Chapter 103: Fish

Even after the sun goes down, work still takes place on Sodor. From the mail trains to the midnight goods, work continues long into the later hours of the night. One train that has become infamous is The Flying Kipper, delivering fish across Sodor and far away. Henry mainly pulls this train, and despite his first accident with the train he enjoys it very much.

One night, the train was even more full that usual. Extra vans had to be added. The only ones that could be found were old and had not been used in a long time. Henry waited impatiently for Duck to shunt them into place. It had taken longer than usual to load the train, and he was already wait and ready to make up for lost time. As soon as he heard the guard's whistle, the train shot off into the night.

Duck was having some tea and biscuits in the engine's cab when Thomas drove his engine into the docks to pick up mail from the boat.

"Evening Duck. Are you going fishing? You'd best take care."

"Why?"

"Because fish and engines don't mix, not to mention the smell. I remember some time ago when I had to fill my tank engine's tanks up with water from a river, and fish got into the bucket and nearly made the engine burst. Gordon never let me live it down."

"Don't worry, Thomas. I won't let the fish get anywhere near my engine."

"Even so, be on your guard."

Just then, Thomas's guard blew his whistle.

"Speaking of guards, I best be going. This mail won't deliver itself, and Tom can't deliver them if I don't bring them to him. Have a good night Duck and remember what I said."

"You too, Thomas. And I will."

Duck watched as Thomas disappeared into the night before returning to his work.

Back on the mainline, Henry was in a bad mood. The extra weight made it hard for his engine to gain speed, making it harder to make up for lost time.

"There better be a banker at Edward's Station. Otherwise I'll never make it to the mainland."

Meanwhile, Duck was waiting at Edward's station. Edward had to stay at the clay pits for the night to help fulfill an important contract, so he was tasked with helping Henry up Gordon's Hill. It wasn't long before he heard Henry's Whistle, and soon the long train pulled into the station.

"Give me a hand up Gordon's Hill please, Duck. This extra weight has made the journey hard going, and I'll need the extra help."

"No problem, Henry. We'll have you on your way in no time."

"Thank you."

Before long Duck was at the back of Henry's train and pushing it up the hill. All went well at first, but Henry was driving the engine faster than he realized. Before long, Duck was falling behind the train. Then Duck noticed something else.

"Where's the tail lamp?"

The tail lamp is an essential part of the train. It is placed on the last car of night trains to let approaching vehicles see the train and avoid a crash. But Henry had been making the engine pull so hard that it had fallen right off.

"Henry, stop! There's no tail lamp!"

Duck yelled as loud as he could and blew the whistle and long and loud as it could go, but Henry still couldn't hear him. He did feel something though.

"Why does the train feel heavier? Duck, if you're slacking off back there, so help me I will shove my boot up your-"

CRASH!

"Duck! What was that? Duck!"

Henry stopped the train and ran back immediately. Duck's engine had crashed right through the last van of the train. Fish and wood lay everywhere. Duck sat in the cab, dazed and confused."

"Duck! Oh man, I'm sorry. I couldn't hear you. Are you hurt?"

"Not physically, although my pride isn't in the best of shape."

The next morning Sir Topham Hatt arrived to inspect the mess.

"The accident wasn't either of your fault. The men should have made sure the tail lamp was on properly. Duck, you may have the next few days off for your troubles. Henry, while I appreciate your concern for the time table, please try to watch your engine's speed in the near future."

Once he had left, Henry turned to Duck.

"I'm sorry again for not hearing you."

"It's alright, but now I have to wash out the smell of fish. Thomas warned me about how troublesome they could be, and I'm sorry to say that he was right.