A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the delay, but I've been having trouble with writer's block. I hope you guys like the chapter!

Chapter 12: Thomas Goes Fishing

When he was a young boy, Thomas loved to go down to the river and fish with his father. His parents were usually busy most of the time, and didn't have a lot of time to spend with him, so when the chance arose to be with them he jumped on it.

"Whenever I caught a fish, I thought I was on top of the world," He told Annie and Clarabel one evening, "It was like nothing could stand in my way. Those were some of the best moments of my life."

Unfortunately for him, he had less and less time to do so. His job as a driver for the North Western Railway meant long hours, sometimes late into the evening or even the night. As a result, he was only able to fish on his days off, and the weather wasn't always ideal on those days. But whenever he got the chance he would go down to the river near Elsbridge and cast a line down.

One day Thomas was taking a passenger train. He had made it to Elsbridge before the engine needed water. Unfortunately, the water pipe was out of order.

"What should we do now, Thomas?" Annie asked.

"Easy," Thomas said, "We'll take a bucket and get some from the river."

And so they did. The stationmaster was kind enough to spare one. Unfortunately, it had several holes in it, and it took several minutes to refill the engines tanks. At last, however, they had enough and they set off.

The journey went smoothly for a while. The sun was shining and they had a good run. But as they neared the bottom station, the engine started to leak steam. A loud hissing noise filled the cab as Thomas, Annie, and Clarabel held their ears.

"What's going on?" Annie asked anxiously.

"There's too much pressure in the tanks," Thomas said, "If we don't stop soon, there could be a serious accident."

Thomas lowered the fire and struggled to the next station. After making sure the train was a good distance away from the station, Thomas phoned for Sir Topham Hatt.

Within a few minutes Sir Topham Hatt arrived with some inspectors, where Thomas explained the situation.

"Don't worry Thomas," he said, "We'll soon find out the problem."

The inspector climbed up onto the engine's tanks, opened the cap, and peered inside. What he saw was quite the surprise.

"Uh, sure," he said," You might want to see this."

So Sir Topham Hatt climbed up and saw what the problem was. Swimming in the tanks were two fish.

"Fish! How on earth did they get in the tanks?" He exclaimed in shock. Then it hit Thomas.

"When we got water from the river, they must have been scooped up in the bucket by accident," he told them.

"Well, that explains how this happened," Sir Topham Hatt said. "But I'm afraid fish don't belong there. We'll have to fish them out."

They got some fishing poles, and Sir Topham Hatt and Thomas set to work. It took a few tries, but at long last the fish were removed. Since it was nearly dinner time, they grilled the fish and had them for supper.

"Well, that was some good fish," Sir Topham Hatt said after it was all said and done, "But you must be more careful in the future, Thomas."

"I will sir," Thomas said, and drove away.

Thomas still enjoys fishing when he gets the chance. However, he always makes sure that his engine is nowhere near the fish from now on.

A/N: Hope you guys liked it! Read, review, and enjoy, and I will see you next time. Adios!