DONCASTER DELIVERY

Written by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens

Set between Blue Mountain Mystery and King of the Railway

One day, on the Ffarquhar branch line, Toby and Henrietta were carrying some passengers down to Knapford.

"Oh, today's the day!" grinned one of them. "I can't believe they're finally visiting!"

"Great…" A second one rolled her eyes. "I'll be stuck with the railfans for a few weeks."

"Oh, come on, Bridget. Don't you want to spend those few weeks with your nephews?" asked a third. "Besides, I'm traveling with an extra passenger myself and that's not stopping me."

"Well, Richard and Charles are rather sweet," Bridget admitted. "It'll be nice to see how much they've grown."

"I remember when you three were children," chuckled Toby. "Annabelle would always make our day by drawing pictures or giving us a wave, and Pansy would sing songs about us."

"And making sure you were kept in line," added Henrietta pointedly.

"Okay, so I said a few silly things," grunted Bridget. "Quit rubbing it in!"

"Once done, never forgotten," Annabelle said innocently, before imitating Bridget, "'Is it electric, grandfather?'" Bridget just scoffed and crossed her arms as Pansy, Toby and Henrietta chuckled.


Eventually, Toby and Henrietta came to the station, where Emily, Martha and Julian were waiting.

"Right on time," smiled Annabelle. "Well done to both of you."

"Thank you, Annabelle," replied Toby.

"Annabelle, Pansy!" cried Stephen, rushing over to hug his cousin and old friend. "Oh, it's great to see you!"

"Stephen, welcome back!" grinned Annabelle. "And hello, Helen." Because of her large stomach, Helen was slowly walking over to meet with her distant cousin and sister-in-law.

"Mommy, Pansy?" said Charles, her youngest son. "You okay?"

"They are both fine; mommy has our brother or sister in her tummy, and Pansy also has a baby," said Richard, his older brother.

"Baby in mommy and Pansy?!" cried Charles.

Helen chuckled and hugged both of her sons. "Yes, I can't wait to see this little one."

"Neither can I," chuckled Pansy. "This will be an exciting time for us."

"Edward mentioned that he once carried Annabelle's mother, Barbara, to the hospital on his train," said Emily.

"We should ask aunt Barbara about that if we get the chance," said Richard. "I bet it was very exciting!"

"I think that explains this one's love of railways," chuckled Stephen, gesturing to Annabelle.

"Well, you were the one who took over the family business of the Rolling Hills," said Annabelle.

"Only because you didn't want to leave your little paradise here."

"And who can blame her?" laughed Pansy. "Nothing can compete with Sodor's railways."

As the three friends giggled, Bridget just facepalmed herself. How did I end up as Stephen's sister instead of Annabelle?

"Awntie!" said Charles, walking over to her and giving her a hug. "Hi!"

"It's good to see you too, Charles," said Bridget, returning the hug. "You and Richard have really grown. How old are you now?"

"I'm four, going on five," said Richard.

"Awmost two!" said Charles.

"Aww, they're so sweet," said Emily. "Richard, have you started school yet?"

"Almost," said Richard. "I hope to learn enough to run with you or Toby one day. Or any of the engines on Sodor, for that matter."

"We'd be honored, young one," smiled Toby. "And while you're not old enough to use my controls, I do remember a special occasion that your dad and aunt went on when they were little."

"Your cab ride, right?" asked Stephen. "Oh, grandfather remembers that fondly."

"Oh, can we do it too, daddy?" asked Richard. "Please?"

"Cabby wide!" grinned Charles.

"I don't see why not," smiled Stephen. "As long as it's approved of."

Fortunately, Toby's driver and fireman both agreed with the idea, and the family all climbed aboard.

"I hope you enjoy this too, little one," Helen said to her unborn baby.

"Of course they will," chuckled Pansy. "No one can turn down a cab ride. Can they, my darling?" She also smiled at her unborn baby.

Toby rang his bell and started to trundle away. Emily watched the little tram engine disappear into the distance.

"Toby's so lucky," she said to herself. "It's not every engine who meets the Hatts while they're on vacation."

"Finally!" grunted Martha. "Peace at last from that toddler."

"He was way too noisy on the way up– ouch!"

"Behave yourselves!" snapped Emily. "Next time, I may take other coaches and leave you behind!" Martha and Julian didn't say a word to that.


On the Ffarquhar branch line, Richard and Charles were admiring the scenery.

"Lambs!" cried Charles. "Baa, baa!"

"Yes, that's right, Charles," said Helen. "Lambs do 'baa'."

"Looks like there's a few new ones," said Henrietta. "Oh, I remember several years ago, when Toby and I had to help some newborn lambs during a rough winter."

"I even had to cross a rickety bridge just to get there," added Toby.

"Ooh!" cried Richard. "I bet you were very brave, Toby and Henrietta."

"I was a bit scared," admitted Toby, "but I didn't want to let the lambs down, so I plowed ahead and made it across to the other side. I couldn't have done it without Henrietta's encouragement though."

"That's what coaches are for, dear," chuckled Henrietta.

"Even Martha and Julian?" asked Richard. "They… didn't seem the nicest when Emily was taking them."

"Oh… them," sighed Toby. "I can't put my buffer on what happened, but they were once as sweet as Emily… and now they're not."

"Maybe they'll come around… someday," said Henrietta.


Being on the Ffarquhar branch, Toby and Henrietta were lucky not to deal with the brunt of the insults of the two coaches. Of course, Emily, being Martha and Julian's engine, wasn't so lucky.

"Why do we have to take the Hatts to the winter fair?" complained Martha. "Charles is just going to spill food over my seats!"

"What if he starts crying again?" snorted Julian. "Ugh, if I could, I'd block my ears."

"We don't have ears!"

"Well, how do we hear then?"

"Shut up!" snapped Emily. "Stephen and his family are honored guests on Sodor. He's the son of our controller!"

"And Charles is only a toddler," added Edward, pulling in with his own train. "He'll learn good etiquette with time."

"They do take a lot of patience," said Stephen as he led his family to Martha. "And if either of you step out of line, this will be reported straight to my father. He won't like that."

The coaches decided to keep respectfully quiet upon that warning, much to Emily's relief.


"Oh, I can't wait for the winter fair," said Richard. "I want to see if Alice and I can have a snowball fight."

"Don't you catch a cold while you're out there, son," said Helen. "Keep your scarf and mittens on."

"Okay, mommy."

"Fair, fair!" cried Charles; he was practically bouncing around in his father's lap.

"Careful, son," said Stephen. "You don't want to drop Bouncy." He was referring to the white bunny toy in his arms.

"Emily's a very smooth rider," assured Annabelle. "I know she wouldn't cause an incident where Charles would lose his toy."

While Annabelle was right, neither she nor Emily knew they were heading for trouble…

"Baa!"

"Whoa!" Emily's brakes screeched on hard; a stray sheep had wandered onto the tracks and had no idea where he was.

"Are you alright, ol' girl?" asked her driver.

"I think so," she panted. "That sheep doesn't look hurt either. Martha, Julian, Hatts, what about you?" But all Emily and her coaches could hear was a loud wailing noise.

"It's alright, Charles; we'll find Bouncy and bring him to safety."

"Why is he so upset over a toy?" asked Martha. "There's plenty of toy bunnies out there!"

"Yeah," added Julian. "Find him another one; that'll fix his screaming."

"Is that really the right thing to say to a nearly two year old child who lost his toy?" snapped Emily. "To him, there's no other he'd want."

"Charles," said Annabelle gently. "How about I read you a story while your parents look for Bouncy? You like it when I read, right?"

Charles calmed down upon hearing his distant cousin's suggestion, although his eyes were still a little red from crying. Annabelle got out a book with a picture of Toby on the front.

"Of all the books, it had to be that one?" muttered Bridget.

"He loves seeing his dad as a little boy," said Annabelle. "You know, you could always ask if you could show up in another book."

"I guess…"

"And I know the perfect song to go along with it," added Pansy. "Annabelle, whenever you're ready."

Annabelle quickly launched into the tale, and both Charles and Richard were listening to their cousin with eager smiles. What the family, coaches and Emily hadn't realized was that the sudden stop had brought even more trouble, and the frosty weather did little to help. As Emily started to move again, she felt a large strain.

"Ugh," she groaned. "Now you two are behaving like troublesome trucks due to Charles' crying?!"

"That wasn't us this time!" insisted Martha.

"Then… why can't I get moving?" groaned Emily.

Emily's driver quickly stopped the train. "Let's see what's happened…" She scrambled down with the stoker and looked at the couplings. "No… Martha and Julian's couplings are fine."

"If it's not them," said Emily, "then what's the problem?"

"Kayla, you may want to see this," called the stoker.

"What… oh! Emily!" cried her driver. "Your tender coupling is weak!"

"What?!" cried Emily. "Oh… why didn't I go in for maintenance like Sir Topham Hatt said?"

"Never mind, ol' girl," soothed her stoker. "We'll get someone else to take the train." But just as she was about to head off to the nearest telephone, there came a scream from inside Martha.

"Mommy hurt?!" cried Charles.

"No, son," said Stephen. "Mommy's having a baby. Annabelle, take the kids into Julian!"

Without needing to be told twice, Annabelle led Richard and Charles out of Martha, where they would soon board Julian instead. Helen was now clutching Stephen's hand rather tightly, much to his discomfort.

"Bridget, call an ambulance!"

"Got it, Stephen!" Bridget leapt out of Martha.

"Oh, there's not much time!" said Emily's driver. "I doubt an ambulance can get here on the frosty road!"

"What about me?" asked Emily. "I know my tender coupling's weak, but what other choice have we got?"

"Good point," said Emily's stoker. "You can't go full speed though. We can't risk the coupling snapping altogether."

Emily's crew made some adjustments to the tender coupling to strengthen it as best as they could, and once Bridget had returned and boarded the train again, Emily set off to Wellsworth as quickly, but carefully, as she could.

"This baby needs all the help he or she can get," whispered Emily. "And so does Helen… I've got to make it!"

To make matters worse, the rails were very slippery from the frost.

"Ugh," groaned Emily. "Come on… wheels, don't fail me now…" Thankfully, her sandboxes were still in good working order, so they were able to help grip the rails.


Emily was just passing through Crosby station when she began to speed up a little.

"Not long now," she panted. "At this rate, we'll reach Wellsworth and meet up with that ambulance!"

But she'd spoken too soon, for all of a sudden, with a groan and a crack, she felt nothing behind her.

"Oh no!" cried Emily. "The Hatts! My coaches!" Her stoker had managed to jump into her cab, and she and the driver watched as the gap between Emily and her tender widened.

"That's torn it," groaned the stoker. "I don't think we'll be going any further."

"But what about Helen's baby?" asked Emily. "They both need our help or else they'll freeze!"

"Or not have a comfortable birth!" said the driver. "What shall we do?"

"Need some help?" asked a familiar voice.

"Henry, Gordon!" sighed Emily in relief. "Am I glad to see you. Helen's having her baby, and…"

"Already?!" cried Gordon. "Surely it can't be that soon…"

"Gordon, you take Helen and her family to the hospital," said Henry. "I'll take Emily to the Steamworks."

"Of course I will."

Both engines quickly maneuvered around the train and Gordon was coupled to Martha and Julian. Normally, Gordon would have complained about pulling "low-class" coaches, but now wasn't the time.

"Emergency train coming through!" He went off as carefully as he could, but Martha and Julian were taken aback by his speed.

"He'll get there with plenty of time to spare," Emily said quietly. "I'm just sorry I couldn't make it."

"Don't be, Emily," said Henry. "You did better than me; my tender came apart because of a petty argument I had with James."

"Thanks, Henry…"


As Gordon continued down the line, Stephen was trying to keep his wife as calm as possible. Pansy and Bridget gave Helen space.

"Gordon is one of the fastest engines the island's ever seen," said Stephen. "If anyone can get us to the hospital, it's him."

"I-I know…" winced Helen.

"Don't worry, Helen," soothed Pansy. "Your baby will be delivered safely– huh?! Agh!"

"Pansy?!" cried Bridget. "Pansy, are you alright?!"

"I think I'm about to have my baby as well!" cried Pansy.

"Oh dear!" cried Bridget. "I'll call your husband when we get to the hospital."

"Two babies at once?!" exclaimed Gordon. "They'd better have a second ambulance ready!"

"We can't stop and call one," said the driver. "Just drop the sand and go as steady as you can."

"Understood, driver." Gordon's wheels struggled for a bit, the sand did make a difference. He steadily continued on his way, hoping both mothers and babies would be alright.

Perhaps it was a lucky thing that Gordon wasn't the only one aware of the situation.


It wasn't long before Wellsworth was in sight.

"Gordon, excellent timing," said another voice.

"Bertrand!" cried Gordon. "We'll need a second ambulance for–"

"My driver already called ahead," said the yellow bus. "There's another on its way."

Sure enough, two sirens sounded and then two white vans pulled up into the station parking lot. Helen and Pansy were carefully led out of the train by Stephen and Bridget where they could be picked up by the ambulances. Annabelle, Richard and Charles followed shortly behind.

"Phew," wheeshed Gordon, relieved to see the expecting mothers in safe hands.

"Well done, ol' boy," said his driver. "That was brave acting."


That evening, Emily, Henry and Gordon were telling the other engines about what had happened.

"Helen and Pansy having babies at the same time?!" gasped James. "What are the chances?"

"I don't know," said Percy. "But I'm glad they both made it safely to the hospital. Well done, Gordon."

"Give credit to Emily too," said Gordon. "If not for her efforts, who knows if they would have gotten there in time."

"Sounds like a Doncaster delivery if you ask me," chuckled Thomas. "You both did a great job."

"I wonder what these new babies will be called," said Henry. "Will there be two boys or two girls?"

"Well, I can't wait to welcome them to the Sudrian family," said Edward.


"A boy and a girl?!" gasped Gordon. Emily also went wide eyed.

"Yes, Gordon and Emily," said Pansy. "This is my son, and the baby Helen is holding is her daughter."

In Helen's arms was a bundle wrapped in a pink blanket; Richard and Charles were trying to get a glimpse of their new baby sister.

"Wittle sister!" babbled Charles.

"Hi, sister," said Richard. "We're your brothers!"

"Careful, you two," said Stephen. "She and her future playmate are just babies."

"Indeed," said Ian; Pansy's husband. "They still have much growing to do."

"Did you name them?" asked Emily. "Or are they just called 'the babies'?"

"Stephen and I decided to name our daughter after you," smiled Helen. "Emily Helen Hatt."

"And the boy we've named after Gordon," added Pansy. "Gordon Ian Trent."

"Oh my…" gasped Emily. "We'd be honored."

"Thank you, all of you," smiled Gordon.

"No, thank you," said Helen. "If not for you two, we'd have given birth in the cold."

"We'd better get these little ones back to our homes," said Pansy. "Come along."

"I'd honestly rather have toddlers jumping on our seats than having two women having babies inside of us," muttered Martha as the families headed for home.

"Yes, you said it," agreed Julian. "Just imagine the mess they'll have to clean up!"

"And I don't think I want to go that fast again," sighed Martha.

"You both did very well," said Emily. "Times like this where I am proud to call you my coaches. And Gordon, I can't thank you and Henry enough."

"Glad we could help," smiled Gordon. "We Sudrians look out for each other."

And with that, both engines departed, glad to welcome two newcomers into their family.

THE END


Author's Comments

Originally, this was going to be called Emily's Delivery, but when Rachel suggested having Gordon help out as well, the title was changed to properly reflect that. It was certainly a change for the better since Gordon didn't have a whole lot to work with in the Brenner era in which he wasn't a pompous git. So, it was nice to portray him in a positive light for a change. Plus, after four stories without any of them appearing (barring a couple of mentions), it's nice to see all of the original Steam Team together in a story. Another change we made while writing it was that it was originally Gwen Regaby (Annabelle's cousin) who was going to be Little Gordon's mother, but Rachel and I ended up switching to Pansy Percival instead. Don't worry; Gwen will show up for a future story in this set.

Upcoming stories:

- The Lion and the Antelope - The engines become afraid of a new crane that's been brought to help at Crock's Scrap Yard. However, one of the engines has a history with him...

- Diesels and Bluebells - BoCo's first day on the Bluebell Railway as ambassador to the North Western Railway is met with controversy as some enthusiasts were expecting a steam engine instead of a diesel. Can BoCo win those enthusiasts over?

- A Special Friend for Duck - Duck witnesses an incident at Knapford station in which a child is belittled for being unable to handle big environments.

- Serious Sigrid - A new diesel is brought to help out on the Arlesdale Railway, but Rex, Bert and Mike soon find out that she'll stand for no nonsense from anyone.

- Catering Gator - What happened when Gator returned to Sodor for the holidays? (Christmas 2023 story)