It was early morning when Mr. Roberts walked into Audrey's room and drew open her curtains to let the natural light of the sunrise fill the room through a bay window. Underneath that window on the window sill was Audrey's small but comfortable bed. Audrey loved her bed, and from the way she scrunched up her face and turned away from the light, it was clear she didn't want to get out of it quite yet.

"Rise and shine, Audrey," her father said with a smile. "It's time to get ready for your first day of school."

Audrey mumbled from under her blankets. She longed for the darkness of night with the bright, silver moon as her nightlight and for the chugging and whistling of the engines working late to lull her back to sleep.

"This is your new schedule now. You'll have to get used to it," Roberts pulled the blankets off, Audrey's eyes shooting open as its soothing warmth vanished. "Come on! You'll feel more awake once you have breakfast."

Audrey slowly sat up and draped her legs over the side of her bed, stretching her arms and yawning. Despite her tiredness, she couldn't deny the excitement she was feeling. That and a bit of nervousness too. She followed her father to the table where a special breakfast was waiting.

"Seeing as today is a special day, I went all out with breakfast!" Roberts smiled proudly. "We've got eggs and sausages, black pudding, fried tomatoes and mushrooms, and beans and toast!"

Audrey immediately hopped into her seat. "Fizzling fireboxes! Let's eat!"

Roberts looked expectantly at her. Audrey looked confused. "What is it?"

"You know, I worked really hard on this breakfast," Roberts replied. "Woke up early and put a lot of time and love into it…"

It took a moment for Audrey to process what her dad was implying. "Oh! Thank you, Daddy!"

Roberts gave her a smile. "You're welcome, dear. Dig in!"

After a very filling breakfast, Audrey brushed her teeth and was given her new school uniform to put on. It consisted of a navy blue jacket with a white button-up and yellow tie underneath. There was also her skirt the same color as her jacket, knee-high socks, and her black Mary Janes. Mr. Roberts looked at Audrey proudly. "You look all grown up now."

"Do I really?" Audrey smiled.

"Even more so once we get your hair done," Roberts replied. He was grateful that Mr. Atkinson's wife had taught him how to style his daughter's hair. He sat her down in a chair and ran a hairbrush through her blonde strands.

"Will there be a lot of other children there?" Audrey asked. "Will they be nice?"

"Yes," replied Roberts, "there will be plenty of children for you to make friends with. Hopefully they're nice. If you're nice to them, they'll most likely be nice to you too. And remember what we talked about playing gently with other kids."

"I remember."

"What may be gentle for you may not be the same to others."

"I know."

"So you have to remember to control yourself when you get excited."

"I will."

Roberts continued to style her hair. "Do engines go to school?" Audrey asked.

"No, they don't," Roberts replied. "Their crew and other engines teach them what to do."

"Did you teach Percy?" Audrey asked.

"Not when he was a new engine," he replied again. "That was his old driver and fireman's job. And Edward taught him how to do work like shunting."

"Oh…" Audrey said. "Where are his old driver and fireman now?"

"They retired," said Roberts.

"What's that mean?"

"It means they don't have to work anymore."

"Will you retire someday?"

"I hope so."

"And will I get to do the same job you do?"

"If you want to."

"Yay!" Audrey smiled.

Roberts chuckled. He looked over Audrey's hair which was now a flipped bob. "Perfect."

"Do I look even more grown up?" Audrey asked.

"You sure do, love," Roberts kissed the top of her head. "Go grab your bag so we can be on our way."

Audrey rushed to her room and grabbed a leather satchel. "Ready!"

The Roberts's headed out the door and made their way to the bus station. Summer was just about to end, and the weather was already showing signs of change. It wasn't as warm as it was a month ago, but it wasn't chilly enough to wear a jacket. The sun still shined brightly.

The bus stop was about a block away, just a little walk there. They arrived with a few minutes to spare, and soon a friendly-sounding horn signaled the arrival of the bus. Like the engines of Sodor, this one sported a grey face on the front between his headlights.

"Look, Daddy!" Audrey smiled. "It's Bertie! He's the bus Thomas races!"

"The one and only!" Bertie let out a laugh. "And who are you?"

"I'm Audrey."

"A pleasure to meet you, young lady! Well, all aboard!"

Audrey and her father took a seat aboard Bertie. Once he began traveling down the road, Audrey gazed out the window as her mind wandered to what her first day of school would be like. As she recalled the smiling face of her teacher and the classroom full of desks she was introduced to earlier that summer, she felt the little bumps of the road that shook her a bit. Railroads weren't as bumpy, she thought. She liked Bertie, but Audrey would have preferred having one of the engines take her instead, specifically Percy.

"Are you feeling nervous?" Roberts asked.

"A little…" Audrey replied, still looking out the window.

"I'm sure everything will be just fine," her father smiled, patting her shoulder.

Bertie stopped near the school building and dropped off his passengers at the bus stop. When Audrey got off, she faced the red bus. "You're a really useful bus, Bertie!"

Bertie was rather surprised at the sudden complement, smiling bashfully with rosy cheeks. "Oh, well, thank you, Audrey! Just doing my job!"

Audrey looked over at the school building where she would be staying the day at. Her stomach felt a little tight, but a familiar sight made her nerves disappear in an instant. "Percy!"

Audrey ran over to the little green engine who was resting in a siding nearby. He looked over in the direction of the voice and grinned when he saw the little girl run over. Not even being the same height as his buffers, Audrey climbed the steps that led to his cab only to run along his running plate to meet him face-to-face. She lovingly hugged his cheek, and Percy returned the favor with a sweet, little kiss on her cheek. "Good morning, Audrey! Ready for your first day of school?"

"Uh huh!" Audrey nodded. "Everything will be just fine!"

Mr. Roberts caught up to them panting, trying to catch his breath. "D-Don't run away from me like that, okay, sweetheart? Oof, I must be more out of shape than I thought…"

"Okay, Daddy," Audrey replied.

Mr. Roberts picked her up and set her back down on the school's front lawn. "Now, you do understand that I have to go to work soon, right? I won't be with you while you're in school."

"Mhm…" Audrey nodded.

"But I promise I'll be back in time to pick you up and take you home."

"Percy Promise?" Audrey asked, earning a little chuckle from the mentioned engine.

Roberts smiled warmly and kissed her cheek. "Percy Promise." He handed her a sacked lunch. "Make sure you listen to your teacher and do everything she says."

"I will," Audrey said.

The school bell rang to announce the start of the day. Audrey saw who had to be her new fellow classmates say goodbye to their parents and enter the little school building. Roberts patted her head affectionately. "I've got to go, love. You'll have a great day, I know it. Just remember what I told you."

Audrey nodded once more, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him as tightly as she could… without causing her father any discomfort, of course. She then looked up at Percy and gave him a little wave, puffing out her cheeks and giving two short, shrill steam whistles at him. A few children turned their heads and saw Percy whistle back to Audrey with a smile. A few children greeted Percy before heading inside. Audrey saw her teacher Mrs. Bailey standing near the door with a sweet smile on her face. She looked back to her father and saw him nod. Tentatively, she turned her back to them and slowly made her way to the door.

"R-Remember to bring home anything Mrs. Bailey gives you!" Mr. Roberts called out as Audrey walked away. "And try to keep yourself tidy! And don't forget to be gentle with everybody!!"

"We'll be just fine, Mr. Roberts! You have nothing to worry about!" Mrs. Bailey called back, waving politely at the man. She then focused her attention on Audrey. "You're going to have a wonderful first day, sweetie! I can't wait for all the fun we'll have together!" She held out her hand for Audrey to take. Feeling comforted by her teacher's words, Audrey took Mrs. Bailey's hand in her own and followed her into the school building.

Mr. Roberts sighed. "I miss her already…" Jonathan patted his shoulder consolingly.

The first part of the day consisted of the children getting to know each other and their teachers. Names were shared along with one special fact about them. A boy named Andrew said he had a rock collection. A girl named Sally said she was learning ballet. Audrey said her favorite show on the telly was Looney Tunes.

Books were passed out next. There was a book for reading, writing, and arithmetic, the basic foundations of a child's first year of education. "When the year is over," Mrs. Bailey said, "you'll be able to read many words as well as write every letter in the alphabet. You'll even be able to spell words including your names!"

Audrey looked forward to the writing bit. She'd seen her father writing things at the table that she didn't know how to read yet. Other times he'd be sat at his desk using his typewriter or "dingy-thingy" as Audrey called it. She liked the "ding" sound it made before her dad slid the paper back into place.

Playtime came next. Audrey was elated when she found a toy steam engine among the various toys. Grabbing some wooden blocks, she began building a little station for her engine, occasionally pushing it around. Peep peeep! She made it sound, just like she would with her toy engines at home.

All of the children instantly looked over toward the source of the noise. Even Mrs. Bailey stopped to find out what it was. Audrey didn't notice them. She took a break from pushing her engine so she could finish the station. Once it was open for business, Audrey went to grab her engine and pull it up for its first passenger run, but the toy was nowhere in sight.

"Choo choo!" A boy named Paul exclaimed as he pushed the engine that Audrey had been playing with around on his hands and knees.

"Hey!!" Audrey whined loudly, walking over. "I was playing with that!"

"Nuh uh," Paul said. "You were playing with blocks."

"That's my station! I need my engine to pick up passengers!" She went to grab the toy back from Paul, but he pulled it away.

"No!" He exclaimed. "It's my turn to play with the train!"

"It's not a train!" Audrey huffed. "It's a steam engine! Steam engines pull trains."

"But it's a choo choo train!" Paul retorted. "And I'm playing with it!"

"It's my engine!!" Audrey grabbed hold of it and pulled it roughly from Paul's grasp. He began to cry. Mrs. Bailey was already on her way over.

"What's going on over here?" She asked calmly.

"Sh-She t-took my traaaain..!" Paul wailed.

"Steam engine!" Audrey snapped back. "And it was mine first!"

"Alright, you two…" Mrs. Bailey kneeled down to their level. "Audrey, can you tell me what happened?"

"I was building a station for my engine, and he took it from me!" Audrey pointed at Paul.

"Y-You weren't even p-playing with it!" Paul sniffled, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"Yes I was!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Calm down, both of you," Mrs. Bailey said gently. "It seems we had a little misunderstanding of who had the train-"

"Steam engine."

"Uh, steam engine. Maybe there's a way for both of you to play with it together?"

Audrey and Paul faced each other. Audrey honestly didn't want to play with Paul after he took her toy, but then she remembered what her dad had told her amongst the various rules and reminders. She had to play nice and be gentle with other kids. She didn't want to upset him. "Do you want to play Branchline with me?" Audrey asked quietly.

"Okay…" Paul replied just as softly.

Mrs. Bailey smiled proudly. "I'm glad we could work this out! Now you two go play for a bit, then we're going to do some finger painting!"

All the kids got very excited upon hearing that. It lifted up Audrey's and Paul's moods a bit. Audrey led Paul over to the station she built. "What's Branchline?" Paul asked.

"It's where you make a big loop around taking people and trucks and stuff," Audrey explained as eloquently as she could.

"Oh," replied Paul. "How do you play?"

"Umm…" Audrey looked around the room. She spotted a bookshelf ahead. "Those books can be the first station. You go over there, and I'll bring you something with my engine. Then you can give me something to take."

"Okay!" Paul went over to the bookshelf and sat next to it. Audrey put some wooden blocks in the truck the engine was pulling. She gave another two peeps and began to push it along. The kids turned around to look at her again.

"How do you get it to make that noise?" Paul asked.

"It doesn't whistle," Audrey explained, "I do! My brother taught me how."

"Oh!" Paul replied. Once Audrey arrived at where Paul was, she unloaded all the blocks onto the floor next to him. "Mail delivery!" She announced before looking up at him. "My brother delivers the mail too."

"My grandmother sends me letters in the mail," Paul said before grabbing what the engine's next delivery would be. He placed a little toy giraffe in the truck.

Audrey laughed. "A giraffe?!"

"He needs to go to the zoo!" Paul smiled.

"Oo! But… where's the zoo?" Audrey asked. They searched for a place in the room to call their zoo, and both their eyes landed on a big teddy bear that was in the corner. A little girl was sitting next to it combing her doll's hair.

"There!" They both pointed at it simultaneously.

Paul looked at Audrey. "Can I have a turn pushing it?"

Audrey wasn't ready to give up the engine just yet, but she didn't want to upset Paul again. "Okay…"

"Yay!" Paul pushed the engine along, making noises for it as he went. He tried to whistle like Audrey, but he just made an obnoxious shrieking noise. The little girl who was playing by herself by the bear scooted back when she saw the two approaching her. Audrey placed the giraffe next to the giant bear. "There you go, Mr. Giraffe! Home sweet home!"

Paul saw the doll the girl was playing with. "Hey! Maybe that doll can be a passenger!" He looked up at her. "Can your doll ride on our train?"

The girl looked between him and her doll before holding it close to her chest and shaking her head. Paul was disappointed. "Aww…! Why not? It'll be fun!"

Audrey recognized the protective way her classmate held her toy. "It's okay," she said. "She doesn't have to. I don't like sharing my blankie either. We can find something else."

Paul crawled back over and helped her find another object to deliver. The shy girl gave a subtle but appreciative smile. A few minutes later, Mrs. Bailey set out the paints and paper. "Okay, everyone! Time for finger painting!"

Once the toys were put away, all the kids were given white smocks to cover their clothes. Audrey sat next to Paul and immediately went for a tub of bright green paint. She squealed as she dipped her fingers in. "Eeeee! It's cold!"

Paul got a tub of red paint. "I'm going to paint the biggest, scariest, most huge-est dinosaur in the whole entire world! And it's going to have really pointy teeth and… and a pointy tail with more pointy things!"

"I'm going to paint my brother!" Audrey smiled. "Then I can give it to him when I go home."

The room went mostly quiet as the children focused on their colorful creations. Mrs. Bailey went around the room and praised each of them. "What a beautiful flower, Shirley! Ooo, great house, Mark!"

Mrs. Bailey peered over Audrey's shoulder. "Such a lovely caterpillar you have there, Audrey!"

"It's not a caterpillar!" Audrey pouted. "It's my brother Percy!"

"O-Oh!" Mrs. Bailey adjusted the glasses atop her nose. "O-Of course! I can't believe I didn't see it before."

Paul glanced over too. "That doesn't look like a person."

"That's because he's a steam engine, not a person!" Audrey said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Paul began to laugh. "Your brother isn't a steam engine!"

"He is too!" Audrey said back, slightly hurt by Paul's laughter.

"…Ah yes, I remember now.." Mrs. Bailey said. "Your father mentioned that you have a close bond with that little green train- er, steam engine Percy. Isn't that right?"

"Mhm!" Audrey nodded enthusiastically. "My daddy is his driver. I get to ride with him sometimes."

"But only people can be brothers and sisters!" Paul stared up at their teacher along with the other kids. "Right, Mrs. Bailey?"

"Well," Mrs. Bailey began, "I don't believe so. If Audrey feels close enough to Percy to call him a brother, I don't see why he can't be."

Audrey was very happy her teacher agreed with her. She didn't get what Paul was so confused about. Percy was her brother, and that was that. What did people have to do with anything?

As each painting was finished, Mrs. Bailey hung them with a clothespin on a string strung across the room to dry. She helped the children wash their hands and take off their smocks, giggling at the state some of the kids including Audrey were in. "Goodness! It seems some of you decided to do some face painting as well as finger painting today!"

The kids laughed and pointed at each other's messy faces. Audrey didn't even notice that she'd gotten green paint on her cheeks. Hopefully her father wouldn't mind once he saw the painting that she had put every ounce of effort into making.

Afterwards, it was time for outdoor recess. Some went to swing on swings while others went down the slides. Several kids spun on the merry go round as a group played a game with a jump rope. Audrey ran past the hopscotch made of chalk and tried to peek over the wooden fence.

"What are you doing?" Paul asked.

"Seeing if any engines are here," Audrey replied.

Paul didn't seem as interested. "Let's play tag!"

Audrey turned around. "What's that?"

"You have to run around and not let someone touch you. I'll start." He tapped Audrey's shoulder. "You're it!" He then ran away as fast as he could.

Seeming to understand, Audrey ran after him. Paul was sure he'd made good distance, but he suddenly felt a pat on his shoulder. "Gotcha!"

He saw Audrey smiling excitedly at him. "Do I win?"

"No," Paul smiled back, "now I have to catch you!"

Audrey squealed and laughed before quickly darting away. Paul made a beeline toward her, but no matter how hard he pushed himself, he just couldn't catch up. In fact, Audrey kept getting further and further away. After a few minutes of running, Paul put his hands on his knees.

"Y-You're too good…" He panted. "Let's play… something else…"

"Oh, okay," Audrey was rather enjoying running around, but she didn't mind trying another game.

Paul grabbed a black and white ball from a basket. "Football!"

"But we don't have a goal," Audrey said.

Paul spied two trees next to each other across the yard. "If you get the ball between these trees, that's a goal. Okay?"

"Okay!" Audrey ran between them. "I'll be the ball-catcher!"

Paul set the ball down and rather clumsily started kicking it closer and closer to the goal. Audrey bent her knees and held her hands out like she'd seen the football players on the television do. Paul swung his leg back and kicked the ball as hard as he could. It bounced across the grass toward the opening Audrey wasn't guarding. She wasted no time and bolted over, blocking it just as it was about to score a goal.

"Rats!" Paul exclaimed. "Let me try again!"

Audrey let him try again. Multiple times even. But no matter how many times he tried, Paul couldn't get the ball past Audrey. He was getting frustrated. "I want to be the ball-catcher now!"

Audrey happily switched places with him. She recalled the game her father took her to and seeing the players swiftly pass the ball around the field. She imagined herself in their place, a stadium packed full of cheering fans rooting just for her as she sped past the opposing team. Percy and his friends watched on from the sidelines and cheered loudly for her too. Eyebrows furrowed and a confident smirk growing, Audrey raised her leg and kicked the ball to score the winning goal.

The ball flew off the ground, sped like a bolt of lightning through the air, and just as similarly, struck Paul right in the middle of his face.

Audrey gasped as Paul's pained cry snapped her out of her fantasy. Paul was crying again, and it was much worse than before. Mrs. Bailey ran toward the scene along with the other kids. "I-I didn't mean to! I really didn't!" Audrey quickly said.

Mrs. Bailey hurried past her and over to Paul who was on his knees and covering his nose. She gently had him uncover it, and she let out a startled cry. For a split second, Audrey saw red dripping from his nose and covering his hands. Tears began to fill her eyes as she watched Mrs. Bailey lead poor Paul back to the school building. "I'll call your mother and have her come pick you up, okay, dear?" She heard Mrs. Bailey say to him.

All the kids looked over at Audrey who just stood there. She sniffled. "I-I… didn't mean to… hurt him…"

One by one, the children dispersed to continue playing their own games. Audrey didn't feel like playing anymore. She sat on the swings until recess was over.

It was time to go home. It was at least for the rest of the children. Paul's mother came and picked him up early so he could see a doctor for his injured nose. Mrs. Bailey was able to clear up with Audrey that it had all been an accident and nothing more which relieved Audrey since that meant she wasn't in trouble… at least with her teacher.

The kids started to leave, further dwindling the group until only one child remained. Audrey stood outside, wondering just when her father would be there to pick her up and take her home. Today had truly been an exhausting day, and she wanted nothing more to be back at her house. Mrs. Bailey didn't leave her side.

"What if he doesn't want to pick me up because of what happened…" Audrey worried.

"No, that's not it, dear," Mrs. Bailey reassured her. "He doesn't even know what happened. We'll have a little chat with him and explain it, alright? Don't worry."

Audrey couldn't help but worry anyway. She looked down at her painting she made earlier that day. What if she never got to show it to her dad or Percy? Her eyes started to water again.

That's when she heard it. That sound that could make all her worries disappear in an instant. Down the line in the distance, Audrey saw Percy stopping to take on water at the water tower. He wanted to let her know he was nearly there.

Audrey gasped in delight. She couldn't wait a second longer. She rounded the fence that surrounded the school and dashed as quickly as she could to the little green dot, ignoring her teacher's calls to stay put. She ran as quickly as her little legs could carry her, the feeling of air rushing past her exciting her further. This thrill she got just from running was unlike anything she'd felt before, not even when her dad surprised her with trips to the candy shop. It was exhilarating, freeing even! Like being a bird just let out of its cage.

Percy's eyes widened to dinner plates when he saw a little figure rapidly approaching him, staring in disbelief and wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him. "M-Mr. Roberts…?"

"We're almost done, Percy," Mr. Roberts said as he held the connector to the water tower in place.

"I-I really think you should…"

Jonathan leaned out of the cab and shook his head to make sure everything in there was working properly. "Y-You really should..!"

Jonathan's voice was enough to make Roberts look up. In the next few seconds, his brain was able to process two things. One, there was something racing toward them faster than most cars he'd seen accompanied by this feint pitterpatterpitterpatter sound. Second, this speedy thing looked an awful lot like-

"Percy!!" Audrey suddenly leaped forward and was able to land right onto Percy's running plate, colliding right into Percy's face with enough force to knock him back a few feet.

"A-Audrey!!" Percy grunted. Mr. Roberts jolted from the bump, and the connector came loose from Percy's tank. Water splattered onto the track below.

"Audrey?!" Roberts exclaimed incredulously. He saw Audrey cuddling Percy, seemingly having come out of nowhere. He dunked his head under the remaining water spewing out of the water tower.

"Percy, look what I made!" Audrey held up the picture in front of him.

Percy dismissed what he had just seen in order to see the creation being presently proudly in his face. He tried to anyway. "W-Wow! It's beautiful, Audrey! Is that me?"

Audrey nodded. "Uh huh!"

Mr. Roberts climbed down with his hair still soaked and picked up his daughter. He struggled to find the right words or even form any. "You… how… did you…"

"Running's fun!" Audrey beamed. "And there's this game called tag where you run lots and lots!"

"How fun…" Roberts said, sounding rather unfocused at the moment.

Percy looked over at his driver. "Is everything okay, sir?"

Roberts took a deep breath. "I'm fine, Percy, I just-" He paused for a moment. "…Oh, just forget it for now. How was your first day at school, Audrey?"

"I like it!" She replied. "You get your own desk and books and get to play too. We played inside but then we went outside and-" Now Audrey had stopped.

Roberts tilted his head. "Audrey? Is something wrong?"

"…Mrs. Bailey wants to talk to you." She said in a guilty tone.

Roberts' heart pounded in his chest. "A-Alright, sweetheart. Climb in."

Audrey got into Percy's cab, and the three of them traveled down the rail until they were back at the school yard. Mrs. Bailey was standing at the fence watching everything from afar. Her face looked rather pale as she approached them. "Good gracious, Audrey! Please don't run away from me like that again! I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Roberts."

"No need to apologize, ma'am," Roberts stepped off. "I'll make sure to talk to Audrey about it later. I was, uh, told you wanted to see me."

"Yes, Mr. Roberts. We experienced some… trouble during our first day. Could you and Audrey please come inside so we can talk about it?"

"Alright then. Percy, wait out here for us," Roberts said before the three of them went back inside.

Percy sat alone. Well, he wasn't really alone. Jonathan was there too, but he didn't ever say much. Despite that, Percy had too many thoughts building up in his smokebox to keep quiet. "Jonathan, people need engines to get around, right?"

There was a moment of silence. "Yes," came the reply.

"Because people aren't as fast as engines, right?"

"Yes."

"But Audrey was going really fast, wasn't she? Or were my eyes playing tricks again like Gordon always tells me?"

"I saw her too."

"Is there anyone who can run as fast as an engine? At least as fast as a small one like me?"

"Nope."

"Really…" Percy gazed up at the clouds floating past as he thought. "I always thought I was slow. Thomas almost always beats me at races, and I know Gordon is over twice as fast as I can possibly go. But even then, I must seem fast to a person."

"Mhm."

"…Do you think Audrey can run as fast as me?"

Another bout of silence. "…I dunno."

Percy pondered a moment more. "I hope she isn't as fast as me. If she was, she wouldn't need to ride in my cab anymore, and she only just turned old enough to do so."

The two stayed quiet for the remainder of the meeting. They soon heard the door squeak open, Mrs. Bailey holding the door for the Roberts's. "Tomorrow's a new day, Audrey. Chin up! I'm sure it will be a much better one." She said.

Audrey just sniffled while her father gently patted her head. "That's right," he said softly. "We'll work on controlling yourself together, alright?"

Nodding in a much more somber manner than before, Audrey followed her dad back to Percy after saying their goodbyes to Mrs. Bailey. Jonathan looked curiously at his coworker. Roberts just gave him a nod. He nodded respectfully in return.

Percy was quick to notice Audrey's sad expression. "What happened? Is everything okay?"

"Yes, Percy," Mr. Roberts started. "Just a little trouble at school today. Let's just head home, alright?"

Percy wasn't satisfied with the answer he was given, but he didn't bother asking further as he detected the tired tone in his driver's voice.

Audrey stood by her father's side and started down at her painting. Roberts held her shoulder. "Would you like to hang up your picture in here?"

"Okay," Audrey responded. She glanced around and saw the multiple drawings and photographs Mr. Roberts had hung around Percy's cab. There were photos of her and her father together, Audrey as a baby, and some with Percy in them as well. Her drawings varied from her first ever scribbles to a crayon picture titled "My Famlee" consisting of one short and one tall stick figure along with a green blob with a happy face. Seeing this collection again made Audrey feel a little better, especially once she found a place for her newest masterpiece.

Audrey was back at school quicker than she had hoped. She watched Bertie drive away and wished he would come back. "I don't want to go to school today," she told her dad.

"I'm afraid you'll have to, dear," Mr. Roberts said. "But remember what we talked about this time?"

"Keep calm?" Audrey answered.

"That's right," Mr. Roberts smiled. "Then when the school day is done, you can play however you'd like when you come home." He gave her a kiss. "You can do that, right?"

"Uh huh…" Audrey spotted someone out of the corner of her eye. It was Paul. Today, however, he had a large white plaster fitted over his whole nose. He looked over at Audrey before facing away from her.

"Learn a lot today for me, okay?" Roberts said before heading over to Percy to leave. "I love you."

"Love you too, Daddy," Audrey said before going over to Percy and looking up at him, looking as if she wanted to say something but wasn't sure what.

Percy still didn't know what happened with Audrey the other day. All he knew was that his sister was upset. He gave her a sweet smile. "Just do your best today, okay? That's what Edward told me when I first came to Sodor. I love you."

"Love you too, Percy," Audrey said back. She watched as her father and brother left before noticing Paul nearby. She shyly stepped over. "Hi…"

"…hi…" Paul said quietly. He sounded pretty nasally.

Audrey recalled what her father had told her to do during the talk they shared last night. "…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's okay…" Paul said flatly, still not looking her in the eyes.

"…Do you want to play Branchline again today?"

"No thank you…" He looked away.

"Oh… wanna play tag? I won't go too fast."

"No thanks…"

Audrey stared at the ground. "What do you wanna play?"

"…I don't wanna play anymore," Paul said. Then he walked away without another word.

Audrey watched him leave with a heavy heart. Paul might've been annoying at first, but she enjoyed playing with him yesterday. Her day already off to a bad start, Audrey went and sat under a tree until the bell rang to start the day.

To her surprise, the shy girl she and Paul ran into the other day was walking toward her. She was still clutching her doll to her chest. Then she stood there awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.

Audrey waited for her to say something, but nothing happened. "…Hi," Audrey finally said, hoping to start some sort of conversation.

"…hi…" The girl just audibly muttered back.

Audrey tried to recall what this girl's name was. That's what the ice breakers they played yesterday were for, but there were many names to try and remember. "What's your name?" Audrey had to ask.

"…Penelope…" She muttered again. Audrey was barely able to make her out.

"I'm Audrey…" Silence again. Why did Penelope come over here if she wasn't going to say anything? It stumped Audrey. The plush doll Penelope held caught her eye. "I like your dolly."

"Thanks…" Penelope said, just a little louder this time.

"What's her name?"

"Polly…" Penelope took a seat in the grass in front of her.

"Is Polly your favorite?"

She nodded. "She helps me when I have to be away from Mummy and Daddy."

"Oh!" Audrey opened her satchel and pulled out her blanket. "This helps me too."

Penelope's eyes widened with interest. "It's a very pretty blankie. It's all sparkly."

Audrey smiled. "Do you want to play with me today? We can play Branchline!"

Penelope started down at the ground between them. "Um… I like to play with dollies."

"Oh…" Audrey stared at Penelope's precious Polly. "We can play dollies."

For the first time, Audrey saw Penelope smile, even if it was a little one. "Okay. And… And maybe Polly and her friends can take a ride on the train."

"Yeah!" Audrey grinned. Just when the day looked like it was going to be another disaster, Audrey found herself looking forward to what it was going to bring. The bell rang, and all the kids began to head inside. Audrey and Penelope walked in together.

"Oh! Penelope!" Audrey suddenly exclaimed.

Penelope turned toward her.

"It's called a steam engine."

Author's Note: This chapter took me longer to finish than I wanted. Struggling to come up with chapter ideas and being busy with work do not help the writing process at all. I hope this slightly long chapter will make up for the wait.