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The Woolly Bear
Written by Broa Island
Proofread and Corrected by the "S:TTS" Team
Adapted from various Railway Stories by the Reverend W. Awdry & BNSF1995
Isle of Sodor: 1970
October 31st was always a slow day for the people of Sodor. It seemed that everyone, young or old, human or machine, was just biding their time, waiting for the sun to sink behind the hills, the moon and stars to shine bright in the night sky, and the village clock tower to strike six. Once the bell tolls, Halloween has officially begun. Children gather in the streets to plan out trick-or-treat routes while Knapford Station is decorated in beautiful blacks and oranges for the annual harvest festival!
The engines, however, still had a full day of work ahead of them before the festivities could begin. The Ffarquhar Branch Line was especially busy. Gangers had been cutting the lineside grass and "cocking" it. The Fat Controller sells the hay to hill farmers who want winter feed and bedding for their stock.
At this time of year, when Percy comes back from the harbor, he stops where they have been cutting. The men load up his empty wagons and he pulls them up to Ffarquhar. Toby then takes them to the hills. The farmers collect the hay from the Tramway's Top Station.
When in the wagons, the hay is covered to prevent it from blowing about. But on the lineside, it is stacked in the open-air to dry.
This year, however, there had been a complication. A week earlier, Percy had gotten into an accident involving a cart of lime. The white powder had clogged his systems something awful, and the green saddle tank had been relegated to the Steamworks while the workmen tried to make him feel better.
In the meantime, the Fat Controller had sent Ruby to the branch line to look after Percy's trains. At first, she got along quite well with Thomas, Toby, and Daisy, but I'm sorry to say the differing Main Line and Branch Line mindsets would soon clash.
"BOO!"
Thomas jumped. Some trucks went flying. Thomas's fear was quickly replaced by boiling rage when he saw Ruby howling with laughter next to him.
"Don't be frightened Thomas," she laughed. "It's only me."
"Honestly Ruby, would you just let that go," a frustrated Toby sighed. "It's been a week since Percy's accident. Sure, Thomas and I did make a fool of ourselves, but-"
"There! Right there! I couldn't have put it better myself! That's what makes it so funny!" chuckled Ruby. "I can't believe you thought Percy was a ghost just because he was covered in lime! You can't make this shit up!"
"Well, your ugly face is enough to scare anyone," said Thomas crossly. "You're like-"
"Ugly am I?!" squawked Ruby dramatically. "I'm-"
"-a black caterpillar with gold stripes," continued Thomas firmly. "You move like one too with that tender of yours. Uh, not that there's anything wrong with tenders, mind you, it's just that, well, the only turntable on the branch is up at Chibbyr Ulf."
Ruby's face went red with fury! "Oh-ho-ho-ho, boy if we weren't on opposite lines right now, I'd make you regret those Goddamn words! I'm glad Tim's not here because that means more steel for me! Come on, put 'em up! Fight me, you cowards!"
Thomas and Toby exchanged apathetic looks. Ruby was a good engine at heart, but she was now eighty years old and she still acted like a teenager on a sugar-rush. Of course, they had to choose their words very carefully. They knew the engines at Knapford Harbor Shed, who besides Ruby and Tim also counted Chloe, Yang, and Blake as part of their ranks were like a tight-knit family, and an attack of any kind against one of them was an attack against all of them. This mob mentality was why no trucks, not even the late Theodore (AKA S.C. Ruffey) ever thought of giving them ANY grief, Bill and Ben were too scared to play a single trick on them, and even the rudest diesels and road vehicles gave them a very wide berth, especially Blake, who was hardened by her time in the infamous Knights of Steam and had the capacity and will to damage them beyond repair.
"And there's another thing!" continued Ruby loudly. "I DON'T crawl like a caterpillar, so your insult is invalid!"
"Who's been late every afternoon this week?"
"It's not MY fault, it's the hay!"
"I can't help that," said Thomas. "Time's time. And the Fat Controller relies on us to keep it. We can't if you crawl in the hay till all hours! I mean, I understand the hay trains, they've been around since I first came to Sodor, and before Toby arrived, I'd do those runs between passenger services, but the point still stands that it shouldn't take THAT long to load it!"
Before Ruby could shoot another comeback, her Driver returned from the yardmaster's office with the day's schedule. Thomas and Toby breathed a sigh of relief as Ruby scampered off to the harbor with some trucks.
"You think she'll ever mellow out?" asked Thomas.
"I wouldn't hold it against her," sighed Toby, "She's still trying to process the Steam Holocaust like the rest of us. Acting like the class clown, if you will, is just her way of coping.
"Maybe you're right. I still don't know if Jenny made it out alive. The others can burn in hell, for all I care, but Jenny...to lose her would be like Emily all over again..."
Meanwhile, Ruby was still upset.
"Black caterpillar indeed," fumed Ruby as her Driver collected the harbor line token from the Signalman. "Everyone says I'm beautiful - well, almost everyone… nearly everyone… Tim. Just, Tim. But anyway, my arched splashers are far better than Thomas' boring-old corners."
Ruby soon arrived at the harbor. She left her trucks on the quay and spent the morning shunting. By now, she'd gotten used to the dockyard's tight bends, but it was still quite a challenge to navigate.
"Thomas says I'm always late," she grumbled. "I'm never late. Or at least only a few minutes. What's that to Thomas? He can always catch-up on time further on with the branch's light traffic and generous timetables. If he worked on the mainline, he'd be thankful then." All the same, she and her Driver decided to start home early.
The wind was beginning to pick up as Ruby collected her trucks. Above her, a crane was unloading a crate onto the quay. The crate itself was tiny and lightweight, but the steadily growing wind wasn't doing the old crane any favours. Ruby, unaware of the situation above, waited impatiently for the Guard to run the final checks along the train.
"Come on… come on…" she grumbled, shutting her eyes as a powerful gust of wind battered her front.
It was then that it happened. The crane lost its grip, and the crate of treacle was upset all over Ruby!
"ARGH!" she shrieked. "I CAN'T SEE! I'M BLIND!" Ruby's Driver, Fireman, and the Workmen were able to clean the worst off, but she was still sticky when she puffed away.
The wind rose as they puffed along. At first, it was just a faint whistling, but soon it was blowing a gale!
"Look at that!" exclaimed Ruby's Driver. The wind caught the piled hay, tossing it up and over the track! The Gangers tried to clear it, but more always came.
The line climbed here. "Take a run at it, Ruby," her Driver advised. "Thank goodness we've only a light loud." So whistling warningly, Ruby gathered speed with a determined grit. But the hay made the rails slippery, and her wheels wouldn't grip. Time after time she stalled with spinning wheels and had to wait until the line ahead was cleared before she could start again.
By the time Ruby finally conquered the gradient, she was tired, itchy, and very late indeed.
At the Top Station, the Signalman climbed the telegraph pole, the Stationmaster paced the platform, passengers fussed, and Thomas seethed impatiently at the platform.
"Ten minutes late. I warned her. Passengers'll complain, and the Fat Controller-"
The Signalman shouted. The Stationmaster stood amazed. The passengers exclaimed and laughed as Ruby approached. "I MADE IT!" she laughed maniacally, "HA! I TOLD YOU I WAS ALWAYS ON SCHEDULE! WHOSE THE STUPID ONE NOW?!"
"Well, if you must know-" Thomas was about to tell Ruby that she was, indeed, late, but he spoiled the effect as she drew alongside. The tank engine's jaw dropped in bewilderment.
"What's wrong?" asked Ruby, perplexed.
Thomas didn't answer. He'd been left positively speechless. He finally forced out a quick, "I've gotta go! I'll see you tonight, Hairy-RUBY! Ruby!" And with that, Thomas scampered out of the station like a scared dog.
Needless to say, Ruby was very confused. What could possibly spook Thomas to that extent? And another thing, what in the world did the passengers find so funny?
She found out soon enough.
When Ruby returned to the sheds, her Driver showed her what she looked like in a mirror. Ruby gasped. She was covered from funnel to footplate in a large fur coat – made from hay! She was silent for a moment – a long moment in fact. She suddenly stifled a snort, before bursting out into a wondrous fit of laughter. She laughed so hard she nearly cried!
"Bust my buffers!" she exclaimed once she'd composed herself. "Oh, no wonder they all laughed! I'm just like a Woolly Bear!"
The Driver sighed. "Oh, I'm glad you see the funny side to this, old mare."
"Well, duh! This is something right up my alley. I only wish I'd found out about my new look sooner, then we could've planned a good scare for those stick-in-the-muds. Guess that opportunity's gone now that Thomas' seen me." Ruby sighed. "Probably ran away before he could laugh because he knew he'd cop it from Tim. Alright, might as well buckle down for the night. It's going to be a long job to clean me in time for the Halloween party."
Both Driver and Fireman exchanged nervous glances. "Um…" the Fireman ventured. "About that…"
Chloe's injectors had failed, leaving Knapford without a Station Pilot1, and no engine to help with the party preparations. With no other engines available, the Fat Controller had called for Ruby to take over the shunting duties immediately. There was no time to clean her.
Ruby spent the rest of the afternoon pushing and pulling trucks and coaches around the yards. Every engine that passed stared dumbfounded at her new woolly coat as they passed by. Some engines like Tim, Yang, Blake, and James were sympathetic (though Ruby just wheeshed steam in James' face, still holding that same grudge for the Strike of '34). Others didn't bother being respectful, they couldn't help but take the piss out of Ruby's situation.
Soon, night fell, and the Halloween celebrations could officially begin. Ruby spent the night in a siding next to the Big Station, seething silently.
"Ha! Nice costume, Ruby," chortled Molly.
"OH, SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU JAMES APOLOGIST!" Ruby barked in retaliation, only to accidentally swallow a straw of hay.
That night, once the party had died down, Ruby excused herself to the Branch Line Sheds. Thomas and Toby were waiting for her. Instead of talking about sensible things like playing ghosts and gullible Branch Line engines, Thomas and Toby made jokes about "Woolly Bear" Caterpillars and other creatures which crawl about in hay.
They laughed a lot, but Ruby thought they were really being very silly indeed. Fortunately for her, they stopped laughing after Tim and Yang found out and set them straight. The way only they could.