Grudge
Written by Jonathan Downs, Rachel Ravens and Zack Wanzer with elements of the TUGS segment Boss Man from Salty's Lighthouse, Don't Go Back by Simon Spencer and Something in the Air by Andrew Brenner, Britt Allcroft and David Mitton
Warning: This story contains mentions Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Regime, hints of suicide and a human being burnt.
It had been over a couple of years since Johnny Cuba's untimely demise and the events surrounding it. Everyone was shaken up by it – Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly still had nightmares from what might have happened had they not found out the truth in time, Hail still had nightmares from having a part in his accidental death and Little Owl had lost trust in not just the Z-Stacks, the other engines or Mr. Lloyd; even the Star Tugs had their trust in her damaged.
Although she never did anything so stupid again, she still refused to let go of her grudge against the Z-Stacks. And I'm sorry to say this would reach its boiling point… as if it hadn't already.
On this day, I remember that Top Hat and Zob had arrived at the Railhead where Porter, Henney and Little Owl were waiting. They were surprised to see Captain Lucky and her daughter Andrea there.
"Good day, Captain Lucky, Andrea," greeted Top Hat. "What brings you here?"
"We're heading into Mittsville to place flowers at my dad's grave," replied Andrea.
"Hard to believe this will be the twentieth anniversary of the Dunkirk-Flanders disaster," sighed Captain Lucky.
"Ah, yes, my deepest condolences," said Top Hat.
"The Dunkirk-Flanders disaster?" asked Porter. "I've never heard of it."
"Hercules and Captain Star told me about it," explained Top Hat. "Although they admitted to being sketchy on the details, so the incident happened whilst they were on shore leave." And this is the story he told.
August 1917
It was shortly after Hercules and Venus saved the SS Clearwater from being blown up by Hans and Otto. Hercules and Captain Star were on shore leave at Southampton, which was when Captain Star named LB&SCR No. 107 after his son, Thomas.
Anyways, one of the tugs involved was Pennsylvania R. R. No. 9, which was built as a commercial tug of the same name by William R. Trigg at Richmond, Virginia in 1904. He seemed a happy, carefree chap. Because he was owned by the PRR, he worked mostly with the engines who were serving on the front at the time, two of which Hercules had previously mentioned in his story – a Great Central Railway Class 8K goods engine named Herbert and a Baldwin Class 10-12-D narrow gauge tank engine called Stanley (not to be confused with Puffa's real name, of course). Then there was Francis, a North Eastern Railway Class T2 goods engine. He was friendly and carefree at the time, an engine of few words who would often say "That's right" if things went well or "That's not right" if things didn't go well.
There was also a South Eastern and Chatham Railway P Class tank engine who didn't have a name, just a number – ROD 5027 (or SECR No. 27 back home). She was quite cheerful. Their commanding officer was Corporal Harry Lucky.
Anyways, Herbert and Stanley were known to be reckless and would frequently cause accidents. Francis, 5027, PRR No. 9 and Corporal Lucky would warn them to be careful, but they never took any notice.
There would come a day when they went too far with their recklessness.
"I bet I could handle my work faster than you," Stanley said, cockily.
"A little shrimp like you?" laughed Herbert. "Don't make me laugh!"
"Why, how about a race to prove it?" challenged Stanley. "And to make it harder, we have to go fast backwards."
"You're on!" replied Herbert. Stanley smirked to himself because he knew it would be difficult for a tender engine like Herbert to go fast backwards whereas tank engines like him could run fast backwards as well as forwards.
With that, the two engines raced back to the base, backwards.
There was a dual gauge crossing at the base for both standard and narrow gauge. All engines had to be careful, but of course, those two were never careful. PRR No. 9, Francis and 5027 were at the base with Corporal Lucky when they heard the two engines approaching.
"Oh no! They're going to crash!" cried 5027. She was right. By the time the two engines realised their error, it was too late.
CRASH!
The two engines derailed and Herbert knocked over a telegraph pole, which toppled over on some fuel tankers. This caused a huge fire and shrapnel flew everywhere. Corporal Lucky experienced the worst of it as he was badly burnt. Quickly, they ushered him onto PRR No. 9, who rushed him to the field hospital since the four engines were either shell shocked or derailed. Unfortunately, by the time PRR No. 9 reached the hospital, it was too late. Corporal Lucky had passed away.
After the accident, Herbert and Stanley were both dishonorably discharged and sent away. 5027 and Francis were traumatized from the accident. When the former returned to the SECR after the war, she was said to have become rather cocky as a coping mechanism whilst the latter became bitter and no longer carefree. PRR No. 9 left the base as well and returned to New York. After the war, he was sold back to the PRR in 1919, but the records became scarce about him after that. Apparently, he was never quite the same again after the accident.
Present Day
"That's really sad," sobbed Henney.
"Indeed," sighed Top Hat.
"Whatever happened to Herbert and Stanley after they were discharged?" asked Andrea.
"Last I heard, the Great Central Railway was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway," replied Top Hat. "That's where Herbert works now. And as for Stanley, he ended up on the Mid Sodor Railway where he became their No. 2 and has since been nicknamed 'Smudger'. Although they haven't quite learnt their lesson, I'm afraid."
"Sounds like they'd fit right in with the Z-Stacks," huffed Little Owl. Everyone had disapproving looks on their faces.
"Moonlight Oceans above, Little Owl!" snapped Top Hat. "It's been over two years since you got in trouble for those lies you told on behalf of Johnny Cuba and you haven't let go of the grudge."
"Why should I?" retorted Little Owl. "Let's recap the Z-Stacks' blunders over the years, shall we? Zorran and Zak neglect to notice Izzy Gomez and lose Captain Zero the Duchess contract; Zip and Zug almost get themselves killed by Flotsam and Jetsam and then Zug sets off one of the flare barges; Zorran and Zug cause a tramper to jam across the river, trapping Zug and most of the Stars and then Zorran gets stuck on some rocks when Billy Shoepack blows the tramper apart with his dynamite; Zak rams a steel rig in the bridge, which collapses and loses Captain Zero the contract…"
"Look, we get it," said Porter. "You're still cross with Zak for causing the accident, but…"
"I'm not finished!" snapped Little Owl. "Zeus gets himself quarantined on his first day here; Zeus nearly causes a disaster with the Kraka-Toa when he poisons Hercules with bad coal; Zip and Zug get in trouble with Finbar for meddling with a fire barge; Zip and Zug lose the Z-Stacks the rock contract by neglecting to help Ten Cents with Izzy Gomez; Zip and Zug lose Captain Zero's 'treasure' after their encounter with the White Fleet; Zeus loses a tramper which almost causes Ten Cents to sink; Zip, Zug and Zilly mistake O.J. for an old ship and almost cause him to get scrapped…"
"But they didn't mean to get O.J. scrapped!" Henney said, trying to fight back tears. "The only reason they didn't tell the truth was because they were threatened."
"I've still not finished!" snapped Little Owl. "Zip and Zug cause an accident with barges of rocks and engineering parts which are lost at the bottom of the harbour; Zilly races off like a coward instead of warning me about the collapsing building which caused my second accident; Zak and Zeus get themselves dry docked for poisoning three of the Salvage tugs and almost endangering Top Hat, Ten Cents and Penny; Zak and Zeus lose Captain Zero's 'treasure' and turn to the Star Tugs to help, but instead they report to the Coast Guard team, leading to the Bridge Cafe and other speakeasies being shut down; and last not but least, Zeus tries to trick Sunshine into getting in trouble for smuggling, forgetting that Sunshine knows the difference between right and wrong!" She paused to catch her breath. "Okay, now I'm finished."
"Well, allow me to counteract those points with everything they've done right," replied Top Hat. "Zebedee helped my fellow Star Tugs not once, but twice and then helped to capture Johnny Cuba; Zorran, Zebedee and Zob were far more willing to help tackle that fire than I was; Zebedee and Zob were helpful in the search for O.J.; Zip and Zug alerted Warrior and Hercules to the tramper that had run aground whilst Zebedee and Zob rescued Lillie Lightship; the Z-Stacks all worked to help with the clear-up earthquake, especially Zilly who saved Davy Jones from that other collapsing building; the Z-Stacks helped us search for Sunshine when she was kidnapped and Zip and Zug helped Pisces, Scorpio, Misty and Ember to capture her kidnappers; Zorran, Zebedee, Zip and Zug worked tirelessly to redeem themselves from their past crimes, and Zorran and Zob helped to capture Johnny Cuba after he tricked you into framing Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly for treason. Yes, Johnny Cuba was killed, but that was more the fault of that dock worker."
They were so busy arguing that they didn't notice Zob was drifting dangerously close to a nearby barge full of stone until it was too late.
"Zob! Look out!" cried Porter.
"What?!" gasped Zob. Then, with a loud crash, he struck the barge, which promptly sank. "Oh, bugger…"
Luckily, Moonlight was nearby with a crane and he recovered the barge but the stone was lost.
"Yet another Z-Stack blunder to add to the list!" sneered Little Owl. "Seriously, there's only one period you Z-Stacks belong – the Stone Age!"
"That does it!" snapped Zob. "I won't put up with your rude treatment towards me and my fleet! Top Hat, you handle the rail work! I'm going back to the Zero Dock!"
"Well, I hope you're pleased with yourself, Little Owl!" huffed Top Hat. "You've gone and offended Zob who made just one mistake. And all because of your silly grudge."
By the time Zob returned to the Zero Dock, Captain Zero had heard about the accident and was rather surprised by it.
"This isn't like you, Zob," he said. "You're usually more focused and alert."
"I apologise, Captain Zero," replied Zob. "I've been distracted lately as I've had a lot on my mind."
"Would you like to talk about it?" asked Captain Zero.
"No, Captain," said Zob. "It's a personal matter and I'd rather not offload my troubles onto you."
"I see," said Captain Zero, still unsure. "Well, I'm willing to overlook the incident. But, please be more careful next time."
"Thank you, Captain," replied Zob. But there was something else on his mind.
"Zorran," he said, "we need to call an indignation meeting with the rest of the Z-Stacks."
"What's the topic?" asked Zorran.
"Little Owl."
Top Hat told the other Star Tugs about Zob's accident.
"This isn't like Zob," commented Ten Cents. "He's usually more careful than that."
"Indeed," agreed Top Hat. "I suspect he knows something about the Dunkirk-Flanders disaster."
"Maybe PRR No. 9 was his brother," suggested Sunshine. "Maybe PRR No. 9 was so traumatized by the accident that he took his own life and that affected Zob badly, hence why he doesn't speak much about his past."
"That's a good possibility," O.J. said thoughtfully.
"I know I would feel that way if something happened to Ten Cents or Penny," Hercules agreed.
"Me too, with you or Penny, Hercules," sighed Ten Cents.
"I'd be devastated if something happened to Moonlight," said Sunshine.
"If something happened to Big Mac, I don't know what I'd do either," Warrior put in.
"Aye, same wi' ye, Warrior," Big Mac said with feeling. "Though something A've aye wondered aboot Zob is th' scar oan his left eye."
"Perhaps he was involved in an accident like Sea Rogue was," suggested Warrior. "That, combined with PRR No. 9's presence in Dunkirk-Flanders, might be the reason he's so grumpy."
"Perhaps," replied Hercules. "I think we should have a talk with Zob and see what he knows about it."
"Well, Top Hat sees him at the Railhead," said Grampus. "He could be our deputation."
"I suppose I could," said Top Hat. "But I'll need to give Zob a gentle push and ask him to discuss when or if he wants to."
"Good idea, Top Hat," agreed Ten Cents. "Zob should only talk to us if he wants to."
But the Star Tugs' plan to try and talk to Zob was about to be disrupted by the Z-Stacks' own discussion…
"The nerve of that engine!" snapped Zorran. "Saying that we're nothing more than cavemen! Or cavewoman, in Zip's case," he added, acknowledging Zip. "I can't speak for Zak and Zeus, but still, this is just ridiculous!"
"And what she did to me, Zug, Zebedee and Zilly a couple of years ago!" agreed Zip. "No one would stand for it!"
"P-plus she never a-apologised for it," put in Zilly.
"I say we pay her out!" shouted Zug. "No one disrespects us and gets away with it!"
"Yeah!" agreed Zebedee. "But how?"
"Sedate her with Green Water and sell her to Burke and Blair!" Zeus said with a devious grin. Everyone just stared.
"You know full well that it's against the law to scrap a sentient vehicle without their consent!" snapped Zorran. "And even if it wasn't, it would still be cruel!"
"How about we sell her to the navy for target practice?" Zak suggested devilishly.
"No, no and… oh, let me think about this for a moment… NO!" snapped Zorran. "We are not, I repeat, not resorting to murder!"
"Any sensible ideas?" asked Zug.
"Well, there is one way we can get the message across," suggested Zob, and he explained his plan, which won approval with a majority of 6-2 (no prizes for guessing who opposed it, of course).
"Right," said Zorran. "We'd better inform Captain Zero of our decision."
"Well, here I am," said Captain Zero. "What's all this about?"
After the Z-Stacks explained what they were going to do, Captain Zero made a call to Mr. Lloyd.
The engines were resting in their shed when Mr. Lloyd walked up with a very stern look on his face.
"I've just had a phone call from Captain Zero," he said. "The Z-Stacks have announced that they are going to refuse any more work from the railway and it's all to be sent to the Star Fleet instead."
"What? But why?" asked Kirke.
"Because… of Little Owl," said Mr. Lloyd, glancing at his number two engine.
"M-me?" Little Owl stuttered in shock.
"Yes," replied Mr. Lloyd. "This is all due to your rude behaviour to them over the years including your comment about Z-Stacks being Neanderthals or something along those lines."
"But Mr. Lloyd…" argued Little Owl.
"But nothing, Little Owl," said Mr. Lloyd. "And to be quite frank, I don't blame them for going on strike, especially when looking back on your partnership with Johnny Cuba two years ago. There was the horrifying possibility of Zebedee, Zip, Zug and Zilly being given the death penalty!"
Those last two words caused Little Owl's eyes to shrink back in horror. Even she never wished for anyone to be killed.
"D-death?" she asked. "But I… I… oh, Great Railway above!"
"Now do you see what happens when you hold onto a grudge for so long?" asked Puffa.
"Y-yes," gulped Little Owl.
"Well, Little Owl," said Mr. Lloyd, "I can't say that I'm pleased with you. But I can say that I am extremely disappointed in you. In fact, we all are."
"Hear, hear," said the other engines. Little Owl fell silent as she began to question her grudge towards the Z-Stacks and wondered if it was really worth it.
"You're right, Mr. Lloyd," she sighed sadly. "I shouldn't have spread those lies about them."
"Indeed not," Mr. Lloyd replied. "But the strike isn't just about that. It's about your overall behaviour and you've got to apologise to them for it. That's why Captain Zero and I have both agreed to let them carry on the strike as long as they wish and we won't stop them. But you, Little Owl, need to think about your actions and words very carefully. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir," came the sad reply. "Transparently."
"Good," said Mr. Lloyd as he turned on his heels and sternly walked away.
And that's what they did. None of the Z-Stacks accepted any work from the railway for the next few weeks. And all the while, Little Owl was deep in thought, wondering what she would say when she next saw the Z-Stacks. Meanwhile, the Star Tugs were deep in thought about this too and had their own little meeting one evening.
"I can't believe Little Owl's grudge has caused the Z-Stacks to go on strike," sighed Warrior.
"Weel, as far th' railway is concerned, aye," replied Big Mac. "They're aye taking oan ither joabs aroond Bigg City."
"What I can't understand is why she's held on to the grudge for so long," said Ten Cents. "When Top Hat led the charge to rescue O.J., we dropped the grudge we had towards him after the fire. And Warrior and Hercules willingly helped Zip and Zug after they stole Sunshine and Big Mac's barges and caused an accident."
"Well, Little Owl is a hard worker," suggested Sunshine, "and she hates unnecessary delays. The accident did cause a lot of delays. Maybe she was frustrated at that and took it out on the Z-Stacks."
"Of course!" exclaimed Top Hat. "Why didn't I think about that?"
"You'd better go and talk to the Z-Stacks about it, Top Hat," said O.J..
"I'll come with you," said Warrior.
"Ah'll come, too," chimed Sunshine.
"Thank you, you two," replied Top Hat. With that, the three Star Tugs headed for the Zero Dock.
"Be careful, you three," called Hercules. "The Coast Guard team has informed me that strong winds are on their way."
"Thanks for the warning," called Sunshine. "There must have been a red sky this morning…"
The Z-Stacks were surprised to see Top Hat, Warrior and Sunshine approaching.
"Z-Stacks, could we have a word?" asked Top Hat.
"Of course, Top Hat," replied Zob. "What is it?"
"We were just discussing your conflict with Little Owl," said Sunshine, "and we may have gotten to the root cause of it." She then explained her theory behind it.
"Sounds petty if you ask me," sneered Zeus.
"Well, no one is asking you though, are they?" retorted Zip.
"You know what, Sunshine?" said Zorran. "You might be onto something."
"I'd better go and talk with Little Owl," said Zob.
"She'll be bringing a slow goods train from Uptown later tonight," said Top Hat. "We could meet her at Mittsville and talk to her then."
"Maybe we should go too, Zug," suggested Zip.
"You're right," agreed Zug.
So off they set. As they did so, the wind started to turn fierce.
"Wow! When Hercules said strong winds were comin', he wasn't jokin'," commented Sunshine.
Little Owl was arranging her goods train at Uptown.
Maybe I was a bit harsh on the Z-Stacks, she thought to herself. No, scratch that. I've been way too harsh. It's been nearly sixteen years since the bridge collapsed, yet why am I still angry with them? The Stars resolved their conflict with Top Hat after a year and three months. I've got to apologise to them.
"Stationmaster," she called, "can you phone Mr. Lloyd and ask him to tell Captain Zero I'd like to apologise to the Z-Stacks?"
"Of course," replied the stationmaster as he walked into the office.
Meanwhile, Top Hat, Warrior, Sunshine, Zip, Zug and Zob arrived at Mittsville where they saw Moonlight and Stormy.
"Any news on Little Owl?" asked Moonlight.
"We're going to have a talk with her when she gets to Mittsville," replied Zug.
Just then, they heard an urgent whistle from Misty.
"The trackbed between Mittsville and Uptown's been swept away!" she called.
"We'd better let the stationmaster know so he can contact Mr. Lloyd," said Stormy.
But there was a problem. "I can't contact Mr. Lloyd," said the stationmaster. "I think the telegraph poles have been blown down."
"Oh no!" Zip cried in horror.
"What's wrong?" asked Sunshine.
"Little Owl is due to leave Uptown any moment," exclaimed Zip. "There's no way to warn her in time!"
"Right! Action stations!" said Zob. "Moonlight, Stormy, Misty, fetch the other Salvage tugs and some cranes! Zug, collect Little Ditcher! She's been dredging over there! I'll fetch a barge! Top Hat, Sunshine, Zip, collect some fire barges just in case! Warrior, we'll need your help too!"
Everyone was surprised by Zob taking command, but they decided not to argue.
Back at Uptown, the stationmaster had come out of the office.
"I couldn't contact Mr. Lloyd," he said. "If I were you, I'd inform the stationmaster at Mittsville."
"Okay, sir," said Little Owl. Soon her conductor blew her whistle and Little Owl set off.
"I'll soon make up for lost time," she said with determination.
But as Little Owl approached Mittsville, her hopes for a fast run were dashed. The high winds blew hard. There was worse yet to come.
"Engineer, look!" she shouted. "The track is gone!"
"We'd better stop!" said her engineer, braking hard, but it was too late. With a squealing of brakes, Little Owl plunged off the rails into the water with her cars piling up behind her. One of them tipped over and spilt its coal on the lineside where sparks from Little Owl had set the grass alight. That, combined with the coal, was enough to cause a…
"FIRE!" shrieked Little Owl in horror.
The tugs heard the shriek of horror from nearby and looked in the distance to see the fire.
"Moonlight Oceans above!" gasped Sunshine.
"Hold on, Little Owl!" called Zip. "We're coming!" Quickly, the tugs raced to the rescue.
Zug carefully positioned Little Ditcher who wasted no time in getting her spuds down. Zob positioned his barge ready to take Little Owl to safety. Once everything was ready, Little Ditcher lifted Little Owl out of the water and onto Zob's barge. The Z-Stacks' railway tug then pulled Little Owl to safety.
Top Hat, Warrior, Sunshine and Zip worked tirelessly to put out the fire, and by morning, the last of the flames were out. The Salvage Fleet helped to clear the rest of Little Owl's train. Once that was complete, the tugs set off with Little Owl back to the Railhead.
"Are you alright, Little Owl?" asked Zip.
"Well," the goods engine replied, "I'm all shaken up by this. Thank you for rescuing me, and… I'm sorry for being nasty to you and the other Z-Stacks."
The three Z-Stacks were surprised by this.
"You're sorry?" asked Zug.
"Yes," sighed Little Owl. "I guess this grudge all stemmed from the fact that my goods train was already delayed and I was trying to make up for lost time, but the bridge collapse meant I never reached my destination. I hate it when I let our clients down and I took my frustrations out on you. Plus, I never heard Zak apologise for the accident since he caused it in the first place."
"I doubt that will ever happen," said Top Hat. "But listen; Little Owl, it's not fair on the rest of the Z-Stacks that they should be tarred with the same brush as Zak – well, except for Zeus – but Zorran, Zebedee, Zip, Zug and even Captain Zero have made great strides to change for the better, and as for Zob and Zilly… well, they were never malicious to begin with."
"You know," said Little Owl, "looking back on the earthquake, I was really harsh on Zilly that day. I called him a coward for running away before warning me about the building, but what if the building had fallen on top of him before he'd even had time to dive? Maybe I was so busy focusing on the past that I snapped at Zilly like that."
"Well, if you apologise to him as well, I'm sure he'll forgive you," said Warrior.
"Don't worry, Warrior," replied Little Owl. "I'll apologise to him, Zebedee and Zorran the next time I see them. But perhaps not Zak and Zeus, though."
"Considering their past actions, I don't blame you," said Scorpio.
"Not to mention their views on the Nazis," put in Stormy. "If anyone thinks for even one second that Hitler is a good person, you lose all credibility."
"That's assuming they ever had any to begin with," replied Zob.
"Good point," agreed Sunshine. "Heck, Zak never once apologised for ramming me into the Duchess. That is a massive red flag for how irredeemable he is."
"Nor did he apologise for poisoning me, Hail and Ember that one time," growled Scorpio.
"Even so, I promise to be a lot nicer to the rest of you Z-Stacks from now on," said Little Owl. Then a thought struck her. "Say, about the accident you had the other day, Zob – what happened exactly?"
"Perhaps it's best if I explain it when we get to the Railhead," sighed Zob. "There's a secret I've been keeping from you all for years, but it's time you all knew the truth."
"The truth about what?" asked Moonlight. There was no response from Zob. Just silence.
Soon, everyone returned to the Railhead where the rest of the Stars, the rest of the Z-Stacks, the other engines, the Coast Guard team, Finbar, Captain Zero, Captain Lucky, Captain Salvage, Andrea, Mr. Lloyd and myself were waiting with a hero's welcome for Top Hat, Warrior, Zip, Zug and Zob.
"For taking the incentive to put out the fire and save Little Owl's life," said Finbar proudly, "I'm putting you five up for the Fire Service medal."
"I reckon this makes up for my cowardice during the last fire to occur," said Top Hat.
"You already made up for it when you led the charge to save me back in 1924," chuckled O.J..
"Even so," I said, "I'm very proud of you and Warrior, Top Hat."
"As am I for you three," Captain Zero said to Zug, Zip and Zob.
"And I'm very grateful for it," said Little Owl before continuing, "Zorran, Zebedee, Zilly, I'm sorry for being nasty to you over the past few years. I promise to be nicer to you from now on."
She then turned to the other engines and Mr. Lloyd.
"I'm sorry for dragging the railway's name into the mud with the whole Johnny Cuba fiasco," she said, "and to you, Mr. Lloyd, for breaching your trust and for causing the accident."
"Little Owl," Mr. Lloyd said kindly, "last night's accident wasn't your fault. The high winds we experienced last night caused the accident. Not only did they sweep the trackbed away, they brought down a telegraph pole, which severed communications between Mittsville and Uptown. That's why you weren't warned about it. Also, I'm pleased to see that you have finally seen sense about the Z-Stacks and will be treating them better from now on."
"Well, except Zak and Zeus, of course," Little Owl said with a smirk. Everyone else agreed; the two tugs in question rolled their eyes.
"Now, before we go any further," said Zob, "I have a confession to make. All this started because of the accident I had the other day. This was because I had the Dunkirk-Flanders disaster of 1917 on my mind."
"Ah understand," said Sunshine sympathetically. "PRR No. 9 was your brother. If it was Moonlight, Ah'd be concerned too."
"Well, that's just it," said Zob. "It's not because I was concerned for my brother. It's because I was there."
Our mouths dropped wide open at the realisation. Captain Zero almost fainted, but Captain Salvage caught him.
"Moonlight Oceans above!" gasped Ten Cents. "It's you. You're Pennsylvania Railroad Tug No. 9… aren't you?"
"You are indeed correct, Ten Cents," came the reply. "That's how I got this scar. A piece of shrapnel struck me in my left eye and whilst I didn't require an eyepatch like Sea Rogue does, the scar on my face was permanent." He then looked over at Captain Lucky and Andrea. "I'm sorry I couldn't save Harry."
There was a long silence before Captain Lucky spoke. "You've nothing to be sorry for, dearie," she said, tears welling up in her eyes. "You did your best to get him to hospital, but his injuries were such that he would have died anyway."
"But why didn't you tell us?" asked Andrea.
"After the accident, I was transferred to New York to act as a minesweeping tug," explained Zob. "But the painful memories never left me, hence why I became grumpy as a result. I wasn't the only one affected as Francis was said to have become bitter after the accident, and ROD 5027 became prim and proper as something of a coping mechanism. The memories of the accident was also the reason I went to help on the night of the munitions disaster, so that I could save lives."
"But why did you change your name?" asked Captain Zero, who had recovered from the shock.
"When I heard you were looking for a railway tug," said Zob, "the incident with the Duchess was all over the news. I wanted to come and set a better example for you lot. But because you mainly wanted tugs who began with Z, I asked the Pennsylvania Railroad to give me a rechristening ceremony and be renamed 'Zob'. It was unfortunate that I had to come after a certain someone tried to send Little Owl for a swim."
Zak gave a sheepish cough at that.
"Anyways," continued Zob, "I didn't want to talk about my past, so I kept the secrets bottled up for years."
"Well, you don't have to any more," Sunshine said kindly. "In fact," she added, lowering her flag to half mast, "Ah salute you, Zob."
One by one, all the other vessels lowered their flags to half-mast, whilst myself, Captain Zero, Captain Lucky, Andrea, Mr. Lloyd and Captain Salvage raised our hands in salute and the engines remained respectfully silent. Zob gave a small smile at the respect we were all giving him, and the memories of the accident didn't seem so painful for him any more.
"Well, Zob," said Captain Zero, "of all the tugs I own, you are definitely my best purchase, because you've shown us – with two exceptions – the way forward."
"Indeed," agreed Little Owl. "Any newfound respect I have for you has grown by a thousand percent!"
"Looks like I'll be the one who misses out on work from Little Owl from now on," chuckled Top Hat.
"That's assuming you want to take work from the railway again," said Little Owl. The Z-Stacks looked at each other and smiled.
"I declare the strike… over!" said Zob. Everyone cheered in delight at the news.
"Well, now that that's all settled," said Mr. Lloyd. "Once we've got you back on the rails, Little Owl, Henney will shunt you into the workshops. I can't have my No. 2 in inoperable condition."
Little Owl was pleased at this.
Top Hat and Zob helped Puffa and Kirke to repair the damaged piece of track. Within a few days, the line was re-opened and operations resumed to normal. Little Owl was back in service a few weeks later and now treated Zorran, Zebedee, Zip, Zug, Zilly and especially Zob with a newfound respect. Nowadays, Little Owl worked mostly with Zob but still worked with Top Hat when the Z-Stacks' railway tug was unavailable. Unfortunately, there would come an incident that would leave Little Owl badly shaken, but that's another story.
As for Zob, well, he was still grumpy because he was that sort of tug, but we all understood that was just his way. Also, beneath that grumpy exterior was a hard-working tug who just wanted to get the job done. Yes, we all agreed that Zob was Captain Zero's best purchase and that was just as well after… but I mustn't say anymore, or I'll spoil a very future story.
The End
Author's notes: Well, finally, Little Owl has learned sense about her grudge on the Z-Stacks! In-universe, it only took... 16 years! We also learn more about the backstory of Zob, and a bit more about Captain Lucky and her daughter, Andrea. Primrose also gets a cameo, as does the infamous Francis, Herbert and Stanley/Smugder. This is one of my favourite fan stories thus far.
Next up, an infamous tramper says he has Nothing to Delcare. This will be the last annual/Buzz book adaption. It will be originals and SL's adaptions from there on out.