FRIEDA ON THE RAILS AGAIN
Written by Zack Wanzer, James Riddle and Matt St. Onge
Additional material by Rachel Ravens
Set after The Great Railway Show
The Great Railway Show had been a huge deal for the engines of Sodor, for this year marked the first time that any of them had partaken in it, and the results could not have been any more interesting. Henry had forfeited the Strength Competition in order to help Frieda, Germany's competitor, cross the finish line; James came in last place for the Best Decorated Engine Parade; and Gordon had dropped out of the Great Race after fighting back against Vinnie, Canada's competitor, from hurting his brother Flying Scotsman. In his place, Hugo, who was visiting from Germany, took part in the race and got a close second against Connor. Percy had not only managed to win the Shunting Challenge, but he'd also broken the record for fastest time in arranging his train.
A few days had passed since the Great Railway Show, and life was returning to normal on Sodor. Murdoch had recently re-entered service following a lengthy overhaul, which meant that Hiro had returned to Japan. At the Steamworks, Gordon was in the process of having his streamlined casing removed, and Frieda's motion had been repaired after Vinnie and his crew damaged it in the Strength Competition. She was undergoing tests to make sure she'd been repaired properly when Sir Topham Hatt came to see her.
"Oh, guten tag, sir," she said. "Vhat brings you here?"
"Good afternoon, Frieda," greeted Sir Topham Hatt. "I see the workers here at the Steamworks have managed to get your motion repaired rather quickly."
"Oh, ja, sir," said Frieda. "Victor und Kevin are masters at vhat zey do."
CRASH!
"Vell… vhen Kevin's not dropping things und tipping ozer…"
"So I see…" Sir Topham Hatt had glanced over to where Kevin had accidentally dropped some tools from a wooden pallet; the yellow crane chuckled apologetically.
"Anyway," continued Sir Topham Hatt, "I'm glad to hear that, Frieda. Now, as for why I'm here, and seeing as Gordon is currently out of action following his little, er… 'boxing match', I'd like for you to manage the express in his place until he's fully repaired. I've spoken with your controller, Mr. Wolfgang Klein, about the arrangements, and you'll be returning home to Germany the same time as Hugo once the summer rush is over."
"Ja, sir," said Frieda.
"Until then," Sir Topham Hatt added, "I hope you will be a very reliable engine as though you are one of my own. I do not tolerate confusion and delay, but I'm certain you know that."
"Indeed I do, sir," Frieda replied. "Und I promise you I vill do my best."
"Very good," smiled Sir Topham Hatt. "Just make sure not to give the engines reasons to distrust you, and you'll do fine." That last sentence made Frieda feel rather uneasy inside…
Once Frieda was out of the Steamworks, she made her way to Crovan's Gate to collect her coaches. While she waited, she saw Peter Sam pass by with some slate trucks.
"Er, guten tag," Frieda greeted, trying to be polite. Peter Sam took one glance at the German engine before puffing away without a word. Rusty too pulled out with a maintenance train, with a very hurt expression. Sir Handel, who was also at the station, took note of this.
"Can't really say I blame him," he snorted, before shooting Frieda a dirty look. "Especially after how you misgendered his boyfriend."
Frieda winced uncomfortably, as she remembered her first conversation with Peter Sam, the open coaches and Fred.
"I didn't zink my vurds vould have affected zem zis much…" she muttered to herself. "Und his boyfriend… oh mein…"
"Zat's because you never zink before you speak," scolded her driver. "You vere so busy picking fights vith any male engine you came across, you never once zought about zeir feelings."
"Ugh, don't vemind me…" Frieda groaned as the guard's whistle sounded. She puffed away, eager to get away from the other engines giving her dirty looks.
Unfortunately, that turned out to be easier said than done; if the other engines weren't ignoring her, they would give Frieda dirty looks as she passed by. As the German engine pulled into Knapford station, she could hear some of the engines whispering about her.
"There's that Frieda engine," murmured Charlie to the other shunters. "Best stay away from her. Driver says she enjoys being mean to other engines for no reason."
"Now, Charlie," said Edward, "we can't just judge someone based solely on a bad first impression."
"Edward, why would you want to defend an engine who hates males?" asked Paxton. "She was discriminating against us just for our genders. That's just as bad as saying all diesels are bad, and all steam engines are good!"
Frieda flushed red with embarrassment, and as soon as she was uncoupled from her coaches, she puffed away, trying not to be seen.
Later that night, the engines were settling down for sleep at Tidmouth sheds. All was quiet when Frieda backed into Gordon's berth.
"Er… is it alvight if I slept here until Gordon gets back?" she asked.
"Of course," smiled Percy. "There's always room for one more here. At least when there's an open berth available."
"Danke." Frieda backed into the berth between Henry and Edward; an awkward silence followed for a moment or two.
"Since you're our guest for the time being," said Thomas, "do you think you could tell us what life was like for you back in Germany?"
"Vell…" Frieda didn't like to remember her earlier years in Germany. However, these engines were curious enough, and perhaps if they knew, they would finally understand the origin for her distrust of male engines. At last, she took a deep breath, and began her tale.
"I vus built by Friedrich Krupp AG in ze late 1950s along vith two ozer engines - Helga und Gretchen. Ve vere known as ze Black Swans because of our elegant shape. Some time aftervurds, I switched to blue, becoming known as ze Blue Swan instead."
"Well, the blue paintwork is rather distinguished on you," commented Henry. "Makes you stand out a bit more."
"Danke, Henry," Frieda smiled. "Anyvey, my sisters und I vurked as vell as ve could. However, zere vere complications; many of ze other engines on our line vere bigger und stronger zan us. Zey kept insisting zat because zey vere men, zey should be given all ze best jobs vhile ve vere stuck on more common local traffics."
"That's not right at all," insisted Edward. "You didn't deserve going through that."
"Nein; no engine deserves zat at all," Fried agreed. "As time vent on, I began to feel as if all men vere rude und self-centered. My sisters tried to convince me otherwise, but I vus too stubborn to listen. Und so I began trying to prove zat anything male engines could do, females could do as vell, if not better. I vealize now zat zat does not excuse how I acted vhen I first came to Sodor on our vay to ze Great Vailway Show."
"And if it wasn't for Vinnie sabotaging you in the Strength Competition," Thomas added, "you probably would never have let go of that mindset."
"Vell… ja, zere is zat…" Frieda admitted. "Und it vus Henry's selfless actions which made me vealize ze error of mein ways."
Before long, the engines began to tuck in for the night. All, that is, except for Percy, who seemed to be lost in thought.
The following morning, Percy was out and about with a goods train. He couldn't stop thinking about Frieda's story.
"Frieda seems to have gone through what I almost did," he pondered. "If Sir Topham Hatt's father had never purchased me for the railway, I would have eventually become rather bitter and unpleasant towards bigger engines." As he came to a stop at Wellsworth, he heard a familiar horn; it was Hugo the rail zeppelin.
"Guten tag, Percy," Hugo greeted. "How have zings been going vith Frieda? Is she behaving herself?"
"Well, she's trying," sighed Percy; he then told Hugo about the conversation they had last night.
"Oh, so she's finally telling others, is she?" asked Hugo. Percy looked rather surprised at the rail zeppelin's reaction.
"You… knew about this?" he asked.
"Ja," said Hugo. "Vonce, I tried offering mein friendship to her und talking about her problems, but she turned me down due to her lack of trust towards men."
"I almost ended up being like Frieda in a way," Percy explained. "In my old workshop, the other engines would taunt me for being the smallest, and saying I would never amount to anything. If I'd stayed there, I would have become a miserable grump myself."
"Und zat vould not do at all," agreed Hugo.
"But it seems that Frieda is still finding it hard to adjust here," Percy insisted. "If she's going to be staying with us until Gordon's out of the works, we'll have to help her fit in with the others."
"An excellent idea, Percy," agreed Hugo. "Vith a little help from us, Frieda can crack out of her grumpy shell, und show ze world a nicer, friendlier Frieda."
Oh, if only it were that easy…
At Knapford station, Frieda was getting ready to leave with her train when she saw Murdoch pulling a slow goods.
"Guten tag," Frieda called; but the mighty goods engine scowled.
"Ah've heard all about ye," he said. "How ye went 'round the island and gave many of mah good friends grief just because they were males. You should be ashamed of yerself; judgin' someone just because of their gender!" And Murdoch puffed away before Frieda could get the chance to explain herself.
"I guess I'll never fit in avound here," she sighed.
"Never say never," came a voice. To Frieda's surprise, Percy arrived with Hugo.
"Vhat are you two doing here?" she asked.
"Hugo and I are going to help you fit in better among the other engines," Percy explained.
"Ja," Hugo agreed. "From vhat engines see vhen zey see you, zey see a grouch. Vhat ve need to do is teach you how to be in a more pleasant mood vhenever you say hello."
Frieda furrowed her brow with confusion. "Vhat do you mean, 'be in a more pleasant mood'?"
"Well… you don't seem to smile very much," Percy admitted, secretly afraid that he might be offending her.
"I… I usually never saw ze reason to smile a lot," Frieda admitted.
"Ze more you smile," Hugo insisted, "ze more people und engines vill be villing to trust und respect you."
"And that's what our first lesson is going to be about," beamed Percy. "This'll be easy!"
I'm doomed… Frieda thought to herself.
Later at Wellsworth, Percy and Hugo began their first step in teaching Frieda to be nicer.
"Now, one of the best signs of good character is how you smile at others," explained Percy. "Let's see how you usually smile."
So Frieda showed off one of her smiles… which looked like it was a bit too forced.
"How's zis?" she asked through her teeth.
"Er… too forceful," admitted Hugo. "Perhaps if you vould try smiling a bit more gently?"
So Frieda tried smiling not so forcefully.
"Is zis better?" she asked.
"It still looks a bit like you're trying too hard," said Percy. "Try making it a bit more gentle, not showing much teeth."
This time, Frieda gave a much gentler looking smile.
"Und… how about now?" she asked.
"That's much better!" grinned Percy. "It's simple, makes a point, and a smile like that makes you look rather… beautiful."
Hearing this compliment made Frieda blush; she wasn't used to receiving compliments like this. "Y-y-you zink so…?" she asked.
"I agree vith Percy," added Hugo. "Vhen people see you smiling like zis, zey vill be more inclined to show you respect und kindness."
"And now that you know all about smiling," said Percy, "it's time for the next step – having a polite conversation."
The trio then stopped at a junction, waiting for the signals to change.
"Another part of being friendly is knowing how to greet others," explained Hugo. At that moment, they heard a horn, and saw Mavis trundling down with some trucks from the quarry.
"Like this…" Percy gestured as he looked towards his girlfriend. "Hello, Mavis. You look as lovely as ever today."
"Why, thank you, Percy," giggled Mavis as she slightly blushed. "You always know what to say to put a smile on my face."
"You see zat?" Hugo asked Frieda. "Vhen you give someone a polite compliment, it shows zhem zhat you are well-meaning, und zhey vill like you." He could see Caitlin approaching fast from the other end. "Now you try it."
"Okay. Er…" Frieda quickly thought of something to say to Caitlin. "Guten tag, Caitlin! You're doing quite vell today."
"Oh, why, thank you," said Caitlin. "I do enjoy racing with Connor to see who can deliver their passengers fastest. It's all in good fun."
"You see, Frieda?" asked Percy as Caitlin sped into the distance. "Being nice to others is very easy. No effort needed."
Over the next several days, Frieda showed a gentler, friendlier side to herself. Though there were still bits of her old self lying in her attitude and words, this didn't deteriorate anything. Frieda knew this was going to be a lengthy process, but she was willing to endure it.
One day, though, as Frieda was leaving the station, she didn't notice that Philip was approaching on her line as well.
"Oh no!" he cried. "Gangway!" Thankfully, both engines managed to stop just in time, their buffers a few inches from each other.
"O-oh my," Philip gulped nervously. "I-I'm so, so sorry, Frieda! I didn't mean to get in your way! P-please, d-don't squish me like a bug! I–"
"It's alvight, Philip," Frieda said calmly. "It vus just a mistake."
Philip blinked in surprise. "Who are you, and what have you done with Frieda?" he asked.
"I am Frieda," she insisted with a slight chuckle. "I've been learning how to be nicer. Now, could you please allow me through?"
"Oh! Er, sure thing!" Philip replied, backing up to switch tracks. "Can't delay the passengers, after all!"
"Danke, Philip," said Frieda as she continued on her way.
"You're welcome, Frieda!" Philip called back before continuing on his way too.
That evening, Frieda backed into Tidmouth sheds. "Guten abend, everyvun," she greeted.
"Good evening, Frieda," greeted Percy. "Did you have better luck getting along with others today?"
"Vell, some of ze other engines are opening up to me," Frieda admitted. "Others looked as though it'll take longer."
"First impressions can sometimes stick to people or engines," said Edward. "Sometimes for better, other times for the worst. Not everyone may be willing to open up to this new you, and it will take some time before they ever consider it."
"I know exactly what that's like," said Emily, remembering how hard she had to work to make up for the way she acted during her bossy boiler phase. "But the important thing is that you're actually trying to do better."
"Oh ja, I do vecall you mentioned zat bossy boiler phase before leaving for ze Great Vailway Show," said Frieda. "You know, Emily, I never found ze chance to zank you."
Emily was rather surprised at hearing this. "For… what, exactly?"
"For knocking some sense into me," Frieda explained. "Your outburst was ze stepping stones to me vealizing ze error of my narrow minded views on males."
"And then Henry helped you out when Vinnie sabotaged you," Emily added. "Something tells me that that brute won't be invited to the next Great Railway Show."
"After threatening to hurt Flying Scotsman?" asked James. "I doubt he'd be trusted to handle shunting, never mind passengers or goods!"
The other engines chuckled in agreement; however, Thomas winced and shut his eyes.
"Thomas, what's the matter?" asked Percy.
"It's… about Gordon," he sighed. "I mean, we could have… his safety valve wasn't… and…"
The others shuddered at the implications.
"Thomas," whispered Edward, "everything is alright. Gordon will be fine."
"I know…" sighed Thomas. "I just didn't know what to do. I was so helpless in the Steamworks. Especially since he saved me from the mine shaft so long ago, I…"
"Hugo did get zere," soothed Frieda. "Und Gordon is being mended now. Everyzing vill be alright, Thomas."
Thomas weakly smiled. "Thank you, Frieda." But all the same, Thomas wished he knew what to say when Gordon finally came home. Before long, the engines all began drifting off to sleep. All, that is, except Frieda.
"It is funny," Frieda mused to herself. "To zink zat at vun point, I used to zink all men vere horrid. But after spending time on zis railway, I now see myself opening up to zem as equals." She sighed. "All zat being said, I am going to miss Sodor vhen I veturn to Deutschland…"
Frieda glanced back at the other engines one last time before going to sleep herself. Yes, her time on the Island of Sodor had been quite a learning experience. One that she would never forget.
THE END
Author's Comments
Between the Lines is back again with an all-new set of stories! Unlike the first two sets, Set 3 will consist of 28 stories because I had a lot of ideas for it; some of those ideas will be incorporated into Set 4, which I'm predicting will start being written in the following year. And kicking off Set 3 is a story that follows on from the aftermath of The Great Railway Show, focusing on Frieda the German engine. Given that she'd left a particularly negative impression on the Sodor engines when she accidentally ended up there with the other international engines, it was pretty clear from the get-go that Frieda would have a lot to prove to them. I always wanted to have Percy and Hugo playing major roles in this story as well; the latter because he's also an engine from Germany, and the former to further build on his character growth from The Great Railway Show. A fair amount of the story was inspired from the Great Race Friends Near and Far short, Frieda the Grumpiest Engine, from 2017, and it helped to build upon Frieda's character development.
More stories to come!
