Chapter 217: Smokescreen

One late winter night, Gordon was cleaning out his engine's firebox. A lot of ash had accumulated that day, and he had been at it for a while.

"Stupid cold," Gordon grumbled. "Clogs the tubes something fierce, and leaves me to clean out the mess."

"Just drive it out to the countryside and blast it out," chuckled Henry. "That's how I taught those stone droppers a lesson."

"Yes, and if I remember correctly the police had a long talk with you about it," snorted Gordon. "Sir Topham Hatt didn't like it too much either, I heard."

Henry thought it best to say nothing. The next day his engine was working better, but he did feel nervous as he backed down onto the express.

"It may not slip on the rails, but they'll laugh all the same if I can't keep time."

But he was happy to find that wasn't a problem. They soon got up to speed, and as they passed Wellsworth he started to build up the fire.

"Stupid low grade coal. Better build it up now, otherwise I won't make it up even with Edward's help."

At Maron station, a wedding party were waiting to head to the reception, all in their best dress. As Gordon and his train thundered past, soot and ash flew out of the engine's funnel, covering them all in black soot and smut. Needless to say, they weren't very pleased.

"What a horrid engine driver!"

"This was my only suit, too!"

"We should complain to Sir Topham Hatt!"

In a furious clamor, the guests forgot all about the reception and swarmed to the stationmaster's office.

When Gordon reached the mainland, an inspector was waiting for him at the platform. As he handed over the express to the waiting diesel, the inspector gave Gordon a short and blunt message from Sir Topham Hatt:

"Meet me in my office after work."

Gordon snorted once the inspector had left.

"its not fair," he complained to Boco in the station restaurant. "The coal was too dirty, I couldn't have done anything about it. They shouldn't have been standing so close to the platform."

"Indeed," sympathised Boco. "Besides, soot isn't all bad. It makes good fertilizer for my garden."

"Maybe, but not new clothes," Gordon sighed.

All the same, he made sure to be extra careful on the way home. But he just couldn't catch a lucky break. As he drove through Wellsworth, he found Sir Topham Hatt

on the platform. He had arrived to soothe the wedding guests' feelings, and the situation had died down. He was waiting for a train back to Knapford. Seeing Gordon, he tried to wave him down. But Gordon, remembering the message from the inspector, sped up in an attempt to avoid the conversation altogether. As they flew past, filthy soot flew out from the funnel once more, this time covering Sir Topham Hatt's new top hat. He wasn't very happy about that.

"GORDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!"

"Uh oh."

Gordon had a feeling he wasn't going to like what came next.