FLATBEDS OF FEAR

Based upon the episode by Paul Larson and Laura Beaumont

Adapted by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens

"I can't believe that a dinosaur skeleton was at the china clay pits the whole time!" Percy was at the Steamworks being repaired after rescuing James from an avalanche at the china clay pits, and it was there that the skeleton of a Megalosaurus had been uncovered. Plans were being made to put it on display outside of Tidmouth station.

"You'd be amazed at what can be found," chuckled Rheneas from one of the narrow gauge lines. "Once, when Skarloey and I were really young, we found a dinosaur skeleton ourselves."

"Oh, wow," gasped Percy. "Where is it now?"

"A museum on the mainland," replied Rheneas, before chuckling. "Oh, that was quite the tale."

"You're about to tell that old story, aren't you?" laughed Skarloey. "Ah, yes. We used to call them the 'flatbeds of fear'."

"Flatbeds of fear?" asked Percy.

"To make a long story short," said Rheneas, "I was taking the skeleton up the hill on some flatbeds. Unfortunately for me, the flatbeds were very heavy, and uncoupled."

"Then they raced by me…" Skarloey continued. "I thought the dinosaur was alive! Though I was told by my crew that it wasn't, I was still partly convinced it was, even after I helped Rheneas tow it to Crovan's Gate."

"I still can't believe you of all engines would think that, Skarloey," gasped Percy.

"Well, no one starts out old and wise, Percy," Skarloey chuckled. "I think I still have some of my wild imagination from my young days." The green tank engine had to agree.

A few months later, Percy was recounting the story to some of the other engines, although there were points in which he exaggerated the events.

"…and so, the flatbeds of fear still roam around," he grinned, "looking for an engine to pull them!"

"Are you sure about that last point?" smirked Edward.

"Well, it could happen," Percy metaphorically shrugged.

"Pah!" snorted Gordon. "Rolling stock doesn't roam the rails on their own unless it's a runaway."

"All the same," said Emily, "we don't want there to be runaways. And did Skarloey and Rheneas manage to deliver the skeleton?"

"Oh, yes," said Percy. "I'm just saying the flatbeds of fear don't have anything on them."

"Then why are they looking for an engine to pull them?" remarked Henry.

"Er… to get back to the yard, of course!"

"Right," chuckled Edward. "Now, I think that's enough storytelling for tonight. Let's get some sleep."

The engines all did so, but Thomas had been remarkably quiet throughout Percy's story. In fact, he hadn't said too much to Percy since the dinosaur unveiling…

The following morning, a thick fog had rolled in across Sodor. Because of limited visibility, the engines were advised to take care in such conditions, and had to turn on their headlamps.

"Where's Rudolph when you need him?" Thomas remarked.

"It's a bit late for that, Thomas," chuckled Annie.

"It's never too late to think about Christmas," the blue tank engine countered.

"Then again, it is a rather cute story," Clarabel chuckled. "A reindeer guiding the sleigh with presents for the children."

"Speaking of stories, it is good to see Percy telling spooky stories again," said Annie. "Haven't seen that for years."

"Yeah… it has been a long time," Thomas said quietly. He pulled up to Hackenbeck station for a drink.

"Are you alright there, Thomas?" asked another voice. Thomas glanced up to see Toby with Henrietta.

"Not really," sighed the blue tank engine. "I… I've been thinking about my treatment of Percy for the last several years."

"Being overprotective, right?"

Thomas sighed. "Yeah… I should have let Percy fight his own battles. He's very capable of doing that… and he wasn't for a time… because I kept jumping in where I didn't belong."

Toby glanced down at his cowcatcher. "And I was no help either."

"How so, Toby?" asked Thomas. "You weren't involved with my actions."

"Exactly," Toby said pointedly. "I was… letting everything happen around me; letting engines find out for themselves that their line of thinking is wrong. And in most cases, it does work. But in this case… not so much."

"Well, it did," admitted Thomas. "Several years down the line… er, no pun intended."

"And it could have been resolved sooner," Toby sighed. "I think we both need to talk to Percy, and clean up the slate once and for all."

"I think that's a very sensible idea," said Henrietta.

Up at Anopha quarry, Percy was lost in thought as well.

"Why hasn't Thomas spoken to me that much since the unveiling of the dinosaur?" he asked. "It wasn't as if I played a trick on him that backfired…"

"Hmm," wondered Mavis. "Percy… you said that Thomas was being overprotective of you for a long time."

"Well… yes," said Percy. "Admittedly, I had become more reliant on him until that landslide."

"Maybe Thomas feels guilty about overdoing it," Mavis suggested. "And he's afraid it may happen again."

"Hmm," pondered Percy. "I think you could be right. I'll go and speak with him about this."

"Do you want me to get Mrs. Kyndley on standby?" asked Mavis.

"Oh, that would be great, Mavis," smiled Percy. "Thank you."

"Always happy to help, honey," said Mavis.

Unfortunately, Percy was very busy that day, and couldn't find Thomas or Toby anywhere. But what Toby did find was that he had to double head a train of flatbeds of timber for the schoolhouse with Rosie. Bruno was at the back of the train.

"Bless my bell," exclaimed Toby when he saw the load of timber. "That's a lot of timber for one schoolhouse!"

"Good thing we're doing this together," grinned Rosie. "I believe they used the timber from last year's Christmas trees."

"They're going to expand the school for more students," added Bruno. "A bit too crowded for my liking, if you ask me."

"I understand, Bruno," Toby said as he buffered up to the flatbeds. Once Rosie was coupled up as well, and the guard's whistle sounded, she and Toby started to pull the train. "There's no way I could manage this solo. Thomas and Percy are busy enough as it is."

"Are Thomas and Percy talking again yet?" asked Rosie.

"A little bit, but not completely," Toby admitted, and quickly explained what Thomas had told him at Hackenbeck.

"Oh… I see," said Bruno. "I never knew Percy before that time. He was usually skittish when I saw him."

"He's quite a confident tank engine," Rosie told him. "He told me about that time he braved a flood to keep a promise to Thomas, while his firebox was being sloshed with water."

"Wow," smiled Bruno. "That's very brave."

Soon, the two engines started approaching the hill.

"Okay, Bruno!" called Rosie. "When I say so, pin down your brakes before we go down!"

"Understood," the brake van replied. The uphill journey was quite uneventful, as the flatbeds were non-sentient, and both engines reached the top.

"Now, Bruno!"

Unfortunately, as Bruno's guard tried to apply the brakes, there was a problem. "Uh… Rosie, Toby…"

"What's wrong, Bruno?" asked Rosie.

"My brakes aren't working!"

"Uh oh!" cried Toby. "Rosie, we have to apply our brakes before–"

It was already too late. The weight of the flatbeds was starting to push Toby and Rosie down the hill.

"Whoa!" whistled Rosie. "Someone help us!"

"Driver, fireman!" called Toby. "Brakes, please!"

To make matters even worse, the two engines had their crews thrown clear, and Bruno's guard also jumped clear.

"You were saying, Toby?"

"Or… not…"

Meanwhile, at Dryaw, Percy finally managed to find Thomas.

"There you are," the green tank engine sighed. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

"Same here," said Thomas. "Percy… about why I wasn't talking to you lately. I…" But he was interrupted by the sound of screaming from a distance.

"Is that… Toby, Rosie and Bruno?" asked Percy.

"It is!" cried Thomas. "They're in trouble, and I've got to–" He broke off, and glanced at his best friend. "No… we've got to save them."

"You're right," Percy said determinedly. "We can't do this alone. And I think I have an idea." He quickly outlined it to Thomas, who grinned.

The two engines raced off and quickly found the crews of Toby and Rosie, who were slightly bruised, but otherwise unhurt. They, along with Bruno's guard, scrambled aboard Thomas and Percy.

"You're faster than me, Thomas," said Percy. "You go to the front of the train, and I'll go to the back."

"Got it, Percy!" The blue tank engine went as fast as he could. Usually, Thomas would go this fast in friendly competitions with Bertie, but that was far from what was on his mind right now. "Toby, Rosie!"

"Thomas!" they cried.

"It's very dangerous up here!" said Rosie. "What are you doing?!"

"Trying to get level with your cabs!"

Rosie raised a confused eyebrow, but upon noticing the cable around Thomas, Toby quickly understood. "Ah, I get it."

"Careful, there, Thomas!" called his driver. Toby's driver clung on tightly to the cable, and carefully maneuvered over to the tram engine.

"Almost there… ah, got it!" Toby's driver was safely aboard.

"Now for Rosie," said Thomas. "Toby, try and slow down as much as possible!"

Meanwhile, at the other end, Percy was trying to get Bruno's guard into the brake van.

"I won't be able to apply his brakes," said the guard.

"Don't worry," said Percy. "You just have to couple me up to the back."

"Understood," the guard nodded. Like Thomas, Percy also had a cable attached to him. The guard scrambled out of the cab and started to walk towards Bruno. He kept on slipping and almost falling, but he managed to gain balance.

"You can do it!" called Percy.

"We believe in you!" said Bruno. Eventually, the guard managed to jump onto Bruno's step and get into him.

Back up front, Thomas was drawing level to Rosie's cab. Her driver carefully jumped aboard and applied the brakes. Although Toby and Rosie were now pushing back against the flatbeds, it still wasn't enough to bring the train to a complete stop.

"Percy, what's happening back there?" called Thomas.

"The guard can't apply the brakes, so I have to try and get coupled on!" he cried. "Ugh… it's harder than it looks! Can you couple on and help too?"

"I can't!" cried Thomas. "It may be too risky with Toby and Rosie already at the front of the train."

"Maybe try to go to the back yourself, Thomas–" Rosie suggested.

"There's no time for that!" Toby exclaimed.

"Percy!" called Thomas. "I know you can do it! Just concentrate."

Everything from there blurred in Percy's mind. All he saw was Bruno's coupling and that he needed to couple on and brake. The saddle tank engine moved faster and faster to keep up with the runaway train.

"Come on…" Percy said to himself. "I can do this… I can do this…" Ultimately, he heard the sound of a chain linking with his coupling hook, and right on that note, Percy braked for all he was worth. At that moment, Toby and Rosie were able to brake too.

"Keep going, everyone!" Thomas encouraged. "You're doing great!"

The train managed to slow down and grind to a halt. Toby, Rosie, Thomas and Percy panted as they stopped to catch their breath.

"Well done, you two!" smiled Rosie. "That was amazing!"

"That was… some ride," Toby panted. "Excellent work."

"We're glad you three are okay." sighed Thomas.

"I think Bruno should be taken to the Steamworks before something like this can happen again," said Percy.

"Don't we all," said Rosie. She was uncoupled from the train and took Bruno with her. Now the Ffarqhuar trio were alone.

"So, Thomas," said Percy, "what was it you wanted to say?"

"I… I feel terrible for the way I treated you these past several years," Thomas confessed. "I was sheltering you too much from… so many things. Gordon and James being rude about the signal, the argument with Jinty about being a 'green caterpillar with red stripes', and several other trivial things. Things that I should have trusted you to take care of yourself. And because of that… you often relied on me to fight your battles for you in recent years. And for that… I am so sorry."

"Oh, Thomas…" Percy said quietly. "It was partly my fault too. I'm sorry I allowed all this to happen. Before I met you, your coaches and Edward… I never had real friends. And I thought one of the things friends do for each other is defend each other. I soon realized that while it's true, they also allow their friends to defend themselves."

"And… until you came, Percy," said Thomas. "I never really had a little sibling after I left the Southern Region. And then… when I knew all my siblings were gone… I went to the extreme, because I didn't want to lose you like I did with them."

"That does make sense," said Percy. "I don't have any siblings myself – I was built with whatever parts they could find… and I really like having you and Toby as my 'brothers'."

"I do too," smiled Toby. "I… also apologize for not intervening when I really should have. A lot of the strife could have been avoided if I did that…"

"That's okay, Toby," said Percy. "Even the wisest engines can make mistakes sometimes."

"And I believe we've conquered our own 'flatbeds of fear'," chuckled Thomas. "The engines will not believe it when they hear this."

And indeed, they were most surprised. Sir Topham Hatt was very proud of Thomas and Percy for their quick thinking, and for the fact they and Toby had made up their differences. The Ffarqhuar trio were all seeking therapy from Mrs. Kyndley, which also helped them all out in the long run.

"If Gator saw you now," said Toby, "he would be extremely proud of you, Percy."

"Yes…" trailed Percy. "If only he did…" But that's a story for another time…

THE END

Author's Comments

I don't know why it took me so long to get to doing a Series 18 rewrite, but here we are with Flatbeds of Fear; one of the weaker episodes out of said season, but not one that I'd call outright bad; just average, if anything. I always knew that I wanted to rewrite the episode with Percy playing a role, but keeping Henry involved in some capacity. However, when Rachel got on board, the plan shifted from what I original intended, focusing more on Percy, Thomas and Toby (as well as Rosie to some degree) instead. I don't think I could've done a better attempt at rewriting it had we stuck to the original idea, especially with the Ffarquhar trio clearing the air between them at the end. The main reason for rewriting Flatbeds of Fear was so that I could have it serve as a link between Tale of the Brave and Missing Gator, which, along with Toad's Bright Idea and Long Lost Friend, would've made for a complete tetralogy akin to the Railway Series.

Speaking of which, we'll have Catering Gator out within the next few days before Christmas, so keep an eye out for that!