Chapter 212: Rusty and the Boulder redone

High up in the hills of Sodor stood a tall, mysterious boulder. For years it had sat there untouched, until one day workmen came to set up a new quarry. Both The North Western and Skarloey Railways were helping to build it, but no one took notice of the boulder. No one, that is, except for Rusty.

One day, Rusty brought some slate trucks down to the transfer station. Thomas, Percy, and Duncan were there as well.

"Where's all this rock coming from?" Percy asked.

"From the quarry. They wanted to start mining while they finished construction. The foreman says its safe, but I don't know. It feels dangerous."

"How come?" Thomas inquired.

"Because of that boulder. I can't help but feel like its watching me."

Duncan scoffed bluntly.

"Oh please, not this again. Yae whined all night about this yesterday. Dinnae pay any attention to him, you two. He's just a worrywart."

And with that, Duncan drove off with a train of supplies. Just then, Edward pulled in with a very strange contraption.

"Hello, Edward. What's that?"

"Its some kind of experimental machine used to help collect rock faster. The men say its called a rock thumper."

The new machine worked well, and rock came out in the truck loads. But no one thought to check the boulder.

One day, the rain fell hard and the men went away. Rusty was there, waiting to take the last of them home. As he waited, he gazed up at the boulder, terrified. Just then, a large piece of rock fell just inches from Rusty! Rusty gaped in horror until the foreman came up to him.

"Alright Rusty, that's the last of us. Time to go."

Rusty was all to happy to leave.

"That was Boulder telling us to leave," he whispered to himself. He had a feeling he wouldn't get much sleep that night.

The next day, the sun was shining bright, and the workmen were back to work. The thumper was working hard, but Rusty couldn't help but have a feeling of imminent danger. He looked up at the boulder to find...

"The boulder! Its moving!"

"Nonsense! It can't!"

But it could...

And it did! Everyone stared at it for a minute, until it started to roll!"

"Everyone clear out! Call the yards!"

The whole site scrambled to safety, while Rusty drove his Diesel back as fast as he could. But no matter how fast he drove, the boulder was always just in front. At last, he managed to put some distance between the two. Rusty was just starting to get his heart rate down when he heard a strange noise. He turned around to find...

"Good lord! Its right behind me!"

And the chase was on again. Just up ahead, Rusty saw a fork in the road. He went one way, while the boulder thundered down the other track.

"Phew! Glad that's over."

But it wasn't. Just farther down the line, Duncan was taking a train to the quarry when he saw the giant rock rolling straight towards him.

"OH GOD! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

Quickly, he reversed the train as fast as it could go, desperately trying to get away. Fortunately, a quick thinking shunter flipped the switch, sending him into a siding. Boulder rolled right past, smashing a water tower in its path of destruction. Duncan breathed a sigh of relief.

"Better a smash than a squash."

Rusty soon came up.

"Still think I'm just a worrywart now?"

"Shut up! We need to alert the yards!"

"Yes, but how?"

They didn't get a chance Percy was just about to leave when he saw the boulder coming straight towards him.

"Oh Lord!"

Quickly, he jumped clear, watching as Boulder smashed right through the sheds, finally coming to a rest with a mighty groan. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

When Sir Topham Hatt and Mr. Percival arrived, they were none to happy about the danger their employees were in.

"Who is responsible for this mess?"

Meekly, the foreman stepped forward.

"Um, that would be me, sirs."

"And you didn't think the giant boulder over your heads was a major concern?"

"Um, no, sirs."

"Get out."

Sighing, the foreman walked away, knowing his career was over. The two controllers then turned to the boulder.

"I think its best that we cancel the project, Sir Topham."

"Agreed. We should've left this part of the Island alone."

And so the site was abandoned, and the boulder left where it lay. Rusty sometimes walks over to the old quarry and watches it. And he swears that on cold, moonlit nights, its sighs are carried to the hill where it once stood, proud and silent. I wonder if he's right. Don't you?