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My Turn Now
Written by Daniel (tardisrescue) & Broa Island
Proofread and Corrected by BNSF1995
Isle of Sodor: 1947
Rheneas sizzled happily in the yard. He was fresh from overhaul with his boiler still painted in a black undercoat.
"Your boiler is probably better now then when you were built!" said Mr. Hugh. "The men at the Steamworks have done a fine job."
Rheneas smiled. "I feel fine, Mr. Hugh. I'm looking forward to pulling trains again."
"You'll have to wait until your boiler's been repainted though," Skarloey laughed. "You look patchwork!"
"Well at least I don't wheeze like you do! I imagine the Thin Controller will enjoy being able to see the line ahead again!" Rheneas teased.
Skarloey was glad his stepbrother was home, but he had a train to pull, and he puffed away to find the coaches.
Skarloey's boiler was worn out. He leaked steam as he hissed and clanked up the line.
"I'll do it. I'll do it," he puffed.
"He'll do it. He'll do it," chorused the coaches.
He might have done it to, had it not been for the sheep! They'd escaped from their paddock and found a nice patch of grass for their breakfast. Said grass was right next to the tracks, and Skarloey was forced to come to a stop or risk running the animals over. The old engine hadn't the energy to scare them away with a puff of steam.
By the time the driver, fireman, and the farmer had shooed the sheep off the line, Skarloey hadn't the strength to start the train again. Rheneas had to come and push him to the next station. Once there, he took the train on, while Skarloey limped sadly home.
"You've tried hard, Skarloey," Mr. Peter Sam, the Thin Controller, said thoughtfully. "Now that Rheneas' back, you can take a rest."
"Don't worry," comforted Rheneas. "You've done more than your fair share."
The Thin Controller pointed. "You can take the trains tomorrow!"
"Tomorrow, sir?! But… Won't I look silly with this black boiler?"
"You'll be repainted when we've time. We mustn't disappoint our passengers."
Rheneas found pulling the trains easy. He made lots of steam, and although he felt a little silly, his new boiler made everything much easier.
"The Thin Controller says I can pull the trains until you get better!" said Rheneas one morning in the sheds.
"But I AM better!" Skarloey protested. "It's my turn now!"
"No," said Rheneas firmly. "It's my turn. It wouldn't be fair to make you go up the line in your state."
Skarloey eyed Rheneas' boiler. "Hmm… Well, what about your repaint?"
"Well, my repaint can wait. I'm only doing what's best for our passengers, AND," he added earnestly, "it means Mr. Hugh can get you running properly again."
Skarloey couldn't argue with that. So he went to sleep instead.
Rheneas ran the line single-handedly for days. The days became weeks. And the weeks became a month. But one morning, Rheneas wouldn't steam properly. No matter how hard he or his fireman tried, their just wasn't enough heat to boil the water in his tanks.
"Perhaps I could take the train?" Skarloey offered. "It must be my turn now?"
But Rheneas wouldn't hear of it. "No fair, I'll manage! I don't want you to hurt yourself."
When Rheneas finally did make enough steam to leave the shed, he struggled to make up for lost time.
"Hurry up please, we're ever so late. Hurry up please, we're ever so late," Rheneas sang to the coaches as they made their way up the line. They bumped and bounced behind.
"My poor first-class passengers!" Agnes snorted.
"Oh, bother your passengers!" scolded Jemima.
"I shall come off the line, I know I shall," whimpered Lucy.
They arrived at the Top Station six minutes behind schedule. Nobody minded the delay. No one, except Rheneas. He bustled forward to run around the coaches.
"Peep! Peep!" he whistled. "Hurry up please so that we're in good time getting home."
Then… It happened!
Rheneas says that the fireman should've changed the points more quickly. The fireman says that Rheneas reversed so swiftly that he didn't have time to get to the leaver! Anyway, Rheneas' cab went one way, and his smokebox the other!
"WHOOSH!" he hissed. "That hurt!"
The telephone rang at the Bottom Station. "Don't worry," the stationmaster said into the receiver. "I'll tell Mr. Hugh right away!" He did so.
"Show a wheel, Skarloey," said Mr. Hugh. "Rheneas needs your help!"
"No he doesn't," said Skarloey. "What with his new boiler."
"What about it?" Mr. Hugh laughed. "He's wedged himself into some points and needs rescuing! Now come on!"
They arrived to find Rheneas sitting alone, the coaches telling him how silly he'd been. Mr. Hugh and the men levered Rheneas up, and lowered him down onto firm rails.
"I'm sorry for being so bossy," said Rheneas. "My new boiler didn't do me much good in the end, did it?"
Skarloey had to run the line while Rheneas was being mended.
"My turn now! My turn now!" he chanted to himself. He didn't like to say, but he was still quite short on breath, and was thankful for a rest at the station.
He returned home one evening more exhausted than ever. Rheneas was surrounded by paint pots.
"Oh, what's this then? Are they finally painting your boiler?" Skarloey asked.
"Mr. Hugh says that besides that, I'm ready for work."
"Good," Skarloey said. "I'm out of puff, and I shouldn't like to upset the passengers. You can take the trains tomorrow." He paused, impressively. "It's your turn now."