Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree
Thomas & Friends is copyright to Mattel and the Awdry family. I own nothing.
Every Christmas Eve there is a carol concert on the Island of Sodor. The town band plays and lots of people come to sing carols around the Christmas tree. Afterwards there is always a special treat for the children and, this year, the Fat Controller wanted the party to be an extra special celebration.
It was the day before the carol concert. The Fat Controller was very busy giving orders for everywhere to be scrubbed and polished, ready for the special night. The engines were all very excited. They had been helping with the preparations and now Henry, Gordon and Thomas were waiting at the station for the Fat Controller to give them their final orders. "You all have jobs to do." said the Fat Controller. "Henry," he said importantly, "you are in charge of the cards, letters and parcels. Gordon, you will bring the mayor." The Fat Controller paused impressively. "And Thomas... you will have the most important job. I want you to fetch the Christmas Tree. Duck will look after Annie and Clarabel until you get back."
Thomas beamed with pride. "Yes, sir." he said. "Will we be able to watch the carols too?"
"We'll see." promised the Fat Controller.
~8~
That night the other engines sulked in their shed. "Why should Thomas go?" grumbled Henry. "He can't do anything a splendid green engine like me couldn't do."
"Nor me." agreed Gordon. "Anyone would think he was special or something."
But Thomas didn't care what they said. He had been picked for the most important job. "You're only jealous." he said, and he shut his eyes and went to sleep.
~8~
Next morning, Thomas set off to fetch the Christmas tree. "It would be nice to watch the carols again." he sighed as he puffed along on his important mission.
Thomas had to go down the main line, through Edward's Station, to pick up the tree from the Works Station. The Fat Controller said that Thomas had to be back by teatime.
Thomas picked up the tree safely and set off on the return journey. "I mustn't be late." he thought. "The Fat Controller is relying on me." But it had been snowing again. Large snowdrifts lay ahead and Thomas wasn't wearing his snowplough. He whistled bravely and tried to make his way through. He ran into a snowdrift and tried to turn his wheels, but it was no good - he was stuck. There was worse to come. The wind blew more snow all over him. Poor Thomas was snowed under!
~8~
Back at the Big Station it had been snowing too. The workmen rushed off to fetch their shovels to clear a path for the visitors. The other engines waited for Thomas to come back. They waited and waited. "Perhaps he's stuck in a tunnel somewhere?" suggested Gordon.
Henry let off steam indignantly. "Pooh!" he said. "He's much more likely to have been turned onto the branch line."
"He coulda run into a cow." suggested Donald.
"Or crashed into a signal box." Henry and Gordon retorted.
"Silence!" said the Fat Controller. "We know that Thomas collected the tree safely, but now the snow has brought down the telephone wires. We must assume that Thomas is stranded somewhere near Edward's Station."
The engines now all felt sorry for Thomas. "Wurr not going to leave him there, sir, are we?" asked Douglas.
"Certainly not." said the Fat Controller. "I will need two volunteers to go and find Thomas."
All the engines hooted at once! They all wanted to help rescue Thomas. The twins, Donald and Douglas, were chosen for the job. Quickly the men fetched the snowploughs and the drivers and firemen checked each one to see that everything was ready for the journey. Then the twins were coupled back-to-back with the workmen's coach between their tenders, and feeling cold but confident, Donald and Douglas set off to the rescue. "Good luck." the other engines whistled as the twins left the yard.
At the Junction, they met Toby, Percy, Duck and Daisy. "The Fat Controller has cancelled all trains until Thomas is found," said Duck, "so take care."
"Come back safely with Thomas and the missing Christmas tree." added Toby, giving a final ring of his bell, just for luck.
~8~
Donald and Douglas puffed bravely on, but the snow was getting thicker now. They struggled through Edward's Station where Donald wanted to rest but Douglas wouldn't let him. "What if Thomas is laying hurt somewhere?" he said.
Great snowdrifts lay across Gordon's Hill. Again and again Donald and Douglas forced the snowploughs into the deep snow, and each time they managed to move slowly forward. Then they drew back and paused for breath.
"What's that?" hissed Douglas. "I can hear something."
Very faintly, there came a muffled cry, "Help! Help!"
"Probably the wind." insisted Donald.
"Noo, listen." insisted Douglas.
"Help! Over here!"
"Och! It's Thomas!" they cried together.
"Come on," said Douglas, "let's get him out - the poor wee engine must be frozen to his frames in there."
The men began to dig the snow away. Thomas' driver and fireman, who had taken shelter in a nearby cottage, came out to help too. It wasn't long before they had dug Thomas and the missing Christmas tree out of the snow. Thomas was glad to see the twins but he was feeling cold and miserable. The men coupled him up behind Donald and Douglas and they all set off on their journey home.
~8~
When the engines arrived back at the Big Station, everyone gave Thomas such a warm welcome that he began to feel quite cheerful again. The Christmas tree was quickly unloaded, put into it's tub and decorated for the carol concert. There was a great rush to get the station ready and by the time Gordon arrived with the mayor, everything looked splendid.
The Fat Controller stood in front of the engines. "As a reward for all your hard work today," he said, smiling, "you may go and enjoy the carols. Be quick now!"
"Yes, sir." said all the engines.
"Weesh!" said James, letting off steam because he was so pleased.
The Fat Controller paused. "Kindly remember that this is a special occasion. Be on your best behaviour and I want no... er... 'weeshing', please."
~8~
The engines took their places at the carol concert. "One! Two! Three!" boomed the Fat Controller. And suddenly, as if by magic, the station was flooded with light. And there was the Christmas tree, decorated with coloured lamps, stars and fairy lights. Then the Fat Controller shouted, "Three cheers for Thomas the Tank Engine and all his friends, who have made this occasion possible." And everyone clapped and cheered.
The engines were delighted. James was so excited that he let out a great "weesh!" Everyone laughed, and this time not even the Fat Controller seemed to mind very much.
Suddenly, there was a loud whirring noise. It seemed to come from the sky and there, with his landing lights shining brightly, was Harold the Helicopter. He touched down gently in the snow-covered car park, and out stepped a stout figure wearing a red cloak. Everyone cheered. It was Father Christmas! He handed out presents to all the children, and thanked the engines for rescuing Thomas and saving the missing Christmas tree. "Happy Christmas, Thomas, and to all your friends." he said.
The carol party was a great success. Afterwards, the engines went back to their respective sheds. "It's no fun getting stuck in the snow," said Thomas to Percy, "but it was worth it for the party. Happy Christmas, Percy. Happy Christmas, everyone!"
Author's notes: Thought I'd do another TTTE episode adaptation and in the spirit of the season, I've chosen the series 2 finale Thomas & the Missing Christmas Tree. I've used the Ladybird books adaptation of the episode for reference, which was more faithful to Christopher Awdry's original book than the TV series adaptation, which omitted several scenes to fit the five minute timeslot. It's a pity they didn't make the episode as a ten minute Christmas special, that way it could've been more faithful to the book. That said, I like how series 1-3 all ended with a Christmas episode as it felt very wholesome to end the series that way. So, hope you like this story and I'd like to wish everyone a merry Christmas!