It was the day of the Vicar's Annual Fete, and everyone was excited. Some visitors had come to participate alongside Trevor and Pegasus the Cart Horse. Elizabeth was there, and Miss Jenny had allowed Buster and Isobella to come too.

Presently, they heard another whistle and another traction engine puffed into view. She was bigger than Trevor and had a large roof like a steam roller, but what caught everyone's attention was the sight of a crane arm attached to her.

"Hullo," said Trevor. "Who might you be?"

"I'm Deborah," said the traction engine.

"And I'm Trevor. I've never seen you around here before."

"That's because I live on the Mainland," said Deborah. "My owner heard about the Vicar's Fete and asked if I could visit with him."

"Well, I'm sure you will enjoy yourselves."

Trevor was right.

The Fete was a great success. Trevor, Pegasus, and Isabella gave rides around the Orchard, Elizabeth, Buster, and Deborah showed off for the visitors and the Brass Band played beautiful music. Deborah even demonstrated how she used her crane to lift heavy things. Everyone was impressed, except Isobella.

That night, Elizabeth and the others stayed at the Orchard with Trevor.

"What a Fete," said Buster happily. "I've never seen such crowds."

"They were most impressed I think," agreed Elizabeth, "especially by you, Deborah. It's not every day we see a steam crane like you."

"Pah," huffed Isobella. "It's silly if you ask me. My friend, Kelly, is a crane and he can lift heavier loads much farther."

"What about Harvey?" Buster asked. "He's a tank engine and he has a crane. All cranes used to be powered by steam you know."

"I do know," hissed Isobella. "Harvey's much bigger and I've seen bigger steam cranes that can be moved around. Why would anyone put a crane on a traction engine?"

"I may not be very big or lift as much as other cranes," said Deborah calmly, "but I can be quite helpful."

"Of course, you can," said Trevor.

"That I'd like to see," Isobella muttered to herself.

The next morning, Edward collected Buster and Isobella and took them to their next job. Some new warehouses were being built and work had already begun. Buster quickly helped Byron to level the site.

Isobella was pleased to be working with Kelly again. "Now this is a proper crane if I ever saw one." But she said it to herself.

Work was going well when suddenly, Kelly's crane arm shuttered and shook making the most awful noises. Then, his engine coughed, his crane arm dropped, and his load went everywhere. "Oh bother," sighed Kelly.

Luckily, no one was hurt.

Kelly's Operator and Banksman inspected him.

"You're crane engine's given out," said his Operator.

"I'm sorry, Miss Jenny," said Kelly sadly.

"Not your fault, Kelly," Miss Jenny replied. "The important thing is that you're alright."

"But what about the warehouses? There's bad weather coming soon, and you can't continue the job without me."

"What about Deborah?" Buster asked. "If she's still here, I'm sure she can help."

"An excellent idea," said the Foreman and telephoned the Vicarage at once.

Deborah was still waiting to leave when the Vicar walked up to her. "Kelly's crane arm has broken down," he said. "The Foreman wants you to help in his place."

"Right away, Sir," said Deborah.

"Come on," said her Driver. "Let's show the Sodor Construction Company what you can do.

James brought Deborah to the building site, and she was quickly unloaded. Her fire was lit, and warmth spread through her boiler. "I'm afraid I won't be able to do as much as your other crane," she said.

"Don't worry about that," said Miss Jenny. "We just need to do enough before the weather changes."

Deborah was right. She couldn't lift as much as Kelly and she wasn't as fast or strong either, but she still worked hard lifting, loading, and unloading all day long.

It was dark when the Pack were finished. And everyone set about preparing the site for the bad weather.

"I'm very proud of you all," said Miss Jenny. "We may not have done as much today as we had hoped, but thanks to Deborah, we won't be starting from scratch when the weather's better."

The machines honked their horns and blew their whistles, and everyone cheered.

Isobella felt ashamed and rolled alongside Deborah. "I'm sorry, Deborah," she said. "I shouldn't have insulted you yesterday. I see now that you are a very reliable traction engine."

"Thank you, Isobella."

"And I think you deserve to show off more of what you can do," said Deborah's Owner. "Miss Jenny, can Deborah help finish this job? I'm sure you can use some more help, including another crane once Kelly's repaired."

"Of course, she can," Miss Jenny replied. Deborah beamed and went as red as Jack and everyone honked, whistled, and cheered once more, but the loudest of all was none other than Isobella herself.