Chapter 109: Time For Trouble

Gordon's trip to London had sparked interest in the Island of Sodor, and more and more people began traveling to Sodor. Gordon loved taking the express, but was still rather tired after his trip.

"Take a rest, Gordon, you deserve it. James will manage."

"Yes sir, thank you sir."

James was delighted.

"My engine's paintwork makes it the pride of the line. It will be a treat for the engines to ride in a train pulled by such a splendid engine like mine."

The other engine drivers just ignored him. They knew that he meant well, although he often let rewards go to his head.

One day, Sir Topham Hatt came to see Toby.

"Its time for your engine to go to the Steamworks. Just a maintenance check, shouldn't last more than a day."

"Can I take Henrietta, sir? She's never been, and I'm sure she'd like it."

"I'm sorry, Toby, but its too dangerous for her to wander around, and everybody will be to busy to watch her."

Henrietta was sad, but Percy was there and smiled kindly.

"Don't worry, Henrietta. You can spend the day with me. Trust me, it'll be more fun than being cooped up at the Steamworks."

"Can I, dad? Please?"

"Of course. Thanks Percy, I owe you one. Now be good for Uncle Percy, sweetie."

"I will."

With that settled, Toby set off for Crovan's Gate.

Soon Toby was out on the main line. His tram clanked as it trundled along. It was going to be a long journey, but Toby didn't mind. It was rare that he got to travel on the main line, and he enjoyed the change of scenery. However, the water tanks for his engine don't hold a lot of water, and it wasn't long before he had to stop to refill.

As he was halfway through, the signalman came up to him. He was new, and had never seen Toby before.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid you need to move along. James will be through with the express any minute, and I can't have you blocking the line."

"But-"

"Look, I don't make the rules, I just enforce them. Please just do as I say."

So Toby did, but he wasn't happy about it.

"I can only hope I have enough water to make it to the next station."

But he didn't. He made it halfway before the tank ran out completely, leaving him stranded.

"Bother! It was going so nicely, too."

Just then Percy came into view. He and Henrietta were taking some stone trucks to the quarry when they spotted Toby on the line.

"Dad? Are you okay?"

"Yes, but my engine is out of water. I thought I could make it to the next station, but obviously that wasn't the case."

"Don't worry, Toby. I'll get help at the next station."

"Please hurry."

With that Percy raced off to the next station, where he told the stationmaster all about what had happened. James was at the platform, annoyed by the inconvenience.

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault. I didn't understand about Toby."

"Next time hear them out."

"Yes sir."

The stationmaster turned to James.

"There's nothing else for it, I'm afraid. You'll just have to push Toby to the works."

This made James go red in the face.

"What? You mean to tell me that not only does my engine have to pull the express, but push Toby's too?"

"Yes."

"Well, you can forget about it! It's not my fault that signalman didn't listen to Toby. He can stay there for all I care."

When the passengers hear the news., they complained about what a bad railway it was. Then they turned to James and told him what a bad man he was. Finally, James relented.

"Alright, alright, jeesh. Some idiot makes a mistake and I'm the one who ends up paying for it."

When he found him, Toby had dampened down the fire and laid detonators on the track to warn approaching trains. He smiled when he saw James, but the sentiment was not returned.

"Thanks for the help, James. I really appreciate it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, lets get a move on. The train is late enough already."

It took a lot of hard work, but soon enough the train was in motion. Within the hour, they reached Crovan's Gate, where Sir Handel was waiting to collect James's passengers. Duncan was nearby, and they both thought that their predicament was funny.

"Hey, Sir Handel. What's with this odd train here? Not only is the express late, but it has two engines."

"You know what I think, Duncan? I think that James's engine didn't have enough strength to pull the express on its own, so Toby had to give him a hand."

James fumed at this remark.

"Never mind, James, they're only joking."

"Puh! Like they know anything."

Toby just laughed.