Chapter 183: Patience is a Virtue

One morning, Mr. Percival came to see his employees for the morning briefing, a letter clenched in his hands.

"I've just received a letter from The Talyllyn Railway in Wales. One of their engines is in need of repairs, and they asked us if we could spare one of ours and an engine driver. Now, I can't spare any until Duke's engine has finished its overhaul, but..."

"Please, sir! Pick me sir!"

Mr. Percival had to cover his ears because of the noise, laughing at their enthusiasm.

"I can't send all of you! Not with the Summer season just around the corner, at least. But I thought Sir Handel should be the one to represent us."

Sir Handel was pleasantly surprised.

"Me, sir?"

"Why not? You've kept out of trouble as of late, and you have worked hard. I thought it might be a nice little reward. But of course, if you don't want to, I'm sure Skarloey..."

"I'LL DO IT! Erm, I mean, Yes, I would be honored, thank you sir."

"Excellent, I shall make the arrangements."

Sir Handel could hardly contain his excitement, and would chatter endlessly about it to anyone who would listen. His friends were happy for him, but did wish he would, in Duncan's words, "put a sock in it"

"I hope they finish your engine quickly," Sir Handel told Duke one afternoon at lunch. Duke just laughed at his friend's eagerness.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up, Falcon," he told him, "That old girl needs a lot of love. After all, she hasn't moved a wheel in five years, not to mention all of the water damage it sustained."

"Duke's right," put in Peter Sam. "Remember when your engine received an overhaul? It took a whole month, and its nowhere near as old as Duke's engine."

Sir Handel understood what they were saying, but still couldn't help but get his hopes up. He tried everything to get his mind off it, from evening strolls to listening to music to meditation, but nothing did the trick.

One afternoon, he talked to Gordon when he came in with the express.

"I've been invited to Wales, but I can't go anywhere until they've patched up Duke's engine."

Gordon nodded, impressed.

"Its a great responsibility to be indispensable like that. Oh, there's the whistle. Sorry I can't stay to chat, but us indispensable drivers must never be late. Wouldn't be proper, don't you know."

Sir Handel was impressed, although he didn't really understand what Gordon had said, just that it sounded important.

"Gordon said I'm...insensible," he told his coworkers that night. They all looked at eachother, stifling their laughter as best they could.

Summer soon came, and with it came more passengers. Sometimes they had to take extra coaches to carry them all. One day, Sir Handel reached the top station with a full train, exhausted from shoveling all of the coal. The return train was just as full.

"Must have come earlier for a picnic by the lake," Sir Handel said to himself, "Oh well, I'll manage somehow."

But by the time they reached Rheneas, the train was nearly bursting at the seams.

"We'll need a shoehorn to fit them all in!" Laughed Beatrice. "No worries, though. I'll take some with me in the Brake van."

The passengers didn't mind standing, as it was only for a short while. As everyone squeezed in, Beatrice counted the tickets. It was a long job, and Sir Handel was losing his patience.

"Come on, come on! I'm insensible, and Henry's counting on us to make the connection."

"Oh, give it a rest," snapped Beatrice. "Henry will just have to wait. Its not like he's never made us wait on him."

It was only another five minutes before Beatrice was finished, but to Sir Handel it felt like ages. At last she blew her whistle and waved the green flag.

"Finally! Oh, whatever will Gordon think if I'm late?"

But Beatrice hadn't yet gotten in. The door to the van was blocked by passengers, and by the time they had made room the train had already left. Beatrice did her best to get Sir Handel's attention, but he was too far away. The passengers knew they had to alert Sir Handel, but they didn't know how. Then one of them got an idea.

"I read in a railway magazine somewhere that there's a button in here that will alert the crew in the cab if something is wrong.'

"Well, don't just sit there, find it!"

Sir Handel had just settled down when the buzzer sounded in the cab.

"Oh great, and we were doing so well too."

Sir Handel braked the train to a stop, allowing Beatrice to finally climb inside. When Sir Handel discovered what had happened, he felt very embarrassed indeed. At the top station, he spoke to ashamedly.

"I'm sorry, Beatrice," he told her, "I just didn't want to be late. Someone as insensible as me shouldn't be late, should I?"

"No," Beatrice agreed, "but someone sensible knows that patience is a virtue."

With that, she walked away, leaving Sir Handel to his thoughts.