NEW WHEELS FOR SIDNEY

Loosely inspired from "The Missing Christmas Decorations" by Andrew Brenner

Adapted by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens

It was almost Christmas on the Island of Sodor, and as usual, many of the engines were very excited for this joyful time of year. One of these engines was cheeky little Percy, who was currently taking the mail.

"Edward, Duck, there you are!" cried Percy excitedly as he came into Knapford; Old Slow Coach was coupled up behind Duck.

"Hello, Percy," smiled Duck. "Gotten into the holiday spirit, I see."

"You sounded as if you were looking for us specifically," added Edward. "What's going on?"

"There's a couple of letters on my train for the two of you," explained Percy.

The porters quickly got the letters out and gave them to Edward and Duck's respective drivers.

"Oh, BoCo's sent me a Christmas card," said Edward softly as his driver opened it. "Dear Edward, passengers have been bustling around the Bluebell Railway a lot during this time of year. Some of the children have even drawn pictures of us side by side. I'm looking forward to the day I finally come home and see your smiling face. With all my love, BoCo."

"That's so sweet," said Percy. "And what did Tasha say to you, Duck?"

"Her card says…" Duck's driver opened it up so the pannier tank engine could read it. "My dearest Monty, today, one of my passengers had brought up their pet duck to see us. I couldn't help but wonder if the duck was a descendant of Dilly and Dallas. She certainly has their efficiency at the station. I couldn't help but think of the last time I visited you when I saw this display, and I can't wait to see you at the next summer rush. I will always love you, Lady."

"I'm so glad you two got such lovely gifts," smiled Percy.

"We'd better get to work on replies to these cards, Duck," said Edward.

"Not right now," laughed Duck. "Better wait until we're on break. Besides, we'll need our drivers to help us."

"It's a bit of a pity we can't write letters ourselves," sighed Edward.

"Now that would make for a strange sight," remarked Duck.

"That'd be very silly indeed," laughed Old Slow Coach.

The quartet glanced over towards the Christmas tree, where all the baubles with the engines' names on them were being hung.

"How's it looking, mom?" asked a seven year old girl.

"Looks great, Alice," smiled Annabelle. "Don't forget those new ones we did of Porter and Gator."

"Oh, Gator's got one too?" asked Percy excitedly.

"You know the drill, Percy," chuckled Annabelle. "No engine, permanent or visiting, gets left out."

"Unless they're someone like that bowler hat eating diesel," giggled Alice.

"Or Diesel 10," agreed Percy. "I can't believe it's been two years since he almost destroyed Thomas in that fire…"

"And why in the Great Railway's name would Diesel team up with Diesel 10 to do such a thing?" asked Edward.

"That wasn't his intention," Duck said quietly, though no one else heard him.

"Er, wait a minute," said Old Slow Coach to Annabelle and Alice. "I think you have missed an engine."

"Who?" asked Alice.

Meanwhile, at the Sodor Dieselworks, not all was cheerful.

"Oh!" cried Dart when he felt something on his roof. "Dizzy diesels, whose idea was it to hang the Christmas lights this low?"

"The hook must have come loose," groaned Dennis. "You'd think that the workmen would have given this place a thorough inspection following the fire."

"Well, it can be easy to overlook something like that," Paxton reasoned. "Wouldn't you think so, Diesel?"

The black 08 in question didn't seem to say anything to Paxton's question. He shut his eyes tight, thinking back to Dennis' comment about the fire, and back to a conversation he had two years ago…

"How could you?!"

The blue tank engine's eyes were in a blazing fury, but Diesel couldn't help but pick up traits of fear and betrayal in his gaze.

"I trusted you! We all did!" Thomas barked. "You tried to warn us about Arry, Bert and Diesel 10 in your early years on Sodor. And when Diesel 10 came back again, you decided to team up with him the first chance you got!"

"Thomas, I…"

"You left me for dead!" growled Thomas. "You could have tried to convince your brothers to back down, or allowed me a chance to escape. But no! I was only saved because of Belle and Flynn's intervention!"

"I never intended for…"

"Intended or not, you did nothing to change the outcome!" retorted Thomas, tears burning in his eyes. "I was the first one who gave you a chance, Diesel. And you've completely tarnished that." He gave a heavy sigh. "We're done! As far as I'm concerned, you can be kicked off Sodor!"

Before Diesel could answer, the number one engine puffed away to find his coaches to try and calm down.

"Diesel? Diesel!"

"Aah!" Diesel was broken out of his trance; Paxton had been calling out to him.

"Did you hear what I said, Diesel?"

"Er… yes," Diesel said quickly. "Something about 'overlooking someone'?"

"I'm overseeing someone, does that count?" chuckled a voice. "I'm like a decoration up here." The other diesels looked up to see a blue 08 with no wheels hanging on a hoist. Paxton, Dennis, Den and Dart couldn't help but chuckle at the remark.

"How long have you been up there, Sidney?" asked Den.

"Er… I've been up here for… uh, I forget."

"It's been about two years, last I checked," remarked Dart.

"Two years?!" gasped Paxton. "That can't be right. Can it?"

"I'm afraid it is," Diesel said quietly. "As far as I recall, the… fire was the last major event that happened before Christmas two years ago."

"And since then, we've had Luke being proven innocent for an accident he didn't mean to cause…" Dennis glanced knowingly at Diesel, who looked away, before continuing, "…then there was the reopening of Ulfstead Castle, the rediscovery of King Godred's crown at the old mines underneath the castle, and the discovery of Percy's dinosaur at the clay pits."

"Goodness, there are a lot of new places and discoveries," said Sidney. "I'd love to see them all."

"And you will," smiled Paxton, "once we get you your new wheels. Er… they've got to be around here somewhere. Everybody look for six blue wheels."

"They can't really be blue, can they?" asked Den to Dart as the shunters went around to look.

"I don't know what color they really are," admitted Dart.

Diesel seemed frozen in place by Paxton's words. "Thomas… I've really messed up with him…"

"Diesel!"

"Oh, right, right!" he jolted off to search, leaving Sidney alone hanging on the hoist.

"I hope they can find… whatever it is they're looking for," he said to himself.

The five shunters scattered around the Dieselworks to see if they could spot the missing wheels. Paxton then saw one of the workers.

"Er, excuse me," called Paxton. "Do you know where we might find some diesel wheels?"

"Diesel wheels?" asked the worker. He got out some clipboards. "Not any recent deliveries, I'm afraid, Paxton."

"How about from two years ago, Paul?" asked Paxton. "Sidney was supposed to get them when he arrived."

Paul's eyes widened in shock.

"Now… that is strange," he gasped. "I didn't know there was a Sidney here. I'll have to check with Charles about that."

"Oh dear," Paxton said quietly as he went off to gather the others.

"He didn't know our brother was here?!" gasped Diesel.

"Apparently not," replied Paxton. "Paul says he's looking into it now."

"Sidney's waited too long already," growled Diesel. "How long is it going to be before he rusts on that hoist?!"

"It's pretty sheltered in here, Diesel," reasoned Den. "Sidney won't get hurt. Er… what I mean to say is…"

"What Den means to say is that it would be near impossible for Sidney to get any rust on him at all," put in Dart.

"I don't care!" snapped Diesel. "We've got to take action now! If Sir Topham Hatt won't listen to us by simply talking to him… we'll have to force him to listen instead."

"You aren't thinking of another kidnapping are you?" asked Dennis in shock.

"Great Railway above, no," said Diesel, wincing a bit as he remembered the last kidnapping that happened. "We're just going to… borrow a few things. Who's with me?"

The others were silent for a moment, unsure of how to respond.

"Paxton, you want to help our brother, don't you?"

"Er… of course I do, but…"

"Then let's go!"

Reluctantly, Paxton followed Diesel to wherever the latter was going.

"Oh, I don't know about this…"

Later on, Percy was finishing up his mail run and was about to go to refill at both the coal and water tower when he heard a familiar toot.

"Oh, hello, Paxton," he smiled. "What brings you down this way?"

"Oh, hello, Percy," the green diesel replied. "I had brought some empty stone trucks from the Blue Mountain Quarry and was… wanting to talk to you."

"Well, I had a great day," said Percy. "Both Duck and Edward got Christmas cards from their partners and I'm due to send their responses from the branch lines to the connecting train from the mainland tomorrow."

"Their partners?" asked Paxton in surprise. "I didn't know Edward or Duck had partners."

"It's more than that," said Percy, and he explained about Duck's long distance relationship with Tasha and about how BoCo was on the mainland at the moment and he and Edward were still keeping in touch.

"Aww," smiled Paxton. "That's so sweet. You know, I have a partner myself."

"You do?" asked Percy. "Who is it?"

"Well, her name is…"

"Hey, what's going on over there?!" cried Percy. The green tank engine caught sight of Diesel's driver putting the Christmas decorations from Tidmouth sheds into a couple of open trucks coupled behind the black shunter.

"Oh, crumbs…" muttered Diesel when he realized Percy had seen him. "Driver, let's get out of here!"

With a toot of his horn, the black shunter made a hasty getaway.

"That's our Christmas tree, lights and garland!" cried Percy, puffing off in pursuit. "Get back here!"

"Oh my," muttered Paxton, following shortly behind. "I knew this wasn't going to end well…"

Down at Knapford, Gordon and Henry were waiting with their coaches - Henry had Sean, Mick, Harry and Randolph, when they saw Diesel rumbling by.

"Gordon, coaches, was I seeing things?" asked Henry.

"Get back here!" Percy called over to Diesel.

"H-hey, wait for me!" called Paxton, struggling to keep up with them.

"Nope," said Gordon. "That was definitely Diesel, Percy and Paxton."

"What's going on?" asked Thomas when he came in with Annie and Clarabel.

"Don't look at us," Gordon and Henry said in unison.

Several more of these incidents followed down the main line, much to the confusion of various other engines, until Percy, Paxton and Diesel finally reached the Dieselworks.

"Diesel!" snapped Percy. "Those are our Christmas decorations! What right did you have to steal them?"

"You sure that was a good idea, Diesel?" muttered Dennis.

"I… I thought it was at the time…" Diesel said lamely.

"But why?" asked Percy. "Christmas is a time for being kind and giving presents, not taking something that doesn't belong to you."

"Well, how else were we supposed to get Sir Topham Hatt's attention?" Diesel retorted. "Sidney's been up here for two years and still hasn't gotten his wheels yet!"

Percy's eyes widened as he glanced up at the blue diesel.

"Two years, Sidney?" he gasped. "That is a very long time for you to be up there."

"Yeah," Sidney sighed. "I've been waiting for my wheels. I think the order's been misplaced."

"Misplaced?" Percy repeated. "Why haven't we been told about Sidney earlier?"

"Sir Topham Hatt didn't seem to care enough to look into the order right away," grunted Diesel. "His father managed things much better!"

"That's not true!" argued Percy. "Sir Topham Hatt cares for all of his engines! I'm sure there's been an honest mistake."

"So, Diesel," said Dennis, "we should give the decorations back to Percy so he can take them back to Tidmouth."

Diesel, reluctantly, obeyed Dennis' words as Percy took the decorations back. However, he did make a quick stop at Knapford and found Sir Topham Hatt talking to Paul, Annabelle and Alice.

"Are you sure, Paul?" asked Sir Topham Hatt.

"Yes, Charles," nodded Paul. "According to Paxton, Sidney's wheels hadn't arrived for two years."

"I see," said Sir Topham Hatt. "I'll arrange for the next available engine to pick them up. I've really messed up this time..."

"I can get them, sir," said Percy.

"Oh, thank you, Percy," smiled Sir Topham Hatt. "It'll take a couple of days for them to arrive, but I'll send you down to Brendam docks to get them as soon as they do."

"And we can make a bauble for Sidney too, right, mom?" asked Alice.

"Of course, dear," smiled Annabelle.

A couple of days later, Sidney was still hanging on his hoist, wondering if he would ever get his new wheels.

"Maybe I'll spend the rest of my life hanging up in the air…" he muttered.

Just then, the blue diesel heard the sound of a steam engine's whistle.

"Special delivery for Sidney!" Percy proudly puffed forward to reveal his surprise.

"My wheels!" the blue diesel cried. "Thank you for bringing them, Percy."

"Consider it a present from me to you," smiled Percy.

"Now I can finally be a really useful engine again," Sidney grinned. Den and Dart were also pleased to hear this bit of news.

"Now Arthur and Molly can finally have help on their branch line," said Den. "Or… was it Julie, Johnson and Lauren on their branch line?"

"You were right the first time," chuckled Dart. "Though they might have a bufferful with him…"

Down at Tidmouth sheds that evening, Percy was telling the others about Sidney's new wheels.

"That was very kind of you, Percy," smiled Emily.

"I also saw a new bauble being put on the tree with Sidney's name and number on it," said Edward. "I'm so glad that's been taken care of."

"That's all well and good," said Thomas, "but Diesel shouldn't have stolen our decorations to begin with!"

"Why did he do that at all?" asked Henry.

"He was misguided in his actions," Percy explained. "Sir Topham Hatt had put off trying to order Sidney's wheels for two years. Not a good way to go about it, but it wasn't nearly as bad as his last plan."

"What happened to Diesel, anyway?" asked Gordon. "He used to be more open and honest with us, not to mention strongly opposing Diesel 10's actions."

"I… I wish I knew, Gordon," Thomas said quietly.

And, for a few years afterwards, none of the engines really knew the answer. But as for Sidney, he does enjoy being a hard working engine on the Norramby branch line with Arthur and Molly, even if he does sometimes forget what jobs he should be doing… but that's another story.

THE END

Author's Comments

At long last, we get to a rewrite that I've wanted to do for a while. Because of the way Diesel 10 was written in both Diesels and Westerners and Diesel 10 Strikes Back, The Missing Christmas Decorations as it was would not have worked for the Seventyverse. The only other major role that Diesel 10 has that we've yet to revisit is Calling All Engines, but that'll be for Series 8 Redux. As for New Wheels for Sidney, there is a lot that's changed up, mainly with Diesel being the one taking the engines' Christmas decorations, along with showing some consequences for being involved with Diesel 10's scheme for having the Dieselworks restored, only to turn out that it was to actually have Thomas destroyed. There's plenty of more stories to come focusing around that, and hopefully they'll help to provide a fuller picture.