A Bad Day for Sir Handel

Thomas & Friends is copyright to Mattel and the Awdry family. I own nothing.

Skarloey and Rheneas work on the railway that weaved around the lakes and mountainsides. Their coaches are filled with visitors and the engines are proud to run the line come rain or shine. The engines will never let their passengers down but they are old and tire more easily. Mr Percival, their manager, understood this and he spoke kindly to them, "There's more than enough work for you both on this railway, so I'm sending for two more engines to help run the line."

Skarloey and Rheneas were pleased with this news and promised to give the new engines a big welcome.

~8~

The two new engines looked very smart. One was called Peter Sam, the other Sir Handel. They arrived a few days later. Mr Percival had sent Rheneas to the Works to be mended, but Skarloey was there to greet the new arrivals. They found they had much to learn. "What a small shed." grunted Sir Handel. "This won't do at all. We're much too smart for this old shack!"

"I think it's nice." said Peter Sam.

"Huh! You would!" replied Sir Handel. "And what's that old rubbish over there?"

"Shh!" hissed Peter Sam. "That's Skarloey, the famous old engine." And he whispered to Skarloey, "I'm sorry, Skarloey. Sir Handel's homesick and upset now, but he's quite nice really."

Skarloey felt sorry for Peter Sam.

"Now, Sir Handel," said the fireman, "we'll get you ready for work."

"I'm tired!" grumbled Sir Handel. "Let Peter Sam go. He'd love it!"

"No. Manager's orders, you're first." the fireman told him.

"Oh, well," said Sir Handel sulkily, "I suppose I must." When his driver arrived, Sir Handel puffed away to fetch his coaches. He didn't like the look of the old 4-wheelers at all. "Whatever next?" he snorted. "Those aren't coaches, they're cattle trucks!"

The coaches were most offended. "Ooh!" they screamed. "What a horrid engine!"

"It's not what I'm used to." clanked Sir Handel rebelliously, making for the station. He rolled to the platform just as Gordon arrived with the Express. "Hello." said Sir Handel. "Who are you?"

"I'm Gordon." replied the big engine gruffly. "Who're you?"

"I'm Sir Handel. I've heard of you. You're an express engine, I believe. So am I, but I'm used to smart coaches, not these cattle trucks. Do you have smart coaches? Oh, yes, I see you do. We must have a chat sometime. Sorry I can't stop, must keep time you know." And he puffed off, leaving Gordon at a loss for words.

~8~

Clouds of steam filled the air as Sir Handel huffed and puffed along the line. "Come on, come on." he puffed to the coaches.

"Cattle trucks! Cattle trucks!" fumed the coaches. "Skarloey and Rheneas never talk to us like that!"

Presently, they reached the Top Station. Sir Handel was hoping for a rest but his driver had other ideas. "We'll leave the coaches now and fetch some trucks from the quarry."

"Trucks?!" snorted Sir Handel. "Trucks?!"

"Yes," his driver repeated, "trucks."

Sir Handel jerked forward. "I won't," he muttered, "so there!" His wheels had narrow treads and the rails were old and bumpy, so it wasn't hard for Sir Handel to successfully jerk himself off the line. "Told you." he said triumphantly as he came to rest with his front wheels on the ballast.

His driver telephoned Mr Percival, who came up at once with Peter Sam and the workmen. Mr Percival had a message for Sir Handel. The message was brief and blunt, "I want a word with you later." Then he returned home with Peter Sam and the coaches, leaving the workmen to deal with Sir Handel.

"Come on," they said, "let's get you back on the rails, ya silly engine."

~8~

Sir Handel didn't feel so pleased with himself when he crawled home and found Mr Percival waiting for him. "You're a very naughty engine." he said sternly. "You are rude, conceited and much too big for your wheels. I cannot allow such an attitude on my railway, so you can stay in the shed until you can be trusted to behave."

And after hearing that, I'm sure Sir Handel will be a better engine, aren't you?

Author's notes: I hope everyone's had a good Christmas. Here's my latest work: series 4's A Bad Day for Sir Handel. The biggest change from the TV series is that I've included Mr Percival, who wasn't introduced until series 9 in the TV series. I've put him in here as I like the idea of the narrow-gauge engines having their own controller. After all, they did in the Railway Series. Indeed, Peter Sam was named after the RWS' Thin Controller. I've been in a bit of a series 4 mood lately, so I fancied doing this episode. So, hope you like my adaptation and hope to see you all in the New Year for more stories.