. It was lucky no one was killed, but his driver and conductor are both seriously injured, and Marco is a write off." Thomas was gobsmacked, and he watched with a strange feeling in his boiler as Rocky's chains were put around the next coach.

"Silly engine brought it upon himself!" Skarloey huffed. "He should have known not to go speeding off on an unfamiliar line, leaving his guides behind, and he should have been paying attention for any signals or warnings!" All of the engines had to agree with the wise little engine, though it felt strange to Thomas to blame the engine for the crash, but then remembered his own state of mind before his crash.

"I heard Gordon had an accident as well," BoCo said, and, to Thomas' surprise, Edward laughed.

"It was more like a mishap," he said, smirking. "A workman switched the points on all the lines so that Gordon would not crash into Marco or the rest of the Kipper. It was a wise move and would have worked, if only another set of points had not been halfway between tracks. Gordon rolled off the line and skidded through the car park, and then smashed into the car belonging to – get this – the worker who had angrily kicked the lever and caused it to becoming misplaced!" Thomas, BoCo, Skarloey and Rusty joined in the laughter, and they could see Gordon sitting in a siding next to the Works, with Elizabeth and Mike only a few metres away from him. Thomas was grateful to see the lorry and smiled across at her, getting a toot of her horn in response, though he then noticed a familiar blue car parked next to her.

"Is The Fat Controller here?" He asked.

"He is indeed! He is going to address everyone once Henry is able to get out of the sidings," Edward replied. Thomas was intrigued, and he glanced around, trying to find his owner and manager, wondering exactly what would be said, but mostly, the tank engine was longing to get to the Works and get some rest. It had been a long cold night, and Thomas was ready to leave it in the past and move on.

"Thomas looks a lot better today," Mike said.

"That's because he isn't buried in snow," Elizabeth replied in her usual snaky tone, but Mike laughed instead of getting offended, and the lorry managed a wide smile as well. Both of them were still tired from their long night, having gotten very little sleep, but at least they had survived in one piece. Arriving at the crash site a short time ago had been a big wake up call, and both Elizabeth and Mike had fallen into stunned silence as they moved into their designated spot, which, as they had quickly learnt, had been the place Gordon had driven through after derailing the previous night.

If I had shown up on time, I probably would have been crushed, Elizabeth thought to herself as she looked at the mighty blue engine. The car Gordon had crashed into remained at the side of the car park, no one bothering to take it away, and the Express Engine had definitely left his mark on it. I probably would be bits of shattered wood resting on tyres, the lorry considered with a shudder. Maybe it was a good thing that Duck was late in the end…

"You've fallen awfully silent, for once," Mike teased.

"Watch it, I can still push you into the sea if I wanted to," Elizabeth snapped jokingly, and the little red engine could easily tell. The relationship between the two was thawing, as if the sun had cast a strong light upon them both and melted away whatever ice had been in their systems. Neither of them would say they were becoming friends, but their experiences over the past day had been enough to bring them close together.

"You said something last night, after you suggested we rescue Thomas," Elizabeth said as she watched Rocky lift the empty body of the tilting engine onto another flatbed. "Something about how it was sad to think of friends not spending the holidays together? What was that about?" Mike sighed, annoyed that he had been caught out, but he could not see any point in hiding it any longer.

"It is just that I have never been away from Rex and Bert over the holidays," the small engine replied sadly, though keeping his voice down so the others would not hear. "Even when our old railway closed, we were always together during Christmas and that. I was not worried when I had my accident as I thought I would just be at the little workshop on our line and be able to see them everyday. I did not think for a second I would be taken half away across the Island through places I have never seen and be left along in such a giant building!" Elizabeth glanced at the Works to her left, and even she could tell how huge it was, let along how big it would be to such a small engine.

Maybe I would feel the same way if I was taken away from everyone I knew over the holidays, the lorry thought¸ if I bothered with friends, that is… Suddenly, Elizabeth felt sorry for Mike, an engine she had despised only a few hours ago, and she wished there was something she could have done to make things easier for him rather than sending him on such a wild ride.

"I guess it must be weird leaving the rails behind and going cross country through unfamiliar land," Elizabeth said, and Mike chuckled.

"Especially when your driver is trying to send you flying into the snow!" He added, and Elizabeth managed to laugh as well. "I think it's my turn to ask a question now! Why were you so caught up with trying to finish your delivery last night? You could have damaged both of us at multiple points throughout our little trip." It was Elizabeth's turn to pause and reflect now, knowing it was only right that she shared as Mike had, and she tried to think of how best to word her thoughts.

"I wanted to prove myself last night," the lorry said after a few moments of silence. "I am not very popular, as you may have heard or noticed, as very few engines or people can deal with my personality. My company always dumps me with the night shifts so I am out of the way, even though they are dangerous during the winter, just because I seem to bother a few people every so often. I wanted to get this job done quickly last night so that it would remind them the sort of dedicated worker I am, though that didn't seem to work…" Elizabeth fell silent, suddenly annoyed at herself for failing in her goal. Mike could understand where she was coming from, having clashed with the Small Controller and his fellow engines countless times.

"You definitely proved yourself last night Elizabeth, so if you ask me, I think you're a pretty good lorry," he said with a warm smile, and Elizabeth let a sly grin cross her face as she glanced back at him, slowly starting to chuckle to cover up her embarrassment at his compliment.

"Oh Mike, if you keep those compliments up, I think you and I are going to be very good friends," she said, and the two of them laughed in their own little way as their partnership began to blossom.

As the two laugh, the rest of the crash site fell quiet, and everyone's attention turned towards the middle of the yard. The Fat Controller was standing on one of the middle platforms and had signalled for silence, bringing the clean up to a stop. The tracks had been cleared to allow Henry to move, the green engine's eyes as red as his stripes, and he rolled slowly and quietly across the tracks and towards the other engines, the last of the Flying Kipper rattling behind him as sad remnants of a once proud train.

"I would just like to thank everyone that has been involved in the rescue operation and clean up over the past few hours, many of you having stayed here overnight or coming in during the early hours of the morning to start clearing this dreadful wreckage away." The suited man began to clap, and all the workmen began to applaud with him, while the steam engines, the diesels and Elizabeth sounded their whistles and horns in jubilation. "You have all done tremendously, and I am very proud of you all! It is terrible that Marco here had this accident, that the terrible storm last night had such terrible consequences, but we will all do our best to ensure that something like this never happens again!" There was more applause, but this time Edward and Gordon did not whistle. The two tender engines exchanged grim looks across the yard, knowing that the storm was hardly the main cause of the crash: if Marco had not sped off, he would have not raced into Crovan's Gate and come across Henry's train. The green engine did not whistle either, having seen Marco speeding blindly through the yard without a care for the world around them.

After all that hard work to try and be on time, my train was destroyed in only a few seconds, Henry thought drearily. Maybe those bloody fish are cursed… or maybe the Electric Lady had a point…

"Now, all of you keep up the good work, and let's try and get this place tidied up so we could all go home and get ready for a very Merry Christmas!" The Fat Controller boomed, and he laughed with all the workers as they dispersed to finish up. Henry rolled further forwards so he came up alongside BoCo and Thomas, all the engines watching as the Fat Controller moved through the crowds, shaking workers hands and commending them on their hard work.

"Hello there!" He said to his engines as he approached them all. "Thomas, I was terribly sorry to hear you about your accident, especially as you had to spend all night stuck in the snow! Hopefully we can have that axle fixed and get you back into service in no time!"

"Thank you sir," Thomas replied, beaming at his controller.

"I have also received word that your crew are recovering splendidly, and they should be home in time for Christmas dinner!" Thomas continued to smile at this and the Fat Controller nodded at him before looking around at Edward, Henry and Gordon, his smile faltering as he looked at the engines that came so close to being harmed by Marco's foolishness. Edward could not stop thinking about the horrible noises he had heard as he had raced after Gordon and Marco, and the sight of the crude visitor's damaged body was hard to look at, nor the fear that had filled him when he thought he could have lost Gordon and Henry…

"When I received a call about the number of delays occurring last night," the Fat Controller began, "I had no idea it would possibly end this way! However, I am still pleased to here how hard you all worked last night before this terrible accident. Henry, you took the delays in your stride and moved brilliantly, and your whistle at the last moment most likely saved the life of your guard, who jumped out the back of the van and onto the snow before Marco hit. Edward and Gordon, you did the right thing by trying to stop Marco getting too far away from you, and I am pleased to hear Gordon that you did not let your own accident interfere with the rescue operation. Brilliant job all round!" Sir Topham Hatt smiled at them all and went to move off as the Thin Controller had emerged from Crovan's Gate and was waving towards his standard gauge counterpart. But as he walked off, Gordon, Edward and Henry exchanged looks; the three had been on the same railway for a long time now and knew each other quite well, and it was clear that they were all sharing similar thoughts about the accident they had all witnessed.

"Sir," Gordon cried out, unable to contain himself any longer. The Fat Controller turned towards him, eyebrows raised, and the big blue engine struggled to find the exact words despite the thoughts having never left his mind. "Sir… have you ever considered replacing us steam engines? It's just… there are a lot more modern engines out there, and Marco was brought here as a demonstration… we have to wonder." The Fat Controller looked taken aback, but when he glanced around, he saw dismal looks plastered on Edward and Henry's face, the two tender engines glad to have their views voiced. The stout man managed to smile, and within a few seconds he was chuckling.

"My dear engine, of course not!" He boomed, struggling to contain his amusement. "Why would I replace such time-tested engines who know my railway like the back of their buffers, who are well known and well loved, and who can always come together in a crisis… I can't even remember my point anymore!" The Fat Controller stopped laughing and smiled at them all. "If there is one thing that poor Marco or Thomas' crash has taught us, it is that the steam engines of Sodor are able to weather any storm that is thrown their way and come out the other side, and that is without any fancy features or additions. Pip and Emma serve their purpose well, but I do not need any more high speed engines or multiple units: steam engines are the best engines for Sodor, and that will never change! Oh, and diesels, of course," he added, winking at BoCo and Rusty, and they all laughed. Any tension left in the air shattered, and Edward and Gordon exchanged broad smiles with one another, quickly reassured about their worries. Henry was relieved, having thought constantly about the Electric Lady's words during his time trapped in the siding. As he brightened up, the green engine smiled at Thomas, but quickly remembered the last words he had said to him.

"I am sorry for insulting you back at Knapford," Henry whispered to Thomas so only the blue engine could hear. The tank engine glanced down at his old friend and smiled back.

"It's alright Henry. There are more important things to life than getting caught up over things like that," he replied, and gave Henry a wink. "Besides, it is nearly Christmas after all, a time for forgiving and moving on!" Henry had to agree, and he watched as Arthur began to push Rocky out of the way, the crane having completed his duties for the time being. BoCo was going to take Marco across the bridge where another diesel would pick the ruined engine up, and the ruined engine would leave Sodor less than a day after arriving.

Maybe it was Marco's fault, or the snow's… or maybe this Island just isn't the place for engines like that… these museum pieces aren't done yet. Henry smiled grimly at the thought and watched as Marco was moved away, the sun bouncing off the surface. The rescue operation and clean up was beginning to wrap up, all signs of the engines ordeals slowly being cleared away. The wounds would linger for a while, from Thomas' obvious damage to the thoughts that the tender engines were now trying to squash down, but for the time being, everyone involved in the terrible storm looked forward to the promises of a brighter Christmas and New Year's for them all, hoping it would all stay in the past….

This is the end of the main part of the story, though there is still one part of our tale that has not quite been wrapped up yet ;) The ending here though is meant to be a bit vague, but, as they used to say, that is a story for another time, but I would love to hear what you have to think about the conclusion to trials of our engines and lorry