Chapter 190: Bill, Ben, and Derek

One morning, the China Clay Pits were busy as usual, shipping china clay out for its various purposes. And as usual, Bill and Ben were in the middle of an argument, this time about whom a line of trucks belong to.

"This line is mine, Ben!"

"No its not, its mine! Yours is over there!"

"No, this is mine! I called dibs!"

"Its mine!"

"Its mine!"

"ITS MINE!"

"ITS MINE!"

Boco was nearby. rolling his eyes at their antics.

"You two better behave, or the only thing you'll have to share is..."

His sentence was interrupted as a fist fight erupted between them, the two falling out of the cab and rolling along the rocky ground. Boco could only face palm.

"...trouble."

Their manager soon came to see what was all the noise. He was not happy when he saw the two fighting.

"Bill and Ben, STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!"

The two shot up into attention, saluting him out of fear.

"Now I know the workload has been getting out of hand lately, but I thought you'd grown out of this by now. Now, I've loaned a diesel from The Other Railway, and it alongside its driver shall arrive within a week. I trust you will make him feel welcome."

"Yes, sir."

"If I were you two," BoCo whispered, "I'd get back to work."

And they did so while the manager stepped away, not sure if this was such a good idea.

"He's keen to work, but he does have... difficulties."

And he was right. As the new driver, named Derek, drove the engine up Gordon's Hill, he soon found himself short of breath.

"Oh no, not now!"

Hurriedly, he grasped his inhaler, slowly breathing it in until he had his strength back up. Unfortunately, his attack led him to neglect his engine, and it stalled right then and there. Luckily, Boco was in the yards at Wellsworth and gladly came to help.

"So sorry about this," Dereck wheezed, "I have Asthma, you see, and..."

"Think nothing of it," Boco soothed. "Happy to help."

Unfortunately for Dereck, word soon spread about his disability. Well, sort of. The exact details got muddled up somewhere in the middle, to the point where Percy told Bill and Ben:

"Hey you two, the new driver's got a toothache. Good luck!"

Bill and Ben were puzzled.

"Why would he wish us luck?"

"Because he must know we need it! A driver with a toothache must be the worst kind!"

That night, they were told to take China Clay trucks to Brendam Docks and stay the night. Edward was in the sheds at the time, and could see that they were troubled by something.

"Hello, you two. What seems to be the matter?"

"It's that new driver manager hired."

"Derek? What's the matter?"

"Percy told us he's got a toothache!"

"Yeah, and then he told us good luck! We must be in for trouble!"

Edward stared blankly for a minute before bursting out laughing.

"Oh, this Island and its rumors. Dereck doesn't have a toothache! He has asthma. That just means he has trouble breathing sometimes, but it's nothing to worry about. Now I don't want you two giving him any trouble, understand?"

Bill and Ben were relieved and promised to give Dereck a chance. The next morning, they were back at work in the clay pits when they heard an unfamiliar horn.

"That must be Dereck."

"Remember, we promised to give him a chance."

Dereck drove his engine alongside, stepping down. After a quick dose of his medicine, he introduced himself.

"Hullo, you must be Bill and Ben. I'm Dereck, pleased to meet you. I was meant to be here yesterday, but, uh, something came up. Anyway, manager says we're all to take a large train of China Clay to meet the next tramp steamer out. You two lead, and I'll bring up the rear. Sound good?"

Bill and Ben were skeptical, but agreed. It was slow going, but the three made good time. But soon they noticed them going slower and slower.

"Dereck, what's the holdup?"

Looking back, they saw Derek's diesel slowing down before stopping completely, worried, they rushed over to find Derek slumped over, struggling to breathe.

"Inhaler...I need...my inhaler..."

Digging through his pockets, Bill found it and helped Dereck catch his breath while Ben called for medical assistance. Harold soon arrived, along with their manager Steven Stone. Steven watched as Dereck was helped aboard.

"I was afraid this would happen. You two did the right thing, but I'm afraid Boco's helping on the mainline right now. You two will have to take the train and the diesel on your own. Can you manage it?"

"We'll try, sir."

It was hard going, but slowly but surely they brought the train into the docks, just in time. The two twins breathed a sigh of relief, tired but triumphant.

That night, the two returned to the clay pits, where they found their manager waiting for them.

"I just got off the phone with the hospital. Thanks to your quick thinking, he'll make a full recovery."

Bill and Ben breathed a sigh of relief.

"Unfortunatley, due to health reasons, he's decided to return to British Railways. I hope you two will be able to manage for a while."

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Goodnight, you two."

"Goodnight."

Bill and Ben watched Steven drive away in his car before preparing to turn in for the night.

"It's too bad about Dereck. He seemed like a nice guy."

"Yeah, it was nice having a new face around here. Oh well, guess we'll just have to go back to bugging Boco and Edward!"

Ben chuckled at his twin's remark before they both went to sleep.