A couple days passed before Sandy was allowed to work again. That Monday, when her crew arrived early in the morning, it was raining heavily and Sandy was the only engine awake so far. That was until Tina's crew arrived as well to prepare her for her morning schedule. The green Battle of Britain yawned and blinked a few times before whispering a good morning to her Austrian friend. Sandy then smiled and put on a questioning look as if to ask what they were to do that early. Tina only put up a frown and raised her eyebrows shortly, trying to point out that she didn't know. They were trying to communicate quietly so as not to wake the others who were still sound asleep, though that did change rather quickly when both females were slowly emerging from the sheds, their cylinders hissing steam and waking everyone up.
Shortly afterwards, the yard master arrived. He explained that the Fat Controller is on the mainland to pick up the railway inspector for the annual inspection and that Sandy and Tina will run the regular passenger trains that day. Aindrea, who Sandy didn't get to know yet, and Cally were to help with their coaches and be the station pilots as well as Henry and James were to run the goods trains that were needed that day. The other mainline engines were to stay at the sheds, to be readied if they were needed to help out. Everyone else was to go about their work as usual.
After the yard master had the jobs assigned, Sandy and Tina departed for Tidmouth station where the two pilots were already waiting for them. Sandy was ordered to platform 1 and Tina to platform 3 where they were to wait for their coaches to be shunted. The two started talking to each other, both excited since they never ran such important trains on their own on Sodor until now, as the two Caledonian engines started buzzing around, arranging their coaches. Sandy had a special set of blue and cream coaches shunted for her and Tina got some green and cream coloured coaches for herself to match with both their liveries. They learnt that the Fat Controller had ordered them from the mainland a while ago for special occasions and they were to have their test runs that day. In the meantime, Sandy had a small chat with Aindrea while the passengers were slowly starting to board the trains. They found they did share some mutual interest concerning their love of horses as well as long express runs.
"Sae, whit brings a bonnie lassie lik' yaself this far up North?" Aindrea asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, all I know is that the Fat Controller needed a few engines, willing to work hard and help where they can. He took a few famous engines into consideration too, but the Germans wouldn't want to sell or borrow theirs to this railway. So I'm part of the trio that arrived a few weeks ago," Sandy replied.
"Ah, ah see. Ah heard a' aboot ye mishanter lassie, 'n' a'm feelin' affy sorry fur this, ah ken Sur Topham Hatt leased me as yer replacement while ye wur bein' mended, bit noo ye auld controller the script oan keeping me running 'ere noo that you're back. Cuid see me at auld stations fae time tae time," the new Scottish engine stated.
"Oh, then let's hope we will get along well," Sandy answered, smiling.
"Best git gawn, lassie, ye passengers ur waiting, best o' luck fur th'day!" with that said, Aindrea whistled and disappeared into the yard.
"Thank… you," Sandy trailed off as she noticed he didn't hear her anymore.
She thought about him a while longer until she heard the guard's whistle. Her crew slowly set her into motion, blowing her whistle as she departed from the station on to Knapford. A few minutes later, Tina departed with her stopping passenger train. On her way, Sandy had to stop once at Kildane to take on water next to her regular stops with the express as it appeared the water was being used up rather quickly. Soon, she arrived in Vicarstown, the station still mostly asleep apart from a few people. She was happy that the station roof kept the rain from her as she didn't like that weather very much. She got uncoupled from the train and headed for the turntable, which sadly meant she had to go out into the rain again. When she came back, a few passengers were waiting for her as well as the Fat Controller with a man in a black suit next to him. Sandy whistled shortly to warn people that she would be backing down onto the train before slowly reversing. When she came to a stop, her fireman connected the couplers and then got back up into her cab.
Then Sir Topham Hatt walked up to her with the smartly dressed man, introducing him to Sandy, "Mr. Cole, this is Sandy, one of my engines from the mainland. She is mainly on passenger duty but also helps out with goods work if needed."
The inspector let his eyes wander over her and he also stepped closer to get a better look at her valve gear, fascinated by how different it looked to everything he had seen before, "My dear Sir Topham, I am honestly impressed by this engine here. She's one of the finest I've ever seen. You can take great pride in having one like her working on your railway."
The Fat Controller nodded in agreement and Sandy thanked the inspector for his praise, blushing slightly and smiling. She was aware railway inspectors knew a lot, but she didn't know they had heard of her up here in the UK too. Still smiling to herself, the passengers had finished boarding the train and the Fat Controller got into the first coach behind her, together with Mr. Cole. Soon, the train was ready to depart and the rain was getting lighter. Just as Tina arrived at Vicarstown with her local, Sandy set off with a slight wheel slip due to the wet rails. As soon as she was out in the countryside, everything was running very smoothly and her driver was content with how well she was doing on her own. At Crovan's Gate, she stopped to quickly refill on water again when her fireman discovered her water tank on the left side of the tender was leaking slightly where a new welding seam had been placed in the steamworks during her repair.
"Ah, there we got the source of the water being used up so quickly," he shouted to the driver who was currently inspecting and oiling her running gear.
"Right, will see to a fixing when we're back at Tidmouth before our next train is scheduled," the driver answered, already thinking of a way to block the hole.
As they continued their journey, they made up for the time lost at the stop, though Sandy started to feel a bit uncomfortable when they came into Knapford. Her crew decided to look into the matter right there and uncoupled her to head for the turntable. She appeared to be paler than usual and her mind seemed to be very far away. They backed her into a siding to figure out what was wrong. This wasn't an easy task as she was a bit dazed and could only stammer words. Nobody could explain why, but it seemed she was stuck in a living nightmare as her eyes darted around frantically and were opened widely in horror. Aindrea and his crew had been informed in the meantime and they took the train back to Tidmouth for the remaining passengers to get off.
"Oy… we need to fix this small hole in her tender somehow first before we solve that behaviour of hers," her fireman said worriedly.
"Will need to get my welding kit for that. I'll have that fixed in a few minutes," her driver replied before he started digging in her tender storages.
A good 40 minutes later, her water tank had been fixed, but Sandy was still staring straight ahead and her face was lined in agonising pain, sweat beads rolling down her forehead. Cally had arrived meanwhile too, but it felt like she was talking to a wall as Sandy didn't react to any of her friend's words. Luckily, the railway inspector had disappeared into the office with the Fat Controller so both of them didn't see nor hear what was going on in the yard. Even Tina came back from her local a few minutes later without things having changed and Sandy's crew asked her if she could help them. They brought Tina face to face with her friend in an attempt to block off her dead staring, but to no avail. Sandy's eyes only widened further as Tina stopped in front of her and her mouth dropped open as if she was about to say something. A dead silence settled across the yard as all eyes were on her now. That was until a shrill scream cut right through the silence, an ear-piercing sound that came from Sandy that moment so all crews and workers around had to cover their ears. It echoed between the buildings and eventually even reached Knapford sheds where Gordon and Emily were resting. They both jumped in surprise at the awfully high-pitched noise and thought a fire siren had been going off somewhere. What they didn't know was that it was the Austrian visitor it came from.
Silence settled in the yard once again, only a whisper could be heard, "S- Sophie…"
Sandy was in tears, literally trying to shake off the pain and still nobody knew what had happened to her until she finally sighed and spoke in a very low voice, "I'm so sorry. This was not meant to happen…"
"B- bit whit wis that?" Cally asked, her voice still shaking slightly.
Her friend couldn't answer, she was too deeply affected by the horrors she just experienced. Everyone around had also stopped their work before, they had feared that making a wrong move would upset her further, but now work slowly picked up again. After a few minutes, everything was back to normal, apart from Sandy who was still upset and could hardly speak. Her loud scream also alerted the Fat Controller and the inspector and they had been running into the yard to find a very irritated bunch of engines and crews.
"I say, what was that about? And who did that ear shattering scream come from?" Sir Topham Hatt demanded to know as all eyes suddenly rested on Sandy who had her gaze glued to her buffer beam.
"Ahem… Sir Topham, if I may have a word with you?" the inspector asked calmly.
The two turned their backs to everyone when Mr. Cole spoke up again, "I have only heard of this once, a friend of mine from Germany once told me about a similar case with a BR 59, No. 59 002 to be precise. Due to her having experienced both World Wars, she did not come out sane after World War II was over. She does have those flashbacks occasionally from what was reported to me. This case here sounded so similar it reminded me of Mathilda. Nobody knows where it is coming from or when these flashbacks will appear as they will strike randomly. I've never experienced this in person and I have to say it seems to be a heart-rending situation for the one going through it. Give her some rest and she should be fine in a few hours. Also give her company as I heard being alone after such a state of shock is not the best thing."
The Fat Controller nodded in agreement and turned to Sandy's crew to give them instructions to bring her to the sheds and keep her company while she was calming down. He also ordered to get Gordon to take over the express service for a while instead of her. Emily was also to accompany her to the sheds as she was the only engine not busy at that moment who knew what the wars were like and could provide support for Sandy. With a few tears still running down her cheeks, Sandy's crew backed their engine into her berth minutes later, secured her levers and brakes before walking round to the front and sitting on her buffer beam. Her driver carefully started to right her make-up while her fireman dabbed her face to remove the tear stains. Sandy sighed heavily, feeling rather exhausted after her flashback, the name "Sophie" still ringing in her head. Emily looked over to her, not sure if she should say something or just keep her silent company. She had only heard her scream, but had no clue what exactly it had been about. Finally, she decided to stay silent as Sandy's crew was already fussing around her. She would start talking again on her own when it was time.
Meanwhile, the railway was completely back up and running once more, only been interrupted till Gordon had been steamed up and ready to take over the express. After the inspector was done with his checks and taken all his notes hours later, he decided to visit the sheds shortly to see how Sandy was doing. She still didn't speak, but she listened to what the inspector told her about Mathilda. She learnt that something terrible had happened to one of Mathilda's sisters right in front of her eyes and that she went through the same things, only a lot more severe as they had to lock her away every time those flashbacks happened. Mathilda had been right in the centre of things and was forced to haul deportation trains to the concentration camps too. That left her shocked for life and she hasn't spoken a single word ever since World War II ended. Nobody ever was able to get her to talk again, all she did was stare everyone down or not look at them at all, but no words came across her lips. She was assigned new crews by the week as she was uncooperative like a young horse despite her age. Nobody ever dared coming near her face either as she would usually gnarl at whoever came near. Her face hasn't been washed for years either and so the dust and ashes of decades of work has settled heavily on her cheeks and forehead.
Mr. Cole spent a good hour talking to Sandy and after a few minutes more, he left to catch his train back to the mainland, leaving a deep in thought Sandy behind. She knew she had to get back to her schedule for the last express of the day and she was ready to take on that task once again, and deep within she was hoping she could get rid of her flashbacks somehow one day.
As evening was settling in, Sandy was calm enough again to leave the sheds and run her last train. To her surprise, Aindrea was waiting at the station, coupled to the front of the coaches. Her crew stopped her next to him to ask his crew if the Fat Controller had given any new orders. While the crews were talking, Aindrea looked over to Sandy, an expression of worry on his face.
"Urr ye sure ye up fur that lest run?" he asked, his face showing his concern after he had heard about her having had a flashback.
"Ja. I think so," was all she could reply before her crew released the brakes to move forward and switch tracks. As the points changed, they carefully backed her down onto the waiting train and coupled her to Aindrea. He sighed, still not sure if this was the right thing to do for her under these circumstances, but then again distraction was best and it would help her forget the events of the day for at least some time. In the meantime the rain had subsided completely and the clouds were clearing away, slowly showing the moon and stars. The two soon departed, their smoke white against the black sky, creating the perfect photo for the one or other railfan waiting at the signal box to snap their night run picture.
Sandy had never seen a night such as this one for years and she sighed in relief, happy to be able to enjoy this last run again rather than having to go through the horrors of the war. Aindrea seemed nice too, and he has been the only one of the male engines to show real concern for her well-being so far. That gave her a somewhat comforting feeling. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't even realize they had reached Vicarstown already. Soon after the passengers had unboarded the train, they were turned around and backed down onto the coaches once more to begin their return trip. The journey went very well and they were back at Tidmouth again in no time, being backed into their berths and slowly drifting off to sleep. Sandy mumbled a few words here and there, but other than that, her night was really rather peaceful and refreshing.