Chapter 47: A Cow on the Line
Edward had worked on The North Western Railway for many years, and enjoyed every day of it. His engine is old and in need of new parts, but he loves it very much.
One day he was taking a train of empty cattle trucks to Suddery when he passed a field where some cows were grazing. Cows could be troublesome, as they were not quite used to steam engines. As Edward passed the field he greeted the farmer with a toot of the whistle. This startled the cows, who broke through the fence and charged the train, braking it in half. Edward, not having seen the incident, continued onward.
"These trucks are old," he thought to himself when he felt the bump, "I'll have a look at them at the next station."
He didn't realize what had happened until he reached his destination. Edward found it embarrassing, and it didn't help that Gordon and Henry teased him endlessly about it.
"Fancy letting cows break your train like that," Gordon said pompously, "It's just not dignified."
Toby, on the other hand, felt sorry for Edward.
"Any animal on the line is a danger, and must be treated as such," Toby said wisely, "You two wouldn't be laughing if it happened to you."
But Gordon and Henry continued to mock poor Edward. A week had passed, and they still wouldn't leave him alone.
"Watch out for cows today, little Edward!" Gordon called as he drove past him with the express. Edward said nothing. He knew that they would get their comeuppance soon enough.
Gordon soon came to a bridge. As he approached he saw that there was something standing on it. He braked the train to a stop and exited to find a cow on the tracks looking very upset.
"Oh, for goodness sake," Gordon said indignantly, "I'm being held up by a cow. Shoo, shoo, get out of here."
But the cow would not leave. Gordon approached her slowly, but when he thought she would charge him he backed away.
Henry soon arrived with a freight train. He thought that Gordon's situation was hilarious.
"Fancy Gordon being scared of a little cow," he laughed, "Go along now, miss cow. Go on, shoo."
But Henry had no more luck than Gordon. Henry made his engine blow steam at her, but that just made her even more cross. Henry backed his train away slowly.
"I don't want to hurt her," he said pitifully.
Word soon reached the next station about the situation.
"That must be Bluebell," said a porter, "Her calve is in the field looking for her mother. Percy will take her."
Bluebell was happy to see her calf again, and the farmer led them away. Gordon and Henry did feel foolish.
"Keep it dark," they whispered to each other as they went their separate ways, "No one is to know about this."
But news spreads fast on Sodor, and soon all of the other engine drivers had heard about their ordeal.
"Fancy you two being scared of one cow," Edward said. Even he couldn't help but laugh at the irony of their situation.
"We weren't afraid of her," Gordon said crossly.
"Quite right," Henry continued, "We just didn't want to hurt her, is all. You see what we mean, dear Edward?"
"Yes, I see," Edward said.
Gordon and Henry thought that Edward knew all too well.
A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter. Before I end things, I have a few things I need to talk about.
First, to Marty Munster, I do plan on doing the movies, however when I do them and in what order is still undecided. The only ones I won't do are Thomas and The Magic Railroad, as I feel that people have rewritten it better than I could and that there's not much more I can add, and The Adventure Begins, simply because it's just a rehash of the first seven episodes of the television series/ first two books of The Railway Series. I may change my mind about the first one, but not the second one.
Secondly, I don't know who it is, but someone has been giving me reviews that are just a bunch of random letters and symbols. Please, if you leave a review, at least make it coherent. Leaving me random stuff will not help me improve as a writer, nor will it give me any ideas for future chapters.
Thank you, and enjoy!