Sir Handel's Horses

Sir Handel doesn't really enjoy pulling trucks. He prefers to pull express coaches like Gertrude and Millicent. "I not saying that like this job," he often says to the other engines, "It's just that I prefer express coaches instead." "We know," the other engines replied.

One day, Sir Handel was puffing along with his two coaches, the job that he likes to do. "Lovely day, lovely day," sang Sir Handel. He was passing a field when something or some things caught his attention.

"Hmm," thought Sir Handel, "Horses, equus." "Equus?" questioned the driver. "Its another name for horses," Sir Handel said, "I don't remember where I learned that from. Oh well." Sir Handel continued on nonetheless.

That afternoon when Sir Handel had no jobs to do, Sir Handel returned to where he saw the horses. "Ah," smiled Sir Handel, "They're still here." "Yep," replied Sir Handel's driver. "I see them," said the firemen. "Aren't they marvelous creatures?" Sir Handel asked. "Well, of course," replied Sir Handel's crew.

"You like them?" a voice called. The driver and firemen turned to see a young woman dressed in a red uniform. "They are marvelous creatures, aren't they?" the woman asked. "Uh, yes," said Sir Handel's firemen, "Our engine seems to have taken a liking to these animals." "That's true," smiled Sir Handel.

"My name is Amy," the women introduced herself. "Hello, Amy," said Sir Handel, "My name is Sir Handel." "Well, hello, Sir Handel," said Amy in a cheery voice. "Meet my crew," said Sir Handel. And so Sir Handel introduced his crew to Amy. "So what do you do?" asked Sir Handel's firemen.

"I'm a horseback rider," explained Amy, "I ride on these marvelous creatures." "I see," said Sir Handel's driver. The horses remained peaceful at the moment.

Some time later later, Sir Handel, his crew and their new friend Amy watched the horses just enjoying their quiet time. "Horses don't just gallop all the time," said Amy, "They like to have peace and quiet, too."

"We see," said Sir Handel's firemen, "It took us 50 minutes to know that1" "Yeah, that's true," said Sir Handel. "But just to let you know," said Amy, "There are some horses that do not want to be tames. I've heard of a story about that once."

"Right," said Sir Handel. The four looked at horses all day. There was one horse wearing a harness.

"Would you like to see," asked Amy, "What I do?" "Uh, sure," answered Sir Handel.

"All right," said Amy. When the horse was relaxing, Amy climbed onto the back of the horse, via harness. "All right," Amy said to the horse, "When you're ready, show my friends what you got."

The horse responded a minute later and took Amy for a ride. "Well," said Sir Handel's driver, "She's really good." "Right there with you," said the firemen. "I'm amazed."

Later, when Amy had finished and her horse left to join its friends, she walked over to Sir Handel. "How was that?" asked Amy. "You were really great," answered Sir Handel. "Yeah!" the crew agreed. "But I'd like to not show it off," said Amy. "We can see," said the driver.

By the end of the day, Sir Handel, his crew and Amy watched the horses run off into the sunset. "Yes, they are marvelous," said Amy, "And thank you for joining me today. We hope we can see each other again soon." "We will," said the driver.

"Right," agreed the firemen. "Well, goodbye," said Amy and she left for home. Sir Handel puffed off for home as well, thinking about the time he spent with Amy.