Chapter 291: Duncan's Wild Ride
Late one evening, Mr. Percival stopped Duncan as he was about to head home for tonight. This made Duncan confused, and worried.
"I haven't done anything, have I sir?"
"Don't worry Duncan, you're not in trouble. In fact, I have a special job for you to do tomorrow. A school teacher has asked me if she could take her class on a field trip to see many of the wonderful historical sights on our line. As the others will be busy, I've decided to let you take the train."
Duncan, who had spent the past week doing nothing but shunting, was happy for a change of pace.
"Thank ye, sir!"
"But absolutely NO Rock n' Rolling. I don't want to deal with the parents of traumatized children."
Duncan shuddered. He could tell meant it.
"Yer, yes sir."
"Good. The class will be at Crovan's Gate at 8 AM, And try to find a way to make it special!"
Duncan waited patiently for Molly to bring his passengers. All the while, he was trying to think of a way to make the trip special.
"Something special, something special…"
A toot of a horn interrupted his thoughts, as Rusty drove by on his maintenance runs.
"Don't go down the Rocky Ridge Line! It's rather bumpy."
And with that, Rusty disappeared around the corner. Not long after, Molly arrived, and the children swarmed out of the coaches like angry bees. Molly sighed wearily.
"Good luck," she said. "They've been rowdy all morning."
And with that, she left. Duncan started along the line. As he went along, he tried to think of something to make the journey special.
"The picnic area? No, too boring. The tunnel? No, too dark. hmm…."
At last, they came to their first stop.
"Here is Sodor Castle!" The teacher boomed. "Constructed in 487 by…"
But the children weren't paying much attention at all. Duncan couldn't blame them, for the teacher just droned on and on.
"I'd be falling asleep too, if I wasn't driving the train," Duncan muttered to himself. After the teacher finished her lecture, the guard blew his whistle, and Duncan set off for the next location. He'd hoped that the journey would pick up, but he was sorely disappointed. While the teacher was very knowledgeable about the history of Sodor, she tended to ramble on and on. And the more she rambled, the less interested the children became.
"So much for making the trip special," Duncan grumbled as he ran around his train to start the journey home. Along the way, he passed Rusty, who greeted him with a friendly toot.
"Remember," Rusty called to him, "Don't go down the Rocky Ridge Line!"
But Duncan was too busy trying to think of one last way to enhance the trip. But then there was trouble. Up ahead was the junction. Duncan didn't know that the signalman had forgotten to set the points to go back home. Instead, he found himself bouncing about as his train rattled over the track.
"Uh oh!"
Duncan struggled to keep the train under control, which wasn't easy considering he nearly bucked from the cab as he did so. In the coach, the children clapped and cheered, while the teacher nearly lost her lunch!
"WHee! This is fun!"
"About time things got exciting!"
"I'm going to be sick!"
At last, Duncan found another junction and managed to return to the main line, arriving at Crovan's Gate very tired. was there, surprised by how shaken up he was.
"Duncan, are you alright?!"
"Never…been…better."
Before could respond, the children excitedly ran out, talking all about their adventure while their teacher ran to the nearest trash can.
"That was so much fun! It was like a rollercoaster!"
"I want to do it again!"
chuckled, happy that the children had a good time.
"Well Duncan, it would seem that you've had quite the adventure today. But next time, try not to make any of the passengers throw up."
Duncan tiredly agreed.